We have reached 200! Amazing. Thanks for reading and playing along.
Sunrise, sunset – from Fiddler on the Roof
magazine – your guide to living in the west
The Sunset – Neighborhood in San Francisco
Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer to your goal. Elbert Hubbard
Inner Sunset, San Francisco
Sunset Hills to be named to the National Register of Historic Places (article)
St. Anne of the Sunset, Catholic Church in San Francisco (love the name and the church is beautiful)
Sunset Marquis, a boutique hotel in West Hollywood.
1988 movie directed by Blake Edwards;with Bruce Willis, James Garner, Malcolm McDowell, Mariel Hemingway. Tom Mix and Wyatt Earp team up to solve a murder
Sunset grill
Walt Whitman: Song at Sunset
“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.” quote / Rabindranath Tagore
Definition: Sunset or sundown is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the western half of the horizon, i.e. at an azimuth greater than 180 degrees, as a result of Earth’s rotation.
The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment when the trailing edge of the Sun’s disk disappears below the horizon. The ray path of light from the setting Sun is highly distorted near the horizon because of atmospheric refraction, making the sunset appear to occur when the Sun’s disk is already about one diameter below the horizon. Sunset is distinct from dusk, which is the time at which the sky becomes completely dark, which occurs when the Sun is approximately eighteen degrees below the horizon. The period between sunset and dusk is called twilight.
Locations north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle experience no sunset or sunrise at least one day of the year, when the polar day or the polar night persist continuously for 24 hours.
Sunset creates unique atmospheric conditions such as the often intense orange and red colors of the Sun and the surrounding sky. (Wikipedia)
Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.
We are also talking about this on Twitter. Use the hashtag #CPP
The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.
Weeks writes “Challenge yourself – if you could only make one more quilt, what would it be?”
I would make something really hard, some quilt that would make people stop in their tracks and would make their mouths hang open. It would be a completely insane quilt with thousands of pieces or something so difficult that people would not know how it was put together.
If I had to pin down a pattern, I would choose the Double Wedding Ring. I don’t know why as I think there are harder patterns out there, but it sticks in my mind.
I hope I never have to choose. I have so many ideas in my head and I want to make them all.
How would you answer this question?
*No copyright claimed on Modern Quilt Studio image. thanks to Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle for allowing me to use it. See the original blog post on the Craft Nectar blog.
I still think the next projects on the list will be harder, especially since I haven’t worked on them, except for the Aqua-Red Sampler. They are older, in some cases, or VERY unfinished. I am still hopeful.
The Tarts Come to Tea: I still haven’t worked on this since April 2011, though I did think about working on it. Does that count for something? I really do need to get back to the quilting. I am mad at myself for making such good progress and then getting sidetracked. I thought quilting the Whole Cloth quilt would get me back in the swing of quilting, but apparently not.
Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together. Mrs. K. gave me more PP fabric and I won some from a giveaway. I still think it is a sign that I need to work on this. Leaders and enders.
See: needs satin stitching. Small, also a possibility for finishing. I really have the feeling I came so close to working on this project this month.
Self Portrait: started in 2006 at a class at Quilting Adventures in Richmond, Virginia. I like the piece, but don’t know where to go from where I am. Mouth? Hair? The attitude I need to have is that I can’t ruin it; there is always more fabric.
Under the Sea: class project; like the design, but not the colors much.
Flower Sugar Hexagon: I thought about sewing more hexagons together. Although not difficult, sewing Y seams is a bit of a chore, so I get tired of doing it after awhile. I could, perhaps, use leaders and enders to get this piece moving?
Young Man’s t-shirt quilt: have cut up the t-shirts and am still in the process of applying fusible. He cleaned out his drawers and found some more t-shirts to add to the quilt. Oh Yay! <– just a bit of sarcasm. He asked me again for another quilt, so I think this one is next in line. I plugged in his heating mattress pad, though, which should keep him quiet for a bit longer.
New: FOTY 2012: top, finished, though I can’t decide if I need a quilting border. Working on the back.
I still have a few more WIPs than I do finished projects. Again, I have made progress on clearing out old projects and I am pleased.
Spiderweb: Top is together, binding is made. This is at the quilter.
Please note that even if you combine the two lists above, I do not have 26 projects on this list anymore. That is something, IMO.
In the Finishing Process
Abandoned
Nothing so far for 2013
Hunting and Gathering
Spin Wheel: really not started, but supplies gathered. Cutting fabrics as I go. TFQ does not consider this a UFO and made some good points to that end, which is why I have moved it to the Hunting and Gathering section. She says, and I have to agree, that quilts are not ‘projects’ until the sewing starts. OK. I’ll go with that.
