Lots of Blocks

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Thanks for stopping by!

After a lovely week, my company has gone home.  I miss them, but the memories of this visit are great.  Meanwhile, I'm back to piecing.  Those are my Criss Cross Stars (a pattern from Lori Holt) laid out on the floor so I can put them into rows.  Maybe I'll have a top done by next week!

It's the last Saturday of July, aqua month of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.   Above are the Dawn Chorus blocks.  I made these ahead so I would be caught up when we get a new color for August. 

I made these aqua crumb blocks really far ahead, like last year.  Is that cheating?  I started them with no real plan, just using up little scraps.  Now I have twelve of them, which is twice as many as the other color crumbs I've made this year.  Will they all end up in the same quilt?  Stay tuned lol.

I just love this robot fabric!  The scraps are from a pillow case I made for my oldest grandson.  He turned 21 last week!  How did that happen???

In Progress

So of course, while I was trying to catch up on current projects I had to start a new one!  (Does this happen to anybody else?)  My friend Joey gave me this book, Scrap-Basket Surprises by Kim Brackett, and right away I found a quilt I wanted to try.

This is it!  It's called Feed Sacks, and Ms. Brackett made it with 1930s reproduction fabrics, but I wanted to try it in my usual kid-friendly brights.

The sewing is simple, with a partial seam to start so there are no set in seams.  I chose a jelly bean print for the center.  One reason I really like books by Kim Brackett are the clear instructions.  I always appreciate having pressing directions that help the pieces line up.

I made banana bread this morning in these small loaf pans, and it occurred to me I had arranged them on the cooling rack very much like the blocks I was making earlier.  Weird.

Last Saturday we had a big birthday party for four family members.  We celebrated with a drum circle organized by my husband.  All 13 of us made music/noise together.  It was so much fun.

All of us who were around/not working on Monday went to a local lake for a picnic.  Buddy and Little Guy took turns learning to kayak, supervised closely by their aunt.  

It's been a busy summer, and about to get busier!  We're going camping tomorrow, so I've got to get to work on packing our gear.  But before I do I'll take some time to look at all the great eye candy in the linky parties.

Have a good week, everyone!  And Happy Quilting!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

 

 

Pastel Baby Quilt Top, Aqua Blocks, and Criss Cross Stars

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Thanks for stopping by!

Hello, quilters!  It's a beautiful summer morning here, and I'm hanging out my pastel baby quilt top for a photo.

The blocks were made in June, which was pastel month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Pastel colors didn't really fit with my usual bright-as-the-sun RSC blocks, but no worries, I could just make a pastel  quilt.  I chose the fabric above for the alternate blocks, and made the pieced blocks from my small stash of baby-friendly prints.

This one literally says "Baby"!

So does this one, plus "cutie pie" and "little sweet pea".

I had a few light prints with baby toys to add in.

Two of the prints had diaper pins on them!  The one is a vintage fabric.

These are the kind of diaper pins I used with my kids, way back in the 1980s.  Hey, moms, did you use cloth diapers too?  It was certainly cheaper than buying disposables.  But definitely messier lol.

The quilt will be donated to the Children's Advocacy Center in Milwaukee.  I'm not sure if I'll donate it as a top or quilt it myself.  The center serves foster children as young as 3 months.  Absolutely heartbreaking, but I'm glad the kids are getting help.

In other news, aqua blocks are getting made for July's RSC color.  This set is my Greek Cross blocks.

The cat fabric in the center of this block came from a quilt shop in Edinburgh, Scotland.  I call them my British kitties.  I only had a fat quarter of it, and I will be very sorry when it's used up.  But that's what's it's for, after all.

Equal time for dogs!  Good old American Scooby Doo is sniffing out crime in this print.  Or maybe just looking for Scooby Snacks?

More aqua RSC blocks!  These are my Whirlygigs, some in blue-ish aqua and some in greenish.  I'm showing two sets of RSC blocks this week, because I won't be posting next week.  My mom and nephew are coming to visit!  Mom hasn't been here in a while due to health issues, but she's doing great now and the family can't wait to see her.  My nephew is taking the ferry across the lake from Michigan.  It's going to be a good time, but no time for quilting and blogging.

In Progress

I'm still making Criss Cross Stars, a Lori Holt pattern.  (To see her YouTube tutorial, click HERE.)  For the squares in the center of the blocks, I'm using either multicolor prints or black background prints.  I have a lot of each of these, and I tend to forget about them.  My biggest problem was finding "calmer" backgrounds in my stash, but I finally got all the blocks cut at least.

About two weeks ago, Hubby and I went to the big flea market in Elkhorn, Wisconsin.  I didn't buy much (mostly fruits and vegetables at the produce stand) but I took a few quilt pictures.  I always love to see the old quilts...

...and the new ones!  Great scrap quilt, love the red!  Those skinny flying geese (do they have a special name?) as sashings are amazing.  Very dramatic!

This Little Guy can also be dramatic!  I got to spend more time with just him the last two weeks while his brother was at wrestling camp.  The new Toy Story movie came out, and he wanted to make this version of Forkie after he found a red pipe cleaner.  We improvised with what we had here.  True to the movie, Forkie jumped in the trash a couple of times, but was rescued.  A happy ending.

I hope you're having a happy ending or beginning to this week!  Happy Quilting!

See you on July 25th!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with these terrific ladies:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Stack It Up!

Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Thanks for stopping by!

Happy U.S. Independence Day!

The Stack It Up top doesn't really qualify as a 4th of July quilt.  It's red white and blue, and also orange and green and yellow and purple and aqua, etc.  I always think I'll do some red white and blue sewing on July 4, but end up not prepping anything ahead.

Many thanks to the people who commented recommending not including the heart appliques from Lori Holt's original pattern.  My white strips are wild enough on their own!  

All of these scraps come from my "Parts Department", mostly the 2 in. strips drawer.  I also raided the 2 in. squares box and the "little bricks" (2 x 3.5 in. rectangles) box. 

There's a solid red inner border, then this blue alphabet print border with illustrations that remind me of books from the 1950s, like Dick and Jane.  I got the blue fabric second hand from the museum sale.

Lizzy the cat walked over the top to test the seams but declined to stay and pose.  I think she gets fluffier every day.

I haven't decided if I'm quilting it myself or donating it as a top to be quilted by a volunteer.  It's not huge (45 in. x 57 in.) but I'm not going to have a lot of time to quilt this summer.

New color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge:  Aqua!  I'm making five of these Half Log Cabin blocks in each color.  I had already made the one above when I tested the pattern, so I had only four more to sew.

Two are a greenish aqua and two are more bluish.  Lots of my aqua prints have a nautical/ocean life theme.  Except for the cow (not a sea cow) and elephants (not elephant seals).  Also some butterflies.

In Progress

Summer is my busiest time of year, mostly because school is out for my youngest grandsons.  I can make time for piecing in the mornings and at odd moments, but having time to actually do the quilting is hard to come by.  I'll catch up in the fall when the boys go back to school.

In the meantime I'll get ahead on some piecing projects.  This is another Lori Holt pattern called Criss Cross Star.   I first saw it on her You Tube channel.  It's #10 in her Sew Your Stash Series.  (Click HERE.)  The block she made on the video was 9 in. finished, and that's what I'm making.  It appears in her book Scrappiness is Happiness as a 15 in. finished block.  One of the coolest things about it is the cutting:  it's all squares!  Also the points float, so you can't accidentally cut off the points.  Works for me!

More beautiful aqua!  My friend Debbie gave me this lovely shawl she knit with beautiful shades of blues and greens.  It's light as a feather and so soft.  I can't wait to find a dress to wear with it.  (Thanks again, Debbie, you are amazing!)

It's July 4th, and we've already been to a parade!  That's because a neighboring town has its Independence Day parade on July 3rd.  That's Hubby and our youngest daughter above.  My hilarious husband is wearing Little Guy's hat.  The parade was amazing, and we had a great time.

I hope you all have a great time this week, doing things you love to do.

Happy Independence Day, America!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

 

 

Visiting

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Thanks for stopping by!

Last Saturday was a wonderful day!  My friend Debbie C. and I spent the day in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.  First we had a lovely lunch at the Anvil Pub and Grill.  The weather was a little cool but sunny, and it was great to be outside.

Then we went to the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts to see the current exhibit and hear a talk given by four of the featured artists about their work.

The exhibit is called Slow Light.  According to the museum's description, "Slow Light is part of the museum's ongoing commitment to expanding the definition of fiber art."  We really enjoyed hearing the artists describing their media, their inspirations, and their techniques.  My favorite pieces were digitally woven from paper yarn, which I had never heard of before.  Click HERE for an article from Knit Magazine about Japanese paper yarn.

