Scrappy Churn Dash

49 x 56

6 inch churn dash blocks

No fabric was purchased for the construction of this quilt, or batting😃.  Frankenbatting to the rescue!!

Machine quilted, wonky grid with my walking foot.

  

It's been a while since I've posted anything, well that's because life has been crazy and nothing has been finished or even worked on much since the beginning of October.  On October 1 my husband and I looked at a place for sale and decided to take the plunge, putting our house in the city up for sale to majorly downsize in the country.

Piecing together the backing took some time to come up with something appealing.

My new sewing space is bright and cheerful, with a peaceful view.  It's a far cry from the unfinished basement area I was using at the old place.

I'm trading space for quiet, peace and a smaller footprint.

We've downsized to half the square footage, not an easy feat.  There were many dropoffs at Goodwill, many FB Marketplace sales, a yard sale  and a lovely experience giving beds to a very appreciative Ukranian family, new to Canada.

Tea time break in the sun...lol, before the snow!

Staring me down are the next three WIPs.  All the blocks are done, some brain power is needed to decide on next steps.

A belated Happy New Year to everyone!!

 

Linking up with Cynthia at Oh Scrap
 

Hand Piecing ... The Journey Begins !!

 I ordered the Jen Kingwell pattern, Dear Jen, thinking it was traditional piecing and applique.  I was surprised to see it's hand pieced using templates.... lots of templates . 

I watched a few youtube videos and started . I picked the easiest block to start with and it was not a success.  So I practiced on a simple 4 patch and soon enough I saw a bit of improvement.  

My first 6.5 inch block. Not perfect but waaay better than my original try.

Two more of these to go, the pieces are cut and marked.

If any one has some tips for me I'm all ears.  I have learned that using sandpaper underneath the pieces when marking the stitch lines is a game changer.

Update... 6 days later:

Gaining a bit of confidence. The applique blocks are machine sewn,  but I'm sticking to the hand piecing for all the other blocks.  

Linking up with Cynthia at Oh Scrap !

and Angela at Rainbow Scrap Challenge

SUPER SIMPLE DONATION QUILT

 Ok, I mean really simple and quick.  This is perfect for some larger fabric pieces that need a home.

Someone shared the link on a linky party a few weeks ago, not sure who, but thank you.

I had a piece of batting just big enough, almost. I did have to do some minor frankenbatting sewing.

A pieced backing and ready for some machine quilting.

Always a learning process.

Linking up with Cynthia at Oh Scrap!

9 Patch Beach Quilt

 This quilt is going to be a gift, so the real name of it will be added later. I'm afraid if I mention it now the recipients will figure it out.

Inspired by   Blue Elephant Stitches  and    Saija , I began making lots of 9 patches...59 it total.  This pattern makes great use of 2.5

 inch squares and/or strips which I'm sure we all have in our scrap bins.

I was looking for a black striped binding fabric, which is nearly impossible to find, apparently, around here.  So I went with a much wider stripe than planned (Tula Pink fabric line).... and love it!

The backing is a repurposed bed sheet, super soft.  It almost feels like flannel but it isn't.

Quilted in a slightly wavy, wonky grid on my Janome Memory Craft 6650 💗 

with the walking foot.  The binding was done on both sides by machine.  I used to do the final side by hand, but have given that up to save my hands for other stitching.  I now cut the binding strips at 2.5 inches and that gives me lots of room to stitch down that final side.  When I was doing that by hand, I would cut the strips at 2.25 inches.

66 x 90

Linking up with Cynthia at OH SCRAP!

Scrap Stash Plus Quilt

 

This is a free pattern I found online and it's wonderful for extra 2.5 inch strips, 2.5 inch squares or any scrappy stash really.

I tried to stick to green and blue with neutral low volumes, but my stash is not that large so I had to expand the options to add in browns  and a lot more shades of green than I had originally planned.

The backing was a deal I found a few years ago, super soft fabric ... I think Marcus is the brand.

Straight line quilting with my walking foot.  Easy Peasy.

120 blocks

60 x72 inches

The little gnome house and path is a work in progress by my husband.

LINKING WITH Cynthia at Oh Scrap! 

"SOMEDAY"

 

Dubbed the SOMEDAY quilt due to my procrastination.  My granddaughter has been wanting a memory quilt from the great grands' baby clothes and it's taken me a good while to get to it.  SOMEDAY has finally arrived. 

I've already made one for each of the kids, but Mommy needed one too. You can see the first one  here    .  ...  the second one  here    .

Once I talked myself into just starting even though I did not have a definite plan, it moved along super quickly.  Larger pieces were made into 9", 9 x13.5" and 9 x 18" blocks.  Smaller pieces became 4.5 x 9" blocks or raw edge applique.  

The 9" border gave me lots of room to play in for the applique.  

These little pockets picked off a pair of tiny jeans are my favourite part of this quilt and they are what got me started on the project.  I just couldn't resist the cuteness!!

 No hand quilting on this one, but lots of random freemotion .... I like to call it organic because ...well because it's not perfect but it's cute and gets the job done easily.  I love freemotion quilting because it avoids so much quilt wrangling! 

This time I even did the binding totally by machine and it worked well.  I had been a loyal hand stitcher for the final side of binding .... those days are done according to my wrists and hands. 😒

Even the name tag and my little blog tag are done with free motion.  I do have embroidery on my machine but I'm not a fan. Free motion is definitely my friend.

A final in progress shot:

linking up with Cynthia at OH SCRAP

Pinky Town

Finally a finish on my second Bitty House quilt.   The first was finished  3 years ago and the extra blocks were lingering around waiting for inspiration.

 

Once I saw this cute hollow Star pattern, an idea for a layout occurred.

As usual, I started hand quilting Pinky Town before my hands told me to give it up and do some free motion quilting.  So happy with the results.

This cross stitch is from a Bonnie and Camille quilt book. I fell in love with her finish in a simple white frame and had to do one.  

Many good memories in these stitches, especially of our sibling trip to BC last summer.

So nice to have some new, bright finishes in the hallway just in time for Spring!