Odd Fellows at home

Hello everyone!  Today I have a very special quilt to show off--my Odd Fellow's Gathering quilt is finally, finally finished!

It turned out to be a beauty, didn't it?  I know I say this all the time, but I love this quilt!  So much went into it and there are several fabrics that I really loved in it. 

Some of you may remember that this was my major project for the rainbow scrap challenge last year.  I made 2 blocks a month and then made the "odd man out," which is the block there in the upper left which was constructed in reversed colors.  I think that's my favorite block!

How do people get their quilts to drape so nicely?  Mine is uncooperative!

This took forever mainly because I took forever to stitch that binding.  I finally decided on what to use for the binding and cut it, then weeks later finally stitched it to the front of the quilt.  Where it stayed for months while I procrastinated stitching it to the back. I'm sure I'm the only one who's ever done that.  What is wrong with me?  Anyway, I finally just sucked it up, sweated a little, and stitched down that binding. 

The back is a Timeless Treasures wide back print in pale gray and white, which I washed before using it.  It barely shrunk, which was great, but it wrinkled like crazy.  I guess there was a LOT of sizing in it to begin with.  After a good press with some Magic Sizing (97 cents a can--just sayin') it worked great!

I swear it's square, just stuck in the grass!

Odd Fellow's Gathering was quilted in white thread in a design called "wind swirls" by my trusted long armer Diane.  I could not be happier with this quilt!

I took the quilt to the formal gardens to photograph and I love the way the pictures turned out.  Of course, I had to shoo away this interloper:

I guess he just knew a great quilt and wanted his piece of it!

That's my great finish for this week!  Hope all of your sewing is going well.  Have a great weekend, everyone! 

A quilt adds to any setting, doesn't it?

(Interested in making your own Odd Fellow's quilt?  I have a block tutorial HERE.)

Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finish it up Friday, and also with Angela at soscrappy for RSC15.

Odd Fellow's Gathering

Hi all! Hope you all are well and warm. Still very cold and very sunny here, but it's supposed to warm up into the teens tomorrow, so there may be light at the end of the tunnel. At this point, 15 degrees will feel like a total heatwave.

I have a great finish to share today--the Odd Fellow's Gathering quilt!

Thanks so much to the commenter from last year who gave me the great name for this quilt! This is the second quilt from the Rainbow Scrap Challenge last year. This is a traditional block called Odd Fellow's Chain, and I made two Odd Fellow's blocks each month in the color of the month. Most of it was scraps, including the backgrounds, which are all scrap white on whites.

This was a tough quilt to photograph! I took it to the park but the sun was too bright against the snow and washed out all the color. I took a few others outside in the afternoon, but as you can see, it blew around a lot. It was also very, very cold outside and I didn't want to mess around with it too much more. I finally ended up taking this one indoors:

That is a sunspot or something, not a stain on the carpet! I swear!

As you can see, I once again went borderless. I just didn't find anything that I thought really complemented the quilt, and I think having no border enhances the piecing. And it was plenty big enough without another border. This is about 66 by 66. I used a very small sashing which finished at 1/2 inch wide, just to separate the blocks a little bit and so that I didn't have to match all of those seams. I think it saved me a lot of trouble and but still lets the pattern come through.

Artsy photo in the snow!

I think my favorite block here is the "odd man out," which is the reversed values block. He adds a fun touch to this very cheery quilt, I think. And I do like the secondary patterns created by placing the blocks together. See the stars in the corners, and the economy block shapes where the sides come together? Nifty, huh?

Closeup!

That's my big finish for this week! I am so pleased with it--and so very happy that it's done! I'm pretty sure I never would have made a whole quilt out of this block except for the challenge, so I am extra glad to have a finished quilt from the blocks I worked on this all year. (If anyone is interested in making this block, I do have a tutorial to post on Monday.)

The last picture I have for today is the view through my sewing room window:

Icy! Time for a thaw, I think!

Everyone have a great weekend. I had planned to take down some wallpaper in the bathroom this weekend (which is a horrible chore, if you've never done it) but now I think I'll wait a couple more weeks until it gets a little warmer.  I've put it off this long, what's a little longer, right?

Happy sewing! Stay warm!

Linking to Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Amanda Jean at crazy mom quilts along with Angela at soscrappy for RSC15.

Odd man out

Hi folks! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday celebration! We had a very nice Christmas with lots of food and family. The only weird thing was that there was no snow at all! In fact, the sun came out for the first time in weeks. We had a white Thanksgiving but a brown Christmas. It was a very strange feeling. 

