Last block & ready for camp

I've finished the last 12" block for Gramercy & Friends. You can see the others in Monday's post below.

Last 12" block for Gramercy & Friends

I've also cut the pieces for the two 24" blocks, bagged them, and packed everything up for quilt camp next month. I hope to get the two large blocks finished. Then when I come home I can lay them out on my design wall and determine the placement. I've also tucked the leftover fabrics for these blocks into the kit, just in case of an oopsie.

Gramercy project packed up for quilt camp

As you can see, one of the large blocks is a Swoon block. The other is similar, but the orientation of some of the flying geese units is reversed, and there are more of them. And the placement of lights and darks is different. Three of the fabrics are the same in both blocks. I like how the focal blocks will be related but different, and how there's a circular aspect to them due to the value placement.

Now to find something else to work on until quilt camp...
Meanwhile, I'm linking up with Lorna at Lets Bee Social and Lee at Freshly Pieced.

More Grammercy & Friends Blocks and a Successful Pattern Test

I still have Gramercy & Friends blocks on my wall today. In fact, I've added a few more to them.

Design Wall 1/26/2015

Here are some of my favorites. I especially like the sunburst star.

Favorite Blocks

More Favorite Blocks

On another note, let me introduce Zenia Rene at A Quilted Passion. Zenia pattern-tested Broken Chevron for me. Here's her version, ready for quilting. She's calling it Walk Like an Egyptian, and she plans to hang it over her bed as a headboard when she's done quilting it. Zenia had never made flying geese before, and Broken Chevron is made entirely of flying geese units, and I think Zenia did an awesome job! Check out her post on the Grow Your Blog Blog Hop.

Zenia Rene's version of Broken Chevron

If you're interested in the Broken Chevron pattern, check out my patterns tab above and e-mail me.

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times - check out all the other quilty design wall inspiration over there.

Oops

This is so wrong on so many levels that it's not even worth fixing. Chalk it up to a learning experience and move on. In addition to the pieces on the left being turned in the wrong direction, the value placement isn't very effective. There's not enough contrast between the taupe print and the ivory dot, and maybe the placement of the taupe and the black should have been switched.

I really need to use the black dot and the taupe print in one more block because they haven't been used enough in my sampler. So far they're in only one block each, and to add continuity to the sampler I'm using each fabric in at lease two, preferably three, blocks. I have only one block (which was supposed to be this one) left to make of my 22  12" blocks. Come back tomorrow for Design Wall Monday and I'll show you the rest of them.

I have a plan for a better block using these two prints plus white, which I'll get done sometime this week. I worked it out in EQ and it looks much better than the unfortunate block above. I'll donate the one above to the freebie table at guild and maybe someone else can do something with it. Or throw it away.

Then this week I'll cut the pieces for the two 24" blocks and package them up to sew at camp next month. One is a swoon block, and the other is just as complicated. I'll need to go buy another 1/2 yard of the ivory dot in the block above because that's my constant light in the two large blocks.

Stash Report:
Last week I forgot to count the 10-yard bolt of white I got on sale. Yeesh, that adds to my yards in for the month. I'll total up all the ins and outs at the end of the month. Nothing in and nothing I can count out this week.

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times; check out everyone's stash reports over there.

Ziggity Zag - Broken Chevron

Ramona over at Doodlebugs and Rosebuds kindly volunteered to test my Broken Chevron pattern. She posted her finish which looks fabulous, and she named it Ziggity Zag.

Ramona's version of Broken Chevron, which she named Ziggity Zag

 

Stop by Ramona's blog to check out more photos of her Broken Chevron quilt, with great spiral quilting and wonderful backing.

 

If you are interested in purchasing the pattern, details are posted in the Patterns tab above; please e-mail me.

 

I think Ramona's quilt is whoop-worthy, so I'm linking up with Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict



More Blocks, Gramercy & Friends

Making one block at a time, and only one of that block, is more fun than making 20 of the same block. So I've been making blocks, and this is what my design wall looks like today:

Design Wall as of 1/19/2015

Here are some of my latest favorites. As you can see, I'm already using some of last week's stash additions. On the left, templates and Y-seams, Whoo-hoo! And on the right, the popular X-Plus block.

Today's Favorite Blocks

I've been playing with layout, and here's one that I like, a little more interesting than just a standard blocks-with-sashing layout. It uses 22 twelve inch blocks and two 24" blocks. A few of those 12" blocks are actually four 6" blocks together, for variety. Because the 24" blocks don't take up as much space as four 12" blocks with sashing, I can add 1" borders of the sashing fabric around them to make them fit. As shown, this layout would measure 72" by 84".  When I get this far I can decide whether to add more blocks or borders to make it larger.

