Time to Quilt

I haven’t sewn much lately except for quilting tops for the Palm Beach County Quilters’ Guild. I was able to do 7 tops this week, which are ready to be signed out to other members for binding. Our guild’s Outreach Chairwoman, Vivian, is focused on finishing the over 400 quilt tops that were in storage when she stepped into the position nearly 2 years ago. She’s down to about 50 left, and I’m helping to get them done in the next few months. In addition to all the quilts, she also accomplished the equally daunting task of emptying a very large storage unit that was a financial drain on the guild.) I’m hoping she’ll agree to be a guest blogger one day if she ever stops long enough to take a deep breath!

On Wednesday, I finally got my Shingles vaccination appointment at Publix. I realized I could also get a flu shot at the same time so I asked about it. They mentioned I needed Tetanus and Pneumonia shots too. They warned it might be uncomfortable, but I chose to proceed anyway. The symptoms weren’t too bad, mostly just a headache. However, with both arms sore, I had trouble sleeping. Anytime I rolled over, I’d wake up and toss and turn. I’m feeling better now but it was a good lesson about not putting things off! 😉

I finally started decorating inside the house and snapped a few photos of some handmade decorations I’ve accumulated over the years. This first grouping includes things that were all made by me.

My friend Robin made the wall hanging below several years ago. She even hand quilted it! I’m pretty sure it was around 20 years ago that she gave it to me, not long after we discovered our mutual interest in the same type of quilts and fabric designers. I put it up every year and I’m always awestruck that she gave me something that she hand quilted. ♥ We’re still good friends but she went on to become a much, much better quilter than I could ever aspire to be!

I apologize for the late afternoon photo that distorted the true colors. It’s a much brighter Christmas red and green than it looks here. But, it’s in a prominent place on the wall over our living room TV so it’s unlikely I’ll get a better photo of it this year.

Speaking of hand quilting, I did this quilt by hand in 2002 and gave it to my husband for Christmas. I dearly loved Thimbleberries fabric at one time but now, I rarely make quilts using them. Though the saturated colors are a bit heavy feeling for the rest of the year in our hot and humid south Florida climate, they’re always a welcome sight at Christmas time.

I bought wood letters at a craft store several years ago and decoupaged them with Christmas scrapbook papers. I originally planned to put them in the windowsill, but after placing them on the bed, I decided to keep them there and that’s where I’ve placed them every Christmas since then.

This last photo is for my granddaughter. She gave me the tiny tree by the little bench last year when I picked her up one day from the church after (school) care for her karate lesson. I’m not sure if it was in something from the aftercare or from an Advent calendar. I only know she thought it was something I’d like.

It was so cute that I decided to display it with my Christmas tree farm decoration so I’ll see it every year. ♥ When people say “it’s the little things that matter”, listen to them. A teeny tiny tree that could have easily been lost along with the used wrapping paper and ribbons gives me a reason to smile and remember that sweet blond headed girl saying “look Grandma! I saved this for you.”

This week will be busy with my husband’s birthday on Thursday, setting up my Christmas village and decorating the tree, attending a fundraiser, and possibly going out to see Christmas light displays. It will be a busy but happy week as I end each day surrounded by a few of my favorite things!

My husband is busy decorating the yard for Christmas. Knowing him, he’ll work on it every day until Christmas eve, making and adding new things as he goes.

I haven’t begun to put up decorations inside yet but I’ve spent some time making a couple of new things.

I wanted a new little table topper banner like the two previous holiday ones I made this year. I really didn’t care for the machine applique JOY kit in the Riley Blake series so I searched for a banner I liked better.

This one on Etsy felt just right! I added a little to the top and bottom so it finishes at the same size as the other two, 12″ x 14″. I just needed to buy one FQ of fabric for the wreath so I spent about $35 less than I would have by purchasing the kit. 🙂

As luck would have it, I had just enough Christmas poinsettia fabric left to use for the backing from the log cabin Santa craft I made at my guild’s workshop last month.

With 70 pieces in this block, the wreath wasn’t easier than the other two, which also had a lot more pieces than I would have expected!

I also made a wall hanging that I had hoped to do last year but ran out of time.

I have more things I’d like to finish before the month is over. It’s such a busy month that I may need a few elves to help get them done in time.

According to AI, it’s a quilting technique where small pieces of batting are sewn together to make a larger piece for a quilt top. This method uses batting scraps, saving money and reducing waste.

I use a walking foot to zigzag the pieces together and try to sew them right after attaching the binding to a quilt. I was a few quilts behind, and now that I’m used to piecing them as I go, it was bothering me so I spent this morning putting the pieces I had together.

A quilting friend asked me how I determine the size to make since she stores her pieces in a bin and then puts them together when she’s ready to quilt a top.

I typically create kid-sized quilts around 42″ x 54″, which is equates to twelve 12″ blocks with a 3″ border, but it varies by pattern. I decided on a target size of 46″ x 58″ for my frankenbatts, and it’s worked well for the past year. It’s easy to add a strip or cut some off when necessary.

When I trim after quilting a top, I also cut any leftover batting that’s at least 3″ wide into 46″ lengths.

The pieces that are less the 46″ get sewn together until I have a piece 46″wide and then it gets added to the frankenbatt in progress.

Very little gets wasted and after today’s stitching, I only have this one little piece leftover.

Before I store a frankenbatt, I always label it with the current measurements so I can easily check if it’s big enough for my next little top without measuring each time. The new shelf under the frame is going to be a much handier place to keep it than the end of the long arm table was.

There are many ways to do things, but what works for me is focusing on one frankenbatt at a time. If it’s slightly too small, I can quickly cut a piece from the bolt to make it the right size.

I’d rather spend 5 minutes sewing pieces together than half a day trying to fit them like a jigsaw puzzle. I also like the fact that the batting scraps get used up quickly and not taking up valuable real estate in my sewing room.

A friend from my Stashbuster group shared this video with me today for joining batting on a long arm. It’s interesting! I enjoy learning new techniques, but I don’t think this method would fit my routine.

I chose the American Spirit collection by QT fabrics to make this quilt using the currently free pattern from eQuilter.

It was made to donate for a benefit quarter auction being held on December 15th. The fundraiser is for our 5 year old great nephew’s kidney transplant surgery .

The second quilt I’ll be donating for the auction is this which measures 52″ x 74″ (even though it does look much smaller in this photo).