Little Penguin Quilts: July 2020

Friday, July 31, 2020

The end of July...

Hard to believe August is here already! It feels like it was just the 4th of July. I suppose this whole year is going to feel like that!

I finished out dark blue month by sewing up this little quilt top which includes some dark blue blocks.

Right now it measures 48.5 inches square. I think it needs a border to bring it up to 60 inches square, or maybe something like 54 x 60, so this will be put on hold until I find the perfect border fabric!

I started making these blocks sometime in 2019, after seeing them on someone else's blog. They're from the book Nickel Quilts by Pat Speth.

She calls this design Northern Lights.

After getting that little quilt top together, I decided it was time to play. Back in May, during the Cool to be Square blog hop, I saw a free pattern for a tablerunner on Kathleen McMusing's blog that I've been wanting to try. She calls it the MiniCharm Tablerunner and you can find it at THIS post.

It starts with a mini charm pack (plus two more 2.5 inch squares) which you sew into 4 patches. I had a mini charm pack of Coco by Chez Moi for Moda that I decided to use.

Happy yellows, greens, pinks, light blues!

Then the fun part - hunting through the stash for just the right bits and pieces to make sashing and cornerstones.

How about some light blue and a darker yellow with tiny flowers?

This design also needs setting triangles, so I thought this might work.

The dark blue with dots is an Art Gallery fabric I just love called Floralish

that I used for the binding on Scrappy Sprouts.

By the time I stopped working on this Friday afternoon, I had it this far.

It also needs a border which I hope I can piece out of what is left of the Floralish.

Playing with Kathleen's design and my own fabric choices was so much fun - one of my favorite things to do!

Leaders and enders this week were 4 patches cut from scraps on my cutting table. I figured if I made purple, yellow, and red ones I'd have a good chance that one of them would be August's color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!

Hope you had a chance to play with some scraps this week! Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Christmas Then and Now Blog Hop

Welcome to my day on the Christmas in July (Then and Now) Blog Hop, and thanks for visiting! Thank you to Carol at Just Let Me Quilt for hosting this blog hop and giving us all lots of fun holiday inspiration to check out this week.

*If you're visiting from I Like Thursday at Not Afraid of Color, I hope you'll like my post for the blog hop, and maybe find some other bloggers to visit, too! *

See the bottom of this post for a list of quilters participating every day this week.

When I saw the theme "Christmas Then and Now," I knew I had the perfect quilt to share! The problem was, it wasn't finished - in fact it was a 10 (or more) - year old UFO that I've been struggling to finish for a very long time. So joining this blog hop was just the push I needed to finish it!

My Christmas Friendship Then and Now quilt is a joint effort by my quilt group with blocks and quilt top made "then" probably around 2010, and the finish happening "now" just in time for this blog hop! It started with an inspiration block made by me -

The next month, my quilting friends brought back 12 inch blocks they had made for me to our meeting. This quilt is full of fun designs like...

Reindeer

Family coming home for Christmas

Christmas Stockings

Angels

a gingerbread man

and lots more!

I took all the blocks home, added black sashing, and a fun border full of swirly Christmas lights. And then it sat... This was a project started when I was still teaching, so every summer break I would pull it out, look at it for awhile, and then fold it back up and put it away.

But NOW... my Christmas Friendship Quilt is finally finished!

The backing and binding are this fun peppermint print. I finished the quilt like an old-fashioned comforter - thick batting, ties instead of machine quilting, and machine stitched binding.

Santa is waving hello!

Christmas Friendship Then and Now measures about 70 x 85, which you will know if you're a regular reader is very large for me!

I am so happy to have this finally finished!

Merry Christmas in July!

Here's the schedule for the week - be sure to go back and visit any participating blogs you missed from Monday and Tuesday, too.

Monday, July 27, 2020

To-Do Tuesday #48

I'm checking in today with my weekly to-do list and linking up with Roseanne and friends for the To-Do Tuesday linky party at Home Sewn By Us.

It's been a good week for getting things done here at the Little Penguin house! I completed my July Color Challenge block which I'll link up over at Patterns by Jen.

I really liked this block pattern, and thought I had a good plan with my fabric choices, but I'm not particularly happy with how it turned out. The nest fabric and the dots go nicely together color-wise, but don't have enough contrast for the block. But the nest fabric has to go in this quilt inspired by birds! 😉

The dark blue zigzag row and the Covered in Love blocks are sewn up as well, and you can see them in my Saturday post here.

I also finished up my project and post for the Christmas in July (then and now) blog hop. Come back tomorrow for that one!

So, this coming week is wide open as to what needs to be accomplished! Here's what I'll put on the list:

1. Do some scrap sorting and cutting. These are the little bits and pieces that have accumulated on my cutting table the last few weeks. They'll be used for scrappy 4 patches and Easy Breezy Leader/Ender blocks. I folded up and put away some larger pieces before taking this picture!

I've had enough of dark blue, so that pile is going in the blue scrap bin! I can use some red, yellow, and purple in the scrappy blocks, though, so those bits will be used.

2. Finish cutting and start sewing the border for the little ocean quilt that I'm working on.

3. I'd also like to get these blocks sewn into a quilt top.

None of these jobs should really take very long, so who knows - other sewing might be accomplished, too! Have a great week, everyone!

