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| For the morning warm-up: a few laps of machine quilting... |
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| Before lunch all the squares were trimmed and placed in position, some design work... |
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| A machine appliqué block springs to life in the afternoon... |
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| Cooling down... after a full day of various techniques, some hand quilting to end the day, for centering and balance. Yes, I'm a quadrathalete alright, one of the quilting variety! Life is Good! |
I asked for name suggestions here last week and you came through, all of your ideas were fantastic and I do thank you. Nancy, who blogs near Philadelphia, thought she was being a smarty-pants with 'Stars and Scraps'. I called her on that and raised her idea: 'Stars and Scraps Forever' was born. This is the prototype block. Designing in Electric Quilt is one thing; but seriously, if it's not sew-able what good is it? I couldn't be happier with EQ6, every design that I have come up with has been precise and easy to stitch. I was a little worried about the star points on this one, however. When I printed out the pattern the angles were marked as 63 degrees... huh? Angles scare me and if it it isn't 45 or 90 degrees I break out in a cold sweat. I was committed to this design though and I figured there had to be
an easy way to figure this one out without resorting to templates. There was: Tri-Recs Tools to the rescue. I dug around in my ruler drawer and these came floating up to the surface; still wrapped in their original cellophane (how long have I had these?) with the price tag attached. I recall Quiltkeemosabe telling me that we needed those rulers one day when we were out shopping together. I was ever-so-thankful yesterday morning, in those wee pre-dawn hours, that I had taken her advice way-back-when. The points were quickly cut from strip sets and went together easy and (even better) accurately! I told her how thankful I was and she just smiled, knowingly. For the record, I would like for Quiltkeemosabe to know that she only thinks I don't listen to her! If the truth were known, I'm all ears... I've got a drawer full of tools to prove it!
Almost a year ago I posted about this idea for a wall quilt for our eating area in the kitchen after playing around with EQ6. All good things become reality in their own time and that time has finally arrived! This was an oft repeated phrase at our dinner table when I was growing up. It was fun to watch this idea take shape as it grew and ripened on the design wall. I really enjoyed filling the "jars", and placing each one accordingly. I think that Mason, as well as future grandchildren, will appreciate this conversation piece and will delight in identifying all the varieties of fruits and vegetables contained, finding matching jars and learning the Mealtime Mantra from my childhood!
I've been accumulating little four-patches, made up as leaders/enders, at an alarming rate; all the result of piecing other projects. They were piling up at such a fast pace that I began stitching those little units together as nine-patch blocks, in an effort to control the volume, until I had a whole stack of 36-patch scrappy blocks similar to those pictured here. I have come up with this layout as a way to use them up and show them off, but just can't come up with a clever working name. I just know that you can help me out! What do you think? Surely you can help me with a more original title than "Scraps and Stars!!?
I spent the weekend canning, not with glass jars and a pressure cooker. No, not me, but with EQ6 and 100% cotton fabrics! I have designed this quilt to hang on the wall in the eating area of our kitchen. When I was a little girl my Dad always used this phrase at mealtime, it's part of me. I received a fat quarter bundle of assorted fruit and veggie fabrics for
Christmas four or five years ago from my husband. I have had them stacked neatly on a shelf until this weekend when I finally figured out what they should become! I sewed a sample block (right) before I committed to the design at left, I realized quickly that the jars couldn't "float", but needed to be stacked to carry the load. This block will be taken apart and the jars will be refitted somewhere into the master plan now. My hope is that this wall quilt will make a fun and colorful summer addition to our kitchen as the color blobs of the design are replaced, one by one, with realistic fruit and vegetable prints. I'm excited, and eager to watch this one take shape. Stay tuned for installments.
