Meadow Mist SAL Finish

Cheryl Bickey from Meadow Mist Designs featured a sew-a-long last spring using her book, Just Two Charm Packs. I participated in that sew along, but did not get mine finished by her deadline. Nonetheless, it is finished today and I love the result.

The pattern is called Betty. It is a granny square type design and the Moda charm packs I used were Field Notes, by Blackbird Designs. A Kona banana solid was used for the sashings and the borders. I was lucky to find a yard of the large floral print in the same design line on ebay to frame the quilt nicely. The backing is a bird toile type fabric that I sewed the two lengths together to make it doubly wide enough to cover the entire quilt. The label is sewn in the corner and now it is done.

Its finished size is 52" x 64" which is a nice throw size. And I used a total of 8 yards of stash to make it.

There are plenty more ideas for using up charm packs in Cheryl's book, Just Two Charm Packs.  I may have to revisit that book since I have plenty more charm packs in sets of 2, 3, and even 4. Most of which were purchased during quilt shop closing sales.

 

Although we tend to think that charm packs are a quick and cheap purchase (ranging between 9$-12$) they are actually premium priced when you figure what you are actually getting with those 42 5" squares. They layout to about 25" of a regular width of fabric. That is slightly over a half yard. But we do get an entire line of fabrics that all coordinate with one another. And they are fun to work with because of that. 

This Betty quilt makes my 5th finish this year bumping my total of stash used to 54 yards.

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The garden is beginning to give us fresh produce. It is always fun to go out and see what is ready for picking and plan our evening meal around what is available. We often eat just veggies for supper during the growing season. Just add some crusty bread and its a meal! Do you eat likewise in the summer?

Right now we are picking green beans (long tender filets), zucchini, and cucumbers. This year our "try something new" was Armenian Cucumbers. 

 

Armenian cucumbers are the long light green ones you see above. They are from the melon family but tastes like cucumbers and grow in hot weather.  I just found a recipe for cucumber bread that I want to try. 

Stay safe. Enjoy your summer and garden. And happy stitching!

Siggie Finish in Hot July

It has been a long journey getting this quilt done but I am so happy to announce its finish today! I still have a large box of siggies (Signature blocks) from the years 2004, 2005 and 2007 but that is a story for another day. A lot of people exchanged blocks those years and there are enough for another two quilts at least.

But for this one, I gathered up the blocks I had for the 2010, 2011, and 2012 siggie block exchange to make this quilt. Participation sure dropped off during those years. I sashed each square block with colors separating the years: A soft yellow borders the 2010 year; A teal borders the 2011's; and a light pink borders the 2012s. 

It is 12 blocks wide and 13 blocks long making its total of 156 unique and different blocks, all signed and embellished by their makers.

 

Because of those embellishments, I had to make the decision to hand quilt it. There is no way a machine quilter would attempt quilting this with the various buttons and tidbits sewn on.

But that is what made this quilt so much fun to work on. All those embellishments would spark creative ideas for the quilting. Each block lent itself to individual quilting designs according to the theme or fabric design. 

I found I was looking forward to my evenings quilting this lovely quilt project. It was never boring and it was always thought provoking. I often wondered about each block maker and where she is today. Is she still quilting? Where is she on her Dear Jane journey? Has she assembled her "siggie" quilt? How did she lay out its design?

I also found that I really, really, LOVE  hand quilting!! I am not the best at the art. My stitches are not tiny and often they are not consistent in length, but the whole quilt drapes so nicely. It is so soft and it is so cozy!! I often ran my hands over the stitches enjoying the feel of this quilt. I am already thinking about which quilt to hand quilt next.

The borders were quilted in simple triangles with echo quilting between each one. All and all, stitching was no further than an inch apart. 

The batting I used was pieced from various cotton battings I had leftover from other quilts. It will be interesting to see how it looks once it is washed and dried. Probably softer? I hope!

Does anyone have suggestions for removing pencil lines? I tried to keep my lines light and I used a hard lead .5 mechanical pencil for thin lines but I still can see some of them and so it will get a soak and washing soon during these hot summer days. I hope they all come out!

It measures 71" x 78". I used up 11.2 yards of stash. This is my 4th finish this year so now I have used up 46 yards of fabrics. 

There are 4 large quilts on the spare bed upstairs waiting for their binding to be attached. I am aiming for the 100 yard goal again this year so these will help leap to that end. 

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Meanwhile, I have not been keeping up with Bernina's sew along. In fact, I have not been getting much sewing done at all since completing my siggie quilt. Instead, I have been destashing and weeding out fabrics in the sewing room.

I am so tired of seeing stacks and fretting over them that I don't enjoy the projects I am working on. It is kind of a catch 22 thing...

1. put them away and out of sight where they are forgotten.

or

2. leave them out to worry you, and fret over the need to get them sewed up.

I opted for the tidy, put-them-away choice. My mind likes it tidy and neat without distractions. And now that there are less fabrics laying about, I can concentrate on what I need to do next. And enjoy the process. That is why we do this quilting thing, right?

 

This job has taken sooooo much mental energy though! I am close to burn out. I think I have touched every piece of fabric I own! So far I have removed:

60 - 1 yard pieces

40 - 1/2 yard pieces

82 - fat quarters

144 - yardage pieces (from 2 to 10 yds. some on bolts) 

That totals 244 yards of fabric!!

Then there are 11 kits looking for new homes, bundles of miscellaneous craft fabrics, strips and strings and cut squares. All are leaving the premises! It feels so good, honestly!

Oh yes, there are several tools that are duplicates (counted 7 rotary cutters in my drawer. I only have TWO hands!). And magazines, and a 10 ream paper box packed with books, and a stack of patterns. 

And then there is a plastic bin full of quilt tops. Some with their backings attached. All flinging out the door into the yard sale.

I am praying for good weather and lots of people looking for bargains because I am feeling generous. And half of the proceeds I make I will be donating to CMA's Great Commission Fund.  Everyone wins!

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Why the push for Stitchers to use up their stash? Nobody asks stamp collectors to mail letters!

 

Happy stitching everyone. And have a safe and happy summer. Please remember to pray for those in Hurricane Beryl's path.