Thanks for Sharing

Today's finish has been a long time coming.  Hurray, it's a UFO no longer!

The blocks were made by members of my guild.  They were my birthday blocks in 2003.
We had a program you could sign up for at the beginning of the year.  During the year, we made blocks each month for members who had a birthday that month.  The member decided on the pattern and colors.
Since my birthday is in December, and I asked for green blocks, I got several Christmas fabrics mixed in the Buckeye Beauties.  I always thought I'd make more blocks and make a Christmas quilt, but somehow it never happened.
Until now!  I put the top together at our retreat last month, and quilted it last weekend.

It is just 16 blocks, set together with a red Christmas print border.  I'm so glad most people signed and dated their blocks.

The quilting is simple, just radiating diagonal lines, plus some machine serpentine stitch in the border.

The binding is not really a Christmas print, but the colors are okay.

Here's the back, which to me looks like old timey wallpaper.  I absolutely love this kind of fabric.
At last, a real finish.
In other news, I'm making progress with some of the blocks I finished at the retreat.

The Star Struck stars are set together.  You probably can't tell from this photo, but this top is in two pieces, one with 3 rows and one with 4 rows.  That's because I'm quilting it that way.

I'm well along on the larger section.

Don't you just love running your hands over the finished part of a quilt?

I had an unexpected free day today (my little guy is home with his daddy, so no babysitting), so I finished the blocks for the rail fence quilt on the treadle this morning.

When I was working on this at the retreat I thought I had a panel at home that would go with the blocks.  It turns out the panel I had is mostly blue, so I made this star block instead.
Our wonderful weekend retreat is the gift that just keeps on giving.

The retreat I went on with guild members was three weeks ago now, and last Wednesday night was our first guild meeting since both groups got back.  One of our members spoke about how great it was for her to be with other quilters, and I thought about how much we share when we get together.
Sure, we share irons and cutting mats and space, but we also share encouragement, expertise, ideas, excitement, stories, and laughter.  Not to mention food!
So thanks, quilters, for sharing, at retreats and shows and online and everywhere else.  Positive energy is contagious, and excitement is good for us!
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches
Link ups as usual with Busy Hands Quilts and Crazy Mom Quilts.

Fidget Like Crazy

When you were a child, did anybody ever tell you "Stop fidgeting!" ?  I can still hear my grandmother's voice saying that.  And in more recent years, I can remember saying it to my own kids, especially in church.
Keeping calm and paying attention without moving around is all well and good in most situations.  It keeps us from distracting others.  But sometimes, due to illness or trauma or mental state, small movements are good for us.  Sometimes we just need to fidget.
Quilters have started making Fidget Quilts for this reason.  The little quilts, about the size of a placemat, fit in the patient's lap.  There are usually lots of textures for people to feel, and sometimes zippers or velcro or buttons to work.  Many nursing homes are using these quilts with Alzheimers patients.

My amazing quilt group (Ties that Bind Quilters) has made stacks of these quilts.  Here's Joan D. holding up a couple.  The ladies are so inventive.

Here's a closeup of the one Joan's holding up.  It has great colorful fabrics, loops of rick rack and beads, and a place for a photo in the center.

Check out the butterfly on this one!

It's a great place to use orphan blocks and fun fabrics.

This is our fidget cat!  It's made from lots of wild fabrics like fake fur and crushed velvet, with some orphan blocks and buttons.  We're going to make a few more, some this size and some smaller.

This is my first fidget quilt, and it's my finish this week.  It wasn't easy for me to make one of these.  I just felt like I didn't have any good ideas.  Putting all these different fabrics together reminded me of all the crazy quilts I've seen at documentations, so I made a crazy fidget quilt. 

The fabrics are crushed velvet, flannel, brocade from a dress, acetate/satin from runners I made for last year's wedding, etc.  Lots of etc.

Here's the back.  I made this as one large piece, adding the scraps to a large piece of batting and backing.  You can see the seams, which function as quilting.

I'm thinking about adding some embellishments, like buttons or ribbons.  I want this to be fun for the person who receives it.
These things are addictive!  I'm already planning another one.
Below is a link to an info sheet on Fidget Quilts.  I don't know if the person who wrote it actually invented these or not, but it's a good summary of what they are and why we make them.
Fidget Quilt Info Sheet

Have fun this week, and fidget like crazy.

With A Little Help From My Friends

This is my string quilt.  I made the top over a year ago (as described in this post).  It has bits and pieces of so many memories--quilts made and used, quilts given away, shopping trips with friends, scraps of fabric and time.   There are even 3 blocks in the quilt that were made by my friend Debbie for her own quilt.  She gave me the extras and lots of plaid scraps.

My cat and I are looking at it here.  I LOVE it!  (Mr. Biddy is also giving it his seal of approval.)

Here's the back of the quilt, made from orphan blocks and random fabrics.  My friend Joey and I made up the backing together, and Joey did the quilting.  Can you see it in this picture?  She did a Baptist fan over the whole top.  She does this freehand on her long arm.  It is amazing, and exactly what I was envisioning for this quilt.

