The Before and After

This post shall be about how we ladies feel and look after a trip to the beauty parlour.

We go into the shop feeling all rough and raggedy     -  " the before "

We come out all aglow with trims, tucks   and tints  -  " the After "

 

 

This must be the comfort of making string blocks.

 Step 1 - You can sew on your scrap strings, willy nilly, feeling glad to diminish that lot! 

Step 2 - you look at the blocks and think they are so nasty looking, you will just have to give them away to somebody;     anybody............. and dont attach your name to it.

Step 3 - you trim them down to size, take another look and see how lovely they really are and wonder how you will be able to part with them! They contain memories of all the fabrics you have created something from.

I totally enjoy machine quilting string blocks into a quilt, but that will have to wait, for now.  I will be sure to stay out of my scrap bins for awhile.That is what started another string quilt # 2.

Template Tuesday

My DH is so accommodating!  I got over-enthusiastic about this template set that contains an abundance of design possibilities.  He rushed me to the LQS who is about 10 miles away and who also just happened to have a template set in stock. He is a treasure!

Lots of markings on the ruler to guide you. I hope to try using it with and without fusibles. I love the serpentine and scallop edges.




This is the creator of these rulers. The video demonstration provides a sampling of the design possibilities.  It was an effective selling tool.   The leaflet that accompanies the rulers is not an instructional at all.       http://suepellanddesigns.com/instructions/videos/

I'm looking for additional instruction for these templates. If anyone knows other links, tutorials or galleries applying to these rulers, please let me know!  Thank you so much. 

Sunday Grace

Nothing quilty to report these last several days. Another round of strings was added to my set of 36 blocks and some hand sewing got done on the never-ending Queen of Diamonds.  LOL  Nothing photo-worthy going on.

Did I mention that this newest set of string blocks transpired from a straightening out of the scrap boxes?  I got tired of deciding on scraps and thought it was easier to just start sewing them together!  And the Queen of Diamonds - I believe I need to cut and baste another 500 white hexes, just for the bed TOP.  Oh dear, I better start figuring out how I am gonna recycle those paper hex templates for using in the next construction phase. I have about 1100 hex forms, but the entire queen quilt will require about 4100 hexagons.

Lots of mind-planning occurred last week, in  unfinished stages. No point in cementing down the brain wave of creativity. LOL  Do any of you do that mind-thing with your projects?  Why do fabrics seem to have a mind of their own? It seems they have to tell you how and where they will be used!  Truly.

I had been busy with other obligations this past week.  I am  SO  ready to spend the new week indulging in my projects.  Now, I just have to zero in on which projects should get the attention. So many choices!

May your creativity be heavenly blessed.

String Quilt #2 - p3

A bit of progress, Yes!  I grew tired of sorting scrap strings and pieces. I found I had an imbalance of colors going on -  small amount of cool colors, lots of warm colors. It seemed timely, I'll make an autumn-themed string quilt. Someone will like it. The narrow black sashing is showing off those tans very nicely. The dusty green center strip is very calming. I see an opportunity to 'control' the design with carefully chosen corner triangles.

So I took time to work through some of those strings I had tossed in the string box. I managed to sew and press a strip to both sides of the 36 blocks.  It's difficult to step away from working on those blocks.  I think I just started another project!  LOL

Scrap Sorting - Again

It’s hot here in the Midwest. and what am I doing? I’m standing over an iron, performing another tidying of my scrap bins. I’ve got to commit to a better system when putting them away. I don’t think I put them away, I toss them in the bin – all sorts of sizes and shapes.

I do want to keep my current system – I need my pieces sorted by color families. I have some thinner drawers which hold larger pieces, smaller than a fat quarter. Right now, I’m digging thru them for more strings. I thought I could cut up those smaller pieces - LOL – not yet; but as soon as I run out of the strays, they’re next on the chopping block.

I believe a good scrap users system must go thru a 12-step program. I must be on step 2. I have already determined that my day will be spent collecting and sorting scraps and not sewing them.

Step 12 must be when you are at the end of your project and you can sort the pieces into their rightful place, before the next project hits the table. Now, wouldn’t that be efficient!

String Quilt #2 -p2

Step 2
My narrow black strings have been added to both sides of the beginning diagonal strip. They will finish at one-half inch (1/2") each. I was able to yield 3 pieces from each 'width of fabric' strip because the length required for this position is about 13 inches.

