The guild Sew Day for August was a Community Quilt Sew Day. Mary C and I collaborated again to make three tops. Normally, I would make a top, then make the back. We focused on tops this time.
Mom Blocks donation top
Mom gave me some orphan pieces and pieces that she didn’t want anymore. I had left them in the car so I didn’t even know what was in the bag. What I found in that bag was some ugly pieces. We also found some pretty nice looking blocks.
The blocks in the top on the left are the ones Mom made and handed over. Once we saw these, we decided we could just put them together quickly and move on to the day’s community quilt pattern.
I had some strips left over from the Libs Elliott class I took at QuiltCon in 2018. Fortunately, we had enough for sashing and borders. The turquoise and pink ones were already sewn together, which made things easier. The blocks weren’t all square, but we squared them up as much as we could.
Mary C sewed and I pressed and trimmed, which worked really well.
I am pleased with how this came out and how we were able to use some of the pieces that Mom sent along. I think someone will like this quilt.
Julie and I went out the other day to Golden State Sewing. We usually meet for lunch and visit the Granary, but I suggested we change it up. They have really good fabric at Golden State. More on the visit later.
One of the things I wanted to do was look for fabrics for The Pantone Project for the cards with which I was struggling. We also chatted about ‘good enough’, which is de rigeur for this project. We agreed that neither of us want to buy a lot of fabric.
Pantone 350 choices (green)
I finally crawled up into the fabric closet and got down the cool solids bin and pulled out the greens I remembered. Neither were exactly right, but Julie and I decided that two of the three fabrics would work.
We think the Tula Pink Tiny Dots is the right color, but lighter. We think the top right solid is dark enough, but doesn’t have that black (or brown?) tinge to it. We agreed that either would work.
One strategy I haven’t tried is comparing the postcards to the color cards I have. As I said, though, I don’t want to buy a lot of fabric; I’d like to use what I have.
I talked about finishing this bag back in May. The problem was that the zipper wasn’t working right. The bag is supposed to open wide, but the double zipper I had installed was preventing it. I don’t have a photo of this problem on my bag, but I do have a photo of what it was supposed to do. You can see from the photo of Mom’s bag that the whole bag is accessible. Mine didn’t do that.
Apparently, my subconscious was working on this, because one night last week I kept waking up in the middle of the night dreaming/worrying about this damn zipper. I didn’t even remember thinking about it during the day, but my subconscious was clearly dealing with the problem.
I shouldn’t even really call it a problem, because I could still use the bag. I wasn’t, however, actually using the bag.
Take a Stand – zipper tab removed
After that night of dreaming about zippers, I looked at the zipper on the bag. If I needed to remove the zipper completely, which I didn’t want to do, it would require a lot of ripping. I thought I could take off the zipper tab, remove one of the zipper heads and put one zipper head back on.
I don’t know why I put two zipper heads on. I didn’t do that on Mom’s Take a Stand. If I had, it would have had the same problem, but you can see from the photo above that it doesn’t
Take a Stand – zipper tab removed annotated
During Craft Night, I started by removing the zipper tab. Then I removed both zipper heads. I could have just removed one, but they were not in the right orientation for one zipper head. I, then, followed my zipper head tutorial. I am so glad I wrote that tutorial, because I always forget I have to put the head in the towel holder** upside down and insert the zipper tape upside down as well. This was a little challenging since the zipper tape was already attached to the bag. I had to do a bit of wrangling, but eventually got the zipper head on.
It works perfectly!
Now I just have to sew the zipper tab again and we should be in business.
**Obviously, you should shop at a local quilt shop. However, I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I made a journal cover for a friend. I meant do this task before she left her job (with the same team I was on) and started her new one, but that was a particularly busy time for me and I just finished last week.
She received it the other day and was totally thrilled. She loved the pink, which was great. She told me she likes pink, but I wasn’t sure if this was too much pink. Apparently not, which is great!
Kristin’s Journal Cover -whole cover
I really like this journal cover and would have kept it for myself if I hadn’t planned to give it to my friend. On the plus side, I made a lot of extra ‘made fabric’ in the process of getting pieces big enough to cover the journal. This means I have almost enough to make another journal cover for one of my journals that doesn’t yet have a cover.
Kristin’s Journal Cover – Inside front cover
Kristin’s Journal Cover – Inside back cover
It is so odd to be in touch with former work colleagues. Somehow we formed a bond and I can feel it is fragile, but still there, which is heartening.
