These diamonds could also be called Late Early December Diamonds. You pick and I’ll go along with it. I am nearing the end of my pressing and cutting. I don’t think I have anymore fabric enroute and I plan on keeping it that way. Famous last words, right?
That stripe at the top is my committment to making another Interlocking Triangles quilt. I have the Mixmasters Fizz and the P&B Fizz which are destined for that type of quilt as well. I worked on a design, but am thinking I may just use the same design I used for Spiky Stars. It is a good design and will look different with different fabrics. We’ll see.
Shall I make a New Year’s Resolution to that effect? I never make New Year’s Resolutions, so that would be new. We’ll see.
I am working on a, as yet unnamed, purple project using the fabrics on the bottom of the photo to the left. Those fabrics are from a Birch Bundle I bought at the end of the summer. The project is based on a picture I saw on Flickr and posted here in September.
I was cutting the rectangular patches for the piece in a random manner as I pressed fabrics, but wasn’t really ready to get busy until this week. I ordered some possible fabrics and got busy sewing yesterday.
I thought the Crocus (on the right, above) would be perfect. I picked it out using a color card that TFQ brought with her when we went to PIQF. I finally got around to ordering it. When it arrived, I looked at it in various lights around my house. Then I laid it out with the other two solids: Violet (left) and Deep Violet (middle). the two additional purples are from Free Spirit.
The Crocus is too grey/dusky for my project. That was clear from looking at it. That left me to decide from the two other choices. I think this experience is a good reminder for me to remember that a piece of fabric that looks good in a small piece may not be as perfect when I see it in a larger piece.
Violet as Piecing Possibility
In order to make the choice, I laid out some of the pieced rectangles on the Violet. The photo above looks a lot more red than the real thing. Still, I should consider that the red may show up more in certain lights. The quilt will be going to live in a much different lighting situation.
Deep Violet as Piecing Possibility
I am liking the Deep Violet. There is a lot more pink in the above piecing that I intend in the overall quilt. I need to stop the random cutting and be more organized about my cutting now that I am serious about piecing this.
Recently, I was thinking about scraps. Part of my thought process stemmed from a discussion I had with a New Zealand quilt friend, another part had to do with the completion of the Cheerful Baskets quilt and, finally, looking and thinking about some of TFQ’s quilts and process.
For me, a scrap quilt is a quilt made from many, many different fabrics. The fabrics do not have to all come from my scrap basket. Cheerful Baskets is a scrap quilt, because many fabrics were used. Most of the triangles are different. The triangles, for the most part, did come out of my scrap basket. The baskets did not, but are mostly different. We purchased a small piece of many of the yellows based on the exact shade of the yellow. There are many different prints used as the background.
Cheerful Baskets is a thoughtfully made quilt, not just in the piecing, but also in the color selection and placement. I do not think that any old scrap should be placed next to any other scrap. Scrap quilts, for me, are not a jumbled mess.
I don’t have a large scrap pile, because I either toss the scraps or use them up. I don’t like to waste, though, so periodically my scrap basket overflows.
Four patches
One thing that I do is plan a bit ahead for my projects. I have list of pieces I need to cut for scrap quilts. One shape I am cutting now is 2×2″ squares in turquoise and purple. I am making some four patches from these pieces. I put these through the machine in between other chain piecing, so they act as leaders and enders a la Bonnie Hunt (she mentions this technique in a recent post, but I think she goes into more detail in an older post). This type of in between piecing/leaders and enders also is great to warm up your sewing muscles when you start a sewing session.
Along these lines, I also cut squares of various sizes and keep them in a bag for when I need some squares. This is not a well thought out plan and I should probably cut squares all the same size and put them in bags according to their size. I haven’t gotten that far yet.
The idea is to cut regular sized pieces so that you have a selection to choose from when you need some shapes for a project. You can also cut different shapes such as triangles with an eye towards half square triangles, rectangles, etc. This is also a good task when you don’t know what else to do.
The Fabric of the Year (FOTY) quilts are, technically, scrap quilts. They are also charm quilts, but scrap quilts do not have to be charm quilts if you are working TJW. As you know, for the FOTY quilts, I cut a piece from each fabric I purchase or use throughout the year and then make a quilt top from those pieces in January. This concept can be used in general as I am with an upcoming pink quilt and an upcoming blue quilt. I am cutting 2.5×4.5″ rectangles of all of the pinks I come across, either newly purchased or from my stash. When I have enough I will arrange them on the wall and sew them together. I am doing the same for blues.