Stepping Stones #2 using Bonnie & Camille fabrics Bliss, Ruby, Vintage Modern: made two test blocks, but still in the thinking stage while I decide on the background colors. I want the contrast to be good.
As I mentioned, I am still trying to think of a new focus for this list for 2013. I feel that I made progress on the most ancient and difficult projects and I want to honor that. I won’t give up working on the projects on this list, but I also will not allow the list to prevent me from starting new projects in 2013. What else?
I finished Calm last week. I had quilted it Friday a week ago and then spent some nights last week sinking threads and stitching down the binding. The quilting part was a little troublesome and I think it needed more basting.
I hadn’t been to a BAMQG meeting since the meeting at the beginning of December. It felt like a thousand years ago. I was actually a little reluctant to go because it has been so long and I can’t decide if I am having a relapse of the dread illness. This was, pretty much, my first weekend outing since our trip to the North Coast. I promised I would do a sleeve demo, so that motivated me to go.
I was glad I did. I talked to a few people who were glad to see me, which was very nice. It is a different crowd than CQFA and there are different quiltmakers there I like. Ruth of Pippin Sequim is now the president and due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, sometimes we meet at a new location. I love the new location. the light and colors are gorgeous! There is a little space around with waving grasses and the Bay Trails are nearby. It is also a gorgeous branch library (YAY! Libraries!) with elements of the Monterey Bay Aquarium embedded in the decor. There are lots of rounded corners, sea colors and an overall feeling of calm. Loved it.
I was a little late today, so I sat in the back, but that was ok, because I felt safer (from being away) and Chris sat next to me. BTW, she showed the top from her 2/3 blog post at the meeting and it is great.
The meeting was jam packed.
Charity
Kits were available for the new blocks. There are two: scrappy Trip Around the World and postage stamp. April 20 is the Charity Sew Day. 10-5 will be charity sewing and after 5 people can work on their own projects. It will be held at the Los Altos Public Library.
Cat Bed kits were also available. Amanda had some with some really soft (and slippery and shed-y!) fabric. I had a big bag of scraps from the past 3 months of sewing, so I took two. Look for a post about the one I finished soon.
April Meeting
The April meeting will be back at the Main library and there will be a destash party. the information will be posted on the BAMQG blog closer to the meeting date. Everyone participating is supposed to bring stuff they don’t want and there will be a race to get the good stuff. People should bring fabric, notions, patterns, magazines, scraps (organized in ziplocs only). I have never seen it done quite like this, but people who are not participating will organize all of the bags of stuff, then people will line up at the starting line. The starting judge will yell “Ready Set Go!” and there will be a big scramble to get to the stuff first. People are not to bring stuff they would throw out (no stains, stuff beyond repair). Upholstery fabric is ok. I don’t know if I will participate. I can’t think of anything off hand that I have to get rid of. I don’t want to bring used stuff into the studio really.
Klippies
The group is doing Klippies in a new way. There are teams. I didn’t really collect the Klippies last year and have already missed too many meetings this year to really understand what is going on. I did notice that there were a lot of opportunities to collect Klippies this time, so that was good.
Modern Quilt Guild Membership
Apparently, the MQG has opened up memberships to chapters. The Board is going to review the materials sent out. They will do a cost benefit analysis and prepare a presentation for the June or July meeting so the group can vote. Ruth didn’t want to start a discussion before all of the information was in and the Board had a chance to review it, so she didn’t provide a link to the original presentation. All she said was that the cost would be a significant part of our budget for the year, which sounds a little ominous. I immediately wanted to see the link and see what was up, but then I decided I had enough on my plate and it really didn’t matter to me. If the cost of membership goes up enough to make it untenable, then I won’t rejoin. I might be gone at both those meetings as they are around the time I travel for work. I need to sync up my calendar. I have to trust that the group will make the right decision. Are any of your guilds discussing this?
Retreat
The retreat is coming up. I am not going, as of this moment. Again, I have to sync up my calendar. I think that may be the weekend I get to go and be political wife with DH. If not, perhaps I will commute there. They don’t have any single rooms left and I don’t know anyone well enough to want to share.
Activities
Swap: Joy-Lily organized a fabric swap and people exchanged bags of fabric. I am not sure what that was about (again, I was gone, so missed the detail), but people seemed to enjoy it.
Color Group: Ruth had asked people to bring colors to the meeting. I wasn’t sure what she meant when I read it in the blog so I didn’t bring anything, expecting not to participate. Ruth organized it so that everyone could participate, which was great. I am in a group with Suzy, Kelly, Patti, Jennifer, Chris. I wasn’t really in the mood for any agonizing, so I suggested a couple of the colors from the group that people brought. Nobody objected, so we are using purple, pink and bright yellow. Next month we need to bring fabric scraps. I meant to get mine in order yesterday, but really didn’t have a lot of time, so need to get that I my agenda. I don’t want to be doing it at the last second before the next meeting. Then we will decide what we will make next. We have a tentative plan to make blocks and make them into a charity quilt and also a plan to make tote bags. We will see.
