I got two Recchiuti boxes of windmill pieces last week from Friend Julie. I think I have mentioned that we are cutting for each other and doing the same shape this time.
Windmill patches from Julie
She really has the best batiks. Almost all the pieces she sent to me were batiks and I really like them. I didn’t photograph all of them; just a sample of what she sent.
In the course of putting them away, I realized that I have to find another storage container. I crammed these into the current containers, but no more will fit.
I use plastic scone containers that I get from Whole Foods. I am out of those storage containers. I’ll have to stop at Whole Foods and get some more scones. 😉 It is a requirement since I can reuse the containers to hold my quilt patches.
I started this quilt a long time ago, so when I pulled all of the t-shirts out last week, I wasn’t sure where I was or what to do next. The top photo shows the pieces to use as a start.
I had already trimmed off the colors, cuffs and backs, so I trimmed the other t-shirts in prepartion for interfacing them. That was a trip down memory lane. The small sizes of the shirts are hard to reconcile with the giant boy-Young Man who lives with me now.
I spent most of the day on Saturday trimming the t-shirts and pressing interfacing onto the back of each t-shirt panel. I chose a grey pebbly print that I bought before the Young Man was born to make the shirts a uniform size. After sewing sashing to a couple of the panels, I found that that technique was not working for me. I decided to just fill in between the panels. I had thought about sashing each panel and making little stars as the cornerstones. I am not sure it is going to work, though. I think I just need to fill in between the t-shirts and have stars quilted into it.
T-shirt panels
When I cut the t-shirts, I was forced to cut them all to a different size based on the design on the front, which is the main part of the quilt’s design. Looking at the all the designs and brands, while working through this process, made me think of the Young Man’s interests and how they have changed. I do think I will offer to make him another t-shirt quilt to encompass his current t-shirts, which reflect his current interests. However, his size won’t change as much during the 4 years of high school as it did during the K-8 period.
In a way, this quilt is about the fabric. The stretchy t-shirt fabric. It is not terrible to sew once the interfacing has been applied, but the cutting is tricky. I also find that sometimes the design sticks to my sewing table as I sew.
I really thought I had more t-shirts, but I guess I was brutal about the ones I chose. the Young Man also wore a lot of plain colored t-shirts as he got older, which are not interesting in a t-shirt quilt.
I almost didn’t cut up the Winnie-the-Pooh sweatshirt (dark blue, lower right) as it was so adorable and I remember chasing after the Boy trying to put it on him when he was super tiny. There are bits of schmutz on some of them, but I guess that just means they were used and well loved.
T-shirt quilt, after the weekend
The boy came in and looked at the layout Sunday afternoon, as I was working on it. He liked what I had done so far. He did, however, ask me to remove the Blue’s Clues t-shirt, so I will put that one on the back. It is probably a good thing as my design wall is full and I would like to keep the size of the piece to the size of the design wall.
The bottom photo is what I ended up with after working most of the day Sunday on putting the piece together. I am particularly proud of the section with the smaller pieces (middle right).
I am still cutting squares for FOTY 2013. You can see a lot of the squares from the Round Robin piece in this group.
I was trying to put the squares in color order, which is a good exercise. It is also hard if you are working with what you have rather than being able to select specific colors to fill in. I did pretty well, but was having trouble with the pearl Bracelets purple. It is so dark.
I know. I didn’t post an update in May. My last update was in April. I don’t think I finished anything (as in NOTHING) in May. Sad, really. I blame it on all the travel. Yes, the travel.
Aqua-Red Sampler – Frances is working diligently, though I know she feels frustrated with the foundation pieced block. I think part of that is because she is left handed and I am right handed. I finished the foundation piecing tutorial, along with my block for this part of the class. I am not giving up on her.
The Tarts Come to Tea: I still haven’t worked on this since April 2011, though I did think about working on it. I hope that counts for something. I really do need to get back to the quilting. I am still a little mad at myself for making such good progress and then getting sidetracked. I thought quilting the Whole Cloth quilt would get me back in the swing of quilting, but apparently not.
Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together. Mrs. K. gave me more PP fabric and I won some from a giveaway. I still think it is a sign that I need to work on this. Leaders and enders.
See: needs satin stitching. Small, also a possibility for finishing. I really have the feeling I came so close to working on this project this month.
Self Portrait: started in 2006 at a class at Quilting Adventures in Richmond, Virginia. I like the piece, but don’t know where to go from where I am. Mouth? Hair? The attitude I need to have is that I can’t ruin it; there is always more fabric.
Under the Sea: class project; like the design, but not the colors much.
Flower Sugar Hexagon: I thought about sewing more hexagons together. Although not difficult, sewing Y seams is a bit of a chore, so I get tired of doing it after awhile. I could, perhaps, use leaders and enders to get this piece moving?
Young Man’s t-shirt quilt: have cut up the t-shirts and am still in the process of applying fusible. He reminded me again this week that I need to finish that quilt, so I pulled some of the t-shirts with fusible backing off the pile and put them on the design wall for inspiration. I also fused the interfacing to a few more t-shirts and think this project may not be so bad. I may have gotten some mojo back for it. Some of the t-shirts from when he was much smaller are so little and adorable.
Spiderweb: Top is together, binding is made. This is at the quilter.
New:* FOTY 2012: top, finished, though I can’t decide if I need a quilting border. Back and binding are complete; I am waiting to take it to the quilter.
New:*Star Sampler: Top finished, back and binding finished. Ready to go to the quilter (not on original list)
New:*Fresh Fruit: Top finished, back and binding finished. Ready to go to the quilter (not on original list)
Please note that even if you combine the two lists above, I do not have 26 projects on this list anymore. I have made progress!!!
In the Finishing Process
New:* Super Secret Project #2: Back from the quilter. Sewing on binding.
Abandoned
Nothing so far for 2013
Hunting and Gathering
Spin Wheel: really not started, but supplies gathered. I probably have enough fabrics and just need to decide to start.
Stepping Stones #2 using Bonnie & Camille fabrics Bliss, Ruby, Vintage Modern: made two test blocks, but still in the thinking stage while I decide on the background colors. I want the contrast to be good.
Last update for the 26 Projects List. Read it. There’s some interesting stuff there.
I thought you might want to take a look at the first list I made, the one with the 26 Projects. I started the list in October 2011. I have made progress. I plan to stop this post when I have no more projects from the original list to write about. I wonder when that will be?
*New – Project started after I started working on the 26 Projects list
I know I am drawing out the ending of this a bit, but the truth is that I haven’t gotten the back done and I need to get the back done before I can show you the entire project.
I’ll get there. I am just not there yet.
No section came out perfectly. I am not talking about precise sewing, though that is true as well, but also in color placement. I tried hard to disperse the fabrics sort of evenly and among the different sections in hopes that this strategy would act as a way of moving your eye around the piece.
Section 7
This, Section 7, was a bear of a section. I really had to sew carefully and fix little bits and bobs here and there. The fact of the matter is that the Ribbon Star isn’t on the same grid as the Sawtooth Star and that came back to haunt me a little bit when when putting this section together.
A Hot Mess as Pam or Tanesha would say. We don’t use that phrase here, but it seems appropriate.
Section 3
It is certainly true that projects look worse before they look better. This Star Sampler and my workroom are both in the Worse stage right now.
All the parts, which I have sewn together, look great, but the parts are all over the place. Discards are in a pile. Fabric is in another pile. I don’t know how I work under these circumstances. Really.
Making all of those blocks in advance, though, makes it really easy to put together. I have all the parts, so I just need to grab them and sew. Nota bene: If you make this project, I would recommend making all the blocks first. I know I don’t always do that, but in this case, it works.
As I thought, I love the layout. I love it that it is difficult to see how the blocks were set together. I love it that there are 3 different sized blocks used in the quilt. I guess I just like my secrets. 😉
Section 1
It is fun deciding which blocks will go with which other blocks. We are getting some of our summer weather so the photos have the foggy look to them. I had all the lights on and used the flash, but still…the foggy look.
I think the blocks with the strong (non-background) corners look ok. The one in Section 1 (lower right) doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb, which is a relief.
I thought the Basic Stars might look like big un-pieced blobs in the middle of the sections, but I think I chose fabrics wisely and placement wisely. I think the Basic Stars may provide a slight resting spot for the viewer’s eyes amidst all the pieced blocks.
Section 2
The 12″ blocks are working well, too. 12″ blocks are so….big. I thought they would dominate the quilt, but the 8″ and 4″ stars soften them up a bit. I do like that Rising Star in the upper left hand corner. That might be my favorite block.
Do click on the photos to see them larger. They look better larger.
Star Sampler – 1/2 of the top
Believe it or not I had to tidy the whole house including my workroom, which meant tidying that mess I talked about earlier in the post. All of the pieces and parts had to get off the floor.
I put everything up on the design wall. It promptly fell off. All that piecing is heavy and even my super sticky design wall fabric was no match for this baby. I had to resort to pins.
The above photo is half of the piece. HALF! Half does not completely fit width-wise. The blocks on the bottom are still blocks. They had to go somewhere and I did not want them sucked into the vacuum!
I am thinking it looks a bit chaotic. Please tell me I did not go through all this work to end up with chaos.
Remember: if you want to know more about this quilt, the pattern and the project, check out the Star Sampler Background post.
I really do. The possibilities are so endless and I love possibilities.
All Pieced 8″ & 12″ Blocks
Above are the 59 Sawtooth Star variations that I have made for my Star Sampler Project. I am pretty pleased with the way they look together. There are 2 I may redo, but TFQ is coming to visit this weekend, so I will ask her what she thinks.
Week 15 8″ Blocks
These are the Week 15 blocks.Left to Right, Top to bottom they are Mosaic #11, Sarah’s Choice (again), Basic Star (with a flourish) and Rising Star (another redux).
I am still dying to know why many of the classic blocks are called Mosaic #something. I’ll have to look on Barbara Brackman’s blog to see if she ever talks about it. I like the fabrics I chose for this block. It looks beachy and fresh.
The Sarah’s Choice is a bit blah, but not terrible and it blends in well with the other blocks (see above), so I will leave it.
I decided early on that I wouldn’t get fancy with the Basic Star, but decided on this last one to use my ‘focus’ fabric as the center and different legs for one block only. I wanted it to be clear that the Basic Stars were Basic Stars.
I am pretty pleased with the Rising Star. I really love the design of that block. I used the excess backing (cut off after the quilting process) from another quilt. It is a nice batik fabric and I wanted to use it again.
I still have about 25 4″ Sawtooth Stars to make. I pressed fabrics earlier this week and on the weekend and cut parts to make them, but didn’t do much sewing. I didn’t get to cut all the parts I needed, but I will certainly be ready to sew when the weekend finally arrives.
I am really looking forward to starting the process of putting these blocks together.
Week 14 Week of April 29 (8″ blocks) (JHL chooses)
Basic Star
Broken Star (Around the Block)
Indian Star (Around the Block)
Martha Washington Star (Around the Block)
Hooray! I finished another week’s worth of blocks. We are nearing the end of these blocks, too.
I still have about 40 of the 4″ blocks to go, but I have been cutting for them and using them for leaders and enders. I can get about 5 done in a few hours that way.
I made a pile of fabrics, from the grand pile that is my palette of blues, greens and purples, that I may use for the 4″ stars. I’d like them, if possible to each be different. I don’t know if it is possible. I have plenty of fabric, so that isn’t the issue.
The issue for next week is whether I lost a basic star or not. I think the issue is that the stars fill every inch of my large design wall and I may have lost track of one of the blocks. I have to count and see.
I have plenty of work to do on this project, but I am glad that the end is near.
As I have mentioned, I am behind on this project. We both should be done with the 8″ blocks and finishing up the 4″ stars. We are on Week 13, which was supposed to be finished during the week of April 22. TFQ chose these blocks and I just started them on Sunday.
Basic Star
Free Trade (Around the Block, page 67)
A Salute to the Colors (Around the Block Again, page 106)
Chisholm Trail (Once More Around the Block, page 50)
Star Sampler: Free Trade
Free Trade was the first block I sewed to try and catch up.
