Bordering

I puttered a bit as I came up with this graded pink border.  Problem is, I think I puttered too much, and completely over-thought how to do the corners.  Tomorrow, I will remove the red, and replace the 3 pieces with a single triangle.  It will (1) be simpler, (2) have less seams, and (3) stand a change of having the corner point match well.  Aside from that, I think it is coming along.

I have a ton of client work right now, and much of it is custom.  As a result, I have been hitting my limit of how long I can stand to quilt at about noon or 1pm each day.  That is 5 hours of quilting for the day, which is plenty.  Then I get a walk (a little forced fresh air before we have snow is a good thing!@), and then I am free to play with some piecing.  This solid quilt is at 25", and will end up at about 40", eventually.  Time to go cut some foundations while my youngest whines some more over doing any homework...sigh

Solid Play

Yesterday, since the big green monster is of the longarm, and I was awaiting the arrival of 3 new quilts to quilt, I took the day to play with something new.  I know, what on earth am I thinking, another project???!  Yea, I hear ya, but who cares.  I have been thinking about solids for a while and wanted to play.  The color of the picture is horrible - the background is somewhere between celery and light taupe.  There are several other tones of this background color that will be in the quilt, making it look better.  These fabrics are from Moda's discontinued crossweaves collection.

My blocks are just under 9" finished, and were a bit finicky to make.  That's mostly my doing, being the anal retentive quilter when it comes to points.   Now, I have been a quilter and a piecer for a very long time.  I have made more than a hundred quilts, and I know quite a bit about how to piece accurately.  Or so I thought I did.  This project as taught this old dog a new trick though.

 My blocks above look pretty good.  The points are there, all shapes look like they are in good alignment.  But in the quilt I had designed, they would be placed on point, as below.  It is there that I have discovered I should have done something differently.  I should have devised the piecing so that diagonal rows were sewn, not the crossways ones (ie, making the block as a square).  Any slight meanderings of the diagonal seam are evident.  Live-n-learn.

I have played with what to do with these a lot.  I wondered if I could redesign the 40" quilt to have then not on point, but it just loses so much interest to do that.  That small of a quilt leaves no space to dither around; everything counts.  My final thought is that I hope that when the blocks are quilted (on point) that they look good, and don't show the things I see here.

Now, onto figuring out the rest of the quilt.  This is, afterall, supposed to be a "simple" quilt.  We all know, though, that I don't really know how to do simple :-)

Design Playing

Nowadays, I do much of the designwork for my pieced designs using EQ7. It gives instant gratification to color changes, which is nice, thereby allowing me to discover things I might not like before I bother to cut and sew fabric. I have the center of this blooming carpenter's star done, and am in the process of piecing the 24 outer diamonds. With 8 of them finished, I layed out the pieces to see how it looked, and was a little disappointed how the colors all seem to merge. Now, mind you, this quilt is being made all in similar cool tones, so I know there won't be as much contrast as this quilt has, but still. This needs to be better defined than it is. So I returned to EQ7 to see what I could do. Booger (aka blogger) won't take my link, so here it is http://www.quiltsoflove.blogspot.com/2011/09/got-butterflies.html

What I found was interesting...Having the purple sections (of the outer diamonds) towards the inside (upper left) left the boundary of the pieced 8 green squares much less defined than when the greens were towards the inside (upper right). This is much crisper to me. I need these pieced squares to be defined and not just blur into the diamonds, like they do in my actual picture above.

I also played with the placement of the center diamonds. Teals to the inside or blues??... Placing the teal to the center makes the center not appear as this bright spot, and the light blue points further help to define the 8 leafy squares. So right now, the bottom right is my preferred layout.

What is your's?...and why?

