String Quilts up for Auction

I'm headed east to see two quilts I worked on be auctioned off for charity

at the New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale.

My small guild puts together a group quilt every year,

and we sent off two recent ones to this sale in New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada.

We made this Bright Strings in 2015-16 

Check the link in the online catalogue for more details.

We mad the log cabin last year and the catalogue link is here.

This year the sale has introduced online bidding, 

so you can place your bid here.

All proceeds from quilt sales benefit the relief work of Mennonite Central Committee.

Maker Monday

Some recent and ongoing makes here:

A wire coat hanger transformed into two Featherweight thread stands.

Note: Older Singers like this need a thread stand when using cross-wound threads, like Aurifil,

because the sewing machines were manufactured during an era when all the threads were wound straight on a bobbin.

The thread stand lifts up the thread for even feeding.

My engineer son made these with a pair of pliers

and shrink-wrapped the end because he just happens to have shrink wrap and a heat gun.

Handy to have a handy guy around.

We've finished 36 quilt as you go log cabin blocks for this guild group project.

Today I'm sewing them together.

Stay tuned.

It's a lovely quilt with thousands of fabrics.

My friend Audrey finished her string pieced strip quilt,

based on a design I figured out as a group project.

You can see those over here and over here.

This was the first Sunday of January.

By the last Sunday, she had it quilted, bound and was showing it at a quilt retreat.

Two quilts, many hands

I've got a double finish today--

two string quilts made from one all day sew-in this winter.

I asked my friends to contribute 6 inch blocks in greens, blues, and neutrals.

We made this 60 by 80 inch donation quilt

but I still had dozens of blocks left.

So I put together this one

and added a narrow interior border, getting it up to 57 inches square.

I used some spare blocks made on the diagonal]

to get that green backing up to size.

And now I have a pair of sibling quilts waiting for a new home.

I'm linking up with other Friday finishers at

 Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Crazy Mom Quilts and TGIFF.

Finished and gifted!

This string quilt has been growing on my wall in April.

It went from a pile of blocks in brights and lights

to a sashed top

To a completed double quilt in two weeks

with the help of many hands.

This was a group effort with friends contributing blocks and sashing,

basting, and binding the quilt.

We overwhelmed the recipient with it

and she loved the bright colours,

the cuddly flannel backing and the wool batting

and all the fun fabrics in this.

We gave her the quilt,

and then we spread it out on the table and tied it in the blocks.

So now it is knotted in love too!

I'm linking up with other Friday finishers 

over at these blogs:

 Sarah and Amanda Jean and TGIFF

Three kinds of emerging circles

I see a pattern emerging here.

I've been playing with a bag of hand dyed scraps my mother gave me.

Yesterday I was inspired by a quilt at my group string blog

and I started piecing arcs on a paper foundation

And I kept piecing

To get the beginnings of a Double Wedding Ring quilt.

It's all overlapping circles

just like these Cathedral Windows I've been hand stitching.

I'm also playing with little pieces of hand dyed fabrics,

this time in shades of pink and purple and blue

with unbleached muslin frames.

Those are the same ingredients for my Winding Ways blocks

although I cut these from yardage.

I don't have a big plan for any of these.

I'm just sewing and watching the circles emerge.

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesdays at 

The Needle and Thread Network 

and Freshly Pieced.

Monday design wall

A string donation quilt growing on my design wall. 

My guild members are contributing string blocks for this quilt, 

inspired by my bathroom floor.

I'm linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times.

Big finish times four!

I've just finished putting together four string quilts.

All measure about 60 by 80,

and are made of string blocks measuring 6 by 12 inches

 gathered from local quilters.

Each quilt took 77 blocks,

which means I received more than 300, and I still have a few left.

We busted lots of scraps for these quilts.

 Thanks to all my in person (vs. blogging) quilting friends

who contributed blocks.

Thanks to Bonnie and Val for their long arming services. 

I quilted the other two.

And thanks to Em and Cheryl for donating yardage for the backs.

 

Blue/grey colourway

 



Yellow/orange, inspired by those bright orange blocks.

the leftover strip quilt

 

 

the pink/purple one.

We decided to keep the girly colours in one quilt.

 

Here they are hanging out together in the balcony of my church,

which was the best place to get good shots.

Hanging out together on the pews

And some details.

 

These quilts will be donated to the emergency shelter of a local charity.

I'm about to write a tutorial on how to make these blocks.

For now, check out this post.

 

I'm linking up with Sarah and Amanda  and TGIFF.

 

Sneak peek

Four string quilts in process for nearly a year, now all completed and ready to give to a local charity.

I'm linking up with the Needle and Thread Network.

First finishes of the New Year!

I had a little fun constructing some VW buses last weekend.

This bus is called a splitty because of the split front window,

and it's often seen as the iconic VW bus.

I used some wild prints for the buses,

and fused the shapes on a white background.

I outlined the rest of the vehicle with freemotion stitching

and then did some dense quilting in the background

to make the buses pop.

The pillow measures 13 by 20 inches

and is backed by some decorator striped fabric

Mr. Scraps brought from France last year.

This is his special pillow for the couch.

Together, we own a newer (1985) VW camper,

but Mr. Scraps believes it is all his.

You should see the smile on his face when he drives it, lol.

 I also put the binding on this string quilt that's been in the works for years.
I put it together from blocks in my spare parts drawer, quilted it onto microfleece,
and then didn't bind it.
Since I needed a gift last weekend, and I needed a quick binding,
so I dug into the binding bag for leftover binding for this quilt.

Here's a shot of the various bindings in this quilt.

And the last little finishes:

three zippy bags with the Canadian maple leaf on them,

which flew to South Africa with my nephew on Tuesday.

I made them for him to give away to his hosts

while he's there on an adventure/college program.

I made similar ones for my son to take on

a high school trip, but that story had a different ending.

The bags got to the Middle East with him,

but were left behind at the hostel after the first night,

and never made it to their intended recipients.

I'm linking up with Amanda and Sarah and M-R over at TGIFF