What I'm Working On

It has been about 6 months since the last time I posted. It was not a great year last year in many regards, and the new year didn't begin much better. I've had some different health issues to deal with, plus a surgery in January; and I'm hoping all of that is behind me now. 

Last year was also a dry year for quilting. I finished exactly three quilts, and all of them went to other homes. None of them were UFOs, and I have so many. However, that is not to say no quilting got done. I've amassed a small pile of finished tops, so it's time to work on finishing them up. 

Part of the problem was the pineapple quilt. I loaded it on the frame in June and quilted two rows. In a thread color I didn't like, in a pattern I didn't like. Took me months to rip it out, and I was so dejected that it sat on the frame for more months, then I finally just took it off the frame altogether. It wasn't until December that I finally got back in the saddle and quilted this Christmas tree skirt for my son. That was my third and final finish for 2021. 

In January I thought again about trying to get the pineapple quilt quilted. I got as far as locating a new pantograph that I liked a lot. 

In February I made one of Mary Johnson's strippy quilts to try out the pantograph. I liked it even more.

Yes, it's a pineapple.

In March I finally reloaded the pineapple quilt and quilted it with the pineapple pantograph in a bright yellow variegated thread, and I absolutely love it. Sigh of relief. 

The pantograph is called Pina Colada from Urban   Elementz.These photos are a preview of the quilting. The quilt is now off the frame, and I'm getting ready to sew the binding on. Soon as it's finished I'll put a photo on the blog.

 

Another project I've been working on for quite a while is these small embroideries from a couple of years ago. They are from an embroidery collection called Baltimore Revisited by Anita Goodesign. My blocks finish at 5-1/4", and there are 36 of them in my quilt. Each block is part of a set of two, one with colored thread and one redwork block, so 18 different designs. 

Each block is a complete little quilt, quilted and bound; and I am sewing all of them together using the potholder method, which is a different style of quilt-as-you-go quilting. My blocks will be set together in a 6 x 6 format, and I have the top two rows completely sewn together as of this morning. It's all hand sewing, so it takes time. 

If you are curious about the potholder method, visit Wendy Caton Reed's blog, The Constant Quilter, and search within the blog for "potholder quilts". Wendy is an award winning quilter, and she's made quite a few quilts in the potholder style. She is located here in Maine, and she came to my quilt chapter a couple of different times to teach the method. You can see beautiful quilts that she's made in the potholder style on her blog. 

There is also an interesting article about potholder quilts here:

https://www.quilts.com/suzys_fancy/potholder-quilts-of-maine/