Process – Page 17 – Artquiltmaker Blog

Revisiting Projects: Peacock Blocks

As I said yesterday, I finished the binding and back of the Food Quilt #3 and it is ready to go to the quilter. The top was already finished. I was trying to decide what project to work on next when I realized that I wanted to look at the blocks and projects I had been working. I started putting all of the projects up on the design wall and taking a look at them.

Pulling out a bunch of projects and putting a zillion blocks up on the design wall is a lot of work. I am exaggerating. None of my projects have a zillion blocks, though the Peacock and the Octagon 9 Patch do have a lot.

Peacock - July 2016 — Peacock – July 2016

I could spend all week going through the projects with you until I made a “big reveal” and told you what I would work on, but I think you should know immediately that the Peacock blocks excited me most when I put them up on the wall. I am not sure why. Perhaps my eye is liking the dark colors?

I also realized that this is the first time I have seen these quilt blocks on the design wall.

The above photo shows a pretty raw layout, but not terrible either. I am still in that gradation mode, so I put the darker blocks towards the bottom. I don’t have a lot of the small blocks, so they will make an asymmetrical border.

I only have a couple of solid blocks, which I talked about adding as tests. The lavender definitely doesn’t work in the current location. I kind of like the way the top of the quilt (without the small border blocks) is not straight. That begs the question of what I would put to make the edges straight. I am definitely not making an edge like that.

My other immediate thought upon stepping back was that the gradation was nice, but that blocks needed a bit of space between them. I might be backing off that thought, but I will put some black behind and in between the blocks to see.

This quilt requires more work, so I may quilt one of my projects while I look at it, try things and rearrange.

Finished: Food Quilt #3 Top & Back

There was a Sew-in this past weekend (4th of July in the US) and I spent most of the time working on the finishing aspects of the Food Quilt #3. I finished the binding on Saturday and the back on Sunday. Even though I have other projects on which to work, this felt like a coup.

The piece is about 101″x 86″. Yes, it is huge, which means that I don’t have a full picture of the top or back. The YM was gone, it was cold outside and I don’t have a room large enough to lay out the back or top. The above photo is part of the top with a bit of the back peeking through.

Of course the back is larger. Again, I have shown you only part of it due to the size.

I am pleased that this is done and will see about getting this and FOTY 2015 to the quilter soon.

More on the Heart Bag

Heart Bag with Applique' — Heart Bag with Applique’

Right before we had to leave for the NDGW Grand Parlor, I decided the front of the Heart Bag needed something more. I didn’t have a suitable button which I have put on other versions of this bag. Finally, I decided (perhaps SIL suggested?) to applique’ a heart on to the front. I cut out one of the hearts from the scrap of fabric I had left. I used raw edge applique to sew it on and an Aurifil thread that matched pretty well.

Heart Bag with Applique' detail — Heart Bag with Applique’ detail

I don’t think the placement will be in the way too much and I sewed it very close to the edge to minimize fraying, though there will be some.

I am pleased with how it turned out. I think it breaks up the expanse of red just a bit.

The recipient really liked the bag, which was gratifying.

BAMQG IRR

My Improv Round Robin has returned. Ruth had it for a couple of months because I wasn’t at the meeting last month and she wasn’t sure whether to pass it along.
She added the bottom part with the curves. It is an interesting addition.
I am trying to decide whether to try and get more people to work on it or whether I should just do some work of my own and finish it. I have some thoughts:

It needs some space around the edges. The outside top and right side might need some of the turquoise solid to provide some breathing room.
It is definitely not square and I need to figure out what to do about that, if anything.
I want to add more Flying Geese, which I will do myself. Perhaps I will add them on the right.
I am surprised that more people did continue the Flying Geese motif. The time constraints were daunting, however, so I understand.

I do need to look at it for awhile.

Food Quilt #3: Making Progress

I made a little progress on Food Quilt #3 over last weekend. The center is now done. My next step is to put a thin (not sure how thin) black border around the center and then attach the piano key border to the black border. I have to decide if I want to use a solid back or a white on black. If I use the latter, I want it to have a subtle white design on it.

You may have also noticed that I have broken the bounds of the design wall and the quilt is laying on the floor. Crazy, I know!

Design Wall Monday

I don’t do this type of post every week, but felt like giving you an update this week. I also wonder if you haven’t seen this same Stepping Stones strewn design wall a million times before. I think the last update was in October.

Flying Geese: I haven’t made anymore or received any in awhile. I still have my design and lots of squares cut, so I need to get back to this.

2. Donation blocks. I am saving the red blocks to make a quilt top. I think I have enough, but I haven’t counted. You can see the stash at the bottom of my design wall under #3. I might also be saving the blue blocks to do the same. We’ll see.

3. Newest FOTY 2016 squares.

4. Stepping Stones blocks. I am stuck with these on the wall, because I have half a block done. I need more HSTs to finish it. I don’t want to put them away until I get around to it in case I forget what needs to be done. I also found a stash of Turquoise/Red Stepping Stones blocks, so I might have enough to make something.

5. Blue donation block in progress. I usually put the pieces and parts of blocks in progress near where I can reach them as I use them for leaders and enders.

6. My box of donation 2.5″ patches waiting to become blocks.

I am linking up with Judy Laquidara at the Patchwork Times

Last Peacocks?

I have no idea if this is the last of the blocks. They seem to multiply when I am not looking, so I expect more to turn up.

I do have some pieces left, but they are not in sets for blocks. I had one extra from each block. I think I could match up some of them, but I don’t really know how many will look good enough to include. Thus, I don’t know if I will use them, but we will see.

I made some solid blocks as tests. I don’t know if I will use them in the quilt, but we will see. I’ll have to layout the piece first and see if the solids can fit somewhere.

FOTY 2016: Good News & Bad

I am plowing through fabric so more patches for FOTY 2016 are being cut. In this batch, you will see some from the back of the FOTY 2015 as well as some Ta Dots, which I am cutting into squares to make HSTs using my Triangle Technique. I thought I had all of them cut and then found a few more.

The black and whites plus the couple of browny-neutral fabrics were originally from Cityscapes, but I am doing another quilt in similar colors. Stay tuned for more on that. There are also a couple of random purples in there. Fun to think about projects I have made or am working on when I see these patches.

The BAD NEWS is that I mislaid the box I had been using to store FOTY squares. All the squares you saw last time were in that box. I had to clean up the workroom and I remember putting the box….somewhere. Exactly where is a mystery. It is not gone forever, I know, but I just don’t know where it is. It will turn up. This is what I get for having projects in process everywhere.

Food Quilt #3 Starts & Progresses

Last Monday was the day to start the latest Food Quilt. The YM wasn’t home and DH was doing his NSGW stuff, so I was pretty much left to entertain myself. 😉 It might be the last Food Quilt, but we will see. After making the binding for FOTY 2015, I started sewing the 9 patches I needed to get this quilt started. I made really good progress.

The first one was quickly followed by 6 of them.

I was shocked to get all of them done in one day. I had some leftover parts. Poor counting. I thought I would use them for the back or for another quilt. Then SIL came over to talk about sewing and we discussed the size. The giftee for this quilt is very tall and would not cover him, so eventually, after discussing rearranging the blocks, I decided to make 4 more blocks. I will use the extra parts as a starting point.

Food Quilt #3 - Blocks Cut — Food Quilt #3 – Blocks Cut

After making all the 9 patches, I decided I would see what cutting the blocks up looked like. That is always a fun exercise. I thought I would do one. In a short amount of time, I did them all.

I’d like to do a different layout than the other two. Food Quilt #2 has a kind of zigzaggy look and Food Quilt #1 has a more traditional one block surrounded by sashing and cornerstones look. I am toying with putting the blues together in the middle. I think it looks good. If I do that layout, I’ll have to repress some of the seams. The one thing I am contemplating is whether I want the food fabrics touching. I plan to look online at some layouts for the Disappearing 9 Patch.

I think I will be able to get this done relatively quickly. After I make the extra blocks, the holdup will be the applique’ on the back and I have a good process in my head for making the templates, so it is a matter of sitting down to do it.

FOTY 2015 Top & Back Complete!

That big project I mentioned yesterday? I finished the Fabric of the Year 2015 top, back and binding over the weekend. The first thing I did Saturday morning (after tidying up, writing in my journal, drinking tea, starting the laundry, walking and making breakfast for the family) was get down to business with FOTY 2015. That thing has been on my wall long enough and I wanted to move on.

FOTY 2015 Top - Finished — FOTY 2015 Top – Finished

I finished the top on Thursday or Friday. I basked in that excitement until Saturday before moving on to the back. After the massive ironing session I did on Friday, I had some nice pieces I wanted to use. I decided to make the back with fabrics that I really liked.

I went back and forth about borders. Borders finish the look of the piece and stabilize it, but this quilt wants a binding, but no border, so I stay stitched the edge and will have to hope for the best in terms of squareness. At the moment it is mostly square, but quilting is the wildcard.

Speaking of quilting, I also had it in my head to quilt it myself. I really want some straight line quilting. After convincing myself that quilting it myself would be a good idea, I backtracked. I’ll take it to Colleen. I have 3 other projects to quilt. Adding another is not a good idea.

So, once those tasks and mind games were over, I made the back. Pressing fabrics the night before was a good idea. I found two pieces that I would love as dresses. I don’t have enough so I decided to make a back with fabrics I love.

As you can see, lots of Philip Jacobs, though that purple is by someone else (Patty Slottinger???). I tried to find more of it, but no luck so far. It was a cursory search. I added in the greys just to give the florals space to breathe.

FOTY 2015 - Half the Back — FOTY 2015 – Half the Back

I started to sew to avoid the label for a little while, but after making half the back, I had to deal with the label. That meant testing the printer. Cyan was out (I know gremlins print while I am not home and use up all my ink), so that meant locating some print cartridges and finding the cyan. I had one cyan left (WHEW!). Once the printer chores were complete, I created the label, printed it on paper and then copied on to fabric.

I think labels are vitally important, but making them and sewing them in is a chore. This time the bottom half of the back went very well. Actually the whole back went very well. There was only one spot where I had to insert a small piece. All the other pieces were fairly large, which made process of the back go relatively quickly.

I made the binding on Monday and now the whole package is ready to go to the quilter.

FOTY 2015 Nearing the Finish Line

FOTY 2015 - pre-Grand Parlor Progress — FOTY 2015 – pre-Grand Parlor Progress

I finally got my ducks in a row and got back to piecing/chunking Fabric of the Year 2015. The last time we talked, the piece was in about 9 sections and I was facing some serious partial seaming (left).

After taking the 9k to the repair person (look for a post on that soon), I did a bunch of work and decided to take some time and work on this piece. I could sew a few seams, avoid the partial seaming until the last second and make some progress.

FOTY 2015 - nearing the end — FOTY 2015 – nearing the end

It was great! I have about 2/3ds of the top piece and nobody died. I didn’t have to rip much and the piece looks great!

I was so pleased at how the partial seaming went. It went as planned and looks normal. No puckers or pleats. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. I didn’t learn partial seaming in any class. I watched Eleanor Burns do it on TV and went from there. (I know I have to get the lesson ready for the Sampler class. Have no fear! In the near future, I will make sure you and Frances know what I know.)

Partial Seams - Nice and Flat — Partial Seams – Nice and Flat

FOTY 2015 - Partial Seaming Required — FOTY 2015 – Partial Seaming Required

Of course the hard part of the partial seaming comes next. I can’t sew anymore “large” chunks together because of the blue section, which requires some fancy footwork (or hand as the case may be). I was called away before I could get started and keep looking at the blue section wondering which seam will go next. I think the key will be to just pick a section and go for it. I am also convinced that a bolt of lightning will hit me and I will think, “why didn’t I think of doing that section?”, then the whole last third will come together and I will be finished.

Until the bolt, however, I think the key will be to just pick one and go for it. Ripping might come up, but that won’t kill me.

Food Quilt #3: Cutting

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.

EPP New Sections

I know the last time I talked about this piece was back in February. I have sort of been working on it, though there have been long stretches where I have not worked on it. I got a little fed up because sewing big sections to the big main piece is really a pain and I didn’t want to do it. It made me think twice about La Passacaglia, but that is a tale for another day.

Finally, I put a new section on and it is looking good. A little boring and staid, but good.

I am going to try to put one or two stars on the main piece instead of larger secondary pieces. It means more handling of the large piece, but perhaps the duration of dealing with the main section will be less.

FOTY 2015 – Still Chunking

FOTY 2015 - big chunks — FOTY 2015 – big chunks

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.

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 #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.

May To Do List

2016 To Do List
I haven’t felt motivated enough to get busy on one of these projects, but I feel the urge.

A la Pam, and thanks to Pam, I have been keeping track of my fabric usage. My goal is not to get rid of my stash, though I do want to use my stash, which means I am not telling you my Net totals. To date I have used almost 60 yards of fabric, 22% of which is for charity. I am really thrilled to have used that much and I can’t wait to see what my totals are for next month. I don’t know how many finishes I will have by then, but it is exciting to see progress.

Wash fabric AKA The Great Unwashed-I washed a few more loads in the past month.
Cut out 3 notepad covers for gifts
Finish cutting out Day in the Park backpack variation
Sew 3rd Petrillo Bag
Sew Bon Appetit apron
Cut out Art supplies pincushion
Sew Art supplies pincushion
Sew purple pincushion
Quilt Thanksgiving tablerunner #2
Quilt Thanksgiving tablerunner #3
Quilt Thanksgiving table mat
Create Partial Seam tutorial
*Make Chubby Charmer for SIL

*New since last post

Finished since December 2015 post

Pull fabrics for QuiltCon class
Quilt Thanksgiving tablerunner #1
Cut out Anna Maria Horner Multi-tasker tote
Cut out Art supplies Sew Together Bag
Finish cutting out 3rd Petrillo bag
Cut out Thanksgiving tablerunner #1
Cut out Thanksgiving tablerunner #2
Cut out Thanksgiving tablerunner #3
Cut out Thanksgiving table mat
ATCs for CQFA December meeting
Finish sewing Anna Maria Horner Multi-tasker tote -this was a gift I intended to give during Holiday 2013- sigh. Missed 2014 Holiday deadline as well. I made it for birthday 2016 and it was a successful gift.
Sew Art supplies Sew Together Bag
Cut out Purple Sew Together Bag
Sew Purple Sew Together Bag
Bind Thanksgiving tablerunner #1
Make binding for Flowerburst
Quilt Christmas table runner

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