Imperfectly Teal

Scrap quilts are the reason that I save small bits of fabric from every quilt I make. Seems crazy, I know. But there's such a high level of satisfaction in using leftover pieces to create an entire quilt.  Plus, you get several extra bonus quilts without spending any more money. I do love a bargain! 

My inspiration for this project was a group of quilts designed by Jo Anne Merrill-Duckworth. Her beautiful creations are scrappy, colorful, and amazing! Her method makes it easy since you don't have to worry about perfect cuts or uniform pieces. The wonkier the better--just choose a focus color and use what you have that fits.

I took a shoe box full of aqua and teal fabric strips to the campground in October to begin these crazy log cabin style blocks. I used leftover black gingham to begin each one, adding random width strips until it was roughly 7” square. Once I got home and finished all the blocks, I trimmed them with a 6½” die before stitching them together.

Imperfectly Teal finished at 48” square after I added 3” borders. I quilted with white thread, using a rolling wave ruler in diagonal rows about 3” apart.

Scrappy imperfect quilts aren't for everyone. Lots of people just can't stand so many prints, or crooked blocks that don't align perfectly. My brain had to reset a bit before I could resist the urge to straighten out those seams. I had fun, though, and gave myself permission to play. And I'll happily do it again.

So thanks, Jo Anne, for sharing your ideas, inspiring us to abandon perfection, and to save and use our scraps!

Accuquilt dies used:
55000 Square 6½”
55032 Strips 3½”
55017 Strips 2½”

Lakeside Picnic - Better Late Than Never

You never know what you'll find when you start cleaning out a closet, especially in a sewing room. Maybe treasures, maybe trash, usually both. My normal responses vary from “Oh wow!” and “I remember that fabric” to “Why did I even keep that?” or “What the hell was I thinking?”

This little quilt is one of two pretty unfinished quilt tops I found stashed in an unlabeled box. Looking back at my quilt diary, I worked on it in the summer of 2013. I'm not sure why I laid it aside, but the pieced backing and the border fabric was stored with it. I probably had several projects going at once and it got lost in the shuffle. But here it is now, all finished.

A simple rail fence block is arranged using blue prints alternating with a green & white check. Borders are a lovely solid green and a blue floral. I think it has a 1930's vibe going. The back is pieced with wide and narrow stacked strips. I quilted the center section using a straight stitch in green thread, following the rails. On the borders, I changed to a multi zig-zag utility stitch.

Lakeside Picnic is 45” square and ready to use now that it rested for 11 years. The other top with backing has been added to the To Be Quilted shelf in my decluttered and organized closet. You'll see it soon, I hope.

Better late than never!

Windy Day

Let's start November with an easy snuggle quilt. I pulled out a coral red peacock feather print from my stash, adding blue fabrics from the print to coordinate.

This simple windmill block is so quick to cut and sew, especially after laying it out in EQ8, then on my design wall. This quilt is alive with motion and color, don't you think?

For backing, I used the peacock feather print with leftover strips of the blues and a center section made up of one Curve in a Square block. Now it's not just a backing, but a reversible quilt.

For quilting, red variegated thread was used with serpentine stitch to make 4” grid along horizontal and vertical seam lines. Windy Day finished out at 49” square.

I'm thankful this one didn't take long, because we're still finishing up brush cutting and clearing around the home place. 

Dies used:

Blue Wren

6554 Windmill 8” block

6602 Curve in a Square 12” finished block

Manual Labor

The weather last week was warm and sunny, so we gathered up our gear, the tractor and mower, then headed outside for some much needed yard work.

Picture me, dressed in overalls, ball cap, and boots, armed with a hand-held mini chain saw, hedge clippers, and a rake. Although there's no photo evidence, I'm definitely a redneck Southern woman when I need to be. Not quite the sweet little old quilt lady you're used to, huh?

