Yes, I am making another Food Quilt. I kind of like the food prints and Disappearing 9 Patch is a good way to use them. Food quilts are also good for boys as I have probably said 1,000 times before. I should revise it to “I can make a boy quilt quickly without much thinking.
I had a lot of food fabric left, so it really was a no brainer. I had thought to have it done by now, but I kept avoiding the cutting.
I took my machine in for service before I left for Grand Parlor and wasn’t expecting it to be back until Monday or Tuesday so I planned to accomplish a lot of cutting tasks. One of those was the blue fabrics for the center of the 9 patches for this quilt.
Yay! Got that done.
In the process of cutting the blues, I realized that I had either lost the blacks that will be in the center outside positions in each block or hadn’t cut them. I cut those pieces as well and am now ready to piece. I might need to cut some more pieces for the piano key border. Regardless, leaders and enders, here I come.
I made some progress on getting FOTY 2015 sewn together.
I have big chunks, so ~6 seams and I am done.
Sort of.
I have some problem areas that need partial seams or something. I haven’t quite figured it out yet. Partial seams is the best I can do now, but how is the challenge.
Light area problem child
Problem area #1
I think you will have to enlarge the photo (there still may be a problem with enlarging the photos. Sorry, if that is the case; I am working on it) to see that yellow that lines up nicely with the top chunk.
It doesn’t line up with the bottom chunk.
Blue area problem child
Blue Area Problem child #2
This area is a little more difficult. There are more pieces that are problematic and there are more of them.
None of this is mission critical. I will get through it and it won’t be a huge drama. It feels dramatic at this moment. Tomorrow is a new day and things will look different.
I blew through the layout stage and am on to piecing.
Well, relatively anyway.
I gave myself a certain amount of time to do the layout. The time period was about two weeks and during that time, I didn’t take my cutting table or other in-process projects out of the fabric closet. I only allowed myself to work on other projects as leaders and enders and focused on getting this laid out.
This year’s piece was harder to arrange, because the fabrics I used were really different colors than each other. I am not sure why, because individually they don’t look different. The differences in each hue don’t really show up until you put two oranges or pinks next to each other and try and decide which has a lighter and which has a darker value. It is very strange. If I had thought of it I would have kept track of manufacturers and designers to see if I bought different ones this year than last year. I didn’t know that this would happen. It would have also meant that I would have had to keep track last year as well. More data would be needed.
The too-small design wall was a real problem this year, I think. I did not cut the patches down to accommodate the design wall as I did last year. I just crammed them all on the wall. That means that I found some places where I was short. You can see some white spaces on the bottom (near right hand corner). This problem showed up when some of the fabric was taken up by seam allowances and I was able to line patches up more evenly. I have to rummage through my leftover pieces and find some to fill in.
Most of the piece has been sewn into chunks. The chunks are not even because I had some rectangles arranged horizontally and some arranged vertically. With the squares it made for interesting piecing.
The difficulty was what it was and I got the feeling that it was done at some point and started sewing. I talked a little about the sewing when I posted about the Peacock. It is all about leaders and enders, because I only want two unsewn patches off the wall at a time to ensure the piece stays laid out the way I intended.
I know I just posted a few days ago and for you looking at a computer screen the changes to the piece are hard to see. I promise not to give you a patch by patch update.
FOTY 2015 – 4-17-2016
Now is the time where the changes are very subtle and looking for changes in the shape of the areas of color are the best way to See the evolution. I worked quite a bit more on the red and pink areas. “Working on an area” means getting the darkest or lightest fabrics together and blending the mediums into a smooth transition between the two. Mostly it means deciding where a piece goes. As I have said that is not always easy and in this case, I am struggling with some of the off colors in each area with no way to smooth the transitions. Green is a particular problem for me this time around. Green, never a favorite, has a bunch of grey greens included this time and they don’t seem to fit in either grey or green.
That is the way of it, though, and at some point, I have to stop and say enough is a enough.
I found a picture of the last batch of FOTY 2015 patches. Even though I have already started and made progress on laying out the whole piece, I had to post these.
You can see the Sugar & Spice Donation quilt as well as the Half Moon Modern Chubby Charmer in these patches. That is one thing I love about this project: I can go back and see my work for the year in each Fabric of the Year quilt.
I achieved my goal of getting all of the patches onto the wall last Sunday. I was also able to start rearranging the patches into their final positions. To be honest I have about 5 patches that will not make it on to the front of the quilt. They will have to go on the back. Normally, I wouldn’t do that, and I don’t really like it, but I would have to cut about 22 additional patches in order to fit them into the quilt. I think putting 5 on the back is the lesser of two challenges. Also, the process is evolving and I am thinking of this as evolution.
As per usual, there are patches that are not in the right place. Moving the left side around gave me the advantage of putting that section into better, not perfect, but better, shape than it would be normally.
If you have ever tried to blend (gradate? Colorwash?) commercial fabrics into each, you will know it is not an easy task. It is a struggle and I am at the point where I wonder why I do it. Still, I see the value and will continue on.
In every version of the Fabric of the Year concept, there are problem fabrics. Every year I have crammed them into some place, usually a place that didn’t quite work. This year might be different.
FOTY 2015 – Problem Children
The problem children this year have varying degrees of problems. all of them should get into the quilt, to be faithful to my rulers. Some of them will get in to the quilt, perhaps all. I am not making myself any crazier than I already am this year.
You might look at these fabrics and think I am a wimp. In some cases, I might be. The Philip Jacobs print (2d row, 2d from right) will probably fit nicely between the reds and pinks. The pinky red next to it should, too, but it is just off enough to have no compatriots in either pink or red.
The top row’s fabrics are the real demons. What color is that gold (top row, 2d from right)? Yes it is gold, but is it more brown than yellow? ERGH!
The big prints and modern prints like the Cotton & Steel Viewmaster fabric are real problems. They do not lend themselves to being blended in with any other fabrics. I constantly move them from white to color and back.
I will put as many of them on the front as I can, but the rest will go on the back. I just cannot make myself crazy.
I worked a lot on the piece over the weekend as well as on and off during the week. these blog posts are a little behind my actual process, so you can follow me on Instagram (check the sidebar) for more up to the minute news.
Even though I was on the fence about this year’s edition, I am enjoying the process. This is the ultimate in scrap quilts, even if the scraps were cut from yardage specifically for the process. Perhaps, more accurately, it is the ultimate in charm quilts.
FOTY 2015 – First Pass
I thought my first pass was really good, but as I walked around and past the design wall, I realized that the transition from dark to orange wasn’t working. I looked at FOTY 2013 and saw that I had transitioned from dark to red. That meant moving all of the pieces on the left side and reversing their positions.
Sigh.
I am trying to enjoy the process, a constant battle because the next project is always newer, fresher, more fun. Moving a few hundred pieces was not my idea of a fun day. That dreaded “it will be fine” phrase popped into my head and I knew I had to just start taking pieces off and repositioning them.
FOTY 2015 – Off and Back On
This exercise actually turned out to be a good one. I was able to restack the color groups and think about them again. I looked at the pieces in each color group in relation to each patch. I used it as a way to further refine the layout while the patches were off the wall.
FOTY 2015 – After the Swap
I think this was valuable, as the left side looks a lot better, not only because the red is at the bottom and lighter colors more towards the top, but because the placement of patches within each color family is better.
My next goal is to get all the patches on the wall.
I posted a beginning layout photo to Instagram and one reader (is that the right word for Instagrammers who follow your feed?) asked if I knew it was 2016. I politely explained that I was working with the patches from last year and hadn’t quite started 2016’s version yet. Unlike you, dear reader, s/he does not read the blog and doesn’t know how this project works. ?
I have to admit that I almost gave up on putting this one together. I just felt like I didn’t have it in me, which is why it is April and I am just laying out the pieces now.
There are a few reasons. My design wall is the primary one. It is too small and I have just complained about it in my IRL circles rather than doing anything about it. I AM going to do something about it soon. I have a plan and having a plan means that I can execute that plan.
Next reason is that the project is feeling a bit stale. I don’t think it really is, but it feels that way to me. Part of that feeling probably came from having three of the quilts rejected from QuiltCon. I keep telling myself that clearly the people who did not jury in my quilts cannot appreciate the work that goes into them.
Third, I have a lot of projects on my plate and that I want to make. Doing one that is similar to the seven others I have made seems futile.
