Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
It took me forever to get these donation blocks done and I am only marginally closer to having a finished quilt.
These are the pieces I am going to use to try out the Cutting Corners Ruler a la Mrs. K’s quilt.
Now that I have the blocks, I have to figure out the ruler. I took a quick look and it seems to make sense. I am going to start with the sashing and decide about the checkerboard border later.
I am making a smaller quilt to start with and may use the ruler to make others later.
I don’t actually have any IRRs right now and I wasn’t at the BAMQG meeting, so I couldn’t take another. I had three in quick succession, with Cheryl’s being the last before my brief hiatus. Ruth‘s and Claire‘s pieces were the other two in the trio.
Michelle and I met at Trader Joe’s again and exchanged IRRs. I took Claire’s to pass along as she wouldn’t be at the meeting either. I headed up to the North Coast again with DH for NSGW/#politicalwifery events and Michelle was headed to Spain. Rhonda was kind enough to take both bags to the meeting for us and I gave them to her at the CQFA meeting.
All of this meant that I had to get Cheryl’s done in time to get it to Rhonda. I had about a day once I figured out all of the timing, so I got down to business.
Cheryl’s piece looked great when I got it and I was loathe to wreck it, but Michelle had added half a row, so that missing section was perfect for me to complete.
Cheryl’s piece is turning out really well. I love it, thus the feelings of avoiding wreckage. I really wanted to use the Paris map fabric, but couldn’t really fit it in once all was said and done.
I walked around with it on my design wall for a few days and decided to add some Flying Geese. Yes, I am still in love with Flying Geese.
I also needed to add my signature fabric, but I didn’t want to add a large patch or strip as I have on other pieces, because I wanted to preserve the mainly white and turquoise color story.
There were a few small strips left over from other piecing, so I pieced a few of those together to make another strip large enough to handle my signature fabric. I wanted something that would look like it fit in.
I made some Flying Geese. Since those were the main parts, I started working getting Michelle’s strip completed. I added some white and a strip of the black and white stripe, which came to me after looking at the piece.
After making my piece, I think the white on the edge needs to be corralled, but someone else, or Cheryl, will have to worry about that. I am pleased with how my part came out and I think my signature fabric piece fits in well without overwhelming the whole design.
I also think the piece needs some space at the top. The bottom is getting to be quite breezy while the top is looking a little cramped. Not fatally so, but a little. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Good things about this IRR
Yes, they are coming fast and furious! I got two at the last BAMQG meeting, as I mentioned. I was able to work on Claire’s piece during my last free sewing weekend, but I didn’t get to Ruth’s. While having little time to sew on the weekend, I have had to cram the work into bits of time during the week. Of course, I forgot to take a before picture. 🙁 C’est la vie. If you imagine removing my part, that is the before. 😉
There is something that makes me think of a castle. The ‘mountains’ could be points of a tower and the curved sections could be arches.
Ruth’s piece has a clear color story and large curved center with triangles seem to be a design focus. The piece spoke to me immediately after I put it up on my design wall. I saw the triangles on the top that looked like mountains and decided to add something similar on the bottom.
I had to do some fancy sewing with background around the mountains since I didn’t want to cut off the tips. I think the background looks like Mary Mashuta’s Pushed Neutral concept and I like it.
Next on the IRR list was Claire’s piece. Claire was in my original group so I wanted to make sure I worked on all of those quilts. I received her piece at the January BAMQG meeting.
Claire’s IRR was a challenge. The colors are perfect for Claire, but they are not my colors. Also, many of the fabrics had been used up or smaller pieces were left. This is why the project is called a challenge! I did not let these things discourage me.
I put the piece up on my design wall and tried to see the focal point or the place where Claire started. I couldn’t really tell, so I looked at who had worked on the piece and still couldn’t tell what might have been Claire’s start.
I put the focal point aside and looked at the piece. I saw some good curved lines and thought something like the Grandmother’s Fan block might work. I cut some blades and put them up on the design wall.
I really did try to keep, mostly, to the 20 minute rule. I find that rule to be hard as the pieces get larger. Of course, cutting is still a challenge. Also, the curves on Claire’s were not an easy design element. And, right on cue, life got in the way and the piece sat on my design wall for a week or more.
