Thousand Pyramids Quilt "Shades of Spring" completed

Here's my completed Thousand Pyramids "Shades of Spring" quilt.  There is a row of Big Stitch Quilting along the diagonal of each row of block in a variety of matching colored cotton threads.  Then there are two to four rows of white machine stitches, ranging from 1/2 to 1/4 inch apart.

The back is pieced. I like it as much as the front! 

Back of "Shades of Spring"

Charity Quilt Ideas and other Worth Clicking Sites

If there is one thing that quilters do brilliantly, it's making quilts to give away.  Sometimes the quilt is for family or a special friend.  But often the quilt is sent off to a complete stranger--a person who needs the hug of a special quilt or someone who needs to know other people are thinking about them.

This year the Boston Modern Quilt Guild has been making quilts for Project Linus.  We made slab quilts this spring (more about slabs below) and this fall we are making Quilt-as-you-go-blocks. The beauty of Quilt-as-you-go-blocks is that they are already quilted. No one needs to sandwich a top or spend time at a long-arm or quilting at home.  The blocks do need to be assembled, but that should be fairly straight forward.  Before I put my Viking fabrics back in the stash, I made my block for the BMQG (above).

ConnectingThreads.com has a great video tutorial for making Quilt-as-you-go projects. 

Check out the amazing gallery of slab quilts made for flood victims on Cheryl Arkison's blog, "Dining Room Empire". She asked for slab blocks for folks flooded out of their homes in Canada two years ago and ended up with enough quilts to help other folks in a Texas flood!  Awesome!

Other sites to click on, not related to charity quilts.

The Seattle Modern Quilt Guild is making a Medallion Quilt as a Block of the Month.  This is the link to the June Block.  Folks are posting their progress on Instagram #SeaMQGbom.  Check it out! They are making some great quilts.  Their center medallions are all different and so are their color-ways.  Cool stuff!

And, it is Fourth of July this weekend!  Here's a link to the Polkadot Chair Blog's Fourth of July Pocket T-shirt.  It takes about 20 minutes to make.  How fun is this?  Here's mine.  Of course it has a dog!!

Have a Happy, and safe, Fourth of July!  Remember, fireworks should only be used by professionals!  And even then they are potentially very dangerous!  

Have a great day and enjoy those hot dogs and burgers!!

Modern Improv Quilting: Project 3, The Vikings--Top Completed

Here's my completed Vikings Modern Improv Pieced Quilt top.  It is based on Score #10 in Sherri Lynn Wood's book, The Handbook for Modern Improv Quilters.

I decided to trim it down to get it a bit more symmetrical since it was obviously wider at the top than the bottom-- a 1.5 inch difference.  It's still not exactly true, but at least no longer obviously asymmetric!

Using a Design Wall to Build a Modern Improv Quilt

Some of you must wonder about how a collection of fabrics become a finished quilt, especially if the quilt is improvisational and no pattern is used.   Here are a progression of photos of my design wall (the fuzzy back of a picnic table cloth hanging over 2 closet doors).  Most of the pictures were taken indoors without a flash.  I took the last photo outside, flat on the front walk, so you could see the real colors in the quilt.  

My post a week ago show the beginnings of this Viking quilt, based on Score #10 in Sherri Lynn Wood's Book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters. 

While the construction of this quilt is done using Modern Improv guidelines, the fact that the Viking fabric was fussy cut and the quilt is going together like a storybook, makes it unusual in the Modern quilt genre. 

Here's what has happened with the quilt so far this week. 

The windsock on the left is new, and the pennant flags have been attached to the right upper part of the castle. Work begins on the top story of the castle. Also thinking about how to build out the meadow/wood section. The boats await the rest of the fleet.

Sections of sky, some of the castle turrets, a bit of castle wall have been sewn together.  No changes in meadow/wood or ocean yet.

The sun and more sky has been added. The top story of the castle is complete. Work begins on the ground level of the castle. the castle lawn and walkway. The meadow, woods section is complete. The ships are at a stand still!

