From Small Things: Episode 61: Finished Vintage Quilt

Welcome back!

This week, I have my first finished quilt of the year! But first:

I received a little present in the mail from my sister. She sent me some beautiful pieces to use in future quilts: an orphan block with embroidery in the center, a wonderful little piece of cross stich, and an adorable piece of vintage fabric. It makes me so happy to see and work with these treasures.

In my sewing room, I've been trying to work on a few things which have started to feel like clutter. I have some foundation papers called "cupcake mix," which I got years ago from the Houston Quilt Festival. I've been busy trying to use these up and turn them into blocks, even though I don't know yet what they will be used for. I also had a stack of HSTs lying around, and decided to sew them up into flying geese blocks. I'm not happy with how these turned out, so I think they will have to sit around for a while longer before I find a place to use them.

I've also decided on my next quilt, which will be a red and white. I have a red and white collection, but last year I didn't add any to it, so I want to make sure to add another this year. I saw a beautiful quilt made by my friend Linda, and it was so striking, I want to make the same pattern. The pattern is called Poinsettia Stars, and it will be all reds and whites. I'm going to start picking my reds from the box in my room labelled "scraps," because it was also a goal to work with what's in this box this year. So far, I figured out the units for the block-- just two different sizes of HSTs-- and put together a test block. This one will go together quickly!

I am ready for this next piecing project, because my row quilt is fully assembled! I didn't expect to be at this point this week, but it came together quickly at the end. I even got it basted. Now it's on the pile, waiting its turn to be hand quilted.

And: my finish! I don't know what to call the block in this quilt; it's similar to a basket block, and I set them on point. The colored fabrics in this quilt are all from my stash of vintage fabrics. I put off working with these for a long time, because I loved looking at them just as they were, but now that they are in a quilt I love them even more. I'll show you how I quilted this one, in a way that seemed efficient to me. This one is going on the bed right away!

I hope you are staying safe and warm this week!