February 2023 – Artquiltmaker Blog

February Donation Blocks

I had a little time to make blocks. Without leaders and enders I would not have had any additions to the block pile at guild.

I know I finished pretty fast considering the quilts were returned to me not that long ago, but, yes, I finished the Lobster. It is now on my dining room buffet protecting the surface. It also brightens up the space.

I want to use it for the July timeframe, but I still have so few non-holiday tablerunners that I will use it for awhile and then switch it out for another. I guess I need to work on tablerunners for all the holidays like I made napkins for many holidays.

Orange Vertical Strip Donation Quilt

This quilt came back to the guild last week at the meeting. This is the quilt I made from the trimmings off the Orange You Glad blocks. I couldn’t find a post about it, though I am sure I must have taken photos when I finished it, though maybe not.

Anyway, I don’t know who quilted it, but they did a great job. Roz bound the edges and it looks great. I love a striped binding.

Finished: Hand Bone Hackney

Hand Bone Hackney - top — Hand Bone Hackney – top

I made another Hackney. It is a gift for a friend. As you can, no doubt, see this one also uses the Timeless Treasures fabric that I used for the Skeleton Hackney.

I talked about this one in another post. I am really liking the pink zipper, of which you just get a slight glimpse. It is a fun addition to the somber skeleton fabric.

Every time I make one of these, I feel like getting a Switch and seeing if it would really fit in here. Stupid waste of money since I probably wouldn’t play with a Switch. Still, I am curious.

I used an older Joel Dewberry fabric for the inside and it is cheerful. I am making another one as a gift and I am going to change the mesh pocket for something different. Maybe a vinyl pocket?

I think the mesh pocket looks ok and I did a good job. There is something about having the zipper where it is that bugs me.

Hand Bone Hackney - handle — Hand Bone Hackney – handle

I added a handle, because I think it makes the bag more useful. I haven’t quite figured out the placement and I think this one is a little too tight. It was a little hard to get my hand around it. I also sewed through the lining as well and that caused some challenges for later steps in the process. Since the handle isn’t part of the pattern and I have to add it before the whole thing is put together, I think I am doing ok. I’ll do better next time.

Quilts Return: PP4

PP4 Night - quilted — PP4 Night – quilted

PP4 was the third quilt I got back from Colleen. The basics of this series are discussed in a post from 2012.

The idea I had for quilting was similar to Fabric of the Year 2019. I really liked the connected little circles. Colleen added some diagonal wavy lines in this one, which weren’t exactly what I was thinking but look ok. This quilt is so old that I really don’t care that much. Sad to say, but this is one reason I don’t like UFOs.

I made the back specifically for this quilt. It wasn’t a UFO. It was a completely new piece of the quilt and I really like it. I think it really goes with the Night theme.

On to binding.

Thanksgiving Embroidery

Because our family is growing, I thought I might need more Thanksgiving napkins for Thanksgiving. I bought some new embroidery designs for my SIL, though I think they were too big.

The turkey on the platter is, I think, a test embroidery. I am pretty sure we didn’t use that one before. I didn’t buy white napkins either. I think the design is amusing now.

Fortunately, I didn’t need them in November, so this project could be shoved off until her Christmas projects were done. I went over during Craft Night the other night and started work.

SIL #2 sat me down in front of her computer and I selected colors for some of the designs. She is pretty well organized and had recorded the thread colors. I was able to select from that group so the napkins will all, pretty much, match.

She always has to reduce the number of colors, because she doesn’t like to switch threads once the machine has started. I think her machine can handle 6 threads at a time. I always forget to look at the number of colors and inevitably buy a design with 25 colors!

I really like that pumpkin motif and I worked to make it really pretty. I think it looks great on the blue napkin.

I started changing colors so they didn’t have the issues that bugged me. There were some black threads that looked too dark to me. It may be that the shading was removed, because of the limited colors. Regardless, I am thinking about greys and, maybe, even some browns to soften up the hard blacks.

On the mauve (dusty rose??) napkin, the blue really shows up. I used that blue thread, which I really like, only on this one. It would have been lost on the blue.

Choosing embroidery threads is hard work. I’ll go back when we have Craft Night again and choose some more.

Quilts Return: Orange Bullseye

Like the Lobster, the Orange You Glad has returned. The quilting is done and I have to sew down the binding.

I was glad to have a few months break, especially over the holidays where I had little time to stitch anyway. Now I am close to finishing the La Pass rosettes and will have more time to sew down bindings and sew on sleeves.

One of the things I like about this quilting is motif depicting rays that Colleen did around each of the circles. Simple, but effective.

She did a great job avoiding the raw edges. I always warn her, but you never know. So far, on all of these Bullseyes, I haven’t had any folded edges. That makes me very happy.

In the center of the circles is a simple spiral. She would have done something better, but I couldn’t think of anything.

There is enough quilting to keep the thing flat as a pancake, which is my preference.

Finally, the back looks good. I know I was sick of the quilt when I made the back, but the large pieces are really effective. I like seeing those big flower prints in all their glory.

All in all, I was very pleased with the price. Four quilts, a tablerunner and two pieces of foam were very economical.

Quilts Return: The Lobster

Colleen sent back the three quilts, a tablerunner and two pieces of foam -soon to be future bags – that I brought to her in October. What a bonanza!

Also, I have a LOT of binding to do, but soon I will be able to add a lot of quilts to my ‘Finished’ list.

The Lobster - quilted — The Lobster – quilted

The Lobster looks great and it is first on my list for binding since I can use it right away. I know I thought about it for July, but I am sick of looking at the Cha Cha Cha tablerunner. I want something lighter and fresher.

The Lobster - quilted detail — The Lobster – quilted detail

As usual, Colleen did a great job quilting all of the pieces. She took particular care with the Lobster. On one hand, she quilted with two different colors of thread in some places as requested.

She was really careful around the embroidery I already did as well as the beads. Of course, she had an incentive to stay away from the beads since I am sure they would have done some damage to her machine, which I absolutely don’t want.

The Sawtooth Star blocks also look good. Sometimes those basic blocks can be super boring to quilt, but I like what she did.

More Pillowcase Fabric

I wanted to get ahead of the ‘pillowcase for the college nephews project’, so I stocked up on some themed fabrics. The Valentine’s fabric was backordered, which was a huge disappointment. I sent them cards and socks. I ended up buying some chili pepper fabric, which I think will work for the Valentine’s pillowcases. I didn’t have a chance to make them yet, though. I might do it and send them late. We’ll see. I don’t need a yard and a half of chili pepper fabric hanging around.

The Granary - January 2023 — The Granary – January 2023

On my birthday, I went to the Granary and found some fabric for April and May. For April, I will make Easter pillowcases and the May pillowcases will be ‘May the Fourth Be With You’ pillowcases.

You can see that I bought a few other items as well.

I didn’t want the Easter pillowcases to be boring, so I chose some dancing rabbits. These might be on the edge of Easter, but I think they will work for my nephews.

I think the ‘May the Fourth Be With You’ pillowcases will be fun. I didn’t know what to do for May and I think these will be perfect. I could have done Cinco de Mayo. The ‘May the Fourth Be With You’ theme will be perfect for 19 year olds.

St. Patrick's fabric - March 2023 — St. Patrick’s fabric – March 2023

I also got some St. Patrick’s fabric for March. This isn’t great fabric, but I think it will be ok for the boys.

Let’s get these made!!!

NYE Napkins

I had some leftover fabric after making the New Year’s pillowcases for the nephews. Since I’d still like to have napkins for every holiday, I decided to make some New Year’s napkins. I had just enough to make two napkins, which is enough for us, but no guests.

I don’t know when I bought this fabric, but it has been awhile. I picked out some fun backing fabrics and whipped these up pretty quickly. We used them right after I made them and I am pleased.

Finished: Venetia’s Cotton Candy Pouch

I can’t remember when I finished this pouch, but I did finish it. I remembered to check to see if I showed it to you after I mailed it. Since I haven’t had time to sew lately, I am running out of projects to show you, so I am glad to show you this one.

The zipper, from this angle, looks a little strange, but it works fine. I am not sure why it looks like that, but I will try again harder next time.

Venetia's Cotton Candy Pouch -interior — Venetia’s Cotton Candy Pouch -interior

The inside is also a Marcia Derse fabric and is really fun. This is the large size. It is big so you can fit a lot in it. I know Venetia brings a large bag to work, so perhaps she can use it for cords or something like that.

I am still thinking about the Odicoat and how to incorporate that substance into more of my bagmaking. From what I know, this pattern doesn’t lend itself to Odicoat application. I’ll have to try it some time. I’d like to try it after I put a pouch together. I will have to try it on a test pouch in case it gets ruined.

Venetia's Cotton Candy Pouch -interior label — Venetia’s Cotton Candy Pouch -interior label

I used another Wunderlabel for this pouch and am pleased to see it not clash with the fabric.

New Color Strip Donation Blocks

I haven’t had much time to sew lately- just a few minutes here and there. Still, I finished the grey Color Strip blocks and made a couple of pink blocks for the latest Color Strip donation quilt.

All the Cozies

In the process of making the scissor cozies, I realized how many of these I have made. I know it is strange to constantly be looking at the various iterations of one particular pattern, but I seem to enjoy it.Scissor cozies are quick gift to make. It is also a unique pouch, so it makes an impressive gift.

Also, one reason, I enjoy making the same pattern over and over is that I am able to improve my skills at making and get a better understanding of the pattern. I am constantly trying to improve my skills and I find making one pattern a few times helps with that.