Countdown To Christmas SAL

After my mad dash to the deadline of finishing my Hands2Help quilt, working in the garden, and getting ready for a family dinner last Sunday, I was finally able to concentrate on my blocks for the Countdown to Christmas SAL at Mama Spark's World. This month I chose three more from Moda's Countdown to Christmas 2018, and you can find that index here.

Grammy's Staircase at first glance looked more complicated than it actually turned out to be, thanks to clear instructions with good photos. (I love instructions that indicate which way to press a seam!) Heather Long is the creator of this block, and I liked her inspiration of photographing her children on the staircase every year before they open their Christmas gifts.

Candy Cane Christmas had rather sparse instructions, but I really enjoyed making this string block and might make more of them.

Rocky Mountain Christmas is a variation on the traditional Rocky Mountain Puzzle block. The instructions next to each photo really helped to lay this one out properly.

I'm linking to MamaSpark's Countdown To Christmas SAL.

Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Finish, OMG, and Finished or Not Friday

This is my first time participating in a Hand2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge. Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict has been hosting these challenges since 2011! I'm excited to send this quilt to Bernie at Needle and Foot for her charity Mercyful Quilts.

This is my second time using Yellow Brick Road as a pattern. In spite of the pop of bright fabrics, I am hoping this is neutral gender enough to be used by a male.

For the backing, I had a quilt-width blender in my stash that I purchased from a LQS years ago, and I didn't have to piece it -yay!

I added cornerstones for a little interest, and this is my first time making a border and binding in the same color, which I like a lot!

I tried something different with quilting - a kind of quadrant design. I used a hera marker initially then pretty much eyeballed it. That's why it's a bit wavy and out of line. And I ran out of spray baste, so there are wrinkles after quilting. But as the trendy folks like to say,"it's organic"!

As you can see in the photos below, May was a busy month! Our second grandson was born, and I spent a few days helping out while my daughter was in the hospital, our oldest granddaughter graduated high school, and our son turned 49, and we will celebrate his birthday on Sunday. Garden weeding and planting was a priority this month, and there were times this past week that I doubted I would finish this quilt in time for the deadline on the final linky party. But last night I powered through and finished hand-sewing the binding at 9:00.

Little Everett was born May 7 and named after my Dad. He is so sweet.

Our oldest granddaughter graduated high school May 17. She posed
with my husband and me and my son and his beautiful family.

The garden is starting to come on! We've picked some onions and a few tomatoes so far.

Quilt details:
Finished size:
52" x 70"

Pattern:
Yellow Brick Road by Atkinson Designs

Fabrics:
Skinny Vines in Lime by Valentina Ramos for Robert Kaufman
Solid Lemon
PB&J by Basic Grey for Moda
Road 15 by Sweetwater for Moda
Chamberry by Carolee McMullin for Adorn It
Kona Coal
Grunge in Grey Paper by Basic Grey for Moda
Blue plaid - unnmarked stash fabric
Hobby Lobby's version of Grunge in dark blue

Backing:
From the Mary Rose Collection by Quilt Gate

Border and binding:
Hobby Lobby's version of Grunge in dark blue

Thread:
Superior Threads So Fine #50 in Genoa Grey

I'm happy to link to Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge final linkup. I am also linking to One Monthly Goal at Patty's Elm Street Quilts and Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts.

Finished Or Not Friday - Pantone Quilt Started!

Last week I got a catalog in the mail from Connecting Threads. I look forward to their catalogs because the photos of finished quilts are just eye candy. There was a quilt featured on one page that caught my attention and would not let go. It was in colors I would not normally think of using together - oranges and purples - and the pattern was irresistible to me. It is called Home Awaits by Myra at Busy Hands Quilts. I visited her blog, found the pattern in her Etsy shop, and downloaded the pattern.

In this post about the Pantone Quilt Challenge (see the coral badge in my sidebar), I was considering the Uneven Nine Patch as my block for the quilt; but instead I am using the Home Awaits pattern. What I love about this pattern is that it features 10-inch squares of fabric, and I LOVE the fabric I'm using for the challenge! I started cutting yesterday. This afternoon we will leave to attend the graduation of our oldest granddaughter tonight, so there won't be much time spent in the sewing room today!

The Connecting Threads catalog led me to Myra's blog where I noticed she has a linky party on Fridays - yay! So this post is linked to Finished Or Not Friday. Of course mine falls under the "Not" category!

Hands2Help Comfort Quilt and Pantone Quilt Challenge May Progress

Our daughter (on the right) with her best friend who is 4 months pregnant!

We are leaving on Tuesday to stay with our 3-year old granddaughter while our daughter gives birth to her baby brother! In between laundry and packing, I am trying to stay caught up with two quilt-alongs and decided to combine my progress on both in this post.

First is May progress for the 2019 Hands2Help comfort quilt challenge, hosted by Sarah, who blogs at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. You can read the details of the challenge by clicking the "Comfort Quilt" gold badge in my sidebar. The second is the Pantone Quilt Challenge highlighting Pantone's 2019 Color of the Year, Living Coral, so click on the coral badge in the sidebar for more information about that.

For the comfort quilt I am using Yellow Brick Road pattern by Atkinson Designs (which I just used for this quilt) and making a quilt for a male for Mercyful Quilts, which is sponsored by Bernie, who blogs at Needle and Foot. Bernie collects and delivers quilts to Mercy Hospital for terminal patients, and you can find information about it here. The fabrics are about as masculine as I could muster from my shockingly feminine stash.

The blocks are pieced and ready for layout. I know this pattern goes together quickly, and that's good because the quilt needs to be finished by May 19!

For the Pantone quilt featuring coral, I will be using these glorious fabrics.

My inspiration for the Pantone quilt was a painting by Julia Hacker called Lolita, and I think Pat Bravo's Wonderlust in Bold captures the colors perfectly. This fabric is from her Legendary collection (click on the link for the full collection - it's gorgeous!). The quilt needs to be finished by June 5. I am considering going scrappy with a traditional block called Uneven Nine Patch. I'm drawn to Nine Patch blocks, especially disappearing ones, and am fascinated with the different patterns created by sewing, cutting, and sewing again the same nine squares. The Uneven Nine Patch is made with the same method but using a Four Patch. I decided to do a few test blocks, and here is a little tutorial:

Start with a four-patch. You can do any size, but I am using 5-inch charm squares in this test

Cut a 2-1/2 inch strip off the left side of the four patch

Move the cut strip to the right side of the four patch; sew and press

Now cut a 2-1/2 inch strip off the bottom of the block

Move the cut strip to the top of the block; sew and press

Completed uneven nine-patch blocks

I did a couple more blocks (they are addictive) to show the resulting little four patch in the center

I am liking this on-point layout

This post is linked to Sarah's Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge.

One Monthly Goal for May

There are so many things I want to get done this month, but my main goal is to complete a comfort quilt for the Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge. Full disclosure: I haven't even started it yet! 😦

Here are the fabrics I chose, suitable for a male. I have at least decided on a pattern! Yellow Brick Road is what I used for my granddaughter's quilt last month, and I enjoyed putting it together.

I am linking this post to One Monthly Goal for May, hosted by Patty at Elm Street Quilts.

Countdown to Christmas SAL April Blocks

Three more blocks are ready for my scrappy Christmas sampler quilt! I'm glad MamaSpark started this sew-along, because it's fun to sew for Christmas any time of the year. From Moda's 2018 Countdown to Christmas, I chose Hard Candy Christmas, Let It Snow, and Night Divine.

Some of you have asked about the fabric fussy cut in some of the block centers, and that is from the Tinsel collection by Melody Miller for Cotton + Steel. Some websites call it "mint" and others call it "teal". The highball glasses are kind of retro, and I thought it would be fun to feature them in the quilt. I think the collection came out in 2015, but there are still pieces to be had on Etsy.

Hard Candy Christmas features modified 9-patch and 2-patches.

Let It Snow is made with quarter-square triangles.

Night Divine is an Ohio Star block.

I'm linking this to MamaSpark's Countdown to Christmas SAL.

Baby Boy Bunting

My daughter's first son (our second grandson) is due next week, and the other night she asked me if I would make a bunting for his room in the same fabrics as his quilt. Of course I said yes!

I had most of the fabrics I used in his baby quilt and subbed a couple with similar colors.

I had used all of Sleepyheads in Blue (left) in the original quilt, so I subbed with a cute little bear reading a book, which is Little Clementine by Art Gallery Fabrics.

I generally followed the same pattern I used when I made this bunting for my granddaughter who was born in 2016.

I sent it via priority mail 2 days ago. Hopefully I will get to photograph it in Little "E"'s room very soon!