Done and Deglittered

 Finally got out of my comfy recliner last night (when the temps were finally below 90F but there was still daylight) and took "Done!" photos of the Sugar Skull quilt that will be donated to Sleep in Heavenly Peace.

70" x 90"

What a day!

It's been a fun, funny, laugh-filled day, due largely because of the very reason I've been detached for the past several months. Which seems to make no sense at all, so let me explain you*.

Angry Birds, Angry Birds, Find a New Home!

Finished!

"Picket Fence" or "Home Awaits" pattern. 70"x90"

One Nibble at a Time

Sometimes the "elephant" seems too massive for a full bite, and one must nibble her way through to the other side.

I've spent this weekend nibbling on several large mounds piled hither and thither. During the week I've been working on quilting the Angry Birds (Ugh!) sandwich I created almost immediately after pinning the batik top from last post. I've had the backing for it for yonks (can you tell I enjoy British and Ozzie sitcoms?), and recently franken'ed a batting as well, so there was no reason for it to still be hanging about. Plus, I knew exactly how I wanted to quilt all aspects of it, so it was easy to put it ahead of the batik sandwich (the quilting of which I'm still pondering).

The "easy" parts were stippled, their borders filled with a simple wave pattern, then it came time to quilt the strips of 5-patches. I bitched and moaned about doing these with the last one, but this time I decided I'd go with option 2 of the three I set out for myself at the conclusion of that quilting session.

Just another Sewing Sunday

I've been wondering lately: why don't we use the term "sewyer" to describe our craft/hobby/skill set? I usually use "sewist/maker", but the -yer suffix is used to describe people who saw wood, people who make bows, people versed in law. Shall we start a movement?

I was moved to start pinning another quilt sandwich yesterday. In my "pile" of frankenbatts (all both of them; I got bored with that project and did something else rather than make more) I found what seemed, on paper, to be the perfect size. But when I did a dry run the edges fell short in several places, so I had an impromptu frankenbatting session right then and there, sewing a couple of long, thin batting cut-offs to two sides.

Radio Silence

I hadn't meant to stay quiet for so long, but although I've been busy, I haven't had much to point to and exclaim, "TA-DA!"

This morning I put the final quilting stitch into Sugar Skull. I'd decided on diamonds in the white strips, which meant straight-line quilting, which meant my Brother 1500 on the "dinner" table.

Nothing finished, but plenty done

So we've managed to slide head-first into the first week of June!

After finishing the last log cabin, started by someone else and supplemented by me, I wanted to make another one right away using Elaine Adair's "Scrappy Rebuilt Log Cabin" pattern. It's intrigued me for years. I also had a drawer still crammed with scraps and strips gleaned from the CF!Q bins during The Great Reorganization, and felt they'd be perfect for this kind of project.

Many days were spent cutting 1.5" strips into the proper lengths for a traditional log cabin block. Having just worked with 40 blocks that seemed to have been constructed using the 'sew it down then trim it off' method of building, and not being terribly impressed with the results, I wanted to make blocks using known lengths.

Back to Back Backs

I finally sewed together the 3 panels and 4 strips that made up the backing for this (the panels were created months ago), and got it pin basted today. Another tick in the Yay! box.

A finish

This was pulled from the dryer yesterday morning and hung on our side fence this morning for its photo op (Thing 2 is in Columbia at the moment, unavailable for display purposes):

"front" ~ 72" x 90"

"back" (also ~ 72" x 90")

I do NOT heart this

I'm working my way to the finish of the Heart You QAYG top. The ten rows have been measured and the average length calculated (with butted seam allowances, they tend to grow).

I Heart You

As I move one or two Community First! projects to the flimsy stage (or better yet, to completion), I like to create a kiddie top for Sleep in Heavenly Peace. After the previous haul of novelty fabrics, I felt there were finally enough heart fabrics to create a top.

I also had some thin corduroy that was too stained to use as a backing, so years ago I had cut it into 9.5" squares to use in QAYG blocks. I'd only need 80 of them, so I could pick out any badly-stained blocks and use them for dusting furniture.

Stash

As soon as I saw the donated partial bolt of fabric I knew exactly what flimsy it was meant for, so I took it home with me after one of the Community First! Quilters meetings. The sheer amount of fabric made it a good candidate for trying the folding-and-pinning method of washing/drying (works wonderfully, and well worth the effort).

(I know, you feel like you jumped in at the middle of the story, don't you? It'll resolve soon.)

Recently,  after washing/drying the last couple of quilts and measuring how much shrinkage resulted, I padded the raw flimsy guidelines to 74"x94" (for a Twin). Suddenly, that perfect piece of backing yardage was a smidge too small, and I'd have to embiggen it with some of my stash.

My stash isn't huge; I'm not sure I'd even categorize it as "large", but in it I found two perfect pieces.

I'll show the resulting back in a future post, once I've finished quilting everything together.

This serendipitous find led me to ponder a few things, such as 1) how great it is to have a place (or two) to donate my handiwork, 2) how great it is to have a definite size (limit, in some cases) to work within, 3) how lucky I continue to be to have just the right fabric on hand for making/finishing these tops, and 4) would anyone care what my stash looks like?

Friday, MyDay

What did I want to do for ME, today? Tuesdays are devoted to The Dreadfuls, but Fridays are just for me. So how did I want to splurge?

My first choice was mundane in the extreme: I needed to mend my favorite sheets, probably for the last time. I found the last excess piece from this project and used it to mend the latest threadbare spot. After this, I'm going to have to look for another set of sheets.

After that was accomplished, I ironed my lastest flimsy: Angry Birds (Ugh!)

Binding thoughts

I've quilted the sandwich featured in the Gemischt post (I am LOVING my new weightlifting system!) and am in the process of sewing down the binding. I decided to use up ALL my 1.75" binding scraps, acknowledging that would mean having to sew the binding down by hand, but also relishing the fact that those scraps would be GONE, never to be replenished. I figured out some time ago that 1.75" was just a little too narrow for comfort, double-fold-binding-wise, and have been cutting bindings at 2" for several years now. Yesterday I simply decided I'd use up the narrow ones, once and for all.

There were some long strips but LOTS more short strips. I briefly worried about and wondered how to avoid seams in the corners, what with all the connecting of the itty-bitty pieces. Well, DUH Carolyn: plan the corners and put the long pieces there! And as long as I'm planning the corners, I might as well use the dark scraps so the mitered pattern would shine without competition.

Back to Quilts

This sugar skull project has been a flimsy for several weeks now, but it's been bunched up on the end of my ironing board waiting for me to finish the October banner and get back to quilt making. I ironed the final 9 seams this morning, then flang it on the floor for its photo-op.

Cat scans improve everything. 70" x 90"

An Ass out of ... just me

I'm great with assumptions. I make them freely and rarely question them, so they feel comfortable floating around in my brain. They know they won't get kicked out anytime soon.

Sugary goodness

Another 'be the goodness' organization with which I've connected is Sleep in Heavenly Peace, providing beds (usually twin-sized bunks) for children without beds. I talked with Steve, the organizer of the local branch, after he had emailed that he could use all the quilts "my group" could supply. Two takeaways from the discussion: 1) it's just me, quilting as fast as I can; 2) kiddie-themed fabric is preferred, as most of the recipients are children. Only occasionally are teens in need of a bed.

I've never been drawn to kiddie-themed fabric so there isn't much in my stash (whatever might be there was given to me). For the first time in years I'm finding myself in search of more fabric. Free, firstly. A couple of months ago I rootled through some bins of 'Take and use this up. PLEASE!' fabrics with an eye toward juvenile prints. Angry Birds (ugh), flannel llamas, bright dragonfly prints, and some musical instruments fabrics came home with me, as did coordinating and fun prints to flesh out the focus fabrics. These sugar skulls also caught my eye:

Finishes

 My first finish this month: the August walker banner.

A closer (and clearer) look:

What appears to be small 4-patches is really fabric printed with small square designs.