2024 – Page 8 – Artquiltmaker Blog

Day Out with Quilts

Tim and I visited Colleen yesterday, went to lunch and visited a quilt shop. We had a fun time.

Colleen has moved in the last few years, so it is more of an expedition to take her quilts than it used to be. When I am working, it isn’t really possible to make the journey, but I was able to do it yesterday. Having Tim along made it more enjoyable. I took the Ombre Weave (Hugs & a Kiss) quilt to be quilted. I also picked up the Half Hexie Star!!! Yes! After YEARS it is finally finished just in time for me to bind it and pass it on to its recipient. I’ll also show it at the guild meeting.

Colleen had a great quilt on her design wall. She was teaching her Rings of Change quilt and one of the students came up with her own design. Colleen wanted to try it and came up with this quilt.

Colleen wanted to try the ‘mistake’ (design challenge) and this is the result. She calls them flowers. I love the dramatic contrast of colors on black. The ‘blocks’ look a bit like Dresden Plates, but the spikes in the center make it a little different. These are made in plate format and then appliqued down. Contact Colleen if you want to talk about a class or buy a pattern (not sure if one for this variation is available).

After picking up and dropping off quilts, we went to lunch and Costco, then visited Bay Quilts. I wrote about this shop when it first opened. It is essentially the same as it was back in 2017, though they have a lot more gift items. They probably have the most fabric of any of the local shops.

I have to add the yardage to my ‘yardage used’ spreadsheet. Fortunately, I have ideas for all of these fabrics, so I need to get busy and get them off the spreadsheet again as well.

Hildegarde Progress

I made a little progress at the last Sew Day on this bag. I mostly did prep, which needed to be done. I have to admit that I prefer to cut and do prep at Sew Day. It just means I have less to haul around. I was happy to make some progress, especially progress that was useful.

When I got home I was able to get going on the lid.

I know that the trunk of the tree on the handle doesn’t exactly line up with the trunk of the tree on the top, I am still ridiculously pleased with how this came out. I am pleased with the pink and pleased with the fabric I chose.

The next day, I worked on making the whole top/lid. Above is just the exterior.

In the photo, left, you can see the hinge and the zipper completely attached. I think this method of construction is the same one used for the Hackney bags.

Again, I had some trouble with the mesh pocket. I am not sure why. It could be that I measured wrong somewhere. There was some ripping, but, in the end it came out ok. I really want to try another mesh pocket right away, but it will have to be for another type of bag as I am not ready to commit to another Hildegarde right away.

I know the mesh pocket looks a little wonky, but it really isn’t. I measured the binding on the top mesh carefully, so it would be even on both sides. It just looks a little weird in the photo.

Center Street Quilts has a video for her Stella pouch. I like the way she makes her zipper tabs and would like to try that method next time. I think that method would work for any type of zipper and give me some flexibility as to size. Of course, it would be helpful if I cut everything properly. I always think I do, but I have to explore the possibility that something was too small. Perhaps I’ll cut out the top of a Hackney and try this pocket again while my thoughts are fresh in my mind.

This is a Sew Sweetness pattern. It is part of Minikins Season 4 bundle. You can see the various projects I have made from the Minikins patterns on the Minikins page.

Baby Jacobs Diagonal 9 Patch Finished

I finished this quilt at the beginning of last month, but forgot to post the finished quilt. August was busy!

One of my SILs brought it to the new baby when SIL traveled to the area where my niece and her husband live. I was glad not to have to mail it.

I am pleased with how it turned out and the juxtaposition of the same design in different colors. The first D9P was for this baby’s brother and is almost the opposite in color of this one.

Sun Hat Progress

Sun Hat pieces - cut out — Sun Hat pieces – cut out

I took the pieces with me to Sew Day on a whim and actually made some progress. Mary C helped me to measure my head to confirm I actually have a teen head. I do!

Once that was established, which I admit was holding me back from making progress, I decided to cut out the pieces and get them ready to sew.

I made one change. Instead of cutting out four pieces for the brim and sewing two together I left that piece whole. It will look like a donut. I did check the directions and think it will be fine – I think it will save me a couple of seams and keep the pattern of the fabric intact. I have plenty of fabric, so if it doesn’t work then I can do something else.

I forgot the interfacing I planned to use so that will be a project for another day.

Ombre Weave Blocks Finished

I finished all the blocks for the Ombre Weave and think I will change the layout to highlight more of the Os that show up in the design. The red I added looks good. The piece overall isn’t as depressing as it was before.

EPP Balls in the Wild

I sent two EPP Balls to a friend from work. She just had a new baby, but also has a 2 year old.

I wasn’t planning on sending an EPP ball to them, but they are so easy to make and seem to be a popular gift that I just sent them along.

The two year old has taken over both for the moment, which is fine. At least there are two, one for each sister.

Here, Big Sister is showing the EPP Balls to the newborn…. and hopefully not smothering her!