 

I suppose Step 3 will involve replenishing my string box with a new variety. These foundation blocks are begging for some color!

String Quilt #2

Step 1
I realized I did do something quilty yesterday. I prepared the beginning stages of my newest String Quilt, #2. I decided to use up a drab, dusty advocado? green that was hanging around my stash. It looks almost gray. I cut it into 2" strips for the diagonal. Hmmm,  I couldnt get 48. So I had to go with the plan of 36 blocks, plus a narrow border. This situation is what set off my blueprint plans for string quilts in EQ. You can find those blueprints in my Saturday post.

This photo is the result of my labors yesterday. A blinding bright white muslin and a dull, dusty gray-green. It looks drab, doesnt it? There are 36 blocks here, waiting to be covered in strings!

Next step................................adding the narrow black strip to both sides of the green strip. That should add a bit of drama to these blocks!

Blueprints for String Quilts

Let's see. What project shall I work on today? I had several choices. As I was sifting thru my scrapboxes, I decided to begin another string quilt. I wanted some 'mindless, stress-free' sewing.  HA!

I had a small bundle of muslin to use as foundation. I cut that up into strips. It will make 40 blocks. I have a mundane sort of green fabric. I decided to use that up for the center strip and outline it with a narrow black frame.  This method of framing the string blocks with a narrow sashing strip was first used by Melva and shared on the HeartStrings group. I do not take credit for creating this design element. This post is for illustration only.

I had planned to make a 48- block quilt with a narrow border. As I was preparing the green strips, I discovered it will not yield 48 pieces. Now what?  Why not spend the day in EQ and find out what you can really do?  LOL

I can see this will be a recuring issue, so I made up some blueprints for my string blocks. I want to know how many blocks I need and what size I will get from each plan.

This is a string block drawn in a 4-patch setting. You can achieve a few different settings, depending on the orientation of the patch.  Here are 2 different orientations. The sample layouts which follow, are using the first layout.  The measurements in the layouts are based on a string block finishing at 9".

This is a really nice size for a baby quilt or wheelchair quilt. The basic block setting measures out at 36". You can decide your own border treatment to make it a size you need. This diagram finishes at 45x45.

This one has 24 blocks and works up to a nice lap size of 49 x 67

Here is a 48 block plan with a narrow border. I think a border contains the strings and gives a nice, finished look.  This plan incorporates the QAYG joining strips. It makes quilting and assembly a very easy process!

I'm pretty sure this is the layout I'll have to use this time. It is a nice, squared plan and "sofa sized". It has 36 string blocks. The black joining strips are the same size as the black in the accent frame.

What is your favorite blueprint? Please leave a comment for me.

Fiesta Fans

This project was one of those 'special accidents'. I began editing a traditional fan block in EQ. I gave it vivid colors, a little rotation and this is what turned up. I began this project way back in 2002! I submitted it, with a less dramatic border, as a Club Eq challenge project. When I submitted the file, I made a comment that I should make it for real. Well, dear Penny, a major player at the EQ Company, dared me to make it. So,  I did.  Where is the pic of the real quilt?  It is still a top, a UFO! I made this in my early quilting days. I  trimmed the blocks wrong, so that the quarter circle arcs didnt meet up properly.

I paper pieced the fan blades independently, then joined them into a fan. I used interfacing on the curved edges of the blades, so I could sew on the line and invert it to a finished edge. I appliqued the fan to the background squares. I planned some nice fancy quilting in the open areas.

I might actually finish this quilt, if Penny dared me again, but not this year. Actually, next year would be the 10-year mark from 2002. Unbelievable!  That may be a good year to finish it!

If you would like the EQ7 file for this project, you can download it here

Please remember that you must have EQ7 installed on your computer in order to open this file.

Fiesta Fans Quilt - http://www.box.net/shared/ldljpqcgb0m217ggzinv

         

Braid Strips

I have the two braid strips pieced now. They will become part of my Sofa quilt. They turned out 76" long! I havent finished off the edge yet. I'm auditioning thoughts of what to use as the edge. This picture shows it using a portion of the border stripe fabric. The same stripe which created the center block design. It is a stripe, cut, re-cut and re-assembled "hidden wells" style. Turns out very cool!

Now back to the braid....I am worried about overkill with this border strip fabric. You may recall I have already made parts of a center panel for this quilt, with seminole piecing and the border stripe on the ends. The center edges remain undone for now. It is waiting to have another band, considerably wider, to be inserted between the seminole strips. It will contain another piecing style.

On either side of this center panel will be panels of  applique!  It will definitely NOT contain any border stripe! LOL

Did I ever get back to the issue of the braid bands?  Okay, Instead of using this border stripe on the ends of the braids, I could entertain the thought of using a very narrow dark wine, solid fabric on the ends.

If you havent run for the bottle of tylenol, please leave an opinion for me.

Thread Tales

Right now, I am piecing two rows of braids which will become a part of my L.R. sofa quilt. You can only add one piece at a time before pressing open in preparation for the opposing piece. I am chain-sewing the two bands each time. I wondered to myself if it was really accomplishing anything to chain sew only 2 units before having to cut.

My mind had to analyze this - I could not let it go. So, say you have an ending thread tail of 3" and say you have a new beginning thread tale of another 3", that would be 6" of thread. Now, we have a top thread and bobbin thread, so that is actually 12" - yes, one whole foot of expensive thread, every time you have to cut and start a new piece!

I am glad that I have grown up to the better quality of thread, BUT I will be more conscious of how I use it.

BunnyHill Block #4

Who says I cant keep it simple? I must have had my fill of applique for the week because block # 4 is done!  Cool eh? Very cool. I especially like this one, probably because all of the pieces except the leaves, were made before today!  LOL The circles turned out really well when I did those. I wonder what I did?

I really like the whimsy of this block. Now, onward to blocks No. 6 and 7............no way, not today! I need to tidy up now, so I can get back to some normal quilting!  I am encouraged to gather pieces for some new braided rows for my sofa quilt.

How about a pic of all the blocks together? Here is the first five blocks - four more to go plus borders. Again, please disregard the yellow overcast in the photography. My cameraman is off today!

I'm beginning to like this piece but it is starting to look a little cluttered. I especially like the folk art feel of the black top stitching thread. The piece has been made solely from my scrapbox. It may become my new studio  mascot quilt when it's finished.

Pillowcase Dresses for Haiti

I have had a few inquiries about the campaign for donating pillowcase dresses. The batch of dresses that I made will be provided to the local chapter of United Methodist Women.

This website represents the large organization. It contains general information for various causes. http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umw/give/haiti/

If you are interested in supporting the pillowcase dresses program for the children of Haiti, my first suggestion is to contact a United Methodist Church in your area. Someone there would be able to provide the information you need.

Thank you for your interest in this charitable work.

Bunny Hill Blk #5 - Finished

Phew. That was just way too much work! LOL  An entire day and a half, just for the applique. The background block was already done prior. Should I do the applique for my block #4 now that all the stuff is out?   My photography is substandard! The fabrics are really more earthy and cream toned.

 

When you are quilting, you are spending time with yourself. I usually learn something about myself while I'm doing a quilting task. Today I have learned not to snub my nose up at fusible applique! Generally,  I am a handwork person, but this 'A' stuff really stretches my patience. I have learned to recognize pieces with inside curves as very unfriendly.

I had a charming pattern for a lazy susan flower, but it was too big AND too many points. Here, again, is where this fusible technique is beginning to look better and better. I dont mind machine stitching around those odd curves and points.

This block #5 is my center block, to set the theme of the whole piece. I can move on to block #4 now and keep it simple.  LOL

Bunny Hill Blk #5

 My Bunny Hill block #5 is  almost done. I knew where I wanted to go with it, but I ran out of steam. The fence logs are deliberately offset. My plan was to apply some greenery along the bottom. I also wanted to have something in the open space opposite the crow. I thought I knew where I was going with this, but my motifs werent quite right.

I have some gorgeous stars from Keepsake Quilting. They are cut from shimmering gold fabrics. I wanted to use one of those but it was just a bit too big. If I tried to cut it down, I wouldnt get it right.

It is frustrating to have your day ending and your tiny project not quite finished! I still have blocks 4, 6, and 7 to make and I think block 8 is just around the corner! LOL

What do you think this block needs?

More Pillowcase Dresses

Today I finished up the last of a batch of donated pillowcases - made into dresses. This campaign is being collected by the United Methodist Women and will be shipped on to the children of Haiti.

I made 4 dresses today. It doesnt sound like much, but that bias tape is a time-consuming effort. I refuse to buy bias tape since I have the resources to make my own. All total, I have made 21 dresses. I'm 'nearly' tempted to go back to the church, looking for 29 more donated pillowcases, just so I could achieve a personal goal of 50 dresses.  Sssh, dont tell.  I want to acquire them innocently!

Well, it is my pleasure to have an opportunity to use my skills for a needy cause. I am always asking our Lord to open my eyes to opportunities of his will. I am overwhelmed with grace when I recognize an opportunity!

Log Cabin Rose

This block design has created some interest on my favorite yahoo group, C-bees, which is a sister list of Cyberquilters. One of the members, Jean, posted a pic of her Curved Log Cabin quilt, queen size! It created a stir because some quilters have not been exposed to the mystery of all quilt blocks. It was required to explain how a square block could come out looking round?

I unofficially call this design "Log Cabin Rose". It is made up from just this one block. Rotating the blocks and changing the number of blocks will ultimately alter the design it produces. This is a square block. The circles and curves are created because the lavender strips are wider than the blue strips, creating the illusion of being rounded.

This block is in the EQ library, filed under 'Foundation Pieced -Log Cabins'. They gave it the title "Off Center 6 - Log Cabin".  You could also piece this block in the traditional way.

 

This is what can result from rotating the blocks. I call this layout the Rose Medallion.

I call this layout the Vertical Strip Rose

I call this layout the Circles and Stars Rose. This is similar to the layout that Jean used for her quilt, only she used many more blocks!

and you could also use this block to simulate a scallop border..................................you could use it to surround any of your favorite quilt centers

I hope you found this article interesting.  If you have EQ7 software installed on your computer, you can download this file and continue designing. You can access the Log Cabin Rose file here:

Log Cabin Rose - http://www.box.net/shared/1535auvlk52o5fnev9le

If you find this file helpful, please leave a comment.

Thank you for stopping by to see what I've been up to!

Saturday Sewing

Today my energy will be devoted to working on another batch of pillowcase dresses. The pillowcases are so pretty. Ladies from church donate them. They have pretty flowers or stripes or abstract designs. I probably wont get them all done today, but I would like to have a new batch to take to church tomorrow.

I will make 'continuous bias' from a square piece of fabric this time. Last week, I cut bias strips and joined them together. My purpose for using this method was to avoid some of the extra seams created from the shorter sections. I made alot of bias!  It is a time-consuming process, even with the bias tape maker.

Create an opportunity to create something today!

The Last Supper

I had a chat recently with my Dear Aunt. She mentioned a wallhanging I had made for her a few years back. I realized that I had wanted one of these wallhangings also, but I had never gotten around to making it for myself.

So today I spent machine quilting a printed panel of The Last Supper. It is about 43" by 34" .

I also sewed the binding down by machine. I figured if I was going to get this far with it, I wanted to be able to call it done! (as Joyce would say). I have already finished hand stitching down the hanging sleeve.

This is the day the Lord has made and it was a good one! Thank you for another day.

Criss Cross Bands revised

I've put alot of work into these bands. When I sewed the segments together, they were incorrectly offset by approx 1/4".This made it impossible to align a ruler to mark a trimming- off point. Occasionally, I am inclined to take a short cut after I've already invested much time on this small part of the big quilt. In the end, I unstitched all the segments (6 segments in each band) and put them back together again. Once done correctly, they actually came out longer than my original measurement.

Now, I had already cut off a piece of my border stripe from the bolt to run it thru the laundry.Oops, since my band is now longer, will I have to cut another piece? God was with me again and I am humbled with thanks!  I had 1" to spare after attaching a strip to the band!

I had purchased this border stripe a few years ago. It is by Henry Glass. Initially, I hadnt planned to use it as a design factor on this quilt. Now that I have, this sofa quilt is becoming  a piece of careful planning.

I carefully cut the stripe lengthwise, so the seam line would fall exactly where I wanted it. Actually, I cut four bands, but I change my design travels as I work! My original plan was to sew this border stripe to both sides of the bands. Now I'm thinking about putting something else between them, so for now, I've just put these strips on the outer edges.

I wish I had  kept more aqua on the edge between the stripe and the seminole band. I always wish I had made another choice! I thought about unstitching this, re-cutting a piece differently. No. Not going there! I will live with it and be happy!  LOL