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

It's Superbowl Sunday

Today's a big day for football in the US so it seemed like a good time to share this project with you.

The Green Bay Packers didn't make it to this year's finals but my nephew Ted is a big Green Bay Packers fan so Betty, his mom, decided to make him a new duvet cover for Christmas. I think she nailed it.

She was quite creative when drawing up the pattern for the G, using a glass from an antique oval picture frame. It turned out to be the perfect size. 

Everything was machine appliquéd using her antique Singer featherweight. And, it has a lovely sentimental touch included too. The strips of darker green print that border the cheddar centre panel are from his Nana's stash (our mother's) so, metaphorically, every night he is wrapped in her arms as he sleeps.

Needless to day, Ted was thrilled....M

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 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