Madrona Road Challenge: I missed this, but I thought the fabric was ugly anyway. I was mightily impressed with the bags that people came up with for this challenge. Really great work and a good use of the fabric. People took the best parts of it. Apparently, Ruth did a great zipper tutorial at one of the recent meetings and people really used that tutorial to enhance their bags.
BOM: The Block of the month is still going strong. Joy-Lily (who must have taken over as BOM coordinator (?), swap coordinator (?) or something) did a demo on this month’s block, which is Snail Trail. I started to watch the demo, but drifted away when I saw how she was doing it. It isn’t a hard block. Joy-Lily doesn’t do matching of points, so she showed a method of putting on a larger piece and then lopping off part of it. I know how to make a Snail Trail and I wanted to talk with Rhonda.
SCVQA: Kelly has done an awesome job of organizing the exhibit of Modern quilts within the SCVQA show. I should enter. I meant to talk with her about it, but forgot. I guess I will send her an email.
Sleeve demo: I did the sleeve demo using the method from Robbi Joy Eklow’s book Free Expression. [<– If you buy from that link, I get a small amount of money.] I had made the step outs that were coded to a very detailed handout, but when I went to look for the handout, it was nowhere to be found. I probably saved it in some weird location on my computer and it will show up in 3 years. People had a few questions, but they told me that they liked the demo and I think I convinced them that the double-sided sleeve was the best idea. I hope I made sense.
Show & Tell
Show & Tell was a little paltry IMO. The new policy is to only show finished things. That made it a lot shorter and fewer people participated. I had 3 quilts to show, but a few other things in progress I didn’t bring. I showed Calm, which is finally finished and I have posted the Finish post here yet, FOTY 2011 and the Stepping Stones quilt. Calm and Stepping Stones now need to be sent off. I don’t think the new policy is good for encouraging quiltmaking. I was really inspired by Mallory’s top and made Sparkle Pink as a result. I am not in charge, though, nor do I want to be in charge, so I am keeping my mouth shut.
San Mateo County Fair
It is coming up. You can enter online; no photos required. There is a big reward for entering even if you don’t get a prize: free passes to get in and a parking pass. That is at least $35 for entering. Rhonda will coordinate entries.
If you are not local, look into entering in your local county fair. You do great work and people want to see stuff like you make. Trust me.
I was glad to see some people that I hadn’t seen in awhile. It looked like a smaller group than the December meeting. I didn’t see Kathleen and I missed her. I had a little chance to talk to Adrianne about her studio reorganization. It was great to hear that Alison sold her house in LA and now will be looking for a place here.
I [tried to convince] told Kelly about the Petrillo Bag-a-Long that Pam from Hip to Be a Square Podcast and I are doing. It will be starting on about March 23. You need to buy the pattern now, because there are some specialty supplies you need to probably get online. It is only $8 and downloadable. Pam talks about the Petrillo bag challenge in episode 121. I’ll write a blog post about it soon.
Weeks writes “Aim high and ignore what other people are doing. Following the crowd will not teach you as much as figuring out how to combine you interests with your skill set. Where do you want your quilting to take you?”
One of the best things about quiltmaking is figuring out how to get something done. once I had to figure out how to put beads on a quilt — a lot of beads. I also had to figure out the best way *for me* to attach French ribbon to the quilt. I didn’t know of a class; I didn’t think to look on the Internet (though I think I started that quilt before blogs were prevalent. Not sure about that) and I was confident I could figure it out.
I want to make a kind of curved Pickle Dish, Double Wedding Ring looking quilt. I saw a picture of a little part of a quilt in a magazine. I cut it out and will try and make it someday. I won’t buy the the kit because I want to use my own fabric choices. I like making hard blocks and hard quilts. I don’t necessarily want to do it all the time, but I want to make things that others think are impossible.
Image Courtesy of The Modern Quilt Studio, Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle; *No copyright claimed to Modern Quilt Studio’s chart of points.
WOW! I have reached over 90,000 visitors to my blog! Not unique visitors (don’t have really sophisticated software monitoring), but people coming by to read. Thanks for reading!
Special Notice!
My mom, Mary Carroll, will be teaching a Color Class called COLOR MATTERS on March 22, 2013 at QUILTERS QUARTERS 4343 PACIFIC AVE., STOCKTON (209-462-0161).
