I really like it that he is bold enough to use dark thread. His motifs are large-ish and very loose, which makes the quilts nice and drapey.
Ends n.2 donation quilt detail
He also is doing a nice job with the pebbling.
Ends n.2 donation quilt back
The back looks a lot better quilted!
I am so pleased to be able to collaborate with Tim. He seems pleased about it as well. I do hope he will tell me if he doesn’t want to quilt some of my donation quilts.
Yes, amazingly enough, I finally finished En Provence a week or so ago. I am so pleased with the finished product. I am sad that I will give it away, but it will go to a good home who will love it very well.
One thing I like about this pattern is that the edges are finished. By that I mean my hard sewn units are not cut off as you see in many quilts with weird edges. I like it that my stars have all of their points.
Also, I want to make another one. 😉 I am not sure when, but I do plan to make another one. If I select a color scheme I can start any time and use leaders and enders to get all of the units made. I haven’t done any sewing yet, as I haven’t selected a color scheme. I really like this color scheme, but want to do something different. How would it be if I reversed the darks and lights?
En Provence back
The back turned out to be very funny. Birds and lobsters? What was I thinking? It is definitely a good conversation starter, that is for sure.
I started this on January 10, 2017. You can see all the posts by clicking on the tag. 14ish months isn’t bad, especially when I know I took a long hiatus somewhere in the middle. Also, made most of this quilt using the leaders and enders technique.
DH and I went over to my MIL’s house last night to get the mail and take out the garbage. On my way up the stairs, I saw that one of her flowers had bloomed. Better late than never, I suppose. It was still perfect.
I thought I would use it as my ColorPlay image of the week. Even though I already did a sort of tribute to her, this one seems appropriate as well.
ColorPlay April 13: default
The default palette was actually pretty good this time. I guess the tool couldn’t ignore all of that red-orange.
ColorPlay April 13 n.1
My first original palette was all about the various reds, pinks and red-oranges. I couldn’t resist trying to find as many as possible in that photo.
ColorPlay April 13 n.2
Can I vary the colors? Yes! Can I create a balanced palette that would make a good set of colors for a quilt? Apparently, only if that quilt palette is monochromatic. This time I went with green. I like green in plants, but not so much in fabric. This palette is not a favorite.
ColorPlay April 13 n.3
I decided to create a balanced palette move one circle to each main section of the image. I did come up with a lot of different colors, but am not sure if the palette would make a good group of colors for a quilt. I think not.
ColorPlay April 13 n.4
I made a last effort and actually looked for opportunities to add in some neutrals. This one has both Kona Cinnamon and Kona Crimson. They look the same to me and the latter looks nothing like Crimson.
My mother-in-law died on Sunday. It wasn’t unexpected, but it is nonetheless very, very sad. I feel a huge loss.
I am writing about the Hand Quilt, because I never made another quilt for my mother-in-law. I meant to; I just never did.
The hand quilt is a quilt that my sister-in-law and I made for my parents-in-law (SIL made for her parents) in 1992. We got hand tracings from all of the siblings, spouses and kids. We transferred the handprints to fabric and then machine appliqued the hands to the background. I don’t remember how it got quilted, but it did.
I always wanted to make another one to make sure we got all of the kids, but I never did. I suppose I still could, but I would have to make one for each family and I just don’t think I have that much machine applique’ in me. You never know, though. 😉
I finally got into a rhythm with the Bias rectangles (HRTs- half rectangle triangles) and was really able to make a lot of them, get them trimmed and put blocks together. The sticking point is always hauling fabric out of the fabric closet. If I didn’t want to make these pieces scrappy, it wouldn’t be a problem, but I do like the scrappy look.
My original idea was to make a large quilt with 16 blocks. When I realized that each block was 52 pieces, I decided that I would start with a 4 block quilt and go from there. It isn’t difficult to make the HRTs once I got the hang of it and the blocks really don’t feel like they have 52 pieces. Still, I wanted to finish and the top I made finishes at 39″ x 39″. That is big enough for the NICU. I still have the other 16 patches and will continue to make bias rectangles until I have made 4 quilts like this one. I should be an expert by then!
HRT donation quilt back
The back was also scrappy, of course. I used up some fabric that has been hanging around.
Again, I have been able to make a few of the 16 patch donation blocks for BAM. The HRT donation quilt has taken up a lot of my donation making time, but not all. I want to help the Charity Girls keep their supply of 16 patches fresh.
Red 1930s dot donation block – April 2018
Red dot donation block n.2 – April 2018
Red dot donation block – April 2018
Red donation block – March 2018
I am running out of foreground squares so I will have to get DH to haul out the Accuquilt for me and cut up some scraps before I can make many more. I have the additional HRTs to make, so I am not completely out of the game.
Frankly, I never thought I could make something like this. This is another pattern from the Crafty Gemini Organizer Club. It is one of the bonus patterns. I think it would make a great gift.
I did, though, and while I struggled with some parts, it wasn’t as hard as I thought.
I feel like I am becoming a zipper expert. I can certainly get my zipper foot on and off the machine (screwdriver is involved) with lightening speed. I can now shorten zippers with confidence (remember my fit about the zipper shortening with the Sweet Harmony bag?). I have put in 16 zippers, I think, in the last month. WHEW!