In addition to baking seventeen dozen cookies, I finished one thing this week:

This is the last block for the Odd Fellow's quilt, which was my second project for RSC14. I actually started sashing the blocks this week too, so this quilt should go together quickly. The sashing for these is a very narrow solid white, with no cornerstones. It sounds dull, but it looks great.

Here is this week's block with some of his brothers and sisters:

Look! Sunshine!

Notice anything? This last block is made in opposite values from all the others. Why? Because he's the Odd Fellow! Okay, maybe a bad joke, but it will make complete sense when the whole quilt is together.

That's almost all the sewing I accomplished this week. It was a very busy week! Somehow vacation was busier than work. Hope you were able to fit in a few stitches this week too. Enjoy your weekend!

Linking to Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Amanda Jean at crazy mom quilts, and also Angela at soscrappy. Happy sewing!

Triangle surprise

Hello folks! How are you doing this lovely, cold day? It has been so, so gray here and I am longing for sunshine. I have a finish to show you today that is a bit of a bright spot in the grayness of this winter. The triangle quilt for RSC14 is finally a finished top! And it turned out to be a little bit of a surprise, so I've named it Triangle Surprise:

Notice anything? No borders! I never did find a border that I liked with it, and after auditioning several, I decided to be all modern and go without. Plus, I do love the floating effect of the triangles on this fabric. I did add a 2 inch border of the sashing and setting fabric all around just to make it a little bigger and avoid having all bias edges. The fabric seems to have a striped effect in the pictures, but I didn't notice that in person, so I'm calling that a camera effect.
 

 This quilt turned out to be a beauty, but it gave me some fits along the way. I've done on point settings many times, but this time I seemed to have a problem thinking about it properly. For some reason, nothing wanted to go together correctly.  And those cornerstones kept getting turned strangely, but they were totally worth the work. I love them!
 

Doing a happy dance about this happy, scrappy quilt!

So, we are nearing Christmas, and I'm going to set aside most of my projects for the next week. I may do some on the Odd Fellow's quilt, and I want to make some more Drunkard's Path blocks, just to have something to work on. Otherwise, it will be baking central around here as there are tons of Christmas cookies and breads still to be baked, plus presents to wrap and two small things left to shop for.  And then the family shows up!

I may or may not post something next week, so if I don't get another chance, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas! (Cue the Jose Feliciano song!) And if you celebrate a different holiday (or no holiday!), I wish you a wonderful, happy week as well.

Peace and joy to you and yours!

Linking to Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Amanda Jean at crazy mom quilts, and also Angela at soscrappy.

Deep freeze

Well, friends, what has happened to fall? I would swear it was here just a minute ago. Instead the temperatures are in the single digits--with wind! Good thing I have some quilts laying around here, or we'd all be Popsicles.

In addition to getting my chattering teeth under control, I have been working on the rainbow triangle quilt diligently. Okay, only semi-diligently, but I am making progress:

Indoor picture! Too cold for outside!

Did you ever have a situation where you "forgot" how to do something that you've known how to do forever? That seems to be a theme with this quilt. First, I was working on making some more blocks to fill out the quilt center when I discovered (halfway through a block) that I had used the wrong size triangle paper. So now I have three lovely 4 1/2 inch 9-patches instead of 6 inch ones.

Adorable! And an inch and a half too small.

Then I kind of had a brain freeze about the sashing. For some reason, I kept getting the pieces mixed up and at one point ended up having to make Y-seams to add in the setting triangles. What? I Knew THAT was wrong! I finally went back to the way I almost always do the sashing-- block by block. I hate having to sew on long, skinny strips.

I think that somehow I started putting the sashing on the wrong sides of the blocks so that they wouldn't fit easily with the others and that messed everything else up. I have it straightened out now, though!

So, now I'm looking at possible border fabrics. These are my current choices:

Hmmm. I don't think I like any of them with the sashing. Any of them would have worked with a white sashing, but the black and white has me thrown. The stripes are definitely out, but they might make a nice binding. If I had enough of the black and white fabric I would just use that and be "modern," but I'm almost out. I may have to use a black, but I'm afraid that would be too heavy. I guess the ending will be a surprise--even to me!

I also did a bunch of cutting for a new quilt. Check it out:

I think you can guess what this will be! (The file name for this picture is "frozen parts." Ha! It certainly fits today!) I'm almost done with the pink and green Drunkard's Path (come back Friday to see) and want to start a new one. They are addictive!

That's it from here in the frozen north. Everybody stay warm! Happy sewing!

Linking to Fabric Tuesday, WIP Wednesday, and Let's Bee Social, and also the awesome Angela at soscrappy for RSC14.

(Bonus blogging tip: when scheduling a post, make sure you click "am" and not "pm" for the time! Sorry to be late!)

Patriotic Tuesday

Hi folks! Today (Tuesday, November 11) is Veteran's Day in the US, so on this chilly, blustery day let me just start with a huge thank you to all of you out there who have served our country in any capacity. Many members of my family were drafted and my godson is serving now, along with several of our children's friends. Know that we appreciate all of you!

Over the last few days I made this patriotic medallion:

I think that this will become the center of a Quilts of Valor donation quilt. It's 32 by 32 right now, so it shouldn't be too hard to add some borders and layers to make a nice-sized lap quilt for a deserving veteran. This medallion was made from the Moda Love pattern, which is available HERE in 3 sizes (pdf). HERE is more information about Quilts of Valor, in case you feel inspired to make something cozy for a veteran yourself. They have a lot of free patterns, too.

I have started putting together the 9-patch quilt for RSC14.  Nobody laugh at this photo:

This is what we mean by "work in progress."  Actually, I put this corner together to test out the black and white fabric. I actually used a different black and white than I showed before. This one is a little more dense than the first one. I decided to use the black and white for sashing as well as the setting triangles, and I think it makes the 9-patches look like they're floating.

Also, what do you think  of the "cornerstones"? I'm still on the fence (ha,ha!) about the half-square triangles as cornerstones. Maybe when they're all together it will look better and I'll feel better about it. I've already made the hsts and I'm using them, darn it! (And yes, I cut the corner triangle too small. I know. I forgot to include the sashing strips when I figured the cut size. I promise to replace it in the finished quilt.)

Finally, in case you think I forgot, I finished the 4-patches for the Jitterbug quilt:

Since there are so many pieces individually cut from the jelly roll strips I decided to do a lot of the parts leader and ender style. It's just boring to sew 400 half-square triangles one at a time, but this gets the job done with minimal boredom. And now those 4-patches are done! With hardly any effort on my part!

That's what I'm doing this week, along with some more Drunkard's Path blocks. The more blocks I make, the better I like that quilt! We are in for some nasty, frigid weather, so it's just good sense to stay in and sew! Stay warm, everyone!

Linking to Fabric Tuesday, WIP Wednesday, and Let's Bee Social, and also the awesome Angela at soscrappy for RSC14. Stop over and have a look at all the great stuff others are doing this week!

Chasing the rainbow

Hi folks! How is everyone today? Hope you're all doing really well. So far this week, it's been great around here. We had our first snow on Friday, but it's warmed up a bit since then, so there is none on the ground now, though there probably will be some later this week. I really felt bad for the trick or treaters, but we had a record number this year, so I guess candy trumps cold. I'm pretty sure it would for me if I were a kid.

I have a few things to show you today. I'm getting excited about finishing up this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts. Coming down to the wire on finishing the blocks, so these are close to the last ones! First up are two light blue 9-patches for RSC14:

Okay, the one on the right is more of a medium blue, but it is definitely blue, even though it looks a little greenish.

Next, I made three multi-colored blocks from the leftover HSTs from the single-color blocks:

These don't have quite the same effect as the single-color blocks, but I think they'll be fine in the quilt.

I've been thinking of using this black and white for the setting triangles:

I'm not really sure about it any more. Going with white would be the super-easy choice, but I'm tired of white and want to do something different. I'll have to think on this one. There are a few more blocks to make before I'm done, so there's a little time.

Other than that. I'm still working on the Drunkard's Path blocks. Not sure how big this quilt is going to be. They are 16-inch blocks. I'm hoping to have 12 done this week.  I'm using the 4-inch templates and am finding this tiny rotary cutter very useful:

The one on the right is a 45 mm cutter, and on the left is an 18 mm one. It's so teeny, but it cuts those curves really, really well. So far I've only been able to cut two layers at a time with it, but it's still way better than scissors. 

That seems like a little, but there's really a lot going on here. At least it feels like a lot to me. And of course I went fabric shopping this weekend and planned another project using these fabrics:

What am I going to do with those? Well, here's a clue--do you want to build a snowman? (Some came from my stash--I didn't buy all of that, though it would be nice to be able to!)

Happy sewing everyone!

Linking to Fabric Tuesday, WIP Wednesday, and Let's Bee Social, and also the awesome Angela at soscrappy for RSC14.

Decisions, decisions

Well, hi there, folks! Hope you all had a great few days. I have hardly sewn a stitch! It was 70 degrees this weekend, so of course we finished up our work outside while dodging political phone calls. It was massive amounts of no fun, even though the weather was nice. Then I spent a long, long time in the library, which was productive in other ways. But I do have some sewing things planned for this week!

First, here is the Halloween hanging, all set up and ready to quilt:

Hey, if it's done by Halloween, it counts!

I laid out the blocks for RSC14, just to see how many more of each block I'll need. Here are the 9-patches:

Yes, that's the brown ruler print hanging off the edge there. Not to worry, I'm sure it will fit in just fine. I think I need 8 more blocks to finish this. I'd like to have the blocks be 5 across, with 4 in the alternate rows. I'm also thinking that I'll use the extra triangles I have to make 4 blocks that I'll put in the center. I'll probably use just a solid white for the sashing because there are so many scrap white-on-whites in here. I have a black and white print for the setting triangles, and I think I might want a multicolored polka dot fabric for the border. I could change my mind on that one, though.

And then here are the Odd Fellows:

Yeah, not the best picture, but it was so dark out when I was taking pictures at 5 pm. It just didn't work to hang them on the fence. Darned planetary tilt! And it's really hard to take pictures of big blocks!

Anyway, I seem to be missing a green. I'll have to look for that one. I decided not to make the brown block. Just not my thing. I could change my mind on that, too, though.  I think I need at least 5 more, because I want it to be at least 5 by 5. Odd Fellow's quilts are usually set without sashing for the secondary patterns to emerge, but I think I want a very small sashing to separate these blocks because the colors sometimes clash and don't really allow for those secondary patterns. It would also mean no matching, which is always good.

Thanks to everyone for their comments on the Drunkard's Path blocks. I think we all agree on the Wedding Ring layout, but I have to change the fabric. That green is just not working for me. Instead I have these:

This will be a much, much better green. The other was just too light. I essentially had two medium fabrics, which made for a really boring quilt. The only real goal I have for this week is to make some blocks and get this quilt going. If I have time, I'll also quilt up some of those projects I have basted.

Finally, because this post was full of boring pictures, enjoy this lovely fall picture from our front yard:

It was beautiful, but all those leaves are on the ground now. Ah, well.

Hope everyone gets some productive sewing time this week! Linking to Linky Tuesday, WIP Wednesday, and Let's Bee Social, and also the awesome Angela at soscrappy for RSC14.

Finally finished Friday

Hi all! So, I had visions of getting a lot of quilting done this week while I was also busy doing actual work that people pay me to do. Guess how that worked out. Yeah. I must have been delusional or something. But I did finish up at least a few things that I can show you, so it was not a complete failure.

First of all, the Fiesta Pinwheels quilt (from June, for heaven's sake) is finally all quilted and bound!

Love it! This quilt comes pre-certified as cuddly. True story: I trimmed the quilt on the table (because who can crawl around on the floor anymore?), measured it, and left it folded on the sofa while I went up to make the binding. I came down to get it to sew the binding on, only to find that Mr. AQ was already using it.

Our conversation went something like this:

ME: Didn't you notice that the edges weren't finished yet?

HIM: Yeah, I wondered about that.

ME: Well, give it here and I'll go finish it and then you can have it back.
HIM: Can it wait until this inning is over?

Really.

Anyway, I really like how it turned out, and it now lives in our otherwise tastefully decorated family room. And I love the pictures from the park! Never took one there before, but you can bet I'll do it again. One guy gave me a funny look, but who cares? He's probably not a quilter or else he'd totally get it!

Another thing that I did was make up some more Drunkard's Path blocks and try out some layouts. I thought I knew what I wanted to do, but there are so many options! (Marti Michell has a very helpful page with many layouts HERE.) Here is one very traditional option:

(Ignore the wrinkles--they all need to be pressed!)

A very cute option, which would have been absolutely fine if I hadn't tried switching the colors:

I like this better! This actually looks like a path through a garden or something. I would have started stitching these into blocks if I hadn't also found this layout:

Fabulous! So now I have no idea what to do. I want a traditional layout, which both of these are; I just can't decide which one fits the fabric better. Anyone with an opinion, help me out! Of course, I could make two quilts. . .which would be me getting carried away again. Thank goodness I don't have enough of this fabric for two quilts, or we all know what would happen!

And, last but absolutely not least, I got confused for a little bit about this month's colors for RSC14. For some reason I was thinking "brown AND black" and not "brown OR black." So I have these three more 9-patch blocks:

Oh, well--the more the merrier, I guess! Not sure that brown ruler fabric was a good choice, but it seems okay. We'll see when it's time to lay out the quilt, which is coming soon.

Everybody have a great weekend. I will be trying to make my way through the pile of things that need to be quilted up. The sewing room is getting to be too crowded with all of those unquilted projects laying around!

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, crazy mom quilts, Vicki Welsh's Drunkard's Path Quilt Along, and SoScrappy. Be sure to stop by and wave hello to everyone!

Small victories

Well, I don't know how your week has been, but it has been a very stressful week here, with large amounts of rain and gloom. This was compounded by almost 48 hours without Internet, phone, or TV. I know. It was like living in 1990 all over again, without the cheesy sitcoms. This affected several homes near us as well, so we weren't alone. It took a while but three different utility crews finally fixed it, including our totally fried cable box.

I did finish a few things this week. First up is the black/gray Odd Fellow's block:

Happy dance! I think he looks great. And I'm really hoping that either November or December is a black and white fabric month. I have ideas--and scraps!

I also made up those snowflake blocks into a small table topper, about 30 by 30:

I went with a monochrome look, which I think worked. Also, I decided not to rip and restitch the blocks after all. I figure after I quilt it and wash it I can touch up the seams with a marker if they still show, as Julie and Lorna both suggested. And if some thread shows, oh well. I'll find a way to live with it.

And I made up two test Drunkard's Path blocks:

I'm not sure I like that green. It's richer in person, but it's a bit pale. I may have to make a few more with different greens. Or pink! Pink would be nice too.

I also found this very useful book on modern Drunkard's Path quilts:

I think I'll be making a traditional layout, but this is a very nice book if you are like me and like to look at pretty things. It also has some useful ideas for piecing and color choices and such.

Finally, this is where I am with the paper-pieced Halloween project:

All the sections are pieced, but they need to be joined and there are a number of details which have to be added in, like fangs on the tiny vampire. Proof that big pieces do not necessarily mean fast and easy. I might get to do some more work on it this weekend.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. We are pulling out the annuals this weekend, since they are mostly dead now, and maybe dividing some perennials too. Oh boy. Can you feel the excitement? We may even get in the last lawn-cutting of the year. Now that's a cause for celebration!

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, crazy mom quilts, and SoScrappy. Be sure to stop by!

Burgoyne Surrounded

Hi all! Doing the happy dance again here today, because Burgoyne Surrounded is finally a finished top! She was very temperamental, though, and didn't want her picture taken, so she looks better in person than in pictures.

I am so happy with this quilt!

This quilt looks really complicated, but it isn't. It's mostly 9-patches and 4-patches. If you could strip piece everything instead of using little pieces like I did, you could seriously knock this out in no time. And if you have 1 1/2 inch scrap strips already cut, you are halfway there already. Almost all of the colorful pieces in this quilt are 1 1/2 inches, except for the center block squares, which are 2 1/2 inches.

I did not use a single overall pattern for this quilt, but did use several different resources. I can't really recommend the book I showed last time. It's not bad, but it is better for people who have previously made the same quilt. Eleanor Burns's book was very helpful for the main block, and then I paged through several other books from the library for setting and finishing options. There are several options, so it's worth looking at different books.

My quilt ended up at about 85 by 85, with 16 blocks, each of which finished at 15 inches, plus the sashing and borders. All of the solids were scraps, with the largest pieces in the stash being 10 inch squares. I would guess there were about 3 yards of scraps, plus 5 1/2 yards of one white fabric. You could do it with scrap neutrals, too, if you had pieces big enough. I also think it would look great on a black background.

I almost never make the same quilt twice, but I would totally make this again. Wouldn't it be great in just two colors, as it's traditionally made? I'm putting a blue and white one on the list. It will be a little while, though. I need to recover!

Of course, I also worked in a few minutes for a couple of rainbow scrap blocks:

I was skeptical, but I think they'll fit right in!

Everybody have a great weekend! We will be celebrating our anniversary with dinner out. Plus, the hubs brought pizza home on Thursday, which was our actual anniversary, so I got out of cooking twice. Best husband ever!

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, crazy mom quilts, and SoScrappy. Stop by and say hi!