Paddington Counts

A quilting friend of mine went to my guild's fabric sale last September which I did not attend. She thought of me though, and picked up a cute tiny suitcase containing the fabrics and instruction sheet to make up a Paddington Bear themed quilt. It was a kit where the focus fabric for the center was the panel for a cloth book titled Paddington Counts.

I cut out each numeral ¼" beyond the blue border. I had to stretch a few numerals along the bias to square them up. Per the pattern I did not use numeral 10. I will have to figure out what to do with it later. Surely I cannot discard it!

Then I sewed the vertical sashings at the very outer edge of the blue line and made rows. A time saver for me is that the numeral positions were preordained when I formed the rows. I did not fret over which block to place where, as I normally micromanage when I assemble blocks.

After adding the turquoise horizontal sashings, I added the narrow, orange, bear-cameos print border, followed by the wider pin-striped border and number print cornerstones.

The final widest border had circles with a number and bear inside each. I quilted around each large circle and added smaller circles as connecters between them. This quilt pattern extended into the striped side bands on the back where there is a sneak peek of the backing number fabric. The backing fabric is from my stash and did not come with the kit.

Within each of the nine central squares I outlined the numeral with the bear and whatever he was holding. I used a pale yellow thread rather than stark white. I remember Angela Walters recommending use of a pale thread rather than plain white. It does make the quilting visible without distracting.

In the pin-striped border I did piano keyboard style in every other yellow stripe. In the orange border I merely meandered around each image, be it a cameo bear or yummy food item.

Along the diagonal cornerstones I put my go-to four-lobed square filler. I machine embroidered my two labels and hand stitched them to the backing before attaching the binding. The stripes of the binding fabric change color on their own with no need for me to fussy cut and seam. I was fortunate the yellow, orange, and charcoal were all colors in the fabric from the kit. I named this quilt COUNTING STUFF. I chose stuff instead of things because this bear is indeed stuffed, after all.

Here is about one-fourth of the back showing the texture of the FMQ. I think the word my daughter used was that the fabric tones were a bit "intense". True, it does not have the pastel coloration of the front, but how could I pass up that perfect thematic match?

Here is COUNTING STUFF in its entirely, front, back (included my husband's fingers), and an effort at an artistically draped presentation. Completed it measures 48" x 48".

What to do with the leftover number 10 square and the front and back cover squares? Pillow...? Pocket on quilt back...? Drawstring sack...? Hmmm... I will think of something. For now those leftovers are neatly folded in that cute little suitcase awaiting inspiration.

Third Saturday of August 2021

My guild's theme for "Hang Your Quilt Day" this August was "Hot August Nights". The rich warm reds and golds of this quilt, Overlapping Squares, made me think hot, hot, hot. The purples remind me of night skies. In retrospect, I wish I had named this quilt Hot August Nights instead of the mundane Overlapping Squares. I hung only this quilt this month, feeling its tones were a sufficient homage to the heat. Our weather is currently is so hot, many wildfires now dot my state of California. The lingering scent of smoke in the air is a continual reminder.

Overlapping Squares 48" x 48"

The completion of Overlapping Squares is detailed in my post dated 6/8/2016. It is made from a kit I bought in North Carolina while visiting my sister many, many years ago. It is fussy cut from three ombre striped fabrics in the colorways, Pumpkin (yellow-golds), Blossom (coral-reds), or Iris (lilac-purples). I had pieced it before I ever started blogging (so prior to 2011) but it lingered for FMQ until 2016; but I did start and finish it eventually. It was one of my first FMQ attempts with ruler work and I think it is one of my favorites.

Hang Your Quilt Day Beginnings (and Ongoings)
Beginning April 2020, my quilt guild members began a tradition of hanging quilts in the front of their homes on the third Saturday of the month as a source of enjoyment for the community and as a thank you for the essential workers during the pandemic. My initial post about this practice is dated 4/22/20. I am pleased to see the displays are still going on – although not so pleased that the pandemic still is. As the delta variant of COVID-19 ramps up, it is even more important we continue to bring some visual joy into our neighborhoods. This month we also say thank you to the firefighters who have been working such long, hard hours.

Meet the Dinosaurs

I thought I'd run out of babies before I'd finish emptying my drawer of baby cloth book panels. A surprise grandnephew solved that dilemma. I will add this cloth book to the burp cloths I made for him (post dated 8/5/21).

These are the pages once they are sewn front to back and before they are joined at the spine. I inserted washable crinkly wrap inside the middle page so it makes crackling sound for the baby as the pages are turned or merely if parts of the book are stuffed into his mouth.

Here in the poem inside, with text hopefully enlarged enough to read in this post.

Occasionally these book panels are printed catywampus off grain, as was this one. I merely stretched it on the bias to square it up as much as possibly. When I sandwiched the pages with batting before stitching, I trimmed off any stray corners that would not obey. No off-kilter panel should ever be left behind. The bright and cheery colors of the finished product make me smile and made it worth the extra effort. 

Surprise Baby Burpcloths

I found out about the imminent birth of a new grandnephew "a week or two" before the baby's due date. This was a happy occasion for my nephew and his wife, since they believed they would never be parents. They were thrilled with the news. Obviously they did have more notice than I did however. The mom delivered an 8 lb 15 oz, 22½" long boy on July 30, 2021. I jumped into burp cloth mode when I heard the announcement. 

Here are the ten I made. First up were pairs of turtles, tractors, and cats. When the weather gets colder, the baby will still be spitting up and so for winter I added pairs of snowmen and penguins. 

Each burp cloth is made from two fat quarters and finishes at 12½" x 18" as shown in the following photo. In the previous photos they are folded in thirds. 

Two half yard cuts form a complementary pair of two burp cloths, the back of one is the same fabric as the triple thickness center strip of its counterpart. I am pleased to report my drawer of half-yard cuts of flannel is actually beginning to dwindle. Instructions to make the burp cloths are in an earlier blog post of mine dated June 18, 2014. Note the flannel must be 42" or so wide and not the typical 36" width of vintage flannel if you happen to have older yardage.