Starting a new quilt

Last October when I visited our daughter I bought a Jen Kingwell quilt kit at  Gotham Quilts. It has been waiting for just this sort of time. A time with no interruptions and lots of time to think and plan.
I was hesitant to start cutting the fabric and not sure where to start so I made notes through the book. The kit doesn't have the exact fabric as the quilt in the book. I have decided to use some of my own scraps to make it more personal. I will hang it in the grandchildren's playroom. They may notice fabrics used in quilts I have made them.

Below you can see some of my notes. I also looked online at blogs where some others have made the quilt.

I started with section one on the left above.

One blogger said she started with the sky, so I did that first.

Below are the buildings in the top part of section one.

Here are the blocks I have finished this week.

Next I will work on the rest of section one.

I have going to take my time choosing, cutting, and sewing.

Hope you don't get bored seeing my progress.

This quilt came out in 2015 and maybe you made one, too.

Our blueberry bushes are full of berries.

Below are the first pickings.

I love having something so easy to grow and yummy to eat right in my backyard.

What are you sewing?

Have a good week.
I forgot to link up with Peacock Party so I'm going to share with a new group.
Linking up with From Bolt to Beauty. Hope I do it right.

Half square triangle variations

Half square triangle blocks can be arranged in so many ways.

I use my left-over fabric to make a second batik half square triangle mini quilt.

Same number of half square blocks.

Trimming is so tedious.

My first idea was to make diagonal lines. 9 by 12 like the original.

But I wasn't happy with mixing in different fabrics in the lines.

Zigzags had the same problem.

Then I tried diamonds in a 10 by 12 layout.

But there were spaces left open.

What to do? Make more half square triangles?

I decided to cut some background squares and move the black pieces to the top and bottom.

I sewed in columns instead of rows.

It made sense to my brain.

I cut the backing earlier and had to make sure it was still big enough for the 10 x 12 new layout.

There was enough room for the border and that way all the points would show.

All quilted and ready to hang.

Two mini quilts from one kit.

I'm keeping this one and donating the other to our silent auction.

You can check out the first mini here.

What are you sewing?

Have a great week!

Sewing for boys

This week I have been sewing for the boys in my life.

I crocheted this little hat for grandson we are waiting to meet in October.

The yarn is soooo soft. I am working on a blanket to match.

Photos of blanket soon.

The patterns below are the ones I used to make lab coats for Liam and David.

What? Girls shirts for lab coats?

I used the shirt/coat patterns for the shoulders and sleeves.

I used the collar on the top pattern for both coats just made one larger for the larger coat.

I lengthened the top pattern and cut the front with an added interfaced edge.

The bottom coat pattern was squared up at the bottom and had an added collar.

Not too hard since I have done lots of garment sewing.

Below is the larger lab coat made with the Butterick pattern with collar and top pocket added.

The second one is smaller. I used the Simplicity base pattern and added length, pockets, and front opening.

Here they are. Ready to mail to the 'scientist' and his 'assistant'.

Liam and David are making science videos as they quarantine in New York City.

Their grandparents are their biggest fans.

Can't wait to see the next episodes.

What are you sewing?

Sunset mini

This week I finished two small projects!

Last Friday I cut out the fabric for Sunset mini quilt.

Made half square triangle blocks with the two blocks at one time method.

That made 108 blocks. Then all of them had to be trimmed to correct size.

Good thing I can trim and watch TV.

Here are all the blocks in stacks of twelve.

I didn't use the layout on the pattern.

Instead I made this layout.

The nine patches were repeated three times across and four times down.

Here is the finished center ready for borders.

I quilted on the diagonal every third block.

Binding was fairly quick and easy.

I thought about hand sewing the binding but changed my mind.

Here is the back with hanging triangles in the top corners.

I used a chopstick for the hanger.

Finished size is about 12" by 18".

And I have another one cut out and ready sew.

I plan to change the layout significantly on the next one.

My other finish is this advent calendar.

I bought the fabric in NYC last October when we were visiting our grandsons.

I cut out all the parts but wasn't motivated to work on it.

The directions call for no binding, just sew the backing and turn right side out.

The problem with that is the quilting has to be done last.

I sewed between the pockets and a couple of rounds in the border.

Done except for the hanger.

The backing is out of my stash.

The fabric line and designer are on the leftover strip.

Today my white fabric was delivered. Next project is to make lab coats for the 8 year old and 4 year old grandsons. Yes, I could have bought ready-made cheaper but they requested Gran-made.

Making memories from a distance.

Happy sewing!

Waiting for supplies

Last week I had nothing to post here. 

I wasn't ready to quilt either of the lap quilts that I had ready.

I ordered more batting to use in one of the lap quilts.

It took extra long for the order to get to me.

Finally my supplies came.

I will use this batting for several quilts. It was a good price and local shops are closed.

I also received three packs of sewing machine needles. That should last for quite a while.

I'm most pleased with this kit for making a mini quilt.

Our quilt group is asking members to make mini quilts for an auction.

The kit has 12 fat quarters and has enough fabric to make two mini quilts.

I started cutting yesterday and made two stacks of strips.

One stack for each mini quilt.

I like the arrangement given in the directions and I will make one quilt by it.

The other quilt will have a different arrangement of the half squares.

After cutting all the squares for one mini, I went to work sewing.

Ready to sew away the afternoon.

As I waited I worked on rearranging two bedrooms.

Found some long forgotten patterns, half finished projects, and souvenirs from a trip to Australia.

Look for a finished mini next week!