#1 Done! Giant Puffballs and Marilyn and ?

Morris Hexathon was #1 on my '17 in 2017' UFO list to quilt and it is now done! 

I started making it over a year ago when Barbara Brackman announced her Morris Hexathon quiltalong. The designs focused on English textile designer, William Morris. One hexie a week for 26-weeks was certainly doable--and fun!  

My pieced hexies ended up being 7" across instead of 8". I didn't discover this until I began cutting the 8" setting blocks and laying them out on my wall. So I had to make a new template and re-cut.

I had yards of both the floral and bird fabrics to play with so I fussy cut those. 

The entire quilt with the exception of a couple of hexies was hand-pieced. I quilted in the ditch on all the pieced blocks and around each hexie . . .

. . . and quilted three concentric hexies in the setting blocks and chevrons in the edge triangles. I used Quilters Dream Request batting.

The back.

A detail. 

I fussy cut the binding and fused the flower on the label. The finished quilt is 63-1/2" wide by 56" long. Yes, wider than it is long.

__________

On another note, it seems every year these Giant Puffball Mushrooms appear in our backyard. The pictures don't do them justice. They are the size of beach balls! 

 
Over the past few months I've been watching this mural materialize on the side of a building on one of the busy roads in town. It looks like the scaffolding is still up on the far right so assume it's not yet finished. But--who is the guy?? I feel like I should know who he is . . .  Do you?

Make sure you check out Barbara B's blog to see what she's donating to the AQSG auction next month :) 




__________
Copyright 2017, Barbara Schaffer

Little Things

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things :)

Last Sunday I made 3 pillowcase dresses for little girls in Colombia. Read about Lori's February trip at HumbleQuilts.com. I purchased these pillowcases at the thrift shop for 50-cents each. I just love the way they turned out. They make me smile!

I started prepping the next "odd" hexie block. It's in black and white because the colors were really, really off. I think I need a new battery for my camera. Anyway, I fussy cut 1-1/8" strips, attached them in spiral fashion, and trimmed the extra fabric.

I turned under the edges 1/4" and appliqued the hexie to the background square. I now have 2 done. Oh, btw, my initials are in the fabric 'B D S'. This hexie was a reject when I was putting together my Morris hexie quilt. It was too big.

Our first guild meeting of the year was held Monday night. The Sunshine Committee put a small packet on each chair asking everyone to make a 9-1/2" unfinished block that will eventually be sewn into a charity quilt. The blocks are due at the February meeting. It's a great way to get everyone involved!

Yesterday I made 25 four-patch blocks for Lori's Palmateer Point quiltalong. I had a stack of 2" squares and chain-stitched them together in no time at all. No fussing just letting the lights and darks fall where they may. It'll be fun to see what the next step is. This will be the 5th small quilt quiltalong I've participated in with Lori. Here are the others:

 All That Madders 2016 

Country Roads 2015

 Cascadia 2014

 Midwinter Blues 2014

There's still time to join in the fun!

Have a great week!

__________

Copyright 2017, Barbara Schaffer

      

A Weaving, Flowers, and a Small Finish

Before we left the cabin to come home, I took a few more pics.

I was fascinated with this weaving at the entrance to a neighbor's camp.

Look at those fun fabrics! I think next time I'll leave a note :)

We had lunch in Lake Placid and I was in awe of the beautiful flowers in front of the Mirror Lake Inn. 

Nasturtiums like you've never seen before!

All so beautiful!

I managed to sew the binding on this small piece which I had brought with me. It was the 5th Philadelphia Pavement block that I couldn't use in the top I recently made. In searching for a border fabric I found this wonderful floral polished cotton in Natalie's basket :) It's definitely vintage as it was only 36" wide. 

I had already machine quilted it at home in a simple crosshatch. Sorry, the color is off here.

I named it "Friendship" for the three of us: Barb, Natalie and Laura (Natalie's daughter). I made the block, used Natalie's chintz on the front, and put Laura's fabric on the back :)

In case you didn't know . . . Laura was once a fabric designer for Marcus Brothers :) Love this fabric, Laura! 

Hope to get back on schedule soon.

Have a great week!




__________
Copyright 2017, Barbara Schaffer

 

Another Walk and Dreaming

We arrived at the cabin Wed. afternoon and the first thing I did Thurs. morning was go for a walk :)

I passed a long stretch of Queen Anne's Lace along the side of the road. . . 

 

. . . took pics of the sunflowers at the Community Garden and . . .  

. . . the squash in my plot that are now beyond eating! 

I walked to the bridge where the dam is closed in the summer to make the river suitable for swimming and opened again in the fall to lower the water level for winter. 

Back at our cabin the purple coneflowers are in full bloom.

__________

But why is it that every time we go to the cabin I get all these ideas for new projects that I want to begin RIGHT AWAY! This is one. I came across a quilt in the book Chintz Quilts: Unfading Glory by Lacy Folmar Bullard and Betty Jo Shiell thinking it would be a good layout for six leftover hexies that I made last year for Barbara Brackman's Morris Hexathon quiltalong.

At a time when I should have been packing, lol, I quickly cut a 14" square for the background then added a narrow strip to each side of the hexie so I could bring it with me to applique :)  

Then I thought about making another quilt like this one that I made for my niece's wedding in 1994. But the second time around I'd use toiles and early chintzes. What's easier than 4" squares, edge triangles and a center focus??

And I want to draft and make this block to add to my NJ Plainfield Sampler quilt that I started 2 years ago . . . 

But in the meantime I've been quilting Morris Hexies which I hope to finish next month :)


Have a great week!




__________
Copyright 2017, Barbara Schaffer

#11 Top Done and Sunrays

It's been a 14-year journey to finish the top of my Philadelphia Pavement UFO. It's #11 on my '17 in 2017' list.

 

It all began in 2003 when I saw this quilt in House Beautiful magazine.    

 

I couldn't wait to get started. I made the first two blocks following the colors in the picture. 

Then made three more and lost interest. Surprisingly (haha!) the blocks varied slightly in size so I couldn't sew them edge to edge.

I thought about laying them out on point but couldn't bring myself to fill in the empty spaces with more squares. What to do?? Nothing! Nada! Zip!

But then two weeks ago it all started to come together. I chose the blocks that were closest in size and used leftover squares for the sashing and corner blocks. 

I love this border fabric. It's Windham's Wm. Penn's Vision#25506. It was just the right shade of blue plus it added some movement. So now that the top is finally finished I will add it to my quilting pile :)

 

I couldn't resist this photo op the other morning when it was a little foggy and the sun's rays were coming through the trees :) 

Have a great week!




__________
Copyright 2017, Barbara Schaffer