A Pieceful Week

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

How was your week?  Mine was peaceful and pieceful.

The Two-Step top is done!  Elmo is helping me show it on Baby Buddy's bed.

It was so much fun to make.   The "game" is to pair up scraps that blend together.  Most of mine don't really, but check out the Daniel Tiger block.  His tail is from a Tigger print.

The pattern is called Two Step, and was designed by Amanda Jean Nyberg.  It's in the book Scrap School:  12 All-New Designs From Amazing Quilters.  The quilt in the book is a lot larger.  Mine measures 40 in. x 44 in.

Lately it seems like I'm concentrating either on quilting or piecing, never both in the same week.  This week was a piecing week.  Above I'm putting together the blocks of my 2020 quilt.  Each strip represents a day.  When you get down to it, this is really a string quilt.

String quilts have been on my mind lately, so when I saw these blocks at our guild's silent auction, an idea clicked, and I was lucky enough to win them.  The maker was our Lovely Laverne so I knew they would be pieced and pressed perfectly.

Another guild member, Nancy P., Queen of Scraps, has been showing us different ways to make string quilts.  Using her idea, I cut these blocks up, and sewed red strips on either side.

Here's what they look like now.  I'm going to sew all the small blocks into 4s and then set them together.

Another handy item from the auction--this little light!  Treadles don't come with lights, of course.  Before electricity was common, most people placed their treadles near a sunny window, and I've done that too.  But a light right on the work, especially at night or on a gloomy day is a big help.  It's battery operated, and is resting on the pressure knob, well away from the take-up lever.  Plus, it's purple!

The highlight of our week was going to Little Buddy's Christmas play.  It was called A Country Kind of Christmas (hence the bandanas), and he was a very serious little shepherd.  Baby Buddy went with us and enjoyed it too, especially the singing and the clapping after each number.

Later, Little Buddy helped us decorate for Christmas.  His style is simple--mash everything together, and add a dinosaur.  "But he's green!" he insisted, when I mildly objected to a T Rex next to the Christmas tree.  He also assured me that the dino was friendly and wouldn't harm anyone.  So okay then I guess.  All are welcome.

Guess who loves leftover cranberry sauce?

As we go through this busy holiday season, I'm trying to stay focused on what's really important--love, laughter, and family.  I hope you have plenty this week, and every week!

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Happy Blocks, Happy Quilts, Happy Holidays!

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Happy Blocks, made this year for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, are getting finished into Happy Quilts!  These 3 will be donated to Project Linus.

It's such a simple block, and so much fun to make, especially with novelty print squares in the middle.  Click HERE for a link to a really good tutorial on how to make them from maryquilts.com.

The blocks measure 8 in. finished, so 30 of them set 5 x 6 side by side makes a quilt 40 in. x 48 in.

The back of Quilt #1 is the rest of a bug print I've used on another baby quilt.  Quilts #1 and #3 are what I call anybody quilts, meaning they're not gender specific.

Happy Quilt #2 will probably be given to a girl because of all the pink in it.

Hope she likes cats.  And purple monkeys!

To make the backing big enough, I put a strip of charm squares down the middle.

Lastly, Quilt #3.

Alphabet print on the back.
 

So many fun prints here!  Race cars, dogs, tractors, trains, and of course dinosaurs.

Speaking of dinosaurs, don't look now, Pilgrim dolls, you're about to be the main course!  I found this photo on my camera this morning.  Little Buddy and his cousin Miss E. were having fun with it on Thanksgiving.  We had such a good visit with all the kids and grandkids this year.  That's what I'm most thankful for.

I also love having time to sew!  Every year, I spend Black Friday and the rest of Thanksgiving weekend in the sewing room, catching up on projects.  Yesterday I made the treadle wheels spin!  The project on the wall behind the treadle is called Two-Step, and was designed by Amanda Jean Nyberg, formerly of the crazy mom blog.  It comes from this book:  Scrap School:  12 All-New Designs From Amazing Quilters.

Jo Kramer of the blog Jo's Country Junction posted about making this design, and got me interested.  I already had the book and most of the 2.5 in. squares ready to go.  I'm piecing mine in columns rather than rows.

I finally finished the blocks for my 2020 diary/calendar quilt!  Why on earth did I pick 2020 as the year to do this?  It was hard to keep up enthusiasm for it during the lockdowns, etc.  But there were good things that happened in 2020 too, like the birth of my Baby Buddy, so I pushed through and got the blocks done, about a year late.

The strips for the calendar quilt came from this little suitcase.  Why is it still just as full as it was before?  The mystery of scraps.

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, the holiday season has begun for real.  I'm wishing the joy of this time of year for all who celebrate.  Happy Holidays!  As for me, I'm thinking about another slice of pumpkin pie.

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Angela at SoScrappy, Home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Ironing Out the Wrinkles

 Good morning, and welcome to Treadlestitches!

It's another rainy day here, but I'm starting today with a mug of tea and the cheerful color of the month.  September is for red scraps, brought to you by Angela at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  (See link below.)

I only got two of my RSC blocks done this week.  These are the vintage nine patches I'm removing from an unfinished top and "remodeling" into double nine patches.

I really love how this unknown quilter used every shade of red and every sort of red print.  It's the variety in scrap quilts that makes my heart go pitter patter.

I love all things vintage, including this used 1960s iron I bought at Goodwill a few years ago.  So imagine my panic when it began to have problems heating.  Without an iron there is no pressing wrinkled scraps for cutting, no pressing blocks or borders or backing--in short, no piecing!  What was I going to do? 

Bad luck with irons has followed me around, so I knew what I didn't want.  Twice, before I got the good old G.E. iron, I bought new ones, and was VERY disappointed.  The expensive one quit after about a year.  The cheap one quit right away (saving me time, I guess).  Both of these irons had automatic shut off, which I absolutely hate.  Manufacturers had apparently not thought of that particular torture for quilters when my vintage iron was made, and I had gotten used to having a hot iron whenever I needed it. 

Meet my new iron, the Knapp Monarch Dry Iron.  I ordered it from the Vermont Country Store, and it came right away.  (I know this seems like a commercial, but I am not affiliated with any suppliers.) It's a dry iron, meaning it doesn't use steam.  Since I don't use steam either, it's like a dream come true.  (It's probably my own fault, but I tend to distort quilt blocks when I use a steam iron.)

Check out the sole plate--no holes!  This kind of iron would have come in handy when I was transferring children's crayon drawings to fabric.  The old irons left little round steam holes in the design.

As with everything, there are pluses and minuses.

Here's what I like about the iron:

1.  Heats well.

2.  Heats quickly.

3.  No automatic shut off (!!!!).

4.  Not too light weight, not too heavy.

5.  No steam holes (in case I want to do fusible web, etc.)

 

And here are some minor issues.

1.  Makes a loud clicking sound when it gets to the heat you've selected.

2.  Hums every so often as it heats up.

3.  To turn it off, you have to unplug it (no off switch). 

The first two issues can be "solved" by turning up the music.  The last one is more of an inconvenience.

I hope I have this iron problem solved now, but I won't know for a while if the Knapp Monarch is reliable in the long term.  I do like that it does one simple job, and does it well.  Like a treadle!

Once I had the new iron, I had some catch-up work to do on this project.  This is my Diary Quilt, which I started back in January.  I picked quite the year to do this, didn't I?

Each of these big squares represents a month, and each strip is one day.  There are half strips at the end, to get all of the days in.  I didn't take the post it notes off before taking the pictures because I'm afraid I'll get them mixed up. 

I was so far behind!  At the end of April, I just kind of ran out of steam.  So the last two weekends I've been sorting through strips and making the blocks for May, June, July, and August.  The little block above is for last week.  The school bus marks the beginning of the school year for Big Buddy and Little Buddy, and the strip with hearts is for the family party we had on Labor Day weekend, our first since Christmas and just our kids and their spouses and kids. 

Little Buddy is in preschool every day now, so we see him less, but we're making the most of it.  Baby Buddy is starting to eat solid food, not just his toys.

Now that I'm caught up on the Diary quilt, I can enjoy making more red blocks for the RSC.

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge has been so good for me.  It has helped me to see color everywhere, and not to just get stuck on the same old thing.

This week may we find relief from stress and anxiety, and joy in the little things around us.  Stay safe!

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches 

Linking up with:

Angela at So Scrappy

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

 

 

 

 

Piecing It All Together

Welcome to Treadlestitches!  

Spring has finally come to Wisconsin.  My seedlings are doing well, and now that May seems to be settling down into warmer weather, I'll be planting them in our little garden soon.   These are zucchini, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.

Has this ever happened to you?  The project I was using for leaders and enders just took over and demanded to be made right then and there.

Last week, I started working on an old UFO of 4 patch blocks from 1930s fabrics and solid colors.  Now it's a twin-sized top, with a simple border of print squares.

Here's one of the weirdest squares in the border--a donkey (or burro?).  I think he's kind of cute.

I wanted this quilt to be similar to scrap quilts made in the 1930s, and alternate unpieced blocks were common then.  The alternate block is a very pale yellow solid from the stash. I tried using white, but it just seemed too stark.
After playing with the blocks on the floor for a couple of hours, I decided on the diagonal rows of color.  Kind of like a rainbow.  But this layout left out some of the blocks, especially the dark green ones.

So I made the rest of the blocks into a small top.  This is my nod to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month, which is dark green.  All the fabrics are vintage, so I don't think it would be a good donation quilt, since it would likely get a lot of wear and tear.  The fabrics are good quality, and might be fine, but I don't want to take a chance.  I'll quilt it up and use it around here.

We might need a few baby quilts.  Three of my grandsons were here yesterday, including this guy, my Baby Buddy.  Quilts are great for laying on the floor to play with babies.

The weather was beautiful yesterday (in the 70s!) so we were able to take a walk in the park.  BTW, check out Little Buddy's haircut.  His mom has always cut the boys' hair herself, even when there wasn't a pandemic.

Big Buddy would rather bike than walk.  He's taking a break here from math lessons.  Grandpa is tutoring him, more power to him.  It's all Greek to me.  (Little Buddy is not having any success trying to push his big brother's bike.)

Here's what ended up being leaders and enders for the 4 patch quilts.  This is my homework from April--three light blue house blocks for the RSC, and April's diary block.

I love making these house blocks!

This one has cats on the roof and the door, and clowns in the windows.

I've used lots of cat prints in other houses.  This time, it's the dogs' turn.

Scottie dogs live here, and there are bunnies at the door.

Lastly, my April diary quilt block is finally done.  April was a hard month.  Like lots of people all around the world, we couldn't be with any of our family the whole month, including Easter.  But pieced into this block are some of the bright spots.  Our library started a curbside service, I made masks and finished quilts, and every Sunday like usual I talked to my Mom on the phone (those are the yellow bars).  Life goes on.  It's different, but we can do it.

While I was sewing with the vintage fabrics this week, I listened to a Glenn Miller CD and sort of put myself in mind of the 1930s and 1940s.  Women like my grandmothers and great-grandmothers had hard times then, living through the Great Depression and World War II.  They got through it with hard work and common sense.
We can do that, too.

Stay safe, everyone, and thanks for reading.
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:
Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday
Angela at So Scrappy
Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop
Cynthia at Oh Scrap