We attacked prickly wild rose and blackberry vines, overgrown weeds, crabgrass, unruly shrubbery, nasty poison ivy, stubborn privet, dead bushes, and a couple of fallen trees. We stripped out all the shrubs around the house to create a clean slate for new landscaping later. 

Even though there was sweat, sore muscles, bruises and a bit of blood, overall we had a good week. We were out in the sunshine every day.  We got lots of exercise chopping, loading and dragging brush and logs. I lost two more pounds. We took our time, laughed, enjoyed the breezes and admired the fall colors. The yard looks better and Jerold bushhogged the back field. 

I'm not sure how it got so out of hand (well, maybe because we played instead of working) but it's almost whipped into shape, at least near the house. Out in the country, there's always something that needs to be done. Could be time to think about a place with a smaller yard so I can sew instead of doing manual labor.

Wave The Flag

Wave The Flag

I started this quilt in April during our spring camping trip, then set it aside. Fast forward to September, when we headed to Dale Hollow again. I took along more scrappy red, white, and blue half-square triangles and finished the blocks.

Ocean Wave is a vintage design that was published in several women's magazines around the 1930's. I've seen this classic quilt many times and always wanted to sew one. It's a bonus that I pieced it on Annie, my Singer Featherweight. 

Once home, I added the light blue corners and completed the quilt. Wave The Flag is 48” square, quilted with light blue thread in a simple 2” grid pattern. I finished it off in a red and white striped binding.

Accuquilt dies used:
55039 Half Square Triangles 2½” multiple
55031 Half Square Triangles 4½”
55017 Strips 2½”

 

Tilt-A-Whirl

Tilt-A-Whirl

Last week I teased a story about the quilts I worked on during our rainy camping trip. This brightly colored scrappy quilt is the first one to be finished. I cut the pieces before we left so I could focus on sewing the 4” Washington's Puzzle blocks.

Once we got home, I laid them out on my design board, then added sashing using white on cream fabric.  I used two utility stitches for quilting: a multi-stitch zig-zag on the sashing and a small serpentine across the blocks.

Tilt-A-Whirl finished at 44” square, and may be used as a baby quilt, wall hanging, or table topper.

I'm convinced that I can never use all those remnants that I create from making quilts. But that's ok, because it provides plenty of little pieces for many more bonus quilts.  I love getting the most out of my fabric stash!

Dies used:
Accuquilt
55602 Washington's Puzzle 4” finished
55159 Rectangles 2½” x 4½”
Blue Wren
6047 Rectangles 2” x 6” finished

Camping, Scraps, and A Clever Substitute

Obey River, Dale Hollow Dam Campground

We're home from an interesting trip to Dale Hollow Dam Campground. First, it rained every day...Hurricane Helene remnants...but thankfully no flooding or wind damage at our campsite or our house. I'm so sorry for everyone who has been devastated by this unbelievable storm.

After we determined we were safe, our stay was actually very quiet and relaxing. Soft rain on the roof was nice and the campground was less than half full because of cancellations. A few days there were only a dozen sites occupied. We had plenty to do: tablets loaded with books, movies on a hard drive, and fairly good internet access. We cooked some nice meals, ate delicious Mexican food at Los Primos in Celina, and walked the trail in between showers.

Of course, there was sewing! I brought along my Featherweight (Annie), bins of cut pieces for blocks to make two quilts, plus some random scraps. As I set up my sewing station, I realized that I forgot my thread stand. Huh. I tried putting the cone thread in a cup, but it wasn't working well.

My clever husband pulled two items out of his tool kit: Vise-grips and a long screwdriver. I added a little binder clip to the top as a thread guide and it worked a treat! It never hurts to have a backup plan or the ingenuity to create an alternative.  A bit of redneck in us, I guess.  We could have gotten extra points if we had also used wire-ties and duct tape. 

We made the best of a rainy escape, plus came home relaxed and happy. And I have two nearly finished quilt tops ready to sandwich and stitch. That's a story for another day. See ya next week!

