2017 Finished Quilts - "Mum's the Word" Mystery Quilt - #30

This is my first finish for 2017.  I'm slower this year.

I started this mystery quilt, from a blog site back in April 2013, and all I did was pull the fabric together and started clue one.  Then it got put away until I pulled it out in June 2016 (you can read about the details here)and finished the top and pinned it together to quilt on my machine rather than sending it out to a long arm quilter.  And it sat there on my to do pile, got moved around, and sat some more, until this last week when I was at a point that I wanted to quilt it.  Part of my procrastination in working on this is because I have not done any quilting on my vintage machine, and wasn't sure how it would perform.  Although, I think it was just plain procrastination on my part, because I don't like this part of the quilt making process.  I knew from following a group on Facebook called Vintage Sewing Machines, that this machine would perform just fine.  And, of course it did, and it works wonderful.  

This is the full size, about 40" X 50".  At first, for me, I couldn't really see the pattern of pinwheels, but the camera brings out them.  It is all made from one jelly roll, including the border and the binding.  

For the backing, I used a scrap of leftover fabric from the backing of my Chocolat quilt from last year.  I did just a cross hatch stitch in the ditch following the pinwheels top to bottom, sided to side.

It has been a cold winter this year in the Pacific Northwest, so I am going to use it to throw over my legs while I'm siting at the machine.  But, since it is finally spring and warming up, it will have a place on the back of my sewing chair.

Size: 40" X 50"

Fabric Lines Used:  Moda Whimsey by Fig Tree

Pattern: Mystery Quilt "Mum's the Word" 

Designer:  Heather Spence (www.heatherspencedesigns.com

Long Arm Quilter:  Renee Steele

Year Began: 04/2013

Year Completed: 04/2017

Gardening and Sewing - Hand and Hand

This time of year is picking up in the garden, my mom and I shelled peas this week, ended putting up about 9 quarts.  Doesn't sound like much, but when you are shelling them, it is a lot to get done.

The rest of the garden is planted, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and soon lots of peppers.  I have fenced off the chickens, so they can do some free ranging in the back yard.  They are happy campers.

This is under my needle for the last few days.  I finally got it back out to do the quilting myself.  

I am so close to being done, I have two corners and the border left to get done, but as always, something seems to pop up that take the front burner.

We went to a city in our fair State of Oregon, called Bend (supposedly it is in the top 10 best places to live in the whole United States).  It is a fairly small town, and they have three quilt shops.  So we stopped at one and they were holding a parking lot sale, where customers can rent a parking space and set up to sell their extra quilting stuff and fabric.  It is just awesome to attend.

This is the first thing I came across, a vintage toy Singer sewing machine.  It was made in the 50's and is so cool.  It has an on/off switch (no foot pedal) and no bobbin.  Simple and a nice addition to my vintage collection.

Then I moved on to another parking space and this quilter had a extra large bin of scraps with a free sign taped to it.  I asked if I could have all the scraps, because you know, I am still needing about 400 different fabrics to finish my cheddar bow ties.  To my surprise, she said take them all.  I bagged them up, two grocery bags full, and brought them home and sorted them out.  This is a pile that is being cut for the cheddar squares.

This is just the start of the pile I am going to be cutting out over the next couple of days.

And alas, the progress of my cheddars to date.  The bag in the back of the picture has 600 completed squares.  The bowl has about 250 so far.

Then yesterday, that new BOM I posted about here came in the mail yesterday.  It is block one and the initial flyer of the BOM.   

I better get going and get busy!

Warmest...

More Leftovers

I was looking for some backing pieces that I knew I had stored in some of my fabric bins out in the garage, so I as I was looking for these backing pieces, I came across a UFO that I had already cut out, but for some reason did not go ahead and get it sewn up.  I did get this stitched up before Christmas, but I have hit a little snag.  Read on and I will further explain.

The pattern called Fresh Tradition comes out of the magazine "American Patchwork and Quilting" in their February 2007 issue by the designer Darlene Zimmerman.  Darlene Zimmerman is famous for using 30's reproduction fabrics and has several fabric lines of her own.  Since I so like 30's reproduction fabrics so much, I really enjoy her patterns and fabrics.  In fact I have a lot of her different lines over the years.  As I have mentioned before, I have a large storage bin full of these fabrics.  

It is a simple four patch and what I call half a snowball block as seen in this close up picture.  

The pattern of the quilt top comes in the arrangement of the blocks.  I like the vintage look of the solid dark blue.  The dark blue at the bottom of the quilt top is the backing peeking out, as this picture shows the it all sandwiched together ready for the quilting I need to do next.

I

It should have had solid blue bindings, but then I would have had to piece the backing.   Now that I have it sandwiched and see a hint of what a blue border (it is the backing peeking out), I might have to change my mind and un-sandwich it, put on the blue borders and then piece the backing.  Sigh, I do so dislike doing double work.

Hint:  Bonnie Hunter has complete instructions to do this quilt pattern on her site "Quiltville" that you can fine here. She does hers in red, white, and blue, which gives you a different look of the same pattern.

Resolutions

I didn't want January to get away from me, without even attempting to keep my New Year's Resolution of quilting two completed tops a month.  I can say that my excuse for not getting even close to that is the flu that took me out for almost two weeks.  

Okay, moving on, I pulled out a very simple top that I did about 7 years ago that I discovered while sorting through some storage places in the sewing room.  I have been attempting to sort through all my storage of projects and fabric to catalog and work up a project sheet for everything I have in my vast stash.  

I picked this completed top to work on today, because it is a nice size, the backing was already pieced, and it is a simple top that would just need a simple quilt design.  The pattern is called "Pieces of Eight", and consists of 8" blocks, using 8 different prints sewn on the diagonal.   It's size is a nice throw quilt of approximately 52" X 67".  

This fabric is called "Seaside Rose" by 3 Sisters from Moda fabrics.  These prints meet all of my favorites.  Pink and light green, roses, and pastel shabby chic look.  This is one of my top 5 favorite lines from Moda, and I have some more of this line in my stash!

Here is a close up of this yummy fabric.  I just love how this blends into pure sweetness that will be so wonderful to wrap yourself into!

I'll be back with the finished project in about two weeks, as we have to travel out of state all next week.  So take note, the blog will probably be fairly quiet.

Warmest...

De Ja Vu? Maybe!

A couple of weeks ago, I finished the John Q quilt, an then I mentioned, that there was enough fabric left for a lap quilt.  The client jumped on it, and so I took the leftover squares, and put one together.

So, no, you are not seeing a post you have already seen in the past.  This is the lap quilt top all done, and approved by the client.


This time around, though, the client wants regular quilt batting, and limited quilting.  I am planning on doing large areas using stitch in the ditch method to quilt it.

I the backing and binding will be the same as the bed quilt, and I should have it done early next week.  I would have it done sooner, but we will be out of town for three days this weekend.

Warmest...