P is for...

Progress # 1

The wedding quilt top is coming along.  I've made three more "blocks" since my last post.  Five more to go and I should be able to start cobbling this baby together.  As I begin to see the end of the project, I have to remind myself that no matter what... it will take time.  The last laps seem to take the longest;  I've never run track, but I imagine that it sometimes feels that way.

(Teotihuacan- Pyramid of the Sun)

mosaics - note the diamond

Progress #2


The triangles galore quilt now numbers 21 bocks.  I'm shooting for 35! I'm gonna run out of room on the design wall.

Parts


Quilt "parts" are one of the ideas that Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran have advocated in their books, Collaborative Quilting and Freddy and Gwen Collaborate Again.  They found that making basic pieces such as HST's or nine patches, or piano keys, or spikes, in advance of their meetings made the designing process a lot more efficient. Each of them put together a stash of parts using their scraps and with no set quilt pattern in mind.

I've been making parts, too. I have no set plans for them, but I know I'll use them somehow, someday.    I always sew together HST's of the cut off triangles from the corners of flying geese or snowballs (even if they are tiny).  I sew together elongated triangles left over from the Triangle Galore project which will make skinny spikes or divided rectangles. I sew these pieces together in the Leader and Ender style of Bonnie Hunter... I have a stash of pieces by my sewing machine.  As I start a series of sewing, I will begin the process with one set of the parts and then when I come to the end of the project, I'll sew another together.  These leaders and enders take the place of the bit of scrap that is often used at the start of a seam so that fabric and thread don't make an annoying birds nest or jam into the "hole" in the machine.  (Sometimes I forget which project I am really working on and end up sewing several parts in a row before I remember they are supposed to be the leader and ender.  LOL)   Here's just a wee handful of my parts.  Those HST's measure 1.75 inches square.

Play


The Bloggers BOM for this month was designed by Amy of Mrs. Schmenkman Quilts.
These are my four blocks.

The New'Bee made-fabric bee over on 15minutes play.com... Beebee asked for this star of made fabric and a bright solid around it.  The solid fabric is really a lot brighter than it appears here.  My made fabric was made from tiny scraps, so there is lots of variety.

Parcel


Look what arrived in the mail all of 40 minutes ago!  Gwen's newest book!  Published by AQS.

It is FABULOUS.  No matter what your quilting style is -  modern, traditional, scrappy, applique, wonky, liberated, amish solids- there is something of interest in this book.   It holds lots of fun and inspiration and how-to hints!  Gwen shares the spotlight with a number of BIQR students.   I highly recommend this book.  I'm looking forward to taking a really good look at all the quilts.  I'm going to Gwen's retreat in October and Liberated Medallions is the focus.  So excited!

New'Bee Blocks put together

I am a player in the  New'Bee quilt bee . The focus is using 'made fabric' (aka scraps) as much as possible.  January was my month to share my design ideas.  I asked the ladies to make a 100% 'made fabric' block like this:

I have received all the blocks and I've made a few to complete the design.  Today I sewed them all together.  I'm thrilled with the results.  The fabrics are amazingly varied, while the blocks are quite similar.

I love playing with blocks that make secondary patterns. .. little pinwheels, big pinwheels, hour-glass, big square, small squares, and 3-D.  When I first planned it, I was thinking only pinwheels.  The more I look at it, the more I see.  How about you?

More play - triangles galore

It's the weekend, right?  Time to play.  All work and no play could make quilting a dull hobby.  Consequently I play a lot. It doesn't have to be a weekend either.

Victoria of Bumblebeans, Inc. and www.15minutesplay.com posted a tutorial called Triangles Galore.  This block is beautiful.  It offers a lot possibilities for different fabrics and different colors, and for experimenting with seldom used palettes.   I decided to try it.

My first effort was full of 'troubles'.  The center ballooned.  Triangles will do that to you with the bias edges and all.  I did a lot of unsewing and resewing.  That is a no-no.  More stretching of the fabric.  In the end I TRIMMED the large wedges to size and sewed them up.  Trimming worked to make the block (sort of) but, it isn't the right way, and triangle points didn't meet where they should.

My second effort turned out much better.  I figured out that I shouldn't match the points of the triangles, but off set them slightly by matching and pinning at the intersections of the seams.  Now, this is a BASIC piecing step that I know, but always forget especially when machine piecing. Maybe I have learned it now.  Anyway, no ballooning this time.  No need to trim anything down, and the triangle points met as they were supposed to.

Now that I have the technique down, I am going to be making more of this block.
Time to go play with  more colors and fabrics.  See ya later!

I Love Crumbs

Please bear with me.  I am just starting out as a blogger and am fumbling around a bit.  My first post (Sept 24, 2011) was done with the help of Teresa.  I kept is short as I wanted to get something out there and not kill too much time.  With all the chatting, questions, and Teresa's patient explanations, we managed to kill a few more hours than I had anticipated.   Teresa,  thank you so much for your help. I am sure I will be knocking at your door again.

Since the New Year, I have been quietly "making fabric",  influenced by Victoria's 15 minutes play mentioned in the previous post.  It has become a wonderful way to work  play with my scraps.  Here are some examples:

But long before I knew about 15 minutes play, I was growing a quilt from my scraps  crumbs. I couldn't throw my little scraps away. They were little bits; many were smaller than 1.5" x 2."  One day I decided to sew bits and pieces together and see what came of it.

This quilt is still growing.  I have no idea when it will be done or how big it will be. I'm not in a hurry.  I don't work on it every day or even have it out all the time.  Next time I feel overwhelmed by all my projects, I'll make another section and attach it.   It is another form of "fabric therapy". Right? Teresa?  

In love with crumbs...
Kathy

quilts of the past

Fenestre Ouverte by Matisse

In June 2011, Victoria (www.15minutesplay.com) issued a challenge.  Take a work of art for inspiration, use solid fabric only, and create a 15"x15" quilt to swap with another challenge member.

I chose this picture.

I created the quilt on an island in Maine with no electricity, so the whole thing was hand pieced and hand quilted.

I tried several versions before I was satisfied.

This is the quilt I sent off to Laura.  I called it "Fragments of Matisse" or "Views from a Window."

under the influence of 15 minutes play! -  Kathy