Getting Back in the Sewing Room - Gwen Marston String Quilt Pattern

I was going to meet with friends C and S to sew in early March so I needed a project to work on.

I went through some of my UFO's and pulled this out.  

I had loads of string triangles and decided to use green as an accent color to join the triangles.

I sewed and re trimmed the blocks to 7.5".  I decided to make as many blocks as I could from the triangles and stop.  Which worked out fine. The top measured 56 by 70.  

I added a greenish yellow inner border and a blue green outer border.

The quilt will be 66 by 80 when finished.

I used a batik backing that I have had for quite awhile.  Plus I used the 8 leftover blocks and some 7.5 inch blocks cut from a batik that i inherited from S awhile back.  The binding was cut from the bluegreen border fabric.  Ready to quilt.

#308 Diagonal Scrap Squares

This is the same quilt that I made in 2011.

It is 68 by 82"  I swapped strips with Cathy Smith.

I sorted out and used all the lighter ones in this quilt.

It's been folded up in the closet.

 I plan to at least fluff it up in the dryer before I put it away again.

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 It is so good to have things more or less back to normal.  Going to church activities, meetings and shopping without masks, etc.   And for me finishing my Physical Therapy, being released  by my surgeon after knee surgery and just going about my daily routine.  

The trees are greening up and the camellias, redbuds and dogwoods are in blossom.  Spring returns again!

Catching Up - December 2021

This is one of the two donation quilt tops that I made from the multicolored blocks leftover from the black and tan quilt I made in November.  These are 6" blocks. 

This is the red version - both tops measure about 38 by 44".

This is the last sewing I did in 2021.  

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 Sending these two back to Texas with quilts.  Let them choose which ones they wanted.

So glad they could spend some time  in North Carolina between the holidays.

And it was so good to have all the family (those who were in town) together for Christmas.

We usually gather outside for a picture each year if the weather is obliging.  

We were waiting for Logan to wake from his long Christmas nap

 so he, Ben and Daniel missed the photo op.

After the picture - we have our version of "The Christmas Jump"!

Catching Up 2 - November 2021

This is a block that I just started making to us up some scraps in my sewing room.  I actually made quite a few in various colors thinking I'd mix them all together.  That looked pretty bad so I concentrated on just the neutrals and them changed to a black and tan scheme.   Each block in this group was squared up to  6.5".

The top measures 48 by 60".  I have a backing made for it.

Hanging in the quilting queue.

A little after dinner Thanksgiving Day game time fun.

A few quilts labeled and ready to gift to the Washington/Oregon boys.

Catching Up - November 2021

 

Made these houses for the Color My World  - I need to get back on track and final 8 blocks.

Have ordered some fabrics for them - disappointed that I could not get one of the fabrics I wanted.  Perhaps I'll try for that fabric one more time! Sounds like procrastinating to me.

Love this little quilt - it is 54 by 54".  Not sure when I made the top.

Chunky Crosses - I'll donate it to Pine Tree Bee at the next meeting.

In 2017 I purchased the Flying In Circles Pattern by Lessa Sigele and thought I'd make it as shown in shades of blue.

So I cut out and made lots and lots of flying geese and put together 2 blocks before I set it aside.

When I got it out in late October I just wasn't into it anymore so...... and I have so many big quilts.

I cut out some reds and made a red block.  In the end I made the three blocks and will turn them into a table runner. 

Haven't decided about a border yet.  Have lots of leftover spare parts but at least that's one less big UFO.

Catching Up - September and October 2021

This post was started a few weeks after I had Covid in late August. 

I'm not sure I even like this and I have already cut out the pieces.  

It was late in the evening when I sewed these four blocks.  The good news is that it only takes 10 of each blocks to make a good sized child's quilt and I have 2 of each done.  

It took me awhile to figure out that I needed to use a 30 degree ruler to cut out the the spokes or petals for the "Dresden" block.  The gals who was telling how to make it kept saying Dresden ruler and I had cut out quite a few wrong with what I call a Dresden Ruler before I realized that they wouldn't work.

I finished this top in September.  It is 58 by 70".  I showed it art Bee and it now belongs to a friend who saw it there.  I made another version of this pattern in October.  I saw the pattern on Wisconsin Public Television.  The pattern maker is Lori Dickman.

I'm planning to put a red print border on it before it's quilted.

And I finished the binding on this 2015 project!

Something to Crow About - 42 by 56".

 

Time to put this back in the box and  pass it along to someone else.

  My daughter sent it to me to keep me occupied during my covid quarantine  time!

Actually I had to wait until I was feeling a little better to concentrate on it.

Looking at it now makes me want a frozen Milky Way bar!

 

Old and Older Projects -September

I took this really old UFO to work on at the Undercover Bee last Saturday.  Even I find it hard to believe that I made it back in 2006 and it has been waiting this long to be finished.  And even then I didn't finish it (too much gabbing I guess).

  Truly finished at long last - cross this off my list!

My older sister, Janet, gave me several yards of this fabric.  She saw it in a store in New York and thought I would like it.  She like to sew but was always into so many other activities she rarely got much sewing done.  I think I have used it all by now.

Another UFO.  I have wanted to make a version of this pattern since the first time I saw it on a blog years ago.  In 2019, I saw a tutorial on a blog called "Elsie's Girl".  I made four blocks and for some reason or another haven't touched it since.

This past week I finished the top.  It is about 42 by 54"

Think I will leave it at that and see if I can find a backing I like among the fabrics I already have.

Summer Sewing- August

Looking on Pinterest is always a source of good ideas.

                        A fun way to pass the day - perhaps I'll make a pillow - or not!

                                                                       It's about 16" square.

 

August Blocks


And here it is the last day of August and I made it just under the wire with this month's blocks for the Color My World Quilt.  They are considerably larger this month.  The floor is littered with all the trimmings from the paper piecing.

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Other than that I have been sewing bindings and making some labels for finished quilts and 
reading or listening to audiobooks.  
We have met at the church kitchen twice this month to make bread (Brown Sugar Bread) to deliver to new families in town.  We are so behind because of Covid.  We made 40 loaves for delivery last Friday.  I was so glad I had recovered my sense of smell as the kitchen smelled magical!