However, it is an excellent mind puzzle and color exercise, so I am back in the saddle and I have given myself until April 26 to get the piece laid out.
Sorted color piles
The first step is to sort all the pieces into general color piles: all the blues together, all the reds, etc. Normally I have several plastic boxes with patches, but this year, I used a large Recchiuti box and all were in one place. This step gives me an idea of how many patches in each color I have to work with.
The first challenge is to get all the pieces on the design wall. I can do some basic laying out before all of them are on the wall, but I can’t refine the placement without seeing the whole piece.
Starting the layout
As of this writing, the patches are not all on the design wall. Since time is ticking, I need to work on getting that particular step done. It starts with putting a few patches in one color up and then the next. Making them all fit on this subpar design wall is the key. I am determined not to trim them all this year, like I did last year, even if I have to layer the pieces more than I would usually.
FOTY 2015 – First Pass
When I finished a good chunk of the layout, the above photo shows my first pass.
My Chubby Charmers (I have two) are full, thus I decided to make another one. That makes sense, right?
Half Moon Modern Chubby Charmer layout
I started it last week and worked on it a bit this week. I hope to finish it today.
I used a Half Moon Modern charm pack I have had for awhile. I decided that this would be a good use of fabric I have been trying to find a way to use for awhile. This was a good use of the fabric, because it made me delve into my group of Half Moon Modern fabrics. I didn’t have as much as I thought and I had a lot of the same prints.
Half Moon Modern Chubby Charmer parts
The charm pack had most, if not all of the prints and they were fun to work with. I used the yardage liberally and I am pleased with how it is working out so far.
Someone asked in a comment how I select patterns for a donation quilt. This is an interesting question and I am so glad the commentor asked. I never thought of the topic and it is a great one!
The biggest issue to consider for me is what kind of sewing I want to do. I have to judge my mood and my interest level. After that there are a couple of things I think about when selecting a pattern.
First, I have some go-to patterns. I use these patterns over and over. At least I am still using them. Even though I have made several tops using the patterns, I am still interested. One is a 16 patch, which is a basic, easy block that the guild always encourages.
Charity blocks – April 2016
FOTY-made Donation Blocks
Black & Grey Donation Top Complete
Multi-color Donation Quilt- April
Cheryl’s Donation Quilt
Orange & Grey donation quilt
Donation Blocks – June 2014
Pink Donation Quilt
Yellow & Pink Donation Top
Pink & Green Donation top
4 Pink & Green Donation blocks
Pink Donation Top #2
Yellow Donation Top – no borders
Blue Donation Quilt
February Donation Blocks
Good Fortune Donation block
Donation Blocks – My Scraps
Purple Donation block
Scrappy B&W Donation Block
This is a good pattern for all levels of quiltmakers and can be made from pre-cuts. You need 8- 2.5″ foreground squares and 8-2.5″ background squares to make the block. 16 blocks with no sashing make the quilt size we donate to the NICU at Stanford. It works very well with the leaders and enders technique.
There is also a lot of opportunity for creativity and variety. The photos above show quilt tops as well as blocks. There are a couple from the guild that I did not make. Sometimes I have a lot of fabric in the same colors (just finished a quilt), so I’ll cut up the leftovers into a usable size and make a set of blocks in those colors and put it together into a donation top.
I also will just pick random squares in a variety of colors and put them together into a block. I always want to be working on a leaders and enders project as it makes my productivity so much more.
I am also cutting 1-2 2.5″ squares from each fabric I was and press so I have a variety of squares to use as donation block leaders and enders all the time.
These blocks can be set together in a variety of ways as well: sashing, no sashing, on point, straight set, etc. If I make scrappy blocks, I sometimes have a hard time finding a suitable sashing color, so I might use scrappy sashing.
Sometimes I add borders, sometimes I don’t. I don’t think I have begun to explore all the possibilities for setting the 16 patch blocks.
Flower Sugar Donation Top
Orange Donation Top
Pink T Donation Quilt
Green T Donation Quilt
Second, the T Quilt Pattern is another go to pattern that I keep returning to. Peggy, one of the Charity Girls gave us this pattern at a Charity Sew Day. It is easy and it makes a good break from the 16 patches. Again there are quite a few options for variety that can be employed with this pattern. I do think the T design discourages sashing (what would be the point?), but scrappiness works very well.
