What's pink and runs like a Deere?

You are NOT allowed to judge!   I really really have this obsession. I have all kinds of fabulous patterns and material.  I could be making gorgeous modern or traditional quilts. BUT - no - I am working with some of the cheapest fabric known (cheap in quality not price) and yet I am happy as a clam!  Go figure. I'm a certified nut case.

Last year I made tractor quilts for my uncles. Anyway - I have chatted about my pink John Deere fabric before. Now it is time to get moving on making quilts from it.


I did get a couple of other things sewn at the retreat, but my focus was the John Deere quilts!!!

I had a huge stack of 6 1/2" squares. But how many quilts could I make with those squares?  I was hoping for four. The only fabric that was readily available (at Len's Mill in Toronto) was one that I already had a lot of so that wasn't going to work.

There are a couple of adventuers to tell you about Fabricland, but suffice it to say that I found a DIFFERENT pink John Deere fabric at Fabricland and I was in!!!   I was certain that I would have enough for the four quilts.

Stack of pink John Deere fabric square and my NEW pink John Deere fabric

Quilt number ONE -  border number one on - one more border to go   (8 by 10 block configuration)

Quilt number TWO - border number one on - one more border to go (8 by 10 block configuration)

Quilt Number  THREE - border number one on - two more borders to go (7 by 9 block configuration)

Quilt number Four - THREE borders to go on (7 by 9 block configuration)

Normally I don't do borders at retreat because there isn't a lot of room to lay out the quilt and measure, but the dining room table was free so there I was merrily putting borders on.

Measuring borders for the pink quilts

Notice that my tape measure was the perfect colour!!!!!!!!!

 Next up was to start putting those missing borders on. Initially I was going to use this plaid fabric for the border  (this plaid was available at Lens Mills)

First choice for border fabric

 Mostly it was my choice because it was the ONLY pink John Deere fabric that I could readily get. But once I saw the other stuff at Fabricland - well I liked it better. The new one didn't blend in so much with the inner green border.

The final choice for the borders

And here is the finished quilt top................

Finished pink John Deere quilt top

Here is the second pink John Deere quilt top - DONE!!!!!

I didn't have enough fabric to make the others as large so that meant they would have to have more borders. And now I am working with scraps - which I LOVE.

Quilt three - with the first border on

Quilt four - with the first border on

And I have a pile of scraps (on the left) to make one border for each quilt

Most scraps were 6 1/2" wide so I sewed them in bunches - so the sections were 6 1/2" wide by about 15 - 20 inches long

Then trimmed the sections and cut one - 3 inches wide and one 3 1/4" wide

I am in the process of joining the same width strips - one quilt will have 3 inch border - the other 3 1/2".  Hopefully that will be done by tomorrow.

Now would be a good time to tell you about the Fabricland story.

For some reason we all got excited to go to Fabricland. Oh - I think the others were looking for fabric for that bag that Claudette enticed them with. We were off in two cars. I am following Google maps and that didn't work as we ended up at 425 SOUTH instead of 425 NORTH. Google maps need to make some changes and apparently Fabricland has tried on numerous occasions and no go!!!!

Karen, Susan and Lynn got there no problem - they had a navigator with a phone who easily found the store. Hey - I don't remember from year to year where these things are!!!!   And next time someone rides with me - they better have a phone with a data plan!!!   They went to Fabricland's web site and we went to Google maps.

Well this is when I discovered that they had the pink John Deere fabric.They only had the one and it was one that I didn't have. Perfect. However I did not want to end up with loads of the stuff left over so I bought a meter or something like that. Back to the retreat house and cut it up into squares and assembled the quilt tops.

When it came time to work on the borders, I only had this left...............

Ooops - not enough for the border of the second quilt

Enough for the last border which I did at home

I think I was at the Fabricland EVERY DAY of the retreat and I bought that John Deere fabric on three different occasions. So much so that the ladies in the store were commenting on the frequency that we were there. The staff was excellent at that store and we had a lot of fun with them.  I am happy to report that I have enough of this last fabric and just a smidgen left over. We'll see when I finish those scrappy borders.

However I have to tell you about one trip in particular to Fabricland. Claudette also wanted something from Fabricland and so we decided to ride our bikes there. I know!  It was only 5 KM one way - no big deal!!!!
Let's just say that it was a very leisurely ride as Claudette hadn't been out on her bike much and it was a bit hilly so she had to walk a bit.

If you look close - there is Claudette on her bike!

We had a great adventure!  But I think it will be a while before we ride to Fabricland again!!!!


So what else did I work on at the retreat????   I do have one quilt top that isn't completely pressed so I won't show you that today. But I had purchased this kit this past CreativFestival. I buy kits and never sew them (at least not right away) so I decided that it was time to break things up a bit.

The kit is the center of this quilt which wasn't big enough for my liking so I found some bright pink and then a fabulous (almost perfectly matched bicycle fabric) for the outer border

Quilt top - DONE!!!!!!!!!

I had to cut a bunch of 2 1/2" strips for that inner border and the binding. We found this Shape Cut Pro ruler at the retreat house so I decided to give it a try.

Fabric ready to be cut using Shape Cut ruler

Within seconds - all the strips were cut!!!!   OK - not quite that fast - but fast enough

Then I cut the outer border using the tool as well, but it would only cut in increments of 2 1/2" and the outer border is 5 which makes it very snug to fit on a plush backing but I am going to try to fit it!!!!!


I recently purchased one of those portable sewing tables by Inspira.  Oh my god - I LOVE LOVE LOVE this table.  That is why I needed the wrench as I had to make a height adjustment for the shelf.   This is a fabulous table. I will talk about it later, but I am in love with it. Guess what is coming on vacation with me?????

My new portable sewing table

 While I was sewing quilt tops and borders, I also had an ender and leader project on the go.  Someone gave me a huge stack of triangle cut offs so I sewed them together

Progress on the ender and leader project

Current progress - almost done

 A quick count and I should have enough for 30 pinwheel blocks with maybe one block left over.  A bit of sashing between the pinwheels, a small border and there is a baby quilt top!!!!    Like I said - I don't really care what I sew - as long as I sew. And the person who gave these to me would have thrown them away if she hadn't saved them for me!!!!  Oh yes - I could sew forever with what people don't want!!!!


Oh yes - one last picture. This is the green plaid that I bought for the borders of the John Deere quilts. Again I had no idea how much to buy because I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it.

Inner border fabric and binding

A few calculations when I got home and I knew how more I needed. I was going to be in the area of Lens Mills on the weekend so I stopped in and got what I needed. I am set to go!!!!!!!!    Already got the backing lined up for these quilts.


I did a bad thing while I was at Lens Mills - I found something that I had been looking for.  A certain type of fabric and well - I couldn't help myself.  I won't share it with you yet but don't worry - I will. It will be absolutely cute or it could be a big disaster. I don't know.


On that note - I had better get to work - I have a brutal schedule this week between quilts to be quilted and classes to teach (and the garden to attend to), the days are jam packed and I have to finish reading this book.   I am seeing the person who lent it to me this coming weekend and I want to get it back to her.

Clive Cussler - Dragon

 This is a great book - yes - they are far fetched, but I love them anyway!  While the technology is far fetched, the ideas and concepts (and economic issues) could be very real!



Have an awesome day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!