Focus - Round 2

I have been sucked into the Focus quilt project and spent all morning working on the second round. I made my paper templates last night so that was even more time spent. I love Flying geese so that is what needed to go next as Round 2 needs to be triangles. I used more greens and introduced blues. Then I decided that there needed to be some rebels so I put a couple of bright purples and one subtle purple in the mix. I found a very subtle plaid that had a navy background and subtle greenish blue for the background of the geeseless (that is now a word). The background of the geese is the same blue I used in the center around the word. I am really enjoying this piece so now need to figure out Round 3.

 

I laid out the geese where I liked them and organized them in piles for each of the templates. Two templates have five geese and the other two have seven. I cut the blues over sized but not over sized enough. I need to remember that it is better to waste a little fabric than to have to spend time with Jack The Ripper because the fabric does not cover the area it needs to. I have to say that for me paper piecing geese is the most accurate method, especially when they are 2 inches wide as these are. Perfect geese! That makes it worth the effort.

I spent some time figuring out how to do the layout with the geese.

Focus

 I have been seeing lots of quilts with words on them. I have also been seeing some blogs where people choose a word for the year. I know it is April but I decided that I needed a word for 2015 as I am really working on organization this year and focus seems to be a great word as I am so easily distracted. The goal is to hang this as a small wall hanging for my reminder to remain focused on the goals at hand and stick to my to do lists..............making this quilt was a real distraction from other things I had planned to do so I know that I really need to work on focus. I am also hostessing a Nesting Robin on a about.com quilting forum and have not added even the first round which was put out last November..............the compass block that I was going to use was just not the right center and will be saved for another project. The goal for the Nesting Robin is to use an orphan block and to use only stash fabrics if possible. Ok this is not an orphan block but I made it from the backing of the Merlot quilt from the previous post.........yep that navy blue is leftovers form the sheet I used for a backing. The remainder of the fabrics used so far are from the scraps from the Scrappy Trips Around the World I am working on. My goal for this little word project is not just to use stash fabric, but to use fabric from the scrap bin as much as possible.

 I trimmed the center to an even 8 1/2 by 20 1/2 so that it will be easy math to add new borders and make them work. The finished center is 8x20 easily divided by 2 and 4.

Here is border number 1. The clue for this one was to use squares and rectangles. This border will finish at 1 inch wide. Now to figure out border number 2. but that is for another day............I am off to put the 5th row of the scrappy trips quilt together and add it to the 4 completed rows. There will be 8 rows total so I am past the halfway point when this 5th one goes on.

Merlot

 I finished my latest improv quilt. In the end I am surprised at how well it turned out considering the design challenges along the way. There was a point where I really had my doubts about where it was going. I like the movement the curves create so I decided to really bring those out in the final shape by making the bottom corners into definite curves. I did  very simple grid in inconsistent curvy lines. In an afterthought I would have loved to have a varagated thread with blacks, greys and red but alas I did not have any such thread. I did audition one thread but it had greys and blacks with green and purple undertones and hence it did not play nicely.

 Closer view of the corner with the grid quilting.

 Now who would believe that not all of the fabrics in this are new, the two reds and the grey plaid are upcycled mens shirts, the backing is a bed sheet (100% cotton and not a tight weave). I am really enjoying using upcycled materials for my quilts.

I love to add a surprise on the backs of my quilts so I used leftover pieces and scraps and pieced a fun strip across the back. I really did need to do something as the blue I had for the back was about 2 inches short so something had to be done to add to it.

You Can't Get There From Here

 I have been working on this Improv quilt for two days now. It took a left turn and a quick right and it was all I could do to keep up with it. Here is the top ready to be quilted. So how the heck did I get here. Well down a few tight curves, around the bend over the river and.............well you get the idea.

 It all began with this stack of fabrics cut into 15 inch squares. I knew exactly where I was heading with this.

 Here I am with my improv circles.................I just did not love them.............ok I did not like them. The color palate just did not work any more and the circles were to square. Alrighty then what to do.

 How would the blocks look if you only saw half of each one. Humm..........better.............but that golden tan just was not playing well with the rest of the group so with the help of the rotary cutter, and the seam ripper all of the fabric was left by the wayside.

 This is where I left off yesterday after inserting more fabrics into the pieces, adding some more curves. I am starting to like it better.

 Today I decided after looking at my final photo from yesterday I would just lay things out fresh and new and here is where I started.

More cutting and adding and splicing and playing and I ended up here. Ok now I think this is something that I could enjoy looking at. Now all that is left to do is sew those long rows together and you can see that by going back to the top of the post. I think the right side will end up being the top of the quilt. I will most likely do some sort of a simple grid quilting on it and then trim it so that whatever is the top will be flat and allow the sides to curve however they want and and bind it in red or back. I hope to load this on the longarm tomorrow and quilt it.

Now had I tried to think of this quilt from the pile of fabrics I never would have been able to get here from there!

