Positivity 2022: California Bound

 Welcome to Treadlestitches, Positivity 2022 edition!

It's Sunday morning, around 10:35, and I just put the last stitches in 20 minutes ago!  (Good thing you couldn't see me dancing and jumping up and down!)

Normally, I like having deadlines, because it means I get things done.  And waiting til the last minute is stressful.  But lately, I've just run out of both time and energy.  

I'm a "granny nanny".  I babysit my two youngest grandsons every weekday from 8 to 4 or 4:30, while their parents work.  I volunteered for this job, and I love being with them.  Before they come in the morning, I get a few chores done and piece quilt blocks.  The actual quilting gets done on the weekend.

But we have been out of town for the last four weekends.  And I have just been too tired to quilt in the evenings.

So yesterday morning, I decided I would do as much as I could now that I have time again.  If I didn't get finished in time for the deadline, I would at least make a good start, and finish up later on.

I quilted a 2 in. grid with the serpentine stitch, and it went much more quickly than I had thought.  I got it all done by the time I went to bed last night.

I used a stencil to mark the border for quilting, just a simple 2-line swag I've used many times before, and quilted that this morning when the light was better so I could see the markings.

Then I trimmed the edges, made the binding, and sewed it on.  The binding is a blue scrap I bought at the quilt museum rummage sale last June.

What do you think about the backing?  I stayed away from my beloved novelty prints for the front, opting instead for calm blue, green, and aqua prints, but I could not resist the sea turtles for the back.  They seem calm to me, too, swimming peacefully.

Now all that remains to do is to pack it up and mail it, which I will do this week.  Hurray!

Hurray for all the Positivity 2022 quilts, finished or not yet finished.  And a huge thank you to Preeti and Bernie for helping bring more positivity into the world.  We all need it!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with Bernie at Needle and Foot.
 

 

Home and Away, and Orange

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

We're back from visiting the natural wonders of northern California.  It was a foggy morning when we stood on the bank above the Pacific ocean, inhaling the sea air and listening to the waves.

The tiny person at the base of these redwood trees is me!  Everything was so amazing and overwhelming.  I ran out of adjectives by the second day.

But don't worry, I never plan to run out of fabric!  There was more than just fabulous scenery, there was also a friendly quilt shop in Redding, California, called Sew Simple.  My hubby understands the importance of balancing hiking/sightseeing and fabric shopping on a vacation. 

 BTW, did you notice the ORANGE fabric?  August is orange month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I couldn't be happier.

When I got home, I picked my easiest RSC project, and made these blocks in the mornings, while waiting for my grand kids to arrive. 

I can't believe I still have a scrap of this cheeky dinosaur fabric.

Orange aliens got to come out and play.

And I just love these joyful minions.

This little squirrel in Mariposa Grove in Yosemite reminds me of my recent take off on Sew Preeti's Positivity 2022 quilt tutorial.

I'm using Preeti's method, which is great fun, but making the blocks with scraps.

I start with two matching dark and two matching light charm squares.  I also cut 2 strips 2.5 x 9 in. of a different dark (orange here) and two strips 2.5 x 9 in. of a different light.  Then I make these two blocks:

Once they're sliced into fours, I put them together just like the directions say,

 and end up with two identical blocks.

I'm not totally happy with these two, and I think I know why.

Take a look at the rest of my orange blocks.  Which of these blocks is not like the others?  Three of these look good to me, and the one in the upper right looks a little weird.  

 I'm going for a kind of twist look, and I think for that I need less contrast between the dark fabrics.  So, lesson learned.  I'll still use all the blocks of course.

Because the blocks remind me of the chewing gum wrapper paper chains we made as children, I'm calling the quilt I'm making Gum Wrapper Twist.  The weird ones can represent all the chains I folded wrong. 

Our busy level around here has ramped up to 11, but we're still having fun with our little boys.  

