April UFO Challenge

Judy pulled #1 this month....which was my Manasses quilt. i still needed to piece 4 corner blocks, put it all together and then quilt it. it was a wild month, but i got it done.

Here is #1

The other thing i quilted this month was Grandma's Country Album I .. design by Robert Callaham

There was a bit of piecing done, too.

..Mitosis

..Heart with blue selvages

..Signs of spring

..Birch Trees

..Yellow and black selvage stars

..Some blocks to use up trims and zippers

..Ricky Tims Legacy quilt block for April

..I'm working on some patchwork circles. cut out with my accuquilt machine. black circles are wool felt. I have 2 finished so far, but have about 20 cut out and ready to put together

..Some selvage baskets....inspired by Anita Schackelford's quilt that she rescued and re-did. so far, i have 2...it will be set on point and when quilted, will have flowers in the baskets. these will go pretty quick once i get back to them.

..Split Personality

And I believe that is all that is going to happen this month. I am leaving town on Thursday to go to the Paducah quilt show and spend some time with my sister. be back next month.

I still need to do the April block for Buttermilk Basin, too. perhaps i need to get that together today. haha

Hope your month was successful.

Manasses

This is the last quilt that my friend Mary designed and taught us before she retired, last year. she was big into Civil War, so she named her quilts after battles and such. she is pretty traditional, so don't know what she might think of how i quilted this one. 

I am leaving town on Thursday for the rest of the month, and this is my April UFO challenge quilt, so happy i got it finished in time. it is 80" square. I decided to do things a bit differently than i usually do on this one. 

When it was hanging and i was looking at it, i just kept seeing lines coming out from that center star. so, for the first time, i marked a quilt before loading it. Most of it was quilted with light blue.

I did different things in a few stars. Once i pieced one of the corner stars, i realized the middle was too fat with all the seams coming together....that is the star that is quilted with the circle in the middle. haha   so, the other 3 corners got a different star. 

I used white for the background in the star blocks

I totally ignored that the border was a busy print. i wanted to do Jamie Wallen's flying geese again, so they went there. I used yellow for them and quilted over them a few times so they would show up better. 

The corners of the borders got radiating lines...like i did around the center star.

Sometimes the quilting doesn't show as much on the front, but it definitely shows on the back. the back is a dark navy, but the camera flash makes it look lighter. i really like the back. i used a So Fine orchid on the back but it looks almost white.

I didn't quilt as much as i would have liked in April....only 2...but i did piece a bunch of stuff, so i'm ok with April's progress.  the month of May might have to be leather month. haha

My embroidery machine

Baby Lock makes a pretty good little (actually, large) embroidery machine ... i have the Ellisimo.  i took it in for its TLC tune up and check up. they replaced 9 parts in there that they said were getting pretty worn out. 

It's the second time in its lifetime that it's been in for a check up. i think it's about 6 years old. the last check up, a few years ago, it had over 11 million stitches.  

Now, it has 31,107,781 stitches.   yep, that's millions. hahahaha

i really like my embroidery machine. it is stitching a snowman train now....that will be a border for a santa village. 

He always tries to get me to trade up to a 6 thread machine....nope, i like what i have and it works just fine, thank you very much.

Now...back to embroidering.  

Wonder if i can get to a billion stitches. hahahahahaha

heart in selvages

Still trying to use up all those selvages....i seem to be making some progress.

This is something i saw somewhere....maybe facebook?  

It's not quilted yet.....but piecing counts. haha

Next, i think i need to tackle all those black and white selvages....those boxes are packed.

Ricky Tims Legacy quilt..April

Here is the April block for Ricky Tims' Legacy quilt.

It wasn't hard....but it wasn't simple, either. took a lot of watching...and a few rippits.

Why does it seem like guy quilters like to do the harder stuff....Y seams....and angles.  is it the carpenter in them?  just wonderin'

But I am keeping up and it is coming along. by the end of the year, i'll have a couple BOMs to put together.

Zippers and lace blocks

While doing the trim blocks, i thought of my laces leftovers....and the tons of zippers that i have from de-constructing leather..... and another block idea is born.

I used 1 1/2" strips that i had left over from previous projects. blocks are 8". i made 7 in yellow.  i am thinking this will be a good 'busy' baby quilt. the next row will be in pinks.

And how about a 2-fer

I am keeping the zippers out of the seams, so am putting corner pieces in to cover the ends of the zippers.

These are pretty quick and easy and i am having fun with them.

But, i also have started 2 more projects today....one i saw on Facebook...and one from Anita Shackelford, in her rescued quilts. 

If i stayed off the computer, i maybe could finish what i start without starting even more projects.  haha   is there medication for that?  hahahah

Two more crazy block ideas

I saw this on Facebook....their colors were different, more muted, but i like bright and shiny. the black circle is wool felt.  i got new circle cutters from AccuQuilt, so i HAVE to use them...right? patchwork circle is 5"...black circle is 6".... block is 8". I'm going to use my machine to applique it down...probably in variegated colors. 

And this one I can blame (um, credit) to Anita Shackleford....in her rescue quilts. 

Leftover selvage blocks become baskets....to be filled with quilted flowers. the plain half is feedsack. blocks are 9"...will be set on point.

OK...maybe i'm done...for now.  i really need to get to quilting. 

Trim in the middle selvage blocks

I've been running with the 'trim in the middle' selvage blocks and have made 17 of them before i had another idea and abandoned the trims for zippers....and lace. hahahaha

Here is what i have so far.  the blocks are folded so you can see the trims easier (i hope).  the blocks are 6". i tried to use mostly the whites of the selvages and keep the color down so the trims show up better.

If you have a piece of brown velvet ribbon that is not q u i t e long enough...not a problem. just cover the corners.

I'll get back to these one day...hopefully soon.

A new idea was born

I was sewing some selvage squares together last night....and just the way i put one piece down, gave me a new idea.

I have lots of trim....from the crazy quilts....that i've been thinking of for a few months.....how do i use those up. 

So, now....here it is.....a use for all those trims.

The middle piece in selvage blocks.

And here are some trims i pulled out in a quick search at the house...i'm sure there are more.

then.....what to do with all that extra lace. hahahah

Yellow and black selvage stars

Another selvage top was pieced this week. i am so determined to use up all those selvages.....but i think they are winning. haha

I have another selvage quilt idea....borrowed from Mary Johnson at maryquilts.com    I don't have many red selvages left.....and i think this next one will take care of them. we'll see.