O Tannenbaum Two

Back in 2017 I made my son a Christmas Tree quilt to hang on a door and hold real ornaments. You can see it here with ornaments, and here is the tutorial.

He started a new job last summer, and learned at Christmastime that everyone in this office decorates their cubicles for the holidays. He requested another Christmas tree, sized to fit his cubicle. So of course I'm making him one. 

This one is 52" tall (for a 60" wall height) and 28" wide. I still need to add the loops for hanging the ornaments. 74 of them, one at each triangle intersection. 

To hang it on his cubicle wall, DH and I came up with a hanging system. I sketched the idea on a sticky note, sent it to my son, and he's supposed to get back to me with the width of his cubicle wall top. DH can make the hangers from heavy gauge wire. 

The tree quilt has sleeves at the top and bottom of the back. We'll get 1/2" dowels at the hardware store. The one for the bottom, just to weight it and keep it hanging flat, won't show at all. The other, for the top, will have finials at the ends. The top rod will rest on the hanger brackets. 

DH, a very handy guy, is also a potter, and he sculpted a 4" high star for the top of the tree. When our Creative Arts building reopens in September, he'll glaze and fire it. 

Next up, a storage and presentation bag for the tree. I'll make it like a pillowcase, large enough to accommodate the rolled up tree, and tie the opening with ribbon. This will be both the gift wrap and a dust cover for storage. 

Our plan is to have everything done by the end of September, ship it out in early October, and he'll have it in plenty of time to decorate in November. Maybe he can find a new pickle ornament to hang on it. 

I don't know if his office has a contest for best decorated cubicle, but if they do, his tree is surely in the running. 

He still uses his original Christmas Tree hanging, since his condo doesn't have room for a three-dimensional tree. 

Link ups: Alycia Quilts 8/21, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts 8/24. 

Two Small Mary's Triangles Quilts

You may remember, I was making Mary's Triangles at social sewing. I planned them for a small quilt, baby or wheelchair* size. I set them on point with alternate plain squares and made this top.

I bundled the top together with batting and backing for someone else to quilt and finish. My friend Linda adopted it and finished it. Here's the photo she sent me.

Evidently I miscalculated the number of blocks I needed, because I had almost as many left over. Rather than let them sit in a scrap drawer forever, or become dog bed filler, I made some more blocks using black and white prints and made this top. 

The second top is only 40" wide, so it's small enough to fit on one width-of-fabric backing if quilted on my domestic machine. Since I don't have access to PCQ's long arm until September and I have larger tops in the queue to be quilted, I decided to quilt this one at home. 

I had enough of one of the B+W prints used in the blocks for the back. Walking foot quilting in the ditch - horizontally, vertically, and along the diagonal seams - resulted in a stable but soft and drapey quilt. I bound it with a B+W stripe at a social sewing event earlier this week. 

The first quilt will go to Hospice and the second quilt will go to Luke AFB for a young family.

My little Mary's Triangles blocks finished at 4", but they can be made any size and they're very versatile. The confetti-and-streamers quilt in my blog header is all Mary's Triangles. Here's a link to the tutorial for making them the easy two-at-a-time method. 

*Per Hospice, wheelchair quilts should be about 42-46" square or so. Too wide and they get hung up in the wheels. This also is a good size for baby quilts. 

Link up: Alycia Quilts

Picnic in the Garden, an X and Plus Quilt

At retreat I was able to get the blocks for my latest X and Plus quilt made, and the center of the top assembled. Other retreaters were making X and Plus quilts and it was fun to see the variety. We had Christmas prints and Kaffe prints with dark backgrounds, and I used ditsy florals with white. Mine will be a donation quilt for Hospice. 

My original plan was to add a green inner border and a floral print outer border. I looked through my reads-as-solid green stash at home and did not find anything that would work. I also did not have enough of any of the florals for a border, and when I auditioned multiple florals, it was pretty sad. 

However, one of the girls at retreat made a picnic quilt using a gingham print for the border. Inspired by hers, I found a green check in my stash, one yard, but with careful cutting I could make it work. 

The result is a quilt top that's less "old lady formal" and a little more playful. 

