I finished all of the 16 patches I need for the 30 Something* quilt.
16 Patches n.1
16 Patches n.2
This isn’t all 42 of the 16 Patches – just a sample, but I am pleased with the way they came out. The next step is to make a bunch (30??) Churn Dash blocks. I am working my way through the various units that make up that block.
I have tons of the various patches leftover. I cut way too many, but will be using them for something, possibly donation blocks.
I haven’t decided if I am working on this as my main project or if it is still a leaders and enders project.
*I’d really like to link to this quilt so you could make it as well, but it doesn’t show up on the AllPeopleQuilt site. 🙁
Years ago, I saw a pattern in a magazine called 30 Something. It is called 30 Something, stupidly IMO, because the maker used 30s prints. I saw beyond the 30s fabrics and began cutting out various pieces I would need for the blocks.
30 Something 16 Patches
Recently, I began sewing some of the pieces together as leaders and enders.This means I get quite a bit done, but not on donation quilts.
The first step is to make 16 Patches out of the 1.5 inch (yes, THAT small) squares I had been cutting. I need 42 of these and have 24 so far.
I am happy with the progress I have made. As you can see, there are no 30s prints in my 16 patches. I need to think of another name for this quilt, but nothing comes to mind so far.
I almost finished the X Quilt top. I have two or three seams left on the top and I am really eager to finish it. I just don’t want to work on it any more. Perhaps I don’t like the fabrics I chose. Pop Parade has dull rather than clear tones and that depresses me a little bit. Perhaps the background low volume text prints aren’t right for the size of the blank squares.
I don’t know. I just know I want to be finished with it. I don’t know what I will work on next. I have a few bags to finish for sure, but no quilt in mind except the HST donation top.
Although everything went along very well, I finished up sewing on Sunday somewhat dissatisfied. I think I felt like I figured out the sewing and was done, but here was a bunch of pieces on my design wall that were not a quilt top.
I turned off the sewing machine and lights and left the room. I ate dinner, worked on my puzzle and thought about this quilt.
I decided that one issue is that I don’t want to keep it. I am making it because I wanted to use the Pop Parade by Metro for P&B Textiles fabrics. I also think the design is clever. Still, I don’t want to keep it and didn’t know who should receive it. I have four-ish more quilts to make in the Niece-phews series. None of the people who will be getting a quilt seemed right for this one. I thought about giving it the YM. He is always up for a new quilt. Finally, I received an email from a friend. She is going through a tough time and needs a quilt. Voila!
This quilt is also a cautionary tale about saving fabrics for the perfect project. When I bought Pop Parade, I was pretty excited about them. Now, not so much. The dots are great, the other motifs are great, but the colors are somewhat dull. I see it especially in the pinks. I prefer bright clear colors.
I didn’t have enough of the Pop Parade to make this quilt, so I added in some other fabrics and that makes the overall look better. I love the text and low volume fabrics I am using for the background. I was kind of upset I had chosen those if the quilt wasn’t going to someone I like as I am using up large pieces of them. Now I am excited that my friend will receive it. I am sure she will like it.
I have rummaged through my dots drawers numerous times since I bought Pop Parade by Metro for P&B Textiles. Recently, the collection caught my eye and that is what I am using for my latest quilt.
This quilt is from the book Quilt Big** by Jemima Flendt. I tried to borrow it, but nobody had it, so I ended up getting a deal on it in Kindle format.
This quilt had a rocky start. The Kindle format didn’t make for easy reference to the pattern. I finally figure that out and started cutting, but got confused by the directions, so I pulled all the fabrics I planned to use, then started cutting again. That made more sense, but not a lot. My confusion continue. Finally, I printed out a copy of the layout, looked up the sizes of squares I needed and cut using those two aids. After figuring out the folded corners ruler, I sped along.
X Quilt- Saturday work
I made good progress on Saturday. I thought I might finish cutting and sewing the blocks together. HAHAHAHA!!! There was a lot more cutting than I anticipated. I guess I got oriented to the pattern on Saturday.
I really want to call this quilt something like “My Childhood Bedroom”, but the “Pink Kaffe Quilt” seems to be sticking as the name.
Pink Kaffe Quilt through border 8
I made more progress over the weekend, but wasn’t able to finish the top. I tried, but had some measuring issues. While I worked them out, it took longer than just sewing some long seams.
Still, the top is looking nice and, as an added bonus, it sticks really well to my design wall.
I finally finished Red Scribbles about two weeks ago. It is has been go-go-go here, so I didn’t post until now.
I only had to finish the binding, which shouldn’t have taken very long except that I am not getting a lot of handwork done since we are working on the giant puzzle. I also had some other handwork projects with firm deadlines.
This quilt took a long time to come together, but I am really pleased with how it came out. As a result, I am now teaching the bias tape technique as part of my basic quiltmaking class. I haven’t written up a tutorial, so you’ll just have to pay me to teach you!
Red Scribbles Completed – back
I think this might constitute the start of a series. I gave another quilt to my SIL when DH’s brother died and now I have given this quilt to my husband’s sister and her husband. Of course, my sister has received at least two quilts.
