Weekly update: a finish, swaps,and something new

Look who had a birthday last week!  We saw the movie The Post (excellent!) and got pedicures.

The guild challenge quilt is quilted, bound, and labeled.   The quilting is wobblier than I wanted it to be but I will declare that that's my intent (artistic license). I'm glad to have this finished six weeks in advance.




















I have a head start on swaps. I made 54 solid-and-low-volume 6.5" churn dashes for Barb's swap. (Here's  her blog.)

3.5" nine-patches are the Block Swappers' perennial favorite -- going back 10 years or so.  There will be three rounds in 2018, each for ten sets of six. Two rounds will be light-dark-light.

I went ahead and made blocks for the year. (There are extras because I cut the 1.5" strips from the width of fabric. I can easily find uses for these little blocks.)

Original Hoytyville 

Last year Lori posted a photo of a pattern called Hoytyville. (Here's the link.) I came across her post a few weeks ago and saved the photo.  I have lots of blacks and brights but I decided to tackle the box and shelf of brown/tan -- with a few grays and blacks thrown in.

The blocks are 6-1/2" x 10-1/2" unfinished. The flimsy is 54 x 72 and used 3-1/2 yards. I found browns and tans that I didn't realize I had.  How long have they been there? Where did I get them? Beats me.







The basic block is made from 6.5" x 2.5" strips.

A few of the framed blocks I made didn't have enough contrast to suit me. I trimmed the frames to 3/4" (1/2" fin.) and added another frame. I like the variation.

If I make something like this again I will try a couple of horizontal bands -- maybe rows of squares? -- to provide a visual resting place. This seems very much like sliding downhill.












On Saturday I marched in spirit with the 275,000+ women in downtown Chicago and the million+ others in cities all over the country. 

Instead, I walked on the beach. There was still ice on the breakwater   Now, as I write, it's raining. The January thaw is fleeting but welcome!

I got one sliver of green glass for my collection.

Monday linkups:
Monday Making
Oh Scrap!
Main Crush Monday
Design Wall Monday

DWM: Christmas, thrift shops, cake stands, and 9 patches (with design notes)

Mackerel clouds, Christmas Day

Our Christmas was pleasant and quiet. We took beach walks Thursday and Friday (no snow, mild breeze). The Christmas Eve service was at 4 p.m.












My husband's gift to me was a check. He said, "I expect you to spend this all on quilting."  In anticipation of that I ordered three dozen spools of Aurifil from the Fat Quarter Shop when it had a flash sale (50% off, free shipping). I haven't spent the rest of the gift....yet.






The Hallmark store is in the same shopping plaza as the Salvation Army. On Monday I went to the former to get yet another sympathy card. I stopped at the latter to see if there was anything interesting.  P.E.O.s gravitate toward anything with daisies and this 1970's basket purse was just $1.99. (I posted the photo on the P.E.O. Facebook page and got more than 400 "likes." If I had a penny for each I'd have paid for the purse twice over.)  I always wanted a basket purse but I never had one. Nowadays I'd consider it very inconvenient (no interior pockets, no clasp, inflexible).

On Saturday I took a box of "misc. household" (as I write on the receipt) to Goodwill. (Sometimes I give to Goodwill, sometimes to Salvation Army. It depends on where my other errands take me.)  I came home with this, all in a bag for $3.00.  The pillowcases were what I wanted! I'll give the patterns to a friend who does blackwork embroidery.  (Will I ever finish the embroidery? Probably not.)   I looked up Molter-Reinhard and found this historical information .

Last week I posted a picture of two cake stand blocks. Here is how that project turned out -- 33 x 33, 2 yards. The backing is a tropical floral print that I got on our 2008 trip to Bermuda . Time to use it!

And while I had the batiks out . . . I chose Stars and Nines in batiks for both the 2012 and 2015 Block Swappers birthday block exchange.  Everyone sent wonderful, colorful blocks -- but all together on the design wall they were too varied. I took the blocks apart, resulting in 6" nine-patches and 6" Ohio Stars. I tried setting the stars as the center surrounded by nine-patches, and vice versa.  I realized the two blocks were visually unbalanced.  On to this design!  Some of the nine-patches had light corners and some had dark corners.  I made many more of both. I tried a straight setting.  Nah.
I tried a diagonal setting.  Yes, indeed!  It's 54 x 70, 4 yards, and will not have a border.   Eventually I will find a way to use the Ohio Star portions.

I'm linking up with other quiltmakers for
 Design Wall Monday
 Oh Scrap
Monday Making














P.S. Happy 90th birthday, in memoriam, to my mother.  (Photo: December 28, 1963.)

The whatchagot box arrived

I hosted a "whatchagot" box swap for the Block Swappers.  The idea is to send "what ya got," that is, quilty stuff you no longer love, to your assigned recipient and in return receive quilty stuff from your assigned sender.  I sent a box off to Corinne in Washington.  Today I received a box from Joan in Michigan.



Remember the Contadina commercial? -- "How did they fit eight great tomatoes in that little bitty can?"
That's how I felt about Joan's box.  Look what was inside. Novelties, batiks, paisleys, dots, patterns, and a dishcloth.  Thank you, Joan!

P.S. Since I sent a comparable quantity to Corinne, I consider the Whatchagot Box swap to be a wash in my acquisition/use calculation.

DWM: 2012 Birthday Blocks

2012 is the third year that the Block Swappers group is hosting a birthday block exchange.  Each participant specifies the block and colorway she'd like.  This weekend I forged ahead and made all 14 blocks, for everyone except myself.  I'll mail them out at the beginning of each birthday month.  Estimated total fabric used:  2 yards.

Five people said "any star," and I chose Corner Star from one of Judy Hopkins' block books for all five.  (Top row: #1, #3, #4; middle row, #1; bottom row #1.)  I think I may use that block for the graduation quilt (see last week's post).

I added to my stash this week with some Salvation Army bargains:  4-1/2 yards of Christmas fabric, cut into two pieces and seamed to make an 84 x 80" tablecloth but apparently never used, and 6 yards of lavender poly/rayon blend which will make a springtime suit.  Total cost, with tax:  $4.99!

Don't forget to take a look at what other quiltmakers are working on at Patchwork Times  Design Wall Monday.