As I walked in and out of my workroom I decided I did like the curves. At one point, I adjusted the fans so the existing curves would be continued — or give the illusion of being continued.
In the photo, I tried to point out to you, in a very obnoxious color, what I thought of as ‘continuing the curve’. No, the blades aren’t all the same size, but the curve seems to be the most important in terms of design. I hope the curves I added work with the existing curves to create a focal point.
The bad part is that I didn’t square off the fans. I know I should have, but I just didn’t feel like it. I know I can offer to do it later, if push comes to shove. I am hoping that someone else will square them off down the road.
I am happy with what I did. I gave the piece to Michelle on Thursday and will look forward to seeing what she does.
Now I am on to Ruth‘s piece.
You can read all about the meeting from the minutes, which are already up on the Bay Area Modern blog. I am just going to show you photos and include my comments about them.
You saw the One Hour Baskets I made for the Charity Girls. I, mostly, forgot to take photos of the fabulous bags made for the other officers. People did such great jobs on them. Kelly got a Chubby Charmer with a sunshine yellow inside from Amanda. Cheryl received a small handbag (we needed and extra bag for all of her goodies) from Rhonda and Angela got a beautifully structured bag from Gerre, which you can see in the photo (left).
The idea is that everyone brings a small gift for each officer and we will fill up the bag with them. This allows people to manage their own budget or make something, if they are inclined. Not everyone participates, but you can see from the stash above that there was no shortage of fabulous gifties.
After the meeting, people brought handwork. As I suspected, I was too busy socializing to get my (yes the one I am I am making for me!) Sew Together Bag cut out. 🙁 Never fear, I am working on it. Others did work on their projects. Ruth is a master at getting down to business.
Lynette cozied up, too and others (Gerre, Molly, Bonnie and Joelle) stood around chatting. I was there for a bit talking to Lynette about her Bionic Bag, which is similar to my Sew Together Bag, but more evolved. Lynette showed the quilt in the front at Show & Tell. It is a great boy quilt. The pattern is Fireside Chat by Blue Nickel Studios. It might be worth checking out for one of the nephews.
Gerre brought the most fantastic quilt. I don’t know the pattern (and am too lazy to look it up) except that she said she made it in a workshop with Freddy Moran. Take a class from Freddy if you can. You won’t regret it!
The fabrics remind me of Jane Sassaman, but the most interesting part is the Big Stitch quilting, which she is doing with 12wt Aurifil. I love that she is using different colors for the quilting. Gerre is not afraid of color and I love her work. Check out a detail.
Angela worked on basting a donation quilt, which is bright and cheery.
All in all it was a great meeting. I did want to cut out my project, but that got done and it was great to chat with people.
One tradition the guild has is to assemble gifts for the officers and put them in bags made by volunteers. I wrote a good description of the reasoning in 2014. I talked about augmenting this yesterday with some One Hour Baskets.
Scissor Sheaths are covers for your scissors. Often they are made from leather and come with scissor brands such as Gingher. I made some out of fabric using a pattern/guidelines on this blog.
I cut the pieces and parts out a long time ago. Those pieces had been sitting on my cutting table waiting for a few more pieces for the lining and me to Just Do It, as the Nike ad says.
Since I needed some gifts for the officers, it was time and I did it. I think they were popular. I meant to figure out how to put a ribbon or something on them so they can be carried on a chatelaine or lanyard, but I didn’t get to it. I have one left in case I need a quick gift for someone.
We had the BAMQG meeting yesterday. As is our habit, people made bags and others brought gifts with which to fill them for the officers as a thank you for their hard work. It was a great success.
I, however, could not get the Charity Girls out of my mind. Michelle and Peggy have done such an excellent job of shepherding the Charity project along that I felt some thank you was in order. I tried not to do it, but I ended up making two One Hour Baskets, one for each. They were quick and look nice and I think Peggy liked hers. I still have to give Michelle hers as she couldn’t make it to the meeting, but I may see her next week.
I wrote a lot last year about the awesomeness of the Charity Program. You can also check out the BAMQG blog to see more about the Charity Program.
As before, I put the handles on the sides to make them more useful (IMO). This time I used fusible fleece, (Last time I used Soft & Stable) as the pattern calls for. I think I would put the fusible fleece on both the lining and the exterior, if I used it again. I think Soft & Stable is a better choice for more rigid baskets. Also, I didn’t use ShapeFlex this time and I would go back to using it next time as I like my baskets more stiff.
The pattern for the One Hour Baskets is on Craftsy. It was designed by Hearts and Bees. She blogs at KelbySews. I noticed that the “advertising” photos show the baskets filled with fat quarters.
Karen issued a challenge to use a piece of Carol Van Zandt fabric a few months ago. She gave out the FQs at a meeting and there were so many that almost everyone got one, even those of us who had no intention of doing the challenge. Fortunately, I received a color that I liked. As the weeks wore on, I decided that the least I could do was make a journal cover. I needed a new one anyway. I wanted to explore the low volume concept some more so I decided to use low volume fabrics with the CVZ fabric to make a journal cover. I did it as part of the sewing frenzy over New Year’s weekend.
I like the journal cover, but am not as happy with it as I am with the Carpenter’s Wheel effort in low volume. Somehow I got derailed and the journal cover looks like I am trying too hard. Or something. I think I should have stayed with black and white rather than straying into grey and colors.
I used some of the leftover strips from the Paris One Hour Baskets, most markedly to fill in the space at the bottom. What do you think of the addition?
Still, I am resolved to make a lot of work and just have a few good pieces come out. This will function quite well.
I tried adding in some other purple, but should have stuck to the Carol Van Zandt fabric to highlight it. Fortunately, it is bold enough that it does stand out.
I tried to add interest here by turning one of the strips sets sideways.
You can see the whole cover. The colorful ribbon fabric really doesn’t go and I wish I hadn’t added it. I have some CVZ fabric left and will try again with that.
I had two recent opportunities, the IRR post and the BAMQG Meeting post, to talk about my round robin piece, which is still circulating, and missed both of them.
I was able to glimpse the work done on my piece at the meeting last week. I think my piece is looking spectacular. There is a lot of interest because of the improvisational piecing. There is also cohesion because of the limited palette of fabrics.
I am so thrilled that some of that Philip Jacobs (or perhaps Martha Negley??) fabric was added (shells at the top). I love the boldness of it. I would like to take a better look at it as I see some other fabrics tucked into that top section.
As I said before, the pieces are getting quite large and mine is no exception. I think it is probably NICU size right now, or slightly larger. I want it to be larger, but may have to add bits of my own at the end. People from other groups are still working on it, which is great.
We had a Winter Extravaganza-palooza last Saturday. We had a regular meeting (see the notes on the BAMQG blog) and then we had food laden party. Part of the party was that the swappers exchanged gifts. I talked about that in the BBE post. A lot of people made bags as gifts. There was an exceptional amount of good work.
There were a lot of good show and tell as well. I didn’t have anything finished, so I only showed the BBE.
Claire showed an amazing vintage quilt. It gave me an opportunity to voice a design thought I have been mulling over.
This pattern in this vintage quilt looks like a Sawtooth Star to me. I have been thinking that taking some of the Postage Stamp donation blocks and adding Flying Geese to each side would make an interesting star.
I mentioned it to the Charity Girls, Peggy and Michelle, and they loved the idea. I am going to see how it would work using my Wing Clipper.
I really liked some of the color combinations of this quilt. They were really bold and exciting. I have to remember to think about it when I am choosing fabrics. I just don’t think about it.
The blue and the dark salmon (pinky red??) are a really excellent combination! I want to make something with that color combo!
The quilt is in horrendous condition and I am not sure it can be saved. The design inspiration CAN be saved, though.
Amanda finally finished her Love Quilt. At least, I called it a love quilt. She made it for friends who had a wedding anniversary. It is her own design and I have seen her working on it for a few years. I am sure others would love to make this and think she should create a pattern.
CC made a really interesting quilt that looked like fireworks or something exploding to me. In a good way, of course.
There was too much going on to really relay it all. You should come to a meeting. The first one is free.
At the meeting the other day, everyone doing the IRR challenge got together and we swapped pieces. We changed things up and I now have Angela’s IRR piece. We were not originally in the same group. Her group was small and everyone had worked on all of the pieces at least once. I didn’t have one to work on so I volunteered to work on Angela’s.
The pieces are getting quite large. I quickly put a signature strip on the side and then started thinking about what I could add that would look great. I liked the castle fabric, but wasn’t sure about just putting in a big strip of towers.
The diamond motifs caught my attention and I started working on adding free form diamonds.
I have a hard time being completely free form/improv-y, but I did my best. I tried to make the diamonds not in alignment. I didn’t like the way they looked. I sewed the diamonds to backgrounds and played around with them a bit.
I looked at the piece and saw that dark grey kite fabric. I played around with that fabric and came up with a kind of checkerboard effect.
I like the way it turned out. I think the dark fabric adds a bit of a frame to the piece and sets off the diamonds as well. I also like the visuality of the dark fabric going around the corner.
As I mentioned the other day, I had Rhonda’s piece and I worked on it very quickly, then sent it off to Cheryl.
When I got it from Rhonda, it was getting to be quite curvy. There is a lot of nice piecing and I did not want to touch the bottom portion (ignore my slippered feet!) as I didn’t want to ruin anything.
I took a leaf out of the notebook I used in a class at Fort Mason. Sonya Lee Barrington taught a beginning quilt class and one of the techniques I learned was called “Curved Strip Piecing.”
I laid the piece over my signature fabric and cut along the edge. I made quick hash marks across the two fabrics and pinned them together. It made it easier to sew the curve, which came out mostly flat. My addition came out super bold. I hope people know they can cut off my signature fabric.
For the rest of my addition, I used some piecing that was already done. I added some more and then sewed what I made to the piece.
I would have never thought to put half a piece on to someone else’s round robin, but I saw Michelle do it and decided it would fit with my timeframe. Again, I used some curved strip piecing to help make the piece fit.
I the original idea for this IRR was to exchange the pieces at the meeting. Our group has been exchanging like crazy for the past two months. I have worked on several as you might remember from the series of blog posts.
I think it was the first time our group had been together since the initial start. We looked at all the pieces and traded them around. Some people changed their boxes to bags for easier mailing. We took the opportunity to exchange IRRs again and we got to see the work that has been done on the various pieces of our IRR exchange.
I was thrilled when I saw the work on my own piece. People used the solid turquoise as a background, which was my intention. This gives the whole piece a cohesive look. It is also mostly a square and getting to be quite large. I think I I’d like this piece to be in the bed-sized range.
People have not continued the Flying Geese after the first round or two, which is a little disappointing. There are a lot of rectangles, which I know are much easier than anything else. Hope springs eternal.
Michelle matched the motifs on the pink and blue fabrics in the left middle area beautifully.
I was very pleased with the work I did on Diana’s. I saw that round motif and couldn’t get away from the idea of fussy cutting it. I wanted to make it more elaborate, but I waited until the the morning of the meeting. I made a cutting mistake, which kind of prevented me from doing what I wanted. I am also not sure my skills were up to the task. Diana loved what I did to her piece, which pleased me.
Rhonda had her piece at the meeting so I grabbed it. She has tried to jump to another group, but we aren’t letting her go. I am supposed to send her piece to Cheryl after I am done. Other Club Doodlers are clamoring, so we will have to see.
The BAMQG Meeting was Saturday and it felt like an eternity since we had a meeting. We really just missed the October meeting (because of PIQF). Still it was too long. I enjoyed seeing people and the show and tell was amazing.
This is a photo of what I took to the meeting. Fortunately I didn’t come home with nearly that much.
As a result of missing October, there was a lot of business to cover. The question of the month was good but hard, because the “low hanging fruit” was taken right away: For what are you grateful in the quiltmaking realm. Some of the answers were:
Kelly, who went first since she is the boss lady, said she was very grateful for all of us. She said in such a sweet and sincere way that we were really touched. At least I was. Many people agreed that the guild was a great group.
To Do List
QuiltCon entries due November 30. Kelly encouraged everyone to enter. While I want my quilts to get in, I think that everyone’s work is spectacular and high quality enough to get in.
