Fun~fetti

Fun~fetti ~ 56" X 70"

This one named itself as it took form, it reminds me of rainbow sprinkles scattered into white cake batter and vintage, long-ago birthday parties. I got this top together from Box #2-- the stack of numbered UFO's waiting patiently for me in the stash closet. This box already contained a decent size stack of low volume shaded nine patch blocks along with the remains of a jelly roll left over from rug making.

The shaded 9-patch is done from a Studio 180 technique sheet and the Tucker Trimmer, the results speak for themselves. I persevered until I had enough shaded-9's to complete twelve blocks and took off from there. I was able to use up quite a few 2.5" squares from my precut "lights" bin (Scrap User's System) for that inner border and chopped up the remaining jelly roll bits into enough rectangles to complete the piano key outer border. Voilà! Almost as exciting as completing yet another top is that growing stack of emptied out bins! Almost. 😉

Life is Good!

All American

All American ~ 60" X 60"

I didn't quite succeed in getting this patriotic quilt top pieced by Flag Day this year, but almost! I saw this pattern a few months ago online and knew that this was the quilt that I wanted to make as a wallhanging for brick wall out on the new porch, it will hang over the drop-leaf game table that Mr. Goodneedle is building-- the colors are perfect and I believe that the visual impact of this design is reminiscent of a game board. I did something that I hardly ever do: I ordered the kit from Simple Stitches; everything about the fabrics, colors and design appealed to me. The customer service was great, receiving the fabrics and pattern in a matter of only a few days! I modified the pattern for my space by only constructing five rows instead of six and omitting the outer border entirely.

This was an easy pattern, the blocks are all 12" and the piecing was straight forward. I didn't use the cutting instructions as directed: in fact, I never even opened the pattern at all. I used my Studio 180 tools: the Tucker Trimmer for the blocks above and the Wing Clipper for the large star blocks. 

It's easy to be accurate when joining the blocks using these tools, as everything is just a smidgen over-sized and the trim down results in perfectly square units every time. 

Once the blocks were all laid out I "webbed" the entire quilt top together vertically and then stitched the horizontal rows together; this is a time saving technique for me. 

Here's a snapshot of the cutting table with the paper pattern (link is above, under the top photo). If anyone reading this post would like the pattern, please let me know. Its brand new and I'd be more than happy to send it to you (USA). If more than one person would like it, I'll simply draw a number. Now, I just need to get this new top loaded and quilted; as things stand right now I have two quilts in line ahead of this one.

Adapting in an upside-down 🙃world: because we can't visit my Mom and Dad in person right now we've taken to Face Timing. Our normal early morning phone calls are now video experiences. I'm extremely grateful to my brother-in-law who facilitated the I-pad set up so that this could happen. Originally we had planned to set-up this gift for Dad in person, when we went to their home back in March. That trip never happened. Finally, it became apparent that we wouldn't be traveling (and exposing them to heaven-knows-what we might encounter between here and there) for the foreseeable future, but the need to see each other was still great. So, we sent it off in a package!

This is a screen shot of our phone visit this morning; I couldn't be happier, he was willing and eager to learn and use technology. We hope to get up to New England to see them by late summer or early fall. Fingers crossed. 

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be" - Abraham Lincoln

What's making you happy today? 

I have switched off the TV and am listening to my favorite playlist of oldies while I sew.🙂🎵  

Next up on my cutting table: more face masks, assembly-line style. 

Life is Good!

Triangle Tuesday

I'm a sucker for alliteration-- that's why "Triangle Tuesday" sounded so appealing. Yep, I've been stitching up tons and tons of triangles! These triangles are actually composed from squares. Squares marked and chain-stitched into an endless train that will eventually be cut apart into a mountain of half-square-triangles. These are small, the smaller the unit the higher the chances for error -- seams that might be slightly off can make a huge difference in the finished size when these HSTs finish to only 1.5" Here's where the better part of  "Triangle Tuesday" comes in: "Terrific Triangle Tuesday with Tucker Trimmer!"

Each cut-apart HST unit is pressed, toward the dark fabric, and then trimmed up with the Tucker Trimmer; you'd better believe that all those minuscule trimmings on the right side of the photo (above) make ALL THE DIFFERENCE!

Trimmed units, taken to the machine...

...combine for precision like this! 

Careful pressing and trimming with the Tucker Trimmer really do work!

And, sew-- where are all of these half-square triangles going? This is where I stand today after clue #3 in the Temecula Quilt Co. Scavenger Hunt Sew-along; it's going on now. This measures 12" X 45" at this point. This may just be one of the most brilliant marketing moves that I've seen in a long time. I've long been a fan of the Temecula Quilt Co., this sew-along requires the purchase of their latest book to solve the weekly clues. No complaints whatsoever, the book is fabulous and I'll be creating more from their tempting pages. Sticking to my guiding word for 2020-- "VISION", I am only using what I can clearly see in front of me: all of my own stashed and labeled cut scraps (Scrap User's System)! It's all good. And what's even better? Alliteration at its best: Triangle Tuesday with Tucker Trimmer! Use your tools, that's what they're for; you'll be happy with the results!

Life is Good!

Up next: Off the Wall

There's A Simpler Way!

