The End?

Increased health concerns made quilting a challenge for the past several years. Not only quilting was a challenge, but blogging, writing and even daily activities. Thank you for coming back and sharing this journey.

It is with deepest sadness to inform readers that midday on September 5, 2024 Bellezza Squillace passed away peacefully at home. She left numerous quilts in progress and unfinished. Some include notes to self on what was needed to complete. Some notes mention to whom the quilt was to be shipped. Others have a pattern folded into dedicated materials.

Bellezza often credited Lee George with teaching her the art of quilt making. Lee was my mother and Bellezza my life partner. In memory of both these amazing women my plan is to complete this work. Below is link to the memorial fund dedicated to this effort. Thank you for sharing.

https://angelink.com/fundraiser-public/83403815-91a0-4ed0-852f-44bb34a42564

Changing Blog Themes

I am finding it difficult to blog about quilting.

I am finding it more difficult to blog. As I age, skills seem to wane. Common, I suppose.

At any rate, I want to put a new normal for me up in place of the current quilting blog.

That can keep the status quo. I may finish quilts this year.

I will write a closure before changing, because I never know what it means. Any of it.

Catching up, Slowly

Justin loved the Grinch quilt.

I’ve lost so much energy to this stomach issue, that I’ve had to really pace myself.. My hands shak too so it’s hard to hand sew. I am reminded of a conversation with my Gramma Lizzy who told me she couldn’t thread needles any more. Mine is Essential Tremor and vision. I really don’t know what her health issue was. My Aunt Helen still embroiders and she is 93 or 94 now.

Then, I just continued with the BOM quilts I am behind on.

I am still working on the blocks. We are to have a month on them, so working on them the way I feel is hard. I used to need a day to do a block, and now it takes so much more time. I see how it’s about the pacing.

Admittedly, fear sets in that I won’t get things done. Some days I feel so bad, it must be what dying feels like. The pain is real. My Gastroparesis Doctor is still running diagnostic tests.

Because of the fracture/injured muscles, I backed out of my swaps til I am caught up and feeling better.

Red Bleeds

I decided not to risk giving a quilt I thought might bleed. I washed it, and it bled. I couldn’t bring myself to take a pic of it. Then I discovered some help.

If you run extremely hot water in the tub and add 1/2 cup of Ultra Dawn, then soak the stained quilt for 6-8 hours, it could remove most, if not all the stain. Then rinse in cold and run it through the washer again in cold. I hung it over the shower door to dry. Those stars had been pink!

The pic doesn’t show just how white they are, but I am so much better with how they look.

I plan to do an echo stitch inside of them, give it a little press, and send it out the door. Then I plan to gather up all my red fabric and give it away.  As much as I love red, I am done with it.

It’s been a hard experience even though the quilt is somewhat rescued.

Then I sent out a Fall mug Rug to a person who won a game. She’ll get it Friday. It is cute and I might even make some more Tday mini quilts if there is time.

I did finish hand sewing the Secret Santa quilt tonight, but the house gets so dark, I didn’t take a pic of it.

Next is the Grinch quilt and an attempt to make a mini or two with a holiday pattern I found.

I want to stay low key this year, but am already feeling the holiday strain. I decided I will work on pacing.

Silly Birds Swap

The arm is healing. Yet, I am so antsy that I have to do something.

First is catching up on the swaps, and then, the BOMs. I was two months behind on the Silly Birds. It is a six month commitment. We are to use the same pattern and make two each month; one to send, and one to keep.

September is blue, and October is red. I didn’t make my birds. I just really wanted these out.

Then I worked on the Orange BOM & just need to clip threads, check seams and make sure it is the correct size. It too will get mailed tomorrow.

Fall Table Runner swap

I love this one and will be hard to ship it off.

It lays against a Fall quilt back. I plan to make another to keep. I love how it turned out.

Now onto my holiday gifts for the younger Grandkids. I need to finish a quilt and make the other one a pillowcase.

