Quilt Class Sampler Blocks

Sawtooth Star
Sawtooth Star

This post is kind of a roundup of the good and the bad. No ugly today, as I use GREAT fabric. 😉

This Sawtooth Star block is one I use to teach Flying Geese. I love the Dutchman’s Puzzle block, but think starting students out with 4 Flying Geese as opposed to 8+ is much kinder.

The larger blocks are weird for me to make, because I like to make 6″ or 8″ blocks mostly. The good thing about making these giant blocks is that there is a lot of potential for fussy cutting and the Big Plain Jane print worked really well in this block. I tried to position the flower a little off center to add a bit of interest while not showcasing the white flower that is near the red flower on the print. I am really pleased with how cheerful this blocks looks. I am glad I am working in a turquoise/aqua and red palette.

Card Trick
Card Trick

The Card Trick block is a great block for practicing triangles. It includes both half and quarter square triangles. If you haven’t tried the Card Trick, it is a great block as long as you pick the right fabrics. I, as you can see, did not build in enough contrast between the background and the light fabrics.  There are a lot of seams and triangles in this block and you have to lay it out and piece carefully, because it is easy to get mixed up.

As I work on this project I see these blocks set on point with red cornerstones. We’ll see as the time gets closer.

CPP on Vacation

The CPP is still on vacation. Did you do any responses to the previous prompts? See previous words and information on the Creative Prompts Inspiration Page. Do you have an opinion about how I should proceed with the CPP? Are there enough prompt projects out there already? I have listed a few resources on the CPP Inspiration page.

Talkback. I want to hear from you.

Quick Update

My weekend was completely embroiled with quilt meetings and family events. I had a few minutes here and there, but never seemed to be able to settle down to write. That meant that none of the posts I usually prep on the weekends got done. I didn’t get any sewing done and didn’t write any book reports, so I really didn’t have much to write about any way.

I stayed home from work on Monday and sewed all day except for going to they gym in the morning and taking the Young Man to an appointment.

Grape Basket for English Teacher
Grape Basket for English Teacher

I cut this block out at the BAMQG meeting on Saturday and then sewed it together on Monday. I have made a lot of baskets in my day and found this one to be a bit on the tricky side. Exhaustion could have played a factor. 😉

I chose the colors to go with the pillow I made for this same teacher last year. You can see the 2010 pillows and compare.

I was also held up by the labels. I have the Young Man draw on a piece of paper to make the label. I have to mark the seam allowances, so his art does not get cut off and it took me awhile to site down and do it. Now it is done and I can progress.

 

The *itch is Back

I am really irritated.

Someone stole photos of pillows I donated to a raffle and put them up on their own blog. Now I have to send that person/blog/organization a cease & desist letter. I don’t have to, but I am going to. From a REAL lawyer who charges a lot of money per hour.

Here is the deal: If you want to use my photos, the policies and procedures are clearly labeled under ABOUT on the navigation bar under my header. I will also provide you with a convenient link, so you don’t have to look around. If, for some reason, you don’t want to download Clipmarks, then just ask me. Leave a comment somewhere and we can have a conversation about it.

The deal is that I want credit and I want a link back to my blog and I don’t want to have to come after you.

Do not just download the photos and put them up on your site. Be nice!

Inspiration Sunday

Purse Flower
Purse Flower
Purse Flower Detail
Purse Flower Detail

Yes, more from my sad shoe shopping experience. At least I found something for you. 😉

I think that the flower could easily be reproduced in fabric – ‘easily’ meaning not quick, but the picture makes it look relatively painless and straightforward, if a bit fiddly.

I do feel like I haven’t had much time to sew, which, further, means I have nothing to show. Perhaps tomorrow.

Have a Happy Mother’s Day!

 

Follow-up: Design Wall

On Sunday May 1, I posted some information about what was on my design wall.

Sandy commented “You have a lot more going on with your design wall than I do with mine. I get too distracted by a lot going on visually so I can only have one project at a time up on the wall. My other projects are in bags or bins that periodically get pulled out, pawed through, then put away again. Sort of a low-commitment-refresher on what I’ve got going on at any given time. But I tend to be a One Project girl–one at a time, at least until the top is pieced. Then I might move on to something else while waiting for inspiration on the quilting.”

She made an excellent point, which leads me to more discussion about my process.

Shortly after I started quiltmaking, I moved quickly from one quilt project to another. I would most often not return to a project once I had moved on and rarely finished projects. This was how I mostly had crafted in the past and I perceived it as a quiltmaking trend at the time. One day I looked in the fabric closet and found boatloads of UFOs. I rarely finished anything. I realized that the time had come to start finishing those projects before I moved on to new projects. I still haven’t finished all of my UFOs, but I am farther along and keep strict track of my progress and of the UFOs I finish. Many of the older projects are finished and the ones that aren’t are moving towards the top of the list.

As described a bit in the presentation I made recently, I have thought a lot about my process and how I work. One of the things I realized is that I do a lot of prep work before I focus on a project. The cutting and beginning stitching may seem like part of the project, but for me it is prep work. I only cut to have some patches to stitch. I sew the little pieces into bigger pieces so I can really focus on the piece. Sewing small patches together is a great use of the leaders and enders philosophy. Using this philosophy, I can make a lot of progress without focusing on the project exclusively. Then suddenly I am ready to put blocks and a quilt top together.

Also, test pieces are not real projects for me. They are just that: tests; techniques and things I am trying out for one reason or another before I commit to a full quilt. I don’t count them as projects.

I am really trying hard to work on one large project at a time and see it through to the end. I am trying to finish everything I start, which means a lot more testing goes on before I commit. It doesn’t always work like it should because I can’t work on the project if it is at the quilter and I can’t watch TV while sitting at my machine.

I still have a number of projects going at once, but they are all organized and moving forward, even if they are not at the front of the line.

Raffle Pillows

2011 NSGW Raffle Pillows
2011 NSGW Raffle Pillows

I explained the whole deal about these pillows a few days ago.

Last Friday I needed to clear off my sewing table (do you see a theme of Spring Cleaning here again?) before I did anything else.

The pillow tops were already pinned to the backs, so I really just had to sew around the edges and do a little trimming. Since it was easy, I did it and now they are done and I can cross this task off my to do list. I can’t tell you how good this makes me feel. I am not sewing like a demon at the last minute! Hooray!

2011 NSGW Seal Pillow #2
2011 NSGW Seal Pillow #2
2011 NSGW Bear Flag Pillow #1
2011 NSGW Bear Flag Pillow #1
2011 NSGW Seal Pillow #1
2011 NSGW Seal Pillow #1
2011 NSGW Bear Flag Pillow #2
2011 NSGW Bear Flag Pillow #2

FOTY 2011 April 2011 Pieces

FOTY 2011 Triangles - 4/2011
FOTY 2011 Triangles - 4/2011

Here is the first group of triangles that will end up as Fabric of the Year 2011. I am doing something this year in that I am including many fabrics that I am using this year, but aren’t new. The large triangles are the new fabrics for this year and the small triangles are the fabrics that were already in my fabric closet, but were used in a quilt.

I have already realized that I am not going to be able to cut ALL fabrics that I use. I just am not organized enough. I haven’t developed the habit, but I am getting better.

I have the idea in my mind that I will make this more of a scrap quilt rather than arranging the fabrics carefully in a colorwash kind of order. I may not, though.

The other idea I have is to arrange it like Fons & Porter did in their Kalamkari Strippy.
We’ll see how I feel at the end of the year.

Environmental Art Quilts on Display

Primal Green Postcard
Primal Green Postcard

Did you go and see the show? Primal Green is a show of environmental art quilts at the Main Branch of the San Francisco Public Library. AND! it is still on.

The Wallace Stegner Environmental Center is one of the special collections at the Main Branch and, after a year of work with the Library, CQFA has over 20 quilts and fiber art on display. The quilts all have an environmental theme. The show will hang until July 31 and be available to viewers during the Library’s normal open hours. Hope you can stop by and see it. Check the library’s website for hours.

Primal Green, the art quilt exhibition at the San Francisco Public Library, has some information on the Green Stacks portion of the SFPL website. Hope you can see the show.

On the Design Wall

Design Wall 4/28/2011
Design Wall 4/28/2011

I have to clear off the design wall so I can create the samples and step outs for the quilt class. Taking a good look at the design wall made me realize that it is kind of being used as another dumping ground and more spring cleaning is required. So, before I clear it off, here is a tour.

Upper left: four patches. I cut scraps up into 2″ squares and sew them together into four patches. I use these patches as ‘Leaders and Enders’ a la Bonnie Hunter.  This means that I sew together squares rather than just using scraps to start off my chain piecing. I do this so that I can accomplish something as I am starting and ending chain piecing.

Middle top: FOTY 2011 patches. More about these later.

Upper right: Sampler quilt patterns/red and aqua quilt. I may do something else with red and aqua, but the sampler is a good project for these fabrics since I can’t think of anything else.

Very upper right: Nine patch made by the Young Man when he was a Cub Scout. I want to do something significant with it, but haven’t decided what yet.

Lower left: more four patches in progress.

Middle middle: FOTY 2010 test piece. I would like to use it to test the border treatment I want to use for the Original Bullseye quilt. I think this test project will end up higher on the to do list sooner than I thought, because I need that space on the design wall.

Middle middle towards right: rectangles for another quilt like the purple quilt. Right now these bricks are being used as leaders and enders.

Next to this series of bricks is a Big T block that will be the front of a Teacher Pillow for the Science Teacher. I don’t like the name of that blocks. I don’t have a better name, but I think Big T is uninspired.

Bottom right: hexagon test piece.

Border: all around the border are things that I enjoy looking at. I have won 2 ribbons (right) in the far and distant past, but I like to look at them to remind myself that I am able to win ribbons.

ATCs 4/29/2011
ATCs 4/29/2011

I find that a good way to display ATCs is using those badge holders I get from conferences. It also prevents the badge holders from being thrown out. I like them for ATC display, because I can clip them together.The ATCs are small and this display makes more of an impact.

It is a little quilt art gallery that I can change easily. I can change both the configuration of the badge holders as well as the ATCs displayed very easily.