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

Rainbow Quilt Tops and Cookies

Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Guess who's treadling today:

 It's Santa!  From the drawing on the postcard, it looks like he's making teddy bears.  He'd better hurry, it's almost Christmas Eve!

Here's a message I can really get behind:  Life is short.  Buy the fabric!  The pouch is a birthday gift from my youngest daughter.  I posed it on a Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt top I finished this week.  (Does a top count as a finish?  Probably not.)

It's 10 degrees below zero this morning, so no outside photos today!  The blocks in this quilt are the ones I've been making all year from multi-color fabrics and solids.  I had to make a few extras to bring it up to this size, a small twin/lap.

Snicklefritz is learning to pose, but I have to be fast snapping the picture before he's off and running after toys or even his own tail.

This is my last RSC project for 2022, split nine patch blocks.  After dithering for literally weeks, I finally landed on this layout.  I'm calling it Rainbow Streak of Lightning.  I still need to sew the borders on, so definitely Not Finished.

It was so much fun making these blocks!  Just a little bit of everything.

The end of the year is coming up NEXT WEEKEND!  I'd really like to have these two projects quilted and bound by then.  We'll see how that works out.

In the meantime, we'll be celebrating.  Our cookie baking last Saturday was a big success.

Our Buddy had a great time making Christmas cookies with his cousins, and even eating a few, judging from the crumbs on his shirt.

Mr. H. loved playing with Snicklefritz.  

Little Guy needed some help from his Mama.

Miss E. made sure all the ingredients were tested and delicious.

Snicklefritz has some growing to do to catch up with his ears!  He slept for hours after everybody went home.  (So did I!)

No kids to babysit today, so I'm going to run some errands (it should warm up to -4 pretty soon) and wrap presents.  Tomorrow evening the family will be here, as long as the weather doesn't get any worse.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate.  Stay warm and safe, everyone!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

 

 

 

Razzle Dazzle Done

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

We're excited today.  My first two Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts of 2022, the Razzle Dazzle quilts, are quilted and bound and even washed, ready to be donated. 

Here's this one minus the adorable grandson.  (Oops, I took this photo before I sewed the binding on!)

My Little Guy loved posing for these photos.  He's a good helper.

And here's the second one, this time toddler free.

The pattern came from the Quilters Newsletter, which was hands down the best quilting magazine ever.  It grew as the quilting hobby expanded, and was a wonderful resource.  Razzle Dazzle was in the November 1997 issue.  As you can see, I simplified it a LOT.  (For more details, see my first Razzle Dazzle post HERE.)

Both of the quilts were quilted simply, on my domestic (electric!) machine.  This one got diagonal and horizontal lines following the piecing.  I was using some leftover 100% cotton batting, and wanted to quilt closely to make sure the batting wouldn't shift when the quilt was used and washed.

You can see the quilting on the back, outlining each triangle.  The backing for both quilts came from yearly sales called Granny's Attic, put on by a local quilt group.  These larger prints make good backings.  This one seems to be a zoo, with areas for the different animals.

The second quilt had an 80/20 batting (80% cotton, 20% polyester), so I didn't need to quilt as closely.  This time I just quilted the diagonal lines.

 On the back, you can see diamond shapes rather than triangles.  This Madagascar print is lots of fun.  I once had a small scrap of it, and the design was completely lost when it was cut into strips.  Backing is the best place for it.  The child who receives it can enjoy these wacky animals.  I added the center strip to make it wide enough.  It's a leftover from my Positivity 2022 quilt.  And there was just enough left for the binding.

The binding on the first quilt is a blast from the past!  If you were quilting in the 1980s/1990s, you probably recognize it as a "pin dot".  Everybody had lots of pin dots, and we used them for everything.  This scrap was just the right color.

So that's two down, three to go!  How many weeks are left in the year??

 When I was piecing the other day, I needed a leader and ender project, and found these tumblers already cut from flannel.  It didn't take much time to get these together into this little top for Jack's Basket.  So now I have to find another leader and ender project!  This always happens.  It's worth it, chain piecing saves time and thread, and I end up with bonus quilt tops like this.  Not sure when I'll get around to quilting it, though.

When Little Guy and I were taking pictures of the quilts, Snicklefritz the kitten came to see what we were doing.  I tried to get some pictures of him with the quilts, but he was just a little black and white blur.  He settled down a little on Little Guy's lap.

Later he crashed out on a quilt on the couch.  Yeah, only been here 2 weeks and he's already learned the best places to sleep--laps and quilts.

There's lots to do today, especially putting up decorations and shopping.  I wish the joy of the season to all who celebrate, and the joy of quilting to everyone.

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict 

 

It's That Time of the Year

Welcome to Treadlestitches! 

It's that time of year--time for finishing up the Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts started back in January.  These two Razzle Dazzle tops are Not Finished, but they're ready for quilting.  Our weird weather this week had them flying in the breeze one evening after the kids went home.

Here's Razzle Dazzle #1 back in the house.  For eight months in 2022 I made a double row in the color of the month, which was about 36 in. wide and 12 in. top to bottom.  I knew from the start I would be making two quilts, but the question was which colors would go into each.  I didn't make a pink row (not enough pink scraps!) or a dark green row (same thing, not enough dark green).

My Little Guy was a very good helper today.  He's inspecting the seams here.  Hope I pass!  Razzle Dazzle #1 has the red, aqua, yellow, and dark blue rows.

