Just A Sip

I did manage to squeak in another addition to the Coffee Quilt.  I studied for about an hour but since I study in the sewing room and this quilt is on the design wall right in front of me it's a bit distracting.  :0)

This time I've added these dark triangles so the blocks are sitting square instead of on point.

When they were all up there on point I was thinking of doing a checker board of colors for in between each block.  But it's getting pretty big now so I decided to just do a sashing. 



I'm going to use the small panel squares for corner stones.  They are starting out as 2" squares so they will be 1.5" wide once I get them sewn in.  That might be a problem so I'll give it a test run.  I'm thinking I can do a 1/8" seam so I don't loose the images.  Then again as I'm writing this I'm thinking I may not be able to use them.  Decisions, decisions.


Which fabric do you like for the sashing?






There's light blue with coffee beans or

Dark brown with coffee rings!

I can't decide so let me know what you think.

This week is quilting with the once a month quilters so I'll be asking them and there's never a always a fresh opinion from them!

The Coffee's On

Late Saturday afternoon I finally got started.  Since the blocks were already cut they didn't fit the dimensions called for in the pattern.  The math had me bogged down for a bit but then I decided to just pick a number and go with it.  I figured I could get a block big enough to cut down if I have to.  I keep looking at the pattern for inspiration but I don't know what it's going to turn out to be in the end.  Here's the progress on the first set of blocks.

Based on the largest of the motif squares I cut 5 inch strips from this pretty yellow fabric.  I starched and pressed the strips . . .

then cut them into 5 inch squares, then cut the squares in half diagonally to get all these triangles.  The starch really helps to stabilize the fabric when working with triangles since the side I'm sewing is the bias edge.

Looking at this picture I'm amazed how many tools are needed to make a quilt.  Although most of the work can be accomplished with as little as a ruler, a rotary cutter, a cutting mat, and a sewing machine, you can see from this and some of the other picture that scissors, starch, a seam ripper, several different size rulers, and a wooden pressing tool were also used.  (Not to mention the remotes for the TV!)

Anyway, the triangles are sewn to the fussy cut squares.  I chain pieced the top then bottom, left side then right side.  I don't know if there's a preferred order other than doing opposite sides so that the seams overlap in a pleasing way.  I'm a big believer in pressing after each step to keep things flat.  I don't use any additional starch unless the block is really not holding it's shape.

The triangles were purposely cut to be larger than the center square so to get them lined up with the centers of the sides of the squares I used this wooden pressing tool.  I just fold the block in half and press down with the tool to crease the fabric.  You can kind of see the triangles in the background have already been creased.  This is quicker than going to the ironing board.

That handy little tool is something I bought at a craft fair many years ago.  It was supposed to be used for spreading jelly or jam on toast.  I found it one day a couple of  years ago in a basket with all my baking things.  I never used it for jelly and hardly ever bake any more, except for holidays, so I decided it would get more use in the sewing room than in the kitchen.

I finished all 12 of these main blocks before calling it a night.

I laid them out on the design wall to be inspired for the next set of blocks. 

Guppy's not sure what to make of the whole thing.  He's wondering if he'll be able to reach the top row and pull them all off the board by morning ;o)

The finished blocks ended up being 8 inches square.  I'm thinking of doing scrappy "checker board" blocks to go in between.  That way I can mix in the smallest fussy cuts.  The medium size fussy cuts may end up as sashing corner stones or as part of the border. 

I'll be back with an update soon.  For now I'm off the tackle more math for the second set of blocks!

Oh yeah, I also started a couple of applique projects so I'll be writing about those soon too.

Revisiting the Coffee Quilt

In general I love the creative process.  That's why I do this right?  Many times when I'm out shopping I'll find an individual piece of fabric spark something inside that makes me want to make a quilt right that very moment.  I have to have it.  I guess that's what leads to having a "stash" of fabrics!  (a.k.a. impulse buying LOL)

But it's a rare occasion when I can come home from shopping and start sewing.  In fact, I don't think I've ever done that because I prefer to wash and dry my fabrics before cutting and making the quilts.  Then of course there's that little thing called Life that has a way of taking my attention away from the daydreams of beautiful quilts.

So somewhere between the thrill of buying the fabric and the reality of actually having the time to start the project, 6 other ideas and 10 other projects have entered the picture!  That was the case with the Coffee Quilt.

