Red Wings for Blogger's Quilt Festival

It's quilt festival time and I'm entering my quilt, Red Wings and Stars, in the Fall 2016 Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side.  Thanks so much for organizing and hosting this festival, Amy.  It's such fun to see bloggers' quilts I would have missed because I don't know about their blogs.

I designed the pattern for Red Wings as I went along.  It was made over several years' time, a block one week, several blocks another week, then the blocks were laid aside for a while I decided layout and sashing.   I've already written many posts about the making of this quilt.  I'll just share a few details in this post.

The blocks finish at 9 1/2", the blue sashing at 2" wide.  The whole quilt, after washing and drying, measures 62 1/2" x 86 3/4".

I used Soft & Crafty 80% cotton / 20% polyester batting.  It was easy to hand quilt and I like how it fluffs after washing and drying.

The weather has been too warm to use it but I'm sure it will be warm and cozy when cold winter winds blow.

I'm entering this quilt in the Large Quilt Category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Click the link to see other quilts in this category.

If you'd like to enter a quilt, too, the deadline to enter is Saturday, September 24, at midnight EDT.  The categories include mini quilts, small quilts, large quilts, applique quilts, art quilts, hand quilted quilts, home machine quilted quilts, modern quilts, original design quilts, ROYGBIV quilts, and scrappy quilts.  Go to this link to get all the information and links to each category.  Prepare to be inspired!

After Monday, September 26, you can return Amy's Creative Side to vote for the quilts you like best in each category.

Thanks for visiting.
--Nancy.
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Medallion with Pieced Blocks

I wanted to lay out some log cabins around my basket medallion but Red Wings was taking all the floor space.  So laid the medallion on top of Red Wings.  Hmmm.  Now there's an idea for some future medallion quilt.  Not these blocks but some blocks that fit and work with some center medallion.

Red Wings is finished and the medallion already has another border.  I just thought this might be an interesting idea.

--Nancy.
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Bound and Finished - One Monthly Goal for July

I'm so pleased to have this quilt finished to meet my One Monthly Goal for July.  I finished the quilting a few days before my husband went to the emergency room on July 12 (then stayed at the hospital for the next two weeks awaiting open heart surgery).

This is the quilt that was too long, the topic of a discussion about proportions, sizes, symmetry, etc.  That first night my husband was at the hospital and I was home alone I made the drastic decision to cut 8" off one end.  That night I also cut and sewed binding strips together, then stitched them to the quilt so I would have hand work while sitting with him at the hospital.

This quilt and I had an interesting experience at the hospital.  One of the PSAs (Patient Support Assistants) asked what I was working on.  When I told her I was stitching the binding on a quilt she told me that she was a quilter and did all her work by hand.  She wanted to know how long I'd been working on the quilt and whether I'd stitched the blocks by hand or machine.  The next day she asked me whether or not I was going to show her the quilt.  I'm happy to share my quilts online because there is that element of separation created by a computer monitor and some distance between me and viewers -- I don't see whether the viewer has an adverse reaction to the quilt -- but I'm not one to show off my quilts in person.  Even so, I opened the quilt for her to see.  She immediately looked closely at my hand quilting and evaluated it but she barely looked at the quilt and made no comment about it at all.  I was a little surprised.  When I see a quilt in person my first observation is never of the stitching.

The photo above shows only part of the quilt: the top is folded over the fence.

I began making the blocks for this quilt in August, 2013.  It was a slow evolution to decide whether each block should have sashing and if so, how it should look.  Then I decided on the center white stars and played with sizes and colors for sashing, then did the same for sashing between blocks.   Little by little, all the decisions were made.  Perhaps the best (or worst) decision was to omit a border around the edges:  I had to redraft those half-blocks along the sides so they would have straight grain along the edges.  I finished the top in November, 2015, quickly layered and basted it, and immediately started quilting it.

I used Soft & Crafty 80% cotton / 20% polyester batting.  It quilts easily and washes well.  I have used it before but this time it seems slightly less thick than in previous quilts.  Still, I love how it crinkles and makes the fabrics puff up.  The quilting is not dense.  I think the places for pockets of air are part of what makes a quilt warm.

