Friday Face Off

Welcome to the Friday FaceOff for this week.   I will start with a confession.  I have been sick with a mystery bug (not covid, I tested.)  When I feel badly it is difficult to create.   The spirit is willing but the body is resistant.    

Luckily I had put together this face a week or so ago and never have shown it.    My plan was to use up some almost useless scraps for as much of it as possible.  None of these pieces had fusible on the back of them.  Rather,  I layered a piece of batting under a sheet of Steam-a-Seam 2.  This fusible is sticky making it easy to work this way.  Of course I went about it the WRONG way.  I created the face first and then added the background.  That meant that when a piece touched the face, the edges had to be tucked under the edges of the face.  
There was a bit of careful lifting to be sure that the fabrics didn't fray.  

Aunt Lucille

Looking at the photo, I can see that this is not quite finished.  The eyes are lacking pupils and highlights. Ah well, that will be an easy fix as I draw in the pupils with a black sharpie and then use a spot of white paint for the highlight.  If  I felt better, I would just go add it and take a new photo. 
Hopefully I can do that and share the corrected version in a few days. 

__________________

I couldn't stand not fixing it.  So here is the face with the eyes finished. It amazes me how much that tiny bit adds a spark of life to the face. 

I am linking up with  DVArtist for the Friday FaceOff.

  Clicking the link will take you to her blog.  It is great fun

 to see how various people interpret the challenge.

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.

First September Finish

In the last post, I told you about preparing a binding.  Thanks to that binding, I have the first finish of September.  I am loving it!   One of my favorite things is how the corners mitered perfectly including the flange!

I confess I slowed down a lot when I got to the corners to be sure it lined up nicely.  I got my needle to drop precisely in the corner.  Yaay me!

I took this quilt to the park, along with another that you will see in a couple of days.  I put this one on the bench  in the shade - it was over 90F outside and little or no breeze.

You can see in the above photo that the backing matches the outer binding.  It was super easy to make that decision.  And the front has so many fabrics that anything would have been okay there.  I do wish I had added borders so the flanged binding would show up more.

It would have been really great if the bright green that was used for the diamond had been in my stash for the flange.  But this is a true scrap quilt and I had used most of that green in the string blocks. The diamond focal point was a last minute decision while I was laying out the blocks.

I hope you are putting your scraps to good use. They can add up to a really fun quilt.

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.

Crumb Block Top Completed

It took a lot of pinning and sewing  and refilling a bobbin - they always seem run out on a long seam - but the Crumb Quilt top is complete.  After pressing the last seam, I took it outside to hang in the sun for a photoshoot.   Of course there was wind.

 But I managed to get a few shots anyway.  If you see the dirt on my car in the background - that is pollen.  We are having a rather early pollen season I think.  And in other photos you may see grass/weeds that haven't been dealt with - If the ground ever gets dry enough during what is apparently this Alabama monsoon, I will get that fixed.

Believe it or not this top was pressed but the humidity and the wind seemed to magically make the wrinkles reappear. 

Nevertheless, I love the bright colors and happy design - I also love that most of my points match thanks to a lot of pins.

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in posts may be affiliate links for which I am compensated if you click through and purchase.

64 Blocks and Decisions to be made

Sunday evening, after just a few minutes of making more crumb blocks, I decided to rest a bit.  Gathering all the crumb blocks I counted them to see just how close I had gotten.

Would you believe there are exactly 64 in that stack.  Yes, I stopped at just the right spot.  I need exactly 64.  Aren't our brains interesting?  I thought I had no clue how many I had made, but I was right on target.

So why is the scrap drawer still overflowing?

And I also have these pieces neatly laid out for working with:

And strips and pieces too

Sheesh!  Do the scraps multiply when you use them? I will have to fit some of those stacks back in the scrap drawer.  Wish me luck!

Now I have a decision to make.  What color or colors will I use for the background on my Crumb quilt?  This will require an expedition into the wild stash area  of the house to see which I may have in the required amounts.  If all else fails, I can just go "solid scrappy" and use two or more colors for the background.  According to Electric Quilt- depending on the width of the fabric it can take from 2 1/8 to 2 3/8 yards of fabric for the background. So for practical purposes, I will find 2 1/2 yards total for it.
I also have to decide on fabric for the cornerstones in the sashing. Hmmm.....time for that expedition to the wild stash jungle!
Talk to you good people soon, I hope.