Progress on the Ombre Weave

Ombre Weave - end of Aug 2024 — Ombre Weave – end of Aug 2024

I had time last week to trim blocks and cut more pieces for more blocks. I was nervous this quilt would be too small for a teenager, but it is getting larger. It won’t be a huge quilt, but it will be nice for cuddling.

I am thinking I may use some of the ombre fabric I bought to make the Ombre Hearts quilt as the back. We’ll see, but I don’t think I will be making that quilt.

Hop, Skip and Jump Resurfaces

I went looking for blocks in a bin in the top of the fabric closet a few weeks ago. I found a lot of interesting things. One thing was the blocks from the Denyse Schmidt book, Denyse Schmidt Quilts**.

In 2009, I worked on the Hop, Skip and Jump pattern by Denyse Schmidt. In the referenced blog post, I talked about templates! You know I don’t mind templates, but this pattern having templates was ridiculous. Now I would just start sewing and not worry about the exact angles. I guess I didn’t know any better then.

I put these in the donation pile for the guild as I wasn’t planning on making any more of them. Not my thing. Too boring. I am sure someone will make a great donation quilt from them.

**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon 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.

Another September 11

I was startled a week or so ago when I passed by a restaurant advertising its new hours. The sign read 9 – 11…. and that is all I saw. I had to stop and read the whole sign. I was upset that whomever put the sign up didn’t consider how it would look. I guess we can’t forbid “9-11” from showing up in everything.

There are now adults who weren’t even born on that day. There are even more adults who were too young to remember. Do they even care? I still ask myself if anything has changed. The same old men are still in charge. There are still people dying in the Middle East. I am not excusing the radicals; I just don’t know if there is anything that can make everyone tolerate everyone else, stop killing each other for religion and stay in their lane. It is depressing to think about.

I made two quilts to commemorate the lives lost during the destruction of the Twin Towers. The first one was Fireball, which is the imagery I could see as I sat and watched TV the week after that event.

I was doing woven art pieces at the time and this is one of them. It is chaotic, reminds me of smoke and flames. This is a small quilt, maybe 12×12, and I was able to channel the pure emotion into this piece as I made it very quickly. The quilt was shown at the Houston Quilt Festival that year.

The quilt I really wanted to make took longer. I wanted to plead for something different than what ended up coming out of that terrible day. I wished for something different than a 20+ year war. People just want to fight when they are attacked; they don’t want to talk.

This is a hard post for me to write. I force myself to do it every year, to get the message of What Comes Next out there, so, perhaps, people will think and do something different next time, though I hope there isn’t a next time.

Ombre Weave Blocks Together

Ombre Weave blocks - Aug 2024 — Ombre Weave blocks – Aug 2024

I was able to look at all the Ombre Weave blocks on the design wall.

I was somewhat surprised at how much brown and beige there was in the roll I bought. I never really cataloged the colors, but I always thought it was all the colors. Now I realize there are some significant hues missing such as RED.

This is totally my fault for not noticing years ago when I bought the roll. Still, it is not fatal. I got a small piece of red (cherry? cranberry?) and will add it in to the mix.

I have some other blocks I need to trim and then I will add those as well.

Chickadee Not Superbloom

One of the points of the Pink Project is to provide me with a way to test out bag patterns I haven’t made before. A week or so ago, I talked about making some Superbloom totes. I do want to make more Superbloom totes, but I don’t want to miss the chance to test out a larger bag pattern. I decided to make a Chickadee backpack as the main large bag for the Pink Project v2 instead of a Superbloom tote. I’ll make a Superbloom for the other group and also one with the Hindsight fabric.

I didn’t make a large bag for the Pink Project v.1. I used a bag that I received at the last Convention I attended.

The Chickadee backpack is another Sew Sweetness pattern. It came out last year. There is a lot of cutting and I haven’t felt like I had the brainspace or the time to make one. I wanted to, but I also wanted to make some changes:

- crossbody strap instead of backpack straps
- d-rings so the top handles fold down out of the way
- more pockets

I know that it is better to, first, make it as the pattern indicates, thus I thought making it for the Pink Project would be a great idea.

Finished: Colorblocks #3

From the Fair report, you know that I finished this quilt. However, I never posted a final picture and information.

Here it is in all of its glory. I am really pleased with how it came out.

It is 24 x 24″

Machine pieced and machine quilted (by me!!)

It was made for a 2024 San Mateo County Fair guild challenge. It is the third in a series of ‘Colorblocks’ quilts.

Susan I McRae on Various & Sundry 2025 #10Wednesday, October 29, 2025
I always love these info rich posts!
Eleanor Jackson on Mom’s QuiltSaturday, October 25, 2025
Congratulations to your Mom. I know how exciting it is to complete the quilts. Looks like she is proud, as…
Claire F on Flower 2 FinishedMonday, October 20, 2025
Love this block!
JulieZS on BAM BOM StartFriday, October 17, 2025
I can't wait to hear all the details. Your fabric picks are great so far. A citrus-y yellow like the…
JulieZS on Patchwork Palooza Block 12Friday, October 17, 2025
Oooh, that's such a good one! Love the fabric combos.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31