Sunday, I worked on the A-B-C Challenge back. I finished the top on Saturday and got busy with the back on Sunday. It took forever. Well, it seemed like it took forever.
I think I was just tired. I took last week, mostly, off, but with one thing and another, I did a lot.
Another thought is that I have really high expectations of what I can accomplish in a given number of hours. I don’t usually count requests for my chauffeur service, laundry duties, lunch, etc.
For once, I was very careful about pressing the seams open, though Colleen never says anything about that. I am proud of myself.
I am also pleased that I could use another giant piece of Martha Negley fabric. I love her prints, just like I love Philip Jacobs prints. Putting the large flower on the back of the Flowering Snowball was such a great experience that I wanted to repeat it. This particular print has some odd colors, but they go well with the Empire gold that Pat Bravo loves and includes with her collections. Also the green goes well with that border fabric.
I am trying to use larger pieces and make simpler backs. They take less time. Can you tell how simple this back is compared to the Stepping Stones back? I wonder what I was thinking!
You will be pleased to know that the sashing drama is over. The quilt top is double sashed.
“Double sashed” means that I have sashed each block and then added sashing between the blocks.
A-B-C Sashing Complete
I did not chunk this quilt and I am partially sorry I didn’t.
One of the benefits of chunking is that all of your sashing lines line up. When you put a quilt together in rows, it is possible that your sashing lines will be off from row to row.
I did not sash, because I didn’t want to have the checkerboard problem I had earlier this year with the inside border for FOTY 2011, which was that the white looked weird because it didn’t line up problem. I wanted to have really long pieces of sashing so that there would be as unbroken a line as possible.
At this point I am not sure it would have mattered. I am pleased with the red and white dot fabric I used. I think it is inspiring me to have a Year of the Dot in 2013. We’ll have to see if I can figure out what that means.
A-B-C Sashing in process
Next step is to figure out what else I need to do for the borders. I worked on different things last weekend, but didn’t come up with anything that excited me. If I had more of the Sevenberry red dot, I would put a thin line of the grey around the edge and then a fatter strip for the border. I don’t want to go hunting for more fabric. I’ll find something I have to make it work.
The time is really flying by. I was thinking about ordering my turkey next week (maybe the week after). I bought some pumpkin for Thanksgiving and Christmas pies last week in my attempt to get ahead of the major shopping in the next few weeks. I am behind. Behind in blogging, my house feels like a wreck, behind in cutting new and used fabric. Everything.
Case in point: it has been almost two months since I last posted FOTY fabrics. The last blog post was in late August! Gracious!
Still I was able to get some new fabrics cut up. I was also able to scrounge some squares from fabrics I have been using. Are you able to see the projects I was working on in this group?
I see some blocks I made, a journal cover I made and a few fabrics slated for journal covers I will make. One reason I love this project is that it is like a memory book in fabric.
As you might remember there were good comments on the next to the last post I wrote about the border of this quilt. Rhonda was right, not that I doubted her, of course. This quilt looks a lot better with a red border on it.
I did a trial run of the border in another post and, then, sewed it on last weekend. Do you ever have times in your quilt work where you have a lot of little things to do – make a binding, sew on a border, fix a hole, print foundation templates – that all seem to stack up before you can move on with projects? I had a weekend like that last weekend. I never feel like I get a lot done when I have those lists of things to do, but the weeks that follow are full of amazing productivity.
I really am so much happier with this quilt now that it has a red border. One thing I completely forgot about was the binding. I had made a white binding, which was no longer appropriate for this quilt, so I also made a red binding for the quilt.
As I have mentioned, I may quilt this myself. My quilter has so many of my quilts and they are languishing a bit. My machine is so much easier to use and no longer frustrating since it was serviced and I have a spool of thread that would work. I think I could quilt this quilt – simply and get it out of the house.
Quilting a quilt does take up space on my machine and does hamper my piecing productivity. I guess I have to become OK with the entire quiltmaking process. I have been avoiding quilting for the last couple of years. Perhaps it is time to get back in the saddle.
The first picture in this recent post by Camille Roskelley (I just can’t stay away from her blog! If she posted 10 times a day I would be reading all the time and not going to work, cooking for my family or washing my hair) made my eyes pop out of my head. I know you have gone to look at the photo and are thinking “well, yeah, it is a polka dot, you love polka dots, Jaye, big whoop.” Why my eyes popped out of my head when I saw Camille’s work is because of sashing.
Huh? you think.
Yes, dear readers, sashing. Remember that I was puzzling over sashing options for the A-B-C Challenge earlier this week? The whole time I have been making these blocks I have been lamenting that Pat Bravo did not include a really good red in the line. I gnashed my teeth further because the Zoe Pearns dot has a wonderful red in it. I have lots of red and white dots. My idea may not work (make visual decisions visually!!!), but right at the moment I feel brilliant.
Big Dots
I love this big dot, but I don’t think it works with the A-B-C Challenge blocks.
The color is ok, though. It is hard to say, though, because the large dots interfere with the blocks. I think it might be from the Half Moon Street collection, but am not sure.
Small dots
I think the smaller dots are better. This fabric is from the Sevenberry (?) collection. I am not sure, though. Not quite right. Why? I don’t know. I do have a large enough piece, though, so perhaps I will go with it just because of that. Bad reason to choose a sashing, though, I know.
Small dot #2
Still, I liked the smaller dots, so I looked for another. A mini fabric avalanche (fabri-lanche?) gave me another idea.
I thought, perhaps, the problem was that I was trying out the fabrics with a straight set, so i got out a different red and tried the blocks on point. Some of the blocks, like the baskets, look ok, but most of the blocks just look weird. It is probably just that I have been looking at them in a straight set, but I don’t like the on point set.
Small dot #2 straight set
Here is the same fabric, but in a straight set. I like it, but the red is very strong.
A lot of what I like is the idea of the red. I like using a strong color for sashing and background. I also like the idea of bringing out that little red in the Zoe Pearns dots I mentioned above. It might be a dumb idea, because you can even tell. I can’t tell even when I standing with my nose next to the design wall.
Small dot #2 straight set – detail
More quilt drama. I am glad I am working on this now, because if I had 5 minutes one weekend to sew these blocks together and I was trying to do this, I know I would make a bad choice and have to live with it.
I thought you might like to see a close up of this fabric with the blocks on it. Of course, there are a lot of other factors that will affect the final outcome of this quilt: width of sashing, width of binding, arrangement of blocks (beyond straight or on point set), etc.
Grey squares
As much as I hate to say it, after all of the drama and hand wringing over red above, I think this grey is the winner. The blocks look really good. The grey is not too brown. The blocks stand out and do not blend into the background. All the colors look good. The grey is not as stark as a white.
The problem is that I have to get more. I found some on Quiltshops.com and PayPal wouldn’t let me pay. Even if I decide to go with the red, I can use this grey for something else.
This is what the awesome BAMQG Charity girls made from my disappointing Pineapple blocks. I was so thrilled to see this quilt made from the blocks that I thought were a hopeless loss.
In addition to being happy that the blocks were usable, I also learned that a few mismatches wouldn’t detract from the overall look of the quilt.
This makes me feel like I could make new blocks and make a quilt out of those blocks. I still want to work out the measurements of the blocks, row by row so I can try and figure where I went wrong on the first series of blocks.
I just feel so much better about my original idea and about my technique.
The top photo is a photo of the back for the Corner Store. The Japanese Chrysanthemum print that makes up the majority of the back is by, of course, Phillip Jacobs. I bought that fabric for a Multi-tasker tote I planned to use for the Autumn, but never got around to making and it seemed appropriate to use it for the back.
Today was back day.
I decided that before I could piece more tops I needed to make two backs and a binding. I was able to finish the two backs, but need some input before moving on the binding. Making backs is something I don’t enjoy that much, but feel it is necessary to finish quilts and part of that process is making the back.
I feel strongly about backs:
Pieced backs are good. I prefer to use the fabric I have and not buy special backing fabric.
I label my backs. Nobody may care in 100 years, but if they do care, the information will be there. Also, if a quilt is stolen and, subsequently, found, the finder will know where to send the quilt.
Make the back look cohesive with itself, and moderately related to the front.
I used to never care about piecing backs and would spend all day piecing a back, but today that part of the process got on my nerves. I would have loved for someone to hand me the perfect back so I would not have to make backs today. What I did to alleviate this was to find some large pieces and use those for most of the backs. Larger pieces of fabric meant less piecing. The piecing on the backs is not symmetrical, but the backs are made.
I think what is happening is that I am far enough along is most of the projects on my 26 Projects list that I am getting to the backing and binding stage faster than I would otherwise. Thus, I am making many more backs than I normally would. I also think I am sewing faster than I have in the past. Rote sewing? Somewhat.
I say all this like it is bad and it isn’t. I just think I have a rhythm for sewing and my rhythm is off. I think I need to consider that rhythm and get back into it. I need to take more time with my projects so I don’t get to the backs so fast. Until the 26 Projects list meets my comfort level, though, I think I might have to contend with this challenge, this sewing frenzy. It is, however, a consideration.
Back for Super Secret Project #2
The last photo is a back for the Super Secret Project (#2). TFQ made the top for me and I was stuck with the back. I didn’t have any of the same fabrics she used, so I did the best I could.
One of my big concerns about backs is the well designed modern backs that many of the ‘modern’ quilters are making. Seeing them make me feel like a slacker. Granted, many of them do not include labels, but they are making backs that are almost separate quilt tops themselves and those backs look good.
These two pieces will go off to the quilter next time I head over there.
Last week, I talked about finishing this piece and how it had no soul.This realization kind of sent me into a bit of a tailspin, because I am not used to quilt tops having no soul. I got a lot of great comments, which you should go and read. Everyone had great suggestions and insights. I really appreciated the comments.
I had a long discussion with TFQ about this piece and I finally came to the conclusion that the ratio of color to Kona Snow is off. That means that there is too much Kona Snow for the amount of color I included. It could be that this pattern, which originally came from Pretty Little Mini Quilts, was never really suited to scaling it up. In my version, the blocks are small, but the piece is still fairly large.
Still, I think that there is not enough color and too much white. I think that white can lighten a piece and give a fresh look, but I think the quiltmaker has to be careful about how much white to use. I think I have to agree with TFQ that too much white can suck the life out of a piece.
I was upset about this quilt and it did make me think, but I am glad I have bumped up against the “white wall.” I am glad I pushed the envelope and seem to have a limit. It is good for my development as a quiltmaker. I also have to remind myself that I can’t make a masterpiece every time.
I worked, over the weekend, on the Garden quilt. I am machine quilting it. I hadn’t really planned to work on it since I have a back for the Corner Store to finish, a back to make for the Super Secret Project #2 as well as a binding and some other miscellaneous random finishing tasks to accomplish. I also have some bags and smaller projects I could work on to keep my mind off of things. Still, I sat huddled over my machine and machine quilted for hours.
Yes, I am in avoidance mode over the Corner Store, but at least I am accomplishing something while I am avoiding something else. That can’t be all bad, can it?
Free motion quilting
This is the first time I have done any free motion quilting in a long time. Admittedly, I didn’t do much on this piece, but I did some and I am pretty proud that a) I am still able to free motion quilt and b) my machine could handle it.
I am really pleased with the servicing the store down south did. The machine works like a charm and I have stopped having traitorous thoughts about replacing it.
I didn’t free motion quilt (FMQ, FMQing) this entire piece, but I did some FMQing in some key areas. In the photo of the sun, I did some FMQing in the ball of the sun.
Annotated Garden
I have annotated the last photo so I can try and show you the differences in straight line quilting vs. FMQing. You will have to make the photo larger to see what I have written.
All of the pinks in the Pink Donation Quilt have a square in the piece on the left. There are a few from some fabrics I bought in the last little while. I also have some patches from the Art Gallery scraps I received.
I have to admit that I arranged the scraps a bit so they look good in the photos I post for you. Look for these patches in the final piece.
It is hard for me to sew during the week, but I am making some progress.The iron issue is not resolved, so I have to figure that out (return current iron, which stinks to high heaven when on), but I am trimming and arranging blocks. My design wall is starting to be too small, but I will have to make it work.
I have 289 blocks to work with and I may make more. I don’t know what size I am aiming for, but my mind keeps saying “BIGGER!!!!”
I probably have enough triangles to make at least 50 more blocks, I don’t plan on making 50 more blocks, however you never know what the muse will scream at me.
I love the blue and orange together. Complements, what could be better? In addition, the orange just makes me happy.
I am trying to think of whether or not I have used this much orange in a quilt before. Looking at my orange scrap drawer, I would say no.
The other interesting thing, which I always find when working with a monochromatic palette, is how different, in this case, the oranges are. Some are peachy, some are more red, some have a pink tinge. There were a few prints (my man Philip Jacobs!) with browns. It is so interesting to me how those browns took on more of an orange cast when used withe oranges.
I know you can also see that some are multi-colored and so non-orange colors show up as well. I think those add some interest.
More Wonky Blocks
I decided to make the Wonky 9 Patch a bit larger. As I said before, the problem is the blue. TFQ said she may have some of the blue, so I sent her a swatch.
I made more of the blocks, so I am ready. One thing I did differently was press the seams open. It made cutting the blocks much easier.
I decided not to sew the one new row to the rest of the quilt, though I did consider it, if for no other reason than to make progress.
I think this project will progress in fits and starts. I made the new blocks (on the right) while I was piecing the Flowering Snowball. I used the Corner Store blocks as leaders and enders. Such a useful, productivity improving technique.
I find that I put the blocks up on the design wall and I become uninspired to make more. Not sure why. I like them; I think the piece works well, is interesting and pretty. As a project I work on steadily, it wasn’t working for me yesterday. However, as leaders and enders in between a different project, I make a lot of blocks. What is that about?
And, the other question is, if I don’t work steadily on the Corner Store, what should I work on? I need some bang for my buck. Can I finish another top next weekend? VIMH#1 says I have to enjoy the process not just go for finished product.
All Corner Store blocks - May
I put all the blocks up. I have quite a few. They are small, though, so it isn’t enough. There is still a lot of red and pink. I made an effort to make blocks with no red or pink, but I have a lot of red and pink triangles, so it is hard.
This is not the final arrangement. I slapped them up on the wall and did a tiny bit of rearranging.
I also have to buy some more Kona Snow as background. The Pure Elements Linen, of which I have plenty, is different enough to be noticeable.
I thought I would work on the Corner Store as my next project. It was calling to me during the dark time while I pieced the Renewed Jelly Roll Race. As soon as I turned my attention to it, it held no interest for me.
I worked a bit on the Garden, as I mentioned, but floundered a bit on Saturday. I made a couple of QuiltCon blocks, did a bit of piecing on the Swoon #6, but finally took myself in hand on Saturday night and planned out my Sunday.
On Sunday, I worked pretty steadily on the Flowering Snowball. Aside from some math issues, e.g. not being able to count, the process went pretty well. I had little to no trouble putting the hand pieced blocks together by machine. I do need a few more blocks, so I can’t finish the chunking until those are pieced. If all goes well, and I have counted properly, I should have them done by the end of next week. We’ll see. Don’t hold your breath.
I feel like doing another version of this pattern by machine with pink or aqua background. It has to wait, though, until many other projects are completed.
My camera seems to be taking fuzzy photos. I wonder what that is about?
I am not sure why I feel compelled to write at the moment , but I do. Perhaps I have been neglecting the thoughtfulness I try to put into my posts lately. Life is busy and that takes a toll on my quiltmaking and blog writing. I try to keep up, but usually it means a picture and a few words. I am still looking for an art patron to pay me to stay home and sew, if you know of anyone.
What I am Reading: Parallel Motions by John Anderson. It is a biography of Nevil Shute, the author of one of my favorite books, A Town Like Alice.
Audiobook on Tap: A Room with a View by E. M. Foerster. You are probably all familiar with the film. I could never get into the book, but it was a free audiobook at some point, so I thought I would try listening. I thought it would be good since I am enjoying Downton Abbey (better late than never) and read The Lady Julia Grey series, also set in Victorian England, earlier this year. I thought that it was the right time since I seem to be embroiled in Victoriana.
What I am Working on: Today, I spent time making blocks and doing the kind of things that need to be done to make progress later.
The Corner Store is in progress and I had to cut a bunch of squares to make more blocks. I have about 60 blocks so far, but they are very small, so to make anything larger than a placemat I need many more blocks. I have a lot of triangles, so I just cut the Kona Snow squares. I went through about 3/4s of a yard of Kona Snow and know that won’t be enough. I probably need another 120 blocks to make anything large enough to satisfy me.
I finished another Swoon block and have to admit that I have a project going. I think I will make another 3 blocks for sure and possibly another 6. I have plenty of fabric, of course. There is something about this project that is interesting to me in terms of color, so I am not quite done with this project yet.
I worked on the A-B-C Challenge blocks and started to prepare for the QuiltCon (what a stupid name, don’t you think?) block challenge. I have the fabrics, they are washed. They need to be pressed, but I need to plan the block.
I don’t feel like I accomplished much, but I know I was doing prep work that needs to be done.
