Hanging a Quilt Show

The Proper Bostonian Quilters Guild has a mini quilt show, The Modern Quilt,  at the West Roxbury branch of the Boston Public Library.  The show opens at 6 PM this evening and closes at 3 PM on Saturday, November 15, 2014.  Click the link above for a flier for the show.

This show features the quilts made by the members of the guild for the 2014 summer challenge. Quilts had to have a Modern Aesthetic, and quilts under 24 x 24 inches were required to incorporate a fat 1/16th of the Pantone color Radiant Orchid (Cerise if you speak Kona cotton). 

The show is free.  If you are local, I hope you'll stop by and see our quilts.

Here is a time lapse sequence of the show being hung this afternoon.  Jeannette, who is a brilliant show manager, always makes a paper show diagram using photos of the quilts being hung.   The photos make it very clear where in the show each quilt is to hang. This particular show is being managed by Susan.  She used Jeanette's photo page layout today. It's a great system!

Take home message from the team that hangs the quilts for a show:   Make sure the  quilt you are entering has a sleeve sewn on it that extends along the entire top edge of the quilt. And make sure it meets the requirement for width.  If the show's manager asks for a 4 inch sleeve, it needs to be 4 inches wide.  Really!

Here is one of the quilts in the show.  The pattern, "Flying Birds" is my design.  The quilt was made by Janet Hanley.   I've previously posted this pattern as a smaller baby quilt.  Here it is a generous lap quilt.  It's much easier to see the motion in this larger quilt.

Thanks, Janet, for permission to post your beautiful creation!

Somerville Homeless Coalition Raffle Quilt

If you've been a long-time reader of my blog, you know that my friend Janet Hanley and I designed a quilt as a fund-raiser for the Somerville Homeless Coalition.  Members of the Proper Bostonian Quilters Guild joined us in making the star blocks for the quilt.  Some of the stars have a log cabin block as the central block.  It's a delightful design and the quilt's colors are bright and cheerful.  Janet sewed the completed blocks of the quilt together and we quilted it on a long-arm at Bits n' Pieces Quilt and Fabric Shoppe in Pelham, NH.

The Burren Backroom Series, with Brian O'Donovan of WBGH's Celtic Sojourn, is hosting a funding raising event for the Somerville Homeless Coalition in Davis Square, Cambridge, MA on December 3, 2014.  They are selling raffle tickets for the quilt now and the drawing will be done that evening.  Click on the link above and scroll down the page to the Benefit for Somerville Homeless Coalition to see some of the fabulous musicians who will playing that evening. You may also purchase tickets to this gala musical event at the link above.

If you wish to participate in this quilt raffle  click this link to purchase tickets on-line. Tickets will also be available at the event December 3. 

Please do share this post on Facebook, Twitter or other social media if you have friends who love quilts and would be interested in supporting the Somerville Homeless Coalition. Thanks so much for your support! 

Modern Flying Geese: Variation 4, Work in Progress

I'm starting to work on one more quilt which is variation of my Modern Flying Geese with Variations pattern. Version 4 is probably the most consistent with Modern Aesthetics of the five variations in my  pattern. 

I'm using a mix of fabric lines:  Carolyn Friedlander's Line "Botanics", coordinating Kona cottons assembled by fabricBUBB on Etsy, Art Gallery "Gramercy Park" by Leah Duncan and an assortment of cream fabrics with low volume prints.  (The collection of Kona's is so beautiful I would have wanted it even if I hadn't been collecting fabrics in the "Botanics" line). 

The pairs of flying geese in the quilt float in negative space.  I'm thinking I might make this quilt larger than the 40 x 52 size in the pattern.  I think more negative space will be a good thing...and make the quilt more cuddly too!

The flying geese are done and the background is cut out.  Quilt assembly is pending!

Modern Flying Geese: Variation 4

From other blogs:

Have you seen Abby Glassenberg's post about "How Much Fabric Designers Earn--an inside look" on her blog, While she Naps?   If you buy fabric or are fans of particular fabric designers, Abby's post from November 3, 2014 is a must read.  Once again Abby has written an amazing piece based on excellent research.  Take a few minutes to read the comments at the end of the post.  They are really interesting too.

Tomorrow Abby is posting a piece on designing fabrics for Joann's Fabrics.  I know it is going to be fascinating reading!

Make Modern Magazine Issue 2

The 2nd issue of Make Modern Magazine was released on November 1.  This digital modern quilt magazine continues to delight. 

One of the articles is about men who quilt.  They interviewed 6 men and included photos of 2-3 quilts made by each of them.  3 of them said their grandmothers had taught them to quilt and was taught by an uncle and a couple other family members when he came home from a deployment in Iraq!  Several had been quilting since they were kids.  One tells a story about going home to visit his grandmother.  She decided his 5 days with her was long enough to make a quilt (his first)!  And they did!  One of these men, Molli Sparkles, created a quilting bee just for guys--"No Girls Allowed Quilt Bee".   Instagram #NGAQB. That made me laugh!  He started a Facebook page too--"Men Who Quilt."   My take home message from these stories:  pass on your quilting skills to the children in your life, boys as well as girls!

The magazine also has a collection of photos of quilts from the 2014 Radiant Orchid Challenge.  For those of you who love purple and magenta, this digital quilt show is definitely worth the price of the magazine.  And once you seen all of them there is a pattern for a purple quilt so you can make one for yourself!