 

Be Back Next Week

 

Maple Row

Maple Row

Autumn has arrived, even through the temperature doesn't agree. Ninety degree days aren't what I had in mind for Tennessee in late September.

Nevertheless, I have a fall quilt for you today made with scraps in gold, brown, tan, and green shades. Maple leaf block is a vintage nine patch design.  

This was the first project I pieced using Midnight, our recently refurbished dark blue and silver Singer 404.  Lovely stitches and smooth running after a few adjustments.  I added 1” sashing to separate the blocks plus 5½” wide borders.

Midnight: Singer 404

Using medium tan thread, I quilted wavy lines horizontally and vertically across the whole quilt using a rolling wave ruler on the Janome 9450. This is one of my favorite allover designs to quilt since it doesn't have to be precise to look good.

Maple Row finished at 49” square. It looks snuggly but I won't be under it until this summer heat goes away. It will have to decorate the back of the couch for a while yet.

Stay cool, and have a wonderful week!

Dies used:
Accuquilt
55195 Maple Leaf BOB 8” finished
55488 Strips 6”
Blue Wren 6015 Strips 1½”

Honey Sweet

Here's an adorable quilt for a cute little sweetheart.

Baby quilts are always fun to make, but this one was particularly special since I included fabric given to me by the little one's grandmama.

Soft peachy pink, muted aqua and shiny gold arrows blend well with a light gold batik dot fabric. Hexagons and triangles are arranged in a honeycomb style design.

For quilting, I created a new allover pattern using a curved ruler with light tan thread. I really like the results and will use it again.

Honey Sweet finished at 40” square. It's been done for a while but finally found its way home this past weekend.

Dies used:
Blue Wren 6808 Hexagon Set 3” sides

Accuquilt 55032 Strips 3" finished

Felicity

Happiness is a finished quilt. I love the entire process of sewing a quilt, but sewing that last stitch on the binding is such a wonderful feeling.

Turkey tracks block is an old design dating from the mid 1800's, with the pattern published in 1936 in the Kansas City Star. There's also an appliqued version where the pieces are curvier.

My 12” blocks are machine pieced, with dainty yellow florals, green woven, blue check print, and grey mini dot background. The white arrow print sashing ties it all together.

For quilting, I chose an ice blue thread and the which way ruler to create an allover design. Felicity finished out at 48” square.  

Dies used:
Blue Wren 6664 Turkey Tracks 12” finished
Accuquilt 55017 Strips 2½”

Rolling Along

What a fun quilt to make! I've seen this die but didn't realize it had been discontinued. I was lucky to find a new one in original packaging on Facebook Marketplace a couple of weeks ago. Thanks Marilyn! 

This block is easy to sew and the curves stitch up beautifully. I started with the black batik, then picked teal, lime, and cream fabric out of my stash to give a clear contrast in the circles.

After adding backing and batting, I quilted with khaki thread across the circles with 3 lines of ruler stitching in waves. Once that was done, I added free motion stitching on the cream sections.

Rolling Along finished at 48” square. I've already designed a few more color combinations in EQ8. It will make an adorable baby quilt.

By the way, how did it get to be September already? 

Accuquilt dies used:
55452 Local Color by Bill Kerr
55017 Strips 2½” binding

 

Right Side Up

I needed a quick project for last week, so I dived back into the remnant boxes.

Choosing a couple of busy prints first gave me the colors to coordinate. Pink, yellow, orange and aqua solids, low volumes, and brights were cut into half rectangle triangles. I arranged them in horizontal rows for symmetry.

For that little something extra, I pieced the back using a single column of the triangles bordered with a muted yellow/green shell print. I used yellow thread to quilt straight stitches 1/2” from each seam.

Right Side Up finished at 48” square. I love it when an impromptu quilt idea comes together! And I finished just in time to relax with my sweetheart on our 51st anniversary weekend. 💖

🎉 Another milestone: last week was my 700th blog post!  