I don’t do this, but I think it would be useful to sort my scraps by color. I don’t think I have enough scraps to sort by color. I don’t want to devote fabric space to scraps, so I try and keep the scrap pile manageable.
Corner Store block and patches
I found a new source for scraps when I started the FOTY 2010 project. I use a ruler when I cut the diamonds and end up with two triangles. After seeing the Corner Store project in Pretty Little Mini Quilts, I decided I could do that with the triangles. The block is shown in the middle. The triangles are added to a square of Kona Snow and then trimmed to size. The triangles are all slightly different sizes and I am trying to take advantage of the wonkiness. The nice thing about this project is that the triangles never even go into my scrap basket. They go into a separate pile and are sewn on to the squares.
The Red Journal is also a scrap project. As longtime readers know, I have been sewing together little slivers of red fabric for awhile to make a new piece of fabric. The technique is called Mosaic quilting, a concept developed by Shannon Williams. It has all the qualities that work for me for scrap quilting. The maker sews random pieces of like colors together to make new fabric. I do this with red and want to do it with all of the colors, but haven’t gotten to it yet.
I think there are a lot of ways to think about scraps. Above are a few of the ways I think about and use scraps. Hope it is useful.
What are you doing? Reading your blogs, of course! I, on the hand, and slaving away cooking for the, approximately, 30 people who will show up and demand food tomorrow. My mom is helping. Mostly we are making pies, which will be done soon, if all goes well. If you want my attention, you have to wait. 😉
It is getting to be the time of the year where I need to hound you about making gift bags out of fabric rather than buying gift wrap. I should have hounded you two months ago when you weren’t panicking about how fast the holidays were approaching. I do dislike being a nag, though. Lynn left a comment last week, so I went to peruse her blog and came across a tutorial for gift bags. She makes a casing and uses a clever method for not threading the ribbon through later. I’ll have to try out her tutorial. I’ll let you know if I can do it!
Look for a couple of upcoming giveaways. You know substantive comments and creative prompt responses are my thing so start preparing! One giveaway will be a bunch of selvedge edges. I have been saving them and thought that might be a nice little treat for one of you. Another will be a book. I just have to write the review. Stay tuned on that front and don’t say I never gave you anything!
I am fortunate to have 2 dads. One of them is VERY handy. He used to have a handyman business and can really fix anything. He fixed my old iron! the cord was severed and he soldered it together and I have been using it again. YAY!
I followed a link from one of the Quilt Market blogs and found the Sew Serendipity book on clothing sewing patterns. The clothes look interesting and wearable. Am I going to start sewing clothes? I don’t know.
I ran across a new way to look at fabric over at Glorious Color. The method they are showing is not about the pattern, but about the color. If you need a certain color, click on that color and the site shows you the fabric that is similar to that color. I think it is a great way to fill in holes in a quilt project.
A Work of Heart has a video up on their blog that shows the Spontaneous Scrap journal (remember mine?). It is a quick and fun video. Once you look at that video you can link out to YouTube and see the other videos by the artist, Mary Ann Moss. She shows a variety of journals from other people. I enjoyed the video and journal about Carol’s Istanbul journal.
I know you are thinking about pie and have completely forgotten about the International Quilt Festival in Houston. Did you see the winners? I can never enter. I love the quilts I make, but these are so totally out of my league. How about a category just for me? 😉
12 Days of Christmas Selvedge
Isn’t this a weird selvedge? There are 12 little bubbles, but most of them are white. I thought it was strange to have that many different colors of white (not that white is a color, of course).
I am always looking for inspiration. You have been the beneficiary of some of my musings in the form of photos I take as I travel through my life. Recently I saw a blog post interview with Kate Spain, where she talks about her inspiration and how it leads to designs. I thought the interview was lengthy enough to get some meat out of it and interesting enough to keep me reading.
Not that I need anymore projects, but I went trolling through Judy Martin’s site and saw her Blustery Day pattern again. Love it! She periodically puts up free quilt and block patterns. Nice!