I like the look of the squares and half square triangles in the center.
I used squares for the center that had been rejected from other blocks. I couldn’t find any to match, so I used some that would look good together and, perhaps, create a little added movement in the block.
I was pleased with myself for thinking of this. I happened to be filing scraps in the course of tidying up the workroom when I thought of it.
Star Sampler Week 13
I finished all of the blocks last night.I don’t usually sew during the week, but my mom had to switch her days (she usually comes over on Tuesdays to see the Young Man) so I threw caution to the wind and just worked. I don’t know what DH was doing (ballgame, maybe?), but he didn’t want to catch up on a show with me until later.
So, TFQ picked these blocks and they were fine. I wasn’t really pleased with A Salute to Colors (lower left) when I saw the pattern, but I changed around a couple of colors and like it now that it is done.
Chisholm Trail
My favorite of this group is the Chisholm Trail block. I love the way the fabrics work together.
The fabric I used for the arms of the star is perfect in that space with the other fabrics.
I am pleased.
Now I have to get busy with the blocks for Week 14. I have one cut out, one made and another 41 4″ Sawtooth Stars to cut out and sew.
Aqua-Red Sampler – Frances is working diligently, though I know she feels frustrated and I think part of that is because she is left handed and I am right handed. I finished the foundation piecing tutorial, along with my block for this part of the class. I am not
The Tarts Come to Tea: I still haven’t worked on this since April 2011, though I did think about working on it. I hope that counts for something. I really do need to get back to the quilting. I am still a little mad at myself for making such good progress and then getting sidetracked. I thought quilting the Whole Cloth quilt would get me back in the swing of quilting, but apparently not.
Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together. Mrs. K. gave me more PP fabric and I won some from a giveaway. I still think it is a sign that I need to work on this. Leaders and enders.
See: needs satin stitching. Small, also a possibility for finishing. I really have the feeling I came so close to working on this project this month.
Self Portrait: started in 2006 at a class at Quilting Adventures in Richmond, Virginia. I like the piece, but don’t know where to go from where I am. Mouth? Hair? The attitude I need to have is that I can’t ruin it; there is always more fabric.
Under the Sea: class project; like the design, but not the colors much.
Flower Sugar Hexagon: I thought about sewing more hexagons together. Although not difficult, sewing Y seams is a bit of a chore, so I get tired of doing it after awhile. I could, perhaps, use leaders and enders to get this piece moving?
Young Man’s t-shirt quilt: have cut up the t-shirts and am still in the process of applying fusible. He cleaned out his drawers and found some more t-shirts to add to the quilt. Oh Yay! <– just a bit of sarcasm. He asked me again for another quilt, so I think this one is next in line. I plugged in his heating mattress pad, though, which should keep him quiet for a bit longer.
New: FOTY 2012: top, finished, though I can’t decide if I need a quilting border. Working on the back.
Spiderweb: Top is together, binding is made. This is at the quilter.
Please note that even if you combine the two lists above, I do not have 26 projects on this list anymore. That is something, IMO.
In the Finishing Process
Abandoned
Nothing so far for 2013
Hunting and Gathering
Spin Wheel: really not started, but supplies gathered. Cutting fabrics as I go. TFQ does not consider this a UFO and made some good points to that end, which is why I have moved it to the Hunting and Gathering section. She says, and I have to agree, that quilts are not ‘projects’ until the sewing starts. OK. I’ll go with that.
Stepping Stones #2 using Bonnie & Camille fabrics Bliss, Ruby, Vintage Modern: made two test blocks, but still in the thinking stage while I decide on the background colors. I want the contrast to be good.
Last update for the 26 Projects List. Read it. There’s some interesting stuff there.
*New – Project started after I started working on the 26 Projects list
I think we are on week 12 of our Star Sampler project. We are still making 8″ blocks. These are from the week of April 15. I am now behind again, because I was able to sew over the weekend. I chose these blocks:
Basic Star
Whale’s Tail (Once Again Around the Block, pg.126)
Centennial (Around the Block Again, pg.40)
2142 Mosaic #19 (R1, C5)
Whale’s Tail
Whale’s Tail: There are a number of the blocks with chevrons making up the legs. I kind of wonder about the name of this blocks.
Since we are nearing the end of the pieced larger blocks, I am trying to make sure that all the fabrics I have used in other blocks have been used at least 3 times, so that there is some balance in terms of the colors and fabrics. If you want to read more about balance, Sandy and I did an episode in the design series and we talked about it.
Centennial
Centennial: I really have to wonder why this block was named Centennial. I looked up the block on the web, because I don’t have my Jinny Beyer book handy. I found some interesting settings for this block.
2142 Mosaic #19
2142 Mosaic #19: I should look up this block in the Jinny Beyer book, because it is such a weird name. Were there 18 other versions of this block?
I have also done similar blocks. I paid attention to the fabric placement and, as you can see, fussy cut the fabric for the center.
I think all four blocks came out nicely and look good together.
I have now made 37 4″ blocks. I am almost half way finished with them. TFQ is going on vacation and my goal is to make them all during the first two weeks of May so they are ready when she comes to visit.
17 Projects in Process! That is well under the 26 that I started with. Granted, some of the older projects are still lingering, but I really feel like I have made progress and am not deprived from starting new projects.
Aqua-Red Sampler – Frances continues to work diligently and the foundation piecing tutorial is posted. We struggled with the class on foundation piecing as the concept is so backwards. I don’t think this particular lesson is over yet, so I am not yet working on what is next.
The Tarts Come to Tea: I still haven’t worked on this since April 2011. I was mulling over some substandard stitching the I should rip out, which would be a great couch project.
Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together, which would be great leaders and enders, if I didn’t have about 1,000 4″ Sawtooth Stars to make.
See: needs satin stitching. Small, also a possibility for finishing. I really have the feeling I came so close to working on this project this month.
Self Portrait: started in 2006 at a class at Quilting Adventures in Richmond, Virginia. I like the piece, but don’t know where to go from where I am. Mouth? Hair? The attitude I need to have is that I can’t ruin it; there is always more fabric.
Under the Sea: class project; like the design, but not the colors much.
Flower Sugar Hexagon: I thought about sewing more hexagons together. Although not difficult, sewing Y seams is a bit of a chore, so I get tired of doing it after awhile. I could, perhaps, use leaders and enders to get this piece moving? I could also sew 1-2 together and then attach them to the larger piece.
Young Man’s t-shirt quilt: have cut up the t-shirts and am still in the process of applying fusible, though I really hven’t worked on this in awhile.
New: FOTY 2012: top, finished, though I can’t decide if I need a quilting border. Back done, ready for quilting.
I still have a few more WIPs than I do finished projects. Again, I have made progress on clearing out old projects and I am pleased.
Spiderweb: Top is together, binding is made. This is at the quilter.
Please note that even if you combine the two lists above, I do not have 26 projects on this list anymore. That is something, IMO.
In the Finishing Process
Abandoned
Nothing so far for 2013
Hunting and Gathering
Spin Wheel: really not started, but supplies gathered. Cutting fabrics as I go. TFQ does not consider this a UFO and made some good points to that end, which is why I have moved it to the Hunting and Gathering section. She says, and I have to agree, that quilts are not ‘projects’ until the sewing starts. OK. I’ll go with that.
Stepping Stones #2 using Bonnie & Camille fabrics Bliss, Ruby, Vintage Modern: made two test blocks, but still in the thinking stage while I decide on the background colors. I want the contrast to be good.
As I mentioned, I am still trying to think of a new focus for this list for 2013. I feel that I made progress on the most ancient and difficult projects and I want to honor that, but there are still some ancient projects that I am finally thinking I might need to abandon.
Kathleen asked in a recent post what was on everyone’s design wall. Here is what is on mine:
Design Wall #1Design Wall #2
What is on yours? Post a link to your blog, (Flickr stream, FB page, Picasa, Shutterfly), etc in the comments or in the comments in Kathleen’s post. Let’s see your creativity in action.
