Sewing and Stitching Update, June

Do I have sewing and stitching stuff to show you!  

First up, I finished a long-time UFO: a Black, Bright and Batik quilt that began as a block swap in 2013.  Originally I had received 12 blocks in the swap.  I knew, at the time, that I wanted to make a bed-sized quilt out of them.  But then came news of Grandbaby #2 (Toad) being under construction, and my focus went to making a baby quilt for him. 

And time went by, and I found out my brother and his wife were also expecting (actually, at the same time Toad was due), so I quickly added another baby boy quilt to my agenda.  And then more time went by, and some king sized jean quilts were made for the two kids who got married, and then more time went by, and I needed to make a third grandbaby quilt (for Rascal).  And then I totally forgot I had swap blocks stashed away.  (And made some throw sized quilts, and a baby quilt for Grandbaby #4--Faline.)

Along came February 2022, and I uncovered the Black, Bright and Batik blocks.  I decided that those blocks needed to become a quilt and there was no time like the present. So I designed up a twin-size quilt that required 20 blocks and some sashing.  I had 12 blocks, and a nice chunk of black-on-black fabric leftover from a previous project somewhere along the way since 2013. So, diving into my fabric stash (that had grown exponentially since 2013) I came up with blacks, brights, and batiks that I then used to create eight additional blocks.  Got them all sashed, sewn together, bordered with the perfect fabric that matched everything in the blocks, and had a finished top.  I even bought large amount of a cheery lime green and yellow batik and made the backing.  And then I layered it, and rolled it up without basting because guess what; my time was needed for planning and constructing Grandbaby #5's (Buck) quilt.  The Black, Bright, and Batik quilt, that just needing basting, quilting and binding, became a rolled and then folded mass on one end of my cutting table.  Relegated to UFO status again.

For about two years. (Grandbaby #6, Sixlet needed a quilt of his own too.)  And then, in late April, I grabbed the wad that was the BB&B quilt, unrolled it, saw how close it was to being done and decided that this is the year the Black, Bright and Batik quilt gets finished.  So I did. I stopped worrying about making it perfect and just went for done. 

Confession: I didn't take apart the layers, nor did I iron the top and backing, then re-layer.  I just unrolled it as it was, pin basted it, then off to the sewing machine we went. As a result, there's some not-so-perfectly smooth areas on the backing.  I decided not to fret about it.  It's a utilitarian quilt, not a show quilt.  Nobody laying under it is going to notice a few sewn-in wrinkles.

Most of the blocks have echo quilting in some form or another.  A couple are heavily quilted where it accented that block's pattern or fabrics, others are more understated in the quilting. Once it was quilted, there was enough backing leftover that I thought about using that to make the binding but ultimately decided to go with a solid black. To help it pop.  The binding is sewn down with the same variegated rainbow thread that I used to quilt the top (a pale yellow in the bobbin) and boy, that black sets off the stitching.

Binding finished, I took it outside the next morning for beauty shots, then into the washer it went (with several color catchers).  That night, it graced the twin bed that's used for a grandkid when they spend the night here.  And, truth be told, I've slept under it a few times since then on nights that DH was snoring so badly I was tired of getting woken up every 30-60 minutes and I removed myself to a quieter room. It's a nice, cozy quilt. Sleeps well.

fairly true to color photo

 

showing some of the green backing

Once the BB&B quilt was finally crossed off my to-do list, I began working on the Airplane Quilt I'm hoping to give to DS1 by the end of this year.  I need 42 blocks with airplanes on them.  So far, I've made 10: 4 gray, 5 (of 20) blues and 1 (of 18) red.  As there has been time, I've been cutting pieces for a couple of blocks, then sewing those blocks, then cutting pieces for a few more blocks.  Even if I can only squeeze out 15 minutes for sewing, I can throw together one block using pre-cut pieces.  Or, I can grab a fat quarter or piece of scrap fabric, and cut pieces for two blocks.  

In the past week, I've done some cross stitching on my Celtic Santa.  Due to self-imposed restrictions on physical activity (disclosure: I really aggravated my knee and could barely walk, so spent a lot of time on the couch with my leg up being iced, or heated, or just rested) I had a lot more crafting time than I normally would in this season of the year.  Since the sewing machine is down in the basement, and stairs were  restricted to only for getting to the bedroom at night and then back to the main floor in the morning, I couldn't do any sewing. So I cross stitched instead.  Santa is pretty close to halfway through the stitching.

Now that my knee is much happier and (fingers crossed) nearly back to normal, I have a lot of catching up to do in the garden (weeds!!!), but hopefully I can spend some time down in the basement and get some more airplane blocks cut and sewn yet this month.