Kid Quilt and More Multicolor Blocks

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

This little quilt is finished at last.  I showed the top a couple of weeks ago.  A big stack of these blocks were donated to our quilt group, and I finished some of them into a child's quilt to donate.

In my head, I call this The Paw Patrol Quilt, because of this block in the upper left.  It was on top of the stack when I received them.  I chose 12 additional blocks from the pile, looking for other kid prints and bright colors, and made 7 more from my own scraps.

The block pattern is a Disappearing Nine Patch, using 3.5 in. unfinished squares instead of the more usual charm squares.  Because the pieces are turned after they are cut, it's a challenge to get any one way prints (like these dinos) all going the same way.  I had to figure it out and write down which way to turn the squares.  (I still messed it up a couple times lol.)  I do like this block, and may make it again sometime.

The blocks were a little wonky, so I had to trim them down to be the same size.  They would not have lined up properly if set side by side, so I added the narrow sashing. 

The backing is regular cotton, but was once made into a tablecloth at a girl scout camp.  A friend recently passed the tablecloths onto me to use as backing, and it has worked well.  They must not have used the tablecloths very much at all.  (I used another tablecloth on the back of the Jumping Jacks quilt I showed at the end of August.)

This is such a fun time of year for those of us who participate in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  It's time to start putting quilts together from the blocks we've made all year!  I am working on a couple, but I'm also still making blocks!

This week I made multicolor string blocks.  The colors are even brighter than this photo appears.

Pure chaos!  Wild and crazy.

Smaller pieces make up the Grocery Chain strips sewn on actual grocery receipts.

Still crazy!

These 3-D Flying Geese are a little calmer, thanks to the white background.

So now, am I done making RSC 2024 blocks?  Maybe!  How about you?

Last Sunday, Hubby and I went to the big quarterly flea market in Elkhorn.  It was perfect weather, just a lovely day.

Lots of beautiful quilts were displayed for sale.  Prices were reasonable for the most part.

None of them came home with me, although the rose quilt on the right was very tempting!  I'm no longer collecting quilts.  But I can still enjoy looking.

I found yet another cool block I might like to make!  I saw this in Serenity Quilt Shop in Kenosha Wisconsin recently.  They had kits made up for the blocks, too.  There were blocks with bright colors like this, and...

soft floral prints like this!  Hey, I have soft floral prints!  I keep telling myself I can't make EVERYTHING.  But I keep trying!

No photos of the grandsons this week, sorry.  They were sick two days, and not here very long after school otherwise.  Nothing serious, just the usual bugs kids get when school starts, and they're perfectly well now.  Next week they have a day off school, and we're going to make Halloween cookies and go to the apple orchard.

Thanks so much for reading!  Have a lovely week!

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy 

Plus Signs, and Signs of Fall

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Fall is starting out here with beautiful weather, and we've been enjoying it all we can.  (We know a Wisconsin winter is coming!)  My grandson Baby Buddy and I go to the park nearly every day, where I took this picture.  These leaves will soon be a bright yellow, but for now they are several shades of light green, like the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month.

Hubby and I love big outdoor flea markets, even when we don't buy anything.  The last one is at the end of September, and is a sure sign of fall approaching.  We went last Sunday, and I was so tempted by this gorgeous fiddlebase Singer sewing machine.  The decals are one of the unusual patterns, and the serial number indicated it was made before 1900.  It had been electrified at a much later date.  I drooled over it for a while, but didn't even ask how much they wanted for it.  I'm not collecting anymore, I'm just enjoying what I have.  (Or at least that's what I keep telling myself!)

I almost passed by this battered old quilt, but then I took a look at how it was made.  It's kind of a 1930s crumb quilt.  Random scrap pieces are sewn into rectangles approximately 4 in. x 8 in., and then separated by plain strips of the same size.  Hmm.  This might be a fun technique to try.

In the end, this is what I bought at the flea market:  4 fat quarters (for $6 total), a pattern for making sewing accessories, and 4 cookie cookbooks.

Back home again, I finished two more little quilts.  These use the plus blocks I've been making since January.  The quilt above uses blocks in bright colors.

When I saw this light fabric with the mathematical symbols on it at the local quilt shop, I knew it would be fun to use with the plus blocks.  

The backing is the last big piece I had of this dinosaur fabric.  The cornerstones and binding were part of the loot I got at the quilt museum sale in June.

Here's the second plus quilt, which uses mostly pastel colored blocks, including pink.

The sashing this time has lots of colorful dots.  I got scraps of this cupcake fabric at a quilt show years ago.

The back is an Easter print (adorable bunnies!) and a strip of aqua to make it big enough.

This border fabric may look familiar.  I have been using it for literally years.  It came from a bag I bought at Goodwill.  There were 6 yards of the butterfly fabric, 10 yards of a coordinating fabric, and some blanket and sheet scraps.  I buy fabric EVERYWHERE.

The quilting I'm doing on these little donation quilts is very simple and quick.  I may branch out a little to keep it from being boring, but a 2 in. grid will help the quilts hold up to hard use and lots of washing.

Here are two more signs of fall.  Football is coming back (Go Packers), and Baby Buddy is wearing a sweatshirt.  We had a cool rainy morning last week, and his outfit was perfect for it.  Baby Buddy is of course also perfect, as all grandchildren are.

Have a lovely week, and stay safe!

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

I'm linking up with these wonderful linky parties.  Come and join the fun!

Angela at So Scrappy

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

A Pieceful Week

Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Here's what I've been sewing on my Singer treadle this week--spiky stars.

Two of these are not like the others!  

While making the pink spiky stars for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I ended up making two more in patriotic fabrics for Covered in Love's July-August block drive.  (Read more about that HERE.)  So with the 4 from last year and 8 more from this year, I made an even dozen.  Maybe this will make up for forgetting to mail any last year.  Little Buddy and I took them to the post office Friday morning, and sent them on their way to Texas.

These blocks are also easy to make with strips.  All the pieces in this 12 in. finished block are cut from 4.5 in. strips.  The triangles are cut using the Tri-Recs rulers.

My pink stars are made of 1800s reproduction fabrics.  I am normally not a big fan of pink, but I absolutely adore the double pink prints popular at the end of the 19th Century.

For backgrounds, I used white or off-white scraps and strips, mixing and matching as needed.

These still need to be quilted by the block, which is the way I'm finishing this quilt.  Heck, the dark blue spiky stars from LAST month still need to be quilted.  The blocks are waiting until I get the dinosaur quilt finished, and I haven't been working on it much this week.

We're right in the heart of flea market season now.  I took a few photos at the latest one in Elkhorn.  It's amazing how many people use antique quilts as tablecloths or backgrounds for their booths.  Such great eye candy.

Gorgeous 1930s quilts, with scads of handwork.

These tops were only $50 each.  Beautiful, but I managed to resist their charms.

I didn't buy any quilts, but I did come home with a mystery.  And it even happens to be pieced with double pink!
I have been studying antique quilts for years, but I don't think I've ever seen this particular block.  It looks like some kind of basket.  It also looks like it might be hard to piece.
If you've seen it before, could you let me know in the comments?  (By the way, I've turned the photo so I could see the block more clearly.  The upside down legs in the background do look a little weird.)

Even though I have lots of quilting that needs to be done, this just seemed to be a good week to cut and piece, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
And in the end, that's what it's all about.

I'm wishing you joy and peace (or piece!) in the week ahead.

Thank you for reading this post!
Sincerely,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I Get A Whoop Whoop)
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts 
Angela at So Scrappy (Home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge)
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework (Oh Scrap)