Cutting Corners Donation Top
Third, as with the Cutting Corners Ruler, trying something new is a good opportunity to make a smaller piece until I feel comfortable or know I want to commit to a larger piece. The Cutting Corners donation top is one of those tops. I wanted to try out the ruler and making a donation top was a good option.
Fourth, very occasionally I will have orphan blocks. If they don’t get used for journal covers, they are donated to the Charity Girls to make into donation quilts or I will make them into donation tops. Most often, I just want them out of my hair.
Black & Grey Donation Top Complete
Fifth, rote sewing. Sometimes I need a project that allows my mind to wander into non-quilt territory. The Black & Grey Teenaged Boy Donation quilt was a good example of just sewing something that required few decisions.
BAMQG Mystery Quilt
Sixth, tops or blocks sometimes don’t quite work out. I don’t mean they are ugly or unusable. I meant that they didn’t work out for *ME* for some reason. These pieces can be any fabric, any pattern, any design, any layout. Anything. As I said in the blog post, I like the fabrics in the quilt above. I also like the pattern, but together they didn’t work for me.
Seventh, fabric that didn’t work out. A lot of times I will use fabric to make a donation quilt that I don’t want to use for my own quilts. This doesn’t mean it is crappy or fabric. It might mean that it isn’t my style anymore or the color is just off enough to make it not fit with other fabric choices. It could also mean that I bought a lot of it, because I loved it, used it a lot and suddenly didn’t love it anymore.
Star Donation Quilt
Eighth, periodically the Charity girls will come up with a block of the quarter (or of the month). For a time they will collect blocks in that design and then the group will make a series of quilts in that design. The Star donation top (above) is a great example. I put the blocks together and made the back. I didn’t make the blocks. Although, it has been awhile, I am still inspired to make more of these blocks and put them together in another quilt.
Ninth, too many scraps is a good reason to make donation blocks. They can be mosaic pieced like the journal covers, trimmed to size and then put together in an appropriate size and layout. They can be made into Sawtooth Star blocks or other blocks with a large center. The microscopic scraps I use for journal covers would take too long to sew together into blocks.This works better for donation tops with larger scraps.
I also cut larger or smaller squares into usable sizes and shapes, depending on what I have, and make a top from those. If I use smaller sized pieces, such as a 2″ square, I try make a whole top or enough blocks for someone else to make into a whole top. I try not to leave the Charity Girls in the lurch by making just one block, though I have known Peggy to run with one block and come up with a great top.
Also, if one of my scrap bins (I sort them by color) is overflowing I will cut a bunch of squares or other shape and make some blocks or a top.
Stars & Stripes blocks
Tenth, sometimes I will start a project with great enthusiasm. This often happens with class projects. At some point (too late to abandon) I will lose interest or realize I don’t like the results. It is a good opportunity to turn it into a donation quilt.
It could be that the fabrics are just fine and the technique makes me cringe. The above Stars & Stripes blocks were made using paper piecing. Not my favorite.
I was kind of surprised at the different ways I choose patterns to make donation quilts.
I do my best to use patterns I like and try very hard not to make ugly donation quilts. The beneficiaries of these quilts don’t care about matching points or perfect layouts. I am sure they are looking at the pretty fabrics and softness of the object they have been given. Everyone deserves some beauty in their life.
I know I keep saying that this project is nearing the end of the cutting, but it really is.
I like this batch. There are some really great fabrics in this batch. I cut them during Darla’s March-a-long on a few afternoons when I only had a few minutes.
Darla, of the Scientific Quilter, is hosting the #March-a-long event. The short version is that you do something quilty for 15 minutes per day. I failed last week, but was doing pretty well especially since I have a lot of ironing of fabric to do. After ironing comes cutting and that means more FOTY fabrics. Yes, I should starting putting FOTY 2015 together. I haven’t quite gotten to it, but soon.
FOTY 2015 Mid-March 2016
I have cut a number of patches for the quilt and it is interesting to see the themes that crop up in my patches.
That purple on the bottom looks a lot better cut into smaller pieces. I pulled it out to cut and wondered what I was thinking when I bought it. Good thing I have no problem cutting up fabric.
