Five Shadows

I’ve been quiet since April. While absent from my blog, I have accomplished some little bits of sewing – mostly charity quilts. It’s time to get things moving again! So why not get reacquainted by setting a goal for September?

I’ve pulled three UFOs (unfinished objects) all small quilts, from my closet. The tops are all pieced, all three have backs ready, two have batting cut, and one has fabric pulled for binding. Let’s see if I can get these quilted and bound this month. I’ll set my goal for just two completed quilts, but if I get to the third, all the better!

This quilt top is 32″ square. It is called Topographical from Upstairs Hobby Room One Block Wonders QAL June 2016! It’s an oldie! A border has been added, not photoed. Now to quilt and bind.

Diamond Path, 38″ square, was April 2016 One Block Wonder QAL design. I do love the colorful fabrics in this one.

This is a simple zigzag quilt top I made in 2014! Goodness! Why don’t I just finish what I start!?  There is a polar bear print waiting for the back which will liven it up a bit and making it a nice quilt to donate.

September goal – finish up as least 2 long neglected quilt tops.

Linking to One Monthly Goal hosted by Patty of Elm Street Quilts.

Happy Quilting All for the month of September!

This week the new block presented by Sew Kind of Wonderful is Rock Star. This is for the quilt-a-long called Rock the Block if you are interested in following along.

The block this past Thursday was made in two sizes.

The blocks measure 11″ and 7 1/2″ unfinished.

All the blocks have curved piecing.

I think this is my favorite block so far out of the 5 blocks presented.

Sandwiching the Clam Shell borders should have been easy. For some reason I can’t get the measurements right. After two mistakes I have walked away from the task of sandwiching for now. I’ll have to attempt it again soon as I really do want to finish this quilt! Frustration!

Spring blooms continue in our yard  …

These are all in Hub’s native garden.

Blue Bells

Celetine Poppies – their bright yellow make me so happy!

Blazing Stars – this is the flower Hub is so excited about! Planted last year and survived the winter.

Happy Sewing & gardening all!

Last Week’s To-Do List:

1. Sandwich Clam Shell Borders. ✗  Not working out for me this week. One side complete. Three more to go.
2. Next block of Rock the Block QAL. ✔️

This Week’s To-Do List:

1. Finish sandwiching Clam Shell borders & maybe start quilting.
2. Next block of Rock the Block QAL

Linking to To-Do Tuesday

The last Clam Shell – finally – stitched in place!

Making and stitching the Clam Shells for this quilt was definitely the section that took the longest to complete. I didn’t think I would ever see the end of Clam Shells! Actually, the next step will be to sandwich the four sections of this outer border, and then quilt the Clam Shells. So I’m not done with them yet! I’m hoping quilting will go a lot faster than blanket stitching them in place.

Moving on to some piecing, I made one section of Wave, which is the next block in Sew Kind of Wonderful’s Rock the Block QAL.

Here are all the blocks so far -

I’m not making multiple of the blocks yet. But might as this QAL builds.

Spring in my yard -

Grape Hyacinths! I love these little flowers.

Plus we have the large Hyacinths blooming in three colors.

And my first vegetable of the year -

Asparagus fresh from the garden.

How does you garden grow?

Last Week’s To-Do List:

1. Finish appliquéing clam shells.  ✔️ Finally! Completed appliquéing all the clam shells!
2. Next block of Rock the Block.  ✔️

This Week’s To-Do List:

1. Sandwich Clam Shell Borders.
2. Next block of Rock the Block QAL.

Linking to To-Do Tuesday on a Wednesday!

One more side to go! Building 4 rows of Clam Shells for the fourth side of the quilt will be my goal for April.

I’m using a machine blanket stitch to appliqué the Clam Shells to the border background fabric.

Once the top row is stitched in place, I measure down 2 1/4″ from the top of the stitched Clams for placement of the second row of Clams.

There will be four rows of Clam Shells as the outer border on the quilt.

Once this final side of Clam shells is stitched in place, it will be time to sandwich and quilt. Let’s see how far I get on this project this month!

Linking to One Monthly Goal hosted by Patty of Elm Street Quilts.

