Retreat Stitching Success

After my fabulous weekend away at the Quiltville Inn Retreat*, even with all the distraction of the beautiful and incredibly accommodating setting, there's more; believe it or not I actually finished quilt tops and have show and tell of my own! This little beauty (quilt measures 45" square) is the 2012 Summer Sampler Sew-along from the Temecula Quilt Company blog. I had half of the 4" blocks done before we left for the weekend, in preparation I had the remaining blocks precut and ready to go. I used scraps that my mother gave me, leftovers from a quilt she had done and decided to set mine with Essex linen. The colors are true in this photo (left), it's a bit washed out in the one below. I believe I will quilt this all over with a small scale Baptist Fan pantograph. But, for now, this one has been relegated to the to-be-quilted queue. There's something new on the rails of the longarm right now.

* (Click here if you missed my previous post)

On day # 2 of the Quiltville Retreat I got this much of the Texas Tears top together. All of the blocks are done, from here it's just a matter of sitting down and finishing up the assembly of rows. I'm not sure about the quilting yet on this one. I went back and looked at the photo I had taken of the antique quilt that was the inspiration for this one and found the hand quilting on that one to be minimal. Well, this won't be hand quilted (!) and I believe I can do better than a minimal job and find a design that will work. My inspiration quilt did not have an outer border but I plan to add one. 

So, with all that piecing going on... guess what else happened? This! If one is retreating for the weekend at Quiltville one MUST be leader-endering at the same time, right? Of course! This tumbler charm will be quilted sometime in the new year and added to the donation pile; I can imagine the recipient finding little surprises here and there hidden in the novelty prints. I do believe this is my fifth tumbler charm quilt, I've lost count, they're made oh-so-easy with the 4" Accuquilt die cutter. All in all it was a very successful time away for those up-until-now UFOs that have been hiding under my cutting table! I'm already leader-endering more tumbler rows for the next quilt top while I continue to set Texas Tears. 

Sew on and sew forth!

Life is Good!

Up next: Triple C

 

Making Room

The New Year has arrived and new (okay, old) projects have surfaced (okay, re-surfaced!). Down with the Hexagon Blocks from the design wall, make room for Hexie Garden. This pattern, from Atkinson Designs, has been on my list to finish for three years. I am happy to report that it is now, officially, a completed TOP. Yes!! What accounts for this sudden burst of productivity? A retreat happened. There is nothing more satisfying than to sit and sew, and see results, when you are surrounded by like-minded friends with similar goals.

Yep, last week I packed up enough projects to keep me busy for an entire weekend (maybe for an entire year, if truth be told!) and off we went! It was bitter cold outside but the twelve of us who clustered together in the activity room at the retreat center kept warm and comfortable with non-stop snacks for sustenance and the hum of happy conversation and sewing machines for atmosphere.

Hexie Garden ~ 56" X 60"

This happy guy is the third block that I have finished from Nancy Halvorsen's "Be Attitudes" pattern; he certainly had the right idea last weekend! I am stitching these with raw-edge machine applique and hand embroidered embellishments. At the rate of one a month, I should be done with this in October. This is yet one more of those projects that were all neatly organized (fabrics, buttons, floss, pattern book; in fact, all of the background blocks were stitched together-- and labeled!) years ago; before being stashed in a dedicated bin and promptly shelved. Don't ask why, I do not know the answer!

😉

The Hexie Garden will now take her turn waiting in the "to be quilted" queue; those already waiting will move over, making room. The "Be Attitudes" bin will make room for a new frosty friend as another would-be block comes to the top of the pile and this quiltmaker is energized and making room for lots more finishes in 2018. 

Life is Good!

...and sew it goes...

Summer Stitches

"Red Hot Summer" ~ 60.5" X 68.5"

Today is the first day of summer, bring it on! As a way to commemorate this premiere day of my favorite season of the year I have pulled out this Stack and Whack flimsy and loaded it onto Snowbird for quilting. I completed this top probably ten years ago. 
These "sand men" on the beach and related surf items combine to create wonderful kaleidoscopic effects, just as delightful today as they were to me back in 2007!

I didn't have enough of any one fabric for the backing, but I did manage to scare up enough of several coordinating sand and sea fabrics to compose a pieced back with a few big swaths of the featured large scale print for posterity. 

  

The pantograph I chose is "Waterworld" and the thread color is "sand". The beach motif is complete!

Let the fun begin!

How are you observing this number one day of summer at your house?

