nature

Third finish for March 2024 from Exuberant Color

A lightweight flannel print was my final choice for the binding. This flannel Pinwheel quilt ended up at 58" x 70".

It has Hobbs 80/20 batting in it.

The back is one of Robert Kaufman's mammoth flannels. They are a heavier weight than most and very soft.

I got the Hugs and Kisses flannel quilt parts loaded on the longarm yesterday afternoon.

When I was out filling the birdfeeders I noticed the Scilla was up and blooming.

I have shown closeup photos of the Lenten Rose blooms and thought I should take some photos of the whole plants ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under binding , flannel quilts , nature

More blocks................ from Exuberant Color

I sewed one of each of the 13 new combinations and saved the other 3 of each to sew later. I wanted to see the yellows and oranges on the design wall.

It was cool enough yesterday morning that the heat came on and I should have gone to the basement then and started quilting the flannel quilt. I waited until afternoon and by that time it was warm out and cold in the basement. Today it should be warm down there so I hope the quilting happens.

That left my "in between things" project as the only thing to ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under 9 patch , batiks , nature

More baking..................... from Exuberant Color

I had 3 sessions in the kitchen yesterday. I baked the Kringlas in the morning, peanut butter cookies after lunch and mixed chocolate chip dough in intermissions during my TV time. I'll finish the baking this morning.

I sewed some more strip sets to make 9 patches.

I only got one batting trimmed to length yesterday. It is on the backing on the longarm now.

I found two Lungwort/Pulmonaria plants with blooms. I thought about raking the leaves off the bed but there is possible snow predicted next Monday which means cold weather. Yesterday I checked the temperature ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 3 weeks ago. under 9 patch , batik , food , nature

Variety day................. from Exuberant Color

I had intended to spend more time with quilt related things yesterday but ended up with a variety of things needing attention.

Early in the day I started choosing pairs of strips to sew into 9 patches and last night I got some of the strip sets sewn.

I had errands to run in the middle of the day and didn't get to the batting cutting until later in the day. I have batting cut for 2 of the 3 flannel quilts and will continue cutting for some others today.

I needed to start baking treats for my great-grandchildren ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 3 weeks ago. under 9 patch , batik , food , nature

Binding and 9 patches................ from Exuberant Color

The first batik 9 patches from my two bins of 2" strips are 4.5" finished and will be joined by many more over the next months. One strip of each of 2 fabrics makes 4 blocks if I'm careful with my cutting.

I had 2 sessions of hand sewing the binding on Autumn Coneflowers 2. I started with a corner finished the first night and stitched 2 sides yesterday, just going around the third corner onto a long side. I might take a day off from it to let my hand rest.

I tried a second time and ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 4 weeks ago. under 9 patch , binding , nature

Sorting batik scraps............. from Exuberant Color

There were 2 bins of batik scraps on my tables in the basement. I decided to go through and divide them by 'keep' and 'don't want'.

I think there might be a third box down there too and I'll look for that today.

This is a top view of the two boxes. I need to use my yardage and stop using scraps that I don't care for.

All of the pieces had been pressed at one time so this is pretty much stacked flat pieces, not crumpled up and wrinkled so there is a lot in these ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months ago. under batik , nature , scraps

Binding............. from Exuberant Color

I have 2 corners done but almost 3 sides done. I have one long side and a few inches of a short side to go. I didn't get to spend 3 hours stitching like I planned. We were under a tornado watch and then a warning last night. Most of the storm went slightly north of us but we had hail and rain at 7. Because of all of the severe weather heading toward Chicago, the weather people were on the air until 8:30 so I missed all of the first FBI show and half of each of ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months ago. under binding , nature

Working on project 2............... from Exuberant Color

Yesterday I mentioned that I wasn't sure if I was going to leave the 4 patches in the layout. When I looked at it yesterday morning I realized it was the 2 light squares that were bothering me, not the 4 patches. The comparison in this collage of the 2 photos shows I was right.

By 8:30 p.m. this was the layout of 10 rows out of 12. I was watching a movie on Peacock so I started sewing rows together.

I decided to sew the top half together and now I can move those bottom rows ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months, 1 week ago. under flannel quilts , nature

6 of the 8 final sets.............. from Exuberant Color

I cut 8 sets but only brought 6 of them upstairs to sew last night. I was too stiff and sore after doing a little over an hour of outside work to go back down and get the others.

I got them sewn last night and will sew the other 2 sets before I do any pressing. Then I can mix them all in with the the ones in the layout on the design wall.

I tore out all of the tomato plants and pulled up the cages and nested them. Then I picked up branches that have fallen in ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months, 1 week ago. under flannel quilts , nature , quilts made with triangles

View from the computer chair............... from Exuberant Color

I removed the batik orphan blocks from my design wall and took them to the basement. I will work on a double design wall down there with a vertical column layout.

I took the pile of 9" LeMoyne stars made a couple years ago and put them up on the wall. I think I will look for a large floral fabric for the blank spaces. The blocks might end up back in a pile....

My 2 youngest great-grandsons came to visit yesterday morning and they brought me a beautiful bouquet.

Today I need to prepare a couple backings and cut ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months, 4 weeks ago. under kaffe fabric , nature

January 2024 monthly recap................ from Exuberant Color

Two quilts were finished in January from tops made a few years ago, both large ones. Mosaic made of Kaffe collective prints is 76.5" x 97.5" and is in my top 5 favorite large quilts. Batik Pineapple Log Cabin is 69.5" x 89". Lots of hand stitching in those bindings. (Longarm quilting by Robin Diaz).