I fractured my left mid-shank humerus while rock climbing so need to pace myself. Getting older is not fun. This was my first break, ever, so I am not whining. I’m all strapped with it to prevent moving, yet it is really hard to sit still.

Back at it

I am so excited about this. It is made entirely of scrap quilt orphan blocks and strips from my stash. It is laid over batting so it measures out with the back. I plan to spray baste and have it ready for a Secret Santa gift in December. 

I am thrilled to use so much from my stash! Yes, it looks wrinkled. Finish pictures before it leaves here for its new home. I saved the leftovers from three different quilts that are clearly indicated in rows. 

When there are enough colors, everything matches, patterns can be seen in the columns. Then, I pulled out a fabric for vertical sashing, and another for vertical borders.

I got a piece of batting cut, and also cut the back, which needs joining and cutting to size.

After watching some You Tube tutorials, I learned the different types of basting. Thread and needle for hand quilting, safety pins for machine quilting, and spray basting for long arm. Spray basting also works for scrappy quilting because pieces may be cut every which way, and be from numerous fabric houses as well as years. I don’t know if or which have been pre washed, so it gives all pieces a 

chance for a little uniformity in the piecing.

Also, I finished a Birthday gift, which is a candle mug rug and a jar opener. It’s hard to see how the jar opener works as it show dark in this pic. I plan to make more for gifts this year, so will see if I can get better shots on here. 

I am quite aware that the next generations don’t really want gifts as much as they want time, conversations and doing things together. Hard when they are all 2000 miles away.

We do our best.

The next thing I worked on was the mini quilt swap for September. I love how he turned out so much that I had to ship him right away or I might have kept him. So he is in the mail. 

I love the idea of making mini quilts. My fabric supply is getting down finally, and I can handle those projects better. 

It’s been so much fun, and while there is enough to keep me busy for years, I am ok with pacing myself and having a great deal of pleasure. No matter if everyone I know has a share of quilts, so many folks still appreciate them.

Well, this same person is my partner in a table runner swap. So onward!

Mini Quilt Finished

After  running into a few snafus, I was able to finish it. However, now it waits to go out on Friday. I did do a fare amount of assembly on the Tday runner.


I asked an online Facebook group what they would like asa mug rug for Tday, and was surprised that the majority selected an acorn rather than a turkey. The acorn is considerably easier, so once I get the runner finished, I’ll make up a half dozen.

Actually, I’ve got to get back and finish what was started, and in some cases, never started. This is a pastime that gets ahead of a person.

Like many other creative people, my mind goes full speed ahead.

Forgetting Photos

I was at the PO today when I remembered photos I didn’t take. These were the 60 degree cuts and joining to make table toppers. Sigh.

There Is one more piece to finish and send. It needs the sleeve and a small banner in the white space. Things feel more manageable. This block helped me think more practically about doing an entire quilt.

The pic doesn’t make it look squared, but it is. I had only purchased a Fat Quarter of the wood grain, and it was barely enough.

I plan to start and make the Thanksgiving Table Runner swap. Just to be ahead. There are numerous other things going, but this is next on my to-do list.

It’s not only time management, but working around energy depletion. I am not taking chances on it and creating more stress for myself.

Aw Heck

I worked on a number of projects without a finish.

Some days are like that.

Table Top #2

Another square. With this one, the center is an orphan block from a quilt made last year. It had to be reconstructed, and then became a medallion-style table top.

Wasn’t too sure, however, it looks fine. The pic is shadowed, Yet my friend will enjoy the mini.

I am not sure why I struggle with self esteem, especially all these years of life. I can support people at their lowest point. But can’t pull myself up.

Do over? Sure. I could take another pic. And I am ok with letting it go.

There are two more tops to bind by the time the mail goes out by 5 on Friday.

The quilt for my youngest Granddaughter needs to see the machine. It may not get done. Before I post, I hope to have one of the two tops done.

Nope.

Getting Ready for Mail

A lot of what I am doing now is getting ready to mail the Hallows projects out.

Last night I finished binding on three and made a top for a table topper.

This is one pattern for a scrappy table top square. The borders of light and dark with a light binding helped change it from too dark to ok.

If I were to make another with this pattern, I might quilt it differently. It is fine and is ready to package for shipping

The purpose in doing these minis is to use up fabric.

LOL because, I had to shop for Fall fabrics to be used in a Thanksgiving swap. There will be leftovers, and as soon as my Hallows projects are out, I will get back to finishing BOMs.

This pic is of two more mug rugs, going out to a couple of friends. The mummy mug rug is ever so cute, and the one below has cemetery scenes that I plan to send to a young boy.

I got a message saying a person got her mug rug, a day before I expected it to arrive.

I need to spend the day and night working on the remainder of the holiday projects to ship tomorrow.

Also, I got a call from the power company asking to minimize use during 4-9, well sun sets during that time and I often need my lamp for hand stitching.

Ah well, on with the day.

Mailing Tomorrow

While there are still Hallows projects under my needle, several are going out in the mail. Bother’s table runner of X’s and an O, 6 Mug Rugs to members of a Spoonie group I am in, and BOM swap.

This is the BOM. I like how the photo looks. The center 9-patch were pieces I found in the stash of 2.5” pieces, so I had not used them before.

I took out other scraps saved in a bag for the Orange BOM. There is more fabric, and I’ve used the fabric I had for bindings and borders. Ah hah! A trip to Carpinteria......and I want to use what I have and replace fabrics as I go. If I can deplete what is here first, I can buy what is needed later.

 I laid these all out. These are actually the backs in this photo, and, as anyone can see, they are scrappy but useful for a change or personal preference.

The downside of scrappy quilting is that you never know if your idea will work.

I posted a note on the group page asking for 6 people to step forward. This is a group of people dealing with various chronic issues who have reached out for cheer.

Sometimes I think it would be more wise to make stuff first and then asks if someone wants it. Nine people responded.

These need to go out right away. I’ll get the other items ready as soon as I can.

Theses are the tops. Only one person requested a particular theme. Bats. It’s the middle one in the top row. These little thumbnail photos are really brief.

I cut binding for 3 of the table tops and might get them on tomorrow. It will take several settings to hand sew the binding. I am binding 2 mug rugs as well.

Another table topper is cut,pinned, and ready to piece.

Also,TaDa, I signed up for a Fall table runner. I don’t have fabric for it and am not sure which pattern to use. These need to go out first.

The Blue Something Squared BOM is caught up. The Solids is not. Push, push, push.

Hallows Projects

I cut batting for 2 tablemats and the current mini quilt swap, and then cut muslin for the backs. My next project was a mug rug.

This one used a scene, which I quilted around outlines. The back used 6 squares. All that this one needs is binding. I found a black and white zebra stripe that will work. It’s cut now and needs pressing and adding to the piece. I’d like to finish all the projects here and get them out ASAP.

Looking at this pic, it makes a sweet mug rug. I might see what is left of that piece and make more up.

There are a lot of scraps that could be joined and cut. I like the black and white and could make the othe with one othe color.

Not today. Today’s work was enough.

My biggest lesson seems to be pacing myself. I used to quilt until I wilted. Not anymore.

Hallows Runner

It is challenging to work with 2” pieces. While the pattern called for making strips, there was enough to work with.

First of all, and as always, I needed help reading the pattern. I couldn’t find the length of the four arms. Then I realized, I needed to make those arms out of one combination. As I put the border together, I worked more with scraps. It was actually fun to assemble.

As the day went on, I worked on two other table toppers. There will be a total of three going out.

Ava’s quilt is ready for the machine. I’ll simply load a few bobbins and do a simple stitch on it. I’m not too much into that part and will go with what I know.

There is a sweet sense of accomplishment when a project is finished. I am glad for it. I was down for most of the year and while many projects were stalled. It let me see how doing smaller ones has gotten to be a better choice for me.

Hallows is Coming

Today was highly productive. I was able to piece the small table topper 4-patches for my friend in Texas and also put together most of the quilt top for my youngest Granddaughter.

