I Fell Down A Ribbit Hole !

 Falling down a rabbit hole.  I feel like that a lot lately.  Time just seems to escape me or get eaten up by chores?!   That translates into less sewing time.  At the New Year I was sure I'd post every month.  Here it is,  April and this is my first post of 2026!  

I do have a few finishes to share but not what I expected to accomplish.  

I have been trying to keep to my 'Finish 'um up'  routine going so I've

been pulling tops from the UFO pile and them quilted.  Here's my meager production.

I finished this top about a year ago.  So quilted and finished within a year is pretty good turn around for me!  

Here's the back.

The yardage was not quite wide enough so I had to splice it.  It's not perfect but from a distance it blends pretty well. (narrow strip on the left)

Next up is a top I purchased at the Guild Flea Market.  It just astounds me what people will donate!

That border fabric is so pretty!

Next up another UFO from my 'almost -finished -tops- pile.'  You know the tops?  they just don't quite want to get finished...some fussy detail;  not quite enough fabric or a couple of blocks short of what you need or blocks not the right size etc. etc..  So annoying!  Things that I don't have much patience for.  This project had a few blocks that were too small,  And I had very little matching fabric to work with because it all started with a bundle of Fat Quarters that was almost consumed.  Well I bit the bullet and corrected those problems as best I could and got it quilted!  One more UFO done!

I wanted the backing to be match the colors of the front and I found these two remnants in my stash.  With a little splicing and dicing it got to the right size.

That's all for now,

Happy Spring!

take care, cw

Happy Holidays!

Time just speeds by but between the holiday events, chores, visits with friends and family,  I always find time for sewing.  I feel very fortunate that I have all the resources I need to play and create in my sewing.  The only real challenge is Time!

Of course I have a massive amount of UFO's but lately I've been concentrating on tops that are finished or almost finish. Getting things quilted and out the door!  So here's the rundown:

These first 3 were flea market UFO's that I thought would make nice vet quilts (all 36" x 48"):

This was just a baggy of random half sew units and scraps.  It was really fun to figure out how to sew it all together.  Gotta love those indigos!

Next up a collection of Camp Erin donations: all measure about 55" x 70"

I finished this top some time ago.  Finally got it quilted!

Once again I forgot to get a "finished picture" but I really did get the top done and quilted and out the door!

I blogged about this top last last April.  I purchased the center at the quilt show in Feb.  Sewed some borders on it to make it the right size and there it sat for 6 months.  Finally got it quilted and out the door in Nov.  That's pretty quick turn around for me! LOL

I've made several baby quilts recently.  Some of my friends are just becoming Grandparents for the first time.  It's so much fun to see them with their new Grandbabies!  And of course it calls for quilty gifts!

This one may look vaguely familiar because I made one with similar fabrics last year.  I showed my friend a pic of that one and she said the pink and gray color scheme was a match to her grand babies.  So it was a slam dunk.  Fortunately I still had enough of those fabrics to make another quilt!

I made this top many years ago.  My niece just had her second child a cute bab named Remi about a month ago.  That was just the motivation I needed to finish this top.  I made an eye spy quilt for their older son Rashi so I thought I'd give Remi something different.  I suppose it's kind of abstract for a Baby quilt but I think they will enjoy it.

I finished this quilt a couple of years ago.  I was going to donate it,  but liked it soooo much I hung onto it for someone special.  It's going to another friends grand baby due in the new year.

Well I've got a few more finishes to show you but my rambling has gone on long enough.  Those pix will have to wait 'til the New Year.  In the mean time I wish you all the Happiest of Holidays filled with lots of laughs, love and good fellowship!

Take care, cw

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

 WELL IT'S BEEN AWHILE.....I've been meaning to post some pix of my latest projects but time has sped by as usual.   As I was looking for something else in my Photos file today I stumbled upon this pic and thought why not send a quick message, so:    

            May all the Turkeys in your life be Edible and / or Artful!   HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

take care, cw

Maybe after today this day of thanksgiving.  I have lots to be Thankful for 

Finishes of a different kind

 I haven't made a T-shirt quilt in many years, but when my daughters childhood friend Sara asked me to make her husband's Warriors souvenir shirts into a quilt I was happy to oblige!   Sara and Troy introduced my daughter Naomi to her (now) husband Josh who also happened to be childhood friends with Troy.   The circles of friendship have been a wonderful part of their growing up.  It's one of those gifts that keeps giving!  

Anywho,  I enjoyed this project.  I feel I have learned a lot about constructing T-shirt quilts over the years.  Nothing like Trial and Error to teach you what works!

The color scheme was easy;  Black -blue- gold with a smattering of grey.  These were all xLg T-shirts with large motifs so i just cut 15" squares from all the T's.  I pieced them using my Serger that has a wonderful even feed mechanism so all the blocks came out pretty square.  

Probably the hardest part was deciding how to quilt it.  I've found that it's best not to quilt through the painted parts.  It messes up the graphics and texture.  So I try to figure out ways to stitch around the motifs while keeping the quilting as even as possible.

 I like to use fleece poly blankets for backings on T-shirt quilts.  It makes a very soft and cuddly quilt despite all the paint.  Sometimes the non quilted spaces get a little bigger than I like but since it's only two layers and both are essentially stretch knits that's really not a problem. And it's way more economical than cost of Batting plus backing fabric.

It helps to have iconic graphics too.  It's hard to beat an outline of the Golden Gate Bridge :)

Another off beat project this past month was that I volunteered to make a Banner for our Annual Firewise Neighborhood Meeting.

I figured if I was gonna make a big thing to hang I might as well make a quilt.  I've got all the materials I need and the construction is all familiar territory.

I borrowed the big red circle idea from the fliers that we send out as reminders a few days before the meeting.

Firewise is a national organisation that helps Neighborhoods in high risk wildfire areas to organise and educate homeowners how to prepare in the event of a wildfire. 

Our neighborhood group started after the CZU fire.  We knew we were in a high risk area for fires but when one happens that close to home it is very motivating!

Here it is near the beginning of the neighborhood road. I only basted the date and time so I can take it off for next years meeting's info.

It's hard to imagine such a grim subject on a beautiful day like that?!

But the dry grass does tell it's own tale.

Yes, Summer has finally arrived here on the central coast.

  And the tomatoes and berries are getting ripe for picking...

We're gonna have a good crop of black berries this year!  I made a Crisp with these berries.  Nothing says Summer like a bowl full of fresh picked berries!

I hope your Summer's are going well!

take care, cw

  

I

A Lot Goin' On!

A Lot goin' on!  Mostly fun!  My son and G-daughters came to visit from Indiana.  It's always so great to see them, they always lift my spirits!  And we babysat our 16 month old grandbaby so her mom and dad could have a grown-up weekend.  Such a fun age but toddlers sure do ware me out!  And carry germs!  Me and G-dad both came down with some kind of viral crud after she went home.  We're better now. 

 Through it all I'm sewing / quilting (or at least thinking about it).... Here's the latest:

As I mentioned in my last post I've been working on some STEM themed quilts to be given to a Science Summer Camp program to promote Interest in Science for 8th grade girls.  There will be 80 Campers and our guild managed to make 92 (55" x 70" size) quilts in the space of about 3 months!

  

I was just working out the layout for this one in my last post.  I settled on the light grey patches.  It helped tone down the yellow.  I really like the way it turned out.  I had a lot of fun looking up some of the famous scientists.  So many brilliant researchers!

Here's the back.  It was fun to try and find techno fabrics in my stash to reflect all the Inventions etc.  Don't look to close some of them are a real stretch! lol

The panel in the middle of this quilt made and easy start to a "Homage to Butterflies".

!

It was fun going through all my butterfly fabric for the backing.

Here's the labelng that was provided by the project.

I also quilted tops for several other people.  There's a lot of variety!

Here

Computer themed

Solar system

Chemistry

Turbines.  I thought this was particularly clever.  9 of the blocks in this top had pinwheel / whirligig type blocks. aka windmills and water wheels which are indeed Turbines!

Well it was it was a lot of fun participating in that project!  I hope they do it again next year I'd be more than happy to take another dive into my stash of Science themed fabrics!!!

I hope your Summers are going well!

Take care, cw

Happy Mother's Day!

Be ye Mother, Daughter, Auntie or whatever, enjoy a day for yourself !

To often we rush around taking care of everybody else

Today is for Self Care! 💖

 

Yikes it's Almost May!

March wizzed by and April too!  But I keep sewing.  It's my go-to zero calorie comfort food and fun pass time  So here's are some of my latest projects...

I got this top quilted in mid March using my new favorite all over pattern I'm calling Modern squiggle.

I like the cheeriness of this one so much I am hesitant to give it away, but it will make a good hospice quilt.  Here's the back...

I always try to match the backs to the fronts in color and style as much as possible.  I think this one really works with the front.

Another finish this month is a quilt I made for a special Summer program up at UC Santa Cruz.  Some Science educators have put together a special STEM Summer camp program targeting 8th Grade girls to hopefully create more interest for them in studying Science.  They ask our local quilt guild if we could make Science themed quilts for the students which they could then take home as a souvenir for their Summer Camp experiences.  This is issue very near and dear to my heart being a retired Science teacher.  And of course being a quilter I have more than a bit of fabric to cover the topic.   I decided to start with Chemistry because I had this great panel with Chemisry graphics.

I love these fabrics, so cheerful and fun!

The next 2 quilts are still in the planning stages.

The one on the left is all about Butterflies. That will be easy peasy.  I have soooo much butterfly fabric.   The one on the right has this crazy yellow fabric. It's printed with the names of famous Scientist next to little icons associated with what they are famous for. Like an old fashioned telephone for Alexander Graham Bell. There's a date of the year they were born under the icon.  There are about 30-40 names.  Only 3 are women Scientists.  That kinda says it all!    I'm having trouble finding a mate for the yellow fabric.  Should it be pink for girl power or maybe a light blue to compliment the yellow?  Any suggestions?

I have  few a few flea market finds to share.  We always get such great donations.  It always astounds me what treasures people give away.

This top is so exceptional I snatched it right up.

 

It must have been paper pieced (a technique I have no patience for)  The design is so much fun!  I will quilt  it and donate it to the Live auction next year to benefit Hospice.

This quilt top was donated by a well known quilter in our guild.  

.

But it was a bit to small for a Camp Erin quilt so I added the two outer borders to make it the right size.  About 55" by 65".

We got lots of packets of vintage block donations this year.  I saw these and grabbed them.  I'm really going to try and do something with these blocks.  They are in really good conditions for 30's blocks and so pretty!

I hope Spring is going well with you!

Take care, cw