The castle is completely done the 3 sections of sky and castle have been sewn together. The lawn and walk are finished and have been attached to the meadow/woods.  The meadow and woods are the widest section in the quilt. I need to add more sky to the right side of the quilt to make it the same width.

Still nothing happening at sea!

And finally, a rocky Scandinavian beach has been added and the Viking Fleet is about set sail!

What's left?  Adding sky to the top section so it's the same width as the rest of the quilt.  

This is really akin to a assembling a jig saw puzzle.  Except the pieces are cut to order!

Big Stitch Quilting for Modern Quilts

Since using Big Stitch Quilting on my "Spinning J" quilt I've been thinking about big stitch quilting a lot.  It's a fun change from using a walking foot or doing free motion quilting. And it's portable, especially if the quilt isn't too big. 

I've looked at supplies on-line but here's what I've been able to find locally. From Joann's DMC® 5 perle cotton in a variety of great colors and DMC® 8 perle cotton just in white. I asked one of my local quilt shops if they had perle cotton.  They didn't, but suggested 12 wt Sulky ® cotton thread. 

Here's a photo of 4 threads--top to bottom:  5 Perle DMC® cotton,  8 Perle DMC® cotton, 12 wt Sulky ® cotton  and traditional cotton hand quilting thread. 

I found both the Clover Chenille needles and the Fons & Porter ™ Utility Needles at Joann's. 

I used the 5 Perle cotton and a Clover Chenille needle for the quilting on my "Spinning J quilt".  It had a wool batting and I had no trouble doing the quilting with the thick thread.  But I thought it was going to be a struggle to use a thread that thick on a quilt with cotton batting. 

So on my Thousand Pyramids Quilt, I'm using white DMC® 8 Perle cotton and a variety of #12 wt Sulky (R) colored cotton thread. 

Here they are side by side.  DMC® 8 Perle cotton on the left and #12 wt Sulky® cotton on the rig

I used a Fons and Porter™ Utility Quilting needle with both threads.  The hand quilting is easy with both threads.  I was able to get 4 running stitches with the Sulky® thread though only 3 running stitches with the 8 Perle cotton. 

I learned traditional hand quilting from my college roommate's grandmother in their farm house in South Dakota. You can't get a better teacher than that!   So I can do small even quilting stitches. But I like the organic feel of this big stitch hand quilting.  It isn't perfect, but I like it like that!

Give it a try if you've never done any hand quilting. It's fast, fun and it adds another dimension to your quilt. 

Modern Improv Quilting, Project 3 -- The Vikings

I've started to work on my third quilt using Sherri Lynn Wood's book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters--A Guide to Creating, Quilting and Living Courageously.  This quilt is based on Score # 10 from the book--"Showing Up".   It an amalgam of several of the Scores in the book--it's up to each quilter to choose which Scores to use together. 

With the crenelated turrets above and the blocks comprising the castle wall shown below, I've done a riff on Score #5 "Rhythmic Grid."

The pennant flags are an element found in Score #4, "Patchwork Doodle." 

The patchwork sky blocks are based on Score #1 "Floating Squares".

And finally the Viking Ships at Sea are based on Score #7 "Layered Curve."

I found the great Viking fabric at JP Knit & Stitch. It's a Alexander Henry Fabric from the De Leon Design Group and is called The Vikings.  It's so much fun to work with!

I still don't know what the final quilt will look like, but I have some ideas!  I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Tutorial: Doll clothes--briefs (undies) for a boy doll

I've made 4 Waldorf type dolls so far.  Two of them have been boys.  One was 10" and the second was 13".  I didn't find many patterns for dolls those sizes and even less for boy dolls.  So I drafted clothes for both boy dolls.

This tutorial of for Boy Doll Undies.

My 13" tall doll has a 10" waist.  He is a bit short-waisted.  You will need to adjust this pattern to fit your doll. 

I used a lightweight jersey with Lycra but interlock knits will work too. 

