One Monthly Goal Finish for March, Declaring a Goal for April

My One Monthly Goal for March was to hand quilt 3 more rows of Baptist Fans across this quilt, Everyday Patchwork. 

I met that goal by the end of the first two weeks in March, but my fingers were sore.  I took a little break, then continued quilting, and now, today, have finished 4½ rows of fans.  (I hoped for 5 or 6 rows but wasn't fast enough.) 

I'm so close to the top, to the finish!  So I'm setting April's One Monthly Goal as quilting 2-2½ more rows (or how many ever it takes) to finish this quilt.  I'm sure I can do that!

When I read others' progress posts for either hand or machine quilting a large quilt, I usually can't see the progress (unless there are a lot of photos) but I'm always cheering for the person posting.  Quilting takes a lot of time and effort.  When I'm the one doing the hand quilting, it's always so evident to me exactly how far along I am on the quilting.  I suppose that's because I'm so close to the quilt, the one doing the stitching, making the progress.  

I'm linking this post to
> One Monthly Goal Finish Link Up at Stories from the Sewing Room. 
> April One Monthly Goal at Stories from the Sewing Room
Thank you for hosting, Anne-Marie.

--Nancy.

Another Little Plaid Basket Finished

One more little plaid basket is all stitched, including zinnia flowers, stems, and leaves...

and I started appliqueing the next basket.  I love this red and army green plaid even if it isn't the most generous fabric for hand stitching.

When I applique these baskets stitch around the outside edge of an empty basket first. When that part is appliqued, I place the stems, the flowers, and the leaves, decide the order to applique them.  I usually stitch the stems and leaves first, then the handle between the flowers.  Sometimes I have to juggle the order of stitching and do a little of the handle, then part of a flower or leaf or stem.  Eventually everything gets stitched.

I have this basket to finish and one more that needs flowers, leaves, and stems.  Then I should be done!  I'm looking forward to turning these into a top!

I'm linking this post to
  > Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Kathy.

--Nancy.

Scrappy Stars in the Red Range

I've been making these stars for a few months, sometimes as leaders/enders, sometimes in earnest.  I now have 48 finished, with five more in progress.   It's time to think about how to turn them into a quilt.

My first layout idea was this.

But after looking at these a few times over a day or two, I realized the stars really need some space of their own.   They're just too mashed together and congested, creating a very busy quilt.   So I moved on to my next idea.

This is a straightforward layout:  on-point, diagonal set with alternate squares between.  I like that each star gets its own space to shine.

I'll use this layout unless a better idea comes along.

Next I need to sort out fabric for the alternate squares.  I always imagined using a light/lightish fabric, maybe leaning toward pink, since all but a few of the stars are in the red range.  I have two pieces of yardage with enough fabric to cut all the alternate blocks (and hopefully side setting triangles, too). 

This fabric looks more pink than the other because it has red vines and flowers with little grey/charcoal/black circles.

This fabric has a white background with little heart flowers.

You can see both fabrics in this photo.

The arrangement of the stars needs some work, something I'll decide after I choose fabric for the alternate blocks.  And, I guess the other possibility for the alternate fabric is to choose a darker or brighter fabric.  I'm still playing and considering.  I welcome your thoughts on these blocks, layout, fabric, and color.

If I use only the blocks I already have, the layout will be 6 blocks by 8 blocks. A 6" block set on the diagonal measures about 8½".   The quilt would measure about 51" x 68", so a smaller quilt, not even large enough for a twin bed.  But someone might like it....  Or maybe I'll make six more blocks....

I'm linking this post to
  > Finished (or not) Friday at Alycia Quilts..
  > Oh Scrap at Quilting is more fun than Housework
Thank you for hosting, Alycia and Cynthia

--Nancy.

Links to Enjoy #30

I haven't been getting around the internet much so I have only a few links to share today.   I hope you find one or two to enjoy.

 A late addition:  See beautiful photographs of beautiful antique quilts for sale at Flying Geese.  Thanks for the reminder, Lizzy.

There are some interesting tie-dye fabrics from 425-1100 A.D. here.  So much detail for tie dye.
These slices take the cake!  (Pun intended.)  Though inedible, I think they impressive.

