Another top done

This is leftover pieces from slicing up yardage for the rag quilts. It is flannel and girl colors. 

It is sticking to my carpet, but it is not ruffled. I added several borders to make it large enough to cover the baby . 

Here is the detail in the corner so you can see how many times I added with small pieces to get a usable size. I have the solid pink for the back. It looks like a baby with all the soft colors and being flannel it will be warm. 

Stitching away Chris

Top is finished

It is 96X96 inches unquilted. Lots of sewing and a ton of thread. 

The borders got sewn on today. The black is 3 inches as cut and the red is 1 inch as it was cut. So it is three inches with the two sewn together. 

This used a ton of scraps. 1600 2 inch squares just in the 16-100 squares to a block. Didn't include sashings or borders.  

I worked off and on for about 3 weeks and then life got in the way and I finished it 15 minutes ago. 

Now to order fabric for the back. Chris

Here

But in a slump. Later

Top done, but for borders.

Almost 3000 2 inch squares. Lots of sewing and the thread is unbelievable. I cut each square and paired it instead of strip sets. Next time it will be strip sets. 

As it lays there it is 87 inches X 87 inches. There are two narrow borders to frame it.  I plan on making it to be on a queen size bed. 

Now I have to find a back for this. Chris

Took a little road trip

I got word through a relative and Facebook someone had a quilt frame they wanted to get rid of. Contacted the lady and we took a 24 mile round trip drive and got this frame. It is a Sears Quilting Frame from 1969.

Here are the legs and the directions came with it. It must have been in a basement because the feet are a little mold stained. We can sand them and seal that up. It is for a full size maximum size quilt. 

I went out to take pictures and since it is getting closer to Fall I decided to take a few pictures in the back yard. We have been here for 15 years and it looks pretty good for two old people managing it. 

Here is a flower bed close to the french door. The Hibiscus are blooming like crazy right now. The big Hosta is starting to open up it's flowers. 

Well almost done with making the last strip for the Clean Up quilt which I talked about in the last post. Hopefully I can get it all together then the two small outside borders and get it ready to be quilted. Not sure I have enough for the back of the quilt. I will have to dig to see what I have. 

Hope you are having a great sewing day. Chris

Starting to be a top

This is the quilt I am making, It is called Clean Up by Becky Tillman Petersen at www.quiltedtwins.com. Becky has designed all the quilts and she has them free on her website. This is made with 2 inch squares, 

Each block has 100 -2 inch squares in it. There are 1600-2 inch square just in the 16 blocks. I cut and handles each one. Next time it will be strip sets. 

I have all the 16 blocks sewn into the rows and started to add the sashing of 112-2 inch squares. There are 5 of those. It turns out to be 85X85 inches with borders. 

I wrote to Becky and told her I was infoming her I was not using 2 inch squares again. Maybe I would use 2.5 inches instead. As I said yesterday it sure uses up a lot of scraps. 

Becky said she used up all the two inch squares she had cut and still had to cut some more, but she likes a challenge. I made several of these into 4-patches and had about over a hundred almost 200 just because I thought I might need them.  

I have about 200 2.5 inch 4-patches made up waiting to be used somewhere. If I want to sew and need something to keep me busy I make 4 and 9-patches and store them until I use them up. They have come in handy before several times. 

Weather has been beautiful so today I cut back flowers that were spent. Jeff was on a ladder and I don't like leaving him to do it himself so I cleaned up one bed. The cicadas are singing so Fall is around the corner. Getting a head start on it.

Keep on sewing......... Chris

Sewing is happening here and there

I got the rag pieces started for the girls for Christmas. Had to stop to cut more batting and they came for dinner so the table needed to be free. 

This is a partial row of blocks from the quilted titled Clean Up designer by Becky Tillman Petersen from  www.quiltedtwins.com. They have free patterns on the websites and this is one of them. 

As I get another row sewn together I will post pictures of it. I think this is a good sized queen size. Uses up a lot of small scraps. I cut the individual 2 inch squares, but if I do it again it will be in strip sets. I had all of these cut and some 4-patches already assembled so used them up in the process. Never hurts to have a stack {like 175 of them}made up. Helped get this done faster. 

Hope everything is going well in your neck of the woods. Chris 

Cleaning and Cooking

Haven't had the Grandkids and my son and his wife for several weeks come for a cook out. Their anniversary is tomorrow.

Will get out some of those expensive steaks I bought back in Feb. and get those on the grill. They are thin and work great for steak sandwiches.

Have to figure out a couple side dishes to go with them. Little ones will eat hot dogs on the grill. Maybe coleslaw and a few raw veggies and some dip. Always Pork and beans. It will get there.

I just haven't been sewing much. I did some yesterday for about 2 hours, but the rest of the day didn't happen that way. I have to run the vac. Baby is on the floor doing the army crawl and she has learned how to go from being on all fours to sitting up by herself now. She will be crawling soon I am sure.

Sewing will come back, but why not have some fun with the kids. Chris

After several hours of cutting

Off and on yesterday I cut the squares for the rag quilts for the girls. I then cut the batting which I hate doing. Ended up cutting by scissors. I started stitching the squares together. 

This is a quilt as you go project. I first want to stitch all the sandwiched squares and if I need more flannel I can add before I start stitching them into a quilt. I need to make three of them. 

I really don't know how big I will make them yet. See how far this huge stack of squares will take me. 

I have collected flannel pieces for about 8 years. Recently I have added a couple pieces and I can get some more if I need it. This should go pretty well. 

I have found to help hold it together better to use a binding around the edge of the quilt as you would a regular quilt you make. I think it holds it's shape better. Also the stitching between the prequilted squares I am going to use a deco stitch or a stretch stitch that goes forwards and backwards to make the seams stronger. 

I made 11 of these several years ago and the stitching between the squares kept coming out. Kids pulling on them. So this will secure the blocks better also. Simple little changes can make a world of differences. 

Up early and going in to work on these blocks off and on today. Chris 

Cutting and sewing

 Flannels I have collected for about 8 years were sitting there so I added some more and started cutting for rag quilts for the little ones. With it being flannel it is soft to the feel and it will be warm for sleeping this Fall and Winter.

I got the blocks cut for the rag quilts and had all these odd sized leftovers. So I cu them into 4 inch squares and pieced what I had into 4-patches. I then pieced the blocks together with 1 1/2 inch strips. All one color one way and another the cross row way. I think one more border and it will be called big enough for a little one to stay warm. 

Simple, but very usable. It will be in the wash and get softer and used again. It is a way to use up pieces, but also when you find it on sale at the end of the season makes the purchase price a little easier on the wallet. 

Christmas is getting closer are you thinking this way in 90 degrees weather. Chris