Another WIP Wednesday....

and no Project Runway to look forward to this evening! A chilly but sunny day here in my part of WI. We had a hard freeze the past two night, and my outdoor plants are officially done! The blue baby bows quilt is finished. Not sure what my camera is up too, but in reality, the binding is the same blue as the border. It sure looks gray in this picture.
 I got the 42 blocks of this one sized over the past few days, and began making the rows this morning. Again, I have no idea why this one is out of focus, while the ones before and after are just fine??? Gremins I guess. Or maybe an early Halloween Trick or Treat??
 Last but not least today, a very, very old UFO. It would be complete if I would just get busy and quilt that last border and attach binding. When I began quilting it, I quilted the background with a 1/4th inch grid. There isn't much background after all, and the majority of this little quilt was already done in 1991! Which is an amazing 17 years ago!!! How do I know that? Well, in 1991 I toured Ireland with a friend, and this is the hand stitching project I took with me. There is a picture around here somewhere of me sitting on a wall outside a pub in Co. Kerry, stitching on this little quilt. These days the idea of quilting with black on black is daunting, but I've decided to "go for it". And then search out something to bind it with *VBS* Long enough already, right???Oh yes, for the record these little bows are hand pieced and finish at 3.5".

Do you like a mystery?

A puzzle? I do! *VBS* If you were making a quilt, similar to one you had seen, but not the same, I'd be curious. I'd want to figure out what you were doing differently, to make it your "own". Maybe I'm the only one who does that....? We'll see *VBS* Here's the quilt in progress that I'm sewing together right now. I've told you several times it is a "variation" on Gypsy Quilter's quilt that she calls "Kitchen Sink". I think her idea rocks!! But....I like doing my own thing *VBS* And I have and I'm very satified that I've captured her idea, but done it my way.
 I've made progress since yesterday. I thought I'b be further along than this, but hey...I'm making progress. I do confess to needing a fresh popcorn break in the afternoon *S* Soooo, look real close....have you figured out how my version is different from the 3(or more)"Kitchen Sink" quilts that Gypsy Quilter has listed on her sidebar?????

Wednesday Works in Progress...lots!

and a Happy Sunny Wednesday to all in Blogland *VBS* Busy weekend is past, and supposedly summer has begun...but we've had freeze warnings the past 2 nights, and my furnace continues to run as needed...brrr! I'm back in stride with cutting up scraps...an hour or so a day, at the dining room table, really produces results! Some are being used in the Orange Crush mystery...especially the lights!
 THIS is what's on my list today. I have enough of this "Kitchen Sink" variation(San, at Gypsy Quilters design) to sew an 88" X 96" top. I hope to get the pairs laid out today and joining them into rows.
 Bonnie has posted the 5th step in our mystery, and this is what my blocks will look like! I love them. Here's 9 blocks laid out together. I had lunch with Betsy yesterday, and she fell in love with the secondary pattern they form. I hope everyone was safe from Saturday nights storms across the nation, and that you all had a lovely Memorial Day weekend *VBS*

And the facts reveal......

the elderly flimsy of yesterday, Railroad Crossing was a WIP back in August,2005. Paula's comment made me curious to see when I had pieced it...yikes! Longer than I realized *VBS* About time I finish it up. Here's the skinny on the poor old thing..."Isn't it amazing how fast the scrap bin fills up, and the stash looks the same? I have more 1.5" strips than I thought. And despite an ongoing project with 6.5" log cabin, I still have more than fits in the bin. Mostly colors I don't want in my log cabin top. So, onward to a Railroad crossing block. I'm not fussy exactly that 6 strips(1.5" X 4.5") make a set of rails.I toss in at least one 2" strip, to make sure I end up at 6.5". My rails look more like string quilt piecing. I have alot of yellows, many mid-sized amounts and they fall into the pale yellow catagory. They will became the 6.5" setting blocks and triangles. I have 3 FQ's of star fabric from a sale bin, the challenge is can I get enough 4.5" squares and the HST's I need and keep those all the same? Everything else is scrappy. I love a challenge! I'm following(sort of) the layout in Trudy Hughes book, "On Point". She makes her rails 3.5" X 6.5"...I kind of like the 4.5". Slightly bigger quilt and not any more sewing. Without borders this one is nearly 60" already. A good couch size or whatever it grows up to be.Hope you all have some sunshine today...We've hit the halfway point in February...how are you coming on your Feb. goals???