I'm not an avid traveler (I love sleeping in my own bed) nor a world traveler but I found Kevin Kelly's 50 Years of Travel Tips interesting, insightful, helpful, thrifty, fun, or just plain wise.  Maybe I would enjoy travel more if I used some of his tips?  Kelly uses a tiny font on this blog which is hard on my old eyes.  I follow his blog on Feedly and have no problem reading it.

Lizzy sent me a link to Gary Bunt's paintings and poems (where there are links to more of his paintings).  I found their somewhat primitive style enchanting and delightful.  Maybe you will, too.   Look at the paintings at the link and, if you enjoy them, watch the short video below. 



I hope all is well with you in your world!

--Nancy.

Taking a Look at Little Nine-Patches

Thank you to all you dear readers who left comments on my last post about the little plaid baskets and sashing possibilities for them.  Using light sashing, as suggested by several quilters, would never have come into my mind, but the idea is growing on me.  One of the reasons I love blogging is the collective knowledge and ideas that you/we share.  I ask questions here that are often sharing my thoughts in words--thinking out loud, so to speak--and I'm grateful to readers who answer the questions with ideas of their own.  I especially liked part of Janet's comment in which she wrote,

when I "think out loud" on my blog about things I'm not yet sure I've settled, I sometimes get input from someone that I had never considered.  And sometimes I like it better than what I had in mind.

I find that to be true, too.  So thank you, dear readers, for sharing, always!

I guess "Taking a Look at" may become a short series about in-progress quilts that are almost ready to become tops as I try to make decisions about layout, setting, colors, etc.  This week I'm looking at the little 3" 9-patch blocks I have been making over the past year or so.  My intent with these was to use autumn-ish colors, and I have, but I'm not sure how autumn-like they seem.  I have 114 finished with a few more in progress and pieces already cut to make more.  I'm guessing they may become a child-size quilt. 

In the photo above I'm considering fabric for the alternate blocks as well as whether to place them straight set or on point.  Below are individual photos, going from lightest background to darkest.

What I notice most is that the straight set blocks draw my eye diagonally across the quilt, and the on-point blocks draw my eyes horizontally and vertically.  The other thing I notice is that the colors stand out more on the light and medium backgrounds and the lights stand out more on the darker background.  I'm leaning toward straight set in which the diagonals to stand out but I'm undecided about color of the alternate blocks.  The squares will finish at 1", so they won't be very big.  More of the background will show than any of the little squares.

The other thing I notice about these blocks is how very scrappy they are.  Some of the blocks have a different color/fabric for every square!  Too scrappy?

If you have thoughts about these blocks, layouts, colors, or anything else, I would be pleased to read them.

That's it from me today.  Oh, just one more thing.  Have you seen Gladi Porsche's Maple Leaf Rag?  She really knows how to do autumn colors!  It's gorgeous and positively glows!

I'm linking to
  > To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt
  > Finished (or not ) Friday at Alycia's Quilts
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.

Taking a Look at Little Plaid Baskets with Zinnias

I laid out these basket blocks to see how they look, just to refresh my memory.  Where was I going with these?  What did I have in mind?  I know they'll need to be rearranged....

My notes are pretty sketchy.  I remember I was originally going to have them around the sides and bottom of the quilt with some other blocks in the center, then decided on just baskets.  Did I have a different configuration in mind than this, because there's one more basket that didn't fit this layout?  Was I going to stagger them?  I can't think how or why I would have thought that might work.  (Reminder to self:  keep better notes!)

The baskets will finish at 10" x 12".  As they are now, the layout would measure 40" x 60" but with sashing and a border the measurements will increase.

I wonder if these baskets will drive someone nuts. There are at least three or four different basket shapes and the plaids are cut in several different directions:  on the diagonal and on the straight grain with some plaids horizontal and some vertical.

My thought at this point is that these baskets need some space between them.  Shall I sew two 1" borders around each using different fabrics, or the same fabrics/color, or....?   I remember my Cheri Payne Baskets of Plenty (here and here) around which I sewed the same fabric.  The result was a very static quilt which I thought looked awful.  (I still have those borders to unstitch.)  Anyway, I was thinking perhaps dark greens, different shades of browns, greys, maybe reds, maybe even blacks around these baskets.  Maybe.

This is the basket I'm currently stitching.  The colors in the photo are a little brighter than in the actual block.

When it's finished, there will be one more basket to applique and flowers to choose and stitch for two baskets.  This is has been a slow quilt to stitch.  I began collecting photos of zinnias in September, 2021, so it's been 3½ years!  I guess I've had some quilts in progress longer than that, though. 

