Paper Piecing and More

At the STLMQG meeting on Saturday they announced the color spoke BOM skill for this month: paper piecing. Since this is an ongoing BOM, I'm making varied blocks in 12", 9" and 6" sizes with 3" filler blocks and I'll puzzle them all together later. My color is Yellow-Green. 

I've always admired Pineapple blocks but never wanted to commit to making enough for a whole quilt. This would be a great project to try a Pineapple block and get it out of my system. 

I printed off a foundation for a 6" block from EQ7. I made one test block, and it turned out pretty well. Then I decided to make three more. It's actually easier to chain piece more than one at a time. 

Fold. Align. Sew. Press. Trim. Repeat, around and around. 

In other STLMQG news, we had a huge turnout for the "No Excuses" challenge. Some of the quilts were amazing! Mine (see previous post below) was accepted for our quilt show in July, so I turned it in to the show coordinator. 

The Mineral Plus quilt is still on my design wall. I have about four more row seams to go until it's a finished flimsy. But row seams are boring and it was much more interesting to spend my time in the sewing room yesterday playing with Pineapple blocks. I'll get Mineral Plus finished to a flimsy this week. 

Also this week I'll bind the snake quilt. I hope to have it finished to show here Friday, and I'll take it to the CSQ meeting next week. 

Link ups: 

Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Em's Scrapbag

Love Laugh Quilt

No Excuses

Tomorrow the entries in STLMQG's "No Excuses" challenge are due. My entry is finished and ready to go.

Each member of STLMQG was given a mini charm pack, and the challenge is to use at lease one piece in any quilted item. Pretty simple, therefore there's no excuse not to participate, right?

I said I might use this piece...

...and I did.

Want to see the rest of what I did with it? Here it is:

Okay, I used more than one of the mini-charms. That's fine, no rule against that. In fact, pretty much no rules. I raided my low volume scraps and stash and combined as many as I could into a layout featuring a lot of negative space.

Then I added a lot of quilting, straight lines about 1/2" apart and strategically placed spirals.

The backing is a low volume black and white print. While making the top, I found that some high contrast prints with a lot of black in them, even if they're on pale grounds, didn't play nicely so I had to leave them out. This one was borderline, but I used it in the top anyway. 

This quilt measures about 42 by 54 inches and will become a donation quilt later. Meanwhile it'll be shown in STLMQG's quilt show in July in the "No Excuses" category.

The guild announced that the prizes for the challenge participants will be awarded by raffle, not by voting or viewer's choice, so it doesn't matter if I share today rather than wait until after the meeting tomorrow. So, I'm whooping today for a finish, my "No Excuses" challenge quilt.


Link ups:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Wendy's Quilts and More
My Quilt Infatuation

Miscellaneous STLMQG and Other Quilty Stuff

I got my STLMQG monthly color block done. My color is Yellow-Green and this month's theme is Half Square Triangles. It's due Saturday. 

Also due Saturday, my entry into STLMQG's " No Excuses" challenge using at least one piece from the mini-charm pack provided. Done and ready to go, but I can't show the whole thing yet. 

In addition to the color BOM and the "No Excuses" challenge, entries for the quilt show we'll be having in July are due. (Show info here if you're interested.) I'm entering in the Bee category and the "No Excuses" Challenge category, so I had to put sleeves on the quilts that I'm entering. I had some narrow strips of muslin so I cobbled them together for sleeves, 

Remember the Snake quilt QOV my friends and I pieced awhile back? Cherie got it quilted and passed it to me over the weekend. I'll bind it so we can present it to our veteran in June. 

She quilted stars in it! I'll take pics of the whole thing after it's bound and finished. 

My design wall is still filled with my Mineral Plus donation quilt in progress. The patches are sewn into rows and the bottom seven rows have been joined together. I don't know whether I'll make the deadline for Hands2Help with this one or not, but I have two others to send so I'll finish this one and send it later if I have to. 

My deadline stuff due Saturday is done, so I need to figure out what to work on this week. My sewing room is such a mess with so many WIPs, fabric purchases, project bags, etc. that it's stressing me out. I think the first thing I need to do is put away what I don't need right now, and clean up so it doesn't look like piles of chaos in there. Sounds like a good starting point! Then I can prioritize what's most important or urgent, and focus on that. 

Link ups: 

Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Em's Scrapbag

Love Laugh Quilt

The Red Project

I have a dilemma. My goal for The Red Project for April was to find border fabric in Paducah. Although I found something, I'm not sure it's exactly what I want, and I'm debating compromises.

If you recall, my Red Project was inspired by a Chippewa Nine Patch quilt I saw hanging in the Spring AQS show three years ago. It was made in the same fabrics as shown in the pattern cover. What I really want for the border of my quilt is that exact large scale paisley used in the snowball blocks.

I thought I had found a similar paisley. Here it is in my EQ rendering and fabric laid out with the quilt top. 

Paisley EQ Rendering

Paisley Fabric

I'm concerned that it's too brownish. It has a lot of dark brown and cheddar in it, no blue at all. 

While in Paducah I searched for a better option, and the only thing I could find was a William Morris print. The individual colors in the print are better, but the overall look is quite different, more blurry and it definitely reads lighter in value. 