Measurements (blocks finish at 9 1/2"):
99" x 65 1/2" - top
97 1/4" x 64 3/4"- after quilting
89 1/4" x 64 3/4" - after cutting off 8"
86 3/4" x 62 1/4" - after washing and drying

When I look at this quilt I see other ways it could have been sewn together and wonder how it would have changed the overall appearance of the quilt.  I'll get to try out some other layouts because I have fourteen more blocks, a dozen of which are finished and two that are yet to be sewn.  I probably won't get around to playing with them for a while so you won't be seeing layouts too soon.  (Any of you who visit my blog very often must be getting tired of seeing this quilt!)

I'm linking this post to;
OMG It's Finished: July Linkup! at Red Letter Quilts
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.

P.S.  For those who may be interested to know, my husband came home last Sunday evening.  It's been a little rough but he's slowly beginning to feel better.  Thank you for all your kind comments, encouragement, and prayers.  They mean so much.
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One Monthly Goal for July

I wish I could promise that this will be one of the last photos you'll see of this quilt, but I won't because I'm not sure.  I expect I'll want to post about it after it's bound and been washed and dried.

Now that the quilting is finished, my One Monthly Goal (OMG) for July is to choose and cut binding, then stitch it to finish the quilt.   Knowing me, choosing the binding will take longer than cutting and sewing it.

I'm linking this post to OMG:  July Goalsetting at Red Letter Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Heidi.

--Nancy.
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One Monthly Goal June Finish

It's not pretty yet because I haven't cut or bound the edges, but it's finished.  Hooray!  This was my One Monthly Goal (OMG) for June. 

I can hardly wait to cut binding, measure and sew it to the edges, then hand stitch it in place.  Slow me, this is perhaps my second finish of the year! 

I'm linking this post to OMG It's Finished: June Finishes Linkup! at Red Letter Quilts. 

--Nancy.
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Stitching Oh-So-Slowly Today

I have just this strip of blue sashing to hand quilt and this quilt will be finished.

I'm normally thrilled to finish a quilt but this one, not so much.  That's because I don't have other handwork ready to begin.  No quilt layered and basted, no applique to stitch, nothing. 

Sometimes when quilting is my handwork and I'm also working on sewing quilt blocks and I'm also thinking about some process on a third quilt I forget to plan ahead to have handwork ready.  Tomorrow I'll give more thought to which quilt to layer next and/or choose a hand applique project.  (I like having small handwork to take in the car.)

Are you doing some slow stitching today?  If so, I hope you find it restful, relaxing, and rejuvenating.

I'm linking this post to Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts.  Click the link to see the slow stitching others are doing today.

I hope you have a pleasant and restful Sabbath.  (And Happy Birthday to my daughter!)

--Nancy.
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Shortening a Quilt

This in-progress quilt needs to be a little shorter.  It can be because the pieced setting triangles on the ends really only need to be half-block size plus 1/4" for the binding.  Below is the first step in making them that size.

I laid the quilt out on the floor and smoothed the ends, squaring the quilt as much as possible.  Then I aligned my 24" ruler along the center of those blocks.  (In the photo above, the ruler was not yet properly placed.  I shifted it forward a bit on the right side.)  Once the ruler was exactly in place I drew a line across the fabric with a soft lead pencil.  I've been quilting just past the line.  When the quilting is finished, I will cut 1/4" beyond the line and stitch the binding at the penciled line.

I hope it works!  I hope I don't lose any seams or any quilting stitches when I cut those edges.

I suppose quilters with more experience than me are probably shaking their heads, knowing how much easier it would have been to make the half-blocks the size they needed to be to begin with.  (This was the first time I converted a regular block to a setting triangle and I didn't know what I was doing.)  Or possibly those experienced quilters have better ideas to shorten this quilt than what I've done.  If so, I hope they will share them.

I've quilted five half-blocks and have three to go to reach my One Monthly Goal for June.

This is one of my works in progress this week.  I'm linking this post to WOW at Esther's Blog and Let's Bee Social #129 at Sew Fresh Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.
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One Monthly Goal (OMG) for June

My One Monthly Goal for June is to finish hand quilting this quilt.

