Harvest Home

Hello, and welcome!  Are you ready for Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  The meaning is right in the name--giving thanks, which I know I should do more often.  The family will gather at our house for a big meal and lots of love and laughter.

I'm trying to get food planned so I can make some dishes ahead of time.  Refrigerator space is always a problem, but I think we're going to put some things, like the pumpkin pies, in the trunk of my car Wednesday night.  (It's good and cold in the garage, but above freezing, and I'm not going anywhere then.  I'll let you know how that turns out!)

Meanwhile, I'm still working on the wagon trail quilt, one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts.  I'm auditioning this border, which strobes on the screen but not in real life.

I've also decided that I need another row of blocks.  It was going to be square, which is wide enough but too short for the bed.

So back to making blocks, and using up more scraps!

These are my leaders and enders--rail fence blocks.  I think I'm going to set them like this, on point.

As I give thanks for all the blessings of my life, I'm also mindful of the people devastated by the fires in California.  Right now I'm sending money to help, but maybe later there will be a need for quilts as families rebuild their lives.  My donation is going to the California Community Foundation's Wildfire Relief Fund, but there are many other places to send money, including the American Red Cross.

Today I will close with one of my favorite hymns.  Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Come Ye Thankful People, Come

written by Henry Alford in 1844

Come ye thankful people come,

Raise the song of Harvest Home

All is safely gathered in

Ere the winter storms begin

God our Maker doth provide

For our wants to be supplied

Come to God's own temple, come

Raise the song of Harvest Home.

Linking up today with:

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I Get A Whoop Whoop) 

Myra at Busy Hands Quilts
Angela at Soscrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Loose Ends and Layouts

Welcome to my blog.  I hope you are having a lovely weekend.   I know I am--I'm sewing!

All my blocks are done for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, so I'm starting to put them together into tops.  This is rows 1-3 of the Mary Ann's Baskets quilt, made from reproduction fabric scraps.  Surprise, I'm not following the layout in the book exactly.  I want a rectangular rather than a square quilt.  (The book is Classic & Heirloom Quilts, by Betsy Chutchian).
Even though I've been quilting for over 40 years, I haven't made very many diagonal sets, at least not recently.  So I'm having to lay it all out and work on it carefully so as not to mess it up.

I'm not sure why I decided to make three Rainbow Scrap quilts this year.  Maybe I just couldn't make up my mind?? (That would not be unusual.)  So I'm also working on this top.

The pattern for this quilt is in the same book.  Ms. Chutchian calls her quilt White Rock Creek, but another book calls these blocks Wagon Trail. They're also made from repro scraps, that I've been sewing all year.  I did add in some brown and black scraps (colors not on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge list this year), which would be appropriate to this time period.
Surprise again, I'm doing a slightly different set.  I'm setting it together in two sections.  Then I'll add borders (not sure what color yet), and quilt each section.  I want to quilt something pretty in the open spaces, and that will be easier if the quilt is in two pieces.

So these quilt tops have been on my to-do list for a while, and I'm glad to be at least starting to get them together.
But--squirrel!

I couldn't help it, I started these blocks last week, and just kept going until I had enough for a child's quilt.  The block is called King's Crown, and the centers are crumb blocks made from the snippets in my scrap basket.  There might be a bit too much red and blue in it, but you work with what you have.  No hurry on this one, it will be a charity quilt sometime in the new year.

I did actually finish a little wall quilt this week, but it was more than half done last week.  Now it's been bound, washed, and hung on the wall, ready for Thanksgiving.

Did it snow where you live this week?  We got a little dusting here Thursday night and Friday morning.  Little Buddy and I made this:

It's his first snowman!  He was so excited about it, even though it's not even as tall as he is.  He couldn't wait to show it to his big brother and mom.

Do we have lots of fun around here?  You betcha!

I hope you had fun this week, too.

