Doll quilt top from batik scraps

While I put the Batik Charms quilt together,  I have to take some of the batik charms and cut them for the cornerstones.  But they don't all get used.  As they began to pile up I started sewing them together into a small piece, and now I have added the borders.  Since it came out to be 23" square, it must be a doll quilt.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Cramps in my left thigh seem to be calming down after nine days
Charlie carried all the Christmas decorations down to the basement
First snow of the season with some staying power

2011 Doll Quilt #6

Okay, I couldn't seem to stop. I made one more.

A single Log Cabin block made up of pinks and reds with a little orange thrown in too.  And I found two strips of pink and white squares that seemed to fit.

And a strip of paper dolls left over from last year that could be inserted into the backing.


Now I REALLY have to work on the gift for my Secret Sister, which is due on December 15.


Sara

Gratitudes:

Enjoyed good china for Sunday breakfast
Cough is getting better with allergy pills
Tho TV is acting strange, I don't miss it

2011 Doll Quilt #4 & #5

Those bright squares I showed you turned into this semi-African style doll quilt.  The center is actually a sashed nine-patch.  I had a little of the gray and white batik left in my stash, and I thought that would blend with sections of the blocks and make the whole thing more mysterious!

I used a totally traditional print on the back.  Just my contrary nature displaying itself.


After I turned these in at our evening Bee meeting, I continued on with some Chinese Coins strips I had found in the Orphan Box.

With white sashing, it remained looking a little DULL.  So in the end I chose a bright striped backing and a different orange stripe for the binding.

I think that is the end of the Doll Quilts for this year.  They are pretty quick to make, and I have fun getting one done a day.  But now, I need to work on other things.

1] Finish learning my music for the GRWC concert on the first Sat. in December.
2] Finish a gift for my Secret Sister.
3] Think some more about Bonnie Hunter's new mystery...do I want to commit myself or not?

Sara

Gratitudes:

Warm house, as the outside temps go down
Vernor's gingerale
Re-reading Stieg Larsson's novels

2011 Doll Quilt #3

Five "orphan" asterisk blocks, also from Beaver Island Retreat last year.  There was a sixth one, but it didn't have enough contrast for the asterisk to show well.

And here's the back.
This one is 17" square; they seem to be getting smaller as I imagine different kinds of dolls.

The Orphan box still has more goodies that can be utilized.

The next set of 3" blocks are eight in number.  Perhaps the green of the cutting mat is not such a bad choice for sashing!

Sara

Gratitudes:

Sun shining as temps go down

Breakfast with friends

Grandson John's 14th birthday today

2011 Doll quilt #1

Just remembered that this is our Guild month for collecting doll quilts to go with the dolls our Santa Claus Girls give away in December.  Luckily I have some Orphan blocks biding their time for a project!

There were three of these chopped up Four-patches in the box, so I made a fourth, sewed them together and found some fabulous border and backing fabric.  This is one HOT doll quilt!'

Now to turn the backing over to the front as binding...

Sara

Gratitudes:

Duvet on the bed for the winter cold nights
Helpful Orphan Box
Shrimp and crusty bread for dinner

St. Louis athletes

Granddaughter Samantha was on the podium directing the High School band in one of their numbers at the football game halftime.  Can't see her from the front unless you are on the opposite side of the field.

Grandson John plays as a pass receiver and the center for kicking situations with the 7th grade football team.

SaraRachel plays "stopper" [defense] and goalie for her recreation league soccer team.  Love those socks!  and they made her easy to spot on the field.

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Before going to BIQR or St, Louis, I made another doll quilt.  This will go into the collection for Santa Claus Girls at our Guild next month.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Memorized [almost] "arise" for Chorus rehearsal last night

Safe trip home, enjoying the Illinois farmland

Wind and rain, but no tornado yet today

Play! and Doll Quilt

The Grand Rapids Women's Chorus sang downtown yesterday for the dedication of a statue of Rosa Parks. The event was outdoors, in front of the new Art Museum. As we stood around waiting for the start, we noticed behind us one of the installations for Art Prize [local two week event of 1700 artful items on public display].

By waving your arms and moving toward this sculpture, you can make the "strings" sing different tones.

We had plenty of fun before the "real" event started!

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Two Fat Quarters of fabric and half of today, resulted in this doll quilt. Well, I did add that little inner border of white to the FQs.

And here's the back with some added purple fabric.

These are the scraps left from the fat quarters, not much!

Sara

Gratitudes:

A day to play with fabric

Enjoying sauerkraut with various dinners

So quick to get laundry done now [with laundry in my sewing room]!

What? Another doll quilt?

You see, I was cutting up the scraps, and I found a pile of two patches. So just to get them organized, I sewed them together.

And then there was a perfect border scrap lying in the pile . So I just added a little more white with that.

And then there was a half yard of a Guild fabric for a challenge two years ago. . . which made a perfect outer border.

And then there was that polar fleece blanket that I had cut into four pieces for Doll Quilt backings...and the color was just right!

Sara

Gratitudes

Sermon on how Jesus' idea of "king" isn't our idea

Afternoon walk in the sun with Charlie and Zeke

Yummy salmon for dinner

14 it is!

My local discount/grocery store had fleece throws on sale for $4.99. Hmm, thought I, that is cheaper than a crib sized batting. Why not buy one of those and cut it into four doll quilts' back/batting?

Here is the result: a pink strips top welded to an aqua fleece backing. Pretty cozy for a doll.
Note: some strips are made of left-over cuttings.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Nap instead of exercise class
Spaghetti for dinner = comfort food

Doll Quilt #13

One more doll quilt finished that is made up of pink strips. I decided to NOT stitch in the ditch, but instead to quilt curving lines down the middle of the strips.

