Sunday afternoon sewing time was quite productive this week. I trimmed the Stip Mirage quilt for my great niece and made the label for her quilt. I made the label for my Barn Star Sampler, and I got the binding sewn to the front and have been working on hand stitching it to the back. Business wise, I had three quilts come in from a client in Colorado this month, and I also trim and bind for her. I have two of those ready to ship back, and have one left to bind. I am currently working on a custom job for client that is her entry in an upcoming show. My “sew-jo” is in full force right now. Really enjoying working on my projects.
My great-niece’s stip mirage during quilting.
I guess this isn’t so much a label for the back, but more of a name tag. I will sew one of my little tags I had made that has my business name and made by information into the binding, as well.
Weather here is psycho again. We were plunged into arctic temps this week, and currently it is -4 with a windchill of -17. But Sunday, we are supposed to be almost 70! Weather whiplash! I hope you are warm and having a great week. Thanks for stopping by.
Today’s sewing was all WIP related. I have chosen the Strip Mirage I started for my great-niece as my February UFO to work on, and hopefully FINISH in February. I had the top all done except for borders. I got them added today, made the backing and I have the binding strips cut. It’s all ready for the longarm.
After, I got that done, I pulled out some indigo fabric from my stash to make 380” of binding for my Barn Star Sampler. I used quite a bit of fabric from my stash for my Barn Star Sampler, but I did have to buy a few background fabrics, and some teals as I didn’t have enough in my stash. I had plenty of indigos in my stash as called for in the pattern, and used this one in some of the blocks and also had plenty for the binding. As I was cutting the binding strips, I saw the date in the selvedge. Oh my, it’s 20 years old! How can it be that 20 years have passed since I acquired this fabric?! I still love it and glad to be using it, finally. I also still have about 1.5 yards left.
I would love to finish both of these this month, but I plan to hand stitch the binding on the Barn Star Sampler, so I seriously doubt I will get it finished this month. We shall see….
Before washing.As close to a label as it’s getting. It says “handmade by Randi Ortega” on the backside of the tag. After washing.
I was aiming for a very old fashioned, vintage quilt look and I think I achieved that goal. It’s a cheery little quilt that makes me think of sunshine and blue skies. Pattern by Kairle Oakes, Virgin River Quilt Co. I purchased new fabric for the top, but was able to clear almost 4 yards from my stash for the backing.
One of the things that took up a lot of my time last year, along with the fact that I’m in the process of building a second house at the ranch, was that I agreed to make three large t-shirt quilts for a grieving family. It felt like a monumental task, and I had to get them all done by Christmas. Which I did! I’ll add that I do not enjoy making t-shirt quilts. It’s simply not my jam, but I was thankful to have the opportunity to make these as I dearly love the sweet family, and the loved one they lost. She was a beautiful, vibrant mother, grandmother, super active member of our community and was killed by the tornado that tore through our small town in 2023. I felt God gave me the gift of being able to do something for them, when I was at a loss to figure out what I could possibly do to comfort them. Anyway…once that was behind me, I felt free to return to my own projects and my sewjo mojo is back with a vengeance!
I hope to really tackle some older UFO’s, WIPS and squeeze in some new projects as well this year. I have actually made a list to track my progress. I was hoping to finish one UFO a month. Well, I picked one for January and I almost made it to the finish line before the month was over. It is on my longarm and I’ve almost completed the custom quilting on it, so I will get the binding done as soon as I complete that. My January pick was the quilt I started in 2023 that was supposed to be my entry for our quilt guild challenge, due at the October 2024 meeting, but didn’t finish in time since I took on the t-shirt quilts. (I won’t be sharing the t-shirt quilts out of respect for the family’s privacy.) The pattern for this one is called Douple Dip quilt and it’s a free pattern from Kairle Oaks, Virgin River Quilt Company, on Instagram. The guild challenge was to make a two color quilt. I purchased new fabrics for the top and binding, but I did get 4 yards out of my stash for the backing.
Completed TopQuilting in Progress
I’ll share again once completed. I have so many new projects I’m dying to work on, so as long as I’m working on a UFO or older WIP, I’m allowing myself some new projects time each month, as well. I don’t usually do the “word thing” for a new year, but this year I have decided that I must be a finisher and not just a starter 😂 so I guess my word to focus on this year is FINISH. I have way to many works in progress or unfinished projects that haven’t been actively worked on in years, and that must change.
So, the new project recap is that I started on my challenge quilt for this year’s guild challenge, which is to make a quilt that uses half square triangles. I had a quilt kit that I bought several years ago that fit the bill perfectly, so I pulled it out and got started, and I almost completed the whole top in January. It just needs the flange and border added to be ready for quilting. The pattern and fabric is Rural Jardin from French General. I love it so much!
Center Portion of Rural Jardin Quilt Top
I’ve also wanted to make a pineapple quilt forever, and this quilt kit was quite generous with the fabric and there’s a decent amount of scraps, so I pulled out a pack of pineapple paper piecing blocks from It’s Sew Emma that I purchased from The Fat Quarter Shop. This will be a long term project, unless I get quite a bit speedier as I go. It takes me almost an hour to do one block. I’ve had two Instagram quilting friends recommend the Creative Grids pineapple rulers for future projects. These are turning out so pretty!
I also made a little heart from Lella Boutique’s free valentine heart pattern to give to my step-grandson and his wife, in celebration of what would have been their sweet angel baby’s 1st birthday. She passed away in the womb at full term and was delivered straight into the arms of Jesus on January 23, 2024. When I saw Vanessa’s pattern, I thought how perfect to remember our sweet Ella June.
I have also started trying to learn crochet and some embroidery. This post is already quite long, so I’ll save that for its own post. I hope 2025 is treating you well! Thanks for stopping by!
Ramblings From Randi, The Wild Rose Quilter 