Grandma Quilt for Valerie

I just learned that someone we see a couple times a year when we stay at the beach just became a grandma. Every grandma needs a baby quilt, right? Especially someone as nice as Valerie.

DH actually spoke with her, and he didn't ask if the baby is a boy or a girl. But she lives at the beach, so I can do something tropical and gender neutral.  Here's the palette I pulled from my stash, soft midtones in yellow, green, and orange, which I'll combine with a white on white.

Colors are a bit dull in this photo

A few of these:

The colors are truer in this photo

No, this will not be a repeat of the flying geese quilt I recently made in coral, raspberry, and plum.

A few of these are added in:

Maybe I can get the top together this week.

Unfortunately we had to cancel our week at the beach which had been scheduled for next week, so I don't know when I'll see Valerie again. I'll mail the quilt to her. She doesn't read my blog so I don't have to worry about posting about her quilt.


Link ups:
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Love Laugh Quilt

April Stash Report and Goals Update

Well, April has been about 10 weeks long it seems, and I've had plenty of time to sew, but due to feeling scattered and unfocused I didn't get as much done as I would have thought. On a positive note, I didn't add to the stash.

I did actually have a couple of finishes - A Plus flimsy that I'm calling Keep Positive, a flying geese baby quilt flimsy, and Have Faith quilted and bound.

Keep Positive

April Stash Report:
IN this month. Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada. (Order that won't ship until mid-May doesn't count yet.) 
OUT this month: 9-3/4 yards  (Keep Positive top, 5-1/4 yards.  Flying Geese baby quilt top, 2 yards.  Have Faith wide backing and binding, 2-1/2 yards)

IN YTD: 26-1/5 yards
OUT YTD: 64-3/8 yards
YTD Net Change: 37-7/8 yards out.

This is the first April I can remember not adding to the stash, because usually I indulge in fabric shopping in Paducah in April. Not this year.

Flying Geese Baby Quilt Top

Goals Update:
April recap:
1. Quilt and bind Have Faith for Hands 2 Help. DONE. (Post next week)
2. Talk to Sandy about quilting How Many and Corona Medallion; order batting and backing. Batting ordered, not due until after mid May. No backing yet and did not talk to Sandy yet. 
3. Layer, baste and quilt Color Spoke Puzzle. Got the quilt sandwiched and pin basted. I've ordered invisible thread to quilt it with but won't get the thread until I can see my friend who ordered it for me. 
4. Assemble Plus top for Hands 2 Help. DONE, Keep Positive
5. Make a baby quilt for Operation Shower. Pieced Flying Geese top; not quilted yet.
6. Look through UFOs and find something to move forward. No progress on this.

Other: made bright strip blocks for spiral quilt and ordered background fabric.

Bright Strippy Spiral

May Goals:
1. Make baby quilt for new grandma Valerie.
2. Talk to Sandy about quilting How Many and Corona Medallion; get and/or prep backings.
3. If possible, start quilting Color Spoke Puzzle.
4. Layer, baste, and quilt Keep Positive.
5. Quilt and finish flying geese baby quilt for Operation Shower.
6. When background fabric arrives, finish piecing bright strippy spiral top.
7. Look through UFOs and find something to move forward.

A lot depends on availability of supplies.
 - I need to find wide backing for How Many and I haven't seen a color I'm confident will work in my online shopping so I'm hoping I'll be able to get to the LQS later this month. I can't send it out for quilting until I have the backing and batting.
 - I ordered wool batting for both How Many and Corona Medallion and the order isn't due to ship until after mid-May.
 - Also, although Color Spoke Puzzle is basted and ready for quilting, due to its high contrast nature I need to quilt it with invisible monofilament thread. I asked a friend to order some for me, but when I'll get it is unknown.

I guess if I don't have the resources I need to finish WIPs, that means I can start a new project, right?! No, I really should dig into those long neglected UFOs and move something along.


Link ups: Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Alycia Quilts

Bee Blocks

STLMQG hasn't been meeting these last couple of months, but the girls in Sew Bee It are still on schedule with bee blocks via email. When we do get together, I'll have blocks for several of the members. This month Krista asked for Granny Square blocks and sent a link to the tutorial she wants us to use.

