Placemats

My granddaughter told me that when she was visiting her sister there was a really pretty quilted center piece on the table..............


This is the one I made for her 2 years ago.

 ........but they were using Halloween place mats.

I made these in 2012.










So Monday we stopped at the quilt shop and I bought this bundle.
For her birthday, I am going to make 6 place mats from the "Take Four" pattern and a table topper of some kind.

I know I am going to use the 4 fabrics on the left. From the pile on the right, I will  use the red dot fabric and one of the 2 greens on either side of it, probably the solid looking fabric.









 I am going to use this fabric on the back of 2 of the place mats for her 2 boys. I have a strip 15" x 62 left over from making pillowcases for the boys almost 2 years ago.

Hmmmm.... maybe

 I should put it on the back of 3 place mats 

(one for their Dad).

 I think I will....

 Then, if their

 cousin comes for dinner, 

Dad can give up his place mat 

and use one of the floral ones.

Progress

I layered up the baby quilt and I am all ready to quilt it. First I have to decide if I can use the thread I have or if I need to shop. I want to use variegated thread with the serpentine stitch in the center of the sashing and I am not sure if what I have is right for it.

This is a sample of the 2 choices I have in mind (and in my thread stash). Maybe I am getting too obsessive about the thread.

The layered up quilt is here, on top of 3 empty boxes, on the table under my small design wall.
I am changing out the quilts on my design boards on the walls as a way of keeping my level of enthusiasm on HIGH.















This is the other progress I made yesterday. Those three boxes all held scraps, most of them sorted and in zip lock bags.  In the forefront on the  right are the HST's from the connector corners on the wedding quilt. Some are pressed open and trimmed but most of them still need to be pressed. It is a tedious job.
The shoe box in the back and one tray under the white tray with triangles, both hold the scraps I have been using for the baby quilt. These will soon be sorted by color and will go in the general scrap basket. The progress I made on these is getting them out of hiding  to work on.


I bought these 2 flexible laundry basket/hamper type things for all my Ziploc bags of color sorted scraps. They are stacked up here but 2 of them will fit side by side under my table.

In the year since we moved I have become more and more discouraged about working in my sewing room.
I am grateful to have a room just for sewing but I have never really hit the mark on organizing it so it is an easy space in which to work.

Keeping my art work (quilts) where I can look at them is something I need.

Working out a way to have a bigger, better design wall and making my supplies more accessible is a major necessity. Consolidating my scraps and putting them where it is easy to access is a big step in the right direction. This is going to be a work in progress for a while. I need to do some sewing for a while and think things over before making more costly decisions than the purchase of 2 plastic scrap baskets.

I have a Flimsy

I worked on putting the made fabric blocks together on and off through the day yesterday and I finished it after dinner. I decided to miter the corners on the borders; I usually do my best to avoid miters. As always I was pleased to see how well they came out and how easy it was after all.

 I shuffled the blocks around before I added the sashing because I needed to see where I would add the vertical sashing strips and without the sashing it was easier to see where like fabrics were clumped together.

I wanted the bird patches not to be lined up in any of the rows. The block with the darker green patch had the bird fabric where I wanted it so..... instead of taking out the block with the darker green patch I adding that fabric to 2 more blocks.

I worked on rearranging over and over for about 40 minutes. When I concentrated on the birds and moved a block the distribution of color would be upset. There were some fabrics that stood out more than others and I didn't want them clumped together. Each time I moved a block with one of those fabrics something else wasn't right. I finally felt satisfied that it was as good as it was going to be and my canine friend Tux came in the room for a visit. When I greeted him, he wagged his tail and swept half the blocks off the design board.  I gasped at what he had done and moved the design board up to the table top. I was reminded of the time I was working on arranging 2 inch squares in a colorwash. Jack walked in the room and when I asked what he thought he leaned over and blew on the arrangement and a dozen or so 2 inch squares blew off the wall; that time it was Jack that gasped.

 Tux is really a good dog and has very good manners and is very obedient.

He is also a good companion.

That goes for both of these guys.

