Strip quilt ready for quilting!

Here’s the stashbusting strip quilt I’ve been working on this week. I meant it to be a crib-sized quilt, but it came out about 46″ by 48″, so I think I’ll donate it to the Hopes and Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS.  I STILL haven’t mailed off the two quilts I’ve completed, so I guess I may as well wait another day or two to finish this one before I mail them all off.

I meant to practice quilt-as-you-go with this quilt, but it didn’t happen, mostly because of the bias edges on the outside of the quilt.  I was afraid they would stretch, and they did.  I hurried up and sewed borders on to contain the ever-growing edges, and they seem to have done the trick.

Tomorrow I’ll get the backing done, and get it basted.  If I’m feeling really ambitious, I may even start quilting it.  It should go pretty fast, as I’m not going to mess around and do anything fancy.  Straight-line quilting is the only way to go!

House block with kitty

V over at Bumble Beans is collecting house blocks to make quilts for BASICS, a group that helps homeless people in NYC.  She’s asking for 10.5″ house blocks; click on the link for the pattern and directions if you’re interested in making a block or two for her!

I decided to take a break from the string quilt and make a house block this morning.  V said you could applique a heart on the house, but what’s a home without a cat?

I cut the kitty out of some fabric I had on hand, and fused it down.  Then I went around it with an outline stitch just to be sure he doesn’t go anywhere!  I love that grin.  Wonder what he’s thinking about getting into?

This block really is square.  My photography skills aren’t the greatest, I’m afraid!

Ice mountains along the Lake Superior shore

Went for a walk yesterday.  It was COLD out there!  The north wind definitely had teeth in it.

The constant wind has been blowing the ice up against the shoreline.  This area is usually open water, but you can see how the ice has built up.  The waves are breaking against the ice, which is way out from shore.

Snow drifts across the bike path

I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the snowdrifts on the bike path!  The wind comes in off the lake and dumps the snow right on the pathway.  There’s always an adventure around here.

Don’t forget to vote for Marquette in the Dozen Distinctive Destinations at the National Trust for Historic Preservation!  Right now Marquette is in first place!  Woo hoo!  But that could change, so we need to keep voting.

Found another quilt challenge.  This one is from Julie Bagamary, and it’s called More Blessed To Give.  She is challenging everyone to make one item a week to donate.  The best part about this one is that you don’t have to be a quilter.  No matter what you do, whether it’s knitting hats or crocheting blankets, or even making soap or jewelry, make one item a week to donate to a good cause.

Since I’ve been on a roll lately as far as stashbusting goes, I thought I would look for a local group here in the Upper Peninsula that might be able to use some quilts.  And I found the Marquette Women’s Center, a shelter for domestic violence victims.  I sent them an email this morning, and hope to hear back from them next week as to what size quilts would be best for them.  I have enough blocks on hand for probably two more lap or crib-sized quilts, so I can have a couple ready pretty quick.

I’ve  been working away on my Rail Fence quilt.  It may have looked easy, but I’ve had more trouble with this particular scrap quilt than I’ve had with any project in a long time.  Do you think I could keep my pattern straight?  Noooo-oooo.  I swear, I sewed things together backwards and upside-down, and I still think there’s a mistake in it someplace.

I pieced together a batting from leftover pieces that have been banging around in my closet forever.  That was a challenge, but I finally got it done.  Then when I started the machine quilting, I messed it up, and wound up having to pick out two LONG rows of stitches, diagonally across a 50″ by 60″ quilt!  Sigh.  At least they were long stitches.  I messed up on my second try, too, but this time I had enough sense to stop before I got too far.  More stitches to pick out.

The third time was the charm!  I think I may actually finish the quilting this morning, but I don’t want to be too sure of myself!  If I manage to finish it, then I’ll get a backing and batting together for my Barn Dance quilt, so I can get that one done as well.

Andrew is still in TN.  Now they’ve had an ice/snow storm down there.  Hope they still have power.  I haven’t heard from him since yesterday, so if he doesn’t call me, I’ll give him a buzz later to see how things are going there.

It’s been COLD here, in the single digits during the days, below zero at night.  I think the temperature might have struggled up to 11 degrees yesterday.  Since I was out of milk, bread, and half-and-half (essential to life around here), I got brave and bundled up in my long underwear and down coat (a Goodwill purchase in MN) and walked up to the store.  I have to say that the right clothes do make a difference!  The only part of me that got cold was my nose, and I pulled my scarf up to protect my face.

Molly looking cute

Still no camera, so I’ll close with this picture of Molly.  She loves to sit on the table and watch birds and squirrels out the back window.  She’s been a lot of company for me this week, although she thinks I should spend more time playing with her, and less time quilting!

Girly-girl quilt for Nora

Like most quilters, I have an amazing stash.  I’ve taken a vow not to buy any more material until I can make an appreciable dent in what I already have.  This was put to the test with a quilt I’m making for my step-granddaughter, Nora.

I never got around to making a baby quilt for Nora when she was born a year ago.  Since she’s 13 months old already, Granny decided to make her a  big-girl quilt instead.

I already had a bunch of four-patch units I’d made up using the leaders and enders technique from Quiltville.  I went through my stash of pinks (which wasn’t huge to start with; I’m not a pink person!), and cut them up into 4-1/2 inch squares.  I had to piece some of them!

And here’s the result!  It came out really cute.  I made it bigger, about 51″ by 60″ so Nora will be able to use it for quite a while before outgrowing it.  All the pinks really work well together with the scrappy four-patches.  It’s a really girly-girl quilt!

I cut extra pink squares because I had planned to sew them together for the backing, but I’ve changed my mind on this.  I’m racing the stork to finish this quilt, along with another one, so that Andrew can take them with him when he goes to TN to see his new grandson (when he’s born).  So I think I’ll find a bigger piece of material in my stash to use as a backing instead to save time.

The leftover pink squares will find a home in another quilt, probably a baby quilt to donate.  And I’ve still got plenty of the four-patch units left for another quilt, probably a second one for the Hopes and Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS.

Little footprints in the snow

The weather has been quite pleasant lately, cold but sunny, so I’ve been getting out for walks in the afternoons.  When you sit in front of a sewing machine for hours, it’s good to get out for some exercise!

It was warm enough to walk along the beach yesterday, which is my favorite walk!

Here are some little animal tracks I found in the snow by the Coast Guard station.  I found the little hole where this critter lives,  and I followed his tracks as he meandered through the pine trees.  The little footprints cross here.  I think these were from a second critter, since they came from a different direction.  A friend or relative perhaps?  This made me think of a superhighway in the woods!

Well, I need to get busy.  I have to get a backing together, baste this quilt and a baby quilt, and get them machine quilted and bound.  So you know what I’ll be doing for the next couple of days!

Is there such a thing as the perfect quilt?  Do you drive yourself nuts trying to make sure all your seams match?  Do you feel like the Quilt Police are looking disapprovingly over your shoulder as you work?  If so, you should read  “Perfection” from The House of Krom.

I have to say that the author hits the nail on the head.  I’ve spent so much time obsessing over trying to make all my quilts perfect.  But the truth is, that no matter how carefully I cut and sew and press, I STILL can’t get all my seams to match!  I actually stopped quilting for a while, out of frustration.  The joy was gone.

Now I’m approaching my quilting differently.  I want to enjoy the process, not drive myself crazy.  I guess that’s what liberated quilting is all about!  It’s not just about the wonky stars and creative piecing, as fun as all that is.  It’s really a mindshift.

Look closely, and you'll see that the seams on the patchwork are offset by a quarter inch!

Take a good look at the picture on the right.  Click on it to make it bigger, and you’ll see that the seams on the patchwork are offset by at least a good quarter-inch.  I suspect this has something to do with the fact that I cut the patchwork squares in half, and then sewed them to the brown triangles.

No matter what I did, these seams were NEVER going to match!

A year ago, I would have given up in total dismay.  But now?  Well, if they don’t line up, they don’t line up.  And you know what?  From a distance, you can’t even tell.

The quilting police better not look too closely! Not all the seams in the border match.

You can see that not every seam in my border matches either!  And I didn’t spend a lot of time pinning the daylights out of it, trying to make those seams line up.  All I did was to press the seams going one way on one pieced strip, and going the opposite way on the other one.  I put my walking foot on, lined everything up as best I could, and had at it.  Some seams match, some don’t.  And guess what?  From a distance, you can’t tell!

Molly is excited about the Hopes and Dreams Quilt Challenge! She has carefully inspected this quilt, and says it meets with her approval!

And my quilt has found a home.  When it’s done, I’m going to donate it to the Hopes and Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS.  This challenge is open to any quilter who wants to donate a quilt.  The quilt should be at least 35 by 44 inches, and bed-sized quilts are even better.  The quilts will be given to people with ALS, and some will be auctioned, raffled off, or displayed to raise money for ALS research.  The challenge is open until July 31, 2010.

Anyone who donate a quilt will be entered into a drawing to win prizes provided by a wide range of sponsors.

This sounds like a win-win situation to me!  You can donate as many quilts as you want.  I already have another one about halfway pieced using Bonnie Hunter’s leaders and enders technique.  I’ll donate that one, too.  I love to make quilts, but you can only use so many of them, so it’s nice to find another place that can use them.

And it’s even nicer to use up all that fabric that has been sitting around here for years!  As Clare at Dordogne Quilter says, “Finished is better than perfect!”  I love it!

PS:  Brenda at Scraps and Strings has directions for making utility quilts to donate to the Mennonite Central Committee.  It’s pretty warm in Haiti, but I would guess those folks will need blankets at night.