April – One Month Goal – Hearts

I am linking up with the Elm Streets April one monthly goal.

My goal for this month is to make 32 hearts in colour fabric to make a heart quilt for #healingheartsforChristchurch.  After the attack on the Mosques and people at prayer quilters around New Zealand and around the world have answered the call to make quilts for the families of the dead and wounded. They are all green hearts. I made a few and sent them off to be put into a quilt.

So far I only have a few cut out a bit of fabric for the coloured hearts!

My log cabin heart quilt is drying outside, and when ready will be posted of to the hearts quilts for Christchurch.

 

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March Quilting Progress

Well for once I didn’t complete my one month goal for a start!  I did do some of it but a health issue plus another project meant I didn’t get it totally accomplished. Another time.

What I did!

Hearts for Christchurch

Quilters all around the world are making these blocks – I sent my four off but many are gathering together to make full quilts. However we send them off to central places and all the blocks that arrive will be pieced into quilts.  Green is an important colour for Muslims – signifying peace I think, so for all the victims’ families and those wounded green heart quilts are being made.

Coloured hearts are being made for first responders; police, ambulance, hospital. So I thought of the log cabin heart quilt I had pieced and started to quilt. So I worked on finishing the quilting and next I was going to put in the little square areas above the hearts words like peace, hope, kia kaha (be strong) aroha (love) etc. But I decided finishing was better so going to bind it and post if off.

My mother’s memorial quilt

Which was my goal, to finish off the applique in the wedding ring section and make two more blocks.  I did do the applique and  finished one of the two blocks.

This one has names of her children embroidered on, hard to see but when you are up close they are discernible!

Bookcase Quilt

Earlier in the month I did some more quilting on my bookcase quilt, and so far I’m happy to have got a good way along. I like to stop and let it gel for awhile about what I’ll do next!

 

Marching On

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts for the March quilt goal.

I had a big quilting month last month working on the Sunshine Garden quilt, which I am now hand sewing down the binding on.

So something reasonably quiet for March! I have done enough quilting to last me for awhile – so just some piecing would be nice this month.

So I am going to pick up the second memory quilt I am making celebrating my mother’s life.  I have four and half blocks finished.

So goal for March

•  complete left side of above block
• complete two to three more blocks.

This was the first memory quilt that I completed so this one will be similar but will make a few changes.

February Progress with Sunshine Garden Quilt

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts

So at the beginning of February I had begun quilting the inner part of the sunshine garden quilt – bought as a kit.  I bought a bit of extra fabric too as it needed to be enlarged to fit the bed its being made for.

My plan for this month was to quilt all the inner part of the quilt, and then add borders using the encased seam method, which I hadn’t used before but I wanted to try. As this is a priority quilt I ended up stopping all other quilting projects and focussed totally on this one.

I did get all the middle quilted and then I added the borders. This involved added a yellow border all around and and at the same time attaching backing and batting that would be enough for all the borders.

This is the back of where I’ll be sewing, the batting has been placed a half inch away from the backing and taped down. On the other side is the narrow yellow border. When this is sewn the backing and batting is smoothed out and the yellow border is on top.

So finally – after a little struggle here and there and wondering if I was doing the right thing all four borders were placed on.

All borders are now on the quilt and I have begun quilting them. So I am very happy to have achieved the goal. I have made the border far larger than the kit showed as my sister wants it as large as I can get!

It measures about 85″ by 96″.

 

Sunshine Garden Quilt

For February I am working on the Sunshine Garden Quilt – a kit designed by Darlene Zimmerman, for my one month goal over at Elm St Quilts.  It is a quilt for one of my sisters. I am going to have to enlarge it a little to fit her bed, so will do that in the borders I hope.

Here are the blocks I was making in January

I have since added the sashing and basted it together, with the help of my trusty fan!

And now I have started to quilt it.

I am using for the first time Marti Michell’s way of using encased seams to add the border later on as this would be too large to quilt on my Bernina home sewing machine. A little nervous about that – but nothing ventured, nothing gained. The piece I am quilting at present is about 57″ by 68″. Getting the middle quilted is easier this way.

So my goal for February is to take this as far as I can. Goal will be achieved if I advance further than I am now!

Steps I hope to get done, however quilting the middle will be good. Working on starting the borders will also be included in the goal, even if I get two sides placed on.

• Quilt the middle
• Add the side borders. (I still have some borders I need to piece as part of the enlarging.)

Hearts Quilt Progress

I am joining in with Elm Street Quilts one month goal for January.

My goal was to add the final sashing to my log cabin hearts quilt and baste the layers together and stitch in the ditch along the main sashing lines – which I have done.  Just as well I did this early in the month, as I was asked to make a very large quilt by one of my sisters.

I did what I set out to do, and then had to set it aside but it feels good that I have advanced its cause!

And the back of it.

Log Cabin Heart Quilt

Joining in with the One Month Goal at Elm St Quilts.

This month I am going to further one of my 2019 long term goals to finish some quilt tops.

For January I want to work on my Log Cabin Hearts top.  It’s a small lap size I think. Actually haven’t measured it!

• I want to add some sashing to one side.
• Prepare some backing fabric and link together some pieces of batting for the inner part. I have found three pieces I can put together for it.
• Give the top a good iron and some tidy up of fraying threads.
• Pin baste the three layers together.
• Start some stitching in the ditch.

 

 

Keeping up with the Splendid Sampler 2 in December

My goal for December – to keep up with the Splendid Sampler 2 as the blocks are assigned.  Linking up with Elm Street Quilts for the one month goal.

December 6th week blocks

December 13th Blocks

The one on the top right was the most challenging as it had EPP and hand applique – which aren’t my favourite ways, but I was happy I completed it reasonably well and felt I had learned something new.

As it turns out after this there were bonus blocks that I won’t be doing as I need only 101 for the setting I am doing. I took the lull for the holidays allowance to make the sashing for some of the blocks already made so I am on track and goal accomplished.