Diabolical Jane

When I posted about DJ2 earlier this month I went looking for a photo of my finished original Diabolical Jane quilt and realized I never photographed it and posted its finish. Let's fix that. 

I really enjoyed making this. I had backing fabric for it from a friend, but then I found something much better. 

The construction is the same, but the placement of light and dark values is different at the ends of the arms and in the side triangles in my second version. 

I like the first version better. 

Will I make another version someday? Maybe...

Link up: Alycia Quilts

This Is Not Working

Before you go any further, check out this inspiration image. This is the look I was going for, with a palette of teals, yellow-greens, a few reds, and neutrals. Warm, a lot of pattern, a lot of dots. 

I pulled fabrics from my scraps and stash in these colors, made triangles, and put them on the wall. 

Oh, no, this is awful. It's much worse in real life than it is in the photo. Just a horrible assortment, very hard on the eyes.

The problem isn't the concept, it's the color palette. Even though the colors were selected to be similar to the inspiration photo, I just don't like it. 

To salvage the project, I took away all the triangles that had any red or orange in them, which was about a third of them. Then I made more triangles using only teals and yellow-greens. When I put them on the wall, I changed up the columns slightly.

I like this much better. 

Rather than columns of stacked coins like the original, I think I'll look for one fabric that will work for the alternate columns. 

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

DJ2 Finished Top

One of the things I wanted to get done in August was to attach the borders to my second Diabolical Jane quilt and finish the top. This happened, at the very end of the month. 

This version, DJ2, gave me more trouble than my first version. I miscounted the number of pieces needed, had to make adjustments, and this version ended up a little larger at 65" square. Although it doesn't look flat and square in this photo, it actually is. 

I like this version; these are my favorite colors, teal and coral.

I have fabric to piece a back for this so I can quilt it. I have a reservation on the long arm at the end of the month, but I have something else ready to quilt, so I don't know how soon I'll get DJ2 finished. 

Might I make another Diabolical Jane quilt someday? Maybe. Now that I've made two of them, I keep seeing fabric combos that could work. For now, though, I think I'll give Jane a rest and focus on other projects. 

Link Up: Alycia Quilts

PS: I looked for a post about my original Diabolical Jane and couldn't find one about the finished top except as part of my April retreat recap, so here's a photo of the top. It's actually quilted and finished now, so I'll have to photograph it and post it. 

August Stash Report and Goals Update

I spent a lot of time in my sewing room this month. It's been over 100 degrees, often over 110 degrees, all month, too hot to do anything except stay inside in the air conditioning. We're actually having a bit of a cool-down this week, but next week it'll be back up in the 110s again. And no, it's not a dry heat; the humidity is up during our monsoon season. 

PC's Creative Arts building has been closed most of the month for maintenance, so no social sewing. The fitness center has been closed for refurbishing all month and won't reopen until October. I went out to lunch with friends a couple of times, but other than that, it's the season for cabin fever here.

DH and I did take a little weekend trip up to a cooler area and I visited a very nice quilt shop, Pine Top Star. So of course, some fabric had to come home with me. 

Since I spent so much time on quilting-related things, what did I accomplish? 

I pieced the back and the batting for the floral X and Plus quilt which goes on the long arm tomorrow morning. I quilted and donated the second Mary's Triangles quilt. I finished the Christmas Tree for my son, which involved a lot of quilting on my domestic machine. I started a new scrappy project involving triangles and stacked coins. I pulled a palette for another project that I'm thinking about called Checkered Garden.

The 2nd Mary's Triangles quilt

With all the fabric ins and outs, let's see how my stash report looks. 

August Stash Report

IN this month: 10 yards (5-1/2 yards from Bob's Variety. 4-1/2 yards from Pinetop Star QS. )
OUT this month: 9-1/2 yards (Backing for second Mary's Triangles quilt, 1-1/2 yards; Binding, 1/2 yard. Christmas Tree back and sleeves, 2 yards; Binding, 1/2 yard; Case with pockets, 1 yard. Backing for Floral X and Plus, 4 yards.)

IN YTD: 83-1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 86-3/4 yards
YTD Net Change: 3-1/2 yards OUT. 

Moving in the right direction! 

Since I knew I'd have a lot of sewing time, I had a lot on my goals list. I made a lot of progress, and as usual I started something new....

New triangles and stacked coins project

August Goals Update

July Recap: 

1. Bind and donate the two purple wheelchair quilts. DONE

2. Make backing for the second Mary's Triangles project and find or piece batting.  DONE, also quilted, finished and donated.

