Jan Mini and A Finish!

January's mini was the result of the Pinterest-inspired quilt below. 

After seeing this little quilt there was no hesitation what-so-ever to make one for January. 

I already had plenty of pre-cut scraps 1-1/2" x 3" and lots of different-sized triangles. What could be easier?? With a little squaring up of each block it went together in no time at all. I didn't even match the triangles on the side seams when sewing blocks together. They were offset and that was fine with me.

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Nine little blocks and leftover red strips finished it off. BTW, the reds are all the same color. I just photographed it in the wrong spot on the floor so it looks like there's a shadow on the right :) It's machine quilted in a 1" cross-hatch allover.

Don't forget to visit Wendy's blog for more monthly minis :)

Dutch Panel is done! Rachel gave me that beautiful panel many years ago. 

Here's a closer look at the center. I love the pale yellow background.

When I started making hexies I chose fabrics that were the colors in the panel and could be fussy cut.

I've gotten so much use out of the border fabric that once belonged to quilting friend, Jill R. Thank you Susan for sharing that with me :)

Mitered corners are (not) my favorite, hahaha!

This is the fabric I put on the back. It seemed apropos with all those urns and flowers. 

That's it for now :)

Enjoy the rest of your week!

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Copyright 2020, Barbara Schaffer

 
 

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