Dudes22 (Betty) 2017 Projects

Happy New Year everyone! I don't really have any great plans for the first quarter of this year as I'll be busy moving and my sewing area is covered in boxes and stuff I'm still deciding whether or not to take. I've already packed most of my fabric too. I was thinking of trying to make a book bag like the ones I made at the end of last year for my great-niece for her birthday next month, but I'm not sure if I will or not. But I'll still be checking in to see what everyone else is working on.

Happy New Year, Betty! I know about those decisions of what to take and what not. We will be patient and wait until you are settled and set up to rock and roll. Any ideas about what you will tackle after the move?

Well, I have a few tops that need quilting and binding and I may try to get back to some of those unfinished projects that are left over. The other thing I think I may work on is a new quilt for our bed. I have an idea and some of the fabric collected and a pattern in mind.

I remember the book bags you made. Did you work of a published pattern or wing it? I have done both with equal success. Although, zipper top bags still confound me.

I used a published pattern from Pink Sand Beach Designs for one and a pattern from Heather Bailey for another. I haven't tried zippers either although the design from Pink Sand did have inside pockets.

ETA: I've been thinking of trying a bigger bag that I could use at the grocery store, but will put that on hold until after the move and I haven't looked for a design yet. I don't do much "winging" of things. Too type A.

Hopefully the move and return to sewing go quickly and easily.

>1 dudes22: As someone who hopes to be in the same situation this year some time, do your hands get "restless" when there is no busywork for them to do? I find that even a weekend away without something to fill in the odd gap too small for reading, makes me miss such things and the idea of having everything packed up for awhile is scary.

Good luck with your move.

>7 SassyLassy: - yes a little bit. I find myself doing puzzles on the computer while the TV is on instead of "handwork". Although I was just thinking that if I can find the thread I bought and the pattern, I might start some embroidery blocks that I want to put into a quilt.

>8 dudes22: That sounds promising. I do remember that "packed up" feeling. The machine was packed up late, because I think I had to bind that king-size quilt for our bed last minute (I made a quilt for each of the 3 bedrooms for when the house went on sale). Good thing I got it done, because the house sold by the end of the 2nd day!

>9 avaland: - I can only hope our house will sell that fast. My daughter-in-law gave me a quilt book that I had wanted (I try to put things on my list that aren't too expensive) and now I'm antsy to start one. I even have an idea of the fabrics in my stash I'll use, but they're all packed.

>10 dudes22: I know that feeling. Hang in there, it was be over soon and you will enjoy unpacking it all.

Just found your thread here, Betty! Dropping my belated star.

Nice to see you, Lori. I don't think there'll be a lot of action on this thread for a while. SO many things I want to work on, but the expected move is taking up time and space right now.

So - a long story - but quilt related. A while ago my husband and I went to stay with some friends and I loved the comforter she had on the bed. It was columns of blue and white striped rectangles (maybe 3x6 or 2.5x6) with a plain white textured fabric between the rectangles and columns (maybe .5" stripes). So I started to collect blue and white striped fabrics in varying shades thinking I would make a quilt one day for our bed.

While looking for new bedroom furniture for the new house, I was going to look at white, but my husband saw a bed painted gray which he really liked, so looks like the bed will be gray. (He should get his way for at least one thing.) And I think I'm going to move the rug we have in the living room to the bedroom since it doesn't really fit with the vibe I'm going for. It's an oriental with shades of cream, sage green, pink and cranberry. So obviously a blue and white striped quilt won't go. I'm thinking of a light sage green wall and it looks like I'll need to make a new plan for a quilt. I may still do a blue and white striped quilt, maybe for the second bedroom. And I can't remember what I have in green fabric since it's all packed, but I know I have a lot since it's my favorite color.

When I see all the projects everyone is working on, I so miss my quilting. :(

Oh, I am trying to imagine that first Bl & W quilt. So the columns alternated between blue & white striped prints and the white textured fabric? The first quilt I made, finished in mid '82 was made with blue prints, in columns lengthwise, arranged so the "bricks" alternated with each row. I hand-quilted it on either side of the lengthwise seams. Your description brought it back to mind.

Gray is a nice neutral and will work with a great number of colors, so you can always change your mind. I'll look forward to what you decide on for a quilt! Perhaps it will inspire me to get to that wallpaper job I've put off for over a year!

So I was whining earlier today on Lois's thread about missing my quilting. When we had first decided to move, someone said I should start packing with things I knew I would be taking. So the first things I packed were my books and fabric. Since then I've been pinning ideas on Pintrest for interesting quilt ideas. Some are almost the same (like a lot of stripped scrappy blocks) just different looks. it's looking hopeful that we may close by the end of the month so maybe only a couple of months before I can get back to quilting.

>15 avaland: - that sounds very like the quilt I was planning to do, except the bricks were separated by white and so were the columns. Like I said, I may still do one - just not for my bed.

Hang in there!

My favorite quilt fabric store had their annual St Patrick's Day sale Fri and Sat and I just couldn't resist going. I haven't been in about 6 months because I didn't want to add more to my stash that would have to be moved. But I had a gift certificate from Christmas and it was a sale, so I went and checked out all the fabric and only bought a little bit. REALLY!

>18 dudes22: I thought you were going to tell us how you splurged! Did you use up all the gift certificate?

Yes - it was only a small one. I also picked up a couple of patterns and a new 8"sq ruler which I thought would be easier for squaring up squares. I really liked seeing the displays of quilts and tops and other things that were on display. And there was Irish soda bread too!

I use my 8 x 8 square quite a lot. I have a 6 x 6 also, but don't nearly as much. (I use the former and not the latter to cut the 6" squares for my scrap quilts)

Yes - I was thinking that would be one of the things I would use it for.

What the status on your move, Betty. Friends of mine are frantically cleaning out their house in order to put in on the market, and were down here to store some stuff in our basement. I thought of you and wondered what was going on.

Well we finally moved all the big stuff and actually slept here on Thurs. Still trying to organize where I want stuff. Now we need to do a couple of projects in the old place before we can put it on the market. I think my first sewing project is going to be hemming curtains, but I hope to get around to some quilting in a few weeks.

>24 dudes22: Good luck with the sale. I hope you get your wish to be back at quilting in a few weeks.

Thanks Lois. According to the TV last night, it's a good market to sell. Fingers crossed.

So - I've been mostly absent here for the last month; reading and posting to other threads but nothing on my own. Unpacking and organizing this house trying to get everything ready at the old place. The floor refinisher is working now and then it's just to get it all cleaned up.

The only sewing I've been doing is to hem curtains (not worth a picture). But it's supposed to be rainy here today and since there's nothing to do at the old house, I think I'm going to work on some scrappy blocks today for a little while. I posted this picture last year when I started some before they got packed for the move.



I also think I'll try to go through some of the boxes and see if I can find the pieces for a quilt I'm making for my grandson's new apartment. I figure I've got till the fall to get it finished before the weather turns colder.

I hope you get some satisfaction with your scrappy blocks! Glad things on the house-front are progressing. Looking forward to all your projects.

I have only stitched a few short seams, and pinned a few more, both on the batik quilt. The neck injury has been a LONG journey but I'm supposed to get a x-ray-guided steroid shot a week from today. It's been very frustrating.

>28 avaland: - Sorry to hear you're still having problems with your neck. Probably somewhat (or very)frustrating that you can't sew. I think it was probably 6 or 7 months since I did and it was hard.

Got a bunch of the middle strips of the scrap blocks done today. I have so missed quilting! It's been so long I need to figure out again the sizes for the side strips. And I found the blocks I had started for our grandson's quilt. It was originally only going to be a small lap quilt so I have to figure out how many more blocks I'll need to make and probably buy some more material. It's different blocks in light and dark batiks, mostly browns, tans, some blue and green so I don't really need to match any fabric I've already used which is a good thing. I, however, have no idea where the pattern is, so I'll have to figure out what I'll need to cut myself. Not a big problem (it's and easy block) but I seem to remember there was a particular way to cut the fabric ( maybe fat quarters) so there wasn't much waste.

I'd be happy to send you some batik scraps, I have quite a bit from my last quilt and others accumulated from scrap bags...etc. Just let me know big the scraps have to be roughly (i.e. bigger than a 2x4 piece? 4x4?) and any color families other than what is listed above (so, for example, you need light and dark greens, right?) Then leave your address on my profile page (and probably your full name, LOL). Trust me, I can raid my stash and it won't make a dent. I'm happy to share.

Thanks, Lois. I need to take a look and see if I can find the pattern. Otherwise I'll have to figure out what size scrap will cut into the right size pieces. It's a box in a box so it shouldn't be too bad. I'll let you know.

>32 dudes22: OK.

Here are a few of the blocks that I had sewn into a row. After measuring, I remembered that I had bought one of those jelly roles for this quilt. A 2.5" strip cuts to one inside box and one outside box. I think there were two of some prints and only one of others. I cut up a strip of each fabric that I found yesterday and have enough for 11 blocks. But I'm going to cut another strip of some of the fabrics that I like best. I seem to have more darks than lights so I may need a trip out to find some more fabric. (Do we ever have enough?)

Lois - when I think of scraps, I don't usually think of 2.5" strips WOF. But if you have any 2.5" x 9.5" I can use them for the centers. If, not, my feelings won't be hurt. I'm planning a trip to my favorite fabric store soon, so I can pick up some more.

>34 dudes22: I no doubt do have some that size. Will scrounge in the studio (that will be a fun thing to do...)

>35 avaland: - Thanks - I know what you mean; I don't have room to put fabric away yet (my husband is going to build me a room in the basement) but I spent some time rifling through some of the boxes. I'll zip over and leave my address for you.

I hadn't realized how much I missed sewing until I started again. I've been busy making scrap blocks. I was very good while we were getting ready to move and didn't go shopping for fabric. But I just remembered this morning that I did go to a fabric sale at my favorite place back in March. I need to see if I can find that bag. And I got a quilting pattern book for Christmas that I need to find. And I should unpack some more boxes, but...fabric calls.

>36 dudes22: Pkg sent this morning, should be there on Thursday, they said.

I managed to spend several 20-30 periods straightening and sorting my stash. I made a mess of it with all the winter projects. I agree, one doesn't realize sometimes how much these things mean to us until we can't do them.

Thanks, Lois. I'm excited to see what you sent. Not only didn't I find the book I was looking for, I didn't come across any of my quilting books. They're probably under some fabric in one of the boxes. I've been thinking that I might get a bookcase to put in the larger walk-in closet and unload some fabric & books to put on it. I did come across some more scraps; all yellow from a project I finished just before I started packing and another mixed container.

I used to like neatening up my stash - it let me see what I had that I'd forgotten about and thinking about what I could do with it.

>39 dudes22: When I moved here I took a room for my studio that had a lot of built in shelving. I felt a bit sheepish about doing that considering how many books we have, but I enjoyed using the shelves for mostly fabric, a few books...etc. I have quite a bit of my fabric on it: small prints, solids, batiks...etc sorted by color, other fabric sorted into various collections: florals, holiday...etc I very much enjoy handling and sorting it. I used to tell myself that I bought fabric because I couldn't afford to buy art. Anyhoo, putting it on shelves, rather than a zillion plastic sweater boxes, made it a treat to look at and more readily accessible when I'm on a project and sometimes the fabric on the shelf is the inspiration.

This is a long-winded way to say I encourage shelving vs bins! (which isn't to say I don't have a lot of bins still....)

This picture is just a small sampling of the batiks that Lois sent me. I was so excited to get her package today. Once I post this, I'm off to put away the scrap blocks and start cutting and matching to work on the quilt for my grandson.

Oh! how generous of you Lois. Those are some beautiful fabrics!

For those of you who have been patient with me this year as I've whined about moving (and not being able to sew), I thought I'd let you know that we signed an acceptance tonight for our old house. Not sure how the real estate market is where you all live, but it's crazy around here. We met with our agent on Mon so she could take pictures of the house. It was listed on Tues and our agent called me Tues night to say she had 4 showings on Wed. Then she called Wed mid-day to say she had 3 more later in the day. She called at 9 last night to say she had 2 offers, both over list price. If all goes well with the inspections, we should close the first week in Jul.

To celebrate, I went to the local library sale and picked up a few books. Since mine are all still packed.

That is great news! Both the house sale and the new books :O)

>43 dudes22: Wow, that's a very hot real estate market. We are preparing to sell our home but it's much more of a buyer's market in our area, and we are kinda dreading it. Congratulations!

>43 dudes22: That's fabulous! Congratulations! That's how it was for us in early 2014: 40 showings in 2 days, 9 offers by the end of day 2 (all list price or higher). We were so shell-shocked (and tired) that we had my son come down to sit through us going through all the offers, just to have another set of ears. I think it's been too little inventory on the market in certain price ranges to keep up with the business growth.

So - I had seen this quilt and put the book it was in on my Christmas list for my husband who was kind enough to buy it for me. Then I packed it. I wanted to make it to go on the bed here in the new house. But I didn't know where I packed it and I've been through some of the boxes multiple times. Then today I had a lightbulb moment and I found it. So now I can start planning it.

>47 dudes22: Congratulations on the light bulb moment. I'd like a couple of those myself. Looking forward to your quilting adventure (I live vicariously through other's quilting).

Yay, for lightbulb moments!

So I've finished all the blocks for my scrap quilt. But before I start putting them together, I think I'll take care of all the loose threads on the edges of the seams, etc. Something to do while the TV is on. I must say though that I still seem to have as many scraps as I had before. While I've been working on the blocks, I've been putting aside any pieces that are 2.5" or wider and long enough to use in a jelly roll scrappy quilt. (Generally, more than 15 " long.) I think I'll put together those that I've pulled out already even though I know I don't have enough yet.

Progress! Much more fun than unpacking. If you need any 2.5 strips....

>51 avaland: - Thanks, Lois, but I'll pass. I'm sure I'll have enough. BTW - I don't know how to grab someone else's picture (I have enough trouble managing my own), but you should switch the picture for July. There have been some great ones this month - Meridith's pillows, Laura's sweater, lesmel's bookshelf quilt....

Done! Basically you right click on the photo and save it to your desktop. Then click on the "add a picture" in the upper right and do what it tells you. Anyone should feel they can change the photo.

I mentioned in post #50 that I've been putting aside 2.5" strips while I was working on my scrap quilt. So I thought I'd neaten them up and put some together for a small baby quilt using the "jelly roll jam" method. Folded and put in a drawer until I can get some fabric unpacked for backing.

I've also finished neatening up the scrap blocks and now I need to find a space to try and lay them out.

It's funny how I recognize almost all the scraps, but don't always remember what I used them for.

ETA: Not all the strips were WOF - I decided anything over 15" was good.

I like how this looks. I don't have enough "scraps" yet to do something like this, but one day I will! I have kept every tiny offcut aside, just in case . . . . .

I cut my strips for binding at 2.5" so a lot of these were left-overs from that. I found when I was working on my scrap blocks that some scraps just need to be left go of. I had done another one like this, but I started by pulling fabrics from my stash and cutting the 2.5" strips. I checked last year's thread but there's no picture of it so it must have been before I stated here. There's a YouTube video on making a "jelly roll jam" quilt where you start with a pre-cut jelly roll. They work up really fast.

Well I finally started putting the blocks from post #27 together today. Right now I'm pairing up some, then I'll start putting them in rows. I'm making it 7 blocks by 9 blocks and should end up @ 63X81.

Woohoo!! Can't wait to see it!!

>57 dudes22: I'll be really interested to see how that looks. Glad you are getting some sewing time in.

Catching up since your May 29th post and really sympathizing here with the moving puzzles:"Where is it?" "What did I do with...?", as I moved a month ago today and those bins of fabric and wool are still hiding things for me, although I do seem to have most of my patterns unpacked: not much good without fabric. Good luck with it all and congratulations on selling your house.

>60 SassyLassy: - Thanks Sassy - I have very little fabric unpacked. So I search every time I start something new. Which isn't a lot.

>58 lesmel: - >59 avaland: - I've gotten all the blocks into rows and now I need to put the rows together. I have to say that since I did this based on a picture I saw on Pintrest, I didn't give enough thought to how I pressed. I pressed the middles all in one direction and then out from the black strips. And even though the strips are different sizes, I had far too many that met up going in the same direction. So I ended up pressing the seams of the blocks open and will have to do the same when I put the rows together. Before I put the rows together, I'm going to even off the edges, hoping it will be easier to match the rows. It also dawned on me that since I started a few blocks last year, this is also a UFO.

>61 dudes22: YAY! UFO!!! Which reminds me, I really need to do something with my friendship star. Some day.

So - since I've been wanting to put together something that's been hanging around, I grabbed this from my UFO box:



Here's my question for you folks: If you were quilting it, what color thread would you use? Also, the back is going to be a square in the middle which is also a light pink/dark pink/turquoise/orange print with turquoise borders around it. The top is @48" sq and the print on the back will be 36"square. I'm leaning toward a turquoise thread on the back, but am debating about doing multiple colors on the front. This is the part that drives me nuts. I guess I could maybe use a lighter blue in the pink section?

>63 dudes22: Color changes are awesome, but a total pain in the butt. I'm a "what is the most neutral color that isn't offensive" kinda quilter. I've found a variety of shades of grey are perfect for my needs. Or variegated grey is even better.

>64 lesmel: - You know - I never think to try grey. I have a few spools of different shades that I think I'll audition and see if I like them. I still might use turquoise for the back. Thanks for the idea.

With those colors I bet a lavender-tending gray would look nice! I love the fabric on that center square.

I think a light gray would indeed work for this, but a white or off-white would also work (the fabrics clearly have a white base to them).

Funny though, you know those scrap quilts I make with any and all colors and fabrics. Regarding the one that was in the show two? years back; the only negative comment the judges (a judge) made was that the gray thread used to quilt it was "distracting." I thought this was fascinating because one doesn't see the quilting very well due to the color riot.

>66 mabith: - >67 avaland: - Thanks for the input. When I take a quilt to have it quilted, I usually get some opinions from the employees there before I decide, but I'm going to quilt this myself so I'll probably test out a few by unraveling the spool a little and winding it around.

I've got the blocks together in rows for our grandson's quilt and am starting to put the rows together. It's a little busier than I envisioned, so I'm going to find out what his favorite color is and that way the back will be rather "plain" and he can flip it over and I'll never know.

Then I put together the back for the quilt in post #63 and hope to get it pinned together this weekend and start quilting. I had to change my plans for how I was going to do the back because of the amount of fabric that I had, but I actually like it better than what I had planned. (Picture to come when I finish).

And a last note - after living in our new house for 5 months, we finally have grass!!! Yeah!! Less dust.

Glad to see you busy with quilting once again.

Yay! for grass!

So last Saturday, one of my favorite quilt stores had a "Teachers and Tea" event which they do twice a year. They serve tea and cookies and all the teachers that are teaching this fall/winter are there to showcase the class they are teaching and answer any questions people might have. I went because I needed to get some wide quilt backing fabric for the quilt I'm making for our grandson. I've finally gotten all the rows together and now need to clean up the loose threads and get it ready for quilting. Besides that, I only bought a few fat quarters and this pattern:



So this whole week I've been thinking about starting it, but tried to keep telling myself that I should concentrate on finishing some of the ones I've started already. But I couldn't and ended up starting (and almost finishing it) this afternoon. And I've pulled enough fabric from my stash to do a couple more. It works up to something like 36" x 42", so a nice small baby quilt and can be cut and the top made in an afternoon.

I really do need to concentrate on some of the UFO's I have hanging around. I found a few I had forgotten about when I packed for moving. A Halloween wall hanging that is almost all done - I was in the middle of quilting it when I stopped working on it. And I found a set of patterns (12 blocks and a border pattern) that I know I bought in 2000 and have never even started. I think I'm going to use some of the leftover batiks from my grandson's quilt and some of the ones Lois sent me and start it. It's an applique pattern so I'm hoping to get some pieces ready so I can do the applique while I watch TV this winter.

I finished the first quilt that I started yesterday and cut and finished another of the same top today. Not great pictures, but here they are:





The best part is I did it all from my stash and used up a few fat quarters. I can see this will be a favorite pattern. I'll probably do some for Project Linus or something similar.

Oooh, those are neat! I love that pattern!

I love that the pattern is on such a large scale.

>72 scaifea: - Thanks. It is a nice pattern - it takes 4 fat quarters and 3/4 yd of background to make a top @ 36 x 42 (?). I notice from the picture I posted that it's a PDF you could download after you purchase. It's from cluck, cluck, sew.

>73 mabith: - I liked that I could use larger prints too - the strips are 4 inch. I did pick one fabric for another one I was planning, and then realized that it was kind of directional and I wasn't sure exactly how that would work, so I'm going to think on that a little bit more.

Looks like fun, Betty!

>75 avaland: - It is, Lois - and quick too!

Great pattern - very effective.

I am always drawn to those kinds of patterns. I like your colour choices too.

So I took our grandson's quilt to the place I have quilt some of my quilts (ones that are too large for me to manhandle on my machine) a couple of weeks ago and they told me they were running 4-6 weeks, which really surprised me as it has never taken that long before. So I was pleasantly surprised when they called yesterday to say it was done. I went to pick it up today and will post a picture when I get it bound. I also bought another quilt pattern and some more fabric. So many projects.....so little time. I also sorted through some of my scraps yesterday and pulled a bunch for another scrap quilt that I'm trying out.

So I need a little advice. The applique project I was talking about earlier...I don't want to do raw edge and I'm not really good enough to do needle-turn. (the pattern has some really pointy points) I saw an article once about sewing your fabric to interfacing and then putting a slit in the interfacing and turning it. I think in the article it was fusible, but I'm wondering if I could do it with another kind so I could sew it down instead. Any ideas on what I could use? Ideally, it should be pretty light so it doesn't add too much bulk, I would think.

You really have been busy since the move!

I've never done any appliqué any way but by hand but it seems the fusible interfacing way might make it easier if that's the only way you might attempt it. You will still have to fuss with those points, innies or outies, after turning it. If you want to sew it on, I suppose you could use non-fusible.

Another way, depending on the size of the piece, is to use very light interfacing/ backing.

Basically, you cut the interfacing to pattern size, and the appliqué fabric with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Then put fabric glue on the perimeter of the backing, and press it onto the fabric.

Press the seam allowance over the edge of the backing.

Cut away the remaining backing using the slit method you referenced. Depending how you cut, you can have some usable pieces left over for smaller pattern pieces.

This leaves the backing only around the edge of the appliqué piece, so that it is much lighter than a fully interfaced piece. It is also more flexible and easier to stitch on.

It's a nice compromise over needle turn and makes the hand stitching much easier. You can also use machine appliqué technique on the finished piece and you don't have to worry about raw edges.

>81 SassyLassy: - Thanks - So sort of like what you can do with freezer paper. Do you still get some fraying at the tips? I might see if I can find a YouTube video of that and maybe I’ll try a piece and also try sewing them together and see what works. Even if I decide to sew them together and turn them, I still might try cutting away some of the back.

>82 dudes22: Sort of like freezer paper, only the whole piece of paper is removed, while in this instance that 1/4" or so of backing is left just inside your appliqué piece's edge. I don't get fraying at the tips, as I just make a tiny sort of pleat and press it down.

I learned this in a short session on appliqué where hearts were used among other shapes. I'm not normally a hearts kind of person, but for teaching purposes they worked really well, as they have that sharp bottom point, the steady curves on the top, straight line sides, and that daunting groove where the two sides meet (avaland's "innie").

Well as soon as I finish binding our grandson’s quilt, I’m going to give it a try or 2 and see how it goes. I did watch one YouTube video before supper and I might watch a few more. It looks like I may need to pick up a couple of things at the store before I start.

I went to a local quilt guild quilt show yesterday and there were some really nice quilts. There were some by one girl who can do amazing things on her standard type home sewing machine. I cannot figure out how she can manhandle the quilts when they are so large. I get panicky just when I’m working on a lap size and I mostly pick designs that are straight lines. I suppose I should practice more. And they had some great raffle baskets. I hope I win one. One had 125 fat quarters (I’m thinking of you, Lois - I know you love them).

Sounds like a nice time! The Concord (MA) Piecemakers had their show on Friday and Saturday and I wished I could go. I went 2 years ago and I found it fun, even going solo. They serve a box lunch in a smallish side room so people, more or less, have to sit with others, and I'm not above starting a conversation. So, interesting.

Well I didn't win any of the raffle baskets I guess since I didn't get a call. I've finished the binding on the quilt I'm making for our grandson and I'll post a picture in a day or two. I think I'm going to pick up some material tomorrow to make a couple of pillowcases to match it.

This is the quilt I did for our grandson's new apartment. It was supposed to fit a double bed, but between the block size and that I wanted it to have enough to hang down the sides of the bed, you can see it covers my queen size bed and then some. You can see 10 blocks across but there are actually 13. The binding and back are a orangey-brown kind of like that block in the middle front. I had it quilted in a medium size meandering in brown thread. Some of the batiks I used were sent to me by Lois (thank you!). I got some material for a couple of pillowcases - a light tan and I'm going to do brown cuffs. I should be able to do them tomorrow.

I don't remember that brown as sticking out so much and there are those two purples in the same row. Oh well - too late now. I'm going to have to open it up again and look at it again. Maybe it's the picture angle.

>88 dudes22: I love the brown! It's the first thing I noticed which made me look more closely at the other colors.

Oh, it's lovely, Betty! Good job! Glad to have contributed. He'll love it.

Beautiful work. The colours look perfect.

This is a quilt I made from some of the leftover batiks I had from my grandsons quilt and some of the batiks from Lois that I didn't use and a few reds that I felt it needed. It should finish to around 29" square when I get around to quilting it.

in other news - the sewing room my husband has ben working on for me is almost done and I should be able to start unpacking my fabric and setting it up soon. I'll try to take a few pictures soon. Right now it still has a lot of his tools in there as he works on other parts of the basement.

I love THAT! And I love the red in it.

Enjoy unpacking your fabric....I know how much fun that can be.

>92 dudes22: This one is very pretty. I'm always amazed at quilts, and the work that goes into them.

Just catching up on your batik quilt, which is absolutely gorgeous!

>93 avaland: - I actually ended up doing this because there was a red that you sent me that I loved and wanted to use.

>94 Lyndatrue: - Thanks. I did a few blocks at spare moments and before I knew it the blocks were done.

>95 lauralkeet: - Thanks. I like it so much I'm thinking of doing another one with the same pattern.

So - I've been gradually putting together the rows from these scrap blocks I made. I ended up making 9 rows with 7 blocks each. (9.5" blocks) I've got 4 rows put together and I'm beginning to think that if I do all 9 rows this quilt is going to be very heavy because of all the seams. Right now it's about 36" x 63". I might add one more row to this one or I might add some borders of different widths to even it out for this quilt and then reconfigure the other 5 rows (maybe take some seams out and rearrange the blocks) for another quilt. Or I might add some rows of fabric in between if I can decide on something that would go. Or maybe a sashing of black and white fabrics. This is a left over from last year and I think it might continue into next year.

I'll be very interested to see how the arrangement of these turn out. I'm mostly a borderless quilter these days. A border stops the action of the quilt*, which for many quilts is a great thing, but I want the patterns and colors to have no bounds :-)

*That said, there are some artful borders that play with that whole idea.

>98 avaland: - Lois - Sorry I haven't been here to answer you - the storm on Sun knocked out our cable, internet and TV. Just got it back tonight. And LT is the first place I came. But we didn't lose electricity so I could still quilt. Re: the scrap quilt blocks. The black fabrics can make a diamond shape depending on how the blocks are arranged. Of course, now that I'm not going to do as many rows, the pattern might not be as obvious. I didn't really want to (and hadn't planned to) add borders, but if I don't add another row, I might have to so it will be a practical size. I might think about a skinny solid sashing around what I have (or maybe one of the black prints) and then making some more blocks in a different size to go around the outside. But I'll be putting it aside for the time being. I might wait until I get a design wall in my sewing area and play around with it a bit before I decide.

So - the room my husband has been making me is done. Now I get to start unpacking boxes of fabric and getting it set up. Pictures will follow when I get it organized a bit.

>99 dudes22: ooh, organizing fabric is just as fun as organizing books! I can't wait to see your new space.

>99 dudes22: No apologies needed. Our power was out from just before midnight until late afternoon Monday, but we got the generator up & running late morning. I had big plans to finish that rows of that last quilt before surgery but the power being out messed up my plans (surgery was Tuesday and here I am home in a big ole' neck brace...but no pain!).

I see what you're saying about the diamond pattern now. Sounds like you have lots of options and it will be interesting to see what you do with it when you do get around to finishing it. Yay! for the room being done! There is nothing more fun than unpacking boxes of fabric!

I've been slowly organizing my fabric and also my books since I found a bookcase that will work for now for some of my books. Once I put the bookcase where I wanted it, I realized the picture I had on the wall over it was too small. I had wanted to put quilts on that wall originally but thought it was a tad too small. But I decided to look for a pattern that might fit there. And since Christmas is right around the corner, I decided I should do a Christmas quilt for now. So I picked out some Christmas fabrics and did a top like the one in post #63. I'm going to take it tomorrow to have it quilted since all my pins are currently holding the quilt in post #63 together and I want to put the Christmas one up right after Thanksgiving. I'm trying to decide how I'm going to put it up. I'm not sure I want to put any kind of a rack or pole on the wall in case I don't decide to keep putting quilts there. I'm thinking of some kind of Command Strips arrangement, but not sure it will hold.

You definitely have been very busy since you moved and unpacked. Sounds like you are enjoying settling into your room.

Call me nuts! Even though I have a few (!) UFOs hanging around, I bought a couple of fabrics the other day when I was dropping off my Christmas quilt for quilting to start a new project. I still need to gather a few other fabrics to go with them which I think I'll find in my stash. And I've decided to make the quilt in post #92 bigger. Right now it's about 29" square, but I think I'm going to turn it on point and then add another border to it. So I'm off in a few minutes to see if I can find some more of the background fabric. And then I'll have to do some math.

I've also unpacked a few more boxes of fabric and am wondering why I bought some of them. Might need to donate some.

Nuts? Of course not. Sounds like perfectly acceptable behavior.

Found some more fabric. Now to figure out the math. I've got a book somewhere, but I think I'll just use the internet.

Got my Christmas wall-hanging back fro the quilters today and added the binding. I'll sit tonight and sew it to the back and hopefully I'll be putting it up on Fri and taking a picture. I've decided against the applique project I was going to work on this winter and will be trying to finish up some UFOs hopefully.

Looking forward to the photo. UFOs...hmmm...I need to check what's stored in those pizza boxes....

I finished binding my Christmas quilt and here it is on the wall. There's a book case underneath it that I will be decorating in a few days, once I'm sure it will stay on the wall. It's a little bit dark in the picture, but looks nicer. I did the binding in a gold fabric and the quilting is in gold also. I thought I should add that it's about 46" square.



And here's a picture that shiows the backing fabric:

>109 dudes22: It's really lovely! The perfect complement to the season, of course. :-}

>110 Lyndatrue: - Thanks - it's an easy quick pattern.

I used hook & loop command strips to put it up (which I saw on Pintrest and you can see one on the back above) and it just fell down. Thought I had plenty to hold the weight. But I don't think it's the weight - I think the sticky stuff doesn't hold on the fabric. Not sure what I'll do now. If I put my decorations on the bookcase and it falls down, they'll get broken. Oh well - I'll figure it out tomorrow.

>111 dudes22: One thing I have used is the clips for holding binding while you sew it on, or just plain binder clips. The clip part goes on the piece in question, and the clip is mounted on the wall. You can rotate your hangings easily -- great for seasonal wall pieces or just plain change. I haven't tried it with a piece as large as yours though (only because those darn bookcases take up the wall space).

>112 SassyLassy: - Thanks for the tip. I ended up hot-gluing the Velcro strip to the back of the quilt and it seems to be holding fine. If I ever need to take it off, I think I could heat it a little and it will peal off.

Very festive, Betty. I've been meaning to make a Victorian crazy quilt tree skirt. Hmm. I 'd best get to work....

>114 avaland: - Thanks Lois. I was thinking of a crazy quilt (or more likely just a square) when I was unpacking some of those non-cotton fabrics I have (velvets, suede, silks, etc that I was collecting). Should you need any when you start (or are you thinking for this year?), I could certainly send you some pieces to return the favor of fabric you sent me. Just let me know what you might be looking for.

Had a call from our grandson today saying how much he liked the quilt I made him. I knew we probably wouldn't see him until Christmas, so I sent it to him with his mother for Thanksgiving so he could stay warm. He said his roommates are jealous.

>115 dudes22: I am thinking this year, but now I'm into the pre-holiday...I hope to do all my holiday preparations ASAP so I can relax and do other things—like sew! I have a bucket of special occasion fabric from things I've made plus I bought and collected interesting scraps. When I get it out and dig around I'll let you know what looks lacking. Thanks for the offer. There used to be a quilt store that specialized in Victorian Crazy Quilting, one town south from where I live now, but alas! it went belly up within a year or two of me finding it.

Glad your grandson loved the quilt.

>116 avaland: - I too am trying to get things done early this year. I think having the extra week with Thanksgiving early was great for helping me. I think my shopping is coming along, but I need to go through what I've bought and see who is lacking. And start wrapping.

When I took out my table topper for Christmas, I realized that I still haven't quilted it. It looks fine but I need to put this on my list of UFOs for next year. We're also going to visit friends in AZ for a couple of weeks in Jan and I've got some fabric to make a small table topper for them. The pattern I'm using is "Waffletime" by Atkinson designs which is one of my favorite patterns for a hostess gift. Link to what it looks like:

http://store.atkinsondesigns.com/stores_app/browse_item_details_ws.asp?shopper_i...

I'll post a picture when I finish it.

Anybody here tried English paper piecing? I've been thinking I could use a hand project that could travel with me and I saw some interesting blocks on Pintrest that has me thinking I should try it. Or has anybody tried Inklingo?

>117 dudes22: I've made two tops from the "waffle time" pattern. One was finished and set to Australia as a gift, the other top was made but it was never finished...will find some photos to show you at some point.

Amazing how a simple pattern can be brought to life with the choice of fabrics. Your Christmas quilt is quite beautiful. The backing fabric is lovely. It all goes together perfectly.

>119 judylou: - Thanks. I've had that backing for a long time and could never decide what to do with it. I think the striped fabrics in red and green help to give it a little movement too.

Not too much quilting as Christmas approaches - too busy making cookies. And my brand new sewing room is now the gift wrapping area and my guest room that I was using for sewing is the overflow area for extra chairs and ornament storage. Need to move some things around so I can at least cut out a project for right after Christmas. We're going to stay with friends in Jan and I want to get going on that topper I mentioned in #117.

My wish to all of you here on the needlecraft group:



and may we have many wonderful projects in the coming year.

I went to do some quilting on a table topper I'm making as a hostess gift for when we go visit some friends in AZ next month and came across 4 pillowcases I was making as Christmas gifts only partly done. I had forgotten all about them because I had never put them on my list of gifts. Luckily we're not getting together with my step-adults and grandkids until Sunday, so I managed to get them done yesterday.

I got a new IPhone (I was using a trac phone) and I've been trying to figure out how to load a picture to LT from it and no matter how I rotate it, it still comes up sideways. (I usually use my computer to load pictures.) I'll see if my grandson can help me this weekend. Tough to be old.

>124 dudes22: The very best solution is to not trust the iPhone, and load it as it is on to your computer. Then Edit and Rotate it (being sure to change it), and then save it. I'm pretty smart with computers, and I just gave up on it. I make a new image, and keep the old, because there are some applications that are smart enough to rotate it (without your telling them to), and other applications that recognize you changed the rotation, and they flip it back (that's a poor explanation, but it's the best I can do).

ETA: If your grandson has a better solution, I'd be grateful to hear it. Love my iPhone, except for those moments when it knows better than me on what I want.

>125 Lyndatrue: - well - that's discouraging. Most of the time I will use my computer, but I was hoping I could do it from my phone while traveling when I wouldn't have my computer. Thanks anyway for telling me. Now I don't have to bang my head against the wall over and over.

>124 dudes22: I have good luck loading from my phone to Facebook, but I don't think I've tried to directly load to LT. I usually either do that from my computer or connect to the photo at Facebook. However, I've had some broken links lately to Facebook photos so I'm uploading from the computer at the moment.

>127 thornton37814: - I guess I just assumed that since most people use their phones to take pictures, they were uploading them from their phones. So I guess the idea is to go from phone to computer and then upload. Still doesn't help when I'm away on vacation as I don't usually take my computer along. (And I'm not on Facebook yet although I'm considering it)

>128 dudes22: I had that problem with pictures, also. It would be easier if one could post iPhone photos direct from the phone, like one can with FB. Someone on LT must have a solution. It's not the iPhone8, because it was doing it with my 6. What's weird is that it's not even just the photos one might have taken with the phone turned to its long side....

Curious - have you all posted to Bug Collectors since it appeared to work on 6 but not 8?

>130 thornton37814: - I think you misunderstood her, Lori. I think she means it did that with her 6 also so it's not just my 8.

>131 dudes22: Oh - I thought she said it used to work and now wasn't.