Applique Project(s)

It is no secret that I do a lot of hand applique. You have seen some of the quilts I have appliqued over the recent years. (or you can look here, here and here). It started as I needed something to do while my students were taking exams. And then I got so I liked doing it in the evenings because I don't want to leave my husband on the couch alone and go to the basement to sew (where all my machines are set up). Without something to sew on at night after the kids are in bed, I will just fall asleep in my chair. And that is pittiful. This is my latest and probably wildest creation. I have had these boldly colored hand-dyes for a couple years. My husband bought me a stack of 24 FQ for my birthday a few bdays back. I used all the purple and aqua ones on one of the quilts shows in the above links, and needed to find something for the red, yellow and orange ones. As you can see, I have used a good bit of purple as well. I guess it is just in my blood. All of the tans are really scrappy (as in there are 5 or 6 different shades actually used)...they were left over from my Sea Glass quilt.
I have finished stitching the border "ribbons" and am now making all the necessary adjustments to them as I miter all the corners and attach the border triangles to the body of the quilt. I have a number of tiny circles to still add after that is done. My hope is to get this done and into the quilting queue so it can be finished by the mid-Summer, but I'm not sure that's in the cards. Quilting at Casa Quilts of Love is fairly busy right now, and this is a large quilt not to be rushed.

In the couple days of downtime lately, I started another broken star, this time out of batiks. I really love the way the first one I did came out, and thought it was perfectly suited for a watery look. The setting squares are paper pieced, which you should know by now I loathe paper piecing. It's a pain, and is slow, and oh, so messy. But, nevertheless, this is how these "reed"like blocks are done. Two down, another 6 needing the 3 parts assembled. You should know to expect from me that there will be hand applique on these squares...something to jazz these up a bit, and give this smewhat traditional type star a personal and unique twist.

As one that does a considerable amount of applique, I must make sure you are aware of a wonderful pair of scissors. These are serrated-edge scissors, that were developed by Karen Kay Buckley. I learned of these 18 months ago when I tookher hand-applique class, but being cheap, I didn't buy them then. I actually go them for Christmas from my mom this year. I have the larger size, and they are a perfect size for hand cutting fabrics. They grip the fabric and give you a perfect cut. Trust me, these are a great thing to have if you applique. Not sure how I made it without them this long.

Rainbow Stars

One down, three to go. These are 20", and are taking me a ridulously long time to piece. For the most part, I am able to not tip off my triangle points. The Y-seams are getting old though. I have waffled horribly on whether to piece this quilt or to applique this one. A great comment was that the two designs should marry (or at least date!). I pondered way too long on how to infuse the seemingly Southwestern feathered stars with the more eclectic and art nouveau applique. My other desire was to use background and colored fabrics that I already have. I do have a plan
to infuse this with interesting and unique applique, but the first step is to get these 2 blocks wrapped up. Putting them aside will only make it harder to finish without errors (and trust me, I've made enough!). I cut out the HSTs an inch larger than they were supposed to be, but didn't discover it until I had 128 of them stitched into rows ready to put onto the star pieces. Woops! Pick out, trim down, restitch, repeat.

Here's my ponder for you this week...Have you seen a feathered star design that did NOT have a distinct southwestern feel? I need to see some because I really do not want the quilt to look that way. Send me a link if you do!

Dresden Plates (the pattern & the plans)

The Dresden plate pattern has been around for ages. It is a classic & traditional design that has been found in quilts for nearly 200 years. There are many variations of this pattern...ones with petals, ones with pointy "blades", ones with small center circles, ones with larger ones, and they can be found with any number of petals or blades too, giving them a much varied look. I am making a simple Dresden plate quilt, intended to showcase large-scale modern-ish prints so I do not want my pieces to be too small. I understand that Accuquilt has a die for cutting a Dresden plate which results in either 20 or 22 petals/blades. I don't have Accuquilt however, so I went to EQ7, where I can design whatever my heart desires. Sadly after I did this, my printer would absolutely not print without buying over $50 in ink cartridges, so I went to the old-fashioned route. This is, afterall, an old-fashioned block, so why not?!

I got a piece or wrapping paper. It's the largest paper I own, and my blocks are 15", which is larger than standard paper. I traced a 12" diameter quilting circle template, and cut it out. I will make my blade template from this. You could make it any size you want. I left a good bit around the Dresden to allow for quilting designs. If you don't have such template, a compass or large dinner plate will work too.
With your circle, fold it in half and then in half again, to mark 4 90-degree quadrants. If you are anal like me, take a protractor and confirm that they are in fact 90 degrees. I hae chosen a bladed Dresden with only 12 blades. Take one of the quadrants and your protractor, and mark 3 30-degree sections. I then square off the rounded end of the section and also shorten the piece where it approaches the center of the circle. We are almost finished. The last thing you need to do is add the 1/4" seam allowance to the sides (and end if you want). Cut this out and trace onto a more substantial piece of cardstock or plastic. Viola, here is your blade pattern.

Sorry, blurry, but you get the idea. Now it is a little tedious from here, but trust me, the sewing part is much faster. Trace and cut out how ever many pieces you need. I do this with 4-5 layers of fabric stacked, using a rotary cutter.

On your sewing machine, fold the piece in half lengthwise, and stitch with 1/4" seam across the end. I do backstitch at the folded end.

Now trim the seam to a scant 1/8". You don't want the bulk within the point.

Turn the piece right side out and press gently with scissors to get it pointy. Press.

Next, choose the arrangement of your 12 blades, and stitch together. I backstitch ~0.5" at the top of the seam so I don't have to worry with loose threads or a seam pulling loose. I then press the seams to one direction (because I will be ditch quilting each blade and this can not be accomplished if pressed open). Then I starch the top. There are many bias edges. The starch helps the plate to hold its shape until it is added to a background fabric.

Missing something?? Yup, the center. This is typically a circle, but since I found this perfect 12-petaled Michael Miller fabric, I couldn't resist. Applique away! I have used a 5-6" center.

I have 5 of my needed 20 plates ready for their background fabric. Please note that after I sew the plates to the background, I highly suggest going back and trimming that "triangle" of excess fabric from each blade point. It has a seam in it and will be very prone to showing through to the top of the Dresden plate when it is quilted. I hate this look :-((

This is my "Walk on the Wild-Side" Dresdens. They are bold and bright, and look so fantastic with the flower centers. Thanks to all for your comments on my quilt layouts. I kind of figured I'd go with this layout all along, but I just needed confirmation that it would be great (rather than going the more traditional route).
Coincidently, this morning I came across another person's blog post about Dresdens. You may find it informational. It is here...

And dont forget about the Quilting Sale...

Have a good Wednesday~

Modern Dresdens

Although the grout is calling (aka, the infinished kitchen backsplashes), I thought I'd share the start of my modern dresden plate quilt. My red/rose fabric that I chose for the center of the plates arrived yesterday. So far I have 6 of 20 plates completed. They stitch up reasonably quickly, then it will be a ton of hand applique.
The conservative side of me hears fingernails on a chalk board, but the wild and whimsical side is singing in the rain at the sight of this. It's completely wild and bold. I really love green, can you tell??

Background

The 48 7-1/2" blocks that make up my next quilt are finally done. These are paper-pieced kaleidoscope blocks. I'm kind of sick of paper piecing. I am so frugal, thatthe small amount of waste from paper-piecing bugs me. Plus, it makes a mess in my studio. This background is constructed of about 20 neutrals and 10-12 blues and greens, all batiks...my favorite. Does it look like anything familiar? Maybe a beach.
It will have some major applique added to it to transform it to another level. You'll just have to stay tuned to see what it will become!

Valentine girl always wants to be in the pictures :-)

My Absense

Pardon me, friends, for I have been away for a few days to Greensboro, NC watching her skate to gold at the US Nationals. This was a Christmas gift from my husband. It might have been more appropriate a few years ago when I really skated a lot, but he was definitely trying to give something I'd like. Seriously, what was wrong about sending me to Houston or Paducah though??! The trip had ups and downs, too many to really count. If you get the chance to watch the mens competition (I believe it may be shown next weekend, but it may have been on yesterday afternoon), it's the best of the events. The guy that won the event is a total riot, and spectacular skater too.
Obviously I don't have much but my hopes and dreams to show you for my quilting for this past week. I did some handwork and lots of sketching, mostly drafting the applique that will go on the new quilt I have started below. I'm using the kaleidoscope blocks as a watercolor backdrop for some magical applique. I may even do it on the machine, who knows. These are all batiks, and they are so much more vibrant in person.