Supplies:

• Knit fabric, jersey or interlock, 1/4 yd (or scraps if you have some).
• Fold-over elastic

Pattern:

• Cut 2 slightly trapazoidlal pieces of knit fabric, 4 1/2 inches by 3 inches at the front seam sloping up slightly to 3 1/4 inches at the back seam. The sloping edge will be at the waist.  The bottom edge of the pieces should be straight.
• One 1 piece 1 1/2" x 4".  This will be the center piece of the undies.  If you have stripes, cut this piece across the width of the fabric to create a contrasting piece.  Or you could this piece from a different color fabric.
• Cut 1 piece of fold-over elastic, 1/2 smaller than the circumference of you doll's waist. You want the briefs to be a bit tight at the waist so they don't fall down!
• TIP:  If you are using jersey, it rolls up easily.  Put a heavy book on top of your cut pieces until you are ready to use them.  That helps to keep them flat.  Ironing with spray starch will also help some if the pieces do roll up.

Construction:  Here are photos of each step. The pin with the red head is in the slightly shorter front edge of the undies. I put them all together to make it more print friendly.

1. Make a small dart in the upper (narrow edge) of the 1 1/2 x 4 inch center piece.  My dart is 1/4" wide x 1 inch long.  It's not critical how big it is.  My boy dolls are not anatomically correct but the dart in the undies creates the illusion that they might be!
2. Fold over and iron a 1/4 inch hem at the lower edge of both large pieces.  Hem with a stretch stitch, zig-zag or overlock stitch. 
3. Now fold each of these hemmed pieces in half the long way, right sides together.  From the LOWER edge sew a 1/2" inch seam to make the leg of the undies. 
4. The center band is going to extend from the waistband in front, through the crotch and up the back of the undies.  Attach it by sewing it, with a stretch stitch, starting at the front upper edge of the large pieces, starting with the end of the center piece which has the dart. 
5. Sew down the front center seam on one side, pivot at the leg seam, and sew up the back center seam.  Your center piece will probably be 1/2 too long.  That can be trimmed so it is the same height the waist band once you have one side attached.  
6. Now sew the other side of the center piece to the other half of the undies.  Pivot at the leg seam, sew another inch and STOP!
7. Attach the fold over elastic.  Pin in about 4-6 places to the waistband of the undies. You will need to pull on the elastic so it will fit the waist of the undies which is long. This will create a slight gather along the waist of the undies. 
8. Once the fold over elastic is attached, sew up the remainder of the back seam.  This is a good time to adjust the fit to the doll. 
9. That's it!  Boy Briefs!

Book Review: The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt

Laurie Aaron Hird's new book,  The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt, is a real gem on a number of levels. 

The book has patterns for 99 quilt blocks!  They range from easy to challenging.  But good news! The book comes with a CD which includes rotary cutting instructions, paper piecing foundation patterns and templates which you can cut if you prefer to do that. All the information on the CD is in PDF form which is great.  The CD will work on a Mac as well as a PC.  All you need to retrieve the information is Adobe Reader, a free app which can be downloaded for PC or Mac. (See the right sidebar in the link above if you need to download it). 

Maybe even better than the quilt blocks and patterns are the letters re-published from the "The Farmer's Wife" magazine which were written to the editor in the 1930's.  It was the Great Depression.  But the letters are so up beat.  They are reflections of what the women were coping with and reading them, you can see how they were able to cope.  They did better than "making do."  They enjoyed what they had and were so grateful for the world around them on their farms.

Many of these women had a great faith in God. I've thought several times that this book could well be used as a devotional, in addition to a reference for quilt blocks.

Even if you never make a block from the book, though I expect you will, you will enjoy getting a glimpse into the lives of farmer's wives during the Great Depression.  They say that the men who fought during World War II were the "Greatest Generation."  You'll know why that was true when you read these letters written by many of their mothers!

Do pick up a copy.  I think you'll be glad you did!

