I Spy!

I have two current projects, never a loss for something to work on especially since I recently found several UFO's packed away and will have to add them to my list. I have finished 51 snowball blocks for my grandson's "I Spy" quilt and need a total of 130. My goal is to make 20 each morning and then move on to my other project which I've only just begun. 

I can't remember when I've made something from a kit but this new project is just that. It was easier than trying to figure out how much fabric I needed to order in addition to what I have in my fabric stash. Since we're having an early wintry mix of snow and ice for a few days, I hope to accomplish quite a bit of piecing and have a photo for next time!

Stay warm, Mayleen

Selvage Pie

 

"Selvage Pie", 82x82", machine quilted by Jan Hutchison

I finally finished "Selvage Pie"! It's a pattern by Marianne Fons which I made with selvages donated by Prairie Quilt Guild members. It should have hung in our guild show this past June. When our show was cancelled, all that was left to do was the binding and I just put it off. Not to mention, I had made a big mistake which needed to be fixed first. Anyway, its finished which is a big relief.

 

What am I working on now? Binding. Unfortunately if I'm at it too long, my shoulder, arm, and hand start to hurt so I'm trying not to push myself too hard.

 Some of our grandkids spent this past weekend with us! It just so happened it was probably the last really warm weekend this year so they requested a pool party. We just have two wading pools but we've got a lot of water toys. They spent hours playing in the water and watering my flowers, bushes, and trees. Very helpful since we're in a drought.

 

We also decorated Molasses jack-o-lantern cookies. The cookie without any candy was decorated by the youngest who promptly ate any candy we gave him. Do you see the face his fingers made in the frosting? It actually looks spookier than any of the other cookies!

I'm also trying to savor any time outside in the garden because colder temperatures are on the way. Enjoy the season!

Until next time, Mayleen

ALL of the Orphans

 Five years ago, I completed my term as president of the Prairie Quilt Guild in Wichita, KS. Our guild has a tradition that the outgoing president may ask for guild members to make a block for her. Having no idea how many blocks I would receive, I decided to ask for UFO blocks to challenge myself in setting them together. During the year, we had an unofficial theme of finishing UFO's.

I used to know how many I received but it was many. Quilters are generous and somehow I suspect a few guild members gave me all the UFO blocks they had! 

It took me 5 years but I just finished piecing and binding all 6 of the orphan block quilts I made. The sleeves and labels still have to be made and stitched on.

This is one of the latest finishes. Earlier, I named it the Quilt Math quilt because of all the crazy math I did which was usually wrong but I'm changing the name to "Two Gold Bars". It measures 65x79 and was machine quilted by Annette Haga of Bluebird Quilting. I hope you see the two vertical gold bars on either side of the medallion. I'm don't know why I didn't notice how prominent they are until after the quilting was done. I tried to think of a way to make them less noticeable without going to a lot of extra work but for now have simply decided to allow them to "be". Besides gold bars make me think of actual gold bars which sounds much better than quilt math!

The Orphanage Quilt was the last finish! I decided to put all the remaining blocks in one quilt. It measures 84x89 and was quilted by Annette Haga of Bluebird Quilting. I added some spool blocks which I won in a guild giveaway back in 2015. Its a combination of antique, vintage, hand pieced, machine pieced, and just about every style of block known. Very quirky but I rather like it! I bound the top and bottom along the double wedding ring block edges which is something I'd never done before. I doubt I want to do it again.

 

Patriotic Orphan was one of the first orphan block quilt finishes (1996) and was supposed to resemble a flag. I need to do some searching for the name of the quilter of this wall hanging. It measures 53x75. I think this is the only red, white, and blue quilt I've made. I like the colors but I've just never made one before.

 

This is Orphan Heart, made in 2016, measures 82x90" and was quilted by Pam and Kurt Sackschewsky. It was inspired by a Jen Kingwell's "Gypsy Wife" quilt I saw on Pinterest. She now has a pattern out called "Boho Heart" which would be much easier to make than to follow my technique. I just put blocks on my design wall in a heart shape and then filled in the empty spaces.

 Utility Orphan which you've seen before, about 55x55" and quilted by me. Does anyone know the name of this block?

I don't have a name for this one yet so until I do, I call it the "Orange and Purple Orphan", measuring about 72x72". Quilted by Annette Haga of Bluebird Quilting. This was also made back in 2016. I think its a good example of adding Kaffe Fassett fabrics to traditional color blocks. I think the quilt blocks are unified by his fabrics. Before I started quilting with his fabrics, I probably wouldn't have put the color orange in this quilt but I like it!

This is my supervisor who was watching while I photographed quilts on my design wall yesterday! He's sitting on top a wall unit about 6 1/2 feet tall.

Until next time, Mayleen