Morris EQ Rendering

Morris Fabric

I'm concerned that the print is out of character with the rest of the quilt. 

Another option would be to go with a red Civil War-inspired print for the border, which would read darker and be in keeping with the character of the rest of the prints. I can probably find a red CW print fairly easily. One of the ones used in the top is shown below. 

RCW EQ Rendering

RCW Fabric

I'm concerned that it'll be boring. 

I have a lot invested emotionally in this project. And financially, but that's beside the point; I'll happily spend more for the perfect border print. 

Thoughts going around in my head are: 

 - If I compromise on one of these options, will I always regret it? 

 - What if I overdye the brownish paisey with a diluted blue? Might it cool down the overall cast and neutralize the cheddar a bit? Worth a try. 

 - I could continue to search for the right print, on line and in shops. Meanwhile, this project becomes a UFO. I really hoped to get it finished this year. I already have a quilter in mind to quilt it. 

 - Another option would be to remove the narrow blue border and continue the checkerboard border to seven patches wide like the blocks in the center, and replace the blue border around the outside edges. I'll have to work on that in EQ. 

I'd love to hear your input. Thanks for any comments and suggestions you can share. 

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict

April Stash Report and Goals Update

Let's just call April a not-much-sewing and non-blogging month, okay? I had lots of other stuff going on and didn't spend much time in the sewing room. And the time I did spend in there was mostly spent working on projects I can't show here yet.

On the other hand, April was a big stash acquisition month, as I knew it would be, with the Paducah quilt show and related adventures. I had a specific list of things I was looking for, and with only a couple of exceptions, I stuck to my list.

April Stash Report: 
IN this month: 34-7/8 yards (STLMQG - 1 yard.  Paducah shopping, 33-7/8 yards)
OUT this month: 4-7/8 yards (No Excuses top, 2-3/4 yards; Backing, 1-3/4 yards; Binding, 3/8 yard)

IN YTD: 56-3/4 yards
OUT YTD: 45-3/4 yards
YTD Net change: 11 yards IN

Among my purchases in Paducah were additional fabrics for the Color Wheel Spoke BOM project at STLMQG. My color is Yellow-Green, and I can use any shade from palest Chartreuse to deepest Olive, as long as they're all on the same "spoke" of the color wheel.

A collaborative project with friends will need some corals as the accent color, and we agreed on a shade that's not too pink, not too orange. I found some to add variety.

Mostly what I was shopping for was border and backing fabric for my Red Project. I really wanted a large paisley on a deep red ground. I didn't find what I was looking for. After hours of scouring the shops, I settled on a William Morris border print. Still 19th century-inspired, right? I don't know if I like it or if I want to keep searching. I bought extra length so I can miter the corners and hopefully match the pattern. The things I don't like about it are that it reads lighter than I intended, and it has an overall "blurry" quality, whereas all the other fabrics in this project have crisply defined prints.

For backing I wanted a red toile print on a tan background. No luck. I found something at Hancock's that could work and is in keeping with the style of prints used in the top. 10 yards.

Then at a different shop later I found something slightly more toile-like. By then I had purchased the Wm Morris print for the border, and I knew this print would better complement that. Another 10 yards.

I also picked up a couple of remnants for donation quilt backs, and then my shopping budget was done.

The only outgoing yardage this month was used for my "No Excuses" challenge project for STLMQG. The reveal is on May 11, so I can't show it until then. Soon! Suffice it to say, I'm pleased with how it turned out, it's very modern for me, and I had fun with it.


Goals Update: 
April Goals Recap:
1. Work on STLMQG challenge project, "No Excuses!"  DONE, quilt is finished.
2. Work on confidential collaboration project. Yes, Spent several hours working on it but still have more to go until it's ready for the next group meeting. My part is drafting the pattern.
3. Quilt and finish the 2nd Pup Print quilt. Not done.
4. Make shopping list with swatches for Paducah, and have fun in Paducah. YES!!!
5. Work on hand stitching WIGSP Piecing Group project. Not touched.
6. Keep up with Bee blocks and BOMs. DONE

Other: Pulled fabrics and cut a Plus donation quilt and started piecing.

The only finish I have to show now for April is my Color Spoke BOM block. Hopefully May will be a more productive month.

May Goals:
1. Put hanging sleeves on the two quilts I'm entering in STLMQG's show and turn them in at the meeting on the 11th.
2. Work on the collaboration project to the point where we can get together again.
3. Mail out Hands2Help quilts.
4. Finish a donation quilt, either Pup 2 or Mineral Plus.
5. Decide what to do about borders for the Red Project.
6. Keep up with bee blocks and BOMs.
7. Work on hand stitching WIGSP Piecing Group project.

I hope I can get back to focusing on my sewing projects and making progress on them this month.

No-Reply Blogger, Request for Tutorial

To the unknown blogger who requested a PDF of my Scrappy Nine Patch Stars tutorial: You are a no-reply commenter so I can't reply and attach the PDF.
Please leave a comment with your email address on this post so I can send it to you.
Thank you for your interest in my pattern.

On my Way...

to Paducah!