The other thing I really love about this digital magazine:  There are only a couple of pages of advertising at the very end.  Most of the print quilt magazines have so much ad space that it feels like the articles are more an afterthought. 

I encourage you to check out Make Modern.  It's a great quilting magazine. 

For the record:  I don't have any connection or investment in Make Modern--except for being a happy subscriber!

Designing Medallion Quilts

Today I want to show 2 small lap size medallion quilts which I designed.

I designed my medallion quilt "Windmills and Wild Geese" using the Mac version of EQ 7 (Electric Quilt 7).   This past summer I participated in the Jump Start quilt along on EQ7's blog.  My 4th block in the Quilt Along won a prize---a free book from EQ.  I chose Quilt Design-Design Tricks from EQ Experts.  

I still consider myself a novice user of EQ7.  I've learned a lot about it since the beginning of the year but still have so much more to learn.  Reading Quilt Design I found discovered that  EQ7 not only has a block library, but also a layout library.  The layout library provides a collection of whole quilt templates which can be used as the bones of a quilt design. You can create a unique quilt by adding quilt blocks of your own design, blocks from the EQ library, or by adding or subtracting lines to make the template unique. 

EQ7 is protected by copyright so I can't reproduce a picture of the layout design from their quilt library.  But the EQ paperwork states that what you design in EQ 7, as long as there are no specific copyrights noted on the blocks used, is copyright free.  So here is my design early  on.  You can see that I was still auditioning  blocks in the design at this point.  Also there aren't any blocks yet surrounding the central medallion Dutchman's Puzzle block. 

Below is the design after adding some additional lines which made it possible to add 2 block sets around the central medallion.  I also added another set of cross blocks.

If you look up at the finished design, you'll see that I've changed some colors to make the design more interesting.  Below is the finished quilt which I have posted previously.

"Antelope!"

I gather from what I've read on-line and heard from designers, complex Medallion quilts are more typically designed by hand on graph paper.  

But sometimes they are designed by improv.   That's how I created the quilt below.  I already had a stack of half square triangles, half cream and half designed fabric from the Moda line "In From the Cold."  So I knew I was going to incorporate those in my design.

Christmas Medallion Quilt

I first created the Medallion center--4 diamonds comprised of 32 half square triangles. Then I added a 2 1/2 inch strip around it, followed by a wider green strip.  I had intended to have the dark green strip abut the next strip of half square triangle diamonds.  I thought I had my quilt math right but I missed by 1/2 inch. So I added a strip of light green which actually makes the center of the quilt pop. A design error with a happy outcome!

After the next set of diamonds I added a light green strip top and bottom to change the final quilt from a square to a rectangle.  Finally I added a wide strip of red fabric with white snowflakes which was in my stash.

No matter whether you a design medallion in a computer program, on graph paper or by improvisational piecing on your design wall, they are fun to make and the result is a really interesting quilt.  I hope you give it a try sometime!

Orphan Blocks repurposed in Toddler Nap Quilts

If you've pieced a lot of quilts, you probably have a collection of "orphan blocks" from quilts you've made. Sometimes I loose count of the blocks and make a few extras, sometimes I cut more than I need and sometimes I put a quilt together as I go and I find I just didn't need all the blocks I'd sewn.  For whatever reason, when the quilt is completed, there are a few block left over.  

Often I incorporate extra blocks into the quilt's back. But sometimes the blocks can't be used in the quilt and those I save in a bin of orphan blocks.  I have used them to mend quilts when the dog ate a quilt while chewing on a dog toy (oops)!  I was very grateful to have a spare for repair!  But mostly my orphan blocks just sit in the bin.

This fall the Proper Bostonian Quilt Guild has committed to making 40 nap quilts for a preschool.  That prompted me to see how I might makes some quilt tops from my scrap collections...including my orphan block bin. Two tops are done and one more is in process. 

I've been really interested in Medallion quilts recently.  Medallion quilts are constructed around a central motif.  It is a great way to feature a beautiful block in the center of a quilt--a basket of appliquéd flowers or large star are two options often seen in Medallion quilts. (Check out Connie Griner's amazing collection of  Medallion Quilt pins on her Pinterest site).   Modern quilters are also using the concept of the Medallion quilts and that's what prompted me to experiment with constructing quilts around a central block.  Except for one I designed in EQ7  (Electric Quilt 7), my Medallion style quilts have been improv pieced. 

For the napping quilts I have used an extremely simplified variation.  The quilt top above has a panel which was donated to the guild. I trimmed the panel down to the piece I wanted to use. The yellow and white 4 patch blocks with the "bricks" next to them are the orphan blocks in the quilt.  I was able to use 6 of them.  Place end-to-end the strip was too long but since they were really scraps I had no problem cutting it down to fit!  I also have a stack of precut bricks of scrap fabrics than measure 3 x 6.5 inches.   I used these bricks to build a border around the central panel.  

In the pink quilt top, the center is made of 6 orphan blocks pieced together.  All of the borders around the central blocks are strips left over from other projects with the exception of the last outer border of pink polka dots which came from yardage in my stash.

These two quilt tops had medallion quilts as the inspiration but because they only have one type of block around the center feature, I don't think they really true medallion quilts. The bottom one is actually more like a single large log cabin block.  

I've never made a true, spectacular medallion quilt, but have recently made a couple other small experimental quilts which I'll share in my next post. 