The reason it's not already finished is the half-blocks on the ends.  When I made those pieced side-setting triangles I knew the grain of the fabric needed to align with the edges of the quilt and I redrafted the half blocks so the bias wouldn't be along the edges.  I extended them a little because I didn't know what I was doing.  (You know, that first-time-and-let's-see-if-this-works experience.)  I left them that size, thinking it would be easier to cut them off than have them too small.  In retrospect, I think that was probably a bad idea.

This quilt is one of those too-long quilts and now I want to get rid of the extra 1 1/2" on each end.  A more experienced quilter might consider it an easy fix (or wouldn't be in this situation at all) but I see problems:  seams unraveling, crooked or wavy edges, etc. . . .

There are eight of these half-blocks and I've quilted parts of four of them:  all the parts that don't go to the edge of the quilt.  I'll have to spend some time deciding how to measure and mark the edges, and then quilt them.

These setting triangles have become such an ordeal (a mental roadblock, so to speak) that instead of just quietly finishing the quilt, I have to set fixing those edges as a specific monthly goal so I can finish it!

I think one of the wonderful things about life is that we can learn as we go. 

I'm linking this post to One Monthly Goal June Linkup: Goalsetting at Red Letter Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Heidi.

--Nancy.
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Slow Stitching

I devoted a little time to this quilt this evening, hand quilting the sashing that makes a V toward the edges.  (The sashing's not quilted in this photo because I'd just moved the hoop.)  It's a peaceful activity on a Sunday evening when sitting with family.

I have just 8 half-blocks on the ends left to quilt.  They are pieced so the grain parallels the edges of the quilt, and they are more than half-blocks -- almost five-eighths blocks.  I'm thinking of cutting the blocks on the ends so they're closer to half blocks, thereby making the quilt a little shorter.  (This is another quilt that's too long -- because I chose symmetry over size.)

I've been quilting this since the end of November.  Am I slow, or what?!  It's no wonder I finish about two quilts per year.  Still, no stress, no hurry.  I'd rather enjoy the process than speed quilt just to claim more finishes in a year.

I hope you've had a little quiet time today to relax and rejuvenate.

I'm linking this post to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

--Nancy.
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One Monthly Goal and #BraveQuilter for May

I could choose finishing the hand quilting on the border blocks of this quilt for May's One Monthly Goal (OMG).  With the center finished, I have only the outer half blocks to quilt and, at that, one long side is nearly finished.  But because it will be fairly easy to just keep going with this quilt, I thought I'd choose a goal that's a bit more challenging for May.

So, my One Monthly Goal (OMG) for May is to add two borders to this quilt, below.  That will be challenging, mostly because borders and I have to work hard to cooperate.  (I've made only one quilt with more than one border.)

Not only am I claiming this as my OMG, I'm also going to be a #BraveQuilter this month.  The idea is to set a goal to accomplish something that is challenging to you or that you haven't tried before.

I'm dragging my feet with the borders on this quilt.  One of these borders will have many small pieces.  Can I get make them into a long, straight strip and then pin and sew the strip so it doesn't havve waves around the edge?  The other challenge will be color placement on that middle border.  I always aim for perfect but sometimes (well, to be honest, often nearly always) I have to settle for the best I can do.  Truly, there probably isn't one perfect placement for all the colors in that border, anyway.

I am sometimes tempted to take the easy way, the safe way, in a creative effort (one border and be done) but I remind myself that by doing challenging things I learn something in the process.  Always learning is a good thing.

I'm linking this post to
OMG:  May Goalsetting! at Red Letter Quilts and
Brave Quilter May Linky at Pink Doxies. 

--Nancy.
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Accomplished: One Monthly Goal for April

At the beginning of April I determined (in this post) that I would finish hand quilting all the blocks in the center of this quilt.

I'm pleased to say that yesterday I accomplished that goal.  (And won't we all be pleased when this quilt is finally finished, down to the binding, so we won't have to see it over and over again, post after post?!  I know I will be!)

You may be able to see the pins around the edges of the quilt.  Those are in the 20 half-block setting triangles around the edges yet to be quilted.

I'm linking this post to OMG:  It's Finished, April Link-up Party! at Red Letter Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Heidi.

--Nancy.
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Everything's Going Slowly Except Time

I don't know what it is but I'm not making quick progress with anything these days.  And yet time just speeds by.  The end of the day comes and I wonder where the time went and how I managed to accomplish so little.

