Kinship blocks 41, 44, 46

You've likely see blocks flowing through your Instagram feed as part of the #100Days100Blocks2019 QAL hosted by Angie at GnomeAngel?   This year's event is based on a pattern called Kinship written by GnomeAngel and Skyberries.  (There are some absolutely amazing prizes available from this QAL so check it out on the overall QAL page.)

I decided to make a subset of the blocks - namely most of the blocks that have flying geese.  I've chosen a very colorful fabric palette paired with some low volume fabric for the geese.  In my final layout, hopefully this coloring will work. 

Here are my latest blocks - #41, 44, and 46.

They join the other blocks with geese - 4, 12, 25 and 27!

If you are just joining, today is the halfway point - the 52nd day of the QAL so you've got 52 blocks to catch up if you make them all or maybe just pick a subset!  These blocks are either 4 x 8'' or 8 x 8'' and the once I've chosen are the more complicated ones!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

My Dad's Quilt

When I send off a quilt to a friend or family member, I think of the quilt as a way of sending them a hug.  I hope that every single time they use the quilt, they will think of me and know how much I love them.

My latest finish is a quilt I made for my dad who just lost the battle with cancer.   The decision to make a quilt, design the quilt, buy the fabric and make the quilt from start to finish was done across a 2 day period - 10 hours on a Thursday and 12 hours on a Friday.  The whole time, I was intensely focused on creating something for my Dad.

The 7 partial stripes represent his 7 daughters - our names and that of Mom are quilted into the white area.   The straight line quilting done on the rest of the quilt and was "quick-ish" to do.

The quilt finished at 62'' x 70" .  The ombre fabric I used ran from the light blue to the dark blue across the width of fabric.  I achieved the dark blue stripe by sewing about 20-25 '' onto the pieced part of the quilt.

Basting for the quilt went faster than any other large quilt I've done likely because there were very little seams so the fabric behaved.

Dad loved his quilt, really loving the fact that everyone's name is stitched into it.

I cried a lot while making the quilt.  I love my dad.



Have a wonderful day! Patty

My Sewing Space Makeover

When I retired a few years ago, I took over the bonus room in our home as the place for my desk and my sewing studio.   The room had bright blue walls, really old ugly carpet and an even uglier couch.  There was a large tv that didn't really work.  It was cluttered with stuff that we no longer needed.

My sewing space consisted of 3 tables pushed together - one for the machine, one for my cutting mat and one for the small ironing board and piles of works in progress.  My view when I sat and sewed was my laundry room - not at all inspiring.

The first part of the makeover was to replace the bright blue walls with a pretty gray color.  I asked my husband to help me paint the room as my Christmas gift.

Next, all the unused furniture needed to get out of the room.  Thankfully, we got this done when my son and daughter were home.  Ugly couch and non-working tv down the stairs and out of the house - happy dance!

The next part of the makeover was replacing the carpet with hardwoods.  This required taking everything - everything - out of the room.   My number 1 goal was to only return to the room what needed to be there - donating, selling or gifting everything else.

Here is my new room!

I relocated the sewing machine to a corner of the room that actually gets some nice natural light and I can look out the window while I sew.  The new layout is ideal for quilting large quilts - I've already done two of them!

Back in the corner where my machine used to be is my ironing station.  I hope to replace this with a larger ironing surface but for now this is working.

The shelves you see on the left hold my pre-cuts and my works in progress that aren't being actively worked on.

The new addition to the room is this wonderful counter height table which is a wonderful work table.  It serves as my cutting station and I've also used it for quilt basting.

There are two large drawers with the table - one hold my rulers and extra mats and the other scissors and rotary cutters.

Not pictured in either of these shots is my fabric stash which fits in two small shelving units after quite a few destash sales and donations.

My next step is to hang up some quilts = more pictures to come once I do so!

I love my new space.

Have a wonderful day! Patty