Dies used:
Blue Wren 6038 Half Rectangle Triangles 4” x 8” finished

Sail The Caribbean

Summer is nearly over; we've had a couple of mornings below 60° to enjoy. That's unusual for August in Tennessee! Still, today's lovely quilt brings thoughts of tropical island breezes.

Classic navy and white prints contrast nicely with Caribbean green. I adore these colors and have made several quilts with this combination. The chisel blocks were wonderfully quick to cut and sew.

I chose light aqua thread and a zig-zag utility stitch to quilt vertical lines 1½” apart. Sail The Caribbean finished as a 48” x 54” rectangle.

Once this one was finished, I straightened up my sewing room, updated fabric inventory, and cleared the decks for the next project. 

By the way, thanks for all the nice comments on Facebook about last week's blog post, our refurbished Singer 404 (Midnight). I'll be using him to stitch something soon. 


Accuquilt dies used:
55039 Chisels 3” x 6” finished
55017 Strips 2½” binding

Midnight: Singer 404 Restoration

Midnight

How do you like this for a complete restoration? I think he's beautiful!

It's been a while since we restored and painted a sewing machine. We bought this guy from Goodwill for $45 in December 2021. It was a cabinet model manufactured in May 1960. The motor was frozen, paint spotty and filthy with dings and chips.

Before

My resident repairman went over it, replaced the handwheel clutch spring, oiled, lubed, cleaned and polished. After that TLC, the motor freed up. He took the machine completely apart, ordered a few parts, and worked on it off and on between other projects in 2023.

Fast forward to May of this year. We decided to paint since I already have a nice Singer 404 (Elizabeth) in original condition. Jerold filled the chips, sanded, keyed the finish, and primed the whole machine. Wet sanding the primer makes a really smooth finish for paint.

He used three coats of Rust-Oleum 2X Ultra Cover in Midnight Blue and Silver. After a week, wet sanded to smooth before layering three coats of Ultra Cover Clear. Two days under a heat lamp, then a final clear coat for a mirror finish.

After two weeks of curing, Jerold reassembled, wired and fine tuned bobbin tension. He did the majority of the work on this machine and it's certainly a job well done. 

Midnight sews great now! I'm happy, loving the classy color scheme and can't wait to stitch a quilt or two.

 

Color Me Curvy

Color Me Curvy

How's this for a curvy project? There's not a straight seam in this quilt.

Joseph's Coat design has been around for decades, traditionally hand cut, hand stitched and hand quilted. Not me. I cut with Blue Wren's die, pieced with Violet, my Singer 99 and quilted using my Janome MC9450.

I stayed with tradition by using colorful scraps and vintage muslin. I keep thinking the remnant boxes should be decreasing, but they are still full.

I took my time sewing and carefully pressing those curves. Joining the sections was tricky and I used Jack (the seam ripper) a few times. I ended up with a few bumpy intersections but everything lies flat. You can't see imperfections from 3 feet away, so it's good enough for me.

Quilting with a walking foot and off-white thread, I outlined all the circles with the edge of the foot on the seam line. It created a lovely allover pattern. I used a bias binding because of the scalloped edges.

Color Me Curvy measures 46” x 51” finished size. It took longer to sew because you just can't hurry if you want good results. I also spent extra time rearranging the pieces on my design wall to balance colors and separate duplicate fabrics. Even so, I missed a couple.

I'll make this one again later, probably a tablecloth, bed runner, or baby quilt.

Dies used:
Blue Wren 6854 Joseph's Coat 11½”
Accuquilt 55017 Strips 2½” binding

Home Improvement

Well, there's no new quilt this week! I got distracted by a home improvement project that I've wanted to tackle for a while.

My laundry room had an old plastic laundry sink that was functional but kinda ugly. I had disguised it with a fabric skirt in 2017 but it was still not exactly what I had in mind.  Time for a change! 

Before

Last week we ordered a new vanity, sink, and faucet. Our installation took 2 days, since the cabinet had to be assembled and I painted the wall after we removed the corrugated tin backsplash and old sink.

The two of us are pretty handy around the house and have done many DIY projects together. This one went fairly smoothly, with only one extra trip to Ace Hardware for supplies. Luckily, basic plumbing is a skill I acquired early on, since that was my daddy's profession.

New Vanity 2024

We changed the handles on the overhead cabinets to match those on the vanity. I'm considering painting them white, but I sure hate to paint over the alder wood since it's in great shape. We'll see. 

Now that we're done, naturally I see more things to update in other rooms.  I guess there may be fewer quilts finished this year, but we'll be having fun redecorating our nest.

 

Braided Blue

Oh, I love this adorable quilted mat! I've been on a roll with curves lately.

A classic color combination of clear navy blue and crisp white fabric is perfect here. The design is created with a new die from Blue Wren, called Wave Peak.

The small 4” blocks fit together like a puzzle to form a lovely wave or braid. I set them on point, then filled in the outside with white setting triangles.

For quilting, I used a straight stitch and white thread with a walking foot, following around the curves. On the outside edges I added two rows of echo curves.

Braided Blue is only 23” square, since I wanted table mat or small wall hanging size. A larger quilt can be made by adding another round of the braids.

So cute and so much fun to make! I'll be experimenting with this die to create borders or combine with other blocks.

Dies used:
Blue Wren 6633 Wave Peak 4” finished

Whirling Sugar Sacks

A few years ago, I bought a large collection of vintage flour and sugar sacks at an estate sale. Today's quilt features some of them, along with a few reproduction fabrics and natural muslin.

The Blue Wren die I used, Whirling Wheels, is very similar to 1930-1940 era blocks like Whirling Pinwheel and Spinflower. I enjoy reproducing antique quilt designs like my grandmothers would have sewed.

The pattern is easy to stitch, even with the curves. The center circle is appliqued using clear thread. I set the blocks on point, then added a 3” border.

Quilting with medium khaki thread, I used a circle ruler to sew large loops across the entire quilt to emphasize the movement of the wheels. Whirling Sugar Sacks is 48” square.

This one put a smile on my face! I have quilts in progress with two other new dies, plus at least twenty more on my ever growing to do list.

Dies used:
Blue Wren 6514 Whirling Wheels 10” block
Accuquilt
55553 Setting Triangles 10”
55032 Strips 3½”
55017 Strips 2½”

Cookout Time

I'm ready to celebrate the 4^th of July with a cookout, using brand new hot pads and an apron.

I have lots of these handy hot pads, made with scrappy leftovers from quilts and odd test or sample blocks. These two are the latest in my collection.

The navy smock style apron is reversible, made with medium weight poplin and denim for the straps. I've seen this style selling online for $75 to $150, can you believe it? I made my own pattern, then used fabric from my stash to whip this up in an afternoon.

That was a fun diversion from quilting, but now I'm back to my ever growing list of quilt projects. I'll take a break to grill some burgers on Thursday.

Amelia

Amelia

I've been staying inside and cool during this Tennessee heat wave. It's the perfect excuse to retreat to my sewing room, especially since I got to play with my new Blue Wren dies.

The block name is Propeller, a vintage design from the late 1930's that was published in the Kansas City Star under the name Air Ship Propeller.  I used EQ8 and BlockBase to lay out the quilt and experiment with color ideas. 

For my modern version, I chose summery fabric in hot pink checks and stripes, with a touch of yellow and a background of pale pink.

The curves sewed up nicely as long as I maintained a consistent ¼” seam. The yellow center piece is machine appliqued on with light yellow thread after finishing the block.

After assembling the quilt, I stitched on the block seams using baby pink thread and a serpentine design. Then I changed to straight stitch to sew across each propeller blade.

Amelia finished at 50” square, nice for a picnic once it cools down a bit. I'm too old and delicate to eat outside when it's 94 degrees with a heat index of 109!

Dies used:
Blue Wren 6924 Propeller 10”
Accuquilt 55017 Strips 2½” binding