I had a good amount of time off over the holidays. I was able to spend some time pressing fabric and cutting pieces for this project. It is a meditative process and was a good way to transition from the difficult last quarter at work to vacation.
The end is drawing near, so I need to speed up the process or work with what I have.
One thing I like about this is that looking at the fabric patches and thinking about the projects on which I am working as well as the new fabrics.
I haven’t taken any kind of inventory of pieces that I have. If I do I can fix any problems, if I don’t it will be a design challenge.
I needed a venue for the large Joel Dewberry prints. I decided that I would use the All Washed Up pattern called Sparkling Cider to which I was introduced at the November BAMQG meeting. I really struck by the pattern, because of the wonderful way the pattern showcased large print fabrics. Mallory kindly loaned me the pattern, though the pattern is very straightforward and I had already designed a version in EQ7.
The blocks required for this quilt are 4 large Sawtooth Star blocks with no borders and 16 8″ Sawtooth Star blocks that have multiple borders that bring the 8″ blocks up to 16″. I have made the large Sawtooth Star blocks and about half of the smaller blocks.
I am using the Joel Dewberry Notting Hill prints and very much enjoying them. I am tempted to purchase more of them, but perhaps these are enough?
Pink Stars
I am including some other large prints in addition to the Notting Hill prints. The Notting Hill prints have some orange in them, so I have added some orange as well.
I wanted to make this as a quick and fun quilt top. I have so many fun pink fabrics that I thought combining the Notting Hill prints with them would be a great opportunity to use a variety. I didn’t want this to be a Joel Dewberry quilt, and, though, I think the Notting Hill prints are prominent, I don’t think the blocks, so far, scream Joel Dewberry.
I wanted to get this top finished before I went back to work, but it wasn’t to be. I have made good progress, and will finish it soon.
I really wanted to draw and really nice looking wheel quilt as a response to this post, but I just didn’t have it in me.
This response is appropriate, though, since this is what I wish I were doing right now. Instead I went back to work this morning and am now driving the Young Man to an appointment and generally resuming my crazy life. Unless they have already put me in some kind of asylum for people being driven insane by lawyers.
Take a look at the original prompt and create one of your own.
Here are some more Patchwork Wheel blocks. I am a bit stuck on the last few, because I misplaced a stack of fabrics. Sigh. I hope to have found it and be back on track by the time you read this.
I am having fun with Ribbet. Sometimes I don’t want to deal with the formatting of multiple photos and Ribbet is a good alternative. I can do some quick collages, basic editing and pull from Flickr. It is free, you don’t have to register (though you get more, if you do) and it is relatively quick.
I pretended for a long time that I was just playing around with blocks, but after posting Swoon Block #13, I had to admit that this was a project.
I decided that I would finish up the last few blocks, put them together, make a back and see what would come next.
I am pretty pleased with the way the blocks have come out. I don’t know if this will be the permanent arrangement. I am considering and will have to see.
I am hard on the heels of bordering this quilt top. I had hoped to have the border, the back as well as the back for the Spiderweb done by the time I go back to work tomorrow, but I can see that isn’t going to happen. Life interferes. I have to eat, play chauffeur, spend time with DH. I am fortunate that life interferes. It is work I could really do without, as long as they would pay me not to show up. 😉
Swoon with Framing Border
The first thing I did was put a framing border on the top. The variety of colors needed to be contained and the pinky orange did a good job.
Next on the agenda, which I know is going to cause me problems is the larger outside border. I am taking elements from the Swoon blocks (the corner piece, the house shape, or as Sarah calls it: the Turkey Butt) and making them to insert in the corners and middle of the borders. I am pretty sure I don’t have enough of the border fabric, so we will see how that works out.
Lack of planning with rending of garments or design challenge?
You can read about preventing sickly sweetness in the last post about this project.
I sewed the last two blocks. They look great, I think. I did have some challenges picking the fabrics for the last two blocks.
I had picked out a certain crop of fabrics for these blocks. I didn’t want to add in any new ones that I didn’t have to add, because they wouldn’t be in the rest of the quilt.
If you zoom in you might see that I pieced some of the fabrics to make sure I had enough. That odd piecing doesn’t really show even in person, so I am happy.
Swoon #16
Block #16 was a bit of a challenge, because I couldn’t decide if I wanted to use more of the blue Sophia fabric that kind of started me on this journey.I finally decided that I liked it enough to use it. I also decided that it wouldn’t scream out of the quilt that I had used too much of it. The blues are relatively strong in this piece, but I don’t think they overwhelm it. I think the blues keep it from being too sickly sweet with pink.
Now I am done with these blocks. I have decided that 16 is enough.
The last post was about the other Swoon block I made recently.
Since it is the first week of the year, I feel like I should use ‘New’ as the prompt, but I already used it. You can see ‘new,’ which may inspire your response to ‘old’ in a previous post dated 12/3/2010. It is prompt #96.
Old Man River
vintage
antique
the good old days
2 year old, 3 year old 4 year old, etc
Definition: Adjective, 1. Having lived for a long time; no longer young; 2. Made or built long ago: “the old quarter of the town”. (from Google definitions)
Definition/ Etymology #2: From Old English ald, eald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz (“grown-up”), originally a participle form from Proto-Indo-European *altós, corresponding to Latin altus. Cognate with Dutch oud, Low German old, German alt, West Frisian âld, Scots auld. (Click on the link at this beginning of this part; lots of great ways to think about ‘old’.)
Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.
The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.
I am on a roll. I want to try more color combinations. I think I get more wild each time. I also have a certain number of fabrics I designated for use and don’t want to expand very much before I finish.
Yes, I am thinking about finishing, but how can I finish when a project isn’t really a project?
I really couldn’t get my mind off of bread rolls, bread in a basket, sourdough rolls, etc. This is not helpful when a person eats a gluten free diet, so I tried to think of something else that would work and came up with “roll of the dice.”
The track on the game board looks a bit snake-y, but I think you can get the idea.
This is a post that I have written a little differently from most of the posts I write. I am going to write and then post it right away. Normally, I write a few days ahead and schedule my posts so I am not in a rush to get something posted at the last second.
We had a nice New Year’s Eve and also a nice New Year’s Day. We went and saw Skyfall last night after going to dinner. Today we watched the Rose Parade, did some stuff around the house and then went to our BIL and SIL’s house for a potluck-football watching-socializing kind of day.
I planned on being at the machine a good portion of the day, but didn’t want to seem anti-social, so I worked on the Corner Store while watching the Rose Parade and on the Garden while over at SIL’s.
Corner Store Finished
Why is this all relevant? Because I finished the Corner Store this morning! I wasn’t looking for such a big finish, but I do like to finish something on New Year’s Day as a way of setting the tone for the New Year. I suppose it is my version of a resolution since I don’t make the normal kind of resolutions.
I had a little bit of binding left and two repairs (don’t ask). Just stitching away for half an hour got the job done.
This quilt will go to my brother-in-law, who is ill. I hope he wraps up in it and feels people hugging him all the time.
Take a look at the last post about quilting this piece. It might be a long time until you read about me quilting again! 😉
As you may have seen in another post, I have been on a bit of a pillowcase making binge. It is hard not to binge as they are similar to potato chips. In the process of making donation pillowcases, I also made a couple of gifts.
K-man’s Pillowcase
The gift pillowcase for my 14 year old nephew was languishing. It started it a long time ago and never finished it. I don’t know why it was sitting around, but it was. I had seen it a week or so ago, so in the midst of the pillowcase making frenzy, I pulled it out to assess what needed to be done.
What needed to be done was pretty easy to fix. I hadn’t caught part of the seam in the stitch line, so I trimmed the bottom even and stitched it again, then made the French seam on the inside and it was done. Too bad I didn’t finish it for Christmas.
Sweet Dreams Pillowcase #3
I also found more of the chocolate fabric I liked so much when I made the Chocolate/Sweet dreams pillowcase #2 earlier this year. I believe I bought the fabric in Pennsylvania or Maryland last year. I have to say, I could make pillowcases with this chocolate fabric until the cows come home and never get tired of it. This will go to my niece when she is back at college so she has sweet dreams.
As mentioned in a recent post, there is a project to collect pillowcases for the kids at Sandy Hook Elementary in CT. Making pillowcases was on my radar, but I had to get through Christmas first, with lots of baking and cooking, family and friends. I wasn’t putting those in need behind my real life. I really wanted time to work with the pattern and make sure the pillowcases were well made and of good quality. The way Twiddletails shows the cutting doesn’t mesh with my thought processes, so I have to really think about it and focus if I don’t want to waste fabric.
I like that pattern, though, because once you get past the first stitch line, you have only two more stitching lines to complete the pillowcase. I also like it because there are no raw edges due to the French seams.
The Mexican food fabric (with beige and green backgrounds) had been languishing for quite awhile and it was time to use them. As you might remember, my intent was to make teenage boy/older boy friendly pillowcases. I know the kids at Sandy Hook are on the younger side, but perhaps there are 5th or 6th graders who are past cheerful trucks and dancing animals who will like them. I find it so easy to find fabric suitable for toddlers, but not so much suitable for teenaged boys.
Dream Fabric
You might have noticed that some of the pillowcases have a green in them that is slightly off. I found this fabric in my green bin when I was looking for something to go with the Mexican food fabric. It yelled out “I am dream fabric and perfect for pillowcases” to me when I saw it. Sadly, I used most of it for something and barely had enough for half a pillowcase much less a whole. I decided to use it for the trim. Yes, the color is a bit off, but I want these pillowcases to induce sweet dreams and be infused with good energy, so I put a little bit in. The viewer can’t see the clouds in the finished pieces, but I know they are there. I really wish I had enough for whole pillowcases.
Circus Pillowcase
I pulled out a bin I had noticed when I was rearranging and cleaning up after a fabri-lanche recently. It had multi-color fabrics in it. I didn’t remember buying most of the fabrics and they are not fabrics I would buy now, but were very cheerful and GREAT for kids.
I was especially pleased to find this circus print, and enough of it to make a pillowcase and a cuff, as it demands to be left in large pieces rather than cut up. Notice that the cuff is a companion print. At one time I also had the star companion print, but couldn’t find it. I must have used it.
I sent the pillowcases off yesterday and the postage was $12.00+ for parcel post! I forgot how heavy fabric is. That is done and today I am on to something else. Stay tuned!
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