Sleepy Fox

 It is COMPLETED.  The sleepy fox baby quilt is DONE!  And I am so happy. I spent most of Tuesday afternoon hand sewing the binding.  Here is the cute woodland backing; it is a lovely soft fabric, not flannel, though.

For the quilting, I just outlined the trees and stitched in the ditch of the many triangles of the fox. I used my walking foot on my old, old Bernina. Best stitching I have done in a while. 

 I didn't want to over do it, but it seems a little wrinkly on the front side. 

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Here were some process photos of how I assembled the trees . I did take inspiration from 3rd story workshop which I found on Pinterest. She even had a tutorial on how she assembled the trees which I found long after mine were created. 

Here are some of the various "birch" trees that I created in previous week. 

This is the sleepy fox up close.  It was paper pieced  and here is the pattern from etsy: Sleepy fox pattern site It ends up 12 by 16 I think. 

And here is my lovely finished quilt. The binding is the same as the backing. 

Now looking at it, I think I need to iron it before mailing it. But it turned out great!  My husband twice has gone out of his way to compliment me on this project.  ( And I did lately tell him how it was a creative block at the time; the assembly of the trees was easier than I thought. But it was kind of putsy.

So sleep on little fox and I hope the precious little girl will love you, too. 

A little of this and a little of that

It has been a much more productive week. We quilters in Wisconsin had it cold and snow.  But that is a repeat of our usual conditions.  I think we have 2 feet of compacted accumulated snow. 

But I feel so badly for those in areas that were frozen and had the surprising arrival of snow and now the thaw. My son in Louisiana had ice and it impacted electricity and water for him for several days.  I know many other states are equally reeling from the rolling blackouts and travel conditions. 

But it is business as usual here. And I actually accomplished quite a bit. 

Here are my quarter square triangles early in the week.  I now have 60 completed along with a border set and fabrics all organized. 

Start with normal half square triangles. Draw line, sew quarter inch seams on both sides, cut and press.

Then turn one on top of the other  butting the seam together.  ( hence the pin in the center) .

And repeat: draw center line, sew on both sides, cut and press. 

All that is left is the trimming.  This is the method I have followed since I saw it in a Fons and Porter magazine many moons ago. 

I made 5 pairs at a time ending up with 10 quarter square blocks.

But I really was excited to get several small cleaning things done. My threads are organized and moved to a location further than my left side.  I cleaned my machine, changed the needle and even changed my cutting blade.  What a difference! 

I quilted my snowflakes in wool and have the binding on, but need to hand sew it today. Size is 26 inches square

Here is the back, a sparkly spotted fabric originally purchased for my son's graduation that we never had a party for. Lots left over 

And here is the front quilted. 

Lastly I started on the wool applique for a spring quilt.  I originally was going to do this for a stay at home round robin.  I am still going with that plan, just on my own time schedule. The background is pieced from a yellow and peach assortment of prints from a layer bar of Sugarcreek. 

 

Squirrel

 Oh, my! I got side tracked.  I was reading blogs.  Something we all do.  And I found Temecula Quilt Company.  Not a new site for me, but one I hadn't visited in a while.  ( I even got their mini postcards for Christmas.)

Here is a beautiful old quilt from silks and such. I quickly downloaded the pattern that  we are recreating for it. 

And they are doing a quilt along. Sort of.  Only make 20 hourglass units a week. That doesn't seem too hard.   

I dived in and did my first 12 without any issues.  And Off I Go.  I am even keeping up and now have over 40 of these completed. ( I am 3 weeks behind the start date; I need to catch up.) 

I really am working on getting to the finishing block to finish my Sleeping Fox baby quilt.   It is just staring at me and I can't seem to get in the groove.  And I have been spending lots of mental energy avoiding. UGHHHHH! The struggle is real. 

