Strings and Things

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Is it windy where you live today?  This was the best shot I could get of this quilt top on the clothesline.  (My hair was blown around too.  No photos of that!)

Here's what it looks like inside the house, calmly lying on the floor.  As you can see, it's a string quilt, made from blocks I sewed last year for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

I had so much fun making these blocks!  String quilts are addictive, at least for me.  I love sewing these skinny strips into something useful.  There are 54 blocks that finish at 6 in. each.   I set them in 9 rows of 6 each.  

This is my third quilt with last year's string blocks.  The colors chain across the quilt diagonally, which turned out to be the best way to use up the limited amount of remaining blocks.  There are still a few blocks left in the bin, but they don't go together well, and will have to wait for more string blocks to be made.

The border is the blue fabric.  The words on it are sounds cars make, like vroom and beep and honk and even ah-ooh-ga.  I bought it at a going-out-of-business sale at a quilt shop.  

The top is approximately 42 in. x 60 in., and will be donated to the Children's Advocacy Center.

Here's a quick look at the back.  I piece my string blocks on cotton fabric instead of the more usual paper.  I just hate tearing off the paper, but I'm happy to recycle ugly fabric, so this works for me.

This week's RSC blocks are the Highland Fling ones, from the book Dessert Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott.  I wanted a good contrast between the center square and the outer triangles so I used white-based neutral squares, all with at least some yellow in them.  

By the way, I looked this block up in Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.  The construction is the same as #2560 which is called Windmill or The Radio Windmill.  The color placement is different.  It's also similar to Arabic Lattice, but with a square in the center instead of a 4 patch.  I'm going to start calling them my Radio Windmill blocks.

This one is my favorite!

This was a busy week!  Saturday we went to our grandson Little Guy's birthday party, and had a great time hanging out with family.

Doesn't he look grown up?  This was the only picture I managed to take.  I always get caught up in the moment and forget.

Monday my friend Joey came to visit.  We had a good time chatting and cutting up fabric.  And I still didn't take any pictures!

She also gave me a sack of ready-made binding.  Our quilt guild has a challenge to make a mile of binding for our charity quilts.  I'm getting this batch ready for this week's guild meeting.  The first one is 12 yards long!  Thanks, Joey!

Our grandson Buddy was sick for three days with a cold, low fever, and a cough, so he was here with us instead of going to school.  He was feeling well enough by the third day to get bored with watching TV, definitely on the mend. At the end of the day Thursday Little Guy was starting to come down with it too.  (Doesn't it always happen this way?)  I did all my sewing on Friday, when the kids were home with their mom.  Thank goodness those string blocks were already sewn.

Little Miss Lizzy loves sitting in the living room window, watching the birds.  

The grass is still brown, but there are buds on the big tree in the backyard.  Spring is coming!

I hope you're having a lovely week, whatever the weather.  Happy Quilting!

Thanks for reading this!

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Charm Saturday and Feelin' Thrifty

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Thanks for stopping by!

Another Saturday, another quilt top!  I'm getting a few of them together before donating them to the Children's Advocacy Center, which helps kids who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect.  The tops will then be quilted and given to the children to keep.

For this top, I'm using blocks I made during last year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge, the ones with the white corners.  I added colorful 5 in. squares, plus white print squares (the white squares have a very subtle butterfly print).  The design makes white stars across the top.

I did not come up with this design.  The original is a free Moda pattern called Charm Saturday (click HERE for the free pdf).  My quilt doesn't exactly follow this pattern, which has dark stars instead of white.  I took my inspiration from the variation done by Quilted Forest (Click HERE for the You Tube video).  The Quilted Forest version made light stars, and that's what made me see I could use these blocks.  My stars slant to the left, and I used just one light instead of several.  So I made a variation of a variation!  Quilters have been doing this forever.

I was really happy to use up so many of these leftover blocks from last year, and to add in some of my favorite home-cut charm squares, like the red print with Ninja children.  (Thanks, Debbie!)  The border is a bright-colored puzzle print.  We love working jigsaw puzzles around here.

Here's one of the reasons I'm feelin' thrifty this week:  the name of this block is Thrifty.  I'm making 5 each month.  My favorite is the one with the owl in the center.

Another reason to feel thrifty--I finally made cushions for my kitchen chairs.  The family has been complaining about these ladderback chairs for literally decades, but I love them.  They are solid oak, made in America, and I stained them myself after they arrived from the factory.  My kids call them "the Pilgrim chairs", possibly referring to the Pilgrims' penchant for denying themselves comfort.

When I finally decided to add new cushions I had to decide what fabric to use.  I wanted a heavier fabric, and didn't think I had enough on hand.  Good thing I checked!  I found this gingham in my basement.  It was heavier than quilting cotton, and there were 7 yards of it.  Then I remembered buying it at the museum sale several years ago.  For ONE DOLLAR!  Woo hoo, now I'm feeling thrifty for real!  The cushion covers are envelope style, so I can whisk them off and wash them whenever we have a spill.

