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! 

DeRailed

"DeRailed" was a departure quilt for me; something completely out of my comfort zone. I picked up a stack of fat quarters that I had been hoarding for a while and copy of the book Cultural Fusion Quilts by Sujata Shah after seeing a quilt using this construction method on Quiltdivajulie's's blog: Me and My Quilts, Exploring the Possibilities. I knew right away that I wanted to give this pattern a try, this blogging buddy of mine always has the best ideas. At that time I had been stalled, creatively, and needed to give my piecing a jump start. This did the trick, it got me back on track! I chose to use the Rail Fence pattern from the book, there are lots of others too that employ the very liberating technique of free-cutting gentle curves with the rotary cutter and stitching the curves together into unique, distinctive units. My blocks ended up 16"; the quilt, a generous 64" X 80" overall.

A close up of the vibrant colors and quilting: "Splashing" panotgraph by Beany Girl Quilts.

And the back side: precious rabbits, paired up two by two, in that distinctive green color; this fabric is what I used for the binding too. It was a beautiful day for snapshots today on the patio.

And one more thing-- this plant. It is also a distinctive green, I love it; it's pretty to look at and wonderfully scented too!  It was labeled a "mosquito plant" at the nursery, it is citronella. It should repel insects when we're sitting outside in the evenings, let's hope it works.

Life is Good!

Twenty Percent

Here are the first forty blocks completed in the "Bible Study" workshops that Quiltkeemosabe and I are conducting (for each other) on a monthly basis. We're working concurrently on constructing, and writing up instructions for, the 200+ blocks in Rosemary Young's Quilt Block Bible. (The book is inspiring, it offers beautiful photos of each block and includes a CD for printing block diagrams but doesn't offer any instructions.) With my latest "homework assgnment" just finished today, I've now worked out about twenty percent of the book! We'll meet again on Wednesday for our next session. These blocks measure 6" (finished) and each presents its own set of challenges.  I've been able to use specialty rulers on some of the blocks, with excellent success; I'm particularly pleased with Deb Tucker's Studio 180 tools, the "Wing Clipper" and "Tucker Trimmer" have already proved themselves indispendsable. A few blocks have been straight-forward rotary cutting, some have required templates and others foundation piecing as the best construction method. So far I've found myself falling back on every construction technique I've ever learned; except applique, that is yet to come!

After displaying all the blocks on the neutral toned design wall I decided to audition them on a mocked-up dark background, simulating a 1" sashing, to see if I would like this better; I think I do.

This block, Aunt Nancy's Favorite Star, was paper pieced. Deb Karasik's Perfect! Piecing Paper was recommended to me and I can't say enough good things about it.  After drafting this block and exploding the diagram into sections for foundation piecing, I copied those sections onto Perfect! Piecing Paper which I had loaded into the printer; the results were crisp and clear; it was effortless to stitch through and easy to tear away! I'm sold on this product, and will keep a package on hand from now on. Our objective as we make each block is to write up clear instructions that produce accurate results. So far, so good; I may only be twenty percent done but I'm one hundred percent happy!

Life is Good!