HQAL: Jane’s Quilt Update and another finish

Our last posting for the 2022 year, and I wanted to say thank you to Kathy for hostessing this quilt along.

I have been working on Jane’s Quilt since January 16, 2022. It’s coming up on a year and I feel like 2023 will see her finished possibly. Hand quilting takes time, good lighting and heart. Heart because there is so much love put into this art. When I am quilting, I sometimes find myself drifting into thought and then I realize I have stalled and have just been sitting with nothing getting done. It’s easy to do that with Jane’s quilt as it was a gifted heirloom quit top filled with so many personal memories. It’s easier to machine quilt and often I think how much quicker it would be to create a machine quilted beauty. Don’t think I haven’t thought that with this 🙂 she is massive and time consuming, thick and heavy and not lending to summer quilting in the heat. Here she is and you can see that the pattern repeats on the back side slung over the fence.

I have been working on the dark colored logs these last 3 weeks and gotten 12 done moving the hoop 1x.

Another hand quilted project I have been working on was a baby quilt for our nephew who is having a boy. You may remember this quilt.

It is finished, gift wrapped and ready for pick up, actually today 🙂

I am wishing you a magical holiday season filled with lots of love and laughter. Wishing you good health and happiness in the year to come.

The HQAL is an opportunity for hand quilters to share and motivate each other. The talented quilters below post every three weeks to show our progress and encourage one another. Stop by their sites to see what they are working on. If you have a hand project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Cathie

HQAL: Jane’s Quilt Update

Three weeks and here we are again, and I am ready to post with an update on Jane’s Quilt. There is never really much to show in the way of progress, that is nothing changes with the pattern and it looks quite the same each time. The photo below is from last time. I started working on the dark blocks. Finished them and have moved the hoop 2 times now.

As you may remember this was a gifted quilt top pieced by Jane Rogers and given to me by her granddaughter Raeleen, Jane was the mother of one of my dearest and closest friends, Jeanine. Both Jane and Jeanine have passed on now but through this gift, my relationship with Realeen, I feel like they are both still with me. Going through some of her mother’s things recently, Raeleen came across something of Janes and sent it off to me. I thought it would be fun to highlight it in this posting. It is a mailing from a quilt guild that Jane belonged to.

The mailing is from 1984. This was a guild she had belonged too prior to moving to her/our home town to be near her daughter. We are like a guild, a group of hand quilters keeping this art alive and if there had been no internet invented, we just might be mailing out a monthly flyer to our members with news and updates and cute pattern ideas to fit the season.

As we honor and uphold this craft of old, let us remember and honor those who have come and gone, who taught us and inspired and sparked our flame to hand quilt. Jane Rogers was one of those woman. I have shared this photo before but here she is again. Perfect timing with the Christmas season upon us. I remember exactly where we were and why. It was a luncheon in honor of Jane. Jane is opening a Christmas birthday card. She had a Dec. 27th birthday.

There are some beautiful projects in works and I am off to check in with the others.

You can join me by clicking on the links below 🙂

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another. If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below. Enjoy visiting the other members of our group!

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Cathie

Weddings and Babies

It has been a busy week with cooler temps bringing relief from a 3 day heat spell. Here we are in August and I feel like summer has actually arrived. The big news this week was a sister in law is expecting a 2nd grand baby. She had posted some birthday gathering photos on her FB page and the ‘couple’ were photographed and I thought – hmm do I spy a baby bump? Our phone call – “I may be out of line but” “I know what you’re gonna ask, I have been getting quite a few calls” “do I need to start a baby quilt?” “Yes – we were waiting to let everyone know till they found out the sex” …. The picture was so cute. The couple standing with Dad behind Mom and his hands and hers were cupped under neither her tiny baby bump. It was not meant to indicate a baby and was purely accidental. Now we know the sex, its a boy!

So this week I got busy looking through my fabric stash. Most of my fabrics are flowers and feminine prints and patterns, lots of Christmas too. I was able to come up with a few choices, mostly bits and bobs of stuff but enough of 2 to make a simple 9 patch baby quilt. I had just enough of the sweet material with the children to get enough blocks for this. So far I have 4 made. I will need to get to the store to find backing and sashing material.

I wanted to share another journal I made that I am presenting this evening. We had a wedding in our family back in January. My husbands brother was married and this late afternoon much of the family will be gathering for a bbq and surprise party for them. I am all prepped and ready so I thought I would share the journal with you. It is a 2 ring bound book made from a cereal box. The cover is from a Chagall themed calendar. Many of the printable are from thegraphicsfairy.com and wedding photo prints from my collection of wedding photos.

All of the wedding photos are from my wedding photo collection

Taken from the 1903 edition of The Woman’s Magazine

A best wishes vintage postcard for the couple

Using my newspaper.com subscription I found articles on wedding menus from the 1930’s and printed them on coffee dyed paper

Envelope for tag below when opened

There are a few more blank pages specifically for journaling and all of the tags have space for jotting down a memory or two.

Quilting and Journal making ~ so many fun things to do!

HQAL: Jane’s Quilt

Time to report in again on my progress with Jane’s Quilt. At our last posting I had reported that I had quilted 10 cabin logs/strips. I am working on the outer dark ring.

If my counting is not off I have now completed 31 logs. I threw the quilt over the couch back to get a picture of the progress. Skye, our mini schnauzer is looking quite annoyed I would dare to disturb his nap. Nap time disturbed, I am feeling good about my progress this go around. I have just about completed 1/4 of the that outer ring. Looking at the picture above, I am thinking instead of going all around with what I am working on, I may decide to complete the corner.

I hope everyone is doing ok in these high summer heats. It’s awfully difficult to thinking of quilting these heavy wintery beauties in the summer; so thankful for this HQAL and Kathy hostessing it to keep us motivated and on track. Thank you 🙂

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy and Tracy

Christmas in July ~ Week 1

It’s Christmas in July and for my project I decided to continue to work on a Christmas project I have been working on since the beginning of this year. I am hand quilting a Hoffman’s Dream Big Poinsettia, 43″ panel for a Christmas gift.

Backing fabric

Above is the picture of where I left off in April. The inside leaves are stitched. Since then, I have not touched her, so I am hoping this ‘Christmas in July’ will motivate me each week to pick her up, show her some love and get her done. This is a pretty loosey goosey, no pressure, I joined the challenge, stitch along.

Have you thought about Christmas yet?

For all of you joining in, we’ve got this!

Until next week 🙂

Sharon

HQAL: Jane’s Quilt

Here is my 3 week hand quilting update – and ‘art form’ that sometimes feels to me that it’s been taken over by unbelievable amazing gorgeous machine quilting – but today, it feels good to know we are keeping this art form alive. At our last posting I was working on the light color cabin blocks that circle the medallion middle.

For this posting I am happy to report I have a mini finish. It was impossible to get the full quilt in the picture but I have finished all of the light colors around the center. Not only does it look great but it finally feels like real progress has been made.

Changing direction for just a moment but in keeping with hand piecing/quilting, (mine is a hand pieced block) I participated in a quilt collaboration headed and organized by Kate Chiconi of talltalesfromchiconia.wordpress.com

This years theme ‘Can You Teal The Love’ (how does she come up with these great theme names) will feature a quilt to be raffled off at a huge Gala to benefit/support Ovarian Cancer. This is the 2nd time I have participated. Kate provides the color, theme, and size requirement and then gives you carte blanche to create your own block. The blocks are made from people contributing from all over and then she does all the finishing work to put it together. Here is my block for this years event

Color: Teal, pink, beige Size: 12 x 12 Theme: hearts

Due to COVID the last Quilt raffle was held in 2019. So thankful we have turned that corner and the event will be held again. Below is the 2019 quilt to give you a better idea of what this is all about.

I am excited to see this years quilt and I will be sure to share it when it is finished with a link to Kate’s posting. Those blocks above are gorgeous and amazing and Kate does an amazing job with balancing and placement of the blocks. (mine is bottom row 2nd on right)

Now it’s time to visit the posts of the others in this hand quilt along at the links posted below. If you do any hand quilting I hope you will consider joining us.

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy and Tracy

Pinwheel Progress

Back in April 2020, I shared these photos of pinwheel blocks I was working on. The material was left over from another baby quilt I had made the year prior.

• 

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This photo highlights the true color of the material

Over the months I have continued – slowly – working on it. The blocks are all hand pieced however I decided to get some use out of the machine and to put her together.

white out photo 🙂

I didn’t have enough of the turquoise sashing to work the entire project. However I found material in my stash I thought would look ok mixed in. A sweet bunny and carrots on a very soft turquoise background. ( the color isn’t true )

It wasn’t until I photographed the flimsy that I noticed something. Have you spotted it yet? Last row – oops how in the world did I miss that? I am leaving it in, as is, a conversation piece 🙂 for the future and mentioning future; this is not for anyone right now but being made for a future grand-baby. This baby quilt reminds me of spring.

There’s 24 more days until spring. I live in WA state where we enjoy all the four seasons so anticipation of the change of weather is exciting. The daffies and crocus flowers are up. I have even seem tulips along my walks and while snow is most likely past, it has surprised us in April.

Time to get back to a few other projects on the burner.

HQAL: The Dahlia Project update # 1

It’s hard to believe at our next posting we will be wrapping up summer. How time flies when you’re having fun and I have been, working on this panel. At our last posting I had shared that I would be starting this panel.

For the back I decided on this very soft looking daisy print in complimentary subtle colors

I am using coordinating thread colors to match the petals. I am working on outlining all the petals first and then I will decide about going back into each petal to add some detailed pattern to it.

 

If you’ll indulge me, look who I caught enjoy Dahlia when I put her down and headed to the kitchen  ~ Skye

 

Once I spied her and captured the first picture she promptly sat up, deciding whether she better get out of there. * We have only had Skye for 19 days now. A mini 13lb Schnauzer mix that we adopted with the help of Cozze Paw Rescue out of Portland, OR. They rescue dogs at kill shelters along the west coast. Skye is a 6 yr female, found as a stray in southern CA, had been pregnant (we had recently lost our 15 yr old Schnauzer and were devastated, quickly turning to rescue again) We fell in love immediately. She was brought up to the Humane Society in Port Angeles, WA . They spayed her, did extensive dental work, micro chipped, flea bath, updated all vaccines (all for a minimum $150, we made an additional donation – dental work can run into a thousand t alone)

It never occurred to us that we might be getting an ill-behaved, troubled pup and thank fully we didn’t ~ she is so precious!

Remember this quilt for my grandson Kris and Alice? ~ Kira Lynn arrived on August 5th another precious addition to our family ❤

Hope everyone is busy, staying well and healthy. Keep smiling and quilting 🙂 By clicking on the links below you can visit the pages of the others in this hand quilt along.

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Tracy, Deb, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Kathi, Daisy, Connie, Monica and Sherrie

HQAL: Capital T Quilt Update

The three weeks has flown by, they always seem to. I have remained busy at home during the ‘stay at home order’. The other day my OH and I talked about friends saying they are bored, I can’t even get to everything I want to do during the day done. Thinking about it, I am wondering if it is more a case of anxiety over boredom? I am thinking we need more hand piecing and quilting going on – that would help.

I have completed 2 more blocks of Capital T

I love the color combo’s of both of these blocks but this pale green is my favorite

I have completed 5 blocks out of the 16

Time to do some blog hopping and see what everyone else has been working on and the  progress they have made. Stay well and safe

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Kathi,  Bella, Daisy and Connie

Memory Making

Just finished up with 2 projects I had on the back burner. That’s always a good feeling.

Not to long ago a cousin sent me a box with a few old t – shirts, 1 swim trunks (or is it swim trunk or swimming trunks?) and 1 sun visor she had saved belonging to her husband who had passed away in 2007. She asked me to make a quilt with them for her.

Ummmm…there was no way I could and that’s all I’ll say about that but I did come up with something else I think will make her happy and keep his memory close to her heart.

I made a small memory pillow for her. Pillow measures 8″ x 8″, his name embroidered in corner with b & d year. I’ll be sending it to her for Christmas ~ oh, no worries, she doesn’t follow my blog so the surprise is not spoiled

 

 

 

 

No one in mind making this crochet baby blanket. Whether you call it the popcorn or bobble stitch it is one of my favorite stitches for making a heavier weight baby blanket.

 

 

I have a container where I am keeping baby blankets I have made for ‘grandchildren’ for their ‘grandchildren’ I guess I could call it my ‘crochet legacy container’