2019, Cont'd

From July to December of last year I continued making monthly minis with Wendy, The Constant Quilter, participated in a Stringalong with Lori at Humble Quilts, finished Eagle Medallion and was inspired by an 1875 quilt to make my own version.

 
 12. I discovered this mola in my grandkids' toy box at the cabin and turned it into July's little quilt. It's definitely a Mystery Mola and hand-quilted.

13. The eagle panel was a gift from Rachel and the churn dash blocks were from Barb V's 2017 block swap. Thank you all!  

 

14. A Moda Bread & Butter charm pack from Rachel 😊 was turned into two little quilts for August. This one stretched my imagination when I added pine trees to the blue line which represented the Adirondack Park.
 

15. The second little quilt made from the same charm pack. 
 

16.  I made Selvage Strings as part of Lori's Humble Quilts stringalong. And with a little help from my friends--Rachel, Wendy, and Janet O.--I had enough selvage strips and sashing fabric to make it happen. 

17. September mini was the result of leftover hsts while working on #19. 

 18. I was inspired to make October's little quilt when I saw Gay's Sentimental Stitches Cheddarback quilt block pattern and combined it with a favorite antique quilt in the book Calico and Chintz. I added the hst border. 
 

19. Cross Variation was inspired by an 1875 vintage quilt. I switched out the original dark sashing with a white/brown polka dot fabric.

20. More hsts, selvage strips, and alphabet fabric all came together for November's Little Quilt.

21. Finishing out the year with another monthly mini :)

Thanks for following along on my 2019 journey! 




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Copyright 2020, Barbara Schaffer


 

Deacon Blocks 13-16

Moving right along . . . 

Three more blocks in the upper left will complete the first three rows and then there's one block in the lower right. I still have to buy fabric for the sashing and the edge triangles. 

I'm so glad I'm participating in this SAL because I never would have attempted to make this quilt on my own. What I find really interesting when making these blocks is how Gay at Sentimental Stitches breaks down the units to be pieced and/or appliqued. That center circle was appliqued over the gold house-shaped pieces to create the curve. 

These Perfect Circles really came in handy.

 Is this intimidating, or what????

 

Gay broke this pattern down by first appliqueing flowers and stems to rings of colors that were then appliqued to the background. It was a little tricky to get them all lined up but I was amazed how they all came together.

Another foundation-pieced block :)

I nearly cringed when I saw this one! It took me more than a week of appliqueing one leaf per night then onto berries. 

 

I must admit I'm not fond of making berries. These are about 1/2" finished and I tried two techniques: one by using round page reinforcements (remember those?); the other by gathering the fabric around a circle cut from a piece of card stock. I wasn't pleased with either result. I guess I need more practice, lol!

The next set should be available today. I can't wait! 




Copyright 2020, Barbara Schaffer

So Long, 2019!

It's always fun to look back and 2019 was really a productive year. The first six months included triangles, monthly minis with Wendy, The Constant Quilter, chimney sweep, scrappy strings, and a challenge with Sandy R.  

1. Triangles was the first to be finished in 2019. My inspiration came from an antique quilt but the block pattern came from Barbara Brackman's A Cloud of Quilt Patterns here.

2. January Little Quilt made use of extra tumblers from a still-unfinished project along with a fun border print.

3.  I finally did something with the little vintage 9-patches that I purchased from Mary Koval many years ago. This is my February Little Quilt. 

 4.  I was inspired to make March's little quilt after a birthday birding trip with my daughter.

5. Chimney Sweep with Leaves is a small version of one of my favorite quilts in the book Remember Me by Linda Otto Lipsett.

6. It was time to empty my scrap bins and what better way than to make a string quilt! It's twin size and I intend to use it at the cabin.

7. I saved the bed hanging fabric from a little shoe-box doll bed that my mother made in 1954 and re-purposed it for April's little quilt. It's hand quilted.

