Road Trip, Finished

 Finally! Quilted, labeled, bound, and sleeve sewn on, ready to hang in my foyer. 

Because the piecing is so busy, it didn't need fancy quilting, just a simple meander that I was capable of doing myself. 

The backing is a print in all the right colors that I found at Sheila's shop at retreat last April. Another retreater and I loved it so much that together we bought the whole bolt. 

Even though there were some design missteps and challenges, and quite a bit of seam ripper activity, I enjoyed making this and I'm pleased with the result. It finished at 87 x 90". 

Link ups:  Alycia Quilts 11/22;  My Quilt Infatuation 11/28

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 

Comments

Hi friends, 

Blogger is at it again and has not been sending your comments to my email. This means I haven't been able to reply to them in a timely manner, if at all. I'm annoyed that this is happening. I've checked all the settings and directed that all comments go to my email. I'll try to go into Blogger and look for comments periodically and reply to them if I can. I'm so sorry to not be able to acknowledge your comments promptly, but please know that I do appreciate them. 

Happy quilting,

Jan 

Friendship Stars

Last month I had time on PCQ's long arm so I was able to quilt the ginormous Friendship Stars quilt. Now it's bound, labeled, and finished. 

The blocks are huge, 18", so piecing the top went together very quickly. The backing is a bold black-on-white scroll-like paisley. I quilted it with a loose allover meander so as not to distract from the graphic piecing. It was hard to decide on a thread color because black was very bold on the white fabrics, and white showed up too much on the black fabrics and the red. Medium grey showed up too much on everything. I went with an off-black, not as harsh as jet black, and it worked well. I'll have to remember that for future black and white quilts. 

The quilt finished at about 72 x 90", a generous twin bed size. It will go to a local women's halfway house and the resident who receives it will keep it when she moves on. 

Linking up with Alycia Quilts 10/4 and My Quilt Infatuation 10/10

September Stash Report and Goals Update

I had a busy month including a week at our favorite beach, so I didn't accomplish everything on my goals list. But that's okay. We went to Perdido Key (near Pensacola) at just the right time, between hurricanes Francine and Helene that just hit the Gulf Coast. 

View from 4th floor, The Mariner, Perdido Key FL

While there I did some shopping at my favorite Pensacola fabric store, so a few yards were added to my stash. But I used some yardage this month, too, so my stash report is looking pretty good. It helped that I quilted and bound my giant Friendship Star quilt so I can count out the backing and binding. I also quilted Road Trip so I can count that backing, too. 

Quilting the Friendship Star quilt

Stash Report: 

IN this month: 4-1/2 yards (4-1/2 yards from A&E in Pensacola)
OUT this month: 12-1/2 yards (Friendship Stars back, 2-3/8 yards wide backing; binding 5/8 yard. My fabrics used in Storyboard Stacked Slabs, 2-1/2 yards. Backing for Road Trip, 7 yards.)

IN YTD: 65-1/2 yards
OUT YTD: 67-1/4 yards
YTD Net Change: 1-3/4 yards OUT

I still have three months left in the year so I'm sure I'll use up more. We'll see about adding - I need more khaki Grunge to bind Road Trip so a trip to the LQS is in order. What else might come home with me? 

Storyboard Stacked Slabs top

Goals Update: 

September Recap: 

1. Prep for and teach lessons 2 and 3 of my color class. DONE

2. Quilt the black & white Friendship Stars top on the long arm. DONE, also bound and finished. 

3. Piece backing for Kaffe Gradient. No, not touched. 

4. Continue piecing and assembling the black and white lozenges project. The concept for this has changed a bit from the original inspiration. Yes, revised the layout, made side triangles, and started assembling rows. 

5. Repair blocks and piece backing for Autumn Scrappy Celebration for Linda. DONE

6. Continue piecing the Storyboard stacked slabs top at social sewing. Yes, it's now a finished top.

7. Prep a backing and batting for a personal quilt (Road Trip???) and quilt it on the long arm on Sept 25. DONE

8. Continue making blocks for the Black and Tan project. Yes, made the last two Churn Dash blocks and cut pieces for the border. 

Autumn Scrappy Celebration layout, blocks made with friends

I had forgotten how much time it takes to prep for teaching a class. Even though I had taught my color class before, there are six lessons with materials and hand-outs for each one. Even though I have a binder with the lesson plans, I had to refresh my memory, as well as make sure I had all the visual aids needed. So quite a few hours were spent doing that this month. More of the same will take place in October because I have three more lessons scheduled. 

October Goals:

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

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

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

4. Continue assembling the rows for the black and white lozenges project. 

5. Piece a backing for the Storyboard Stacked Slabs quilt and quilt it on the club's long arm on Oct. 24. 

6. Make the last four blocks for the Black and Tan quilt; start assembling border units. 

7. Piece the backing for the Kaffe Gradient top.

Revised layout for the Lozenge blocks. 

Sides will be squared up after rows are sewn together. 