One more in the works, and then I need to pick out a UFO on which to spend some time!

Sara

Gratitudes:

Breakfast with friends
Groceries purchased for the week and put away
Did my "citizen's duty" by attending Township Board meeting, not bad!

Doll quilt #12

The latest doll quilt I think is my favorite.

The blocks are Rail Fence with bright orange and pink dominating.

The back is pink polka dots.

So I have now made twelve doll quilts for the Guild collection in November, They are stacked on the commode cabinet in the livingroom.

I am now working on enough quieter pink strips to make two more tops. But then I think I need to put some time in on some UFO or other before the end of the month.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Escapist literature
Tasks completed
Out for pizza

Lake and Crazy #11

We are still having gray skies, but down the hill to the lake a Kousa dogwood has turned a bright color.


And meanwhile I have gone rather crazy with doll quilt #11. This is just four log cabin blocks that have the strips set so they form a Greek key or maybe a labyrinth. I chose VERY bright colors, and now I think that I should have put a wider border to contain the impression more. Too late, it's done! Hope there is a mod and crazy little girld somewhere who will love it.


Last night I went to a concert by Holly Near. Loved her informality and her social action music!
Today she had a workshop for our Women's Chorus (we sing something by her every year) and the women's chorus in Lansing. She talked about some of the things we need to "practice" for social change, such as being allies rather than antagonists. And she also listened to us sing, and then had us all sing some simple songs without music on a page. Says we need to have some songs like this ready for a possible opportunity. Good teaching and good fun!


Sara

Gratitudes:

Gaining a little energy around budgeting
Time with Lynne (DDIL) in the car to and froom Lansing
Conversation with Chorus members at lunch

Gray day yet colorful

Cloudy and even rainy most of the day, but the maple trees along our driveway are blazing!

And in the sewing room, I discovered a shoebox with LOTS of 3.5" blocks. Some of them were "confetti" blocks made sometime in the past. Sixteen of them made this 19" square doll quilt. This is #10.

Sara

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Gratitudes:

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Stretching at exercise class

Lunch benefitting the Salvation Army Auxiliary

More tree color as I drove around town

Doll quilt #9

Made from left-overs of Double Delight again. Don't remember that I made so many extra blocks, but there they were in a shoe box!

This time I decided to showcase the light corners of the Nine-patches by using a dark background fabric. The paisley was a long time resident of my Blue stash shelf.

Added a border to "float" the blocks.

Almost enough fabric left for the back, so I added a little strip of African style fabric to eek it out.

We had a bass sectional rehearsal tonight for the G.R Women's Chorus. We have a lot of foreign language songs: this year French, Macedonian, Serbian, an African tribal language.. .altogether nearly half of our songs! But tonight we mostly worked on our notes and rhythms.

We are having a workshop with Holly Near on Saturday in Lansing, and we need to have a piece to present. Lori, our director, has chosen "Rosa Sat So Martin Could Walk". The rest of the chorus is "Martin walked, so Barack could run. Barack ran, he ran and he won, so that all our children could fly!" The tune is jazzy and syncopated, a fun song to sing--and appropriate to present to Holly, who does a lot of social action songs herself.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Tenth doll quilt finished [photo tomorrow]

Made tapenade, yummy!

Maples on driveway turning more orange today

Doll quilts 7, 8

I found some 3/4 Square Triangles (at least they are something more than HALF Square Triangles)--already made. So I put 16 of them together into a doll quilt top.

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That left me with 20, so I made a rectangular doll quilt top. That one seemed big enough to just finish.

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With a combination of stripes on the back.

Now the square top seemed too small, so I added blue borders to that one.

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The backing is a really wild swirl of colors.

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On all of these I have made the binding by simply cutting the backing to 3/4" larger than the top and batting, pressing that 3/4" in half and turning it over to the front for top-stitching. It goes really quickly, and seems sufficient for the project.

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Sara

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Gratitudes:

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Some progress with the financial gurus

Quick haircut

Charlie cooked dinner--brats.

Frosty Sunday

Viburnum leaves after a foggy, 30 degree night.

Sedum "Autumn Joy" backed by "Queen of the Prairie" filipendula, and miscanthus grass.

I found some left-over nine-patch blocks from Bonnie Hunter's Double Delight mystery, and made this doll quilt yesterday and today.

For once I tried some free motion quilting, not stitch-in-the-ditch.

Sara

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Gratitudes:

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Crispy walk this AM looking at the frost

Fall tree color really coming along

Tasty steak for dinner

Doll Quilts 3, 4, 5

These doll quilts are rather addicting! Once I look in my boxes and find some 3.5 or 5" already-made blocks, then it is the work of only a few hours to put one together and be totally finished. A great feeling. Yes, this looks alot like the first one for this year. But THIS one has a blue border!

And this one was from already-made double four-patches.

Thirdly, simply strips and a bright orange with red polka dots backing and binding.

I also got one more "spacer" border on my Your Way Mystery quilt. Just another white one. I am waiting for the last border fabric to arrive in the mail. It's a Michael Miller black and white stripe that I couldn't find enough of in town.

At SpoolSpinners last night we saw how everyone has put their Your Way Mystery together,

including in some cases the borders.

It was wonderful!

They are SOooo different, but you can see we were all following the same recipe.

Here are a few more that I didn't see at our retreat earlier:

Sara

Gratitudes:

A quiet day with no "obligations"

Said a fond good-by to the Summer Sun quilt for the winter

Charlie removed a mouse I had stepped on in the laundry room!