Birdsong

My little QFS parade continues. Today it's all about an adorable flimsy made by my sister Betty.

She had found a panel with lots of sweet birds framed in garlands of flowers and just knew that she could do something fun with it.

Add in a few interesting little framed four patches for the corners (notice how she cut the narrow green border to match the narrow border on the blocks from the panel)...

and a lush graphic sashing...

and before you know it, a lovely little flimsy emerges. I must have taken these photos on a particularly dull day because they in no way do justice to the real colours. It was light and airy and reminiscent of a walk in a garden.

I love the green check that she used for the borders. It has a little purple running through it, which worked so well with the rest of the bits.

She also included a mauve gingham backing and a binding made from the same green as the frames around each bird, so all that would be needed on the other end was to quilt it and get the binding on.

This time of year we've just about had it with the chill of winter and start looking longingly for those warmer spring days, just as this wee block suggests....M

I Love a Parade!

If memory serves me correctly, I have pics of seven flimsies that were prepped for last year's Quilts for Survivors shipment that have yet to make it to blogland, so let's have a parade, shall we? 

The first two were from Jan, one of the quilters at the church, and are finished quilts and not flimsies. This gal is prolific and seems to have a genuine knack for finding patterns that she can assemble really quickly. 

These large flowers look like poppies to me, and I love the fabrics that she used to make them.

The block is not overly complicated, and consists of four blocks made with several stitch and flip corners, one for the centre of the flower, a larger one for the outer corner, and then two smaller white corners for the edge of the petal.

She has an interesting way of machine quilting them, using a fine zig zag stitch. (Did I mention that I love that fabric?!)

I think that I'd make a right mess of it if I tried this, but she seems to have the technique down pat and keeps churching one out after another.

The second quilt is a stylized nine patch - four to a block - and from looking at it, I think you just randomly select where you are going to make your cuts. If memory serves me correctly, this one had a hanging sleeve on it, so maybe it was one that had been hung for a show...?

It's got great impact, and when all of the blocks come together it is really lovely. The combination of greens and black is so striking, and you know how I love scrappy.

Looking at the shamrock panto that she used to quilt it, I'm thinking that I should have saved it to show you on St. Patrick's Day 😉....M

My First QFS Flimsy of the Year

In addition to playing with blocks to send to Quilts for Survivors, I assembled this flimsy which has been residing on the design wall since a little after Thanksgiving. I knew I'd get to it eventually, and it was fun to look at while I worked on other stuff. It's called Second Hand Clothes, and I finished the first one last September. 

I had cut the pieces for a third quilt at the same time as I cut this one and, miracle of miracles, was able to lay my hand on the zip-loc bag that they were stored in fairly quickly, so I dug it out (sometimes they end up disappearing into never never land, given the state of my sewing room, but the gods were with me this time).

I've pulled out the bits for the blocks that need assembly and they have been my hand sewing lately while I watch TV. One of my favourite things in a scrappy quilt like this is to find just enough of one scrap to add in that gives it a new lease on life while at the same time creating more variety in the quilt.

There are five so far but it's amazing how quickly they add up.

This flimsy reminds me that there are several other beauties made by family and friends for last year's QFS shipment that I have yet to share with you. I'll get myself organized and start a wee parade in my next post....M

My Head's In the Stars

I cannot lie, I love me a star block and I've been wanting to try my hand at Modernly Morgan's Homespun with some leftover strips for quite some time. 

Now that the church quilters are back into the swing of things and beginning work on this year's Quilts for Survivors projects, I decided to give it a try.  Regrettably, I did that while a head cold was setting in so my little grey cells weren't firing on all cylinders and there seemed to be much more ripping than sewing, so I let things settle for 24 hours.

When I got back to it things went better. I was not very optimistic about the prospects for the final product given my rough start. But I was too stubborn to just toss it, and I'm happy that I didn't because it turned out surprisingly well. QFS prefers 16" blocks and this one fits the bill.

Well enough for me to try another one in pinks and yellows, this time with a low volume print for the background instead of my go-to Kona Snow. Again, I was very pleasantly surprised.

The last three photos are yellower than they are in reality (the colours are truest in the first photo) because of the lighting in my sewing cave, but you get the idea. 

Now that I seem to understand the pattern better I have gone ahead and cut coloured strips for three more blocks. This started out as a block project but depending on how industrious I get, it might become a flimsy. I'd need 12 blocks....M

Roberta's Coming Out of the Woods, Too!

It's taken me forever to get this post up, but it's just been that kind of time around here lately. Finally, I am sharing Roberta's Holiday Forest. What a beauty!

We both started in the same place but have ended up with two very different quilts. She used a vertical spacer between the columns, as did I, but was much more adventurous when it came to mixing the prints for her trees.

And the addition of that gorgeous border? Well, it's a show stopper. It just puts it in a league of its own. Drool.

She thought that she might have goofed by inserting the narrow dark green border between the trees and the floral, but with the tiny pink flange and that beautiful teal plaid binding they just all work so beautifully together.

Roberta used a non-holiday panto called Moulin Rouge to quilt it, giving her lots of lovely texture. To me, it looks like the winter winds blowing across a snowy field of trees. Love those little circles scattered throughout.

She enjoyed finishing up hand stitching the binding last week and is now the proud owner of her very own Holiday Forest. 

I suspect that hers is also ideal for napping under 😉; I'll have to check....M

New Year, New Quilt. Or Two.

A belated happy New Year everyone. I've been enjoying making a slow stitching entry into 2025.

Binding Holiday Forest (both of them) seemed like a good way to finish off one year and begin the next, and I wasn't wrong. Binding has gone from being the one part in the quilting process that I was always impatient with to something that I look forward to - a chance to relax while enjoying the finishing touches.

With all of those scrappy trees scattered about, this is a really great Christmas quilt and it has already met the 'nap test' (a few times) in it's short life.

I have Roberta to thank for being able to make it using gorgeous Laundry Basket fabrics; she generously shared her stash with me. She's also made one, choosing to add a few borders, and it is a stunner. I will share it with you next time.

There are a select number of pink trees in the quilt and they are my favourites. Many, if not all, of the fabrics are not what I would consider Christmas prints but they still work beautifully; it's the variety of texture that really gives it life. Selecting the perfect coordinating tree trunks was SO much fun!

This paisley backing has been in my stash for longer than I can remember, waiting for just the right project, and this was it. I think that there's still a large enough piece for at least another lap quilt.

And, the cheery red and white plaid binding reminds me of candy canes. 

For the background fabric we both chose a soft winter white with a mottled grey and beige print that looks like delicate mini cattails and it adds a snowy softness and depth. Add in all of those little jingle bells in the panto and voilà - a Christmas quilt!

I have fond memories of the quilts that we made and used when we were growing up. They were all very utilitarian, made to cover a bed and keep us warm. So often they were made from used clothing. Then I never imagined the possibility of making a quilt just for Christmas, but now I have about four in the house and a few more that I have given away. It is a genuine treat....M