WTTW out of Chicago has a video about the blankie collaboration that FunQuilts works on with developmentally disabled adults. If the link doesn’t take you immediately to the video, check the scroll bar for the correct video. The navigation from the link was a little funky.
Don’t you love the red/pink and turquoise combination? I got a great idea for my red/aqua quilt. I love the quilt I saw on Flickr, but it didn’t feel right. I was thinking that I would do it, because I hadn’t found anything better.
Yesterday I was Internet-free (not by choice), but saw a new pattern by Fig Tree Quilts before the Internet died. 60 degree equilateral triangles hang down in one of the versions. This pattern caught my attention, but I didn’t really think much about it until later. Then I saw a few more quilts using this triangle on some taped Fons and Porter episodes using the same type of patches. One was called Kalamkari Strippy (#1307). I am feeling more excited about this new idea. I am also so interested about how the colors on my design wall and these two types of media came together to inspire me.
Here are the fabrics donated by the FABULOUS Birch Fabrics/FabricWorm for the CQFA ATC Raffle prize. I was so pleased that Cynthia agreed to donate a prize and even more pleased when I saw the grouping.
I didn’t know what to suggest she send, so the black and whites will be perfect for such an artsy group. I wouldn’t like to presume to know the colors that everyone likes. Black and whites will go with any other fabrics that people enjoy.
People really came through and we collected at least 30 ATCs, as well as a few postcards, for the show. I was so pleased.
This drawing, which I thought would be the highlight, turned into a minor detail at the meeting. The meeting was completely action packed. Nancy moved things along. We did get to do regular show and tell, which I always enjoy. C&T Publishing Marketing Manager, Lisa Fulmer, came and brought a bunch of prizes as well. It was a wonderful meeting and I was so pleased to see new faces and so pleased that everyone stepped up to support the show.
I have been cutting like a possessed person. I am very anxious about getting all the pieces cut for this quilt, FOTY 2010. I am doing pretty well. The pile of fabrics to cut is slowly shrinking, but I do have another stack fo fabric to wash, which is followed by the need to cut.
I also need to figure out what fabric I am going to use for the edge. I was thinking one color for corners and edge, but perhaps I will just make it scrappy? That might be harder, since I don’t know what fabrics will go on the edge. We’ll see, I guess.
These have been on my design wall for, what seems like, weeks. I have been and out of town for work and neglecting my patch cutting. I need to get going, as I have said numerous times. I am in town for the rest of the year, as far as I know now, so I should be able to spend many weekends cutting and pressing.
What looks like a view into my design wall is actually a white on white print. It looks really strange in the group, but I bought it so in it goes.
I am still overwhelmed with the amount of quilt shopping I did in July, so I went to PIQF with a list and with cash. I came away with everything on my list and pretty much stayed within my budget.
PIQF 2010 Shopping
I was very pleased to find the rulers I think I will need to finish the edges and corners for FOTY 2010.
I have an idea in mind for a certain kind of “review writing bookmark”, which requires that heavy duty wash away stabilizer (interfacing?). Stay tuned for more on that project.
I did try out the Grab Bag pattern and will write a review of the pattern soon.
I have to admit that fabric wasn’t on my list, but I found a few pieces that will fill in holes (the blacks and whites) and a couple of dots that I couldn’t resist (bottom row). The dots were very expensive so I got little pieces and will need to use the judiciously. They were over $11/yard and that is just too much to spend.
PIQF 2010 Fabric
The Floral Burst fabric by Philip Jacobs will be some kind of bag. It was on sale at Always Quilting and I couldn’t resist the pink and yellow combination.The red dots came from TFQ. Thanks!
Bella Bag!
I also, finally, found the Bella Bag Pattern. I bought another bag with a bow, so I probably didn’t need this one, but Joanna Figueroa was so nice, and she had these fabulous chartreuse handles, that I felt like supporting her. Perhaps I will use the Philip Jacobs print to make this bag. A hot pink with white dots bow might be fabulous!
This group definitely looks Fallish, but BRIGHT Fallish, don’t you think? There are a lot of the fabrics from the Birch Fabric Bundles. I am putting them back into groups as I have one idea for two quilts that will come out of two of the bundles.
WOW! I have been lackidasical about almost everything lately and was shocked to see how many comments I have and haven’t read! WOW! Thanks everyone! Keep them coming.
Media
Mark Lipinski’s Fabric Trends Magazine: the latest issue has a cool website. I tried to buy the new issue, but only could find the previous edition from before Mark started working on it. I’ll have to go back and look again in the near future.
Mark also has a new radio show on Toginet called Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski. It is on iTunes. Mark seems to be working hard on getting his name and cute mug out there! Call 877-864-4869 to call into the show. Eric Anderson answers the phone from Dallas.
I listened to the first episode on iTunes and thought the discussion with Tula Pink about her fabric designs being ripped off via Walmart was interesting, because of the social networking aspect.
Mark also talked with Dr. Eric Maisel. I started to read one of his books and just couldn’t get through it. I think he had good things to say, but I couldn’t read them. I think, perhaps, Maisel’s other book, Coaching the Artist Within, might be better. One thing that intrigued me was his mention of a purpose statement. He briefly talked about a multi-step process he coaches artists through to create a purpose statement. Hhhmmm. Remember my Purpose Journal? It is time to get that baby out and a purpose statement might be an interesting reason to really start on it.
I also listened to the second episode. I liked the section with Mary Beth Maziarz, but thought that he went on a bit too long about being a hoarder with his professional organizing guest, Amara Wylie.
I am marginally interested in the Urban Homegoods Swap. Not in actually doing it, but getting ideas from it. A La Mode blog has a post with a number of the projects. They are a great source of inspiration and filled with clever ideas.
From Eye Candy section of the Media Department comes this gorgeous blog post that is a series of wedding photos. Don’t know the bride or the groom; I know the person who made the quilts that covered the hay bales guests sat on during the service. I also like the idea of giving preserves as a wedding favor.
Year of the Quilt!
From the City Quilter (NYC) Newsletter comes this excitement: “AMERICAN MUSEUM OF FOLK ART BIG quilting things are in store for us in what the AMFA is calling the “Year of the Quilt”, starting with the opening on October 5th of an exhibition of 35 quilts which will take up 3 floors at the Museum’s main 53rd Street location. This exhibition runs through April 24, after which “Part 2” will open on May 10. SUPER STARS is a parallel exhibit taking place at the Museum’s Lincoln Square branch that explores the role of stars in quilts. This opens Nov. 16 and runs till Sept 25! So mark your calendars, this is the year to see quilts in New York City!”
If you are in or around or near NYC, get thee to the shows, because I want to hear about them!
Learning
Have you heard of Unclasses.org? No? Me neither until a few days ago. It looks like people can create online classes there. There are a number of sewing classes posted.
Apartment Therapy Color Wheel
I saw this color wheel on Apartment Therapy. You know what? I want a large framed version of it to hang in my workroom. I think it is so cool, especially with the colored pencil like texture. I also really like the huge variety of different colors.
Just Do It!
We hear that catch phrase all the time. Nike might have trademarked it, but it is everywhere. I recently read a blog post by Michael Nobbs who draws. He wrote about microworking and I love his theories on how microworking helps our creativity, especially in our busy lives. Michael Nobbs draws and draws my attention to other artists who use drawing as their medium. He put me on to Nina Johanssen from Sweden, who did a great coffee sketch last year that I love. Michael is right. A litte work all the time goes a long way.
Tupperware Freezer Mates
You can also help your creativity by being organized. I saw these great Freezer Mate storage containers from Tupperware when I was cruising their site. They are great for going to class kits and for organizing small things. I can also see them put to use for small projects you are taking to class, squares or other bits of fabric designated for a certain project or a multitude of thread. Perhaps they would be good for beads? I don’t know since I haven’t actually tried one out. I have a pink Tupperware box from the dark ages that I use for my class kit and it is great, because the lid never falls off. You can purchase them and help the preschool of my friend’s children by using this link. It’s 23½-cup capacity and $49.50 price tag are significant.
Tutorials
Have you see this interesting tote bag? It is called a Bagsket and Foofangel has a tutorial for making it. I first saw it on Linda M. Poole’s FB page, but she didnt’ have the link. I poked around and then someone found it, so I took a look. Linda made it with her Seahorse fabric collection and the bag is really cute.
I put up a page of tutorials that I have written. Check out the AQ tutorials page. It is under the AQ Info page.
Supplies
My iron died. I don’t think it is completely dead, but it was dead enough so I couldn’t
Black & Decker Classic Steam Iron
use it, which meant I couldn’t piece. I bought a new iron – a Black & Decker Classic Steam iron. I had been thinking of buying one and this was the perfect opportunity. It was a little over my normal iron budget ($20 or less), but I went for it.
UGH! I sincerely dislike this iron. There are a lot of good things about it. It has great heft. Wonderful steam. The bad part is that the thing does not glide over the fabric. Of course it doesn’t! The sole plate is not Teflon. UGH! I really didn’t like it, but felt like I was stuck with it until it died. I had already opened it and used it.
Machines are not my forte’. I can operate them, but I usually eschew knowing how they work. One day I was driving down the street and heard a clunk. When I stopped, I looked under the car and there was a piece hanging off of the exhaust system. Not in my plans for the day. I drove to my mechanic with my car making such a loud noise that I couldn’t hear the radio and had to endure the local homeless man, who hangs by the Methodist Church, pointing at me as I drove by (turnabout is fair play, I guess). My mechanic couldn’t fix it, but he wired the piece to the car and sent me to his colleague. I went. They said they could fix it and I should come back in half an hour. I was in a neighborhood full of fast food places, a computer repair shop, a notary/check casher/mortgage broker, a bank and a small Walgreen’s. Off I went to Walgreen’s. It doesn’t take a half an hour to peruse Walgreen’s, so I sloooowwwwllly walked up and down each aisle, carefully looking at each item. Finally, I came to a small housewares section.
Living Solutions Iron
Yes, I needed lightbulbs. Yes I needed an 18 foot extension cord in white and WOOHOO they had two irons. I looked at the two carefully and decided on the less featured filled Living Solutions model. I have been using it for a couple of weeks now and like it. It glides over the fabric, was less than $10, has steam and not auto shutoff. The lack of auto shutoff is a double edged sword. I need to make sure I unplug it EVERY time. It isn’t a GREAT iron, but it does the job.
My Fabric of the Year 2009 project is finally done. DONE!!!
I was pretty sick of it when I quilted it back in April, so it took me awhile to get the facing on it and then the sleeve. Fortunately, the label is part of the back.
This is not the most spectacular photo, but it is better than nothing and, I hope, you can get the idea. I am thinking of hanging it in my office . I can get a better picture if I do that.
I find it really interesting how the colors fall as I press and cut. I do rearrange the diamonds on my design wall, but I generally just grab the next fabric, press and cut. Sometimes, I decide I don’t want to press one color or pattern just yet. They all have to be pressed, so I don’t do very much selective pressing.
I was amazed at this group, because of all the brown and orange that fell together AND it is the month of Hallowe’en.
I am pressing and cutting patching like a mad thing. I am progressing, but not fast enough. I have to keep at it. The edges are on my mind at the moment. I think I will buy Fast2Cut ruler from C&T and the diamond edge ruler from Creative Grids. I haven’t received any answers to my inquiries about whether they will work with the diamond ruler I already have, but have to get prepared to sew this quilt together in one weekend.
This project was, in some respects, all about the fabric and using a whole line of fabric. However, it became more about the piecing as I worked through the rows. It was a pleasant challenge to cut, press, sew, press, trim sew and press. I was able to use the bias to put the rows together so the colors would match. I think it looks nice.
I kept the bias and the softness of the Moda Jelly Roll strips under control with Mary Ellen’s Best Press.
You cannot see the edges because I had to take the picture at an angle. I even stood on my desk and wasn’t tall enough to snap the top straight on.
I want you to see the edges, because I want your opinion on what I should do for the borders.
First, I am only applying a border to two sides. The other two sides have a slightly angular edge and I want to keep that as a design element.
Second, I am not much into chopping off edges, even if that is the piecing pattern. I prefer self bordering my quilts, which finishes out the design from the middle. This is a different kind of quilt, which makes me think self bordering isn’t possible here.
Third, if self bordering is possible, I don’t know that I have the patience.
Fourth, the spiky border, a la Gwen Marston, seems to too spiky for this piece.
Zig Zaggy Edges
In the second photo, you can see the two edges, where the color ends abruptly, that I will border. My first thought is to sew some strips of Kona Snow on them and then add soem color somehow. Fan like elements, perhaps?
