Treadleon Autumn Leaf Exchange - an old UFO

Here is a blast from the past!  A UFO from 2003!!  And, it's finished 😀.  This is one of those quilts that present a huge challenge and makes me keep waffling.  

In 2003, the Treadleon group (dedicated to sewing on people powered sewing machines) hosted an exchange of 12", 9" and 6" autumn leaf blocks.  I did a set of 12 blocks for each size.  Of course this is a challenge to put together already.  But, a fun puzzle.  However, life keeps getting in the way and interrupting the process.  And, the one thing that really challenged me was whether or not to put that one pink and purple leaf block in!  I did not want to leave it out as it was part of the exchange and truly what that person would see out of her window in the fall.  I dug around in my scraps and found lots of fall colours and made up some half square triangles and flying geese units to make coping strips to fit the sizes of the various blocks.  I put in two purple scraps to try to tie in the block.  That took some juggling as more than two did not work!  This was done in 2014.  Then the top went off to the local Senior's center where the Busy Bees hand quilted it for me.  And, then it sat in my room for a long time waiting for the task of making a label.

Purple daisy in the flying goose

I had made a drawing on paper of the basic quilt layout with the paper and fabric labels pinned to the proper spots.  Finally last week, I found the quilt under a pile of stuff and decided to get it finished ☺.  The label is huge and more functional than pretty,   Great memories of a lovely block exchange with the Treadleon group.  

Arranging the blocks and spacers

the purple block

outside on the patio

This quilt has been gifted to my friend Sya who is enjoying it very much

handquilted

The label.  There were five fabric labels which I hand stitched onto the larger label.

Here are some closeups of the label for those Treadleon members who participated (click on the photos to enlarge).  Do any of you remember this exchange? ☺

So happy to have this one finished.  I have another set of blue and white blocks from 2000 from this group...should work on those next!

A very old UFO Finished - Hearts and Hands block exchange

I just put the last stitches on the label of a very old UFO!  In 2003 (yes, you read that correctly!!), we did a block exchange with our Hearts and Hands small quilting group.  We all got a piece of the sewing themed blue fabric featured in the quilt.  We made 12 blocks and then exchanged one with each participant.  We all signed a 4" signature block with the name of the block and our name.  We were one block short so someone drew out a heart and hands block with a needle in it.  I had half the block embroidered and of course couldn't find the exact colour of yellow to finish it!  Hence the quilting right through the center block LOL...covers it up :-). 

Recently the discussion about those blocks came up at one of our meetings and I confessed that I hadn't put them together yet. When I got home, I got them out, put them up on the wall and made myself finish it before it could go back in the drawer! Interesting how my tastes have totally changed since then!!   I just did a small lap quilt with a simple sashing and cornerstones of the blue fabric.  I had enough fabric to use that for the back as well.  My friend, Chris, just got a long arm this summer and has been diligently practising.  She quilted it for me with a heart motif which is perfect.  

I can't believe it's actually finished!  Sorry for the colours on the photos...lots of sun today which is a good thing when it's -19C outside!  The very bottom photo shows the colours accurately.

Edit (March 2021):  A year ago one of the seniors in our Church lost her husband and I asked her if she'd like this quilt.  She loved it and is enjoying it very much :-).

the finished quilt

We were one block short to make a 3 by 4 block layout so someone drew up a hearts and hand block and I embroidered it

lovely heart quilting by my friend Chris who got a long arm machine this summer

I put the signature labels around the center block

this is what the colours really look like :-)

Happy Canada Day!

Just finished a long overdue UFO this evening!  In 2007, I hosted a Canadian block exchange on the Treadleon list (a group dedicated to using people powered sewing machines).  The exchange was open only to Canadians.  We had 16 participants and exchanged 6" finished blocks.  The blocks were signed with our names and the machine we used to sew the blocks.  We were encouraged to use a Canadian made machine or one with a Canadian connection if possible.

The exchanged blocks were put in a drawer and awaited inspiration.  They went through a move to a new house and were finally hauled out of the envelope about 4 years ago and put into a top.  The aim was to get the top done before Canada Day.  The pinned top was buried in a basket of UFO's and I would come across it at various times during the year with no incentive to work on it at the 'wrong' time of the year LOL.  I came across the pinned top again in May and hung it over the back of my sewing chair so it would not go "out of sight, out of mind".  Last week, I sat down and quilted it over a couple of evenings, using if for practising free motion 'stitch in the ditch' quilting.  The binding was just finished tonight!  I hope to use it as a table topper for a July 1 celebration of thankfulness for being a Canadian!  My block is the sailboat in the top row.

The finished quilt - rather busy, but Canada Day is exciting :-)

Found this perfect backing.

 Closeup photos of the blocks in the quilt:

Another UFO finished!

The blocks for this quilt were also exchanged on the Treadleon sewing machine collector's list in 2001. The blocks are made two at a time, making it a quick block exchange project. The colours for this quilt were scrappy and we had to use muslin for the small triangles to write our name, place of residence and which antique machine we used to sew the blocks. I made 64 blocks and received 64 different blocks in return. The setting on this quilt was named, "Trail to Treadleonia". This quilt needed navy blue to put it all together :-).

Some of the quilting on the quilt. I quilted diagonal lines along the centers of the large triangles into the border and straight rows in one direction and along the individual blocks in the other direction:

The center blocks (I put the block from a fellow Canadian in the center!):

Quilting in the border:

Wonder how many more UFO's I need to complete? :-)

A UFO finished

This quilt has been a work in progress for many years! The blocks were originally a block exchange on the Treadleon sewing machine collector's list in 1999! Treadleon is a list dedicated to using treadles and handcranks. I finally finished this quilt in March for a presentation on antique sewing machines at the London Friendship Quilter's Guild. The idea behind this exchange was to make rail fence blocks with the center strip using muslin (to write particulars on) and the other two strips using a fabric that depicts where we live. I put the center of the top together and then took it to a local quilt shop to try various fabrics to see which colour would work. Finally found this red with houses on it which worked great. We had to write our name, where we lived and which 'people powered' antique sewing machine we used to make the blocks.

This is the finished quilt:

Closeup of few of the blocks:


Few more close up blocks:

You can see my Canadian blocks here:

I quilted the border with straight lines echoing the rail fence shapes of the blocks:

Feels good to finally get this UFO out of the closet and use it for a lap quilt!

One of the enjoyable benefits of belonging to our Canadian Sewing Machine Collector's Society is participating in a block exchange. Our group is rather small so we managed to get 12 participants who each made 12 identical blocks. We had to choose a 1930's pattern and 1930's reproduction fabrics. We each received 12 different blocks and this is the setting I chose for my quilt. The Sunbonnet Sue block (2nd row, center) is the block that I did. I used my 1939 Singer 15-96 hand crank sewing machine which is made in Canada.