Feather Me Please!

 This is Sandy's beautiful Women of The Bible quilt. I really love the traditional  blocks in this quilt and how they are combined in a beautiful setting with the dark brown sashing to really have them stand out. I figured out just the thing for this beauty and that was an allover medium feather meander. I really love feathers so this was a joy to quilt and I really got into the rhythm and didn't want it to end.

An allover feather meander is not really that hard if you like to do feathers. Just think of a giant stipple pattern (you can adjust the size from very small to really large depending on how big you want your feathers). There really is no right or wrong just make a giant curving line that is about the same distance from the other parts of the line or the lines next to it...........with some variation for interest.

 Start on one side of the line and just do feathers all the way across to the other end.

 Come back to the start and feather the other side of the line and this what you end up with! It really looks great on so many different quilts.

 Spring has finally arrived. These are the first crop of wildflowers in my yard. They are really tiny, maybe about 1/2 inch across and very low to the ground. I think they are called bladderpod.

Scrappy Trips Lay Out

This project kind of got neglected in recent weeks. I was working on it full steam ahead and once the blocks were finished and stacked the stack got moved from place to place in the studio. I kept wanting to lay them out but never got around to it. Well I decided that if I could just lay them out I would then be able to work on it again as time allowed.

This project was all about color and purging...........ok how do those two things go together? Well I need a quilt for the bed in the new RV. I really like this pattern because it is more about color than the fabrics used in it and I love green and purple. I also wanted to use up as much fabric as I could that I am not fond of. Now don't get me wrong there are many fabrics in there that I do indeed love. I began by pulling everything out that was purple and green that I was not fond of and started cutting my strips. Then when I ran out of those I added in other fabrics that I am more fond of. In the end I used a ton of fabric which includes lots of stuff I don't have to look at again and wonder what to do with.

Hopefully now that this is in a pleasing layout I will have my flimsey sewn together in a week or two. I could play with it forever and not get it perfect............and that is not what this quilt is about anyway.

Kim's Tisket-Tasket

 This wonderful whimsical quilt belongs to my friend Kim. I have admired the top for some time as she has been working on it for some time. She finally finished it up and gave it to me to take home and quilt from the retreat we attended in February. It just makes me smile every time I look at it. Each block represents a month of the year. To make the feather in the border I marked the spine all the way around so that it all came out just right in the end.

If you would like me to quilt for you please contact me thru my e-mail by clicking on my profile.

 I think it is safe to say that Spring has arrived! The temperatures are in the 60's and 70's during the day and it is not getting too cold at night any more. All the snow is completely gone. There are some clouds to the north but it was a beautiful last day of March here today.

Sandia Sunset

I began this quilt with just the click of a mouse! I was surfing quilting sites and likely followed a link on Pinterest that lead me to Bonnie Hunter's free instructions for her  Scrappy Mountain Majesties HERE I was thinking what a slick way to really sew up something with lots of impact easy and fast. I did not file that one in the back of my mind to come back to someday. I instead, forged ahead and started pulling orange and blue fabrics from the stash and scrap bin. I ended up making a huge mess and spent way more time putting all that fabric back after cutting the squares to make the design. I first made a test block and really liked how fast it came together and loved the orange and blue colorway so I was off and running with this. I managed to piece together the top fairly quickly. I found different ways to set the blocks and played with them till I finally came up with my final setting. This reminds me of looking out west of my house at Sandia Crest and the beautiful sunsets we see in the evenings.The photoshoot was done at the University of New Mexico.

 

 

The Back

The back

Misha's Celtic Solstice

I have been following my friend Misha's progress on her Bonnie Hunter Mystery Celtic Solstice. I was delighted when Misha asked me to quilt her Celtic Solstice top. She is going to use it as a lap quilt so did not want it quilted to death. I came up with a design to showcase the circular look of the piecing. I did a modified feather/leaf on one side and some swirls on the other side of an asymmetrical melon shape. I also took the Solstice theme and did a sun shape in the center of the circular sections. For the border I did a simple treatment that showcased her triangles. This was a very fun quilt to work on. Misha used a different color way than the mystery and I have to say that I really love her color choices and the fabric selection she used.

 

 

Thank you Misha for letting me quilt for you!

Nicole's Quilt Done!

I have been working on a comfort quilt for Nicole a jewelry artist in the Methow Valley up in Washington State. Her house, workshop and forest burned down last Summer. You can see her post on her blog about it HERE Also check out the rest of her blog, she makes beautiful one of a kind jewelry.

I



finally finished Nicole's quilt and it is ready to go to her new home. I want to thank: Brigette from Oklahoma, Hilda from New Mexico, Kim from Arizona, Marcia from Maryland, Mary Jane from Georgia, Misha from Washington, Pat from Iowa, Pat from New Mexico, Patty from Oklahoma, Sandy from Texas, and Suze from California. All of you sent beautiful blocks to make this quilt for Nicole and her family.