Life is Good!

How Long?

How long is too long? I dragged this partially done scrap quilt out two days ago for inspection and assessment. I have all the components cut and ready to go. On closer examination I discovered that many of the pinwheel blocks are turned, adding to the quirkiness. I guess I never paid attention to placement. Live and learn. Right now this top measures a L-O-N-G 112" inches by 60". I can add two more rows of pinwheels to the width, bringing the overall measurement to 79.5" X 115" when it is sashed on all sides. That's a good size for a long twin bed spread (including pillow tuck). Do we have any twin beds? No. Would there be any call for a quilt of these dimensions? I don't know. I can alter it at this point in time and take four rows off the length and add that many rows to the width. That would bring the overall dimensions to 92" X 84"; the correct size for a queen comforter. We do have two queen beds in our home, neither of them need quilts right now but should I think about that? What would you do? I'm truly torn as to what I should do at this point. I will finish up piecing the pinwheels I have cut, regardless of the desired finished dimensions; I am working on them leader-ender style.
So, back to the opening question... how long is too long? This quilt was started in 1997. Luckily there's no statute of limitations on quilt tops! I look forward to seeing this one through to its finished, quilted, state; no matter how long.

Life is Good!

Lucky 13

Can you imagine, in your wildest dream, being given thirteen quilt tops that are masterfully and beautifully designed and stitched? It's hard to believe, but this is the gift recently received by our Quilt Ministry! One of our members brought these to us after visiting with her parents in Minnesota. Her Mom and Dad are former longarmers; they've given that up due to the physical strain associated with loading and unloading quilts, they are of advanced age and simply couldn't do that anymore. Her mother, however, cannot stop piecing quilt tops... and, so, we are the beneficiaries of her talented hands and generous heart! It just doesn't get any better than this. Quilt dreams really do come true.

Life is Good!

Coming Up For Air

"Coming Up For Air" ~ 60" X 78"

I've been on a roll lately, the queue of "to be quilteds" isn't quite as long as it used to be; I've been using up a lot of fabric (backings), quilting thread and batting too; it's all good. I'm loading this String quilt  top today, it's the product of an Ami Simms class that I took at Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival back in February of 2012. I was hunting for enough backing fabric (5 yards) for this one when I received a message from a friend last week that she had found an odd bolt of Marcia Derse fabric (no longer available) by Troy that's about as old this quilt top. She remembered that I had been looking for this fabric some time ago and set the bolt back for me, she assured me that there was enough fabric remaining to back this String quilt. I stopped my my LQS and purchased 5 yards yesterday! Score!! Or so I thought.
When I got home and introduced the front to the back it was apparent that this fabric just wouldn't work... it's too mushroomy-gray compared to the honey-toned creams on the front.; this wasn't turning out to be the match made in heaven that I had hoped.  Now I was faced with another decision; piece a back from matching scraps left over from the class or dive a little deeper in my stash closet... I chose to take the plunge!

When I came up for air this is what I had clutched in my hand... and, yes, there's enough; it's a fabric ("Painted Desert" line from Hoffman International) that I loved so much back in the mid 1990's I bought all that I could at that time; a long-ago purchase that's paying off today. It's the absolute perfect backing for this quilt... and, a name has been assigned to this quilt now too, in honor of today's diving adventure:  "Coming Up For Air"; that moniker describes not only the sky quality of the quilt's backing fabric but also my recent full-on run at finishing up quilting projects. So, what to do with a now prewashed and pressed 5 yard length of Marcia Derse fabric? Not to worry, it will likely come in handy twenty years or so from now... after all, I'm on a roll!

Life is Good!

Audition

Sturbridge Strawberries ~  56" X 68"

I decided, on a whim, to remove this quilt top from the "waiting to be quilted" queue and audition it (stick it up with masking tape) on an otherwise bare wall in the family room; I never had really given too much thought as to where this quilt would end up. I finished the piecing on it back in 1997; hey, it's already a classic! Well, the audition went well... so well, in fact, that Mr. Goodneedle suggested putting a sleeve on it and hanging it right away; he didn't realize it wasn't quilted yet! I guess I already know which quilt is next for a date with Sundance!

Life is Good!

What's Up Next?

"Twinkle, Twinkle"
50" X 62"
Life Is Good!