Making Half Square Triangles

Half Square triangles compose diamond blocks for a Christmas quilt

A year ago at our Proper Bostonian Quilt Guild Show a lady at the Bits 'n Pieces booth demonstrated an interesting way to make half square triangles (abbreviated HST).  She explained that you put 2 squares of fabric right sides together and sew a 1/4 inch seam around all 4 sides of the squares.  Then cut the squares on the diagonal twice.  Press open the 4 sections and there are 4 HSTs!   

That looked like so much fun so I purchased a stack of 5 inch charm squares.  It was really easy to zip around the 4 sides of each pair of squares and then cut it apart.  4 HSTs in a snap.

But there is a catch.  All 4 sides of HSTs made this way are on the bias of the fabric.  So that means they can stretch and warp if the blocks aren't handled carefully.  (And even if they are)!  If you look at the finished blocks above you can see there is a bit of laxity which is most apparent in the light blocks.

Even though it is so easy to make the HST by this method, I probably will stick to the more traditional way to make HSTs.  You can read about other technique I use to make HSTs in my post on July 7, 2014. 

The method I discussed in July only makes 2 HSTs at a time but the sides of the finished square are on the straight of the grain of the fabric so the blocks are much more stable and not as prone to stretching.

I'm glad I tried the "sew around the square" method of HSTs.  It's fun to try out new techniques.  And you never know if you'll like a new method for piecing a block until you use it!

Book Review: "Quilting--the new classics" Michele Muska

Hot off the shelves of newly released books is a great book, Quilting--the new classics, by Michele Muska.  This is the perfect choice to introduce someone to the Modern Quilting aesthetic using Traditional Quilting as the anchor.  The Modern quilts in this book say "modern" but don't scream "MODERN!!"  I think even the most Traditional quilter will be able to relate to and appreciate many of the quilts in the book.

Each chapter is based on a traditional quilt block.  Some of the blocks included are Log Cabin, Flying Geese, Bear Paw and Dresden plate.  There are 10 different blocks in the book.

First Michele introduces the reader to the block, gives some history about the origin of the block and shows examples of quilts made in the 1800s and 1900s.  Then 2 contemporary quilters each make a quilt using the block. One quilter makes a Traditional quilt and the other makes a Modern quilt.  Each of the 20 quilters explains their inspiration for making their quilt and gives a short bio.  It's fun to meet the makers. 

Probably my favorite quilt in the book is Elisa Sims Albury's Modern Bear Paw which she has titled "Berry Hunt".  Her inspiration is the book Bluberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey.  There is a track of Mama size bear paw blocks with another set of small Baby Bear paw blocks next to Mama's. Elisa even picked fabrics which echo the muted colors of the book's illustrations.  It's such a delightful quilt. 

Here is the back cover of the book showing 3 pairs of quilts.

This book would also be a good present for a quilter loves making Traditional quilts but is also  experimenting already with some Modern quilting. Patterns for all the quilts are included.

I Michele Muska's book will appeal to many quilters. It fills a niche, bridging these two styles of quilting,  in a way I haven't seen with other recently published books.  Quilting--the new classics attempts to explain to quilters where our craft has come from and what quilters are doing now in the 21st century.  It's really interesting collection of quilts.

Flying Geese Rulers: A review of 3 options

I've recently been working on several projects which have flying geese blocks.  Two of the projects are for a class and I intentionally used half square triangles and quarter square triangles cut from squares to make the flying geese.  So you don't need a special tool to make flying geese blocks, but sometimes it's great to have one.

You might want to use a Flying Geese Ruler if you are using scraps and don't have a large enough square of fabric to cut the pieces but you do have a strip of fabric which would work if you were using the specialty ruler. Or perhaps you are allergic to anything cutting which requires a measuring 7/8 inch, in which case, you are always going to reach for ruler to make your flying geese blocks!

Shown above are 3 flying geese rulers which I've used.  They all work well so I'm not going to recommend any particular ruler.  Each of the rulers specifies the width of fabric strip you need to cut to make a specific size finished flying geese block.  1/4 inch seam allowances are automatically included with all 3 rulers so you don't need to use any math to make the correct size block.  The 3 rulers do have minor differences and you may find there is one which you'd prefer.

Fons & Porter Omnigrid Flying Geese Ruler

I've had the Fons & Porter Omnigrid Flying Geese Ruler the longest. It's a good straightforward tool.  The quarter square triangles for the body of the goose are cut using the black lines and the wings are cut using the yellow lines.  All the lines are printed on the same surface of the lucite.  The tool is marked with to show the flat edge of the strip of fabric to you will be cutting but the tool itself isn't blunt. Using the marking does eliminate the dog ears on the finished block if you align the marking on the tool with the fabric strip. This tool is marked for flying geese from 1 x 2 inches to 4 x 8 inches. 

The Fons & Porter Flying Geese Ruler comes with a full color booklet with a tutorial in English on one side and in Spanish on the flip side.  It also includes a pattern for the Dutchman's Puzzle block.

Marti Michell's Flying Geese Ruler

Marti Michell's Flying Geese Ruler uses black lines to cut the quarter square triangles for the goose body and dark purple lines to cut the half square triangles for the goose wings.  I don't see a lot of difference between the purple and black lines. However, since you are turning the ruler to cut each unit, I don't find that to be a problem.   Markings are all on one side of the piece of lucite.

This ruler is marked to cut Flying Geese Units from 2 1/2 x 5 inches to 4 1/2 x 9 inches.  All if the corners of the ruler are blunted so you can line up the flat top edge of the ruler with the edge of the fabric you are cutting.  I like that feature.  There are 2 flat edges on the long side of the ruler enabling you to make a block which is totally dog-ear free.  I have to say, I didn't enjoy cutting that extra tip off with my rotary cutter. It just felt like it was an awkward angle.  But if you want to avoid dog ears, this is the tool for you!

I did like the soft rubber piece holding on the instruction booklet.  It slides easily on and off the ruler so it's a great way to keep the instructions attached to the tool. The instruction booklet had clear 2 color diagrams and instructions on chain piecing the blocks.  It also has diagrams of 3 quilt blocks which can be made using this tool:   Dutchman's Puzzle, Evening Star and Rambler. 

EZ Quilting Flying Geese Ruler by Kimberly Einmo/ Simplicity Creative Group

The EZ Quilting Flying Geese Ruler has magenta lines to cut the quarter square triangles for the goose body on "Side A".  The aqua lines to cut the half square triangles for the wings are on the flip side of the lucite, "Side B". I found these markings to be easy to see when I was using dark fabrics. 

This ruler is marked for flying geese units from 1 1/2 x 3 inches to 6 x 12 inches.  There is a flat edge on 2 sides of the ruler which align with the top of of the strip of the fabric you are cutting. You will have dog ears on the lower edges of your finished block but not along the top of the block. 

The flier with this tool has concise cutting instructions in English, French and Spanish. There are  diagrams showing how to cut and construct the block but no text/tutorial to go with the diagrams. The booklet does include a chart showing the width of strip needed for each size of flying geese unit.  This information is also printed on the ruler. 

So, which tool to pick?

• If you are a beginner and want step by step instructions, or if you want to make really little flying geese blocks, the Fons & Porter tool is great.
• If you don't want to trim dog ears on your finished blocks, the Marti Michell tool is for you.
• If you know how to make flying geese blocks and want to make large flying geese blocks or if you are working with really dark fabrics, the EZ Quilting Flying Geese is your best choice. 

So these tools have some differences, but in the end, all 3 make great flying geese blocks. The choice is yours!  Buy what you can find and/or like best.  You really can't go wrong.

Here is a completed block made with each ruler.  None have been trimmed or squared up yet.

Baby Quilt in a Weekend #1: Flying Birds

I've been thinking about patterns for small lap quilts or baby quilts which can be made in a weekend...or at least made quickly.  A friend asked me to design a quilt with Escher-like characteristics.  My designing abilities (and my brain) weren't up to doing that but I did come up with this design in a larger size but then cut down the number of blocks for this small quilt. 

If you stand back this quilt really has a lot of motion. The giant ric-rac along the border is just plain fun!  This quilt can be quickly quilted with vertical quilting lines 1 inch apart using the walking foot with a guide bar. 

Fabric requirements:

1 1/4 yard light background

1 1/2 yard dark triangles and border

2/3  yard small bright triangles (the birds) and binding

Backing:  1 3/4 yards.   (If quilting by longarm: 3 yards to piece back to allow 4-5 inch extra fabric around quilt)

Large 1 inch ric-ric if desired

Crib size quilt batting 45 x 60 inches

Cutting Instructions:

Large dark triangles:   Cut strips (2) 9 7/8 inches wide x Width Of Fabric (WOF).   Cut this strip into (5)  9 7/8 inch squares.  Then cut each square diagonally once to make 10 dark triangles.  

Light background triangles:  Cut (3) strips of fabric 5 3/8 inches wide x WOF.  Cut strips into 5 3/8 inch squares to make (15)  5 3/8 inch squares.   Cut these squared diagonally once to make 30 light background triangles.

Small bright triangles:  Cut (1) strip of fabric  5 3/8 inches wide x WOF.  Cut strips into 5 3/8 inch squares to make (5)  5 3/8 inch squares.   Cut these squared diagonally once to make 10 small bright triangles.

Negative space squares: Cut (3) 9 1/2 inch strips x WOF.   Cut strips into 9 1/2 inch squares.

Border: Dark fabric:  Borders are 3 1/2 inches wide. Cut to fit width and length of completed quilt.

Binding:  Cut (5) strips 2 1/2 inches wide x WOF.  

Sewing Instructions:

To make the bird units:

• Sew 1 small bird triangle to 1 small light background triangle, right sides together.  Press seam.  
• Sew 1 small light background triangle to the pieced square. Match short side of the bright triangle to a short side of the light background triangle. Press seam. Repeat on the other side of the small bright triangle.

Sew the pieced "bird" triangle to the large dark triangle.  Press seam away from the "bird" triangle.

Alternate squares with birds with background squares. Follow photo above--half the birds point upward and half point downward. 

Attach borders.

Binding: Sew 2 1/2 inch strips X WOF end to end with bias or straight seams. Fold binding in half width-wise and press.

Sew on ric-rac now OR add when you are quilting.  Either is fine. 

Sandwich layers and quilt as desired.

Sew on binding and a label!

Backdrop Frame to Hang up Quilts for Photographs

Caro Sheridan of Splityarn gave a great talk about photographing quilts at the September 2014 meeting of the Boston Modern Quilt Guild.  (You can read a synopsis of her talk by clicking the BMQG link in the previous sentence).  One of the things Caro suggested was using a frame made photographic backdrops to hang up quilts for photography.

I went straight to the computer when I got home after the meeting.  My fence, while lovely as fence, leaves a lot to be desired when using it hang quilts for photographs.  The fence isn't high enough, it can't be moved if the light isn't right and the clothes line and clothes pins...I'm tired of seeing them in my photos. 

I choose the Square Perfect 1040 SP 2000 Backdrop Background Stand for Muslin.  I've had it for a week and I love it!

Carrying case

Open carrying case

The frame is really nice and sturdy.  The bar across the top of the frame comes in four 29" sections.  This makes it possible to hang a quilt any size up to 115 inches wide.   The upright bars of the frame telescope into each other. They are on an air cushion so they bounce, rather than crash down, when being raised and lowered.  The top of the frame be raised as high as 102 inches off the ground. 

At a recent quilt show at a local quilt shop, this frame easily held 2 bed size quilts back to back. 

The quilt  does needs to be hung using a sleeve.  The bar at the top of the frame is about 1 inch in diameter. Caro commented that pinning on a sleeve works just fine!  So that's what I've done so far.   It's not pretty, but it works!

Back of the quilt with a sleeve pinned on and the bar of the frame inside the sleeve.

Wing nut

There is a wing nut at each end of the top of the frame which is great.  Your quilt won't be able to take off if a stiff breeze comes up while you are taking photographs!

Caro said that if the quilt isn't hanging well, a dowel in another sleeve can be pinned to the bottom of the quilt can help.

At just about $66,  I think this frame is a great investment if you do much quilt photography.

Quilt Show JP Knit and Stitch: Joyce Adams, quilter

Last evening I spent a couple hours at JP Knit and Stitch in Jamaica Plain, MA at a one woman quilt show featuring the work of Joyce Adams.  It was like no other quilt show I've ever attended!

Because there isn't a lot of space in the shop at JP Knit and Stitch, only a few of Joyce's quilts could to be put up on display.  That left a stack of great quilts which were all folded up. Joyce was happy to have folks touch her quilts so we had a quilt showing!

A wonderful group of Joyce's family, friends, and visitors all gathered around the semi-circle of window seats in the shop.  Each quilt was unfolded one at a time, rested on the coffee table but also held by the hands of the women in the circle of viewers.  Joyce talked about each quilt and answered our questions about fabric, construction and quilting.  We were really able to share her quilts with her. It was so much fun!

Polka dot diamond half square triangles

Joyce told us that she remembers that as a little girl, she watched her Mother, Essie, make a quilt with lots of wonderful colors. It is in her honor that Joyce started quilting about 10 years ago.  Each quilt Joyce makes is dedicated to someone special! 

Joyce is a self-taught quilter.  She uses purchased quilting cotton solids and prints, cottons saved from special clothing and white or cream muslin. Her quilts are entirely hand-pieced and hand-quilted.  They are so soft and drape beautifully.  Each quilt design is her own creation.  Her husband, Ed, a retired printer, is her color consultant.  Ed was there last night, and we enjoyed talking to him too!

Here are a few photos of some of Joyce's quilts.  The photos only show a small portion of each quilt but they will give you an idea about these bright and delightful quilts. (The photos are in a slide show and should change every 3 seconds.  You may also use the arrows to manually scroll through the gallery).

The quilts are only at JP Knit and Stitch for a couple days.  I hope you get a chance to stop by and see them.  Most of the quilts are folded up.  Touching is permitted--just make sure your hands are squeaky clean!  

Joyce Adams gave me permission to photograph her quilts and write this blog post on October 2, 2014.

Please note:  At the request of the quilter, Joyce Adams, please do not photograph her quilts.  You may not copy or otherwise reproduce or transmit any of the photos in this blog post without her express permission.  Thanks for honoring this request.  

September Roundup: Projects that were completed

My goal for September was to complete my stack of UFOs.  I didn't manage to level it, but I did make some serious progress.  

Above is my Lion in a Square quilt which I designed and made for a class, Beyond Beginning Quilting: Flying Geese,  which I will be teaching at JP Knit and Stitch in November and December.   I just made this quilt a couple of weeks ago, so it wasn't even in the UFO pile! 

Here's a gallery of the projects I completed in September.  Click on the photo below to scroll through the photos.  There are 7 projects in this gallery.

The rug is knit from selvages.   I had two large balls of cut selvages, probably about 4-5 inches in diameter when I started.  I was amazed to see some green fabric from my farm quilt which I made in September 2 years ago at the end of one of the balls!  The instructions to make this knitted selvage rug are in Nyberg and Arkinson's book, Sunday Morning Quilts. (See the Suggested Reading list).

Note to the Selvage People:  Don't panic.  I do save the amazing selvages for special projects.  Not all selvages end up in the balls saved up for rugs!  But honestly, not every selvage is exciting.  And knitted rugs are a fun way to recycle them.  

The Apple quilt is waiting on a date with a Long Arm and the Vintage Modern Quilt is in the process of being quilted on my DSM. 

I'm happy with with I accomplished this September. I hadn't really expected to totally level my pile of UFOs. 

Blog Note:  Last week ago I told you that I was cutting back from 3 posts a week to 2 days a week.  I wasn't sure which days I was going to pick.  My plan at the moment is to post on Mondays and Thursdays.  If you've subscribed, you'll always get an e-mail whenever I add a new post. 

If you haven't subscribed but would like to,  click the word Subscribe at the top of the page. You won't get any junk mail from me, just a notice at 5PM on the days when I've added a new post!  I hope you'll join the fun!

Half Square Triangles: The Tree Quilt

Here's my half square triangle Tree Quilt.  The designs in the fabrics include cross-sawn tree trunks, tree branches, flowers and woodland animals.  The large yellow square block has quilting intended to look like tree bark and a reverse circle imitating a hole in the "trunk."

Detail of quilting of the "tree trunk"

The quilt has a wool batting.  It has a lovely, light loft and quilts beautifully.

I initially just quilted the diamond pattern and the close quilting in the yellow block. The quilt seemed to float.  But I decided that the quilting just wasn't close enough for use over the long term.  So now each of the half square triangles has quilting outlining it.  It doesn't have the quite the same floating feel now but still is a bit puffy.

I'm really pleased, however, that the diamond pattern of the quilting is still what draws the eye.  I think that's due the layout of the blocks and to the 2 lines of quilting 1/4 inch apart alternating every 2 rows of blocks in the quilt. 

This is a happy fall quilt and I really look forward to using it on the chilly nights which will be here soon!

Quilting room

I've been working on my stack of UFOs (unfinished objects) this week so I thought I'd show you my quilting room.  Taffy, one of my Springer Spaniels, and I cleaned up the lint and thread on the floor for the photos, but otherwise this is just how the room looks.  No magazine perfection here. 

I have a portable sewing table made by SewEzi.  As you can see in the photo below, it has an inset shelf under to sewing table to position the sewing machine so it is level with the table. 

SewEzi table

It comes with a lucite inset that is made to fit your sewing machine exactly so there are no gaps between the sewing machine and the table.  If you have more than one size or brand of sewing machine, you may purchase additional lucite insets for each of them. 

SewEzi table with lucite inset.  Marker is to there show the level of the lucite inset

I have the SewEzi table nested in L made up of 2 rectangular folding tables. This gives me a large working area.  I got my folding tables from BJs several years ago, but I'm sure they are available from a number of stores.  This table configuration allows me to rest the quilt on the tables to the left of my machine and behind it.  There are times when the quilt is in my lap but most of the time I don't have to hold it. 

SewEzi Sewing Machine table nested into 2 folding tables

I have 2 storage areas in this room.  Here you can see a stack of plastic drawers.  They contain patterns, stabilizer for machine embroidery, lots of thread, ribbons, ric-rac and other sewing notions.  The dogs really do sleep in the room when I'm quilting--my blog title is based on fact! The dogs just weren't around when I took these photos!

Sewing closet

The other truly wonderful thing about this room is the closet system from Home Depot which my brother installed for me.  We purposely set the shelves closely together to maximize the space.  It's easy to take out a bin of thread when it's in a short stack.  The closet has supplies for embroidery, packaged batting, yarn (not getting used often but I do knit too), computer paper and a few boxes that aren't sewing related which needed a place to be stored.

My stash and rolls of quilt batting are upstairs.  I know you were wondering where all the fabric is!

This isn't the only place I work in my house, but it is the dedicated space for quilting and machine embroidery.  The storage is really great.  But it's my SewEzi table nested into the L of folding tables which really makes quilting not only doable, but a pleasure. 

If I need to the room for another use, I can easily fold up my tables.  10 minutes and it's an almost empty room.  

So this is my quilting set up.  I hope it give you some ideas about how to use and maximize your quilting space.

 

Windmill and Wild Geese Medallion Quilt

Here's my completed Windmill and Flying Geese Quilt.  I had a great time using my just my walking foot to quilt it.  

I especially like what transpired in the large rectangles of negative space.  There are 3 rows of symmetrical stitching 1/2 inch part from the base of the block extending upward to the center of the top. The block still looked too empty with just the 3 quilted triangles.  So I added a single  triangle pointing downward which meets the point of the inner most upward pointing triangle. The asymmetry this creates reminds me a bit of designs from the Prairie School from the early 1900s. 

This is a fun quilt to make.  I'd like to try it again with some bold bright solids.  

Around the World Blog Hoppers:  If you've backed up the chain to my blog, Welcome!  My post Around the World Blog Hop post was last Monday.  Scroll back 3 posts to read it and enjoy my posts on the way.  So glad you stopped by and come back soon!

Blog News:  Based on the feedback of my readers, I going to try posting twice a week rather than Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Folks tell me they like the content but think reading it three times a week is a lot to keep up with.   

I'm not sure yet which are the best two days to post.  Please weigh in and let me know which days you'd like to see new posts from my blog!  Leave me a message about your preference in the Comments below.  Thanks!  I'll let you know know next week.

African Village Quilt with Dancers using Diamond blocks

I've completed my African Village Quilt with all diamond blocks.  The dancers in the diamond blocks, the bodies of the houses and the borders are all African Fabrics, or African designed fabrics made in Holland.  The border fabric is mud cloth made in Gambia. It is soft and gauzy. It worked well in the borders but the wax fabrics are easier to use for piecing since they have less give. Because the African fabrics were all so different, I washed them before I used them. The wax fabrics were really waxy prior to washing but soft afterwards.  I found these fabrics at the Etsy shop, Tambo Collection.  They had a great selection of fabrics and the prices are reasonable.

Here is the back of the quilt.  The central fabric is Kente cloth made in made in Holland. The tops and bottom strips are Kona Cotton "Cheddar"!

I really like the motion in the Kente Cloth print.  It's great designing. 

In the live and learn department:

If you compare the photo of the quilt above with the pattern diagram below, you'll see that the quilt has 2 layers of "lawn" below the huts while there is only 1 in the pattern.  When I printed the PDFs paper piecing files, I didn't change the print specifications to 100% which is necessary to get an accurate pattern.  I had 1 inch markers on the patterns but didn't check them since they were my own patterns.  I would have caught my error if I had put a ruler on the inch marker.  The pattern on file is accurate but the printing wasn't.  My hut blocks came out 8 inch finished instead of the needed 9 inch.  When I was sewing the huts, they didn't seem any different than the huts on the first quilt I made. But they were slightly smaller.  When I tried to sew the blocks together, they didn't match.  I decided was easier to add to the hut blocks to make them larger rather than re-making the diamond blocks smaller.   

All the paper pieced patterns I've used from other designers have always specified printing at 100% which I've done. And I checked the 1 inch mark too.  I've always wondered if it really matters.  And the answer is:  YES, it does!  When I went back and printed one of the hut patterns with the print setting at 100% and the block measured a perfect 9 inch finished.   Lesson learned. 

African Village with Diamonds Quilt Design

Bulls-Eye, a Carolyn Freidlander Pattern: Part 2

This pattern, Bulls-Eye, presented me with a number of challenges.  The hand appliqué discussed in my post last week on September 12, 2014 was the first one.  That went beautifully. 

Carolyn Freidlander has three Bulls-Eye quilts in her book, Savor Each Stitch. One is quilted with vertical lines and the other have some radiating quilting a linear quilting in grids.  She does a bit of echo quilting of the bulls-eye next to a portion of each semi-circle in one quilt.  

I thought this was the perfect quilt to finally get a handle on the art of circular quilting. I discussed that in a post in August, "Skills: Quilting Circles". This quilt gave me ample opportunity to practice!   I really like the final result!

I did a bit of tight radiating quilting in one circle.  And I outlined some of the very pale green sections using Sashiko hand quilting with a purple pearl cotton thread, seen in the photo above and again in the photo below.

Detail, Bulls' Eye to show the circular quilting

This quadrant has a more open radiate quilting pattern in the upper left part of the inner circle and a grid pattern in the lower right section.  That grid is randomly following a pale blue graph paper grid--the fabric is from Carolyn's Architexture fabric line.

There is nothing speedy about doing circular quilting with the lines 1/2 inch apart.  It took me days to quilt this little lap quilt!  I was able to turn the quilt for the innermost circle around the qpplique, but after that, each line had to stop 2-4 times before the full circle was completed.  That left lots of threads to bury.  Clover's self-threading needles are the only thing that made the task of burying threads do-able.  I highly recommend them for this! 

This has been such a great design to learn new skills and learn new ways to improve old skills.  I thought I'd never make any of the quilts in Carolyn Freidlander's book, Savor Each Stitch.  But I am so happy I made this one!

Bulls' Eye Quilt

Addendum:  Found this comment from Carolyn Freidlander on my Instagram @sleepingdogquilts feed this morning:

"Whoa, this looks amazing!! And the quilting is fabulous!!"

I'm floating on Cloud 9 right now!! 

Around the World Blog Hop

It's Monday!  I'm taking today to join in the Around the World Blog Hop.  I was tagged by Amy Friend, DuringQuietTime, designer of amazing paper pieced quilt blocks and also beautiful quilts, to add a post to the "Around the World Blog Hop."  

I, in turn, am tagging Maer Soukaros to add a post next Monday.  She's a New England resident, a quilt designer, and a member of our local quilt guild, Proper Bostonian Quilters.  Her amazing "Fault in my Star" quilt won a prize in our Summer Challenge!  Congrats Maer!  It's a beautiful quilt!  (Maer was modest and didn't mention that she'd won a prize when she wrote about the quilt in her blog last week)!  She blogs at Thehard-rockquilter.blogspot.com.  Can't wait to see her post next week!

1. What I've been working on:

I'm spending September finishing up projects that I started over the summer.  I have a stack of 6 quilts waiting to be quilted.  The most challenging one is the sampler quilt from the Flickr Vintage Quilt Revival Quilt Along.  Each block will have a unique quilting pattern.  It's exciting to think about, but it's going to take of lot of time to quilt.  Making the blocks of this quilt improved my piecing skills.  The book, Vintage Quilt Revival, has blocks that start easy and gain complexity.  It was fun, and challenging, to make all the blocks.

Vintage Quilt Revival Sampler

I've been working all summer on learning to quilt in a circular pattern. I finally got it!  Scroll back to my last post to see my latest project, The Bulls' Eye Quilt. 

Last weekend I took a break from quilting to make a bird from Abby Glassenberg's book, The Artful Bird. Abby blogs at WhileSheNaps. 

Here are 3 photos of my bird-making adventure:  

Left to right:  

• The unstuffed body
• Adding a left over wool batting for stuffing
• The final bird standing on the book.  There is another photo of my bird on Instagram @sleepingdogquilts.

2. How does my work differ from others in its genre:

I've been quilting since my college years.  Until recently, I usually made a quilt for a specific person or for a specific use, such as a baby quilt.  At the end of last year, I retired after 30 years in pediatric nursing. I decided that I wanted to spend my suddenly "free" time learning more about quilting.  I have the freedom now to make quilts just as explorations.  They don't have to always work out.  Everything is a great experience and I'm learning new things all the time.  I've spent a lot of time thinking about color since I saw the "Quilts and Color" exhibit at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts earlier this year.  Here are some of my exploration quilts.  

     Right to left:  

• A low volume strip baby quilt depicting sky, forest and sea
• A quilt with complementary colors that create vibration when viewed together
• A quilt with a casade of colors but not in the organized by the color wheel.

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3. What do I create these quilts?

      Because it's fun!  And because I love art you can use (or wear)!.  I sometimes wonder where I'll find my next idea….and then suddenly I have a stack of new projects that all what to be made NOW!   

4.  How does my creative process work?

     I get my ideas and inspiration from lots of sources. The quilt exhibit at the MFA noted above started an exploration of color that lasted for months…and lead to the creation of an assortment of small projects. Sometimes I see fabric which gives me an idea for a design.  Sometimes I see a quilt in a book that I want to make, or that quilt may be the jumping off point for the creation of an original design.  Less often I'll see something in my neighborhood which will inspire me to create a quilt.  

     You don't want to see my workspace(s). Or maybe you do!!  It's messy!  I call it "creative chaos".  I often buy fabric in sets--not typically all from a fabric line or designer, but things that I like together.  I let these stacks of fabric pile up.  When I walk past them, I think about how I'm going to use them.  In sight is in mind.  Put the fabrics in the bins of my stash and it's out of sight, out of mind unless it is something particularly spectacular that I am saving for a later date!

Here are 3 quilts and why they came to be:

Left to right:

• Modern Hexagon Quilt--I wanted to try some English Paper piecing so I made a stack of hexagons. I knew I didn't want to make a traditional Grandma's garden. But some Modern quilts using hexagons in lines or cascades I'd seen on the Modern Quilt Guild site were intriguing.  So I designed this Modern Hexagon quilt.  It could be titled "Grandma's Garden Deconstructed"!
• Jumbled Spool Quilt--I'd seen lots of spool quilts in books and on-line.  The spools were always lined up perfectly. Mine never are!  So I created my Jumbles Spools Quilt using a design roll of Bright Kona Cottons.  
• Portholes Quilt--I designed the Portholes quilt to practice quilting circles. My quilted circles didn't come out as planned but learning to quilt perfect circles has been a process for me, and this was a step along the way. I learned to make the reverse circles used for the sun and "portholes" from a Craftsy Class "Inset Circles and Applique by Machine" taught by Cheryl Arkison.  I find Cheryl's books to be a great source of inspiration too!

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It's fun to see what everyone has been writing in their posts on this Around the World Blog Hop!  Follow the chain backwards or look for posts on Google. Happy travels!

Bulls-Eye, a Carolyn Friedlander Pattern: Part 1

Bulls Eue Quilt, a Carolyn Friedlander Pattern from Savor Each Stitch.  45 x 45 inches

Here's my second second quilt made for the Proper Bostonian Quilt Guild's Summer Challenge.  (See my last post for the Summer Challenge Criteria).  There's a lot going on with this quilt so I'm going to blog about it today and in my post next Wednesday.

This lap size quilt didn't need to have the Pantone Color Radiant Orchid in it.  It just needed to have 3-5 characteristics of Modern Quilt and be between 36 x 36 inches and 72 x 72 inches in size (not necessarily square).

I've made several quilts this summer that meet this criteria for this challenge, so I wasn't really thinking about making a lap quilt especially for the Summer Challenge.  But one day, I was walking the dog and saw this coleus plant in a neighbor's front yard. 

I was struck by the very pale sea foam green of the leaves accented by a deep green on the margin of the leaves and the Radiant Orchard accents in the leaves.  I had fabrics matching all those colors in my stash so I decided to make a quilt using them. 

I decided to use Carolyn Freidlander's Bulls-Eye pattern from her book Savor Each Stitch.  I used to do a lot of  hand appliqué when I first started quilting.  I was in my 20s and I spent a lot of time in laundromats.  The clothes spun and I appliquéd!  With a few exceptions, i stopped doing hand appliqué when I finally got a washing machine!  

Doing hand appliqué on this project totally changed the velocity of quilting for me.  It was nice to slow down, like life in the summer, doing this hand work.  Carolyn has a chapter on Techniques at the end of her book.  She suggested basting 1/4 inch in from the edge of the appliqué piece and then needle turning a 1/8 inch seam and overcasting that edge.  Since I was going to be appliquéing large quarter circles, the basting seemed like a perfect idea. I decided machine baste that 1/4 inch line on the longest stitch length was the way to go.  It worked beautifully.

It tacked down the quarter circle piece and it gave a hard edge which helped to turn under the raw edge of the appliqué piece.  I did the turning with my fingers and finger pressed them.

Detail of appliqué: White thread is the machine basting, the raw edge is turned under and the edge is being slip stitches

Carolyn said you could use the center circles in the quilt or omit them.  I chose to omit them.  But the scraps were so enticing that I sewed them together to make 3 circles which I appliquéd  to the finished top. I like the way the eye is drawn to these accent circles. 

The finished quilt meets the Modern Quilt Characteristics criteria--asymmetry in design, texture in quilting, negative space, lack of an outer border, use of bright solid colors, minimalism in design, and grid work. 

Part 2: In the post on Wednesday, I'll discuss the quilting on this quilt.