SIL already used up a bunch of the Infinity blocks we swapped to make this quilt. She entered it in her county fair and won third place. I was so pleased for her.
I love the layout as well. Very clever of her to use the various values of the blues to make a design. A you can see from some of my photos, I was thinking more about how the blues and whites touched each other when I put the blocks together.
What I don’t love is that she has already made a quilt and I still have a block or two to go! I had better get busy!
The above blocks are the blocks I made over the weekend. Except for the one in the lower left hand corner, which I made last week. I put it in to make the photo square and so you wouldn’t see my ugly carpet.
2 Sorbet Blocks, August 2009
Last week I made two blocks for the Sorbet quilt (left). They sat on my design wall all week and as I looked at them a new idea formed in my head: a baby.
When I made these, I just wanted to make some of the quickest blocks to cut and sew. I wanted to get some endorphins going and some quick satisfaction.
What I didn’t realize was that these two could be merged to make yet another block. I didn’t need to make a pattern, which is part of the fun and joy of this quilt.
I can’t shake the idea that these two blocks got together and had a baby!
Baby block
Silly, I know, but it is what it is.
The others I made were from the patterns I already designed in EQ6. I think this quilt will be one that I can longarm myself.
Four Patch Corner
Not really sure why the above block is called Four Patch Corner. I didn’t make up the name, it was in EQ6.
9 Patch
Regular old 9 Patch fits the size and shape requirements. Easy to make and I think it looks great.
I haven’t had a chance to make anymore blocks since I first introduced this project last week. Some block making is on my agenda this weekend, but in the meantime, I have been looking at fabrics and adding them to the mix. The biggest addition is the purple batik (upper right hand corner). I also added a couple of medium-large scale flower prints to see how they work in the mix.
I noticed that there is a lot of pink in the fabric mix. I hope it won’t be too pink, but I am enjoying the pink.
Last year I found a quote in Judy Martin’s newsletter by a reader who talked about projects classified as mind sorbet, which I recounted in a post. After the Tarts Come to Tea, I really feel like I need some mind sorbet, something that I don’t have to think about much. The Tarts was a real design challenge: worth it, but a challenge. Now I need a break.
Fabric Selection, August 2009
These are the fabrics I have been collecting for the past little while with the idea of making this quilt. There are an abundance of dots, but hopefully enough other designs and scale to make it interesting.
I scanned back over some of the posts showing fabrics that I bought with this project in mind. I don’t see them in the picture above, so I will need to look at them and see if they fit in with the idea I have in my mind.
This quilt was inspired by a pattern by Terri Atkinson called Yellow Brick Road, which I wrote about in a post called Avoidance Issues. The idea was further encouraged by a trip to Texas in April. For once I sat in a window seat and was able to look at the regular patterns created by lots and fences, etc. After that trip, I had a lot of ideas and went crazy putting my own designs “on paper”. EQ6 makes such an exercise really easy. The project is really all about the fabric, though.
Sorbet, August 2009
This image looks a little weird because it is exported from EQ6. I haven’t colored all of the blocks, but this should give you a bit of an idea of the next project.
I made two blocks today. They took me about 5 minutes each, which is exactly what I wanted.
2 Sorbet Blocks, August 2009
In order to get the variation, I need to print the rotary cutting directions for the rest of the blocks. We’ll see what we get.
Last Sunday night, I went over and watched a movie with my SIL. We often craft together and this night was no exception. We watched Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat and stitched. I was able to finish the last middle block of the Flowering Snowball/Cross Block project.
Now I need to worry about the border blocks. I haven’t taken the time to make the pattern for those. I will soon.
Slowly, but surely the FOTY 2009 blocks are stacking up. I doubt that FOTY 2009 will be as large as FOTY 2008, however I consider it to be more complex so smaller is better. I know I know, sewing in addition to cutting is part of the quiltmaking process and doesn’t necessarily constitute ‘complex.’
😉 I just like to see if you are paying attention sometimes.
As I said before, these blocks make great warm up blocks before a serious bout of sewing, so that is what I did on Saturday after getting the 9K set up again. If you look at the photo in Sunday’s post, you can see one of the green blocks under the feed dogs.
I decided not to combine the two Ginger Blossom prints that I used in the Striped Tote with Flowers and the Flowered Tote with Stripes. They already had enough cavorting and will get some more time to do so when I make the quilt for which I have been collecting fabric. I really like the effect of the dots with the flowers.
FOTY detail pink
I had some hot pink dots that I hadn’t yet made into a block, so I used that with the flower print. Haven’t done anything with the stripes. I need to press some more fabric and then we’ll see what transpires.
I do really like that pink Gigner Blossom flower print for some reason. It makes me feel happy.
The Infinity blocks had been languishing for a little while. I needed some test subjects for the tuned up machine, so I sewed a couple. The middle one is of the ones I made on Saturday and the others have been hanging around for awhile waiting for me to photograph them.
The fabric I used for the middle blocks is an old Jinny Beyer fabric and it is really crisp to press and sew. Lovely!
I have only a little bit of the white left, so the block portion of this project is nearing completion. I will have to see how many blocks we end up with, however. It needs to be some kind of normal number and not one that won’t work in putting a quilt together.
I was determined to get at least one of the blocks done this weekend.
I took the easy way out and worked on the smaller block. No block is easy, regardless of how small.
Every block requires a background which I must choose while considering the surrounding blocks. I was determined to use that purple/blue dotty swirl (see bottom middle next to the frothy drink). I love that fabric and think the quilt needs another piece of it somewhere. I cut it, confidently put it up on the design wall and stood back to look.
Blech.
Failure. It bled into the background of the frothy drink and just didn’t stand up to the blocks around it.
Sigh. Back to the drawing board for a new background. After consulting with myself, I decided that the area could stand a purple backround, yet it would have to be a different purple.
Tarts, July 12, 2009 #2
I looked at the background of the grey teapot and decided that I should bring that color down to the bottom of the quilt. I found a piece of a similar violetty-purple. It isn’t the exact same fabric and it is more subtle. I was pretty happy that my second choice seemed to be a good one.
It does add a seventh instance of purple to the quilt. I think that I am ok in terms of the “Odd Rule,” which I understand to be a design element or principle, which says that an odd number of related elements make the piece more interesting. My mother, an artist, reminds me of this all the time. I have to balance design principles for art with design principles for quilts. I believe, that there is, at least, a slight difference.
Tarts, 2005
Here is what the Tarts looked like at the start of the design process. This is really a Here to There type moment.
It has really come a long way and TOTALLY changed direction. Notice I took out all the coffee-themed fabric. I bought that fabric all for this quilt. I have tons of it and now ask myself what I am going to do with it. Backs and tote bags, I guess. I also had a melon shape thing going at the time. There are a lot more classic quilt elements – more Flying Geese, Square in a Square, lots of sashing. The blue and pink Flying Geese that have survived the design process this long are really a remnant of the original idea I had. Time to move on!
This is the second to last Flowering Snowball center block. I brought my handwork bag with me to the meeting yesterday and put this together while we worked on the business of the organization. It is something I can do while I listen and participate. I feel productive on my fabric projects, which is a good thing.
I also started work on the last block, but didn’t get very far before the ATC swap started.
This morning I was facing the reality of this project. I get to start the border VERY shortly. I think I opened the project in EQ6 in recent memory, however I don’t remember looking at the templates or doing any work on them. I need to get on that.
The other issue I am facing is squaring up the center blocks. I discussed this here before and think that I will have to trim the blocks after machine sewing around before I trim. Otherwise I think that they may come apart.
The problem is that if I trim them before I make the border, the border won’t fit. Glad I thought of it before I made the border!
These are the blocks that my SIL sent to me via DH-mail. I think i will be interesting to take a photo of all of the blocks together.
I made another couple over the weekend, but am writing for an even number before I photograph them. It is more interesting if I have a few to show you.
I got a little behind photographing and posting blocks from my Infinity project. (I think last week was just a bad sewing-posting-making week). Anyway, here are some of the newer blocks. I made a few more after I snapped this pic and will post those later.
I was attempting to try out a different layout from the layout in the May 13th post. I like the four white squares together. I am a long way from the end, however, so we will see once I get more blocks.
SIL said she was sending me some blocks via DH-transport, so I expect those on Sunday. As usual, stay tuned!
The weekend was filled with picnics. Both Saturday and Sunday included hot dogs and potato salad, chats and a bit of sun. It was nice to be outside, but I was pretty tired after all the sociability. Also, I didn’t get to work much on my projects.
Sunday was a beautiful day to be outside. After greeting lots of people, I was able to sit and do some hand stitching. I had some of the block (right) finished, but did most of it at the picnic. The completion of this block means that I have only two blocks left to make for the center of the Flowering Snowball quilt.
I still haven’t designed the border, but put an idea into the Sun Creative Prompt response. I know what I want; I just have to figure out how to make it a reality.
I made about 8 of these blocks over the weekend. They are pretty fast to make and I get a big bang for my buck. The photo to the left shows all the blocks I have made to date. Actually, half of all of the blocks I have made to date. I make two of each fabric so I can send one to my SIL.
The weird thing is that I kept counting the blocks, periodically, and coming up with the same number. Not sure why except that my counting was obviously off! Two blocks aren’t in this picture, because I wanted it to be symmetrical.
Quick post with mostly pics. Hope you enjoy the progress.
Flowering Snowball (Cross Block)
I have only three blocks left to make for the center of this quilt. I need to cut some more prints, though, as I am tired of the reusing the ones I already cut. I can use them in the border.
Cathy Blocks #3
I made these last weekend and cut some fabric for two more tonight. Progress!
SIL and I are doing a swap with blue and white fabrics.
First Always Quilting Block
This is the block we are using. We didn’t have time to really organize ourselves while she was out for a brief visit a few weeks ago, so we did some organizing via email. I finally felt organized enough to make some blocks. The above block is one of the first group that I did. I plan to make two of each fabric and send one to SIL, in little batches.
Three Always Quilting Blocks
I made the two batik ones later and will send SIL one.
The motif that the squares and rectangles make looks like some kind of knot. Since I didn’t know the name of this block, and I didn’t want to call it the Always Quilting block, I looked up the design in Barbara Brackman’s book, The Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns. I couldn’t find this particular block (Barbara, won’t you please update your book with newer blocks??? Thanks.), so I found a couple that looked like they were related.
Tam's Patch, BB:1117
BB:1117 is called Tam’s Patch. It has two corners with the rectangle/two squares combination, but the other two corners are just plain square patches.
Squares upon Squares, BB:1104
BB:1104 (page 156-157) is called Squares upon Squares from Farm Journal.
I’ll look through some other block dictionaries to see if I can find a name for it.The reality is that you change one line and you have a new block. New blocks are invented every day.
I’d love to hear if you know the name of this block, or have a creative name for it.