Next, I cobbled together a backing from the leftover floral prints. Those prints range from vintage 1980s to current quilt shop quality. Most of them are used in the blocks in the front of the quilt. Most of them came from PCQ's stash, and the keepers of the stash will be happy if I use them for backing. 

The easiest way to cobble together a back that's big enough is to put the top on the wall, place the fabric chunks on it until it's big enough, and seam it together. Leftover blocks are good, too. An afternoon's work resulted in this backing. If you look carefully, you can see the top through some of the prints.

My next opportunity to use the long arm won't be until early September so this will have to wait a while to be quilted. 

Link up: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

July Stash Report and Goals Update

Wow, July was quite a month. It's amazing what you can get done when you have 4 days at retreat! 

Prepping for retreat paid off. I was able to finish my Christmas tree top, finish the center portion of my floral X and Plus top, and make progress on my black, white and bright Mary's triangles top.  Other than at retreat, I made and quilted two small wheelchair quilts for Hospice and added the border to complete my X and Plus top. Flimsies finished means I can count the yardage used out of my stash. 

I did add a bit to the stash, too. Sheila, the owner/hostess of our retreat, has a small shop just for retreaters. I replenished my white-on-whites, added some prints that might make their way into a third Diabolical Jane quilt, and found the perfect plaid for the binding of my Christmas tree quilt. And I found special thread for making the loops for hanging the ornaments. 

With all that activity, let's see what effect it had on my stash  

July Stash Report

IN this month: 7-1/4 yards (from Ritter retreat) 
OUT this month: 12-1/4 yards (Second Mary's Triangles top with B+W prints, est 2-3/4 yards. Christmas tree top, 3-3/4 yards. Backing and binding for two purple wheelchair quilts 1-1/2 yards 108" wide. X and Plus top, 4-1/4 yards.)

IN YTD: 73-1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 77-1/4 yards
YTD Net Change: 4 yards OUT

Moving in the right direction! 

I had an ambitious goals list for July. I think I did okay, a lot of progress and only one "not touched." 

Goals Update: 

July Recap: 

1. Finalize and print label for the confidential project. DONE. 

2. Go on retreat and have a good time. Yes!!!

3. Piece the Christmas Tree top. DONE

4. Piece the pastel floral X and Plus top. DONE - pieced the center at retreat, added borders at home. Also cobbled together a backing for it. (separate post coming soon)

5. Finish piecing DJ2. Progress - center is pieced and squared up; still needs border. 

6. Quilt the two purple wheelchair quilts. DONE

7. If time permits, assemble the second Mary's Triangles top. DONE. Rows assembled at retreat, top finished at home. 

8. Look at parts previously cut and rejected for DJ 1 and 2 and figure out something to do with them. Possible progress??? Leftover DJ 1 & 2 parts are packed in a project box along with fabrics pulled for a possible DJ3.

9. Make progress on the walking foot quilting on the Kaffe Gradient project. No, did not touch this.

All those tops finished and all that progress means I'll need backs and I'll have a lot of quilting to do. Unfortunately I won't have access to PCQ's long arm until September, but I can prep backs and quilt on my domestic machine in the meantime. 

August Goals:

1. Bind and donate the two purple wheelchair quilts. 

2. Make backing for the second Mary's Triangles project and find or piece batting.  

3. Make progress on the walking foot quilting on the Kaffe Gradient project. 

4. Get Christmas print fabric for backing, sleeves and storage bag for the tree project. Talk to Gary about dowels. 

5. Add borders to DJ2

6. Pull "Found" UFO and determine next steps.

7. Piece batting together for X and Plus quilt. 

A lot of my projects are at the To-Be-Quilted stage but our Creative Arts Center is closed for half of August and I can't get a time slot on the long arm until September. I'll have time in August to work on backings and piece Frankenbatts (thanks, Cherie!) so I'll be ready when my reservation comes up. 

While packing for retreat I found a project box that I thought was empty, but it had something in it. It appears to be a UFO, a black, white, and bright project from retreat a couple years ago. I should see what's needed and finish it so I can free up the project box. Have you ever found a UFO you didn't know you had?  😉 Haven't we all?!!!

Here's to a productive and fun August!