The Curtain Quilt

This was the first quilt I finished when I had job security and made the decision to start "quilting by check" to get tops finished.  It is a personal favorite.  The top was finished back in February 2017.  It got quilted in 2020 I think, then bound in 2021, and is now finally getting documented.

I love the quilting design!

When we emptied and closed my parents' house years ago I kept all the curtains my mother had made.  Some were so old and worn that they disintegrated in the wash.  But I held on dearly to what survived.

I should have taken a before picture.  The curtains in the "pink" room were cream on the top 2/3s and horizontal 2.5" stripes of various fabrics on the lower 1/3.  They were lined, which may be why they survived the south Florida sun in somewhat better condition than others.

After much thought, I decided to cut the striped sections into as many uniform sections as I could and form a sort of Chinese Coin type arrangement stacking repeating sections of curtain.

By joining pieces of the cream fabric I was able to use it as the sashing between the coin sections.  I was not aiming for perfection, but for holding on tight to a memory.  So all the fade marks and stitching lines that didn't come out in the wash are still there.  

The back took another year, since I couldn't decide and then I couldn't face the math.  For the back I used 2 small plaid panels that were all that survived the wash from another set of curtains.  Combined with a blue print and a solid pink it works.  Both the blue and pink were oddly shaped pieces, but with a lot of math and creativity it worked out.  I did end up having to add part of a sheet from the "pink" room to bring it up to big enough.  The backing was finally finished in 2019. 

This will always be a favorite for me.  It hangs on a ladder in the living room where I can see it all the time.

Stash Report May 1

Fabric In:  This week there were some irresistible pieces at the thrift store! Our school mascot is the sea turtle and Grown Up R works for an animal rescue, so these are very likely to get used up for something and not linger in the stash.   0.88 yards for $1.00 

Fabric Out:  I finished Part 3 of the Quiltmaker Mystery Quilt.   I have been able to get the magazine digitally from our local library and that has been working fine so far.  The flying geese are not on the design wall yet, but they are finished.  1.85 yards out

Parts 1-3 except the flying geese.  It hard to tell, but most all of the darks are scrappy.

Fabric In This Week: 0.88 yards

Fabric In YTD: 15.38 yards

Fabric Out This Week: 1.85 yards

Fabric Out YTD: 11.84 yards

Stash Movement: 3.54 yards in

As far as time spent sewing ....... 

I missed one day that was just too full of afterschool activities to even try to climb the stairs in the evening.  Even so I finished up all the remaining blocks for the Mystery Quilt.  Since I am caught up with the Mystery Quilt, I pulled out a very old UFO to work on next.  I need to make a plan for exactly what I will work on this week and leave it ready to pick up easily each day.

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing this week: 6/7

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing in April: 28/30

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing in 2022: 110/122

Percentage: 90%

Linking up to quiltpaintcreate and Kates Life in Pieces to share progress and stay accountable.

Easter With Dear Jane

We had a four-day weekend for Easter.  Even with making 3 desserts and having a big family lunch and spending time on grading papers and lesson plans, I had a good amount of time to devote to Dear Jane.  

Missing blocks for Row I. 

I went ahead and pulled out the copies to complete Row I.  At first I thought I bit off more than I could chew, but by Monday I had them all complete.  I 10 was a bugger.  Even harder than the star in a star I thought.  

Hardest one so far.

Now I have rows A - J nearly complete.  There are a few random missing blocks and the inner corners that I have not decided which color to use, but the end is definitely in sight.

Rows A-J.  Easter 2022

Sapphire Jubilee Gets a Design Wall

Fabric In:  Still no fabric in even though I saw some possibilities at the thrift store!

Fabric Out:  Nothing out either.  I made good progress on the Quiltmaker Mystery Quilt, but have not finished Part 3. 

Everything so far.

I got the flannel backed tablecloth up as a design wall.  All the completed blocks from Parts 1, 2, and 3 are up.  I am liking the look.  A few questionable blocks, but now that I can see them all together they are less questionable than before!  I can see which fabrics I need to include more of in the coming blocks.

Flying Geese for Part 3 are prepped for the coming week. 

I tried making the flying geese the way the magazine suggested and it worked well, so I prepped these for my sewing this week.

Fabric In This Week: 0 yards

Fabric In YTD: 14.5 yards

Fabric Out This Week: 0 yards

Fabric Out YTD: 9.99 yards

Stash Movement: 4.51 yards in

As far as time spent sewing ....... 

I worked on Dear Jane over the long weekend when I had longer periods of time for sewing.  Then slow and steady during the week on the blocks I had prepped for the Mystery Quilt.

Dear Jane I 10 nearly got the best of me!

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing this week: 7/7

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing in April: 22/23

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing in 2022: 104/115

Percentage: 90%

Linking up to Quiltpaintcreate and Kates Life in Pieces to stay accountable.

Sapphire Jubilee - Prepped for the Week

I was working so hard on Dear Jane over our nice four-day weekend that I almost didn't get blocks prepped to work on during the coming week.  I really needed to since I had completed every last bit that was already prepped as leaders and enders for the Dear Jane blocks.  Fortunately, I got my lesson plans done Monday morning and that freed up the afternoon for sewing and prepping.  

Sapphire Jubilee part 3

I got one block made as a guide and the other four prepped and four more ready to go.  I was pretty sluggish on this block because I didn't like the white start and cream background in the instructions.  With the gingham the star shows and I like this much better.  Onward! 

A Pretty Pillow

Fabric In:  I'm on a roll.  No fabric in again this week!

Fabric Out:  I had an impromptu sewing project with one of my students that you can read about HERE.  We made a super cute pillow.  0.57 yards out plus a pillow form !!

Fabric In This Week: 0 yards

Fabric In YTD: 14.5 yards

Fabric Out This Week: 0.57 yards

Fabric Out YTD: 9.99 yards

Stash Movement: 4.51 yards in

Slowly headed in the right direction.

As far as time spent sewing ....... 

I sewed through a boring ZOOM meeting on mute Monday evening!  I thought I had worked through too much of my prepped project to keep me for the rest of the week, but with making the pillow it all balanced out.

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing this week: 7/7

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing in April: 15/16

Days of at least 15 minutes of sewing in 2022:  95/106

Percentage: 90%

Linking up to Kate's Life in Pieces to share progress and stay accountable.

Crafternoon With My Student

Monday:  One of my students told me that her younger stepsister was having a birthday party on Saturday and likes cheetahs and could I make her something!  Ummmm.  This is a child who helped make and then won the Spring Carnival Auction Quilt, so she is well aware that I sew.  She has also had a really rough year, so I thought about it for 2 seconds and said that yes we could come up with something, but it might not be an actual cheetah toy.  It's a 4-day week for us, so whatever it was had to be quick and with supplies on hand.  I told her we could make a pillow.

Tuesday:  I took a 12" square of muslin and the fabric markers so she could design her pillow front.  I was thinking of some animal print fabric I had saved (for 15 years!) for a special project, but if it would work for her backing that would be good.  Imagine my surprise when she starts drawing a rainbow colored heart with cheetah spots!  Looks like the animal print fabric is safe for a few more years.  She didn't know how to correctly spell the sister's name, so that part got put on hold until we had verification.

We had a good time after school with her drawing and chatting and me grading papers.  When I got home I had to figure out how to finish it.  I wanted to make it "girly" but in the absence of appropriate lace I made a long strip of rainbow colors and made a ruffle.  Considering I just cut whatever made the most sense from the scrap of fabric I pulled, it came out surprisingly uniform, which was not my intention at all.   

I had a small pillow form on hand, which guided my measurements.  One thousand pins later, the front had a ruffle.  Then I found the perfect backing and sewed that on. 

Wednesday: She had also thought of how to package this gift, and asked "if I happened to have an extra gift bag at home" so I choose a cute one from my stash.  As soon as she got to school, she was beside herself waiting to see what I had done for my part.   It was the biggest smile I have seen from her all year.  After school she added the name and more hearts and together we inserted the pillow form and stitched it shut.  She did the packaging herself.

She was so pleased with herself.  If she doesn't learn anything else this year, I hope these afternoons will hold meaning for her.  I know they were good for me.