New Year, New Goals, New Milestones!

Happy New Year! I've given up on any guiding words or resolutions for 2023; I decided that I didn't want to set myself up for any disappointments or failure in that arena. Instead I have set some goals, both short and long term.  With an active, growing puppy in the house, it seems right to set the biggest long term goal for this year as one that sees Augie growing into a well behaved and obedient companion. With a LOT of patience and firm, consistent, training we should be able to accomplish that nicely. He's already been training us, now it's going to be his turn. He begins classes in Puppy Manners and Socialization in a week and a half.  The plan is for him to graduate into basic obedience classes after that, as the year progresses. I've begun having him sit with me at the sewing machine. He's fine with that as he has quickly become my little shadow and enjoys being wherever I am. Even in the chair while piecing!

Leash training has been seeing good progress, he's less interested in biting the leash now and understands the concept of walking while tethered. One step at a time. 

Mr. G celebrated a milestone birthday during the "in between" week of Christmas and New Year's day. We were discussing this week how when we were in high school we were all  reading George Orwell's 1984 in English class. Politics of that science fiction book aside, we thought that sounded like such an outlandishly futuristic date at the time! Now here we both are, all these many years later, celebrating birthday milestones we couldn't even imagine back then, and ringing in a New Year that we would have only laughed about back in 1970!

I did accomplish a small quilting goal last week; another donation quilt pieced by the mother of a friend, for our son-to-be Quilt Ministry closet at church. "Popcorn" pantograph by Willowleaf Studios; it's one of my "go-to"s and never disappoints on any straight/angular patterns, I believe it is a nice combination for quilt tops pieced that way. I have another on the frame right now; one more small, achievable, goal. 

One more goal: I am looking forward to becoming much more

 blog-active again this year. 

In the meantime, I have my hands full. 

❤

You know, it's referred to a "puppy love" for a reason. 

Happy New Year!

Life is Good!

Dogs In Sweaters

I finally got the quilting done on that retreat project that consumed me last month; Elizabeth Hartman's Dogs In Sweaters quilt will soon be hanging in my studio in all its canine glory! I am truly in love with this little quilt. I chose to quilt it with a pantograph called Bauhaus by Patricia Ritter for Urban Elementz, it had just the right feel. I didn't want to quilt it too densely because I had a time with the fabrics laying flat. This is constructed entirely (except for the back and binding) from Essex Linen and cotton flannel. For some reason the flannels "grew" a little and required some steam and coaxing to behave in a straight and square manner before this one was quilted. It all worked out extremely well.

Is this not the cutest thing? This quilt measures 45" X 60"

Here's a detail shot with the back folded up so that you can read the most perfect backing fabric.

The binding got an extra shot of color with some red and black print piping, added before stitching the binding on but after the quilted portion was squared and trimmed. I originally bought enough materials to do the entire full sized quilt and then realized that it was too big to hang in its designated spot, over the loveseat. I will use those leftovers to make a sofa cushion with from a single block (16" X 26") and add the eyeglasses to that one as it will be a pillow to sit and read with. 

Picture from pattern envelope

I loved using this pattern, the cutting directions are not for wimps, but once that's accomplished you're good to go! I have two more of hers to tackle this summer: "Penguin Party" and "Cuckoo", they're on my to do list! 

Have you done any of these patterns? 

Which ones?

Life is Good!

 

Yes, It Can!

I can rise to a challenge, particularly and most especially when I am told that it can't be done. When visiting a precious vendor booth at MidAtlantic Quilt Festival I saw a small wall hanging displayed, it was called "Courtyard Garden" and the star units were made up from diamond and kite shaped pieces. I fell in love with it at first sight and inquired about the pattern. I was told that it was pieced by hand, the English paper piecing method and that they sold the papers to make it in the booth. I wasn't interested in EPP, but I did want to make one! They girls who worked in the booth were super sweet and explained that it couldn't be pieced any other way. Really? I had other ideas.