Reimbursements
Claire talked about reimbursements.
Charity
The charity Sew Day was a success. About 10 wheelchair quilts were completed and will be donated to a local nursing home.
The guild has donated 65 quilts to local charities this year, which is so fantastic! This is less than last year bit many of those were larger quilts than were donated last year.
Opportunity Quilt
Winning ticket was drawn and someone in Pacifica won.
Cat Beds
Are back! The kits I cut and packaged joined the kits that Amanda brought and were all swept by willing members. She gave a little presentation on making cat beds, which I think got people excited about it again.
Challenges
New one due in January using Carol Van Zant fabric. I received a piece of fuschia. I don’t know what I will make, but perhaps a simple journal cover.
MQG
The guild will not renew the guild’s membership. The board decided that the promised technological infrastructure, other promised features and functionality, especially roster management, had not been realized. The board wants to focus its resources on local activities and members. Members were encouraged to join the MQG individually since the benefits are much more robust for individual members. The guild will pay for Mike’s membership and he will continue as MQG liaison for guild members. He will also advise the Board on MQG matters. The group will reevaluate MQG membership in the future.
I plan to join as an individual member for at least one year. We’ll see if I renew in 2017.
Membership
Alison will be transitioning membership function to Annemarie.
Swaps
Favorite blog swap coming to an end and Joy-Lily will produce a paper and virtual list for everyone.
2016 Speakers
Angela Walters cancelled her workshop with us, because she no longer wants to do 2 day trips. While I didn’t know this workshop was coming, it is huge blow to Amanda who has been working on getting AW to us for 2 years. It makes me upset that she would just cancel like that without consideration for the work Amanda put in.
Officer Elections
Nobody has stepped forward to be president so Ruth and Joelle will share the role of point person this year and a Mistress (or master) of Ceremonies will be selected for each meeting. Lynette and Gerre will be co-VPs. Claire has agreed to continue on as Treasurer. Angela will be Workshop Coordinator and others will take on other roles.
Next Meeting
Winter Extravaganza swap and party is December 12.
Presentation: Ruth’s Scrap Management
Ruth gave us a presentation about her use and management of scraps. She called it Scrap Magic and talked about her system of scrap organization.
Scraps can be better used if they are organized. Everyone’s organization system will be different and personal to them and how they work. Remember mine?
She uses scraps as soon as she is done with the quilt so that she doesn’t have to file the scraps away. This is a little ambitious for me since I am usually sick of the fabrics by the time I am done with a quilt BUT they are exciting again after they have sat for awhile.
She said that using scraps adds interest to your quilts. I agree! I never thought of this, but her view is that making scrap quilts is like getting a free quilt. Since you don’t have to buy the fabric for the new quilt, the quilt is free.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Organize what you keep so it will be useful. Identify your scrap limits before you start to organize:
If your scraps are still overwhelming you, your limits might be too low.
Ruth talked about cutting scraps to defined sizes. She, mostly, doesn’t do it, because she feels it limits her options. If she cuts a 4.5″ scrap down to a 2.5″ square, she has lost an inch or so of fabric that could have been used when a larger piece was required.
Nota bene: I cut defined pieces if I have a project in mind for them. I wrote a post on scrap organization, which will give you other ideas about cutting to defined sizes.
Ruth also curates her scraps. When she chooses fabrics, including scraps, she has an idea of the color scheme or motifs she wants to use. She tries to avoid the Scrap Vomit look. She selects parameters to create cohesion. Not everything works well together, despite what some experts say.
Scraps are good for paper piecing.
You can cut pieces to add to a pre-cut project
Start by selecting yardage and then bringing in scraps to add interest.
I thought the presentation was interesting and a good addition to what has already been posted here about scraps.
Remember the lack of sewing I talked about? Part of the effect was that I didn’t have time to make more donation blocks.
As I mentioned I ran out of the cream and green fabric, so I started cutting some backgrounds from scraps. These blocks are much more diverse in the background department. I think they are also a little brighter.
Every little bit helps so I don’t feel bad about only finishing three more blocks. I just wish I had more time to make more. I may get a few more done before the meeting on Saturday.