Not Quite My Oldest UFO

Back in 2014 or so I was still attending quilt guild meetings, at least on occasion. It was my turn to present a request for friendship blocks. I made up kits of batik patches in a variety of colors and asked those who wanted to participate to use those patches and their own white-on-white print to make either a 6" Shoo-fly or Friendship Star block for me. I also asked them to sign their names in the center square patch. The rule at the time was they had a year in which to make up the blocks. After that I was free to go ahead and create my quilt top. 

I have pulled out those blocks and tried to find a setting arrangement for them more often than I can remember. I may even have posted about them here in years past. I had a pretty good idea what I wanted to do when I sewed them into these columns.

I even had these batiks set aside to complete the job.

But then the process got interrupted from one cause or another (or two or three). And I couldn't quite figure out how to accomplish my vision. Like I said earlier, the columns have come out more than once since then. Last week I finally admitted defeat and committed to a simple, straightforward approach. 

I used two of the batiks I'd set aside but decided against the light blue for this step. The top was only 48" wide at this point. Six inch flying geese would get me the width I was after and would also give me a chance to use more of my favorite batiks. 

I added a little bit of the background blue across the top and bottom edges to extend the length a little more too.

I'll be binding it in the same blue. I had another batik in sufficient quantity for the back - almost.

Here you only see half of the width of the back but you get the idea. I pieced together some of my scrappy batik Hole in the Barn Door blocks and that light blue I didn't use on the front to extend the length of the back. 

Maybe one of these days I'll get out my very first set of friendship blocks - which constitute probably my oldest UFO - and see what I can do with them. 😊

Eleven Days Later

That was an unexpected, unplanned break from blogging I just had. I'm happy to report that I've been busy while I've been silent though, not merely ill. There were bad days to be sure, but the past several days have been very productive. 😁 Just yesterday I finished up the binding on this baby quilt:

 

Everything in the body of the quilt was from my stash, some of it old enough to be considered vintage. But the border and binding print is brand spanking new. It's from the current Anne of Green Gables line. Of all the prints in that line this particular floral is my absolute favorite. I couldn't say just why, although that lovely deep eggplant color is one reason. This quilt is about 50" x 60."

The blocks are quilted in large swirls, with the half feather in the borders.

I've also completed the binding on this baby quilt that I think you may have seen as a flimsy recently.

It's about 48" x 56." James did some custom quilting on this one.

The star blocks have a large, simple swirl through them.

The scrappy Hole in the Barn Doors quilt has also been quilted and bound.

I wasn't thrilled with the paisley print that I used for the sashing, borders, and binding but I really love the way the quilt turned out overall. I'm going to be sad to part with this one! 

James created a stencil so he could quilt this in a Baptist fan type pattern. It shows up best on the back.

There are some fun novelty prints in this quilt.

It's about 62" x 84" so it will work on a bed for a teen or young adult.

 And now, inspired by how much I like those Barn Door blocks (really, can't we just call them Window blocks in this century? One of my favorite things to do is to put a fussy cut patch in the middle of those blocks, as if you're looking out of or into a window!) I have pulled out my friendship quilt columns from 2017 to see if I can finally turn them into a quilt. Here's the only picture I can find of what I'd done with those blocks at that point:

I remember that at the time I was aiming for a vertical format strip quilt, alternating columns of the friendship blocks and these batiks:

The problem is that my notes are not clear, much less specific, about what I had planned for those alternate columns. So I have gone into the Parts Dept. to see what I might have that I could use. There are batik Window blocks (as well as others), some of which used the same fabrics that are in the friendship blocks. The first columns will finish at 6" wide. If I make four more columns also 6" wide I will have 54" altogether. A simple three inch border all the way around will give me the 60 x 80" dimensions I find so useful.

I do remember working to arrange the lighter/brighter blocks toward the center of the columns and the darker ones to the perimeters so I will probably carry on with that plan as I fill in with the scrappy Window blocks. I may or may not stagger the placement of the Window blocks relative to the friendship blocks but that's where I'm starting. All I need now is to sustain my energy and well being so I can carry on! 

 

Ten + One

Guess what? I've maintained this blog for eleven years now! I've slacked off in the last couple of years but I'm still here, checking in sporadically. If I were a more energetic, organized person I'd celebrate with a giveaway. Instead I'll just share what's currently on my design wall. 😊

These are the first of the blocks to come in from my local guild in response to my latest friendship block request. I asked for 7" wide "blocks" of assorted strips that would be appropriate for a quilt for a man or teenage boy. My intention is to make a Chinese Coins quilt for a young man in foster care or a male patient in hospice care. The size of the end product will depend on how many more blocks come in and how carried away I get in adding to what I've been given. 😉 I don't have a clue what I might use between the columns of strips. I'll figure that out later on.

I haven't been on the computer much of late due to a series of nasty headaches.

Consequently I haven't been responding to your lovely comments. Please know I do appreciate them and that I hope to feel well enough soon to get around to see what you've been up to lately.

In A Vase on Monday and Blocks for Friends

You know how one blog often leads to another? I recently came across Rambling in the Garden via one of the other blogs I enjoy (I don't remember who now). She hosts a meme in which folks can showcase the beauties they've picked from their gardens: In A Vase on Monday. I'm adapting this to my own circumstances. I like to keep a vase of cut flowers in my studio but can't get out consistently to grow very many of my own. In fact, I need to get out and clean up my little flower bed but the air hasn't been safe enough yet. Seems someone nearby is always either burning something or doing their laundry with products that are toxic to my system. So the last time I went for groceries at our local co-op I brought home a handful of tulips to celebrate spring.

I've put them in a hand-built cobalt blue ceramic pitcher. This arrangement is tall and slender enough not to take up too much space on my cutting table.

We exchange friendship blocks in my local quilt guild. The friendship block requests had piled up a bit while I worked on other projects and then had to take time to recover from that fall I had. On Good Friday I was finally feeling well enough to do some sewing. I managed to get all caught up on the friendship blocks!

As you can see, they vary widely in style.

I started with the house block. The recipient/requester will be adding a piece to the bottom right corner so her houses will be perched on a hill. I have to say, I'm tempted to embroider shutters on either side the window. But then I'll probably want to add other embellishments too. We shall see. That one was fun to design. The patriotic star came right out of my Parts Dept. so all I needed to do was add the outer border to complete that request. Easy peasy! Things got fiddly after that. The batik block is dramatic when complete but every piece is a different size. We won't even talk about the strawberry except to say it's based on a 1.5" grid. I'm just glad it's done and turned out so well. Now it's my turn. April is the month I get to present a friendship block request. I've had a couple of ideas but haven't yet settled on what I'll ask for. I might just go for 5" squares of novelty prints for another Disappearing 9 Patch quilt that could then be donated for a child in foster care. 😊

A Finish and a Stumblingblock

I have completed the binding on my F2F2 quilt (Footsquare Freestyle round two).

The blocks were made by quilters around the world - thank you ladies! This is a regulation twin size quilt, 65" x 88."  I had James quilt it in an allover leaf design. I love it!

He was able to use a variegated thread my sister bought for me some years ago. The allover leaf is one of my favorites of his quilting patterns. It was an easy decision to use that design given the leaves in the batik sashing and border. :- )

Meanwhile, I've swapped out one of the short sashing strips between my batik friendship blocks.
Before:

After:

Do you see the difference? In the second column from the left, about halfway down. The first strip was too dark. I'm happier with this other print. However, I discovered I didn't have as much yardage as I needed for the long vertical sashing strips. I went out to look for more and found an acceptable print in the yellow I was planning to use. But when I got home, affected by the fumes from the outing, I suddenly wasn't sure about my original plan. I still want to make this a strippy quilt (vertical columns separated by single fabric strips - much like the F2F2 quilt) but I'm no longer as confident of the yellow I was planning to use. The good people at eQuilter had a turquoise batik in their clearance department that looked like it might be a good fit with this project. So until my order arrives this quilt has been put on hold. I'm making up the rest of the purple, green, and caramel scrappy trip blocks that will go into the comfort quilt for Covered in Love. It's an ideal project for this period of time while my brain is not fully functional.

Friends in Batik

I've learned that I'm going to have to pace myself when it comes to getting all those bindings sewn down (see previous post). After the marathon sessions with the wedding quilt (pictures to come later) my wrist and hands weren't very happy. I also wanted something other than the purple, green, and gold scrappy trip blocks to work on so I dug out my cheerful batik friendship blocks. These blocks were made for me by members of my local quilt guild back in 2014-15. This is the way I laid them out the first time I put them on the design wall.

My original thinking was to make stacked string blocks to tie them together. Then I considered alternate blocks. I couldn't find a block that would easily move the colors across the quilt that I was willing to make in that quantity. So the blocks were put away for a while.

When I got them out the next time I rearranged them into five columns with the blocks directly over each other.

With 2" sashes between the blocks and about 3" between the columns I could turn these into a personal size quilt which, after all, is what this was meant to be! I have a wonderful batik in pink and orange and yellow that might make a good border too. There was still the matter of sashing the blocks however. That was going to involve a lot of auditioning of colors and prints. Other projects took precedence, as they will, and the blocks were put away once again.

To keep myself from hand stitching another binding I got the friendship blocks out and began the auditioning process.

Two days later I think I have what I want. Or the best I can do with what's available. The trick will be to get them sewn into place before I need the design wall for something else!

Surprise Finish

Last year I didn't finish the challenge project I was working on for the La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum in time to submit it for their annual quilt festival. In fact, it's still in pieces. But I wanted to try to participate again this year and asked my friend to pick up the challenge packet for me. You can see the two challenge prints here.

I struggled with what kind of entry to attempt this year. Since the sewing caddy proved to be too challenging last year I decided to simply make a little wall quilt. I also made the executive decision to ignore the obvious theme of the challenge fabrics. Once I threw that out the window the green shades in the prints became the challenge. I decided to focus on the shade I liked the best... and that led me to my Halloween prints!

The nine inch liberated star took care of one of the challenge prints. I fussy cut my favorite part of the second print, the concentric circles, and used them in 4.5 inch star blocks. The question was, how to use them?

You can see that in the end I put them in the corners of this 15" wide, 18" high composition.

After stitching in the ditch around the main elements I felt the quilt needed something more, and the dotted background print needed to be tempered somehow. Whether I accomplished that or not is up to the viewer. My instinctive approach was to use beads and sequins to disguise the busy print and fill in the less busy prints.

You should be able to double click on the pictures to see more details. I took my cues from the skeleton band and did my best to create an outdoor concert scene.

If you look closely you may be able to see that the name of the band is The Rolling Bones. All I need now is a title for this piece. I have some ideas, based on the idea of an annual concert, but so far I haven't been able to pin it down. Suggestions are welcome!

On a similar note, I recently made this 8 inch friendship block for a guild member. She asked for Sunbonnet Sue blocks, with Sue doing something the maker enjoys. I do not enjoy applique (even though I can bead the dickens out of a textile!) so I immediately began to think about how to piece Sunbonnet Sue. Eight inches is pretty small for someone who also does not paper piece so I had to keep it simple. I don't remember now what inspired this version of Sue but let me present my Wiccan-bonnet Sue:

She's not exactly doing anything but she does represent my love of piecing and skulls and Halloween. ;- )

I believe I mentioned that I was preparing quilts for a local show. The quilts are home again. Unfortunately, they picked up enough fragrance from hanging in a public space for three days that I can't be close to them yet. On the happy side, we've had a couple of truly sweet early summer mornings so I've been able to have the windows open to speed the airing out process. I'm having second thoughts about entering any of them in the county fair now though. The other side of that coin is that the building in which the quilts are displayed at the fair is pretty open and therefore well ventilated. Maybe they won't pick up as much scent in that venue. I'll leave the sleeves in place for the time being; the fair is only a couple of months away.

It's been a rugged several weeks in terms of my health and well being. There's no real promise that things are going to be better from this point forward but I'd sure like to be able to post more often again. And see what everyone else has been up to while I've been out of commission. Fingers crossed! (Lord knows that will work as well as anything else I've tried!)

Blocks & Tops

I've made a couple more friendship blocks for ladies in my local quilt group. This one is called "Crossing Ohio."

This one is "Paradox." I sort of wish I had more contrast in the center of the block but this is acceptable. I'm pleased to report that both of these blocks are perfectly sized!

I've been thinking about my predilection for making scrappy blocks/quilts. I've come to the conclusion that it's a genetic predisposition. For example, I have this Double Wedding Ring top that one of my great grandmothers made:

Here's a close-up of one of the blocks:

There's some repetition of prints but I suspect she didn't have as much to choose from as I do!

And then there's this Lady of the Lake top made by the same great grandmother:

Again, there's organization, but she wasn't afraid of busy! She also seemed to have a preference for setting her blocks side by side as I do. I find all this comforting somehow. It strengthens the link between myself and a grandmother I never knew personally. I've kept other family heirlooms for the same reason. They are touchstones to ancestors I never knew personally.

I've continued to make Scrappy Trips and other assorted blocks out of scraps. The flannel jelly roll quilt is on its way to New Jersey and I will have a lap quilt on the way to California later this week. Did you know that the Alzheimer's Disease Co-operative Study have completely depleted their stock of lap quilts? They're looking for some patriotic themed quilts to be distributed to study participants who are veterans. I know there are some red, white, and blue blocks in my Parts Drawer. Guess it's time to dig them out!

Not Quite Finished

I have finished quilting and binding The Best Seat in the House. I tried out one of the decorative stitches in the center panel of the quilt and then just stitched gentle curves from block corner to block corner.

I think it worked out pretty well. The only problem is that our weather has turned wet since I finished stitching the binding down and now I can't get a picture of the whole quilt!

I also had a setback with What the Doctor Knew (the Dr. Seuss quilt). I put the quilt through the washing machine in an attempt to remove the yellow chalk lines I'd used to guide my quilting over one of the big blocks. The chalk didn't come out but the crayon in the reader's hair and book did! Turns out the crayons I'd used were made for little children and are meant to wash out cuz, you know, little kids color where they shouldn't. So I'm going to spot treat the chalk and get some new crayons. Good thing that quilt isn't needed as soon as I originally thought. ;- )

I finally cut into some of my happy batiks after those two quilts were bound. Made a few experimental liberated stars that will finish at 12 inches. During the process I also pieced up another scrappy Shoo Fly (6") and a Broken Dishes block. The Broken Dishes is made from the triangles that get cut off when I make my Flying Geese units. If I were to trim the block to size it would finish at five inches I think.

Thought I would take this opportunity to show you a couple of friendship blocks I've made recently for members of my local quilt guild. It's fun to try out new blocks or color combinations. Although sometimes it's a real challenge to find appropriate prints in my stash! This colorwash heart is a prime example.

I don't typically buy floral prints but that's what was requested for this block. What a shock to find I had enough variety in black of all colors!

This was a block pattern I don't remember ever having made before.

It turned out beautifully, if I do say so myself!

Movin' On

I think my Sketchbook Project is complete. Originally I was going to continue the drawn "crazy quilt" onto the front cover from the backside. (You can see the beginning of that process in this post.) With so little time left before the postmark deadline I realized that wasn't going to happen. I thought seriously about trying to cover the front with pieced fabric. In the end I wasn't willing to put that much effort into it and I was worried about the actual act of sewing through that cardboard cover. Most of my book is comprised of collaged magazine clippings - which is ironic given that I can tolerate so few magazines anymore. Anyway, I had this image of an antique applique quilt left over and the colors were right so I just slapped it onto the front cover of my Sketchbook. It's completely covered with packing tape.

I'm pleased with the way it looks. Oh, and here's one of the inside spreads that I thought the quilters in my audience would appreciate:

"She stitched her fingers to the bone..."

Once I had all the scraps and bits and pieces from the Sketchbook Project cleaned up I took the house blocks off the design wall and put my Intuition Quilt sections back up. Then just for grins I put a couple of the house blocks up with them. Since the little house patch didn't make it into or onto the cover of my Sketchbook I added it to the mix on the design wall too.

There are definite possibilities here!

Let's try another configuration...

Yup, I like that too.

And what about this?

It just gets better and better!

A lot of what you see on the wall isn't sewn together - hardly any of it in fact. I expect the houses will get moved around more, maybe chopped down some. I might have to make a few decisions about the size and shape I'd like this quilt to take before I go too much further. For now though I think I'll just try to make some more compensating bits and strips. "Make more fabric," as Victoria would say. And I have to start another Intuition Block to send to Janet since I've firmly decided to keep this one!

Housing Project

I worked on my Intuition Quilt for a couple of days straight then had to take a break. I've got three sections in process.

They're much farther along than this now but this was the picture that was handy.

Yesterday there was a squishy envelope in the mailbox. It was from Beth. Happy, happy, happy! The blocks from the Cyber Neighborhood give away!

Every last one is wonderful in its' own way. It took me just a bit to figure out where the house was in the last block (lower right corner). Teepees! That's going to be fun to play with.

My first thought was to put all the blocks together into one quilt top. Now I'm not so sure. Each one could be developed into a quilt of it's own. And somewhere in the depths of my studio closet there's a collection of houses and buildings from my first ever friendship quilt. When I received them I hadn't a clue how to go about setting them. I have more experience under my belt now. This may be the year they come out of the closet and get sewn into a top. And I might just include a couple of blocks from my new cyber friends! (Or maybe all of them!)

Someone, I forget who, sent Beth these little patches to share as she saw fit. There must have been enough to go all the way around because I got one of them along with the houses.

Check out the face on the gable!

Rather than keeping this for myself I may include it on one of the final pages of my Sketchbook Project. This is going to be completed and put in the mail just under the postmark deadline.

It's been fun to work on. I've learned that I really enjoy using chalk pastels and blending colors. I would still rather work with a needle on fabric though. This project has also awakened the creative writer in me. I composed several haiku to accompany the visuals in the sketchbook. Right now I couldn't say whether I'll do this again. It was fun but it was also sort of distracting; it kept me from working as much on things I would rather work on. I keep hoping that one of these days I'll find myself with more energy or more discipline or something that will make it possible for me to get twice as much done as I do currently. ;- )