Other Artists – Artquiltmaker Blog

Thanksgiving Embroidery

Because our family is growing, I thought I might need more Thanksgiving napkins for Thanksgiving. I bought some new embroidery designs for my SIL, though I think they were too big.

The turkey on the platter is, I think, a test embroidery. I am pretty sure we didn’t use that one before. I didn’t buy white napkins either. I think the design is amusing now.

Fortunately, I didn’t need them in November, so this project could be shoved off until her Christmas projects were done. I went over during Craft Night the other night and started work.

SIL #2 sat me down in front of her computer and I selected colors for some of the designs. She is pretty well organized and had recorded the thread colors. I was able to select from that group so the napkins will all, pretty much, match.

She always has to reduce the number of colors, because she doesn’t like to switch threads once the machine has started. I think her machine can handle 6 threads at a time. I always forget to look at the number of colors and inevitably buy a design with 25 colors!

I really like that pumpkin motif and I worked to make it really pretty. I think it looks great on the blue napkin.

I started changing colors so they didn’t have the issues that bugged me. There were some black threads that looked too dark to me. It may be that the shading was removed, because of the limited colors. Regardless, I am thinking about greys and, maybe, even some browns to soften up the hard blacks.

On the mauve (dusty rose??) napkin, the blue really shows up. I used that blue thread, which I really like, only on this one. It would have been lost on the blue.

Choosing embroidery threads is hard work. I’ll go back when we have Craft Night again and choose some more.

BAM Swap Gift

I was so pleased to receive a really nice swap gift from Sue G!

Not only did she sew some scrap bins/thread holders, but she gave me some of my favorite Art Gallery fabric as well. All of it came wrapped in this bag filled with festive tissue paper.

On the form we had to fill out, Isaid my colors were turquoise and red. Sue knows that I like my red to be more towards the pink than the orange and she did a great job choosing fabric.

The large thread catcher, or soft bin, isn’t huge, but everything else fit inside. In the bin is another bin and four half yards of fabric. I didn’t realize there was another bin inside when I opened it, so was very surprised when I opened it.

The small bin will go very well on my ironing board. Normally, I just pile up threads as I iron fabric until the wad gets to big or falls on the floor. I think the small bin will look much nicer.

I haven’t quite decided how I will use the larger bin. The mini-charms falling out of the 1 hour basket in the fabric closet might fit – or some of them might.

Thanks, Sue!!

Mom’s Octopus Quilt

My mom made a baby quilt for our new family baby.This is the same baby for whom I made the Diagonal 9 Patch. The baby, born in October, received at least 4 quilts. That’s what you get when you have aunts who sew.

It is an adorable panel she bought while we were visiting Portland last time. She actually bought it at Just for Fun in Vancouver, WA. For those of you who haven’t been to that area, Vancouver is just over the river from Portland. It’s an easy drive. Just for Fun had a lot of panels.

Mom's Octopus Quilt (back) — Mom’s Octopus Quilt (back)

Mom quilt this quilt herself on her Featherweight during Craft Night. She bought the binding when we were together, too, and I really like it.

Tim’s Newest Quilt

Tim brought his newest quilt to Sew Day. I really like his work. Even though I wouldn’t use these colors, I think the whole piece is really appealing and attractive. I especially like the checkerboards.

I thought he was making this quilt for himself, but he is giving it to one of his nieces.

Gerre’s EPP

Gerre and I finally arranged a sewing day, which consists a lot of talking and eating with a little sewing thrown in. I worked on cutting out pouches for upcoming holidays and birthdays. I decided to make some small Moto Pouches, from Sew Sweetness Minikins Season 1, for the nieces as well as a large Hackney pouch Minikins Season 3.

Gerre worked on her Harmony & Light Quilt-a-long quilt. She bought the fabric bundle and her quilt is coming a long very nicely.

Gerre's EPP project — Gerre’s EPP project

One of the things we talked about was her needing some handwork for some upcoming recovery time on the couch. I asked her if she had any UFOs. She does some hand quilting and I was thinking of big stitch. Instead she talked about an EPP project on which she was stalled. It was made with Malka Dubrowsky fabric. She brought it out and I was gobsmacked by the amazing design, the beautiful colors, her amazing stitching and how far along she was. Those hexies are 3/4 inch!

Gerre's EPP project- detail — Gerre’s EPP project- detail

She said she got stalled at some point and put it away. I gushed about it, because I really like it and we talked about design. After I was done gushing, we talked about what she needed to do to finish it. She needs to make a center and finish the edges.

She said I gave her the All Points Patchwork book. She brought it out and we looked through to see if we could get some ideas for finishing the edges. In looking through it we found a hexie design that would be perfect for the center. We discussed different ways of finishing the quilt, like adding pieces to make the edges straight, cutting off the edges and appliqueing the edges to another piece of fabric.

I got really excited about this project and she did, too. It will give her something to work on and she will get a UFO completed. I can’t wait to see it finished.

The Pantone Project

Friend Julie and I started a project together. This isn’t the first project we have worked on together. We have worked on Bullseye quilt projects together, the Windmill quilts and Julie’s Tumbler quilts. I enjoy working on projects with her.

This project started with me asking for the Pantone Postcard Box for a gift. Friend Julie got it for me, then we started talking about doing something quilty with it.

We threw ideas back and forth, but recently we got together for lunch and laid out our guidelines. It was a lot easier to make the list when we were together, though I suppose we could have done it on the phone as well.

We decided we would use the units Doreen Speckmann recommends in her Pattern Play book. I LOVED Doreen Speckmann’s classes. I have had the book for a long time, but Friend Julie bought it recently. It is a technique book, though there are a few patterns. Doreen shows readers how to make and use different units to make quilts look more personalized. These were the types of books that were written in the past whereas now people just write books that tell you how to make a certain quilt with certain fabric. I don’t see that I have written a book review on this book, but it might be time.

