Autumn Table Runner

This reversible table runner was completed around the first of November with plenty of time to enjoy it before the cranberry sauce stains came on Thanksgiving – lol! I used fabric purchased from Bernie’s Needle and Foot Etsy shop. I love the kitties and pumpkins in rich jewel tones. When I posted pictures on Instagram, Pam at Pamalama Jo Designs commented that it could be used right up to Christmas.

No pattern was involved, I simply wanted to feature the fabric. I fussy cut favorite scenes and surrounded them with squares of blue, green, burgundy, and cream.

On Thanksgiving, our little granddaughter had strep throat, so my daughter and son-in-law were unable to drive down from the Dallas area. In spite of that, everyone else was here for a beautiful, fun, and “filling” day. And I wasn’t kidding about the cranberry sauce. My husband dropped some on the table runner and immediately started apologizing. I told him that made me happy because it means my handmade things are being used! (And it washed right out!)

Details for Autumn Table Runner:
Finished Size: 17″ X 45″
Pattern: My own concoction

Fabrics
Harvest Happiness Patch by Beth Yarbrough for Daisy Kingdom
Cream, Blue, and Green Grunge
Burgundy fabric from Enchanted Pond by Holly Taylor for Moda

Backing
Harvest Greetings by Quilting Treasures

Binding
Pin Dot in Spice by Waverly

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I am linking this to Crazy Mom Quilts last Finish it Up Friday. I wish her well in her decision to transition out of running her business and focus on her family!

OMG November Finish – Mercyful Quilt

Last month I was inspired by Bernie at Needle and Foot to make a quilt for Mercy Hospital in Sacramento. The quilting group that normally made quilts for dying patients was no longer able to do so, and a nurse at the hospital (who is also a friend of Bernie’s) reached out to Bernie to see if she could provide a few quilts. Well provide she did, backed by several quilters who contributed quilts.This week the total was 27 quilts donated! You can read an inspiring update here.

I used a bundle of Enchanted Pond and a pattern by Kelli Fannin called Flower Power. I already had six blocks, started in 2017 as a quilt for my sister-in-law. Enchanted Pond has beautiful shades of burgundy, purple, sage green, and cream. When my SIL painted her bedroom turquoise, I decided this quilt wouldn’t coordinate well, and it became a UFO. I guess it was destined to become a comfort quilt instead!

When I was looking in my stash, I found a beautiful Enchanted Pond panel I had purchased, put away, and forgotten! So I changed the pattern just a little bit to accommodate the panel, which I cut and pieced as the top and bottom borders for the front, and as a middle section for the back. The panel features creatures such as cranes and dragonflies among the pond grasses.

The binding was pieced with strips cut from leftover scraps. I still have enough unused Enchanted Pond fat quarters to make another quilt!

I quilted a simple grid.

One of my kitty-helpers, Rosie, approved the final details.

I also donated a quilt I made in 2015 for my mother-in-law, documented here. My sister-in-law was her care-giver, and she put it in a drawer “to keep it nice”, so my mother-in-law never used it! I know she would approve the donation, and at least it will get some use.

Details for Mercyful Quilt:
Finished Size: 56″ X 70″
Pattern: Flower Power by Kelli Fannin

Fabrics
Enchanted Pond by Holly Taylor for Moda
Apple Cider by P&B Textiles

Backing
Atelier by Three Sisters for Moda
Enchanted Pond panel

Binding
Enchanted Pond

I am linking this post with Patty’s Elm Street Quilts November One Monthly Goal Finishes

November OMG – Mercyful Quilt and Christmas Project

I had been undecided about which of my UFO quilts I wanted to finish for November when I saw Bernie’s post about a need for quilts at Mercy Hospital in Sacramento. She is organizing a drive for quilts to comfort dying patients at this hospital which is renowned for cardiac care. My Mom had CHF and received such incredibly compassionate and expert care at Oklahoma Heart Hospital when we lived in Oklahoma, and my husband had a heart attack in 2012 and was blessed by angels-in-disguise cardiologists and caregivers, so cardiac units are very special to me. I told Bernie to sign me up. I know I can send at least one and possibly two quilts in the next few months. If you are interested in contributing, leave a comment on Bernie’s post.