I was super excited to receive quarter squares from Julie the other day! I am eagerly anticipating the receipt of Adrienne’s quarters as well. Once I get those I can seriously start scheduling time to finalize the arrangement and sew the top together.
Orange You Glad – my and Julie’s quarter squares
In the meantime, I interspersed Julie’s quarter squares with the mine on the design wall. Because I was so excited, I forgot to take a picture of the quarters received. I took a photo of the ones I hadn’t yet put on the design wall (photo above). Aren’t they fun?
The photo, right, shows my layout in the process of being rearranged on the design wall.
Orange You Glad – my and Julie’s quarter squares – complete
What I have with three quarters of the blocks looks pretty good. I am thinking that I will keep them as circles, but there is one other layout I want to try out first.
As you can see from other posts I am not continuously quilting on the Tarts, but it is a project I try to work on every day.
I was pretty excited about how the frame went after my first post, so I worked quite a bit on it. The bloom, however, is off the rose, as mentioned in my last post. Still, I am soldiering on.
Tarts: Latte glass quilting
My latest efforts are some smallish blocks on the center bottom, a latte glass and some silverware. I thought I could do some straight-line curves around the latte glass. I wasn’t happy with it and I ripped it out and went back to straight-line quilting the background.
I like dense quilting and I like my quilts flat so straight lines are working best for me.
I have a former co-worker who is super kind. I wanted to make him and his new wife a gift. I know mug rugs and some other fabric gifts quiltmakers give to each other are a bit strange to non-quiltmakers. I decided to make some bowl cozies because they are universally useful. I was able to finish them relatively quickly after I ripped out the same mistake I made last time. My error was to sandwich one piece of batting between two pieces of fabric and sew. Instead, I need to layer ONE piece of batting and one piece of fabric then sew. I need two of these elements (top and bottom) for each bowl cozy. Either I assumed or it was hard to see on the instructions. Using the blog post works better for me than just the PDF instructions.
Bowl cozies for Kirk
Once I got that cleared up, the project went quickly. I am pleased with the results and need to send them off.
I went out with my mom the other day for lunch and a day out. We meet halfway between our two houses in a town with a great cafe, good streets for walking and a quilt shop. Almost perfect!
The crowning glory was the gluten free cafe. Yes, walking around is great. Yes, visiting a quilt shop is great. However, it is really fantastic to walk into a restaurant and not have to ask what ingredients are in every single item.
Austin-Healy
While we were having coffee and catching up, someone drove up and parked their Austin-Healy at the curb. My mom is a sucker for vintage sports cars. She always wanted a Porsche Speedster until she rode in one and found it to be uncomfortable.
After lunch, we went to Wooden Gate. They have moved, as I mentioned a few months ago. Mom hadn’t been there since they moved and she really liked it.
Tilda solids at Wooden Gate
I resolved not to buy anything, but couldn’t resist one of the new Tilda solids and a luscious pink. Yes, those ding my fabric usage. I feel like I was very restrained. I also bought some gifts for the holidays, but you’ll have to wait to see those.
I really like the Tilda solids. They have a nice hand and seem pretty tightly woven. I still have to wash and try them, so we will see. I wish these various solid lines that I like would expand their color ranges.
Tilda has new range of dots as well. There were a couple of fat quarter packs including the dot fabrics that tempted me, but since I didn’t have a project I could think to use them in, I passed.
Danville tile motif
I saw a cool mosaic motif in one of the stores, which could make a great quilt design. It would definitely have to be EPP or applique’.
I finally finished Month 12. I redid so many parts that it seemed to take forever.
I am not a huge fan of these rosettes and may redo them.
Now I am waiting for Month 13. I plan to sew some of the rosettes together while I wait, but I have to lay them out and haven’t done that yet.
Pink Door can’t send out Month 13 at the time they normally do, because they are using Parisville, Tula’s new line. They aren’t allowed to send out the new fabrics before a certain date. I understand, but it is frustrating, because it puts me off my basting schedule.
I am becoming slightly obsessed with this project. I wonder if I need to worry about how often I am using the word obsession or its derivatives lately?
Tarts-First pic
The Tarts Come to Tea – July 2022
The first record I have of the Tarts is from 2003. That is a few years before I started this blog, so the details are lost in the mists of time or hidden in my journal from that time. I had a 6 year old, so who knows what I wrote down?
You can see that some of the elements stayed, but some are gone. If I find those elements, I can bring them to the guild for the orphan blocks donation project.
Forcing myself to power through quilt projects (and bag projects) rather than stopping and letting them ‘marinate’ is much better for my process. It also prevents me from adding new UFOs to the pile. Aside from a few projects, such as Pies & Points, it has worked very well. Backs and bindings now seem less arduous to complete.
UFOs left to marinate, for me, means that I forget what I was thinking, sometimes the fabric or other supplies go missing or get used for other projects accidentally. Supplies going missing or being accidentally used for other projects makes the process much worse. It always takes me time to get back in the groove of a project, which is generally difficult and often depressing. Nothing seems as terrible from a few years away, but I often discover the problem quickly and still have to deal with it. Time does not always heal all ‘wounds.’
In working on the 26 Projects, I have completed a lot of quilts. Looking at my first list shows me quilts I know are finished. It also shows quilts that are still on the to do list. Most worrisome of all are the projects I don’t remember finishing or giving away, which means they may still show up in some box somewhere.
I found, though, that the projects aren’t going to work on themselves, thus I have taken out the Tarts and started working on it. I am focusing my mind on one section at a time, mostly, and that helps me not get overwhelmed. This is also when it would be great to have two machines set up. I would like to be able to switch to a piecing project quickly to take a break from machine quilting.
I have found, though, that working on one project does not prevent me from working on another. You know I often use leaders and enders to make progress on more than one quilt at a time. If I want to start a new project, I do, but I don’t put away the old one and I really try to finish the old one before becoming engrossed in the new project.
I don’t think UFOs are bad and if your process includes a number of UFOs, great! I think we will all have UFOs. For me, the length of time they are on the list are the issue.
I am done with the novelty of quilting. The bloom is off the rose.
Tarts: Pink corner background quilted
Still I am quilting. It took me all day to quilt one corner background of the Tarts. The quilting looks good, but it was tedious and took a long time. No, I am not doing free motion quilting; I am doing straight-line quilting, which is the type of quilting I can sew successfully and, thus, be happy with.
Am I tempted to rip out the quilting and take it to Colleen?
Yes.
I am going to hang in there. I have made so much progress after years of no progress that it would be stupid to rip it out. Still, I am tempted. Quilting is terrible.
Friend Julie has already started selecting fabrics and making blocks. I have just started with the most recent postcard she sent (Pantone #350, a VERY dark, almost black, green). I am behind and I have no excuse except I am quilting the Tarts, I finished Pies & Points and the Diagonal 9 Patch and I am working on clearing my to do list.
I needed a break while I was quilting the Tarts, so I started looking at fabrics.
PP Comparison: Tula Tiny Stripes
When I receive the postcard, I sometimes get an idea of the fabric I want to use. For this VERY dark, almost black, green I thought immediately of the Tula Tiny Dots and Stripes. On a break I got the striped fabric out, confident I would have one selected and compared the postcard with the fabric.
Bleah! Not dark enough.
No problem, what about the dots?
PP Comparison: Tula Tiny Dots
Better. Maybe a good enough option, but still not dark enough.
This was depressing and I started thinking about the greens I have. If I have a green this dark, it will be buried in a project box or at the bottom of some “old fabric” box, because the last time I may have used such a fabric was when I took the Mary Mashuta class on pushed neutrals. I also have a Tula solid that might work.
I put Pantone #350 aside for awhile. I had to file papers before I could climb up into the depths of my fabric closet to get at the old neutrals, so I took out the Pantone #14-1911, Candy Pink postcard. I knew there was a pink solid around that would be perfect.
PP: Candy Pink
Wrong again. This is a great example of making visual decisions visually. Again, the pink might be good enough, but if you look at Julie’s selections, they are perfect matches. Sigh. More climbing up into the closet. I really don’t want to buy fabric for this project if I can avoid it.
This is an incredibly massive V&S. Hope you can make it through whole thing as there is lots of important and fun links to explore. Maybe two sessions?
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Reminder that if you ask a question in the comments and forget to come back and look at the answer, you can click the “Notify me of follow-up comments by email.” and get other comments on the one post. This will send you a notification when I answer. I do try and answer all comments, though I don’t always answer that same day.
I put up a new page showing all the improvisational piecing quilts I have made or worked on. This page was inspired by my work on the Tarts. I forgot that I had made or worked on so many. The improvisational piecing is different than Improv quilts now. The work I did was unplanned, but not necessarily wonky.