7th Grade Home Ec and Cherry Pie

Middle School (we called in Junior High)--a time of discovering a new, older self and learning new skills.   I learned to sew with a sewing machine in 7th grade Home Ec but that's a story for another day. Today I want to talk baking!  Before we started to sew, we spent the first part of the school year in Home Ec learning to cook and bake. 

In our first class we learned to use measuring cups--carefully measuring out breakfast cereal into bowls. I remember thinking "How crazy is this??  Who is ever going to measure their breakfast cereal?"  Turns out the joke's on me!  Now that I have to be more careful about my carbs I measure my cereal every day!

By the end of the unit we'd progressed to the point that we were making pie!  Pie!!  In 7th grade!! I still have the recipe for the cherry pie we made in 1962, clipped from a printed handout and stored in my overstuffed recipe box! I have no idea what the source was, but it calls for Minute Tapioca so I'm guessing that company may have written the recipe. I found similar recipes when I Googled Minute Tapioca and Kraft, it's parent company, but none of those I found were exactly the same recipe.

Here's my variation of the original recipe but with less sugar, no food coloring, and no added butter.

Seventh Grade Cherry Pie

• 4 Cups of drained water packed sour cherries.  (They used to come in cans or frozen but these days I find them in jars).
• 1 1/4 Cup of sugar.  ( I use 1 Cup of white sugar and 1/4 Cup of Turbinado Sugar).
• 3 Tablespoons of Minute Tapioca
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract
• sparkling sugar for decoration (may be purchased from King Arthur Flour)
• pastry for 2 nine inch crusts

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

1. Drain all the water off the cherries--you'll have pie soup if you don't!  
2. Mix the cherries with all the ingredients in a large bowl. 
3. Line pie pan with one of the crusts.   I use cookie cutters to cut shapes to use in place of a lattice for the top crust.  Cut out the shapes or cut strips to make a woven pastry lattice.
4. Pour cherry mixture into the pie shell.
5. Cover the top with cut out pastry or a pastry lattice.
6. Sprinkle with Sparkling White  Sugar as desired
7. Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees F.  (Put a half sheet pan under the pie pan to catch any filling that bubbles out of the pie pan).  
8. After 30 minutes put a collar of aluminum foil around the outer edge of the crust so it doesn't get too brown.
9. Bake another 20-25 minutes, until the pie filling is bubbling and the crust is a golden brown.
10. Cool!
11. Enjoy with vanilla ice cream and some good friends!

Yeah for 7th grade Home Ec! I think it was school time very well spent!!  I mean, unless you are a rocket scientist, when was the last time you used any calculus?

Modern Improv Quilting, "Spinning J"

Here's my Modern Improv Quilt, "Spinning J" based on "Score #9" in Sherri Lynn Wood's book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters.

It was a real challenge to get it from pieced arcs to a rectangular quilt!  But the puzzle pieces did all fall into place one by one! It's now actually a fairly true rectangle but it sure doesn't look like it!  

I used DMC Perle Cotton embroidery thread for the Big Stitch Quilting.  It has a wool batt so the quilt is light and lofty.  I picked the wool batt because I thought it would best accommodate the irregular piecing in the quilt.  And that's why I did the hand quilting too. 

I had completed the quilting before I knew the technique had a name!  I just heard Carolyn Friedlander use the term on her recent Modern Quilt Guild member's webinar,  "Handwork is Fun." 

Here's more information about Big Stitch Quilting on a Craftsy.com blog post written by Diane Knott last year.  I really like the look of the Big Stitch Quilting with the wool batt. 

Even the label for this quilt has improv piecing!  

This quilt is totally fun!  I really learned a lot in the process of making it.

If you're interested in making an improv quilt, I recommend that you pick up a copy of Sherri Lynn Wood's book. I will really help you with the various improv piecing processes. 

Modern Improv Quilting, project #2

I've been working on my second modern Improv quilt using Sherri Lynn Wood's book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters--A Guide for Creating, Quilting and Living Courageously. 

This quilt is based on Score #9 in the book.  Working on a quilt based on Score #9 is "living courageously!"  Especially when I went from making "Woodland Friends" based on "Score 1" to this one!  These curves definitely require advancing piecing skills!  But Sherri has great "how to" advice in the Techniques section in the book which is really helpful.

Cutting and sewing the wedges was really fun. The challenges began when it was time to sew the curved wedges together.  I initially decided to hand appliqué the curved sections to a  whole cloth background. In fact, I did appliqué the whole long outer curve.  Here's a pre-applique snap of my initial layout plan.  Sorry, it's a bit out of focus...

But then I went back and looked at the book.  While Sherri states that it is fine to appliqué the curved sections, the examples of "Score #9" quilts in her book are all pieced. The pieced quilts are beautiful. So I decided I was going to rise to the challenge!  I ripped out all my hand sewing and started piecing.

The photo at the top shows the quilt in a fairly early stage of piecing.  The process of turning this from a collection of curved wedges into a rectangular quilt was much like working on a jig saw puzzle. Every evening I would look at the quilt, audition another color. cut one new piece and then sew on to the quilt.  It was mentally challenging. One new piece an evening was about all I could manage!   I was working on my "Dog Pals" quilt at the same time--doing those fast, raw edge appliqués provided the comic relief I needed to stick with all this complicated curved piecing!

Sherri writes in her book that as you start to piece these curved wedges together, the quilt form changes. So true!  You can see how different my final layout is from the one I started to appliqué. 

Here's it is sandwiched, ready for quilting.  The quilt is an approximation of a rectangle! That's improvII  A slightly lop-sided "organic look" is just fine! 

This was a great learning experience.  Now that I've pieced this quilt and understand the mechanics better, I think I'd like to try it again...but probably not this week!

May Garment Sewing Adventures

May on Instagram has been blossoming with photographs of garments made by sewists, quilters taking time out to sew clothes, knitters and other fiber folks, all making and wearing their own handiwork posted under the hashtag #mmmay15 which is part of Me-Made-May'15.

Between all the IG posts and watching all the available episodes of The Great British Sewing Bee I decided it might be fun to sew some clothes this month too.  Despite the fact that all my initial sewing as a young teen was garment construction it's not one of my strengths. I've spent more hours than I wish to admit to reading, and re-reading pattern instructions. They clearly are in English but I have moments when it seems more like trying to decipher a foreign language! Give me a complicated quilt pattern any day!  Here's what I've been up to.

I made another SewSaw Dress from Fish Sticks Designs.  This dress is a size 18 months. If I make this again for an older child, I'll use the version with the pockets.  This was my second time using this pattern and this time it went together easily. The fabric is a lovely, sturdy, interlock knit.  It has a little stretch but not a lot.  The koalas are so cute!!

Fish Sticks Designs "SewSaw Dress"  size 18 months

The jersey skirt shown in the top photo is a variation of the One Yard Skirt by Cut Out + Keep.  I made it smaller to fit a tween and created a fold-over yoga band type waist instead of using elastic thread recommended in the pattern.  I was able to make a fold-over waistband because the fabric is a jersey with lycra in it, making it super stretchy.  It soft and swirly and should be super comfy.  

And for myself?  Well, I did make myself a skirt, but the result?  Not good!!  The fabric was directional and I cut it so the flowers would be upright.  Except on re-checking the pattern, I discovered it should have been cut the other direction.  Never mind. I added panels to make up the difference. I finished the skirt and tried it on. Grim!! Let's just say it wasn't flattering and leave it at that!!  So, here's the skirt in a heap!  

That's not quite the end of the story. I love this sweet floral fabric.  I sat down and unpicked, un-sewed, and ripped out all the seams in the skirt.  I'm thinking about re-making in a slightly different style.  If that doesn't work, I know this fabric will make a beautiful quilt for a baby girl!!  

Modern Improv Quilting , project #1

The past couple weeks I have been having fun making quilts based on the "Scores" in Sherri Lynn Wood's new book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters--A Guide to Creating, Quilting & Living Courageously.