Using up scraps always makes me feel thrifty.  This wonderful batch was dropped off yesterday by the Amazing Colleen.  The pieces are leftovers from guild stash, and will be used for more charity quilts.  Little Lizzy had to check them out first.

The new influx of scraps prompted me to do a better job organizing.  The larger scraps went into the bundles in the bushel basket, and the smaller pieces in these bags by color.  When each color is called for the RSC, I can pull out the bag and cut the blocks from these scraps.  We all know scraps show up whenever, so I can sort new ones by color and add them to the bags all year.  Maybe this will finally get the sewing room scraps under control?  We'll see.

Using fabric on hand and scraps, donated or purchased, does make me feel thrifty, but I also spend money on fabric and supplies without guilt.  Quiltmaking is good for my mental health, and that's worth it! 

Now I've got Feelin' Groovy in my head for the rest of the day.

Snicky got mail this week!  It's a postcard from the vet, reminding him about his appointment.  I showed it to him, but he didn't seem impressed.  It made me laugh, though.  Our vets' office is awesome.

I've got to get ready for my grandson Little Guy's birthday party today.  He's five years old!  It was a very happy day when he was born.  And all the days since!  Happy Birthday Little Guy!

I hope you have a lovely week, with lots of time for the things you love to do.

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Check out these great linky parties:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy, Home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Bright and Sunny

Welcome to Treadlestitches!  And welcome to March!

It's also the first week of yellow month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

I "accidentally" featured yellow this week in a top I made for a local charity, not knowing it would be March's color.

 

Little Lizzy, the Quilter's Cat Trainee at my house, is examining the top.  Her skills are still a work in progress, but she is very willing to learn.  And play, of course!

This is the third time I have made a quilt in this pattern. It comes from the book above, S is for Scraps by Gayle Bong.  The example in the book has a bright yellow solid in the same places I do, plus the border.  

This is the block:  6 scrap squares, plus a yellow rectangle.  The popsicle fabric is the border.  The blocks are turned back and forth, the same way as a Rail Fence quilt. 

 I just love a design that chains across the quilt!  As you can see, most of the squares are my faves, bright novelty prints.

I made 35 blocks, so I needed 210 squares. All the squares came from this drawer, with the exception of a few purples and yellows for variety.  This is the photo AFTER I made the blocks.  Maybe I need to find another project for these?

When I found out what the new color for March would be, I started cutting pieces from my yellow Big Scraps for my RSC blocks.  I don't have much yellow sadly, although I like it, and it really brightens up a scrap quilt.  I still need to cut background pieces for most of the blocks.

The Bright Hopes blocks only need a light center square and four rectangles, so I started them first.  The light centers came from the 2.5 in. square drawer.  Some of the rectangles came from the Big Scraps, others from my box of 2.5 in. x 4.5 in. pieces.

With far less variety than I had with blue, I'm just mixing everything in together.

If you're making blocks for the Many Hands and Many Hearts block drive, don't forget to mail them in!  The drive ended yesterday, which is when I finally made it to the post office.  I sent a small batch, just ran out of time to make more.  I especially like to participate when the drive asks for novelty prints, since I have lots.  Many Hands and Many Hearts is organized by Cynthia of the Quilting is More Fun Than Housework blog.

The dragon block is my favorite!  Thanks to my friend Joey for sending me this awesome scrap!

Our cats are getting along better every day.  Both of them are excited by the birds outside.  I couldn't believe they posed like this, I had to run and get my phone/camera.

Temps in the 40s and even low 50s this week are almost making me believe in spring, even though I know we are usually in for more snow in March and April.  But spring is definitely coming sooner or later, and that's something to look forward to.

Have a lovely week, whatever the weather!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Rainbow Rail Fence, and Lots of Blocks

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Thanks for stopping by!  

Surprise!  This week I didn't make a baby-sized quilt.  This top, that I'm calling Rainbow Rails, is nearly twin-sized, and used up 88 blocks from last year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge bin.

I got the idea for rail fence blocks shaded light to dark from Julie of Julie's Quilts and Costumes.  (Click HERE for another of her ideas for these blocks.)  She graciously gave me permission to copy, so I did!

Making these blocks last year was fun!  I enjoyed looking for novelty prints in all the colors, and using up scraps.

Lots of Dr. Seuss prints ended up here.  So did a variety of light prints.

I may have mentioned I plan to make some larger tops this year for a charity that helps kids who have been abused.  The organizer came to our quilt guild recently, and told us the optimal sizes of quilts and/or tops for them is either 40 in. x 60 in., or 50 in. x 70 in.  At 52 in. x 70 in., Rainbow Rails is only 2 in. wider, so I don't think she'll mind.

With all those seams ending at the edge of the top, it seemed like a good idea to add a border.  I chose this one because of all the words of love printed on it.  Plus it's blue, my favorite "neutral" lol.

 This top will go to the organizer, who quilts them on her long arm.  

There were enough blocks left over to make one of my usual baby quilts, so I'll be quilting that up soon. 

Wow, can you believe it's the last Saturday in February?  How are your RSC blocks coming along?

