Happy Birthday to Me!!

 Today is my 70th birthday!  

How did this happen?  

I don't feel any older, so I guess that's a good thing.

(70 is only 21 in Celsius) 😉

Since I haven't had any quilting handwork to do lately (like finished quilts to bind) I've started a cross-stitch project.  It has been years since I did any cross-stitching.  I'm enjoying having something to do in the evenings during TV time.

Little Red Barn

These are going to be Christmas Ornaments.  Stitching is finished on the first one.  I'll finish it when I decide what I'm going to do.  I'm about half-way finished with #2.

Scrappy Nine-Patch

My first quilt finish for 2021 was a 9-patch quilt made from lots of scraps.  I had it quilted in the "Baptist Fan" pattern and I really love how it turned out.  I got the idea from one of Bonnie Hunter's daily quotes that she posts on top of a picture of a quilt (usually antique quilts she's seen in thrift shops, flea markets or antique malls).  

This past weekend, my daughters spent time with me to work on their quilts.

Jennifer and Molly

Molly's daughter Amber joined us too.

Amber, Jennifer and Molly

Our space was a little cramped but we made it just fine.

Love being with my girls.
💕

It's a NEW Year!

 I lost the first two weeks of the new year with "THE VIRUS".  I don't know who I got it from.  It doesn't really matter.  I survived and it was a relatively light case.  So far Clyde hasn't succumbed so hopefully he's bypassed it.  

This past week I have been much better and was even interested in getting back into the sewing room.  Back in December I saw where American Patchwork & Quilting was doing their UFO Challenge.  I didn't realize before but this is the 7th year!  I selected 12 projects that are truly "unfinished" to add to my list (one for each month).  Some are barely started.  They randomly select a number each month and the project corresponding to that number is the one you work on that month.  

My first project was probably the easiest one on my list.  I had started three baby quilts from one layer cake made from Tula Pink's "Chipper" fabric in May 2018.  I had finished one of them in February before the "stay at home" mandate was issued.  The other two tops were already made, all I needed was to add the borders and get them quilted.  

The first one is completed.  The other two are now in the "to be quilted" stack.

When I sew, I use Leaders/Enders, which is a way to work on two quilts at the same time without wasting thread and/or sewing on a scrap piece of fabric to throw away when it's full.  Once you try it, you won't be able to sew without a leader or ender.  This is an "ask me how I know" moment.

Bonnie Hunter introduces a new Leader/Ender project each July.  When I was getting close to 100 or so blocks, I determined how I wanted to lay out my quilt.  I'm not very proficient in EQ but I can "make it do" when I want to.  (I should have put that on my list as one of my UFOs.  Learn to navigate Electric Quilt!!)  Anyway, I determined how many blocks I was going to need and kitted up the remaining pieces.  Last night, I sewed my last one.  I had already started putting together some of the blocks...

First 9-Patch

1/4th of the center of the top

For my new leader/ender project (you know I can't sew without one), I pulled out Talking' Turkey, also a Bonnie Hunter pattern.  (From her book, String Fling)  I took a class from her in Birmingham in 2017!!  I've made progress on making the pieces thru the years but am getting closer to being able to make it a top!!  I have lots of flying geese to make and they make really good l/e's.  

Speaking of Bonnie, I'm also working on her annual mystery quilt.  Grassy Creek.    After being down a couple weeks, my girls were so excited when I sent them a picture of the blocks on my design wall.  That meant I was feeling a whole lot better.  (The mystery clues will be under this special tab until Feb 12, I think.  After that it will be offered as a digital pattern.)

My design wall is in the hallway.  We live in an old house with 12' ceilings and a central hall that leads to all the rooms.  Not wide enough to get a straight on picture.  But it works really well for me.

I'm making progress and I'll post more pictures in my next post.  I think this is good for now.

Binding a Quilt

What do you do when you finish a quilt and find out there's not enough of the fabric you wanted to use for the binding?!?  Wing it!

I just finished quilting this Rail Fence quilt for my Granddaughter.

I'

Front

Back

I had planned to use the dark fabric in the Rail for the binding.  But when I calculated to see how much I needed I was a couple strips short.  I didn't have enough of either of the fabrics to do the entire binding, so I decided I would use part of another and only use it around each corner.

Now I've tried this before but without really planning and mapping it all out and it didn't turn out very well.  So this time, I pinned the strips around the edge placing what I wanted in the corners.

Two of the corners

I made the binding in two separate strips.  One for the top half and one for the bottom half.  I pinned starting at the first corner to make sure I wouldn't have a "join" in the corner, then backed up the side to where I would start.  I also pinned the bottom edge around to the second corner to also check for a join in the corner.  All was well.

Checking to make sure the join wasn't in the corner!

I did the same with the top half of the quilt.  I ended up having to add in a short piece of the yellow dot fabric to make the last corner turn out in the right place, but it worked and I'm pleased with the final results.

Now to get it hand stitched.  What a fun way to spend the Memorial Day Weekend!

Have a good one!!

What Might I Be Working On???

More Later...

Grand Oaks Retreat Day 4

Yesterday I worked on Klaudeen's Version of the Daybreak pattern called Southwest Sunset.  Again, I only made 6 blocks.  I want to do something special with the border but still working it out in my head.

We headed home this morning after breakfast.  Good bye Grand Oaks until next time.

The Ya-Ya's

Retreat Day 3

Today I put together six blocks of Klaudeen Hansen's pattern, Stepping Stones. I already had the pieces cut and I have to find more of the background fabric before proceeding. I'm very pleased with  the fabrics I selected.

I'll post another photo when I finish the top.

Retreat Day 2

I see that my photo from yesterday's post has not posted. I'm doing this from my iPad and will try to redo when I get home. But I'm going to keep plugging away.  I have since gone back and added the photos.  Check it out.

In 2014 I took a class from Bonnie Hunter at Mountain Quiltfest called Jamestown Landing.  I've worked on it off an on since then. Last May I finished all the broken dishes blocks while here at Grand Oaks. 

It's time to get the string blocks done. So I pulled out the strings and sewed away most of the day.  

These are untrimmed and will measure 4 1/2" square