Kaffe Gradient on my Design Wall

One of the projects I worked on at retreat involved some 5" squares of Kaffe Fassett prints I inherited a while ago. Recently I acquired some partial FQs - scraps - of more Kaffe prints. I had seen a gradient lattice project by Rachel Hauser at Stitched in Color that inspired me to try something similar with my Kaffe prints. You can see the inspiration piece here. 

Prior to retreat I cut more 5" squares and some sashing strips and made a couple of test blocks. The blocks require very careful squaring up and they came out to 5-1/4" unfinished, quite small, but I thought the concept could work. At retreat I made more of them, and put them on the wall.

I was excited - this has more potential to become something cool than I thought it would. I need to make it bigger and I need to make the transitions from one color to the next smoother. More blocks, a couple of additional prints (not Kaffe) and a few revised layouts later, and this is the layout I have now.  

The next step will be to add the vertical sashing strips to all the blocks. The sashing will be like a trellis with the colors glowing behind it, creating a luminous effect. 

I'll continue to work on this project at home. It'll be easier to work on it from my design wall as I add the sashing pieces. Now that I've got the colors placed, I don't want them to get out of order! 

Link up: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Tops Finished at Retreat

On Monday I posted about all the design wall activity from the retreat some friends and I went on a couple weeks ago. Now for Friday finish day, let's look at the finishes from retreat. 

Jean likes kits and Three Yard Quilts. She was able to get two tops completed. 

Edna finished a veteran's quilt top, which will be presented to her designated recipient at PC's veteran's luncheon in November. Those carefully pieced blocks are not part of the center panel.

Deb finished four of these Sparkler quadrants and finished her table topper top, but I only have the photo of the quadrant. The top really does look like fireworks. 

Maria finished her Friendship Star top. The charity kit had some miscut pieces, very frustrating for her, but she persevered and celebrated her first large quilt top finish. 

Nancy shopped for border fabric for her jelly roll project at the on-site shop, and found a teal print that harmonizes beautifully. She got this entire top pieced during the time we were at retreat. 

Teri made a modern pineapple pattern, and not only got all the blocks done, she got the top laid out and assembled as well. 

I had some blocks started from 2014 and I was able to lay them out, add sashing, and get the top assembled. This quilt has more of a story, so I'll give it its own post next week. 

And finally, a project that has been kitted up since 2014 and has gone with me on every retreat since, just in case I need an extra project. 

A very productive retreat! Everyone made progress on their projects, even though not all of them made it to the finished top stage. A great time was had by all. 

photo credit Sheila R. 

Link ups: Alycia Quilts,  Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Design Walls at Retreat

 Last week I went with 8 others from Pebble Creek to a retreat ranch in southern AZ. We had a wonderful time, and everyone accomplished a lot. I have so many photos, I'm going to split them into two posts, design walls today and finishes on Friday. 

Deb worked on blocks for her very long term project and now she has only one block to go. I love the luminous effect of these blocks in these colors. 

Both Teri and Linda are working on a Sew Kind of Wonderful pattern making pineapples:

Nancy worked on a modern design, a jelly roll pattern. She added the charcoal grey and white. She asked for advice on the layout, and everyone had suggestions about moving the blocks around. I think this is how she ended up before borders. 

Maria is a new quilter and she struggled with blocks that were from a poorly cut charity kit. Unbeknownst to us, some of the white patches were cut at 6-1/4" instead of 6-1/2" square, so nothing went together properly. Fortunately Linda had brought another of the same kit that had correctly cut squares, but poor Maria spent more time with the seam ripper than she did sewing. Gotta give her credit for her cheerful perseverance! 

Edna, on the other hand, is very experienced and is not the least intimidated by tiny, tiny piecing. She specializes in patriotic themed projects. 

Judy worked on a three dimensional project, a complicated pattern.

Linda has a beautiful palette for her modern diamonds paper piecing project. She'll feature lots of  negative space in the final layout.

Photo credit: Linda L.

I was able to  make progress on something that dates back to 2014. There's a back story here and I'll tell it in a separate blog post. For now, I'll just say that the results here exceeded my expectations. 

And finally, on the design wall I played with some blocks made from gifted 5" squares of Kaffe fabrics. The beginning of something may be here, but it's not ready yet. I'll keep going and maybe I can get the concept to work out.  

So there you have most of the design wall activity from retreat. Come back Friday and see what we finished! 

Linking up with Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Scrappy Celebration 2 at Retreat

Last week Linda, Edna, and I (and 6 others) went on retreat to Ritter Ranch in southern AZ. We took our Scrappy Celebration 2 blocks so we could put them up on the design wall there and determine the layout. 

After several iterations and input from all the retreaters, I think this is the final layout we ended up with.  Or there might have been one more switch and I didn't get a photo. This will be twin bed size so it fills the large design wall. 

Linda started sewing the blocks together while we were there, but went on to work on her other projects. We have backing fabric for this version but it isn't pieced together yet. So, we still have a little bit of work to do yet on SC2.  Edna will try to book time on the long arm in August (I'm not eligible until the end of the month) and I'll help her quilt this one with an allover panto. 