That being said, this is a block based book and, thus The Pantone Project will be a block based quilt.

“Supplies” Needed:

- A friend
- Pattern Play book by Doreen Speckmann
- Pantone Postcard Box
- postcard stamps
- Fabric, Sewing machine and regular Sewing supplies (BSK)

Decisions to Make:

- Size of units (blocks)
- Type of units to make
- Timeframe for making the project
- Timeframe for sending postcards

Every week or so we send each other a postcard. The interval is pretty random, but we aren’t letting months go by. I was on a trip recently and didn’t send any that week, but sent one as soon as I got back.

The postcards have a certain Pantone color. From the color we will choose a solid, tone-on-tone or ‘reads as solid’ fabric to use for the block.

Blossom by Christopher Thompson for Riley Blake

We decided to use the same background and bought some together the other day. We bought a cool grey called Blossom by Riley Blake. Christopher Thompson is the designer. I don’t know why it is called Blossom since there is not one blossom-y color on it. Some of the other fabrics in the line are more blossom-like. Anyway, this is a really good grey, which is now washed and waiting to be incorporated into blocks. You can see more of the design of the fabric on Julie’s blog.

Our units will be 4 inches finished (4.5 inches unfinished).

We will make two blocks, plus cut two squares and send one block and one square to the other person. At the moment, I am behind and won’t be able to get started until later this week or next week. Julie has a nice picture of the postcards I have sent on her blog. She also made one block already. I need to get busy, and will soon.

I hope you find a friend and play along.

Resources:

- Pattern Play book by Doreen Speckmann
- Pantone Postcard Box
- postcard stamps
- Pantone Project Begun post
- First Six PP Blocks post

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Purple & Gold Donation Quilt

I took some time to choose fabric for my Mom’s piece and was able to finish on Saturday. It is ready to hand in for quilting.

The batik is not an obvious choice, but I think it works. I chose it because of the bits of gold included in the surface. I also didn’t want an exact match to any of the other fabrics because they would blend into the border.

That particular batik, and its sister on the back, have been hanging around my fabric closet for a long time. It was time to use them up.

I don’t get a lot of fabric usage bang for my work, because the main part of the quilt was Mom’s fabric and work. Still, every little bit helps and the point is to make something beautiful so someone knows I (or someone) cares.

Amy’s Rainbow

Rainbow Strips - Amy — Rainbow Strips – Amy

Remember when I talked about Sew Day? I mentioned a future donation quilt (no progress yet). I talked about some Sew Day Improv I worked on with Tim and Mary to create a quilt that would keep someone warm and comfy. I also talked about basting La Pass Month 10. What I didn’t talk about -yet- was Amy’s amazing rainbow quilt.

The first thing I saw was the line of strip stacks laid out on two long tables.

Rainbow - first draft — Rainbow – first draft

As the day progressed, I began to see the piece take shape. Amy struggled with not having a complete set of colors/shades/tones to make a smooth transition between colors. She was determined to make it work. I could sympathize after working with the various Fabric of the Year quilts. Unlike painting, generally we work with certain fabric prints and can’t alter them (yes, I know there is fabric painting and dyeing, but you know what I mean) like painters can on the fly.

Amy's Rainbow - 2d draft — Amy’s Rainbow – 2d draft

The piece progressed well, I think. There was a lot of moving around of strips and a lot of people got involved.

Amy wasn’t super picky that everything flowed into one another. I think the rest of us were more invested in the outcome than she was.

Amy is cleaning out her workroom and I think this was a set of Allison Glass strips she wanted to use. I didn’t hear what her plans were for the final piece.

Amy's Rainbow - near final — Amy’s Rainbow – near final

I did not get a picture of the final piece. This is close, though, to the final layout.

Maria helped Amy sew, so the piece could get finished by the end of Sew Day.

The piece is cheerful, regardless.

Rainbow Pincushion Project

I started this Rainbow pincushion after receiving the pieces and parts as part of the Happy Box from Sew Hungry Hippie.

The Happy Box is a subscription box, but not a fabric and projects subscription box exclusively. I received my first one towards the beginning of the month and really enjoyed the contents.

One of the things it included was a kit for this rainbow pincushion. The top was foundation paper pieced, which gave me the opportunity to try the Quilter’s Select FPP paper in a small way.

All of the pieces were cut and ready to sew, so I just started making it. I don’t really need another pincushion, but WTH? It is cheerful looking.

Door Prize Gift

I received a small shipment of various items for the BAM 2022 door prize bags. Sue chose the In Color Order Drawstring bag pattern I have mentioned a few times and made some bags. We can use them for the door prize main bag or for holding smaller items.

I love the way Sue pieced some of the bags and also her fussy cutting. She said she will work on other projects for the door prizes in January.

I have to get myself together to organize the bags for the year. At the moment I have very few items to give away, but I can scrape together a bag for January. Then I’ll have plenty of time to worry about the rest of 2022.

Swap Gift

I totally forgot to post about the wonderful swap gift I got from Joelle at the BAM party the other day. This pouch looks like the Persimmon Dumpling pouch from Sew Sweetness, but it is actually the Dome pattern from Minkee Kim.I suppose there are only so many pouch shapes in the world.

Swap pouch from Joelle - interior — Swap pouch from Joelle – interior

Joelle described the construction and it seems a little different from the Persimmon Dumpling Pouches I made. This pouch has little shield in the bottom to keep things from falling out, I guess, which is clever.

Joelle said she didn’t like the way the zipper was put in. The technique leaves part of the zipper exposed. I can see what she means, but Joelle did a great job being precise about inserting the zipper so it looks nice and even.