Tag Archives: hst quilt

Project Updates

Somehow almost two weeks have passed since the last post. Not sure how that happened, but here we are. I have actually been in the sewing room quite a bit so I will do a quick update on what has been in the works.

First and foremost, I have been working on a cute baby quilt for my niece. It is just about done – I have a few more inches of binding to stitch down and then into the wash it goes. Once she receives it, I will share it here. I am 99% sure she doesn’t read the blog but since I haven’t taken photos of it anyway, it will have to wait.

Additionally, I decided to make a quilt for Mercy Hospital. If you are new here, I coordinate a program called Mercyful Quilts and you can read more about it here. It seemed like a good way to start off the new year by making a quilt for them. I have a panel (by Three Wishes) in the shop that is very pretty. It has four large sections and each has a quote. I thought, for people who are going through the process of saying goodbye to a loved one, this quilt would provide comfort. The prints are reminiscent of a water color painting.

Being a panel, this was a simple quilt top to create. I cut the panel into four sections and used some of the coordinates to create borders around the squares. (Looking at the squares, I think these would also be fun to use for a tote bag for bible study.)

Now that it is all put together, I am thinking it might be a tad small at 49 inches square. Just trying to decide if I add another border or go ahead and get it basted. Decisions, decisions. I am thinking of using a soft vintage sheet for the backing. I hope I have one in the right colors for this.

In the on-going saga of pretending to clean the sewing room, I started playing with a stack of leftover HST’s from the Mosaic Mystery Quilt I participated in last winter. (The top is still in the closet, patiently waiting for me to get it finished up.) As a result of piecing that top, I have a large stack of 2 1/2″ HST’s that I want to use for something. I poked around that wonderful rabbit hole, aka Pinterest, until I found some inspiration. I am working on a mini. I haven’t made a mini in quite a while. I remember making a bunch of them when I first started blogging but seems like it has been a while. So this will be finished up soon and I will share it with you then. I am thinking it may need to be hand quilted.

OK – that is it for now. Sorry to have been remiss in posting. I have been reading tons of posts and am loving the Stay at Home Round Robin that is going on. Have you seen the posts about this? It is being hosted by Quilting Gail and I am enjoying it. Check it out – maybe you have the perfect orphan block to build from.

Linking up to Stitch Show & Sew as well as a few others. Check out my Link Up tab at the top of the page.

Could it be?? Another Finish?

28 Replies

Yep – it’s true. I have another finish to share. The very small, almost non-existent, silver lining to the fires and smoke we are experiencing is having to stay inside. The smoke is thick and the air very unhealthy so we have been indoors continuously for a long while. This means I can sew!

OK – I started this quilt ages ago. The fabric was leftover from the twin size quilt I made for Julia’s bed in our Downieville house (which we sold this summer.) I made that quilt back in early 2016.

This was a huge quilt as I wanted it to hang over the edge of the bed by a ways. I had planned to make two matching quilts for that bedroom but the second one never happened. However I had already cut many squares intending to make the second one. I decided to use the leftover fabric to make a Mercyful quilt for the families at Mercy Hospital in Sacramento. I matched up a number of the squares, making sure each was partnered with the tan solid and made large (10″ finished) half square triangles with (some of) the leftovers.

I made the quilt top in November 2018 and promptly stashed it away – for almost two years!! Why?!?

In my last post, I shared I was basting the top and planning to finish it up.

After some thought, I decided to go with simple straight lines for the quilting. Marking the quilt with wide painter’s tape, and starting from the center, I did a two lines of stitching with my walking foot. I used the width of the walking foot to mark off the separation for the second line in each set. This, naturally, went very quick.

My quilt holder, aka Julia, and I took some quick photos on the deck. Didn’t want to stay out long because it was too smokey! I am so pleased with the way this quilt looks.

For the off-centered diamond, I did some extra quilting on the diagonal. I didn’t measure this accurately and my center line is a bit funky. Such is life. I am not overly bothered by this.

The overall effect is good and as we know, I am not one for precision.

For the backing, I used one of the vintage sheets I have stashed. I know many quilters dislike backing with sheets but I have not had a problem with it. They quilt up fine and I have washed the finished quilts (those I have kept) many times without issue. I love how the soft purple and greens complement the darker shades in the quilt top.

This quilt is headed to Mercy Hospital and I hope the family it is given to will take comfort from it.

