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.
Design Wall 6/13/2016
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
First Food Quilt 9 Patch6 Food Quilt 9 Patches
The first one was quickly followed by 6 of them.
Food Quilt #3- 9 Patches
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
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.
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
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.
FOTY 2015 Back
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
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.
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
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.)
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.
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 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.
EPP April 2016
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.
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.
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
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.
In my last post on this topic, I was feeling as though I was on the verge of finishing several projects. I have two large quilt projects well in hand, but nothing else, really. I guess that means I am still on the verge or was mistaken or could have been experiencing a bout of wishful thinking.
Finished 2016 Quilt Projects
Cityscape/Red & Black Improv Quilt – I still have to put the sleeve on, but the binding is on, so it is ready to go.
Flower Sugar donation quilt (I feel odd putting this finish here as there is so much I didn’t do on this piece – still there isn’t anywhere else to put it)
In Process
The ‘In Process’ is used to denote projects on which I am actively working or pretending to stitch.
Carpenter’s Wheel blocks – I finished all of them and am working on the layout.
English Paper Piecing Project– half hexies – I finished adding another big section. I am excited about the La Passcaglia EPP project, so I may finish this up as….something and then move on. We’ll see. I had thought about this as my NSGW project and I may need to see that through.
Food Quilt #3 – food patches are cut. I went to start sewing and realized I didn’t have the center squares cut, so I have started to cut those. I haven’t made much progress, though I have purchased a few and may get busy as this would be a good quilt on which to make progress during the sewing of the FOTY 2015 patches.
Lobster – have more stitching to do and then I need to quilt it.
Octagon 9 Patch: ready to put together. Not sure what I am waiting for
Peacock Quilt – all of the large blocks are finished and I am working on the smaller blocks!
Pies and Points from Victoria Findlay Wolfe class. No further piecing progress, but I did buy more background fabric.
Stepping Stones #2 – I worked on this for awhile. I used the project as leaders and enders while I was sewing FOTY 2015. I need to measure the blocks I have and figure out where to go from here.
Still WIPs
I still have WIPs. Who doesn’t, after all? A project in the ‘UFO’ category means I am stalled. A nicer way of saying UFO, to me, is a WIP. The list is a lot shorter and the projects are newer, for the most part.
Aqua-Red Sampler – I still have to work on the partial seaming tutorial.
The Tarts Come to Tea: I still haven’t worked on this since April 2011, though, it is in a prominent location so I have easy access. I was thinking about how this was veering in the direction of being one of my ‘masterpieces,’ but now that it has languished for so long it just looks old and dated.
Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together. I still haven’t worked on this project either, but I do think about it.
Self Portrait: started in 2006 at a class at Quilting Adventures in Richmond, Virginia. My career counselor breathed new life into this project for me. She asked a simple question and the end result was inspiration for this piece, but I kind of lost steam again after printing images on paper to try out different designs. Lately, I have stopped feeling like I need to finish this piece. I am not ready to give up on it yet. I think it really needs major surgery.
Under the Sea: class project; like the design, but not the colors. Still a possibility for abandonment. Just can’t seem to pull the trigger.
City Sampler/ Tale of Two Cities blocks. No progress despite the small group at BAMQG.
Spin Wheel: really not started, but supplies gathered. I probably have enough fabrics and just need to decide to start.
Stepping Stones #3 using the Macaron pre-cuts from Hoffman. I have all the fabric in pre-cuts and am just waiting for space in my schedule.
Windmill quilt: Still hunting and gathering. I am supposed to be cutting a variety of greys for the background. The problem is that I mislaid the rotary template. Sigh. I may be able to cut the background greys on a Sizzix.
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.
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 got two new-to-me round robins last Friday. I didn’t have enough design wall space, so I took them out and looked at them. Different elements caught my attention – the squares in Annemarie’s and the applique’ on Michelle-Nicholle’s.
My addition to Annemarie’s piece – detail
I started with Annemarie’s after I finished the Cutting Corners donation top. I decided to add the other corner to the top left. My corner has the same look at the corner on the right side. I wanted the elements to be related, but not to be derivative. I wanted to use more of the Alison Glass fabric, but there wasn’t any left in the packet.
I looked at it after I had finished the squares. They looked too square. I had to make up some space (see the bottom strips where the blueberry fabric is?), so I added some strips and kept adding until my addition was large enough to fill the space. The strips look more improv than the squares. I can’t blame my hand for the cutting as it is much better. Habit, I guess.
Michelle-Nicholle’s Improv piece -before
Michelle-Nicholle’s was harder, mostly because it had the structure of a very traditional round robin. All the pieces in the round robin are getting quite large and Michelle-Nicholle’s is no exception. It is also, I think, the largest piece on which I have worked. There were also only a few motifs I could use as inspiration, none of which were very exciting to me. More applique’ would have been logical, but I just wasn’t in the mood. It was very difficult to think of an addition. I reached back to my early days of quiltmaking when I learned to do improv curved piecing. I added some of that. It is a simple addition, but effective, I think. I may add something else as my addition does seem like much, nor does it help the next person as a jumping off point.
Michelle-Nicholle’s IRR after -detailMichelle-Nicholle’s IRR after
Wash fabric AKA The Great Unwashed-I washed a few more loads in the past month. I found the March-a-Long a good excuse to press and cut newly washed fabrics.
Cut out 3 notepad covers for gifts
Finish cutting out Day in the Park backpack variation
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.
