Quilt Qwazy Queens

Posted byCarol AndrewsPosted inBlog Hops, Quilting, What’s Going OnTags:, , , , , , ,

I had planned a project for this Hop and then, guess what? Life happened and that squirrel paid me a visit in the form of one of my young neighbours…………..

She is such a sweet young (very young) lady. We were talking about sewing and quilting and it turns out this young lady is interested in learning to sew! She has 2 preschool kids at home and is expecting number 3 in a few days. I sent her home with enough flannelette, thread, one of my machines and instructions to make some double sided receiving blankets. While she was here she told me the new baby is a girl. She has two boys already so she really enjoyed fondling the pinks, purples and bits of girly fabric I had and asked if it’s hard to make a quilt. Just before she left, she told me her husband had just been laid off from his job.

So that’s where the squirrel came in. I pulled every bit of flannelette I could find in my scrap bin and started thinking of warm, snuggly quilts. Trying to think of a pattern that would work with what I had was getting frustrating until I thought of a disappearing nine patch. I wasn’t sure if I had enough fabric on hand but got busy cutting 8″ squares and putting them together in layouts to figure my colors. I didn’t have quite enough so I had to make some crumb squares. I had to configure things so I could make the quilt a raggy quilt because I love having something that’s warm and cuddly, but also give the wee one something to touch and play with the fuzzy edges.

I also had two orphan blocks in the right colors that I could make work and I wanted to have one or two uncut squares to add to the variety.

Once I had decided on how thing were going to be put together, I started sewing and cutting. I love how these quilts come together so quickly! Slicing and turning, resewing and voila! In just 4 hours, I had the quilt blocks made, sandwiched, quilted and the rows all put together.

After I dinner I made a cup of tea and sat and did the snipping.

The quilt went in to the washer and dryer twice to give it that snuggly, fuzzy appearance.

Now it’s ready for a sweet little girl to make her appearance. I think it’s perfect for my wonderful neighbour. She is a young hippy so the wilder and brighter the quilt is, the more she will like it! I know. It’s crazy! Right? No discernible pattern since some of the blocks were pieced before I made the nine patches and then sliced and sewed. It has been delivered to a surprised Mom and sweet little Tenley has been bundled in her quilt.

Originally I had planned on writing about my Homecoming Quilt. It was a king size Lonestar Quilt which was being made for a dear friend who had lost her home and 95% of her belongings in a house fire. The reconstruction was traumatic and took almost 2 years. The original quilt was a quilt that her grandmother had made. I had the flimsy pieced when a very busy 5 year old grandson was visiting. I was teaching a class at the Guild and Grampa was babysitting. Grampa got tied up on the phone, so Michael decided to inspect my studio along with his glass of grape juice! You guessed it! I had to unpick most of the quilt and start over. Since a large portion of the fabric was destroyed by the addition of a very vibrant purple, I had to rework my design. Flimsy #2 was redone with some modern variations. I was finally satisfied with version #2 and had been looking forward to putting it on the frame. Unfortunately we had to move in to temporary housing after what was supposed to be a sale of our home. That became the never-ending real estate deal. So I had to do the quilting on my domestic machine. Now the crazy comes in. My dear friend insisted that the quilt be made with wool roving as batting? Have you ever worked with roving? It started not bad, but after free motion quilting the centre of the star, I discovered that the roving kept shifting causing puckers in the backing. Out came my friend, the ripper again. I consulted with my friend and every quilter I knew. The best solution was to make a muslin “bag” with channels for the roving. So the inside sack was constructed and when I sandwiched the top, batting bag and backing I discovered that I had to pin it every two inches to keep things in place so I could at least get some basting stitching done. Yes, this was discovered when I had more puckering and had to get the ripper out again. By this time my backing was the worse for wear, so I undid everything and changed out my backing. I can tell you when this project was finished I was so happy to send it on it’s way but forgot to get the final pictures. When my friend gets back from her 6 month contract she promised to send me photos so I will have some for my portfolio!

This is the start of version 2 of Homecoming. Eventually I will have pictures of the completed craziest quilt I have ever made!

As I finish writing this I’m thinking that I changed my mind about the craziest quilting experience ever. I was at a meeting this afternoon for the golf course DH loves. 30+ years ago he built the clubhouse. We now live in a pretty little suite in the back portion of the clubhouse so DH gets to walk out the door and play. With his MS we work at keeping him mobile and getting exercise so golf works well. Unfortunately the course is going the way of many small rural courses with aging populations. Financially things are tight. So guess who is making not 1, but 3 quilts for a raffle; king, queen and throw sizes. I have 5 weeks until opening day! Wish me luck! 🥴. Better yet, teach me how to say “NO!” instead of being such a volunteer!

Make sure you check out the other blogs involved in this Hop for some amazing projects. Here is the schedule:

March 15, 2019
Melva Loves Scraps
Words & Stitches
Websterquilt
Seams To Be Sew

March 18, 2019
Quiltscapes
Days Filled With Joy
Life In the Scrapatch
Rainbows. Bunnies. Cupcakes

March 19, 2019
Bumbleberry Stitches
Kathy’s Kwilts and More
Ms. P. Designs USA
Quilt Schmilt
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

March 20, 2019
MooseStashQuilting
Thrift Shop Commando
Karrin’s Crazy World
Songbird Designs

The amazing Fat Quarter Shop is giving away not one, but two $35.00 gift certificates to some lucky winners so please make sure you show them some love and check out their new products and great sales! To enter, please make sure you visit https://www.seamstobesew.com/

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1343370f343/

I hope you are enjoying seeing the other quilters qwazies as much as I am! Thank you for stopping by my blog. Take some time to do something you enjoy today and find a reason to laugh. That makes life worthwhile! 😄. Carol

Published by Carol Andrews

I have been fondling fabric and creating things with fabric and fiber for as long as I can remember. My children had homemade clothes, blankets, canning and quilts most of their lives. Now I create goodies to share! Hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoy making them! When I am not creating with fiber or fabric I keep busy with Dear Heart, kids, grandkids, great grandkids.

54 thoughts on “Quilt Qwazy Queens”

  8. Wish you luck on your three quits. What a crazy experience with the star quilt. But you persevered. You are so sweet to help your neighbor and make a lovely quilt for her and baby. Have a fabulous week.
    quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

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  9. Thanks for sharing your wild stories. I understand the motivation to keep going and not give up on a project. Now that I have retired I tell my self to slow down, keep at it, and you will finish. Most of the time I don’t have the deadlines you are facing though. Sure increases the pressure.

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  10. My project, which I will post tomorrow, involved seam ripping, not once but twice. I had to post it unquilted, that’s for another day …

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  11. What a sweet gift for your neighbor!! I’m sure she will appreciate it and it will be loved for years!! The link from the other posts for Quilt Qwazy take us to your post about your Shoebox Swap box you got last year…you may want them to change that since that group is supposed to be private!!

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  15. Haven’t made a rag quilt for awhile. It’s time especially after seeing yours. They are so warm and cuddly and perfect!! Thank you for sharing ..

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  17. Pingback: Day 3 of Quilt Qwazy Queens here today…

  18. when i have times like this i always ask myself if i should find another outlet for my creativity and then i say; naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah , it’ll be ok.

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  19. WoW, Good Luck, I would not have been crazy enough to have said yes, but I sure enjoyed your post and the stories that went with it. I am so happy you participated in QQQ 2019… I would have missed out on these great stories and the fun a neighbor would receive in a quilt project.

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  21. I need to finish more and quit starting more – I always want to do this for her or that for him and pretty soon I am doing things to meet dates, my husband says he thinks I work better under pressure. I wish I could get ahead of myself!

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    1. I know what you mean! This year my UFO’s will all be finished. I had told myself no starting anything new until they were all done, but life has a habit of changing things!

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    1. Thank you. I have no choice but to take lots of breaks. Lol. I tore 3 ligaments in my shoulder and am waiting for surgery. So I take lots of breaks to change positions. I also am on a new beta blocker which makes me nap most afternoons! Isn’t old age wonderful! My body makes me behave 😉

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  27. What a sweet gift for your heighbor – one that she will cherish forever. Thanks for sharing our crazy quilt as well. I love lone stars, but not sure I’ll ever try one!! LOL

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    1. Thank you. The first Lonestar was fairly easy since I used Krista Hennebury’s pattern from her book (I forgot the name and the book is still packed! Oooops!). Then when I had to unpick it, it was pieced traditionally but I had to modify the pattern. You really should try it! I’m daydreaming of a Hunter Star and a Double Wedding Ring soon! I’m hung up on traditional snow but seem to like adding a modern twist! 🥴

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