I'm Back

Back to quilting and blogging again. I finished the "Fresh Cut" quilt; it was a wedding gift by request of the bride and groom (my grandson). I had it long arm quilted and I was happy with the results. It was so big I never got a chance to photograph the whole thing before I had to wrap it up and give it to them. The bride is a good photographer and I'm hoping for a good photo from her. In the meantime, by clicking on Fresh Cut on my side bar you can see the progress.

I cleaned up my sewing room and played in the garden for a while and finally got around to sewing some improv blocks. These 16 blocks are on a design board all smooshed together so they fit on the board.
I plan to separated them with white sashing strips. I will probably replace the one block with the darker green patch. It is the only place I used that fabric and because it doesn't appear anywhere else it just seems out of place.

These were all leftover pieces from my last three projects and they were in several different places.  I was sorting them to put away in the general scrap bin and I thought they all looked pretty good together. I decided to make some blocks before adding them to the general scrap pool.



After I made a few blocks I decided to put the bird patches in every block. They were in rows and close together so they were not isolated easily and with only part of a fat quarter I wasn't sure how many I would get but I got enough for 19 blocks. The other bird fabric with the white background had tiny birds and I only used it in some of the blocks.

This will be a 36 inch square baby quilt and will be a donation quilt. I plan to make another using the scraps and put it away for a some day future great grand child.

Playing in the Garden

I have been neglecting my sewing room to play in the garden. I will take pictures another day as the bugs are out en mass now.
I am trying to identify some of the things planted in a garden area that has been neglected and is over grown. My daughter wants to dig everything up an re purpose the area but I think there might be some interesting things growing there and before we discard anything we should find out what it is.




Today I found this little flower? or maybe not a flower. This is a shot of it where it is growing. It is about 6 -8 inches tall and  the leaves are like a sparse clump of skinny grass. It was difficult to get a good shot because it is so short and it is hard for me to get down  on the ground and harder still to get up again if I get down on the ground. All the leaves and other debris don't help either.

These two shots were taken indoors with it propped up in a glass with a piece of cardboard behind it. The stem is stiff and the trilobed flowers appear succulent.
I would love to know what this is. If it is not something invasive or bad to grow in some way, It is kind of cute and different; I would like to keep it and see what happens.

After today I should have an easier time getting up and down to work in the garden. I ordered a  garden kneeler/bench and it came today.

The Reason I Can't

One of the reasons I can't get my sewing space cleaned up is that I keep pulling more things out of boxes and baskets.
When I was looking for the blue print fabric for the star quilt I found these 2 blocks in the scrap box. The one on the right was finished but the other was in 4 parts. I took them out of the scrap box and set them aside to put away in the "odd block" box. Of course before I but them away I had to sew that one block together.

I was starting to put everything away where it belongs and I found a number of pieces and parts leftover from the Mary Ellen Hopkins challenge quilt. I decided to sew the odds and ends together into blocks so I could put them in the odd block box.

My odd block box is the largest box on my shelf. I have the feeling that if I ever decide to make an "Everything But" quilt it will have to be more than one quilt. I am afraid to really take a good look at the contents of that box.

These baskets are on top of my bookcase. Once upon a time I bought 7 of these baskets to keep on a shelf with current projects. Somehow that got out of hand because the shelf was high and when I was set up to machine quilt they were not easy to reach. I reorganized and four of the baskets were used elsewhere.
On top of my book case, these 3 baskets are reachable and they hold leftover parts from recent quilts and some halfway current projects. This is where I found the parts from the Mary Ellen quilt. All of the leftovers that are not in those odd blocks I just made, will now go into the general scraps that are sorted by color. One of the remaining baskets holds the HST scrap quilt I was working on before I started the Fresh Cut quilt. It is really amazing that it is nicely sorted and ready to be worked on.

I am afraid to look in the other basket!

I will do it....

 but I will wait  until I have everything cleaned up and put away.

But what if............ 

 there is something in that basket

that needs to be put away

 in the same place as the other stuff I have to put away?

A Small Finish

Small...... but a finish none the less. I am not getting much quilting done these days. I have been busy with gardening and plant shopping and shopping in general.  Since we moved last year any kind of shopping is very time consuming.  This is big change for me as I was 5 to 15 minutes from most of my everyday shopping places.

I had intended to put a border on this and a striped binding but I could find neither fabrics. I am pretty sure I still have them but I may have bundled them up as a giveaway. I found something to piece  for the backing and some solid blue Kona for the binding. It is 24 inches square and as a table topper it is fine without a border. I quilted in the ditch over all the seams and then corner to corner with variegated red, white and blue using my Bernina # 4 stitch. I didn't want to leave the 4 inch square unquilted.                                                            

 I had planned to finish putting away all the leftovers and scraps from the big quilt project but I have not done it yet. When the weather turned nice I abandoned my sewing room and went out to play with the flowers and to take long walks with the dog. The mess is not going anywhere and I will get to it sooner or later.

A Stop on the Way to a Clean Room

I have been cleaning up my sewing space so I can start over and make a new mess. I have been sorting my leftovers from the big quilt project and putting them away in the appropriate places (scrap containers, strips boxes, Ziploc bags of squares sorted by size and larger boxes sorted by color).

Today when I was putting more things away I came across this.


When I went to the April meeting of the Basement Divas, I received a bag that I would have gotten at the Jellyroll Race. One of the "prizes" was a bag containing a 16 inch Star in a Star block, leftover HST"s, a number of 5 inch squares, a bunch of triangles in red, white and blue, and 2 - 5" X WOF
strips. On the left is what I sorted one evening while I watched TV;  the 16 inch block is on the right

I really don't need to have anything more hanging around in an unfinished (or never to be finished) state. So..... I put it up on a blank space on a design board that was just waiting to be put to use.
I made some HST's from some of the already cut triangles and added a row of blocks around the existing block and now I have this 24 inch piece. I think I will look up some dark blue leftover fabric  and use it for a back and binding, maybe a border if there is enough.

Then I will get back to putting everything away.

The Back

I finished piecing the back of the Fresh Cut quilt. The backing fabric was 108 inches and I needed it to be about10 inches wider. I pieced a section that is 13 inches wide and if that is too wide for the long arm it can be trimmed. Working with a quilt this large has been a monumental task quite an adventure for me. Last evening Jack helped me measure the backing to cut for the pieced insert. He held the tape measure in place on the edge while I marked for the cutting line. The piece we were marking was 120 inches long and we spread it out on the dining room table and clamped it to the edges to the table so it wouldn't slip.

Below on the left, is a photo of the insert piece all stretched out in my sewing room on 2 - 4 x 8 ft, tables with a 3 drawer chest in between. The top right shows it stretched out ready to pin to one of the large backing sections. The bottom right shows my stuffed goose that I made about 30 years ago. He is usually hard at work as a doorstop but he did a good job of keeping the fabric on the table. My Lifetime tables have an edge that makes clamping to the edge not possible.

 This closeup is a collage of the individual blocks, more or less in order. I used leftover pieces and strips to make the sections and separated them with strips of the backing fabric. I used 12 inch long backing fabric strips on both ends so that the pieced sections of the strip will not be trimmed away after the long arm quilting is finished.

Top and backing pressed and folded and ready to go the the long arm quilter.

TA Da!

I finally finished the Fresh Cut quilt top; it is 110 inches square. I have been working on it almost every waking minute for the past week and I am so happy to have it finished. I ordered backing fabric which should be here Monday. I will have to piece the back to make it wide enough but that should be easy compare to the quilt top. I am sending it out to be quilted.
I had a bit of a time deciding how to do the borders. The top without the bordered was 96 inches and I wanted an accent 1.5 inch order. I started to worry that I might get this quilt too large for the long arm. In the end I went with a 3 inch strip in the center and 1.5 inch strips on either side.

