Happy April Fool's Day!

This post is short and sweet, but it speaks volumes. 

Had a bit of an incident earlier this year when I was doing some cutting; I have to admit that this is a first for me! Thought you might enjoy a little smile this April Fool's. 

Checkers Anyone?

My scrappy Checkerboard flimsy is complete. It's such a bright and cheery collection of scraps that it's hard not to smile a little when I look at it.

For an exercise that began as an effort to get the scraps on my cutting table under control, I have to say that it's turned out better than I had expected.

And much quicker than I had expected, too! There are 64 squares in each block, which sounds a little overwhelming, but when you whittle away a few at a time, it really wasn't. It was one of those projects that didn't require a whole lot of thinking so when I just wanted to sit down and sew something it fit the bill nicely.

I bordered it with a white strip and then a string of blocks, alternating a coloured block with a neutral. There was to be another white outer border but I goofed up a little. I'd been working on the star blocks that I showed you a post or two ago and inadvertently used too much of the white for that project, so all that I had left in terms of a solid was my go-to Kona Snow, but it just wasn't white enough.

Time to audition potential options. This pink floral lattice was the first thought but it was quickly dismissed.

Then I thought of this little black pin dot. It would be nice with the black and white line drawing print that is scattered throughout the blocks, but somehow it just seemed too austere (it's whiter than it appears in this pic).

I had the same pin dot in red so I went with that. It's subtle enough to add a little interest without competing with everything else.

I think this little block might be one of my faves - it speaks to the QuiltBee in me 😉.

So another flimsy to add to this year's shipment for Quilts for Survivors. Happy, happy, happy....M

 

Sister Act

Today I'm sharing a beautiful project undertaken recently by my friends Jane and Linda, who many of you know by now also happen to be sisters. They dug deep into their stashes to make this beauty for a raffle in support of their local food bank. I'll let Jane tell you about it in her own words:

"Last fall, our friend Donna Marie asked Linda and I if we would make a quilt for the annual food bank raffle. We agreed to do it as long as we could choose the pattern and fabrics, and that it would be a sofa quilt, or wall art rather than a bed-sized quilt. Our goal was to have it finished by March 1.

Donna Marie is a tireless volunteer for the Killaloe Food Bank (note to reader: we all grew up in Killaloe) and she organizes an event called “Mild to Wild” the weekend following Victoria Day in May. The event features a hot chicken wing eating contest, hot sauce sales, and a dance. To promote it, she organizes a raffle with several great prizes. Winners are announced at the event.

Linda and I wanted to use some of our wildest fabrics in the quilt and we chose a pattern called Cascade to showcase a collection of rich purples and greens. Using fabrics from our personal stashes (and vowing not to buy anything new!) we settled on a collection and started cutting blocks on Sunday, January 19.

We laid the blocks out on Linda’s spare bed and moved them around till we were satisfied with the arrangement. Each block was carefully pinned together and then we each took home half of the blocks to assemble by hand.

By Saturday, February 15, we had completed and ironed the blocks and the quilt top was ready to assemble. The rows were sewn together by machine and the final top given a good press. For the backing, Linda had a bright purple and green floral that was perfect, but not quite wide enough. We added a row of blocks bordered by a bright fuchsia to it and then it was ready to go to Roberta for quilting. We went with the panto called Moulin Rouge.

Roberta completed the quilt in record time and on February 27, Linda and I got together one last time to bind it. We used a purple with tiny orange and fuchsia dots. I dropped the quilt off to Donna Marie on February 28, just in time for the ticket launch! 

The quilt is on display at various locations where tickets are sold, including the drugstores in Killaloe and Barry’s Bay. I hope whoever wins it will love it as much as we loved making it!"

I say it all the time - quilters are just the best, aren't they?....M

An Unexpected Checkerboard

Surprisingly, this checkerboard flimsy is on my design wall. It started out as a way to use scraps that have long been accumulating on my cutting table in the hopes that I might actually have use of the entire cutting board rather than just the bit left by the scraps that continue to encroach.

I got the idea from Jean, one of the quilters at the church. She recently made a few checkerboard blocks for Quilts for Survivors in an attempt to use  remnants from a flimsy that she made for them last year.

The idea wasn't to make a flimsy, just a few blocks. Sound familiar? Well, I started cutting 2.5" strips and squares and it seemed like there was just a never ending supply to work with. Eventually, I added a few strips from yardage - particularly the low volume prints - but most of it came from the table!

I was keen to use up the white print with the line drawing and a piece of pink and white stripe. There was lots of pink so I've included several squares in each block; still plenty left.

Since the top photo was taken, I've made all 12 blocks and now I'm working on borders: a strip of blocks bordered on either side with a strip of white. It's almost there!....M

As Green As It Gets

Our household isn't Irish so much of the 'wearin' o' the green' that happens on St. Paddy's Day is sort of lost on us - this is as green as it gets around here today!

But, as luck would have it, yesterday I cut up some scrappy strips in green, teal and mauve for more star blocks so one came together today.

I could have stayed with just green but find that the combination of a few colours in a block makes the stars much more interesting.

Initially it took me some time to get my head around this Homespun block but once I got into it I really took a shine to it (pardon the pun). They finish at 16", which is what the Quilts for Survivors folks like.

This is now four of these blocks that are in the finished column and I have another five cut in greens and pinks.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!....M

Lots of Little Four Patches

As the new year began I didn't really have much traction with a particular project - not that there isn't always a WIP that can be picked up and worked on - but none of them really spoke to me. I just wanted to sew without having to do a lot of thinking, or math. So I picked up my Scraptacular box and continued making tiny square-in-a-square blocks with four patch centres.

Trimmed to 2.5" square, they finish up at 2" and cute as a button!

I'd made tons of the four patches in the fall and once I used up all of the corners for the square-in-a-square bits I did a bit more selective cutting, falling back on prints that I really wanted to see in this quilt.

Some of the centres have matching dark squares and some are mis-matched, like in the photo above.

I'd stitch about a dozen at a time, sometimes more, and then bring them upstairs with me to press and trim when I had a few minutes. It's amazing how quickly they added up.

One day I overdid it with the trimming and sprained my hand so I was out of commission for about a week. Actually, it wasn't the trimming that did it, it was the fact that I was using a ruler that was too small for the task (and probably a blade that was a tad on the dull side) which meant that I was really having to apply pressure to ensure that the piece didn't shift under the ruler. Once I figured that out I was off to the races again.

There's over 450 little blocks in the box now so it's time to start stringing them together in threes with a few setting triangles added in for good measure. Which means that it's decision time on what the setting triangles will be cut from. I've got a few options, just need to make the final choice....M

I'm Slow Today

It's Sunday. It's also the first day after the time change and losing an hour's sleep always slows me down a bit, so time for a little slow stitching.

My Christmas cross stitch is filling in one little bit at a time; the clothesline is half full now.

I'm almost finished the holly leaves and soon it will be time to start on the large white snowflakes at the top of the pattern. Looking at the skein of white that I have, I'm thinking that a trip to the shops will be in order soon as I used up most of it for the first one that I did like this. 

Nothing like a little hand work to slow life down, is there?....M

Light & Dark

Anne made several flimsies for Quilts for Survivors last fall too. This is the first of two that were included in the shipment just before it was sent off in October.

It's a combination of several soft checks in pink, blue and green.

The pattern isn't complicated at all, but when you frame it with a couple of borders it really comes to life.

That pink and white stripe reminds me so much of flannel sheets that we had when we were growing up. There were just a few strong stripes of pink along the top edge of each sheet but it was the perfect colour of pink and they were so warm and cuddly. And I feel that there might have been a green stripe in there too, but I can't be certain.

A second flimsy that she made is much bolder - a completely different feel - but equally fun. SO graphic!

What a great way to use up remnant strips! Any length works and the variety almost makes it an 'I Spy' quilt. It is a testament to never throwing away those leftover pieces.

I love the bright strips that separate each column and am thinking that I need to take a look at my scraps to see if there's enough to get inspired by. Lots of love in both of these flimsies and our quilters really appreciated being able to add them to the delivery....M

A Kitchen Sink Spectacular

Another one of the flimsies prepared by Betty for last year's Quilts for Survivors shipment was this spectacular Kitchen Sink. I just love it.

She pulled together a vast bundle of orphan blocks that she's been collecting - some of them hers, many from friends - and came up with this beauty.

I know that some of them have been waiting patiently for some time because this blue and white block is from an Irish Chain that I finished in 2012

She's done such a wonderful job of pulling everything together.

There were a few blocks made to fit and others reworked; points were optional 😉. 

So much eye candy!

She had  more of the green and purple check that she used in Birdsong to build in a narrow border to sit between the pieced blocks and a wider mauve border.

And, as usual, she prepared a backing - the yellow gingham - and a great purple binding to complete everything. Such vision, such a labour of love....M

Here Comes Cupid

One more diversionary post before we return to the Quilts for Survivors flimsy parade - something to celebrate the fact that Cupid will be making the rounds for Valentine's Day tomorrow.

Recently, I watched Vanessa unpack a box of QFS donations on Facebook and she got so animated when she found a huge bundle of Sawtooth Stars with an ombre heart at its centre. She couldn't have been more thrilled. When she signed off she was going to see if she could source the pattern to make a few.

That was all that it took to get me doing a search. The Take Heart pattern was designed by Lane Hunter for Modern Domestic and is intended for personal or fundraising use. It was created to bring a sense of ease while enjoying the quilting process, regardless of what is happening around us. Given all that is in flux these days, my discovery seems quite timely. 

It came together in no time and finishes at 7 5/8", which is sort of an odd size. To use it in the centre of the star I needed an 8" block, so I made a second one and just increased the size of the outer triangles.

I thought that it might pair nicely with this soft grey print.

And it did!

So delicate.

These are 16" blocks. When I make the star points, I usually use 4" HSTs, but this time I made four 4" x 8" Flying Geese instead, which was really nice - fewer seams. I've never made HSTs this large before and it proved to be a good test as I've had my eye on a pattern that uses nothing but. Serendipity.

Interested? I also found a short tutorial video of how to make the heart block which takes all of the mystery out of it.

Happy Valentine's Day!...M