Learn how to get away with almost anything in color! Using the five primary color system developed for fabric and yarn make your quilts zing! Mary is an artist, quilter and teacher who recently relocated from the Bay Area. Join her in making a colorful wall hanging which you design yourself!
Call now to sign up! 209-462-0161
What I am reading: I just finished The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley. It is the second time around for me with that book and it was like reading comfort food.
Current Project(s): finishing up Calm, more blocks for the Star Sampler, getting ready to do some cat beds.
Software & Technical Stuff
Join in on the National Quilting Day Sew-in on Twitter today. Quiltin’ Jenny is the hostess.
In time for National Quilting Day, the Quilt Index now as an iTunes/iPad app in the App Store. Cost is $0.99 and the proceeds support the Quilt Index, which provides thousands of quilt images online and, now, at your fingertips. Can you say “inspiration in your pocket?” I tried to download it, but it didn’t work. I’ll have to try again later.
Barbara Brackman has a mini tutorial on how to use Blockbase to see how a block would look in a quilt. Great feature. It is a good day when I learn something new.
Threadbias has posted some tutorials for the new design tool they announced at QuiltCon.
Darla, over at the Scientific Quilter, is doing a March-a-Long, which is 15 minutes of quilty stuff per day. Yes, it has already started, but you can still join in. She has some great graphics in the post and there will be prizes. I wonder if washing and ironing fabrics count?
Do you have monkey mind before bed? Lisa Fulmer has some ideas for quieting an overactive mind before bed.
Lazy Gal Quilter has a post on Quilt Mush. It is, essentially ,about color and how to make a quilt where you can see the parts. Well worth reading.
She Can Quilt has the winners from QuiltCon, parts 1 and 2.
Quiltin’ Jenny has a short review of the Crafty Garden Mom podcast. That is one of my favorite podcasts, but I haven’t taken the time to write a review, so I am glad Jenny did!
Great Projects
Have you seen Little Bluebell’s Swoon bag? I love the colors and the fact that she resized the block to make it fit her project.
I need another bag pattern like a need a hole in the head, but I don’t think I can resist the Petrillo bag by Sara Lawson at Sew Sweetness. It is a ~12″x15.5″ vertical bag, which I have been looking for. The blog post shows the bag in a number of different and very current fabrics. I am thinking it would look great in a Philip Jacobs print. I wished she showed the inside and asked about that. Sara ran outside and took some photos of the inside and emailed me back right away. GREAT customer service. As an added bonus, Pam over at Hip to be a Square podcast liked the bag, too, so it looks like we will do a Bag-a-long. Head over to Sew Sweetness and buy the pattern if you want to join in.
Jill, over at the Quilt Rat (and sometime participant in the CPP) has been snow dyeing. She dyed some thread as well as fabric THEN she made a project with it. She made a gorgeous Dragonfly pillow. I love the design of the dragonfly. It is stylized and has a kind of Aztec (?) or Art Deco (?) look. I am not sure, but I like it. I am wishing ‘Dragonfly’ had been the prompt last week, because then I could take some credit for Jill’s project’s gorgeousness. I can’t though. Jill is an awesome artist without me. 😉
Fabric, Rulers, Tools and Notions
Aurifil Club Offering
I joined the Quilt Bear Aurifil Club. That gives me two spools of thread each month. I have asked for brights, because I don’t want a hundred spools of beige. this month I got a green (#2892) and a yellow-orange (#2145). I wasn’t sure how I would like it, ,so far, I am really enjoying it and find that it is well worth the $20/month. The Quilt Bear folks always send a little treat with the thread. This month it was a yellow-green fat quarter. The packaging is also very nice.
Hey! Nobody told me Moda was coming out the Nancy Drew fabric! I loved Nancy Drew as a girl. Who wouldn’t love a girl who was smart and independent? I had to find out from Quiltin’ Jenny. Good thing I read her blog, do you? She is part of a Nancy Drew blog hop and shows the two great projects she has made. I don’t know what I would make with Nancy Drew fabric, but I have to make something! I have patches and things from when I was a kid. With thos random memories, I was thinking of making a quilt called “My Life as a Quilt”. Perhaps the Nancy Drew fabric would work on the back? This means, of course, that I actually have to make the quilt!
Simple Sew made a wonderful dress form out of the Nancy Drew fabric. I would love one of those, but have no horizontal space, so I am glad she posted it and I can admire it from my computer screen.
There were a lot of totes that I saw on this blog hop. One that I liked was from Sewing by Moonlight. She made a normal looking tote except one side had some Nancy Drew fabric and the other had, what looked like, a paper pieced book block! Great!
While looking at the Nancy Drew projects, I saw this wonderful bag. Mostly I love the white on red dots. The combination of the red and white dots with the yellow is a very effective combination.
Camille Roskelley’s Scrumptious
And if all that weren’t enough. Camille Roskelley has shown her new line, Scrumptious. I wish I had designed these fabrics. Just getting bundles and bolts in the mail would be so exciting!
She and Bonnie are back to their Ruby feel. They got rid of that dark blue, which makes me happy. This will be shown at Spring Market and available in September. If you didn’t get me a birthday present, September is not too late. 😉 Otherwise, I’ll have to save my pennies.
Bonnie & Camille’s Scrumptious dots
Part of this line includes a fabulous set of dots. Don’t tell me I have enough dots. One can never have enough dots and I am making an effort to use them this year. [As an aside, I’d like every project I make this year to include enough dots for people to day “Hey! Dots! Cool!” It isn’t really a goal or resolution; just something in the back of my mind.]The color combinations in this line might be her best combination ever. It is hard to say, but it is a thought that occurred to me.
Quilt World News
Today is National Quilting Day. Quiltin’ Jenny and the other Tweeps are hosting giveaways and a sew-in. Use #nqdsi as the hashtag. Check out Jenny’s post with all the fun and games. To add to the fun, The Quilt Show is offering 140+ shows for free this weekend. I am not sure of the link, but try this one. Otherwise just go to the Quilt Show and I am sure you will be able to find it there. The shows are good. I don’t watch them as often as I would like, but I always learn something.
The quilting world lost one of its favorite stars: Patricia B Campbell, beloved teacher and appliqué artist recently.
The San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles has a new lecture series called FiberTalks, which will benefit the museum. Join in on March 24 from 2pm to 4pm for: Inspiration! How the Fabric of Ethnic Culture inspired my Quilting. Yvonne Porcella, a Quilter’s Hall of Fame artist and legendary quilter, will show slides of her work and be in conversation with Lilia Aguero, Director of Education at School of Arts and Culture. Select pieces from the collection will be on view. Porcella is Founder and served as President of the Board of Directors Studio Art Quilt Associates from 1989-2000. She was also a 16 year member of the Board of Directors of Alliance for American Quilts and served 2 terms on the Advisory Board of the International Quilt Study Center, University of Nebraska. Yvonne is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. In 1998 she was inducted into the Quilters Hall of Fame in Marian Indiana and she was the 5th recipient of the Silver Star Award at Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas. Michigan State University selected her as a Quilt Treasure for an Alliance for American Quilts documentation project archiving the history of American Quiltmakers. She was filmed for a one hour segment honoring the 2010 quilting”Legend” by The Quilt Show, hosted by Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson, shown on their subscription internet program. A major retrospective exhibition of her art work shown January to April 2012 at the new Carnegie Art Center in Turlock, CA., curated by Rebecca Phillips Abbott showcased the depth of her artistic endeavors.
Other programs will include:
Sunday, June 23, 2 – 4pm Roberta Horton and Mary Mashuta, Internationally Recognized Quilters
Sunday, September 29, 2 – 4pm Leilani Bennett and Marcia Manzo, Wearable Art Creators Sunday,
December 1, 2 – 4pm Pam Moore, Artist and Lace Knitter
Each program: $20 Members/$30 Non-Members/$15 Students and Seniors Member’s Discount: $65 for the entire series if purchased by March 24. No refunds, No exchanges. rsvp@sjquiltmuseum.org / 408-971-0323 x. 14 PURCHASE TICKETS HERE: https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=3850cd
Nota bene: The museum is in dire financial straits and needs a significant infusion of cash by the end of this month. Please give as much as you can. They have posted a link to information about the museum’s situation.
Other/Personal
Kathleen, over at California Doodles and Designs, has posted 2-3 times about her adventures at QuiltCon. She writes well and has some interesting observations. Go take a peek. You might have to scroll down.
I celebrated my 24th wedding anniversary (DH did as well) a few weeks ago. We didn’t do anything super exciting. I was still suffering from my infection, so we just went out to dinner at a local restaurant that we like. We took the Young Man. He was home and we like him and he needed to eat, so what the heck? I think he came with us last year as well. I was thinking about how fortunate I am have to have such a great husband. It isn’t always easy, but we have worked through the hard parts. I like to think of our relationship as him walking down the street with a big red balloon (me) in his hand. I float and bounce around and he keeps me anchored. And there is a brilliant blue sky behind us.
Hope your day, week, month and year are going well!
Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.
We are also talking about this on Twitter. Use the hashtag #CPP
The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.
: to bring a bodily part into contact with especially so as to perceive through the tactile sense : handle or feel gently usually with the intent to understand or appreciate <loved to touch the soft silk>
2
: to strike or push lightly especially with the hand or foot or an implement
3
: to lay hands upon (one afflicted with scrofula) with intent to heal
4
archaic
a: to play on (a stringed instrument)
b: to perform (a melody) by playing or singing
5
a: to take into the hands or mouth <never touches alcohol>
b: to put hands upon in any way or degree <don’t touch anything before the police come>; especially: to commit violence upon <swears he never touched the child>
6
: to deal with : become involved with <a sticky situation and I wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole>
7
: to induce to give or lend <touched him for ten dollars>
8
: to cause to be briefly in contact or conjunction with something <touched her spurs to the horse> <touched his hand to his hat>
9
a (1): to meet without overlapping or penetrating :adjoin(2): to get to :reach <the speedometer needle touched 80>
b: to be tangent to
c: to rival in quality or value <nothing can touch that cloth for durability>
10
: to speak or tell of especially in passing <barely touched the incident in the speech>
We are working on learning foundation piecing (also called paper piecing) using a pattern called New York Compass. If you are just finding this tutorial, go to part 1 to see the supply list and learn how to prepare your pieces.
I am using an aqua with white dots for my background and a red with white dots for my foreground. You should have already cut your rectangles for both foreground and background at 2.5″x6″. If not, do it now, as you will need them almost immediately.
The sections of Section C are marked in the order in which you should piece them. Start with C1. Odd numbers are the background and even numbers indicate you should use the foreground fabric.
You will be piecing from one side (C1) towards the middle to the other side (C17).
Set up your sewing machine with an applique’ foot or similar. You will not need your quarter inch foot for the foundation piecing part of the process.
Shorten the stitch length. If you can’t shorten the stitch length, remember to backstitch at the beginning and end of each line of stitching.
If you are a speed demon, and the option is available on your machine, slow down your machine a little bit. You will need to control the speed at the beginning and the end of the stitching lines.
Place your Section C pattern face down on a flat surface.
Lay Section C Face Down
Cover piece C1 with one of the background rectangles you cut in Part 1. Place the fabric so there is at least 1/4″ of fabric around each piece. You get extra bonus points if you line one long straight edge with the straight line at the end of the pattern.
Now, hold these two pieces in one hand (optionally you can clip them together with a WonderClip) and hold the whole piece up to the light (facing a window or a lamp or on a light box). Take note of where the line is between C1 and C2.
Add second fabric
Still holding your pieces up to the light, take one of your foreground rectangles and place one of its edges 1/4″ from the line between C1 and C2. This will be the seam allowance and that quarter inch should hang over the line into C2.
Put all the pieces carefully back down on your table.
Pin the two fabrics to the paper, keeping the pin away from the line between C1 and C2. You want enough space so the pin doesn’t interfere with the foot on your sewing machine. I like to pin on my cutting mat so I don’t damage the furniture.
Fold the foreground piece back to make sure that it covers C2. You will fold it on the line between C1 and C2. That will be your sewing line. You can move the pins to the front if you want to make for easier sewing.
Flip the whole thing over
Flip the whole thing over and take a look.
Once pinned, check again to make sure that you have at least 1/4″ all around C1 (background) and C2 (foreground).
Take your piece to the sewing machine and sew on the line between C1 and C2. Do not go over. Only sew on that line.
Stitched on line
Back stitch at the beginning and the end. One backstitch is fine.
Fold over to check coverage
Remove the piece from under the presser foot and fold your foreground over to check and make sure it covered C2.
Why you need to trim
You can see the foreground fabric through the background, which is why you need to trim. Depending on the colors you use, this may not be the case, but you don’t want to build up so many layers that you cannot quilt through the piece.
Take Section C back to your cutting mat and place it so the paper part of the pattern is on top.
Fold the paper back
Fold the paper back on the seam line so the excess seam allowance is exposed. You are going to cut this off, so it is worthwhile to take a minute and make sure you are not cutting off the wrong part (the part you need to cover your background and spikes).
Trim Excess Seam Allowance
Line up your ruler with the 1/4″ line on the seam line and trim the excess seam allowance.
Press
Take your piece to your ironing surface and place it with the paper down. Press towards the foreground, so you get rid of as much of the “bump'” from the seam as you can. Press towards the middle of your pattern. You want the foreground fabric to be as flat as you can get it. Pressing is very important. It is possible that there will be a bump when you put the next piece over the previous one, if you don’t press well.
Your foreground piece should cover the line between C2 and C3 and give you a 1/4″ seam allowance.
Once you have pressed the foreground flat, you are ready to put on the next background piece.
Take one of your background rectangles and place one of its edges 1/4″ from the line between C2 and C3, smoothing (without stretching) the foreground piece you sewed, so it is as flat as possible. Again, this will be the seam allowance and that quarter inch should hang over the line into section C3. You may need to hold it up to the light again to position the piece correctly.
