Quilts Begun, Quilts Completed ! Bramble Berries/Blooms Silent Night/ Noah's Ark and More

Hi everyone. Here we are again, mid-September----heat wave coming, I hear.

These late days of summer have been  surprisingly productive. I finished two large, longtime projects! So I treated myself to some fun little diversions, digressions? Life in the fast lane, yeesh.

But first the finishes: Bramble Blooms is complete , even the possibly tacky ladybug is sewed on, second pic below.

Washed, blocked. [It and Silent Night will have their own posts when I have a helper to hold them up  for pictures.] A peek at the wildly garish back and stripey binding, the beautiful quilting.

I did handwash it, to unify the disparate elements with texture.

.......

Silent Night, this endless labor of love/hate/ annoyance/ tedium--finished except for the wool Snow Babies and animals' eyes.

My friend washed and dried it in her extra large washer-dryer, what an improvement! Why does washing/ shrinking/ crinkling add so much? The overall cohesive texture maybe? see above too, better, right? Much much softer  and fluffier too and a tad smaller. It drapes now instead of just lying like a three day flounder,.  I am hoping she might wash Winter Marsh too, but I don't want to over-ask.

My walls and wood floors are white, cannot get accurate colors.

The quilting is lovely, Stars in Circles, the photo looks a tad cottage cheese but  in person it is beautiful.

...........

I have most all the remaining bits of Noah's Ark prepped for the expected beautiful albeit very hot next ten days of outdoor sewing.

I need to stop and soak, rinse the Animals because the new tryout applique paper is like cardboard inside. It is NOT truly water soluable either, I am unsure if it can be softened enough for Lori C to longarm the quilt. Bummer.

Then back to the Snow Babies , for SN completion. I also have some very fun Cheri Payne jackolanterns planned for October fun work.  Finishing projects is so important to me. But I am so glad to see these quilts head for the depths of the storage closet. Instead, going forward, perhaps I will do less, sew less, and keep it all small. 

In keeping with that plan, I threw together  October 2022? Temecula Quilt Company little quilt in two brief evenings.

The card was misfiled and turned up one day when I was endlessly hunting for the Noah's Ark pattern.

So bright and sweet and simple.

So fun to sort my TQC ''Shop Scraps" collection, and choose  fabrics.

These small assorted $6.oo bags are so inspiring and delighting, often they have fabrics from other Marcus Brothers designers, not just TQC fabric.  A joy for someone like me who does not have, keep, use scraps in general.

Choosing fabric is always the best part of a project. I actually do not like to machine sew and sorely miss my wonderful staff of samplemakers who would sew up my ideas so fast.

I enlarged the little squares to 1 1/2" fin, instead of 1" finish. You may recall my machine chews up small pieces. 

 And recently I saw online someone using this old piecing method of setting the squares onto very lightweight fusible. Their version was complicated, but I used to do this when I made tote bags and placemats. Very fast and very accurate.

Some inexcusable whimsy in the borders, sigh.

Blog friend/ pen pal Penny made this quilt back n 2019 and shred her version, below.

Her work is so precise and so beautiful. I'll share mine when actually finished.

And Old Blue Baskets was such a success, I was inspired to make another, this one Tattered Red Baskets. For years I collected recycled 8" [8 1/2"] Basket blocks, planning a strippy Baskets quilt, full  size. I finally accepted that will never happen. Then I saw this wonderful quilt on IG. Why I didn't look and bid is a mystery. HERE @catsonquilts photos

My own Old Reds with Cheddar grew from that antique. The process so far, starting with choosing eight blocks and repairing them, in my own primitive style. Some blocks are pieced in HSTs, some have one piece basket bodies. Mixed them for color and style.

I included two browns and a bright school dress plaid for a hint of Fall. The red plaid was so dirty it looked brown, how does a never used block get so soiled. I soaked it overnite in Dawn and then briefly in Quilt Restore.

A wonderful fragile block with large anchors print. Imagine it in a little girl's drop waist  blouson sailor dress c. 1890. So sweet.

Cheddar sashing, cutaways from a border long ago, and red cornerstones. Tomorrow night maybe I'll put it together more. No hope waiting for a rain day.

So here we go. I love the idea, what a fun table topper this will be. Or rolled and displayed in a crock w autumn leaves or bittersweet?

To finish both maybe---one late night shopping I ordered a few cheddars

Why do I not have much cheddar or pumpkin in my stash?vDo I use it up bec it's my favorite quilt colors---or good cheddars are hard to find.? I chose these two, plus a dense pumpkin orange solid. Love the belly button dot! And what could be more Lizzy than pink roses w teal-y leaves--on, happy sigh, the sweetest softest cheddar you can imagine.

For these transitional days [it's already getting dark so early, despite the desperately intense daily unshine!] I am designating after dinner to be machine sewing hour. Hence the little fun makes.

**************

I did cave to Autumn vibes online and ordered a small try out tin of Apple Cider  tea. But no caffeine, what's with that?

And I put this intriguing book on my maybe Amazon list. I'm planning ahead, not starting early--think of darkest January, after 4 pm walk in encroaching darkness. So   cold, so windy. Then, a cup of apple tea and a chapter/ story. Maybe winter nights can be as good as summer days?

from Amazon page: "As the evenings draw in – a time of reckoning, rest and restoration – immerse yourself in this new seasonal anthology. Nature Tales for Winter Nights puts winter – rural, wild and urban – under the microscope and reveals its wonder.

From the late days of autumn, through deepest cold, and towards the bright hope of spring, here is a collection of familiar names and dazzling new discoveries.

''Join the naturalist Linnæus travelling on horseback in Lapland, witness frost fairs on the Thames and witch-hazel harvesting in Connecticut, experience Alpine adventure, polar bird myths and courtship in the snow in classical Japan and ancient Rome. Observations from Beth Chatto’s garden and Tove Jansson’s childhood join company with ...''

.......

Mo and his Fan, he loves it. 

Mo has had some wobbles health wise this week, but he is sweet and brave. Important vet appointment early AM Wednesday, Again surgery looms. Wish us a good report?

Have a great week!

love 

lizzy 

gone to the beach...............