1/21/19

Project Quilting 10.2

Yesterday's sewing was fast and furious. It ended with a nearly-finished quilt for this second challenge for Project Quilting. The theme this time around was "Red, White, and Blue." I spent several hours considering what I'd like to make. I first chose a mini quilt. The fabrics were pulled before I decided it didn't really light my fire. Then, I chose a patriotic table runner and pulled those fabrics. But somehow, the Fourth of July in January wasn't really very exciting either.

It occurred to me that lots of people would be doing patriotic quilts for this challenge, and I wanted something a little different. I found a pattern called "Tweety's Snowflake" from Wendy Butler Berns free on the internet, and then I was ready to go. And when I say "go," I mean like when the starter's pistol fires and you really go like your life depends on it. This morning I hand-stitched the binding, and my little quilt was finished. I'm calling this quilt "Feathers and Flurries."


The pattern by Wendy Butler Berns was published in Quilter's Newsletter in the December/January 2014 issue. You can find the free pattern right here. Hers was done in different colors, and I had some fabrics in my stash I would dearly have liked to use. But the challenge was for red, white, and blue only. We didn't have to use all the colors, but we couldn't use any other colors. With that in mind. I started here:


There was top-stitching to be done, and so I used this midnight blue for most of that.


When that was finished, I added a border.


I wanted to make sure the big white snowflake would really stand out against the background, and I came up with a method to prevent the background fabric from showing through the white. I simply took a small piece of fabric and then fused a swatch of Pellon SF-101 to the back. That made a solid swatch of fabric. From there, I just fused as usual with Heat 'n Bond Lite and got a nice white snowflake with no show-through from the background. I used a white metallic thread to stitch it down, and that gave it a little sparkle.


The bird has a blue hot-fix nailhead for his eye.


I used the same white metallic to quilt some snow flurries.


And I did a little top-stitching on the snowflake for even more sparkle.


The metallic thread was behaving beautifully, and so I decided to switch to this midnight blue metallic to quilt the border.


I quilted some snow flurries in there too.


Here's how it looks from the back. You might remember this fabric from the Quilting Snowladies.


And then my little quilt was finished except for the binding.


In my leftover scrap binding bag, I found a perfect binding in exactly the length I needed. It always feels like a little bit of a victory when I can use one of those leftover binding strips.


This morning, I hand-stitched the binding, and my little quilt was finished.



Here's how it looks from the back.


Yesterday, I still needed to hand-stitch the binding for the Let's RV wall hanging.


Here's how that looks from the back.


That makes two finishes in two days, and five for the month of January. At this rate, I'll finish 60 quilts in 2019! (As if.) Also, I almost forgot I needed to make two little yo-yo's for the Garden Sunshine blocks. That was pretty simple and quick.


I decided to use a buttonhole stitch to sew them to the quilt block in the same way I used buttonhole stitch to stitch down the other applique pieces. To make it easy on myself, I pressed a little bit of Heat 'n Bond to the backs.


Then I fused them to the quilt block.


Then I both shortened and narrowed the buttonhole stitch on my machine.


And then I stitched them down. That finishes off that block.


So there you go...a solid day of sewing. Or a day of solid sewing...take your pick.

Today our weather is supposed to improve a little. I'm going to get out for a walk. This morning, I want to get a start on the Appalachian Memories embroidered block, and if I do more sewing today, I'll get after those alley cats.

Do you have the day off today? You can thank Martin Luther King's mother for that.

19 comments:

works4me said...

Love your version of red, white, and blue. You are off to a great start in 2019.

Quilting Babcia said...

You seem to thrive on these little challenges! Love Tweetie's Snowflake! We're not thinking of walks today, the temp just rose to an even zero at 11 a.m. Bring on the extra quilts!

Quilting gram211 said...

Love that red, white and blue quilt. Of course I like most anything bird related. :-)Really like the backing on the Let’s RV quilt. Very striking.

Lucky Duck Dreams said...

Love your challenge quilt. I’m in the middle of making mine. Planning as I go.

gpc said...

Love love love your challenge quilt. I saw the prompt and could not think of a thing except the patriotic theme and was not in the mood, at all, for that at the moment. Brilliant, you.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Love the new mini - way to go with the flow. Your are a full swing with finishing - shoot for the stars! We are -1 right now with windchills making it almost -30. My doors are all frozen shut - not going any where.

Julierose said...

Just adorable mini cardinal in the snow mini!! Wow you whipped that out fast!! Nice work...
Cold cold cold here--windchill -4 right now at noontime--so I worked out inside (ya think?) 10 min on treadmill and 25 on Bike--then my back reminded me to stop hahaha...
Worked on snowballs a bit but leaning over ironing board was a no go--so will be icing the back and (hmfph I could just go lie outside, right??lol)doing my PT ex's...hugs enjoy your walk....Julierose

QUILTING IS BLISSFUL, DI said...

I love your red birdy and did go download it-whether I ever get to making it is another story!!!! You really did a great job creating it and it is so cheery in this bitter bitter cold day here!!!
and those tiny yo-yos are so cute--
luv, di

Katie said...

What a sweet little quilt and holy cow you finished it fast! I'm still working out the details of my project (some of them on the fly!)...good thing I have a few more days!

WoolenSails said...

I love that design and yours is really beautiful.
A good one to do next year.

Debbie

piecefulwendy said...

Well, you had a very productive day, that's for sure. Isn't it fun when inspiration hits, and you just sew like gangbusters?! Both of those little quilts are so cute. You are sure crackin' out the projects this month! I hope to get started sewing the Kim Diehl mini today; I finally got the cutting done yesterday, but then this cold made me take a nap.

Brown Family said...

Great inspiration! Red Birds are very common, here, in January, but nor snow! That was a great way to attach the YoYo's!

gin said...

Really cute and gives off a breath of fresh air. It’s a perfect look for a snowy winter day. I can almost see cold smoke blowing from my breath!! Nice PQ 10.

Kate said...

You definitely took the challenge colors in a different direction and ended up with a very cute mini. You've gotten off to a strong start on finishes and progress towards finishes this year.

Carla said...

Your PQ mini is so cute and makes me think of a scene right here in my own yard.

Brenda @ Songbird Designs said...

Nice projects! Love the PQ mini!

quiltzyx said...

What a cute little birdie on your mini quilt! Great job and you really zoomed across the finish line on that one!

PersimonDreams said...

i adore this! The red bird looks so drastic against the blue! Love it!

Amy said...

I love your happy little red bird! A bright contrast to this crazy cold winter!