Cheating on the No New Project Diet

I've been on a (No) New Project Diet for several weeks now.  My goal has been to finish up some long-standing projects before I start anything new.  

The diet has been working pretty well, but sometimes it's hard to resist the urge to have some creative fabric play.  Inspiration struck this week when I decided it was OK to indulge in fabric play - for a project that was already under way.

I started making Burgoyne Surrounded blocks last year as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I hadn't made any for several months, but the need for some fabric therapy got me going again.  The RSC color(s) for this month are dark green and sage.  The starting fabric for this block was the small green floral.  The scraps didn't lead in exactly the dark green direction I intended, but I like the result. 

This block started with the dark green batik.  I haven't sewn all the parts together yet, but you can see how I handle all the little pieces.  First, sew the different block units (9 patches, 4 patches, etc.) together, then assemble all the parts into rows.

We are having glorious Autumn weather here in our neck of the Gu'f Coast.  Dear Hubby and I both took Friday off from work (gotta use those vacation days, they disappear at the end of the year!) and have been chillin' at our camp.  Of course being at the camp means I get to sew on my Singer 15K treadle.  I enjoyed many happy hours of stitching this weekend!

And what was I stitching?  Some 9-patches from a swap organized by Barb at Fun With Barb.  This project has been on my Finish It list for over a year.  I'm so happy to finally be assembling these into a quilt top!  This picture is a tease, because the final block arrangement will be very different.

And since we're enjoying the camp, I decided it was time to hang my New Orleans Sunflowers quilt.  This was my first hand appliqué quilt.  My inspiration was a pattern by Anita Shackleford.  Dear Hubby made the quilt hanger for me.

I haven't given up on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, so I'm linking up with them this week.  It's always great to see all the colorful inspiration on display!  

October Potpourri (No Pumpkin Spice!)

When your current goal is to finish a bunch of outstanding projects, it's hard to come up with compelling blog topics.  Right now I'm in the process of hand-stitching the binding on a queen-size quilt.  I'm not one of those people who can stitch down a binding in one long session (carpal tunnel issues), so I try to do a little bit of stitching every day.  I'll get this one finished eventually, but there are three more waiting in the binding queue!

This is the quilt being bound:  Austen Family Album - a BOW by Barbara Brackman.  I divided up my completed blocks and made two quilts with them.  The colors are a little washed out here, but I love the soft look of the pink, yellow, and turquoise fabrics.

The first Austen Family Album quilt contained orange, green and brown fabrics.  I gifted the finished quilt to my sister.

We're finally getting some cooler fall weather here in South Louisiana.  I was inspired to do a little decorating.  I purchased the turkey platter on the left at an antique mall almost exactly 4 years ago.  After that first purchase, my Dear Hubby and I seemed to stumble across vintage turkey platters every time we went antiquing.  Pretty soon we had a collection.  My favorites are the ones with advertising for local furniture stores.  They must have been premiums for folks who purchased furniture around the holidays.

We couldn't stop with just turkey platters, we had to start adding turkey figures, too.  

My Halloween decorating is minimal compared to what I did when my kids were small.  There's a closet full of Halloween decorations, waiting for grandkids or a garage sale, whichever comes first!  I made this little quilt from brown and orange scraps and a great jack-o-lantern fabric.  It's perfect for displaying some Halloween push puppets and wind-up toys.

And now it's time to go stitch some more binding!  I hope everyone has a great week!

Still on the Finish It Train!

I have not been blogging much recently, because most of my quilting activity has involved hand-stitching bindings.  I've finished the binding on one quilt and started another, but there are still FOUR more in the pile of un-bound quilts!  

And why have I been focused on all this binding?  Because I'm still on a kick to finish up some UFOs!

This quilt got finished up earlier this week.  It's had a final trip through the washer and dryer and I'm more than happy with how it softened up and got crinkly.

The weather is not conducive to outdoor pictures today, but I wanted to document the quilt before mailing it off to a family member.  This quilt started out as an effort to use up a big stock of red, white and blue scraps from a previous quilt.  First I made the 16-patch blocks, then added the pinwheels (inspired by a Bonnie Hunter quilt).  Next, a red border followed by an HST zig-zag border (maybe my favorite type of border?!) and another dark blue border to frame everything.

My local long-arm quilter, Cindy Braiwick, had fun adding some patriotic quilting elements.

She added lots of stars, some words, and other patriotic symbols.  The quilt is a gift for my uncle, who is retired from the US Air Force.

The quilting showed up better on the back of the quilt, although I had to tweak the color to improve the visual.

And yup - I remembered to add a label!

Another quilt on the Finish It! list is Modern Crosses.  I should probably call this Not Modern Crosses, as I used reproduction fabrics instead of modern fabrics.  These are blue blocks for September's Rainbow Scrap Challenge color.

I needed five more blocks to complete the setting, so I chose some multi-color florals.

I wasn't in love with just arranging the blocks in a straight set, so I looked online to see if anyone else was making the pattern and how they were setting the blocks.

When I saw several versions of the quilt using this half-drop setting, I knew I had a winner.  Now to cut some half-size pieces for the side blocks and stitch everything together!

I also did a little experimental sewing.  I needed a clear vinyl bag of some sort to carry necessities to an upcoming American football game.  Any bags being carried into American sports stadiums need to conform to a specific size and be see-through.  I knew I could probably make something from materials I had on hand, so I went looking for inspiration online.  Diane Knott at Butterfly Threads had recently made a bag of her own, and I also found this tutorial which got me started.

I didn't want my bag to be team-specific, so I chose some stash fabric with fall colors.  I already had some vinyl on hand, and some lightweight fusible interfacing for the handles.  Not bad for an afternoon's sewing!  Now I'll have something to tote my wallet, sunglasses, reading glasses and lip balm - all things I hate to be without!