Quilters Madder Finished

In this month of few accomplishments on the quilting front I finished the hand quilting on this little (~24" x ~30") quilt then cut and stitched binding in place.  It's amazing how quickly one can sew the binding when the quilt is so small! 

I love the crinkles on quilts after they've been washed and dried. 

I tried to photograph those crinkles but it's been really cloudy today and the flash obliterates them.  Handy as I'm not with a camera I wasn't able to hold the camera still enough for a great photo, but I think this one below shows the crinkles pretty well.

So I used the first of the Aurifil Mako 50 spools I won a few weeks ago to stitch the binding.  The thread is very fine and very smooth.  It feels wonderful.  But I had trouble with tangles.  I finally knotted the end furthest from the spool and though it didn't eliminate the tangles it diminished their frequency.  I'm looking forward to using the Aurifil on the machine.

This is probably my last finish of the year.  It's interesting that my first finish was also a small quilt. 

I'm linking this post to
> finish it up Friday at crazy mom quilts
> Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
> Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Thank you for hosting, ladies.

I hope you're having a great December, holiday, and Christmas season.

--Nancy.
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Just in the Nick of Time - November's OMG Finish

As I was debating how to organize my afternoon  I decided to see when the One Monthly Goal posts for November were due.  I had several half-blocks on the edges to finish quilting.  Good thing I looked because tonight's the deadline.

I quilted this afternoon so I could finish and meet my November monthly goal and link to the November finish link-up at Elm Street Quilts.

Regarding deadlines:  I often imagine things will take less time than they actually do.  Other times I imagine I have (or will have) more time than I really do to finish.  Either way I find myself racing to meet the deadline.  The only times it's a problem are when I haven't made a decision about what I'm working on and/or I've started way too late.  I try to avoid these situations but they sometimes creep up on me (like today).  November's been a busy month.

I debated how to quilt those plain squares in this quilt.  I tried the stitching pattern on the left but decided against it.  I went with the easier (and less time-consuming) lines on the right.  (But who knows, I may go back and add a triangle within those triangles.) 


Next I'll cut and sew binding, but I probably won't get that done this week.

I'm linking this post to One Monthly Goal - November Finish Link Up at Elm Street Quilts. Thanks for hosting, Patty.

--Nancy.
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Quilters Madder -- Slow Sunday Stitching

My hand quilting stitches are crooked, uneven, and a little

longer than I'd like.  (I'm out of practice.)  But they do the job of holding the three layers together.  

The backing for this little quilt is Country Classic Cotton from JoAnn, bought and used for some other purpose with enough left over to back this quilt.  The color is perfect but it is not a particularly hand-quilting-friendly fabric (which may be contributing to my less-than-best stitching).

This quilt is destined to be used as a doll or perhaps on a table, but never for the walls of a quilt show.  Though I wish the stitching were better I'm not really concerned about those crooked, uneven stitches.  They'll probably be much better by the time I finish (and maybe, by then I'll have another quilt layered and basted so I can move directly to hand quilting it).   Once finished, bound, washed, and dried I doubt anyone will notice crooked stitches.

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

--Nancy.
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Quilters Madder & One Monthly Goal for November

I was determined to sew all the blocks in the little Quilters Madder quilt so the pattern wouldn't have any mistakes.  I know the original Lori posted had a block or two turned the wrong way.  Careful as I was, when I finished and held up the quilt, there it was:  one turned block.  Do you see it?  Is it obvious?  I believe I will leave it.

I made this sew-along quilt using Lori's directions on Humble Quilts.  This is the link to the final post which has links to all the posts for the sew-along if you'd like to make one yourself.

This sweet quilt began as a square, as per Lori's directions, but I added one more row to make it rectangular in shape.  The quilt measures 24 1/2" x 30 1/2".  I'm still considering whether to add a border. 

I'm linking this post to the Quilters Madder Linky Party.  Click through to see thumbnails of others' quilts (both finished and not).  Many thanks to you, Lori, for creating and hosting this quilt-along.  It's been fun.

