Some time ago, I asked you to take a survey about the size of your scraps. This came back to mind as I work through the various scraps in my drawers. Thus, I finally took some time to look at the results.
Over 180 of you responded. WOW! Thanks. Sadly, 97 of you also skipped the one question I asked, thus I had 83 usable results.
I was really surprised to find that almost 60% (49.8) of you keep scraps larger than 3″. Now, I have some scraps that are large from awhile ago, but these days I make a big effort to only save scraps that are smaller than 3 inches. As you know, I cut up anything larger into usable patches. When in doubt I cut pieces up for donation quilts. I am curious about what you think are scraps and how you plan to use them. Please leave a comment to let me know.
There are no wrong answers and we each have our systems. I think we can learn from each other by understanding how we work.
If you haven’t looked at my Works in a Series pages recently, I would love it if you did. I created a new page for the Ends Donation Quilts, which has turned into a series.
Teachers, Teaching and Learning
AllPeopleQuilt has put together a video series to sharpen your quiltmaking skills. If you don’t want to look at my tutorials. ;-), check out the first installment of their series.
You all know how much I love Pamela Allen. The Kingston School of Art posted a great blog post about her and her gallery installation recently.
Judy Martin shared a couple of things with readers of her newsletter in an abbreviated May issue. Last fall she taped a segment for The Quilt Show in which she demonstrated how quiltmakers can play with Lone Star arrangements in the same way they can play with Log Cabin arrangements. A preview of that episode is now available. The show will air for free from May 19 to May 26. Be sure to bookmark it and go back in ~2 weeks so you can watch the full program.
Annie Smith has an amazing online class called Quilter’s Palette available. The class is ten installments in total. It teaches five ways to paper-piece a block (each different), three ways to machine appliqué, how to design-draft-and-make-templates, y-seam construction and y-seam construction on steroids among other techniques.
Merikay Waldvogel & Barbara Brackman have begun a fund dedicated to a special collection for quilt research books, patterns & ephemera. Donate on their site.
I get a newsletter from Maker’s Mercantile. It is mostly knitting stuff. I don’t buy anything, but occasionally I consider joining a Knit-a-Long. I never do. Mostly I enjoy the Fridays with Franklin blog posts. The man eventually gets to knitting, but is hilarious. A recent post about his family really and truly had me rolling on the floor, especially with the description of his mother’s philosophy of childrearing “…my mother’s policy–just please stay outside during all daylight hours and don’t bother me unless somebody is broken or bleeding.” I don’t think my mother had that exact policy, but the TV was firmly OFF until at least 7pm every night and there were questions if lights were turned on in the house during the day. We spent a lot of time outdoors.
Glenna has the website for her longarm business up and running. Take a look!
Classes, Projects & Tutorials
I saw a couple of posts on Instagram for adorable carrot themed treat bags. Yes, Easter is over, but this gives you time to make a bunch for next year.
Tools, Notions, Fabric & Supplies
Friend Julie has a review of the Shark Applicutter on her blog. She bought it at QuiltCon. I don’t even remember her buying it, but I can see, after reading her review, that it would be a really useful tool for applique. I would have liked to have had one for working on the words in Who Am I?
Have you seen Northcott’s new Ever After line of fabric? Princesses, crowns, castles and all the fairy tale motifs. Very fun.
Olfa Ergonomic – new color
Olfa has some new products. They have come out with a Pacific Blue Ergonomic Rotary Cutter, a navy rotary mat (36″ x 24″), and a premium quiltmaking set which includes a Quick Change Splash 45mm Rotary cutter, Frosted Ruler (6″ x 12″), and Navy Rotary Mat (12″ x 18″). More info will be available at booth 1139 at Quilt Market in Kansas City! You know I love my Olfa Ergonomic cutter. I do not love the yellow, so the blue would be a nice change. However, would I be able to find the rotary cutter hidden under a bunch of fabric? I don’t know. You can see images of the new products on a Canadian dealer site. Thanks to the Quilt Market Twitter account.
