Another Week...

Another week, another month; they keep sliding one into the next, seemingly without much change, but time's marching ahead and here we are in September already. We've been dealing with the COVID craziness for six months and I've never moved so many projects onto the done list. If everything cloud has a silver lining, the stack of accumulating quilts around here is proof! I did finish up two customer quilts and a quilt restoration of sorts (dog chewed a hole) for friends this week and managed to get this Tucker University sampler sashed and bordered. I was determined to use up every bit of fabric that I had pulled for this and the size of the sashing/borders was determined by what I had on hand. Believe me, there's a LOT of piecing in that outer cream border. (Hopefully, once it's quilted, all those seams will fade away!)

This was all that I had left from the borders! This measures 66" X 52" and will be a perfect donation quilt for a lap quilt or a child.  If I could find that focus fabric from my LQS (purchased a few years back) I would back this quilt with it; we'll see. At any rate, I'm happy to have this ready for the "to be quilted" queue. From the "go with" leftover pieces I had enough to feed the always hungry scrap basket.

My criteria for basket scraps are those pieces too small to re-shelve but large enough for the die cutter. 

This is a new find for me: Faultless Premium Luxe Finish ironing spray. I just stumbled onto it the other day when I was looking for spray starch at the local big-box discount store and this caught me eye, (I like to use sizing when pressing prewashed fabrics) I thought it might be good for Mr. G's dress and sport shirts if I didn't like it for pressing my fabric pieces. It's a winner! This imparts a really nice, smooth, but not stiff, finish and just the right amount (to suit my purposes) of body. If you're looking for something new in the ironing arena you might also like this, I'm pleased.

"The Quiet Road" has had its piping and binding attached; as well as its hanging sleeve and label. 

Time for handwork.

Life is Good!

A Finish and Another Sew-Along

This finish has been a long time in the making. This small quilt is the result of the Temecula Quilt Co. 2015 Summer Sampler Sew-Along. I was diligent (in the beginning) about keeping up with the blocks as posted on their blog.  I decided to do mine using the black and white scraps (generously sized leftovers!) that I fell heir to after my mother finished her own black and white quilt. 
She passed the bin off to me, I sorted through its contents and set right to work. I decided to use flax colored Essex linen for my alternate, plain, blocks. This project stalled a few years later and was relegated to another bin and stashed underneath my cutting table; out of sight, out of mind. Late last year I unearthed the project, determined what was needed to complete it, and did just that.

I chose to quilt it with a custom-sized (4") Easy-Peasy Baptist Fan pantograph by Urban Elementz. The blocks in this sampler quilt measure 4", finished. I also decided to round the corners. 

Additional leftover scraps combined to form the backing.

I don't often round corners, mainly because I was afraid of bias binding; I'm not sure why. The binding went on flawlessly and smoothly. I hand-basted it in place before doing the handwork to join it to the back and was pleased with the results.

I'm going to do this again, I love the appearance of the rounded corners. I conquered my fear! There's no stopping me now.

Ultimately this quilt will be utilized as a table quilt on our breakfast table in the kitchen. 

Sew, what's next? I have decided to join in the fun with their latest Sew-Along; this one is called Temecula's Scavenger Hunt, this is block #1. I am using all my scraps-- I haven't lost sight of my guiding word for the year: VISION. I'll use up what I have already cut and stowed. Wish me luck!

On Thursday this week out youngest granddaughter, Lynnleigh, turned seven years old! What she really wanted for her birthday was to get her ears pierced. But, she explained to me that she "wasn't quite courageous enough, not yet". However, undaunted by the fact that her ears aren't pieced, she came to her birthday dinner wearing clip-on earrings. She was very proud of these! I couldn't help but stifle a giggle. She's growing up very fast, but sitting at the table with her wearing these earrings (like the type that my own grandmother used to wear!) was almost too comical to believe. She is precious. 

Life is Good!

Up next: Strawberries and Cream

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

 

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.  

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!