Quilt Diary: Outdoor Patio Tablecloth finish!

I wanted to share my tablecloth that I made for my daughter’s outdoor patio table.  I mentioned last time, I decided to put batting in because it was outside.  It is a double-sided tablecloth (or topper).  The above model’s name is Ozzie and he 100% approved the new table topper!  I will be linking this 3rd quarter finish up with Capitola Quilter for the 2019 Finish-a-long.  My original list can be found here.

I got a little bored quilting all this negative space.  What was supposed to be a loopy meander became ….  more.  I ended up throwing some spirals, a feather, stippling, and any thing else that caught my eye including writing Caitlin’s name on it.

Sewing Table Updates

As usual, I am all over the place so I am just going to share what I have worked on in the last week even though since the last post most of my time was spent traveling and visiting my daughter in Halifax.

#mamagypsyquiltqal

This week we are supposed to either sew our center blocks or the first row.  Since I am working with fat quarters and mentally trying to figure out how I will be cutting everything so I don’t have to dip into my yardage.  The top of my wishlist is instructions on cutting the fat quarters.  I supposedly have enough fat quarters, but I am having trouble envisioning how it is possible so I can properly place the colors.  The center color is one that can be used in more than one place in the pattern as it is only 4 3.5″ squares.  After pondering this extensively, even though a white center would be really cool, it just doesn’t make design sense with what I am working with.  So I have pretty much decided to swap the shells with white background for shells with pink background.  The other thing I have decided is I need to cut all the very large pieces that are 18.5 inch squares just so I don’t screw up those.  I saw a version where the corners coming together can be creative.  Here is my latest fabric pull.  I hope to cut into these by the weekend.

#100days100blocks2019

Last week I posted through August 7th.  Because these blocks are quick to cut and sew, I have been able to stay on top if not a wee bit ahead of the game.  I am very thankful.  I finished sewing through block 50 last night and laying out my next row (31-40).  This row is ready to sew.  Maybe tonight or tomorrow but definitely by weekend.  I am loving my design choice of the 8×8 being pink, red, and white while my 4×8 are green, teal, and yellow.  I am also pleased with my decision to put the rows together now. It has solidified my choices.  Honestly, I am not hung up on doing them in order in the row or even the next ten, but this time around, it is because the color placement was perfect.

Here are blocks August 8th – August 13th.

A-Door-Naments: Jack ‘O Lantern

Last night I broke out the orange thread and worked on the last of the appliqueing for this project.  I did not have any orange for any of the other project so no progress on them.  It felt really good to finish up the blanket stitch as well as the accents to the pumpkins.  I think I want to order a pumpkin craft holder for this one.  It would just make it more finished.  I still have to label and do the hanging sleeve.  Should be able to finish up this week for sure!  Here is a progress picture.

Sunflower Wooly Mug Rug

Since this is a hand project and I knew I would be traveling last week so I set finishing this project up for my weekly goal for #onethingwithamy .  With my luggage getting lost and then not packing the right needle, I wasn’t able to finish this up after all.  It has rolled into this week’s goal with #onethingwithamy .  I did finish those oyster stitches.  You can so tell when I was stitching these on the plane.  This is another project that I should be able to finish soon.  It is an August project and I have September’s hanging out in my bag.

#fw1920eppsal

As mentioned, I was on the road so portable hand projects were the name of the game.  This particular project ended up in my backpack and never left my side.  A lot of progress was made on my current block.  A matter of fact, I finished it up last night!  This block drew a lot of attention from my fellow travelers.  While I was waiting for my luggage to be delivered I was sitting in the lobby of my daughter’s apartment building.  An Asian grandmother who did not speak English and her two granddaughters were on their way out when they spotted me.  They came over and Grandma had her oldest granddaughter asking me questions like what I was making, how long does it take.  For some reason, Quilt did not translate so I explained it as a blanket for a bed.  I am not sure if that is because the 8 year old didn’t know or what.  They watched me stitch for at least an hour on this project until the youngest got really antsy.  But this time she had gone through all my bags checking out my tools and the little triangles and squares covered in fabric.  It was cute.  The grandmother did know enough English to tell me beautiful before she took the girls out.

The next encounter was with a couple of ladies who were wondering what I was doing while sitting across the aisle for me.  Their reaction was “You are making a quilt by hand?!  Why?”  We had an interesting conversation and I told them that I also made quilts with my sewing machine but this was a portable project I was not expecting to finish any time soon.  That seemed to make sense to them.  Of course, while I was talking to them, I attached my row 2 upside down and didn’t realize it until I was almost done.  Undoing your sewing on an EPP project is so much harder and I was irritated with myself.  Anyway, I fixed it and finished making row 3 then attaching it last night.

To be honest, I was not confident in my color choices for this block.  Upon reflection, I like it.

Before leaving on the trip, I had cut the pieces for two more blocks.  Those bags were thrown into my backpack along with a glue stick and refill.  To be honest, I am happy I did.  I completely finished gluing one block and only have one shape left to do on the other.  But I got to laugh at myself, I did not do them in order.  So either gluing becomes a priority, or I start stitching on block 28 instead of 27 because of course the shape not done is the shape for all the units.  Last night I decided to also do a fabric pull for the next two blocks.  Blocks 27 & 28 are both red and I was shocked to see that I was going to have a gray, white, red block and then just a gray and white block.  Fun, huh?!

Well that wraps up what I have been working on since last Wednesday.  Hockey has started again, so post should be more regular.

Happy Quilting and Safe Travels!

Peggy Stockwell