Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
Over the weekend, I worked on Flying Around and on the Orange Improv donation top. I am pleased with how the Orange Improv top is looking.
I am trying not to insert big strips in as I didnt’ like the effect with the Purple Improv Donation top. I am inserting bits of strips in. I don’t think the ones I have added take the focus away from any other part.
I took some packs of leaders and enders at Sew Day. I wanted to make a couple of blocks in between sewing the zipper pouches. I used the packs that Peggy always has available.
This is the first time I have made the postage stamp blocks in awhile and it was kind of fun, though my fabric placement was a bit off.
I spent the day yesterday sewing for good. It was the guild’s Sew Day and we made zipper pouches for the Grateful Garment Project. The project provides a variety of items to assault victims. You can read more about the project on their website.
We ended up with 31.5 zipper pouches. I have one that I need to finish, which is the other half. 3 of us made over half of them, but everyone contributed. Mary talked to me about a production line where we could more done in the same time frame. I like that idea and hope we can do it again soon.
I also like the variety we came up with. Peggy, the awesome, put out a bin of fabrics and we were allowed to choose the ones we wanted. This meant there were fabrics with which I had never worked and that expanded my horizons a bit. I think some of them will be suitable for men, too.
I chose fabrics I liked, but I concentrated on producing as many well done zipper pouches as I could in the allotted time.
The first zipper pouch I made was the hardest. It came out fine, but was a challenge to get oriented to the pattern. After making the first one, I consulted with Mary on the zipper. We traded tips and after that our zippers came out as well as can be expected. I made two using the green and yellow fabric combination.
The second one I made was from purple fabrics. I liked the various motifs and like to use fabrics I enjoy.
I wasn’t a big fan of the white zipper, but there wasn’t a lot of choice in zippers. Peggy bought a bulk packet and there were no purple. Needs must and all. I think it looks fine.
Midway through I made two bags from the dots and stripes. I couldn’t, of course, resist the dots and the stripes were just great.
I like light interiors for pouches bags and handbags. Black interiors: blech! The light insides/linings allow one to see what is inside the bag. Light can also reflect on the light fabric to aid seeing what is in the bottom corner of your bag. I am sure I have said this before.
I had a lot of the dots, so I made a third pouch with a different interior. I liked the stripes better, but the light white on white (or maybe a very light pink) is fine. It does show the red dot fabric through a little bit, which is a shame.
By the time I made all of these pouches, I didn’t need a pattern. I was just making them over and over and refining as I went along. One thing I should have done was sew the lining with a larger seam allowance so that it fit inside the pouch better. It didn’t occur to me until I was almost done. I’ll do that on the last one.
I finished the Orange Strip Donation top & back yesterday. It came down to finishing the back, which took longer than expected in a busy week.
My quilt holders were around so I was able to get some photos in a timely manner.
The blue is an unexpected choice, but I talked about it before, so I won’t go into it again. I kind of wish I had more orange strips so I could do a version with a white background. I don’t, though, so I’ll have to do that next time I get a plethora of orange scraps.
I used some odd oranges for the back. These are nice fabrics that I don’t think I will use for something else. I had a hard time curating the fabrics for the back as I really like 90% of the oranges I have left. I guess I had better use them for something if not for donation quilts.
Using up fabrics makes me wish I hadn’t stashed so much fabric when I did. On the other hand having so much fabric on hand means that I can put my hands on almost any color I need for any project. It also means I can make almost any quilt I want without going to the store.
I have been remiss about posting donation blocks lately. I have also not been making the standard postage stamp blocks that my guild collects. Here are a few I have made recently.
I thought I would finish this top before the meeting, but I didn’t. the last few weeks have been harrowing. Nothing bad. Just a lot. That means I haven’t taken much time to sew. Some, but not as much as I would like.
I did work on Sunday. I worked on Flying Around a little, fixed the sleeve for FOTY 2017, finished this top, worked on the Orange Improv Donation Top and started on the back for this piece. Not bad, but not as much as I wanted and not a lot to show here.
Still, I am pleased with this piece. I like the blue and hope it doesn’t overshadow the orange too much. Ever since working on the Wonky 9 Patch, I have been unconsciously looking for an excuse to use this color combination again. I am really glad Friend Julie and AQ reader Sherri mentioned it.
The meeting was Saturday and it was a raucous and fun meeting. Kelly was visiting and she came to the meeting to hangout. SIL #2 and I went to lunch with Kelly and Angela, so we had a bit of extra time to catch up. At the meeting, Kelly gave a slideshow about her life in Scotland. I forgot what a fantastic quilter she is. She showed some of her recent quilting and it is amazing.
I loved the Tri-Valley Modern Quilt Guild’s QuiltCon Charity quilt. Alison brought it for us to see and the colors really spoke to me.
Sheila is a new member and she is showing some amazing work. She showed this vase of flowers. The flowers are made with Peltex so the petals are 3D. they look really great. Her woven background reminded me of my 3 woven quilts. Her woven background is much more controlled than the weaving in my pieces.
Finally, I brought this cake. It is a recipe from Allrecipes.com that I saw on Friend Julie’s website. I am always saving my rhubarb for pies, so I used cranberries and blueberries. It took a long time to bake – maybe 3x as long as the directions say, but when it finally finished it looked delicious. It wasn’t as sweet as some cakes I have made. I brought it to the guild meeting and only brought home one piece. Sue wasn’t there so my cake didn’t have to compete with her delicious brownies. I am pleased it was mostly eaten.
I feel so lucky lately. I won at the Fair and yesterday I won a prize at the guild meeting.
Every month there is a very generous raffle prize given out. I haven’t ever won, that I can remember. I never expected to win.
I am pretty pleased with the items, especially the book, because it has some patterns I have gotten out of magazines. Now they are all in one book. It’s great! The colors aren’t really mine, but they aren’t horrible either. And I like the little pouches and portfolios.
Lynette is the genius who puts together the prizes. She is retiring at the end of the year and I have agreed to head up a committee to create the raffle prizes. I have some ideas. With a team I think I can do it.
While I was vacillating about the sashing color, size and fabric for the Orange Strip Donation Top, I still needed some leaders and enders. I started in on the Orange Improv Donation Top.
This part of the project is also coming out quite well. I am starting to think that I pick my oranges carefully and they go together well.
I really like the orange dot at the bottom of the left hand photo. However, it really stands out in real life. I might have to use smaller bits of it, so it doesn’t dominate.
The top piece (in this post) is about 8 in x 10 in right now. I have some sewing to do to get it to a larger size.
The smaller piece will be added on to the larger piece when it gets to the right length or width to fit. I am at the point now where I make smaller pieces fit together to attach to the larger ones.
I spent a lot of time this past weekend getting the Orange Strip Donation Top in shape to bring to the meeting. That means selecting fabric and cutting sashing.
After the success of the Wonky 9 Patch, I became fond of this color combination. I am careful to find the right blue. It really works for me.
I didn’t like the look of the plain alternate blocks in the Green Strip Donation Top once it was quilted, so I opted for a chunky, but thinner sashing for this version. The blue is definitely a bold choice, but I like it.
I am writing these posts out of order, but I just realized I didn’t post about the most recent BAM meeting, which was before the most recent Sew Day. Lots happened, but some of the happenings stood out to me.
At show and tell, Sue S (we now have 3-4 Sues!!!) showed a quilt I really liked. It wasn’t difficult, but it was wonderful and used lots of fabrics. The design would also be a great leaders and enders project.
This could be made using the 16 patches the Community Quilts team collects. It could also be started using 4 patches.
I also REALLY like the border. It is very effective. I think Sue S (she made the Casserole Carrier) is working through her UFOs and this was one she worked on while her mom was sick. It is a great example of a good way to relieve stress without eating or watching TV.
The results of the Word swap was also amazing. The variety of techniques was awe inspiring. I thought about participating in the swap for about 5 minutes, then didn’t think about it anymore. People really went out of their way to find great techniques beyond applique or paper piecing. Definitely click on the photo to see it larger. In one of the pieces, the negative space was quilted and the letters left unquilted. Genius!
I finished the last of the Orange Strip Donation blocks over the weekend. I am pretty pleased with how the blocks look together. As I said in another post, I like the way the color of these oranges look together. They aren’t too garish and are a bit softer, like a Creamsicle look.
I haven’t decided on fabric for the background. Tim gave me a beige-y biscuit color, but I don’t think I want to ruin the cheerful look of the oranges. I wanted a Creamsicle (yes, I am on a binge with that word today) solid, but don’t see one in all the color cards I have. I am going to rummage through my orange bin and see what turns up. I am not adverse to using different fabrics for the background, though I think a solid or tone on tone would be best.
