Donation Tops from Kevin

A while back, my buddy Kevin the Quilter had asked if he could send me donation tops. He has nowhere to donate them to. Kevin has been busy piecing. Let me tell you, his piecing is exquisite; every seam is perfect on the back. He sent two beautiful tops. 

Did I mention scrappy? Scrappy is definitely Kevin's thing; he used to run a Scrap Club back before covid. I actually found a few familiar favorites among the fabrics here, probably left over from projects we worked on together. The pieces in the top above finish at 1-1/2", and the top is 45 x 60 inches.

I particularly like the layout of this one, so unusual. This top measures 48 x 64 inches. Each of these pieces is 1" - tiny! 

These tops represent many hours of careful piecing, not to mention all the time and effort needed to organize so many scraps and cut so many tiny squares. Thank you, Kevin! 

I have backing for them on order and I'll quilt them at the end of the month. Wide backing fabric in a light blue with white swirls will complement both of these tops. I'll load them side-by-side on the long arm and quilt them both at the same time. 

I enjoy quilting with my new Pebble Creek friends, but I miss my Missouri friends, too. Fond memories of sewing together! 

Link up: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

The Black and Tan Quilt, Finished

Last spring I was inspired to try to come up with an alternative to Scrappy Celebration that would include pieced triangles. My "Hive" has made several versions of SC and I wanted to try something different. So, I played around in EQ8 for a while. 

As I mentioned earlier, I've long wanted to make a black and tan quilt and I've been collecting fabrics for it for many years. This would be a good project to try in my black and tan combo. 

After playing around in EQ and making some test blocks, I realized that my concept would not work well as a group project. It was challenging enough to get the values and colors right making it myself; it would have been unlikely to come out well with multiple makers choosing their own fabrics. 

It took many revisions in EQ, many test blocks and rejected blocks and block parts, and some additional fabric shopping, but I finally ended up with a layout I liked. Then recently I learned that a friend in Missouri needs a quilty hug, and this quilt would be perfect for him. Since the layout was determined, I sewed the rows together at social sewing a couple weeks ago and got the top pieced. I had time on PCQ's long arm last week so I switched priorities, made the backing, and quilted this one. Now it's a finished quilt and it's in transit to Missouri as I write this. 

The backing is a rust paisley from my stash, but there was not quite enough so I added a strip of the rejected blocks in the back. These were rejected because the red was too blue and too dark, not enough value contrast against the black; they looked like solid dark blobs amongst the other blocks. The stripe called too much attention to itself. The stripe is one of the very first fabrics I collected years ago for my black and tan quilt, but it didn't make the cut after all. 

There are nine different blocks, four built on a 9-patch grid and 5 built on a 4-patch grid. No matching of seams except at the block corners. The black corners of the 9-patch blocks make stars, which continue into the border. The 9-patch blocks read darker and create strong diagonals. Some of the lighter 4-patch blocks also lead the eye on the diagonal. 

               

This was a challenging quilt to create. I really like how it turned out, and I'm thinking of trying the concept again in a totally different colorway, yet to be determined. 

Those of you with eagle eyes may notice that one of the 4-patch blocks is turned differently than the others. Design decision or mistake???? 

Link ups: My Quilt Infatuation, Alycia Quilts

October Stash Report and Goals Update

Wow, busy month. And productive. But not much blogging so I don't have many photos to show for the month. 

In addition to the Lozenges top, I had two big finishes, which will get their own separate posts soon. So my stash report is looking pretty good this month. 

 - Road Trip is now completely finished, and I'm in the process of sewing on the sleeve. It will hang in the foyer of my home. 

 - The Black and Tan quilt was just a collection of blocks a couple weeks ago. Lots of blocks, because I struggled to get the value placement right. A friend in Missouri needs a quilty hug, so finishing this quilt became a priority, and now it's completely finished and ready to mail out. 

October Stash Report

IN this month: 6 yards (from Mulqueen's, khaki Grunge plus text print for stash)
OUT this month: 25-3/8 yards (B-W-B Lozenges top, 7 yards (includes cut-offs and scraps). Black & Tan Quilt: top 10 yards per EQ; back 5 yards; binding 5/8 yard; rejected blocks and spare parts, 2 yards. Binding for Road Trip, 3/4 yard)

IN YTD: 71-1/2 yards
OUT YTD: 92-5/8 yards

YTD Net Change: 21-1/8 yards OUT

Goals Update: 

October Recap: 

1. Prep for and teach lessons 4, 5, and 6 of my color class. DONE. 

2. Make a label for Road Trip. Shop for khaki Grunge for binding and bind the quilt. DONE.

3. If Linda gets it quilted, bind the Autumn Scrappy Celebration quilt. DONE

4. Continue assembling the rows for the black and white lozenges project. DONE, rows are assembled, borders added, and top is finished. 