This quilt is based on "Score #1" in the book.  It's one of several quilts in the book that any confident beginner could make. I'd had my eye on the animal fabric for a while, but hadn't decided how to use it.  This "Score" is perfect for fussy cutting a fabric. In fact, the fussy cutting probably helped simplify the construction of this quilt. 

I used my 12.5" square ruler to give me an idea about the size of the fussy cut blocks.  But then I put my ruler away and did all the cutting "freehand" using my rotary cutter.  That worked really well for me.  All the other blocks in the quilt were cut free hand as well.  My fabric cutting with scissors tends to be ragged, so I used my rotary cutter. 

It's a lot of fun cutting all the pieces for the quilt and then fitting them together. It did take a bit of juggling.  I moved the pieces around on the design wall lots of time!  Here's a photo of them ready for assembly.

On the design wall, ready to be sewn together

I did the free motion quilting on my domestic sewing machine.  Daisies and loops!  Spring is in the air so quilting flowers on a woodland quilt felt just right!  

JP Knit & Stitch is having a free Modern Improv Quilt Along on two Saturdays, June 20 and 27, using Sherri Lynn Wood's book as a guide.    I'm the host for the event, but it is really a Quilt Along, not a formal class or workshop. I think it will be lots of fun with everyone helping each other creating fun quilts!  There is still room for a couple more quilters. If you want to sign up, click the link above!  I can't wait to see everyone's projects!!

"Dog Pals" Raw Edge Applique Quilt

My "Dog Pals" quilt is done!  I really enjoyed using Carolyn Friedlander's raw edge appliqué technique from her "Dino Patch" quilt in the new book,  You Inspire Me to Quilt, by Cheryl Arkison which I reviewed on my blog last week.

The dogs in the quilt are all real dogs! Three are mine. The rest are friends and family.  If you know the dogs, you can actually identify them by their appliqués!  I sent a set of photos of the blocks to a friend and she correctly named the dogs!

Who's Who, Left to Right starting with top row

• Maisie, Magnolia (aka Maggie), Taffy
• Poppy, Zoe, Jake
• Tipper,Hagrid, Hazel

Taffy and Tipper are my English Springer Spaniels and Hazel is my Black Labrador Mix. 

Poppy has her nose on a feather. She's a Short Haired German Pointer and she "locks on" whenever she finds a feather in the yard!

I did free motion quilting in each block, using a design that reflected each dog.  Hagrid is a Bichon. His quilting is tight curls!  Tipper comes from a line of working hunting dogs. He is "birdie", a good thing for a working Springer Spaniel. The quilting around him is hills and flying birds.   Hazel is innately shy.  The human world baffles her. The puzzle-like meandering pattern is perfect for her. Maggie, who is sweet as can be, has a heart worked into the quilting on her block.  And Poppy has a tiny quilted feather, as well as the embroidered feather, in her block.

Here are some photos of the real dogs, in the same order as on the quilt.  The crated dogs are  Hagrid and Taffy. They were at an event sponsored by the MSPCA and were waiting their turn to show off their skills in Nosework.

And the label-- giving credit, where credit is due!  All the background fabrics in the blocks, some of the dogs, two of the borders and the backing are from Carolyn Freidlander's fabric lines distributed by Robert Kaufman. So it was fun, and appropriate, to include a selvage with her name in my label!

What fun!!

BMQG Weekend of Events

I had a great weekend with Boston Modern Quilt Guild!  

Saturday I went to the regular monthly meeting where we had a powerpoint presentation on Color Theory. That was fun. There is always something new to learn about color!

Sunday, the amazing fabric/sewing machine/yarn shop, Gather Here, in Cambridge, MA, hosted the BMQG for a day of Charity Sewing.  The guild is making quilts for Project Linus and pillowcases for ConKerr Cancer this year.  

The group pieced a couple quilt tops and quilt backs, sandwiched and basted a quilt and made a stack of pillow cases.  It was a really productive day, and lots of fun!  Here is the big worktable we were using.

I put together one quilt back and serged through 4 pillowcases.  Thanks, Gather Here, for setting up the serger for us to use!! That made the sewing so easy!!  Here's an "unselfie" of me working on pillowcases with the serger. (Getting a real selfie would have been a bit tricky)!

I have to say, the charity quilts the BMQG makes look like show quilts!  Over the past few months, Guild Members have pieced 12.5" square slabs. Each slab is monochromatic, in any primary color.  The colors weren't assigned, it was all random. These slabs are being pieced into a number of different grids with lots of negative space.  They'll be posted on the BMQG's blog when they are done. They are really amazing. I'll post a link when they are available.

So, my lawn didn't get mowed and the weeds are rampant but I'll get to them someday!  But I got a great quilt idea driving by new construction in the Longwood Medical Area on my way to Cambridge yesterday and bought some fabric for it while I was at Gather Here...so who knows!!

Book Review: You Inspire Me to Quilt by Cheryl Arkison

Cheryl Arkison's newest book, You Inspire Me to Quilt,  was released this week.  This book is a collection of quilts designed by 8 modern designers plus 2 quilts that Cheryl designed.  All the quilts are inspired by "Everyday Life."   And they are!

Cheryl has made a quilt of with the colored dancing bars seen on a music equalizer.  My brother, who spent his teens and early 20s in recording booths, would love this one!  

Blair Stocker made a quilt of up-cycled ski parkas! And on the theme of cold weather sports, Andrea Harris designed a "Canadian Hockey Quilt".  

Cheryl's long-time collaborator, Amanda Jean Nyberg, has created a "Time Stamp Quilt" inspired by a digital clock radio.  I think it would be cool re-interpreted as a baseball score board for a significant win for a kid's team, or maybe a World Series Win for a grown-up's home team.

Those are just a few of the fun quilts in this book. 

The quilt design that immediately inspired me make it my own, is a quilt called "Dino Patch" designed by Carolyn Friedlander, based on a conversation with her nephew. Her quilt has raw edge appliqué dinosaurs. You can see several of them on the book cover above. I looked at those dinosaurs and thought, "Dogs! Cats! Fish!"  Critters that usually require serious paper piecing or mind-bogling appliqué.  This gets the critter's shape and motion, and takes about 10 minutes to stitch out.

I'm working on a quilt of Dog Pals. As the say, "Draw what you know!"  Here are the blocks I've completed. The first dog is Jake, a Black German Shepherd.  Then Maisie, a big red dog, and Hazel my black Lab mix, great pals from dog walking through Hounds About Town!  There's Hagrid, the bichon from Canine Nosework class, Taffy my English Springer Spaniel, chasing a ball (of course!!), and Magnolia, the best ever mystery-black-dog mix from Mississippi!!  More dog blocks are in progress.  When it's done, I'll post the finished quilt.

Check out Cheryl Arkison's new book!  There's even a BACON quilt pattern if you want one!  Really!!

Worth Clicking: Blog Posts by Other Folks

I've seen some Blog posts recently that I think are really great, and wanted to give you a heads up about them.

On FITF (Film in the Fridge) there is a fun variation of the Plus Block Ashley calls "Intersections."   I really like this quilt design--cheerful, light and delightful!  Check her tutorial for the pattern which was posted last November. I was really surprised about the construction of this block.  I think it would be a great way to used a stack of 10" precuts. (I have one in the stash which was waiting for a project...)

There is also a Blog Hop in progress for the newly published book, The Modern Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters--A Guide to Creating, Quilting & Living Courageously by Sherri Lynn Wood.  Even better, Sherri is posting all the test quilts made for each chapter the book (there are lots of them) over the course of May.  

My copy of the book came in the mail last week. It's amazing!  I've just finished a quilt based on "Score #1" in the book.  (I'll share it another post soon).  The quilts are cut all "ruler-free" so it's guaranteed adventure.  It's "Score #9" that I'm really itching to try!!  The fabrics for that are all in a stack, ready to go! (See above).

