Let's Book It! July 2016

As the month closes out, I can't say that I got much done this month (as my Get It Done! report will show tomorrow).  However, I did do some work on one project that, as it turns out, is totally appropriate for this venue!

I was supposed to start work on Quilt of Valor projects this month.  When I went to the bag with the stash of projects that I've already coordinated fabric for, at the top of it was the fabrics for this quilt:

This is "Across the County Line" from Judy Laquidara's book "60 Pieced Quilt Borders" published by AQS (2012).

Reading Sharon's comment on her Book It! post that she hated doing borders was what prompted me share this project and book today.  Judy has always been a big fan and proponent of doing multiple pieced borders on her projects which you can see is true if you check out her free patterns page.  Her book provides 60 (!) pieced border designs and fifteen projects that can be mixed and matched with the different borders.  She also gives tips on measuring your borders, determining how to make them fit and using coping strips to help with that. 

However, for me this didn't originally start out as a Book It! project.  I originally found out about Judy's design from her blog, Patchwork Times.

Back in May of 2010, Judy announced a Memorial Day Quilt Along.  She was taking one of her previous designs called "Tiger Trails" and doing it up in patriotic colors with the intention of using it for a QOV donation.  At the time, she also made the generous offer to quilt any tops made in the design by her readers if they sent them to her with binding fabric.  After quilting them, she would send them to Alycia at Alycia Quilts who would distribute them through her QOV donation network.  At the time I was always excited about making Red, White and Blue quilts and was just starting to consider doing a QOV so figured the QAL would be perfect for me.  I did get fabric for the project in the weeks following......

....but unfortunately didn't get started on the project right away although I did print out the first two steps.  By the time I was ready to work on it in late 2011, I went searching on her blog and couldn't find the posts for it!  I emailed Judy and she told me that with her blog recently updated, the posts might have been lost but if she found them she would either re-post them or would include the design as one of the projects in her (then) next book.  Needless to say that's what happened.  I eventually got the book but STILL managed to not start the project until now.   This is as far as I got this month:

I've got two more blocks waiting to be pieced on the mini design boards but I need to cut more of the dark blue and red into strips to make four more four patch units.  My hope is to get this to a top before the summer ends.   At this point, it won't be a QOV donation since I don't expect to get it finished any time soon and foresee it taking me a while to get to quilting it.  I've got easier projects planned that will make for speedier donations so need to wrap this up so I can get to those!

Got a project and a book to highlight?  Then add to Sharon's linky over at her blog Vrooman's Quilts so we can see what books and projects we're missing out on!

P.S.  In addition to the recent announcement of the demise of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, it has also been announced that AQS will also cease publishing books.  Judy mentions it here and there is a great blog article on the Generation Q magazine site about how the quilt industry is contracting in general.  Expect a lot of conversation on this topic in the coming months. 

"High Strung + 2" Is A "Book It!" Finish!

It took a while but it's finally done!!!
 

And a great shot with a new lighting system I set up!

This quilt just goes to show that you do not have to make each quilt in a book individually, you can combine elements of a few into one project!  "High Strung + 2" is made with a combination of motifs from quilts in the book "Tis the Season:  Quilts and Other Comforts" by Jeanne Large and Shelley Wicks.   From the book, I combined the overall design of "High Strung":

....with the Stars and Circles from "Holiday Stars Trio":

 ....and a Reindeer from  "To All A Good Night":

These aren't the only designs I've used from this book -- I also made their quilt "Vintage Cherries".  Mine was called "Vintage Cherries For Valentines" because the colors they used made me think of chocolate covered cherries!  That one was finished last year (pictured below) and has been hanging on the back of my couch in celebration of the holiday this month.

For "High Strung + 2", if you are interested in a little (ok, a lot) of process then read on.....

My original plan for the year was that I'd start it off hand quilting a wholecloth project.  However, when my sewing machines went out just before Christmas, I realized it was an opportunity to finish up some other projects by hand instead of by machine as originally intended.  I decided that one of them would be this holiday quilt.  I had started it in December 2014 with plans to have it ready for that Christmas but that didn't happen.  I then worked to complete the top in January of 2015 and figured that with the rest of the year to complete it, it would be ready for the holiday at the end of the year.  The machine fiasco nixed that plan and if this quilting hobby has taught me anything, it is that persistence is the key to a finish!   