I added a new set (of course).  It's this block, called Thrifty in Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.  It's a 9 in. block, and uses up 3.5 in. squares and 2 in. squares.

Here are the light blue ones, and ...

the dark blue ones, and ...

pink ones, to catch up from last month.

These Bright Hopes blocks in blue were made mostly from scrap rectangles given to our quilt group by a gentleman who once managed a fabric store.

There were a LOT of the Chicago Cubs rectangles.  I need to find another project to use them up.

Disclaimer:  The following blocks were NOT made by me...

except for the bright blue/red plaid in the center of the top row.  This was our guild's block of the month for February.  Our leader on this project, Nancy Queen of Scraps, gives us a pattern each month.  Everybody who wants to participate makes as many blocks as they want to, all the blocks go in a pile, and a name is drawn from the makers.  This month, I won!  There were 28 blocks!  All of them are made from plaids.  

I'm looking forward to making this quilt, it's such a dramatic design.  Plus I have a whole bin of plaid fabrics.  Many thanks to Queen Nancy and our lovely guild members.

My youngest grandsons had Monday off school for Presidents Day, so we got to have them here with us.  It was too cold to go outside but they had fun indoors.  Buddy is wearing his costume, pretending to be his favorite video game character (Link from the Legend of Zelda games).  Little Guy brought his Luigi and Donkey Kong toys.

Snicky the cat and our new kitten Queen Elizabeth III (nicknamed Lizzy) are getting along well now.  They gallop through the house and play together, but they also need quiet time to rest up.  Lizzy found a comfy spot in a pile of quilts.

I'm looking forward to covering up with a quilt and checking out all the great quilt blogs.  There might be a cup of tea and cookie as well.

Have a wonderful week!  Stay warm and stay well.

Thanks for reading,

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

Hot Wheels! Beep Beep!

Welcome to Treadlestitches!

 It's another cold and snowy morning here, so indoor photos will have to do, I'm sorry to say.  Just another little quilt this week, this time it's the Windmill block, made from Hot Wheels prints.

If you've been to this blog before, you know how I LOVE scraps.  Digging into a new-to-me scrap bag is as exciting as opening a treasure chest.  The scrap bag in question came from a man who had managed a fabric shop and was now retired.  He donated many tops to our quilt guild, plus fabrics and scraps.  

The pieces in this particular bag were cut into 2.5 in. x 4.5 in. rectangles.  I didn't even know there was such a thing as Hot Wheels fabric, but there were lots of them in the bag, in six different prints!  So of course there had to be a Hot Wheels quilt.

Orange novelty prints can be hard to find, so I was really glad to discover these rectangles.  There were also pieces cut from the same print in light blue.  The race car background fabric was one I found in an antique mall.  I didn't quite have enough of it for the whole quilt, so I filled in with other car-related prints.

This one is my favorite.  Dare to be rad! it says.  I wonder how old this fabric is.  I'm not sure kids want to be "rad" anymore lol.

Here's the back, more race cars!  Also from the antique mall.  As you can see, I quilted it in a 2 in. square grid.  The quilt will be donated locally.  I guess it qualifies as using my blue scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month, which is blue.  I'm starting to realize I use blue in almost everything.  Does that make it a neutral?

Five blue Sisters Choice blocks for the RSC!  These blocks are 10 in. finished.  I'm planning to make a twin sized top with them at the end of the year.  Maybe I'll even do the math!  At least 10 is easy to work with.

New Project!  These blocks are fun to make, and use up lots of my blue scraps.  The centers are 5 in. squares and the other pieces are cut from 5 in. strips.  No waste!  You cut one way for blocks leaning left and another way for ones leaning right.

The pattern comes from this book, Dessert Roll Quilts, by Pam and Nicky Lintott, and is called Highland Fling.

Last Saturday's quilt show was wonderful!  I took lots of photos of the show quilts, but of course I can't share them here without the makers' permission.  I did have permission to show these antique quilts from the Wisconsin Quilt History Group booth.  Aren't they wonderful?   Notice how one of the small doll quilts seems to be made of orphan blocks.

I spent Saturday afternoon at our quilt guild's booth, talking to people and answering questions. When I volunteer at a booth, I like to bring some handwork to do.  This project was started before I was born.  How do I know that?

This is the template the pieces were cut from, part of a postcard mailed in 1940.  The fabrics back that date up.  This pattern has a lot of names, like Hummingbird and Periwinkle, but the original quilter wrote Snow Ball on a paper template, so that's what I'm calling it.  I think I'll make it into something small, like a table runner.  Or a doll quilt!

We are more than halfway through February!  Can you believe it?  I need to get on with the blocks I'm making for Many Hands and Many Hearts.  Just an easy Split 4 Patch, using novelty prints and solids.  Click HERE for details.

My youngest grandsons weren't here much this week, since their Mom was off work, so no kid photos.  How about one of Lizzy?

She curled up with me this week while I battled a rotten cold.  And of course we shared a quilt!

Have a lovely week, and thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap