Quilts of Valor

Quilts of Valor from Tellico Village Quilt Show

 For the last few years, I've been wanting to make a Quilt of Valor for my dad. My parents served in the Air National Guards and are currently retired. I've given quilts to my mom but haven't done a quilt of valor yet. 

About 5 or 6 years ago I got a jelly roll with a red, white, and blue theme with stars and stripes. I just couldn't decide what to do with it. I recently purchased a postcard pattern from the Fiberology Lab named Mazed by Running Doe Quilts and it uses a jelly roll and an l/2 yard for binding. 

I decided to do that with my jelly roll. When I opened the fabric roll and started looking at the fabric I was a little nervous about how it would turn out. Despite my misgivings, I sorted everything and paired the strips into 20 sets. From there the cutting instructions are simple and the blocks came together super fast. In the end, I'm happy with the way it came out. 

I feel it needs a border and plan on purchasing some fabric for that later. I usually piece my backings with scraps but I surprisingly have very little scraps from this. I think I have enough strip ends to make a stripe as part of the border or in the backing. I can't wait to finish this one. I was very happy with how it turned out.

Tea Time!

This one Ia a tea mom gave me. It was a lovely summer tea from Plum Deluxe called Watermelon Mint. I'm not a huge fan of watermelon-flavored drinks. I don't know why because I love watermelon itself. Nor am I a huge fan of mint in my drinks. Occasionally I'll grab one but that is rare. This one was good the combination was perfect. I had gotten the tea in July. The day I took this photo my power was out due to a huge storm and I had been using the candle to make a pot of tea. At this point, I was just letting the tea steep without the extra heat.

Stash Buster Mini Series SAL updates

I've missed a few months of updating. I've not stopped working. I finished the #miniseriessal by #guicyguice and #alisonglass. This was a learning experience but I don't think I will do that again. I made a small table topper with all the blocks.

I finished the stash diving mystery and participated in a few more. I did not get a final photo of two of the tops but I will have them up at a later date. I did also finish Jaybird Quilts Gravity quilt pattern. I've been calling it the Galaxy quilt. That one has been sent off to the quilter to be quilted. It's roughly queen plus and I do not have the ability to quilt it myself. I don't mind paying someone with a long arm machine to do it for me. I can't wait to have the finished quilt back.

When the shop that sold the Elmwood teas opened back up I went back to get some teas. I picked up this Bourbon black tea. It's an interesting rich tea. It's good to drink straight up or in cocktails.

WIP- Unfinished ideas

Building on the free heart pattern that Jaybird posted on her Instagram last week I decided to build on it a little. I was using a sample pack that I got from a local quilt shop so I don't have a ton of fabric to use but I did play a little more. I have this roll of flying geese papers from Triangles on a Roll. I keep meaning to try it out and I figured what better time than now. I had to pull up a video to show me how to use it first and then set out to make a couple of strips of flying geese. I think they came out beautifully.

The next was to work on the Mini-Series stitch along. This week was the log cabin block. It's done through paper piecing and since I don't have a printer I've made do with tracing paper. Tiny piecing like this is so much harder then it looks. I'm sure the next block will be a bit easier to handle.

Actual tea this time, I have this Elmwood Inn teas. Now to be fair I didn't get any at the time, but I did like their little blurb about not using nylon tea sachets. All the fancy tea blends that are bagged usually come in nylon sachets. I've always questioned throwing those away, but haven't figured out what to do with them. I like the idea of using a plant-based sachet more. It's definitely safer for the environment.

Quarantine Blues

At the beginning of the week, the county I work in issued a shelter in place order. Because of that, I can't go to work. My boss has been working on a way for us to work from home but for now, I'm off work. I have been filling this time with getting things done and planning out new projects. I think everyone has been doing this.

First I got around to making a wall hanging/baby quilt with the panel I got from the last fiber review at my local quilt shop. I was not happy with the first photo I posted on my Instagram but I did manage to get outside and take a better photo. There are a few issues with it, but I think it came out cute. The pattern I found a quilt on Pinterest and figured out the math for the pieced blocks I needed. I was proud of myself that I got it right the first time.

The second thing I finished was the temperature quilt. To be fair I had only a few rows left to sew together. I'm very happy with the way it came together. It is 14 squares across and 26 squares vertically. I added the brown squares to show where it changed months. I need to get batting before I can go further with this project so I've put it aside for now.

The next project I've started and completed was Moda Love wall hanging. I got this idea from Jordan Quilts. I've watched this video several times now. I had watched it last week, and since it was an easy use of a charm pack I thought, why not!. I used a charm pack I got from Quiltfest. It was Zelie Ann by Eleanor Burns from Benartex. The pattern used 34 charm squares and was super easy. I did substitute background squares for some of the lighter charm squares. I just noticed an error in my layout but I'm not going back to change it. If you want to download the free pattern you can get it from Jordan Fabrics.

Benartix also has a free pattern of a pretty log cabin style table runner using this collection.

Tea today is an unusual thing we found cleaning out a cabinet. From an old tea tin, we found some instant tea by Sweet N Low. I don't know how old this is or any history about it, I've not been brave enough to try it yet. It's an older logo and I can't even remember when they made this. I'm going to get brave one day and try it.

Work in progress

I like many are staying at home as much as possible. I am lucky that right now work has not sent us home. I'm still working my regular hours, but my normal social schedule is on hold. You would think this means I can be twice as productive. I don't feel I am but I've got a bit of a progress report.

I finished the International Mystery Quilt top and made a backing for my snowball pattern. I pieced the borders out of scrap I was provided and that took forever. A lot of time was added because of being exhausted from stress. The backing I used a cute snail fabric I had gotten from a short bolt sale and some scraps. The backings always go together so fast. I started to pin it up but realized I didn't have enough pins left. I need to quilt something else before I can start on this. That pile is a bit tall.

The next was did some work on dad's temperature quilt. I'm trimming the squares as I sew them into strips so this is time-consuming. I also feel I have the attention span of a magpie and keep getting distracted by lots of other things going on around me.

I've been on Instagram constantly lately. I decided to join the Alison Glass and Guicy Giuce  Mini-Series Sew-along. #MiniSeriesSAL. I have picked some recent Tula Pink fabrics I've picked up and I'm adding a few fat quarters I got from my row by row win last year. I need to buy the patterns but I'm waiting until payday. The sew-along is for 10 weeks and starts this week. If you go to their Instagrams or Alison Glass' page you'll find all the info and sign up for it.

The other thing I saw on Instagram was Jay Bird quilts did a heart block tutorial. Under #jaybirdcares, you'll find a free step by step tutorial using her sidekick and hex and more rulers. I did a couple. They're so easy I'm thinking of doing more.

Tea is a blend of bags. I make a pitcher of ice tea usually once a week. I usually use 6 small tea bags and since they're flavored teas I play mix and match, I have 1 bag of Sugar Cookie, 2 bags of Honey Green Tea and a large bag of Jasmine. The other two overwhelm the subtle jasmine flavor and make it taste like a sugar cookie more than anything. I won't try this mix again.

Mystery Quilts!

I've been working on two mystery quilts. One is a block of the month quilt Murder Mystery. I've already posted a small blurb about this one in my 2020 Projects post. It's been interesting to go blind into this quilting process. We were given a color list to start so we can choose our fabrics and have no clue what we're doing. This month's block used a skill I can say I don't like but can do with medium success. Curve piecing. The name of the block is Desert Flower and we make three of the blocks. The last two we made only one of that block and of course the one thing I am not fond of I have to make multiple. All complaining aside, the practice is good for me in skill-building and I think the block looks pretty.

The other was an international mystery quilt series by Fiberology Lab. This place is truly my home shop. Sometimes I feel like I'm there as much as at home. She's doing this like a quilt club that you can choose to participate by buying the kit.

Each meeting she goes over techniques and ideas for this month's quilt pattern. The kits are all precut, and you're given some scraps to go with it for extra bits. She also included recipes with the pattern.We talk about what was done from last month if you came or if you just had something to share. The quilts are small throw or baby quilt sizes and make great gifts.

I participated in February and got a kit for Italy in pinks and purples. It's a snowball block that represents meatballs. I'm hungry thinking about spaghetti and meatballs now. I have most of the blocks done and sewin into strips. No photo of that, but I will be done soon.

Tea for today a shot of the table at a ladies tea event I went to. My co-worker sponsors a table at her church's even. It's usually a fun social event combined with the church's fund-raiser. Last year was her first year and didn't know she could bring fancy cups. I loaned her some of mine for the table and I think she did a great job decorating. Snow had hit that morning and half the people couldn't come. The guest speaker included, but we still had a good time. She had picked up several different flavors. She found a Moringa Tea and I tried it. I can't say I'm a fan. It had a bit of a grassy flavor. I don't plan on getting any more, but I'm glad I experienced something new.

2020 Projects!

It's already March and I've not posted anything on what I've been working on. I've been distracted and then at the end of January and the first of February I had a friend visit from out of town. I didn't get anything done while he was here.  So I've had several small projects I finished for February and January.

January I did the first Saturday fiber Review for Fiberology Labs. I didn't have much extra to show for it. I did have the Christmas Tree Table Runner I showed in my last post. I also finished my Winter 2019 cross stitch along with Stitchonomy. It came out so pretty. I'm going to leave it in the wooden frame to hang it. I have started another cross stitch along with her group. It's called Homely Houseplants. She ended that one recently I just have to finish the last few plants on mine. She has a free sign up for her next stitch along Colorful Critters. You have until April 15th to sign up for the free patterns.

February for the Fiber review we got a pattern for a heart coster. I've finished the coster but haven't taken a photo of it yet. It was a small fast project. I'm going to make more for presents later with different fabrics. It's pretty easy all you need is a few charm squares. I will have a photo of the finished one with March's fiber review meeting.

I started a temperature quilt for my father. One of the lady's that meet at our local quilt shop/yarn shop has been doing a temperature scarf as part of The National Park Tempestry Project. This got me researching different types of temperature blankets etc. I don't knit or crochet. I have attempted it in the past and it is just not one of my talents. I do, however, quilt a lot. So I thought I could do one as a present.

January and February temperature quilt for 1954 WIP

My father's birth year was chosen because I haven't done anything specifically for him yet. I thought he would like this type of quilt the most. I did research on the daily highs and lows for the entire year. I had taken the range and assigned fabric colors to equal the temperatures in 5-degree increments. The lower two ranges are in 10-degree increments because of not having data reflecting certain ranges. I cut brown squares to mark where the months change and made 365 half-square triangle blocks. I have been a bit slower on this project then I hoped I would be and only have 5 rows together giving us a snapshot of the first two months of the year.

January Block

February block

Another project I am working on has been a Murder Mystery Quilt along. They are dropping a block a month with a bit of a story. When you post a picture of your block you get a clue to help you figure out the mystery. I've enjoyed this one so far. Seeing everyone else's blocks posted on Instagram has been fun.

This month for tea I'm going to spotlight a tea room I went to in Chattanooga recently. One of the places my friend wanted to go to was Two Ten Jacks in Chattanooga for Ramen. Since it's almost a two-hour drive for us, we decided to do a day trip and hit a few places. We stopped at Chattanooga Mercantile and spent several hours wandering through the store. It was lots of fun. In the building, there is a tea room called Mammie Carlotta's tucked in the back. We stopped for a snack and some tea for a bit before wandering around the shop more.

November First Saturday Fiberology Visit

I went to the fiber review for Fiberology Lab's first Saturday this month. I turned in last month's block and we decided the blocks are going into a charity quilt. I don't think I'm going to get a chance to get a photo of that finished quilt but I loved seeing everyone's blocks. This month we previewed a chocolate scented fabric by Lewis & Irene Fabrics. We got a sample of Chocolate Box Mint.

I also got an easy quilt pattern called Tumblebug. I have since given this to my mom but not before making a quick lap quilt out of it. I used a half jelly roll that I purchased last month from Joann's that was of cute forest critter themed fabric focusing on foxes, owls, and butterflies. I used almost the entire thing to create the front. I'm planning on using the few scraps I have to make a pieced backing. I also found tags mom made for me that I plan to put on the quilt. I put this one together in a day.

Then I had to look at the project I'm going to use my chocolate fabric sample for. I had picked up two other fabrics in the line and had debated on the idea of a mug rug. I found a designer on Instagram Ellis & Higgs that had a cute Christmas pattern line out. One block was a candy piece and it was perfect for this idea. She also pointed me to a blog called Polkadot Chair that had a neat potholder tutorial. I decided to make that with the block and a mug rug. Now binding round things is something I haven't done yet. So the potholder didn't come out perfect, but I did make extra blocks to practice with.

The Knoxville area has a new Boba Tea cafe. It's called Hey Bear Cafe. They have a lot of options to customize your drink, and they sell some prepackaged snacks. It was a nice place to hang out for a few hours. I sat there and cross-stitched because I didn't want to go home yet. I got a jasmine milk tea with egg custard. It was so good.

WIP Berry Box table runner

Fabric from Loose Threads

After I got the top completed from the east Tennessee shop hop blocks, instead of quilting one of the many projects I had, I decided to start a new project with some of the fabric I picked up. I had gone back to Atomic Fibers and picked up the Straight out of Line ruler and decided to use one of the patterns in their videos.

I used four fat quarters I picked up from Loose Threads in Harriman. I used a wood grain fabric and 3 Downton Abby fabrics as well as a grey Zen Chic fat quarter I had in my stash. I used the blocks to make a four patch surrounded by the wood grain. I am calling this one berry box since there are berries on some of the fabrics and the colors are very berry-like. I used a solid grey from my stash as a border and used the scraps to make a backing for it. Now all I have to do is quilt it. The only problem is all my basting pins are in other quilts right now. I need to get something quilted.

Million Hexies first project

First Swag N Seek Find

So I found something to use the hexies I've been making. I don't think this will be the only thing I do with them but it is a good start. I love going to Dragoncon on labor day weekend. It is one of my favorites conventions. In the last several years a group has gotten together and does what is dubbed Swag n Seek. It's basically making or giving small swag items away for free. The most common is to randomly hide it in the various con areas for people to find. They also do meetups during the convention to swap items.

2018 Swag Haul

Last year was my first year hearing about this and I came away with some of the best con swag ever from this. I didn't know about it ahead of time so I didn't get a chance to make anything for it but my friend who runs one of the dealer's booths is fast at making jewelry and had me run around as her swag fairy.

Swag N Seek logo

This year I'm getting prepared. I decided to do somethingI'm good at. Sew! I'm using the hexies for coasters. I'm trying to use up my scraps and I have several fandom fabrics that would work wonders with this project. I have about 9 coasters together so far and have about 7 more planned out. The best part of doing this is since the hexies are being EPP'd I can do this while I'm out with my friends. We regularly meet twice a week and I always loose sewing time. This is a good hand project that lets me keep my hands busy during our nights out.

One of my local quilt shops does a regular sit N stitch several times a week. One of those is after work on Tues so sometimes I go there. I'm enjoying the slow pace and I feel like at this point I will have something fun to share at the con this year.

Shop Hop Project update and gadget find

Photo by Atomic Fibers

I have been very busy. I can always be accused of having too many things going at once. I started putting the blocks from the shop hop together almost immediately when I started picking them up because I was more worried about buying the kits and never putting them together. I took about two weeks to get the blocks completed. I roughly spent 20 hours total but the summer has been crazy busy for me. Several nights I haven't been able to work on them.

The photo I have is before I put the final border around it. I cut each block to 12 inches and put a small 1 1/2 inch border around each block in colored fabrics. I tried to use scraps for some and complementary fabrics for the rest. I also tried to pull the fabric I got from the shop hop for these borders. I think I used stash fabric for two but overall I am happy with the results. I did go to my local shop to show them what I've done. Since I haven't taken a photo of the finished top yet I'm using the photo Atomic Fibers posted on their Facebook page for now.

I did go back to the shop to get the demo ruler they had for the shop hop. It's the creative grids Straight Out of Line ruler. I also found a 25% off coupon in my pattern kit from them so I used it on the ruler and picked up some of the Mr. Domestic fabrics I love that they had on the clearance section. Overall I'm happy with what I picked up and can't wait to use my new ruler. They have a free pattern that comes with the ruler and also lots of videos on their site to use. One of the best things about their company is that they give us nice demos.




One of the saddest things I've found out since the shop hop is that Atomic Fibers is going to close. While I was hunting down the photo of the top they posted I noticed the closing announcement. The owner is going to retire to spend more time with her family. I am happy for her and hope her the best but will miss the shop.

The other thing I got recently was a gadget to use when I'm ironing. I had seen this at CVS several years ago and didn't pick it up because I didn't think I could use it until recently. My cousin bought two for cup holders on her lawn chairs. I hadn't found it since and I know a good google search would have yielded results but I wasn't in that much of a hurry to find it.

I have a problem with my fabric spray falling off my ironing board as I iron. It gets in the way and my ironing board is unstable because one of the legs is shorter than the rest. My dad bought the ironing board online for me and didn't realize the flaw until I opened it up. It still does its work. I just have to be careful not to jiggle off things. That means leaving stuff on the board is dangerous.

I found my clip-on cup holder at Bed Bath and Beyond. It was on sale at the time so I got it for about $3. When you clip the full part up it becomes a wine glass holder and turning it the other way it becomes a regular cup holder. So far it has passed the wobbly ironing board test.

Today's tea is the Ito En Koicha Tea. Ito En is a Japanese brand that is commonly imported to the US. I know if I ever get my dream trip to Japan I will not lack in things to eat or drink. I love this brand. The tea is unsweetened, which is something I need, but it is smooth. This flavor is a robust brew and has more flavor but still no bitterness. I know a lot of times unsweetened tea is bitter but they do not have that problem with this brand. They have a few different flavors but this is actually the first time I got this one.

Terracotta Greenhouse and the Berry Patch

Front

Back

I was able to finish my Terracotta Greenhouse about mid-May. I took my final photos of the finished quilt several days later because I was waiting for nice weather. They still look a little over exposed in the photo with the light making it practically glow, but I am happy with how this quilt came out. 

I immediately started piecing the strawberry top. I used a bit of Fossil Fern in green from Benartex and the other fabrics I highlighted in my planning post. I had the top finished by memorial day. Then I had a majorly busy week with the rest of my life and planning a few social events. I had to put this top down for now because I have been commissioned for a wall hanging for a friends wedding. I am happy with the progress I've made on completing works this year though.

Today's tea is a fruity herbal the Strawberry Blush Rose. This is the last of my Tevania stash of this tea. I'm truly out after this. I will have to make some more of the blood orange iced tea from Harney and Sons next.