One thing I have been making progress with is hand quilting these blocks.

Finishing the whole blocks and the sashing between them is my one monthly goal for April.  I'm almost there.  I have the rest of this block to quilt plus several sashing pieces and then I'll be done--with the center blocks.

I used to breathe a sigh of relief when I finished quilting the center section of a quilt, thinking that I really was very nearly done because I only had the edges to do.  I've learned that the outer border can take almost as much time as half the center did.  I don't think my one monthly goal for May will be finishing all 20 half-blocks around the edge of this quilt.  (Because time is going too fast.)

These blocks

have become mostly leaders/enders (sometimes of themselves).  Unfortunately I'm not sewing another quilt at the moment so there's not much leading and ending happening. 

And lastly, I've been playing with the borders of this quilt. 

I have no idea where it's going or what it will end up looking like.  I don't think I've ever made a quilt that I knew in advance what it would look like at the end.  If I were a musician I'd say I play by ear.  I don't know what quilters call it when they make decisions as they go along.

The only thing I've decided for sure about this quilt is that I'm adding a narrow, 1" tan border.  (You see a 1 1/2" strip of fabric in the photo.)

I cut border fabric on Saturday, trying to match the lines as I cut and sewed the strips together.  Mostly I succeeded.  Maybe I can work a little faster and get the border stitched tomorrow.  More on this quilt later.

I'm linking this post to
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework
Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times
Moving It Forward Monday at Em's Scrapbag
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Main Crush Monday #17 at Cooking Up Quilts

Thanks for hosting, ladies.  And thanks to you readers.  I appreciate that you took the time to visit.

--Nancy.
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Down to Six

Just six of these blocks and the sashing around them left to hand quilt to finish my one monthly goal for April.

But the hand quilting won't be finished until I've done the 20 half-block setting triangles.  I wonder if it will seem like I'm going twice as fast because I'll be quilting half as much per block.  Either way, I'll enjoy the quiet time spent with needle, thread, and quilt in a hoop.

Happy quilting to you.
--Nancy.

I'm linking this post to
> WOW at Esther's Blog
> Let's Bee Social #120 at Sew Fresh Quilts
Thanks for hosting, ladies.
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My One Monthly Goal for April, 2016

In this quilt there are 14 whole blocks and the sashing around them that still need hand quilting.  I intend to finish those blocks and sashing during the month of April.

That doesn't mean the quilt will be finished because there will be 20 half-blocks around the perimeter of the quilt -- but they can wait their turn.

This month's goal will simply be a commitment of time and won't require any creative decisions like last month's goal.  With 30 days in the month and 14 blocks to quilt, I should be able to finish one block every two days.  (Let's see.  I think I have a stack of movies waiting in the family room....)

I'm linking this post to OMG (One Monthly Goal):  Plans for April at Red Letter Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Heidi.

--Nancy.
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Fourteen Down

Just a bit of hand stitching today, working on this quilt.

I've quilted fourteen blocks so far.  There are 35 whole blocks and 20 half blocks (around the edges).  I have lots of hand quilting ahead of me on this particular quilt.  Good thing I like the quilt, huh?

After I quilted around the edges of the first block I wasn't sure I would continue with it, but I've stayed the course.  My lines aren't perfect but they're getting better.

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

--Nancy.
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Five Down

I continued the quilting as I began and am stitching a quarter an inch from most of the seams.  I think it works for the quilt, though you can't really see the quilting in this photo to tell.  We had the greyest day today so photos were, once again, taken with a flash.

I've finished five blocks and have 33 yet to quilt, plus 20 half blocks around the edges of the quilt.

Below is one of my favorite blocks.   The red is fabric from maybe the 1950s, possibly earlier.  The light stripes are from a shirt.   When you make scrappy quilts, do you have favorite blocks, too? 

I haven't quilted any of the blue sashing yet.  I'll stitch a quarter of an inch from the seam and maybe across the center so the quilting aligns with the quilting in the cross pieces of the block.  I'll have to try it and see what I think.

I'm linking this post to
- WOW at Esther's Blog and
- Let's Bee Social #113 at Sew Fresh Quilts. 
Thanks for hosting, ladies. 

I invite you readers to click the links above to see what others are working on this week.

