I heard a Wilco song recently called Box Full of Letters and thought that would be a better name for my version of the Missouri Star Quilt Company pattern, Love Notes. Love Notes is a nice name for a cutesy quilt, but I didn’t want to make a cute Valentine’s Day quilt. I just wanted to try out the pattern and see how it worked.
Triangle Squares – preparing for blocks
I have been sewing the squares and cutting them into half square triangles. I have used the Kiss Kiss charm squares that Torie gave me, but am also adding other fabrics that work well with that charm pack. The stacks in the photo will make about 20 blocks. I found a few more that had fallen down on top of the Stepping Stones fabrics.
Potential blocks
There is quite a lot of red in these blocks and I need to add some other colors to the group, but first, I am going to sew these blocks together and see what I have. The blue solid background may make it less sweet. There is a fabric with a black background and pink dots (I think) of which I would like more. The bottom line is that I need to see how the blocks look. I haven’t sewn any blocks yet, but stay tuned for that.
I haven’t done a post like this in a long time. A long time is about a month and a half. i wonder if it looks much different from my last post? You tell me.
Hot four patches. I want to make some kind of four patch quilt out of hot colors. This is a long term project that I am thinking about. It just came to the fore recently.
Love Notes quilt: this is a Missouri Star Quilt Company pattern. Someone told me it was boring, but I decided to make it anyway. I object to the bias edges, but there is something about it that I like. Perhaps the envelopes making people think of writing. I am not going to call it Love Notes. Look for a more comprehensive post later.
Red & turquoise four patches.
FOTY 2014 Patches: I have decided that this is the last batch of the FOTY 2014 patches.
Sampler quilt basket block in progress. I haven’t done more about the tutorial, but, see Frances, it is in process.
Red & turquoise four patches in progress.
Flying Geese project: TFQ and I are exchanging Flying Geese and these are the ones I have made and received so far.
Folded paper star: I made this with a friend and really wish I could remember how to make it. If you know, let me know. Each leg is made from a square piece of paper.
Four Stepping Stones blocks. I have a stack of fabric and various parts of blocks, but I haven’t made any new ones yet. No room on the design wall for another project.
I am linking up with Judy Laquidera at the Patchwork Times.
I am starting to think I should call this quilt the Snowball Nine Patch. Even though I think of the original shapes as octagons, I am turning them into snowballs. It is probably too late since, by now, I think of this quilt as the Octagon Nine Patch quilt, but it is a thought.
Also, what is it with Nine Patches all of a sudden? First it was the Rick Rack Nine Patch and now I have, as planned, added nine patches to this quilt.
Octagon Nine Patch Detail
I felt like I needed to add some nine patches to the octagon/snowball pieces to see some progress. I know I am making progress with the ever increasing number of octagon/snowball pieces, but I needed to see more. Making new scrappy blocks meant cutting a whole bunch of additional squares. Still, it was very gratifying when a couple of nine patches came to fruition.
I am trying to decide if I need more cool colors. I used a lot of the cool colors on the Russian Rubix. From the top photo, it looks like enough, but when I look closer I see the same fabrics over and over, then one of the circle blue octagons and one of the violet/light purple with the squares and rectangles line drawing. I don’t know how many octagons I will need as I don’t know how large of a quilt I am making. I am trying to restrain myself and wait to cut more until I can put this on the large design wall to see what I see. At this point the quilt (with 64 Snowballs only) will be 208″, which is a respectable size. Adding the Nine Patches will, I think, double the size.
I am getting to the point where this is starting to look like something. Perhaps this will become my number 1 project soon.
I think that my design wall looks exceptionally turquoise this week. There seems to be a sufficient amount of pink, too.
It looks really different from the last time I posted, partially because I have been sewing. Though different is probably the wrong word; it looks more – more of everything. More octagons, more Stepping Stones.
Same old four patches, though I have actually sewed a few.
More Fabric of the Year patches
A folded paper wreath that I made a long time ago. I really wish I remembered how to make it. Even extensive Googling didn’t help. If you know how to make one, let me know.
Progress is being made, but I have still only worked on the snowball blocks since the last post.
There is certainly a lot of pink! And, secondarily, a lot of warm colors. I used most of the cool colors on the Russian Rubix and want to use what I have.
The good news is that I have to make the 9 Patches, so I can use more cool colors there if the design warrants it.
I am adding the corner pieces using the leaders and enders method. Adding the triangles to the corners makes the octagons look really different from the octagons in the Russian Rubix quilt. I am glad, because it keeps the piece from being boring.
Is it still early January or have we moved into mid January already? I don’t know. I seem to be back in the saddle after a really good mini-session with Maureen and Dolores. More on that later, but in the meantime, I have been making a sort of effort to sew.
That effort has result in the pieces and parts for many, many Stepping Stones blocks, a bunch of cut pieces for the FOTY 2014 and one Stepping Stones block completed.
Design Wall Jan 12, 2015
Parts for turquoise and red four patches. I really need to cut some more blues.
Octagons and snowball blocks for the Octagon 9 patch. I am making progress, but mostly I am sewing triangles to the corners of the octagons to make the snowball blocks.
One completed Stepping Stones block. I am having fun selecting fabrics for the patches. I am glad I added some fabrics to the Bonnie & Camille fabrics. It is good to use them and I think they add a lot to the look of the blocks.
Third Stepping Stones block in process. You can see how I keep track of the pieces I choose. There are still a lot of pieces to cut.
Second Stepping Stones block in process. I am sewing patches together.
I haven’t gotten rid of these PIQF Cross blocks yet, so they are still on the design wall.
Take a look at my last design wall post and see the difference, though some quilt things never change. 😉
I am linking up with Judy Laquidera at the Patchwork Times.
It makes no sense to me to work on a project and not use leaders and enders to save thread and get some other rote piecing done. To that end, as I worked on the Stepping Stones, I also added grey triangles to the leftover octagons so I could work towards the Octagon Nine Patch quilt.
Octagon Nine Patch Test
I kind of wanted to remind myself what mine would look like so I made a mockup in EQ7.
Something looked off so I went and looked at the picture and my piece and realized that I reversed the foreground and background from the original that I saw at PIQF. I was a little upset, but I quickly realized that I had to do it this way, because of the way the octagons were made. My octagon patch is a foreground piece. In Dina Carmiel’s piece, A Touch of Autumn, she used background fabric for the octagons, because they are a base for some applique’. I would have had to completely remake the octagons with the background grey if I wanted to mimic her quilt. The point of my piece is to use up octagons that I already cut for the Russian Rubix quilt.
Octagons to Snowballs December 2014
The sewing of the corner triangles takes a lot of time and if I didn’t like the cheerful colors so much I might give up. As a result, this work makes great leaders and enders piecing. Progress still takes a lot of time.
This is the third quilt I have made with these fabrics and I am really eager to have all three side by side to see the differences.
I still have WIPs. Who doesn’t, after all, but the list is getting a lot smaller.
Aqua-Red Sampler – Frances and I haven’t really worked on this for a long time. I really want her to finish her hexagon block before we move on. I think she has progressed so much since we started that I wonder if I should just tell her how to put the quilt together and be done with it.
The Tarts Come to Tea: I still haven’t worked on this since April 2011, though, periodically, I think about working on it.
Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together. I still haven’t worked on this, though, I do think about it. The Lunns have a new line of PP fabric out. I am curious to see the new colors. I only saw a few at PIQF
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 been feeling like I need to finish this piece as it should be a good reminder to keep in my office.
Under the Sea: class project; like the design, but not the colors much. Possibility for abandonment. I have to face reality.
Ready for Quilting
Wow! Everything on this list is new, as in it was never on the original 26 Projects list.
Table runner: Basted; needs quilting and binding. I am planning on free motion quilting this myself for practice, which may be a challenge when my main machine is not working. (Not on original list)
In Process
I decided that I had better put in an ‘In Process’ category. The difference, at least in my mind, between ‘In Process’ and ‘UFO’ is that I am actively working on a project that is “In Process.”
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 decided to buy a solid turquoise for the background fabric. The large-ish flower print from the above lines that I wanted to use just had too much white and muddied the look. I want the contrast to be good and adding in a fabric that is not from the line will make the piece my own. I may be ready to start this project.
Stepping Stones #3 using the Macaron pre-cuts from Hoffman. I just remembered this project. It isn’t started, but I have all the pre-cuts and should think about actually using them.
Windmill quilt: Still hunting and gathering. I will use a grey for the background, because if I use more of the cut fabric patches, the pattern will be lost. The pieces are too oddly shaped and I don’t want to lose the pattern in a mass of scraps
Abandoned
Nothing in 2014. I am still thinking about whether some of the UFO projects should be abandoned. Will I really finish them?