Once you have the correct placement, pin in place.
Once pinned, check again to make sure that you have at least 1/4″ all around C2 (background) .
Sew on black line
Take your piece to the sewing machine and sew on the line between C2 and C3. Do not sew beyond the end of that line. Only sew on that line.
Repeat
Repeat this process, alternating between foreground and background until you reach the other end of Section C. As you move down the pattern, your Section C will start to look like something you could put into a block.
Trim Straight Edges
Use your rotary cutting kit to trim the straight edges of Section C.
Trim with Sharp Scissors
From the paper pattern side of Section C, I eyeball a 1/4″ and trim the curves with very sharp scissors. There are some serious layers here, so I am not fooling when I say sharp.
Finished Section C
The finished Section C is a sight to behold. Even after making several of these sections, I amazed each time it comes out relatively normal.
Tips:
If you have to rip out stitches, rip them out from the fabric side, not the paper side.
Pay attention to putting the next piece on the foundation.
Weeks Ringle issued some homework in her lecture at QuiltCon and then posted it to her blog for the rest of us. In a recent Various & Sundry post, I briefly mentioned the QuiltCon homework. I glanced at it first and thought I would pass it on, which I did in that post.
Then I went back and looked at it further and thought it would be a good exercise. I thought I would print and paste the homework into my journal and maybe write something about each section and make myself a better quiltmaker.
I decided that I would do it here for all of you to read. Won’t you join me?
Weeks Ringle’s Quilt Con Homework #1
#1 is Know Thyself
Do you know yourself as a quiltmaker?
Weeks writes “Know thyself. Make a list of what you’re good at – use your strengths to develop your own techniques and your own pattern. Now make a list of things that you don’t know how to do – then figure out how to whittle away at this list to expand your skill set”
In order for me to make a list of what I am good at I first need to make a list of what I like and what is important to me about quiltmaking and relate it to myself.
I like bright colors, so I work in bright colors. It might be good for me to try out some beiges, but I don’t like beiges. I have bought some chocolate browns lately, so I am considering that to be expanding my horizons into the realm of depressing colors because there is no way I am making beige quilts.
I want to make cheerful quilts. I want to make quilts that make people sing in happiness. I want to make quilts that make people smile when they look at them. So what if they aren’t dignified?
I don’t believe in the adage “buy ugly fabric, because it makes your pretty fabric look prettier.” To me, ugly fabric is just ugly. I have been down that road and refuse to do it again. Fabric is getting to be too expensive to buy what I don’t like.
I like good technique, because *I* think bad technique can take away from the look of the piece. If that means making my half square triangles 1/8″ larger and trimming, so be it.
I like to make well made pieces, because I don’t want my pieces to fall apart. I take my time in finishing and I rip out seams a lot.
I don’t want to be categorized as making a certain kind of quilt. This is such a hard thing to explain. I want to make the quilts that I want to make in the style and fabrics I want to use. I don’t want to be a traditional quiltmaker, I don’t want to be labeled a modern quiltmaker or an art quiltmaker (ironic, huh?). I want to make the quilts the my mood dictates.
I like to work on projects that I like. This is my hobby/passion/vocation, but I don’t get money from it, so I want to make what I want to make.
I like to reshape ideas into my own. This might mean that I take a block from the 1930s and make it over in Martha Negley and Philip Jacobs prints.
I think knowing quilt history is important. Kind of like that old saying “knowing history prevents us from repeating the past.” I like to remind myself that women came before me and have done all this before. I appreciate different ways of doing things and different tools to get the job done, but I have no illusions that I am doing anything brand spanking new that nobody has done before. I have block books, so I can try and figure out who did it before and where I might find more information on how they did whatever the task is. To recognize those quiltmakers who came before me makes me feel like I am part of something.
I think it is important to step up. People before me shared tips and tricks. I have some knowledge and I might as well share it. The blog makes it easier. That is why I work with Sandy on her podcast, post tutorials, etc.
It is important to support the community. I don’t mind sharing my tutorials. I want everyone to make quilts, buy fabric. Perhaps some of that karma will come back to me someday.
I don’t like it when people steal from my blog. It hurts when I have spent a long time working on a project and taking the time to post.
I find it important to use part of my quiltmaking time for charity. If I can’t make a quilt, I’ll make a quilt top. If I can’t make a top, I’ll make some pillowcases. There is always someone who needs to know that someone else cares. I think charity/donation quilts should be pretty. While I am making them, I can learn something new or try out a new pattern I normally wouldn’t work on.
As a result of the above, here is my to do list. These are not resolutions; these are things I will work on over the next 50 years.
To Do:
Be more patient
Practice curves
Don’t let my fabric sit around.
Get back to that Pineapple quilt.
I am sure I will think of more, but this is a start.
*No copyright claimed to Weeks Ringle’s chart of points.
Frances talked about foundation piecing in one of her recent podcasts. I am nothing if not an accommodating 😉 teacher, so I thought we would tackle a foundation piecing pattern next. This is called New York Compass, a variation of the New York Beauty pattern. It is a little more complex than the patterns we have been working on, but I decided to throw caution to the wind and nudge Frances to step up. She has done curves, so I am confident she can do this one.
New York Compass
In part 1, we will prep everything.
Supplies:
Notebook for notes
Pen to take notes 😉
Sewing Machine
applique’ foot (preferably one with a mark showing where the needle will stitch)
1/4″ foot
thread
fabric
fabric scissors
paper scissors
foundation piecing paper like Toni’s Disappearing Paper or Carol Doak’s Foundation Paper
Print the pattern sheets (all 4). I only have 8.5″x11″ paper so the pattern comes out on 4 sheets. Use some kind of foundation piecing paper to print the pattern. Nota Bene: I keep a folder for all of my projects, so I like to print at least 2, if not 3 copies of the pattern. One I use to make the templates, one I will tape together and keep whole (you can use regular copy paper for this one) and one I will use for the foundations.
Tape pattern together
Trim off the margins and tape the parts together. Note, the tape will not play nicely with your iron when you press the foundation pieced parts so USE A PRESSING CLOTH. A scrap of fabric or ugly fabric work great. Guess how I found out?
NY Compass Templates
Above is how the templates shake out: 3 regular plastic backed templates and two foundation templates.
Cut Paper Pattern Apart
Rough cut the parts of the pattern apart. You will have 5 parts. Two of them will be foundation piecing patterns and 3 of will need to be made into regular templates with template plastic.
NY Compass SectionsNY Compass Outline
I am going to refer to the skinny spikes piece as Section C. Section C is in the middle.
Make your templates. You must add a quarter of inch to your paper templates (not the ones that will be foundation pieced. If you don’t know how to make templates with template plastic, refer to my tutorial on Machine Applique’ Part 1. Make sure you put the plastic on the correct side (wrong side of fabric).
Cut rectangles for foundation piecing 2.5″
Cut rectangles for foundation piecing 2.5″x 6.5″. This is a generous rectangle. You aren’t going to save any fabric with this technique and you should worry more about coming up short, because ripping out stitches is a real pain.
There is one tricky part about these templates. You will need to add a 1/4″ to the curve. The way you do that is to: A) glue the paper template to the largest piece of template plastic you have (you may have to piece the template plastic). B) Take your ruler and start at the left end of the paper template. Line the ruler’s 1/4″ mark up with the dark outline on the paper template (you should still have a rough cut paper template before you glue the paper to template plastic). C) Make a mark with a template plastic friendly pen at the 1/4″. D) Move your ruler slightly to the right and make another mark at the 1/4″ point. E) Follow the curved line of the paper part of the template with your ruler until you reach the far right side of the ruler. F) Cut along the dots you have made in as smooth a motion as you can using your paper scissors. You should now have a quarter inch seam allowance along your template. Repeat for all curved templates.
Cut your fabrics. Nota Bene: When you cut the fabrics for Section C, cut rectangles for these spikes at 2.5″.
Check fabric strips
Check to make sure you have cut your rectangles large enough. Take your Section C and lay it face up. Cover the first section (labeled C1 on my pattern) to make sure your rectangle covers the entire section C1 plus 1/4″ seam allowance around all sides.
Now go to Part 2 to learn the actual foundation piecing.
Tips:
If you have to rip out stitches, rip them out from the fabric side, not the paper side.
Autumn is long gone at this time, but I am still about 15 responses behind. This response was easy to do. I don’t know why, but it just flowed out of my pen.
Take a look at the original prompt and create a response of your own.
We have started the 8″ blocks this week. We are doing 4 each week and one of them will be a Basic Star. Being honest, I did the green one as a test when we started talking about the project.
Four 8″ Blocks
I was able to finish the other three blocks this weekend. I am pleased with them. I have added a couple more lavenders. I am not sure about them, but I will use at least a few more pieces so they don’t look odd.
I chose the blocks this week and they are Basic Star (top, left), Hourglass Star (top, right), Four Patch Star (bottom, right), Four Patch Variation (bottom, right).
We have 40 total of these blocks to make and I might make some of the Basic Stars in advance.
I have been doing some prep of the 4″ blocks, cutting the backgrounds and the corners in readiness for when I need some leaders and enders.
Not on original list
