I made this quilt top last year and had it put aside until I got caught up on other hand quilting projects. I knew that my border was a little ruffly but I didn’t think it was as bad as what it was when I took it out to start getting it ready for quilting. I took off the 5 inch border that was the same color as the background fabric of the quilt and replace it with a two inch pale pink batik. The batik doesn’t have the tiny bit of stretch that the yellow has so I thought that would be better for it. It still has a little but of ruffle so it was the large half square triangles that were the problem. Yet when there is no border on it – it appeared to lay flat – go figure. The pattern blocks are designed by Fat Cat Patterns a BOM that was free last year and I see after looking at the site that it was offered free once again as it was so popular. There are 12 blocks given, I used six for this quilt and have the patterns saved to make another quilt with a different color scheme with the ones left over.
The quilt - 47 inches x 70 inches - crib size.
one of the two blocks that I put a feathered wreath in .
a Corner feather
a side feather
the backing fabric
The quilt is now pin basted and folded with the thread that I will use (a bright yellow King Tut thread) and put in a zippered plastic bag ready to take on the camping trip this summer. Don’t you just love those zippered bags that sheets and things come in now! I have quite a few gathered up for projects.
Next to get ready for the trip is the Red and Green Traditional Applique blocks – I am going to try for 3 or 4 – this should be way more than I will get to, but I would rather have more than less and run out of down time quilting. Daytime we will be busy with sightseeing and hiking but with 8 weeks there will be days here and there when we need a break and will be just relaxing I’m sure!
Thanks for all the compliments on the red/cream Dear Jane blocks/rows. The border will be the traditional Dear Jane border. The pieced blocks using the same fabric as the blocks and the plain triangles and the scallops will be the butter cream fabric.
Moving right along, one more block done this morning and working on another one this evening, here is block 11 from row 12:
Row 12 block 11
I have not gotten done with a lot today other than getting the grass cut this evening. In the heat of the day work I did some quilting on the Christmas quilt !! It will get done one day 
I was looking through projects trying to figure out what was coming up to finish or work on some more and realized it is actually almost the end of the month so the Star Crazy patterns will come out in a couple days and then I can get the June assignment done. I’m trying to decide what to bring along to work on when we travel this summer. I am getting the Baltimore Bliss quilt ready to quilt and will bring the hoop and the quilt along to quilt on the road. I have more of the design to draw on the top, then baste and it will be ready to travel. But knowing me I need one other project to work on for when my fingers get sore of quilting and for variety- we do have some down time for sight seeing and hiking after all. I do not want to bring the Dear Jane triangles to work on – I know I need a break if I get done with all of the blocks before we go. I think I might prep a block or two for the Red and Green Traditional Applique as I only have one block for that quilt completed. If I prep a block or two all I will need to bring with me to work on that is thread and needle – I will of course already have needles and thimble packed so really will take up very little space. I think I will do that.
Well that was easy to decide LOL. I will get busy prepping some blocks in between working on other things this month. The Bow Tie Medallion is coming along nicely although no rush so although it is coming along nicely it is coming along slowly I just counted up blocks and I have 21 of the large ties (need 140 for queen size) and I have 12 of the smaller ties and I need 56 of those. So many more to go!
I hope everyone is having a nice weekend.
First of all I got done with my May BOM for the Star Crazy yesterday. After I was finished with it I took photos and then this morning I was resizing the photos for the blog when I noticed my mistake on the Irish Chain block. I have the lower left corner reversed so will need to pick that out and restitch that section. Isn’t it weird how you can sew – press, step back and place it on the wall,take a photo and never notice a thing wrong until you are resizing a photo and look at it again!
214 Half Square triangles - I think they are 2 1/2 inches if I remember right. I'm not sure how many of these are needed but we have been making between 24 and 48 of them every month. They are stacked in the box in the color groupings that I used.
This months 3 larger blocks - including the Irish Chain mistake. Some of these I wasn't sure if I would like using lighter colors in the stars but decided a few here and there will be fine. If I find I really don't like the light colors when it comes time to do placement and sewing together I can change them then. But because this is a scrap quilt it might turn out to look just fine.
5 months worth of blocks. The Irish Chain and larger stars are 8 1/2 inches and the smaller stars on the bottom I don't remember and don't have my book of patterns handy - I think around 6 inches? We have a lot more of the smaller size to make.
Yesterday I completed two more Dear Jane blocks for my “Insanity Revisited” quilt also. I am now done with Row 11!!! Two more rows to sew the blocks for – 26 blocks and then on to the border – the end is coming into site (maybe next year?) Actually it would be nice to finish the blocks and triangles sometime this year but who knows.
Row 11 Block 12, this one was so easy - hand piecing only took 45 minutes. Again a difference in lighting - one day I will get it right - but I am a quilter not an expert photographer.
Row 11 Block 13, this one had more pieces and took a little longer - I think total time for this one was a little over 2 hours.
Tomorrow I will have a photo of all 11 rows sewed together. Today looks like another rainy day – I tend to get a bit done on rainy days. Today I am going to be working on quilting design for the Baltimore Bliss quilt that I finished (I think) late last year or maybe it was very early this year. It is about 54 x 74 I think – I have it written down someplace. I am contemplating getting this quilt top with the quilt design on it and basted together to take along on our next trip to quilt on the road. It would be nice to be able to totally finish this quilt while on the road. I am thinking of doing feather designs – I know it will take longer to quilt then simple grid which I lean towards, but feathers on this applique quilt would look nice. I have my new feather book out and template that I bought in Paducah so will be experimenting – better get my big drawing pad out! I feel there will be some to toss out until I get the feel for it.
Continue reading about Star Crazy and Insanity Revisited (Dear Jane)
First of all I finally got the stencil today for my Baltimore Bliss quilt. I ordered it ages ago like November 20th I think. I hadn’t received it and the company I ordered from said it I didn’t get it by today to let them know and they would send another. I got it today! It looks great and will fill in those 16 1/2 blocks really well and the half square-triangles too.
feathered circle. I had intended to start the Baltimore Bliss quilting but I had to wait for the stencil so I started the Dutch Treat instead. That is ok, it will give me time to find a nice varigated thread to use to show off the quilting. I don't have a color I want to use on it right now.
I know this is my second post today (I really spend too much time on the computer and need to get busy quilting this evening!) I thought I would share some of Christmas decorations – I would love to see how y’all decorate too so if you have posted photos let me know so I can look. Here are a couple, I’ll do more tomorrow.
Feathered star Christmas table topper made several years ago. I put it on my new table and it looks really great there.
My 3 kings - I got these on sale from my daughter when she was selling "Southern Living At Home" items. These kings are about 14 inches tall. I love them, they look old and rustic but aren't!
Russian Nesting Dolls. I got these on a cruise to Alaska about 6 years ago? They are made in Russia and they were the prettiest ones I found at a reasonable price in Sitka, Alaska. Sitka if you don't know has a deep history of Russia culture as Russian fur traders lived there in the 1800's. These nesting dolls have wood burning on them which looks really nice. They have such a religious theme to them that they are perfect for Christmas although I leave them out out throughout the year - just in a different location.
Ok I got the Baltimore Bliss stitched on point today (by machine ) it was pretty easy to do considering the size of the quilt – it is finished at 45 x 65 I believe.
I didn't quite get the quilt laid out flat and took the picture and didn't realize I would need to take the photo over again when my battery ran out! Why do these camera batteries always seem to run out so quickly - that is this camera does anyhow. One day I am going to get a new camera, I wouldn't mind something smaller that takes even better photos. There are so many to choose from now. I will post another photo another day. I will see how much batting I have left and baste some more together to get rid of more of these pieces. This quilt I will go ahead and use my hoop for and can quilt in the living room while watching tv. The Christmas quilt will be on the frame for awhile so I might just as well work on two at once in the quilting stage.
Last night while watching tv I got this block finished for the "Insanity Revisited" quilt. This is the name I have given my second Dear Jane quilt. I have 7 rows sewed together and I am piecing the 8th row right now. This is block 9 from the 8th row. This is also block 100 out of the 169 blocks needed so it is moving smoothly along.
I was lucky and managed to get my H1N1 flu shot today. I called the medical clinic to see if it was in yet and they said they got some of the serum yesterday and to get down right away and get my shot before it went to someone else I scurried right on down and got it before they ran out. I am in one of the high risk groups so I was glad to get it although my arm is a little sore tonight.
It has been sweater weather lately – I like wearing sweaters and sweatshirts so it feels nice to me. I am baking muffins tonight and I know the house won’t heat up much – instead the oven heats the house just enough that the heat isn’t coming on. I am making two different kinds – well one batter, but two different ways. One half of it has raisins and walnuts in it and the other half is walnuts and chocolate chips. It is an oatmeal batter. It sure smells good, I have a feeling these breakfast muffins are going to be for snack time also!
I finished my 6th Baltimore Bliss blocks that I got from the Fat Cat Pattern site. That is all of them that I am making for this child size quilt. I really had fun with these blocks they were fairly simple to make and I needed that after all the difficult work on some of the quilts that I have made this past couple years. There are six more blocks in this series of BOM blocks. I will continue to collect them and make another child size quilt from the next set and use a different color scheme for it.
The 6th block in this series. I had only used this blueish (I'm not sure if that is a word but it is for me) color fabric in one block so I had to make sure to use it in this one so it would all balance out right. I redesigned this block. I didn't care for the flowers as it was designed - it would have had two colors layered on each petal and nothing in the center of them, I preferred to do them this way. Also the leafs next to the flowers were a bit bigger and I thought they took up too much room so I made them smaller.
So now I need to decide what the lay out will be - set on point like this? Not with the carpet of course but with more of the same background fabric and then a border around the outside. It would need a bit of quilting on the center two blocks and then on the half square triangles - maybe a feather wreath in the plain blocks and half the wreath on the triangles. In other words a lot of quilting. Of course I am leaning more towards this layout as it is more work
Or set like this with sashing and borders around the whole thing. This lay out would be the easier of the two as far as quilting it would go although on the border and sashing I would probably put a braid like design on it which would be a bit of quilting. Any fabric used in these blocks is down to very little left over so whatever the sashing would be might not be from these colors - one of the reasons I am leaning towards the set on point version - I have plenty of the background fabric as I got quite a few yards of it - it is such an easy color to work with so I got a bit of it.
I really like the two blocks in the middle the best for some reason. Not sure why. I should have used the light green fabric a little more but I ran out as I almost did with the plaid. The hazards of using up scraps! All of the colors except the background fabric was pulled from my scraps. I am really trying to be good and use a lot of them up.
I now have 3 sides of the binding sewed down on “Insanity.” I hope to finish the binding within the next two days and then I will start to do the final quilting that I decided to do on the scallops. I’m not sure how long the quilting will take but it shouldn’t take a real long time. I still believe that I will be done by Thanksgiving.
I got a little quilting done on the Christmas quilt this morning but I have not done much on that quilt. I need to get out my box of patterns that I have printed out for the Baltimore Bliss quilt and pick out the next block. I had been moving a long really well on those blocks until I took the Dear Jane off of the frame – boy did that slow everything down!
This weekend I started digging up one flower bed – didn’t get a lot accomplished due to the neck issues but it is getting better so I got a little bit of yard work done. I have one area that has gotten so thick with black-eyed Susan’s that I want to dig them up, divide them and start planting in numerous areas of the yard. I got some dug up and they are so thick, I have no idea how many I transplanted. Hopefully a lot of them will make it through the winter and flower in the summer. I usually have good luck with this type of plant.
We have had a really nice November so far – temperatures are above normal in the low 70’s mainly, sun and clouds – but so nice compared to October which was so wet and drab. Oh well, better get back to this sewing on the binding!
I really do not think I will get my Christmas quilt quilted for this season – it is November already! I’m not even going to try because I do not sit at my quilting frame for hours and hours a day. Especially with my neck issues. This quilt will most likely take close to 75 to 100 hours to quilt – I am not fast – but steady! It will decorate the room while I am working on it this year and it will be out next holiday!
Batting and backing ready to go last night.
The quilting lines are in place and I got the top on the frame earlier today. Don't look at the mess under my frame
A close up
The supplies. The thread is King Tut variegated. I plan on using the red thread for most of it and possibly the yellow thread on the red sashing just because. I will try it out on a short piece, stand back and see if I like it and if I don't I will pick it out and use just the red. These are all the supplies I will need. I use Roxanne Between Needles size 11, my little scissors, thread, a needle threader if needed, a little rubber needle grabber and my paddle thimble.
Last night and this morning I continued to work on the Dear Jane “Insanity” binding and it is coming along nicely, I have about 1 1/3 sides stitched (the back still needs to be hand stitched of course – first to the top).
It was so nice outside that I had to put the quilting aside after lunch and go outside for a bit to accomplish cleaning off the porch – I had tossed all of the painting supplies on the porch after I got done with the kitchen and was slow to put things back in the workshop! Just about all has been put away. I will have to wait until after Thanksgiving to paint the bathroom and wait for my neck to heal before I tackle more painting. All week we have continued to have sunshine and mild temperatures – it looks like – if the beginning of November is an example anyhow – that we will have a nice month!! We need it.
I will take photo’s now and then of the Christmas Quilt and what it looks like as I get busy with it and post now and then. I do want to start one more of the Baltimore Bliss blocks but I want to get the binding done on Dear Jane first so it will sit for a week or so before I decide what pattern to do next. Whichever one I choose it will be the last to go into this first quilt using these blocks. It will be little girl sized! I have no idea how I will put it together, but I think the blocks will be set on point and sashing in between – but I do not know what fabric to use I will need to look through things.
I have been working on so many things once again – a little here a little there. Clearing some things up and coming to an end on some projects.
Now I know a lot of you will think I am totally nuts but I decided to do the binding on my Dear Jane “Insanity” by hand. That’s right by hand. The whole quilt was done by hand so why not the binding also and truth to be told I do not get along with my sewing machine all that well and I have already taken out the stitch work of the binding for about a 12 inch section 3 times as I was not satisfied with the way I was doing it. My neck and shoulder muscles were tensing up and I thought to heck with this – much more comfy to sit on the couch – feet up – tv on and start stitching. ( I use to do binding by hand all the time as for awhile I didn’t have a sewing machine that was working and it all got done by hand). Just working a little bit on it last night and again this morning and I have about 20 inches of the binding sewed done on the top side already, this photo was taken last night after I had just started it. I’ll be done before you know it! After all why rush I’ve already been working on it for almost 5 years – it’s kind of hard to stop working on it. I guess I don’t want to say good-bye to it and I’m stretching out the work as long as possible.
Hand sewing the binding - I have decided to add a little more quilting also and will put an outline stitch on the scallops
Last night I got the backing for the Christmas quilt sewed together (with the sewing machine ) and also got some batting basted together (by machine also). I didn't have a big enough piece so put together some large bits and pieces and came up with a size big enough. Do any of you baste pieces of your batting together to use up as much of the left overs as possible?
Drawing the quilting design on the Christmas Baltimore Album quilt. I now have the backing and the batting loaded on to the 3 roller so that is out of the way - now I hope to get all the design drawn on the quilt top tonight and tomorrow and get it on the frame as well.
In between other projects I pick up the knitting and do a row here and there and it continues to grow. I'm not sure now much longer it will be but I think I will use up the second ball of yarn that I have and I'm about half way done with that one.
The 5th Baltimore Bliss block finished. I think I started this one about 2 weeks ago or so. I have been working on this in between other things as well. A stitch here and there and before you know it you have another block complete.
Row 8 of "Insanity Revisited" Block # 8 in that row. A little out of focus.
I’m not sure – maybe I have Attention Deficit Disorder — LOL, I can’t seem to work on just one thing – at least I always finish my projects, but if I get bored with one I pick up something else. Idle hands and all that – I just have to stay busy – if I’m not working on my projects I am reading or keeping my house straight. I just can’t seem to sit and do nothing and I have always picked up something to work on when I have nothing else to do.
Now it is time to relax – I just got back from the fitness center and got in my cardio I can’t do weights right now because of my neck issues. I am going to heat up the moist heat packs that I have and lay down with the heat on my neck and upper back for about 30 minutes or so. I took a muscle relaxer about 30 minutes ago and it is making me sleepy. Back to work on the projects this evening — see this is what happens when I’m by myself so much in the evening!
I have the binding for the “Insanity” quilt cut, pressed in half and rolled up but have not started to put it on the quilt. With my neck the way it was this weekend still a bit stiff I didn’t want to deal with trying to get it all pushed and pulled through the sewing machine. I might work on it off and on over the next couple days though and try to make headway on it.
I had been looking at my Baltimore Bliss blocks and I wasn’t pleased with the 4th one that I did –
this one! I don't like the inner wreath - when I laid all of the blocks out that I have done so far it just stood out as "not the same" if you know what I mean. I did not like it.
So last night after having thought about it last week and discussing it with another person who loves applique (Crispy) I agreed that the inner wreath is what was wrong with it. So I picked out the stitches, made some plaid hearts and here is what it looks like now.
Better I think and it goes with the other blocks much better.
I am working on the 5th Baltimore Bliss block and will be done with it today or tomorrow most likely. As you can see I am trying to finish up a few things while I am waiting for my neck to feel better.
Another project to get ready is the Christmas Baltimore Album quilt. I have the backing fabric washed and pressed, now it needs to be sewed together as it wasn’t the extra wide fabric.
The backing fabric
I will be glad to get this quilt on the frame so it is out of the way – right now without a quilt on the quilting frame I have things draped over the top of it while it is waiting for me to work on it.
Busy day today with both Physical Therapy and a dental cleaning appointment back to back. Really need to clean the house a little too and then back to some sewing. The sun is out again today – how nice – 3rd day in a row!