About two weeks ago, I made this collage of the unfinished quilt tops I have. I have finished two of them since then which makes me so happy. I haven’t decided which one I will tackle next. I think I need to decide on backings and see what I have available.

For my next project, I need to make a bunting (with the letters of her name) for my youngest grand daughter. When we were up in Seattle, my son reminded me I had made one for older sister before she was born yet this baby is nearly 6 months old and I haven’t made hers. Yikes. Better get on it!!

Take care everyone. If you are affected by the fires (and pretty much everyone in the west is) please take care and be safe. If you have extra rain, please send it to us. We are all in dire need.

Sharing at:

Brag About Your Beauties, Finished or Not Friday, UFO Busting, and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop

Pike’s Peak, My Version

7 Replies

A few weeks ago I started sewing HST’s with a stack of charm squares that have been on the shelf for several years and lots of solid scraps. When I started this, I had absolutely no plan for the. It was just something to do in the sewing room. I limited the solids to shades of gray and blue.

Time passed (as it does) and I decided it was time to put them together. I looked through my computer files at patterns I have bought and never used. A copy of Pike’s Peak by Meadow Mist Designs caught my eye.

I bought this pattern long ago – you know back in the day when we were free to come and go as we pleased. We could gather in groups, hold quilt guild meetings and quilt shows. No one was wearing goofy looking masks and dousing their hands with gallons of hand sanitizer every time they were in public. Ah, those were the days. But back to the pattern…. I bought this and never made it. The pattern has a baby quilt size as well as a throw size.

However, the HST’s I had already made were smaller than those required by the pattern. To keep things in proportion, I sized the background pieces down. For the background, I chose a textured solid I had in the shop. (Sadly, it is now gone and I can’t get this line any longer.) I like the texture it adds though.

I love the various shades of gray and blue. From a cornflower blue to dark navy and from the palest silvery gray to dark charcoal – there is a nice range here.

I am unsure exactly how I will use this. It finishes at 42″ square which is small for a lap quilt. It doesn’t feel like a baby quilt to me so I don’t think I want to donate it. I might quilt it and hang it in my sewing room. The walls in that room are pale gray and this would look pretty hanging in there. Decisions, decisions.

Next is basting and quilting this up. Not sure when that will happen though. I am working on a quilt for a blog hop that happens next week so I want to finish that up.

I have been remiss in posting and reading blogs over the past couple of weeks. During the quarantine there are lots of people sewing (and especially making masks) which has created a spike in orders for my shop. Thus lots of time has been spent packing and shipping orders, which is great. I am happy to help people choose the fabric they need for their projects. Lately I have met (online of course) some really kind new customers and I have really enjoyed this.

I hope everyone is coping as well as possible with the ramifications of this quarantine. It affects everyone in different ways, some much more than others. Hang in there, stay safe and try to support the people who need it.

Creating Mercyful Quilts

60 Replies

About a week ago, I received a note from my friend Patty. She is a nurse at Mercy Hospital in Sacramento, CA. She is also the mother of a sweet girl that Julia has been friends with since middle school. Patty told me about the quilts they use at Mercy to comfort dying patients. They ask the family of the patient if they would like to wrap their loved one in a quilt to bring comfort and security as the person goes through the dying process. After the person passes away, the family keeps the quilt along with memories of comforting their loved one until the end. Unfortunately the community service group that was providing quilts for Mercy has become unable to do so. She wondered if I might know of quilters who would want to make quilts for the hospital. There are several organizations who do this sort of project; Covered in Love being a very popular one. I have contributed blocks once or twice for CIL and think their work is amazing. Becoming aware of a similar need right in my backyard was eye-opening.

In less than a blink of an eye, I replied to Patty telling her I am happy to help as much as I can. Hoping to finish a few quilts quickly, I decided to pull two WIPs and focus on finishing them. I had a box of large 10″ HST’s that I created about two years ago. I had intended to make a twin size quilt with them for the spare bed up in our little house in Downieville. Like so many projects, it was put aside and left unfinished. But I am glad this happened because there were enough blocks to make a comfortable lap-size quilt. I love the shades of purple, green and tan I used and feel it would be great for both male or female recipients.

I played around with the layout several times before deciding on this pattern. Once I made that decision, I spent a quick session squaring up the blocks. They went together in no time and I had a quilt top. It is very motivating to me to make a quilt for a cause that is so near and dear to my heart.

Mercy Hospital is renowned for their cardiac care. In 2015 my mother received incredible care at Mercy as she underwent a completely unexpected triple bypass and mitral valve replacement. She was in CCICU for two weeks and my family was (and still is) so very grateful for the care and support she received. Actually we all received care and support as they go the extra mile at Mercy to assure the patient’s family fully understands what is going on with their loved one. We always felt we could ask questions and get help at any time. It is no surprise to me that they have this quilt gifting program.

The Merriam-Webster definition of Mercy includes ‘compassionate care of those in distress’. So many of us have provided quilts for compassionate reasons, to help those in need or distress. I want to support this program at Mercy Hospital. Currently I have two quilts in process for them. The other quilt is my Twisted quilt top which is a cheerful floral quilt that looks much like lattice work in a garden. This project was already pin-basted and ready for quilting. Since I was further along with that project, I decided to begin quilting it several days ago. I am making swift progress with that one. I would love to have it finished and bound asap because they are out of quilts at this point in time. Once that is completed, I will baste and quilt this HST quilt.

If you feel called to support Mercy Hospital, I would love to hear from you. Do you have a quilt top that is not yet intended for anyone? Might you finish it up and mail it off? I would be happy to bring it to Mercy. California readers, local readers? Would you be able to help out? I plan to mention this at my guild meeting next week to see if there are others who might be able to contribute. If anyone has any ideas with regard to programs like this, please leave a comment. I would really like to gather support for Mercy Hospital and provide them with quilts.

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend! Be sure to grab a few minutes with your sewing machine. 🙂

Linking with Crazy Mom Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict! There links are at the top of the page, under Link Ups.

A Cheerful Finish

24 Replies

This is quite possibly the most cheerful quilt I have made yet. The colors are so bright, just to look at it makes me smile. I hope my niece and her husband will enjoy it when they receive it. My timing couldn’t have been better as my niece went into labor early this morning and is at the hospital right now. We should hear about baby’s arrival sometime today. How exciting!

The pattern, When You Wish, by Kristy of Bonjour Quilts is adorable. Simple HST’s and five inch squares make it a breeze to assemble. I think it would be really cute with other color patterns but for this project, I shamelessly copied Kristy’s quilt because I wanted a rainbow themed quilt.

It is a tiny quilt at 36″ x 36″ but perfect for baby’s tummy time, going outside, or covering baby in the car seat. My niece lives in Southern CA and the baby has two older siblings. I think this baby quilt will get lots of use at the park or in the back yard.

Quilting is simply straight lines about 1 1/2 inches apart. I drew a few lines with a ruler and chalk-o-liner and also used the seams to keep me on track.

This quilt was made entirely of fabrics I had in my stash. For the backing, I chose the, now out of print, Numerals fabric by Ikea. I have been holding on to this piece for several years and it looks great with this quilt. I would surely love to find another piece of this? Anyone holding on to some that you are willing to part with?? (A girl can always dream….)

Love the black and white binding? It is the Cheerios piece from the Sweet Tweets line which I have in my shop. I think this print would be perfect as a binding for almost any quilt. I love the boldness of the design and it frames the star beautifully. I machine stitched the binding — I often do with a baby quilt because of the number of times the quilt will likely be laundered.

Now that this is washed, crinkled, and ready to go, I will pack it up and send it to Southern California. Three new babies have arrived and three baby quilts are finished. What a nice start to the year. 🙂

Linking up all over the place. Find my list of linkys at the top of the page, under Link Ups. I am also linking up at She Can Quilt for the end of Q1 FAL link up. This baby quilt was one of my Q1 goals! Yahoo. UPDATE: Linking today to Sarah Goer Quilts for Show Me Something Rainbow.

Baby Quilt Number 3

13 Replies

I don’t know if you remember but when I was posting about the lattice square baby quilt I made last fall, I said that there would be three new babies born in the start of 2017 in our family. This will bring my parent’s number of great-grands up to 12! I wanted to make a quilt for the third baby who is due at the end of this month. This morning I finished the quilt top.

Isn’t it adorable? The bright, rainbow colors make it a cheery quilt for a new baby girl.

Using this free pattern, When You Wish, designed by Kristy of Bonjour Quilts was a snap. It is a collection of HST’s arranged in quadrants. To download the pattern, just sign up for her newsletter. Just so you know, Kristy doesn’t over do it with the quantity of newsletters she sends out and I enjoy reading them. She has a nice selection of patterns for sale in her shop too.

This quilt finishes out at 40″ x 40″ and because of it’s reasonable size, I look forward to quilting it.

I have this little black and white print called Cheerios, in my shop that might be fun for the binding. It is from the Sweet Tweets line and is the one on the bottom in the photo above. I will hunt through my stash for the backing though. There is a plethora of choices in there and I want to use up some of the yardage. It was great to make this quilt top solely with the fat quarters in my stash.

Happy to have this quilt top done and I will likely get started on quilting it this weekend. I am really looking forward to seeing pictures of all three babies on their quilts. I will share them with you when I get them together. Have a wonderful weekend all.

Linking to my favorites, all of which are listed at the top of the page, under Link Ups.

Wednesday WIP

18 Replies

Here is an early morning update for you. This has been a crazy week. Last weekend we were up in Downieville working on the house while Julia traveled with the tenth grade class to Ashland, OR (about a five hour drive) to attend the Shakespeare festival. She had a great time up until early Sunday morning when she woke with a nasty stomach flu. After talking with the mom’s and her principal who were taking care of her, it was decided she really couldn’t do a long drive to come home. My husband drove up to Ashland and they hunkered down in a hotel until the worst was over. Then they drove home on Monday afternoon. She has been recuperating but it looks like she is going back to school today – luckily she has a light morning so she will just go for the afternoon classes.

Until it came to an abrupt end, we were making good progress on the living room in Downieville. This room has been fun because it really only needed some paint, new trim and carpet. Friday last week was the day of the carpet install. I drove up in the morning to let the installer in. Remember the house is very tiny (approximately 700 square feet) and I knew I would be stuck either in the kitchen or bedroom while he was working on the living room. I brought my little sewing machine and set up shop in the kitchen. (Don’t you love the little kitchen table? I found it on Craigslist and I am crazy about it.)

It was nice to be able to sew while he was working in the living room but it was quite cozy in the kitchen! There was no other spot for the couch so he pushed it through to the kitchen. Of course because it almost didn’t fit, there are new scratches in the paint of the door trim, but that can be taken care of later.

Here is a before and after shot of the living room. The left side is how it looked when we bought the house and the right is current.

Here is another angle on the current living room. We primed and painted the paneling and Ray put new crown molding up around the walls. Ray also refinished a portion of the original hardwood flooring in front of the door so we don’t walk in right on the carpet. Hopefully this will lessen wear and dirt on that portion of the carpeting.

Since the picture was taken, Ray also got the baseboard installed and we hung some pictures. It looks so sweet now.

While I was trapped in the kitchen with only my sewing machine and a pot of coffee, I worked on the second quilt for the downstairs bedroom in Downieville. Remember this was the first one I made. I finished this one last February – you can check out this post for the details.

Downieville Quilt #1

It is a basic patchwork using 10″ blocks. I thought it would be fun to make this one with the same fabric but a different pattern. (For the first one, I was in a hurry to get it done for winter as it gets really chilly in that bedroom.) Since I have time to complete this one (the second twin bed isn’t used all that often) I changed it up a bit and made large half square triangles using the tan solid as half of each one. I have about 40 blocks done so I am almost half way to a quilt top.

The layout above mixes the green tones and the purple together in a scrappy fashion. Here is a shot with the colors separated out in a more orderly layout.

At this time, I have more purples completed than green. I love the green tones though and look forward to playing with this when I get a few more completed. I am leaning toward the layout with alternating colors. The rest of this should go together in no time at all. The little downstairs bedroom will then have warm, coordinating quilts.

Hope everyone is finding some time to sew and staying healthy!!

Reminder: next week is the Handmade Halloween event here at Needle and Foot. You are invited to link up new and old posts about all things spooky! Quilts, costumes, decorations that are for Halloween will create a fun source of inspiration for readers. The link up will open on Tuesday, October 4th and stay open through Friday, October 7th. I have tons of prizes from Craftsy, C&T Publishing (makers of your favorite craft and sewing books) as well as Sew Fresh Quilts. I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!!

Linking up with Let’s Bee Social, Needle and Thread Thursday and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop this week. Links to all three can be found at the top of the page, under Link Ups.