Design Wall Monday

In January 2017, I spotted a "Rainbow Scrappy Challenge for 2017" aka "RSC17" over at: Superscrappy Blog     Each month, a different color is chosen and each participating blogger can choose what they wish to make each month.  I've listed the colors below:
January - Purple
February - Aqua
March - Red
April - All mixed colors

At one of the Paducah, Kentucky AQS Quilt Shows, I found a neat pattern from Farmhouse Fabrics, out of Pine River, Wisconsin, called "Designing Antebellum Dresses" designed by Jean Teal in 1995.

Here's what I have so far.....

The dresses that I made are quite puffy.  I just finished the Feb. Aqua dress this afternoon.  Next fabric I need to choose will be red.  This has definitely been a challenge for me, working with small patterns.  I am trying to add little details, like a fan purse on the aqua dress.    

It's been almost one month since I last posted

Just noticed that is has been almost an entire month since I last posted.  My Sewing Room is a wreck and difficult to find anything.  At our guild, I took on a new project with another guild member.  We are co-chairs of our Guild's Quilt of Valor Committee.  Over the last few days, I washed (3) Quilts of Valor with the Dye Catchers.  Thankfully, they work great.  Also labeled all (3) quilts.  One other top needs to be sent on to a QOV long arm quilter, so will need to find a back prior to requesting a LAQ.

Last Saturday at Guild, one of our members, Carolyn shows us how to make a "Woven Fabric Basket".
The initial prep of cutting and preparing the 2.5" strips was time consuming but was easy enough to accomplish.  When it came time to weave the strips into the basket, problems arose.  The bottom of the basket looks great--the sides not so much.

Bottom of Fabric Basket

Trying to Weave the strips for the 4 sides of basket

 I think I'll take it to Sewing tomorrow and see if my friend, JoAnn can make my attempt look like a "basket".

Stop by Judy's at:   Patchwork Times.com  to see what other quilters have accomplished this last week.
 

Stained Glass Top is done

Yesterday, I finished my Stained Glass quilt top.  I found a great place to hang it in our home.  Chose the binding and now just need to find a nice back.  I didn't have enough solid black for the leading, so I chose a dark green "Cherrywood" fabric" that I bought years ago at the AQS Show in Paducah, KY.  I plan to use a bright red/plum batik for the binding.  If I put a border on it, it won't fit the space where I plan to hang it.

Stained Glass Quilt Top

Design Wall Monday

On Saturday, Feb. 11th, one of our Guild members gave a class on making a Stained Glass 9 patch.  I rarely take my sewing machine to Guild due to all "the stuff" one needs to bring along.  However, I am so glad that I chose to take the class.  What fun and immediate satisfaction.  First step was to choose (9) charm squares.
 Most people, including myself chose to use Batiks.  However, some used other fabrics.

Start with (9) Charm Squares

We were to pre-cut black strips 1.5" wide.  However, I didn't have enough black fabric to cut, so I found a "Cherrywood" dark green, which had a mottled look and I chose to use that.  From a distance you really can't tell that it is green.  Here is what I have done so far since Saturday.

Stained Glass Block

I am linking up with Judy at:  Patchwork Times.com

Design Wall Monday

Last Tuesday at Sewing, a huge tub of "Old Lady Fabrics" from the 70's & 80's that had been donated to our group through the years was brought in for cutting into 2 1/2" strips.  Most of the fabric was floral.  Our leaders had already begun cutting the fabric but wanted it all cut.  Instead of making 1,600 quilts, they decided to make 800 inch quilts (half the size of the 1,600 quilts).  Tomorrow, we are going to have a Race, in hopes of using all of the strips.  We didn't get them all sorted into kits last week, so I took the strips home and was able to make (9) more kits with 20 strips in each kit.

To see how it would look with 20 strips (each 40" long) sewn together, it worked out to be 31" wide and
50" long, which made for a very long top (in my opinion), so, I am adding 3" borders, which makes the top somewhat wider and much longer.  Maybe when I get to sewing tomorrow, there will be more suggestions.
My sample is not quite done.  I'm using plain pink fabrics as borders with some bright yellow cornerstones.

Floral fabric strips for 800 inch quilt top

It's an honor to be able to make a Quilt of Valor for our Service men and women, who have been touched by war.  This quilt top measures 60" across and 72" down.
There are 168 tumbler blocks in this scrappy red, white, & blue top.  Scrappy quilts are quite difficult for me to design, since I like the fabrics to match.  Not all the fabrics used appear as red, blue, or white, but the quilt does state "Patriotic" and I hope a Veteran will feel comforted. 

QOV using Tumblers

I need to prepare a back, prior to requesting a long arm quilter, so that I will be ready to send it as soon as I receive the name of a quilter.

My next project will be to work on my sewing room, which is still a "disaster".  Too many half done projects and papers here and there and many piles of fabric. 

I'm linking up with Judy and her followers at:  Patchwork Times.com  to see what other quilters are accomplishing this week.

January UFO#3 was completed and sent on to my friend

Actually, I made (2) Photo Transfer Quilts.  One for my friend from 7th grade and one for her daughter. Here's some of the pictures framed in fabric before I made them into a wall hanging.  Since I now know that they have been received, I should be able to post a picture, so you can see....
I got so excited about making the quilts, that I didn't realize that not all of the pictures were the same size, so when I started putting them together with the black sashing strips, all the photos did not want to play together nicely.  When I realized that problem, it was too late, so I just went with it. 

Photo Transfer Quilt

Item #9-Organizing My Sewing Room

Today, I decided that I had better start now because it may take an entire month to get everything put back in it's place or find a place for it, where I can actually find it again.  I started with the easy items first.  Put away the larger pieces of fabric and label the wire baskets by color.  Some had already been labeled several years ago but some of the labels had fallen out of the baskets.  I'm now taping the labels on the front.

Next week-end, on Saturday, the 11th is our monthly Guild meeting.  We will be having a class on making a Stained Glass Quilt.  Just need a Charm Pack of 40-50 (5 inch squares of Batiks) and approx. one yard of black fabric for the leading.  So, while I'm organizing, I am pulling out my Batiks and cutting 5" squares.  I'm trying to use what I have before I go and buy more fabric.  Sometimes, I get a little wild when I go in a Fabric store and then arrive home with more fabric and no place to put it.

I counted (85) baskets, and more than half of them are in disarray.  These four are the only ones that I'm willing to show at the present time.  Otherwise, you will be able to see the piles of paper, notes, fabric, cards, UFO's and other misc. items that are still wandering around my sewing room, lost and cannot seem to find their way back home.  I'm sure I am not the only one in this situation but it does seem to slow down the process of completing projects.

Wire Baskets with labels as of  2017