Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
Since I was zipping along with Scrap Dash, I was also zipping along with the Yellow Strip donation top. Leaders and enders really works.
I decided to use some text prints as the sashing. I had some scraps that were about the right size, so I used as many as I could find in the white drawer and then cut some from fabrics I have bought recently. The quilt is really coming together and I am pleased with how sunshiney it looks.
Another one of my creations that was handed in at Sew Day was Ends n.8. I only have a bad photo, so it was hard to figure out that this gorgeous quilt was actually the one I made.
Tim, again, did the quilting and Mary C added the binding. I like using up the edges of quilts and this one turned out great. As mentioned in the previous post, the ends that make up this quilt came from the Stepping Stones n.2 quilt, I think. I also added more Bonnie and Camille fabric.
As usual, Tim did a great job quilting it. the swirls are a little different, but organic looking and interesting.
We had Sew Day on Saturday, which I will write about soon. One thing that happened is that people brought a bunch of donation quilts that had been in process.
One of them was the Purple Strip Donation Quilt. Tim quilted it and Mary C bound it. I finished it in March of 2019 and gave it to Tim shortly thereafter.
I really like the angularity of the quilting designs Tim chose. The fact that he added in a couple of circles to the quilting really adds to the overall piece. One thing I always wonder about is what people think when they receive one of these quilts? Sometimes I wish I were a fly on the wall and I could know.
It looks really great and I am so pleased it is done.
The other day i talked about the Double Spiky 16 Patch that Lee Ann finished. It made me wonder about all the Spiky 16 Patch quilts I have made. I looked back at my media files and decided to put them all into one post.
I also inspired Mrs. K to make a top. I love it when you sew along with me, especially if you use one of my tutorials. Hers is great! It makes me think I need to add a yellow version to my list. Look at the corner triangle detail. Isn’t it great?
I always think I have made more of anything I want to show you than I really have. Six tops is not nothing. I want make more of these and now, that I see them, in different colors.
I am sure I will make more of them, so I’ll have to update this post.
In between working on Scrap Dash, I made more yellow Improv blocks. I don’t have a tons of yellow scraps and I’ll be lucky if I can make this quilt and a straight Improv version like the other colors I have made. I’ll definitely be able to finish this one, but I have had to add chunks to the blocks. I don’t have enough strips to make all the blocks just from strips.
I sewed way more than one seam throughout the day. I felt kind of manic about these blocks. Even though I was working on Scrap Dash, I wanted to make progress on this quilt as well. I am pleased with the progress.
I am on the fence about how this quilt is looking. I don’t have the exact colors that Tim used, so I am using what I have. I don’t know if it is working.
When I talked about this quilt before, I had finished sewing the parts Tim gave me to the piece and had just added a strip of my own.
I made this improv checkerboard to add to the sides as the first piece that was all my own. It was kind of fun to play around with different sized strips. The green, however is a little more chartreuse than Tim used. While I like the shape, I am concerned about the colors and how they fit in with what went before.
I plan to put part of the checkerboard on another side perpendicular to the checkerboard I already sewed to the top.
I don’t think it looks terrible and that might be good enough for a donation quilt. I don’t mean that it is ugly so it is only good enough for a donation quilt, but that it is not too ugly to give as a donation quilt.
I really don’t nee to make it much bigger, but I want it to have a relatively cohesive design without me spending 50 hours on it.
In February, I worked on some more Spiky 16 patch quilts. Then I gave them to Peggy and she found someone to quilt at least one. #2 popped up as finished at the guild meeting last Saturday! Lee Ann did the basting and quilting. She did a lot of straight line quilting, which I think works really well.
There is a wobble on the edge, which surprises me. I am hoping it is the wind blowing the quilt and not my piecing!
Lee Ann sent me these photos, which included a detail. You can see the leaf like shapes in the 16 patch center as well as a little more of the straight line quilting on the border.
I am continuing to work on the yellow donation blocks. I talked about making another batch a few days ago. I have more progress to show you today.
They look better on my design wall than they do on the photo. Oh well.
