16 Patches, Purple, and Snow

Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Spring snow fell yesterday, leaving 5 inches on the ground here.  It makes a pretty backdrop, but I'll be glad when it melts away.  This week's finish is a 16 patch, made from my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks from 2023.

Here it is, spread out on the snow.  Don't worry, I'll wash it today before it is ready to donate.

It's fun to revisit this purple block.  I wish I had more of that monster fabric in the top row!  I bought a fat quarter at a quilt show.  I definitely should have bought more.  Lesson learned!

The back is this multi-dot print.  I've used it a lot, just because it's so cheerful and goes with any color.

Snicky posed on the quilt when I first laid it down, then ran through the house with his tail in the air, for some reason known only to himself.

He ended up sleeping in this cozy nest of quilts in my sewing room closet.  It was a great place to be during the snow storm.

While Snicky was sleeping, I was sewing blocks for this years RSC.  I'm making 6 in. rail fence blocks, each with a light, medium, and dark strip.  

When the rail fence blocks were done, I started on the string blocks.  I just love making these!  Using up the strings makes me feel frugal, although I must admit I don't have enough "real" strings of every color, so I cut them from the big scraps.  This part of my RSC sewing makes a huge mess in the sewing room, but I don't even care.  

The trimmings even make the trash look pretty!  Confetti trash!

On Thursday my Little Guy and I went to the library.  He loves to play with the train set, even though he has a similar set at home.

He's really enjoying the Bad Kitty books by Nick Bruel.  We read this one on Thursday, Bad Kitty Does NOT like SNOW.  I think I agree with Bad Kitty.

How are your projects coming along?  I'm looking forward to seeing all the great quilts and blocks at the linky parties (links below).  Have a wonderful week!

Cheers,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy, Home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

 

Rainbow Quilt in the Snow

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

It's gently snowing this morning, and for the first time this season it's sticking.  We're not expected to get more than a couple of inches, but the weather is letting us know what is ahead.  It looked like a good place to put my latest donation quilt finish, a 16 patch baby-size quilt.

The back is a warm flannel print, and the batting is the new poly batt Joey brought me.  It was easy to quilt, and will be nice and warm for a child to snuggle under.  It hasn't been washed yet, but it's in line next, after the Thanksgiving tablecloths.

I used the same border fabric as the Crossroads quilt I finished at the end of October.  The colors are set as a sort of rainbow.

There are so many little "pictures" in the 2 in. finished squares.  I spy a monkey, a ladybug, a football, letters, a frog, a hedgehog, and even a chicken.

The 16 patch above is the 4th Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt I've made this year.  There is a fifth one not quite finished yet, and then there is this big pile of blocks, waiting to be assembled.  Yikes!  I am probably not going to get done by the end of the year.  Maybe I should make fewer blocks next year.  Or bigger quilts!

Remember this RSC quilt from last year?  I finished it in January, and later donated it to the GSAFE Quilt and Fiber Art Auction, which starts this Tuesday, Nov. 28.  GSAFE is an organization that works to help LGBT youth in schools.  Click HERE to learn more about GSAFE.

I have three quilts in the auction, and there are hundreds more items.  The theme is In Rainbowland, which really fits with the RSC quilts, I think!  If you're interested, you can click HERE to preview the auction items.  Bidding starts on Tuesday.  The goal is to raise $30,000.  By the way, my quilts are numbers 231, 236, and 237.
 

I hope everyone who celebrates had a happy Thanksgiving.  I know we did!  My little grandsons and I made the pies on Wednesday.  They stirred up the pumpkin filling and rolled out their pie crust (with help of course!)  Each of them made a small pie, and got to eat it after lunch as an early Thanksgiving treat.

What is this Guy doing?  Is he a robot, or an astronaut?  Believe it or not, there is a practical reason for Little Guy wearing this on his head.

The boys' school was closed for the holiday all week, so on Monday we took them to one of Hubby and Buddy's favorite stores, The Gem Shop, Inc. in Cedarburg.  We bought some small geodes, and everybody had to wear eye protection when Hubby cracked them open.  We had safety glasses for Buddy, but none for Little Guy, so Hubby put that plastic dome on his head.  He liked it so much he wore it off and on the rest of the day.

With Thanksgiving behind us, we're getting ready for the busy Christmas season.  I hope the boys will help us decorate this week, and we'll be getting out all the Christmas quilts.

Have a lovely week!

Cheers for reading this,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap 
 

Sunshine and Shadow

 Welcome to Treadlestitches! Happy Last Day of 2022!

To me, every year is like the old quilt pattern called Sunshine and Shadow.  Both light and dark, good and bad things happen.  Remembering the sunshine when a shadow descends helps me keep going.  (The photo above is a half log cabin quilt I made years ago.)

 The Rainbow Scrap Challenge is one of the bright spots of sunshine in the year, and I always enjoy it.  This year I had 4 RSC projects  which resulted in 5 quilts.  Three of them were done earlier, but I'm down to the wire on the last two.  I really wanted  to get all my RSC quilts done before starting new ones in January.

Yesterday, I finished the 16 patch.  It's 61 in. x 69 in., sort of a lap robe or small twin.

The back is this blue plaid I had in the stash.  I bought it at a booth in an antique mall several years ago.

I quilted a 2 in. grid with the serpentine stitch on my Pfaff, and bound it with a dark blue solid.

The Split Nine Patch (that I'm calling Rainbow Streak of Lightning) did get its borders, but I don't think it will be quilted by midnight tonight.  Maybe by the end of the weekend?  It's a true twin size, at 72 in. x 81 in.

The border fabric is this green star print.  I bought a nice big piece of it at a flea market last summer.  I'm not sure why, but I usually use blue fabric for borders.  Other colors can work, too!  I need to give them a chance.

These are the other 3 RSC quilts, and I've blogged about them earlier.  The zigzag ones are called Razzle Dazzle (click HERE to read about them), and the Crayon quilt can be found HERE.  All of this year's RSC quilts will be donated to children's charities.

The end of the year is a good time to look back and take stock.  I use this little notebook to keep track all year.  When I finish making a top, I record it here.  Then when it gets quilted, I record that date as well, and check it off.

Here are the stats for this year.

Quilts finished: 27 total:  21 Baby-sized quilts, 6 medium to large

Tops made, not yet quilted: 5 total:  4 small, 1 twin (the Split Nine Patch above).

Now, that doesn't count tops finished in PREVIOUS years.  The backlog is SERIOUS.  I'm just trying not to add to it, and I actually have a plan for tackling the UFOs this coming year.

Starting tomorrow!

I hope all who celebrate had a happy holiday.  This little Snicklefritz keeps climbing in the Christmas tree and knocking down all the ornaments.  Thank goodness my hubby weighted the base so he can't tip it over.

I'm wishing more sunshine than shadow for you, and all of us, in 2023.  Happy New Year!

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

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

In Progress

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Nothing is finished this week, but there's plenty that isn't.  I'm quilting the first Razzle Dazzle quilt on my electric Pfaff, and it's coming along okay.  I'd like to get all my Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts done by the end of the year.  I admit, it may not be realistic, but it's a goal to shoot for.

Here's another RSC project in progress, the 16 patch blocks made of multicolor prints plus a solid.  I'm sewing them into rows, and then into a twin sized top.  My treadle sits under the window in my sewing room.  I can see the driveway when I sew in the morning, so I know when my daughter arrives to drop off my littlest grandson for babysitting.

Besides the quilts in progress, I am also trying to better organize the sewing room.  Here's one of the reasons why:

This is just PART of what I bought at a quilt show rummage sale in early October.

Picture a regular sized classroom at the quilt show.  Three of the walls were lined with tables and there were double tables down the center of the room.  All of these tables were piled HIGH with fabric and there were overflowing boxes underneath.  Some of the larger pieces or kits were priced separately, at around $3 to $4 per yard.  All the rest, about 90% of the fabric in the room, was priced at $10 per grocery bag full.

I filled one whole bag with flannel, mostly large pieces for backing baby quilts but some cute smaller stuff for piecing tops.  I stuffed the other bag with cotton prints, plus a heavier print for a zipper bag and four or five full feed sacks.

Adding this to my haul from the rummage sale at the quilt museum in June, some of which is seen below:

...plus stuff I picked up at flea markets and antique stores through the year made reorganizing the fabric storage absolutely necessary.

