The Broken Wrist Quilt

Does this quilt do anything for you?  I love it for several reasons.  It was one of the first things I worked on with my broken wrist.  I had just had the pins removed (without anesthesia, just a local - stupid Covid - don't ask) and was doing rehab.  And I'm sure this project helped the rehab along. I've always admired quilts using the selvage edges of fabric.  So I went through my stash and cut off the selvage edges, about a 2" strip.  I also set out scrap strips.  There are no seams on these blocks, just fabrics overlapped and foundation pieced onto 12.5" squares of muslin.  Each of the 35 blocks was batted with wool, quilted individually (perfect summer quilting) and then joined in a quilt-as-you-go technique.  The backs of each block were scraps also.  Nice way to use up these odd bits. 

This quilt doesn’t have an owner yet.  Which is fine with me.  I need to hang on to this for a while, admire it, and reflect on how difficult some of this work was as I was healing and rehabbing.  It pleases me very much.  60” x 84”

No Trick or Treat Candy!

 I like my new home.  It's a condo of people pretty much my age and no children, not that there's anything wrong with them!  We're not in a neighborhood - we're in nature.  And it's lovely. There are walking paths, and our across-the-street neighbor is the Hilton Oak Brook Hills Resort.  Instead of agonizing over what kind of Halloween candy to buy and whether we have enough, this holiday is a candy-free zone.  A nice change of pace.  One negative:  one more leaves fall I we will be able to see an over-the-top magamansion.  I'll need to keep my eyes in the studio.

I've been working on this, now that it's cool again.  This quilt is based on a pattern by Yoshiko Jinzenji and features bit of favorite fabrics.  There are 6 boxes of negative space, each one with different hand quilting.  Sometimes I can't see for forest for the trees, so I asked John to hang this off the balcony for some photos.  I'm trying to vary the stitching, but it just doesn't show up all that much.  So now?  It's just a matter of getting it done.

Meanwhile I went through my batting scraps and made some presents, both for this house and for others. These bowl cozies are so handy for soups and chili and anything else that comes out of the microwave too hot to safely handle.  Mine are in the bottom right - that black and white fabric I bought in New Zealand and it represents Maori designs.  The colorful dots back with orange prisms?  for Eileen.  The bottom left - very dark blue and a dress pattern print for Sarah.  And there are several for Melissa featuring topographical fabric, Native American design,  and house design plans.  It was good to work on small things that are easy to complete!

For the most part John is appreciative of what I do and lets me hang whatever I want.  However, he looked at this wall hanging, meant for above the fireplace in the dining room, and said he didn't understand how this was representative of Fall.  And this is indeed my Fall wall hanging.  Ill admit it's abstract at this point, but I have stitching plans that I hope will make this piece easier to understand.  And if he doesn't get it, that's okay too.  It's 3' tall and 4' wide.  

This quilt is one I started after fracturing my wrist.  I foundation-pieced selvage strips onto batting.  I could operate my machine and was able to do rough cutting by stabilizing my ruler with my elbow.  Foundation piecing meant that there were no seams to iron.  And its obvious I stuck to lights, greys, reds, and black.  Then I attached each 12" square to a neutral backing.  When it was too warm to work on the above Yoshiko-ish quilt, I worked on hand-quilting these blocks.  31 of them or complete.  I'm saving the remaining 4 for some traveling mid-November, and then I'll connect these blocks using the reversible quilting method.  I know the sashing/binding strips on the front need to be neutral, but I'm trying to decide whether I want to do something different for the sashing/binding strips on the back.  I have a few weeks to ponder on this.  And I'll watch the leaves continue to fall.  Happily.

Falling In and Out and In Love again with Projects

 

Last spring, when I was recovering from my shattered wrist and accompanying surgeries, I started a simple project using foundation piecing and selvages.  I couldn't be very precise because of limited ability, but I was very happy doing these.  And then I put these 30 blocks away.  I unearthed them and have been deciding what to do with them.  Because they are already Foundation pieced, I wondered if I could just add a backing and not do batting.  And while that's possible, it just doesn't feel right.  

I've been doing a lot of quilting lately and have been using a roll of wool batting.  Suddenly I'm aware of how much leftover batting bits I have.  And how much leftover muslin bits are laying around.  And that I only have one hand-quilting project lined up once I finish my current one.  So...

I pieced together muslin scraps to make 12" squares

"Frankenbatted" my leftover wool batting bits with a simple zig zag 

and basted the three layers together with a zig zag stitch.

Now all 30 blocks are back on the shelf and will need some simple hand-quilting before the blocks are attached to one another, in a quilt-as-you-go fashion,  (see index for reversible quilting).   As I was laying out these blocks, I was struck by how much I like this project.  I mean, really like this project!  I will happily return to it in warmer weather.  

Happy and Cheery!

I know I'm getting better.  I am in love with my current project.  Since it requires minimal cutting and simple sewing, I can do it.  Throughout the years I've seen various posts/projects using the selvages of fabrics.  They are interesting, tightly bound, and provide info for reordering.  One of my Sew Powerful buddies, Shirley Utz,  posted a picture of making fabric from selvages just I was cutting selvages to make a quilt backing.  So I've been going through my stash - under the guise of reorganizagting - and cutting off the selvages.  This picture shows the 12" blocks jammed up next to one another.  But I think I'll space them out.  To be determined...    I will finish the remaining blocks and then go back to the simpler projects I need to be working on.

I'm sure I'll go back to some whining with tomorrow's post.