Color Study Baby Quilt Gifted

"The real issue in life is not how many blessings we have, but what we do with our blessings. 

Some people have many blessing and hoard them.
Some have few and give everything away." 

~ Fred Rogers ~

________________

I've certainly been on a quilting roll these past few weeks. There's lots of non-sewing stuff to do, too, but I'm incentivized by the number of babies arriving soon. {So much for the plan to have a small stack at the ready. These are heading out as fast as they are finished.} Not that I'm complaining.

The first, larger Color Study was quilted and gifted a couple of months ago to a special friend who shares my love of color. These blocks were the "leftovers"; the extras. Still bright; just enough for a baby/toddler quilt. Only waiting for another person whose heart sings with color. And then...

A young friend is expecting her second baby. Her oldest received Suhavi's Stars and this one almost matches it in cheerful color...

Color Study 2 Chinese Coins baby quilt for a second baby

 especially with the addition of bright orange on the back!

Color Study 2 baby quilt binding and quilting details

My first thought was to bind it in similar bright oranges but they didn't show well with the back. Given all the colors, no binding seemed to work with them all. There are; however, many green and blue fabrics which blended well with this green stripe binding. It looks good against the orange back, too.

Since the idea worked so well last time, I quilted with the same cross-hatching as the first Color Study. Certainly running quilting lines in two directions adds strength; always an important point when the quilt will get so much use.

It arrived just before the baby. Hooray.

Size: 45" x 45"

Pattern: Chinese Coins variation

Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose 100% cotton

Thread: Aurifil 50-wt grey cotton 

Quilting: Walking foot grid

Previous post: Sewing the top

A big Thank You to the many hundreds of you who've updated your blogs to the safer https form. So many people have emailed, posted comments, and actually flipped the switch on their blogs. I'm thrilled. Quilters are a strong, kind, and helpful group. You've shown it again with your commitment to helping keep the internet safe for everyone.  🎉🎉

Let's keep the momentum going. Check your sidebar blogs for https and let those quilters know that their blog needs to be switched also. Simply hover over the blog title. If it starts with https, it's safe. If not, it's not.

The next AHIQ invitation is posted. We hope you’ll join us.

Finally: guess who came to dinner? While walking to dinner last night we spied a pair of raccoons playing in the gutter.

A pair of raccoons in the gutter

They quickly hid but then popped out again to see if we'd share. A reminder that wildlife is more adaptable than we think.

Enjoy the day, Ann

How Safe is Your Site?

Last year I posted about switching to https from http. If you haven't done this, you need to read the post and make the change. It's VERY EASY to do. This is a safety and security issue even if {like me} you aren't a commercial site. Why? Http is an old system and has serious and known flaws that allow hackers to breach your site.

Recently I noticed several of my old linkups mysteriously had a photo of a car added to the quilts. My site is https but the linkup company I used had a flaw that Google warned me about. Simply deleting the linkup wasn't enough. Those linkups with the car photo stubbornly remained. The hackers came through that flaw and added the code into MY post. I had to delete the string of code in HTML. {I'm a not a professional coder so my solution was to delete everything from my signature on down.} If you check, you'll see the explanation I added.

What I did NOT do was click on that car link. That could have compromised my computer. By adding their own link, the hackers could make it point to any site they wanted. I'm sure "sinister people" pay them to link a porn site, a bitcoin or Nigerian scam, or something else through my innocent post. I'd seen an uptick in odd sites to my blog and was trying to track them down.

If you don't have https and/or you link to sites that aren't https, you are helping criminals. Please don't. 


The world moves on.

Lately some of the blogs on my sidebar have been "coming up blank." I click on them but the page doesn't appear. In fact, all that appears is one of these icons.

I use Chrome, a Google product. In May, Google announced they would start flagging insecure sites because most sites worldwide now use https and it's better to call out the laggards. Now it appears they've moved to the next step to help keep us all safe: Chrome won't let me go to sites that aren't https. I asked DH and found out I could override this choice. Hey, I'm an adult. But that would be like taking those stupid ridiculous bird box challenges.

I mean, really.

If the experts {among whom I am NOT included} think it's foolhardy to go to an insecure site, why would I override them? Even if your site is only an innocuous quilting blog, too many nasty people can hack in through it. So...

I checked and I can get there on Safari. But I won't. If you aren't https:, you won't see me until you are.

Please. And thank you. Ann

A Finish and an Annual Review

Still turning tops into quilts and this is the latest. Hooray. Simple parallel lines using the walking foot always make an effective design on Coins. 

Chinese Coins XI quilt

One of my irrational fears is that the seam will fray or rip. Stitching in the ditch is one way to assuage that, plus it helps stabilize the layers when quilting on a domestic machine. Then I stitch a "presser foot" away from the seam on each side and end by halving the remaining space until it looks right.

Parallel quilting on Chinese Coins XI quilt

I planned to quilt with blue thread until I looked at the back. It's all peach so a change of plan was in order.  There was just enough of the daisies on aqua fabric for binding. It makes a good contrast with the back while also blending with the front.

Binding and backing of Chinese Coins XI quilt

After a couple of days quilting, this one is ready to go.

Quilt Details

Size: 58" x 62"

Design: Chinese Coins

Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose 100% cotton

Thread: Peach Gutterman cotton

Quilting: Walking foot parallel lines

Previous posts:

1. Using scraps
2. Top sewn

2018 Review

Finding myself in an extremely prolific "quilt-'em'-up-and-move-'em-out" mode, it's difficult to stop and write a thoughtful post about the past year. One lazy excuse is that finished 2018 quilts already have their own page; however, reflecting on my previous goals versus results helped the last two years... although I seem to ignore goals at will. The tally? Seventeen quilts, one Christmas stocking, and one quilt repair. More were small. {Another goal met.} Nine baby, four toddler/lap size and four full size quilts. 