Quite some time ago I had picked up this coffee fabric thinking I would use it for one of The Girls quilts.  It was a panel so I wasn't sure how I was going to cut it up.  I washed and dried it, then tucked it away safe from dust and cats.  

By the time I got around to doing something with it the weather had changed and it was just too hot to quilt.  The next time I pulled it out I was less than inspired and decided the colors were just not right for person that I initially wanted to give it to.  So back to the safe, clean, cat free zone for the Coffee Quilt.

Right now I"m between projects and this seemed like a great time to give it another try.  After much deliberation I had decided to cut the panel of fabric into each of the different motifs and ended up with this collection of squares.  Now what? 

I had purchased some coordinating fabrics when I bought the panel so I pulled those out looking for inspiration.  Then I searched my stash for even more coordinates.  I typically like to start with LOTS of choices and take out the ones that aren't working for me.

I went back to the pattern I had chosen back in August, shown in the top of the picture below.  Putting it all together I came up with this combination.  It seemed like a good match but I was less than thrilled to get started. 

Next I reviewed some of the pictures I had taken of the fabric "auditions" done back in August.  When the materials at hand just don't match up with the idea in your head it's hard to be excited about the project but this time I was determined to get it done.  And it's got to be quick because I'm supposed to be studying for an exam!

Getting A Little Help

Working with the bright colors for this latest project - Black, White and Brights - has really taken me out of my color comfort zone.  After making my color choices I usually like to make a sample block or two to get a feel for the techniques I'll be using and the color combinations in the finished blocks.  That's exactly what I did last weekend but the results left me less than thrilled.

Let's start with a single block.  It's easy to make and looks great.  I got the pattern from the Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorial.  It's called X's and O's and you get a bonus quilt call the "Serendipity Quilt", more on that when the first one is finished!.

Then I tried some setting combinations.  First was alternating the black and white like this.  I even tried to add in a green triangle - you never know . . . But none of this was working for me.  And the harder I tried the worse it seemed to get.

There were also several variation in between but I was so focused on the design wall that I forgot to take pictures!  Anyway, none of them were working for me either.  Eventually, I just gave up and went to bed thinking usually the light of day makes things clearer.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen in this case. 

In the morning I stood at the design wall again and just couldn't get to liking it.  I was leaving for a business trip in a couple of days so I had a lot on my mind.  I decided that's what the problem was, I just couldn't appreciate what I was doing with so much else on my mind.  As it happened my business trip was just an hours drive away and once the meeting was over I'd have time to take a side trip to a local quilt shop on my way home.  So as I was packing for my trip I pulled all the parts and pieces off the wall and stuffed them in my suitcase.

After a successful meeting with the client I looked up directions to Bits and Pieces in Pelham NH.  I'd been there once before but was coming in from a different direction.  I remember thinking on that first visit that this would be a place I'd definitely have to come back to.  They have a wide selection of quilting fabrics and large bright, work room off to one side. 

When I arrived I found three ladies in the work room taking a break for lunch.  I placed my pile of pieces on the table and asked for help.  They invited me to sit down and talk it over.  We talked about colors and settings and all the other things that you think about when making a quilt for someone.  What kind of colors does the person like; what colors do I like to work with; what will the quilt be used for - wall hanging, cuddling, picnics.  As we talked I laid out the pieces so they could see what I had been doing.  We moved the pieces around, flipped them back and forth, tried different combinations and in the end came up with this layout:

The center makes a pinwheel, the colors make an X and the groups of blacks and whites make the O's.  Somehow seeing it there on the table and having other quilters to talk it over with made all the difference in the world.  I had made the right choices for colors after all and there are multiple variations on the layout that I can do.  One piece of advice I'll be taking is to make all the blocks first then pick the setting.

Maryjane, Carol, and Robin were very helpful indeed!  Thanks so much to the three of you for making me see that working outside my color comfort zone may be a challenge but the end result will be worth it.  A special thanks to Maryjane for snapping the picture and sending to me. 

I hope they'll all stop by here to see the progress and cheer me on.  Thanks for the help ladies! 

Anyone else got any suggestions about working outside my color comfort zone?