Six quilt tops were completed.

Shoo Fly (top left) was 17 blocks in a project box with all of the solid colors cut for another 13 blocks. I created the rest of the blocks, sewed the top together, and this quilt top ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 3 months ago. under monthly recap , nature

#2 finish for January 2024.............. from Exuberant Color

I started this quilt in September 2015 and made the last blocks at the end of October 2015. I sewed the top together in June 2017. Click here for the inspiration quilt and the first blocks. There are many variations in the blocks made with 49 squares each. I loved making this quilt and could easily make enough blocks for another quilt because it was so much fun. Sewing the top together wasn't as much fun. I really like making blocks. Size is 76.5" x 97.5". It's all Kaffe collective fabrics.

I'm repeating this photo ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 3 months ago. under kaffe fabric , nature

Binding finished.............. from Exuberant Color

Like most batik bindings, this one seemed like it took forever but it was only 5 days. The top was 70" x 91" before quilting so it was a lot of little stitches in the binding.

I folded part of it back so both ends of the quilt show, both the light end and the dark end. I hopefully will get it up on the design wall for its portrait today.

I added more columns of crooked cobblestone blocks on my design wall yesterday morning. If you look at the 2 side edges you can see I need to trim ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 3 months, 1 week ago. under binding , cobblestone series , nature

Still hand stitching....................... from Exuberant Color

Not a lot of time was spent on the hand stitching yesterday but I do have one long side and half of a short side stitched. I may take a break from it this morning and trim the second quilt and choose a binding for it.

The red double Amaryllis has one open flower now. There are only going to be three blooms on this one.

There is hope for more blooms though because there are more bud stalks on this bulb. The third one is still pretty short but they grow pretty fast.

My internet provider sent me a ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 3 months, 1 week ago. under batiks , binding , log cabin , nature

Binding started................. from Exuberant Color

This is the binding fabric I chose for the batik pineapple log cabin quilt.

I got it sewn onto the quilt and started the hand stitching. I started at the middle of a short side and made it past the first corner.

I do my hand stitching in my studio because I have excellent bright light in there. I pile the quilt on my cabinet and on the 3 drawer chest that I can pull out from under the left side of the cabinet. Then I just scoot forward in my chair on wheels and start stitching. I can easily ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 3 months, 1 week ago. under binding , nature

How to get your Writing Published in Plants & Poetry Journal from Kim Hanson Quilts

Good day everyone. Thank you so very much for being here.

Recently, my story called a Great Grandmother’s Legacy was published in Plants & Poetry Journal. I’d never heard of that publication. Whilst on the lookout for somewhere appropriate to submit my story, I came across the Journal on a cruise through Submittable.com. There was an open call for submissions entitled, Plant People, An Anthology of Environmental Artists.

These words on the Journal’s site resonated with me:

We founded Plants & Poetry during a time of serious recovery and deep healing.

We discovered comfort and safety among our ...

added by kimhanson 3 months, 2 weeks ago. under #environment , #grandchildren , #naturewriting , #plantsandpoetryjournal , nature , stories & essays , writing (Comments)

Figuring it out as I work............... from Exuberant Color

I cut more gold/yellow/orange triangles and placed some on the design wall. Then I decided to sew the corner row together.

Three more rows were sewn together as I tried to decide what color the edge triangles will be. And, what size the triangles should be. I could put 2 half square triangles which would be easy to figure out but I would rather add one quarter square triangle.

We finally got up to 0 yesterday afternoon and it stayed at 0 all the way to 11 p.m. I didn't check again after that. It was ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 3 months, 2 weeks ago. under marcia derse fabric , nature

Tying to decide on size................. from Exuberant Color

I'm designing this one sideways so it will fit on the design wall. I have been figuring out estimated finished sizes. As it is seen here, it would be approximately 44.5" x 72". If I add one more row for the width, it would be approximately 55" x 72". Another option would be to take off one row on the end and it would be approximately 44.5" x 63.5".

So while I think about that I searched for more gold toned Marcia Derse fabrics for the triangles. I got 3 of them cut to try out ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 3 months, 2 weeks ago. under marcia derse fabric , nature

6 more seams to sew.............. from Exuberant Color

Only 6 more seams and this baby quilt top will be finished. It had 13 seams in one direction and then I sewed 9 of 15 seams in the other direction. I'll finish sewing the seams this morning and then press it.

We got 4-5" of snow in the very early hours yesterday and then it stopped for a little while and then light rain for most of the day. I measured the snow on the sidewalk and it was 5" of heavy wet snow. I think we have about 8" total of snow on the grassy areas now ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 3 months, 3 weeks ago. under nature , quilts made with triangles , zig zag

19 blocks................ from Exuberant Color

I need 6 more blocks for my 25 block baby quilt. I hope when it is sewn together that the diagonals that are formed by the 9 patches are more prominent. I thought about grouping some of the donut holes together and some 9 patches in groups so the layout is more random. But then I thought I'll have this done a lot quicker if I just leave it alone and sew it together the way it is. The baby isn't going to care.

I got 2 pieces cut for the backing of my batik pineapple log cabin ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 3 months, 3 weeks ago. under nature , quilts made with triangles

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