Looking back, this has been a year of Chinese Coins quilts. The overwhelming reason/excuse is the September workshop for my guild. Deadlines are always an incentive. Paying attention to fabric selection was a goal that is visible in these quilts. It is evident {to me at least} in the original fabric pulls as well as the many columns of colors. I enjoyed those first pulls and then sorting them by values, colors, or arranging them randomly.  

Eight finished quilts were Chinese Coin variations while four spun out of the Bars workshop. Only one was specifically for me. Two Coins are held for future workshops but everything else was gifted or is ready to be. Most of the Coin quilts have a similar arrangement as I worked through iterative examples of the class but a few explore some other ways to use Coins such as Medallions and Stacked Coins.  

Representative sample of 2018 finished quilts 

I drafted the Racetrack quilt and used templates for the Spiderweb but improvised the others. For me that means working in small units and pausing along the way to see what is needed for the next step. Repetition is important and usually some grid-like structures. While I admire wild piecing, it's not what I create. In fact, the past year is mostly one block designs. Scientific Pinwheels is the only one combining two blocks: Coins and pinwheels in two sizes. I think I'll expand my design choices a bit in 2019. 

About half of my 2018 plans were met: smaller quilts, simpler quilting designs, using scraps + recyclables + new fabrics, and paying attention to color selection. A couple of quilts have more details but that effort could be improved. So far, so good. 

On the other hand, none of the listed quilts was finished nor did I write the baseball quilt pattern. My idea was to post it through Craftsy. However, they've been sold and deleted many existing patterns/contributors so that doesn't seem viable. I'll have to find another way to publish - if I ever get it done. Any advice is welcome.

Overall last year's plans are things I want to continue. {Perhaps those WIPs will actually be finished this time around. Ha.} The Square Deal, which started from leftover Coins, is almost ready to be quilted. Considering how much I like borders, I've become lax/lazy with them... they are frequently missing and that needs to change.

Finally I purchased some clothing patterns and pulled out a few old ones. Finding clothes that fit my more casual lifestyle is difficult and this may be a solution. Ideally I would have clothes that fit in fabrics and colors I prefer. We'll see. 

2019 Plans

1. Write it up: baseball quilt pattern.
2. Keep them moving: quilt tops and finish several WIPs.
3. Consider: borders, stars, and medallions. 
4. Continue combinations: recycled + scraps + new fabrics; traditional + improvisation + original designs. 
5. Sew some clothes.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Quilt Repair, Lights, and an Infinity Scarf

Happy New Year! Hopefully 2019 is a year of recovery and peace worldwide; a time for us to embrace the best of our beliefs in common humanity and kindness.

In addition to human grandchildren, I have two granddogs {GD1 and GD2.} GD1 has the charming habit of digging underwear out of the dirty laundry, draping it around his neck and prancing around the house whenever guests are present. {No photos of this; just take my word for it.}

GD2 has a very delicate constitution which somehow still allows him to eat aforementioned underwear, socks, and parts of quilts. The first two are funny, until you have to take him to the vet. The latter is always reprehensible. We hope he is growing out of this stage but truthfully, it's only slowing down thus far.

Last time I visited, several chewed quilts came to my attention. Most of them I tossed and replaced {with their permission} but one had too many memories - a high school t-shirt quilt now hosting three holes. One on the border, a small one in the interior and a very large one {almost one entire shirt.} Home it came for repairs.

Repaired t-shirt quilt

First I washed the quilt. Then, after measuring the holes, I covered them with the same Hobbs 80/20 cotton/poly batting, zigzagged around the perimeter of the hole, and trimmed the batting back to that stitch line.

Next I patched the backs. I pulled a red and a blue fabric to patch the smaller two holes back and front. The rectangles were cut and turned before being hand stitched in place. No, I didn't try to "match" the mend on each side. It seemed better to minimize some of the seam bulk by letting them do their own thing.

After much deliberation I used a busy outer space themed fabric to repair the front. I considered making a block {plane, car, flying geese, cross} to fill the area but decided the diner dome {sort of } matched the snowy mountain on the original t-shirt. And the color definitely fits the quilt well.

The largest hole uses some leftover improv blocks on the back. Sadly part of his name was chewed away. The improv pieces seemed to fit that center though; even the colors blend well. Who'd have thought?

Mended t-shirt quilt back

With both sides mended, I free-motion quilted the repairs, then bound the section on the edge.

It's back with the original recipient. Hopefully, GD2 won't need a midnight snack again.


Lights

DH outdid himself for Christmas. I mentioned needing LED lights like Lynne posted at Patcherie Menagerie and he bought me two.

Slightly different maker but they certainly light up my quilts. Only 20 watts but 1400-1600 lumens each. What a difference. Thanks for the tip, Lynne.


Scarf

Going into cleanup mode, I almost tossed the silk remnant I purchased three years ago. Then I found some silk thread in the drawer. I gave myself an evening to finally make the infinity scarf or toss them. The deadline was met.

Silk infinity scarf

Most of my scarves are bright so these soft colors were an attempt to try something different. I'm not sure if it needs edge stitching. It's hard to get a sharp edge on this material. And I've no idea how it will wash. Or if it's only dry cleanable. I'll have to call the shop and ask.

Enjoy the day, Ann