Working on Autumn Nights

Happy first weekend of fall!
(Around here I celebrate all kinds of things, esp this time of year!)

I had a somewhat-busy week but I was still able to move
things along on my next quilt (Star Patch--MSQC)
I went through my moments of "hmmm, not sure about these

colors" when I was putting my strips into sets of two's.

336 HST's, 168 star corners, 72 4-patches and a ton of 2-patches

that will make up the border scrappy border

I felt a tiny bit better putting them into 4-patches

but it wasn't till I got my first star made that I started

getting excited again.

There is just something about adding in black to a group of colors

that just makes it pop.  At least, it sure does for me.

(Adding black fabrics to my shop hop list)

And here's where I'm sitting on my road to 42 of these stars.

Imagine these colors all looking warmer by the way.
And a little brighter.

They're just on my sewing room floor at the moment.

In making all those HST's, I can't seem to help myself:

I save the trimmings.  Now if I hadn't already cut my

strips and then squares, I would've gone the method

where you make four at once and there is no waste but

I was just happily rotary cutting away and didn't think

of it till later.  

This is a good tip, btw, if you make your own precuts.

Patterns with pre-cuts don't always go the best way.  Always

look ahead to see if there might be a simpler, and possibly
waste-free, method to cut (and sew) your pieces.

You'd think I'd remember this by now but a lot of fuzz floats

around in that room and sometimes it settles on the brain.

Anyway, back to those trimmings.  I have these little guys

saved from both of these fall quilts.

A set of colors/ivory and a set of black/ivory (a different ivory).

I also have another set of these from the first star patch quilt.

Someday I'll play around with these.

October is upon us and that means I really need to start

playing around with Christmas gifts.  Somehow all I can

come up with from the sewing room is table runners and

quilts so far.  We might be doing quite a bit of traveling

so I really need to get some ideas going soon.

I'm practically seeing stars and HST's in my sleep

so maybe I'll filter out anything with those!

Happy fall quilting!

Welcoming Fall: Quilt Completions, Family and Shop Hop!

Happy Autumn!
I'm so excited to share all of my pictures and stories today!
No, I didn't win the lottery or anything but life has been
good, and quilts have been completed!  I also "visited"
a quilt from a couple years back.  It's so fun to see your work
years later, especially in use, but I couldn't have planned
this one better!  Read on!

We are back from a weekend in Omaha visiting our son at
Creighton University.   We spent a lot of time watching football
together, attended Mass at the historic St. Cecilia's Cathedral
and took in a movie.
I win Mom of the Year for going to see "Rambo:  Last Blood".
If you're into that kind of thing, it was a decent movie.
I will say his cause was noble; and the theater was the
kind where every seat is a recliner and they bring you food
and drinks so that was a treat.

We stopped by my brother's new home, a "cottage" in the hills of
northeast KS .  My sister-in-law has a fun, creative way
way with flea market finds and antiques.  A story behind
every door, piece of furniture and lighting fixture.  I don't think
 I could ever do it but she has made it work!  The house handles
all the character you can throw at it by way of that decor without
it becoming clutter-y and overwhelming.
(I'm kicking myself for not grabbing a pic or two!)

"Apple Orchard" 2017

She happily showed me a quilt I gifted to them two years
ago.  It was one of the first off my long arm and it now
lays folded along the end of their bed.  Like everything
else in the house, it now has a story of its own to share.

Apple Orchard being quilted

One day she noticed the name on the quilt label and
made a neat connection:  all of that time spent looking for
the perfect place to build their home and they landed
on an apple orchard of an old homestead.
How fun is that?

Moving on to this beautiful season!
What better way to celebrate one of my favorite days

than with completing a couple of my favorite things!?!

Firstly, I finished up our granddaughter's quilt.

Gems for Gwyneth

42X54

She won't be here till next month but I thought her

her mom would like to get this into the nursery so
it has been delivered already.

The quilting design is one of happy flowers and leaves.

I have a little of the main-theme fabric left so there might

be a pillow, stuffed bunny or something sewn in the future.
I'm linking this one up on The Inquiring Quilter
Her theme for it is the celebration of love--I think
welcoming a new baby into the world fits this perfectly!

And now for the very timely completion of

fall quillt #1.

Autumn Shimmer

81X70

I finally got some decent pictures (though a few are still
a little too bright--ie, next two) so indulge me here, ok?

Throwing in a creative "extension" strip, I had just enough of this

Kansas Troubles fabric--used also on the border, and basically

my inspiration for all the block fabrics/colors--for the backing.

And when I say "just enough" I really mean it!

Also, I emptied a bolt!

*applause*

For the quilting, I went with the basic leaves; I maybe could
have gone a little darker with the thread than this gold but I'm 
still growing my thread collection.  It works well on the front,
though, and that's most important.  Actually, I kind of
like how it's showcased on the back.

Next week is the shop hop.  Next week!

Where did the time go?  I need to get more projects lined up
to shop for.  If I can get them started, even better.
And I need to get some fall cleaning done--it's always more
fun to come home to a clean house so that I can jump
right into working with all my new fabric finds.

So, off I go!
Happy fall quilting!

Autumn Shimmer Quilt Top Complete

Imagine a cool fall morning, colorful leaves everywhere.
The sunlight is hitting the dew and the effect is dazzling.
It's as if the stars came back out--in the day time!

I think I've got a quilt for that.

72x82

My Autumn Shimmer quilt top is complete
and I really like how it turned out.

I think it looks way better close up but
here's the full deal.  As is the usual these
days, the color isn't quite true to life.
Need some nice fall weather for some outdoor pics.

So another quilt top done!
I should probably fess up that the house has been

suffering a little these days.  I keep thinking just as

soon as I can throw those windows open and let

some cool fall air in, I'll be all too happy to do some

major fall cleaning.

At least I really hope that's how it goes down.

But until that happens, I'm trying to get some of this

sewing fever out of my system.

I know.  It's not gonna happen, is it?

Happy autumn quilting,
and may your autumn shimmer!

Quick Fall Quilt Check-In

Fall quilt #1 has been moving along nicely.

It was birthday week around here (hubs and I both)
so there was a lot of catching up to do over coffees
and dinners with friends.  I didn't quite get the top
finished but it's close and that's good enough.
Will try to squeeze some of the sashing on today yet.

Happy weekend quilting!

It's Time for Autumn Fabrics and Colors!

It's still pretty hot warm (thinking positive) but

things are slightly changing (if you squint) so

 naturally that puts autumn on the brain.

I started on the fall quilting by tearing through

my fabrics...which lead to cleaning out my

fabric hutch...which lead to reorganizing

 the big wall big shelf...

and two or three hours later, after successfully

diverting a full closet clean-out, I actually

achieved an organized fabric stash.

(Not including bolts and fat quarters)

That top shelf is pretty crammed still.

 I've been concerned about cutting back the stash to
make room for my shop hop finds but it turns out that
there were just a lot of fabrics just over-folded.
As in, folded too small.
💡Lightbulb! 💡
It also turns out that if you re-fold a lot of your fabric,
you'll suddenly have a lot more room!
I really recommend quilting away your fabric
for freeing up space, but this works too. 😉

If you have a serious shopping trip coming up

why not do both??

Joking aside, here's my next project.
This pattern but in rich fall colors
So out came all the fabrics.

It is so helpful to go through one's fabric
at least several times a year.
In doing this, I discover what I'm low in, what I need
to stop buying, how my tastes are changing, etc.

Anyway, having played add, subtract, add, add, subtract
and so on till I arrived at the above collection of 23 fabrics
(I added a black in later so 24)
I still felt like this wasn't going to make much of a dent.
I'm really liking this collection (tho I'd like another
red and blue in there) so why not cut TWO quilts out
at once!?  Now we're getting somewhere!

