Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
Again, I have been able to make a few of the 16 patch donation blocks for BAM. The HRT donation quilt has taken up a lot of my donation making time, but not all. I want to help the Charity Girls keep their supply of 16 patches fresh.
I am running out of foreground squares so I will have to get DH to haul out the Accuquilt for me and cut up some scraps before I can make many more. I have the additional HRTs to make, so I am not completely out of the game.
As you know we have been earning merit hexies in the guild. I had a few minutes before I had to get ready to go out, so I designed a layout for my 2017 merit hexies.
I used the leftover basted sandwich from the Walking Foot WOW class. I laid out my hexies in a couple of pleasing ways and finally decided on this layout.
I pinned everything in place and will begin appliqueing the hexies down soon. I might have another chance to install a zipper!
I made the blue and green donation blocks last year with the idea that I would add HRTs to the blocks to make something a little different.
I have been struggling along with the HRTs,despite all the different tutorials and information I found. I was about to put it away and try “later” when I got a new burst of energy for the project. I worked on it much of the day Saturday. The burst of energy came from watching the video on how to use the Split Recs ruler. DUH, I know. I did read the directions, but clearly didn’t understand them, because I was struggling mightily to use the ruler. I really needed to watch* the video, because there are certain steps and tips that come across a lot better via video. The biggest tip: both fabrics need to face the same way. This means wrong side to right side NOT right sides together. HUGE tip. HUGE.
The picture (above left) is from my first struggles with the ruler and different ways of making the HRTs.
The image (right) is from today, after I trimmed the HRTs I had and started making new HRTs to fill in the gaps.
The quilt will be 4 blocks – it will be a small NICU quilt. I have 16 blocks and may make more of these spiky blocks. We will have to see. I am pleased I am finally making progress.
*I don’t know why I am so resistant to watching quilting videos. I suppose I perceive that it takes my time away from the actual sewing. I found the Split Recs video to be invaluable and am sorry I didn’t watch it sooner.
I finished a second donation top last Saturday. It was nice to be able to sew as much as I did that day.
I made this second top because I was too lazy to put away the rest of the taupe fabric. I knew I wouldn’t use it and I thought there was enough for a second top so I got to it.
I would have liked to add another taupe strip to the left hand side, but I ran out.
I am using a small white dot on aqua for the back. The background and the backing are all Moda so they are fraying all over the place. Once the quilt is quilted, it will keep someone warm and cozy.
Two tops in one day must be a new world’s record [for me! ;-)]
In between making another pillow, I made another Ends donation quilt. I have a number of ‘ends’ from recent quilts. After finding a large piece of Bonnie & Camille taupe, I decided I could make another donation quilt while I was doing other things.
It is about 42×42 and I have enough of that taupe and more strips to make another one. We’ll see. I am not sure what project I am going to work on next.
I kind of feel like I am on a roll lately.
Over a year ago, I took a Walking Foot WOW! workshop with Mel Beach. I finished a walking foot sampler in the class that has been hanging around. After finishing a pillow cover on Friday, I was looking for a way to practice the zipper installation method I discovered on Spoonflower. The first installation took me much longer than the video, so I knew I needed practice.
The sampler was on my list and I decided it was a good day to make it into a pillow. The pillowcovers I made 5 years ago are starting to fray at the edges. I am surprised they have lasted this long.
The zipper installation went a lot better. I used the regular zipper foot and not the flat snap-on version I used on Friday. The regular zipper foot is a pain to get on and off, but is a lot easier to line up with the zipper itself and the stitching.
Everything wasn’t all peaches and roses. I still need practice. The zipper isn’t centered between the stitching, but I was able to catch the seam allowance on the first try, which was a problem last time. I like this method. It looks much more professional than the flap method.
Anyway, I am pleased with the way this pillow came out and am planning on working on another pillow with my 2017 Merit Hexies.
I am finally going to bring my giant pile of donation blocks to the meeting this week. Here is the latest group for your viewing pleasure.
