Red Red Binding

I've got a reggae song going through my head this week.  This could be why.

Red Red Binding!  I'm singing it to the tune of Red Red Wine by UB40.  Wonder how it happens that everything I'm working on lately has a red binding?
Since this is my first post in 3 weeks, I should have 3 finished quilts to show. Luckily, I do!

The first is my Ocean Waves quilt, which I am embarrassed to say I pieced way back in 2012.  Above is a photo of the top.

And here's the finish!  My friend Joey did the quilting, or it would probably still be in the closet.

Can you see the wonderful fan quilting she did on it?  Exactly right for this time period reproduction quilt.

Instead of a label, I just wrote directly on the back with a Pigma pen.
I am so amazing grateful for Joey's expertise.  God bless the longarm quilters!

When Joey was here recently for a weekend, I was working on this quilt for charity.  It's the latest from American Patchwork & Quilting magazine's Sew Giving column, and was designed by Jo Kramer and her daughter Kelli Hanken of Jo's Country Junction.  (Great daily blog, BTW.)  The name of this quilt is Make the Connection, and the pattern is in the August 2017 edition of the magazine.  I changed it a little, of course.  I just can't help it.

In the original, the design sort of steps down across the quilt.  I made mine step down to the center, and then back up again.  I also used light blue solid instead of dark blue.

It is so great to find batting, backing, and binding waiting in the stash.  And to use them up!

The last quilt with red binding is my Red Clover quilt.  I finished the top in June, and it's actually already quilted.  This must be a record for me, as I'm normally a prize procrastinator.

It helps that this was a small quilt, and I did really simple quilting on it.

Backing, batting, and binding were all in the stash.
Now I'd like to introduce you to my new sewing room helper.

Ta-da!  My new old iron.  Joey and I went to Goodwill when she was here, and I scored this old black beauty for $9.00.  There is a setting for permanent press, so you know it's been around a long time.

She's made in the USA (!) and honestly is the best iron I've had in 30 years.  My favorite feature?  NO AUTOMATIC SHUTOFF!!!  She also gets so hot I don't need steam.  And I can turn her off without unplugging her.  I only hope she lasts awhile.
Can you believe it's almost August?  Summer will soon be over!  Ackkk!  I still have a lot of summer
stuff I want to do!  So I'd better get after it.
Have a wonderful week!
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches
I'm linking up with Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts, and with Myra at Busy Hands Quilts.

Block Busters!

Hurray for July!  Isn't this year going by quickly?  I was in Oklahoma visiting my mom on July 1st.  I just had to borrow her computer to find out what the new color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge was!  Couldn't wait til I could get home to my stash and get started.
As you can see I've been piecing away the hot days.

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for July is blue, and these above are my Buckeye Beauty blocks.  Four of them are made from real vintage feedsacks, and four of them are made from 1930s reproduction fabrics.

This one is cut from feedsacks ...

and this one is repros.  Gotta love the chicken print in the four patches.

Now for the houses!  I really got carried away this month.  I just have so many blue scraps!  In the center of this photo is my favorite, a bookworm house.  I'm sure you can't see it, but the little bookworm is holding up a sign that says "Let's Read!"  Thus warming this librarian's heart.

It's always Halloween at this house, with characters from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

This one was pieced on the 4th of July.  Happy Birthday, U.S.A.!

Parrots on the roof?  The address here must be Margaritaville.

Star Wars house, for two of my grandchildren who are HUGE fans.

Sharks!  Don't even think about ringing the doorbell!

Golf club house in the center.  I don't golf, but I had the fabric.

Trains live here, even though it's not a roundhouse.

Of course there's a doghouse.  And paw prints in the sky.

Duckies!  Once upon a time, duckies were my grandson Henry's favorite thing in the world.

Another orange door, to go with this dotty house.  Did you catch the bookworms on the roof?

Fish, and a fire engine.  The letter of the day must be F.
I actually made TWELVE houses this month.  I just couldn't stop.  Maybe this is getting out of control.
Okay, one last block.

This is the June block for Pat Sloan's Children's Library Quilt.  (If you scroll down after you click the link, you can get to the earlier blocks.)  I changed the block slightly, by replacing the center 4 patch with a 4.5 in. square. 
What should be at the center of any children's library?  Children!  My center square is a print with lots of cute kids.
Also, this happened.

The raspberries are ripe!  I'm picking about a quart a day of the red, and half that of the black.
Summer is so delicious.
Time for a glass of iced tea and a good book.
Have a wonderful week!
Sylvia@Treadlestitches
I'm linking up with Myra at Busy Hands Quilts (check it out, she has a scrap give-away this week!) and Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts.

A Little Quilt

I finished a quilt this week.  In only 2 days, it was pieced, layered, quilted, and bound.  That's because it was a Little Quilt.

Were you quilting in the 1980s or 1990s?  If so, you probably remember Little Quilts.  They were a wonderful craze.  These adorable wall quilts were made from scraps and mostly quilted by hand.  You had all the fun of making a quilt and it was done before you knew it.

My newest Little Quilt started right here, when I got home from the annual rummage sale at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts and dumped all the great stuff I bought out on the kitchen table.

I could hardly wait to get it out of the bags so I could look at it.  And pet it.  And arrange it in a rainbow of color.  I felt like whirling around with excitement.

Take a look at the center foreground of the photo above.  If you are very sharp-eyed, you might see a small stack of house blocks.  The blocks measure only 5 in. finished.  There were 7 of these completed, plus several sections just needing to be joined.

So I joined them.  I only had to make 2 roof sections from my scraps, and 12 blocks were done.  I set them with light fabric cut from a remnant, and added cornerstones from my cut strips.  The red gingham border is a scrap I bought at the quilt show in May, and the outside corners and binding are also from my cut strips.

The quilting is very simple, mostly in the ditch.  All the houses are outlined.

The backing was a scrap in the pile called "Going to the Basement".  One less thing to take down there.

Little Quilts are still around, and you can still buy the books!  Click HERE to go to the web page.  They even have a newsletter.

In other news, I finished all the blocks for my triangles quilt this morning.  There are 99 of them.  You need a lot when the block is only 6 in. finished.

These were fun to make.  Some of my "new" scraps from the rummage sale went right into these blocks.

Here's what else I did this morning--strawberry jam!  I picked strawberries yesterday at a local You Pick farm.  It rained off and on, but that didn't stop anybody.  Gather ye berries while ye may.
As I was picking and enjoying the snick of pulling a ripe strawberry from the vine, there were lots of other sounds around me.  Children's voices were my favorite.  One little girl seemed very concerned about the dirt, and reminded her mother to wash the berries when they got home.  Another announced "It's Raining Time!"  when it started to sprinkle.  A little boy asked if he could pick the "baby" berries.  There were even a couple of conversations in languages I didn't know.
It has been at least 50 years since I started going to the strawberry patch with my mom and grandparents.  I plan to keep going as long as I can.

I always try to enjoy the little things in life.  And the best little things are quilts!
Wishing you joy this week and always,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches
As usual, I'm linking up with Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts and Myra at Busy Hands Quilts.
Come join us!

Red Clover Do Over

After more than two years, I finally finished this top!  (And look, artistic outdoor photos!  Well, sort of.)

Being red and green, it makes us think of Christmas, but I was more inspired by antique quilts than by the holidays.

Red and green is a classic combination, and there are lots of great books about red and green quilts.  Most of the quilts in the books are appliqued, however.

I took the pattern for this quilt from an antique quilt, and changed it to suit myself.  Click HERE to go to the original article and the pattern.  I called my version Red Clover.

When I last posted about this quilt (in 2015!), I thought I was almost done making the top.  The blocks were made, the sashings were made, I just needed to make the cornerstones and put it all together.
Sadly, that didn't go so well.
It's my own fault.  The blocks were drafted to be 12 in. finished.  I didn't MEASURE them, I just ASSUMED they were right.  And we all know what happens when you assume.  Somehow I was about .25 of an inch off, probably from slightly too-large seam allowances.
I was trying to hurry through the process.  When the long strips of sashings didn't fit, I just kept going, even when I got tucks.  Tucks!!
Sanity finally returned, and I saw what I had done.  Kind of like Dr. Jekyll waking up from being Mr. Hyde.  The whole thing was depressing, so I just folded it all up and stored it in the closet.

About two months ago, I got the project out, and took my trusty seam ripper in hand.  I ripped the sashings out while watching TV.  This week I trimmed them to size, and put the top together.
So it's done!  Now on to the quilting.

In other news, the garden is loving the hot weather and the thunderstorms we've been having lately.

The basil and strawberries are doing well.

And the sage is blooming.  I love purple!

Have a wonderful week, doing the things you love.
Cheers,
Sylvia

I'm linking up as usual with Crazy Mom Quilts and Busy Hands Quilts.  Check out all the great blogs!