SIL and BIL came over to get it close to their anniversary. Too bad I was teaching when they eventually showed up, because I didn’t get to hear their comments. DH handled everything and got photos as well, so it was fine.
Red Scribbles recipients -1
Red Scribbles recipients -2
This quilt has encouraged me to get back to Who Am I? Instead of doing a lot of satin stitching for the words, I plan to use bias tape. I have to experiment with widths of bias tape.
I am really enjoying this quilt. When I talked about it after I started cutting, I was happy. This quilt is just a joy to work on. I don’t know why for sure. The only thing I can think of is that I love all the fabric.
Pink is not a great color for my decor or for an adult woman, but I love pink anyway. I am thinking of this quilt as a complete indulgence in my love for pink and Philip Jacobs flowers. I am not worrying about how it doesn’t fit in with my home decor. I am really loving selecting and fussy cutting the flowers, getting reacquainted with some of my Philip Jacobs fabric and using fabulous solids.
I know I talked about my plans a month or so ago, but hadn’t started it yet. After thinking about this quilt for awhile, I finally started it and it is making me super happy.
I am following the directions in Kaffe’s book, Quilts in the Cotswolds**. However, I am not using many of the fabrics he suggests. I am pulling out the Philip Jacobs fabrics I have stashed for awhile and have not yet used for backs. I am fussy cutting flowers from them and arranging them in a pleasing way. I have also used, so far, one Anna Maria Horner print and one Martha Negley print. I’ll probably had more different prints. The flowers are by no means in their final location. I want to spread them out so the pinks are not all together. For now I am placing them in the order I cut them so I can easily count them.
Stash Fabrics Art Gallery solids
For the sashing, I am using solids I recently purchased from Stash Fabrics. I plan to arrange them in gradation order and use a different solid for each section, gradating out from light to dark.
Every day I have been spending a little time cutting. I may need to sew some pieces and parts together to gain space on my design wall, but that is a decision for another day. In the meantime I am enjoying showcasing the beautiful flowers.
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Sometime ago I bought a fruit basket and flower piece of fabric. The designation on the selvedge is “PWPJ 067 Market Basket”. I think of it as a panel, but it really isn’t. I really like this print, so I bought another piece.
The Pink Squares quilt is not exactly rocket science. I don’t have all the exact fabrics, but I plan to use various Philip Jacobs prints I have including the Market (fruit) basket fabric. I plan to fussy cut various prints and make this my own.
I bought some Martha Negley prints recently from Cool Cottons and I want to incorporate the purple carrots into this piece. The example has various colors- not just pink – which is my model. I plan to add more purple to the piece than shows here. I also want to include some of my favorite Philip Jacobs prints. Yes, this is a pattern and very simple, so the challenge will be choosing the fabrics after I figure out the redesign of the center.
Market Basket selection for quilt
I know I will have to adjust the center of the quilt pattern to fit my center. I want to use a certain part of the print.
I went to look at Friend Julie’s version of this quilt. Kaffe tends to use the same patterns over and over, chosing different fabrics. She made one in Blue after seeing his red version in Heritage Quilts**. I like the way she cut a bunch of squares and then chose fabric for the center. Friend Julie chose an Amy Butler print for the sashing. I think I will stick with a pink solid, depending how much I have. Perhaps I will switch out the pinks as I move out from the center.
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I have been looking at the Pop Parade fabric by Metro for P&B for years, but specifically recently as I rummage through my dots yardage. This week, I saw a quilt on Instagram and it called to me.
I have had this fabric since 2008, so it is past time to use it. At the time, I wanted to just use this fabric, but I think, now, I will add some tone-on-tones or solids to the mix plus a background. These are all fat quarters so I won’t be able to make some of the blocks in the size I want, because I don’t have enough fabric.
The problem with this fabric hanging around for years is that I don’t like it as much as I once did. I don’t dislike it, but it doesn’t use the clear colors I am now excited about. This is an advertisement for using fabric you are excited about when you get it.
X Design
The design of which I am now enamored is an X design. I made a pillow some time ago for Maria that I think has a similar design: lozenges. The thing I like about this design is the variety of sizes. I also think this design will go really fast.
What I have to think about is whether I want to start on it now or finish FOTY 2019 first. I could do both at the same time using leaders & enders.
The first thing I did was start to move the whole piece down and over so I could reach the top better. I also needed to make the top slightly wider to accommodate the various pieces. I am not quite sure how many rows and columns I need since I didn’t do any math around this piece yet.
FOTY 2019 – early October #2
After move what I had down, I started to add more of the colored squares to the design wall. I am sure I will have to cut more greys, but I haven’t done that yet.
The first set of borders is finished. The HSTs are sewed together, but the strips are not sewn to the quilt.
The photo shows the border strips hanging over the top of my design wall. I worked hard at not putting the same print next to each other. They are controlled scrappy and I am pleased with the way they came out.
I didn’t have as many red-violets as I have other colors, but I do like that color. Not quite pink, not quite purple.
I know it is hard to see the borders, but, trust me, they are fabulous. 🙂 Click on the photos to see them larger.
Frolic! center with first border (detail)
I will start working on the blue HSTs soon.
I don’t know if I will keep this quilt or give it away.