I am so pleased with these blocks. While I think I made more, these are the only ones I can verify. A small, but mighty number! The pile grows exponentially and that is very exciting.
The top is finished and I am on to putting together the back. I don’t think I will make my deadline of having this ready for Big Stitching, but I have made great progress and see the light at the end of the tunnel.
There is much more space and lightness in the piece and the solid areas will provide some good spaces for stitching.
Well, so much for squaring it up and getting it ready to hand quilt!
I put this piece up on the design wall and decided that the bottom of the quilt was too heavy. The sections needed space so they could be seen. In order to provide space, I had to unsew some of the quilt, modify and resew.
This took longer than expected and the top is no longer in one piece. When it is finished it will be bigger and there will be more space at the bottom. I am more happy as I see the lightness at the bottom develop.
I am making progress and I see the light at the end of the tunnel. My goal at the moment is to try to get the sides to be same same length (or approximately) as the middle. I am working on the last bit of the bottom, which is sort of improv-y, but more like my normal quilt style, though less planned up front.
I am happier with the piece in general, though I did feel a little bad about messing up others’ work. I do think this is a better piece, designwise.
After the Big Stitch class, I started thinking about the BAMaQG IRR project. This is one of the projects on the 26 Projects list that I had low hopes of getting done. Now I feel better about the project’s completion because I think that it would be a good venue for Big Stitch.
I talked with Julie about my idea at dinner the other night. I need to square it up, then make a back. My thought is that I will do some minimal machine quilting and then use Big Stitch to stitch the rest together. Alternatively, I will just Big Stitch the whole thing and skip the machine quilting. I’ll get it into the hoop a lot faster if I skip the machine quilting piece. I will have to baste, which is a trial any way you look at it. I could use a big hand project like this right about now, so stay tuned.
The last time I thought about this project was in June of 2016! I think it is good to attend a class and have it stay on your mind after the class ends.
This quilt came to mind the other day when I saw a similar technique on Fons & Porter.
Pam was doing the finishing, as I mentioned, and she was finally able to finish the binding.
It was nice to see it and I am really glad it is finished. I like the look of the stars, though I wonder about my fabric choices.
Also, I wonder if the Folded Corners Ruler I bought would do the same thing? I think it would enable me to put the stars in the sashing, but not add the background border (white in the photo, left). I really need to try that ruler.
I have been working on donation blocks in between the other projects (like FOTY 2016). They are stacking up and I can’t wait to bring a bunch to the guild meeting next time.
Here are more blocks from January. I think my total for January was 25. I would have loved to get to one per day, but 25 is not shabby.
While I did cut a few new fabrics, this group represents blocks made from the last dregs of my donation bin.
After using up all that I could, I got out the Acuquilt and my new 2.5″ die (Christmas gift) and cut a bunch of new squares from scraps on my cutting table. There will be some duplicate blocks, but I am back in the business of making donation blocks.
I am behind a couple of pieces, but found the directions for this one that is due in March for Sue and decided to go for it.
Except for the colors, these were all fabrics and scraps that were laying out. Her idea was to highlight one color or a color group that represented us by neutrals. I thought this was a cool idea. I used the leftover greys from the Triple Star and Planned Improv pieces as well as some blacks for the Black and Red quilt.
There is a little bit of red in one of the prints, which doesn’t quite work with the rules, but it will have to do. I always think a little red in life is good (except during Big Game week).
I wasn’t quite happy with the piece I did, so I made a small one with some primarily white prints instead of just darks. I didn’t feel like mixing the darks and lights so Sue will get a bonus.
My scrap bag was about to fall and spill all over the floor. Not only that, but every time I walked by shards would attach themselves to my pants and come along for a ride. To battle these dueling demons, I whipped up a pet (cat) bed to secure the scraps.
I had the fabrics to make the bed for awhile and had just been avoiding the task. It was a quick task and my scrap bag now has space to slowly fill again