I spent the day sewing with Tim yesterday. I went over to his house, so he wouldn’t have to crate his dogs all day.
I didn’t bring my machine, which was really nice! Tim has a couple of machines, one similar to my Janome 6600 and I used that one all day. He worked on an old Kenmore – not THAT old, maybe early 2000s. Despite the sort of tight space, we worked together very well.
Ends n.8 – Bonnie & Camille
I had some Bonnie & Camille ‘ends’ from the Stepping Stones n.2 quilt, I think, that were bugging me, so I took them plus my Bonnie & Camille fabric and made that my project. I brought other projects as well so I would have enough to work on, but only got this piece done.
Ends n.8 (Bonnie & Camille)
Tim said he would quilt it and wanted me to make a back. He prefers plain backs, so looked for some wideback fabric in his collection before we decided I should make the back.
In the course of assembling all the supplies for this quilt, I realized how much Bonnie & Camille fabric I have. I am pretty much done with it, so if you want yardage or charm packs of some of the older collections, let me know and I’ll tell you what I have. Contact information is on the About page.
I finally have a chance to post about this first donation top of the year. I used the edges Colleen cut off of the Triple Star quilt and a couple of half yards of burgundy, but on the pinkish side for the background.
The two burgundy half yards were old and I had never cut into either. I think they look well in this quilt, but I am not sure I would use them in something now.
I can’t believe I have made 7 of these quilts! quite a series without really trying. I have another to make from the edges of the Stepping Stones n.2
A pile of trimmings from the Octagon 9 Patch have been laying around my workroom for a few weeks bugging me. I didn’t want to throw them away, but I also wasn’t thrilled about putting them ‘somewhere’ to be forgotten.
Finally, yesterday, I decided enough was enough and I would whip a donation quilt. A donation quilt would accomplish a couple of things. I would have something to show at BAM. I would be able to add some fabric to my fabric usage, but most importantly, those trimmings would be off my desk.
Ends donation top n.6
I found a light green Art Gallery solid that I thought would work pretty well and got to work. The quilt top when together pretty easily and I found a couple of fabrics I could use for the back, so the whole thing was done in a couple of hours.
I finally finished the Ends Donation Quilt n.5. It seemed to take me forever, but as I said yesterday, I haven’t had much time to sew. I spent time arranging the yardage on Saturday. I did a bit of sewing, but mostly just arranging. That helped me finish relatively quickly on Sunday.
I think the borders made this piece look better. It looks more like a picture with a frame. It is so hard to tell when one of these quilts needs a border and when no border is required.
Ends Donation n.5 back
On the back I used some leftover black yardage, some of which is black-multi. Some of these blacks had never been cut into, so it was time to use them for something. Then, I used some of the leftovers from the border.
I haven’t done a leftover batting project yet. We’ll see if I have the time. Whoever quilts it at the guild may only get a back and a top. There might be enough of the back to make a straight of grain binding.
This process is going painfully slowly, but I took some time during the week to sew on the last two borders. I think the addition of borders looks good for this quilt. It kind of frames the strips and makes them look like a picture.
As I have said before, I am kind of thrilled that the leavings from backs can become something useful. Yes, I added some half yards of fabric to the dark grey and black leavings. I was going to donate that fabric anyway, so it is a win overall.
I can’t believe I have done five of these quilts so far. There are probably more in my future. You can see them all:
I saw Tim at the meeting and he had finally finished quilting the Ends Donation Quilt n.2. I wrote about this quilt top last in November. I thought the quilt was done a long time ago and Tim said I had taken several photos, but I can’t remember and can’t find any posts about it after the November post.
Tim did a great job and looks really good. While we are finding another place who will take quilts made by the group, we are saving these for the San Jose mayor’s gun buyback program. Those people who bring guns will also get a quilt.
In the course of putting away fabric and other supplies from the Stepping Stones n.2 project, I came across some rich looking prints that I didn’t think I would use in a quilt, but would make a great donation quilt. One was an Anna Griffin print from the Bailey line (or perhaps the name of the print was Bailey?). The other had a kind of scrollwork design on it. Both had kind of a blood red background.
Ends Donation Top n.5
I thought these prints would not only go well together, but also with the ends of the Triple Star. Happy to distract myself from tidying, I started in on a new Ends top. I finished the top last night and will make a back soon.
I really like it that he is bold enough to use dark thread. His motifs are large-ish and very loose, which makes the quilts nice and drapey.
Ends n.2 donation quilt detail
He also is doing a nice job with the pebbling.
Ends n.2 donation quilt back
The back looks a lot better quilted!
I am so pleased to be able to collaborate with Tim. He seems pleased about it as well. I do hope he will tell me if he doesn’t want to quilt some of my donation quilts.
I finished a second donation top last Saturday. It was nice to be able to sew as much as I did that day.
I made this second top because I was too lazy to put away the rest of the taupe fabric. I knew I wouldn’t use it and I thought there was enough for a second top so I got to it.
I would have liked to add another taupe strip to the left hand side, but I ran out.
I am using a small white dot on aqua for the back. The background and the backing are all Moda so they are fraying all over the place. Once the quilt is quilted, it will keep someone warm and cozy.
Two tops in one day must be a new world’s record [for me! ;-)]
In between making another pillow, I made another Ends donation quilt. I have a number of ‘ends’ from recent quilts. After finding a large piece of Bonnie & Camille taupe, I decided I could make another donation quilt while I was doing other things.
It is about 42×42 and I have enough of that taupe and more strips to make another one. We’ll see. I am not sure what project I am going to work on next.
As mentioned, this top was sort of unplanned. It did, however, come together very well and last week, I was able to finish the top, back and batting.
I am a little sad to give it away as I really like it. Of course, I like most of the quilts I make as donations, but this one is particularly pleasing to me for some reason.
Ends Quilt back – March 2017
The back is fairly plain. Several large half yards of fabric and I was done. I also put the batting together with Heat Press. There might be more Heat Press than batting and I hope that the quilt won’t be stiff as a result.
I have a box of quilt ‘dreg’ ends. Dreg is an ugly word as it conjures an image of grounds in an empty coffee cup or discarded tea leaves. These are simply pieces and parts that don’t have an immediate need or use. For some reason, I decided to go through the box in which they are stored. I think it’s part of the recent tidying frenzy in which I have been engaging.
Ends Donation Top
Initially, I thought I would put some batting scraps together to make a baby quilt sized batting. However, I found a bunch of fabric edges. They were cut from past quilts when they were squared up. I started laying out these fabric strips to get them out of the way. At one point, I looked over and saw a kind of improv strip top developing.
The next day I had some free time so I pressed and straightened up the strips. Then, I pinned sets together in preparation for sewing. I still have to sew the strips and see what happens.
Since I didn’t have time to sew, I built up a batting from scraps in preparation for the donation quilt. I don’t know if I will have enough pieces to make a batting for this top. It will be close. I have some long thin strips left. I don’t really want to use the tape up to attach them as it will use so much of the Heat Press. I might just sew them on to make the batting large enough and get the strips out of my house.
I whipped these up in order to get them done in time for the meeting, which was yesterday. I love the combinations that Amanda comes up with! I am wishing I had some quilting fabric in that yellow and black. Isn’t it great? It reminds me of Jane Sassaman’s work. I can see cutting out the leaves and things an rearranging them, then satin stitching them down. What do you think?
I was able to procure a couple of cat bed kits at the BAMQG meeting on Saturday. I had no time to sew on Saturday, but pinned the gusset to one side of one cat bed before I ran off to do my political wifery duties on Saturday evening. Then Sunday, I put the two kits together and made a third.
I am not sure why I sewed three cat beds when I had a lot of time to sew over the weekend. There was a lot of chaos in my workroom and I think the cat beds were something on which I could focus.
I picked kits with the same pattern and gusset color. I don’t know why, but perhaps that was what my eye could take in. As a side note I have pajamas with the same pattern
Yes, I took one top from one of the kits and made a pattern then cut out a cat bed from my own fabric. the fabric is burgundy with teapots on it. I like the teapots, but the background is an unfortunate color. The gusset came out too long, but I cut it off and was able to finish a third cat bed for Amanda. I’ll have part of a gusset for the next cat bed.
I hopped back on the Doing Good bandwagon this past weekend and I feel great about that.
Green Speckle Cat Bed
I had some Cat Bed kits from the last BAMQG meeting I attended and I decided that sewing them would be a great way to get back on the sewing bandwagon.
These cat beds were using the same fabric Amanda used in the last round of Cat Beds – regular quilting cotton. I thought they were a lot easier to sew, but wondered about durability? I will sew whatever she gives me. It was just a thought.
I only had two and really had to force myself to sew at all and I worked very slowly. It took me much longer to pin these than it has in the past and I think my mind just kept wandering off somewhere.
This color scheme reminds me of the green and pink donation quilt I made last year. It is a fun combination that I don’t think gets used as often as it should.
Green Speckle Cat Bed detail
It was also fun to see that green speckle fabric again. I had some of that at one point, but thought it was long since out of print. I wonder if it has been reprinted?
Both of the cat beds used a fun French cat fabric for the gusset. Again, this a fabric that I wouldn’t normally use, but this is a perfect application for it and it was fun to look at while I worked. As an added bonus, I forgot how much I liked the word “parapluie”.
Green Swirl Cat Bed
Amanda did a good job choosing the fabrics as the greens she chose go together very well.
The cats are engaged in a number of different activities, which I found amusing. I hope the cats will as well, though I suppose they won’t care.
Green Swirl Cat Bed detail
I was able to stuff both with a small amount of scraps, but Amanda will be able to use up more of the scraps she has as I didn’t have anywhere near enough. I haven’t been sewing and that is the outcome.
I have to say that doing these wasn’t enough, so I cut up some grey and black squares and have started to work on another donation quilt. I know it sounds a little depressing for a donation quilt, but my grey/black scrap drawer is overflowing. There will be little sparks of color that I will scatter throughout the quilt as some of the prints are mostly black, or have a black background, then have a colorful motif on top. Perhaps I will make it large enough for a teenaged boy. All teenaged boys like black and grey, right?
I don’t have many more scraps that will make a whole quilt from 2.5″ squares, so I may need to go down to 2″ to clear out more. I’ll finish this one and then we’ll see.