I made one with a strip going vertically, because I had two leftover pieces that weren’t wide enough to make a block with horizontal strips. For this version, I am really trying to make all the strips oriented on the horizontal. I have a lot of small pieces of yellow, so I don’t know if it will work. I’ll make as many blocks as I can with horizontal strips, then I will start putting more chucks together into blocks.
Tim made part of a top in a Sherri Lynn Wood class. He didn’t want it hanging around anymore because he didn’t like the class and didn’t think he would finish it. I offered to finish it into a donation top for the guild and get it out of his life.
I sewed a strip Tim gave me to the right of the quilt (the strip with 4 patches). I looked for fabric that would match, but I couldn’t find anything really similar. I chose a more reddish orange and am adding various bits to the piece.
The picture, left, is what I have so far.
I am slowly making more of these blocks. I know it seems like I am working on very little. I seem to be really busy on things that keep my mind scurrying in a zillion different directions.
I wanted to make enough blocks so I could see what I had. I think I will place the blocks 5 across. I might do 6 across, but we’ll see. My plan is 5 across right now. I also won’t set the blocks this close together. My design wall is a little full right now so I don’t have the blocks placed as they would be. I also am not sure what color I will use for the sashing. Blue is the complement, but I don’t think that blue will be good for the look I want. I think white.
I also made one more block, so I have a total of 6 right now.
Yes, I wrote the title correctly. I have just one block to show you.
I worked to make many, many donation blocks last year. This year I feel like I am sewing a lot and not getting anything done. Am I not finishing things or what? I don’t know.
As I said, I have started some new color improv strip blocks, but I haven’t made any guild donation blocks.
I have been using other projects for leaders and enders. Do I need to get on the ball or can I take a break?
I finally needed some leaders and enders, so I started another Color Strip Donation Quilt, this time in yellow. I am, first, working on making as many blocks as I can with yellow strips. I don’t want to get into chunks if I can avoid it. I don’t know how many yellow strips I have, however. I may need to create some chunks from the non-strip scraps in order to clear away the scraps I don’t want to use right away.
The pink in block #1 is from one of my favorite fabrics. It is, of course, a Philip Jacobs (maybe Martha Negley?) and I only have bits of it left. It was an eye watering yellow with big pink roses on it and I couldn’t help but like it.
These blocks are supposed to be yellow, but they will be mainly yellow. As in the other quilts in this series, other colors will sneak in. I think that adds more interest than dilutes the piece.
I am glad I am doing yellow, though I really should be reducing pink scraps as that drawer is full to bursting. I just have had the yellow version of this quilt on my mind and it was time.
I am also glad I am doing yellow, because I am finding bits of fabrics that I love. The yellow dots at the top of block #2 is a favorite. I can’t say why it is different than other dots, but it is.
I have four blocks made and 3 others in process. I am concerned that I won’t have enough strips to make enough blocks for a whole quilt. I have two choices if that happens: 1) use the yellow blocks I have for the quilt I have planned with the extra blocks of all colors. I have a few each of red, orange, blue and black; or 2) make some blocks using chunks and combine the strips and chunks as I have in at least one quilt. I don’t know why I am so adverse to that right now. Perhaps I know something intuitively about that design that isn’t readily apparent right now.
I always struggle through the first few blocks. I start making several at a time and it always seems like nothing is happening. Then, all of a sudden, block after block is finished. I have four finished now I am can see a burst of sunshine appearing on my small design wall. I am really excited about how these will work out.
I finally sat down on Friday afternoon and worked to finish this top. I really wanted to get it ready for quilting and it had been hanging around for too long. I am pleased with how it came out and look forward to seeing how it gets quilted.
I am going to show it to Tim, then send it on to another guild member for quilting.
I tried to use as much of the Pop Parade fabric for the back as I could.
I was amazed and thrilled that Tim had bound the small Kaffe donation quilt he quilted a few weeks ago. He put a binding on it sometime last week! He almost never does that, but wanted something quick after cleaning his studio all day.
He machine bound it, but that was a good choice since the quilt will go who knows where.
I love the quilting – spirals. They look so great.
I moved the HST top in progress to my large design wall so I could try out different layouts. One thing I definitely wanted to see was how it would look with space between the columns.
Compared to how the blocks look right next to each other, this version is a poor substitute. Still, I needed to try it out.