Design Wall October 18, 2021

To see what other quilters have on their design walls go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

I had an interesting week - a planned visit with my son and parents one day to celebrate Son's birthday, and a couple of unexpected visits with out-of-state family on two different days. 

In between all that I pulled the blocks out for the Rainbow Rails quilt. 

I have all the sashing strips sewn between the blocks. Now I need to cut and sew the strips between the rows. My design wall isn't big enough to get them all up there so a row and half are on the floor.

I continue to work on the Disappearing Rail Fence quilt. 

I pieced 88 blocks before I ran out of cut pieces. I think I will stop there. You can see in my notes that I had planned to make 99 blocks for a quilt measuring 72 x 88 inches. I think an 8 x 10 layout measuring 64 x 80 will be just fine. (I really, really don't want to cut any more fabric. I just want to be done with this quilt.)

I work on this quilt mainly during phone conversations with my son. I have one more row to piece, then that row and another to sew onto the rest and it will be a top.

My goal at this time is to get my started projects to completed tops.

However, I do have a couple of projects that need to be complete finishes as they will be needed as gifts soon.

One of those projects is a futon cover for my SIL's new husband. He is a Packers fan and a Cubs fan. I am piecing big squares - Packers for one side, Cubs for the other.

Before going to visit my son I quickly got the Packers fabrics pieced so I could see if it would fit the futon cushion.

I measured well; it fit perfectly.

I appliqued a baseball block for the Cubs side. It's not this yellow in real life.

I started laying out blocks. I only had enough of the lighter Cubs print to cut two blocks and one of them I had to piece a strip on the bottom to make it long enough. I can't find that print anywhere. I have ordered another print with baseballs and ball bats to see if I like it. We'll see. These will be quilted with a muslin backing before sewn together into a cover with a zipper on one end for easy removal for washing.

Sew, back to finishing the Disappearing Rail fence top.

Stay safe and well.

Happy quilting!

Design Wall Monday

To see what other quilters have on their design walls go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

We had a beautiful sunrise this morning.

Please excuse the propane tank and garden mess. That's part of living in the country sometimes.

Here is a photo with the propane tank cropped out. The old adage, "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning" may prove true for us today. We are predicted to have severe weather later in the day. Because of that Husband is trying to finish up a partial field of corn today. 

The wet weather, along with warmer than normal temperatures, we have had lately has caused some of my flowering plants to put on a late season show.

The hibiscus is loaded with buds - I counted 19! 

This mum grows larger every year.

This hummingbird was here for a day or two last week.

I haven't seen any in the last two days. They are fun to watch. I will miss them.

Inside I have been busy. I have sewn 47 blocks for the Pins and Paws quilt. 

I also cut the inner border. That is put away for the moment while I add borders to this Quilter's Exchange quilt. 

I am second-guessing my decision again. I am unsure if the outer borders are a good idea. 

I was thinking that maybe it should just be bound with the solid purple with the setting triangles being the outside edge. But, then I got on Pinterest and saw a lot of quilts with more borders added after the setting triangles. So I guess I need to just add the top and bottom borders to this top and it will be ready to quilt. This is Johnny Around the Corner from quilterscashe.com and makes a twelve-inch block. My Exchange group exchanged six-inch blocks to fit in the middle. I decided to set mine on point and borders to make it bigger. 

I finished quilting the rainbow scrappy squares quilt.

It has been very windy here so I haven't been able to take photos outside.

I got all the blocks pieced for the Exchange mystery.

All the fabrics except the backing have arrived for the Duck Goose Panel quilt. The backing is the same as the gold to brown ombre only it's a wide back.

I think they look great especially considering that I picked them out online. I'll use this pattern for the borders.

This quilt is no longer a priority since the person who requested it changed their mind, but I will still go ahead and make it at some point, in my spare time. Hahahaha!

I'm continuing work on the Disappearing Rail Fence project.

And, I have cut and started sewing on another project.

These blocks will become a futon cover - Cubs on one side, Packers on the other. 

My son has a futon that he is giving to my SIL and BIL. They plan to put this in their basement for extra seating when watching sporting events, when young family members visit, for the dogs to lay on. I think it is mostly for the dogs to lay one, thus the need for washing. Anyway, my son thought it would be cool if I could make a removable cover with the sports-themed fabric and that it could be made so that Cubs are featured on one side during baseball season and Packers on the other side during football season. My son apparently thinks I can do anything. I will layer it with batting and muslin and quilt it, add the zipper and hopefully, he likes it. My biggest concern is the very long zipper that will need to be inserted on one end so the cover can be removed for washing. I can do zippers, I just don't like to. 

Stay safe and well.

Happy quilting!

Design Wall Monday Oct. 4

 To see what other quilters have on their design walls go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

I have been feeling a little scattered lately. A lot like the leaves that are falling. There aren't a lot of them, but they are steadily falling. I am NOT ready for fall, and especially for winter.

Husband continues farming - between rain sprinkles when this photo was taken.

We got enough rain over the weekend to put a stop to that.

I have flitted from one project to another, finishing none.

I cut fabric for a new project - Pins and Paws from Missouri Star Quilt Company.

The cutting was done while on the phone with Son. The good news is that I am cutting up fabrics from stash during these phone conversations. The bad news is I am getting a lot of projects cut, but not sewn!

The next clue for the mystery quilt my group is working on has been posted. I am just randomly putting them up on the design wall.

I don't know what the final layout will be yet, but I kind of like the staggered placement of the stars.

I'm looking at Diamond Head and contemplating loading it on the quilt frame.

I'm not crazy about this quilt, but it would be a good way to practice with the longarm.

I got some more blocks made for the Disappearing Rail Fence quilt.

I have 14 blocks made. I need 99.

I got the rainbow scrappy squares quilt quilted, trimmed, and am sewing down the binding.

I thought this backing fabric was perfect for this quilt.

I wondered how the backing would look as binding.

And that is what I am using. I'm kind of second-guessing that choice now, but I am not taking it off. I thought about making a scrappy binding, but I knew I would want to make the colors in the binding match up with the colors of the quilt and I really didn't feel like doing that. I may regret it later. And, yes, that is a hand quilting project under the scrappy squares quilt that I am also working on.

I continued to search for fabric to go with this panel.

I had already received the panel and coordinating print. I found other fabrics that I thought would work with them and they have been ordered. Last week I texted the person who asked me to make it showing him photos of the fabric and pattern idea I had along with the cost. He finally texted me back today saying it was more than they wanted to spend. Well, darn, but that's ok. I am going to make it anyway. It may end up as a fair project. Who knows, maybe someone else will like it .

These are the last of the Endangered Species quilts. 

Stay safe and well.

Happy quilting!