Showing posts with label PatchworknPlay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PatchworknPlay. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Sweet September SewJo

Despite making four trips to the Grandparent House and only spending fourteen days at home, I have five Finally Finished which makes this a very busy and productive month for me.  Apparently when only having a limited schedule for quilting, I can be pretty focused.  The first Finally Finished for September was my Shine Quilt which I posted on September 8th.  My next four quilts were for the Jelly Snowflake QAL, a Dreami, Country Threads Dirty Dozen QAL and a surprise finish; here are the photos with a brief description of each.

Emily, The Darling Dogwood, and I decided since we already did two of the same QALs this year without us knowing that neither one of us was sewing together, we would do a third one together and we decided upon Fat Quarter Shop’s Jelly Snowflake QAL.  You can see Emily’s beautiful interpretation Here.  I have mentioned in previous posts that I consider myself a QAL Escape Artist and Emily seem to have followed in my sew steps, in that, we did the first two blocks as per the pattern and then veered off with our own  finishes. The Jelly Snowflake pattern was beautiful and made great use of jelly roll strips but I wanted to showcase more of the fat quarters of the Stacey Hsu North Pole fabric which I received several years ago in one of the Fat Quarter Shop’s Christmas Sampler Box. That’s all I’m going to say about the Jelly Snowflake pattern and named my quilt Frosty Flake because of the snowmen on some of the prints and because it is my favorite breakfast cereal.  After the top was completed, I immediately knew how I wanted to quilt it with the straight-line diagonal quadrants with red thread.  Frosty Flakes measures 48” square and it’s going to be nice to have a new Christmas quilt to hang up this year.  BTW, I thought that instead of calling myself a QAL Escape Artist, I would give myself a new name or descriptor: Sewing Rose-gue, it seems to better explain how I quilt.


While searching for the red binding for my Frosty Flake Quilt in my red stash, I came across the Watermelon fabric with the matching large red gingham print and immediately knew I had to make something for the darling Granddaughter.  Since I’ve been spending so much time with her, I’ve become quite fond of the CoComelon videos which are fun and addicting to watch. Even when we’re not at the GP House, Hubby and I are humming and singing many of the tunes.  A simple patchwork blankie was made with some fun green prints from the stash and another red print.  I had the perfect shade of a coral pink Minky yardage in the stash and a quilt was made before the next GP visit.  This Blankie measures 40”x56”, which is a nice size for snuggling for one person but I would have made it bigger if I had more of the watermelon and red gingham print.
The month of September also meant a new UFO finish of our #11 for Country Thread’s Dirty Dozen which was my Flea Market Square. The top was made over seven years ago and it seems that during this time, I made a lot of square quilts and some of them I have committed to finishing for this QAL.  I didn’t keep any notes on the making of this quilt and I was able to ascertain that a charm pack of Moda’s Three Sisters Flea Market II was used along with some yardage.  At first I didn’t remember even what fabric line was used but was able to guess after looking at one of the charm squares which had a Paris map and was able to connect it to one of the Flea Market lines.  I was happy that I found the quilt top with the backing and binding safely tucked away together.  
I’ve mentioned in previous posts how I was inspired by Mary Etherington of Country Threads to do straight line quilting on traditional quilts so I thought since I was finishing this quilt as part of her QAL, it would look appropriate for Flea Market Square.  I quilted it with a very pale pink Mettler thread to keep the quilting  quiet and simple. I usually don’t back my quilts with fabric from the same line, partly because of cost and not wanting to waste it especially for a wall hanging, but I must have purchased the plaid when it was on sale because I had three yards of it.  I do love pairing plaids with florals.  Now that this quilt is a Finally Finished, I have a place to hang it on my bedroom wall since I’ve been meaning to replace the current artwork which has been hanging around for over twenty years.  Sad I won’t see the backing, but I’ll know it’s there.

Since I had a day left before the end of September when I wanted to post, I thought I would squeeze out one more Finally Finish with the Big Blinky Bill Blankie. I made the top earlier this year and is one of the flimsy made during my Flimsy Frenzy February.  The top was inspired by my Slinky and Pinky Quilts which is a simple pattern using squares and rectangles.  When I wrote the posts for these quilts, I mentioned I was inspired to make more and keeping the “inky” in the names.  Good Quilt Mentor Sue of PatchworknPlay offer up Blinky Bill which is an Australian Children Book Koala character.  Since I didn’t have any Koala fabrics I thought the next best thing would be to use my stash of Aboriginal prints which have been sitting far too long in the stash with solid squares of Shot Cotton, Peppered Cotton and Aged Muslin.  I thought this top could be a quick Finally Finished if I made a Patchwork Throw by only backing it with my favorite gray Chenille Plush.  It measures 52” x 82” which would make it a throw according to my rules, but since I love alliteration in my quilt names I’m calling it a blankie, thus the name Big Blinky Bill Blankie.  Since Hubby’s name is Bill, this will be his, especially since with the other patchwork throws I made with the plush for the backing, I’m always telling him how wonderful they are for snuggling and napping.  Now he will have his own to find out how true this is.
I still managed to find time to start others projects and keeping up with my 2020 Color Challenge blocks.  I’m calling this a month now and maybe rest for the remaining few hours left.  But no, I still have 1.5 days left before we leave for the GP House again and the studio here is still where I’m the most productive; probably because I don’t have a sweet distraction beckoning me to play with her.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