Edited to add: The plan is in place and piecing started. You will see it in a day or two- or three.....
Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in posts may be affiliate links for which I am compensated if you click through and purchase.

Scrap Busting

It is amazing how scraps build up when you are a quilter.  Some, rare quilters, are able to throw them away. I am not that type of quilter. Some quilters have bags of scraps hidden away for the "someday" when they will use them to make a scrap quilt. 
Of course they keep buying fabric and collecting yet more scraps. I have been that type of quilter lately.  Early in my quilting I used scraps. People gave me scraps.  Now I have bags of scraps. 


Don't get me wrong, scraps are good.Keep your scraps, but don't SAVE them, bust them!  When I realized that I had to cut extra pieces for the quilt along blocks that I made too short, I made a decision.  I decided to cut some scraps while I had my AccuQuilt GO! set up and the value die was working anyway. 


So, I ironed a couple of scraps and cut some 2.5" squares while I was cutting the half square triangles.  Then, while sewing the pieces for the quilt along block, I used the square to sew on, sew off.  I normally have been using little scraps as "Thread Rats" to keep the points from clogging up when I start a triangle.  


I finished the extra parts of the quilt along block. The iron was still set up, ready to go. The bag of scraps was right beside it.  I decided to iron the entire bag of scraps then cut them up. 


I was surprised at some of the sizes of the "scrap" pieces as I was ironing.  I got my GO! cutter and some dies and put them out. I set up a scrap busting shop.


I started cutting. I cut 2.5" squares and half square triangles.  I cut more half square triangles in 3.5", 4.5" and 6.5".   I cut some quarter square triangles that will make a 4" finished block.  I even cut a few 4.5" squares. 


Here are the finished stacks:

I sat watching a movie and sorted them by lights and darks. There are a LOT of pieces there.  I still have more bags of scraps that need busting.  I will sew the half and quarter square triangles into square blocks.  I will sew the squares into four patches or nine patches.  Eventually I will have a truly scrappy quilt made as "extras" that were sewed in between pieces of other projects.  I won't have to cut the thread, or use a thread rat when I need to take pieces to be ironed, I will just sew a couple of these together and leave it under the presser foot while I go iron.  Then when each one comes out it goes into a stack for that scrappy quilt.  

As an added bonus, those scrap bags will start to diminish. 

How fun is that?

Mail Call!

Another day, another delightful package. I almost feel like it is my birthday. You see, my friend, Serena (aka Young Appalachian Quilter) sent me yet another package of possibilities. (You know, you call them "scraps.")

I opened it up, having a modest idea what it contained, but not REALLY knowing. WOW, look at the goodness. (well, you can't because I spent the evening painting, sewing and watching a movie, instead of taking a picture - sorry!)

Serena had mentioned that she was sending me some scraps of Asian Fabric. But there is a bit of batik, some fine floral fabrics, some magnificent metallic prints, oh my!
I saw two fish fabrics that pleased my eye. More than I can remember at this point.

I am a happy camper this evening. Did I mention that in the sewing this evening I have all the top of my quilt in big pieces. I have 3 sections left to quilt, then I join it all. Then I may add a scrappy border, I can't decide! All that will be left after that is the binding! Woo woo!

This is post one hundred ninety eight. Suggestions for what to use as the giveaway are certainly welcomed. At this point I don't know - it may be a surprise to ALL of us. LOL.

More Scrappy Blocks

Last night I figured out how many more blocks I need to finish the quilt top. So I did some piecing this evening after work. I confess that some of these were already done. Some I finished last night ---and yes, I have a few more to make. And since I am doing this one quilt as you go, I have part of it already quilted. Yaaay!

The real joy in making the newest ones was having the scraps from Barb to add to my own stuff. Wow! It worked so well together. I rambled on last night so tonight I will cut it short and show you. Do notice that I did some of the blocks at wonkedy angles just for fun.