Thursday, May 30, 2019

Sneak Peek-What Am I Doing?

As you may know by now, each month the Island Batik Ambassadors have  a challenge.

The June Challenge is called "Try a Technique" - I have tried lots of techniques over the years with varying degrees of success.  You have probably seen some of my failures "learning experiences" as I am pretty open about the fact that I am not perfect.

Paper piecing is a technique that I have tried before. In fact it was my gateway into quilting. But then I learned that sometimes, I just can't manage the "reverse" positioning that is required for it.  So,  I am using paper piecing in my June challenge, but it will not be the technique I am trying. I still have a surprise for you with that.

Here is part of my paper pieced project. 

It has worked out great so far.  All of the fabrics are, of course, Island Batik. The pattern is from a Craftsy---oops BluPrint-- class by Toby Lischko: Clever Curves:Piecing Techniques.  The class is pretty great.  I have actually sewn curves that come out correctly thanks to some of the techniques she teaches in the class.  So I am confident that when I sew all the center pieces and outside pieces to these paper pieced sections, it will come out correctly.  I will say that in the class, she recommends a different way to piece this using freezer paper, but I did it the traditional paper piecing.  After all, my work, my choice!


Until Next Time,  
Stay Creative 


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Saturday, May 25, 2019

Just One Block

For those of you who aren't aware, it is blazing hot in Alabama. Today was 94F with a heat index of 101F.  So, I am being lazy and trying to take it easy.  A tall glass of ice water or ice tea works well in this climate. I would love a Mexican Agua Fresca if they were as accessible as they were last year when we visited Mexico.   Ah well, ice water works just fine.

Two weeks ago, I made a 12" block for the "orange and purple together" quilt using a batik fabric for the background. Everyone seemed to love that one.  I realized that I need one more 12" block to put with the 8 inch blocks so everything fits together.  Thus, we get today's block.
I used a multicolored batik for the background.  I had leftover pieces of the pale orange that I used as flying geese points.  The extra pieces were cut quickly with the AccuQuilt Go!  and it was super easy to sew this block together.

I have been busy with other things the past week. We celebrated my Mother's 83rd birthday with family and food. Of course, I baked the cake - that is our family tradition for several years now.
 I have also started rehearsing with a choir for a Patriotic Concert that will be held on July 2nd.  The choir director invited me personally.  (I am sure he did that with LOTS of people. I just happened to see him in the hallway - so he asked.)  When he told me that there would be an orchestra I found it hard to say no.  But to seal the deal, he told me the venue - my favorite stage that I have ever performed on - Oxford Performing Arts Center.   I have been volunteering there for over a year and I just love the place and the staff.  This is also where our Community Theatre performed Young Frankenstein.  You may remember that I was in that play back in October of 2017.  I got to sing, dance and act on that wonderful stage. Plus, I got to indulge my love of making people laugh out loud.
I even did a rare selfie on opening night before the audience arrived. 
So,  you may see fewer posts in the next few weeks.   But I am alive and very busy. I will be back at it soon enough.

Until Next Time,  
Stay Creative 


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Monday, May 20, 2019

DaisyChain is a Quilt Top

Alison at Honey Bunny and Doll quilts released the final block and top design for the mystery quilt.  So I hurried along and got mine completed.   This is a really nice design.

Of course, as usual when I went out to take photos, the wind decided to "play" with the quilt top.
In this photo I am under the quilt top as it blows in the breeze.  You can see the edge for the roof line at the bottom right of the photo.

Before the glamour shot,  let me tell those of you who haven't done this step yet what I did wrong- hopefully you won't make the same mistake.
While sewing the sections for the cross blocks,  I carefully sewed all of the side pieces together - the wrong way!
I sewed every one of them like the left section - but they needed to be like the right section.   J.S.R. (Jack the Seam Ripper) and I had a bonding session and played frogger.  (rip it, rippit) I sewed them all the correct way - but I did remember to take a photo before I fixed them all.
The only other oops was that I sewed one star block in the wrong orientation - so J.S.R. and I played frogger one more time.

Next was the photo session with the top hanging on the line at the end of the car cover.
It was never completely still as I was taking these photos, but I think you can see the design very well anyway.
Still blowing

That's better!
I love the purple chain going on one diagonal with the scrappy batiks forming a different type of chain going on the opposing diagonal.

Until Next Time,  
Stay Creative 


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

A bit of Play

Sometimes it is good to just play and see what happens.  Today I decided to take a hand-dyed gradient and play with it.  You are allowed to be surprised.  I have hoarded the gradients that I get from Vicki Welsh for a long time. 
Here is the label from this one.
It is called Appalachian Sunset.  I have had it so long the label is faded.  Also, it was purchased from her Etsy shop- and she now sells directly from her website. This one is not currently in Vicki's gradient section.  But I am sure she could make one just for you if you requested it.

Yes, I do hoard them, but,  I needed a kickstart so I took one out, ironed it nice and flat and started cutting.   I did fold it in half first.  When I cut it into strips (random widths) there were two of each size layered together. 
I sewed each set of those keeping them in order.  I quickly realized that after trimming the edges of the folded gradient, I should have rotated one layer.  C'est la vie!  At that point I just kept sewing.
Once I had all the layers sewn back into a single piece, I pressed it flat, and cut it into strips the opposite direction.  I then sewed those back together flipping every other one end for end.

Here is the result. 


The colors blended so well in some areas that it is hard to see the piecing. This is actually quite striking in person.  Now I just have to decide what it will become.   My first thought is that it would make a couple of great looking pillow covers.  For now, I will just enjoy looking at it and wait for inspiration to strike me.


Until Next Time,  
Stay Creative 


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Saturday, May 11, 2019

Orange and Purple -Together again

The quilt I am slowly making with the orange and purples got two new blocks this weekend. (there may be more yet!)



 These two blocks will finish at twelve inches instead of eight.  So that means that there will need to be two more of these OR a group of four inch blocks added to make up the difference.  Two nine patches that finish at twelve inches would work just fine.  A friendship star is a simple nine patch, so it would work well.  There are lots and lots of possibilities.  The big trick is that I am cutting these 12 inch blocks with a Go! Qube 8 inch set. It is simply one and a half of the size.  Since the Qube 8" set has pieces that finish at both 4 and 2 inches it will work out. Each section of a 12 inch nine-patch should finish at 4 inches.  I learned this from Beaquilter, her site is also where I found these two blocks. I confess that I simplified the top one just a bit. I replaced corners that were four pieces with a single half square triangle unit.
Remember as you are piecing that it is YOUR quilt and you can change anything that you want to change.

Until Next Time,  
Stay Creative 


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Wednesday, May 08, 2019

Making it Modern - Island Batik May Challenge

The Island Batik Ambassadors were given the theme "Make it Modern" for the month of May.  My idea of a modern quilt was vague at best before learning of this challenge.  Fortunately we were given a list of Modern Quilt characteristics.  These are the use of bold colors and prints, high contrast and graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, Minimalism, expansive negative space, alternate grid work.
After reading that and looking at some examples, I suddenly said "Oh, I can do that! I do it already."
Perhaps you remember this photo from a previous post. 

That bit of improv piecing was the beginning of my May Modern Quilt. 

I pieced lots of improv units - and I did not make the sizes consistent at all!  After all,  I was planning to
 "Make it Modern."
After gathering all of my units together I put my chosen gray solid from Island Batik down and played with the units laying on it. When I finally got a layout that seemed artistically balanced to me - and that I liked, I started making the units and background into sections that could be joined into a whole quilt top.  
----Now that was a bit of a challenge, but I learned that it is not only possible, but it isn't as hard as I expected it to be.

Once the top was constructed, I needed a backing and a batting.    
For the backing I used an Island Batik Neutral named Whip Cream but since I had to piece it, I decided to use more improv piecing for a strip to join the two pieces. I used an "oops" block from a previous Island Batik Challenge.  It was sliced and re-sewn with some inserted strips. Then it was cut into sections.  Those sections were joined with some fabric from an Island Batik Stash pack. Be patient, I will show it in the post - but later.

The batting is a delightful surprise for me.   It is a Hobbs BLACK Batting  that is 80/20.  It quilted wonderfully and didn't beard through the top or backing at all. As you can see, it didn't affect the colors on the front of the quilt except to intensify the richness of them. 


