That Perfect Border

I'm sure you've had that same feeling that I experienced recently; it's that victorious sense of accomplishing something great when you stumble upon that one, perfect, solution to a problem. I'd finished piecing the center of this quilt completely from my stash. I kept thinking, the whole time, "I'll find something to border this with when I need it." But, truth be told, I wasn't fully convinced that what I had in my mind, and what was truly available, would necessarily ever come together.  

And then I found this!! I was trolling an online fabric shop, looking for something else and this popped up. "I wonder", I thought, "could this be that perfect border piece?".  I still hadn't seen this in person but, somehow I knew, I just knew! I quickly placed the order and crossed my fingers. When it arrived I held my breath and ripped open the padded envelope. All the various shades of red were contained in this piece, it was even better than I had hoped! I couldn't wait to border this one up and stand back to take it all in. And, as if all of this wasn't simply too good to believe, there are STRAWBERRIES too! Oh. My. 😍

Serendipity.

Life is Good!

A Barn Is Born

"Harvest Barn" ~ 21" X 34"

Welcome to the barn! At long last, the Harvest Barn is a reality. Hatched from my imagination, and sketched on paper back in 1993, this barn of my dreams exists today thanks to no-pattern construction outlined and followed, step by step, straight from Julie Sefton's Build-A-Barn book. Click here for the back-story, a previous post. You can have your own barn too: if you can dream it, you can build it! Let me share my progress, through photos, to give you a glimpse of the process. At the end of today's post you will have the opportunity to win a copy of Julie's fantastic Build-A-Barn book.

Working from my sketch, the first thing that I did was go to the stash and pull fabrics that I thought might work for the various elements: sky, ground, barn, windows, doors. I labeled my selections.

Following the directions in the book I made a section of scrappy ground strata; I wanted lots of oranges to depict an overall image of fall leaves strewn among an abundant pumpkin patch. From the ground a barn structure began to emerge. 

My original plan was to applique the "X" door braces but I changed my mind. Using Julie's method I inserted strips for the cross-timbering, I love the results; I also decided to add a spit-rail fence to the left using an easy step-by-step approach as outlined within the pages. 

From that point on it was all details. The originally selected sky fabric proved too vibrant, at least it did to my eye, (lower left in the photo above) but the reverse side of that same fabric worked perfectly (lower right). And so, the sky fabric was used on the WRONG SIDE; which seemed just right to me! I found a very old piece of fabric in the closet which contained enough pumpkins of exactly the correct size and scale (or so I thought) to pull the piece together. 

Using fusible web and sharp, tiny scissors I loaded the barn scene up with pumpkins galore; pinning the elements in place on the design wall before pressing them into place. I left it there a while to ponder and change things around as I saw fit. Mr. Goodneedle walked by and after only a quick glance suggested removing the three gargantuan pumpkins as well as taking everything away from the front of the barn doors. "No self-respecting farmer would ever pile things in front of a door that's being used." Right.

I shifted a few things around just so. Then, the machine applique began-- the tree, the sign, the weather vane and the bumper crop of pumpkins! Oh, I almost forgot-- a few bushels of apples too.

Harvest Barn: quilted and ready for binding. Can't you just hear the excited squeals of every preschooler who's ever visited a pumpkin patch in October?

As the binding was applied I was able to sit quietly with my barn and reflect. I am SEW excited to report that I couldn't have been one bit happier with the results of this project. Working from my own mind with the benefit of tried and true techniques from the book I was able to complete my very own twenty three year old dream barn in a way that far exceeded my wildest dream. Are you ready to Build-A Barn of your own?

Leave a comment on this blog post for a chance to be entered in a giveaway to win an autographed copy of Julie Sefton's book.  Be sure that as a commenter you're able to be reached via e-mail. If we can't contact you we won't know where to send the book. That would be sad. A winner will be selected on Saturday, July 30. If you're not the lucky recipient, fear not: Julie's book is available via the link above as well as bookstores and through your local quilt shop. If you can't find it, ask; they can get it for you!

Life is Good!

Quilter's Intuition

Call it quilter's intuition. When I saw this fabric (rolled on the top roller in the photo) I just knew it would be the perfect piece for the back of this little alphabet quilt. Even though the fabric was in Virginia and the quilt top was in North Carolina I knew it was up to me to bring them together... forever. I'm so glad that I did!

The quilting on this one wasn't nearly as intuitive, 

but I'm having fun with it trying out new ideas...

it's all coming together.

Life is Good!

In Order... Alphabetically!

I've had fun keeping up with the "Little Letters" tutorials, two weekly, over at Temecula Quilt Company's blog. I'm using all "Grunge Basics" by Moda as my fabric pallete. The blocks finish to 4", this project will end up as a little quilt or wallhanging, but what it lacks in size it more than makes up for in charm... I love it! If you love it too, it's not too late to begin; all the tutorials are free and online here. It's as simple as "A - B - C"!

Life is Good!

The Answer Is Crystal Clear

I went searching in the stash closet for a piece of fabric from which to make binding for "Strawberry Season". I found a terrific piece of dark, rich, mossy green; a hand dye. It coordinates perfectly with the top and the backing and I had enough... but would it bleed? I threw it in the washer with a few Color Catchers (inexpensive insurace!); that was a good move, as they did absorb quite a bit of  the green color. I dried the piece in the dryer and ironed it; then, just to be on the safe side, I clipped off a corner and immersed it in a cup of warm water and let it sit for 24 hrs., the water stayed clear, there was no color transfer at all. This is a simple, low tech, but effective way to check colorfastness.

I have a little notepad on my desk: 

Note Quotes™ for quilting friends, 

allow me to share a quote a day with you, they're cute:

"Fabricologist Resource Center... now doesn't that sound more impressive than fabric stash?"

Life is Good!  

Working In Reverse

Seldom am I inspired to buy a BACKING fabric for a quilt that is not yet complete, particularly a scrap quilt. My normal mode of operation would be to complete the top and take it along with me to the store to find a fabric, usually one on sale, one that will fit the bill. As you probably guessed, that was not the case this time. I saw this fabric last week at my LQS and let out an audible gasp...I knew, immediately, that it is THE PERFECT PIECE to put on the back of my Mountain Day quilt! I obsessed about this fabric, not buying it immediately (it's new and wasn't on sale), but by the time I arrived at home I called the shop and had them hold it for me; I had to have it. Yesterday I bought it, what I needed plus the remainder on the bolt! I now own enough for the backing plus  borders and binding (should I decide to put a border on it); I still don't know. There's no need to worry about that yet, I have many more blocks to finish up, but I did pin it in place to audition it beside the scrappy blocks and it will work... so, what do you think, to border or not to border? This one is coming together in the most curious way, not the way I had planned it at all; but, this time, working in reverse has proved to be even better!

Life is Good!

This, This and That Tuesday

Fairy tales are too scary for young children. Gregory brought me this book to read earlier today, he crawled up in my lap with it. "Nana, read" he commanded, as he settled himself comfortably in my lap. He wanted "The Gingerbread Man". I began to read, he traced the pictures with a finger as he listened... all of a sudden I realized that the title character was about to meet a gruesome end. I stopped reading and thumbed through some more selections. "Little Red Riding Hood", "Rapunzel", "The Three Billy Goats Gruff", "The Wild Swans" and "The Little Match Girl" were all equally frightening, at least I believe they would be upsetting to a small boy; they are to me! I did end up reading "The Little Red Hen" and that satisfied his curiosity where this particular book was concerned. I put it up on a higher shelf and we watched  a "Bob The Builder" video after that!

Four years ago I posted here about fixing overnight crock-pot oatmeal. A friend recently shared with me a recommendation: Steel-Cut Oats from Trader Joe's, a "quick cook" variety. I bought some last evening and fixed them for our breakfast this morning. I used the same three to one ratio and my small slow cooker on "warm" as described in this earlier post. They were completely phenomenal with dried cherries and yogurt!

Have you ever been sitting with friends, just chatting and sharing ideas, when you heard something that hit you like a lightening bolt and, from that very moment on, consumed your every thought? I did, back last month when I was catching up with friends in Hampton, VA during Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival. A friend, Cyndi, mentioned a "quiet, low volume" color palette and how she was going to make a "sick quilt" for her adult children; one per household that their children could grow up with, and snuggle under, when they were ill or just feeling under the weather. I knew right then and there that I was on a mission to do the very same thing. First, I needed to begin collecting "low volume" fabrics... it's tough to be on a fabric mission, feel sorry for me. I admit to having a lot of fabric on hand, but it never seems to be the right one for the project at hand; mine all seems to be too noisy. First, I had to understand the definition of "low volume"; one can't have a sick quilt that is loud or boisterous. I like what I'm finding. I'm thinking  of a one block creation, perhaps a tumbler shape.... stay tuned; I'll post pictures as I amass my fabrics for this, I just won't be making much noise about it.

*Disclaimer: these are NOT my fabrics (I only wish they were), I found the photo on Google images.

Life is Good!

Just "Be"Cause

I gotta do this, just "be"cause. "Be Attitudes", the book/pattern is by Nancy Halvorsen. I saw a miniature version of this at Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival in February. One lazy summer day, in the weeks to come, I will begin to put this top together. I adore every little thing about it! Quiltkeemosabe helped me to select the fabrics on Monday, she is so good at that! Now they will need to wait, patiently, for their turn. There are four baby quilts and a Wedding Siggie already ahead of them in line.

"Be" Patient.
Life is Good!
How did I miss mentioning my 400th post? This is 401!

GBY, My Southern Album

I had class #4 today, the Southern Album quilt. Everyone in the class has made splendid fabric choices and their quilt blocks just sing! Mine look fine here at home; but they're not singing, they're barely humming. I like my blocks but in comparison to everyone else's I've nicknamed mine the GBY (Great Big Yawn). You be the judge, these wouldn't exactly elicit a standing ovation or even an encore, would they? The five finished blocks are pictured here with the border (focus) fabric hanging beside them... they're a bit boring. There are fifteen blocks total, the final being the central medallion. I have lots more time to start tuning this masterpiece, or at the very least begin teaching this quilt the words to the song! I'm not expecting harmony, just a lovely, catchy little melody that we can all be happy singing together. That's not too much to ask now, is it?

Life is Good!