And this from August, 2005....
The amount of scraps that accumulates staggers me ! A bit of seaching and poking around revealed that I have 4 tall popcorn tins of 1.5" strips.
I have begun a Railroad Crossing quilt that uses 1.5" X 4.5" strips. Sets of 6 make one unit of the "tracks" part. It's using some of the shorter strips and will make a dent in my odd yardages for setting blocks and triangles. I'm shooting for about a twin, so I need 80 sets of "tracks". I hit 40, sewn and trimmed this morning. And I'm almost emptied one popcorn tin..hurray for that!

Detour.....

The midwest winters REALLY do a 'number' on our highways and byways. It's often said that we have 4 seasons, summer, autumn, winter and POTHOLES! I'm sure you know what I mean...*VBS* My detour isn't because the pavement has collasped or broken away. It's the upcoming birthday of Grandson#8. He'll be turning 5 in early April. And I decided I had JUST enough time to get a top quilted up and bound and in the mail by next week! Ambitious plan for a slow-mover like me *S*. But I got it pinned.And late last evening I started machine quilting it. So far only 2 rows need picking out. So much for 11 p.m. quilting! This is an older project, a larger Quiltville Trip around the World. I divided it into 2 40" X 60" snuggle quilt tops. Went off to Linda J. for WTIL. And when I finish up this top...
..here's what I have ahead of me this year. These tops hang on the sewing room door...there are 7 or 8 on these hangers...some hangers hold 2 or 3 small wall quilts. I seem to be able to ignore them quite nicely.
Then there are these, another 8 bigger tops, hanging in the stash closet. That's as much room as I have for tops on hangers. The rest are folded neatly into the dresser drawers of the units that support my cutting board. I won't BEGIN to talk about what is in the UFO project bags and boxes *VBS*
Friend Jean's car died an untimely death on Sunday, and she won't be able to secure a new car until next Monday. I've been picking her up(10 miles away) and driving her to work here n the valley, and then doing the reverse trip at 8:30 p.m. when she is finished. I don't mind, ss I have a car, she's a good friend, and I DO have the time. What I didn't realize was how much it breaks up your day...but only a couple more days and she'll be all set *VBS*
Youngest son has just been laid off work for the second time since November(*!@$&!) and is coming 'home' today for some TLC(read "food") and a hug! Lucky me *VBG* There goes my day! Oh well....I'll be back tomorrow with something new to talk about, right??? Hugs for all of you...Finn

My W.I.P. Wednesday report...on time for a change!

I've only been a part of the More Quilting for Fun group a few months. I'm not very good at ring hopping, but I do try to meet the WIP Wednesday commitment.I showed you these blocks back a week or so ago when I finally completed all 64 of them...this photo is from the older picture program I had with Dell.Note the color difference in the next picture from the Windows program.And here lie the blocks today *VBS* Spread out all over the sewing room floor, but IN ROWS and getting stitched together. Definitely a work in progress!
I have 8 rows of 8 blocks each and altho I usually do the "webbing" Bonnie describes at Quiltville, this time I decided to just lay them out and sew them 2 X 2. I have 5 rows done, and hope to finish up the last 3 yet this afternoon. Then comes joining the rows to each other...oh joy! And finding border fabrics. If I had more of the Hoffman cream background, I'd probably do a narrow light and then some color, like grape, but I don't have even a smidgen of the cream left, and it's ELDERLY..not much chance of finding any more(story of my life). So I'm thinking of a narrow kind of dull celery green. There used to be a Roberta Horton Plaid in that color, it's in the triangles. And for the outer border, probably a soft frosted type grape-ish purple. What do you think???

A tutorial for Anonymous & WIP Wednesday(on Thursday, as usual)....

