An old UFO finished!

What may have been the oldest UFO in my quilting room is now a real quilt!

I started this Baltimore Album quilt in a year long class with Mimi Dietrich back in 1992.  I lived in Baltimore so it seemed like the right thing to do!

Anyway, over the course of a year my fabric choices changed significantly and after my "real" quilt was finished I had almost a dozen blocks that didn't make the cut.  They traveled with me for many years.

Last year when I was packing to move I debated letting them go but instead they went to the top of the "to-do" list!  This is hand appliqued, hand and machine pieced, and hand quilted.

Goldie...my 18 year old quilt cat

In the sewing room...

So much is stressful right now...Korea...Virginia...my move...falling!  I know they aren't all equal but they are all keeping me awake at night!

So I am spending more time in my sewing room.

When Goldie, my 17 year old cat, gives me a bit of space.

small quilt I machine quilted...still have quite a learning curve but getting there!

I am making miles of binding...have 4 quilts to bind for our show in November and three wallhangings that need binding for the silent auction.  Wouldn't it be nice if they all just used the same fabric?!  Never works that way..

Just a few more feet of binding and the Picasso in Paris quilt will be ready for my sister.  This is a Bonnie Hunter pattern from her website.  I took her scrappy trip around the world blocks and put them on point.

I am really happy with the stripe I used for binding!

My biggest "finish" is my Baltimore Applique leftover top!  I started this 25 years ago...vintage before it is even quilted.  I was happy to find I had enough of the background fabric to piece a back for the quilt.  A friend is going to hand quilt this one for me.

So perhaps a few more quilts and a couple more days of limiting the number of  hours I listen to the news and I'll be back packing up the house again...until then I'm hiding in the quilt studio....

Top finish!

If you need to make a quick baby quilt I highly recommend this pattern from Missouri Quilts.  Start to finish it took about 6 hours...maybe less since I was doing leaders and ender blocks in between.

I pulled some fabric last night to piece a background and with luck should quilt it up this month.  This is my "donation" for the guild silent auction table in November.

gardenia bushes in bloom and smell great!

The weather is hot and steamy here in Georgia.  Went outside this morning thinking I could drink my coffee in the garden!  Duh...bugs...bugs everywhere!  No wonder I have so many Dragonflies here..it is like an all they can eat buffet!  Needless to say I had to get back in the house quickly and slather After-bite over both feet!

my rescue daylilly from last year came back fine!

Also caring for my sick cat...no, not 17 y.o Goldie but Dobby!  Brought him to the vet yesterday and they think he has asthma...His breathing is noisy and a bit labored at times.  He is grouchy...even more so than usual!  Hard to give TLC to a cat who can take your arm off!

Why are borders so hard?

I am about 3/4 through with my leader and ender lozenger quilt-top...at least I thought I was.  I measured it last night then laid it out on the bed and say what?!  It is too small.

Five of the rows have been sewn together so the best option is a border no?  But what border!

First I made some broken dishes blocks - the hst are 3 inches so the block finishes at 6 inches. I like the way it mimics the secondary pattern in the quilt.  But even with a 2 inch inner border it is only an 8 inch border.  I need more.

I tried a big honking broken dish block (broken platter perhaps?!)  On draft paper this looked really good.  In real life...not so much.  I'm tempted to make a second one to see if that changes my perception...

Then there is a hybrid option; a 2 inch inner border with the 6 inch broken dishes followed by another 2 inch border then a random brick pieced 5 inch outer border.  That gives me a big enough quilt for a king size bed...

I think I'll put off making a decision (and more blocks) until the center part of the top is done...

and when Dobby gives me my sewing chair back....

(on the Watson front...we brought him down by the river for a long run this morning.  It did a good job of wearing him out!  At least he ate his lunch and was a bit less "sad" today.  We'll just have to keep coming up with ways to distract him...unfortunately dog-parks are out.  He was attacked by a larger dog when he was small so unless it is in the house he isn't good with meeting other dogs...)  He is great with cats though...no cat parks though!

No fences!

My neighbors are replacing the fence around their yard which means lots of construction trucks (doing drains and gutters too...)  All this means we cannot let Watson out in the yard.

Has anyone ever dealt with a dog with depression?  They took down the fence last Friday.  So since then we have been taking him out about every 2-3 hours.  This is still not nearly as often as he went into the backyard for a quick squirrell chase.  For the first few days he was just confused...then he whimpered a lot at the door...today he isn't eating - not even bacon.

Talked with the contractor and it will be mid next week until the fence goes back up...trying to think of options.

This does link to quilting...I'm keeping him back in my sewing room most of the day since that is the furthest point from the noise.

However the likes to sit on my lap...doesn't lead to productive days.

And needless to say Dobby is really not happy the dog has taken over his space.

So in all this what is on the design wall?  My leader and ender project from 2016!  Looks a bit like fences to me...with a bit of luck the real fence will be completed before my quilt-top is!

On to the next UFO!

Can hardly believe it but my April UFO goal is already a top!  So I am debating working on a second one...

This one isn't going to be as fast!  I made lots of these little 5 inch random pieced squares at one point.  I made a table runner out of some and some coasters out of others.  These are the remainders...the "rule" is when I open a UFO box/bag I either finish it, donate it either as a finished project or UFO, or I toss it.  No putting it back into the pile...

Checkerboards is now a top!  Even have a top pieced for it...

I'm also busy washing fabric to piece backs.  One of my least favorite parts of quilting...such big pieces to iron then pin then push through the sewing machine and then press again...One down and three to go.  I've washed the fabrics. Still lots of work to do!

We are dealing with some extreme weather here in Georgia today...thunderstorms, hail and potential tornados!  I hate tornados!

A pixelated photo of Dobby I was thinking of using for a quilt...

It has been really wet this week. Last night Dobby hadn't come home at his usual 7 pm curfew.  About 9 we went out to look for him.  We found him next to our deck covered in mud...totally covered!  Had to get him into the bathtub...he isn't a big fan of baths.  Anyway, he has some scratches but nothing too serious.  The only blood flowing was mine...

He is in his safe and quiet place recovering....

Random Quilting stuff

The clean-up of the UFO "Tower of Shame" continues...

I've pulled a long...long lost project off the top.  It was a reproduction of a friend's, Bill Volkering, quilt.

Pretty much all the piecing is done (except for the setting triangles which may be solids, may be string pieced or may be a random selection of neutrals...humm...)

I also did this in some reproduction fabrics without the applique...more on that in a future post as I don't have photos.

Vintage Wedding Ring from NC.

Which gets me to why no photos...MS has decided to make itself known again.  My MRI was a bit like Swiss cheese (don't even ask me what the Radiologist said to me...do they have any lectures on bedside manners?!)

Speaking of cheese...made an awesome quiche with zucchini and mushrooms!  Brought it to a quilt-in last weekend.  We made over 50 pillowcases for elementary children who are homeless...when I'm feeling bad for myself it helps to do something for others!

My husband has been helping me with my annual refolding of the quilt stacks.  These are my antique quilts that I take out at least once a year to inspect, air out for a couple of hours, then refold.  

This is one of my oldest quilts.  It is a Carpenter's Wheel dated 1838.

The date is embroidered in the center.

And the makers name is stamped in one corner.  I think the name is Frances J. Shriner (Shriver?)

I've often started to reproduce this quilt but never found the right fabric for the borders...There are several new lines coming out this year so perhaps...

What is on the design wall...

In addition to going to workshops I have been trying to do some sewing and even a bit of "designing!"

My sister requested a quilt for her cabin up in Maine.  I started to make a Scrappy Trip Around the World from Bonnie Hunter's website.  I've made that pattern several times and I knew it would work up fast and use some of my overflow of 2-1/2 inch strips.

But of course midway I thought...why not put these blocks on point?  And maybe turn them different directions...oh no, then I have to piece the sides

ok, so I made a very simple project into a real pain!  But at least it is almost finished!  (btw...Goldie my cat is not making this process any easier...one block went missing and still has not been found!)  Thought for sure once I remade it the block would show up!

The other quilt I'm working on is just starting!  Each year my guild makes a quilt to raise money for a local camp for children with cancer, Camp Rainbow.  This year the quilt is based on an Irish Chain with flying geese borders in the Kate Triplett's Indigo Quilts book.  Of course it was only a photo so I had to draft a pattern (with Kate's permission.)

Then the committee thought it would be good to have applique in the open blocks...because my guild loves to applique.  So I drew some designs.  Now the blocks are starting to come in and it is sort of exciting to see them!  Saturday is the deadline for them...should have a photo of an "almost quilt top" then!

A little finish!

Number three, a little doll quilt, is now finished!

This was a blog quilt-a-long led by Lori over at Humble Quilts several years ago.  I think it was called Strawberry Lemonade...sorry Lori if I'm wrong!  It has been awhile in the "to be hand-quilted" pile.

That pile doesn't go down nearly as fast as it builds!

On the vintage quilt front I bought this fun large 9-patch Carpenter's Wheel on ebay last week.

It arrived yesterday.  Needs a good airing out and some bath time but it is a fun quilt!

It was made in Texas.  From the fabrics I'd estimate circa 1940.  (this little blue fabric is a fun 30's one though!)

The quilting is amazing!

It has a pieced muslin back...a few spots need some attention before it hits the bath...need to get to it while the weather is good for quilt drying!

btw...this is Dobby's birthday week!  Since he was a rescue we don't have an exact day...he had rotisserie chicken and some special salmon treats...