8. When Sandy R. invited me to participate in an Indigo Challenge I couldn't resist. She provided all the vintage indigo fabrics and this was the first piece I made after seeing a little quilt on Pinterest. 

9. The original block was one that Gay at Sentimental Stitches provided for her Cheddarback Quilt SAL. I thought it was perfect to showcase more indigo. This is #2.

10. May's little quilt is the third piece I made in the Indigo Challenge :)

11. Another block from Gay's Cheddarback SAL got me moving on June's little quilt. I just kept adding borders to this cute little basket :)

That's it for now but more to come. 

Here's to a fabulous 2020!

Copyright 2020, Barbara Schaffer

December Little Quilt and Birding

I finished December's little quilt well before the holidays after rummaging through my Christmas fabric bin.
 

Always searching for inspiration, I found this little antique quilt on Pinterest. Isn't it sweet?

First, I found this wonderful striped fabric with little checkerboards running through it and trees along the outer edges. Then I found another stripe--one with metallic thread in the design--and used it for the vertical strips. I paired them with a sweet little cardinal/floral print.

And this is my super simple December mini.

Here's the back. Thank you Wendy for another year of mini-making! 
 
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On another note . . .

It was such a beautiful day last Saturday that my daughter and I drove to Lake Champlain to do some birding. I never realized the sand there is black!

We came across these little animal tracks as we walked along the shore.

No birds but lots of ducks and beautiful scenery!

Thank you all for taking the time to visit my blog this year and for leaving a comment--or two :) 

Wishing you a new year filled with inspiration and quilting projects!

Happy 2020!




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Copyright 2019, Barbara Schaffer 

 

Ice and Red and Green

We had an ice storm yesterday and it was so beautiful outside this morning that I've decided to alternate some pics with red and green applique blocks for this holiday season.

Our holly tree encased in ice.
 

 A block from A Christmas Card quilt that I made in 1981.

What a spectacular sight it was to see the sun shining through the glistening trees!

An unfinished Cockscomb block from many years ago. Some day . . .

A frozen bush, lol! 

Another block from 1981.

 More holly . . . 

. . . and a block in My Best Applique quilt.  

Here's North Country on the sofa . . .

. . . and a detail of one of the blocks. 

But I'll end it here as I still have more shopping to do, do you??




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Copyright 2019, Barbara Schaffer


 

Deacon Blocks 9-12

It's been a fun yet challenging month of making the next four Deacon blocks. When I decided I was going to participate in this sew-along, I was convinced I'd be doing some of the more difficult blocks by hand because I'd be more precise. But now I find it's the perfect opportunity to try some new methods.

 This month's blocks were on opposite ends of the quilt.

#9 was Flying Geese but I actually saved it until last to make because I wasn't sure what method I wanted to use. But I caved in and tried foundation piecing. This was definitely a challenge for me as I've only used this method once before on a small quilt years ago.  

I did my share of ripping out and replacing pieces that I sliced by mistake but it turned out exactly 9-1/2" square (unfinished size) so I was happy about that! 

#10 was a broderie perse block as shown in the original quilt above. Check out the fabric. 

I still had some of this beautiful reproduction by Kaye England called Matters of the Heart so there was no need to search any further :)

I tried Edyta Sitar's method of broderie perse as described in her book, Handfuls of Scraps. I cut out the motifs and added an 1/8" all around. I fused each piece to the background and finished it off with a close zig-zag stitch. It worked out fine.

This is my finished block.

#11 Applique Swirl (for lack of a better name) was originally made in 1842 by Rebecca of Philadelphia (don't you love the way she signed her name??). It's all one piece and I found those inner curves to be a bit of a challenge.

 
#12 Framed Star (?). I love the way this looks but feel I could have been a little more precise with my piecing. Oh, well!

I'm really looking forward to Saturday when the next set of blocks will be available!

Have a wonderful week!




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Copyright 2019, Barbara Schaffer