Black, White and Brights

With Blue and Cream off to be quilted I took advantage of the long holiday weekend to start on a new project.  Black, White and Brights is starting out great.  I saw this tutorial on YouTube from the Missouri Star Quilt Company site (Love MSQC tuts!!!).  The pattern is X's and O's or Hugs and Kisses.  I haven't been able to find a pattern on-line other than this tutorial so you'll have to wait for the finished project to see the whole thing.

Now that I have a pattern in mind, which by the way, took me about 2 months to decide on, I start doing color auditions. .Here's how I generally start out with color auditions.  First I decide which fabric is the central character, in this case I'm trying to decide if I can work in two different prints that have similar colors.


Running shoes and

Bras! 

I pin them on the design wall then rifle through my stash to pull out coordinating colors/prints.  Some of these I purchased at the same time as the prints so I knew they coordinated and I knew where to find them among the stash.

Since I'm using my stash there is always the possibility I'll find the perfect color only to find out it's less than a fat quarter which makes me kind of nutty.  Why didn't I buy a whole bunch of it when I was shopping?  This is where I start to get creative.  I pulled more pieces of the same color selections and try them out on the sewing table.

This is supposed to be a "scrappy" quilt.  Back when people were making quilts out of necessity they often used bits and pieces of fabric from scraps of old clothes or other sewing projects.  I've never been particularly fond of these types of quilts and prefer to have "organized" scrappy quilts.  Fortunately, I'm not living out of a Conestoga wagon or a sod house on the open prairie or waiting for a ship to arrive from Europe with a bolt of fabric.  If I don't find what I'm looking for in my medium size stash of fabrics here at home I can just run down to the local quilt shop or nearest Joanne's to get what I need.


Before I sew anything I give the pattern a try out with the colors I've chosen like this:

And that's where I left off at the end of the day yesterday.  So tonight I might actually get something sewn together!  Stay tuned, there will be more coming up this week.



Crazy Eights for Audrey

Audrey loves the sunshine! Audrey's birthday is in August but her quilt has been done for quite some time now.  In fact hers was the first quilt I made in this project of the birthday quilts for "The Girls".

Living in the Northeastern US means we get only 3 months a year when the weather is considered mild enough to go to the beach in a bathing suit.  We actually have four seasons; almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction!  This is a challenge for a sun worshiper such as Audrey.  I remember that she would be the first one to don a bathing suit and slather on the baby oil (yes baby oil!) in hopes of soaking in the first rays of sun in the spring (that's "still winter" for you non-NH folks).  She would also be the one on the ski lift with her face pointed upward to catch a bit of the winter sun during a day on the slopes.

When I started the birthday quilt project I didn't have any idea that I would be blogging about them.  Fortunately, I took pictures as I went along thinking I would add to my scrapbook for all my quilts.  Now that I've figured out how easy it is to blog, I don't know if I'll ever get them into that scrapbook.

I first came up with this combination of fabrics based off the fish print seen in the photo on the left.  It was cute but somehow didn't say Audrey to me.  I thought it looked rather childish and while Audrey is a fun person she is certainly not a child.

It had potential but I decided to keep looking.  This combo is tucked away in the "ideas" folder.

During the inspiration phase of Audrey's quilt I had to go on a business trip to the west coast.  Luckily, I was able to combine my return flight with a stop over in Boise ID to visit Mary.  Ever the gracious hostess, Mary had planned several activities for us to do while I was there.  The main one was a "float" down the Boise river.  A story for another time but it was an adventure I will never forget!

The day after our adventures on the river I asked Mary if she could take me to a local quilt shop.  That's where I found this perfect, vibrant, sunny, floral fabric for Audrey’s quilt.  It was the inspiration for the color choices along with the last fat quarter of this deep pink they had in the store.

With the main fabric selected I brainstormed with my sister on which pattern to use.  (You'll probably notice throughout my posts that I regularly use my sister as a sounding board for my quilting projects!)  She had recently finished a summer wall hanging with a beach theme that included appliques of a pail, bathing suits, flip flops, umbrella, etc.  I wanted something that would work on the beach as a blanket for sunbathing so too much applique wouldn't do.  And anything too traditional wouldn't reflect Audrey's sunny side.  Luckily Dutchy had also just finished a baby quilt using the Crazy Eights Pattern.  I decided to try combining elements of both the crazy eights block and applique blocks to create a fun quilt for Audrey. 