Doll Update:  The collection of dolls, of my own making and dolls purchased from Bamboletta, was over-crowding my out-of-dogs'-reach shelf.  There is a sweet 3 year girl living next door who wears dresses more often than not.  I saw her Mom the other day and asked if her daughter likes dolls.  Turns out she LOVES them.  So on a glorious sunny morning last week when the family was playing outdoors, I walked next door with Nellwyn.  Her 6 year old brother intercepted me, asking if the doll was for his sister.  I said it was. "Do you have one for me?" he asked.  I told him I'd bring out a boy doll (one of the Bamboletta dolls) and if he liked him, it was his.  He did!   Both dolls are doing well.  So much better to be loved by children than sitting on a shelf!  His Mom tells me that her son takes his doll everywhere. I saw him carefully buckle the doll into their toy shopping cart the other day and he asked if I had any more clothes for him, so I know he's in good hands!  Now that's a happy beginning!

A Thousand Pyramids for Spring Completed quilt top and "The Great British Sewing Bee"

Here's my Thousand Pyramid Quilt top, hanging on the fence in a light Spring breeze!  While the block placement is far more random than my initial plan, it works.  And it had lovely movement. 

Once again my stack of UFOs wait to be quilted is growing higher!  I have ideas for an improv quilt and several garment sewing projects too!  All good!

On the subject of garment sewing, have you heard about the television series, "The Great British Sewing Bee?"  It's a reality contest for British home sewers.  They work in 2 day blocks: 2 smaller tasks on day one and a larger project on day 2 for a number of weeks. Each week, one or two sewers is winnowed out. They are asked to make a variety of garments, some of which I wouldn't dream of trying...nor would some of them if they'd known ahead of time! What transpires is fascinating!  Some of the final garments are brilliant, some, not so much!  

There are 3 seasons available on YouTube. If you find yourself with a long wait someplace like a doctor's office or airport or just a rainy afternoon, this show will draw you in and transport you on a magic carpet to the old Rag Trade district on the Thames River!  Your time waiting will fly!   Great fun!  And I have to say, because the judges tell us (not the contestants) how an item should be constructed,  I've really learned a lot about handling specialty fabrics and details of garment construction!  I highly recommend it, 

Hydrangea and Fence quilt top and back

Here's my completed "Hydrangea on the Fence" quilt top.  
Using the graph paper grid, with each square on the paper equivalent to 2 x 2 inches, it was very easy to cut out and construct this quilt.   I used the reverse circle technique to show the flowers coming through the fence. 

Would I do something different if I were doing it again?  I think I might have used the flower fabric to fill the gap between some of the points of picket fence. Not all of them, just a few.  That could break up that solid line across the picket points and make the design softer.  I think would look better with the curving lines at the top of the bush.

Here's the back of the quilt.  I'm happy with this.

Back of the quilt

Design Notes: Using a Grid to Draw a Quilt. Hydrangea and Fence

I thought I'd share some of my quilt design process today.  This time I'll use a hand drawn design rather than a design on the computer. 

Last fall I purchased a floral fabric that reminded me of my neighbor's PeeGee Hydrangea. The hydrangea is just on the other side of the fence.  Each summer it leans over into my yard. It used to peek through the slats my old picket fence!  It's a very beautiful, and very welcome, visitor!

My neighbor's PeeGee Hydrangea

When I purchased the fabric, I made a rough sketch of my quilt idea in my sketch book.

A few weeks ago I decided to start working on the quilt.  I looked at my original sketch.  I liked the concept but thought I could do better with floral blocks at the top of the fence.  

This time I sat down with my graph paper and redesigned the quilt using a grid.  Not only is the revised design better, but the graph paper's grid provides precise measurements for cutting the fabrics for the quilt. 

Using a grid to design a quilt

In my next post, I'll show you how the quilt is coming together.