Again, a busy month planned. It's still unbelievably hot here, smashing temperature records day after day. I guess I'll be staying inside and sewing. When it's still over 105 degrees out and the sun is still brutally strong, it's hard to believe it's fall!

Autumn Scrappy Celebration

Linda, Edna, and I have been at it again, with the help of another friend, and we made blocks for another Scrappy Celebration. This time we used Autumn colors and prints. 

I think this is the final layout we ended up with. Linda is assembling the top. I sewed the backing together and put in a request to the club's charity committee for batting. Linda will quilt it, and I'll bind it when it's ready. 

Since it's seasonal (although it sure doesn't feel like fall here yet!) I'm hoping we can finish it and deliver it while it's still timely. It will go to a local women's shelter. 

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

Storyboard Stacked Slabs Top

In July, Quilt Diva Julie sent me two boxes of fabric, donations for PCQ's charity quilts. Wow, I was blown away! Thank you, Julie. 

The chair of our charity committee asked me to make up "Blank Kits" with the donated fabrics plus others from the club's stash as needed. I was able to make up about 8 kits from the fabrics Julie sent. We don't include patterns in our Blank Kits, but let the maker choose their own pattern. 

Included in Julie's donation were some FQs from the Storyboard collection by Seth Apter. Very cool, kind of urban and masculine. The local family services agency we donate to occasionally has needs for quilts for teen boys, and I thought these fabrics would be perfect for an older boy. I held them aside to use for my next donation quilt.

In order to feature the prints I didn't want to cut them up too much, so I chose my Stacked Slabs* pattern. The FQs had been prewashed and shrunk, so they were a little undersized. I modified the cutting sizes of the slabs in the pattern to fit the fabrics and added additional fabrics from my own stash. 

After two sessions of Social Sewing, a pieced top is now finished. It measures about 58 x 68", a good teen size throw. 

Fast, easy, and the prints do all the work. I was not familiar with fabric designer Seth Apter, but he produced a line last year for Free Spirit with the same vibe, and has a new one just out, Live Out Loud. I think his fabrics would also pair well with some of Tim Holtz's Abandoned and Eclectic Elements prints. 

I found backing for this top in the club's backing stash. This will get in line for a future quilting session on the club's long arm. 

Linking up with Alycia Quilts and My Quilt Infatuation

* You can find the Stacked Slabs pattern and other free charity quilt patterns the tab above. If you would like a PDF, I'm happy to send it but you must include your email address within the text of your comment. 

Blocks on My Design Wall

Some time ago I had seen something on Pinterest that intrigued me. It's attributed only to Kathie C, no other info. I think some of the prints are Tula Pink. I found the image inspiring. 

Image from Pinterest attributed to Kathie C

I simplified the triangles at the sides of the lozenge shapes, making them one color instead of two, then started making the blocks for the on-point setting at retreat in July. 

They looked very busy when laid out on the wall. I soon realized I didn't have a good enough assortment of lights, mediums and darks, so I put the blocks aside. After making more at home, removing some of the original ones, and laying them out on the wall I had this:

Still looks like a busy mish-mash, so I need to bring some order to this chaos. I can do that by placing the lights, mediums, and darks in columns. 

Better. Still busy, but less chaotic. The side blocks will be trimmed and squared up at the corners. Then I'll add a 2" black border all around to further contain this.

This will end up as a large throw and will be a donation quilt for the local family services agency. Some teenager will love it. 

Link up: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Belated August Stash Report and Goals Update

Wow, August just flew by and I can't believe it's September already. Fall? Hardly, it's still over 110 degrees here each day. Remember the rule about not wearing white after Labor Day? Those Boston and New York arbiters of taste a century ago never experienced an Arizona summer. The wearing of summer clothes - including white - continues. 

Anyway, it's September so my August update is overdue. I had a busy month, but my stash report took a hit because I ordered some fabrics to use for backings and to supplement my stash. I had already counted the top and backing for Referee Stripe, so all I could count out for this project in August is the binding. 

I finally finished the Kaffe Gradient top so I could count out the yardage used in it. 

August Stash Report:

IN this month: 18-1/4 yards (13-1/4 yards B+W prints from Mulqueen's sale. 5 yards black Kona.)
OUT this month: 6 yards (1/2 yard binding for Referee Stripe. Kaffe Gradient Top, estimated 5-1/2 yards)

IN YTD: 61 yards
OUT YTD: 54-3/4 yards
YTD Net Change: 6-1/4 yards added

My goal is still to break even for the year. We'll see if I can make it.

Goals Update: 

August Recap:

1. Quilt the Referee Stripe top Aug 2, and bind it in time for next PCQ meeting. DONE, although I didn't show it at the meeting. 

2. Prep for and teach Lessons 1 and 2 of my six lesson Color Class. Schedule change; taught Lesson 1 on Aug. 24 & wll teach Lesson 2 in September. 

3. Make more blocks for B+W Slanted Stars; determine layout. Assemble top, add borders. Some progress but still working on blocks and revised layout. 