Here's the audition for the rest of the fabrics which all came from my stash.  Every time I walked into my sewing room and saw these colors they made me smile.  Let's hope they do the same for Audrey.

Once I had decided on the final fabrics I chose a white background to use for the applique pieces.  This was my first attempt at hand applique so I also chose large patterns.  More on that further down.

Cutting and sewing the blocks was a breeze. The colors were such fun to work with.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of that part of the process but by the magic of digital photographs I was able to crop out a single block to show you. 

Notice it only has 6 pieces.  The pattern name comes from the fact that you use 8 fat quarters to make the whole quilt.  I know, I was confused at first too.  Basically, using the 8 colors gives you more options than just using 6 fat quarters and 6 squares. 

In general, the idea behind the Crazy 8 pattern is that by rotating the completed blocks you come up with a scrappy look that appears to not be blocks at all.  This is where my design wall was a huge help.  I left the blocks on the wall for a couple of weeks and kept rearranging them whenever I went in for another look.  I'll bet I would still be able to give one or two of them another twist if they were still there today. 




Finally, I settled on an arrangement I liked and sewed them together before I changed my mind again!  Here's a peek at the center of the finished quilt.



So bright and cheery - just like Audrey!

 The applique blocks came out pretty good for my first try.  The motifs were fun and big enough to keep me out of trouble!



Appliques for the corners



For the back I chose a pretty paisley print to match the bright colors on the front.

It's hard to see but if you look behind the flip flops you can kind of see the quilting.  It's an overall pattern of big splashes to resemble waves crashing on the shore.  (LOVE the flip flops with their ribbon straps!)



Adding the borders and appliques to the final layout was a challenge.  Once again I reached out to my sister Dutchy for advice.  I hadn't considered that the applique blocks were all different sizes and the background is white but there's no white in the main body of the quilt.  We spent well over an hour rearranging the appliques and trying out different borders to get it just right.

I decided to add a 1 1/2" white inner border to frame the main part of the quilt and tie in the white background on the applique.  The final addition was the colored blocks and blue "water" borders.  The binding frames out the appliques and works well with the paisley on the back.

The finishing touch was the label which I wrote about a few days ago.

I love the way it all turned out!

 

A "Happy Birthday" Day At The Beach!



Blue and Cream - Decisions Decisions

I've been hard at work on the Blue and Cream quilt project.  It has turned into a study in organizational skills.  I wish I could say I invented these organizational solutions but I didn't.  Most of them I learned in classes or from my sister or from tutorials on the Internet.  Keep reading, you might find one or two you haven't seen.

Before I could cut all the pieces I had to decide which blue fabrics to use for which stars.  This wasn't too hard since I had to go with the quantities I had of each print.  The pattern called for 9 stars of one fabric so I had to use the blue and green floral since I had a half yard of it and only fat quarters of the rest.  I started by cutting the star centers.  I placed the nine floral centers on the design wall as shown in the pattern layout in the book.  Then I just started laying the other centers out and moving them around until I got them where I liked them.

As I started cutting the blues for the sashing, which become the star points, it was obvious I'd need to stay organized.  Notice I have the magazine open to the page with the pattern on it.  That magazine has never been more than arms reach away as I worked on this project.  

Over 200 (2") squares, 96 (3") squares, and 25 (3 1/2") squares.  That's a lot of squares and a lot of blue!  Fortunately, I have these clear plastic plates that I use for keeping all the parts and pieces in their rightful places.  I'm not sure where I got these plates, probably from my sister  ;-)  I swear I use these plates for every project now.

I first saw a similar solution in a class I took with Charlene at The Golden Gese Quilt Shop in Concord, NH.  It was a scrappy quilt and I was having a hard time wrapping my head around it.  Charlene to the rescue!  She gave us paper plates to organize our 9-patch blocks that had a fussy cut in the center. 

Two more of my favorite tools are a fabric guide and yellow sticky notes.  The chart helped me keep all the color decisions organized.  The sticky notes keep all the plates organized by size and location such as "2 inch squares for sashing".  How did the world operate before sticky notes?!

I thought once I'd picked the pattern and the fabrics all the decisions for this quilt were done but not quite.  Knowing that this quilt is a gift I was keenly aware of the recipients tastes, or what I believe her taste to be anyway.  The pattern I chose shows stars that are "scrappy".  The centers are one fabric and all the points are a different fabric as seen here.

A fun look but I just didn't see it as something she would like.  Or is it just me struggling with scrappy?  Either way scrappy stars were out!  Instead I used all the same color for the stars and I think it was the right way to go.  Here's an audition for a star.  It's hard to see the cream colored background against the white design wall but you'll see it later on.

Now normally I would take the cut pieces and arrange them in piles in the order they should be sewn together.  That way I can just chain piece them and whip out the blocks in no time.  With this quilt the blocks are actually the sashing around the fussy cuts and the star centers.

To create the sashing I started with the smallest pieces to create the flying geese blocks.  I used plenty of starch before stitching.  Then pressed toward the blue prints so the seams wouldn't show under the cream pieces.  Chain piecing worked for these but the next piece blocks were different.

The larger blocks, which kind of look like rectangular snowball blocks.  More starch and more gentle pressing. 

I ended up with a bunch of sashing blocks.  Kind of looks like a puzzle doesn't it?   Take a look at the colors on the corners, they're different right?  That's because one side is going to be the points on one star center and the other side is going to be the points on a different star center.  Even if I was doing this as a "scrappy" star I'd still have to pay attention to this to make the pattern look right.

When you put one of the stars together you get this.  Simple enough?

Notice in the next picture that, in order to create a star, the sashing between the two rows is laid out vertically and the sashing between the two columns is laid out horizontally.  Not only do I need to keep the right color points on the right color star centers but then there were all those cream rectangles to add to the outside edges.  It took me a few minutes to figure out but here's what it looked like on my cutting table.  The open spaces are where the fussy cuts go.  Can't show you those yet.  ;o)

This is when I decided I needed to put them all on the design wall to keep it all in order!  I laid all the pieces for the entire quilt on the design wall and pinned each piece in place - what a life saver!  Now I'm ready to start sewing. 

I'm afraid that's all the assembly I can show you until I deliver the finished quilt.  I still need to pick out the borders and the backing.

Did you come across any organizational tips you hadn't seen before?  Leave me a comment if you've got other ways to accomplish these same things.

Thanks for stopping by . . . Debby

Blue and Cream

Here's a peek at a quilt I started thinking about many months as while it was too hot to quilt.  I had purchased a novelty print panel of fabric while on a business trip to California.  This is going to be a gift so I can't show the whole thing but here's where I started. 

I used the panel fabric to pull these fabrics from my stash.  They have all the colors in panel fabric.  At my last monthly quilt group I had asked for opinions on which fabrics to use and got some great feedback.  They gave a resounding "No" on the floral print.  They also nixed the golden yellow, the bright green, and the silver/gray.  Good thing I had lots to choose from!

The stripe done diagonally would work for the binding, and the periwinkle blue worked best.  There were also a bunch of fat quarters that I've been holding on to forever that seemed right.

So in the end it came down to blues with a hint of periwinkle and cream for the background.  My sister had the perfect cream fabric so I got that from her stash.

I cut a few 2 1/2 inch strips from the fat quarters to audition them for the Irish Chain pattern.  It turned out to be too complicated for what I needed.  SInce I've never done one I didn't want to experiment on this particular quilt.  That's a challenge for another day.

I've spent a bunch of time in the past two weeks trying to come up with just the right pattern for this particular quilt.  I'm not surprised it took me so long - it usually does!  But I have to admit that even I was pretty frustrated at myself for a while there.

Normally I don't worry about time, especially when I'm quilting.  For those of you who know me, you know I don't worry about time in general unless it involves an airplane!  This time for some reason I was getting anxious about taking too long to decide on the pattern.  I just wanted to get sewing!  Anyway, I have gathered up just the right combo of blues and creams which coordinated beautifully with the panels.  

Picking the pattern was becoming more and more of a chore each day that passed.  I'd think I had just the right one until I spent some time with it in the sewing room.  Then it would be too complicated (Irish Chain) or too simple (9-patch) or too scrappy or whatever but just not right.  Finally, I went back to the pattern that I had originally picked out when I bought the panels.  It's in the February 2010 edition of American Patchwork & Quilting.  It's called Sweat Tea.

You'll notice that the stars are scrappy but that's not going to cut it for me.  I'll be making the stars out of the different blues but each star will be pieced with all the same colors rather than mixing them up.

I'm off to start the cutting!