YAGOF

YAGOF = You're A Grand Old Flag! Yep, the Flag-A-Day project has progressed into YAGOF. This flimsy is made from the "Stars and Stripes" Thimble Blossoms pattern by Camille Roskelley, it measures 56" X 71". 

I used a mushroomy beige/gray setting fabric; this quilt will be used on our new screened in porch this summer, it will live on the back of the sofa out there for comfort on chilly nights or early mornings.  

I'm eager to quilt this one up. I have a custom quilt on the rails right now, this will be up next!

As I pieced YAGOF another tumbler quilt grew beneath the needle, leader-ender style. At this rate, I'll have a stack of these quilts to donate come fall. 

This is the magic scrap basket which sits at the base of my Accuquilt cutting table. It's a "loaves and fishes" basket, it never empties but continues to provide-- with leftovers! I feed it with pieces too small to reshelve: anything smaller than 12" X 18" inches. There seems to be a constant supply, and SEW it goes...

Life is Good!

Up next: Chain Reaction

Hand Work

There's nothing more relaxing for me in the evenings, while watching TV, than hand work. It's centering: the rhythm of the needle passing in and out and the feeling of getting something accomplished that won't be undone immediately is satisfying. I finished the binding on this latest tumbler quilt (this has got to be at least the fifth or sixth one that I've made) all cut from charm squares. I use a four inch tumbler, sixteen horizontal rows with nineteen tumblers in each row, for a total of 304 tumblers in each lap quilt. That should give you an idea of how many charm squares I've had stashed! 😲 This year I am keeping these aside, however many I end up making by late fall, for donation to adopted families living in poverty, several churches (ours included) go together to send relief at Christmastime. 

These bright and cheery lap quilts measure 52" X 64".

Well, there's only so many quilts to bind. SEW-- I've turned my attention to hand embroidery for the  current evening pastime. These embroidery designs were subscription-based from years ago: "Nice People, Nice Things"; I collected the entire set. How will I set these blocks for finishing? I have no idea. But, for now, one by one: they're getting stitched and that's a whole lot better than sitting in a bag on a shelf in the stash closet! 

These are all being stitched on Essex Linen with "Cloudy Day" variegated thread by Cottage Garden. 

Adapting to an upside-down🙃 world: our oldest granddaughter and I have been video-chatting with filters; naturally, it's not as much fun as in-person hugs and story-time or baking cookies together but we enjoy visiting this way and many giggles are shared. Stay safe, stay healthy, wash your hands!🧼

"So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love ~"
1 Corinthians 13:13

Life is Good!

Up next: Planting Color

Transitioning

I teased with this picture of stacked stars in a previous post. This quilt is a welcome transition from all those bright fabrics used when making Frank.
This is a long-abandoned project that needed to be brought to the front burner. I am inspired by Country Threads and their "Dirty Dozen" challenge this year. (The premise: identify 12 UFOs and give each a unique number from 1-12. Each month a number is selected and announced on their blog; that is the "assignment" for that month.) With determination and focus, the years' end will bring twelve completed projects! When I began collecting low volume prints I made a series of quilts for family members and cut this one out for myself. It was promptly forgotten. (I still collect low volumes; they're so appealing in their own, quiet, way. Sigh. Some habits are hard to break.) I absolutely LOVE this quilt and it is growing, it easily could become a master class in set-in seams!🙄 I have named it "A Kind of Hush" in honor of a old favorite Herman's Hermits song.

Eventually it will measure 56" X 72" when squared up, a good size; I'm already excited about quilting this one too! With all those set-in seams, though, there are lots of starts and stops. Quiltkeemosabe reminded me that I could make this without the set-ins by dividing the hexagons in half and sewing it in straight rows. yes, I could. But, I already had this all cut and ready. If nothing else, I am tenacious. 😉

Which means, with all those set-ins, that a bonus(!) quilt is growing at the same time; Leader-Ender style. You might remember that I cut oodles of tumblers this summer when cleaning out my charm square bins. I am in no danger of depleting the still-burgeoning tumbler basket! One can only use so many tumbler quilts, this one will be donated to a worthy cause. Waste not, want not. 

Speaking of using up what's on hand: a handful of leftover WOF scraps from the most recent nap blanket workshop (and a free afternoon) yielded enough to make this Streak of Sunshine child's quilt; another donation in the making. Yes, the machines are humming around here. We're finally transitioning, albeit VERY s-l-o-w-l-y, into fall and cooler temperatures here in the south. 

I discovered this friend when transitioning our front porch planters to colorful fall flowers!

Have you said your prayers today?

Life is Good!

Up next: leaving it all on the table. 

DeRailed, With A Bonus

DeRailed  ~ 64" X 80"

All the blocks are ready and on the design wall, I've renamed this one DeRailed. Originally begun to jump-start my piecing, and called "Rustic Rails", this was a fun and productive diversion that has aided in breaking through my piecer's block and clearing the deck for other projects. Those of you who know me will understand that I love precision and rules; I like plannning and control of the project. This quilt isn't about any of those things, it's all about letting go! The pattern comes from Sujata Shah's Cultural Fusion Quilts book, the contents of which include patterns and inspiration for 15 free-form block projects.  DeRailed has actually put me back on track. The freedom found in piecing large blocks combined with an unrestricted cutting approach has been liberating; just what I needed! I hope to get back to a few UFO's here shortly, in more of my typical style. In the meantime, DeRailed has yielded yet another  side benefit: a bonus quilt top! Sewn L-E style while assembling the rails this charm tumbler, TMX2~#2 , will most likely be loaded and quilted next. It joins its sister quilt, TMX2 (The More The Merrier), completed last summer. They are both destined to become car quilts.

 TMX2~#2  56" X 68" 

Take a lesson from me. Are you on track? Does your piecing seem stale and uninspired all of a sudden? If so, you might want to try something completely new and unpredictable. Shake it up!  I did; and, for me, it's made all the difference!

Life is Good!