Saturday, July 25, 2020

Squirrel in Purple

Last week I decided my stitching station, which is next to my comfy chair in our family room, needed a makeover! It's a simple, glass-topped table, about 15 inches square. So I thought the purple mini quilt I made to celebrate women's suffrage would fit it perfectly, and it does!

But that wasn't quite enough for the makeover - it needed something more. How about a zipper pouch? I have many zipper pouches, and I use them for all kinds of things, but none of them are purple. So I decided to make one. After reading this post at ChrisKnitsSews, I thought about an orphan block I had that might work for a zipper pouch.

It's a basket block I made when I was playing with

the bonus HSTs leftover from this project.

I only had a 7 inch zipper, so this pouch couldn't be too big, but I thought the basket block would be just right for it. I made a couple of panels for the front and back of the pouch and layered them with batting scraps for some simple quilting.

With zipper tabs, and boxing the bottom so it would sit flat, this little pouch measures about 8.5 inches wide by 6.5 inches tall. It's just right for holding my little scissors, needle book, and some thread or embroidery floss.

Purple pouch and sister project up there on the wall!

And makeover complete!

I even had a purple pincushion to add to the station - now it's really perfect!

After finishing up that little squirrel, I could get on with stitching the redwork snowmen. Two (plus stars and snowflakes) are finished, two more are traced and that's what I'll work on this week for my slow stitching.

Sharing at all my favorite weekend parties:

Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap

Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching

and mmmquilts for the July DrEAMi link-up!

Friday, July 24, 2020

A Trip Through My Sewing Week

I've been all over the place with my sewing this week and put a lot of miles on my trusty Pfaff! The ultimate goal was to finish up the dark blue zigzag row, and I reached that destination yesterday afternoon.

But there definitely were detours along the way, including three red, white, and (dark) blue stars for Covered in Love. I'll get these sent off early next week.

I've made a few of Bonnie Hunter's Easy Breezy Leader/Ender blocks in the 6 inch size, and mentioned to Deb A that I thought a star block might go well with these. When she suggested Wonky Stars, I decided to turn down that road and make a few of those just for fun.

These are all made with the leftover bits that have ended up on my cutting table from other projects - lots of blue, but some red, yellow, and purple, too.

Continuing on the wonky path, I made some wonky X (or plus) blocks inspired by Joy, and when LeeAnna suggested pairing them with some O's ( to make X's and O's), I added a wonky one of those just to see what would happen.

Just one made so far, but that could work!

Thinking ahead to the next quilt top I would like to finish, I ordered some yardage for a backing from Bernie at Needle and Foot, and it arrived Thursday. I think this will be perfect for the Tiny Rails quilt!

Looks like a lot of friends have come along for the ride this week - thanks for all the ideas! Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

I Like Thursday #195

Hello, friends! How are you doing? Finding things to feel positive about? It can be tough these days. I have a few fun things to share this week!

I enjoyed sitting out on my back porch one morning earlier this week with my coffee and a good book! It was quiet and cool, so pleasant.

I like finding a new author, whose books I know I'll read more of. The one in the photo above, An Unsuitable Match, is by Joanna Trollope. She writes realistic fiction about women and their families, set in England. A friend loaned me this book, and I liked it a lot!

These sauteed peppers and onions made a pretty photo and were tasty, too!

We combined these with some grilled chicken, cheese, and sour cream in tortillas, to make our own version of fajitas.

We have a volunteer sunflower that has actually bloomed! Usually the squirrels around here don't let the sunflowers get as far as blooming - they chop them down and eat them up before we see any flowers.

I appreciate all my quilty friends who inspire me and give me ideas to try in the sewing room! The Wonky Plus blocks found at The Joyful Quilter's blog, which she found at a blog called Sugaridoo, looked like fun to make, so I tried a few.

So... I think mine look more like X's than pluses, lol! Maybe a bit TOO wonky?

Also, for "wonky" blocks, they're kind of uniform. Hmmm.

Well, I enjoyed playing with them, anyway!

These are made with 5 inch background squares and

6 inch strips in various widths, then trimmed to 4.5 inches.

I like blog hops - visiting the blogs and (once in awhile) participating in them! The Christmas Then and Now blog hop starts next Monday. My day is Wednesday, July 29th. Check out the full list of participants at Just Let Me Quilt.

Thanks for visiting today! Be sure to check all of the I Like Thursday posts linked up at Not Afraid of Color!

Monday, July 20, 2020

To-Do Tuesday #47

Happy Tuesday! I'm checking in today with my weekly to-do list and linking up with Roseanne and friends for the To-Do Tuesday linky party at Home Sewn By Us.

I've been working away on last week's list, and this photo is my proof! 😁

All kinds of pieces and parts ready to sew together:

R, W, and B stars for Covered in Love

Dark blue HSTs for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge ZigZag quilt

Red block for July Color Challenge

The blue zigzag row will make 6 rows for that project that I'm "building" month by month for the RSC.

Pink row was finished up last week, too!

I'm making progress, too, on the Christmas UFO for the blog hop, and here's another sneak peak!

My day for the Christmas Then and Now Blog Hop is Wednesday, July 29th, so I need to get this finished! And it's getting there!

So, what's on the list for this week?

1. Sew all those blocks together that are sitting on my sewing table, including the blue zigzag row.

2. Bind the Christmas UFO.

3. Start working on my blog post for the Christmas Then and Now blog hop.

These should be doable! Have a great week, everyone!