Little By Little

Little by little, things get done, right?  Well, at least some things.  Many (many!) other things are waiting, but my second quilt for the Socorro Foundation is finished.  (Click HERE for information on the Socorro Foundation quilt/pillowcase drive.)

It's a very simple quilt.  I just took bright 2 in. strips out of the scrap bag, pressed them, cut them into 6.5 in logs, and sewed a 4-rail fence block.  Thirty blocks plus a 2 in. finished border makes a quilt 34 in. x 40 in., which meets the requirements.

Here's the back, another print I bought from my friend's friend.  You can see the grid quilting here, too.  The lines are 1.5 in. apart.  That should help it hold together in the wash.  I used this same fabric to back my first Socorro quilt.

See the Toucan?  That strip was cut from what was left of the animal fabric after making the first quilt.  Scraps just keep on giving.
So I got to use bright novelty prints, which I love, in that little quilt.
I got to use my black reproduction fabrics, which I also love, in these blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Quilt challenge.  The colors, as we're finishing up the year, are black and brown and gray.  I've already done my brown blocks.

Block 1 has a fancy print center that's been in the 4.5 in. squares box forever.

Block 2 has a humble gingham for its center.  Really more my style than fancy.
So now all my blocks for this quilt are done AND quilted!  I still have to cut sashing plus batting and backing for the sashing, before I can start putting it together.  And then I'll have to decide what to do about the border.

Where did all this fabric come from?  This is what got added to the stash this week.

Wednesday was guild meeting, and this month was our annual silent auction.  Each person can bring up to 3 bundles/boxes/piles of stuff, and we all have a chance to bid on them.  Highest bid at the end wins!  I won these gorgeous plaids, orange, green, and blue, each over a yard.  Woot!

I also won this collection of miscellaneous stuff.  I'm keeping the needles, pins, small scissors, and of course the feedsack scraps.  The interfacing and embroidery transfers will find a new home.
Even better than the stuff I won was getting rid of the stuff I brought!  I might have put some chocolate in the boxes I brought to spark some interest (this is always a good ploy).  The guild made over $400.

A friend found this tractor fabric at a sale, and thought of my Little Buddy, who is obsessed with tractors.  Now I'm thinking about making him a farm quilt.
Like I don't have anything else to make!  Well, we can't control when inspiration strikes, can we?

Have a wonderfully inspiring week ahead!
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches
Linking up with:
Angela at Soscrappy
Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday
Sarah at Can I Get a Whoop Whoop
Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Beat the Clock

 Long, long ago, when I was a child, there was a TV show called Beat the Clock, where people tried to do impossible things before the buzzer sounded.  I don't remember much about it, but I have felt like I was on that show this week.

I don't think I actually beat that clock, but I did get a few things done in spite of time constraints.  This little quilt got quilted by Friday evening, and bound last night.
The pattern is the Fat Quarter Cubes Shortcut Quilt, from the Fat Quarter Quilt Shop, and you can get the free pattern here.  (Scroll down the page til you see it.)

I changed it a little (of course.  I just can't help it).  The cuts in the original are based on 6.5 in. strips.  I cut my pieces from 5 in. strips, so my blocks are smaller.  Plus I forgot to change the block orientation of every other block, so my layout is a tad boring.  The quilting is horizontal lines in the blocks and width-of-the-presser-foot lines in the sashing.

Here's the backing.  The print fabric is a Curious George print I've had for years.  (I actually made it the background for a bulletin board at one of my libraries.)  I had to add a panel of blue print in the middle to make it wide enough.  My quilt measures 44 in. x 58 in.  It will be donated to a child in need.

In other news, we went to an antique mall yesterday, and I scored all this fabric!  Sometimes there is fabric at the malls, sometimes not, so you just take your luck as you find it.

These pieces are vintage.  The top 3 are feedsacks.  I wasn't going to buy any more feedsacks, but the price was right so home they came.

This is my favorite piece--John Deere tractor fabric!  I'm planning a pillowcase for my Little Buddy, who loves tractors.  When we sing Old MacDonald, he has to add in a tractor that goes Vroom Vroom here and Vroom Vroom there.

Little Buddy gets to be in my blog all the time.  This week, it's big brother's turn.  This is my oldest grandson, who was an usher at a wedding last week.  Isn't he handsome?  I admit to being partial.

We went to the orchard on Thursday and got apples to eat and pears to can.  I've got half of the pears done...

but here's what's left.  So I'd better get back to it.
I'm wishing you health and happiness this week.  And every week!

Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up (late!) with
Cynthia at Oh Scrap
Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts
Angela at So Scrappy  
and Myra at Busy Hands Quilts

Aren't link ups fun?