5. Piece a backing for the Storyboard Stacked Slabs quilt and quilt it on the club's long arm on Oct. 31. Not done; changed priorities and I quilted something else instead during that time slot. 

6. Make the last four blocks for the Black and Tan quilt; start assembling border units. Priority finish; this quilt is now completely finished, bound and labeled and ready to be sent to its new home.

7. Piece the backing for the Kaffe Gradient top. DONE

Other:
 - Figured out how to repair Hiromi's Japanese print quilt and together with her, prepped it for her to complete. 

 - Started new navy & pink charity top based on LCT block.

 - Bound Kaffe Lily Pad & Brown four patch variation charity quilt.

November Goals:

1. Send Black & Tan quilt to a friend in Missouri.

2. Attach sleeve to Road Trip.

3. Put Round About on the wall and figure out how to proceed.

4. Quilt Kevin's tops on the long arm on 11/23.

5. Pin baste or spray baste the Kaffe Gradient top. 

6. Plan a complex or slow piecing project to work on at social sewing. 

7. Finish the navy & pink LCT top.

Four Patch Variation

Sometime last year or the year before, the PCQ community service team kitted up charity quilts in a Four Patch Variation layout. At the time we were pushing for twin bed size quilts and trying to use club fabrics for the kits. 

Someone from PCQ had passed along to me some brown fabrics that were deemed "Too ugly even for the Trash to Treasures sale." While not individually pretty, the fabrics harmonized well enough with a Kaffe lily pad print that we had. We had enough of it for borders plus a few large blocks. The ugly prints became blocks and four patches. 

I happened to have in my stash a light yellow that coordinated nicely and brightened up the rusty brown palette. I kitted it all up, and sewed it together at a couple of Community Service sew days last year. 

Once the top was finished, I put it in the To Be Quilted cabinet for someone else to get to. Several someones, because one had to make the backing, another had to cut the batting, and someone else had to long arm quilt it. I had enough of the brown fabric used in the 4-patches left for binding so I requested that it be returned to me to be bound. After many months in the pipeline, the quilt came back to me and I was able to bind it at the October sew day. A friend at the sew day took photos. 

It takes a village, but it may take a while for the village to finish a quilt. This one has now been donated to the local women's shelter.  They have casitas where a woman with her kids can stay for a few months while they escape from an abusive situation and get ready to move on with their life. The recipient will take the quilt with her when she leaves. 

Link up: Alycia Quilts

The Black and Tan Quilt: Final Layout

After a few revisions, both in EQ and in actual blocks, not to mention some seam ripper action, the Black and Tan blocks are ready for assembly. This is the final layout. 

The rows have been labeled and the blocks have been clipped together in columns, so now I can work on assembling this at social sewing. 

Link up: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Autumn Scrappy Celebration, Finished

 Linda, Edna and I, along with Bev this time, made another Scrappy Celebration, this time in Autumn colors. Linda quilted it and I bound it in time for us to show it at the PCQ meeting Monday night. This photo was taken by Ronda for the club's website:

Because it's seasonal, we asked that it be donated as soon as possible so that the recipient can enjoy it this fall. 

The fabrics all came from our various stashes plus the club's stash. Quite a variety of prints in Fall colors!

We're going to take a break from making another Scrappy Celebration for awhile. We all have too much else going on this time of year. The Creative Arts building is scheduled to close in March for remodeling so we'll save the next bee project for when we can't meet there and have to meet in small groups in each other's homes. 

Meanwhile, this one is a twin bed size and it will go to one of the charities we support that needs bed quilts for their clients. The client will get to keep it when she moves on. 

Linking up with Alycia Quilts

Lozenges Flimsy

After making blocks at retreat in July, making more at home afterward, finding additional fabrics in my stash or purchasing more and making more blocks, and arranging and re-arranging the layout multiple times, I finally have a finished flimsy. Plus a few leftover blocks that didn't make the final cut. 

With the blocks set on point, the dominant shape in them is the lozenge portion. Because of the variety of prints of various scales and values, some layouts looked very chaotic. To control the chaos, I strung them vertically like beads, creating columns of light, medium, and dark. The black frame holds it all together.

It's still very busy, and not my most favorite quilt ever, but it's good for its purpose. It will be a donation quilt for the local family services agency. We were told that some of the teenage clients prefer quilts with black in them rather than sweet pastels. 

I have a backing already made for it, and time booked on the club's long arm later this month, so it'll be quilted and finished soon. 

Link ups: Alycia Quilts