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