Old New ideas

I keep a couple of notebooks with quilt notes. There's photos and information about quilts that I have made, and ideas for future reference. I looked through my books. So this sketch was made some years ago, actually. I was thinking of making some sort of log cabin quilt, and this "White House Steps" pattern is about right, I believe. I have a lot of long strips left over from making borders on quilts, sashes, and just plain scraps. So I decided to make a sample block. And it turned out to be a very quick and easy block, too.

The center of the block is a 4 1/2 inch square (including 1/4 inch seams.) The surrounding strips are cut 2 1/2 inches wide. That produces a 12 inch quilt block.

There are two blocks in the quilt, alternating light and dark colors.

I like to sew the 2 1/2 inch strips to the side of the center block, and then I trim them for the length. I keep a cutting mat and an ironing mat next to my sewing machine. I hope that my explanation makes sense--

Rancho Santa Margarita

Here's a glimpse of where I live in California. The fountain with the statues, where toddlers love to play, and a distant view of Saddleback Mountain.

On the street where I live

This is where I live. I have a condominium in Southern California. That's my street, courtyard and my patio. It's been a lovely summer so far, but we have some hot weather coming during the end of August and the month of September. I'm still sewing on the puff quilt every day. I'm thinking about a log cabin quilt of some sort. I made one last year and I enjoyed it so much.

The puff quilt--progress report

I've made a lot of strips of puffs. I guess I've made about a third of the puffs that I need for a twin size.

It's that time again

It's the beginning of August, and it's time to start my knitting (and crochet and quilting) for Chanukah and Christmas (we have both varieties of people in our family.) I don't shop for presents. I'm the Grandma who gives checks for college funds instead. And I make comfy sweaters for kids. Not much call for hats, scarves and mitts out our way (California and Nevada.) Just maybe a scarf for my grandson who goes to college in Davis, CA. I've already got one sweater started, and I mail ordered yarn for the next one. I used up all the yarn that I bought at a yard sale a year or two ago. I had enough of that yarn left over to make an afghan for charity, last spring. Gosh I'm writing a lot of run-on-sentences today--teachers, get out your red pencils!
That's how it goes when you are lucky enough to have six wonderful grandchildren.

Not denim

Alicia asked about the use of denim in my crazy quilt. Nope, it's not denim. It's just cotton that's printed to look like denim. I like to quilt with fabric like that.

How to quilt in sections

When I make a big quilt, I make it in sections--could be anywhere from 2 to 6 sections--depending on the size. I join the sections together after quilting. Anyhow--what I do is cut a generous backing. Then I put the backing, batt and quilt on the dining room table. I make sure the quilt is centered on the batt and backing. Next I put a bandaid on my left index finger--that way, I don't have to put one on later on a sore finger--aha! I have a long wooden slat that I keep concealed in a closet corner. I use it to schmush the quilt flat by running it firmly over the surface. And I slip my largest cutting mat under the quilt. Then I safety pin the surface, about 3 or 4 inches apart. I shift the quilt around until it is all pinned nicely. I peek at the back to be sure that I didn't get any big creases. Sometimes just removing a pin or two is necessary. And I'm off to the races (as they say.) I'm too arthritic to do any stuff on the floor, anyhow. Also, I can do one section at a time, so it is not as exhausting for me. When quilting, leave room at the edges where it will be seamed together later.
To join the sections--never pin them together--it's too easy to loose a pin in the batt. Well, maybe a safety pin or two. I used to baste the front seams together, but I realized that since I was sewing with a needle and thread, why not just hand sew the fronts together? It's just using smaller stitches than the basting. So that's what I do. And then I turn the quilt over and trim excess batting. I use my tiny craft iron to iron down that seam. And I hand hem the back together. Lastly, I quilt over the seam.

A full view of crazy qult

Here's a pretty good photo of the finished quilt. Yep, it's on its way to a new and happy home.