The quilt I hope to complete this month is Flower Power, a quilt I first blogged about here. The pattern is by Kelli Fannin. I started it with good intentions last year, and it has become a UFO since my SIL changed the colors in her house – lol! So it will become a quilt of comfort instead.

I also want to finish something Chrismas-y this month. I LOVE Christmas fabric, so I have several Christmas UFOs and love all of them. At some point I will decide on one and complete it.

I am linking to Patty’s One Monthly Goal for November

Tumbling Charms Prayer Quilt

Last week I did some organizing and purging in my stash closet. I found a project I had completely forgotten about, with pieces cut and sewn together (and ironed!) along with strips ready for sashing. I was delighted with my find, immediately got to work finishing the blocks, and stuck it up on my design board.

Now I will share the wonderful news that our daughter is 2 months pregnant with her second child (our fifth grandchild and second grandson!). Her best friend was also pregnant, and they were just a couple of weeks apart. They were thrilled and looked forward to sharing their pregnancies. The day after I started on the “found” project, my daughter texted me that her friend had lost her baby. It was devastating news. After some texting back and forth, I got the idea to make her friend a prayer quilt. My daughter was thrilled with the idea, so we discussed colors. On a whim I texted her a picture of the partially pieced quilt I had on my design board, and she loved it!

Before: 10 rows high

After: 8 rows high

The pattern is Tumbling Charms, a pattern I found at Farm Fresh Fabrics. It was pretty simple to put together, and the hardest part was making sure I got the rows in the correct order. The quilt was originally 10 rows high, but I wanted it to be shorter and took two of the rows off to use as part of the pieced backing. I also left off the border, but only because I didn’t find a stash fabric I wanted to use. I used two charm packs of Olive’s Flower Market and love the pinks, greens, and browns.

My quilt model is very patient

I was happy to find fabrics in my stash for the backing and binding

Quilting was simple wavy horizontal lines

I did think positive thoughts as I quilted and prayed over the quilt before I mailed it. My hope is that it will be used and bring some comfort. The timing of finding the quilt blocks and my daughter’s text makes me feel, as I do many times in my life, that “things were meant to be”. I believe God is keenly interested in my life, and when situations work out such as this one did, it brings me joy.

Pattern: Tumbling Charms by Farm Fresh Fabrics
Finished size: 45″ x 53″

Fabrics used:
Blocks:
Olive’s Flower Market by Lela Boutique for Moda
Meow or Never Tomcat Grey, by Erin Michael for Moda
White sashing fabric from my stash

Backing: “X’s” from Good Neighbors by Amanda Jean Nyberg

Binding: Twirl by Jill Finley for Henry Glass

I am linking up to Amanda Jean’s Finish It Up Friday – Yay!

Eight Years of The Joy of Quilting

As October draws to a close, I am reminded of the start of my quilting journey in October 2010. It had its beginnings in 1982, when I had just been diagnosed with liver cancer (it turned out to be another type of liver issue, and I am still alive and healthy!!), and I wanted to experience as much of life as I possibly could. My Granny had been a quilter, I still have half a dozen or so of her hand-quilted quilts, so I decided I wanted to learn to quilt and signed up for a hand quilting class in Plano, TX. I learned to hand-piece each cut-with-scissors piece as well as hand-quilt the block. Sadly I no longer have that block, but I remember the rust, blue, and cream colors of the fabric. My children were 5 and 10, and I had to wait until my husband got home to drive to the night class, about a 15 mile drive from where we lived at the time in Richardson, TX. I remember driving to class at night blasting Michael McDonald songs – lol!

My sweet Mom at her 96th birthday party

It was October 2010 before I did anything else with quilting. My Mom passed away in September at age 98, after living with us for eight years, and I found myself with a lot of time on my hands. I decided to take a basic quilting class at Oklahoma Quilt Works in Oklahoma City. I made a 4-block wall hanging featuring four traditional blocks. The teacher was a stickler on “points”, and I sewed and picked apart blocks until mine were perfect! I finished the four blocks, but it was a long time before I put the wall hanging together and quilted it. It ultimately became a Christmas table topper in 2014.

I still love the fabrics I chose in the Oklahoma City quilt shop – all from Basic Grey Fruitcake.