Cheers for reading,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up this week with:
Angela at soscrappy
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I Get A Whoop Whoop)
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework (Oh Scrap)

Marking Time

Seasons and holidays are ways we mark the passing of time.  I can't seem to work ahead on seasonal projects, but I always want to sew or quilt fall quilts in fall, Christmas quilts in December, spring quilts in the springtime.

This week I'm finishing a wall hanging for the dining room that will be up for Thanksgiving (only a few weeks away!)  Trying to decide on a border quilting design has been tough.  I think this one will be it.  I've decided NOT to make the design turn the corner, but just to run off the edges.  It's breaking the "rules" but that's okay.  Hey, it's my quilt, right?

I got the pumpkin pattern from this book, Start with Strips by Susan Ache.  It's a terrific book, just full of great ideas.

Her pumpkins have squares in the corners, but I left those out.  I added the leaves on the pumpkin, but thinking about it later I kind of wish I'd left them off too.  Pumpkin leaves are actually big and floppy.  It's still cute, and a good pattern.

My wall hanging would probably be done if I could stop working on other things.  But as I was finishing the piecing, I started sewing little scraps together as leaders and enders, and they turned into this. . .

The centers are 6 in. (finished) crumb/slab squares.  I was going to make star blocks, but saw this block in Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns and liked it better.  It's called King's Crown, and is #2039.  The pieces are the same as a simple star block, but switched around, and the color placement is different.

Only two of these blocks are sewn, but I got ten more cut out yesterday morning while listening to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me on the radio.  I can't always hear the jokes when I'm sewing, but ironing fabric and cutting pieces are quiet enough so I can laugh along.

I hope you all had a Happy Halloween.  We did!  This is my grandson in his Yoda costume, ready to go to the library for the Halloween activities.

Here's what he liked the best--raking leaves!  He's very good at it, too. 

We need to get him out in the yard with us.  Just as soon as it stops raining.

I'm wishing blue skies for us all this week.
Cheers for reading,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:
Cynthia at Oh Scrap
Angela at soscrappy
Amanda Jean at crazy mom quilts
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts

Home and Away

This is where I was last Saturday, a church camp on the shore of Green Lake, at a meeting of the Wisconsin Quilt Study Group.  We had gathered for a retreat to learn about quilt history and enjoy each other's company.  (Click HERE to go to our web page, currently under construction.)

We met in the chapel on the grounds, which has huge windows to let in light and scenery.  These items were part of the silent auction.  It was great fun, and raised over $600 for our group.

So that's my excuse for not blogging last week.  While I was at the retreat I was knitting hats in odd moments to add to this collection.  The hats will go to the Mittens and More drive sponsored by Milwaukee Public Television.  You can click HERE to go to their web page if interested.  The drive ends on November 4th (which they don't tell you on the web page).  There are collection places all over the greater Milwaukee area.  Some of these hats and the little mittens were finished last year, but not in time to turn in.  The hats and mittens go to kids who need them, at no charge.

Here's my loot from the retreat!  Check out the water bottle.  My awesome roommate Cathy made and applied the logo herself to enough water bottles for the whole group (!), filled them with candy (!!) and wrapped each in a fat quarter (!!!).  I got the plaid fat quarter from our super speaker, Sharon Pinka, and bought the rest of the fabric at two different quilt stores.  I'm not going to run out of cute stuff any time soon.

I did finish a quilt in the last two weeks.  It's another baby-sized quilt for charity, made from 2.5 in. strips.  Each block has an equal amount of light and dark fabric, so it was fun pairing up the strips and using them up.

Mr. Biddy is checking it out.  I got this pattern from a super scrap quilter in our local guild, who saw it somewhere on line.  If you know the name of this pattern or where it originated, could you tell me in the comments?  I like to give credit where credit is due, if I can.

Speaking of credit, the free pattern for the quilt above comes from the Moda Bakeshop, and you can find it HERE.  I made the top for charity last year (larger than the original), and the wonderful long arm ladies at our quilt guild got the quilting done.  This week I finally bound it, and it's ready to go to a new home.

It's a twin size, with lots of florals in the blocks.

Isn't this purple backing great?  You can see the quilting here, it's done in lavender thread.

We went to the apple orchard this week, and my little buddy got to get up close to his favorite thing on earth--a tractor!  He also got a free apple to eat from the nice people at Barthel Fruit Farm in Mequon, Wisconsin.

Here's what I got--apples!  A bushel of Cortlands to can for pies and crisps, plus some Honey Crisps and Golden Delicious for eating, and even some pears to eat fresh.

I had better get to work on those apples!
Have a wonderful weekend, a Happy Halloween, and a great week ahead.
Cheers for reading,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

 Linking up with:
Angela at Soscrappy
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict (check out her giant pin cushion!)
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts
Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Treasures

This might look like a small suitcase.  Or a vintage overnight bag.  

But when you look inside, you can see it's a treasure chest.  The treasures here are 5 in. squares of bright fabrics, mostly novelty prints.  (I love this stuff!)

That's where most of this quilt top came from.  It's the I Spy quilt top I finished two months ago.

With a little help from Little Buddy's nap times and his parents picking him up early a couple days, I finally got it quilted.

It's been cold and rainy this week, so outdoor photos have not been ideal.  Here's the little quilt laid out on my kitchen table.
In my never-ending quest for better ways to mark a quilt for quilting, I returned to Golden Threads paper this week to quilt the wide white border.  (By the way, I have no affiliation with the company that makes this product.)

The first time I used Golden Threads paper, I made a big mistake.  Everything was going fine, I cut a strip of paper the size of the border I was quilting, and then traced a stencil onto the paper.  BUT, at that time I used a pencil.  (Cue ominous music.)  I happily machine quilted that border, and ripped off the paper, only to discover that THE PENCIL MARKS HAD TRANSFERRED TO THE QUILT!!!

 Boy, was I mad.  The next time I saw a vendor demonstrating Golden Threads paper, I talked to them about it (I had cooled off by then and was unhappy but polite).  They knew about the problem, and told me to only use permanent pens to mark on the paper.

This made me nervous.  If pencil marks transfer to a quilt, I can get a fabric eraser and work on them.  What if permanent ink transferred to the quilt?  (I have not gotten to this ripe old age without a healthy skepticism for what salespeople tell me.)  But I had a huge roll of this stuff and lots of quilts to mark, so I tried it on a quilt that really didn't matter that much (badly pieced, etc.)
It actually worked!

Here's how to use it.
1.  Trace your design (stencil, quilting diagram from a book or magazine, etc.) with a permanent pen onto the paper.  See photo above.  This works well for borders, alternate blocks, sashings, and so on, but I don't think I would use it for an overall design.
2.  Pin the paper in place, as in this blurry photo below.  Try to have the points of the pins facing away from you as you sew.  (Ask me how I know that!)

3.  Quilt through the paper.  (Note to self:  try to quilt on the lines.)

4.  Once the quilting is done, you have to pull the paper off.  It's basically tissue paper, so tears easily, but watch out for little pieces that get stuck in the stitches.  Here's the pile I had after quilting one of the borders.

And that's it.  The permanent ink lines DON'T transfer, and there are no marks to wash out or erase.

I may use this more often, especially on borders.

The rest of the quilting was very simple, just lines a presser foot away from the seams.

Here's the backing, a cute alphabet print with hearts.  The border is another novelty print, a light red with white anchors.


I'm not sure what's going to happen to this little quilt.  I think my Little Buddy will enjoy playing with it, and finding the matches.  Each novelty square in the center has a matching square in the border, and some of the squares are his favorite things, like cats and dinosaurs and Thomas the tank engine.  I may keep it here for him.  If he's not interested, I'll donate it.

What's going on in your world this week?
I'm wishing you lots of time with whatever you treasure.
Cheers for reading,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up today with:
Angela at soscrappy
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I Get A Whoop Whoop)
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts
Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Can't wait to see what everybody else is up to!

 

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?