I actually had never made Granny Squares blocks before, but these were fun to make.

She asked for two blocks, and making a pair like this enabled me to chain piece them so they went together quickly. The tutorial gives instructions for trimming the blocks, but I have found with bee blocks it's better to let the owner do her own trimming so she consistently gets the size she wants.

She asked for scrappy, no particular color scheme, so I raided my scraps and put together a warm combo and a cool combo.

I enjoyed pulling the fabrics and making these blocks. Maybe I'll have to make a scrappy Granny Squares quilt myself someday.

When the Sew Bee Its worked out the schedule for handing out this year, I told them I'd continue to make blocks and be part of the bee for as long as I was still in St. Louis, but I didn't sign up for a month to hand out. At that time, we thought we would go to AZ in April to find a house in the area we want to move to.  Since our moving plans are on hold, probably until next year, I'll continue to be part of the bee and sign up for a turn to hand out later in the year. I miss getting together with the girls and I'll be glad when this is all over and it's safe to get together again.


Linking up with Quilt Fabrication

On My Design Wall: That Squirrel

Remember last week I succumbed to the lure of a new project? This one:

This is where chasing that squirrel has taken me.

No, it's nothing like the inspiration photo, which was selvage strips in concentric squares separated by a dark charcoal background. I wish I knew where the image came from so I could give credit.

According to EQ, I'll need 2-1/2 yards of background fabric to fill in between and around those striped blocks. I have very few large cuts of fabric in my stash, but let's look at what I have that might work:

Grey Polka Dot:

Beige Texture:

The grey polka dot is too busy. The beige texture is boring; also, some of the warm colors were never prewashed and may bleed onto such a light background later.

I want a dark background like the inspiration photo, to really make those warm bright colors pop.  But not black, which would be too harsh. I went shopping on line and took screen shots of the likely candidates, and plugged them into EQ. Here's the one I selected, which is sort of a grunge-like crosshatch texture:

I like the darkness of it to set off the bright colors, and the texture. I ordered 3 yards, but it may not get here until mid May. No problem, this is a squirrel project with no purpose and no deadline, so it can wait on my design wall until the background fabric gets here.

From the inspiration to the EQ design to the layout on the wall, this project morphed from concentric squares to a square spiral to an oblong spiral with a finished size of 64 x 80".

I kind of like the square spiral better, so I may revise the layout on the wall. It would finish at 64" square. We'll see. I have plenty of time to play with it. What do you think - square or oblong? Why?


Link ups:
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Love Laugh Quilt

Hands 2 Help 2020 Check In

Today is check in day for those of us participating in Hands 2 Help at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. I have two quilts in work this year:

This is Have Faith, a block pattern from L'Fair Quilts. The blocks were made by my friends in Sew Bee It last year. I added pieced sashing and I got them assembled into a top.

Now it's basted and ready for quilting.

And this is a Chunky Churn Dash using bright squares sent to me by Wanda at Exuberant Color. Pardon the gloomy indoor photo; I need to take a better one outdoors.

The CCD will go to Little Lambs. I need to check the size of Have Faith and the requirements of the other organizations to determine where Have Faith will go.

Thanks, Sarah, for hosting and organizing Hands 2 Help!

A Small Flimsy

Even though I've been bouncing around between projects, I was able to get this little flimsy sewn together.

At 36 x 42" it's baby quilt size, so it will go to Operation Shower when it's quilted and finished. The prints may not be traditional baby quilt prints, but I'm sure they'll appeal to someone, with that sweet little floral and those girly colors.

I have a soft purple flannel for the backing that was given to me by my friend Cherie for donation quilts, and it harmonizes well with the fabrics on the front. I plan to quilt it with an allover meander and bind it with either the coral or the neutral.


Link ups:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Alycia Quilts

Smile

My Brother-in-law says he's gotten lots of chuckles about his mask. I'm just glad to be able to put a smile on people's faces during this trying time.