Possible Layout

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times and Lee at Freshly Pieced - Check out all the other quilty inspiration over there.

Stash Report 1/18/15

OK, time to fess up...
This was a big fabric acquisition week for me. Local fabric shops had sales.

In this week: 9 yards.
Out this week: nothing I can count, although I did a lot of sewing and made a lot of blocks.

One local shop had FQs for $1.00 so I stocked up on some low volume prints.

Low volume FQs

And some stash basics.

Stash Basics FQs

 

And some more friends to go with my Gramercy sampler.

FQs for Gramercy & Friends Sampler

 

Another shop also had a sale, so I stocked up on some more stash basics and a boyish forest print to use for a couple of pillow cases. (I forgot to photograph the forest print and I've already packed it with the other pillow case fabrics I'm taking to retreat in February.)  These averaged $2.50 per yard and I got 1/2 yard cuts except for the pink, which was end-of-bolt so there's a bit over a yard there.

More Stash Basics

 

I also needed more of a particular background print for my Gramercy & Friends sampler, so I went to a 3rd shop and bought another half yard of it, at full LQS price.

 

But I guess when you average everything out, I still got good value for my spending this week, just under $40. It all averages out to $4.39 a yard including the tax. At that price, it's better to stock up and take a hit in the stash report numbers, right?

 

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times; see how others are doing better than I am at keeping their stash growth under control.

 

 



Tyler's Quilt

Last fall I had three secret sewing projects that I couldn't reveal on the blog. All three are finished, and today I can reveal the first one.

My niece & her husband didn't want to find out their baby's sex until it was born; they already had a boy and a girl. So I had to make a gender-neutral quilt for the new little one.  Baby Tyler came into the world on Monday, and here is the quilt I made for him.

Tyler's Quilt

My niece has sophisticated and modern taste, so I was pretty certain she'd like a chevron pattern. I chose updated versions of the typical gender-neutral baby colors of yellow and green, and made it bold and bright, so that it doesn't scream "baby." Then I gave it spiral quilting. Tyler's mom loves it.

Spiral Quilting Detail

 

Back of Tyler's Quilt

 

 

Tyler is such a sweet baby. I got to meet him - and hold him! - on Tuesday. Such a tiny little bundle! He's a cutie. Congratulations to mom & dad, brother & sister, and welcome to the world baby Tyler!

Linking up with Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Friday Finish at Crazy Mom Quilts.

DWM 1/12-15: Blocks with Gramercy & Friends

I mentioned last week that I had won a FQ bundle of the Gramercy line (Art Gallery Fabrics) at an event last October. I pulled coordinating friends from my stash and was amazed at how many fabrics I had that would work with the Gramercy line.

I've been making individual blocks. Been getting lots of practice with HSTs and flying geese! I think these blocks will work well together in a sampler quilt. I'm planning on using each fabric in at least two blocks for continuity (I think samplers sometimes look rather disjointed if they're totally random blocks).

Here are my blocks so far, not arranged in any particular order, just added to the wall in the as I made them:

Design Wall 1/12/15

Here are a couple of favorites. I love the subway map print which is from the Gramercy line. The tan/black/white geometric was from the freebie table at STLMQG a few months ago and I just liked it; it has partial words animal farm on the selvage.

Favorite Blocks 1/12/15

I have 20 blocks planned, but before I go too much further I want to play around in EQ with fabric combos and layouts. I'm thinking about a 24" block for the center and some 6" blocks to break up the rigidity of a 20 block layout. I do plan to use sashing because all these busy blocks will need some breathing room.

This project was not on my January list, but "Prep for February retreat" was, so I can justify planning and prepping more blocks for this project as part of that goal, right? Who am I kidding, I have quilter's ADD and I'm just having fun with these fabrics!

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday and Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday; check out everyone else's inspiring projects over there.

Stash Report 1/11/15 & Broken Chevron Pattern Giveaway

No fabric in this week. How many weeks can I keep that up this year?! Hmm, my guild's fabric swap is coming up in February, can I hold out until then?

Nothing I can count out yet. I've been making individual blocks but I don't count the fabric for them out until the top is finished to a flimsy.

See how others are managing their stash over at Patchwork Times.

My new pattern Broken Chevron (see post below) received positive feedback at STLMQG yesterday. I'm giving one away! Leave a comment telling me what colors or fabric line you would make it in to be in the drawing. (If you are a no-reply blogger, be sure to include your e-mail in your comment.)

Broken Chevron Pattern

Broken Chevron

The pattern for this quilt is now available. See the Patterns Available tab above for the complete listing.

As shown, This throw size version of Broken Chevron measures 48" x 60". Directions and yardage requirements are also given for Twin 64" x 80" and Queen 96" x 96".

I would especially like to thank pattern testers Ramona and Zenia for their feedback and for pattern testing for me.

Ramona made her version in cheerful blues and greens - so cute! You can check out her post about it
at Doodlebugs and Rosebuds.  She even thought of making Broken Chevron in Christmas colors!

Ramona's version of Broken Chevron

 



Zenia over at A Quilted Passion made hers in shades of gold and plans to hang it over her bed. I'll update this post with a link after she posts hers. She's calling hers "Walk Like an Egyptian" which I love! Zenia had never made flying geese units before and she did an awesome job! 

 

Broken Chevron is for the confident beginner or intermediate piecer; some experience making flying geese units is helpful. The pattern is currently available by contacting me at ochterbeckj@gmail.com.  The price is $10.00 which includes postage to North America. Please inquire about international postage. Sorry, but I cannot sell to EU countries right now due to the tax situation.

Broken Chevron Pattern Available

I'm excited to finish this pattern and introduce it, so I'm linking up today with Friday Finish at Crazy Mom Quilts and Whoop Whoop  Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Value Study

In my stash report post last Sunday, I mentioned this collection of neutrals which includes some prints from the Gramercy line and some friends I pulled from my stash.

 

 

Basically it's just a bunch of lights, mediums, and darks. I found more in my stash that will work with the ones pictured here, including several more darks. What to do with them?  

 

I played in EQ. With EQ, you can view blocks in greyscale so you can see only the light, medium, dark placement without being influenced by color. I pulled lots of blocks and played with them in various settings, and I think I'll make a sampler of them. I decided after I printed this out not to make the stars at the cornerstones - too busy, too much. So I'll just have plain cornerstones. I'll decide after the blocks are done if I want to use the marigold color from the focus print or a neutral.

 

These are some of the blocks I'm considering, but I'll probably make some changes. These blocks will give me lots of practice with HSTs, flying geese, templates, Y-seams, and matching points.

 

So I've started making blocks. Just one each day, except that I got going and had to make two yesterday.

 

 

 

This project isn't on my list of goals this month - Quilter's ADD strikes again! But lest you think I'm not staying focused, I've already finished the borders for the raffle quilt and the Broken Chevron pattern cover in Photoshop, so I'm moving right along. I guess that means I can treat myself to making another block, right?! Or two...

 

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

 



Borders

I was asked to sew the borders onto the fundraiser quilt for my guild's quilt show this year.

Many people worked on the top, making small paper pieced Peaky & Spike units and/or Square in a Square units. Then a few of people laid out the rows and got the center of the top pieced. Here's what the top likes like so far. I put the top on the design wall so I could measure it. (Sorry for the poor photos; it was very grey and rainy when I took them so the lighting was bad. The background color really is white.)

First border attached; back up on the wall to measure again. Harder to fit it all into the photo now!

Outer borders on. I had to have DH help put it back on the wall after the side borders were on so I could measure again for the top & bottom ones, but it was too wide to get a photo of it. Here it is on a queen size bed. It's sunny today so the light's better in this photo.

I swear this quilt generates threads like crazy! I lint-rollered the design wall before I put it up so it wouldn't pick up any stray threads. I lint-rollered the front each time it was on the wall. I picked threads off the back constantly. I pressed and picked more threads. I'm sure there's still lots of little red threads on the back!

Next up, Sandy E. will custom quilt it. Then we'll be able to photograph it and sell tickets to help support The Quintessential Quilt 2015, a month-long juried & judged show that will hang in the University City, MO, library during October.

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday. Check out all the other inspiring design walls over there.

Stash Report #1 of 2015

I plan to continue to track my fabric ins and outs again this year, so I'll link up with Judy at Patchwork Times on Sundays for the Stash Report.

So...I'm starting 2015 with fabric acquisition. I bought 1/2 yard this week. Nothing used that I can count. So, already I'm in the hole.

Back in October I won a fat quarter pack of Gramercy (Art Gallery Fabrics) at Sew Me St. Louis.

Gramercy FQ Bundle

I've pulled some fabrics from stash to go with the Gramercy prints, and I found a great taupe Grunge print (Moda)  yesterday to add to the mix, an almost-solid to balance the busyness of the prints. Still thinking about what I'll use these for. The new addition is at the right. One of these fabrics, the black foulard at upper right, was a gift from someone who visited Iran and got it there.

Gramercy and Friends

Not sure yet what I'll use these for; still thinking about designs. But I like how masculine these fabrics look, so there are a lot of possibilities here for a new project in the new year.