Isn’t it bright and bold? It’s dark in the room, even with all the lamps. Of course, I didn’t want to show it without the border treatment. I am not quite sure what I am doing for it yet. It will get photographed again.

I also decided to make the same pattern a little larger for my eldest Granddaughter in the purples, teals and oranges. I need a bit mor fabric that I can pull from my stash for it. It will be gorgeous. Oh heck, they are all unique as the kids are so of course their quilts will be too.

It’s pretty essential that I get on with projects to cut the fabrics. I used quite a lot of the Hallows scraps today, and there are so many more.  A good day. Today. And I feel good about it.

Up All Night

Now that I am off some meds, I don’t sleep as easily. Tonight I spent time planning for a few projects. The Solid BOM blocks are drawn from the same grouping.

I ordered the wood grain look for the mini quilt bookshelf. It looks nice now and will be great when the border is on.

My next project is to make the Hallows quilts for my Grandkids, and move along the other scraps.

After a lot of searching through patterns for the last one, the decision is to make a 4 -patch. I can use coordinating 4.5 squares that complement the larger 8.5 squares. Fabric selection takes a bit of time needed to make a scrap quilt than one where you walk into a store and pull bolts off that the store buyer and the manufacturer already planned. Each one is different even if they share a few pieces.

This particular quilt needs to go together quickly. I read somewhere that when you plan to give quilts to siblings, it’s best to do it at the same time. Two of the Grandgrrls are Sisters, who would talk.

Well, it’s 3 now and I am going to see if I can sleep. Really. Unless I clean in here, I am set to piece in the morning.

Block #8 Something Squared

It took me all day, and the block trimmed too short. I’m not remaking it and can let stashing make up the difference.

At least with this BOM, I am caught up. Colors aren’t true in the pic. It’s a very different block. Don’t believe I’ve seen it.

I laid out more fabrics for the Solid BOM blocks. My next task is to start cutting them out...one at a time.

Getting to other tasks, I figured out how to hang a swap that came yesterday. It’s a small beach house and fits beautifully in the main bathroom.

I also worked on my current mini. It needs a darker wood grained fabric, so I ordered it online. Whatever comes will have to do. The last book (it’s a bookshelf mini) was more difficult to do. I’ve never done anything like it.

Another thing I did was to look at my Halloween fabric scraps so I could make a quilt for my Granddaughter. Thing is, there is more fabric that I didn’t have in the collection, so I left it alone for now.

I’m not sure how I feel about what I did today. There are bins all over the place. Other than this one block, nothing got finished. Tomorrow.

Cutting, Planning

Today was a good day to cut and plan.

That’s it. I was going to stop writing because honestly, even thinking takes a lot of energy.

When they talk about Christmas in July, it’s for folks who plan for December, who have to buy supplies and mail by the end of November. Like me.

That’s what I started doing.

I worked later into the night to finish another block. I had a date with Jack. Block layout sometimes gets to me. While it needs trimming and a good press, it is done.

How can it be that there are six more blocks?

Yet.

And then, I printed off another BOM pattern. I was caught up on that project. That means there are 7 blocks from two projects. This doesn’t even factor in the Piggy appliqué BOM. Oh well, I was away from quilting several months, so I need to be gentle with myself.

It is very hard not to start another project. Back a few years ago, this was how I quilted. Now, I am deeply committed to finishing projects, even the UFOs hanging in my closet. If I can finish these SEVEN blocks, then, I can start on the holiday gifts.

Six To Go

In catching up, it seems like one block gets done and suddenly another appears.

I’ve worked to finish several blocks and even joined those in the top segment.

One block is almost pieced, another needs HST cut & pressed. In its turn, a block needs cutting, and the process continues. I need to spend time trimming loose threads, ensuring seams are correct, cutting off dog-ears.

What I have should finish the top half. I’ve been saving scraps in case they are needed, and just want to go forward.

Stopping before a project gets completed is more work when I return to it. I am determined to get completely caught up, and then make sure I don’t fall behind again.