There's no great hurry to decide because I have more applique to do for these, but I think it's good to start thinking in advance.

I'm linking this post to
  > Finished (or not) Friday at Alycia Quilts
  > Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuations
  > Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts
  > Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

On a health note.
I've had one, long, ongoing headache since the middle of November when I first had vertigo.  The vertigo is still gone, but the headache persists, with varying intensity.  I went to a neurologist on Friday who diagnosed the headache as New Daily Persistent Headache.  What a name!  He thought that when they put tubes down my throat for surgery in October they may have hit a nerve or two.  He offered two options for treatment, either of which he said should break the cycle:  an oral, 2-week round of the steroid prednisone or an injection on either side of the base of my skull.  Ouch!  I chose the oral route, but there hasn't been much change yet.  He said it may take a week or so.  I hope it works because I'm mightily tired of having a constant headache.

I hope you're healthy and happy and doing well!

--Nancy.

Nearly Three More Rows on Everyday Patchwork

My One Monthly Goal for February was to hand quilt two rows of Baptist Fans on Everyday Patchwork.  I'm pleased to have finished nearly three rows.  I think I have three fans left to get to the end of the third row.  Maybe I can quilt them tonight and tomorrow before the end of the month.

In the photo above, you can see that I have a little more than two more rows of blocks plus the top border before the quilting will be done.  So I'm already setting my One Monthly Goal for March:  to hand quilt three rows of Baptist Fans.

I'm marking the fans with Prismacolor colored pencils, using a yellow/cream color on the darks,

and a dark green on the lights. (In the photo above you can see that my new phone's camera creates garish colors!)

I've used these colored pencils to mark quilts before and the colors have washed out. The green seems to be lightening as I quilt but I'm feeling a little concerned that it won't wash out completely.  I'll have to use cold water for the first wash.

In case you missed it in the paragraphs above, my One Monthly Goal for March is to hand quilt three more rows on Everyday Patchwork.

I'm linking this post to
> February One Monthly Goal Finish Link Up for my finish and March One Monthly Goal for March's goal.  Both at Stories from the Sewing Room. 
> Finished (or not) Friday at Alycia Quilts
Thank you for hosting, Anne-Marie and Alycia.

--Nancy.

Scrappy Stars is a Finished Top

Hooray for a finish! If you came here three days ago you saw these same blocks laid out as a quilt but they were not yet sewn together.  Now they are.  It measures 35" x 43½".

Choosing the fabric for the alternate blocks was a quick decision.  Cutting and sewing those blocks went quickly, too--started and finished in three days.  (Don't bother to enlarge the photo because it will not have the clarity you hope for.)

This may not be the scrappiest quilt with the most different fabrics or small pieces I've made, but it is the scrappiest quilt with the most different pieces in a single block.  I counted 15 different fabrics in one block and others have more.  Just to be clear, I made this quilt but I followed the lead of an antique quilt when I chose and placed fabrics.  I participated in Repro QuiltLover Taryn's Scrappy StitchAlong a year or so ago.  I raided my fabrics to find ones as close to the fabrics in her original antique quilt as I could.  And boy, are these 6" blocks scrappy!

If I had been the original creator of this quilt I think I might have placed triangles a little differently.  So many of the stars seem out of balance.

These two are my favorite blocks. I think that's because of the clarity and simplicity.

I'm thinking this quilt should be a donation quilt.  Do you think any mom would want this for her baby?

I'd like to find someone who could layer and quilt it (by machine would be fine), then donate it.  Any readers who would be interested?  One of the reasons I'm not finishing it myself is that the fabric in the alternate squares is a little denser than regular cotton and makes hand quilting too hard for my hands.  The other reason for finding someone to take it is that I already have too many quilts that need quilted, and I'm a slow hand quilter.  So, if you might be interested please let me know in the comments.

I'm linking this post to Finished (or not!) Friday at Alycia Quilts.  Thank you for hosting, Alycia.

And remember those photos I thought I lost last weekend?  I found them, thanks to Katie.  This photo doesn't show the detail of snow on branches but still, isn't it a beautiful winter wonderland?

We are having frigid temperatures here in central Ohio, but spring will nudge out winter one of these days!  Next week looks like it will be in the 40s and 50s.  It will seem spring-like!

--Nancy.