April into May Quilt Update

                                     

                                       French General kit ~ fabric collage

Hello, hello! It's Monday and so begins Week 11 [12?] of the coronavirus staying home times. Today I have a little round up of quilt projects worked on in April and on now into May. The year is almost half over! What have I accomplished? Well. January and February were okay, but March was pretty much a dazed and confused loss for me. The uncertainty is appalling---will I get the virus, will my friends and family? Will we die? It's hard to maintain that level of crisis though and by mid-April the days seemed lonely and quiet but  more normal despite the tedium of making masks, masks, masks.

 I thought Mo's dog walker would resume her visits by now, I thought I'd be able to run essential errands---but I guess NOT. 

So I narrowed my world down to my little projects. I treated myself to this interesting kit from French General. here

It wasn't cheap! And it arrived wadded up in a ball, all crumpled. When I contacted FG, the response was, Let us know if anything is not usable. 

Well, again, I ''can'' smooth things out and use the contents, but I like things looking new and nice for forty bucks, I think $50.oo with shipping. Color me sad. Let down, disappointed.

Their logo is so darling. A scooter made of safety pins!

The blue, "French Blue" is outstanding.

                                                

The Basket block is authentically antique and very pretty, with fine quilting.

The applique fabrics are beautiful and generously sized.

There were  couple reasons to try this kit, beyond I want it.

The  applique fusible is one I have never used, so  an opportunity to try it out. And the threads supplied are a brand often mentioned in quilt and embroidery groups, but are very expensive and not readily available here. This is a chance to try the threads out .

Included is a backing, a new to me fabric Moda's Sashiko cotton canvas. hereThe indigo threads mimic the hand sewed lines of Japanese stitching called sashiko and also have the feeling of boro [Japanese mending] and Indian kantha quilting, all interests of mine. Opinion, the fabric is lovely but very perfect of course; it lacks the handmade charm of its inspiration crafts.

I also wanted to see French General's new lawn fabrics. here Lawn is an expensive, fine but sturdy, thin cotton, originally used for nightgowns and infant clothes, blouses sometimes nowadays. The fabric enclosed is, I think, their regular quilting cotton, actually more appropriate for applique anyway.

And look at these darling antique buttons.

                                                 

I'm trying to get past the damaged wad it arrived in, and hope to have the project set up soon for deck sewing if the sun should deign to appear this year.

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Next has been cutting 2 1/2" squares for the It's Yellow quilt. On days when  feel stressed and unfocused I can still manage to sit and cut the squares.

Now I am wondering what I should use for the main background of the quilt? Lori asked me if I have cheddar yardage, and yes I do. It is a truer mustardy cheddar, not brown as the photo appears, on the left.  I also have chrome yellow calico yardage, on the right.

Not sure which I prefer.

When I showed this fabric online awhile ago, I got a snide comment, Oh I remember THAT one from the 80s  [when calicos weren't ''authentic'' was the unsubtle message]. Well yes  or no but it's 30 or 40 years old and I love it.

I don't have enough maybe of the vintage-y chrome yellow yardage but I have a bunch of chrome yellows from the "Hideous'' project [Jamestown] that I could mix in. I have three yards of the vintage yellow, six of the cheddar. (School bus yellow is chrome yellow / cheddar is chrome orange. The nicknames are modern affectations.)

Or...isn't this the most beautiful perfect repro blue? Found online. [if the photo doesn't show, it is faded indigo with tiny white moons and stars.]

It would be so cute with its celestial motifs, to go with the moons and stars of the borders. But. I've been choosing my scraps---you know I don't do scraps---I guess with the yellow in mind and I'm not thrilled. Photos are very useful design tools for quilting ideas and decisions. What do you think? Which yellow? Or blue? A blue quilt would be so much more useful.

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First three Stars for Blackbirds project.

pattern envelope

pinterest, by I think Lorraine Hoffmann
I like her version with more crows.

Mine will of course be far brighter, because that's just me....

Do I redo the large star's background that is wonky and wrinkly? It is actually square/ rectangular but the shirt I used had cut darts that skewed the lines and made ripples.

Vintage blue velvet from my friend B.

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I fibbed, there have been a few---3?--- sunny days. I finished the December block of Year in the Country.

I eliminated the ant-like deer and focused on Peace.

And today we braved the wind and sat out.

I finished all but two snowflakes on November. The pink moon will always remind me of the pink supermoon moon in that May of the coronavirus and the snow we had in that same May, the other night.

That block is the final block, so exciting! Why is that this block, my very favorite, is the last laggardly block? I loved it to much to let it go or what?

                                                      

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And a couple sneak peeks.

Blue Baskets!

And 18 Baby Pineapples finished yesterday.

                       

                                   

That's all for now.

   

love

lizzy

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

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 PS This is another of the FG Baskets. Aren't they a delight!  I love this one, love red and brown combo.

HERE

Quilt Finishes, and Almost-Finishes 2018

Happy Sunday! My house is almost put back to its blue self and now it's time to look over what I accomplished during 2018. Oddly I was less productive that usual, despite or because of feeling fairly well after my long bout of inflammatory hip/ joint pain. Because I was able to be active, not just go out, but also do things like walk Mo, go to the beach and flea,and even cook, my sewing time, especially hand sewing time was much less than in the past few years. But that's okay. Mo and family and real life come first for me.
So I don't have 4000 finishes,lol. (Seriously, one woman had 40 quilts done! That's about 9 days spent on each quilt! I can spend---years! on just one).

Another fun landmark was my 1000th blog post  here! And in October 2019 I will have my 10
year blogging anniversary, imagine that. Might have to do something special for my friends here?

So finishes:

Westering Women top.

Fall Festival, quilted, complete.

When the Wild Geese Fly, quilted, complete [ my all-time favorite quilt].

The next two never had their own complete reveals, so a bit more detail on each. (My friends allowed me to photograph these quilts in their beautiful home and garden. I wanted to show my quilts in a more modern setting,  for a different point of view. Thanks, guys!] My friend has a wonderful driftwood ladder! I am quite envious.

Opie's School Shirts: Vintage plaid and check shirtings in a thrifted top, c. 1920-1960.

I call it Opie's Shirts because the plaids look like a 1950s little boy's school shirts. Opie was a little kid on The Any Griffith Show, rural cops etc.

The backing is an ABCs print I've had about 10 years. I added a tomato soup red section on one end. To complete the school theme.

Closeup and you can also see the beautiful quilting by Lori C.

I love the subtle glow. Half square triangles are abut 5 1/2", biggest I have ever seen!

And the final reveal of Quilty 365, aka Dotty. Don't we love this one!

Works well in a modern room?

Last square is the label, describing the project briefly.

Close-up of Circles and beautiful quilting, and of the large scale text fabric on the back.

Pens and pencils border. This is after all a diary, though made with fabric and thread not paper and words.

Stars, Stripes, Geese: I wanted a small patriotic quilt for June and July. Antique Flying Geese from a friend; tiny flag. I'd love to make a large quilt with Flag and Geese blocks like this.

Small quilts, tops only so far.
Evening Stars in Madder, using antique c. 1875-1890s Star blocks.

This is the inspiration doll quilt, c. 1835-1850? Mine will be a closer color match when tea dyed.

And my Christmas busywork project: Cheri Payne's "Joyful Christmas".

A few more almost-dones. I am hoping for a February 1 finish on both tops, above with a March 1 finish of the two below.

TQC 1880 Sampler

Sajou [Lori/ Humble Quilts]

Last but not least Bitty: The hand quilting will resume at the beach this summer.

Of course there are way too many other projects in work, leftover from 2018 or even earlier. A Santa I can't learn to hook, knitting for me and Mo! The Antebellum Schoolgirls sewalong! You'll never forget Hideous!

Schoolgirls Blues

Then many more Stars for Silent Night maybe April?  Feathered Star, postponed for hand applique next summer, piecing Winter 2020.

And though my intention is to resist joining every sewalong that catches my fancy. I do plan to at least make trial block of Blue Baskets, using strips from my thrifted men's shirts, for Lori's String Quilts Sewalong. I don't count it as a add because it has been on my list for a few years now. This will be the pattern, I drafted it for Westering Women and sure hope I saved it! The body of the Basket will be string pieced [more soon].

Maybe small starts on The Blue and The Grey and Yes It's Cheddar? Just for fun? Last, one more sweet project that I'll tell you about another time. Because we quilters always need something new! It looks like a fun and interesting year. I love the winter months, spent with Mo, in the sewing room. It need not snow or be too cold! I'm hoping for lots of winter beach walks.

Thanks to everyone for being supportive about my anti-minimalism. Thrifting and fleaing posts will therefore NOT be cancelled.

What will be your first project of 2019? Is it done yet?

love

lizzy

gone to the beach.....

"Walkies? That sounds like a horrible idea, mommy!
Hi Dorothy!" --waves paw,  ''Lookit me, I am naked!"

Amaryllis, for everyone but especially for Julie who is growing beautiful amaryllis too.