The Dear Tula Pink Quilt is Finally Finished

I started my Dear Tula Pink Quilt in 2013 right after I retired and this was going to be the quilt project to make sure I kept my focus on quilting and not waste any of my newly acquired "free time."   
I purchased Tula Pink's 100 Modern Quilt Blocks right after it was published in 2013.  To prepare for this project, I had the book spiral bound, purchased a Moleskine graph paper book to keep track of the blocks and the fabrics used for each block and I even set up a Pinterest board.  I called this project "Dear Tula Pink" because this was going to be, for me, like the "Dear Jane" quilt started by Brenda Papadakis which was very popular at that time, and may still be, and it was the quilt to make for those who like a challenge.
One of my favorite color combinations is black, gray, brown, tan, gold, taupe and beige. I used a mash of Civil War, Asian, Traditional, Modern, Blenders, Florals, Geometrics and Novelty prints for this quilt.  Luckily for me after I pulled these fabrics from my stash, I found a print online of the Skyscrapers which, to me, tied in all of these colors.  I was planning to use this for the borders.

These are some of the blocks which you can see the different fabric types used.

And now for some stories as to how my Dear Tula Pink was made and finally finished after four years.  First of all, I intended to make all 100 of these blocks.  After I had made a few of the blocks, I happened to show them to my two quilt peeps and they wanted to join in--it would be a nice group project they said.  Each one of us would make three of the same blocks and share them with each other. Unfortunately, this idea ended less than a year after one peep made around 30 blocks and the other one whose idea was to do this together only did 21. I ended up making 39 blocks.  I was disappointed, but understood, that the other two peeps didn't have as much time as I did and when you think about it, 39 blocks multiply by four (I made two of each for myself) is 156 blocks and I was getting tired of them, especially making four of the same blocks and they were 6" finished which is too small for me.  I do like to think if I did the project by myself and only made one of each block, I probably could have made all 100 blocks.
After the decision was made to discontinue making the blocks. I made this quilt using some of the blocks made by one peep based on one of the layout ideas in the book.  I used two shades of dyed muslin and a colorful stripe fabric I had in my stash.  It's only a coverlet, no batting, just a backing of tan corduroy with light quilting.

It took me around two years to finally come up with the layout for my blocks and the funny story is that I had just finished putting together my Gypsy Wife blocks last year and if you are familiar with this pattern, the blocks are set in strips of fabric which I just didn't want to do (I was mentally exhausted after making those GW blocks) so my blocks were laid in a Sampler layout.  But with my Dear Tula Pink quilt, I wanted to set these blocks with fabric strips and solid pieces of the Skyscraper print.  After a couple of false starts this year, I finally quilted Dear Tula Pink with straight line quilting using a variegated black, brown and tan thread.

While I was finishing up this quilt and I was on Pinterest, I noticed that someone had pinned one of the blocks I had on my Dear Tula Pink Project board.  It turned out it was a block made by my dear quilt blog friend Susan Snooks, PatchworknPlay, and I had probably pinned before we became friends.  I noticed her block had similar colors and fabrics like my quilt so I went on her blog to find her finished quilt and I was amazed at the similarities between our two quilts using the same colors and fabric designs and that her blocks were laid out in the skyline layout (remember I featured a Skyscraper print in my quilt).  I sent a message to Susan asking her for the link to her quilt so you can check it out for yourself: Susan's City Skyline Quilt.  Pretty freaky, don't you think?  Susan started and finished her City Skyline quilt in 2013.  Too bad I didn't know her back then, maybe I would have made more blocks, we definitely could have shared blocks.

On my Minus 100 Yard Challenge, I guess I shouldn't have been so over confident that I could reach this goal, maybe I should have tried for a Minus 10 Yard Challenge instead.  In defense of my fabric purchases so far this month, all I can say it's July and that means sizzling Sidewalk Sales.  Sadly I didn't have to leave the house to make my purchases.

Previous YTD Total:   -49.125 yards
Current YTD Total:    -38.125 yards

Linking up with:

My Quilt Infatuation: Needle and Thread Thursday
Crazy Mom Quilts:Finish It Up Friday
Confessions of a Fabric Addict:  Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?
Busy Hands Quilts:  Finish Or Not Friday


Tuesday, June 27, 2017

The Liebster Award--Discover New Blogs

I've been nominated for the Liebster Award by my fellow blogger Wendy of Peaceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life whom I've gotten to know this year when we both participated in the 2017 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop.  We've shared inspiration, fabric tales, stories and laughs and I am glad we still stay in touch with each other through our blogs. Participating in the Blog Hop was a wonderful way to connect with other quilters and grow your blog.