My goal for this quilt is to choose backing, layer this quilt, and quilt it by the end of November.  It seems a small goal but when I consider that it IS November and the beginning of the holiday season, I may have to push myself just a little.  With this goal in mind I'm also linking this post to the One Monthly Goal November goal-setting party at Elm Street Quilts.  Thank you for hosting, Patty.

--Nancy.
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Little Birds No More

I added the madder triangles to the "little bird" triangles I posted yesterday.  They are 3 1/2" square.  I wonder how they'll be placed in the  quilt.

These blocks are also for Part 3 in Lori's Quilters Madder quilt-along.  Like the ones above, they are 3 1/2" square.  They make me think of butterflies.

After I've made a bunch of the same block I always enjoy trying different layouts.  I can imagine the blocks below larger and scrappy.

And these remind me of a woven wall sculpture I made years and years ago.  They almost look like little trees.

Did I ever mention how much I love my Easy Angle ruler?  It has made cutting triangles a breeze.  No more 5/8" and 7/8" squares for me.

Whenever a quilt pattern calls for half-square triangles made from a 2 3/8" square, I know I can cut a strip 2" wide and use the Easy Angle.  Love, love, love it.  I'm not advertising for the company because if I were I might get paid.

I'm linking this post to Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River.

--Nancy.
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Little Birds

These triangles are for Part 3 of Lori's quilt-along, Quilters Madder, at Humble Quilts.

As I was pressing these the shape reminded me of flying geese and then I imagined little birds, probably because of the dark triangle in the centers.  I know I won't think of them that way by the time the quilt is finished but they may be inspiration for some other quilt.  They are only half-finished:  each needs another triangle to make a square.  I hope to finish them tomorrow.

Looking at these laid out together I think maybe I should substitute one of the pink-background triangles for a cream-background triangle.  I already have the half-triangle square made because, once again, I made a mistake.  (This time I made 4 extra half-triangle squares.)  Maybe I'll wait to decide about changes until after I see the layout of the quilt.

The next and last installment for the quilt-along is this coming Friday.  I can hardly wait to see it!

I'm linking this post to
Moving It Forward Monday at Em's Scrapbag
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Design Wall at Patchwork Times
Thank you for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.
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Measure Twice....

You know that old carpenter's rule:  Measure twice, cut once?  My rule for participating in quilt-alongs should be "Read thrice, measure twice, cut once."  Here's why.

I decided to participate in Lori's  quilt-along, Quilters Madder.  These are the blocks for week two, which ended yesterday.  They are sweet little 2" half-triangle squares.  There are six sets of six and four sets of three for a total of 48 little blocks.  Cute, aren't they?  But they didn't look like this earlier today.

No, they looked like the block on the left.  I thought I was making -- I made -- 2 1/2" squares.  When I reread the directions I realized my mistake.  I don't know if I was unhappier about the waste of time or the waste of fabric.

And honestly, I never recut or trim squares, or any blocks, after they've been sewn.  Except these, so they would fit with the rest of the blocks in this little quilt.

For the first week we made 3 1/2" squares.  It's hard to mess up simple squares like that.

Now I'm ready to begin week three's cutting and sewing, which looks several times more complicated than week two.  I hope I can do better than this past week.  (Chuckle, sigh.)  You can be sure I will read the directions at least thrice.

When Lori showed the photos of madder fabric in her first post I was a little uncertain about the colors.  My memories of dying with madder root many years ago was of a color was in the coral to red range but never as dark as the rusty browns we're using these days.  But for this quilt-along we're choosing 1800s colors and we know color preferences change over time, as does the ability to create some colors.

Madder-dyed wool at Colonial Williamsburg

I'm good with the colors we're using though I admit to loving those lighter and middle madder tones.

I'm linking this post to
Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and
Show Off Saturday at Sew Can She
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

I hope you have a great weekend.

--Nancy.

P.S.  The photo of wool skeins is shared through a Creative Commons Attribution, courtesy of Madison60, available at Wikipedia:  https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Naturally_dyed_skeins.jpg.

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