Meanwhile Linda is quilting SC1 on her sit-down long arm and I can't wait to see it quilted. 

We've so enjoyed making SC1 and 2 that we're starting SC3, this time in patriotic colors for a veteran's quilt. Edna has an extensive patriotic stash; not so much Linda and me but we all share, and we bought more while we were at retreat. As was the case for versions 1 and 2, it's so fun pulling the fabrics together for this scrappy project. More on SC3 in future posts. 

This retreat was one of the best ever. I'm still going through the photos, so I'll post more about this retreat next week.  

Linking up with Finished or Not Friday at  Alycia Quilts

No Reply Commenter

To the reader who asked about measurements for the Framed Nine Patch tutorial: 

You are a no-reply commenter which means I have no way to respond to you directly. I hope you see this post. Please leave your name and email in the actual text of your comment and I'll get back to you. 

 

SC2 Blocks

After my friends and I made our first Scrappy Celebration top, we had a few blocks left over. We were still enthusiastic about making blocks, so those leftover blocks became the seeds of another version, in brighter colors.

Linda, Edna, and I have been making blocks. Here are my most recent ones: 

Most of the blocks were at Linda's house. We were pretty sure with the addition of a couple of new ones she made, a couple from Edna, and these last ones from me, we have enough for another twin size top. Linda lives across the street from me so I ran over and we looked at all the blocks. 

Without counting them again, we think there's 70 here, enough for another twin size top. We're all going on a retreat together later this week, so we'll take the blocks along and put them up on the design wall there to figure out the layout. If it turns out we're short a block, we can make another while we're there. 

Our first Scrappy Celebration is ready to be quilted and Linda will quilt it. We plan to get this second top assembled at retreat. Linda has backing fabric for it, so we'll piece the backing when we get home. 

Both of these twin size quilts will go to Natalie's House, a group home for girls ages 6-17 in foster care. The recipients will get to keep them when they move on. 

So while these blocks aren't on the design wall yet, they will be soon. I'll try to post pics from retreat if I can.  Linking up with Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Four Patch Shuffle, Finished

 Back in the winter I made my Four Patch Shuffle top but it has remained a UFO ever since. 

The hold up was finding backing fabric for it. I finally broke down and ordered backing fabric when I found the perfect print when Connecting Threads (no affiliation) had a sale last month. Big polka dots in all the right colors! 

I had time booked on PCQ's long arm so I finally got this top quilted. I just gave it a simple allover meander using white thread. 

I'm glad I waited for this backing. It's perfect! And I couldn't resist finishing the edge with black and white striped binding. 

Four Patch Shuffle was made from starter blocks, simple framed squares, that were cut into quarters. The parts were then shuffled and reassembled into the two blocks used, one orange/green and the other yellow/blue. I posted a tutorial here.

I'm glad to have this finally finished. I thought of keeping it for a sample and teaching the pattern at a PCQ class. But I'll be teaching a six-session color workshop starting in August, and that's a huge teaching commitment, so I think I'll pass on teaching this pattern for now. 

This will be a donation quilt, and since it's boy colors it will go to the local family services agency that recently advised us of their need for quilts for older boys. It measures 56" x 72", big enough for a teen sized throw. It looks pixilated, reminding me of older video games. Perfect for a guy! 

Linking up with Alycia Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Wendy's Quilts and More, and My Quilt Infatuation

Masculine Geometric Top

The family services agency that PCQ supports put out a request recently for masculine quilts. Their clients are mostly women and girls, but occasionally they have boys, mostly teens, and they need suitably masculine quilts for them. The chair of our Community Service Committee selected the most appropriate quilts we had available and took them over. Now we need to replenish our supply. 

I don't have any fabric in my stash that's specifically for older boys or teens, but I was able to pull together a palette of masculine colors and make a top. 

I had purchased the yellow and grey geometric print while on vacation in Florida a couple years ago, specifically for a masculine donation quilt. I really like the combination of colors. Everything else here was from my stash, some of it inherited a while back. 

Knowing I just wanted to put together a large throw quickly, I cut 6-1/2" squares, laid them out on the design wall, kittted them up for social sewing, and sewed them together. After everything was sewn together, this is what I ended up with. With the border, this came out to about 60 x 78". 

I guess I didn't take photos of the design wall layout. Seeing it in the photo now, I don't like the yellow and white four patch at the left, so I'll replace the yellow block in the second column with a geo print block. A little un-sewing, a minor setback. 

I have backing for this top and time booked on the long arm at the end of the month, so I hope to get this one quilted soon. It may not scream Teen Boy like something with sports or video game themed fabric would, but at least it's masculine. Or it can go to the hospice we support, for an older man, since a couple of our masculine quilts that were designated for hospice were reassigned and went to the family agency for their immediate need. 

Sadly, the family agency's need is never ending, as are the needs of the other charities we support. We'll keep on making quilts. 

Link up: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts