True Blue - Progress

 I worked on True Blue in January, when the chosen RSC color was blue. 

Unit #1 and #2 were done, and part of unit #3. 

The last days I'm working on True Blue again

The last 4 blocks of unit #3 are done 

...and I'm almost done with the corner units. 

I have to make 160 triangles! I'm almost there! 24 to go! 

I'm making it scrappy; one triangle at a time. I have so many 1.5" strips to use. I was struggling with the first corner units; the pressing direction (on the pattern). I think it was because I do one triangle at a time. I got irritated and decided to press the seams open. Doing it that way worked much better! 

I love how these blocks turn out.

Those of you on the Northern hemisphere, is there any sign of spring or is it winter? 

February has been hot, and it continues into March; we have had a few days with 91.4F (33C), which IS hot halfway on the plateau where we live. The west coastal region has recorded 95F (35C). In addition; 70-85% humidity. I can't wait for cooler days; one month to go before it starts cooling down! 

A Flimsy and Pieced Backing

'Dwellings' is a flimsy!

'Dwellings' was born Dec 2022, after drooling over the pattern in Sept/Oct 22 issue of Love of Quilting. 

I can't believe I haven't posted updates on this quilt! There's only the post linked to above.

I've been hoarding Moda Marbles as long as I've been quilting. I had a good selection and realized it is unlikely I'd use those MM any time soon. Using them in small projects don't make a dent! Then I decided 'Dwellings' is the perfect quilt to use some of the MM. 

I have used MM for all the houses, background and sashing, approximately 8 yards. For the roofs I've used grey batik as well as dark pink/purple batik for the cornerstones. I ran out of MM grey and had to purchase more to finish 4 blocks. 

Moda has discontinued a lot of their MM and many I have used in this quilt is not available anymore, sadly. I.e. I had just enough of MM 'wine' for the sashing and inner border. It's a beautiful fabric, and sadly it is one of the many that is Out of Print. 

I wanted something fun for the outer border and came across this colorful houses and trees fabric. Since it is directional, I had to purchase the full length of the quilt. 

That is what I thought I did! My mathematical skills failed (again!); just too short! The fabric is very busy and I think one has to look carefully to see where the two pieces are joined. 

I had a big piece of the house fabric left (approximately 44" x 63") after the border strips were cut. Enough to make a pieced backing without too much (brain) work and measurements! I went through my stash and found a leftover piece of 108" Stonehenge used for backing on another quilt. It was just enough for the top and bottom. Don't you just love those Stonehenge fabrics?!

I had to add more to get the right width. More MM were cut into wide strips and pieced together. 

Most of the time (!) I listen to DH's suggestions. In this case, he suggested I cut the house- and Stonehenge piece into two pieces and add the pieced strips in the center. 

So said, so done! I did listen, but not sure I agree 100%! lol 

I think this will be my goal for April; to quilt and finish 'Dwellings'. 

Moda Marbles - just sitting there...

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas together with family or friends. We had friends over for dinner on Christmas Eve, which was really nice. Sunday was quiet, slept in and did some sewing in the evening. 

We all (at least us quilters) know how important it is to always have the right colors in our stash, don't we?! ...and when we need that specific color, nothing matches! Right?! Since it is unlikely I'd use up those Moda Marbles any time soon, I've been pondering what to do with them. The first idea, as you can see here, is a scrappy granny square quilt. (No progress on that one). 

Then I discovered 'Dwellings' by Joanie Holton. Decision made! The pattern calls for approximately 9.75 yards (blocks, sashing and border) + 5.75 yards backing. Finished quilt measures 60.50 x 87 inches. Love those houses!

I've made some blocks, the same house in different colors. 

A few more blocks. Love that I can use up small bits and pieces. 

HAPPY QUILTING! 

Scrappy Pineapple Blocks and Lockdown

Good Monday morning!

I hope your week has been a good one and that you have been busy in your sewing room. We are on partly lockdown until April 30, 2021. I'm not going to say much about it except that we are allowed shopping etc twice a week only, on alphabetical orders. It works fine with us, one just have to adapt. Of course I miss my daily (almost daily) walk. Yep, we are not even allowed to go for a walk or take our dog for a walk! It has been raining almost daily for the last week, too wet for yard work, which is long overdue. Due to the lockdown restrictions, we also missed our sweetest girl's 5th birthday! Same happened last year! After watching the photos her Mom sent, I know she had a fabulous birthday. Hopefully next year we will be able to celebrate her birthday together.  

Thank goodness I have fabric and thread to keep me busy! Thanks to all of you who commented on my previous post. I did listen! 

The scrappy pineapple quilt has grown from 16 (previous post) to 30 blocks! If I stop here, it will measure about 55 x 66 inches / 140 x 167 cm, lap quilt size. I'm tempted to make it into a twin size quilt! What do you think? It has made a small dent in the scrap (strips) boxes, and there's enough for more blocks. 

 I love the 'circles' and 'waves'. Squint a bit and you'll see it more clearly. 

I'm taking some days break from pineapple blocks. They are fun, but a bit tedious to make. Actually it takes me 1.5 hours to make one (paper piecing), 53 pieces per block. I think I deserve a break! 

Today I'm going to start quilting a UFO! It is made of 2.5' squares from swaps and some of my own cut squares. I'm not sure I like the backing.... almond/pastel colors, but I thought the back would be fun with geometric fabric. It's a wide backing (108'). It was so skewed and I had a hard time straightening it. It's not new to me how to do it and with help from hubby and lots of tape, I think we managed pretty well. Time will tell how straight it is when it's trimmed and the binding has to be attached.  

Time for another cuppa before I remove everything (strips!) from the table to make space for quilting this large quilt. 

HAPPY QUILTING! 

Scrap-Happy Pineapples; continue, or not?

 Good Saturday morning! 

I hope it's a good morning for you? Not so good for me; I had one of those rare nights when I woke up just after 02:00 a.m. and no chance getting back to sleep again. After about one hour twisting and turning, listening to the rain and thunder rolling in the distance (I think it was the distant thunder that woke me up) and looking at the clock umpteen times, I gave up and got up! Even the cat was surprised to see me that early! Usually it's him who wakes me up when it's 'food o'clock', but today I woke him up! HA! Revenge for all the early mornings he has terrorized me to get out of bed to feed him! I've made myself a strong, big cuppa. The coffee should kick in soon and make me feel more awake, but I definitely see a nap coming later today. 

UFO finishing goes very slow so far this year. During the lockdown last year, I finished several UFO's because I was so determined to finish as many as possible. This year I've been a slug; we are into month #4 and I have finished the UFO for January only. 

Yesterday, after I finished quilting and thread basted the binding on a table topper, I pulled out one of my UFO's; scrappy pineapple blocks.

I have 16 blocks (I made one yesterday). Each block has 53 strips and measures 11.50" square (before sewn into quilt). 

I've been debating with myself either to stop it here (wall quilt) or continue making it into a bed quilt

My conclusion; with all those strips left, I'll continue making blocks and turn it into a bed size quilt. What do you think? My goal is to make one block a day, until I have enough blacks for a bed quilt. Time will show if I stick to my goal! :)