October Sew Day

Sew Day Workroom
Sew Day Workroom

We had another in person Sew Day the other day. We all wore masks and did quite a bit of physical distancing. We each had our own 6 foot table, which was nice not only for safety, but also because we could spread out.

In addition we had, as usual, cutting tables, ironing boards and a free table. The usual, overflowing snack table was strangely empty. I did not have a chance to make coffee cake, so I wasn’t surprised that other were in the same boat.

As usual, it was great to see people. Mary and I tested the 5 ironing boards the guild has and decided two of them were substandard – one was too wobbly and one tilted in an odd direction. We have been wanting to do that for awhile, so it was good to get it done.

The Sew Day was actually a Super Sew Day in that people came on Friday and Saturday. I put together two door prize bags, which were won by Amy and Joelle. I wish I could have attended on Friday, but work and taking off the Friday before prevented me from attending.

Someone from the church donated her mother’s fabrics. The mother had died and there were 12 garbage bags full of fabric. Some guild members sorted the fabric. People chose pieces they wanted. Most of the fabric was Joann quality. I didn’t take any, but some went to make pet beds. I think some will go to the community quilt project as well. The rest of the fabric will go to FabMo for others to pick through.

Sew Day Workspace
Sew Day Workspace

My workspace was good. Having a 6 foot table to myself allowed me to leave Rosette #1 flat on the table while I worked with the smaller chunks.

It also allow people to see the big part of the piece and not disturb my progress. As I said before, people are very interested in the progress of my piece. They were less interested this time in English Paper Piecing in general. The La Pass rosettes are very impressive and my Rosette #1 is no exception.

Month 3 arrived and I was able to press the fabric as well.

People were working on really nice projects. Rhonda sat across from me and shared a design wall with Melinda. Rhonda’s piece (right) was fantastic! She is working on a round robin with Cheryl, Kelly, Ruth and some others. It is one of the best round robins I have ever seen. She told me that Ruth did a lot of the design work. I love everything about it.

Melinda’s piece was also really great. The colors aren’t exactly my colors, but I did like the combination. It is really different. I also like the variety of plus (cross) blocks. I received some of these fabrics in one of the Modern Handmade modern boxes I got last year before they stopped the subscriptions.

Alice's block
Alice’s block

Other people were working on interesting projects as well. Bonnie was working on a quilt top that looks woven. Nancy was quilting a community quilt. Alice finished a great block that I think was paper pieced.

Amy found a project that has generated interest throughout the guild. She found a pattern for a zipper organizer. She made one for Mary C as a gift and Mary started to use it to organize pieces for a quilt she is working on. It looks like it works really well! I think I might need to make some as gifts.

Mary clipped the various pieces for her Aftershock quilt in groups and then hung them on the zipper organizer, which is now a project organizer. I can see using it for bag parts and other projects.

Mary's Aftershock quilt
Mary’s Aftershock quilt

The other thing I noticed was the quilt on which Mary was working. As mentioned it is called Aftershock and is from Wren Collective. Mary picked her colors and then didn’t have enough of the background. Also, the quilt store was out of it. The quilt store, Bay Quilts, was very helpful in that they pulled Mary’s foreground colors and suggested several different background colors. Mary picked the maroon-ish you see above. She admitted that it wasn’t one she would normally pick, but that it worked really well. I have to agree. It isn’t a color I would pick, but it looks great with her foreground colors.

All in all it was a really good day!

My UCAB Exterior

I had a day off the other day and really wanted to finish my UCAB.

UCAB Lining
UCAB Lining

In order to finish the exterior I had to sew the lining. I decided to put in an ironing pad even though I don’t think I will use it much. I have my new Mini Maker Case, so I may actually use it. I will try it out regardless.

I had to cut all of the pieces for the lining before assembling the interior. Construction of the lining went pretty smoothly.

UCAB Exterior
UCAB Exterior

Another task was to finish the exterior. I sewed the three parts together (back, front and bottom), which was pretty easy. I did have some trouble with the pleather bottom sticking to my machine’s bed. I held up both edges and kept as much of it off the machine bed as I could. Then I sort of shoved it through, but will need to rethink that strategy in the future. It doesn’t make for nice stitching.

Laid out like the photo left doesn’t do anything for the overall look of the bag, but you know how it is. It always looks worse before it looks better.

UCAB Exterior - standing up
UCAB Exterior – standing up

I wanted the bottom to be flat, so I sewed two layers of Peltex to the pleather – kind of like quilting it. I was careful to keep the Peltex away from the edges so that the edges wouldn’t be too thick. I don’t know if that strategy will work, but it seems to be flatter than I could have hoped.

To encourage the bottom get into (and stay into) the right shape I thought of sewing a seam along the edges where the front and back fold up. The ironing pad extends into the bottom of the bag, so sewing a seam would create a bump. If I want to do that, I’ll probably need to omit the ironing pad.

I also cut out the sides (from a template) and put those together. They are an odd shape, so I used scissors. I also pressed the folds into the places where the pockets will be inserted.

I got a fair amount done, but didn’t finish. Progress! Not finished, but progress.

Finished: Pop Parade Donation Quilt

Pop Parade Dontion Quilt #2
Pop Parade Dontion Quilt #2

Joelle quilted and bound this second of the Pop Parade donation quilts. I finished it in July, so the finish was relatively quick. Thanks, Joelle!!!

As you may remember, I added the large dark red batik fabric (left) with the yellow dots to round the variety of fabrics I had for the X Quilt. I am pleased the quilt is done, but I am also pleased that I finally used this bundle of fabrics. This is a great example of why a person should use the fabrics when they buy them. I loved these fabrics when I bought them and loved them a lot less when I finally used them. I don’t dislike them and I am very pleased with the quilts I finished.

September Sew Day

Sew Day Rosette #1 Workk
Sew Day Rosette #1 Work

Sew Day fell in the middle of Labor Day Weekend. I was happy to go. I didn’t take as many photos this time, because I was devoted to my La Pass Rosette #1.

I got a lot done, though not the whole thing. I am feeling some pressure, because I haven’t started Month #2’s work yet. Month #2 adds on to Rosette #1.

I found that I could walk around and sew, so I walked around with my sewing and talked to people. Lots of people were very interested in my project. Some had never seen EPP so complicated which was a surprise to me. I thought everyone knew Willyne Hammerstein‘s work. I also explained how the Block of the Month program worked.

It was interesting just doing handwork.

Sept. 2021 Sew Day
Sept. 2021 Sew Day

Everyone wore masks, which was great. It is fun to see everyone’s projects. Lindsay came and put together the top and back of a Buffalo Plaid quilt, then began working on her foundation piecing block of the month. She sews really fast. I am constantly amazed at her output.

Lynette's pouch
Lynette’s pouch

Lynette was there. She had a pouch that was an excellent example of what good fabric can do.

This is a fairly simple looking pouch pattern, like the Persimmon Pouch from Sew Sweetness. With the great Kaleidoscope fabric, it looks super impressive.

More donation quilts were exchanged.  There was a free table to which I contributed some fabric and things. it was good fun.

UCAB Progress

Brocade Peony UCAB Exterior
Brocade Peony UCAB Exterior

I made some progress last weekend on the Ultimate Carry All Bag. Shocking, I know. I was spurred on by finishing the STBs, not having my design walls available and by talking with Lynette at Sew Day. Mostly, I am also determined to get this *&^% project off my to do list.

As you might remember, I am making one as a gift. That one is farther along, because all the pieces are cut. I have been cutting the pieces as I go along for this one and I didn’t cut the pieces for the zipper yet.

Sometime ago, I decided to use some fake leather I bought for the bottom, so I want able to use that piece to put the exterior together.

I am still trying to decide whether I will put an ironing pad in this one. I am not sure I will use it, but it seems like a good thing to have anyway.

Finished: Put a Ring On It

Finished: Put a Ring on It Quilt
Finished: Put a Ring on It Quilt

Yes, Put A Ring On It is finished. I have been slowly stitching the binding down. I was able to finish it on July 30, just in time to cross it off my list so I could start La Passacaglia. Hand sewing is about all I can do right now with my workroom still in disarray.

Put a Ring on It corner
Put a Ring on It corner

This is the first quilt I have made than has round corners…that I can remember. I have a vague memory of using that Katie’s Corner ruler on something, but I don’t remember what. I found it to be great not to have to miter corners. I did have to stretch the binding a bit to get it in the right place, but bias binding works great for that.

Put a Ring on It detail
Put a Ring on It detail

Colleen did a great job on the quilting! I like the way she highlighted the arcs.

Update on Ends Quilts

These quilts are all made from the edges that are cut off of other quilts as they are being squared up. Sometimes I make the backs larger than needed so I get some large-ish pieces back. Those pieces are hard to store, so making some donation quilts out of them is a good idea.

July 2021

Pop Parade Ends (n.10)
Pop Parade Ends (n.10)

Ends n.10 (Pop Parade)

February 2021

Ends n.9 quilted
Ends n.9 quilted

Ends n.9 – see more information

June 2021

Ends n.8 Finished
Ends n.8 Finished

Ends n.8 (Bonnie & Camille) – see more information. Since I only make the tops, they don’t always get done in order.

