Ta Da! Another top done

 

These two blocks were done for the Comfort Quilt Bee I am part of.  Making them was an interesting process.  They have quite a few pieces to keep track of and points to match.  I like how they turned out.  It would be interesting to have an entire quilt of these, but given how long each one took me, it will be a while.

I did, however, finish up the shirt quilt which I have officially named Prairie Fusion.

During the entire process, I kept thinking about pioneer women using the scraps of worn out clothes and left over from making new shirts and dresses.  I did a bit of that, but put them together in a more liberated way with the wonky crosses.  Thus the fusion part of the name, which Tom came up with. I also added some plain patchwork squares in two sizes just for variety.  The finished top measures 57" x 54".  Now I can add it to the growing pile of tops I have to get quilted. 

I have gathered fabric for a few backings, but still need more.  I am not that fond of working on pieced backings. I also need to get some thread.  These things are not in the budget right now, but I still have plenty of scraps and fabric on my shelves to keep making tops.  I even have some new fabric I have won in drawings but not used.  I was also recently gifted some beautiful batiks that I want to use.  They would be great for the ribbon star blocks above.  Hmmmm.

The next three weeks will be very busy, but I will try and get some quilting and blogging done.  In the mean time, I hope you all are enjoying your summer.  Joyful quilting, everyone!

Interesting Weather Day

This is the view outside my studio.  Most of the morning, I watched freezing rain falling and coating everything it touched. Before it turned to snow,  the blueberry bushes in back ended up with branches about 3/4" around with ice.  At one point, I heard a loud crack and crash like a tree coming down, but I didn't see anything when I looked.  We have woods behind us, so maybe it was there.

The arrow is pointed at a robin who is very confused by all this.  We usually don't see him until later when spring begins to roll around.  Fortunately, the woman across the street has is out restocking her bird feeders a couple of times a day since this strange weather started.

This is the icicle that has been growing by our front door.  It started out wider than it was long.  Today's ice storm seems to have changed its shape quite a bit.  It looks pretty heavy and lethal right now.

The rest of the icicles are pretty small in comparison.  If you look, you can see the ice on the branch hanging under the eaves.  This is my first ice/freezing rain storm.  I much prefer snow.  So many of our friends are without power, and there are trees and branches down all over the place.  Hopefully, we don't get any more ice tonight.  The weather guesser says it is going to warm up and start raining by tomorrow morning.  Let's see if he gets it right this time.

When I wasn't watching the ice and then the snow, I built this square.  I had to audition a number of fabrics for the middle where I ended up using the gold.  I would like to make a quilt eventually with blocks of all the color combinations I come up with.  Since I seem to stick in the same palette most of the time, I think this will work fine.  This one is very different from the first one I made, but I like it just as much.  I think Tom likes the first one better.  I am still having trouble with puckering in the center.  I really have to get that straight line 1/4" seam down better.  It will happen with practice.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

Playing with color - a little block

I have spent the week doing things other than sewing.  On Tuesday, after watching Bella all day, I cooked a Cambodian dinner for 15 women.  More about that later.  On Wednesday, I watched Bella.  On Thursday, I went to my Bernina class to learn how to use all the bells and whistles on my new machine. In the afternoon, I started getting ready for my trip to Bremerton to my sister's.  I will be staying here for a week (with two days back home to take care of Bella and go to guild meeting).  I am cat sitting while Sis and BIL go on a cruise.  The photo above is one of the views from the deck.  It is a Washington State Ferry leaving for Seattle.  To prepare for this week, I sorted and bagged many projects to work on while I am here.  My sister has a new Bernina that I am going to love working on.  It has more bells and whistles than mine.

One of the many projects I brought was pieces for a block I need for my color class on Tuesday.  I am going to be talking about playing with color outside of theory and rules.  I have a strong background in the formal study of color, but I like to step outside that box every now and then.  One of the things I am going to challenge the group to do is pick out two colors they really don't like together.  Then, we are going to play with other colors that make those two colors work.  For me, it is brown and yellow.  I really don't like this combination.  So, I picked up some teal and orange and designed a block that woud make me like the brown and yellow together.  This one works for me. 
So, why did I cook a Cambodian dinner on Tuesday night?  I have joined a local chapter of Dining For Women.  Please go check out this site.  We have someone in our group who has thoroughly vetted the organization, and I think it is a very worthy program.  Each month, the organization dedicates all money raised during the month to women and children's organizations in developing countries around the world.  Each month features a different country and our group has decided that each month, a small group of women will fix the meal using recipes from the featured country.  This month was Cambodia.  I get to cook again in November when India will be featured.
That's is it for today.  While I sit back and enjoy the evening on the water, I want to leave you with this question.  

What colors do you really dislike together, and

what other colors could you use to make them work for you? 

Joyous quilting, everyone.

Productive Studio Day

I had a great day in the studio today.  It has been a while since I had a whole day to play.  I built five blocks, quilted one, and added decorative stitches to another. 

The first block was a practice piece so I could try reverse applique.  When I was growing up, my mother had a wonderful wall hanging called a mola.  It was made by layering different colored fabric, then cutting out small designs and needle turning the raw edges.  I have always wanted to try this technique, so today I grabbed some pinks from the stash.  I started by drawing a large circle on a 9.5 inch piece of fabric.  Then I put another piece of fabric face up behind the circle and stitched on the circle line.  I cut away the top fabric close to the stitching, then covered the edge with a fancy stitch.  Next, I drew a smaller circle on the top fabric that overlapped the first circle.  I selected a new fabric to put in back, and followed the same procedure, using a different fancy stitch.  The third circle is smaller and has a dark fabric.  I cut away the extra fabric on the back as I went.  I quilted it with echo stitching on the machine.  The fabric at the bottom right is the binding wrapped on card stock.  Here is a detail shot of the fancy stitching.