The quilt was quilted randomly in what I consider a type of improv quilting - thus adding another layer of improv to this quilt. 

Of course on a lovely still morning, I hung the quilt on a line stretched between two trees.  I got ready to take a picture and........ This Happened! 

On that nice windless day, the wind suddenly began to blow - and the quilt danced on the breeze. 
 A bit of patient waiting and I managed a photo with it hanging relatively straight. 
One of the things I love about spring is that verdant green fields we have here in Alabama.  

You may notice the binding on the quilt mostly blends into the background fabric. But there are three places where colored strips were randomly added  to break it up just a bit. 

Here are a few closeups showing some of the quilting.  I used an Aurifil gray for the quilting on this quilt as well as for piecing.



Oh, wait, did I promise to show the back?  I won't make you wait any longer.
Even the backing has a modern vibe, don't you think?

Let's check on the "Modern" aspects of this quilt
Improv piecing is definitely featured.
Use of Bold Colors?  I do believe you can say that is so.
High contrast and graphic areas of solid color - definitely high contrast.
Expansive negative space- yes indeed there is lots of gray background.
Alternate grid work - again - yes indeed.

The products used for this project were graciously provided by the sponsors of the Island Batik Ambassadors.  They are:  Island Batik fabrics,  Hobbs Batting, and Aurifil Threads.
I am very thankful to be able to use these fine products and I do suggest you try them.

If you are looking for some Island Batik fabrics to use in your own quilt, you can go to the website and use the store locator.


Until Next Time,  
Stay Creative 


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Monday, May 06, 2019

Nine Patch Stars - Daisy Chain Quilt Along

Today, Alison at Little Bunny Quilts released the instructions for constructing star blocks with the parts we had made and cut in past installments of the quilt along.

 These cut pieces 

were made into four patches
and some quarter square triangle blocks that I apparently failed to blog about. 
They were made with the yellow focal fabric that I chose. 
They became the star points for this bunch of blocks

I have to say that I love these stars.  The only difficulty I had was keeping the purple  lined up for the chain.  I had to rip out a section or more - one from a finished block - and re-sew them. 

Of course I still have these units left 
and these four patches

I am wondering how they will be used in the quilt. 
I guess I will just wait and see. 

Until Next Time,  
Stay Creative 


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Saturday, May 04, 2019

Just Sew Something

Sometimes we all need to play.  So I take leftover pieces like the four-patch below and "just sew something."
You can see a bit of a leftover batik strip there at the edge. I was planning to use the resulting block in the purple and orange quilt.  But I may have added too much of other colors.  When I do this "just sew something" play,  I try to use leftover bits on my cutting table. (True Confession:  I don't clean it off that often and certainly not after every sewing session.)  For this block I used ONLY from the scraps on the table.   That means I can't fully control the color palette because sometimes there isn't a big enough piece in the correct color(s.)
The aqua/teal fabric carries over the same color in the first batik scrap.  Then the other batik carries it a bit further and adds some yellow with the orange.

Truthfully I am not sure that I like this block - it may not go in that quilt at all.  But,  I save all my odd blocks and just wait for the time they work with something.  Sometimes that means slicing and dicing them to change them.  When you do this, you can cut across at an angle and add in a strip or strips to change feel and add in new colors.  It is a great way to play with improv piecing.
Cuts can be made across both directions and the pieces re-arranged. 
When you play with this idea, and I hope you do, be wild and free; ask "what if I.....;"  but mostly have fun with it.

Until Next Time, 
Stay Creative


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Thursday, May 02, 2019

What's Up

Not much sewing this week, but lots of boring medical stuff.   Yesterday was spent with a liquid diet and "prep" for a colonoscopy.  The good news is that I survived it and nothing suspicious was found.  It was just a standard screening test. And now,  I don't have to do it for another ten years.  (yaaay!)

Over the weekend I did manage to sew a couple of blocks for my Orange and Purple quilt.  That is my casual project that is used as a time filler when I can't be working on another project.
Not a great picture, but here are those two blocks.
I really like the feel of rhythm that is added by the striped fabric in the pinwheel block. 

Until Next Time,  
Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.