The exhibit runs through August 16th.

Seeing the exhibit and especially visiting with Debbie was the highlight of the week.  

I did get a little sewing done.  I started putting the small Stack It Up blocks together in blocks of four, with the light pieces in the center.  Lori Holt, the designer, appliqued hearts in the centers of her blocks.  I'm trying to decide if I want to do that with mine.  What would you do?

Last week I mentioned that I had resized Ms. Holt's small blocks to be 6 in. finished instead of 4 in., but I never gave you the dimensions in case you'd like to do that too.

Here they are, in cut (not finished) sizes.

Cut 1 dark square 2 in. x 2 in. and 1 light squares 2 in. x 2 in.

Cut 1 dark rectangle 2 in. x 3.5 in. and 1 light rectangle 2 in. x 3.5 in.

Cut 1 dark rectangle 2 in. x 5 in. and 1 light rectangle 2 in. x 5 in.

Cut 1 dark rectangle 2 in. x 6.5 in.

The small blocks are 6 in. x 6 in. finished.  Four of these sewn together measure 12 in. x 12 in.

Unfortunately, I had to go out of town for a family funeral on Wednesday, so I didn't get much sewing done.  It was important to us to be there for our family members, and my Mom and I enjoyed catching up with relatives we don't see often.  I do wish we could have more family reunions and fewer funerals.

The last four blocks for the pastel baby quilt are sewn, so it's time to set them together and finish it up!  I'm hoping to get some time this weekend to catch up.  I guess maybe I'm a little bit ahead (?) since these are aqua and aqua is our Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for July.

Early in the week the boys and I went to the playground.  Buddy asked me to take this photo of his head encircled by the apparatus.  

I asked our Little Guy to pose for me to show off his missing teeth.  I think he turned into the dinosaur on his shirt.  He's a wild one!

Have a great week, everyone, with lots of time for the things you love to do.  Like quilting!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Color Block Stars and Stack It Up

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Thanks for stopping by!

Good morning and happy Saturday!  The Color Block Star top is done and hanging on the clothesline.  I added the border on Wednesday and the weather cooperated for a sunny photo yesterday.

It was really too big for the clothesline at 54 in. x 68 in.  Twelve inch blocks really add up!

 In addition to two of each of the "regular" colors I made two black blocks and two multicolor ones.  I forgot how many fun prints I had in black and multicolor.

I bought this colorful alphabet on the border at the museum sale.  I guess blue is my favorite border color.  I use other colors but I always go back to blue.  Do you have a favorite border color?

Every block has 15 print squares plus one white one.  That makes 300 squares, right?  So why do I still have a full box of 3.5 in. squares?  (Magic?)

The top will be donated to the Children's Advocacy Center in Milwaukee.

The Color Block Stars pattern is available for free HERE.  It was part of a block drive last year for Many Hands Many Hearts on the Oh Scrap blog.  (Thanks, Cynthia!)

  

Working on the top reminded me to get started on some blocks for the current MHMH block drive.  We're making these easy "potato chip-ish" blocks in complimentary colors.  I'm a little short on red and green prints (except for novelties of course!) but I had some orange/blue and yellow/purple to get started on.

Now for some pastels!  Well, mostly.  This time they're green, and they'll be part of the pastel baby quilt I hope to finish before the end of the month.

In Progress

As you can see, I'm treadling again!  My treadle is now in the dining room right under the window.  It's a good place to sew, especially when I'm waiting on supper to cook.  The jungle outside the window is a tangle of black raspberry vines, now with baby green raspberries ripening in the sun.

Once I finished the Color Block Stars top I went digging in the kits, block sets, etc. for the next project.  I chose a partial kit I cut a few weeks ago to make Stack It Up, a Lori Holt pattern.  

Last winter I really got into watching Lori Holt's videos on YouTube.  She has so many fun ideas for scrappy quilts.  Click HERE for the video for her 4 in. finished Stack It Up.  I wanted slightly bigger blocks, so I scaled mine up to 6 in. finished by cutting all the pieces from 2 in. strips.

So that's all the sewing news from our house.   But there is something even better than happened.

Our eldest daughter finished her Master's degree!  That's quite an accomplishment while working full time as a first grade teacher and looking after her husband and two teenagers.  We're very proud of her!

Have a good week, everyone, and thanks for reading this!

Cheers,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap