A Special Double Wedding Ring Surprise

Back in November, just as we were prepping for the bazaar, Jan sent through a note about a gal named Carrie who had contacted her guild in Kingston enquiring as to anyone who might be interested in finishing a Double Wedding Ring quilt.

It was made by Carrie's mother who had recently passed away. After her death, Carrie's dad had bundled it up and tucked it into a drawer, not quite sure what to do with it. They recently discovered it safe and sound in a pillowcase. She is keen to have the hand quilting finished up and getting it bound so that she can gift it to her daughter for her upcoming wedding this spring. It's to be a surprise.

It is beautiful. About 2/3 of it is quilted and her work is lovely. It proved to be a challenge that we couldn't refuse. I mean, to be able to work on a sentimental surprise like that? Really? 

So we've put our heads together to develop a line of attack, not the least of which is drafting and marking this motif for the centre of the rings.

So far, it's been quilted in a hoop and it is very well basted with pins, so there's been little or no shifting of the quilt sandwich....M

Something From Nothing

I'm a little giddy with my Quadrangle quilt progress this week.

A few evenings of hand stitching while watching TV and I now have seven (eight?) blocks made and ready to be pressed. It's particularly welcome on those days when I'm pooped and don't have the motivation to trundle down to the machine.

With everything cut and the coloured squares bundled and ready to go, it's easy to pick things up and make a little progress every time. The greatest part of this type of sewing is that, with the exception of several neutrals that I am using, almost everything came from my 2.5" scraps. That's when I pat myself on the back for taking the time to trim remnants rather than pitching them in the trash. A beautiful way to get something from 'nothing'!....M

A New Hand Stitching Project

New year, new project. I've been missing having a quilt to hand piece and my recent Pinterest trolling has filled that void for me. It's a free Moda pattern called Quadrangle. 

Of course it's scrappy and there are lots of neutrals to play with, too. 

For whatever reason, I printed a photo of the inspiration quilt but didn't have the smarts to Pin it so it's taken a bit of time to track down the source again. It would have helped considerably if I had been searching for 'quadrangle' rather than 'quartile'. Sigh. If I only had a brain... 

Anyway, huge thanks to suepatch12 (her photo) for her inspiration. Isn't it lovely?

I was somewhat surprised when I saw the original pattern as it is much denser than Sue's. By choosing to make every alternate block a neutral instead of a pieced block she has made it beautifully light and airy. 

I'm taking the neutrals up a notch, using a random assortment in each block rather than only a single neutral in each. Thinking I might forgo the cornerstones in the sashing too, but we will see. Love being able to work on something without running down to the machine; so relaxing....M

Last Flimsy of the Year

It's been more than a month since I have crossed the threshold of the sewing room for anything other than hiding a few Christmas gifts so today I picked up a project that has been languishing since the fall and - surprise, surprise - I finished up a flimsy.

Jan, one of the quilters at the church, put together a centre panel for a Quilts for Survivors project back in the fall and wanted someone else to finish it up. 

Full disclosure: I'm not much of a grey person when it comes to quilts so it took a little imagining for me, though I do like the prints in this bundle. Things have been very hectic for the last few months so it sat on/near the cutting table, and that's as far as it got. No chance of it getting included in the quilt shipment that we made in October.

I was puttering around downstairs yesterday and decided it really didn't need that much more work so I gave it a second look. Jan had sent a piece of peach with a slight cross hatch in it home with me, thinking that it would do for the border but on its own it just didn't carry enough weight. It needed something else. So I landed on a 1" strip of peach and then a wide grey border that I uncovered in our stash at the church (from a sheet).

I had both a fitted and flat sheet to work with so I cut the fitted one up first, thinking that the backing could be made from the flat sheet. Despite being new, there were several stains on the sheet that I was working with - maybe wax? - so it took me longer to cut the borders than I had planned.

The finished product is lovely, if I do say so myself. That little bit of peach adds just that extra bit of life that it needed and it's almost as though the grey was made for it! Not sure if I will use it as a backing too because it's a little stiff, but maybe if it gets machine quilted it would work. I'll see what the gals think.

If I am correct, this is the fourth quilt/flimsy for our 2026 shipment, all thanks to Jan getting things started....M