Be*mused

Yoo-hoo, anyone home?

Unlike some people I know, I've never had much blue fabric in my stash.  I've probably mentioned it here before, but early in my quiltmaking days, blues were notable for quick fading.  And not in a nice, aged, timeworn way.  More like everything turning a grim gray.  I got into the habit of avoiding it.  A few weeks ago, on a day trip in Amish Country, my favorite shop in Holmes County, Miller's Drygoods, was unwrapping new bolts for display. All the repro designers seem to have blue lines out this spring!  It all looked so enticing that I added some cuts to my paltry blue stash.

I have lots of large, in-progress quilt projects (of which I'm often reminded in comments) that I've decided to try to finish up this year.  But knowing how quickly I often flame out due to boredom (or a decision point), I decided in January to make one small quilt a month, something that would satisfy my urge to work on something fresh but wouldn't chew up too much time.  An antique blue & white doll quilt recently caught my eye on Pinterest, so it seemed like a good March project inspiration.  Plus, I could fool around with another of my new BlocLoc rulers. 

I pulled a variety of blue values and prints and started assembling little 3" blocks.  As with the Flying Geese ruler I used in my Valentine piece, the BlocLocs result in extremely accurate units so this went together beautifully.  That said, 1" units, aside from sawtooth edging, are too small for my liking.  Not only is the piecing fiddly, but the pieces are too small to show much of the print.  And I'm all about prints and patterns.

I've always wanted to blue & white quilt, but honestly, this is leaving me a bit "meh".  Maybe too many of my shirting choices leaned creamy instead of bright white?  In any case, it was a fun exercise ~ got the blue and white out of my system ~ but the quilting will have to wait a bit as I have something else on my hand-stitching plate. 

I didn't mean to step away for so long (and thank you for the emails, inquiries and even a phone call ~ it's nice to be missed!).  After my last post, I knew I had to tackle a job I'd been kicking down the road, prepping and basting Molly's quilt for hand-quilting.

 
First, with all of those little squares (what was I thinking?) and repeated displaying and refolding during the wedding week, there were quite a few little threads that needed to be trimmed up on the back before layering.  I blithely figured, oh, an hour's work? 

Not exactly!  A broken back, paralyzed snipping hand and an afternoon later....

...on to the basting!  In previous homes, I've enjoyed a nice expanse of berber carpeting on which to pin and baste my large quilts, but here at our new place we have all hardwood floors.  So on to plan #2, our spare room and a large (but not quite optimally large) table.  Furniture pushed to the walls, I used the clip method to keep the layers taut and after several days of basting and repositioning and more basting (and lots of Pinterest and snack breaks), I finally had it all prepped.  Just in time for Molly's visit.  Coincidence, huh?  *wink* 

Do the bloggers among you have a hard time writing that first post after a bit of time away?  If I'm posting every few days, I cruise right along, but if I'm away for a couple of weeks, it's always difficult to jump back in.  Too many things to write about, or too long past.  The last month has flown by, yet it's dragged in some ways, too.  Too many gray, snowy, scuffing around in low-gear days. 

But things are looking up!  House decisions ~ curtains, rugs, paint ~ have been made (some implemented), old projects have been resurrected, new projects are being planned and trips have been penciled in on the calendar.  If only the sun would come out.

Roses are red...

Roses are red, violets are blue



I stitched all week



Making this valentine for you!

Taking a cue from Barb, I found the perfect fun backing in my stash...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Good intentions

These clever little gadgets arrived earlier in week and have been calling to me every day ~ 'Come in and play!' 

The sun is shining through the windows and it's the perfect day to be crossing things off of my long list.  How could a little time in the sewing room hurt?  It will put me in a good mood to get everything else done.  A full day of happy accomplishments!  Sounds like a plan.



Valentine's week!



Trimmings are piling up!  It's already 1:30 and I'm still in my pajamas.  This could be trouble.

Abundance

Abundance, 12¼" x 12¼"

I've finished my little quilt from Lori D.'s Abundance quiltalong.  My experience is that remaking a vintage quilt from the stash is a good exercise.  What guides fabric choices?  Colors?  Visual pattern?  Historical print accurancy?  For me, this time, I decided to just try to visually replicate the original as close as I could from the stash.  So you'll find some 19th century repros as well as pink toile and a light blue 30s print.  All in all, I'm pretty happy with it.

When I try to lighten up my photos a bit, that blue seems to electrify, so here's a close-up of the prints which is pretty true to color.  That corner pink print is an Ely & Walker calico which was one of the very first fabrics I ever had in my stash.  In fact, I guess you could say that it and several companion prints were the start of my quilting stash, in 1975. 

I've never incorporated corner pockets onto a small quilt before so I tried them out on this.  What a great idea ~ so quick and neat!  I had a small piece of tiny dowel rod in with my craft supplies, so thin it's almost a skewer.  How convenient to have it immediately ready to hang when the last binding stitch is finished.

I've been fooling around with some quirky lettering recently and decided to incorporate some into my label for the back.  I think it fits the style of the patchwork nicely! 