Tips & Tricks
Oliver & S has a guide to doing laundry. The good news? You are probably washing your clothes more than you need to! YAY! More time for sewing!
I can’t resist posting some tutorials to other crafts. I went on a bit of a paper folding jag the other week when I was at Powell’s in Portland. I wanted to find a book on folding paper to make things like wreaths, similar to my paper wreath tutorial. I didn’t find what I wanted so I went searching the web for what I wanted. I found several:
If you haven’t read SherriD’s recent comment, go and read it. Her comment embodies why I write this blog. I am so excited that some of what I write has inspired her. Thanks to all of you lovely readers. You inspire me and warm my heart, too.
I often think I am in a good place with this piece, then I look at the whole thing and realize I haven’t made the progress I wanted. That was the case when I looked at this whole piece as I was photographing it. It is still too skinny. I need to make it wider.
I have been thinking I would square up the top and bottom then make it wider. Somehow it just keeps getting longer and appears to be skinnier.
New Half Hexie EPP section
Fortunately, I still need some length so the work will not go to waste and I won’t have to rip it out.
As an aside, I saw an exact match to this quilt (except for the fabrics) on a Kansas City Star page. They call it Whirligig. Do I like that name? Maybe.
I am kind of thrilled that the Kansas City Star has a pattern for this quilt. I’ll have to look it up and see what my copy says about the pattern.
My design wall is full once again. I think it is usually full. The last time I posted about my design was back in February. There are a couple of projects still on it that you might recognize, but progress also.
Design Wall – May 2019
The Lobster is still there. I really need to do something with that piece as it is taking up valuable real estate.
Current FOTY 2019 pieces.
BettyCrockerAss block from the BAM class I took with her. This will be a table runner for the coffee table as soon as I make the third block.
BettyCrockerAss block from the BAM class I took with her. Same as #3.
Jenny from One Block block I like to call Ring Toss. I still need to make a larger version.
Random start for a 16 patch donation block that ended up behind my sewing cabinet.
I have been cutting away at my patches as I use fabrics, including the squares I need for FOTY 2019.
Some fabrics are the result of a bit of leftover fabric from my scrap pile. This means I am getting a bit away from the new and used idea from the recent versions of this quilt. All the used fabrics were used in some way, though, so perhaps not.
I finished the Good Fortune Chubby Charmer I started last week. I was able to take some time while DH was out the other night to finish the last bits. It was a little tricky, because I stashed the pattern somewhere safe….
I couldn’t find it, but, fortunately, I have made enough bags to know how they go together. I may not have done it exactly the way the directions suggested, but the bag is together, looks good and will work. Also, it is on time. SIL’s birthday is tomorrow and my nephew has it to put out with the other gifts I helped him buy.
Good Fortune Chubby Charmer – back
One thing I have to remember next time I make one of these is that the first square (top left) is on the side of the bag, so if I want to see a particular fabric, I need to put it in the second position.
The back (or other) side came out lighter than the front. I am not sure how that happened, but I should have mixed it up a bit more. There is always room for improvement in a project.
Good Fortune Chubby Charmer – lining
I also used a half inch seam allowance on the lining. This makes it lay really well on the inside of the bag. It was difficult to attach at the top. I wondered if I used a quarter inch seam allowance at the top and then graded the seam allowance out to half inch after about an inch, if that would solve two problems.
The pockets are large and a bit too floopy for me. Still they work really well for folders and large pieces of paper plus they fit a lot.
Good Fortune Chubby Charmer – lining with handles
I also plan to make the pockets on my batik Chubby Charmer a little different than this one. I am not 100% sure of the exact configuration yet. I want to think about what would be useful. I also have to make the lining! I might make a slip pocket, which I learned to make (really well) in the Cargo Duffel project and have also made a few times for the Petrillo bags. The slip pocket would be for one side of the linking. Perhaps some smaller pockets for the other side, like a pocket with dividers for pens.
