Little Quilt, BaRm Done, BOM

I've decided to join Wendy The Constant Quilter and make a little quilt every month--no pressure--just plain fun! And since there are quite a few little quilts that I've been wanting to make this was the perfect opportunity to get started. Thanks, Wendy!

This was a reject block when I was making my Gypsy Wife quilt. Those are 70s fabrics but I'm not sticking to time periods this time--just striving for the right colors. The squiggles worked really well and the corner blocks were made from two of the fabrics that were in the bundle that I purchased at GSQ last month :)

On another note . . . 

The bathroom is done!

The new light fixtures which were actually advertised 'facing down' are now facing up per the electrician's recommendation. Good idea!

The "Playtime" picture was from a good friend of mine many years ago and set the color scheme of red, blue and yellow.

My cousin made this mug for me when I was 8 years old. 

I have a hard time leaving spaces empty especially when I can fill them with vintage goodies, lol! So I put a few of my colorful little quilts on a rack and added needle books to the ledge above the drawers. Then I bought two rag rugs on Amazon.

I hung Cascadia (Lori's Humble Quilts 2014 quiltalong) on the wall behind the door using red metal rulers and binder clips (Ann Hermes' clever hanging system.) It really brightened up the space!

Next I'll be working on the hallway--mostly painting :)

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This is our guild's BOM for February called 'Nine to Five'. Four 5" squares--2 red and 2 white--are sewed together. After a series of cuts and turns you end up with this block where the reds and whites alternate. It's an interesting technique but now I know why I never used that white/red print before. It's definitely off-grain! 

Are you looking for another project--what???

Check out Barbara B's latest free BOM series on her Civil War Quilts blog here. The Antebellum Album blocks are based on ones found in early friendship quilts and there are examples from two NJ quilts in today's post. In fact, one is the quilt on the cover of our book, New Jersey Quilts. 

I'm in--are you?




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Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer

This 'n That

Not much sewing this past week because I'm re-doing the upstairs bathroom. My philosophy is when the mood strikes go for it! 

This job was long overdue. I removed the old wallpaper, grouted some tiles, painted the walls and woodwork, ordered new light fixtures and a rug. I'm going to hang a little quilt and a picture or two :)  

 

In the meantime, I ordered my 2017 blog book from Blog2Print. Now I've got 4 years' worth 2014-2017.

Last month I bought this bundle of browns for $2 at our guild meeting. It is a nice assortment of fat quarters and 1/2 yd pieces. I've already found a use for two of them.

Then I bought some neutrals, a double pink, and a blue for various projects and a brown floral vine for the backing of Patch Basket.  
 

I made a sample block of Birds in the Air--the quilt that caught my eye at the Schuyler Hamilton House last month. The colors are really 'off' here but I have lots of scrap triangles I want to use. 

I spend time nearly every morning (early!) sewing Churn Dash blocks for Barb V's swap :) That's a purple print on the right not black.

It was so pretty outside after the last storm . . . 

 

. . . I saw a few animal tracks of big and little creatures that were out and about in our yard. 


Have a great week!




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Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer



 

Abe's Stars & More of 2017

First, I finished a small quilt I started just before the holidays and then I'm going back to 2017 one more time.

Not too long ago I showed you some of these blocks with an appliqued leaf in the center. Well, that's all changed! I decided to go with a Civil War theme instead and named this piece Abe's Stars.  

As you know I made lots of extra stars for Barbara B's Stars in a Time Warp SAL so this was a good way to showcase some of them.

I used a stripe for the 1/2" sashing. 

The back. 

The label. See the colored strip beneath 'Abe's Stars'? I accidentally wrote 2016-2017 so had to cover it over and re-write the correct dates 2017-2018.  Oh, well!

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These are the other quilts I made in 2017.  I hope you don't mind seeing them again.

The Gypsies Are In Town was a Jen Kingwell Gypsy Wife pattern. I used my collection of vintage fabrics. Barbie long-arm quilted it for me. 

It didn't stop there. Still with lots of vintage scraps I made 9 individual little quilts which I sewed together potholder style . . .

. . . and another for our guild's Little Wishes for this year's show in May.

 

Two more Little Wishes.

The Year of the Rooster Challenge sponsored by Two Thimbles Quilt Shop. 

Scrappy Squares with more stars from my never ending supply :) This still needs to be quilted.

Palmateer Point SAL with Lori at Humble Quilts.

My current evening project is quilting Five Hexies :)

As always, thank you for your visits! 

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Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer

 

Old List, New List

I really enjoyed the '17 in 2017' challenge this year! Thank you, Kyle, for sharing your list with me :) It was just what I needed to get moving on some of my projects. I had 17 UFOs that needed attention and the result was that I either worked on or finished eight of them. Not bad! Most needed to be quilted.

#1. Morris Hexathon was one of Barbara Brackman's quilt-alongs in 2016. It took me 3 months to hand quilt.   

#2. Way West was Barbara B's Westering Women block of the month series also in 2016. This quilt was her design and I chose to have it long-arm quilted by Barbie.

#3. Broken Dishes was Barb V's 2016 block swap. I love knowing that 40 quilters made these blocks. I had fun designing this quilt and was determined to finish it so I would be ready for Barb's next swap which is coming soon! It was long-arm quilted by Barbie.

#4. My Best Applique was certainly my oldest UFO (1994) to be completed this year and it was hand quilted. I don't know if I would have ever given it a second thought if it wasn't for THE LIST :)

 #5. All That Madders was made in 2016 and it took me one year to decide to quilt it--by hand.  

#6.  Independence! (Flags of the American Revolution) was a SAL with Lori at Humble Quilts. My goal was to try my hand at big stitch quilting. I must say it sped up the process and I finished this large quilt in no time at all :)

 #7. Springtime was a reject hexie from the Morris Hexathon quilt. Still practicing machine quilting!

#8. Philadelphia Pavement was another 'oldie'. These blocks had been hanging on a rack in my sewing room for years. It feels really good to have the top done. 

So all-in-all my 2017 list was nearly cut in half but I already have a total of 16 UFOs to work on in 2018.

Oh, and in case you were wondering (lol!), I worked on and completed new projects during the year, too . . . that's just the way it is :)

  

Patch Basket is now #1 on the list for 2018. This morning I pulled some fabric for the backing but haven't yet decided whether I want to hand quilt it or not. 

Happy quilting!




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Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer