Friday, February 22, 2019

Monthly Color Challenge and a finish or 5.


Hi! The Monthly Color Challenge block for February is the cute Hourglass block.  


I was adding pink borders, the darker sunflower print from Island Batik, to a quilt top, and decided to use the scraps to make this block.  I had to pull the light pink floral from the Spring Blossoms collection scraps from the Blog Hop quilt in September of 2018.  Fast, and so pretty.  It's a block that looks more complicated, and is great for creating a secondary design.  If you haven't tried the Monthly Color Challenge, you should.  Click on the links above for more info.  

I'll show the other quilt top soon. It's a UFO from an Island Batik Ambassador challenge last year.  I hope to start quilting it soon.  I have a few other little things to do first.  

Also, I wanted to share that the Christmas Lights quilt is done!  I love it. This was the Cozy Cabins challenge in November, 2018 

I'm working on setting up a way for you to get the Light bulb embroidery design, if you want it.  Contact me for further info. 

Here are some of the photos. 

EmbroideryLibrary.com had a cute label with deer head and Christmas lights, so I purchased it, and used that as the base for the embroidered label.  Perfect! 
I added 6 1/2" Log Cabin blocks for the corner patches on the outer border.  Island Batik supplied the fabric for the top, and there wasn't quite enough to make the full border in green, so I decided to shrink the 14" block down.  Took a little math, and recutting some strips, but I knew I had enough of the gold and red to make them.  So cute!  Just adds a touch of fun to the border.
 I used Aurifil 50wt for all the quilting.  The light sections use 2311, Muslin, and the colored sections all have 2885, Medium Spruce.  The embroidered lights use a variety of colors, mostly 40wt, but a few 50wt, depending on the colors I had on hand.  I'm buying a box that has a 48 spool assortment of 40wt, because I prefer that for the embroidery machine.  All the colored parts have feathers, and the cream has a swirl and loop design, all free-motion quilted by me on my Viking Sapphire 850.  The Pfaff Creative 1.5 was used for the embroidery, and the design was digitized for me by QuiltshopGal. I'm so grateful for her friendship, and her ability to make this work for me.  

 Some of the texture can be seen here. The backing is a Christmas fabric I got at JoAnne's.  I used Warm & Natural batting. It measures 82" square, so it's large enough to top a queen size bed.

And a fun photo because it was windy.  I'm just glad it didn't blow off the fence at the high school.  If I can't get to a better place to shoot a photo, this usually works.  I just carefully tuck the edge of the quilt between the top of the fence and the pole.  It's across the street from the house, and Mom can watch me from the door, if she doesn't want to walk with me.  Her Alzheimer's disease is progressing, and she prefers to be close to me.  I don't mind being her caregiver, and we've worked out the best solutions for when I need to get something done for my shop, or for the Island Batik Ambassador challenges.  She often cooperates when I ask her to watch TV, or she'll come upstairs to visit.  

I also finished 3 Valentine's Table toppers.  One was for my Sister-in-Law, Arlene, who helped sew the pieces, the second was a gift to my Respite volunteer, and the third was for the February Magnificent Mini challenge.  I also finished Reed's Farm quilt, and Liliana's Girls' Best Friend quilt.  

 This pink and grey one is for sale in my Etsy shop.  
 I think I need a better photo of this one, it's so much prettier in person.  I used really soft minkee on the back.  The white background is actually Island Batik White solid!  It's awesome.  It's a better thread count than many of the whites on the market, so there's less show-through.  And so much less fraying.  The light pink was fraying constantly.  I'm so spoiled when I use Island Batik.  I forget about fraying seams! 

 Arlene's and the volunteer's are similar.  I ran out of the darker pink and substituted a different Chop in the same colors.  Both loved putting them on their tables.  

  
This one has the animal sounds and tractor sounds quilted in the polka-dot border.   Cluck, Moo, neigh, rumble, peep, arf, bark, meow.  I had a lot of fun trying to come up with words that go with the animals in the print. 

I'm so happy that this short month has actually been rather productive.  I hope to have more Island Batik finishes to share soon, and March's challenge is Vintage Re-imagined.  I'm still trying to come up with a great project for that.  

Thanks so much for reading.  Have a wonderful day, and productive weekend! 

Maryellen

4 comments:

Gene Black said...

Wow those are some lovely finishes, Mary. I have come to love the Island Batik fabrics for the lack of fraying. When I use some other fabrics, the fraying is annoying. I have gotten spoiled way to quickly.

Andra Gayle said...

You have been very prolific this month! Way to go! Lovely!

Sally said...

You are on a roll completing UFOs and challenges. Love the pinks ME!

Pamela said...

I love them all! Great quilts and isn't it wonderful to make progress on all these projects? Glad you are getting some sewing time!