Quilting challenge

 Quilting Challenge Projects 2021  by Sheri McConnell at A Quilting Life

Do you need motiviation? At times, I sure do. Well, I found this awesome challenge on a Youtube video last night.  It is just the right thing for me:  small things build to bigger things. So I am also going to share it with my guild tonight as a personal challenge for people. I know we are all starved for interaction and the accountability may help, too. Here is the link if you would like it:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lq9dlfbddOaF3mupf4tSuVM2KVJiAWgz/view

Sheri is going to do 2 things for February:  one this little table topper,  and some half square triangles for a bigger project for Christmas.

As for me, I am going to take this idea and make pillow shams for my daughter and her new quilt I am finishing the binding for. ( See below)

The other will be to make this wool applique which I have the background pieced for. 

On the finishing front, I have happily completed the binding on my daughter's quilt.  Hooray. Another big project done.

Two edges were straight, and two of the edges were zigzagged from the sides of the hexagons. 

I had 12 WOF binding strips to attach. It is the longest I have ever attached, I think. 

Then as far as little things, I have made a few Valentine's decorations for the house.  The first is a pillow I saw on Pinterest and created with my own ideas for interfacing and weaving. 

The second is a little patchwork pillow. 

Then as far as little things, I have made a few Valentine's decorations for the house. 

Superbowl sewing

 Friday, I was so happy to get my daughter's quilt back from my longarm quilter. This top has been done since December. I had awaited backing and batting for some time. So I spent the afternoon first trimming the edges. Then I applied the binding by machine. ( It had already been prepped and was ready to go) Followed by the hours of the Superbowl game hand sewing the the binding to the other side. I was so happy I actually completed 3 sides of the binding. And this is the LONGEST binding I have ever done. 12 WOF strips. 

Here is an up close of the beautiful quilting pattern on the back of the quilt. The bright Kaffe Fassett fabric. These flowers are seriously bigger than a dinner plate.

The overall back ( only the center). You can't see the edges that are the zig zag from the large hexagonal blocks. 

Here is the centerish of the quilt held by 2 people. Pattern Tiny Dancer. It uses a special ruler, but I was able to use a 60 degree one I already possessed. ( saving 25 dollars).

And here is my dear dear husband holding it up. If you look closely, you can see the batting peeping out at the sides.

And as a treat I made spritz cookies for Valentine's Day. These are dipped in chocolate.( Definitely for my dear husband who love chocolate.) Love my Wilton cookie press. I bought it after Christmas one year on deep discount. It is not electric, but works like a charm. Cookies were mixed, baked, and dipped all in an hour. 

These are already packed to take to the family I help homework with. 

( Forgot to take the photo on the trays or counter.) 

Snow, cold , and more snow

 We definitely got that snowstorm that traveled across the country. At least 10 inches is all I can say.  Then we adapted to that and a few days later more arrived.  Very slippery wet snow! It was really pretty, but driving  was a little hazardous. (had to go out to tutor and get a few groceries) now the polar vortex has arrived giving us below zero chill factors.   These are the mounds by the road

And this is the back porch with its wind drifted path across for providing bird seed for our

  furry friends the squirrels, feathered friends: cardinals, chickadees,  and mourning doves. 

I have been working on little things. I have these half square triangles completed for a monthly mini mystery 8 of each color. this month is to make mini 4 patches.   Kathleen Tracy has these frequently. So if you like reproduction fabrics and patchwork find her on Facebook here is her link:Kathleen Tracy's facebook group. patterns are listed on this homepage under the links tab at the top. I have met her in person as she is from Illinois and she has published several books. She usually tries out patterns here.

Another wonderful group to get into if you like Primitive things is Quilts by Cheri: Cheri Payne quilt group, This has been started by a friend of Cheri Payne a wonderful designer  who has passed away. There is a Saturday morning live video of Irma offering questions and demonstrations and such. Below is the current pattern for Valentines day made by Marta AC. 

My big project has been to work on the Little Fox in the Snow baby quilt.  The little darling arrived early as in yesterday. Surprise. 

Here is the inspiration from Pinterest by 3rd story workshop.  

Here is my fox which was completed in early December: This is paper pieced. 

And the trees have all been sewn:

I wish I had seen her tutorial before I had started them. I think I could have cut the time down incredibly. I have spent several hours on different days making these. 

Now to assemble and send it off to the new baby girl.