Butterflies, More Kaffe, and Black Cats

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Does this butterfly quilt look familiar?  I finished the top a while back, made from a UFO started by an unknown quilter.  The project was passed on to our quilt group with the request that we finish and donate it to a charity of our choice.  (Click HERE for more details on the quilt.)

I made the top, but I knew my primitive quilting skills would not enhance it.  These butterflies deserved to fly!  Luckily, we have several very talented long arm quilters in our group.  Our own Nancy Queen of Scraps came to the rescue and did the lovely quilting.

I had it back to bind it, and got that done this week.  I hope the person who gets it can enjoy it for many years to come.

Here's yet another Kaffe Fassett quilt made from my scraps!  I adore these fabrics.  Recently I was cutting up scraps I was given, and discovered a bunch of small rectangles of Kaffe fabric.  I trimmed them to 2.5 in. x 3.5 in., and added in more from the stash.

The light green with the light blue dots is one of the fabrics from the scrap bag.  Most of the rest are from my stash.  The light print is definitely NOT a Kaffe print, just a fun one.

The pattern I used came from this book, Jelly Roll Quilts, by Pam and Nicky Lintott, copyright 2008.  They called it Sparkling Gemstones.  I changed the sewing a bit (they used strip piecing and I rarely do any more).  I have made this pattern several times, but never before with Kaffe fabric!

The border is a leftover Kaffe print from my own butterfly quilt, which is not yet finished (I'm looking for the perfect backing lol).  

Coincidentally, the backing for this Kaffe quilt is a purple print with butterflies.  I bound it with a solid purple.

So what about those black cats?

I didn't realize I had so many different black prints until I pulled them out for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  September's color is "dark", so this fits.

I freely admit I got carried away with these cat blocks.  It was fun using cat prints and matching up the black prints with the backgrounds (book print with READ fabric, Star Wars with a Star Wars background, pink and black cat fabric with Hello Kitty, etc.).

This block with the white paw prints on black is my favorite, mostly because of the kitten in the background fabric.  It looks just like my little Snicklefritz did when we brought him home from the shelter.

These black cats are going into their very own quilt.

I did get cucumbers at the Farmers Market last week, and made up 8 pints of Bread and Butter Pickles.  I feel good having these all done for the year, but it really did make the house smell like apple cider vinegar.

After we left the Farmers Market, we went to the Labyrinth Garden in Regner Park.  (Click HERE for more information and directions.)  Admission is free and it is open to the public throughout the growing season.  The labyrinth is maintained by volunteers, whose work is excellent.

I had never been to a labyrinth before, and was unsure what to expect.  It was so peaceful and quiet, walking the grassy paths.  And there were so many beautiful flowers.  I'm so glad we went, it was a very worthwhile experience.  

Our little boys got their school pictures taken last week!  These are just the proofs we will be ordering from.

Buddy is in 3rd grade!  He's looking so grown up.

Our Little Guy is starting to look like a big kid!  What is happening?  I don't feel any older!

These two are coming over later and spending the night while their parents have an evening out.  So I need to make up beds and bake some cookies.

Have a wonderful week!

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

 Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

  

Jumping Jacks And The Last Saturday of Orange

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Thanks for stopping by!

The grandkids are back in school, this time both of the little ones go all day.  You'd think this would mean more time for quilting, right?  And it would, if I wasn't so far behind on jobs I need to do around here.  I did get this little Jumping Jacks quilt finished Friday morning.

The pattern came from this book, Quilts in Wales by Kaffe Fassett.  I enjoy his quilt books, and usually get them from the library, as they're kind of expensive.  The fabrics are wonderful, the photography is lush, so they're great to dream over even if you never make anything from them.  This one had several patterns I wanted to try.  After returning it to the library, I just had to have my own copy.

As you can see, this is a simple quilt to make.  The block is often called Hour Glass, and is made of 4 triangles.  Mine is smaller than Kaffe's, and I used the Companion Angle ruler to cut the triangles.  

For the triangles, I used only Kaffe Fassett fabrics and solids.  The music note fabric was just for fun, and the border is a non-Kaffe print.  Many years ago, my friend Debbie C. (hi, Debbie!) introduced me to Kaffe Fassett fabrics at a quilt show.  She makes amazing art quilts, and these prints bursting with color have lots of impact.  At the time, I was mostly making reproduction quilts.  I loved browsing in booths that displayed the fabrics, but I wasn't sure how I would use them.  That has changed!

