Little Bricks and Squares

Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Thanks for stopping by!

We're out on the porch this sunny morning, soaking up the sunshine!  I started this little quilt back in February, and finished it yesterday.

Sometimes I have an idea, and cut fabric to make a quilt.  Other times I decide what to make based on which "parts department" bin is overflowing.  This time it was the 2.5 in. x 3.5 in. rectangle bin.

I call those rectangles Little Bricks, and I have a couple of designs I use for them repeatedly.  This design is a new one.  Each block consists of two Little Bricks (blue above), one 3.5 in. (cut) light square (the bunny print), and one 2.5 in. (cut) light square (dots on white).  The block is 5 in. square finished.  I'm calling it Little Bricks and Squares.

By the way, that bunny print was one of the scraps I brought home from our trip to Edinburgh last September.  The quilt shop sold small bundles of scraps.  I bought as many as I could fit in my carry-on!

When the blocks are joined it looks sort of like a disappearing nine patch. 

The cat print also came from the Edinburgh quilt shop, and is a British fabric.  Wild cat colors!  I love it!

I matched up most of the block pieces just based on color, but this one has a nautical theme.

This one has two Route 66 prints, one for California and one for Arizona.  I matched them up with a cactus print.  I doubt if the child who gets this one will notice, but it was fun for me anyway.

The 56 blocks used up 112 Little Bricks, so that's a help for the bin.  

At 45 in. x 50 in., it's a good size for a toddler.  It will be donated to the Children's Advocacy Center.

Last Saturday for orange for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!  I have really enjoyed this month.  Orange is such a nice bright color.  These are my Greek Cross blocks.

In Progress

Mrs. Pfaff and I are starting to quilt the Friendship Star quilt made from leftover hsts.  I set up shop in the dining room since we're moving things around in the house.

Snicky LOVES looking out the window at the birds while I'm quilting, especially if the window is open.  The black raspberry vines outside have buds and flowers already.  I think it's going to be a great year for them.

Our lilac bush is loving this weather.  It's really grown in the last couple of years, and smells so good every time we walk out the door.

Some major events have been happening here!

Buddy turned 10 years old!  Oh my goodness, he's starting to look so grown up.

And Little Guy graduated from kindergarten!  The ceremony was a hoot, especially when the kids were wearing sun glasses and dancing.  

The years just fly by.

It's a beautiful day here, and I plan to enjoy it, inside and outside.  I hope you have a great week ahead, doing all the things you love.  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

Pastel Kitties and More Red Blocks

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Thanks for stopping by!

One of my favorite quilt testers is at it again!  While I was out of the room Lizzy made herself at home on this little cat quilt.

Once she lost interest, I finished the quilting and bound it, and hurried to hang it outside.  It was one of those beautiful days that happen here occasionally in spring, 69 degrees F and lots of sunshine.

There was a little more light on the front porch.

I made MANY cat blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2024, and am still putting them together into quilts.  This one used up the pink, purple, and aqua cats.  (Doesn't Aquacat sound like a cartoon superhero? lol).

The vertical rows of cats are offset from each other, a set I really like that I believe I first saw on a quilt made by Diann of the Little Penguin Quilts blog.  The cats are separated by sashing made from a cat print (of course!), which I bought while visiting my mom in Oklahoma.

Simple grid quilting, as usual, with Mrs. Pfaff's serpentine stitch.

The back is this dotted print from our guild's stash.  The quilt will go to the Children's Advocacy Center in Milwaukee.

I don't know if I will ever catch up with previous years RSC blocks, but that isn't stopping me from making more!  This year I am doing lots more planning of the eventual quilts, so maybe I won't be adding to the backlog.  Greek Crosses are this week's set.  These two have ninjas, Mickey Mouse, dots and a dinosaur.

Two more, one with numbers and one with alphabet letters.  Also dots, and hedgehogs.

Last one, dog themed but no dogs!  I need to get more red novelty prints STAT.

Here's where I can get more second hand fabric!  The new Shop Our Stash resale shop at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts is now open in the restored blacksmith shop.  I made my first trip to it last week.  Rain was pouring down so I couldn't take pictures, so I borrowed these from the museum's web site.

It's small, but very well organized.  Prices are good, and the volunteers are friendly and helpful.  I donated two big bags of fabric, good quality pieces that I know I'll never use, and brought home a small bag of stash enhancement.

Here's what I bought, mostly fat quarters in lights or colors I needed.  Some of the light ones are already cut and pieced into quilt blocks!

Shop hours are Friday and Saturday only, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  It's a win for everybody:  inexpensive fabric, yarn, etc. for makers, income for the museum, and a good place to donate craft/sewing/quilting supplies.  Click HERE for information on items accepted for donation, etc.

In Progress

The string blocks are almost finished into a quilt, which I hope to complete today.  I also have only two more blocks to make for the Lori Holt Twinkle Twinkle Scrappy Star quilt, and then I can start putting them together.  When I do that, I like to have something simple to piece as leaders and enders, so I chose this pattern. 