I also want to add a D-ring somewhere. Remember when I talked about clipping smaller pouches to different bags (AKA the lobster clip plan)? Well, I want to make a habit of putting D-rings in bags so clipping small pouches to different bags is a real possibility for me. Putting pens in a pouch might a better plan than having pens in each bag.
Now I can cross this project off my list and add the yardage to my spreadsheet.
As you from my post the other day, I was in Portland. While there I saw a quilt and a pillowcase in use at my YM’s house. A friend was in town for graduation and she stayed on the couch at his house. Yay! I was thrilled to see him using a pillowcase and a quilt.
This is one reason I make quilts and give them as gifts. To see them in use is a joy.
We spent a long weekend in Portland last weekend. The main reason was to see our son graduate. We didn’t do a lot of other stuff, but a little. I was able to see a couple of friends and do some sightseeing around downtown.
Books at Powell’s
Of course we went to Powell’s! I saw the most amazing collection of books. They were informational and inspirational and slightly ominous looking. Of course, I wanted them all. I didn’t buy them, though since I have no shelf space. I will look for them at the library.
SIL and I discussed a misguided family who paid $6 million to get their kid into Stanford. Thereafter, we had an ongoing discussion about what we would do if we won the lottery and had skads of money. We agreed that we would create an amazing library. SIL had the great idea to start a publishing company. I already have an idea for a book!
Black & Grey Teenaged Boy Donation Quilt – quilted
I was surprised to get an email from Kelly about one of my quilts. I had no idea she had the quilt or intended to quilt it. I finished this quilt in 2015 and figured it was off keeping someone warm all these years.
Kelly has quilted the Black & Grey Teenaged Boy Donation quilt.It looks like she did a basic all over meander. I am used to more complicated quilting, working with Tim and Colleen, but I am sure whoever gets the quilt will enjoy with simple or complex quilting.
Black & Grey Teenaged Boy Donation Quilt – quilted (detail)
Black & Grey Teenaged Boy Donation Quilt – quilted (detail)
Kelly will bind it, then she will donate it to a UK charity that takes such things.
I have been making slow and steady progress on the Flying Geese quilt. I have done a lot of cutting and some sewing.
Flying Geese piece – early May 2019
I am trying make a color wheel effect, though it will be subtle in the finished product. As with FOTY 2017, my design wall isn’t large enough to contain my piece. This means I have had to sew parts together in order to put various parts on the wall. You can see the squished green bits on the right.
I am struggling with keeping pieces in the right place as I sew and the piece shrinks. I experienced the same thing with FOTY 2017 and got through it. I will here, too.
In the course of making this quilt, I had some thoughts about HSTs and update the Triangle Technique tutorial.
I am heading to the finish line making blocks for the second Red Strip Donation Quilt, but it is painful. The other day I had 7 left to make and I still have 1 left to finish. It is almost done. Maddeningly, it needs a very small strip on the top or bottom to make it the right size. ERGH!
I thought I would be able to finish by the meeting, but I doubt it now. Fortunately, there is no deadline except in my head.
Green Strips quilt top and back – finished 1/16/2019
Green Thing donation top and back – finished 2/2019
Libs Elliot donation top – finished 2/2019 – Cheryl actually did the quilting and the binding. She made me feel good by saying she really liked the quilt. I should try the technique using stripes instead of making stripes and see if I feel differently. I should do a lot of things.
In Process
The ‘In Process’ is used to denote projects on which I am actively working or are on the design wall waiting for me to stitch. I try not to put away projects, because that will ensure I never work on them
English Paper Piecing Project– half hexies – I have a big stack of stars ready to sew into the quilt. I am still thinking of my friend Faye whenever I work on it. She says that I have to think of this as my slow project.
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 is a WIP. The list is a lot shorter and the projects are newer, for the most part.
FOTY 2018 – this has to be on the list now as I have cut a ton of squares and need to arrange and sew it together. As I am still working on FOTY 2017, I haven’t made a start on this yet.
Handbag Sampler – this is still the forgotten project. It should be on the UFO list. Too bad I don’t have one. The blocks were teaching samples when I taught a sampler class the time before I started writing the quilt class sampler tutorials. I found one block recently, but otherwise I actually don’t know exactly where the blocks are hiding. I have an idea and still have to crawl up in the far reaches of my fabric closet soon and see if I can find them. I haven’t even found a picture of all the blocks. Sad.
Lobster – I still have more stitching to do and then I need to quilt it. Probably also a UFO, but it nags at me from the small design wall.
Pies and Points from 2016 Victoria Findlay Wolfe class. The last time I worked on it was when Julie and I had a playdate in April 2018. I brought this piece with me so I could cut more elements (Julie has a Sizzix). I lost my excitement about this piece shortly thereafter and still have to get it back. Thus, I had to move this to the WIPs area.
Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together. No progress.
Black and Red quilt – This came about because of two other projects. I made a whole bunch of bias tape as part of my failed attempt at doing the Mighty Lucky Club a few years ago. Another part of the inspiration came from my class with Tina of Little Blue Cottage fame. This was going to be for a nephew, but I think it will be for one of my SILs and BILs. I have rectangles cut and some bias tape ready. My next step is to sew the bias tape to the rectangles like pickup sticks. I don’t have any photos of this, so you’ll have to use your imagination.
Who Am I? – This piece is off my design. I have lost momentum, but I think that just has to do with the amount of satin stitching I am facing.
I also made progress on the Batik Malka Dubrowsky Chubby Charmer. I am not as far along as finding suitable fabrics to go with the charm pack is challenging. I have made some progress, especially the quilting since I last spoke to you about this project.
I found another Malka Dubrowsky charm pack and used some of the squares for the missing pieces of fabric I needed to complete the bag. The second charm pack uses similar colors.
I did a few things differently on this bag. First, I remembered to put vinyl on the squares that will be the bottom. This is my small attempt to keep the bottom clean and dry.
As you know from my other sewing with vinyl efforts, I cover the vinyl along the seam line with tissue paper and sew. This time I had some problems, because I didn’t cover the entire area where my foot would touch the vinyl. The bit of the foot that touched the vinyl got caught up and made my stitches look icky. Fortunately, they are on the bottom, so they won’t be seen that much. Pulling them out is not an option, because the holes in the vinyl don’t heal. I would have to rip out the entire last row and remake the vinyl covered squares. I am going to live with a few tiny stitches.
I am making progress on both Chubby Charmers. I have made the most progress on this one.
After creating some new pieces of Soft & Stable, I spent most of the day on Sunday quilting. You might remember that I screwed up my shoulder quilting the Lights tablerunner, so I was extra careful about keeping my shoulder down. I tend to quilt with my shoulders up near my ears and that is a bad thing.
I have the inside pieces with pockets made as well as the handles. Now I just need to starting putting the bag together.
I was contacted earlier this week about the SCVQA Quilt Show. Sadly, I won’t be able to attend, but I hope you will be able to attend and will share photos on social media.
Message re: the show:
SCVQA Quilt Show
I am writing from the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association, we are one of the largest quilt organizations in the bay area. We are about to host our biennial quilt show featuring hundreds of quilts made by local quilters and artists, Quilts Celebrating Creativity is May 4-5 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. We wanted to invite you especially to attend, since we know you support the quilting arts with an active blog and online presence.
We will be showing over 300 quilts, our guild is very diverse and there will be many different forms of quilts, from traditional to modern, large to small and everything in between. On display will be two special exhibits showcasing nationally renowned local artists Therese May and Randa Mulford. We have a large vendor mall feature a unique shopping opportunity with local vendors selling fabric, tools, patterns and other one of a kind crafts. There will be raffle baskets, demonstrations, art on display from the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, and a scavenger hunt for children.
Show hours are Saturday May 4th 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday May 5th 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $12, children 12 and under are free. More information can be found at www.scvqaquiltshow.org.
Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the art of quilting.
If you would like to know more or have any questions, feel free to reach out to the Quilt Show Committee at quiltshow@scvqa.org.