You can find the last update for the Current Projects list provides a good comparison to this month.
The first list I made is kind of interesting, the one with the 26 Projects. I started the list in October 2011. I have made REALLY GOOD progress. Up until a few months ago, I was still planning to stop this post when I had no more projects from the original list to write about, but now, that the end is in sight, I am not so sure. It is so useful to keep track of all of my projects. Since I still have some pretty old projects on the list, I haven’t decided.
*New – Project started after I started working on the 26 Projects list
Thanks to Angela, who passed along this blog post on Sew Mama Sew by Cheryl Arkison about having multiple projects going at once. Even though I have cleared out a lot of UFOs recently, I still have multiple projects going at once. The most important point she makes is that having multiple projects allows you to perform a quilting step/task that fits in with the time you have. Cheryl writes:
“With each moment in the studio I eke out what can be done. Impromptu playdate in the backyard? Let’s cut fabric! Extra long nap for the little guy? Pedal to the metal at the sewing machine. Hubby away and trashy TV? Pressing leaders and enders.
If I was only working on one project at a time I would spend more time waiting than working. Waiting for just the right moment of alertness to cut fabric. Waiting for quiet afternoons to sew. Waiting for the kids to go to bed so I can wash the floor and baste. Waiting for inspiration to hit when I get blocked. So much waiting.
Instead of waiting I can hit the ground running on any project when time and energy allow. Less waiting, more working. Even if the work takes a long time to become a quilt. I can make progress because progress is always happening. It just isn’t always on the same project.”
And Cheryl’s points don’t even start talking about how we feel. We might feel like cutting during one nap time or auditioning fabric while Grandma watches the kids. All of these factors point to success by having multiple projects going.
Her last point in the excerpt is especiallly important to me. I work with demanding people in a high stress environment. Sewing and quiltmaking calms me down and takes me away from the crazy when I have had a stressful day, week, month. It doesn’t matter if I am finishing something every week or month. It matters that I am sewing – pushing fabric through the machine. That quilts eventually come out is an added bonus.
You might be remembering the project I did to clear out UFOs and wondering how Cheryl’s points fit together. I needed to clear out the “old junk” from my UFO piles to make space for new fabrics and new ideas. Having a project sit around for years, I don’t think is the point. It wasn’t the point for me. Even though I cleared out a lot of UFOs in a kind of binge, I still am trying to be process oriented rather than product oriented. That big push really cleared out the cobwebs that the old projects were making in my brain. Not having many old projects doesn’t mean that I don’t have multiple projects. I do – just fewer and newer and really and truly in progress. The difference is that they are not sitting on a shelf forgotten with no progress happening.
Mark Lipinski is also part of the Slow Stitching Movement. Sandy talks about the same concept on her blog. The interesting part is that this new version doesn’t make us all do handwork. We can still use modern technology.
I don’t know what will happen when I get stuck on a project. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.
I was making a trip to see my quilter yesterday so all week I made a huge effort to get the piece done. I had to put on the last border, make a binding, and make the back. I slowly made may way through all the steps a few seams at a time and was able to get the quilt to a place where it was ready to quilt.
Final Corner, Final Border
The first thing I accomplished was the final border. I am pretty proud of these borders. I did have put a spacer in on two sides to make two sides fit, but I really feel like, as April Rosenthal said, I have mad math skills. Really, I don’t but it was nice of her to say and it is a nice thought to consider since nobody who knows me would say math is a strong point for me. 😉
In the process of the last border, I did have to make more blocks. I forgot to make the last two corner blocks when I was making the last border blocks last weekend (I think??). I think I was distracted by the Black Friday Sew-in Google Hangout. I was trying to do something rather rote so I could pay attention to what the others were doing, but apparently I can’t count, sew and Hang Out all at once.
Russian Rubix Top Finished
The back and top are too large for me to photograph on my design wall, so Friend Julie and Colleen were kind enough to hold both up when we brought it over to Colleen’s to be quilted.
I was really pleased with the photo (despite being taken on my phone), but also with the way the quilt came out. The spacers don’t really show up much and I think the top looks really great.
We talked a lot about the quilting. It will be quilted in Signature Thread in the Cotton Candy colorway, which is a variegated that gets used on my quilts a lot, because it blends with my fabric color palette pretty well. I also chose bamboo batting this time, because Colleen said regardless of the density of the quilting, the quilt will still be drapable. This might be a bed quilt, so drapability is good. Also, I have been wanting to try bamboo.
Russian Rubix Back Finished
The back went really well. I used a big piece of IKEA fabric that Kelly got for me. I thought I had 6 yards, but think I ended up with three, thus the piecing of the other part of the back. I used up the background fabric and most of a half yard of the barcode fabric, plus the stitch purple to add a little width and provide some distinction between the two halves of the quilt.
The stitch purple is a bit of a precious fabric and I was reluctant to use it lest I need it for a ‘better’ project, but I decided I didn’t want to use ‘bad’ or ‘ugly’ fabrics for the back because I still have to look at the back and I want the back to be nice, too. And, of course, there is always more fabric.
This is a big project and it is finally finished. WHEW!
I still have WIPs. Who doesn’t, after all, but the list is getting a lot smaller.
Aqua-Red Sampler – Frances and I haven’t really worked on this for a long time. She recently got in touch about starting up again and she finished her hexagon block.
The Tarts Come to Tea: I still haven’t worked on this since April 2011, though, periodically, I think about working on it.
Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together. I still haven’t worked on this, though, I do think about it. The Lunns have a new line of PP fabric out. I am curious to see the new colors. I only saw a few at PIQF
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 been feeling like I need to finish this piece as it should be a good reminder for some other stuff going on in my life. Perhaps that will spur me on.
Under the Sea: class project; like the design, but not the colors much. Possibility for abandonment. I have to face reality.
Ready for Quilting
Wow! Everything on this list is new, as in it was never on the original 26 Projects list.
Table runner: Basted; needs quilting and binding. I am planning on free motion quilting this myself for practice, which may be a challenge when my main machine is not working. (Not on original list)
In the Finishing Process
I am binding the Green T Quilt, which Gerre and I worked on together.
In Process
I decided that I had better put in an ‘In Process’ category. The difference, at least in my mind, between ‘In Process’ and ‘UFO’ is that I am actively working on a project that is “In Process.”
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.
Stepping Stones #3 using the Macaron pre-cuts from Hoffman. I just remembered this project. It isn’t started, but I have all the pre-cuts and should think about actually using them.
Windmill quilt: Still hunting and gathering. I will use a grey for the background, because if I use more of the cut fabric patches, the pattern will be lost. The pieces are too oddly shaped and I don’t want to lose the pattern in a mass of scraps
Abandoned
Nothing so far for 2014
You can find the last update for the Current Projects list provides a good comparison to this month.
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 REALLY GOOD progress. Up until last month, I was still planning to stop this post when I had no more projects from the original list to write about, but now, that the end is in sight, I am not so sure. It is so useful to keep track of all of my projects. Since I still have some pretty old projects on the list, I don’t have to decide right now.
*New – Project started after I started working on the 26 Projects list
I have been sewing a little, but it feels like I have been riding a stationary bike: sewing for hours and not going anywhere. I need to change that and finish something. I know I shouldn’t be product oriented, but sometimes finishing something big gives the ego a good boost.
Thanksgiving Design Wall
The design wall looks different than last week, though I am sure you can see the similarities. As you can see, the design wall is packed. I kind of sewed everything that wasn’t already sewn down and threw it up on the wall.
1. Two hot color four patches that I thought I would use as the beginning of a quilt, but haven’t done anything with yet.
2. Red and turquoise four patches. I made one additional since last week.
3. Completed red and turquoise four patches. The most recent one is on the top.
4. BAMQG donation blocks. I made them using leaders and enders. Aren’t they cheerful?
5. Same FOTY rectangles as last week. I am looking at The Great Unwashed and wondering what fabrics I want to wash and iron so they can be included in FOTY 2014.
6. One Field Day Zipper ‘block’. I cut the patches apart from each other on Saturday and somehow that one ended up on the design wall.
7. Russian Rubix Octagons. I still have a few blocks to make for the border, so I still may need some of the octagons. I am not sure if I will use all of these in the Russian Rubix quilt or if they will be part of the Snowball/9 Patch quilt I have in mind. Since the border is nearing the end, I will know pretty soon.
