Month: May 2016

Fabric of the Year – Chunking

FOTY 2015 - Chunking
FOTY 2015 – Chunking

I blew through the layout stage and am on to piecing.

Well, relatively anyway.

I gave myself a certain amount of time to do the layout. The time period was about two weeks and during that time, I didn’t take my cutting table or other in-process projects out of the fabric closet. I only allowed myself to work on other projects as leaders and enders and focused on getting this laid out.

This year’s piece was harder to arrange, because the fabrics I used were really different colors than each other. I am not sure why, because individually they don’t look different. The differences in each hue don’t really show up until you put two oranges or pinks next to each other and try and decide which has a lighter and which has a darker value. It is very strange. If I had thought of it I would have kept track of manufacturers and designers to see if I bought different ones this year than last year. I didn’t know that this would happen. It would have also meant that I would have had to keep track last year as well. More data would be needed.

The too-small design wall was a real problem this year, I think. I did not cut the patches down to accommodate the design wall as I did last year. I just crammed them all on the wall. That means that I found some places where I was short. You can see some white spaces on the bottom (near right hand corner). This problem showed up when some of the fabric was taken up by seam allowances and I was able to line patches up more evenly. I have to rummage through my leftover pieces and find some to fill in.

Most of the piece has been sewn into chunks. The chunks are not even because I had some rectangles arranged horizontally and some arranged vertically. With the squares it made for interesting piecing.

The difficulty was what it was and I got the feeling that it was done at some point and started sewing. I talked a little about the sewing when I posted about the Peacock. It is all about leaders and enders, because I only want two unsewn patches off the wall at a time to ensure the piece stays laid out the way I intended.

You can find out more about the FOTY quilts on the series page.

May 2016: 26 Projects List

In my last post on this topic, I was feeling as though I was on the verge of finishing several projects. I have two large quilt projects well in hand, but nothing else, really. I guess that means I am still on the verge or was mistaken or could have been experiencing a bout of wishful thinking.

Finished 2016 Quilt Projects

Cityscape/Red & Black Improv Quilt – I still have to put the sleeve on, but the binding is on, so it is ready to go.

Flower Sugar donation quilt (I feel odd putting this finish here as there is so much I didn’t do on this piece – still there isn’t anywhere else to put it)

Finished 2016 non-Quilt Projects

In Process
The  ‘In Process’ is used to denote projects on which I am actively working or pretending to stitch.

  • Carpenter’s Wheel blocks – I finished all of them and am working on the layout.
  • English Paper Piecing Project– half hexies – I finished adding another big section. I am excited about the La Passcaglia EPP project, so I may finish this up as….something and then move on. We’ll see. I had thought about this as my NSGW project and I may need to see that through.
  • Food Quilt #3 – food patches are cut. I went to start sewing and realized I didn’t have the center squares cut, so I have started to cut those. I haven’t made much progress, though I have purchased a few and may get busy as this would be a good quilt on which to make progress during the sewing of the FOTY 2015 patches.
  • Lobster – have more stitching to do and then I need to quilt it.
  • Horizon Midi Bag – have to finish top stitching
  • Octagon 9 Patch: ready to put together. Not sure what I am waiting for
  • Peacock Quilt – all of the large blocks are finished and I am working on the smaller blocks!
  • Pies and Points from Victoria Findlay Wolfe class. No further piecing progress, but I did buy more background fabric.
  • Stepping Stones #2 – I worked on this for awhile. I used the project as leaders and enders while I was sewing FOTY 2015. I need to measure the blocks I have and figure out where to go from here.

Still WIPs
I still have WIPs. Who doesn’t, after all? A project in the ‘UFO’ category means I am stalled. A nicer way of saying UFO, to me, is a WIP. The list is a lot shorter and the projects are newer, for the most part.

  1. Aqua-Red Sampler – I still have to work on the partial seaming tutorial.
  2. The Tarts Come to Tea: I still haven’t worked on this since April 2011, though, it is in a prominent location so I have easy access. I was thinking about how this was veering in the direction of being one of my ‘masterpieces,’ but now that it has languished for so long it just looks old and dated. :(
  3. Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together. I still haven’t worked on this project either, but I do think about it.
  4. 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 stopped feeling like I need to finish this piece. I am not ready to give up on it yet. I think it really needs major surgery.
  5. Under the Sea: class project; like the design, but not the colors. Still a possibility for abandonment. Just can’t seem to pull the trigger.
  6. City Sampler/ Tale of Two Cities blocks. No progress despite the small group at BAMQG.
  7. Serendipity Lady Quilt

Ready for Quilting
Wow! Everything on this list is new, as in it was never on the original 26 Projects list.