Zip Away Organizer – open
I am trying to think what I can put in this bag.
I reversed the pockets by accident, so the vinyl pocket is on the wrong side. It isn’t so wrong that I felt I had to rip it out, but I will get a zipper pull to help pull the zipper away from the spine.
The fabric for the outside and the inside slip pocket are both from the Cosmo Cricket line. I made the first Stepping Stone quilt out of that fabric. I am out of the typewriter key fabric in black, which is a shame, but I will use another black that works. I used the stripe on the inside, because it works so well in my handbag (purchased, by Pixie Mood). I’ll use it again in other projects in this club.
I thought I had mentioned the Crafty Gemini Organizer Club, but I can’t find a mention of it.
Angela is helping with a bag project on which I am working and she pointed me to the Crafty Gemini Organizer Club. I looked at it, watched the video of the bags the club would be making and thought about it. Finally, I joined. The club’s early bird special came with 2 free bonus projects, but I didn’t do anything until I saw an IG post by Angela and how much she had done! Then I was embarrassed, so I got busy.
Roadtrip Bag – front
The first non-bonus project is the Roadtrip Bag. This one is made to clip onto a later project. I am trying to make the various projects coordinate. I originally thought I would put a rainbow stripe in each one like RockBaby Scissors does on many of her projects. I didn’t do it. I am just going with black, grey and white. I will be using some of the same fabrics for each of the projects.
Roadtrip Bag back
I think this could be used for a small-ish project. It would definitely be a good gift.
I know it is late, but I have been wanting to make some donation blocks for the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild.
As I was rummaging through an old project bin, I found some HSTs that were the right size and decided to repurpose an old Stepping Stones project. I only had a block or two and knew I wasn’t ready to make another Stepping Stones project right at the moment.
Perkiomen Valley Donation Block
Perkiomen Valley Donation Block
Perkiomen Valley Donation Block
Perkiomen Valley Donation Block
Perkiomen Valley Donation Block
Perkiomen Valley Donation Block
Perkiomen Valley Donation Block
Perkiomen Valley Block
These blocks, once the fabric is cut, are very quick to make – simple 9 patch construction. the deadline is approaching so I will send these off very quickly.
As I may have mentioned in one of my QuiltCon posts, I got some charm squares that are to be used for donation blocks for Quilts for Cure. Quilts for Cure is led by HollyAnne Knight and it was a pleasure to meet her. I am always pleased to make donation blocks and this seemed like a good opportunity.
Michael Miller donation blocks
I started worrying about it this past week. I woke up in the middle of the night worrying about these blocks, which is not a good thing. Part of it was the charm squares. We had to make blocks from charm squares. I didn’t know what blocks to make! That is a weird feeling as I always have an idea.. I talked to Friend Julie, who was zooming along with her blocks, then I searched for “blocks with charm squares.” I found a tutorial for a block I could make and was willing to make.
Now I am zooming through these. I have made four, have two in progress and have another stack of charm squares to use.
I am looking forward to crossing another thing off my list!
I am finally going to bring my giant pile of donation blocks to the meeting this week. Here is the latest group for your viewing pleasure.
New Blue Donation Block
Icky Green and Red Donation Block
Blue Artists Donation Block
Pink & Magenta Donation Block
I am so pleased with these blocks. While I think I made more, these are the only ones I can verify. A small, but mighty number! The pile grows exponentially and that is very exciting.
The top is finished and I am on to putting together the back. I don’t think I will make my deadline of having this ready for Big Stitching, but I have made great progress and see the light at the end of the tunnel.
There is much more space and lightness in the piece and the solid areas will provide some good spaces for stitching.
This quilt came to mind the other day when I saw a similar technique on Fons & Porter.
Pam was doing the finishing, as I mentioned, and she was finally able to finish the binding.
It was nice to see it and I am really glad it is finished. I like the look of the stars, though I wonder about my fabric choices.
Also, I wonder if the Folded Corners Ruler I bought would do the same thing? I think it would enable me to put the stars in the sashing, but not add the background border (white in the photo, left). I really need to try that ruler.
Here are more blocks from January. I think my total for January was 25. I would have loved to get to one per day, but 25 is not shabby.
While I did cut a few new fabrics, this group represents blocks made from the last dregs of my donation bin.
After using up all that I could, I got out the Acuquilt and my new 2.5″ die (Christmas gift) and cut a bunch of new squares from scraps on my cutting table. There will be some duplicate blocks, but I am back in the business of making donation blocks.
I am behind a couple of pieces, but found the directions for this one that is due in March for Sue and decided to go for it.
Except for the colors, these were all fabrics and scraps that were laying out. Her idea was to highlight one color or a color group that represented us by neutrals. I thought this was a cool idea. I used the leftover greys from the Triple Star and Planned Improv pieces as well as some blacks for the Black and Red quilt.
There is a little bit of red in one of the prints, which doesn’t quite work with the rules, but it will have to do. I always think a little red in life is good (except during Big Game week).
Color My Quilt piece n.2 for Sue
I wasn’t quite happy with the piece I did, so I made a small one with some primarily white prints instead of just darks. I didn’t feel like mixing the darks and lights so Sue will get a bonus.