While working on it, I was thinking how, since it's so small, it would be fun to make several versions at the same time ~ perhaps sticking to the color theme, but making one in all repro prints, one as a 30's version and one in contemporary fabrics.  Maybe next challenge.  Too many ideas, not enough time!

If you've never participated in any of these projects, I'd encourage you to try one.  Lori's, especially, are clearly explained, well-paced and easy enough for most quilters.  You've probably seen a number of 'Abundance' quilts popping up over the last week or two on the blogs and Lori will be hosting a link page sometime this week on Humble Quilts.  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's versions!

The way-back machine

I've finished appliquéing the last of my rose wreath blocks so I've been thinking now about what I'll do for borders.  I have several quilt tops at this stage but since I really would like this quilt to hang at Christmas, I'd like to design and prepare the border sections as my pick-up work between other projects.  Remembering that I had once worked on such a self-designed border, I dug deep into the UFO container to see if it could provide a starting point.

This is what I had finished of it, almost one section, before abandoning the project.  It definitely gives me some ideas!  I still love this project, but I had put it aside because the mauve plaid that I had used proved to be a definite early fader on friends' quilts.  I couldn't see investing so much more time once that was apparent.  (Is the word 'mauve' even used anymore?)

These blocks are a bit more refined that my usual preference, but they really came alive when I sewed the four together.  They were a summer project, mostly stitched while sitting outside at the Cleveland Art Museum cafe, sipping iced tea on hot, lazy afternoons while Molly & K were taking art lessons there.  Funny how just looking at an old project can bring you immediately back to where and when you made it.

It was my first foray into red & green applique, using what fabrics were available from the paltry selection at the time.  Examining the blocks, I can see my younger self experimenting with techniques.  One of the blocks' background fabrics is whole, intact, while three have been cut away underneath the plaid, before the center applique, to reduce the layers through which I'd have to quilt.



Look, I even left a threaded needle in my in-progress work, ready to pick up and go when I got back to it.  Little did I suspect that I would be pulling it out like this more than 25 years later!


Molly's favorite CMA art project ever ~ a personalized chair,
assembled from cartons & embellished with paint and cutouts

I found the original paper draft of the design and it's reminded me of how I approached this so that will be helpful. I'm thinking about these pieces, so long buried in the back of the closet.  Although I won't ever use that center section, I've always wanted to make an 'orphan block' quilt and I think the border would be perfect for that.  Add another project to the list!

Like butter

A few of you guessed that I was making a version of Abundance, the current quiltalong over at Humble Quilts.  Over the last few years, Lori has organized several of these, based on recreating an actual vintage doll or child's quilt.  Because I've been away for many of them, I had been looking forward to her challenge this January, but when she posted the quilt she had chosen, I was initially underwhelmed. I kept clicking back, however, and it grew on me. 

On Saturday, I pushed away from the computer and started pulling fabrics.  Now, Tuesday, it's almost quilted up.  I took the opportunity to try out some of the Mountain Mist Cream Rose batting that I'd been hearing about and even on this little piece, I can see it will be a favorite.  It's quilting up like butter!  Since I do pre-wash all of my fabrics, I'm wondering how its bit of shrinkage will affect a final piece upon washing, but I plan to machine quilt up a test piece to check that out before I use it on a large project.

Speaking of pre-washing fabrics, Becky Goldsmith, one of the Piece o' Cake designers, had a good post on her blog last week regarding why you should pre-wash your quilting fabric.  No matter which side you fall on this subject, I think it's worth a read. 

As some of you have noticed, I didn't travel to Japan this year for the Tokyo Quilt Festival. If you're looking for some good coverage of the event, Luana Rubin, the owner of eQuilter, is there right now, blogging about it and soon, posting photos on Flickr.  Last year we were taking photos side-by-side and I know she'll have lots of good shots of this year's quilts.

Popping in

I very rarely pop in on a Sunday, but here I am, enthusiastic for the new week to start because I've gotten so much done this weekend.  A rare thing lately!  It must have been the sun.  I've noticed more and more the last few years how sensitive I am to sunshine or lack thereof.  When it's beaming through the window in the morning, I'm up and at 'em, checking things off my lists, left and right.  Anyhow, when the weekend started, my workspace looked so nice and clean.  And now it's a mess.  But that's a good thing.

I think I've finally found a fabric I want to use to make kitchen curtains, here being auditioned in my (sunny) eating area.  I found it while at JoAnn's yesterday, armed with my internet coupon for 15% off a total purchase (sale items included).  I ordered pillow fabric (on sale, 60% off), purchased pillow forms (sale, 50% off), some batting (50%) and this test cut of floral, waltzing out with a bill of $87. and saving $123.  I have to say, I've never been a big JoAnn fann but they are winning me over, now carrying lots more items of interest.  Now that I live just a couple of miles from their headquarters and, adjacent, probably their biggest, most well-stocked store, I find myself dropping in more regularly.  (They stock Quiltmania now, too.)  Yes, looking at this shot of the fabric (with some of my brithday flowers), I think this is it. The good news ~ I've finally found a fabric I like.  The bad news ~ now I have to make curtains.

So what else have I been up to?  I finished a block for a group project and got that sent on its way ~ big relief.  I brought home a stack of carpet samples to get moving on my family room and living room spaces, still without rugs.  Got more appliquéed onto my last rose wreath block, which should be finished tonight while watching Downton Abbey.  And then I decided to take a short side trip off my quilt to-do list and start a new little project.

Can you guess what I'm working on?

The flowers looked so pretty with the fabrics, I had to include them.  M sent me the kitchen arrangement Thursday and when they were delivered, the florist said, wait, there's more.  She ran back to the truck, returning with two little vases of flowers ~ for my sewing room and my computer desk.  (He earned some points there!)  Maybe it's not the sun, this weekend...it's the flowers?

Just wondering

So, it's probably just coincidence that they chose my birthday to celebrate *Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day*, right?

One is silver and the other, gold

Remember that old Girl Scout song?  'Make new friends, but keep the old...'  That's kind of the plan for my quilting this year.  If you're a long-time reader (or maybe, not so long), you know I've started many projects that have never made the finish line.  While some of these fell by the wayside at critical decision points, many were wall quilt-sized and planned for particular spots in my home.  But as you also probably know, I've moved unexpectedly a few times over the last eight years and that's really the reason why many projects have not been revisited ~ they weren't really going to fit in the new place.

So now we're in a home that could really take a number of wall quilts and what do I have?  Lots in progress and few of interest to hang.  When preparing the house for the wedding festivities last summer, we had most of the interior painted my favorite Dover White, and I was reluctant to hang things on my pristine walls while still considering some furniture purchases. I joked that we were going for a spare, Scandinavian look around here for summer.  But once late fall rolled around, for the umpteenth year I regretted not having at least one red & green quilt to hang.



Over the last week, I've done an inventory of all of my in-progress quilts, large and small.  Some hold no current interest and I packed those away for future consideration.  But many really need to be finished ~ I want them finished ~ so they're back in the queue.  Some need another block or two to be appliquéed, like this one.  Several need borders to be designed.  A couple are waiting to be basted and marked for quilting and one is so close to being finished that, although it needs some surface embroidery, the edges are already bound!  You may be surprised to see what pops up around here in the next few months.  Finished. 

Speaking of which ~ Molly's wedding quilt.  Yeah, I know, you probably thought they've been sleeping under it this winter.  I gifted them the top in July but I've been putting off the layering and basting.  A queen sized quilt is a daunting task.  However, today the backing is being washed and prepped and I'm going to dedicate a couple of hours a day to it until it's finished.  I'll be hand-quilting this, fairly closely and hope to get it finished before the weather gets warm, a distant dream this week!

Although I had decided on a batting for this (my usual Quilter's Dream Request), I'm open to recommendations.  Do you have a favorite, thin batting preference?  I've been hearing a lot of recent chatter about the Mountain Mist Cream Rose batting.  Any thoughts?  

Moving along

I didn't exactly hit the ground running when I turned the calendar page to 2013 ~ the best laid plans and all that ~ but over the last few days things seem to be falling into place and I've finished the center block for my basket quilt, finally.  I'm very happy with it and think it's going to work as I had envisioned.

When I decided several weeks ago that I might like to break up the field of small basket blocks with an appliqué block, I went to my stack of pages of favorite antique quilts from my old Quilt Engagement Calendars.  This was the sheet I paused at...that bird block jumped right out at me.  I mentioned previously that quite coincidentally, I had tracing of the blocks from this quilt, a generous gift from two friends, tucked away on a bookshelf in my sewing room.  



When I unfolded this block's tissue tracing, I measured it to find the blocks were originally 18" square.  Since my basket blocks are 4" finished, I wanted a 16" block so I scanned each quarter of the design, reduced them and printed them out on computer paper.  Before printing, I also flipped the orientation of the design so that visually it 'leaned' in the same direction as I planned to set my basket blocks.  Then I taped the 4 sections together.



Because I use a light box to trace my design onto my background fabric, I wanted a more transparent pattern to I traced the 4-section pattern onto a piece of tissue paper, which I then used as my reference pattern, marking circles sizes on the berries and numbering leaves and blossoms for reference as I made individual pattern pieces.



The appliqué went pretty quickly.  How one approaches sewing little circles is often a topic of inquiry among quilters.  Although I've prepped them over little templates on some past projects, I've decided that especially on these designs that draw from antique quilts designs, I prefer to stitch my little berries freehand, needle-turned, using a very scant seam allowance to turn under.  I think it looks a bit more organic.  I didn't want to use any black fabric in the berries, but it looked too washed out without them so I replaced several green ones with black.



Last was the floss choice.  I love the look of #8 perle cotton, but was able to find a more compatible green in DMC embroidery floss so went with that.  Using three strands and a #7 Bohin embroidery needle, I used a traditional stem stitch, which worked out beautifully.  (Probably why it's called stem stitch. Heh.)

I think I'll assemble this center section, baskets and bird block, before I decide on the border design.  I have two distinct and different ideas to play with, but I'm determined not to let this project get derailed while I decide.  That's my mantra for the new year ~ power through, finish it up and on to the next one!

We'll see how that works out.