4. Finish the Kaffe Gradient flimsy. Finally DONE !!!

5. Make more blocks for the black and tan project. Yes, several blocks made. Awaiting more black fabric for HSTs. 

Other: 
 - Made a lot of blocks for Autumn colorway of Scrappy Celebration with friends. 
 - Cut, laid out, and started piecing a Stacked Slabs top featuring donated Storyboard fabric.

September Goals: 

1. Prep for and teach lessons 2 and 3 of my color class.

2. Quilt the black & white Friendship Stars top on the long arm.

3. Piece the backing for Kaffe Gradient.

4. Continue piecing and assembling the black and white lozenges project (formerly slanted stars). The concept for this has changed a bit from the original inspiration. 

5. Repair blocks and piece backing for Autumn Scrappy Celebration for Linda before her trip. 

6. Continue piecing the Storyboard stacked slabs top at social sewing. 

7. Prep a backing and batting for a personal quilt (Road Trip???) and quilt it on the long arm on Sept 25. 

8. Continue making blocks for the Black and Tan project. 

That's a big list, and I have some non-quilty stuff going on in September. The to-dos with hard deadlines will get done, but some of the other items may not. 

Kaffe Gradient Flimsy

 Finally, after being on my to-do list for months, the Kaffe gradient flimsy is finished. 

Years ago I inherited a stack of five inch charms of Kaffe Fassett Collective prints but I never knew what to do with them. Then last year Rachel Hauser of Stitched in Color posted a remake of her Teeter Totter pattern in which she used a lilac gradient for the gridwork. Ah-ha, that would be the perfect concept for my little Kaffe squares. While inspired by the concept, I did not use her pattern due to the size of my squares. 

Since my squares were so small, I used 1" finished strips which I cut using the 1-1/2" die on my die cutter. A lot of cutting made easy! I cut each square in half on the diagonal, laid them out on the design wall and clipped them in pairs with their sashing strip.  

Upper left corner

At retreat in 2023 I started piecing the blocks and arranged them on the design wall. To smooth the transition between the blues and the pinks, I needed to add a few non-Kaffe prints, but they blend so well you would never know. 

Right, halfway down

As I assembled the quilt from the bottom up. it became apparent that I didn't have enough of the solid purple I was using. So I went shopping and found a similar purple I thought could replace it. After replacing the diagonal strips in multiple blocks and assembling several rows with sashing, it became obvious that the purple was too light and disappeared into the blocks instead of providing the same degree of contrast as the blue and the burgundy. So, back to the store for a darker purple, and much seam ripper activity to carefully take out and replace the offending fabric. A lot of those bias seams got ripped out twice. 

Lower left corner

Other projects and priorities got in the way, and this project languished as a UFO until recently when I finally added the top row of blocks and finished the flimsy. I didn't realize I was so close to a finish! 

Later this fall, a friend will help me spray baste this quilt, an outdoor task better left for cooler weather.  I'll quilt it on my domestic machine with in-the-ditch stitching using invisible thread. Then my friend will teach me how to face it instead of using a visible binding around the edges.  

I have a wall in my sewing room where I want to hang this quilt. The size came out to 48" wide by 78" long, perfect for the space available. And it will be dramatically visible from the hall and through the sewing room doorway.  This one's a keeper. 

Linking up with Alycia Quilts 8/30, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts 9/2, and My Quilt Infatuation 9/5

The Referee Stripe Quilt

Earlier this month I had time booked on PCQ's long arm and I was able to quilt the Referee Stripe top that I pieced at retreat in July. 

Yes, it's bold, wild and crazy, and very vibrant. I love how this quilt turned out! 

The piecing design using half-hexies made of strips combined with a bold referee stripe was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest attributed only to "Kathy." Thanks, Kathy whoever-you-are, for the inspiration. I already have another striped fabric in mind to make the same pattern. 

The back is a combination of black and white prints from my stash, cobbled together. 

This quilt will eventually go to a local family services agency where it will be perfect for a teenager. But first, I'm going to hold onto it and display it in PCQ's quilt show in the winter, then donate it afterward. 

Referee Stripe, 62 x 78"

Linking up with Alycia Quilts 8/23 and My Quilt Infatuation 8/29

Black and Tan Blocks

 I've been making blocks for my Black and Tan project. After making a few and rejecting them, I think I finally have all the values placed where I need them. 

Here's what the blocks look like on my design wall. I need to make four more of the blocks with hourglass units in them, and three more red churn dash blocks. I should probably stop calling this the black and tan project and start calling it the brown quilt, because that's how it's ending up so far. 

Along the way I've been looking at the project in greyscale to adjust the value placement. Here's the final version:

The border will continue the black star points out to the edges against the beige background. 

Here's the top half without the distraction of the empty spaces. Lots of diagonal movement! 

Good progress, finally. There are several rejected test blocks in my orphan block drawer; I'll have to figure out something to do with them later. 

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