Summer has officially started!

 Before we left for our Great Lakes cruise in May, I made a list of what I needed to work on when we returned.  And I came home with a pretty bad cold and didn’t sew for several days.  But now I am happy to announce I finished what  I wanted and needed to work on.  First is the kangaroo/wallaby quilt for the third grandchild of Ed and Marge Dieball.  This grandchild was born in Australia, but now the whole family is living in Wisconsin.  Marge requested this quilt, and I was pretty happy to find this fabric.  It’s bright and cheery and just fun.

My sister in Ann Arbor has always been one of my supporters, and she’s been doing some serious doctoring this summer. The bag below is for her surgeon who did her blepharoplasty. I love this fabric so much, and this is the last of it, I think.  And there’s a small Run-Around which I’m delivering to John’s sister Monday morning.  She’s had a bizarre accident and will be in a rehab center for another month.

Here’s a table runner made from scraps of two quilt projects.  I love these fabrics and needed to do something to use up these gorgeous bits of fabric.  And one can never have too many table runners.  Amirite? 

And of course Junes dozen Sew Powerful purses.  These dotted fabrics are just so happy and cheery!

Below is student Agness from Lusaka, Zambia with a purse I made.  This picture?  It puts what I do in the  best perspective.  Time to work on July’s purses!

Guess I’m down to One Blog Post a Month

 

Good news:  our house projects in the kitchen and bathroom are over!  The painters just left today.  Bad news:  there's been a lot of turmoil locally, nationally, and internationally.  But the good news?  I sew a lot when I'm agitated.  And my soul has needed a lot of soothing.  This table runner has been a wonderful diversion.  Its a combination of hand and machine quilting and based on an Instagram post by @tygeroting.  I captured the spirit of their work and must let them know.  

This table runner is batted with Insulbright, the product used for hot pads.  My favorite piece of fabric  is the backing.  I had to go on line to find more of it.  What for?  I don't know.  I just need to have it in my stash! Next are placement made in a similar vein using these fabrics.  If I was to name this table runner,  it would have to be "With a Little Help from my Friends."  Most of these fabrics are from Sarah S and Melissa and one fabric of bones from Lynn B in honor of my broken bones of 2020.

 

While I'm happy during the cold months to sit under a quilt as I quilt it, this doesn't work at all for summer months.  My solution for summer quilting is to quilt small blocks and then later assemble them.  The fabric line Glyph from Crimson Tate caught my eye.  And these fabrics are too pretty and unique to be cut up.  So I cut 10" blocks and used the Attic Windows setting with 2.5" strips for the sashing. I used all my wool batting scraps for the 12.5" blocks, and went through my light neutrals for the backing.  The reversible quilting method by Sharon Pederson has been my go-to for projects like this.  

The three blank spots in the picture below have since been filled in.  

Months ago I bought two charm packs featuring Janet Clare's "Geometry" line by Moda.  And two weeks ago I started to play around with them.  Just as I began, my sister-in-law in Orlando asked if I had any quilts featuring greens.  Why, yes!  Yes, I do.  Setting these simple blocks on point gives this 70" x 70" quilt some nice drama.  It's batted with wool and machine quilted.  Chris wants this for her husband's doctor.  As soon as she figures out what she wants on the label, I'll put this in the mail

Speaking of Janet Clare and her fabric lines, I have been in love with her Wordsmith fabrics, most of which are out of print.  I am squirreling away leftover bit but found enough for another Trip Around the World.  It is pin basted and ready for quilting.  Machine?  Hand?  Hmmm....  and of course through all my sewing purses are at the forefront.  There are five African purses featuring a fabric I bought in Kenya.  They along with purses in process are ready for a demo for a local quilt guild.  

Deadlines

Some of my deadline are client-driven. But many of them are self-imposed. This Jinny Beyer table runner was something I wanted to have finished by Wednesday, but life intervened when my mom was hospitalized for two days. So now, thanks to the onset of a cold and skipping a workout, this table runner is now on our dining room table and I can move on to the red scrap project I started at the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild retreat. And the new purse kit that just came. And the Drunkard's Path I started at the retreat. And the pile of batiks that are just begging to be used. And - well, you get the idea. And if it's March, that means June graduations are not far behind. There are 3 t-shirt/jersey quilts in the works which have real deadlines.

The final deadline for Christopher - his quilt from Bradley's shirts - has been met, and he's coming over tomorrow to pick it up. I'll be sad to say goodbye to Chris - he's been great to work for. He's a great guy who has been instrumental in helping himself and his family grieve Bradley's death.

Should vs. Want vs. Did

Today was one of those rare days where I could work uninterrupted in the studio - no workout,no parent visit, no appointments, no cooking. I know that I should have gotten busy on adding the borders to Christopher's quilt. But what I really wanted to do was quilt this table runner:

However, John made one of his rare quilting requests. He asked that I begin work on the wall hanging of the two Kenya t-shirts and Kenyan flag. So I got busy on that. And it turned out to be exactly what I wanted to do.

I might have even gotten this quilted and bound except Midge, my direction reader, had some time to work on the hobo bags we started, the same one I'm stuck on.  So we spent a couple of hours finishing them. I need to carry this for a couple of day before I figure out where and if I want a snap closure and whether the handle/strap needs any adjustment.  The one thing I know about this purse is that I again have loved using Soft and Stable by byannie.com as the purse lining.

This evening I'll continue work binding one of Ebony's quilts, something I happily volunteered to do in exchange for the work she did on Cristina's quilt. 

Some days don't have enough hours in them.  Today is one of those days.  And in the back of my mind all day has been what I want to work on this weekend at the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild retreat in Racine.   I still don't know - what a lovely "problem" to have!

A Table Runner and a New Purse Pattern

It's been a luxury to have the past three days clear to sew. After getting Christopher's quilt to the next stage, my time was free. And these two projects are ones I've been eyeing and wanting to start. My love affair with all things Jinny Beyer continues, and this table runner - although a fairly simply pattern - packs a terrific visual punch because of her fabrics. I'm trying to decide whether to use the piece of backing fabric as an additional border and thus enlarge the whole runner. The finished size is 12" by 60", but I wouldn't mind making it a bit bigger for our table.

This purse has a design that I like, and I thought it would be simple to make. Wrong. Very wrong. What's making me finish this is that I love the batik of the outside of the purse and I also love the coordinating fabric for the lining. But I'm stuck on the directions and can't figure out what to do next. Solution? Sewing buddy Midge. She made a copy of this pattern and has fabrics to make this purse for her granddaughter. I think I'll have to wait for her to get to this stage and then show me what to do.

I'm great with flat stuff but fall apart when there is any shaping involved.