This week we've been watching American Ninja Warrior on TV.  If you haven't seen it, amateur athletes try to complete a series of difficult obstacles.  I'm not a big sports fan, but I like how all the fans and competitors root and cheer for every contestant. Our Buddy wanted to try out his moves on the playground.  He's not bad!

Our Little Guy is pretending the slide is the warped wall the athletes run up.  He loved when we cheered and yelled "Beat that wall!"

Summer is going to come to a close soon, and most of the grand kids will be going back to school.  Until then, we're going to just enjoy the weather and being together.

Have a lovely week!

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with

 Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

 Angela at So Scrappy, home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Positivity 2022 Progress #2

 It's a top!  I got my Positivity homework done by the deadline!  It was a near run thing.

This week, before the kids got here in the morning, I was setting the blocks into rows, and then putting the rows together.  I sewed the border on yesterday evening.  It needs a good press before quilting, though.

The border wasn't part of the original directions, I just wanted one.  So for my quilt, I used 63 blocks, set in 9 rows of 7 each, and added 4 in. finished borders.  This made the size come out the same as if I had made 80 blocks and no border.  The math actually worked out!  The quilt will be 64 in. x 80 in. when finished (or pretty close).

The colors I chose were blue, green, and aqua.  And no novelty prints!  I really had to search through all the bins and boxes to find enough variety.  There are batiks, Kaffe Fassett prints, vintage fabrics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and even a light reproduction print or two.  The handiest fabric I had for the backgrounds was a roll of light 5 in. strips I bought on vacation last summer.  In the end, I used what I had on hand except for the border, which was purchased just for this quilt.

I'm thinking of quilting a grid across the top, following the seams, with something curvy in the border.  I'm hoping this will be a calming quilt, for people facing a difficult time.  

Thanks so much to Preeti for coming up with such a fun and easy way to make a block, and such very clear instructions.  Making the blocks has been a breeze.

What if I made it as one of my donation quilts for kids?  What if it was even scrappier?

Sew much fun!  I used 2 matching light charm squares, 2 matching red charm squares, a light 2.5 in. strip and a red 2.5 in. strip, all from the parts department.  These blocks remind me of the folded paper chains we made with gum wrappers in elementary school.  (Click HERE to go to a web page with examples, and even instructions.)  I was never able to really grasp how to fold them right so the chain didn't fall apart, but the guy on the web page holds the Guinness World Record for the longest chain, so he really knows his stuff.

So I just added another project to the long list of projects.  I will never be bored.  I might have to go buy some more thread, though.

Congratulations to everybody for getting this far on the Positivity quilt.    

Linking up with Bernie at Needle and Foot.

Pickle relish and Positivity blocks!

Positivity 2022 Progress #1

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

 Today we're showing our progress on the Positivity 2022 Quilt Along.  The goal was to have 40 blocks made by today.

Good news!  I made it!  Miracles do happen.  With everything going on this summer with the grandkids, I wasn't sure I'd get these done, but the blocks are so easy and fun to sew (thanks, Preeti!) and that made this much progress possible.

I'm making mine with scraps and strips scoured from bins and boxes all over the house.

Here are a few hints that have helped me, for what it's worth.

1.  You can get all the pieces you need from a 5 in. strip if it has at least 19 in. of usable fabric.  Cut one 5 in. square, 2 rectangles 2.5 x 5, and one large rectangle 5 x 9.  Slice the large rectangle LENGTHWISE to get the last 2 rectangles, which will measure 2.5 x 9 each.

2.  When making the first part (the "Happy Blocks"), press all the seams out from the center.  Everybody else probably knows this, for some reason I was trying to press towards the dark.  (Sound of hand hitting forehead).

3.  I was having trouble sewing the longer rectangles on, and having everything lined up.  Throwing a pin in at the end really helped.  This is probably just another "me" problem, but it really made a difference.

Again, thanks so much to Preeti for designing and leading this Quilt Along, and to Bernie for hosting the Link ups.

We need all the positivity we can get!

Linking up with Bernie at Needle and Foot