Squirrels! It’s Spring and so many are running around! The animal type, and the quilting type – quilt alongs! I decided to go ahead and play along with Sew Kind of Wonderful’s Rock the Block quilt along. Every Thursday they are showing a new free block with a video. We have completed three weeks.

Week one: Mesmerized.

14 1/2″ square

Week two: Links

7 1/2″ x 14 1/2″

Week three: Crown Flower

7 1/2 x 11″

There will be 9 blocks in all, and then sashing. Instructions list how many of each block to make. Right now I’m only making one of each. I don’t need another large quilt, so I’ll see as this QAL progresses if one each will work for a small quilt. If not, I can always go back and make more blocks. As you can see Sew Kind of Wonderful loves curved piecing! They have created three rulers for curved piecing. I happen to own them all and have used them all – I like curved piecing too. Which is why I jumped in on the QAL.

Clam Shells! I now have three sides of the clam shell border completed. And first row of fourth border pinned.

Not sure if I have enough thread on that spool to finish, but here is hoping. My LQS did not have a matching thread. After stitching the final fourth side it will be time to sandwich and quilt.

Spring flowers continue to bloom!

Daffodils! Two varieties so far. There are a few more varieties yet to open up.

Happy Easter all! I pray you know God’s blessings.

Last Week’s To-Do List:

1. Clam Shells – keep multiplying! ✔️3 sides completed!
2. Maybe follow a squirrel … Sew Kind of Wonderful QAL  ✔️ 3 blocks made

This Week’s To-Do List:

1. Finish appliquéing clam shells.
2. Next block of Rock the Block.

Linking to To-Do Tuesday.

I’m making good progress! Which was my goal for March. Progress on a Clam Shell border.

I now have 3 borders completed, but not attached to the quilt.

I machine blanket stitched the clams in place, one row at a time, building on top of the previous row.

Here is the final side.

First row of clam shells pinned in place.

One more side! I feel like I’m finally seeing the end of piecing this quilt top!

Linking to One Monthly Goal hosted by Patty of Elm Street Quilts.

Are you getting tired of me posting my appliqué Clam Shells?

This week I had time to pin and stitch 3 more rows in place.

The ruler is showing how I’m lining up the next row. I’m measuring down from the top of the previous row by 2 1/4 inch. Pinning, and then stitching with a blanket stitch. After I stitch this last row in place, I move on to the top and bottom borders.  4 more rows of clam shells on each.

Spring flowers keep popping up! Here are Prim Roses. They came back! I thought they are an annual, but they must have survived our relatively mild winter.

Purple Prim Rose

White Prim Rose.

The great outdoors, and some Spring Cleaning might be keeping me away from my sewing machine. But I really want to finish this quilt for my son and DILove!

Last Week’s To-Do List:

1. Continue with Clam Shells ✔️
2. Project Quilting 12.6 – last challenge! What will I do?  ✔️ Completed! I made a mini Indiana Puzzle mug rug.

This Week’s To-Do List:

1. Clam Shells – keep multiplying!
2. Maybe follow a squirrel … Sew Kind of Wonderful QAL

Linking to To-Do Tuesday

Ab Intra – Last challenge for this season!

I’m not going very deep on this one. Actually, just below the surface. In jest, I’m puzzling why we still live in Indiana after 32 years! I’m a mountain loving girl! Having moved from the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, I miss the mountains and waterfalls.

So I give you Indiana Puzzle.

Yes, this is a re-visit to Snail Trail, our PQ12.4 challenge, but with a twist.

After our PQ 12.4 challenge had passed, quilter Joan of Hummingbird Highway shared how she used Creative Grids Pineapple Trim Tool (mini) to make a Snail Trail block.  She first posted about it on February 25, calling her variation Swirl.

My little brain just kept going back to how she used the Pineapple Trim Tool to make a Snail Trail! I own that tool, and was itching to give it a try.

I followed Joan’s instructions, purchased for just 3$. And instead of a traditional Pineapple block, I created a Swirl, or Snail Trail, or Monkey’s Wrench, or Indiana Puzzle.

