May 2024 monthly recap.................

There was only one finished quilt in May.  It is one of a series of solids and prints that I started several years ago. (Inspiration quilt and block directions here.)

This quilt is 36.5" x 66" and has Hobbs 80/20 batting in it.

Making tops is more fun than finishing quilts so there were 4 new tops in May.  From left to right: Marcia Derse "Glow" was just needing its outside edge triangles and then rows sewn together.  It is 47" x 64".  The pink/blue Kaffe triangles is 48" x 60".  Next is Interweave, a free pattern from Timeless Treasures, which I modified so it would be larger.  It is 55" x 74".  Last is the pink/green Kaffe triangles which is 60" x 84".

I went through the Kaffe light fabrics one more time and think I have 4 fabrics that will work in the blocks I showed yesterday.

Most of the afternoon yesterday was spent watering plants, cutting volunteer trees, trimming a bush and pulling weeds.  May was a busy outside month, planting porch and garage pots, mowing grass, planting tomatoes and lots of weeding.  June might have more sewing time.

4 blocks.............

After piecing 4 blocks I can now see how to assemble the block sections without looking at the pattern for every block.  I'm not sure how large this quilt will be.  The blocks are 10" so it will be easy to calculate as I make blocks.

So far I have used the same fabric as the background in every block.

I looked through my Kaffe collective fabrics for another print that would be the same light value and this is as close as I could find. The only problem with it is that it is a directional design.  I can handle that.  Most of the other light value fabrics are a little darker.

Tomorrow I'll put together my monthly recap so that gives me a day to decide on the background fabric(s).

 

Interweave top finished...............

It didn't take long to finish this top yesterday (Interweave - free pattern from Timeless Treasures).  It is all batik fabric.  I used 56 fabrics instead of the 42 called for.  I also didn't use the side borders which allowed me to cut the strips for top and bottom longer and to have more squares in each column for the center of the quilt.  It is 55" x 74" compared to the 48.5" x 56.5" quilt in the pattern.

In this collage you can see the difference between the measurements I used for cutting on the 2 Interweave quilts that I have made so far.  I'm not sure which proportion I like better because individually I like both of them.

Last night I made a test block for the other quilt top I had chosen to work with.  I will only have one block with each pair of fabrics as I start it.  I may change to 2 alike after I have used the first batch of strips.

I pulled all of the Kaffe fabric strips that were less than full width but at least 18.5" long.  I need to find some more medium value prints since these are mostly dark.

 

2 more seams to finish........................

Two more seams and it will be sewn together.  I was too tired to do any more last night.  It was a day of errands, laundry, and a visit with my neighbor who I hope is moving in next week. She was planting tomatoes and peppers. She moved out while she had remodeling done and it is coming to a finish.  I didn't get to the sewing machine until almost 9 p.m.

The sunshine was bright yesterday morning and my porch pots looked so pretty.

The pots on the steps are really filling in nicely.  I'm glad I went with the red/white/purple combination in the pots.

The black eyed Susan plant is back, in the crack between slabs of sidewalk.  I mow around it so keep it intact.  Last year I ran a knife down on both sides of the root and popped out part of the plant and planted it in my front garden.  It came up this year.  I don't know if I can get the whole plant out and I hate to kill it so I guess it will bloom where it is planted by the birds.

12 more columns...............

Two hours of sewing created 12 more columns sewn together, 6 to go plus sewing the 3 sections together.  There is one green strip and one lavender strip in this second section.  I should be able to finish this top today.

Rain was predicted for yesterday afternoon and evening.  I check the radar on my phone app and every storm either split and went north and south of us or dissipated before it got here.  Same forecast for today........I wonder if we will get any rain.....

I spent the morning going through my blue and turquoise regular print fabrics (not batiks or designer fabrics) and pulling out the ones I need to sell.  I need to move more of my fabric to the main level and the only way to do that is to destash.  Greens are next.  I have already done yellows.  Just thinking out loud here as I plan ahead.

A finish for May 2024.................

I needed a break from my other project so I sewed the binding on this Shoo Fly quilt. (directions for the block on Lynn's blog, Solids on prints on her label list.)

I'm considering this a child's quilt because I used several novelty prints in the blocks.

It is 36.5" x 56" so it could be a big sister or brother quilt when gifting a baby quilt.

I used Hobbs 80/20 batting.

I have had the backing fabric for quite awhile and I'm sure it was on sale for a good price.

There are several novelty prints in this group of blocks. (Click on the photos to enlarge them) 

The white with black fabric has several animals in it. 

I like the little stripe I chose for the binding.

More of the novelty prints in the blocks.

There were 2 sessions of sewing on this Interweave quilt top.  The first 10 columns are sewn together so I'm a little over a third done.  It will probably take me 2 days to finish it because this is the boring part.  I have some vacuuming that needs to be done today.  Another boring thing.

Finally yesterday morning we got over a half inch of rain and then the sun came out later in the afternoon.  I think the tomato plants grew about 3" because they were so happy.  I think I see 2 volunteer tomato plants coming up in the raised bed too.

Quilting.............

This quilt has been loaded on the longarm for over a week and is finally quilted.

I decided on loops on this one with a light color variegated thread.

I chose a multicolor stripe type fabric for the binding.  I cut it but haven't sewn it yet.

I finished sewing all of the columns for the center of the Interweave quilt and I think this is the final layout.  I sorted the strips that will be sewn to the top and bottom of each column to be in the same order as the center strips.

One batik was narrower than the rest so I have to look for a 2.5" square to replace the piece that is not wide enough.