Here's the back, a colorful bug print given to me by a friend.  It was recycled from a tablecloth!  The binding is a solid aqua.  I'll be donating this quilt locally.

Of course there are orange blocks in the quilt!  I really love orange.

Orange month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is always one of my favorites.  I had lots of fun piecing these bits and crumbs onto my grocery receipts.  I'm starting to think of some ideas of how to use these strips in quilts.  About time!  The end of the year is coming fast.

We recently renovated our tired 1970s bathrooms in neutral colors, mostly gray and white.  That meant I could accent with any color, and I wanted something bright for the en suite.  Of course I chose orange!  The shower curtain was the brightest one I could find around here, and I was surprised and delighted to find orange towels.  I bought the rug at Goodwill when my friend Joey and I went to Sun Prairie a couple of weeks ago.  

I love this color scheme for now, and I love how I can easily change it later if I tire of it.  Maybe next time I'll choose purple!

Happy Birthday again to our lovely granddaughter, now officially a teenager!  Shown here with her wonderful parents.

The sweet corn is ripe and delicious!  We may have a couple more weeks of it.  These ears went into the freezer after we ate a few for dinner.  I'm off to the Farmer's Market this morning to get a few more, and maybe some cucumbers for Bread and Butter pickles.

Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful week!

Cheers,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy, home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Purple Butterflies and Flannel Scraps

Welcome to Treadlestitches!

It's still purple month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (until Tuesday!) and I'm working on this UFO.
 

There are 20 of these butterfly blocks, made with Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  The free pattern comes from The Canuck Quilter (click HERE) although I changed it slightly.

I started this project after my niece died, as a comfort quilt for her mother.  My niece passed away from a massive aneurism in August 2021, just a couple months short of her fortieth birthday.  She loved butterflies and her favorite color was purple (mine too!).  It took me a long time to decide on a pattern, but by January 2022 I had fabric and pattern in hand and started sewing.

The pattern is great, and the sewing is easy, but there are a lot of pieces.  This is what was needed for each block.

Luckily, I had these alphabet pins!  The pattern gives each piece a letter, so I could pin them with the appropriate letter and keep it straight.  Some of the pieces are close in size.

I am very grateful to all the bloggers who share patterns and tutorials with us, free or not!  I could not have figured this out by myself.

The plan was to finish this quilt by August of 2022 to give to my sister.  Sadly, she died of a heart attack last May.  At that time I had all the blocks done.  I just set them aside for awhile.

The original purpose for making the quilt was to comfort my sister.  Now I'm making it as a  remembrance of both my niece and my sister.

Next will be an inner border of the same size and fabric as the sashing, then a pieced border of half square triangles.  Many of them were already made from the cut off pieces as I was making the blocks.  The others are in the box above, more Kaffe fabric plus light prints, right sides together, ready to sew.

 You'd think that would be enough to keep me busy, wouldn't you?  Especially with our two youngest grand kids staying with us for 5 nights while their folks were out of town!  I knew I wouldn't be able to get any sewing done, so I started sorting a giant garbage-bag-sized bag of flannel scraps.  I didn't take a before photo (oops!) but this is the after photo.  The diaper box holds what's left to trim down plus a couple of old projects.  The rest are strips and squares.

As I was pressing and cutting, I put together pieces for six quilt kits.  I had to dip into the flannel yardage for borders etc.

All of these kits use mainly 3.5 in. pieces.  I made two bricks kits, three Stepper kits, and one four patch kit with alternate blocks.  One more four patch kit is partially cut, but just needs alternate blocks and borders.  Next year when the Community Baby Shower rolls around in January, I'll be ready.

The post it notes will help me remember what I was doing!  It's amazing how many times I've come across a UFO and had to puzzle over what my plan had been for it.  (Anybody else have this problem?)

The plan here must have been Lego skyscrapers!  My little guys made a very colorful town.

Snicklefritz made sure the flannel was cozy for sleeping.  He's always willing to test fabrics and quilts for softness.  What a guy!

I hope you have a lovely week, with time to do the things you enjoy.

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap