Kathy's Quilts and Stitching

Saturday, April 03, 2021

Scrappy Saturday - Asterisks

There was an asterisks frenzy going on here last night! When I saw the new block posted for the Full Stop RSC sampler I got right to "work". I am making 4 of each of the punctuation blocks and here are my blue asterisks.

Sewing these made me remembered how much I love this block (it might be my favourite!) and I made a little review of some of the asterisk blocks I've made over the years.

It's the perfect block for cornerstones. I made 4 scrappy asterisk blocks for my Scrap Vortex quilt. I like how the asterisk is light and the scrappy background is dark.

I used the asterisk block as a border for my alphabet quilt and sprinkled a few around the quilt top with a quilt along at The Patchery Menagerie in 2011. This quilt was made from one very interesting multicoloured fabric and the background of course!

Here is a quilt I finished last spring. This scrappy quilt is made of various sized blocks and I called it "Asterikos" which means little star.

And here's a quilt that is made up of all little stars - an asterisk quilt using a 2" block. This miniature asterisk quilt measures 10.5".

Linking up to the RSC scrappy party

Thursday, April 01, 2021

April UFO Goal

My goal for April is to finish all my UFOs.

Just kidding... couldn't help myself!

April Fool's Day!

But just think of what that would be like to have no UFOs and be completely caught up with all your projects. That would be a strange life indeed.

So seriously.... my project for April is to finish the Morewood Mystery quilt from Meadow Mist Designs. I really enjoyed sewing this mystery over the winter using the very bright colours I chose.

This needs to be finished by April 12th to be in the parade of mystery finishes and get in on a chance to win one of the amazing participation prizes.

Can I finish this quilt in half a month?

We shall see! I have the batting, the backing and the quilt top ready to go.

Linking up to One Monthly Goal

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

A Mystery Quilt Finish

My UFO project for March (and for February but we won't talk about that!) was to finish the guild mystery quilt that was started last summer. Nothing new was purchased to make this quilt and so many old scraps were used up. Being unable to shop during the pandemic has really helped me to be innovative in using up what I have accumulated over the years and I feel quite proud of that.

The quilting is all free motion done on my domestic sewing machine, with each round of the quilt having a different design. I did not agonize over how to quilt this project like I sometimes do. I just made a decision as I came to each border and ended up with a variety of designs including arcs, swirls, waves and a few semi straight lines.

I really love the outside border for 2 reasons:

1) there are 13 pieces of black fabric scraps in the border and this really makes me so happy!

2) I love how the double swirl design turned out using 2 different colours of threads. It was so fun to stitch that I contemplated adding another layer of stitching with a 3rd thread colour, but decided that I should focus instead on finishing the quilt instead.

The free pattern is by Robert Kaufmann and is called Gazebo Medallion. My version is much smaller and measures 54" x 64.5".

This quilt will join my guild's comfort quilt collection which is donated to victims of sexual assault that are treated at our local hospital. I love that this funky scrappy quilt will be given to a young person in need of some comfort.

I always use Warm and Natural batting for machine quilting and one tip I'd like to remember (so I am writing it here) is how to decide which side of Warm and Natural batting should be facing the quilt top. There are many different and opposite opinions on the internet (as there is with everything these days!) so I only trust the website belonging to the maker of the Warm and Natural batting. They say:

"When quilting Warm & Natural or Warm & White, it is usually easier to do so in the same direction it was needle-punched – the cotton side facing towards your quilt top and the scrim side facing toward your quilt backing. With Warm & Natural the cotton side is distinguished by its leaf & stem remnants (face to quilt top)."

That is very helpful and I will remember that from now on as it helps with reducing thread breakage. The scrim side is smooth and it should face the backing.

Proudly linking up to One Monthly Goal and Favorite Finish party at Meadow Mist Designs

Monday, March 29, 2021

Design Wall Monday

On the design wall today is the jelly bean project. I have all the blocks sewn together on point which I thought looked more interesting. Cozy Quilter Gail sent me more jelly bean fabric since I had run out of scraps. It's a slightly different jelly bean fabric, but it gave me an idea of another border to add which I'll work on this week.

Linking up to Small Quilts

Sunday, March 28, 2021

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party! You don't have to stand 6 feet apart, or sanitize your hands, or wear a mask... you can sit at home and enjoy the company of hand stitchers around the world!

This has been a week full of bindings for me. I have been finishing 3 quilt bindings and am loving every stitch! The first one finished was my green March placemat that I posted yesterday.

Here is a photo in which I am actually stitching outside in the sun in March! It was warm enough to wear a jacket and sit outdoors... I was delighted to soak up the sun and put the finishing touches on my March UFO.

I finished the hand quilting on this little lap quilt (started in October last year). It's so soft and puffy with the wool batting. It really was a delight to hand quilt and the texture makes me want to keep touching it... is that weird?!?

This is a 27" square lap quilt for a nursing home and the flannel backing will hopefully keep the quilt from slipping off the lap. And it's so pretty with the soft colours of the scraps from my friend Gillian.

Can you believe it's the last link up in March? This month went by faster (for me) than January or February. I'm sure it's because the weather has warmed up enough on some days to allow us to be outside and enjoy some outdoor visits with family and friends that we haven't seen yet this year.

Please link up your blog below and your hand stitched projects with us.

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Finished Monthly Mini

Which green thread is best?

This month's mini project used up some leftover green 9 patch blocks sewn into a little heart, and a very old embroidery pattern. It was great fun to pick out some green threads to use! Green is a wonderful colour with such a wide range of tone and value.

I embroidered this young lady a long time ago, but she resurfaced recently and I can't remember where I found the pattern. I know it was a free online pattern, but after a search I can't locate it. If you know where I can give credit for this design, please add a comment and let me know. I used a variegated green DMC floss on a yellow fabric to stitch the design and really liked her citrus skirt.

The heart block is made from nine patch blocks made of 1" squares (finishing .5" in the quilt). There are a total of 22 little nine patch blocks in the placemat which makes my heart sing :)

The quilting is very simple on this placemat. I free motion quilted around the body of the lime lady, and then quilted straight lines around the heart and around the 9 patch blocks in the borders.

This is a photo of the backing so you can see the quilting design.

The finished size of this placemat is 14.5" x 18" and it will be donated to Meals on Wheels to be given out with the lunches delivered to house bound folks in my community.

This is the 3rd in my series this year inspired by the Joyful Quilter's Tablescraps challenge, and The Constant Quilter's crew of mini quilters.

Scrappy Saturday

Green month has flown by hasn't it? Perhaps it's the excitement of spring in the air, or the anticipation of vaccines, or the sun returning this week? Nothing outside has turned green yet, and more snow will come, but for now the sewing room is full of green.

Here are my green bracket blocks for the Full Stop sampler quilt. I'm making 4 punctuation blocks each month and will decide on the layout closer to the end of the year.

I have also been playing with other blocks and green scraps. I like this photo that shows the variety of projects I have been working on - the Easy Breezy leader-ender, the waffle blocks, and some leftover tiny 9 patches from last weekend's class.

Linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Mystery Bin

One of the things I have enjoyed during the pandemic is online auctions. I always keep my eye out for antique machines that might want to be adopted into my herd.

Max and the mystery bin!

This past week I was bidding on a 1936 Singer hand crank sewing machine that I really wanted, but at the last minute a new bidder jumped the price too high for my budget and I wasn't able to get it. But I did console myself with bidding on a plastic bin of mystery contents, which I won!

The bin and contents cost me $12.50. I quite like the turquoise colour of the bin and like that it's translucent to vaguely see the contents in storage. I plan to fill it up with UFOs!

But what was inside? Here are the quilting related things - a fleece throw kit, a fabric book kit, some fabric markers, and a big bag of buttons.

There were also several tins, some that went to a thrift shop (altoids, etc) and 3 that I kept. I really like the Amatller tin which is from a chocolate company in Barcelona. I will keep tiny fabric collections in these tins.

There was also a stack of blank canvases that will go to an artist friend.

Even though I didn't purchase the item I had hoped to, I was quite pleased with this auction treasure, and will keep searching for the elusive hand crank sewing machine that will one day join the herd.