Lastly, here's a couple of blocks for a swap...the last of the committments for my monthly block swaps. It feels good to have those done!

We're in for yet another mid-week snowstorm on Wednesday. I just cannot get a sewing morning while all 3 kids are at school whatsoever. I am behind on quilting work because of it. I may have to do a few evenings after they go to bed to get caught up. I'm sick of snow. We probably have 18" on the ground and they are predicting at least a foot more! At least I escaped it for a few days for slightly milder 40's and 50's!

Tuesdays are Just For Me

It's not that I ever lack from a shortage of things to show for my sewing time, but I am going to try to use my Tuesday posts to chronicle what I do on my own projects. Nowadays I mostly putter this work in between longarm quilting jobs, when there is not enough time to put another top on the frame, or when I just need a 15 minute break from standing.

This is a 26" center medallion that goes with this quilt, shown there in the link in it's EQ7 design. The design has evolved slightly, but is mostly still as it was in June. The 24 sections of the below medallion are all free pieced (ie., not paper pieced) because they are curves. I was pleasantly surprised how most of them really went together pretty simply. Only after I got about 18 sections together did I have to make a few modifications to get it to lay flatter than a bra. It's not perfectly flat, but it will have 1 or 2 layers of wool batting, so I know it will quilt just fine. These fabrics are a real departure from my usual bright and modern choices. I have chosen them to stretch my abilities and because I really just love the Italian (and other nationalities) inlaid marble floors and have wanted to do a quilt like that for some time.
Here's another of my current workings. It's a 180 degree twist from the mosaic floor. This 15" block was started in Karen Kay Buckley's hand applique class at the Maine Quilt Show. It is all needle turned, per her methods. I am even surprised how much I have not cared about making those tiny little circles! I have been busily designing the rest of this quilt. Fabric for it came today. I am hoping to have it mostly together so I can bring it on my trip to Utah next month - you know, that hand applique is perfect for all the hours in hotels, airports and planes. I have some 3 dimensional flowers that go at the ends of those stems which I will add after it is quilted. There is also a butterfly in the center of Karen's design, but I am on the fense about it so it is not stitched just yet. The batik hand-dyes are absolutely perfect for using with needle-turn applique. I just cannot say enough about the ease of stitching with the tighter weave, non-ravelly fabrics. And the multitude of tones available is almost unlimitted too.

And lastly, thoughts of another quilt on the horizon. "Sea Glass" ...I have had this concept in my head forever, and am finally getting one step closer. I don't have background, which incidentally will be gradations of white to tan, probably batik - practically what I got for the grapes quilt. I also have numerous leftovers from Primavera of the deeper aquas, so I got several fat quarters of the soft pale shades. Yum...

Fraternal Twins

I finished these two quilts recently. I finally dug into some of the green and browns that I bought in May as well as some fabrics bought last fall. Don't ask why they need to sit on a shelf for 6 months before I dare cut into them. I had quite a few Tina Givens prints that I really loved, and got for a mere $3 a yard in October that I had not touched until these quilts were done. The initial concept from the quilts came from Oh Franson's Mod Sampler, but I added a couple blocks of my own and yanked a couple of her's that just didn't play well, and viola! The designs are simple, but it takes a simpler design to showcase the larger modern fabrics well. I am also a bit of a rebel when it comes to sashings. I know that white is all the rage amongst so-called modern quilt makers. But I hate it. No, I HATE IT (did you hear me that time??!). It's stark. Cold. And just plain impractical for anything which will be used. Furthermore, if the fabrics contain off-white and ivory, why sash in white?? So, in keeping with my rebel ways, I sashed the green quilt in ivory Kona and the brown sister-quilt in a soft butter yellow. Yellow is unorthodox, but it coordinated better with the prints than the ivory did. Just call me Jesse James.

