Pinwheels in the Park

I tried to take photos outside again, but Texas and its wind was vexing me immediately. Kerri is making this quilt and asked if anyone wanted to quilt along. I kind of got ahead of her schedule, but this is probably where I'll get behind anyway, so it's good I worked ahead.

I started with Riley Blake's Love Birds and took my color palette from there. The rest are things from a variety of different lines. I actually have the back made. Now just for the quilting and the binding. Let's hope I can keep this roll going! (And then I need to get back to my farmer's wife blocks, which I am woefully behind on.)

Sigh . . .

I have been working on this quilt for at least 7 or 8 years. It is one of those long-term projects for someday finishing. There are 64 appliqued sunflowers. A couple of weeks ago, I had finished all the blocks! I laid it all out, and found that I was missing one. Did I only make 63, or did I lose it? Who knows. So I had decided to make one more.

So I sewed them all in rows so that when I finished the one more, I could just stitch it on and be ready to go. Then I found this one day.

And this. And this.

So I guess I'll be making four more instead of one. Maybe it's five. I don't know. Now it will probably take another year, because I don't even want to look at it. Ah, children who are trying to help. He was so proud of himself, because he "made" my quilt. No, buddy, you kind of UNmade it. Truly, I'm surprised this hasn't happened before now with all the kids I have running around here. Good thing I enjoy the process, right?

Kaleidoscope finished!!!!

ETA: I guess I misunderstood. I was OVER the wire. The FQs were already given away. But I actually finished this, and that is a prize in and of itself.

And just under the wire too! Elizabeth had an incentive to finish by today -- some lovely FQs. I wasn't sure it was going to happen, but lo, and behold. Here it is.

I had it laying on the floor last week, and my husband looked at it and said, "It looks like a kaleidoscope." I asked if he was mocking me, because, you know, husbands do that sometimes. "Did you know that's what it was called?" He said he didn't. So . . . mission accomplished. My pieced (scrounged up) back. It has some scrunchy, puckering issues, because I have some technical difficulties with machines right now. I think once I wash it, it will be just fine. Crossing fingers. Cuz I'm not undoing it. I still have 79 projects on deck. Onward! It's in the washing machine now. So I can snuggle it later. Maybe. It IS 106 outside right now. Which is actually 4 degrees cooler than usual around here. ;)

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you finish something this month! We're just at the beginning!

China Doll

A couple of years ago I saw and decided I MUST HAVE some Michael Miller China Doll fabric. I'm not sure where online I found it, but I got something like 4 yards of it. It was getting kind of scarce then, so I'm not sure if I could even find some now. I love it. I think it's so sweet. But it has just sat there for the past couple of years.

Then I found this tutorial, and I decided it would be perfect for that fabric. Sometimes I run out of ideas for my larger print novelty fabrics.

Of course, if you know me at all, you know I made mine bigger -- 56" x 72". Instead of making 16 of each block, I made (31) of the 4-patch blocks and cut (32) of the larger blocks. Depending on your fabric width, you should be able to get either 4 or 5 of the 8 1/2 inch squares out of the novelty print. So for my size quilt, you would need about 2 yards of the novelty fabric. Cut this into seven strips that are 8 1/2" x WOF. Then sub-cut each of these strips into (5) 8 1/2" squares. If you can only get 4 squares from each strip, then cut 8 strips to get your (32) 8 1/2" squares.

For the (31) 4-patch blocks you will need to cut (124) 4 1/2" squares. You can use fat quarters or quarter yards -- or just use your scraps. You will need at least 7 FQs to get the correct number of squares for your 4-patches.

After you have cut and made all your blocks, lay the quilt out in a 7 block by 9 block pattern starting (and finishing) the first row with one of the 8 1/2" novelty blocks, alternating blocks as you go.

EDITED TO ADD:

Okay. I have been searching and searching for where I found this tutorial. I think I linked from blog to blog until I found it. Then I forgot to bookmark it, and now I cannot find it again. The original quilt was baby-sized, and it had these cute surfboards for the main fabric. I'll keep looking, but if anyone knows where this is, PLEASE, tell me so I can link back to it.

Soldiering on.

Made with MoMo's Freebirds line.

I feel like all my posts are too similar lately -- one picture and either a bag or a flimsy. But other than the QALs that I couldn't stop myself from joining, I have been trying to finish up older projects. I have made 6 or 7 backs for quilt tops that have been lying around a while. So even though my sidebar number is actually going up, I am making progress towards finishing things.

This is Old Red Barn QAL #6 -- Hexies. I think they're up to #9 or something. I had all these in rows and just had to sew them together. I was thinking initially that it wasn't big enough and that maybe I would add a border. However, in the interest of ever finishing this, I think I'll just keep it as-is. I have some leftover layer cake squares that I can put on the back -- along with perhaps a solid. Sometimes I despair of ever getting my numbers down, but I'm just going to keep at it and hope I get there. In the meantime, I am having fun. I really love the process of quilting, and I focus more on that than the finishing. It's why I have so many WIPs, but it's also why quilting is so relaxing for me. I don't force myself to do something I don't want to do very often. I just set things aside and wait until I'm ready to go back to them. My WIPs are a little overwhelming to me sometimes, but mostly they're not. Maybe I'm loathe to finish them BECAUSE I enjoy the process so much. I don't want it to be over. Or maybe I just get distracted by new things too easily. That's probably the more likely explanation. ;)

Repetitive.

I can't promise that this is the last bag of this sort you will see. I suppose I should branch out, but this one just makes up SO quickly!

For my daughter's friend's birthday gift. Fun and summery! I should probably iron it a little better, though. :/ Tutorial here. Go make your own. Seriously. It's so easy.

Another Whimsy Flimsy.

It's possible that I'm a little loopy from lack of sleep, but the phrase "Whimsy Flimsy" keeps cracking me up. Yeah, I'm funny. I know. ;)

From Amanda Jean's Round and Round QAL last year. I only had the last two rows (well, four if you count the sashing strips) on either end to finish, but I had to put it away for a rest. I just pulled it out this week and finished it up really quickly. I just have to do that sometimes -- put things away while they're daunting. They don't feel so difficult after some time has passed. Now I have to buy something for the backing. I only had a FQ pack, and I've made two quilts from it already. Plus, I'm doing a Farmer's Wife quilt with what's left. Made from Joanna Figueroa's Whimsy line.