Another Finish!

Amazing ... another week, another finish.  I wish I could continue this mini trend.  This was a really easy, small quilt.   

It was a beautiful sunny day when I took this picture.  I decided it was nice to leave a little sky in the picture.  (Many thanks to hubby who was holding the quilt.) 

This is a free pattern from Elizabeth Hartman.  She offers a version using charm packs and a bigger version using layer cakes.  You can find the directions here.  You can also find other free projects by going to her website and looking under "Projects."  (Every time I show this quilt it takes me forever to find the web page as it isn't listed as a free pattern, although it is.) 

You can read the back story on the charm squares here. The squares that were cut in half were actually cut from stash.  I was able to introduce a little calm into the mix with them.  It's a very easy quilt even if you cut your own 5" squares.  Below you can see the backing.  I was really happy to use that older piece of flannel.  The only downside is it's hot in central Virginia in the summer -- who's going to want to use a part flannel quilt? It's going to a NICU in the Richmond area through Country Piecemakers in Powhatan, VA.

I'm trying to decide what fabrics should be cut next for one of these quilts.  Hum, maybe I should think about cutting 10" squares for a bigger quilt?

Here's Sharon's version that looks completely different from mine. 

And last, proof of finish of my table runner/wall hanging. 

Ok, honesty here, I haven't put the sleeve on it yet nor have I decided about eyes or bubbles.  But one of these days I will do that.  Maybe sooner than later. 

I'm ready to finish this off and get back to the studio.  I'm FaceTiming with Sharon this PM and I need to figure out what to do during that time.  New quilt? Pull out a UFO? Make blocks that I need to send off?  Decisions, decisions.  

I'm linking up to all of these fun parties: Midweek Makers, Needle and Thread Thursday, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Finished or Not Friday, and Beauties Pageant. Wow!  That's a lot of blogs.  But jump right in and start surfing.  You know you will find all sorts of great inspiration. 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie  

A Finished Top

Does it count as a finish if it is just a top that's done?  Yep, I think it does. Here are the two three best things about this top.  First, it's a free pattern from Elizabeth Hartman. Second, it was really fast! And finally, my friend Sharon and I decided to each make this quilt and also chat via FaceTime.  Here's my version. (I'll get a picture of hers to share later.) 

I actually hadn't sewn it together yet in this picture so you'll have to use your imagination. I trimmed the grey pieces to fit and made sure I lined everything up carefully. Part of the reason this is such a fast quilt is it uses charm squares. I added some blender fabrics cut to the required size.   

Every once and a while things really come together. Yep, it did with this little quilt.  I have had a piece of flannel with a little monkey dressed as an astronaught on a light turquoise background. It's perfect for these space themed charms.  Hopefully it's going on Ruthie, the long arm, this week--probably Saturday. 

To say that I had a LOT of these charm squares is an understatement.  I still have some left. (And, frankly, I am good and tired of them.) The leftovers are being put away for a later project.  Here are some links to see some of these charms in the Mendota quilt (before quilting,) and in three finished happy block quilts --  yellow,  light turquoise, and teal versions. The happy blocks were made for triplets whose family lost their home in the horrible fires in Washington state last year. (Happy block pattern can be found on MaryQuilts.com.) I've probably made more Happy Blocks for Charms quilts more any other quilt.

The other fun event was receiving this cute backing fabric for a quilt my daughter asked me to quilt a few weeks ago.  She purchased this wide back from Connecting Threads and had it sent to me.  The quilt is a lot of kitty blocks.  It's going to be given to her daughter's teacher at the end of the year. I'll share pictures in a couple of weeks after I get it quilted. 

Sorry I don't have a picture of Sharon's charm block quilt to share.  Hers used a completely different style charm pack. I'll ask for one and show it later.  I'm now wondering if I could use the same concept and make 4" blocks in place of the charm squares?  Hum, do I even want to think of making a lot of 4" blocks? Yes, I would have to change it up just a little but . . . I just made this garlic knot using 1.5" squares.  It would be nice to make a dent in my 1.5" squares or even the 2" ones... just saying. 

On to the linky parties: Midweek Makers, Needle and Thread Thursday, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Finished or Not Friday, and Beauties Parade.  Wow, lots of places to link up.  I hope you have some fun surfing through all these linky parties.  There's always something wonderful to see!  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

To Do Tuesday -- Tuesday Night Version

 Another good week for my goals.  Here are last week's results: 

9/22/2020

Sew log cabin blocks together✔️

Work on landscape quilt. Figure out more size appropriate rocks. ✔️but need to change some other things still 

Bind my churn dash quilt. ✔️

Make more Snowball Blocks✔️

Make the red scrap basket✔️See Monday's post about the basket. 

Here are photos of some of my finishes. 

First, check out the Scrappy Rebuilt Log Cabin.  The top is ready for quilting but it won't happen for quite a while. 

I just finished the binding on my Churn Dash this morning. I was really happy about how it turned out.  I sew the binding on the back of my quilts first.  Then I flip it over and machine sew the binding down.  I really like how well this binding looks on both sides. It helps that the binding is the same color as the backing fabric. 

This week I really have a short list.  I've agreed to provide some quilts to kids whose families lost everything due to wild fires. Most of the quilts are ready to go but I have 3 quilts I'm making and one to quilt and bind.  So I'll be busy and highly focused this week. Here's my goal list for this week.

9/29/2020

Quilt one lap quilt

Finish the 3 kid’s quilts 

Keep making Snowball blocks (I use these as leader enders.)  

These are the blocks I've worked on for the last few days. The two piles of charm squares are ready for the two other quilts. 

I was able to finish all the blocks for the first quilt.  I used the Happy Blocks for Charms pattern available at Mary Quilts. Here's all the blocks laid out, ready to be sewn together soon. Hum, I need to separate the turquoise and orange blocks in the top row. 

After this one is done I'm making 2 more that are basically the same with the only difference being colors around the charms.  Hopefully I'll be able to start quilting at least one of these along with the top that just needs the quilting during the week.

I'm linking up to To Do Tuesday and Midweek Makers this week.  Make sure you visit these linky parties to see what people are now working on.  I'll be back to link up with Midweek Makers. 

Virginia allows early in person voting.  Tomorrow is voting day for us.  That and getting our flu shots.  Maybe there will be a take out lunch too.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Top Done!

I started this Plus quilt in December.  I bought 5 matching charm packs from Connecting Threads when they were on sale for $1.00 each. BARGAIN! Except when I started planning the quilt I only used the fall colors leaving the brighter colors for another quilt.  I cut out several of the blocks from either fat quarters or yardage.  All of the background fabric came from stash. 

I've already started the backing.  I have a length of fabric that I will be splitting and then adding extra strip of plus blocks.  That should give me a backing from my stash. (Little Snoopy dance going on here since I can use only my stash for this quilt. Well, I did buy the charm packs but that was early last year!) 

I am linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?,  Finished or Not Friday, Wips In Progress. Some of these I'll have to link with tomorrow.  Spend some time checking out what folks are working on these days.  I always spend a bit of time checking out others blogs.  I really enjoy it but boy do I get way too many ideas.  

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie