I am in a quilting and reading phase. Quilt a little, read a lot, quilt some more. There are always so many projects to make and books to be read, am I right?
But – the sewing! I have been getting lots done. Today I will share this cute picnic quilt I made for my grand daughters. I carried this line of fabric (it is all gone – sold so fast!) and before I sold out, I stashed away some of the red and yellow yardage as well as a panel of the animals.
I love seeing red and yellow together. It makes for a really cheerful combination. I need did use the green fabric with this project. I decided to save it for another day.
I started to make nine patch blocks last January and split them up, sewing them back together for a disappearing nine patch design.
Some had red centers.
Some had yellow centers. But once made, the blocks were always set aside for some other project.
Well my son and his wife recently bought a house outside of Seattle and we have been calling it “the Farm House”. It isn’t really a farm but it is on 1.5 acres and has a lot of raised beds, greenhouses, and a chicken coop. So, farm enough in our opinion.
I decided I needed to finish the quilt so the girls could sit on it outside and eat a snack or bring their lunch outside. The three year old is always filled with energy and I know she will love their big yard. This property is perfect for them.
I had some fun quilting this. In the center, I stitched in the ditch around the white animal squares. Then I used vertical and horizontal straight lines at various intervals. In the yellow border I just did a wavy line through each one.
I played with the red border. I did swirls, hearts, flowers and whatever else came to mind. On two corners I put the girl’s names which was fun. On the bottom border I stitched “Grammys Girls” but wasn’t thinking of the orientation so it is upside down. Sigh. Not a huge deal but I do wish I had thought to flip it before I stitched the words. Not enough to spend the time unpicking the stitching though. Haha.
The backing is a super wide stripe from Michael Miller. My sister was clearing her sewing area a couple of years ago and gifted me this piece and a few others. I knew it would come in handy at some point. The binding is a repro feed sack print I have in the shop. I like the little flowers framing the quilt, though this picture doesn’t really show the binding off very well.
I ran into a snag when I washed the quilt last night tho. The red bled onto the white animal squares. (I was too annoyed to take any pictures.) Ugh. I haven’t experienced this and was a little freaked out. Both Wendy of Pieceful Thoughts and Jan of Colorful Fabriholic recommended this method by Vicki Welsh to removed the red. By the time I asked these lovely women, I had already cold water washed it twice and rinsed it two more times. After reading Vicki’s method, I chose to alter it a bit. My washer is large and the quilt is about 50 x 50″ so not terribly big. I put it in the wash on the “deep water wash” cycle with hot water. The hot water was the part that scared me but Vicki says that is what needs to be done. Before I put the quilt back in I decided to spray each of the white squares liberally with OxyClean stain remover. I didn’t rub it in aggressively but I did sort of massage it into the stained areas. Then I used a fragrance free “free and clear” type of laundry detergent and put in more than I normally do. Once the machine was filled with hot water I stopped the cycle and let it soak, making sure it was all under water. Finally I let the machine finish its cycle and ran it through a couple of extra rinse cycles since there was a lot of soap in there. It worked! The animals are back in their little white squares as opposed to the pale pink squares that I saw last night. Phew! Thank you Wendy, Jan and Vicki!!
Now that this is finished, I have moved on to another quilt top. I basted it yesterday and plan to quilt it this weekend. It is miserably hot and smokey outside – I did get a little yard work done early this morning but will be inside all afternoon. We don’t have any plans for the long weekend. Hope you are all well. Enjoy your long weekend and make sure to spend a little (or a lot) of time sewing!
Linking to:
Brag About Your Beauties, Whoop Whoop, Tish’s UFO Busting & TGIFF
Your Farm Quilt is sew cute! I am happy to hear you were able to remove the dye stains. Thanks for the link about removing dye stains. I have bookmarked all this for future reference. I hope your air clears and weather cools and you are blessed with healing rains … <3 Pat
I was really relieved. I kept telling myself the girls wouldn’t even care if the animals lived on a pink farm but it sure annoyed me. Anyway – it all worked out well. I would LOVE some rain but usually we don’t get any till October or so. We have a ways to go. Thanks tho! Love hearing from you Pat. 🙂
What is the pattern ( square sizes, HST sizes), instructions for the purple quilt. Farm quilt is so cute Your girls will love it Bernie.
Blessings, Beth
Ditto… I found it intriguing and would love to have the pattern.
Hi Beth: Thank you for asking about the HST quilt. When I first made the quilt top, I posted it here: https://needleandfoot.com/2018/11/02/creating-mercy-ful-quilts/. So there is some information about the quilt there. I don’t really have a pattern but I did use HST’s that finishes at 10″. Hope this helps!!
Thanks Bernie. I’ll check out the link. It looks easy and interesting. Hope I can do one soon.
Beth
So cute, and perfect for backyard picnics. I like that it has “feedsack” binding since it’s going to be in a “farmhouse.” (Quotes intended) Isn’t it heart-stopping to discover dye migration? I’m glad you were able to get the dye out.
Yes on the dye issues – I took it out of the washing machine and was so surprised to see the issues because usually color catchers are enough? Not this time. But alls well that ends well. Can’t wait to give the quilt to the girls. We are driving up at the end of the month to watch the kids while they move into the new house. Hurray!!
Love that new quilt layout! And I’m very fond of chickens and farm scenes. Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Carolyn – thank you for the note! For the HST quilt, check out this post.
https://needleandfoot.com/2018/11/02/creating-mercy-ful-quilts/
I used HST’s that finished at 10″ square. Each HST has one half that is the same solid color fabric. Then I just played with the layout until I came up with this one. As you know, HSTs can be put together in a myriad of ways. It was fun to keep changing it up until I found one that I really liked. Hope all is well!
Oh yippee! I’m so glad it worked! It’s such a cute quilt, Bernie. I’m sure the girls will have many hours of tea parties at the farm. I’m sure you’ll be invited often 🙂
I was relieved! Thanks again for responding so quickly in my dire moment of need!! We are going up north to watch the girls while they move into the new house at the end of the month. Can’t wait!!
You’ve been mighty productive Bernie. So happy they found the perfect property, and, yes, it sounds farmy to me. I too love the combination of reds & yellows, so spunky! Congrats on fixing the color, can be so discouraging. Thanks for sharing. 😀
Perfect quilt for two perfect granddaughters on their parents choice of a perfect home!
Glad you fixed the red running into the squares.
Love the mix of red and yellow and I’m so glad you were able to prevent the Pink Farm! Did you use colour catchers in your first wash? I tend to have a lot of trouble with purple fabrics running. I’m fastidious about using the colour catchers in the first wash, no matter what colour the fabric is. Once bitten!
I am the same! I use color catchers every time. I put two in for the first wash and they were solid red!! I suppose the problem would have been even worse without those. It all worked out though.
Hope you and your family are doing well!!
What an adorable quilt! I always give 2 color catchers (and a cut out of the package) with each quilt I give (that’s about 98% of everything I make!). Hope you’re having a lovely holiday weekend. Don’t know about you, but the heat wasn’t as bad today, but that’s only because of the thick layer of smoke blocking a great deal of the sun. Can’t wait till the rains start in October, either —
Hi Deb – I did put two color catchers in with the first wash – I think it would have been worse without those. We are having a nice weekend. I got to spend the whole afternoon in the sewing room. Lots of quilting and I even organized and cleaned up a bit in there. It was so relaxing – the heat was pretty yucky. I think it was about 100* in the afternoon and tomorrow is supposedly hotter yet. Sigh. It always does this in September – I feel ready for fall but we have to deal with more hot dry days. You’d think I would be used to it by now!!
Take care Deb. 🙂
This is such a cute quilt Bernie! Glad you were able to get the dye out. I had that problem years ago and didn’t know (or even read about) how to remove it, so it has just become part of the quilt – lol!
I can feel your joy over your family being close, and I’m so happy for you. Are they moved in yet? The entire Seattle area is just so beautiful, I’m glad they were able to find a house and actually buy it in this crazy market. It sounds like a dream house!
The kids move in at the end of the month. Ray and I are going up to help – it is really the best. Still a long, long drive but it feels much better. How is the house hunt going for you two? Hope you are finding something, have found something, find something soon?!? 🙂
What a clever way to disguise a D9P. If you don’t mind I might copy this idea for a charity quilt.
Of course – it isn’t my original design that’s for sure. I have seen D9P’s done in so many ways. This was a fun way to use the panel of farm animal blocks. Go for it!
That is so cute, Bernie – your girls are going to love it! I’m glad you figured out a way to get the bleeding out – that is always scary when it happens. It’s hot and smoky in Colorado, too – I think we’ll be spending our Sunday mostly indoors!
Sorry to hear this – I know CO has been blazing (literally and figuratively) too. I can’t wait for rain. We need it so bad – for the fires, to clear the air etc. Hang in there and stay inside. The air is so unhealthy. I think one thing I miss is opening the house at night but we haven’t been able to.
I’m so glad you were able to get the dye bleeding out. I ran into that issue quite a few years ago and keeping the quilt wet and not letting it dry and continuing to work on the bleeding is what saved that quilt in the end, I think. What a sweet quilt and perfect for the girls and the new home / farm!
Cute, cute picnic quilt! I am bookmarking Vicki’s direction page! The scenario of a bleeding fabric gives me nightmares! Thanks
Your farm quilt is so cute!!! Perfect for sitting outside. I love that you added “Grammy’s Girls” in the quilting, and your flower is pretty too. So glad you were able to get the dye that ran out of the quilt!!!! That’s a relief!
That is a charming quilt, just adorable!! I keep Vicki’s Save My Bleeding Quilt in a bookmark so I can find it fast. I hope you don’t have to deal with all those fires!!
The fire in our town is out. However there are soooo many fires in the radius out 150 miles of us that the smoke is constant. Whenever the wind shifts the smoke just blows in from a different fire. California is really hurting right now. Has is everywhere!! I feel for people who have long sensitivities. If I am out when it is smokey it gives me a headache and kind of makes my feel queasy. People with asthma or other issues must have a terrible time. Hoping for rain!!!
I am so glad you were able to “remove the red”. I hate front loaders as we have no option for the more water and soaking like we used to do. I always used to prewash but hold my breath now. So glad it worked out for you!