What's Under YOUR Needle?

 

I am making progress on all my projects.

Tea Time:  My sister's birthday lap quilt is back from the LAQ and I have the binding and label all ready to go.  

I'm rather proud of myself that I finished this for the VERY birthday I planned to give it - instead of 5 years later.  

 

I want to send it to her NOW, but her birthday is in April.

 

Jagged X:  It is about a fourth assembled.

I hope to have the top completed this week and ready for borders.  A trip to the fabric store will be required to buy fabric for the borders.  I'm thinking orange.  

You cannot see from this picture, but some of the blue fabric "X's" have small dots and one of the colors is orange.  I'd like to pull that out.

Long Time Gone:   

 Block 1 (Bow Tie)  & Block 2 (Square in a Square) are done.

 

  On to Block 3, Crosses of the UK.

 

Plucked from the Internet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the process of cutting the fabric for Block 3-- TWO startling discoveries! 
Not only are these pieces small, but I need to make six teeny Crosses blocks! Oops! Back to the cutting board.

Truth be known, though, I'm kind of anxious to get to them....hummmm...wonder if I should call in sick.....

Happy Sewing!

Long Time Gone being assembled on Miss Ellie.

Catch Up Post

 

Ever have a catch up day?  That day when you tidy up all the loose ends of the week.
Consider this your Catch Up Post.

COVID or no COVID my workload is ramping up and the past week has been crazy busy. 
I will even be TRAVELING in a couple of weeks!  (she says with a bit of fear and trembling...)

 

 

 

 

 

Because the days have been long I have not been in the studio much. 
I did, however, work on the Tea Time quilt for my sister's birthday in April. 
I expect to finish the block assembly today.  

How I keep track of block placement.

 

 

It's unfortunate that, now that it is nearly all assembled, I notice a built-in focus point....
hummmmm.  Oh well....there are no quilt police***, right?

I still want to add at least one border but  because this quilt was created from a jelly roll there is no left-over fabric. A trip to the fabric store appears to be necessary.  I've been avoiding the fabric store....

As quilters we never stop learning....A while back I watched a video from
Just Get It Done Quilts about pressing blocks.  With these blocks I employed both the finger pressing technique Donna Jordan suggests in her video and  Karen's pressing technique from her video. 
I do believe these blocks are straighter and more true-to-size.

  Rounding out the week

 

 The son liked his birthday quilt...

Storm at Sea

 

 

 

 

My dear friend of more than 40 years, Jennifer, gave her log cabin a place of honor.  (and right this moment, in the entire Portland area, there is ice and snow...wonder if she fetched the quilt off the wall???)

 

Isn't this why we quilt?  

Quilts warm the body and the soul.

Happy Valentines Day to all

***Sam Gordon (who I do not know) has been posting these cute, quilt police blocks on the Collage Quilter FB page. 
Very creative.

UPDATE

An update on Sam Gordon and the Quilt Police blocks. He has his own FB page, Personal Patchworks.  HERE I believe I read somewhere on his page that he is putting together a pamphlet or pattern or something for the Quilt Police.
Wouldn't that be fun?!

 

Inspiration Comes in Spurts

It is two weeks into a new year and all of a sudden I feel energized!  Maybe it is is because I have finished Storm At Sea
(it goes to the LAQ today.) Or, maybe because I'm getting used to being home ALONE, ALL THE TIME.  Who knows....

Lately I've been motivated to sew, but instead of sewing I am searching the internet for free quilt patterns
(like I don't have enough patterns!)  Even so, I thought I'd share some of my finds with you.

With an eye on what I already have and what to use up
A few years ago I was given a Jelly Roll as a gift.  Beautiful fabrics (nothing like the picture below.)
I was saving it for a special quilt.  But, as with so many other pieces of beautiful fabric, it was put in a cupboard and forgotten.

With the new year comes the annual cleaning-out-of-all-the-Studio cupboards. Lost treasures are found!

 

 

 

Yesterday I watched this video and LOVED her idea.

Tea Time by Jordan Fabrics.  The pattern is free and she makes it look soooooo easy!  Click HERE.

Not long ago my baby sister whined "Everyone has a quilt but me. (sad face here)"  Her birthday is in April (happy face here).

Next on the docket
(any clue what I've been watching to on YouTube while I sew?)

 

 

Tilda Friends.  I saw this quilt posted on FB just this morning.  I really like bright, white backgrounds; I really like scrappy; and I really like using up all my scraps with a free pattern.  Enter Duck Quilt. WIN, Win, win!!! 

If you like a country flavor, this is the site for you.  There are some adorable, free, patterns on this site and not everything is a quilt.

Someone is selling a quilt made from this pattern on Etsy. 
Very cute!  And, I like her choice of background fabric. 

 

 

 

 Just plain fun

 

 

I saw this wall hanging on the FB page Scrappy Girls Club. 
I do not think there is a pattern, but if you're in the mood to just sit down and sew, wouldn't this be fun?

 

 

 

 

  

 

Finally for the advanced in the group
Dancing Ribbons by Cindy Round Richards.

Get the free pattern HERE on the American Quilting Society (AQS) site and don't forget the coloring chart.

Read the How To at My Patchworld.

I love this but I don't think I'm up for the challenge....

 

 

 

The last Word 
Just to mention some sites for free patterns.  These are in no particular order and there are many more.

Bonnie Hunter especially if you like scrappy.  Also, she usually has an annual mystery, quilt-along.
For the person who likes modern quilts, Spruce Crafts.
I could spend some time on the Art Gallery Fabrics website...two thumbs up!
If you don't have anything better to do of an evening....start HERE....many, many sites for free patterns!! 

WARNING: looking for free patterns is like falling into a black hole, it goes on forever.  And it is addictive!