After I returned home this little quilt was on my mind. I drafted the pattern and made templates which I drew around, marking my seam line and adding seam allowances and, s-l-o-w-l-y started stitching them together by machine, dropping the needle and pivoting where necessary to set in each shape. I pressed the seams open and... voila! My idea was to combine strawberry fabrics (!) to make a small table topper for the kitchen. I did buy some items at the booth, a yard of luxuriously soft double gauze fabric (shown below) for the back of this table topper, and a few other pieces. I really did enjoy visiting with the booth owner, I loved her quilts, she had a knack for combining vintage-style fabrics into beautiful finished pieces! But I know there's more than one way to tackle things. I admire all those EPP hexie quilts as much as anyone, but I know myself and I am NOT going to wrestle with all those little papers!!

I am thankful that when I learned to quilt, back in 1983, I had a teacher who taught every aspect of quilt construction. As a result of that instruction I understand the relationship between a seam and the necessary allowance, I can draft a block and I am unafraid to try even if I make mistakes along the way. But, one of the most important things that I ever learned from my dear friend, Ann, is that there's MORE THAN ONE WAY to do almost everything! I have always appreciated teachers along the way who say: "this is the way that I do it" or, "this is what works for me", understanding that we all find our own way to get the job done. 

After I got four stars together I didn't like the setting fabric at all: the gray grunge shown at the top of this post. As one sews, so shall she rip! I removed the gray and settled on a piece of Essex linen blend fabric in a color called "Limestone" from a Kaufman color chart that I have; I believe it will be neutral enough to fade away in the background where it should be, but in a soft shade that ties everything together nicely, we'll see. Wish me luck, I'm restarting. Just don't tell me that it can't be done! 😉 

Life is Good!

Sew HEXciting!

Sewing hexagons is much like eating potato chips-- I simply can't stop!

How will they eventually be set together? What will I use for a background? Time will tell. 

I am enjoying the process too much to worry about that just yet.

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!

Testing... 1,2,3

I spent some time last month testing some blocks and patterns. I had not tried any of the "Cake Mix" packaged pattern sheets that Moda is marketing to accompany their 10" square "Layer Cake" bundles. I had received a free trial pack at QuiltCon, a "Cupcake", it came with two 10" squares of fabric, enough to yield two, 7 inch, "T" blocks.  The instructions are straight forward and easy to follow. One simply layers two fabric squares right sides together and places the paper pattern sheet on top of the stack. Following the stitching lines on the paper, stitch through all the layers and cut apart on the clearly marked "cutting lines" as indicated.

Remove the papers, lay out the stitched units and assemble the blocks as shown on the direction sheet. Press the blocks and trim to size. Voilá! There is little room for error here. Stitch on the line. Cut on the line. Perfect blocks. Every time. The paper is easy to remove and not at all a tedious task. You can find these Cake Mix pattern sheets at your LQS, likely anywhere the Layer Cakes are sold.

I tested out this block for a friend who had the pattern: "Feathers" by Margot Languedoc; this pattern is also expressly written for the packaged "Layer Cake" bundles but can work up easily from your scraps (as I did, above) or from purchased yardage. It is a sweet block. Would I have constructed it according to the written directions if I had it all to do over again? No. I would over cut the HST squares and use the Tucker Trimmer next time; but that's just me. I am sold on Deb Tucker's Studio 180 tools and use them whenever I can, they're that versatile. However, with both of these trials I was pleased with the results and would definitely make more.  What are you testing out on your cutting table today?

Life is Good!

High Contrast Precision Check

These blocks represent a big shift for me in several ways: working in black and white and piecing in miniature, each block finishes to 4".  I started this project a year ago last summer, it is the Summer Sampler at Temecula Quilt Co., this online project offered four blocks a week over the summer months to completion.  I have chosen to follow my own schedule however (read between the lines: she couldn't keep up the pace!) and have resurrected this one from the bottom shelf of my carefully stashed UFO's. 
The high contrast of the chosen fabrics have really kept me on my toes, each teeny-tiny triangle has to be accurate and precise or it would stick out, visually, like a sore thumb. I laid out each block at the cutting table and carried them to the machine on a small cafeteria tray*, assuring each piece, in each row, would remain in order. I chain pieced the rows and "webbed" the block together by chain piecing each row to the next. I then pressed the seams open; doing that is very helpful to make sure that points are not cut off as the final row seams are stitched.

Look for the "v" that forms on the reverse side of the open seam 

and establish the next seam directly through the  "v" for a perfect point.

I will continue to make these blocks, all forty of them, as time allows. Challenge yourself on your next project to stitch as precisely as possible. Working small and in high contrast is completely unforgiving; for me, it has been a good way for me to tune up my skills, the results are worth it.

Life is Good!

On this, the eighth day of November, I give thanks for a 

creative outlet that continues to challenge and reward.

* I recently found the small cafeteria-style trays at a local hardware store. They are perfect for organizing and moving small pieces as well as for stacking and storing projects-in-progress.  

Jackstones

"Jackstones" ~ 63" X 73.5"

Jackstones has finally, officially, made it to the "flimsy" stage. Hooray! 

Begun a year ago and promptly back-burnered, it was inspired by this magazine cover from 2013

and this tutorial (pictured below) from the same quiltmaker.

My version, however, is not paper pieced. My wedges are a bit slimmer, I used a 9 degree wedge ruler and, constructing my own template*, stacked my square background pieces and cut them after marking the cutting line, as illustrated below.

I cut the background squares 6.5" and, after inserting the wedges and the subsequent trim down, (below) ended up with blocks cut at 5.75"; sort of a weird size, but it was all an experiment; one that I loved so much that I simply kept going with it as it was!

It hardly made a dent in my low volume stash and, as usual, have been putting together something else as I pieced this one. I have lots to report, stay tuned. In the meantime I am dreaming of how I will quilt up Jackstones to fully show off the pieced alternate border solid color to its advantage.

*If anyone is interested in a printout of the (albeit sketchy) directions including the template I created, let me know and I will email you a copy.

Life is Good!

Diamond Distraction

Does anything like this ever happen to you? I  saw a quilt that was shown in our guild's biennial show last weekend and I became obsessed with the pattern. I quickly contacted Quiltkeemosabe to see if she knew the name of the pattern; or, better yet, if she had the pattern. She didn't but she casually said: "if we had some 60 degree graph paper I guess we could figure it out". Okay, I took that as a personal challenge, I knew I couldn't rest until this block was constructed. Not knowing exactly how to proceed after I had drawn it up, I quickly discovered my "Sidekick"* ruler, otherwise unused up until now. Score! Not having any particular size in mind I decided to make the star center scrappy, cutting 2.5" diamonds easily and efficiently with my new-found favorite tool! I also had a bin of 2.5" precut strips. Score again!! This same ruler also allowed the background setting diamonds to be cut from 4.5" inch strips.

A friend once told me that whenever she made up any "trial" block she did them in the same color palette so that, eventually, she would have a collection of sampler blocks that would all go together. My red and white block bin is already burgeoning, but that's another post for another time.  

Half a block done! This was fun and went together perfectly. Oh, I forgot to mention that the quilt that inspired this obsession did win a ribbon at the show for "Best Piecing"; I wasn't going to settle for anything less than perfect points and intersections in my version either. 

Whew! Done. I couldn't be happier. This completed block measures 19" from west to east points, unfinished. Yes! I can rest now. I am adding this quilt to my "must do" list somewhere down the line. Don't forget: I already have all those precut strips! I'm thinking about a scrappy, multicolor quilt with a neutral background batik (one more thing just patiently waiting on the shelf to be used). But, for today, this block is joining all the other red and white additions to my someday sampler in its designated block box. If you are like me, and become distracted and/or obsessed by one thing that requires dropping all else until you can figure it out, I highly recommend succumbing to the challenge, you'll sleep better. Now, to get back on track!

Life is Good!

* For the record: Quiltkeemosabe told me that I needed that Sidekick ruler a few years ago, 

she always knows exactly what I need before I do. I am so glad that, this time, I listened!

The Auditions Continue

Last week I posted photos with 121 blocks up on the design wall from Rosemary Youngs' The Quilt Block Bible. I auditioned indigo as well as red sashing strips between some of the blocks to try and decide how I will set this quilt; I asked for your opinions, you offered them and I am grateful. Among one suggestion was a soft gold color. The above photo shows twenty five blocks sitting on top of a yarn-dyed linen fabric, the color is called "leather"; I absolutely love this piece of fabric, but it it right for the sashing between these blocks?  I am coming to you again for your opinions.

In all honesty, the fabric pictured in the top photo isn't entirely different from the color of my design wall; which means, that the overall effect would look much like this when it's all said and done. Thoughts? I've mocked up a section with the soft gold sashing and indigo cornerstones as one more option; yay or nay? Weigh in and let me know what you think.

Life is Good!