August Recap: RSC, Cross Stitch Summer Camp, A Favor for a Friend and More FMQ Inspiration

Re-Visiting the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

After a busy July, things did not slow down for August!  My plans for the month started off with pulling the number for my American Patchwork and Quilting UFO Challenge  list.  In the piecing category (this year I made a separate list for projects that need to be quilted), the number that came up was for my "Twisted Ribbons" project which is one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects.

I checked in with Angela's So Scrappy RSC information page and the color for the month was Orange.  What was good is that I needed that color in my other ongoing RSC projects as well so I pulled together pieces from stash and scraps.

Unfortunately, in order to work on "Twisted Ribbons",  I would have needed my design wall and as noted in my last post, it was still filled with the layout for the Christmas Scrap Squares project so that was not possible.  

However, I took the time to review all the RSC projects and I saw that my Log Cabin Hearts is probably the closest to getting to a finished top.  So I did cut the strips needed for an Orange block for that.  I had already cut sets for colors called earlier this year.  Since the RSC page now also had the color call for September, I added added more color block sets for that too.  

Now I will be taking this project with me on our upcoming trip to visit my MIL as one of the projects for our mini quilt retreat. 

Cross Stitch Summer Camp

Every August, Sheri the Colorado Cross Stitcher hosts Cross Stitch Summer Camp.  For the months of June and July she will give prompts which guide stitchers in choosing a project to work on for it.  For August the prompt is always the same:  "Try Something New".   For me that was the perfect excuse to start a project I had come across after viewing Flosstubes discussing the new patterns that debuted at the Nashville Needlemarket in early March.  

I saw a kit for a pattern that was said would be stitched in wool.  Having made wool quilt projects, I was curious about how that translated into cross stitch.  

The wool floss is on the left.

I admit I started on this late so by the end of August had not gotten far with it.  I've continued to work on it after August and here is where it is now. 

Commissions, Commissions.....

That month I also got a quilt commission request.  A long time friend of mine called to ask if I had an "African themed" quilt I might part with.  She had a co-worker who would be traveling to that country and wanted to give a unique gift for an upcoming birthday party for her.  I admitted I didn't have one but that I did have a fabric stash as this is something on my quilty wish list!

We put our heads together and came up with the idea of me making a jewelry roll like the ones I'd made her and another friend of mine.  She picked out the fabrics she liked and I made it up.

Unfortunately, this gift was not as well received as my friend expected.  So I had to have the "Quilt Gift Reality Check" conversation with her that we quilters have come to understand:  just because you like quilts and handmade items doesn't mean that others do or appreciate them.  I even passed along a number of links to her to articles that would let her know that this is a situation that is not as uncommon as she would think:

https://www.reddit.com/r/quilting/comments/ew94tv/how_do_i_recover_from_gifting_quilts_and/

https://www.epidastudio.com/7-things-to-consider-before-giving-a-quilt-as-a-gift/

https://www.badassquilterssociety.com/stop-giving-quilts-as-gifts/

https://scissortailquilting.com/finished-projects/giving-quilts/

Although I was able to calm her down a bit,  she was still a bit miffed and at least I got something out of it too:  she has vowed to never ask me to make a gift like that to give to someone again!  That has not however, freed me of the obligation to finally get to work on the memory lap quilt she has commissioned from me for herself, LOL!!   

The other thing I was able to do was to remake a tote bag I had made for her a while back.  She was carrying that one when she went for a mammogram.  Leaving the facility, she was on the elevator with a woman who was visibly upset, having received a rather grim diagnosis.  The woman asked my friend if she could take a picture of the encouraging saying on the front of the bag.  My friend felt so bad for the woman that she gave her the bag and then wondered if I might be able make another to replace it.  

Fortunately, the panel it came from -- Ruby Society's "Pep Talk" is still readily available so I got another panel.  I still had more of the original backing fabric that I had used for her first bag and shopped for a new lining fabric.  I was also able to upgrade the bag straps to cotton webbing which I think is sturdier than the nylon webbing I used the first time.  The best thing was that I was able to deliver both to her in person, making for a nice opportunity for us to meet up as well!  

Free Motion Summit

As I had in July,  I got the opportunity to attend another virtual workshop series: "The Free Motion Quilting Summit".  Hosted by Mary Davis of Mary Go Round Quilts, this was a free three day event (although you could pay for extended access to the videos) that introduced me to many quilting teachers I was not familiar with and re-introduced me to a few I did know.  

What was a big help to me was a workshop by Adria Goode on her "Big Flower" FMQ motif.   

This is an interesting stitch pattern in that it can be used either in blocks or in borders.  If you like it too, she has the free workshop available on her website as well!  

This was just the inspiration I needed to attempt to try to finish another quilt!  I had pieced "Heartland",  a 3 yard quilt back in Fall 2023 and had tried to longarm it when I visited my MIL back in May.  

I had picked out a computerized design and sized it on the quilt but wasn't able to figure out how to get my MIL's machine to stitch it out.  Since that time I think I've figured out what I did wrong and had planned to take it back to my MIL's when we go down to visit her.  However,  I felt the "Big Flower" motif would work well on it so I decided to instead quilt this one on my DSM.  I started that quilting in September and it is currently in progress:

The longarm instruction at the Summit made me also think about my plans for the next time I get a chance to use my MIL's longarm.  To that end, I pulled out another project long over due for finishing.  Looking at it for the first time in years, I could see a new plan for quilting it on her machine.  Armed with that and a new understanding of how her machine works and how to approach longarm projects in general,  I think I'm ready to take a stab at trying to get it done.   It is now packed up to go with us when we leave at the end of the week.

A Big Loss In the Quilting World

Towards the end of August,  I read that another light went out in the quilting firmament:  I learned about the passing of Freddie Moran on Jennifer Sampou's blog.  

For most of my quilty years, Freddy Moran was always talked about for her vibrant use of color and pattern, particularly polka dots.  I gained a new appreciation of her belief that "Red is a Neutral" when I worked on Red and White quilts these past few years.   

There is another tribute to her on the C& T Publishing blog.  Two more tributes to Freddy's work (done while she was still alive) can be seen in two videos by The Quilt Show here and here.   

In honor of her passing, I picked up a copy of her book "Freddy's House".  What's cool is that the used copy I got is autographed! 

She was also well known for her collaborations with the also dearly departed Gwen Marston.  I still want to try to get at least one of the books they wrote together.  

So that's it for August!  Last up will be a summary of September!

July Recap: Part 2 - Christmas In July: Quilting and Cross Stitch

In my previous post I talked about having plans for doing a lot of quilt stitching.  However, also in July I followed along with the crowd and got this year's Christmas projects underway for holiday decorating.  Two are quilty ones and two are cross stitch projects.  I should note here that I had really planned to start these along with another really big cross stitch project at the start of the year but you know how that goes....

Quilting for Christmas

The primary project I worked on for "Christmas In July" is "Letters To Santa" from the MODA Fabrics quilt along from 2022.  

For the quilt along, MODA had designers make up the letters in their signature Bella Solids and used the lettering designs from Primitive Gatherings Mini Alphabet Quilt pattern.  I recognized the letters as half size versions of the same ones offered by MODA during their "Spell It With MODA" Bake Shop pattern series back in 2016.   

The good news is that I still had the patterns I downloaded from that earlier quilt along.  I also had experience in converting the letters -- which were designed to be made from Jelly Roll strips -- into half size letters using 1-1/2" strips.  In 2019, I had used the half-size letters to make Vanessa Goertzen's MODA Bake Shop "When Life Gives You Scraps" pattern as a wall hanging for my MIL for a Christmas gift.  I'll note here that my lap-size version of the same quilt using the full size letters and that I started that same year is still a UFO, sigh!  

Since I was already used to adjusting the letter patterns which would give me a result similar to the Primitive Gatherings letters,  I was "all in" when the new quilt along was announced!  I started corralling fabrics for it from my scraps and stash, pulling together any Christmas or Red or Green fabrics I thought might make suitable letters.  

However, my plans that year changed when I decided to instead make Red and White quilts for the holidays.  As I had shopped for fabrics for those,  I found a background print that I wanted to use for this one so stashed that as well.  I also pulled some of the leftover Reds from the R&W stash into this project.  As time went on, I picked up more things as I came across sales on holiday fabric.  I will note that different from the MODA quilts, all of my fabrics are prints and some offered opportunities for fussy cuts.

When I finally went to start this, I was caught up short:  I had not looked at my notes for this since I had first decided on doing the project back in 2022.  And clearly in those notes, I had planned to purchase fabric to expand the width of the patterned quilt to be wide enough for a bed quilt.  Unfortunately though, sometime between then and now, I had decided that I was making this as a wall hanging for the wall at the top of our entrance stairs.  On the downside, that meant using far fewer words.  Fortunately, MODA provided a planning sheet during the QAL which helped me map out what I wanted to "say" in the amount of space I had:

Using the layout map I made, this is how far I got with the words:

Please excuse the wonky layout!

With the words all finished, I still needed to make the pictorial filler blocks to go between the words.  I continued working on this into August and managed to finish up the center of the top.

At this point I still want to add a small border and already have my binding picked out.  I intend to do a pieced back using two colors  of the "post-marked envelopes" print from Riley Blake's "Nicholas - Letters to Santa" by J. Wecker Frisch line that I have.  I will also be adding a few more words into it.  

I'll probably go back to work on this in November with the goal of having the top ready for the start of December at the latest (she said, fingers crossed)!  The other good news is that given the now expanded color scheme of Red, Green, Gold and Black,  I don't need to make a coordinating tree skirt since the first one I made all the way back in 2010 already channels that!  

I did still need a "back of the couch" quilt and I've already got a handle on that too.  I've long wanted to do a 2-1/2" scrap squares quilt like Pat Sloan:

I could never decide on the color scheme I wanted to do for one so embarking on "Letters" this year is perfect to help with that!  As I made the words and filler blocks, I started cutting squares from the stash gathered for "Letters".  Sewing pairs of squares was a great "leader/ender" for the word sewing.  

Then I saw a great Christmas panel of larger squares that had the perfect colors for incorporating into the scrap squares layout.

MODA's "Cheer and Merriment" Panel

Once again Pat is my inspiration in doing this.  She incorporated a large applique block in the center of one of her quilts and a large unicorn panel in the center of another (yes, she has made a lot of these, LOL!).  

To date, I still have a ways to go in laying out the squares for mine:

I love when a project can accomplish multiple crafty desires!!  

Cross Stitching for Christmas

On the cross stitch front, the "Christmas In July" project plan also started with a "Letters To Santa" project that was also inspired by another stitch along!

This Fat Quarter Shop stitch along was also in 2022.  I had first seen it on Pat Sloan's daily videos (of course!) but waited to buy the pattern until I was ready to actually make it.  I even purchased the FQS DMC floss kit since I didn't have any of the floss colors for it already on hand.  What was harder was getting the Charcoal Aida cloth for it but I eventually found that on eBay.  

Back in June, I saw this pattern on the Annie's Catalog site:

Is this just too cute?!?  I love ornament designs so this was right up my alley!  What I loved even more was that Cinnamon sticks will be used for the "logs".  Luckily for me, when I was ready to set this up along with the FQS piece, a few of the floss colors for it were the same ones called for in the "Letters To Santa" piece.  I was able to gather all the rest of the supplies for it from my small (but growing) cross stitch stash!  This is where both are now:

So I am happy to say that Christmas is already well underway and I look forward to being ahead of the holiday game for once!!  Stay tuned, there's more Summer recap coming!

July Recap: Part 1 - A lot of FMQ Plans and Summer Camp

All the FMQ Stitching Plans

July began with a project teased in June:  

With an upcoming Angela Walters "How Do I Quilt It" Free-Motion Quilting Challenge I was pushed to start Apple Crisp,  a project which I had long wanted to do (the link is to the free pattern).

This is a picture as it originally appeared in the Oct 2010 APQ issue.

I spent the end of June and the first half of July piecing the blocks for the project.  I changed the patterned blocks in it from eight inch to six inch so I could use my Accuquilt Snowball block die to make the cutting and sewing easier.  

Trying to meet the deadline, I even pieced some of the blocks while away on a camping trip!

During the FMQ Challenge,  Angela was going to discuss stitching patterns that could be used to fill Chevron, Snowball, Log Cabin and Curved blocks and Applique borders.  

She covered Snowball blocks in the second week of the challenge.  I watched that episode and for the first time watching one of her challenges, I did not immediately get ideas for how to stitch my top.  However, as I looked beyond the stitching she did in the blocks, I did find ideas for filling other spaces in my top.  That combined with some of my own ideas led to what I used to eventually finish this one up.  

Since I spent most of August trying to come up with a definite stitch plan, I didn't actually get to layering this until the start of September.  It is now done and you can read about how it finished up here.

Since the Challenge also covered Log Cabin blocks, that encouraged me to also pull out the Rainbow Log Cabin top I finished back in 2023.  I was hoping I could keep up the quilt stitching momentum and get another UFO completed. 

However I had the same problem with the Log Cabin stitch patterns from the challenge:  she showed some great designs but none I really liked for my top.  Then just like for "Crisp",  I did take one cue from how she stitched the dark side of one of the blocks she demo'd and figured I could combine it with another simple plan on the light areas.  Angela had also suggested just using filler designs to stitch some blocks and that was something else I decided I could accept for doing the stitching on this project.  

However, I never did get around to actually layering or quilting that top because of road blocks I had hit with deciding on the final combination of stitch patterns to use on "Apple Crisp" which I considered my first priority.

Summer Quilt Camp

In mid-July, I participated in a series of workshops called "Quilt 2024: Summer Camp" which has now been renamed Quilt and Learn.  For this event, you could sign up for free to watch five days of workshops.  There was also an option to pay $20 to get an extra week of access to all of them or $49 for six months access.  Here is a list of the workshops presented:

Click on the picture to enlarge.

There were a lot of great workshops covering a range of creative techniques and the majority of the instructors were new to me.  This is the first time I had done something like this and I am looking forward to participating in it when they run it again in January 2025.

In addition to all the FMQ planning, I also did a lot of "Christmas in July" stitching but I will talk about that in the next post!

Quilt Stitching Inspiration Finally Leads To A Finished Quilt

Whew, it's been a while since I've checked in!  It's been a busy summer and I will be posting recaps of all that has been going on quilt-wise.  However in recent weeks I have also been trying to focus on getting some finishes done.  So for starers, I'll debut the first one this week over at Alycia's Finished Or Not Friday !

In July a lot of my piecing focus went towards "Christmas in July" projects.  However, my original plan for that month was to do a lot of quilt stitching!  The impetus for that was the latest Free Motion Quilt Challenge announced by Angela Walters at the end of May and scheduled to run in July.  Titled "How Do I Quilt It",  she planned to discuss stitching patterns that could be used to fill Chevron, Snowball, Log Cabin and Curved blocks and Applique borders.  

That was just the push I needed to start a project I had long wanted to do:  "Apple Crisp" is a design I thought I first saw in an American Patchwork and Quilting "Fall Quilts" compilation (scroll down to #20 for the link to the free pattern).  Later I discovered I had the October 2010 back issue it was originally published in. 

The magazine version and my finished top!

After learning about the challenge, I spent the latter half of June working on the blocks.  I changed the size of all the blocks so I could use my Accuquilt Snowball block die to cut those particular blocks.  In order to get all the blocks done by the time of the challenge,  I even pieced some while we were away camping in Shenandoah National Park!

I finished the top in early July just in time for the part of the Challenge for the Snowball blocks.  However, for the first time watching one of Angela's challenges, I did not immediately get ideas for stitching my own project!  The issue for me was that most of  the stitch designs she showed called for detail stitching in the centers of the blocks.  I was stopped in my tracks by one of the fabric choices I had made during the piecing:

Also didn't realize until this point that I should have pieced those chain blocks differently to line up with the Snowball corners!

I didn't really want to stitch over this guy.  The designs she demo'd were great but wouldn't work for this one block and I wanted to stitch all the blocks the same.  So this time it took looking beyond what she was stitching in the blocks to find inspiration from what she used to fill other spaces around them.  It took me most of August to figure that out as I continued to work on other projects.  Eventually I combined that inspiration with some of my own ideas which led to what I used to finish this one up.

At this point, I'll also join in over at Denise's  "Put Your Foot Down" to share the stitching part of this finish....

and over at Andrée's Quilting & Learning - What A Combo!

The stitch plan started with deciding to just straight stitch through the chain blocks which would also help stabilize the center of the top.  At some point in Angela's demo I saw her do stitch patterns in the Snowball corners -- okay, I can do that.  However, I was still stumped for what to stitch in the block centers.  

I often go very literal when I work on quilt projects.  Since the name of this quilt is "Apple Crisp" why not do an "Apple Core" stitch motif?  But will I need to mark it?  Well, it just so happens that I had this in my template stash:  

This is actually a piecing template that I've had for years.  I've always wanted to make an Apple Core quilt but never got around to it.  I even considered getting the Accuquilt die for making one.  I held off on that because I felt I should at least try using this template before I spend money on another one.  I also don't really know if I'd ever make more than one of these types of quilts anyway.  

Now that I had my stitch plan, I finally layered the quilt sandwich earlier this month.  Luckily for me, it turns out that using the piecing template worked just as well as a quilting ruler since I have a non-hopping ruler foot!  I even used the template in the borders and tessellated the motif like it would be when pieced.  

It's not as even in the borders as it would be pieced since I just used the edge of the template to stitch along instead of lining it up along the seam allowance slots.   

After employing those two stitching motifs,  I felt that I needed to also stitch something in the sides of the Triple Four Patch blocks.  For that I had another ruler -- this time one that is actually for free-motion quilting and that I hadn't used up until now:

I had purchased this Handi Quilter ruler a few years after quilting "Flying For Cover" with free hand clamshells.  For that quilt, I had marked the spacing of the clamshells using Inchie Tape.   However, after quilting it, I realized that while I liked the stitch design, I wanted a way to insure that I could quilt various size arcs as evenly as possible.  This ruler is 1/4" high so is actually for use on a longarm but I had no problems using it from all sides on my high shank Juki machine.  

Doing this many different stitch patterns -- even simple ones --  is essentially considered custom quilting.  So needless to say, it all took far longer than I had expected to spend quilting this project.  

Photographed under the Crabapple tree in our community garden!

Now that it's done, I am happy to say that this is a pretty addition to my Fall decorating.

Linking up with:

Alycia's Finished or Not Friday

Denise's Put Your Foot Down

Andrée's Quilting & Learning - What A Combo