A new month, a new color and some finishes!

 April's color is Yellow and I have made my Circle of Friends block for the RSC!

I also took a video class by Cindy Grisdela to learn her technique for scrappy curves. They are fun to make. She uses one print fabric and 3 coordinating solids in each block. I'm again using older fabric left over from a quilt I made in 2007 called French Roses.  

Here are the blocks I have finished. 
(I think I have made 2 more sets after this picture was taken)

I have 2 finishes! One is a micro mini quilt. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that I went down a rabbit hole while looking on Pinterest for small projects. It is definitely a learning process to get your points to match when the pieces are so small but it was fun yet challenging! The tutorial is @jamiemswansonquilts if you want to try!

The second finish actually has been finished for a week or so. After it was quilted, I decided that I would stretch it over a frame. I asked my hubby if he would make me one (he made one previously for my Organic Shapes quilt here.) He said to give him the dimensions. I measured the unfinished quilt and gave him the dimensions. He made the frame and gave it to me, that's when I realized I didn't take off the seam allowances so it was .25" to large all the way around. I asked him if he could fix it or make a new frame (saving this one for another quilt). My good hubby said that he could rip .25" from each side but that it may have to wait a bit. I went ahead and made the facing strip that is used to stretch over the frame, then waited for my good hubby to correct my mistake! But now it is completely DONE!

My friend's beautiful magnolia tree

stretched over the wooden frame

among spring flowers

Linking to Finished or Not Friday @AlyciaQuilts, ScrapHappySaturday @SoScrappy, Off the Wall Friday @Creations..., and Linky Party @Patchwork and Quilts, TGIFF @KatieMaeQuilts, Wednesday Wait Loss @TheInquiringQuilter

It's been awhile but I have a few updates!

 In the nick of time, I am posting my RSC block! March's color is purple and here is my purple Circle of Friends block!

Here are the first 3 months blocks

Ready for April! Where does the time go? April's color is yellow!

I'm linking to Scrap Happy Saturday @SoScrappy.

I also finished my Best Buds quilt. I joined the QAL with Lindsey @PenandPaperPatterns and over 6 weeks, we were to have the top finished. I accomplished that goal! 

It was up to us to finish the quilt on our own. I needed to decide how I wanted to quilt it. I debated with myself if I should do straight lines, checkerboard or an overall pattern. I finally decided on quilting baptist fans across the quilt. The quilting took a long time on my domestic machine but I'm pleased at the finish!

The fabrics I used were all from my stash (probably inherited from my mom's stash) except for the Kona white. I used up all of the pink and most of the blue fabric! Such a good feeling!

The pattern is Best Buds by @PenandPaperPatterns. If you have never made one of Lindsey's patterns, you should. Her patterns are cute and very well written. I have a hard time resisting them. 

This quilt is fairly large, finishing at 71" x 85" 

Here are a couple of close-up pictures of the quilting! I used my EZ Circle Cut template to mark my stitching lines and quilted in a pink thread. 

On my design wall:

I also have been working on a small 3D quilt just for fun! Here is the finished top!

I saw this print image somewhere (sorry I don't remember but if anyone does I will give credit back to them) and decided to draw it up and see if I could recreate the 3D effect in a quilt. Now to quilt it!

I'm linking to Finished or Not Friday @Alycia Quilts, Wait Loss Wednesday @The Inquiring Quilter, and Off the Wall Fridays @Creations

Memory Quilts

I'm excited to show you the 2nd Metamorphosis quilt (by Lo & Behold Stitchery) I made for the 2nd oldest niece of my colleague and friend. You can read about their story and see the first quilt here. As with the first quilt, the wings of the butterflies are pieced from their mom's clothes. 

The background fabric is Kona Dusty Peach. I quilted small connecting circles along the body, and some heart motif in the wings. In the background, I FMQ some wandering meanders with some butterflies. The butterfly block is 12" x 13" and the quilt finished at 55" x 67"

After my friend showed her family the 1st quilt, her mom was wishing for a small something to remember her daughter. I suggested a pillow and her mom loved that idea. After finishing the 2nd quilt, I made a small throw pillow. Since I had limited large pieces of clothing left, I decided to make the butterfly wings from quarter circles and then piecing them into the familiar butterfly from the pattern. 