After I finished this one, I decided to create a new Alzheimer's quilt out of a piece I started earlier.  I added a narrow turquoise border, and some meanders of decorative stitches.  I like where it is going, but I have to be careful about the size.  I took this photo before I pressed the borders.  They are actually even but the angle I took the photo makes them look crooked.

I made two new blocks for the Market Basket quilt.  I am really loving this quilt.  My goal is to make two blocks a day until I have 25.  As I cut each food fabric for the block, I also cut the rectangles needed for the sashing.  I will put them all together when I have all the blocks together

Finally, I cut some flannel for a new preemie quilt and built a block.  Unfortunately, I didn't buy enough of the fabric on the outside, so I will have to make another trip to the fabric store.   Too bad ;)  Don't you just love the little pink elephant?

Starting a new quilt

I showed you the 2.5 inch strips I cut a little while ago for a new quilt.  Today, I cut all the background pieces, and enough fruits to begin two blocks without their sashing rows.  Don't the strawberries and plums look desicious? I put the lime fabric in just so the cutting board didn't show, it is not permanent.  I am pretty excited about this quilt.  I have 25 different food fabrics for 25 different blocks.  I am working from a pattern in Scrap-Basket Surprises by Kim Brackett.  This quilt is Market Baskets on page 40.  I really like Kim's designs.  They all use 2.5 inch strips, and are very user friendly.  There are several more in this book I would like to try one of these days.

When I first started quilting again, I wanted to use my own designs.  When I was painting and doing collage, I didn't want anyone else to work on my pieces, or give me ideas of what I should create.  This attitude came with me when I moved to fabric.  I have finally come to the conclusion that I love some of the great patterns out there, and I really want to try some of them.  I will continue to do the more experimental (for me, anyway) quilts because I get such joy out of that process.  I will also make quilts using other people's patterns.  For playing around with traditional blocks, I can use the preemie quilts.  If I find blocks I love, I can use them in bigger sampler quilts.  In all of it, I just love playing with the fabrics and seeing what I can create from my point of view.

Tomorrow, I am headed to Sister's in Chehalis, WA.  They are having a big sale to celebrate National Quilting Day.  I used to live in Chehalis, many years ago, so this will be a grand adventure.  Sister's has a reputation for having a wonderful flannel collection.  I will let you know what I come home with.

A new block and a fun book

I am in charge of finding the block of the month for my guild this month.  I was looking through Quilter's Cache and found this one, Crossed Roads, a 16 inch block.  If you haven't been to Quilter's Cache, you owe yourself some time to spend over there.  There are thousand of traditional and original blocks with great directions.  When I present this, I am going to ask people to use purples with a floral theme and cream for the crossed pieces.  I think it will turn out great.
I also did a few other things in the studio.  I worked on my design for my Ricky Tim's style Rhapsody quilt, sewed blocks together for the D9P and squared them up, and I started making copies of foundation pieces for a few of Carol Doak's stars of the states.  I finally got a copy of 50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars by Carol Doak, and I am pretty excited about making more of these foundation pieced stars.  I love the first one I did and am looking forward to creating companions.  If you want to see more of Carol's work, and find some very cool free patterns, take a look at her web site.

Today's 12" block

Today, I worked with the pink again and added a bit of turquoise. This block was from a quilt designed by Gerrie Robinson. I am very pleased I got the points to come together in the middle. I am getting better with practice.

Playing with Pink - disappearing nine patch

Today's 12 inch block is a disappearing nine patch. I heard about this block and wanted to try it. I opened the bin with pink fabric and the one with purple. I picked out nine fabrics that worked well together and built a standard nine patch block. Then I cut vertically down the middle and turned it to make the cut the other way. I played with the blocks until I came up with a pattern I liked. I can see there are wonderful possibilities with this pattern depending on the colors, patterns, and ways you turn the blocks. The bonus is that there are no points to match. I will get back to a new star block tomorrow.

For a completely different sort of quilt, I have started an intuition quilt based on instructions over at 15 Minutes Play by Victoria. I have been having a great time creating cloth from scraps and crumbs. For the intuition quilt, I have been pulling colors from the scrap bag that I really like together - golds, oranges, greens, and purples. I will probably add some blues before it is all done. This is the center 12" by 12" block. I love the freedom to this method. I can use abstract collage style along with some more traditional. I added a star and some flying geese as well as a wonky house. The next step for me is the first border. Since I am using only fabric I have on hand, all the borders will be pieced in some manner.

Wonky Star Quilt Blocks

This is the progress I have made so far on the preemie quilt. It is on the small quilt wall waiting for the rest of the sashing and the borders. When it is finished, it will be 24" by 30". I have a bright yellow check for the borders. I will probably bind it with the dark green, since I have quite a bit of it. Some of the stars are a bit wonky. Thank can be a good thing if it is intentional and all of them meet the criteria of wonkiness. Unfortunately, in this case it is because I need loads of practice. I plan on doing a lot of that this year.

I plan on creating many star blocks this year. I started one this afternoon. I am using scraps, which is a good thing since I am having a bit of difficulty. I may have picked a block a bit above my current skill level, but I figure I have to learn somehow. One important thing I have learned is that my old machine does not really like straight lines. I have figured out a couple of tricks to help me with that. Again, I just need to practice. Tomorrow, I will finish the new block and the preemie quilt top. I will put up photos if I get my camera battery charged.