As the world turns, some quilters are in 'fine form'. For me, it's "Finn Form" and that includes my WIP being one day late...it's getting to be a habit I think...LOL
Anonymous requested that I re-publish the tutorial on burp cloths. For anyone whose done a tutorial, you know how many pictures you take and how much you have to write up and explain....SOOOOOO....I changed the wording on the label. You WILL now find the burp cloth tutorial right under Ebony's picture on the righthand side bar. Just click on it, and it will take you to April 13, 2007 when I published it...hollar if you have other questions *VBS*Now for my latest WIP...an oldie but goodie!! Started this back in the early 2000 somethings. It'a from American Patchwork and Quilting magazine, August 1997. The article showed 4 different layouts for quilts with HST's. This is the one that appealed to me, altho I have to confess to altering the piecing. Theirs was called Homeward Bound, and had 4 HSTs next to the bigger square. I just didn't like that connecting triangle, so I substituted in a 2.5" square of the background color.
I call mine "Country Roads". I've finished making the necessary 64 blocks, and have begun laying them out. The first row is joined up, but that's all so far.
The blocks finish at 8", so I should have a top that is about 64" square. If anyone wants to see the original layout, I can scan my copy of the page. I often make a zerox copy of the page I'm working from and then write in 'my stuff' with a pen. Plus it's easier to have just that one sheet(or more)of paper in the bag or tote along with the fabrics.
Thanks for all the ocngratulations and good wishes on grandson # 10 *VBS*

Hopes, dreams and WIP Wednesday + 1

At last, I've finally managed to get the side to side webbing done on this double 4 patch. It comes out at 40" X 46" and I think I'll add red borders.Then it can be off to a child somewhere...*VBS* It felt really good to get that VIP out of my stash, as well as making use of the odds and ends of 2.5" squares already cut.
I've had a stack of these, 4.5" HST's laying around for years now. I finally decided to sew them into these long rows until I had the width needed for a donation quilt and call it good! But with all those 4 patches from mismatched pieces....
I wondered about doing this instead...what do you think?? A row of HST's and then a row of 4 patches? Right now the rows are 48" wide.
I came across another rubbermaid type with tons cut 2.5" squares, and I spent an hour this a.m. getting them sewn into 4 patches. I'm past 400 finished 4 patches now, and I think it's easily 3 quilts worth. The VIP double 4 patch above, another one similar to Gypsy Quilter's Kitchen Sink, and maybe some of them going into the triangles quilt top. The end is in site tho, surely there can't be many more than the 1600 I've sewn up. And by the way....I didn't need to cut any to have that many...LOL. I've sewn up the odd strips(then cut pairs)and all the odds and ends of squares. While I was at it, I sorted other strips into sizes, putting larger scraps to one side to cut up.
My hope for 2008 is to finally get on TOP of my scraps, and have them in a more manageable form.
My dream would be to get them all into use, but I doubt that will happen in 12 months. And,actually, I don't want them ALL gone, altho I'm tired of seeing the same fabrics over and over.
I've never been a quilter who starts a quilt and takes it all the way through unless it's a "planned" quilt with limited number of fabrics. And I intensely dislike making that "type" of quilt.
As a scrappy quilter, I might work on a log cabin(shown as last weeks WIP)until I've exhausted my selection of 1.5" strips. Then I set it aside until the strip bin is fuller again. Same with 9 patches, or most anything else I make. If I find I have a tub full of pastel 2.5" squares(which I do right now) I'll make a baby quilt...9 patches using muslin and the pastels.
It's not that I can't "pull" enough fabrics from stash to complete a certain quilt, but I dislike ironing the piece and cutting a couple of shapes from it. I'd rather wait til I have more scraps cut up *VBS* Maybe that doesn't make sense to you, but it works perfectly for me *VBS*
Right now my stash is waaaaaay ahead of me and I've gotta get with the program and do some serious stash busting!! That's ONE resolution....LOL, there are more.

WIP Wedneday stuff and wonderful mail....

I think I'm doomed to being "one day late" with my WIP Wednesday!! But this is what I'm currently sewing on...today at least! The multiple 4 patch projects haven't wandered far. I just got sidetracked for a day....LOLCurrently I'm well past the 300 mark on 4 patches and still pulling pre-cut 2.5" squares and strips from here and there. Maybe I should get organized??? Ya think?? But sewing some 1.5" strips onto these 2.5" centers is fun for today *VBS*
In the "WONDERFUL" category, I received this lovely, lovely gift from Paula, The Quilter! I had talked about wearing a head gear know as a "jibber" here in WI when I was younger, much, much younger. Paula not only found a pattern(or 2)for them, she offered to knit one for me! What a wonderful gift!! And when I opened the package, she had also made me a scarf and put both of them in that really neat bag! I'm one lucky camper, I tell you! Thanks from the bottom of my heart Paula *VBS*.
And in my favorite last-but-not-least category, I received a box from Norma of Random Stitches. The package contained a dozen of these orphan Sunbonnet Sue blocks...a few need to be finished, but she donated them and the left over fabric to the Orphan Train project I have going. I am just thrilled to add them to the orphan blocks I have on hand. I'm sure some little girl is going to be super thrilled to have these for her very own. A very generous gift Norma, thank you sooooo much!!

A psot-a-note:The bargello direction that Bonnie has so graciously provided for us at Quiltville, are not difficult. I didn't graph out color or use EQ in doing the gradation bargello. I chose a color to start with, say a certain blue. Then I shopped my stash for a shade slightly darker or lighter depending. I even shopped Betsy's stash when I got "stuck". EVERY piece of fabric I used is a PRINT! Prints give you the leeway to introduce the next color, it work like a stepping stone. Probably the blue(just before the magent),has some magenta in it. Same with each fabric I used. The cream fabric has hints of salmon, etc.
Bonnie's bargello is done as strip sewing to result in a "tube". You make up as many sections as you want the quilt to be "wide", with the number of colors determining the length. If you are using 2.5" strips(which I did) and you wanted a 60" wall quilt, you'd chose 30 fabrics. It's very, very easy to make this quilt...check it out at Quilville.

WIP Wednesday...one day late

Here's my latest WIP...a new project begun over Christmas. I've been sewing up odds and ends of 2.5" strips and squares to make 4 patches.Mostly I want to NOT have so many left overs from making several of Bonnie's Bargello tops.
So I'm making 2 & 2 4 patches(which match) and setting those aside for one of Gypsy Quilters Kitchen Sink tops. With the odd sets(half a 4 patch)I'm setting them aside to use in THIS top. I've cut up a yard plus of the dark blue VIP into 4.5" squares, and the quilt will be whatever size it gets to before the VIP squares run out...LOL It's going to be a fairly dark looking top, but that's ok I think.
And here is one of the Kissy dolls I own....or she owns me. This is one of the original outfits, with it's ribbon in good condition. The shoes are NOT original, and this particular doll NEVER wore socks. It's interesting how some people selling them don't know that...LOL
I've loved hearing about dolls from some of you, my readers, I hope others may show pictures of some of their treasures if they have them.
Quick post today, I get to go to Betsy's house after lunch and meet her new granddaughter *VBS* See you later!

WIP Wednesday......

Hurray! I have something to share with all of you and my More Quilting for Fun ring mates *VBS*This is the top I'm working on right now. The 9 patches are from 2" scrappy squares. I'm really liking the contrast.I'm ready to join up the rows *S*
Do you remember back in the summer when I bought this fabric in Hudson? I had NO idea what it would become.
And these 2 adorable squares I received as a gift from Tracey of Oz? They've been waiting for me to get inspired also. Recently Studio Christine asked in 'comments' if Ebby had a quilt of her own....no...she doesn't. She claims ALL of the quilts in the house, and the one I keep on the back of the couch changes frequently due to her sleeping on it every evening.On occasion she must have some litterbox 'leftovers'(my..didn't I put THAT nicely?), and if any smell from her b--- is on the couch back quilt, she gets down and won't lay on it. So I KNOW when I need to switch quilts and wash the offender. (I've taken to NOT putting my best quilts on the couch back any more!) I've decided, based on that comment to make Ebby a quilt of HER very own using the squares from Tracey and the Skillful Cat fabrics *VBS* A new WIP coming soon!
And last but not least, a 'kind of' sharing. Won't tell you about any more about this little 'give away' idea of mine til Friday. Gotta let the TURKEY have his day first *G* The happiest and safest of Thanksgiving to all who observe this day of blessings and gatherings. Hugs to all, Finn