This silly cat fabric is the simple border.  I was so glad to have enough of it left.

Razzle Dazzle #2 uses the orange, light blue, green, and purple rows, and has a striped border.

Since I hadn't decided which rows would be going together, I didn't plan where the individual triangles would fall.  I was lucky enough not to have too many of the same light pieces right next to each other.  Except of course for the music note print on the left.  And any others I haven't seen yet.

These are not my first zigzag Rainbow quilts, although I haven't made any in this exact pattern before.  Gotta say, I love a zigzag, however it's made.   Now I just have to quilt them!

These Christmas placemats are all that got quilted this week.  They're a project for the quilt group.  The organizers gave us Christmas fabric and challenged us to make something with it to donate.  I believe the placemats will go to Meals On Wheels, but don't quote me on that.

When I started these, I pulled out all the Christmas fabric and scraps I had.  It looked like a holiday explosion in my sewing room.  I ended up using leftover blocks and pieces, like the string blocks and the half square triangles in this one, along with some newer fabric in strips.

Years ago, I cut out too many of these red stars.  Now they can be useful.

I made this one first.  It's kind of a plain Jane.

This one is my favorite.  There's just such a lot going on!

There's been a lot going on with our weather this week!  We've had wind, a little rain, a 70 degree day yesterday, as shown above, and a high of 41 today.  About the only thing we haven't had is snow, and we may get a little of that tomorrow.

Happy Veteran's Day!

To all our veterans, thank you for all you've done for our country.

Each month, members of our quilt group make blocks using a pattern given to us by the powerful and benevolent Nancy, Queen of Scraps.  Usually we draw names of those who participated for a winner, but this time the pre-selected winner is a local group that makes quilts for veterans and their families.  I don't know the name of this 12 in. finished block, but it was very simple to make, and I'm happy to contribute to such a worthy cause.

So what have you been sewing?  I hope you have time this week to do something you really enjoy.

I look forward every week to checking out the linky parties and being amazed at all the wonderful quilts being made.  Come join us!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at SoScrappy, Home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

 

 

 

 
 

Light Blue Scraps, and Antique Scrap Quilts

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Sorry about being gone last week.  I went to a family reunion in New Jersey.  More about that next week.

Did you guess this was a pinker?

First, a little bit about this fun little device.  It's a Singer pinker, a clever gadget that cuts a pinked edge into fabric, leather, even paper.  I put a picture of one up on last week's very abbreviated blog.

The fabric fits under the cutting wheel, and you turn the crank.  Unfortunately mine doesn't have the original clamp that would hold it to the table, so when I use it I always wish I had one more hand. 

It was popular in the 1930s, and is much easier to use than pinking shears in my opinion, even without a clamp to hold it to the table.  For more information, click HERE.

Meanwhile, I was piecing my light blue scraps into my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects.  This one is Razzle Dazzle.

As usual, it's a sort of organized chaos.  So much fun to sew!

And lastly, the light blue crayon, shown here on my refrigerator.  (It's really hard to find a place to photograph it!)

I only have a very small scrap of the penguin fabric, so I made sure to put it near the top.

I can't believe it's almost time to put the RSC quilts together!  This year has gone by so fast.

And so has this month!  Here we are at the last Saturday of September.

So that means it's time for antique quilts.

Recently I bought this little top from another collector who was "thinning the herd".

Here it is laid out on a queen sized bed.  Even with a border, it will be a small quilt when finished, suitable for a crib or for display.

The pattern is Ocean Waves, pieced by hand, with yellow solid squares.  The fabrics date from the 1930s/1940s.  There are literally thousands of half square triangles.

As you can see from the ruler, these hsts are less than an inch square!  I cannot imagine cutting all these triangles by hand, let alone piecing them.  Maybe that's why the quilt isn't any bigger--it was just too much work!

Here's the back, with all those tiny seams.

I plan to finish this top with vintage backing, cotton batting, and some simple machine quilting.  But first, I have to figure out how I'm going to finish the edge.

For our second quilt, I chose another scrap quilt from the 1930s, but it is very different than the first one.

At first glance, it looks like just random scraps sewn together.  It's actually more organized than that.

The rectangular scraps are sewn vertically into strips about 3 inches wide in every other row.  The adjoining rows have the rectangles sewn horizontally in segments approximately 3 in. x 4 in., and then joined together across the quilt.

Here's the yardstick for a reference.  I believe many of these scraps to be from feed and/or flour sacks.  There are also dress prints, and even flannels.

All of the sewing here is by machine.  It's not quilted, but tied with red wool yarn instead.  In place of batting, there is a thin piece of flannel between the layers.

Check out the back!  This is a true scrap quilt.

I bought this quilt at a flea market, and I must admit, I just sort of felt sorry for it.  At the time, I was doing an annual bed peel at our quilt group's quilt show, and I needed examples of more "homely" quilts, ones that were made from whatever was on hand, to keep people warm and comfortable. 

It wasn't until I got home with it that I started looking more closely at how it was made.  Now I'm thinking this might be a fun idea for a new quilt.  It would definitely use up scraps!

Here's another fun idea--playing with trains with my Little Guy.

I hope you're having fun in the week ahead!  For my money, quilting is the most fun of all.

All the best,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

I can't wait to see what everybody's been up to this week!

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy, Home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge  

Cynthia at Oh Scrap