Design Wall #1 annotated
Here is the explanation of what is going on on my ‘working’ design wall. It is working, because it is right in front of my sewing machine and I can grab things off of it.
I did something a little different for this week’s blocks. I didn’t have a lot of time last weekend, so I cut the pieces for each block out in advance and had all the pieces on the design wall ready to sew. I did this, because I thought I might have a few minutes here and there to see, but really I only had various bits of time to cut. I didn’t have any sewing time until late in the day on Friday. I am not sure if cutting in advance made any difference.
I added in the Michael Miller teal dot fabric, which I also used on the sewing machine cover I made a couple of years ago. I needed some more dots and I really wanted to use this fabric in a quilt I could admire regularly.
At least I thought I cut all the pieces! Part way through I realized that I still needed to cut out the last star.
Aunt Addie’s Star
Aunt Addie’s Star looks a little backgroundy to me, but I think it will be ok. What does “Backgroundy” mean? I think it means that that big square in the center gives a look of a lot of background and not too much star. I think it is fine, but I will have to look at it in context and see if I need to make others with more background or that see through look. One of the Rising Stars has background in the center.
I do have all the stars on my design wall and think they are looking fine together.
Taj Mahal Star
The Taj Mahal Star will go really well with the Austin Star from last week. It has, as you can see, the same kind of corner treatment. I need to find one more block or make another one of these two so the quilt looks on balance. I like, as I have said before, to use threes – three of the same blocks, three pieces of the same fabric, three design elements, etc to make the quilt look right. You can use 5 or some other odd number, but I use three as my starting point. I am pretty sure I talk about this concept in more depth in the Design Series. Perhaps the episode on Balance?
Square in a Square Star
Finally, I made the Square in a Square Star. While I was cutting for it, I was thinking of the green dot I talked about in the last post about the Star Sampler. I decided to use it in the center of this star. I wanted to make sure that there was enough of it in the quilt so one or two pieces didn’t look weird. It works GREAT, because it is enclosed and not touching the background.
I just realized it has been about two weeks since I posted about the Star Sampler. The last post was March 10. It is not an abandoned project and I have been working on the blocks. I know the week of March 11 was really busy for me. I had two meetings in the evenings that week and must have gotten off track with writing about the blocks.
Hourglass Star v.2
The first thing I did last week was redo the Hourglass Star block. The previous version didn’t work. I used that great yellow-green dot for the arms and it was too light. I had two of the centers, so I used the same center and just put a Michael Miller Dumb Dot as the arms.
I think that yellow-green has to be contained on the inside of a block. I think it is too close to the background to work effectively next to it.
If I keep screwing up blocks. I’ll have a second quilt on the back!
Checkerboard Star
I included some of the yellow-green in the Checkerboard Star and you can see how well it does enclosed by other fabrics. I have to keep that in mind as I move forward on the rest of the blocks.
I saw TFQ’s version of this star on Flickr and noticed that she lined up the fabrics she used for the arms so they were the same.
Plaid Star
I like the Plaid star. I like the look of the piecing. I am not 100% on board with the fabrics I chose, but I don’t dislike them enough to re do the block right at this moment. Also, I chose the colors to go with the Bard of Avon block. I didn’t want the Bard of Avon to be sitting out there with these fabrics alone.
I do love that turquoise I used for the arms, though. It is hand-dyed or some kind of special surface design by Stitch ‘n Dye fabrics. It is a very special fabric, but I thought I might as well use it. I am pleased with how it looks with the other fabrics.
Austin Star
Someone pointed out on Twitter that the Austin Star block looks really different from the others. The squares in the corner are quite prominent. They enhance the X effect of the block. I haven’t decided if this rendition of this block will make the cut for the final quilt. It is a little on the dark side. I know there is another block similar in layout that might make this work.
Basic Star
I am playing with lavender/purples since I ran out of that perfect lavender with white dots by Lakehouse. This one is pretty good since there are a number of different dots made up of different colors.
I am really enjoying working on this project with someone else. Seeing the placement of fabric and fabric choices some one else makes is so interesting. It also inspires me to think a little differently.
Not on original list