Initially, when I was making the blocks, I was very uncertain about the green quilt. I didn't like the blocks together much. But then I added about 6-8 new fabrics, pulled out 4 blocks, and it was love at first sight. The 5 Moda Bella solids I used with all of the bright, happy modern green prints are simply devine. I'm not really sure I can sell this one, but time will tell! And for those of you who do not or hae not used these solids, they are heavenly. I just love the Bellas - loads of colors, great weight, and a good price.

On the green quilt, I tried out a newly acquired panto called "Windblown" by Jodi Beamish, which again, I was not sure of initially. It is densely quilted, and took longer than I really wanted, but in the end, I like the texture. And you all know how I hate stippling, so I needed an alternative. And the brown twin quilt, has another new panto pattern called "Whirlygig", by the same designer. It quilted up quickly and looks nice too. This pattern will get used frequently.

Some detail looks... I did throw in a few aqua and brown blocks just for visual interest. They weren't quite right on the green quilt, but seemed OK for the brown.

See that delicious texture!

And the backs. Who could forget the back of the quilt?! Brown quilt... a Michael Miller brown and lime green check with a stripe of my favorite large flower by Tina Givens. I managed to get the brown check at a Linus quilt event in March, four yards for $4. What a steal! I almost never buy enough backing fabric to do an entire quilt back of the same material.

And the green sister quilt... It has the same Free Spirit Annabella flower and brown check, and I threw in some of another material from the Annabella line (green with yellow globs). I also bound this quilt with this fabric, perhaps a little risky move, but it turned out wonderfully.
So now, with little more than a week before I switch into beach vacation mode, I am busy wrapping up a couple more of my own selfish little projects. I am furociously designing several projects to stitch with newly purchased material, and scheming as to how I will utilize some older (AKA 2008-2009) fabrics. I have a few finishing touches to make on my Maine Quilt Show piece, which must be delivered the weekend after we return from vacation (so it has to be essentially complete when I leave). I have a great tutorial I will share next week. And I will put one more quilt to the LA before I take some much needed R&R.

Take some time on your porch swing this weekend and enjoy summer~ I know I will be.

Sunday Putterings

Ok, so this really represents much of my week's putterings. I did quilt a couple customer quilts as well but I won't show them until they are received. I always have the itch to piece. Seems that this comes when I have a ton of quilting that really needs doing. Right now, I have a couple customer quilts, a commisison quilt and 3 of my own that need to be done. But this is what I started on Thursday...there are only another 25 blocks (yes, only) to make. And then hope that all the triangles fit together well.
I quilted this up this week. It's turned out not to be my favorite quilt. It has some great brown and aqua fabrics, but somehow it just does not make me sing as I hoped it would. Most of the blocks were from the Fresh Comfort Bee (see sidebar for link). The ladies did a good job, but it's just not me. Plus I pieced it wrong so it is axisymmetri and I was too lazy to take it apart.

I did a different type of quilting, not just that average stippling that I see all over the Bee quilts. The aqua areas are done in a fun swirl pattern and the browns are in a free-form leaf. I intentionally tried to NOT quilt it with traditional (aka very neat and well formed) feathers. I like the modern look, just not when it becomes messy. I'm a bit disappointed in my thread choice - wish that I picked a slightly lighter shade of aqua rather than the deep teal. Oh well!

It's all bound and destined to be sold (hopefully). Now to get some backings ready for the mod samplers I did a couple weeks ago. I also have a most unusual thing on my longarm - It is a rush job for a Christmas Tree skirt! I never envisioned quilting an octagon, but it looks doable! Oh dear, only a week and a half until the boys are out of school for the summer and I will probably be going bonkers!

A Pukey Week

This week has stunk in terms of just about everything. My daughter is barely walking (with good chocolate bribes and under pain). My younger son was home 2 days with it running from both ends. Ewww!.. He admitted to eating a berry off of a Barbery bush on Monday, but when Sophie got the symptoms a day or 2 later, I learned that the berry was basically benign. So my husband was busy worshipping the porcelain this morning - actually I caught him sitting on the porcelain, puking into a trash can that he had to dump onto the floor. Poor guy! Now my tummy is not sick, but it is not happy either. I haven't really quilted in a few days because it was too hard to stop when I heard one of the kids on the monitor, and run up 2 flights of stairs to see what they'd produced for me to clean.

I've been puttering on designs for a new quilt to start - kind of a long term project intended to be finished next year sometime, and using the new Northcott Stonehenge fabrics I got recently. I want it to resemble some of the mosaic work I have seen on Italian marble floors. This is probably nowhere near my final layout, but an initial concept anyways.
Managed to get these blocks sashed in a soft butter yellow. The picture stinks, but I think it will be nice quilted.

And I cut into some of the new greens to finish off this set of blocks too. I was very luke-warm about them a week ago, but after pulling out a few of the more kelly-colored ones, I am really feeling the greens. I have ivory for the sashings. So many people gravitate for the white, but I just hate the harshness of white unless the colors dictate that level of crispness. These all have tones of ivory in them so it seems like the logical choice.

I have a lovely applique & block sampler on the LA right now. It's sweet, nicely colored, and really pretty fabrics (from LakeHouse Dry Goods I think). I worked on it for a little this morning while Sophie actually went to her last day of preschool until September, but this afternoon I couldn't get into it. WHen I feel crummy, my creativity suffers. It was better to chip away at some of my Bee blocks which are more mechanical than creative. Afterall, the end of the month is fast approaching.

So here's my question of the week...

Next weekend we are having my 6yr olds birthday party. What do I do with these kids (5-6 total)??? I've never had parties at home - we've always went to a museum or ChuckECheese, or this year, bowling. I have no idea what type of game(s) to do with these kids. HELP!!!

Happy Birthday to Me

Birthdays are not as fun as they used to be. I hate the thought of being more than half of my useful and happy life. I want to be young like her again! My irises are gorgeous this year, but she was not to interested in standing in front of the bed with the most number of them. Her casts have been off almost a week and I'm just angry and sad that nobody told us how insanely hard it would be after she had her feet back. She had fun today splashing in our kiddo pool though!
So, as alluded to previously, I had a birthday. It's not a markable number like 30 or 50, but will be soon enough. My family finally all (and I mean each and every one of them) figured me out this year. No gift certificates to stores I dislike, and things just plain unneeded. OK, sarcasm - like I need 30 more yards of fabric??! Of course. Who doesn't. This set of batik FQs came from my MIL, with a little assistance from my husband. They may be used to cover a couple living room throw pillows, eventually.

My husband got me the EQ7 upgrade, but that isn't coming until next month. My mom also got me two of the additional block libraries. I'm particularly obsessed with designing a quilt that will look like an Italian inlaid marble floor, and will use some kaleidoscope blocks. I also found the Northcott Stonehenge line which looks just like marble. Before my birthday (I kind of didnt think anybody had gotten me fabric..."grins"!), I had a little shopping spree. I selected several of the Stonehenge prints, some solids, and other (ha ha, just wait). But then my mom brought my bday present Sunday and low and behold, she had been Stonehenge shopping too! And a few coordinating Fairy Frosts as well. Did I say they all nailed it on the head this year or what?

And of all that I bought, we only duplicated one piece. Mine are below. I got a few more of the gold toned ones, and a few Bella solids for works in progress.

Today, my other order arrived from fabric.com. DO you see a trend?? Did I have green on the mind?! They are so yummy I can hardly stand it.

I am also done piecing the top for a commission quilt. It now goes into the queue of things needing to be quilted before I go on vacation!

And one last peek at a work in progress. It is a rather simple piecing to say the very least. I have modeled the blocks after the Mod Sampler quilt along that Elizabeth Hartman did last fall, but modified it a little since I don't like all of her blocks. I threw in a couple aqua and brown blocks for giggles too. I have another one started that is in just greens (hmmm, maybe some of the fabrics above will appear in it!). Those that know me know how much I loathe brown so this is a real stretch. I want to get a couple of more modern-ish quilts made and listed on Etsy before the fall (Christmas cash, ya know!), and I have finally decided to dip into the stash I got last fall at the Linus blanket event.

Now, I must spend the rest of the week starting an applique quilt and making some May bee blocks. Procrastination must end there.