I even got this wild print at the Quilt History retreat!
 

Like many quilters, I store my fabric both by color and size.  I have bins of quarter yards, half yards, and one yard pieces, and I was able to just squish the right size new stuff into those, but the bins in the closet hold the bigger yardage, and they were ridiculously full.  Expanding into bankers boxes helped. .

This bin of light fabrics is definitely overstuffed!  I need to use some of it up soon or change to a bigger box.

Light fabrics are ALWAYS on my list to search for at sales.  I always look for backing fabric, colors I'm out of or low on, and (of course!) novelty fabric for the kid quilts.

So the fabric is better organized now and it's easier to find what I need.  I also added a Some Assembly Required box for finished block sets, and another box for projects I want to finish by the Quilt-As-You-Go method.

Now to organize what I work on!  I bought a white board, and Hubby very kindly put it up for me above my cutting table.  So far, I'm really liking it.  I can keep track of deadlines etc., and the magnets will hold paper patterns while I'm cutting the pieces.

It's not perfect (yet?) but it's a good start.  A work in progress.

Last weekend we went to see a local theater performance of The Music Man, featuring our oldest grandson. It was so much fun!  He has three more performances this weekend.  Break a leg, G!

We got some real snow this week, but only about 2 inches total.  It's been cold, so it hasn't melted yet.  The big maple tree looks weird with both leaves and snow.

A new family member joined us on Thursday!  We adopted Snicklefritz from the Humane Society.  It's amazing how someone so tiny can turn everything totally upside down.  The grandkids love him, and so do we.  Our dog is putting up with him really well, thank goodness, but I'm already tired of a kitten waking me up to play at 5:30 in the morning! 

Next week, it's Thanksgiving!  We're hosting, as usual, and I'm doing as much cooking ahead as possible.  Next stop after that is Christmas!  Just thinking about it is making me tired.  It's a good day for a nap with a furry friend.

Have a lovely week, whatever it brings.

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

September Sewing

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  And happy Labor Day weekend to all who celebrate.

 I'm celebrating finishing this Rail Fence top, which will be given to a veteran by a local group.

It was really windy yesterday afternoon when I tried to get this picture of the quilt on the clothesline.  I just kept thinking, long may she wave!

Nothing could be simpler than a rail fence quilt, and the pieces were already cut out by our charity committee, so it was a perfect project for some mindless sewing for a good cause.

Here's the whole top, laid out on the floor.  I really wanted to add a border, but we aren't supposed to.  The quilt tops the group asked for have to be roughly the same size since they often present several at the same time to the veterans.  The group will quilt and bind the tops, so my work here is done.

I was caught up on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks, and needed something to sew for leaders and enders.  This drawer of 2.5 in. squares came to mind, so I started yet another new project.  (And I'm not even sorry!)

The squares are 1800s reproduction fabrics for the most part, and are leftovers from other quilts, mini charm squares, and even some from the free table at the quilt group.  I'm making these 16 patch blocks, and will set them with alternate blocks of some kind, probably a light shirting fabric.  Some of the red blocks have 16 different fabrics in them.

Orange is the new RSC color for September, and I've made a start on my blocks.  Orange is the last color I need for most of my RSC baby quilts, so soon I can start putting the blocks together.  This is going to be so much fun.

In other news, we have a few family milestones.

Our beautiful granddaughter Miss E. turned 10!  She's going into the fifth grade.

Her brother Mr. H. is now in 7th grade!  It's hard to believe.  

This is a photo of Little Buddy on his first day of kindergarten.  All the brothers got in on the act.  Big Buddy, our oldest grandson, is a junior in high school.  And of course Baby Buddy still comes here every weekday for child care.

Baby Buddy and I go to the park nearly every day.  Some days he wants to play on the playground.  Other days he just takes off walking and I follow with the stroller.  The weather has been beautiful lately and we're enjoying every minute.  (I know what's coming in the months ahead!)

I want to thank everyone for their kind words last week about the loss of my niece.  

Have a lovely weekend, and a happy week ahead.

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Angela at So Scrappy

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict 

Cynthia at Oh Scrap