 I didn't want to struggle with sewing the border strips on the whole quilt top 3 times so I constructed the borders before sewing them on. I made blocks for the corners to complete the pattern. I probably could have figured out how to use partial seam piecing so that the green strips looked continuous but I gave up thinking about it when I found myself snapping at my husband when he stuck his head in my sewing room to ask me a question.

I did take time out for a couple of days the week before last to make some pot holder/hot pads to exchange at the Basement Diva meeting. It was good to take a break but what was really the best was going to the Diva meeting. Click on the link to see my 2 and  the rest of the pot holders we exchanged. I didn't know how many we were supposed to make so I cut a for a bunch but only brought 2 when I found out we were supposed to bring one. If you know me that makes sense to you. The pot holder that I came home with was the leaf made by Suzie. I can't find the photo that I took of it so you have to see it on the Diva post. That is me with my crown,made by Jan, and scarf, made by Kathy. I missed getting them last month when I missed the Jellyroll Race.

These are 2 of the hot pads, front and back, that I finished from the stack that I had cut. I bought a bundle of fat quarters last fall because they called my name. I had place mats in mind but never got around to making them and they were perfect for the hot pads. For variety, I added a few more left over fabrics from recently completed projects   I found the tutorial here at Sewcanshe blog. They were fun and easy to make and it was a nice diversion. I plan to finish up the rest that I have cut and maybe make some with Christmas fabric.

Improvise

What do you do when something  is not the way you want it and getting it right is not in sight? You IMPROVISE!
I have been stalling about sewing my blocks together because I really need to see more of the quilt than I could put up on my 4 foot square design space.  So... I hung a 31 x 40 inch portable design board on the wall with Command hooks on one side of the existing design pace. That wasn't wide enough so I taped a 18 inch strip of batting to the wall on the other side. This way I have been able to put almost half of the blocks on the wall.

I will get my design wall right eventually and it is probably my own fault that I didn't get it right in the first place after our move. However, this will work for now.

I really need to make sure that I am distributing the gray patches evenly over the whole quilt. I wish I had taken the gray squares out of the layer cakes before I started but at the time getting out to shop again was not going to happen and after taking out all the white 10 inch squares I needed to keep the gray. They aren't terrible but using them requires more care in placement.

I have been telling myself I could get along without a big design space but the truth is that doing so has almost killed my motivation to quilt. Just having this makeshift design space has made a big difference in my enthusiasm already.

Progress!

I finished all of the blocks today for the quilt I am working on. I finally feel as though  I am getting somewhere.

This is what I have on my dinky 48 inch square design wall right now; this is only so I could see how the pattern developed with the  "real fabric" blocks.  I am not sure yet how I am going to lay this out without a decent design wall. I am thinking it over. I might have to lay it out and sew it in sections and line them up somehow to see how it looks before I sew the next section. The colors and fabrics are really random so I am not too concerned, but maybe I should be.

There are:
61 - 16 patch blocks (8  x 8  finished size)
60 - X blocks (8  x 8  finished size)
20 - 16 patch half blocks (4  x 8  finished size)
24 - X half blocks (4  x 8  finished size)
2 - 4 patch corner blocks (4  x 4  finished size)


This is the EQ version of the quilt. I have half blocks around the quilt on all four sides  and 4 patches in the corners to complete the pattern. I have the Moda fabrics that I used (Fresh Cut by Basic Grey) in my EQ fabric library s  ,even though I added other fabrics, I was able to have a good idea how it way going to look.

I ordered fabric today for the borders the green for the inner border and and binding and a floral with a pink background for the outer border both from the Fresh Cut line.

Below, on the left, is a box of scraps from ends of strips and narrow strips from fat quarters and other odds and ends of misfits. In the middle there are left over parts from strip piecing and left over strips and 2 1/2 inch leftover connector corner squares. These will all get added to my scrap containers and probably used for "making fabric" and odd scrap projects. 

 

And then there are the triangles that I cut off of the Connector Corner blocks. I used them for thread  catchers when chain piecing and I will press them and trim the HST's to 1 1/2 inches . There are about 550 give or take a few.  

What will I do with them? 

Maybe I will glue them on my head after I tear my hair out.