--Nancy.
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More Stars

I finished appliqueing circles on stars on Friday so moved on to this quilt.  It's interesting:  my day just doesn't seem complete without a needle and thread in my hand for at least a few minutes.

I started with red thread on the stars and white on the light backgrounds.  But now I've changed to a pale brown that blends with/almost disappears on both.  But I'm still considering whether to use the brown or use red on red, green, and blue fabric and cream on light fabric.  Either way, I'll stick with a light color on the center stars.  (My hand quilting is not good enough yet to use dark thread on light fabric.)

The other thing I wonder with this quilt is whether outlining the star points is enough quilting.  The square toward the center of each quarter is 2" finished.  (I wonder about these things because I'm still relatively new to hand quilting.)  I'm using Soft 'n' Crafty 80% cotton/20% poly which suggests 2"-4" quilting distance.  I think it should be fine to quilt the star points the way I'm doing it, right?  I guess I'll know after washing and drying the quilt.

I stitch first, then photograph later, which explains the not-so-great photos taken with a flash. 

I'm linking this post to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.  Click over to see the hand stitching others are doing today.

I hope you're having a restful Sabbath today.

--Nancy.
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Stars with Circles + Hand Quilting

After sewing the circles on this star I have just four more stars to finish.  Getting all those stars sewn was my One Monthly Goal for February.  I won't claim it an accomplished goal yet, though.  Anything can happen in 12 days!

Assuming that things go smoothly, when the circles are finished it's on to decide arrangement (5 x 7 blocks or 6 x 6 blocks or...), placement, and then sashing and borders. 

This work in progress (or non-progress) has been on my mind lately.  It's been gently folded in a bag near where I quilt awaiting my return to it.

I laid it aside because I needed something small to work on after surgery last November and also because I'm not thrilled to be quilting a quarter of an inch from the edges.  I can't decide if it's because quilting that way is new to me or because I really don't like it.  You know how sometimes the unfamiliar is also uncomfortable until you gain experience....  When I was thinking about the quilt in bed last night I thought of taking out the stitches I've finished and quilting Baptist Fans.  And then I looked at a photo (poor and not shown here) that showed of the quilting and I liked it again.  Is it enough to like the finished work to put one's self through the struggle of doing it when one doesn't like doing it?  Ha!  The quilting has been a work in progress for a few months; another week or two won't hurt while I decide.

I'm linking this post to
--  WOW at Esther's Blog
--  Let's Bee Social #112 at Sew Fresh Quilts
--  Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Head over to all three blogs to see what others are working on.

I hope you're enjoying whatever you're doing.

--Nancy.
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My Best of 2015

I'm linking this post with Meadow Mist Design's Best of 2015 Linky Party.  Cheryl asked us to write about our five best blog posts of 2015.  Thank you, Cheryl.

Here we go!  (I chose these posts because they highlight successes.)

I finished hand quilting and bound Sunday Morning, a quilt from the book of the same name.

I finished hand quilting and bound Dark Strings, a scrappy string quilt.

I finished piecing, layered, pin basted, and began hand quilting another quilt, Red Wings and Stars.  (I don't have a photo of it sewn together or with the quilting in progress.)

I began sewing scrappy blocks and appliqueing stars on them. 

Oh, and I finished sewing a cloth doll, dress, and diapers.  I think the doll was a hit with my granddaughter if the attention she gave it is any indication.

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Happy New Year to you.

--Nancy.
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Hand Quilting Is Not Like Bicycling

I haven't had my fingers on a quilting needle for nearly a month.  When I picked up the needle the other day I realized that hand quilting is not like bicycling -- at least not for me. 

I never forget how to balance and pedal on a bicycle.  But it will take me a block or two before I find a hand quilting rhythm, and perhaps longer before I can stitch the quarter-inch seam evenly around a block.  Right now those quilting lines are a little wobbly and uneven.

The photo below shows colors that truer to real life.

I'm linking this post to
WOW = WIPS on Wednesdays at Esther's Blog
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced
Let's Bee Social #101 at Sew Fresh Quilts
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework
Thank you, ladies, for hosting.

Remember you can still link to Quilty Inspiration #10 with your posts about the origins of a quilt or quilted project.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope life is good for you.

--Nancy.
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