I have the feeling that the border might take me as long as the top of the quilt. If it weren’t for that one fabulous rosette, I might just cut off the edges and move on with my life.
Finishing points and adding background
I did do some organization the other day, which gave me almost a week of evenings with hand sewing ready to go. I know there will be an end, but I haven’t seen it yet, so it seems to be an ever ending process.
I do get small bonuses, which include finishing some points, like the green ones shown in the photo, that I didn’t expect to finish. They will be sticking into the background, so will show up nicely.
At least I hope they will.
Finishing up a star
There is a certain amount of hunting and gathering that I have to do at least once a week. I have to figure out which rosettes to finish and which to cut off, then how I will deal with the background.
I just have to get some straight edges, then I can sew larger pieces of fabric to those edges and be done.
I pressed and trimmed all the blocks I made at Cyndi’s. Then I spent a few hours putting them on the design wall and preparing the final layout. I am ready to get sewing.
I went over to Cyndi’s the other day to sew. This is not Cyndi of the bag, but Cyndi of the Guild. At first, we were going to work on the Enigma Bag together, but she hadn’t had time to cut out her pieces, so we’ll do that another day.
Metro Twist in process
I took three projects over to her studio and ended up making good progress on Metro Twist. I sewed about 40 blocks, most of which I was able to trim as well. I am super happy that I got back to this project.
Metro Twist ready for the big push
I put all of the existing blocks up on the big design wall (I had to take Scrappy Celebration down temporarily) and took a look.
The other day I talked about selecting a large print fabric to add to the Metro Twist. After that whole selection process, I pieced some blocks using one strip of fabric to see how they would look.
Here is the before and after:
Metro Twist – July 2023
Metro Twist After Veggies
The veggie print makes the quilt look darker. The quilt will be given to one of my nephews so I think the darker look works.
As promised, I got back in the Metro Twist groove last weekend. I cut up some of the foreground fabrics I selected and made more blocks. I didn’t work my way completely through the stack I had cut, but I made a dent. The blocks are somewhat time consuming and I didn’t want to cut out a bunch of pieces all at once.
Metro Twist with Green Floral
As I did so, I thought the of large print fabric I had selected. I thought the green would work very well with the overall color scheme. Also, I thought the scale of the print, when cut up, would add interest, but not be too girly looking.
I never cut up pieces when I cut the other foregrounds out. There was something not quite right about it, though generally the look was good.
Metro Twist with floral burst print
On Sunday, I decided that I really needed to add a fabric with the large scale. At the same time, I decided that I would confirm that this was the print for the job. I have quite a few large print fabrics, so I dragged a few out, though I looked through a lot more.
I thought the dark green in the second photo might be better. I thought the dark green would pick up the other dark greens in the tone-on-tone foreground fabrics.. This one was my front runner for awhile.
I tried some other darks, then gave up. I wasn’t able to find anything better than the one above.
Metro Twist with Coleus and Roses
For kicks, I tried some fabrics with more pinks. I didn’t want girly, but there are already a few pinks and they don’t make the quilt abhorrent to men, I don’t think.
I like this fabric a lot and I liked the lavender background. I thought it added something to the quilt. However, I didn’t like the red for this quilt. The red works well in the fabric, but with all of the burgundies and red-purples, I want to keep that clear red out of the quilt for now.
Metro Twist with dark Chrysanthemum
Finally, I tried one of the lush Chrysanthemum prints. This was better than the dark green and I liked the way the print pulled out the other pink foreground fabrics. I also liked the mustard-y color (see lower right of the Philip Jacobs print). The problem, again, was the red.
By now, I was kind of desperate. I thought I would go with my original choice or the Floral Burst, but I wasn’t 100% on board with those. I took another look through my large print fabrics and came up with the perfect, if unorthodox, choice.
Mixed Veg, part of the Veggies Collection by Martha Negley
I don’t even know why I have this fabric. I loved some of the other colorways of this print and probably just snapped it up because of the imagery. It has been in my palette for awhile. There are certain colors, which are perfect for this quilt. The burgundy and fuschia are obvious. The greens and that little bit of blue used as a shadow are also good.
I am pleased with this choice, if a little unorthodox.
I decided that I would try to make the Metro Twist larger.I have a possible recipient for this quilt and I want it to, at least be lap sized.
I have plenty of foreground fabrics, even though most are fat quarters. I needed to find more of the background fabric. It is always a challenge with solids. Since I buy limited solid brands, I thought it was doable.
Normally, I write the brand and color in Sharpie on the selvedge, but the grey I used for Metro Twist didn’t have it. Either I cut it off and tossed it or never wrote it down.
I also didn’t have a picture of the grey with other purchases. Usually, I photograph my purchases so I have some hope of finding fabric and supplies again.
Austin Sewing Pure Elements Ash + mesh
I looked at my color cards and thought the background might be from Pure Elements. I bought some Pure Elements Ash first, but when it arrived, I could see that it wasn’t quite right. I can use it for something else, but disappointing nonetheless.
Back to the color cards. This time I pulled them all out, but immediately put back the Kona color card. I very rarely buy Kona and I knew this wasn’t it. I have the American Made Brands color card. Bingo! I bought some of one of their Gray. I am pretty sure that is the right fabric. I suppose I’ll see when it arrives.
I haven’t worked on the Metro Twist for a few weeks as I tried to catch up on Scrappy Celebration and The Pantone Project. I was able to make some progress this past weekend with the background pieces I have already cut. I have a bit of the background left and want to save it until the reinforcements arrive in case I need it and can’t find the right solid.
I set myself a goal during the past two weekends of making progress on this quilt. I didn’t make much progress, but progress is progress.
First, I made this orange block. There is a little too much orange in it and I may change the centers of the mini-9 patches to something else. Maybe blue like in G2. We’ll see how I feel.
Scrappy Celebration, E8
I really like this block. I think I might have made all of them the pattern calls for, but I really like it. I may have to make more. I kept looking at D6 and wanting to make the same block with the center and corner fabrics reversed. I really like that violet and the emerald green. I don’t use a lot of green in my quilts, so that is odd. I might like this block, because I get to use big amounts of that Shaggy Chrysanthemum print. That is definitely a favorite even thought those autumn colors aren’t my normal colors.
Scrappy Celebration, E5
Scrappy Celebration, D3
Scrappy Celebration, G6
Yes, I am making the blocks that are the easiest to get as many of them done as possible. Then I get mad at myself for being ridiculous and make a block with a lot of pieces. None of these blocks are difficult; some of them just have a lot of pieces.
Scrappy Celebration – August 2023
In total, I made 5 blocks. I am now up to 28/56 total. I have enough blocks completed to make a good sized lap quilt, which is what I will do if (when) I run out of background fabric.
I took a break from making bags, Metro Twist and Scrappy Celebration to make some progress. Thus, I made some good progress over the weekend on making Pantone blocks.
Pantone Mutt & Jeff Left
I had already chosen quite a few fabrics, which made the task easier. Foundation piecing, not my strength, gave me pains on the first block.
The background of this fabric, a Martha Negley fruit and floral print from a few years ago, was the right hue for Pantone 4545 (not all the colors have names. Some only have numbers, which is a little annoying). I only had a half yard of this fabric and these fruit and florals don’t always have a lot of background. In this case, I only had a few bits to work with.
Martha Negley Fruit & Floral for Pantone 4545
Of course, I cut a piece that was the wrong shape (remember: foundation piecing needs backwards and upside down pieces), so I had to Swiss cheese cut the last bit of background. Sigh. Fortunately, I don’t have enough of this to use for a back or a bag, so it really shouldn’t matter. Still it is painful to see one of these prints with a hunk out of the middle. Fortunately, this project (and Friend Julie) are worth it.
As an aside, you know how Tula Pink is doing Deja Vu prints? I wish Free Spirit would do them for Martha Negley as well. Maybe I should start fan club for Martha? I love those fruit and veg prints.
Half Night & Noon
One Peaky Left
One Peaky Right
Center Diamond
Center Diamond
Storm Corner
Storm Corner
Storm Corner
I went to town making blocks. I got into a rhythm that was only interrupted by not having selected anymore fabric. I thought I made a wider variety, but, looking at them like this, apparently not.
Storm Corner in Pantone 3985
I was planning to make Flying Geese for Pantone 3985, a kind of olive green, but ran out of fabric. When I selected the fabric, I didn’t realize I only had about half of a fat quarter, so mid-block, I pivoted and made another Storm Center, which would work with the size triangles I had already cut.
I needed a template, so I cut the Pirate Black Storm Corner so I could use the triangles as a template, thus I ended up with four of these. In the grand scheme of the whole quilt it will be ok. It just looks a little odd now.
Pantone colors left to make
I suppose I shouldn’t have called this “August Progress” as it assumes I won’t make any additional progress, though I hope I do. I still have a number of colors to match and turn into blocks. Note they are all kind of dull, though looking at them like this reminds me they are not all beige.
I am also happy I made some good progress as I was feeling quite guilty at my tardiness. The hardest part of this project is selecting the fabrics. Aside from hauling the fabric bins down from the top of the fabric closet, the inks on the postcards seem to be different from the dyes used in fabric. I know that is true, however the actual hues and shades seem to be really different.
I made a few more Scrappy Celebration blocks last week when I was off of work. I think they are coming out nicely. The colors are an interesting combination.
Scrappy Celebration D6
I really like the way this 9 Patch/ 4 Patch combination came out.
I was really good about making several of these blocks last week, but have been off my game on them since the weekend.
The Metro Twist is going. I need to make more blocks, so it is going slowly. I have some more pieces cut so I can sew more blocks; I just need some time to do it.
I am in a place where I feel like I have too many things going on at once.
I am working to make ongoing progress on the Scrappy Celebration. I now have two full rows and ideas for more blocks.
9 Patch with large center
Scrappy Celebration, 9 Patches within a 9 Patch
I made the 9 Patch with large center with a different fabric this time. I wanted to do it before and I may switch this particular block with the D2 block. I was inspired by the other 9 Patches within a 9 Patch block to use the orange for the larger patches.