3. Make progress on the walking foot quilting on the Kaffe Gradient project.  No. I did a lot of other walking foot and FMQ on my domestic machine this month, but didn't touch this. 

4. Get Christmas print fabric for backing, sleeves and storage bag for the tree project. Talk to Gary about dowels. Yes, tree quilt is quilted and finished except for the final few hanging loops. Gary made the dowels and hooks for hanging it. I made the presentation case/storage bag. Gary is making a pottery star for the top which needs to be glazed and fired when the CAC reopens. 

5. Add borders to DJ2. DONE.

6. Pull "Found" UFO and determine next steps. DONE. It just needed borders, which were cut and included in the project box. It's now a finished flimsy. Also found/pieced backing for it. 

7. Piece batting together for X and Plus quilt. DONE.

Other: 

 - Started new scrappy Broken Dishes and Coins quilt. 

 - Added coping strips to Edna's veterans quilt that needs to have bad quilting removed and go back on the long arm. 

Eric's Christmas Tree

September Goals: 

1. Work with Edna to remove bad quilting and re-quilt the veteran's quilt. 

2. Quilt and finish the floral X and Plus quilt. 

3. Quilt and finish the found UFO quilt. 

4. Make backing for the teal Diabolical Jane quilt. 

5. Work on the Triangles and Coins project. 

6. Work on the other new scrappy piecing project, Checkered Garden inspired by Linda of Kokaquilts.

7. Plan a long term and complicated project for future sewing. 

8. Make progress on the walking foot quilting on the Kaffe Gradient quilt. 

I should probably add Write Blog Posts as another goal. I have a couple projects that need to be photographed so I can post about them. It's hard to get good photos with the intense sun and the wind here now. 

2nd Diabolical Jane top

Hopefully all that will keep me busy during another hot month! 

Checkered Garden

Linda from Kokaquilts is making a Checkered Garden quilt in a palette of blush pinks and caramels. Squirrel!!! I have to make one. I've had an inspiring fabric for a while, a floral print with purple and peach in it, and now I know what I want to do with it. 

I pulled fabrics from my stash that might go with it to make a Checkered Garden block. The inspiration fabric is in the corners here. 

So far, so good. I think this will be a one-block-at-a-time project, so I can enjoy the process of designing each one. 

I have a lot of fabrics in these colorways. I want to emphasize the purple and peach shades more than the caramel in some of the blocks. With a limited palette of peach and cinnamon shades, ecru and cream, mauve and purple and some caramel, the overall quilt should have a warm vibe. I might add a touch of green for contrast. 

I'm thinking of including the inspiration fabric in all the blocks, in the various positions. Thoughts? 

My blocks are 14" so I'm shooting for a 4 x 5 layout for a 56 x 70" quilt. This one will be fun to create! 

Link up: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

A Scrappy Triangle Project

I saw something recently in my Pinterest feed that intrigued me. It was a very scrappy quilt made of HSTs, Broken Dishes blocks, and stacked coin columns, in a palette of mostly yellow-greens, teals, dark reds, neutrals and light peach prints. Very busy. Dozens of different fabrics, many bold patterns. It was attributed to Mel Hale but now I can't find it again.  

Updated 8/29: The inspiration photo popped up in my Pinterest feed again; see it here. 

I pulled scraps in those colors, then raided my stash, and cut pieces for HSTs. I figured I could work on them at social sewing when PC's creative arts building reopens in September. But as often happens, I got sucked into this project and started sewing right away. Over the last couple of weeks, I've made 170 HSTs. 

They don't look like much here, but that's 17 batches of 10. As I was cutting for them, I also cut for the stacked coins, and some of the coin pieces were used as leaders and enders as I was sewing the triangles. The ones in the center are sewn pairs; the rest are cut pieces. I have no idea how many there are here, but I need 360 individual pieces so I'm sure I'll be cutting more. 

Making all those HSTs required a lot of trimming. This guy kept me company and kept growing while I was at it. 

This will turn out to be either a busy-but-curated scrappy quilt, or a hot mess that'll be hard to look at. We'll see.  

I have other priorities and deadlines so this project will be packed away until later. It's definitely in Alycia's "Or Not" category at Finished (or not) Friday. 

O Tannenbaum Two

Back in 2017 I made my son a Christmas Tree quilt to hang on a door and hold real ornaments. You can see it here with ornaments, and here is the tutorial.

He started a new job last summer, and learned at Christmastime that everyone in this office decorates their cubicles for the holidays. He requested another Christmas tree, sized to fit his cubicle. So of course I'm making him one. 

This one is 52" tall (for a 60" wall height) and 28" wide. I still need to add the loops for hanging the ornaments. 74 of them, one at each triangle intersection. 

To hang it on his cubicle wall, DH and I came up with a hanging system. I sketched the idea on a sticky note, sent it to my son, and he's supposed to get back to me with the width of his cubicle wall top. DH can make the hangers from heavy gauge wire. 

The tree quilt has sleeves at the top and bottom of the back. We'll get 1/2" dowels at the hardware store. The one for the bottom, just to weight it and keep it hanging flat, won't show at all. The other, for the top, will have finials at the ends. The top rod will rest on the hanger brackets. 

DH, a very handy guy, is also a potter, and he sculpted a 4" high star for the top of the tree. When our Creative Arts building reopens in September, he'll glaze and fire it. 

Next up, a storage and presentation bag for the tree. I'll make it like a pillowcase, large enough to accommodate the rolled up tree, and tie the opening with ribbon. This will be both the gift wrap and a dust cover for storage. 

Our plan is to have everything done by the end of September, ship it out in early October, and he'll have it in plenty of time to decorate in November. Maybe he can find a new pickle ornament to hang on it. 

I don't know if his office has a contest for best decorated cubicle, but if they do, his tree is surely in the running. 

He still uses his original Christmas Tree hanging, since his condo doesn't have room for a three-dimensional tree. 

Link ups: Alycia Quilts 8/21, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts 8/24. 

Two Small Mary's Triangles Quilts

You may remember, I was making Mary's Triangles at social sewing. I planned them for a small quilt, baby or wheelchair* size. I set them on point with alternate plain squares and made this top.

I bundled the top together with batting and backing for someone else to quilt and finish. My friend Linda adopted it and finished it. Here's the photo she sent me.

Evidently I miscalculated the number of blocks I needed, because I had almost as many left over. Rather than let them sit in a scrap drawer forever, or become dog bed filler, I made some more blocks using black and white prints and made this top. 

The second top is only 40" wide, so it's small enough to fit on one width-of-fabric backing if quilted on my domestic machine. Since I don't have access to PCQ's long arm until September and I have larger tops in the queue to be quilted, I decided to quilt this one at home. 

I had enough of one of the B+W prints used in the blocks for the back. Walking foot quilting in the ditch - horizontally, vertically, and along the diagonal seams - resulted in a stable but soft and drapey quilt. I bound it with a B+W stripe at a social sewing event earlier this week. 

The first quilt will go to Hospice and the second quilt will go to Luke AFB for a young family.

My little Mary's Triangles blocks finished at 4", but they can be made any size and they're very versatile. The confetti-and-streamers quilt in my blog header is all Mary's Triangles. Here's a link to the tutorial for making them the easy two-at-a-time method. 

*Per Hospice, wheelchair quilts should be about 42-46" square or so. Too wide and they get hung up in the wheels. This also is a good size for baby quilts. 

Link up: Alycia Quilts

Picnic in the Garden, an X and Plus Quilt

At retreat I was able to get the blocks for my latest X and Plus quilt made, and the center of the top assembled. Other retreaters were making X and Plus quilts and it was fun to see the variety. We had Christmas prints and Kaffe prints with dark backgrounds, and I used ditsy florals with white. Mine will be a donation quilt for Hospice. 

My original plan was to add a green inner border and a floral print outer border. I looked through my reads-as-solid green stash at home and did not find anything that would work. I also did not have enough of any of the florals for a border, and when I auditioned multiple florals, it was pretty sad. 

However, one of the girls at retreat made a picnic quilt using a gingham print for the border. Inspired by hers, I found a green check in my stash, one yard, but with careful cutting I could make it work. 

The result is a quilt top that's less "old lady formal" and a little more playful. 

Next, I cobbled together a backing from the leftover floral prints. Those prints range from vintage 1980s to current quilt shop quality. Most of them are used in the blocks in the front of the quilt. Most of them came from PCQ's stash, and the keepers of the stash will be happy if I use them for backing. 

The easiest way to cobble together a back that's big enough is to put the top on the wall, place the fabric chunks on it until it's big enough, and seam it together. Leftover blocks are good, too. An afternoon's work resulted in this backing. If you look carefully, you can see the top through some of the prints.

My next opportunity to use the long arm won't be until early September so this will have to wait a while to be quilted. 

Link up: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

July Stash Report and Goals Update

Wow, July was quite a month. It's amazing what you can get done when you have 4 days at retreat! 

Prepping for retreat paid off. I was able to finish my Christmas tree top, finish the center portion of my floral X and Plus top, and make progress on my black, white and bright Mary's triangles top.  Other than at retreat, I made and quilted two small wheelchair quilts for Hospice and added the border to complete my X and Plus top. Flimsies finished means I can count the yardage used out of my stash. 

I did add a bit to the stash, too. Sheila, the owner/hostess of our retreat, has a small shop just for retreaters. I replenished my white-on-whites, added some prints that might make their way into a third Diabolical Jane quilt, and found the perfect plaid for the binding of my Christmas tree quilt. And I found special thread for making the loops for hanging the ornaments. 

With all that activity, let's see what effect it had on my stash  

July Stash Report

IN this month: 7-1/4 yards (from Ritter retreat) 
OUT this month: 12-1/4 yards (Second Mary's Triangles top with B+W prints, est 2-3/4 yards. Christmas tree top, 3-3/4 yards. Backing and binding for two purple wheelchair quilts 1-1/2 yards 108" wide. X and Plus top, 4-1/4 yards.)

IN YTD: 73-1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 77-1/4 yards
YTD Net Change: 4 yards OUT

Moving in the right direction! 

I had an ambitious goals list for July. I think I did okay, a lot of progress and only one "not touched." 

Goals Update: 

July Recap: 

1. Finalize and print label for the confidential project. DONE. 

2. Go on retreat and have a good time. Yes!!!

3. Piece the Christmas Tree top. DONE

4. Piece the pastel floral X and Plus top. DONE - pieced the center at retreat, added borders at home. Also cobbled together a backing for it. (separate post coming soon)

5. Finish piecing DJ2. Progress - center is pieced and squared up; still needs border. 

6. Quilt the two purple wheelchair quilts. DONE

7. If time permits, assemble the second Mary's Triangles top. DONE. Rows assembled at retreat, top finished at home. 

8. Look at parts previously cut and rejected for DJ 1 and 2 and figure out something to do with them. Possible progress??? Leftover DJ 1 & 2 parts are packed in a project box along with fabrics pulled for a possible DJ3.

9. Make progress on the walking foot quilting on the Kaffe Gradient project. No, did not touch this.

All those tops finished and all that progress means I'll need backs and I'll have a lot of quilting to do. Unfortunately I won't have access to PCQ's long arm until September, but I can prep backs and quilt on my domestic machine in the meantime. 

August Goals:

1. Bind and donate the two purple wheelchair quilts. 

2. Make backing for the second Mary's Triangles project and find or piece batting.  

3. Make progress on the walking foot quilting on the Kaffe Gradient project. 

4. Get Christmas print fabric for backing, sleeves and storage bag for the tree project. Talk to Gary about dowels. 

5. Add borders to DJ2

6. Pull "Found" UFO and determine next steps.

7. Piece batting together for X and Plus quilt. 

A lot of my projects are at the To-Be-Quilted stage but our Creative Arts Center is closed for half of August and I can't get a time slot on the long arm until September. I'll have time in August to work on backings and piece Frankenbatts (thanks, Cherie!) so I'll be ready when my reservation comes up. 

While packing for retreat I found a project box that I thought was empty, but it had something in it. It appears to be a UFO, a black, white, and bright project from retreat a couple years ago. I should see what's needed and finish it so I can free up the project box. Have you ever found a UFO you didn't know you had?  😉 Haven't we all?!!!

Here's to a productive and fun August!

Catching Up

 July has been such a busy month, on both the quilting front and life in general, that I'm behind in posting progress and finished projects. So let's catch up. 

The Mary's Triangles top that I pieced and donated for someone else to quilt was claimed by Linda who quilted and bound it. 

I had some leftover Mary's Triangles but not enough for another quilt, so prior to retreat I made some more with black and white prints, laid them out, and kitted them up to work on at retreat if I had time. I had time to sew the blocks into rows, and since I got home I've sewn the rows together. Like the first one, this is baby or wheelchair size, so it can go to Luke AFB for a young family or to Hospice.

 Earlier in July I pieced a couple more wheelchair quilts to use up some magenta purple wide backing fabric from Edna. Here are the tops before they were quilted. I quilted them on the long arm a couple days ago but haven't bound them yet. There was enough of the same fabric to quilt the two tops side-by-side. 

I think I'm all caught up now...

Finishes at Retreat

 In my last post, I showed all the tops in progress on the design walls at retreat. Well, we made so much progress that we had a lot of finishes! Here they are, in no particular order. 

Cherie got the binding hand sewn around a large quilt. Later she sewed on a label and a sleeve. That's a lot of hand sewing!

Later she assembled an improv project from blocks already made. She plans to use this for a background for a large floral applique.

Robin finished her Tumbler top and also a 3 Yard Quilt top featuring a French bulldog print. Both are destined to become gifts. We suggested adding the orange accent to the Frenchie quilt, and she found just the right fabric at the little shop at retreat. 

Jeri finished her plaid-like Picnic quilt. Note the ants! 

Nancy T finished her on-point top as well as a 3 Yard Quilt top. I just love the southwest colors in her jelly roll top.

I finished my Christmas tree top. This will become a hanging for my son's office cubicle at Christmastime. Apparently in his office they decorate, and he requested it and gave me the size requirements. He will hang real ornaments on it. 

I also finished the center of my X and Plus top; it still needs borders.

And most significantly, Linda finished this top. It has quite a story. 

Back in 2012 and earlier when Cherie and I, and Cherie's BFF Darlene, were all members of Circle in the Square Quilters, Darlene started this Jacqueline De Jonge project. Darlene was an extraordinarily gifted quilter. Blue was her color. She gave the Jacqueline De Jonge project her own spin by using a variety of indigo prints in it and navy batik instead of black. 

Then she passed away in 2013. Cherie took some of her UFOs and has finished several, but this one lingered. Last winter she posted it on her blog to anyone who would commit to finishing it. Knowing the Jacqueline De Jong patterns are Linda's favorite, I suggested Cherie contact Linda, already a friend from previous retreats. Kismet! 

Cherie sent the box to Linda, and Linda puzzled through where Darlene left off and what her plans were (Darlene went off-pattern a bit but left organized notes and drawings). Linda was able to make some of the missing pieces before retreat, partially assemble it, and complete the top at retreat. 

All in all, we had a very productive, and more importantly, FUN, retreat. All of us are already looking forward to next year! 

Link up: Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts 7/31

Design Walls at Retreat

 I had such a good time at retreat last week. How could I not, with this group and in this location! Breakfast on the patio. There were nine of us, but a few friends weren't up yet. Some of us were still in our PJs!

We had three and a half days of sewing, and everyone got a lot done. Here are photos of works in progress on the design walls. 

Several of the girls who took my X and Plus class at the end of May worked on their blocks. Here's Nancy H with her progress.

Linda and Edna shared a design wall and put their blocks up as they finished them. Linda's are the Kaffe with black background blocks at the top. Edna's are the Christmas print blocks at the bottom. 

Robin worked on a tumbler kit while I worked on my Christmas tree. We shared the large wall - plenty of space! - to work on fabric placement. 

Nancy T worked on a gorgeous on-point quilt in southwest colors. The fabrics - a jelly roll or two - came from the little shop at the ranch. 

Judy also worked on a jelly roll project. She has decided it's too small as is but she has a huge stash of batiks, so she'll cut her own strips and enlarge it. The pattern has several sizes and layouts.

Jeri worked on a picnic quilt, a more complicated project than at first glance because the blocks are different sizes and she had to mind the color and value placement to achieve the plaid effect. 

In addition to her Christmas X and Plus, Edna worked on her latest patriotic quilt. Oopsies happen in a social sewing environment, but these are easily fixed.

Linda made blocks for a modern quilt but ran out of the specific white on white dot background fabric she needs to fill in the top. I've seen the fabric elsewhere so I'm sure she'll be able to find more. 

Cherie worked on several projects. In addition to hand-sewing the binding on a large quilt, as well as the label and a sleeve, she helped Linda lay out an improv project with little blocks that Linda's been making as leaders and enders. She had a big box of these little blocks, enough for three quilts. Linda used a tablecloth for a portable design wall so she could roll it up and take the layout home. You can see more of Nancy H's block progress here, too.

Cherie has been gifted a lot of bonus triangles from friends, including mine from my first X and Plus quilt, the second one I worked on at retreat, and extras from several friends. She pulled all the greens and teals and started laying them out on the wall. This is the layout she decided on. The triangles finish at 2" so she's still collecting, to have enough for a larger quilt. 

So much fun! And lots of progress on lots of projects! We had lots of finishes, too, and I'll post about those later.

Link up: Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts