10 February, 2020

Flower Power

I have another tumbler quilt off the rails, this will be a donation quilt.  I used a new (to me) Pantograph (thanks, Santa!) for this scrappy quilt;  "Flower Child".
It worked out perfectly for this project and is super easy and FAST! Like my old FAST favorite: Loop de Loop, this one is forward motion all the way, no points or starts and stops until one gets to the edge (or runs out of bobbin thread!). Its speedy and fun to do.
Scrappy Charm Tumbler quilt ~ 56" X 64"

The flowers were just the antidote for the lousy, rainy weather we've been inundated with here in North Carolina. We've had ran, rain, and more rain (at least it's not SNOW!) with a rainy forecast for this week to come too. Sadly, this is really impacting the progress on our screened in porch project. 
Raindrops seemed like the natural choice for the backing fabric, "showers and flowers" go together. 
I stitch the tumblers together Leader-Ender style while stitching on other things; they sit in two small baskets beside my machine one for lights, one for darks. I precut the tumblers with the die cutter from a huge scrap basket- leftovers from projects past.  Nothing gets wasted. This system leads to more being sewn together at the same time. SEW-- while that Scrappy Sixteen* comes together (on the design wall) so do more tumbler tops (on chair, under Hannes); we (he shares the sewing chair with me) almost have another one done and ready to quilt! 
* Interesting side-story explaining the delay on SS: I used leftover Essex Linen (from the background of "Dogs in Sweaters", photo below) for the light background fabric in this scrap quilt. I didn't have quite enough. I mail-ordered an additional yard to complete this project after carefully consulting my color-swatch card. Apparently I didn't consult the card carefully enough! The fabric came and it was too creamy, a whiter substitute has been ordered to replace that and the creamy non-match has been shelved. So much for using what's on hand, I feel a little defeated by this blunder but am moving on!
My sweet sewing companion and every day-brightener. 
The power of flowers to cheer on cold, dark and rainy day. 
What's brightening up your space at home today?

Life is Good!
Up next: "In the Loop"

5 comments:

Quiltdivajulie said...

We have been enduring that rain here, too -- antidotes include lots of lights and a bouquet of bright cheery Gerbera daisies on the kitchen table. Oh, and warm sweaters and cozy socks since it is damp and cold, too. Lovely tumblers - great way to use up those pesky scraps. Give Hannes a scratch or two from us.

Debbie B said...

Great tumbler block quilt. Your new panto is great. Looks fairly easy to do. Enjoy!

Janet O. said...

I love tumbler quilts--something vintage and homey and comforting about them. The panto you used is really happy and fun looking.
I do like the Scrappy Sixteen quilt--one I hope I make someday. I'd better have a really long "someday" because I have a lot of quilts I want to make then.
Frustrating when you think you have found a solution to a problem, only to have it just be another problem.

R's Rue said...

Beautiful.

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

Your tumbler quilt is so beautiful, and a great idea to make one as a leader/ender. I really like that panto too. It is a pretty design that looks like it would be easy to make. I went to a quilt show recently where they had a couple of small tumbler quilts, and I was reminded again that that quilt is on my list of quilts I want to make. The block on that scrappy sixteen is also beautiful and also on my list. I studied the photo of your studio with all of your beautiful projects. It looks like a great place to get lots of things done, and I am pretty sure that Hannes did a lot of the work.