  • 2 Thanksgiving tablerunners

In Quilting Process

Nothing being quilted.

Binding

  • Flowerburst

Hunting and Gathering

  • Blue Gradation Quilt: cutting 2.5″x 4.5″ blue rectangles
  • Blue Lemonade: cutting blue, green, purple 2″ squares
  • Food Quilt #3: cutting blue fabrics
  • Pink Gradation Quilt: cutting 2.5″x 4.5″ pink rectangles
  • Spin Wheel: really not started, but supplies gathered. I probably have enough fabrics and just need to decide to start.
  • Stepping Stones #3 using the Macaron pre-cuts from Hoffman. I have all the fabric in pre-cuts and am just waiting for space in my schedule.
  • Windmill quilt: Still hunting and gathering. I am supposed to be cutting a variety of greys for the background. The problem is that I mislaid the rotary template. Sigh. I may be able to cut the background greys on a Sizzix.

What’s on your list?

Flowerburst Returns

Flowerburst returned from the quilter about a week and a half ago. I have had so many other projects going on that I haven’t had time to post about it. I haven’t really worked on it either, so there hasn’t been much to say.

Flowerburst - ready to bind
Flowerburst – ready to bind

As you might remember, Flowerburst is a large quilt made from a pattern in Kathy Doughty’s book, Adding Layers. I wrote a review about that book. Have you read it?

The photo is a little odd as I had to lay the quilt out on my living room floor and take the photo from the upstairs hallway (I have an open plan, mid-century modern house). When I get my other quilt hanger back from college and the quilt is bound, I’ll take another photo.

This was supposed to be a quick project and it was relatively. I didn’t like the directions, mostly because I had to conserve fabric, so I used different methods to cut the backgrounds, which meant I didn’t have as many leftovers as I would have if I had used KD’s methods. I understand the reasoning behind her cutting directions: she had to write directions for everyone not just for me, the person with the fabric shortage.

Flowerburst - detail
Flowerburst – detail

I like the way this quilt turned out. I liked using my big prints on the front for a change even though I will be gifting this quilt and won’t get to see those lovely prints very often.

I really like the idea of combining different sized blocks and think this, or a variation of this, pattern has potential for other layouts. I am thinking that a slightly larger block in the center with the smaller block would have worked as well. I think there could have been some transparency work as well, if I were willing to do a larger quilt.

Flowerburst - detail
Flowerburst – detail

A couple of the prints are Martha Negley prints, but they go so well with the Philip Jacobs prints.

The print on sea green with the flowers and melons is a favorite and was close to being a dress. I decided at the last minute that I couldn’t risk a melon ending up on a breast or buttock! I do love those flouncy lavender flowers, though. I also love the cantaloupe color combined with the sea green. I don’t remember seeing that combination before and will have to remember it in future.

Flowerburst - detail
Flowerburst – detail

Finally, Colleen did a great job on the quilting. I wanted her to highlight the stars and she did different designs in each one and they look great. I can’t wait to bind this and see what my niece thinks.

Stepping Stones 2 Returns

As I said the other day in the latest donation blocks post, laying out FOTY 2015 doesn’t make for a lot of tangible production. While I enjoyed making the donation blocks, I did need a little variety and the Stepping Stones parts were handy.

Four Stepping Stones blocks - April 2016
Four Stepping Stones blocks – April 2016

I enjoy these blocks and seeing the way they will be laid out makes me very happy. Turning each on a little bit makes a huge difference.

Even though I may need the squares for the layout of the Carpenter’s Wheel blocks, I have used some of the low volume prints for the white space in these blocks. I have plenty of fabric for the [mythical] Carpenter’s Wheel layout and can always cut more.

6 Stepping Stones blocks - April 2016
6 Stepping Stones blocks – April 2016

Making a few blocks always leads to making more and the six shown give an idea of what the quilt will look like and makes me want to make more.

Based on the layout I devised for my nephew’s Stepping Stones quilt, it looks like I will only need two more blocks and then border blocks for the width. I thought I measured 8 blocks across my bed, which doesn’t account for border blocks. I want to make the border blocks to finish the design.  There are two blocks around the whole edge of the previous SS quilt and I could eliminate those if I thought the width was too big. Measuring next, I think.

I am really pleased with how the blocks look. Now to get FOTY 2015 off the wall so I can layout all the blocks I have and see what I am facing. After months of feeling meh about quiltmaking, I am finally excited about several projects! Yay!