The Last Little Details

Seven more sleeps and the Holly Bazaar will be here so I'm putting the finishing touches on a few smaller projects, mostly hand stitching bindings.

My runners have been finished for a while but I also like to donate a variety of potholders as smaller items that our guests can look forward to picking up from the craft table. This floral fabric sort of fell into my hands as one that I'd like to try and use up and it worked up nicely.

And my binding remnants revealed this gingham. It's not a choice that I would have thought of initially but when I put the two together it proved to be a good match.

My niece Julia makes these darling little crocheted stockings so I've been filling them will sweets for the bake table. It was the perfect excuse to use this cute little gnome ribbon. Lots of little details for our guests to browse and enjoy...M 

Deconstructionism

The Official Cookie Tester did not grow up in a home with a quilter so the process still mystifies him to a certain extent. He continues to wrap his mind around taking large pieces of fabric, cutting them into smaller pieces and then sewing them back into large pieces. He calls it deconstructionism, and he's not wrong. These pumpkins of mine could easily fall into that bucket because I seemed to be constantly assembling then disassembling to get me to where I wanted to go.

Not fussy on the pumpkins stacked one on top of each other for a runner (at least not for my table - it's just not large enough) Plan B became placemats. But they needed a little something extra. How about a bit of a sawtooth border to echo that pumpkin stalk? Rustic enough and just that added bit of interest.

I found instructions online and then, with a little trial and error, a size that would suit. It's pretty straightforward, you just have to remember which direction to draw your sewing line, depending on the colour of the fabric. 

I'm including them here as much for my future reference as for your info. Brown was always sewn down and to the right...

and the black down and to the left. That's not to say that a few goofs didn't happen, which meant a little time with Jack (the ripper...).

Add in a narrow spacer and voila - a placemat. And all would have been well except for me deciding to randomly trim bits to get the right proportions, first from the top, and then the sides. It didn't help. Not sure where to go, I let them sit for a bit....M

Cinderella Pumpkins

With Halloween now in the rearview mirror I will be busy making my pumpkins from the front porch into puree for the freezer. But, I've also been making pumpkins since the beginning of August. Sadly, it's proving the be one of those 'two steps forward, one step back' types of projects, one that's been hard to get some serious traction with.

I'm using the Laugh Yourself Into Stitches Cinderella Pumpkins pattern. It's well written, even if the first step for making HSTs includes the words "Trim to 1"!

But if you just take a deep breath and methodically work through the instructions, in no time you have several darling one-inch HSTs.

And shortly thereafter, a very nice rustic pumpkin.

But when I started laying out a column of them for my runner it just wasn't doing it for me. Stay tuned for Plan B....M

Sidestepping the Turkeys

I dropped a few items off to Roberta this week for quilting and she happened to mention a backing that she is anxious to find a use for so I brought a small piece home to play with. 

Not sure what the print is called, but I've taken to calling it Turkey Talk because of this little guy who is scattered throughout, along with a pumpkin and a green squirrel. I've got lots of the orange check for the backing and binding so I landed on green for the star, but not this one.

This one either, though I think that any of the three would work.

Initially, I was looking for quilt patterns where a fairly large square could be incorporated but when I came across a set of star potholders that have been sitting in a drawer I shifted gears and downsized my initial plan. They can always use potholders for the craft table at the Holly Bazaar and it would scratch my itch to do something with this print.

I downsized the Flying Geese just a little so that each potholder will be about 7" square.

The turkey ended up being a little awkward to fit into the star. Ideally, the pumpkin would go with him but the centre square just wasn't large enough to accommodate both, and he looks a little clunky on his own.

After a little bit of playing with it I decided to sidestep him this time around because of the size of the block and just focus on the foliage bits. It feels like a completely different print when the turkey isn't the focus and I love the airiness of it.

I've got them quilted and the binding sewn on so this will be today's hand stitching. There lots more fabric so I wouldn't be surprised if another set comes to life soon. This was a helpful exercise in terms of trying to figure out a pattern that works well with this print - more thinking to do!....M

The Carp Fair Raffle Quilt

I have been meaning to post about this quilt since the spring but for some reason it keeps getting lost in the ether.

Remember last spring/summer Betty and I were helping our friend Jean work through the details of what the Carp Fair was going to do for their annual quilt block competition? Well, the fair was held in late September, as usual, and by all accounts was a raring success - the best attendance ever. We didn't make it this year but I did help Jean with pulling together all of last year's blocks into this year's raffle quilt.

It was an interesting process because I tend not to make sampler quilts, but I was up for the challenge.

There were 25 blocks so I landed on placing them all on point creating a little more interest. I needed more blue for the border but was working on assembly a good six month after we'd bought the fabrics for the blocks. Fortunately, was able to pick more up at the same shop.

This was Betty's block.

And this was mine. Until I saw these pics again I'd forgotten that I'd use the narrow grey sashing and dark blue cornerstones to set the blocks.

I think that this was the only block to include a bit of applique.

And this beehive block was a lovely homage to the blue bee print included in the fabric package. Sweet. I think that those bees were included in everyone's block.

Roberta generously donated her time to quilt it, along with the backing, and she nailed it with rows and rows of beautiful feathers, a lovely nod to this handmade tradition.

It looked equally nice on the check that we used for the backing which had a nice agricultural feel to it. 

Jean was thrilled. Red, black and white are the fair's colours so many of the previous raffle quilts were made using this palette but she wanted something a little different and this fit the bill nicely. 

In the spring Jean took it to a few agricultural/seed shows as a way to sell tickets and generate interest in the fair, and it looked beautiful when it was hung. This pic makes it look square but it isn't - I made the top and bottom borders deeper than those on the sides.

She  asked if I could also make a lap quilt using the same fabrics to accompany the fair quilt in the hopes of encouraging folks to sit for a bit and quilt a few stitches.

I landed on the 54-40 or Fight pattern. Roberta has long had a beautiful version of this quilt on a wall in her quilting studio and it has always appealed to me. 

It was a great pattern to work on and I would definitely make it again.

Jean is not a quilter so I drafted a suggested quilting pattern and sent her ideas for items to include in a sewing kit that could travel with the quilt, which she really appreciated. Last I heard, there weren't as many takers as they would have liked; I'll have to check and see where things ended up with it.

These two quilts were a big project and consumed a fair bit of last fall/early winter, but I was happy to help a friend out....M

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends! We have so much to be thankful for, including the ability to enjoy time in our stashes and create to our hearts' desires. Also thankful for Jane's beautiful hand crafted card in this pic.

We enjoyed our family feast last evening - turkey with all the trimmings - so I am looking forward to enjoying leftovers for dinner tonight. Love leftovers.

Before then I'll be playing with hand stitching the bindings for the Holly Bazaar Christmas stockings, and maybe even a table runner or two. Have a wonderful weekend....M

And The Second One is Finished, Too

The binding is now finished on Brown Stars as well and it turned out beautifully. I thought that I loved it before the binding was added but that gingham just took everything to another level.

I've said it before but I think that it bears repeating - that cinnamon pansy fabric combined with the gingham just made this quilt. Those pansies were stretched to the very limit as I had only a small piece so it required getting as creative as possible with how to use it.

I was flying by the seat of my pants with this one so I was very generous with it when I made the first block.

But you can see where just those tiny cornerstones in the star centre work well too.

It came through in lots of ways and that variety works so well to make the quilt cohesive. The scrappy creams worked nicely too.

Roberta quilted it with rows and rows of feathers that give it such a wonderful traditional feel.

And that backing - just wonderful. It reminds me of Italian glass.

I won't lie - this one is going to be hard to let go of. But it's not about me. Time to remember why I made it, package it up and send it off for someone to use in their healing journey....M

 

Never Underestimate a Quilt

As I was sewing down the binding for Kaleidoscope I got to thinking about how much I like this quilt and how much I really didn't care for many of the fabrics that I started with. They fell into the 'use it up' category and I just felt that I was trying a little too hard to make things work.

But as the fabric pull got under way the colours and patterns needed to bring the so-so fabrics to life evolved. The addition of the green and white polka dot and the light aqua really took it up a notch.

And as each block started to emerge and the colours were distributed across the flimsy, it really started to shine.

The end result is just lovely.

That beautiful 'grunge-ish' backing scattered with daisies that Roberta provided was the finishing touch, bringing everything together oh so nicely. I liked it so much that it's what I used for my binding.

Her generous offer to quilt this as her contribution to the cause meant that we would be shipping a finished quilt instead of a flimsy and the playful panto ties in so nicely with the floral backing. 

So, all that is needed when it lands in the Quilts for Survivors studio is for a label to be attached, the quilt to be smudged and parceled up with a note and sent off to its forever home. I hope it brings joy to the recipient; I know it has brought much joy to me....M

Binding Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope is one of two quilts that I need to bind before our Quilts for Survivors boxes are bundled up for delivery. I've been dragging my feet on making the binding but finally tackled it this week, and got it sewn on. 

I forget how quickly the binding goes on these quilts. They are lap-sized and considerably smaller than the quilts I usually make so I started the hand stitching yesterday and it looks like it will be wrapped up today.

Despite trying to store my Wonder Clips in the same place all the time I do tend to lose track of them periodically, and last night was one of those times, so I resorted to pinning. 

It's fine, but I've gotten so accustomed to the clips that I find myself really leery of stabbing myself now if I use pins so I was thrilled when I remembered where the clips were. 

It's now all clipped and ready to be finished. No point in shedding a little blood on the quilt at this stage in the game, is there?

Loving the backing that I got from Roberta; I don't think that it could have been more perfect.

Next up will be the Brown Stars (creative name, isn't it?) which is trimmed and ready to go. Think this one will get a gingham binding....M