I got myself organized after the week’s strange schedule to head to Sew Day. Surprisingly, we had 15 or so people in attendance. I was the first to show up after Mary and she was pleased because she wasn’t sure if anyone would show up. Holiday weekend and all, I suppose.
We always set up and clean the tables first. As we were doing that, others showed up and offered help.
I brought cutting and organizing only, after bringing my machine last time for the Jelly Roll Rug. I have a number of projects that needed attention and brought them along.
First, the Flapper apron I am making as a gift needed some corners. It took me longer than expected to get these corners ready to sew, but I finally accomplished the task and moved on to the bag.
I decided to make a Poolside tote as a gift. Mine was a pain to make, but I started using it for my knitting and find it very useful. I think my recipient will probably find it useful as well.
I also brought the Mondo Bag to arrange, but didn’t get to it. Cyndi and I spent some time talking about Deb Tucker rulers. She recently bought the V Block ruler, which I think works on the same principle as my Split Recs ruler with a slightly different outcome. The V Block ruler makes Peaky and Spike blocks, like I used for En Provence. Perhaps I’ll try it when I get around to the next En Provence quilt.
I brought a pattern for a nightshirt that I wanted to cut out. Mary is a master at garments and she finished all of her projects. I asked her to cut out my nightshirt and she agreed. This means I got a third more done than I thought I would!
People were busy at Sew Day as well. Marty was working on a binding. Her use of mustard is the best I have seen. the colors in general are great. The piece is not too depressing, but also very neutral. It’s hard to see, but the background fabrics are low volume text (and text-like) prints. She used some that I used in En Provence. I also like the way she placed the Flying Geese. This is Marty’s fourth quilt! She was able to finish the binding today and we all cheered.
I was pleased to see Cyndi’s Jen Carlton Bailly blocks. She decided to make enough for a large wall hanging or small lap quilt and was working on them.
The fabrics she is using are very cheerful. I saw one overlap with my Circle tablerunner!
I didn’t get a photo after she finished it, but I did see it and it looks really great.
Once finished with the circles, she took out a different piece she is making from Camille Roskelly’s Simply Retro book. I saw the quilt she is making in the book and didn’t think much of it, but Cyndi’s version uses more dark fabrics in the background. It is much more appealing *to me* that way.
Finally, Gerre also brought her Jen Carlton Bailly blocks. She had sewn a couple of rows together and was able to get the top done by the time Sew Day was over. She used Amy Butler fabrics and the piece is fantastic.
I have some new projects to work on and some of the small tasks ready to move me to my next steps. I am happy!
I received a casserole carrier from Sue at the 2017 BAM Winter Extravaganza. I haven’t had much of an opportunity to use it, but I did at Sew Day with Gerre.
Nobody in my house is particularly fond of cornbread. I enjoy it. Sometime ago I found out that Gerre loves cornbread. Now when we get together, I make cornbread.
At our last Sew Day, I was in a rush, because my previous tasks had taken longer than expected, so the cornbread came out of the oven right before I planned to leave. I didn’t want to wait for it to cool. I wanted to GO. Then I remembered the casserole carrier! I hadn’t used the pan that came with it, but I tried it anyway. The pan I used was a little small, but the velcro on the carrier was adjustable, so it worked great.
I was thrilled. Gerre was impressed and I was very thankful to Sue!
This came up because AllPeopleQuilt have a casserole carrier pattern available in this month’s newsletter. I am sure you can find others, too, if you don’t like the one they provide. I think you will use it, if you make one.
I saw some very nice, but inexpensive casserole pans/dishes at Tuesday Morning a few days ago, if you need one.
As I worked on various projects over the weekend, I added to my stash of Orange Strip Donation Blocks. I am a few short of being ready to put the blocks all together into a quilt top.
I am still pretty happy with how these blocks look. They don’t look to shocking. They have a soft look to them.
I am considering backgrounds. I haven’t yet pulled options out of the fabric closet, but I am thinking. I want the orange to be the star. Tim gave me a rich creamy vanilla color to try. I haven’t tried it yet, but will when I get to the “make visual decisions visually” stage. I was thinking a very light Creamsicle like color – a solid. I don’t know if I have that color, or if that color exists, but I’ll try it. Tim doesn’t like peach, so no peach.
I might change the sashing to a smaller size, but not as small as the Red Chunk Donation top. I was also thinking I might add in some triangles to add to the design, but perhaps not.