I was happy to learn about the Liebster Award which only exists on the Internet and is given to bloggers by other bloggers. It is a great way to discover and promote new bloggers who have less than 200 followers. It was started in 2011 and Liebster in German means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome which I have to say is what we quilt bloggers are all about. You can read more about the Liebster Award by visiting the Global Aussie's Website.

Part of the nomination process is answering the questions Wendy has prepared:

Who inspired you to quilt/sew?

My mother sewed all of my clothes when I was young and I accompanied her on many fabric shopping trips and when I started quilting, she supported my fabric stash.  What really started me quilting was when I saw a quilting magazine at the check-out counter and realized that I can make my own quilts.

If you could meet one person you have never met, who would it be?

Kaffe Fassett and my dream is coming true this October; I finally am going to be taking one of his classes.  I've been practicing how to correctly pronounce his name: Kaffe rhymes with safe.

What kind of music do you like?

I love all different types of music; it would be easier to tell you what type of music I don't like which is talking with no singing and songs using profanity.  I really like listening to the Frozen soundtrack while I'm sewing.

What was the last movie you saw in a theater?

I am too embarrassed to answer this question; let's just say I should have waited until 2018 when the Downton Abbey movie is going to be released.

What is your favorite quilt/sewn project/craft?

I love making a quilt that I can use a lot of different fabrics and the patches are either squares, rectangles or strips.  It's all about the fabrics and the easier the pattern the better.

What is your favorite candy bar?

I really like Chunky but Almond Joy is a close second.

Hand Quilt or Machine Quilt

Definitely Machine Quilt: I have way too many fabrics and quilts I want to make.

Favorite Color

Apple Green, Lime Green, Chartreuse--any yellow/green.

Favorite Quilting/Crafting Item

I was and still am afraid of my rotary cutter so my June Tailor Shape-Cut Ruler was a blessing when I first started.  It has been replaced now with my die-cutters.

Do you work on one project or many?

I could never work on just one project, I am not that disciplined plus I get distracted too easily by all the quilts I see on Blogs and Pinterest.  I have around 40 projects left on this year's project list.
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According to the 2017 requirements for the nominations, I am to include a short commentary on a blog that I follow and this is where I can give a shoutout to my blog mentor and Quilt Inspiration, Susan Snooks of PatchworknPlay.  Susan played an important part of me starting a blog last year and was very helpful and encouraging, plus it helped that she has a beautiful blog to inspire me. Her blog was one of the first ones that I left comments on and Susan reached out to me to let me know that I was a No Reply Commenter, a term I never heard before and made me realize that I really miss not having a Help Desk to help me navigate computer problems.  If you want to be inspired by beautiful handwork and fabric combinations, please check out Susan's Blog PatchworknPlay. Everytime I see her blog header, it makes me smile.  I think she is the reason why I take on the Jen Kingwell projects which sometimes I don't think it's a good thing.  I can say that Susan is my favorite Australian quilter and she has taken on a new role as my Fabric Fitness Coach. Let's just say I am to stop shopping and get back to the sewing table. Cheers, Suz!
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MY FOUR NOMINATIONS for the Liebster Award are quilters I've gotten to know through the Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop:

Andrea of Goofin' Off Around the Block is a Quilt and Disney fanatic and, like me, believes fabric just magically appears.  I travel vicariously through her.

Liz of Savor Every Stitch has only been quilting for a short time and has already made some pretty wonderful quilts plus has amazing machine quilting skills.

Laura of Slice of Pi Quilts is another amazing and talented quilter and is always up for a challenge.

Kathleen of Kathleen McMusing who I consider a Quilt Sister and gotten to know her better when we both participated in the Free Fall QAL. 

These are the questions I would like to see their responses and some are a little different than the ones I answered.
  • Who inspired you to quilt/sew?
  • If you could meet one Quilt Personality, who would it be?
  • Your preference while quilting:  Listening to Music, Watching a Movie, Listening to a Book on Tape, Whistling or Total Silence
  • Do you have a favorite snack/munch while quilting?
  • Do you look for quilts while watching a movie?
  • What comes first when you make a quilt:  buying stash then look for a pattern or buy the pattern first and then the fabric
  • What is your favorite quilt/sewn project/craft?
  • Hand Quilt or Machine Quilt?
  • Favorite Color?
  • Favorite Quilting/Crafting Item?
  • Do you work on one project or many?
I hope you check out everyones' blogs during the Liebster Award season and discover new blogs to follow.

Also, I would like to thank Wendy for the nomination and never did I think I would every have an opportunity to say this, it is an honor to be nominated.