I have since bound and labeled the quilt.  I can't stop running my hands across it.

Here's the label.  It's part of my New Years Resolution, to label the quilts I make this year.

Ties that Bind Quilters may remember this quilt.  Louanne S. led us in a mystery quilt, with one clue per month, in 2014.

I chose the spools fabric first (it was a Connecting Threads print), and then chose the other fabrics based on the colors in the print.  I really liked this quilt, even though these are not my usual colors.

But it didn't come to life until Joey quilted it!

Look at these beautiful feathers, done with variegated thread!

And check out how it turns the corner!  It is just so wonderful!
Both of these quilts would still be just tops, hanging in my sewing room closet, if it wasn't for Joey.  This is the first time anyone else has quilted anything for me, and I could not be happier.

I bound it in a bright green, and sewed on the label.  The quilting looks even better from the back!


Yesterday was a busy day, but it was also Martin Luther King Day, so I made time to work on a little quilt for charity.  (I think I'm going to try calling them "giving quilts" this year.)

I quilted and bound this baby quilt, all on the sewing machine.  The top was hanging in the closet, waiting for me.

I have made quilts in this pattern lots of times.  It's sort of my go-to pattern when I just want to sew something.  I call it Evelyn's Quilt, since I made it first for my granddaughter Evelyn. 
Click here to go to the free pattern.

I quilted a diagonal grid as well as a horizontal one.  My quilting is SAD compared to Joey's.

Here's the back of the quilt, a Winnie the Pooh print I got at a sale for $1.00 per yard.  I think I have enough to back at least one more quilt.

The redwork quilt sits on my kitchen table, where I can quilt whenever I have a few minutes between cooking and laundry, etc.  The masking tape is working out for quilting lines without having to mark them.

I'm hand quilting diagonal lines through each square.  When those are done I'll tackle the sashing and border.  The lines are 1 3/8 in. apart.

This is one of the best of the squares--a mule and two dogs.  The embroidery is mostly chain stitch.  Blue lines are visible on some of the blocks.  Either the original quilter bought the blocks ready-stamped or stamped her own with a transfer pattern.

I like this one, even though it is very simple.  I believe it was traced from a rooster cookie cutter.  I'll have to look for one of these the next time we go antiquing.

My life has really been enhanced by my quilting friends, and I bet yours has, too.  Let's remember to appreciate them this week.

Stay warm!

Why Do I Have So Many UFOs?

 This is UFO #4.  Not a space ship, an Un-Finished Object.  Sadly, the number does not mean I only have 4 UFOs (insert maniacal laughter here).  It's just the number on the list for our quilt group's UFO challenge.

Just about every year or two, Colleen finds a UFO challenge for us, to help reduce the giant pile of neglected projects gathering dust in our homes.  (I'm just speaking from my personal experience here.  Not everybody has a giant pile.  Probably.)
This year's challenge is pretty simple.  Make a list of a maximum of 8 UFOs.  Number them.  Then come to the quilt group meeting, where Colleen will pick a number from a hat.  Work on the project with that number.
There are of course a few rules.  The project has to have been already started to get on the list.  And the project must be completely finished to count towards the prize at the end.  (Of course there's a prize!)  For each completed project, the quilt maker gets one chance toward the prize drawing.  More completed projects, more chances to win.
This started at the March meeting last week, where the #4 was drawn.  My #4 was a group of blocks that I called Four Patch Cross.  I started this project in an antique mall.  In my defense, it was already a UFO when I found it.

Here is a close up of one of the blocks.  The four patches in the corners were in a bag at the antique mall, along with cut squares.  They were mostly sewn by hand with black thread.  I added reproduction fabrics for the cross and the square in the center.  When I ran out of four patches I made more from the squares in the bag.

Sometimes I had enough for all 4 of the four patches, and sometimes I didn't.  I just did the best I could with what I had, like the previous quilt maker had done.

I am setting the blocks with a wide sashing made of shirting print, and red cornerstones.  It's sort of clunky, but I like it.

Check out my row labels--post its, pinned on.  I use these for several quilts, until they wear out.

So as I'm sewing the sashing strips for ufo#4, I realize I don't have a current leaders and enders project. 
For more on Leaders and Enders, check out books by Bonnie Hunter.  Here's a link to the latest one:
  More Adventures with Leaders and Enders

So what would be a good Leaders and Enders project?  Let's look in the scrap drawers in the closet.

Maybe I shouldn't have opened this drawer.  I am not sure I can get it shut again.  These are my 1.5 in. wide strips.  I haven't done anything with them in a long time, but  I've kind of been thinking about a log cabin quilt.

This book was in my quilt book collection; The Ultimate Half Log Cabin Book, by Sharyn Craig.  Hmm.
It wouldn't hurt to try out a block, would it?

This was fun!  I can use up lots of short strips and pieces!  I have great fabrics!

There are all sorts of interesting ways to set these blocks together.  This one is straight furrows.

Here's sunshine and shadow.

Or what about this one?

Wait a second ... What just happened?
I have 10 of these little blocks made, and I still haven't finished the sashing for UFO #4!

I am really having a good time, though.

Have a good time this week.