Reminder: all the photos on this blog are mine or I have permission to use them. The artworks are mostly mine, but occasionally I take a photo of someone else’s work and post it. All photos are generally watermarked which says I own the photo. If the artwork is mine, the watermark means that I own the artwork as well. If you want to use my photos, please contact me and provide a link to the photo you want to use and to the location where you want to post it. I am pretty good about getting back to you quickly. I don’t want to go through a fight again. This talks about photos, but all the words are mine as well.
Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials
I found an extensive video (15 minutes) on the flatback stitch.
Natalie, from SewHungryHippie, has a FB page. Check it out for product information, but also for the 7/11 post talking about using interfacing on vinyl!?!?!
Tula has a video comparing the A Place for Everything v.1.0 to the v.2.0 versions of the pattern.
I was looking through some old emails and came across an email about diamonds. Quilting Cubby has a tutorial on sewing Half Triangle Rectangles any size. I haven’t reviewed this tutorial, but I have reviewed the methods I wrote in a series of tutorials on making Half Triangle Rectangles. Remember the Split Recs ruler** by Studio 180 Designs as well. I love that ruler.
My friend came over to get help making a bag. One of the things she wanted to do was use cording for the handles. I had no idea how to do it, so I searched. I found a tutorial, which makes sense. I had to test quite a bit to get the size right for the rope my friend had, but the process encouraged me to learn something new and now I have another option for handles.
One of the things I wanted to do was turn the bag through the interior zipper pocket. This makes for a cleaner finish. Tim showed me how to do it, but I had to look up a tutorial again. I found one from SewYourTV (???), which was pretty helpful, though I feel like it skipped something between the first sentence in step 8 and the second sentence. Robin of RSIsland Crafts shows how to turn the pocket from start to finish in her video tutorial. It shows the missing parts from the above tutorial, which is finishing the bag by stitching it closed. The tutorial is 8 minutes long, but if you go to the 4 minute mark, you will get the salient details and skip the part about the two different types of pockets you can make to turn your bag.
Do you want to help create a local artist & makers market? Contribute to the GoFundMe campaign for such a space in Pacifica.
I have gotten quite a few comments on the Diagonal Nine Patch. I have made a file to share with you. It is a PDF file for you to use to make your own. I have an EQ8 file, which I cannot upload, but may send to you, if you are nice to me. ? For those of you who don’t have Electric Quilt**, I highly recommend it.
Proceeds from the sale of Ujamaa Baguettes patterns goes to the Grandmothers to Grandmothers (G to G) Campaign of the Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF). SLF works to address the consequences of the HIV/AIDS pandemic upon families and communities in sub-Saharan Africa. The patterns are regular bag patterns. There is a backpack called the Retreat Backpack, which looks similar to the Sew Sweetness Chickadee Backpack with some small design differences. There is a bag called The Laufey, which is interesting. The Liliput Backpack has some interesting design features, though I would probably make it into a crossbody bag. They also have bags with unique shapes. A couple are round and one is shaped like a saddle. The patterns are all PDF downloads which can be found on the Emmaline Designs website.
Marie Bostwick has a great pattern that may work for the guild’s 16 patches. Part 2 was just posted and part one can be found as a link in that post.
Modern Handmade has a revamped subscription box. I subscribe briefly to their previous version until they cancelled it. The latest incarnation is only $12/month, which is eminently reasonable. It still includes a project, but smaller projects like pillows, tablerunners and bags. There is also a private FB group so you can meet other people who subscribe.
Some interesting zipper pulls, zipper heads (I saw a hedgehog!) and interesting zipper tape can be found on the Gigil Zips site. There are a lot of Star Wars and Disney models, but they are not listed by their trademarked names so you have to be a little creative to find them.
I really like the Essentials Tote available on the Sew Hungry Hippie site. I am tempted to buy the pattern, but think I could make something similar without a pattern, so I have, so far, resisted. I am also afraid I just like the fabric.
My friend, Lindsay, shared the New Song Quilt Shop with me. Yes, they have a website. They make quilts and pouches and home accessories for sale.
You might remember that we did a Creative Spark project a few years ago. The last prompt is posted and you can work your way through them now, if you want. This project was based on Carrie Bloomston’s , The Little Spark. She has a follow-up book called The Big Book of Little Sparks Creativity Journal: A Hands-on Journal to Ignite Your Creativity**. It’s described by Carrie in this way: “It’s full of beautifully illustrated pages for you to fill with reflections on YOUR creative process and journey. There are new sparks to inspire you on your journey, as well.” You can join the launch party, if you are in Phoenix, “at Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix to celebrate the launch of the book with some bubbles and a conversation about living life wide awake” on Friday, September 9, 2022 at 6pm. If you attend, let me know how it went.
