Another One Bites the Dust

Sorry about the lighting, which seems to seriously mute all the colors! 

This week I was rearranging my quilt closet, trying to fit a couple more quilts in there, and found four UFOs, one of which was this 16-patch.  I just added a 3" border of white muslin and a 1-1/2" border of scraps and then another 3" muslin border and voila!  C'est fini!

This top was made back in the early 80's when I was trading 5" and 1-1/2" squares, so it is a real archive of vintage fabrics,  some of which are from the 40's, 50's, 60's, and 70's. 

I have to admit, I miss the old days when we traded fabrics via the mail.  The trades in which I was involved required ten different 5" squares of fabric and it was a wonderful way to stretch your collection when making charm quilts.  This quilt qualifies as a charm quilt because every fabric is different. 

The center part of the quilt contains 964 different fabrics and the border has 43, so over one thousand different fabrics! 

Windmills in Indiana

20"  square Windmill in earth tones.

I was very lucky to have a custom order for two of these little Windmill quilts, made for a special person who volunteers at a windmill museum in Indiana.  I had no idea there was a windmill museum in Indiana, but there is!   I love making these little 3-1/2" windmill blocks -- great for making the very scrappy quilts I love so much.  

Obviously, a close-up of the 3-1/2" windmill blocks.

Each quilt is a little different in terms of the fabrics used, but they are almost identical. I had so much fun working on this special project and I hope the recipient loves them as much as I do!

Just simple, geometrical quilting, but sturdy!

I kept the quilting very simple, in the ditch and geometrical and it is all very sturdy.  I always pull my bobbin thread up before starting a row of quilting, but I did have some trouble with bird's nests forming on the back side despite being so careful.  Maybe my Pfaff is tired; maybe she needs to go to the sewing machine spa and get a professional cleaning.  After all, I have been working her pretty hard lately! 

Seeing Stars!

Remember the last post and that pile of 6" star blocks?  There were 63 and the first quilt I made was so much fun I decided to make two!

As you can see, the first one I made is at left.  For the background triangles I used a really pretty light floral with little pink flowers which coordinated well with the tan paisley.  I'm sorry you can't see the fabrics very well in this photo.

Currently, I'm trying to put together a backing for this quilt and the problem is finding a piece in my stash that is 4 yards, 4 inches.  I refuse to buy new fabrics to make any of these quilts as I have thousands of yards of gorgeous, appropriate fabrics in my stash.

All that's left to complete this one is the backing and quilting.

For the second quilt I had to make an additional 6" block as each quilt required 32 stars.  This one features a vintage blue floral (gotta be 90's but could be 80's) for the bars and I chose a mellow gold floral for the background.  This is a color combo I really love -- it's like a sunny day late summer.  Wheat and deep blue sky.

Now the search begins for a backing.   Finding fabrics for backing in my stash is not so easy because I have so much.  I have way too much fabric; it's sinful.  But I am resolved to use only that which I have on hand.  The only thing I do have to purchase to finish these two quilts is batting.

This is the thing with UFOs:  they go together fast, so it's really satisfying to finish these projects.  Unfortunately, my quilt closet is floor to ceiling full of quilts.