 The original is called Cabin Steps, and was a free handout at a local quilt show in 2016.  When I made a quilt inspired by this pattern a few years ago, I changed it from a 12 in. block to a 9 in. one by making it a 9 patch instead of a 16 patch.  I like that size for the quilts I make, so I'm doing it again.

The blocks will use the rectangles in the plastic shoebox.  I need 420 dark and 210 light--think I have enough?  Seriously, I may have to cut some light ones, but there might be enough dark ones for two quilts.

In other news, we had fun last Saturday with our youngest grandsons at the Kettle Moraine Geological Society Show, held at the fairgrounds.  The boys were very excited, especially since we gave them some spending money.  Little Guy wanted to buy everything.  His biggest purchase was an abalone shell. Buddy was more selective.  Each of them went home with rock, fossil and mineral treasures.  They also bought a small quartz heart for their mom.

There was a Native people's display area with a teepee the boys loved.  A man there was making small leather shoes by hand.  Another man gave the boys each a turkey feather, and tried to teach us to say thank you in his language.  All in all, a very good day.

I hope you have very good days this week too, doing things you love to do.  Happy Quilting!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Check out all the quilts and quilters at these linky parties!

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy, Home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Grocery Receipts, Bright Hopes, and Greek Crosses

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Thanks for stopping by!

Don't you love it when you accomplish something with a UFO?  This poor project was languishing in a bag for nearly 3 years.  Now at least it's a flimsy!

Snicky the cat wouldn't leave me alone to finish sewing it, so I finally had to shut him out of the sewing room.  Oh, and lock the door, because he can (and will!) open doors.

Here's the top, laid out on my design floor.

The sashings are made from tiny scraps sewn to grocery receipts.  I had to make a few extra to have enough for this design.  I'm tentatively calling it Rainbow Garden.  It's neat and orderly, like I imagine my garden will be someday.

The light pieces are 6.5 in. cut.  I chose light scraps to color coordinate with the sashing strips.  The cornerstones are solid fabric squares.  If I make something similar again, I will stay stitch the edges of the sashing.  They had a tendency to stretch.

It was fun finally putting the top together.  Angela of the So Scrappy blog was making something similar, and seeing that gave me the inspiration for the design (thanks, Angela!).

The border is even green, the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month.

 

Check out the name of the fabric:  Busy Lizzy!  Lizzy aka Queen Elizabeth III is our shy cat.  I didn't buy the fabric because of the name, but it was funny to see.  The print is from the Kaffe Fassett Collective.

I bought it at this shop, Quiltagious in Mukwonago, Wisconsin.  I was there on Thursday dropping off quilts and tops for the Children's Advocacy Center.  BTW, if you live in Wisconsin you might want to stop by.  They have LOTS of beautiful fabrics including Kaffe Fassett's, with a nice sale section.  (I got the green I used in the border for $7.99/yard!)

I'm not sure exactly what will happen to the quilt next.  I may quilt it myself, or donate it as a top.  Either way, it will be donated locally.

I know I say this all the time, but I am STILL finishing up my RSC quilts from last year.  This little quilt used 30 of the Bright Hopes blocks.  I'm afraid to count how many are left, the bag is still pretty full.

It's fun to revisit these blocks one last time.  I'm so lucky to have all these kid friendly fabrics.  The striped fabric in the border has been in the multicolored stash for so many years I've forgotten where it came from.

Check out the back!  Have you ever made a quilt just to use a certain backing?  The Amazing Colleen gave me this piece, which was given to her by a scout camp that had used it for a tablecloth.  They evidently didn't use it very much, as it was in great shape.  I loved the bug print and the colors, but it was kind of narrow, especially since it had been hemmed.  It would fit a 36 in. wide quilt, so that's what I made.  I picked the blocks to go with the colors on the back.

Simple quilting, as always, this time in a 2 in. grid.

On to the green scraps!  This was my pile of small green scraps, after I removed pieces I know I will never use.  I am not good about doing this, but I have to restrain my inner packrat.  

When I was done cutting, I had strips, squares, and rectangles ready to be used.  The triangles are saved for string quilt corners and that pile of pieces on the bottom left will go in the crumbs bag. No more green scrap guilt!

For the RSC this week, I made 5 green Greek Cross blocks.

Of course there had to be a Green Bay Packer's block!

In Progress

Sometimes I get an idea for a quilt, and then try to find fabrics to make it, either in my stash or at the store.  Other times I start with the scraps and figure out what I can make with them.

This quilt in progress come from asking "What can I do with these scraps?".  The bigger pieces, like Mrs. Cow, were donated to our quilt group.  Many of the smaller ones came from a bag given to me by my friend Joey.  After thinking about this little collection for a year or so, I started working on this farm quilt this week.  The pieces on the left have lots of different animals etc. surrounded by fabric frames in several colors.  Those are done!  

Now I'm sewing the 2.5 in. (cut) squares together for the 16 patch alternate blocks.  I'll be using these blocks for leaders and enders, so it may take a while to get all the blocks ready to join together.  (Did you notice the black and white rabbit that looks like Snicky?)

So what are you cooking up with green scraps, or anything else?  I'm looking forward to finding out at the linky parties this weekend.

Have a wonderful week, everyone, and happy quilting!

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Sew Happy!

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Thanks for stopping by!

Yesterday, I finally finished the last Heart quilt from last year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  It was sunny in the afternoon and 40 degrees F, so I hung it outside for a photo.

Here's what the backyard looks like this morning!  The snow is coming down thick and fast.  I don't have anywhere I have to go today, so I will stay inside and enjoy how pretty it is.

I made this quilt with the last heart blocks, even though there wasn't a good mix of colors.  There are 7 red hearts and 6 yellow ones out of the 20 total blocks.  I didn't want to make any more blocks and I refused to have any leftovers to put in the orphan pile, so I tried to balance the colors out and left it at that.

The sashings were cut from a polka dot fabric I bought in Oklahoma.  The cornerstones and border are the same fabric, a Thomas the Tank Engine print.  When my youngest grandson (Little Guy) was small he loved Thomas, so I always bought Thomas prints whenever I saw them at sales and flea markets.  Little Guy has moved on (he's into Super Mario now), so I can use these fabrics for my charity quilts.

The backing is another heart print I bought at the museum sale in June, and the binding is a red polka dot.  Simple quilting as usual, thanks to Mrs. Pfaff and her built-in walking foot.

Are you participating in the RSC this year?  I am so used to it now I think I'd be lost without it!  Many, many thanks to Angela for hosting it year after year.  I'm making the Greek Cross pattern, in blue for our January color.  These are the dark blue blocks.  

I also made light blue blocks.  This year, I have a PLAN.  We'll see if I stick to it.  BTW, did you catch the mistake?  I didn't see it until I took the picture.  Top row, far right.  Sigh.  Seam ripper time.

There, that's better.

A quilt in the book Quilts from the Heart inspired me to choose this block to make all year.  It's a good book, by the way.  The author, Karin Renaud, uses bright colors and novelty prints to make donation quilts for kids.  A lady after my own heart!

This is the photo of her Greek Cross quilt.  I love it!  But her blocks are 7.5 in. finished, and I wanted mine to be 9 in.  I also wanted to use some of the squares and rectangles from my parts department.  And simple math is always better for me lol.

Greek Cross is a pattern that has been around for a very long time.  It's listed as #1646b in Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns and as #152 Grecian Designs in the Lady's Art Company Catalog of 1928.  The block itself existed long before it was published in print.

When I started this block, I already had the light rectangles (2 in. x 3.5 in.), the Sesame Street rectangles (also 2 in. x 3.5 in.), and the center square (3.5 in.).  I sewed the rectangles together on the long side, and used my Easy Angle ruler and 3.5 in. strips of the white and the Eric Carle fabric to make the corner hsts, which measure 3.5 in. before being sewn into the block. (You could of course use any other method to make the hsts.  I just hate drawing on fabric.)  Once I had all nine components, it was easy to stitch together.  It's also easy to goof up, see the light blue square above, so I need to keep my wits about me!

A New Year is a good time to do some cleaning and reorganizing.  My sewing room has needed a makeover (or just a facelift?) for a long time.  I started with making my light yardage and scraps more accessible.  This dresser is right next to Mrs. Pfaff, so there are tools/accessories in the tin in front, such as sewing machine oil, a small ruler, and of course a seam ripper.

The big basket on the left holds mostly half yard pieces.  The Sew Happy scissors decoration was a gift from my youngest daughter years ago.  I live up to it almost every day.

Fabrics in the center basket have an off-white background.  Heed the message on the little zipper bag:  Life is short, buy the fabric!

I made this basket more than 30 years ago.  It now holds light fat quarters. 

Having these fabric visible and handy makes it more likely I will use them.  It's a start.

Announcement:  Quilt Nihon is back at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts!  My friend Debbie and I went last weekend, and it was amazing!  There are all sorts of quilts, from elaborate traditional ones to knock-your-socks-off modern ones, and everything in between.  We were so dazzled we forgot to take a selfie together!  The show will be there until March.  Click HERE for details.

To put the icing on the cake of a wonderful week, our youngest grandsons were here for a short visit after school.

They love to play Grandpa's drums.  Buddy's sticks were just blurs.

Little Guy's drumsticks were going so fast the camera could hardly capture them.

Oh, and if you have been annoyed by a certain viral trend, you might be glad to know Buddy says that 6-7 thing is "so 2025".  I'm sure something else will come along soon.

Thank you for reading this long post!  I will not be able to post next week since we're going to a funeral, so I put everything in today.

I'm off to see what lovely items other quilters have posted for us.  Have a wonderful week, and Sew Happy!

Cheers,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap