I Caved

I debated whether to participate in Kevin the Quilter's Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt mystery. I'm not really a scrap quilter and I don't have a scrap users "system."

I don't need another big quilt. But I emailed Kevin and asked about making a smaller version with fewer blocks (not tinier pieces), and he suggested making half the quantity called for and adjusting later if need be.

So I caved. I'm in. His mystery calls for two colors with good value contrast; he's using browns and light neutrals. He says all shades of the feature color, light, medium, and dark, would work. But brown by definition is already a dark color; "brown" is the name we give to the dark shades of the  orange family. So a light brown is still at least a medium value or darker.

I looked through my scraps and my stash to see what I have that might work. I chose blues, with a few teals thrown in. I'm going with medium and dark shades so there will be good value contrast with low volume neutrals. I considered some light blues but I didn't like them with the rest of the shades - they stood out too much.

First clue: four patches. I need 92 but I cut enough pieces to make 120, so I may end up with a few extras. Here's the pile of twosies to be chain pieced into four patches.

There's a bit of everything in this pile of scraps - batiks, tonals, modern prints, Civil War repro prints, solids, yarn dyed wovens, Grunge, dots, stars, and even some construction trucks.

Mysteries and working with scraps are not my usual thing, but whenever Kevin has pushed me out of my comfort zone in the past, it's been beneficial for me. Whoo-hoo, clue #1 is complete, what's next???

Quilting the Black + White Project

Recently one of the on-line fabric shops had an extra 20% off of all Clearance fabrics, and I went looking for backing for this project:

I found an awesome paisley, huge scale - like two repeats per yard - and knew it would be perfect. One width of fabric wouldn't be enough, so I ordered enough yardage to be able to match the pattern at the joining seam. I forgot to take a photo of just the fabric so here is part of the back of the quilt after I started quilting.

The quilting is going well, but slowly. I'm stippling the background and I stitched in the ditch around all the edges of the shapes. I'll come back later and do something else within the shapes to emphasize them.

As long as I was shopping in the clearance fabrics, I couldn't resist a few others so I filled my cart with some good basics to the point where I could get free shipping. I love this sketchy weave.

I added some good tonals that I can use in future Quilts of Valor, too. The yellow is the only disappointment - It's supposed to be a chambray print in banana, but it just looks solid lemon.

In all I've added 15 yards to my stash, so the stash report will take a big hit this month. But when I divided my total cost by 15 yards, it came out to $3.44 a yard. Can't beat that - that's even less than the $1 fat quarter sales at the local quilt shop. So I have no regrets, and I'm sure I'll be able to use these fabrics sooner or later.


Monday link-ups:
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Em's Scrapbag
Love Laugh Quilt

Pup Quilt 2

I finished the second quilt using the cute pup print in late June, but I'm just now getting around to posting about it. This is the print; those pups are about an inch across.

Since it's been awhile since I mentioned this project, here's a photo of the flimsy again: 

STLMQG chose Project Linus for our charity this year and had representatives come to one of our meetings to tell us about the organization. They're big into fleece blankets. So I backed this pup quilt with fleece, no batting, and quilted it lightly so it would be soft and drapey. 

The fleece was very stretchy so the quilt looks a little wonky. Oh, well, I don't think the kid who receives it will care. 

This isn't a true quilt by definition because it doesn't have batting. But it will bring comfort to a child anyway, so I will include it in my Rocking Chair Quilts. (See tab above)

This is the second quilt I made with the pup print; the first one below has already gone to Operation Shower, the charity my other guild is supporting this year. 

No more pup print left. 

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Wendy's Quilts and More

The Coral Floral Saga Continues

When I left off, I was frustrated and disappointed with how dull and dreary my supposedly cheerful coral and floral project was looking. Part of the problem is indoor photography on a dark rainy day, but even sunshine wouldn't perk this up very much.

I decided to take out the green and add some cream.

Okay, better.

What to do with those green blocks? Maybe a second quilt, since there's enough of the floral.

I don't like that big X shape in the middle. What if I add a center green block?

Meh, just a big nine patch and the floral is all chopped up. What about the positive version of the Four Corners block instead of all negative versions? *

Much better. I like the way the corners of the cream blocks come together and I like the shape of the background fabric in the center.

Same layout using the coral blocks:

Okay, two tops. I have enough backing for both of them. They'll go to Operation Shower. Maybe for a mom expecting twins.

Problem solved and I can continue moving forward with this project.


* Positive and negative Four Corners blocks: The positive block starts with a center square of background framed by the focal color, which ends up in the corners on the finished block. The negative versions starts with a colored square framed by the background fabric, which ends up in the outer corners of the block. In the photo below, the negative version is on the left and the positive version is on the right.

June Stash Report and Goals Update

Boy, it seems like June just flew by. Where did it go?!! Half the year is gone already. Let's see how things went in June.

Stash Report:
IN this month: 1-1/4 yards (F8 bundle from Sharon at Color Girl Quilts - 1-1/4 yards.)
OUT this month: 3-5/8 yards (Black +White flimsy, 3-1/4 yards. Pup Quilt 2 binding, 3/8 yard.)

IN YTD: 60 yards
OUT YTD: 54-3/8 yards
Net change: 5-5/8 yards added to stash.

Even though I used more than came in this month, the net is still more in than out. My goal is to break even at the end of the year.

It's going to get worse before it gets better. I succumbed to the clearance sale at one of the on-line shops and I stocked up on some good basics for about $4 a yard.  Since the order hasn't shipped yet, I won't count it in until I receive it. But the July stash report won't be pretty. Well, the numbers won't. The fabrics I ordered are.

I found a great backing for the Black +White project, so as soon as it arrives I can get back to working on this again.

Two Color Challenge: Black + White

Goals Update
June Recap:
1. Remove the blue border from the Red Project and start making additional checkerboard blocks to continue the border. YES, the blue border is off and I've started making strata and blocks to enlarge the border. 
2. Finish the Two Color Challenge (black and white) project to a flimsy. DONE, see photo above.
3. Quilt and bind the 2nd Pup print donation quilt. DONE, photo below, blog post to come Friday.
4. Continue working on the collaboration project with friends if possible. Due to scheduling, we weren't able to get together this month. 
5. Keep up with bee blocks and BOMs. DONE.
6. Work on hand stitching WIGSP Piecing Group project. Yes, got 1/4 of a long row sewn. 

Other: Started a coral floral baby quilt which has morphed into something more. 

The Red Project, revised border in work

2nd Pup Print donation quilt

July Goals:
1. Quilt and finish the black + white project.
2. Make more checkerboard units for the revised border of the Red Project.
3. Finish the Coral Floral project.
4. Participate in 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop.
5. Keep up with bee blocks and BOMs.
6. Work on hand stitching the WIGSP Piecing Group project.
7. Continue working on the collaboration project with friends if possible.
8. Optional: Look through scraps and stash and decide whether to participate in Kevin the Quilter's mystery on a smaller scale. If so, keep up with clues.

The Coral Floral project

Now that the weather is finally HOT, I may spend more time indoors in the sewing room, so I may be able to get a lot done in July. We'll see.

Since the year is half over, let's take a look at the Annual Goals and check progress:
1. Use (or give away) at least as much fabric as I bring into the stash. June 30: Stash is up by more than 5 yards.
2. Blog at least twice a week; continue posting monthly goals and stash reports because they keep me focused and accountable. June 30: Blogging continues about twice a week, sometimes three times. Goals & stash updates continue.
3. Piece and/or quilt one donation quilt per month for a total of 10 donation quilts for the year. Could be in conjunction with other charity projects such as guild or H2H. June 30: six finishes and two flimsies so far this year.
4. Red Project: continue working on this with monthly goals to a completed flimsy, then get it to a long-armer for quilting. June 30: I revised the plan for the borders; add'l checkerboard units are in work. 
5. Pickle Dish: continue quilting until it's finished. Pickle Dish was finished in March.
6. Roman Road:  Talk to Sandy again about getting it quilted and ship it to her, or find someone else to custom quilt it. Sandy quilted Roman Road and returned it in April. I need to bind it. 
7. Review list of UFOs and determine whether to keep & finish or get rid of each one. Finish at least two of the projects on the list. Finished Bricks and Mortar for Hands2Help.
8. Send unquilted donation tops to someone who can/is willing to quilt and donate them. June 30: no action yet. 
9. Participate in Hands2Help. Yes, sent two quilts to Bernie for Mercyful Quilts: Mercyful Plus and Bricks and Mortar. 
10. Post at least one new tutorial. June 30: No action yet.
11. When Pickle Dish and the Red Project are finished, start a new challenging project with defined monthly progress goals. June 30: Pickle Dish is finished but the Red Project is still in work. 

I would say there's been some good progress but certainly room for more. I need to revisit UFOs and do something about them rather than starting new projects. Sigh. New projects are always more appealing, aren't they?!!


Link ups:
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Em's Scrapbag
Love Laugh Quilt

Coral Floral Blocks

I'm making a baby quilt similar to one of the quilts in my book Cut and Shuffle Quilts (out of print) using a pretty coral and green floral and coordinating coral and green tone-on-tone prints. When I left off last post, I had made the Block Mamas. The Block Mama is the parent block from which all the other blocks in Cut and Shuffle Quilts are made. Scroll down to Monday's post to see more.

The Block Mama gets sliced and diced: 

Then the parts are shuffled: 

Then they're sewn back together 9-patch style. This is the Four Corners block from the book. 

Some green ones, the negative version:

And the green block:

Fast and easy, and the blocks are ready to lay out on the wall so I can sew them together. 

Ugh! How can such a perky color as coral end up looking drab and dull? Part of it is the photo, taken indoors on a grey rainy day, but that's not all. The colors are blending together to create a blurry khaki mess, with insufficient value contrast and nothing to brighten it up. 

I need to rethink where I'm going with this because this isn't working. 

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts

I Need Some Color!

After working with only black and white for awhile, I need some color! Time to play in my stash.

Awhile ago a friend passed this floral fabric along to me. Not her taste, but she knows me well, I love it! Coral is my favorite color, and combined with olive greens, it's feminine without being overly sweet.

I found a coral tone-on-tone in my stash, and a coral stripe to use for binding. My friend also passed along some large cuts of flannel for donation quilt backings. This mottled green one harmonizes with the print.

I'm thinking of making a variation of one of the quilts in my book Cut and Shuffle Quilts, a baby quilt. My plan is to use the print for the background, coral in the four corner blocks and find another color, maybe a soft green, for the rest of the blocks.

Cut and Shuffle Quilts is out of print. The quilts in the book all start with a parent block, the Block Mama, which is a framed square. Later it will be cut up and the parts will be shuffled and rearranged to create a new pieced block.

I found a soft green in my stash that harmonizes with the coral print. Here are the Block Mamas for this project.

Now that I have a plan, I can cut up the Block Mamas, reassemble the blocks, and enjoy working with these colors.


Link ups:
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Em's Scrapbag
Love Laugh Quilt