2020 so far

So what have I done with my quarentine - besides lots of working from home.  Seems like all I've done this year has been T-shirt quilts.  And more T-shirt quilts (see my other blog Dee B Tees).   I have made some masks but only those requested by friends or family - not the hundreds that many have done.  But what else have I sewn while staying home for 6 months?

Only one was a novelty quilt but this isn't the 1st time I've posted non-novelty work on this blog - so here we go.  

Back in June, tired of t-shirts, I decided to spent a little time playing with novelties.  This modified Pinwheel was fun to do, made up of 4 quarter sqaure triangles and a 4" center square.  And some scraps around the outside.  Inspiration was a pattern called Whirlygigs that I modified to work better with novelties (not as chopped up).

Wanting to try something different I decided to make a miniature quilt from a pattern I had done several years ago, lsat time bed sized.  That was fun, and it doesn't take up much space when done.  I enjoy following the swirling tails around.  The Pattern is Kool Kats Kwilt by Patti Carey.

Remaking a favorite quilt  - a few years ago I had taken apart a quilt I had made back at the very beginning of my quilting journey.  Not knowing any better at the time I had used poly batting.  I also didn't know how to apply borders properly.  The whole thing waved like a flag in the breeze. I really did like the quilt despite all this.  I thought about various ways to fix the defects but finally just removed the quilting & batting completely, then put it away to "age".  I ran across it in my "to do" basket this spring when trying to think of a project.  At first I thought about making another one but I really did like these fabrics.  I decided to see if I could save it.  The sashing was wonky, but the individual blocks were ok - a few missing points but not terrible and the seams were decently 1/4".  

So I re-pieced the sashing and requilted and bound.  I even had some of the original fabric for the corner stones - 20 years ago!  Not as badly faded as the green foruntately.  I added a nice red flange on the binding (had some of the red too, just barely enough for the flange). And I love it - it's hanging at the entrance to my sewing room where I can enjoy it. Originally I had added buttons as embalishment but decided I really liked it this way better, just simple.  And FLAT - ha!

Here is the "Before" picture - ugh - this is from my very 1st blog post -  The green was brighter then, but those borders are painful to even look at.  I've definitely improved in 20 years of quilting.

Beginner Houses

Next - How about a bright pretty candy colored pattern?  I had purchased the pattern several months ago and decided I needed something bright and cheerful in July.  This fit the bill.  It doesn't have a border yet but I love the colors. Big simple blocks, it went together very fast.  The pattern is All Roads by Angela Walters.  I modified her piecing as I wanted to minimize the seams instead of all hst's.

And one more, I finished up a needle turn applique wall hanging started last year, pattern by Eye of the Beholder (love their patterns).  I want to do something special with the quilting background but still thinking on how to do it.  Once done it will hang in my sewing room of course.  I'm running out of wall space -  I may have to start rotating like an art gallery!  😃

Well pretty productive.  It is amazing how much time I used to spend driving.  I am saving a lot of gas and enjoying being 10 steps from my work to my sewing room - I'm very fortunate to have a job for now and a wonderful work and play space to spend my time.