Back to My Quilt Cave

We had a wonderful weekend visiting with friends and meeting new friends at our homeschool conference in Duluth. There was a lot of talking and laughter, two things I enjoy. The weather was cool, and the rain held off until the end of the conference. Then it got downright chilly, and windy.

So I am back home and happily puttering in my quilt cave this week. Here’s a peek at what I’ve been up to.

I am finished with the elephant quilt! The top is done. After stitching 24 elephants, I can safely say I no longer fear applique. I am so excited to see what my long armer will do with this. We have some ideas; it’s going to be fun!

The quilt was a kit I purchased from Reproduction Fabrics here in my town. Margo, the owner, said she picked the fabrics from her earliest shelf (1775-1825) plus yarn dyes. She was thinking of those fabrics coming into England in the mid 17th Century ( 1650 ish). Chintz was expensive and only about 15% of the total textile cargo. The balance was solids, yard dyed woven stripes/plaids and simple block prints.  The pattern is from Laundry Basket Quilts.

As I cut out the elephants, I also cut out little tumbler pieces from the scraps of the fabric. Once all the elephants were done, I had enough for a cute little mini. Here’s how big the pieces were (the scissors in the photo are 4″).  The pattern is from Primitive Gatherings called Tiny Tumblers.

Here are a few rows done. This is not a fast project, and I’m glad it’s small. I do like the look once it’s sewn together.

Here’s the finished top, all squared up. It’s about 7″ x 9″.

I hope to quilt and bind this little mini this weekend.

Another big finish for me was the superhero quilt. It is now with my long armer, so once it is done and handed off to its owner, I’ll post a picture.

I finished my mug rug for an online swap I’m in. Here’s a sneak peek but I can’t show the whole thing yet. It really is a very simple little mug rug, but I had fun putting it together.

I took a few minutes to clean my machine. Boy, it sure needed it! At least it’s proof that I’ve been busy. Here’s a before and after.

What’s next? One project will be a wedding quilt for a wedding in July. I have some of the fabric, but I’ll need to do some shopping for the rest of the fabric soon.

I also need to get caught up on my Year of Cultivating Creativity challenges. I think I have a backlog of things to get done!

Happy stitching, friends! Enjoy your weekend!

Wendy