I know Mom and Granny would be thrilled that I finally picked up the quilting bug! It was one of the best decisions I ever made. You can read more in depth about my quilting journey and the table topper history here.

You can see quilts I have finished, as well as other projects, in the tabs below my blog heading.

OMG October Finish – Herringbone Baby Quilt Replacement

My One Monthly Goal finish for October is the repeat of a baby quilt I first did in 2017. You can read about the original post here and the reason for the repeat here, but basically the owner lost her baby quilt and wanted a replacement.

The original quilt looks very similar to the replacement, as you can see from the two pictures below. The difference in the blues is simply due to different lighting – cloudy in one and sunny in the other.

Original 2017 quilt

2018 replacement quilt

I was unable to find a few of the original fabrics, but I actually like the new
quilt fabrics just as well as the originals. I hope the owner does too!

I did more quilting on this one. I started with “in the ditch” quilting
and as always was amazed at how much easier it looks than it is to do. Then
I added a criss-cross pattern, which gave the quilt more texture.

The binding was the same fabric I used as part of the pieced back.

Fabrics used:

Blocks:
Serenity by Amy Ellis for Moda
Meow or Never Tomcat Grey, by Erin Michael for Moda
White with multi-colored mini triangles and light aqua with white polka dot, both from Hobby Lobby
Grunge in Cream (I think – lost the label!), by Sweetwater for Moda

Backing: Meow or Never Playthings in milk, by Erin Michael for Moda

Binding: Light aqua with white polka dots from Hobby Lobby

I am linking to Elm Street Quilts October OMG October Finish.

Antique Quilt Revival

This morning we visited an antique store near our town, and I found this treasure. It was folded and stuffed into a small box and labeled “$25.00”. I had my husband and sister-in-law hold it up while I inspected it, and although there were several tears and frays, I found no major damage. I’ve long wanted to restore an old quilt, and at that price, what did I have to lose?

The quilt measures approximately 68″ X 84″. Although the quilting is sporadic and uneven, it is hand quilted, generally in a diagonal pattern. The blocks are strip pieced, about 7″ by 10″. The binding appears to be a “fold-over” of the backing, and the two vertical sides have a wide border of green print. I’m already thinking I might cut off part of the green print and use it for the top and bottom to make an all-around border. The backing really needs to be replaced, but I don’t want to undo all the former owner’s hand quilting!

I wish I had the history of this quilt, as I am already very attached to it. There is a slight perfume-y scent to it, no mildew or “old” smell at all. There are several good articles online about restoration, and I may take it to my LQS for advice.

The kitties love it already.

If you have any advice about repairing old quilts, please share it!

OMG for October – Herringbone Baby Quilt Repeat

This month I’m working on a “repeat” quilt. This quilt was first made in May 2017, when my great niece asked me to make a baby quilt to gift to a friend. However, her friend recently lost the quilt while she was visiting a zoo! My great niece said her friend was heartbroken and asked if I could attempt to recreate it. Fortunately I still had some of the original fabrics, so away I went!

As I described in this post, I used the tutorial by Jenny of Missouri Star Quilt Company and made HSTs galore. I had to change a few fabrics, but overall the colors and placement will be as true to the original as I can get.

Here is the original quilt. Now that I’ve sewn the HSTs together in strips, I am ready to sew the strips together. I keep getting interrupted by life! But I intend to finish this quilt in the next 10 days (fingers crossed), so I can move on to Christmas sewing!

To challenge myself, I am linking to Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal.

Autumn Sky Crocheted Scarf

Just in time for winter (ha-ha it’s 85 degrees outside!) is this crocheted winter scarf. It finished at a hefty 10″x64″, almost qualifying it as a shawl! I think it will look great with boots and jeans.

In 2012 I purchased 3 skeins of Yarn Bee Aurora Borealis Mustang Twist. I loved the variegated colors but had trouble deciding on a pattern, so I ~~hoarded~~ stored it. I recently reorganized and purged my yarns, selling many skeins on eBay and giving a few to Goodwill. Fortunately these 3 skeins did not sell, and after my success with another crochet project, I found a pattern that would showcase the puddles of rust in my favorite turquoise.

I employed a new-to-me “moss stitch”, which is a series of simple single crochet followed by a chain stitch. This was an easy, mindless stitch, which enabled me to watch television while crocheting!