Rainbow Charm Donation Quilt Finished

The donation quilt I made from a couple of sort-of-coordinating charm packs and some stash is now a finish for Hands2Help. 

The quilting is overlapping arcs, done with my walking foot. The arcs start in the green (upper right) corner and orange (lower left) corner, and overlap in the center. Modern like spiral quilting, but easier to execute. 

I'll send this quilt to a breast cancer support organization that received one of my H2H quilts last year and sent me a very nice note about the recipient. Story here.  I hope the bright colors and cheerful prints will bring comfort to a cancer patient. 

Link ups:  Confessions of a Fabric Addict,  Alycia Quilts, Wendy's Quilts and More

So Cute I had to Drop Everything and Play with It

The animal print from Libby, that is. 

It's perfect for a toddler boy quilt. Since the fabric does all the work, I kept it simple. Just borders and chevrons. The chevron center is complete and ready for the borders to be added. 

There's enough of the print (folded two ply here) to make borders up to 12" wide, as shown above. I'm thinking of reducing the width to 9 or 10" to have a more pleasing proportion. I worked it out in EQ and I think the 9" border option looks best. It would result in a quilt that measures 42" by 50". For a toddler, I think that's fine.  

I'm so disappointed in all the photos I've tried to take of this fabric and this project. What looks like a washed out yellow in all the photos is really a very pretty bright yellow-green which matches the frogs in the print. Maybe when it's finished and I can get some outdoor shots the photos will come out better. 

This will soon be a finished flimsy, but I'm planning on finishing the binding on the rainbow charm donation quilt for a Friday finish this week, so even though I dropped everything to make this one, it'll have to wait until I get that one finished. 

Link Up: Midweek Makers

A Trade: Win-Win

 Recently Libby of Life on the Hill posted about a project she's working on with a red paisley print as a focal fabric. Libby and I have similar tastes and I admired her project in the comments. Her paisley reminded me of a very large cut of red floral toile in my stash, bought and then not used for backing for a king sized quilt. My print would be the perfect backing for Libby's project. I asked in the comments if she would like to talk about a trade. 

So we talked. Well, yes, Libby likes French General; she'd be open to trading. What would I like in exchange? I asked for equivalent yardage, her choice. As I said, we have similar tastes and I had total confidence that she'd choose something I'd like. She nailed it. 

She sent fabrics I can use in donation quilts, mostly masculine and/or for kids. She coordinated them so they'd go together in case I don't have other coordinates for them in my stash. (As if - I can find plenty! 😉 )

Sock monkeys! Red text! Hard to find Hunter Green! A geometric print and a really good neutral. Great combination. 

But wait, there's more! Stars, animals, and coordinating prints for a kid's quilt. 

I had to drop everything and come up with a plan for the animal print. It's actually a two-yard length, 24" wide. I see borders, strips, and chevrons. I've already started making a few of these....

(That chartreuse green reads yellow in photos and I can't fix it without dulling 

down the bright orangey-red, so we'll have to make do with lousy pics until I

can get some outdoor shots of the finished project.) 

And I wasn't the only one so inspired by the trade that I had to drop everything and play with the new-to-me fabric immediately. Check out what Libby is doing with that floral toile here. Beautiful; perfect use for that print. 

I'm so glad we could trade. That floral would have languished in my stash forever. It's pretty, I like it, but I don't ever see having a use for it. I'm glad Libby can use it. Likewise, I'm glad to have some new prints to play with in the donation quilts I make, which are mostly masculine since that seems to be the biggest need. 

Thanks so much, Libby! 

Link ups: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Love Laugh Quilt

Rainbow Flimsy

 A finished top for Hands2Help

This came together quickly since it's just simple piecing. It's all about the fabrics and colors. 

It's always windy here so I found a way to anchor the bottom of the flimsy down for photos. 

In my yard I have bright sun or deep shade. This is a deep shade photo, but the colors are true in the outdoor light. 

The flimsy finished at about 50 x 67", a good size for an adult throw. This will go to a cancer support charity after quilting. 

I have a plan for quilting - not a spiral, but overlapping arcs suggesting partial big spirals. Hopefully, this will be a finish for Hands2Help before too long. 

Link ups: Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Alycia Quilts

Hands2Help 2021

 Sarah Craig at Confessions of a Fabric Addict has kicked off Hands2Help 2021, her drive for donation quilts to benefit a list of charities. And once again I'm participating. 

I have two charm packs that sort of coordinate, so I'm using them in a simple layout to feature the rainbow colors. Here they are on the design wall. 

I cut a few extra pieces from my stash to round out the colors and make the quilt large enough for an adult throw. Not shown here is the final row at the bottom, mostly orange prints. The colors are very saturated, much brighter than they look here. The alternate squares will be white. 

Last year I sent a quilt to Happy Chemo and it was given to someone in need. The organization sent me a lovely note, story here. I will send this quilt to them. 

This isn't a fancy quilt, not artistic or a complicated pattern. Just simple piecing, letting the fabrics do all the work. But if it can bring a little comfort to someone, that's all that matters. 

Link Ups: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Love Laugh Quilt

Not Much Sewing Going On Here This Week

We've been busy doing other stuff. 

We try to go on some sort of outing at least once a week, outdoors and socially distanced, with masks, etc. if needed. This week we went to the town of Cave Creek and hiked in a park near there. 

The area had a lot of saguaros. They only grow at certain elevations and on certain hillsides, but there were a lot of them, big ones with multiple arms, in this park. 

The fuzzy-looking cactus below is Cholla. Beware, it's said that cholla will reach out and grab you. The "fuzz" is all needles. Actually, bits of the cholla break off and stick to whatever brushed against them, and that's how the seeds are spread. The ocotillo at right is leafed out. Otherwise it looks like a bundle of sticks with thorns. 

The hike took us uphill to overlook a valley with a creek running through it, then down along the creek. Very green down there due to the presence of water. 

There were many of these grand old saguaros which are hundreds of years old. These are some of the biggest ones I've ever seen. Well watered, and somewhat sheltered in the creek valley. You can see there's even green vegetation and more trees down there due to the proximity to water, 

So that's my excuse for no sewing this week. I did sign up to participate in Hands2Help over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, so maybe I'll have something to post soon. Check it out and join in if you can. 

The Train Panel Top

 A finished top for the PC quilters' boy quilt drive, ready for someone in the club to long arm quilt it.

Sorry for the crooked photo - the top really is straight. It's about 45 x 60", the requested size. I passed it to the charity chair along with binding for it. She'll have someone quilt it and pass it along for binding or return it to me for binding. 

I still can't say I love working with panels, and maybe I spent more time on this top than is usual for charity quilts. But I actually enjoyed the inspiration of the panel and the puzzle of figuring out how to assemble it. 

This quilt will go to a regional family services organization. I hope it brings a bit of comfort to an older boy going through a traumatic time. 

Link ups: Confessions of a Fabric Addict,  Alycia Quilts

A Panel, a Kit, and a Plan

 At the PCQ sew day for making boy quilts last week, they had "kits" made up, mostly panels that had been donated combined with fabric from their donated stash in coordinating colors. I pulled a kit that had this panel: 

This is half of it, actually; there's a different train and another border on the other half.  I had an idea but I didn't have sketch paper or graph paper with me at the sew day and it was too difficult to execute my idea without a plan.  So I worked on something else and brought this one home to work on. 

The other fabrics in the kit are a soft mottled creamy yellow background, a brown crosshatch, and two Civil War repro reds. Great colors with this panel, well chosen by whoever put the kit together. But the yellow and the brown are off-cuts from backings, long strips, not very wide, so I'll have to plan carefully. The reds are actual quarter yard cuts. 

The plan is to add railroad tracks to make the quilt wide enough, frame the panels with the two reds, and fill in around the panels and the borders with the yellow. I'll have enough of the yellow, but just barely enough so I can't afford to make cutting mistakes! 

The tracks still need their rails; I'll use black from my stash. I'll fill in with strips and borders cut from the yellow.

I found the perfect stripe in my stash for binding so I'll go ahead and provide the binding to go with this top when I turn it in. Someone in the club who's already certified on the long arm will quilt it and the club has people who will bind their donation quilts, or they can pass it back to me for binding. 

Until recently I'd never worked with panels, but now I've used two of them in donation quilts. I can't say I love working with panels, but I'm glad to have another skill in my toolbox. 

Link up: Quilt Fabrication

February Stash Report and Goals Update

 It was a month of settling in, finishing the sewing room, and meeting new friends - all in all, a good month! 

Stash Report

IN this month: 1-1/2 yards (LQS purchase)
OUT this month: 8-5/8 yards (1/4 yd gift to new friend. 4 yds blue argyle-look donation top (from leftover 4 patches). 1/4 yd my batik for eagle panel top and 5/8 yds my fabric for binding for it. Blue/Multi geo boy donation quilt: 2 yards solids for top and binding and 1-1/2 yards wide print for top and backing)

IN YTD: 7.5 yards
OUT YTD: 8-5/8 yards
YTD Net Change: 1-1/8 yards out

The goals for February were pretty basic because we were just getting moved in. Now we have the design wall and the storage shelves installed in the sewing room, so I can do more in there. Now also I've met some of the Pebble Creek Quilters and they seem to be a welcoming group. 

February Goals Recap: 

1. Participate in PC Quilters charity sew day. Done
2. Hang design wall with flannel. Done
3. Pull fabrics for potential new donation project in work in EQ8. Pulled three, need fourth which I don't have in stash. 
4. Refine design for a complex potential new project. On hold, not sure about this yet. 
5. Participate in guild Zoom meetings. Done

Other: finished my own boy quilt and gave it to PCQ. Finished a top and backing for them. Started another kit for them. 

March Goals: 

1. Complete 2nd boy quilt kit for PCQ
2. Talk to PCQ charity chair about joining the committee per her suggestion
3. Bind any quilts they pass me to bind 
4. Make pillows for patio chairs per my husband's request
5. Complete the binding on How Many (WIGSP)
6. Make another donation top/backing/binding for PCQ

Still relatively small goals for the month, but DH and I  hope to be doing some non-quilty things as well, which will take up some time, and we're still exploring the area.