9. PIQF Crosses. I think TFQ and I will probably abandon this project, but I had so many pieces cut that I decided to work on sewing them. I may give the blocks to the guild as donation blocks or I could put them together as the center of a donation quilt or I could make a pillow.
10. City Sampler block n.31. Bleah. It went together like a log cabin and I am not very happy with the way it turned out.
So the process continues…
I am linking up with Judy over at the Patchwork Times.
I spent most of the day yesterday out with Kelly and making banana bread. The Young Man budgeted for $40 worth of bananas for his Eagle Project and then BOUGHT THEM!!! People ate bananas, but $40 is a lot of bananas and we had a about 20 left after the project. By yesterday 12 were left, which meant 3 double batches of banana bread. I spent about 3.5 hours in the kitchen, including a walking trip to Trader Joe’s because I ran out of eggs. I got some steps in, but used up a lot of sewing time on this ‘project.’
Design Wall November 17, 2014
Thus, the design wall looks pretty similar to last week’s version. I have high hopes that the end is nearing on a few projects, but time will tell, especially with holidays coming up.
1. More of the red 2″ squares for my 4 patches. I really need to cut some 2″ turquoise squares. I just can’t seem to get to it.
2. Black & Grey Teenaged Boy Donation Quilt blocks. I finally finished that last block that had been languishing, for, what seemed like, weeks. Next step is to layout all the blocks and look at them. I need to decide whether to sew them together with sashing or not. I hear red fabrics crying out for my attention when I think about this quilt.
3. Pieces and part of the PIQF Cross blocks. I have the other background parts cut as well; they are just somewhere else waiting for me to have a moment to decide on the fabric for the on point squares.
4. Start of a donation block for BAMQG. Made with leaders and enders technique yesterday as I sewed another side of a Russian Rubix border together.
5. My PIQF Cross blocks, some only partially sewn.
5.5 This is the PIQF Cross block that TFQ made. Somehow it got separated from its friends, though, perhaps, it volunteered to play referee between the red 2″ patches from and the Teenaged Boy Donation Quilt. 😉
6. Russian Rubix Octagons. I am still making a few blocks for the border. I am not sure if I will use these in the Russian Rubix quilt or if they will be part of the Snowball/9 Patch quilt I have in mind. If I do that piece it will be the third quilt I make from that collection of fabrics. It is interesting to do that. Perhaps I can consider it a series?
7. Most recent FOTY rectangles. These are the last of the fabrics that TFQ pressed for me. I need to toss another load of new fabric into the wash and continue on.
I am linking up with Judy over at the Patchwork Times. Looking through a few of the other links is fun. I see projects and things that I wouldn’t have otherwise seen.
It seems a little odd to keep posting these photos of what looks like the same design wall week after week. Still there is some difference. You can see the blocks I am making for the project TFQ and I are working on.
The octagons are still there, because I am still stuck on the Russian Rubix border. I got a little push in the right direction, but I just I haven’t had a chance to do any sewing. I will be really happy when I have a chance to finish the border so I can get the octagons off my wall and put something else up there.
1- As in the previous week, these are the pieces and parts for red and turquoise four patches. Ir eally need to find some more turquoise fabrics.
2- These patches are the start of the newest batch of FOTY 2014 rectangles.
3- Octagons from the Russian Rubix quilt top.
4- Finished red and turquoise four patches
5- Donation blocks, mostly finished, but one in process
6- PIQF Inspiration blocks in process
7- PIQF Inspiration blocks in in cutting stage
I am linking up with Judy Laquidara’s Patchwork Times
My English Paper Piecing half hexie stars are growing into a giant cluster.
I forgot to rotate the photo. What I think of as the bottom is the line of stars with the dark green and Philip Jacobs flower print on the diagonal on the left.
I have some diamonds that will make the border straight. I don’t know what color I will make them, but I would like to decide and make a few to get the feel of how the piece will look. There will be no black stars, so, perhaps, black? I hoping for a look like those 1930s quilts which just have a spark of black. I’ll have to try it out and see how it will look.
I recently finished adding a whole big section, or what I thought was a whole big section and it really turned out to be about four blocks. I thought it was a larger section when I was doing it, because of the twisting of the stars that needs to take place to get them together. I think I will add one star at a time from now on.
My biggest problem is the background stars. I need to make more and keep forgetting to cut the bright white dot fabrics until I am sitting and doing it.