I used a 12" pillow form so I made the butterfly 10". I also added an invisible zipper so that it could by removed. Again I quilted connecting circles in the body, but semi-circles in the wings. 

While I was working on this project, I felt a need to make a butterfly for my friend and her other sister. I know that they were close to their sister and her loss was very hard. I made smaller butterflies (8") with quarter circles, pieced and quilted then I stretched them over 10" canvas frames. 

Last Friday, I was able to visit my old school to deliver the quilts. My friend was very touched by the surprises. I hope that these small, special gifts help in the healing process. 

Now to make the last quilt for my friend's nephew. I won't be doing butterflies for him so I will be making something more masculine. This one will have to wait a bit!

I'll be back soon as I have more to share but this post is long enough! 

Best Buds and RSC

 I joined in on the Best Buds QAL which is hosted by Lindsey @PenandPaperPatterns. I have made several of her patterns (and purchased several more). I am drawn to her designs!  Her patterns are well written and easy to follow. I am using fabric in my stash. To figure out if I liked the combination, I made 2 blocks - 1 in each color combination. 

I liked the outcome and it will feel so good to use these old fabrics in my stash!

In between sewing these cute flowers, I was working on the 2nd Metamorphosis quilt for my friend's niece. I am holding off showing these pictures until I deliver it. Maybe next week if I can get in a photo shoot. 
Today, I got back into sewing along with the Best Buds QAL.  It is week 3 and by Friday I should have 14 flowers stitched. This is what my design wall looks like now - 10 flowers finished!

These blocks are 14.5" (unfinished) and 5 blocks just about span the entire width of my design wall. 

I'm linking to Finished or Not Friday @AlyciaQuilts, Linky Party @Patchwork and Quilts,  and Wednesday Wait Loss @theinquiringquilter

Last week I also worked on my RSC block for February. The color is red this month.

I'm linking to Scrap Happy Saturday over @SoScrappy.

For Valentine's Day, I made 2 fabric postcards for my grandchildren. I follow the tutorial by Annie @FreezeFrame03 

and I played with paints, masking, stencils and collage making several Valentine's for some special people in my life! 

Hope you all have had some productive weeks in February!

A Reveal!

 This week I finished my Harmony and Light quilt! On Saturday night I put in the final stitches in the binding. On Sunday, I buried threads before throwing the quilt in the washer and dryer. I pulled it out so soft and wrinkly! 

Since the sun made a brief appearance (the first in almost 2 weeks), I decided that I needed to go on a photoshoot right away. You never know when the sun will come out again! 

The Harmony and Light pattern was designed by Christina Cameli @afewscraps. Back in 2022, I saw an notice that there was a free tutorial and pattern offer by Quilt Daily if you signed up. Christina's version of the quilt is beautiful made in her Sagura fabric line. I fell in love! I signed up and received the pattern download. While my husband and I were vacationing out west, we decided to stop in Hamilton, MO on the way home. I shopped for the fabric for this quilt at Missouri Star Quilt Co! I decided on Ombre by V & Co. in several different colors. 

I did use similar colors as Christina but I basically used solids rather than prints. 

It took a while to start cutting all the wedges but Christina's method was very helpful. Once finished with the cutting, I was again intimidated by all the colors and how to place them. The video tutorial again was very helpful as Christina described her method. Slowly, I started sewing the wedges into triangles with the white wedge between 2 colors. Once I had the required 140 - 60º triangle pieces and 20 end wedge pieces in piles based on the progression of color, I needed to decide how to lay them out in the quilt. Once again, I turned to the tutorial to learn Christina's thought process on this stage of the quilt. I did want the diagonal movement across the quilt so it meant dividing up the colors into several rows while maintaining a flow of colors.  

   The cutting, piecing and placement took a good year to accomplish as I finally                                  finished the top in the beginning of January 2024!                      There was one last tutorial for the QAL and it was all about how to quilt the quilt. Again, Christina talked about her method of breaking down the shapes in the quilt - the white diamonds and the 'kite' shapes on either side of the white diamond. She suggested to start quilting at one of the kite shapes on either side of the white diamond (with feathers), then the other sides kite shape, followed by the whole length of white diamond (wavy line). Once you finish the diamond, you can turn your quilt and do the kites on the other side. You can actually go across the whole quilt in this method eliminating too many stops. 

I found the perfect wide backing that had all the colors that I used on the front of the quilt. I love it so much that I used it to bind the quilt also!

Harmony and Light finishes at 61" x 70"

If you are interested in my reveal video, you can find it on my Instagram or Facebook page. (I couldn't get it to load on blogger 😩)

Linking to Off the Wall Friday, Finished or Not Friday, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Linky Party @Quilting, Patchwork and Applique, Wednesday Wait Loss, and Put Your Foot Down

Another Flimsy and a new skill

Today I finished another flimsy! While I was waiting for my thread order to arrived so I could start the quilting on my Harmony and Light quilt, I started deconstructing some more clothes that will again go into a memory quilt. Working on the last piece, I realized I probably should have taken a picture. 

Here I started deconstructing the sweatshirt. 

The useable pieces as well as the scraps!

Slowly, I pieced all the butterflies from the pieces, getting 2 butterflies from each deconstructed article of clothing. 

I used Kona Dusty Peach for the background on this quilt and again I'm using the Metamorphosis pattern. 

Here is a peek at the top!

After returning from the Holidays, my Knitting Club decided that we should try Tunisian Crochet. It is a cross between crochet and knitting. I tried it many years ago and I found it really hurt my arthritic hands but said that I would try again. We watched a video on how to do the Tunisian Crochet basic stitch and made practice swatches before starting the scarves.

We are making scarves to donate to our local school district to help the new immigrants and other underprivileged children during the cold winter months. Before Christmas, we donated 20 scarves with matching hats which were much appreciated. 

I finished my first scarf yesterday. 

Tunisian Crochet tends to curl at the ends so I added the pompoms to each end. 

Have you ever tried Tunisian Crochet? 

I'm not sure if I will make another one as I don't think I'm as fast as I am just knitting. Tunisian Crochet is also very dense and you need to use a needle about 

2-3 sizes larger than the recommended crochet hook for the yarn being used. 

My only Tunisian needle is an 8 so I should only use yarn that is DK or lighter.  Most of our yarn for donations are worsted weight so I would have to buy a larger needle. It was a fun skill to learn!
Linking to Off the Wall Fridays, Finished or Not Friday, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop, and Wait Loss Wednesday. 

Happy New Year!

                             I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!                               The end of the year was quite busy for me. In between my busy schedule: Holiday parties, Christmas, New Year's, a trip to WI, and 2 birthdays, I managed to get some sewing done. This week I continued to work on my Harmony and Light quilt and today I finished with a completed flimsy! 

Let me backup a bit. In 2022, I saw the quilt, Harmony and Light by Christina Cameli @AFewScraps with a free tutorial and pattern sponsored by Quilting Daily. I fell in love with it so I signed up. On our vacation in 2022, we stopped in Hamilton, MO where I shopped at the Missouri Star Quilt Co for fabric for this quilt.

Christina's Harmony and Light quilt made with her Saguaro fabric. 

Isn't it beautiful! I'm still in love with this one!

My hubby holding my fabric selections - V & Co Ombre collection.

I chose to use similar colors but instead of prints, I wanted to do my quilt in solids. To get the most variation, I chose ombre fabrics. 

So here it is as a flimsy!

I'm linking to Wednesday Wait Loss @theinquiringquilter, Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop, Finished or Not Friday, Off The Wall Friday, and Link Party@Patchwork and Quilts.

Once again I am participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) hosted by Angela @SoScrappy. January's color is green. This year I will be making the Circle

of Friends block. 

I'm linking to Scrappy Happy Saturday #1

2024 is off to a good start!