This little bound block is just 4 1/2″ square. Guess I have a new mug rug.

If you are waiting for more depth, sorry to disappoint!

I love how many of you PQ 12′ers are digging deep into your souls for this last challenge. I’m just skimming the surface here! Hope you enjoy this little piece. I’m tickled with how it turned out!

When I told my hubby about my Puzzle, he laughed! He’s a good natured guy! And we do travel, so I do get my mountain and waterfall fix.

Linking to Project Quilting 12.6

Stitch Stitch Stitch by machine.

I’m not sure if I’m using the best method at this point, but I do have one side of the last border stitched.

Four rows of  Clam Shells machine blanket stitched. Only 20″ of the 113″ long border showing in photo.

I’m pondering how to quilt these, maybe just echo inside the Clam Shells. That comes much later as I have the other three sides of Clam Shells to attach to to background fabric before completing the border.

Playing with some designs. Just a diversion at this point.

I traced the Clam Shell shape into rows on this piece of Moda Grunge, and played with stitching.

I leave you with a glimpse of what the quilt will look,

First Clam Shell side, not yet attached to center of quilt.

Last Week’s To-Do List:

1. Clam Shells – stitch stitch stitch! ✔️ One side of outer border has clam shells stitched in place.

This Week’s To-Do List:

1. Continue with Clam Shells
2. Project Quilting 12.6 – last challenge! What will I do?

Linking to To-Do Tuesday.

Recently I’ve purchased some poor quality products. Happily though, when I contacted the companies they corrected the problems. Since I’m very happy with how both companies responded to my inquiries, I want to recommend and praise them for their great service.

First is The Warm Company. They make batting and supplies and advertise their cotton as grown and processed here in the USA. I bought a twin size Warm & White. When I took it out the the package to use, I found it full of hard little bits.

Once emailing the company, I heard back within 24 hours with an explanation that they had a bad run of cotton and thought they had caught it all before it went out to quilt shops. Oops. At least one slipped through and I happened to buy it. The rep offered to replace the batting. Later I got a tracking number from her and she said she slipped a few more things into the box.

A few things! Look at all the goodies she so kindly sent to me! The rep sent Insul-Bright, Baby Size 100 Warm, Baby Size 80/20 Warm, a package of Lite Steam-A-Seam 2, a package of printed letters, numbers & shapes of Lite Steam-A-Seam 2,  a sample folder of their products, and the Warm & White twin size replacement! Needless to say, I recommend this USA based company.

Next is The Featherweight Shop. Hubs bought a 1951 Vintage Singer Featherweight sewing machine for me off Ebay several years ago. When I learned about The Featherweight Shop, I started buying parts from them. They have parts so you can free motion quilt on the Featherweight! Since I take, or at least used to take before Covid, the Featherweight with me to my group sewing days, I thought it would be great to have the ability to FMQ with my little machine.

While setting up my machine, I discovered one of the parts was warped.

See the long black spool pin on top of the machine? It should be parallel to the top of the machine. I sent an email with the above photo to The Featherweight Shop and I heard back that it was indeed bent out of shape and they would send a new part.

New spool pin. Doesn’t that look better?

The Featherweight Shop sells more than just parts for the vintage machines. Go check them out for fabrics, notions and gifts!

Now to my To-Do Tuesday list -

I’m moving forward with the Clam Shells, and will share photos when I feel like I have something more exciting than just the rows of clam shells.

I posted about the You’re Crazy Project Quilting 12.5 challenge here.

Crazy Thistle, my You’re Crazy entry for this past week.

Last week I shared the Winter Aconite blooming. This week Snowdrops have opened!

This is one of many patches in our yard. See the bee? Even the bees are happy to have fresh flowers blooming!

I hope you have a great week and time to check out The Warm Company products and The Featherweight Shop!

Last Week’s To-Do List:

1. Oh those Clam Shells, keep plugging along. ✔️ Row prepping.
2. Project Quilting 12.5 “You’re Crazy” Challenge.  ✔️ Finished and posted.

This Week’s To-Do List:

1. Clam Shells – stitch stitch stitch!

Linking to To-Do Tuesday hosted by Chris Knits.