I pieced these blocks eight and a half years ago. I believe the reason that I abandoned the project was because I drafted templates for those setting corners and it wasn't the easiest task to piece these. The results were good, but, apparently, I wearied from the task.
My inspiration for this project came from this antique quilt that I recall seeing at a Guild show and tell; I was smitten. I came home and researched the block name, which I found to be "Texas Tears" and posted about my progress here; I even offered the pattern that I had drafted. I'm unsure at what point I back-burnered these and moved on. Fast forward to today. I was working on this month's block of the month from my LQS, we are using Studio 180's "V-Block" tool now. Something clicked as I prepared the block-- "I wonder", I thought, as I dug for those long-ago shelved blocks.

I stitched up this pair using the tool and rotary cutting-- no templates, no set-in seams.

Here's a side-by-side comparison. Yes, the block on the right has an extra background seam. Will this matter in the whole scheme of things? Not to me! I have only a few blocks shy of enough to make a good-sized quilt. I know how I will piece those remaining blocks too, these's a simpler way! I think I might know where the "tears" in the Texas Tears blocks came from! Stay tuned for more on this project. 

I had a few donation quilts to finish on a deadline last week. Quiltkeemosabe suggested machining the binding, avoiding the time-consuming hand finishing. I'm glad she spoke up-- yep, there IS a simpler (and quicker) way!

Wrapped and ready for donating; and, ahead of schedule! 

Life's short, make it as simple as you can.

Life is Good!

Up next: Happy Thanksgiving!

Facets

Facets ~ 55" X 55"

Currently this is a nine block quilt top, the results (so far) of this year's BOM at my LQS. I am still deciding, but this may be as far as I go with this one, I like the symmetry of the setting as a square quilt. This has been a stretch for me as I chose to stay in a monochrome state of mind, but varying the low volume backgrounds has added enough interest for me to keep things interesting. These blocks are all based on traditional patterns constructed using Deb Tucker's Studio 180 tools and technique sheets, I designed the setting based on her Split Rects tool. 

Life is Good!

Keeping It Quiet?

 It all started innocently enough (don't all great adventures?), I was having lunch with Quiltkeemosabe and she mentioned to me that she had been playing with Deb Tucker's new Shaded Nine Patch technique sheet. "Do you have it yet?" she asked. That's all it took. No, I didn't have it, but now I knew that she did; and, of course, I wanted to play too!
I had one of these technique sheets in my hot little hand that afternoon before returning home. "I don't need to start anything new-- I don't need to start anything new", I kept repeating that over and over to myself on the drive home. As are all things Deb Tucker (Studio 180 Design), this sheet was quite compelling. "How bad would it be to just quickly work up one block. One teeny, tiny, 6" block"? I have an ever-growing collection of low-volume prints. I cannot force myself to stop collecting them! And, I must say, for low volume prints they can get mighty boisterous when they want to be used; I was powerless to ignore them. Yes, there's a pattern of loss of control here, I am aware of that! 😉 Well, as you can see, one block combined four of those teeny-tinies into a usable 12" size block. One thing led to another, as it usually does.

"I wonder how two blocks would look, side by side, with scrappy sashing from a jellyroll that I  just happened to have on hand?" Hmmm... in my own humble opinion they look twice as nice. 

Oh, yeah; you know where this is leading. This Shaded Nine Patch technique is a winner. If you would like to watch Deb demonstrate this herself in a short video click here.  Don't say that you weren't warned. Even though I am using soft, low volume fabrics it's hard, for me, to keep this one quiet!   

Life is Good! 

Cart Before The Horse?

This is the first of twelve blocks-of-the-month that we will be doing at my LQS. Having just set all of those hexies together from the last BOM session it's all about moving forward. This time we're exploring blocks using Deb Tucker's Tucker Trimmer. If you've been a long-time reader you know that yours truly is a huge fan of everything Deb Tucker does and all of the Studio 180 tools. (The Tucker Trimmer is the original tool.)  I chose the turquoise print, on the outside of this block, as my control fabric. Each block will contain that print with low-volume backgrounds that will change, block to block. I am staying with a monochromatic color scheme and already went ahead and designed my setting in EQ8.  The Split-Rects borders on each block will alternate light/dark to add some interest and some movement. Is this a case of putting the cart before the horse? Maybe; after all, I have no idea what the blocks will be. But, I grabbed the reins anyway. We'll see where this goes, right now I am happy with the idea. (The pieced blocks inside the setting borders measure 12" square.)

Life is Good!

Playing With Pieces

These are 4" sub-units created in two sessions of Tucker University at my LQS. I absolutely love Deb Tucker's Studio 180 Design tools (they're not rulers, they're not made for measuring). I have quite a collection of them, having acquired them over the years. These sub-units are the result of using the Tucker Trimmer and the V-Block Trimmer. Here you see stacks of Half Square Triangle blocks, Shaded 4-patch blocks, Combination blocks, Quarter Square Triangle blocks, V blocks, Sidekick blocks and Hi-low blocks. They are all precisely trimmed to 4.5"and will finish to 4"; they can all be combined with each other interchangeably to create innumerable combinations for larger block layouts as shown below. Tomorrow I will attend the third session of Tucker University where we will use the Wing Clipper tool to make Flying Geese sub-units and variations, these will soon be added to the mix; I can't wait! Yesterday afternoon I played with the stacks shown to imagine just a few of the pretty  12" blocks that might be in my future; as you can see, missing in all of them is a center square-- I am dreaming up all kinds of exciting possibilities there! How much fun are you having in your sewing room these days?

Life is Good!