Talk To Me, Fannye

Fannye Hall was the matriarch of our quilt guild, she died unexpectedly in December 2005. She taught almost everyone in our county, and beyond, to quilt. She attended every meeting and saw to it that they were run properly. After her death a collection of quilt tops were discovered by her family and generously donated to the guild that Fannye loved, to be auctioned with the proceeds going toward guild projects and education. This split hexagon was one of them. I didn't purchase this one, my friend Nane did. She appliqued the edges to the solid navy border and for some reason I volunteered to quilt it for her! I don't normally do things like that, I surprised myself! "What have I gotten myself into?", I worried. Then I laughed, thinking all along that it was Fannye who made me do it, she always had a way of recruiting volunteers! All summer the prepared top has languished in the closet, I loaded it on Tuesday and said a little prayer, I talked to Fannye as I threaded the machine and asked her what she wanted me to do on this one. I was prepared to quilt swirls and squiggles in and out of each little half-hex. "Talk to me, Fannye" I implored. I turned Sundance on and we got started, in and out, back and forth, round and round. I was mesmerized by both the rhythm of the movements and the diverse collection of fabrics that Fannye had hand-stitched together. I finished the first section and advanced the roller to begin again. "What do you think, Fannye?" I asked out loud. Her answer popped into my head. "It's a lot more work than I would have put into it!" I laughed again, "really?" I asked her. "It's nice" came the response. Was I imagining Fannye's responses? I don't know. I asked her to talk to me, she was a woman of few words; I hope she approves.

Life is Good!

Before And After

"Bali Dancing" ~ 68" X 85"

I've spent the last week getting these border pieces cut and attached to last year's batik version of these blocks-of-the-month. The setting was created in EQ6, a first for me, it worked out perfectly! Unfortunately the bottom two rows of blocks somehow became inverted in the setting process and I'm deliberating some deconstruction at this point to turn it back around as the before photo shows. I could be talked out of this, maybe; I don't relish the thought of lining up those points all over again! In the meantime it will languish on the design wall as is. Oh, I really did love the original block placement... grrr... where's my seam ripper?

Life is Good!

At A Snail's Pace

Things are moving along at The Strawberry Patch, albeit at a snail's pace. If I went any slower I'd be backing up... back is the operative word here. Groan. I don't take kindly to being involuntarily side-lined, or even slowed down for that matter. Four hours in a folding chair (I was enrolled in a class) on Friday undid all the healing up to that point. The church pew didn't help things yesterday either. Today I'm still working on the borders for my batik quilt, but can only work in spurts and short bursts and then I need to apply heat to my lower back and rest again. Bummer. I think the results will be worth it... on the quilt and on my back! I'll be back soon... sorry, I couldn't resist that one.

Life is Good!

Same Blocks, Different Fabrics

Another quilt top in the making, the same Blocks of the Month, 2008. This time, in batiks. These blocks are sitting on the design wall, they're not attached together... yet. Every time I return to the studio I study them, change my mind, rotate one or two, and shuffle the blocks. I think I've finally settled on this arrangement. I used EQ6 to design a border (a first for me!), it looks great; at least on paper it does! Stay tuned for that. My commitment to turning blocks into tops isn't nearly as daunting as I had built it up in my mind to be. At this rate, Sundance and I will be very busy all summer long!

Life is Good!

Stickin'

“Be like a postage stamp. Stick to
one thing until you get there.”Josh Billings

I'm stickin'... like a stamp. These BOM blocks are my latest obsession and they are not going back into the darkness of the stash closet before they are completed tops, I'm determined to see this through and am directing all of my energy and time to that conclusion, whatever it takes! One down, a few more to go... I'm stickin'.

Autumn Paths~ 88" X 91"

Life is Good!

Traditional Blocks, 2008

I have participated in the annual Block of the Month classes at my LQS since 2005, I don't have one of these quilts completed, although 2006 is set into a top; that's noteworthy! I decided to do 2007, 2008 (and am currently working on 2009) in two separate colorways, (how's that for convoluted thinking? Since I wasn't getting single sets done, let's go ahead and double up!?!) that's eight quilts that I have in progress right there, that's a BUNCH of blocks piling up! Enough is enough. On Saturday I decided to drag them out of the closet and begin the setting process, this is 2008, the traditional blocks ( I also have a matching set in batiks). I chose to float the blocks on point and use a strippy set for these, my plan will be to attempt some pretty quilting in the open areas, there will be lots of room to practice feathers and swirls on this one, stay tuned... there's a virtual parade of quilt tops to come!

"Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task."~William James

Life is Good!