Articles, Tips and Other Information
Tula talks about quilting quilts in a recent video. I like this video, because she talks about all-over quilting patterns vs. custom quilting and I found that I agreed with her philosophy. Check between the 5 and 8 minute marks for the bulk of this discussion if you don’t want to watch the whole video.
Goodbye hideous carpet
I finally sent DH to the carpet recycler with the old life sucking beige carpet from my workroom. It was hard to find the address and all the guidelines and DH had lost heart. I had time so I found all the information, but made him go and do it. The hardwood floor needs to be redone, but I don’t care. I am so glad that carpet is out of my life.
Media, Exhibitions and Inspiration
Tula has remade the various bags she likes in her coming soon Moon Garden line. I love these videos where she shows her bags. She mostly uses Byannie patterns, but has branched out this time to a Minki Kim mini iron carrier pattern and the Aneela Hoey Booklet Pouch. I like it that she branched out this time. I did get a good idea for my going to Sew Day problem and that was the Oslo Craft Bag by Sew Sweetness. This is a free pattern given as a thank you if you sign up for the newsletter. The newsletter doesn’t come out very often so it isn’t a hardship. I made one of these for Cyndi. Now I am thinking I may make one for myself and see that will be a good partial replacement for my Going to Sew Day bag.
The one Tula made is the Catch All Caddy by ByAnnie. The bags are essentially the same, though the sizes and features may be different. I find the style of Sew Sweetness bags to be easier to sew, though, as you know, I have made several ByAnnie Bags and they have come out pretty well.
Frances from the QuiltFiction Club shared a video on the Jane Stickle quilt, which is in the Bennington Museum Collection.
Curated Quilts has a post on using neutrals in quilts
Not Quilt Related
Some quilt people are also puzzle people. During the pandemic i might have mentioned that we worked on a 10,000 piece puzzle. It is still in process, but I am working on La Pass at night not a puzzle. DH shared a blog post from the LA Public Library about the history of jigsaw puzzles. The post says that jig saws were related to sewing machines and, thus operated by women.
**Obviously, you should shop at a local quilt shop. However, I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I really struggled with the metadata to apply to this post. It is not about quiltmaking per se, but more about surrounding yourself with beauty to enhance everything you do in that room/workroom/studio.
Secrets of the fabric closet
I had a stack of papers to file. It was a large stack starting from right before the pandemic started – December 2019/January 2020 to the present. I didn’t realize that I hadn’t done any filing since then. It isn’t easy to file, because my fabric closet is so crammed. I have to move a lot of stuff out in order to file. The task was on my to do list, because the giant stack of papers was interfering with my ability to put everything in the closet (that is where the cutting table goes when we guests or I have to clean my workroom for some reason).
That was depressing enough, but when I opened the drawer I was confronted with the terribly ugly horrible green hanging folders (files?). I like green in nature, but it is not a favorite in quiltmaking. I don’t sincerely dislike it; it is just not a favorite. I like icky green and lime, but only as accents. I have only made a few green quilts. I decided that they had to go. I would love to replace them with turquoise hanging files, but I didn’t have turquoise, so the newish yellow, red and blue would have to do. I took out all of the horrible green files I could and replaced them. They all went in the donation pile (now I have to find a box and put them there. Bleah! if it isn’t one thing, it is another).
I was very clear about what was staying and what was going when we did the workroom refresh last year. DH was a little annoyed with me, because some of the stuff I wanted gone was perfectly serviceable. I didn’t care. When I spend 12 hours per day in a room, it has to be fabulous. The horrible green files were going.
This doesn’t make everything 100% better, but at least I don’t want to barf when I look in my file cabinet. Already a not-fun experience, the fresh new red, yellow and blue hanging files make it better.
I think it is important to embrace beauty especially in small things. I mean who really cares about folders in a filing cabinet? Nobody, but me sees them. That is actually the point. I felt better not having to look at those horrible green hanging files. Maybe next time I won’t wait 2-3 years to file the health insurance receipts.
I think I need to eradicate anything that is ugly or merely functional and replace it with something that doesn’t make me cringe.
