Colorways by Vicki Welsh

We had a great weekend here. I had art day with my friends Friday and we got to go on a river tiki bar boat ride for a friend’s birthday celebration Saturday. In between, I got some things done, starting with quilting a couple of veterans quilts. I don’t remember who made this one but I do like it a lot.

I quilted this and the next quilt with my favorite star and swirl pantograph. I used blue thread because I had a cone I wanted to finish off. This might have looked a little better with cream thread but I don’t think cream would have looked good at all on the next quilt. I always quilt two veterans quilts together so I have to pick a thread that will work for both.

This quilt was made by Gwendolyn. One thing I love about the quilts we make is that everyone is great about using scraps and leftovers. The center strips that she used in this quilt is from leftover backing from earlier quilts. Brenda and I save the backing pieces that we trim from the quilts. We use some of them and other members take the rest. Nothing goes to waste.

Yesterday I decided to have a dyeing day. We leave for Maine at the end of the month and I promised two backings for friends. I wanted them done before we leave.

I also needed some new blue backings for veterans quilts. This will be enough for 7 more quilts.

I had cut these backings and put them in bins several weeks ago. Apparently in my last dye sessions I accidentally splattered an orange drop on this one. I was worried that the orange spot might stand out so I decided that the way to fix that was to make more orange spots. They should show as brown or greenish spots among the blue. Now it’s going to look planned.

I also wanted to use up some dyes that will expire in the next month. I did some of that in 2 ways. First, I was given some white fabrics recently. They are in the 4 containers at the top of the photo. Two if them are heavier twill. I just used whatever dye I had and these fabrics will just go into the stash for future use.

The other items are kind of a funny story. If you were following me last summer, you will remember that I had my young friend, Ella, here for “craft camp” for a few days. I’m very excited that she wants to come back again this year. She is getting a new puppy the day I take her home so she wants to make a quilt and toys for the puppy. I also ordered 3 triangle dog bandanas so she can decorate some bandanas for “Marley”. Well, I thought I ordered 3 bandanas. I actually ordered THREE DOZEN bandanas! I’m base dyeing all of them and we can decorate a bandana for every month. My nephew also got a new dog, Scotty, so I’ll make him some bandanas too. I have a few more bandanas and fabrics set aside to do some ice dyeing later this week. She loves using the Cricut so she will have fun with the bandanas.

Today it’s lunch with Mom and my cousin plus some errands. We’re also having the chimney power washed and sealed. In between I plan to get 2 more veterans quilts loaded and ready for quilting.