January 2019

Ends n.7 Donation Quilt
Ends n.7 Donation Quilt

Ends n.7 – see more information

October 2018

Ends donation top n.6
Ends donation top n.6

Ends n.6 – see more information

June 2018

Ends Donation Top n.5
Ends Donation Top n.5

Ends n.5 – see more information

March 2018

Ends n.4 Final
Ends n.4 Final

Ends n.4 – see more information. You can see that Ends n.3 and Ends n.4 are related.

 

Ends Donation Quilt n.3
Ends Donation Quilt n.3

Ends n.3 – see more information

July 2018

Ends n.2 donation quilt
Ends n.2 donation quilt

Ends n.2 – see more information

March 2017

Ends Donation Top - March 2017
Ends Donation Top – March 2017

Ends (n.1) – see more information – this is the top that started it all!

You could also put scraps together into strips, add some background and make one of these. These are very improv-y and there isn’t a pattern. It is a good way to do something good with fabrics I wouldn’t otherwise use.

Yellow Improv Grows

Yellow Improv Donation Top in Progress
Yellow Improv Donation Top in Progress

Slowly but surely this piece is growing. The top section, which I think of as the main piece, is about 20×20 now. I am working on growing the bottom piece to fit on to the top piece. At the moment the bottom piece is  made up of 3 different pieces.

I find that I need triangles in these pieces to add interest. The additional, non-yellow, colors add interest, but I find that if I have too many squares and rectangles the eye doesn’t move around as much. In this piece, however, there isn’t much contrast and that helps the eye not linger on the squares and rectangles.

I learned this from the Green Thing, the first top in this series. Those bars, which aren’t even really green, provide a focal point, but I find that the focal point takes away from the rest of the quilt. Good thing I’ll have enough green scraps to make another!

Ends n.10

Pop Parade Ends (n.10)
Pop Parade Ends (n.10)

In a way the sewing I am doing at the moment is all about getting stuff off the floor so I can move it out of my workroom before the painting starts.

The other day I organized bits of batting and the edges that came back from my quilter after she quilted a quilt. I have at least one more quilt to make from ends.

This one is the fourth quilt I have made from the Pop Parade fabric. Most of it is not Pop Parade, but you can see the Pop Parade clearly.

I also used some Dit Dot Evolution fabric for the background. I bought the fabric online and it is the wrong color. I was going to give it away, then I thought I could just use it for donation quilts, so I did. I prefer clear white, but I prefer to use fabric rather than just give it away. Someone will like this quilt. It isn’t at all ugly even if I didn’t use my preferred fabric.

I have to make a back, which I would like to do before I go to the next Sew Day.

Tim’s Improv Donation Top

Tim's Donation Top
Tim’s Donation Top

I finally got to work on Tim’s donation top. I can’t believe it was May when I worked on it last. Fortunately, it was only a week before that I started working on the piece.  Time is flying by.

I don’t think this is my best work. there are a lot of disparate elements. Somehow it works. It kind of looks like buildings surrounding a park to me.

I struggled with this piece, because of the green and orange. I don’t sincerely dislike green, but I don’t make it a main color in any of my quilts except the Improv Color quilts.  I also like orange, but somehow this was a struggle on which to work.

Tim's Improv Donation Back
Tim’s Improv Donation Back

The back went relatively fast. I took both pieces to Sew Day and gave them to Peggy and the team for quilting.

Pop Parade Donation Top/Back

Pop Parade Improv Donation quilt
Pop Parade Improv Donation quilt

This is the THIRD quilt I have made from the bundle I bought a million years ago!

This top came about because I cleaned off every horizontal surface in my workroom holding fabric or projects. I found some random pieces sewn together as well as some Pop Parade yardage. I wanted it all gone except a blue (not shown). I started sewing pieces together randomly, using already pieced sections where I could. I had only two unused blocks from the X quilt, which was  a shame, design-wise, but ok. I know that someone will like this quilt once it is finished and off to its new owner.

Pop Parade Improv Donation quilt back
Pop Parade Improv Donation quilt back

My bonus is that I don’t have any random pieces of Pop Parade laying around. I did like the motifs, but didn’t like the colors chosen. I’d love it if they would reprint this fabric in clearer colors. I often think that.

We are now handing in donation quilts at Sew Days, so I will give this to Peggy the next time we meet.

St. Patrick’s Donation Quilt

St. Patrick's Day donation quilt finished
St. Patrick’s Day donation quilt finished

As I mentioned, a dozen quilts were handed in at Sew Day which will go to the community organizations that the guild supports. Many were tops I had sewn in the past. I am glad they are making their way to Peggy and the Community Quilt team.

One was the St. Patrick’s Day donation quilt Mary and I made really quickly during the last Sew Day before the pandemic shelter-in-place order.

I am not sure who quilted it, but Mary C bound it.