My Heart Belongs to Project Linus

This wasn't the best week for getting quilting done around here.  My 20 month old grandson has not been reliably taking his nap, which is my sewing time.  I think we've got it straightened out now, and he slept like an angel on Friday, but we'll see what happens next week.

I did manage to get the pink and purple Pixel Hearts quilt finished.

Here's the back.  I haven't done a lot of pieced backs, so this was fun. 

The quilting was done using the edge of the presser foot for the most part, and masking tape for the lines through the alternate squares.

Here's one of my favorite blocks.  I just love these goofy farm animals.

Speaking of goofy, how about this Yo Gabba Gabba fabric? Yo Gabba Gabba was literally the weirdest kid show ever, back in the day.

You gotta have cows!  Especially Holsteins.  This is the dairy state, dern it.

When I made the blocks for the pink quilt, I also made blocks for a blue quilt.  Some of them are the same, for instance Yo Gabba Gabba and the cows.  I finished the blue top this morning.  Did you catch my shadow as I'm taking the photo?  I've got such mad photography skills.

The border is a bug print I have used over and over.  It's almost used up now, and I'm sad to see it go.  The robot print block is made from scraps I had left after making my oldest grandson a pillow case.  The robots were the border.

It's a lovely day for January here in Wisconsin.  After I took these pictures the dog and I went for a walk in the sunshine.

I'm wishing sunshine for you too this week.
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches
Linking up with Busy Hands Quilts and Crazy Mom Quilts (as usual)
and with Oh Scrap for the first time.  Join the party!

Small Things

Monday was Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, an annual day of community service and giving back.  Because I'm a full-time babysitter for the sweetest toddler in the world, I couldn't really do justice to the day on Monday, so I dedicated the whole week to donation quilts.  I finished this one above, a flannel tumbler baby quilt, shown on my grandson's portable crib.

The back is a darling animal print.  You can see the quilting here, which I did using the edge of the presser foot.  No marking needed!

We're having a lovely sunny day here, with temps in the 40s(!).  The snow is going to melt, and the furnace won't have to work as hard for a few days.  The sunshine does interfere with good photos, but oh well.
For my piecing this week, I worked on using up strips from my 3.5 in. bin, and finished two tops.

I'm calling this one Pixel Hearts.  The prints are mostly novelties, and the block only has 3 pieces--a 3.5 in. square of white, a 3.5 in. square of novelty print, and a rectangle 3.5 x 6.5 of matching novelty print.  Easy peasy.  The blocks are set on point to look sort of like hearts.

The alternate blocks are cut from Project Linus fabric.  You probably can't see it, but there is a drawing of Linus with his security blanket and the words "Project Linus" scattered about on the print.

I used what I had left of the Project Linus fabric for the pieced back.  It will be trimmed down after quilting.

Through the middle of the back I've sewn 4 patches made from 5 in. squares, to make the back big enough.  I think my favorite fabric here is the frog print.
I'm hoping to layer, baste, and start quilting it later today.

The second top is a pattern I've made twice before, called Joy in the Morning, by Gail Bong.  I first wrote about it HERE.  It's another easy block, made from six 3.5 in. squares and one solid colored 9.5 in. rectangle.  I like how it chains across the quilt.

I still have to make the backing for this one.
Even with all this piecing, the 3.5 in. bin is still full.  How is that possible?

I hope that I have succeeded this week in honoring Dr. King's memory. 
I take comfort from this quote:
“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way”.
I'm not sure about the "great way" part, but I have made these small things with love and joy for the children who will receive them.

Wishing love and joy for you this week,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with Busy Hands Quilts and Crazy Mom Quilts.

I Need A Marker That Won't Drive Me Crazy

Here's the good news--I finished quilting and binding the Disappearing Nine Patch quilt that I'm calling Cobblestones.

It's to go in a fundraising basket for my grandkids' school, and was due in February, so I wanted to get it done in plenty of time.

This is the quilt laid out on the floor.  I quilted a 6 in. grid in the ditch, and then added diagonal lines through the squares.

The back is a swirly tan/beige leaf print.
Quilting in the ditch was E-A-S-Y.  Then I had to mark the diagonal lines.  Ack!
Does anybody out there still mark quilting lines?  If so, what do you use?

These are the choices I have in my sewing room--white pencils, white chalk, silver pencil, hera marker, soap, and regular pencil.  Each one drives me crazy in its own way.

My requirements are pretty simple. 
1.  I must be able to see the marking while quilting. (Duh.)
2.  The marks must come off completely after quilting, but not BEFORE quilting. (again, duh)
3.  I don't want to mess around with chemicals that won't come off if they get hot or cold or whatever.

I have been wrestling with this problem for 40 years.  I love quilting in the ditch or with the edge of the presser foot, since no marking is required, but sadly that doesn't work for everything.

If anybody can give me a hint or a suggestion, I would be absolutely thrilled.
In the meantime, I've got an earworm of John Cougar Mellencamp to deal with.  Sorry if I gave you one too.
Have a wonderful wintry week!
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and  Busy Hands Quilts.

Christmas Red and Ice Blue

Scrappy Christmas stars was finally finished this morning.  Hurray, I've got a Christmas quilt ready for 2018, eleven months early!

Here's a photo of the quilting in progress.  I did this quilt-as-you-go style.  The center 16 stars and the inner border were set together first.  I quilted all but the inner border, and then added the outer borders of stars and red strips.  In this photo, I have just added the top and bottom borders.  Once joined together, I quilted the rest of it.  I'm using my electric Pfaff with the built-in walking foot.

It's a small quilt, only 64 in. x 64 in., shown here on a twin bed.

I quilted the red borders with a leaf stencil I've had for years and never used til now.

Instead of a label, I wrote on the back with permanent red ink.  The binding is sewn on by machine.  It's in the dryer now, and I hope it will be all crinkly when it comes out.
So that's Christmas red.

Here's ice blue--blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2018.  Our color for January is light blue.  The pattern is called Mary's Baskets, and comes from this book:

Classic & Heirloom Quilts, by Betsy Chutchian.  I'm also making a variation of the quilt on the cover.

Five blocks done so far.  I'm changing things around a little, I always do.
I've been collecting, studying, documenting, and drooling over antique quilts for many, many years, but I've never seen a quilt just like this one.   Until...

this one!  Weirdly, it's in a book I bought on the same day as the Chutchian book.

Pioneer Quilts, by Lori Lee Triplett.  It's a nice easy block, and should use up tons of reproduction fabric scraps from the 2.5 in. bin.
I'm happy to have finished a quilt this week, but I realize I just started two more.  Is that even legal?  At any rate, it makes me happy.
Stay warm and happy this week, if you can.
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with Myra at Busy Hands Quilts, Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts, and Angela at Soscrappy.