I had so much fun making this quilt I'm going to make another.
It's really rare that happens, btw.
"So many quilts, so little time" and all that.

The rotary cutter was soon flying and I now have 'em
both going.  This knocked off about 7.5 yds of color fabrics;
add about 10 to 12 yds of ivories/backgrounds and borders
and THAT is some pretty good stash busting going on.
I also have backing for possibly both; it's not the best
match-up but it works.

Let the piecing begin!
Okay, clearly by the pic it already has.
Ahem...
Let the piecing continue!

Happy quilting!

Chandelier Baby Quilt

I have another quilt top to show!
Hubs had work stuff going till late this eve so
I spent almost all day in the sewing room.

I shouldn't take pics at night as they're never very clear
but I'm just so happy to share that it's already done!
I can get a better pic after I quilt it up.
Our new granddaughter will not be arriving until
late October but I'll quilt it up next week
and get it completely checked off the list.

This picture at least shows the fabrics a little better.

By the way, here's a great math reference
to file away for setting on-point quilts:
Pheobe Moon Quilt Designs

So what's next on the agenda?

Well it's football season and hubs is now left

with only me to watch with him so, instead
of sneaking off to the sewing room on weekend
afternoons, I'll need to work out ways to get
some quilting done in front of the tv.  I'll

probably be setting a folding table up in our
living room every weekend but I'm sure open
to any other simpler ideas.

The first order of quilty-football-watching will be
to work on my grandson's I-Spy quilt.

Several years ago I made one for a friend's son.

I cut out plenty of extras, knowing I'd be making
another soon so that has given me a good start.
Fussy cutting squares seems like a good activity
for in front of the tv.

If things continue to go as they have been, I'll
also be starting on the season's first fall quilt
next week.  I have several ideas in mind (ie above),

but no matter what, there will definitely be some
stash-busting going on.

The shop hop is just weeks away and my
fabric hutch currently has NO VACANCY.

Yikes!
Well, let the fabric purge begin!

My fall pins and cushion are all ready to go.

Fall goodness is beginning to pop up all over.

Just look at these beauties I picked today!

Happy weekend quilting!

Quilting, Quilting, Quilting

I spent the last two days with my long-arm,

completely finishing not one but two quilts!

Quilted, bound and labeled.

I would love to get both of these outside for
better lighting but it's windy and hot.
(Fall cannot come too soon.)

Pooh and Me
47x47

Coloring is still a little off but the above is
the closest I could get to true colors that
really are soft and cheery.

30's Sampler
59x76

Two finishes already for September.
I'm off and running.

And not a single tension issue or thread break
the entire time!  So, first thing, after all that glorious,
stress-free quilting, I ordered more Gutermann
thread because it makes my machine, and me,
veerrry happy.  
My second and only other choice is Coats & Clark.
There may be others out there but I'm not willing
to do any more research.
And the next thing I did?  I cancelled the tune-up.

I think this puts me at 8 completed quilts for
2019 but I have so much more planned yet
before the year is up.

Maybe I'll revisit the tuneup issue after Christmas
but right now I've already got my rotary cutter
going on another baby quilt--more on that later.

Happy quilting!

Pooh Quilt Top Complete

Happy September and may this be a month

of many finishes for everyone!

It may be small but by day 2,

I already have another quilt top completed.

Even better, it's all loaded

and ready for quilting this morning.

The green fabric I had chosen for the alternating

chain blocks somehow just made the quilt

look old and faded.  Something about this project just

kept pushing to be simple so I finally just gave up. 

I waved the white flag, threw on a Pooh border

and called it complete.

The bonus is that I used almost all of it up;

it's not something I really want in my stash.

Tomorrow I'll find a spot with better lighting

and have a finish picture that hopefully shows

its true colors.

Until then, happy quilting!