After learning to hand quilt in 2010, I have long wanted to try the "Big Stitch" version of it.  My decision to try it with this project was advanced when Craftsy had a year-end sale and I saw a set of Valdani threads for sale.  These were the threads as they were pictured on the site:

The green variegated (2nd row, third from the left) with what looked like purple or burgundy, the light gold (next to it) and the red (1st row, third from the left) all seemed perfect for using on the High Strung quilt.  So I worked on hand basting the quilt while I waited for the thread to arrive.  However when they did arrive, I was a little taken aback because what I received actually looked like this:

Important lesson here:  I've learned over the years that when buying fabric over the internet you have to take the color presented on screen "with a grain of salt" meaning you have to allow for the possibility that the color may vary some or even a lot from what is rendered on screen. If you want exact matches to something, you are better off shopping in person in a LQS or craft store.  Now I know that's also true for thread!  However Craftsy is not to be faulted in this case.  When I took pictures of the spools, the initial shots (both in natural light and under flash) looked like this:

As you can see this shot is pretty close to what Craftsy showed!  The picture I used earlier which is (to my eye) closer to what the spools actually look like in person, had to be taken nestled deep in my couch to get that image.  So the issue here is that these threads really seem to react to the light around them when it comes to picture taking although I do believe that the green/purple/burgundy variegated was actually substituted with a completely different color thread.  In any event, the less variegated green, the cream/tan (what had looked white in the original Craftsy picture) and the red would still work for this quilt so I changed my expectations a bit and moved on, albeit starting on the stitching a little later than I had planned. 

So, after hand basting the quilt (to stick with the "Hand Work" theme):

.....it took some time to "Quilt Whisper" this one.  I really wanted to follow the swirl of the "stars and circles chain" so that was my first stitch choice.  I also wanted to do a "seed stitch" style of quilting in the top section.  This is a warm-up for quilting my Heart & Home top since I had an idea to do something like it on that one too.  I ended up stitching these much bigger than I originally envisioned.  I started out making them very small but then ripped those out in favor of these bigger stitches.  


Not sure you can see it here, it was hard to get a good shot of these.

 

I did very little marking when I started stitching the bottom section so unfortunately while I started off good, when I came around the bottom instead of following the last star and circle down, I went up.  So while I think that diminished the impact of the swirl, the overall texture of the background still looks good. 

Another feature I liked for this quilt is the reindeer harness.  I managed to dig out a scrap of some faux leather I had laying around.  Initially, I had attached some silver beads to embellish it that were pretty hard to secure.  I did it by trying to sew a big French knot through the bead before basting the quilt.  Unfortunately as I worked on the quilting, the beads began popping off!

Fortunately, during the course of working on this I had signed up for and attended an introductory jewelry making course at a local Joann's store (yeah, I know, like I really need another hobby!).  To prepare for the class I had gone through some supplies of my mother's that I had.  At one point she had started making earrings and embellishing felt tams.  I truly lucked up when I found these among the things from her stash:

Little Jingle Bells!  Perfect!  Also good is that they had a shank on the back so were much easier to attach even with having to do that after the quilting!   Another hurray for sticking to a theme!

The green and burgundy fabrics, the applique background and the red border and binding fabrics were all cottons from Connecting Threads "Prim Pennies" line from two years ago with a few injections of other green fabrics from their "Candy Basics" line and the green plaid with orange is from their line called "Mix It Up!".  The applique motifs were flannel scraps and stash from the making of my "Flying For Cover" and "Triangle Trips" quilts back in 2010.  The finished wall hanging is 45" x 65-1/2". 

Looks like, for once, I'll be ready with Christmas decorations before the holiday for a change!  If you'd like to see what other projects from books have been made this month, head on over to Sharon's at Vrooman's Quilts.  You might just see a project that has been sitting on your bookshelf waiting for you!

Last Post of the Year: The End of Final Clearance and a Linky Era

It turned out my "Final Clearance" push did not go as well as planned.  I had hoped to be able to focus on at least four quilt projects once Thanksgiving ended but only managed two between all the holiday doings and both were new projects for Christmas.  I had been stressing about trying to get the last one to a flimsy before the year ended until I took a "motivation break" to do some catching up on Bloglovin'.  One of the first posts I read was Barbara's Cat Patches blog post for the December NewFO link up.

However, reading further I got the bad news: after three years of hosting this fun monthly get together she will be ending the run of the NewFo link ups!  I have enjoyed adding a link to her lineups on more than a few occasions because this is the one place where starting is more important than finishing!  While I hate to say good-bye to this tradition, this is also an opportunity to take some of the pressure off this last project.  I'm joining in to honor it's start since I know I can't nudge it to a finish for now. 

This is "High Strung (Plus 2)" the cover quilt from the book "Tis the Season" by Jeanne Large and Shelly Wicks, a Martingale book. 

 

 

 

I call it "High Strung (Plus 2)" because for my version, I've added elements from two other projects in the book: in the lower part of the top, the stars and circles are from "Holiday Stars Runner" and the Reindeer is from "To All A Good Night".  Right now the Reindeer looks more like a dog but he'll improve when I decide on the fabric to use to add his bell harness.  All the background fabrics are cottons from Connecting Threads and all the appliques are made from flannel scraps in my stash.

The other completed NewFo this month was a holiday runner from the book "Skinny Quilts and Tablerunners II" edited by Eleanor Levie:

 

A funny story about how I got this book:  I had added it to my Amazon Wishlist after seeing one of the runners from it in a recent Martingale blog post.  About two weeks later, I got a package which according to the note attached, someone had chosen to make a random selection from all the Amazon wishlists to gift me the book!  They asked that I not contact them to thank them but view it as a "pay it forward" opportunity.  I got to do that a few days later when I manned the evening order pickup table for the frozen baked goods fundraiser for my son's school.  One of the parents who had participated (and who was pregnant and at a midtown meeting) had forgotten to come pick up her order even though I had confirmed the date and time with her a few days before so I personally delivered the two boxes of items to her home after finishing that night. 

 

The inspiration for the project I did was Linda Lum DeBono's "Birds of a Feather":

I was looking for a quickie runner project to decorate the dresser we use as a sideboard in the dining room.  I realized that I could substitute the bird appliques with a focus fabric, in this case a lovely poinsettia print in my stash of holiday prints. The stash also provided enough coordinates for the frames around the poinsettia panels, the striped panels next to them, the shirred center strip, and the pleated ends. 

For the back, my intention was to just cover it with what I had left of the poinsettia print since it would make an nice reversible mat that way.  However, I didn't have enough to cover the whole back with what I had left of the print so needed to add something to fill it out.  I liked the idea of doing a paper-pieced candle but all the block patterns I found weren't big enough. I wound up drafting up my own pattern to fit the space. 

In the end, I wound up preferring the "back" when I put it out for display!

And as has often happened in the past, these NewFOs also make perfect "Let's Book It" entries too so I will end the year by also linking up with Sharon over at Vrooman's Quilts (and look to do so again in 2015)!

Remember, even though you won't be able to link up NewFOs,  you can still visit Barbara and her cats Smitty and Gracie over at her Cat Patches blog.  I and my family wish you and yours a very Happy New Year full of fun, friends, family and of course Quilts!!

See You In 2015!!!

June Book It!

After entering for the first time and winning the May "Book It!" charm, I had thought I would not have another "Let's Book It!" project until at least July.  However, I realized two recent finishes are actually perfect "Book It!" subjects!

I have been participating in the 2014 Finish-A-Long being hosted this year by Katy Cameron at The Littlest Thistle blog.  For the second quarter I had pledged to finish covers for three of my quilt journals.  After finishing the last two, I realized that the books I wound up using to help finish them had been purchased on the same book order back in December 2010.  Both are books with applique designs in them because in the Fall of that year I took an online hand applique class and (as often happens when you learn a new technique) that made me hungry for ideas or projects that I could use my new skills on.

The first project finished in June was my fourth journal cover (the full post is here):

While the front block was one of the projects from my class, the back block was made from scraps and the design was from this book:

The book offers a sampler of eleven blocks designed by Barbra Brackman the noted quilt and fabric historian.  She had designed a sampler for a guild back in 2000 based on blocks she remembered seeing in the book “The Romance of Patchwork Quilt in America” by Carrie Hall and co-authored by Rose Kretsinger, another one of the pioneers in designing quilts for the crafting market.  When Ms. Hall's book was published in 1935, it was the first comprehensive index of quilt block patterns and showcased 850 block designs.  Both Ms. Hall and Ms. Kretsinger are inductees in the Quilters Hall of Fame.  Amazon.com has listings for copies of the original version  of Ms. Hall's book as well as an updated version from 1988 and a book of patterns of over 200 of the book's blocks published in 1999 by Bettina Havig.

Admittedly my hand applique skills are a little rusty but it was fun to try a classic block and to get to do free-motion echo quilting for the first time as well.

The timing of the making this next cover coincided with my continuing to work with my Civil War Reproduction stash.  I took scraps from that stash and used a design that combined piecing and applique although this time the applique was fused and finished by machine:

The design for this cover was my variation of the "Square Dance" quilt from Lori Smith's "Fat Quarter Quilting" book.
 

As noted in the full post on the project, all the quilts in this book finish at 16" x 20" so are already almost perfectly size for a binder cover (which I needed to finish at 11-1/2" x 22").  I'm a big fan in general of Ms. Smith's "From My Heart To Your Hands" designs.  I've also tagged other patterns in this book to use to make future covers for journals that will be dedicated to series quilts that I want to do.  I also have plans to turn another one of the book's pattern designs into a pillow to coordinate with quilts I plan to finish/make out of my stash of 30's repro fabrics. This was a great introduction to this book and I look forward to making more from it!

You can head over to Sharon's Vrooman's Quilts blog to see what everyone else is has been "reading" this month.

For me,  these projects made me think about all the quilt books I have and why I bought them and how it relates to my quilting.  If you don't mind me sharing a few thoughts on that topic, check out my next post! 

Catching Up On June - Part 1: A Win!

With June rapidly coming to a close, I've been busy with a lot of non-quilty things but have also managed to squeeze in some quilty things too.  It's important to keep my nose to the grindstone because the quarter will be closing soon for the 2nd Quarter Finish-A-Long.  I will be scrambling this week to get a few more things done on my list.

The next few posts will update what I have been working on since my last post and in the case of today what has happened since then.  So without further ado:  

 Remember this quilt?

Fabric Gal by Eleanor Burns for Quilt In A Day

Made for this challenge?

Well, not only did I get a finished quilt out of participating, but I won the "Let's Book It!" challenge for May!  Which means I also got this:

Which I can add to these:

Thanks again Sharon!!

The Fabric Gal Finale!

**Note:  Previously Published 5/22/14, Post Edited 5/30/14**

 

I woke up last Thursday to this beautiful sight.....

....it was what was left from "The Night Before" (which of course means this popped in my head)......

I had been making my first attempts at quilting using my new ruler foot (that's the "Frame Set" in the picture, purchased from here)...

...and rulers (reviewed by Amy here and purchased from here)....

.....to do these straight line seams (well, relatively straight anyway).
 

Now it should be noted that when I "quilt whispered" this quilt I wanted to empahsize the diagonal progressions of the opposing sets of same color blocks.  But I didn't want to just stitch along the seams.  Then I realized that if I outlined the pairs of (same color) light squares by FMQing with the ruler and then created "shadow" squares on the background triangles, I would get the same impact but done a different way.

However, once I had done a few (well, a lot of them), I realized that because the squares I quilted connected,  I could have much more easily and faster achieved the same effect by straight line quilting with the walking foot between the seam lines.  Oh well, I still like how it looks and I got alot of practice using the ruler which was far easier to use than I expected. 

I added quilting in the borders using the curved ruler......

...and then bound it (in the same border fabric) and made a label area for another finish!

So now my bed can finally go from Winter........

Brrr! quilt finished in 2014.

....to Spring!

This also means I have a finished NewFO and Book It Project as well as another notch on the 2nd Quarter Finish A-Long list! 

 

 

Edited 5/30/14 to Add:

 

I am also linking up with Amy at Amy's Free Motion Quilting Adventures for Week 4 of her Free Motion Monday posts on using Rulers. She also has more posts on different free motion techniques that you can check out by going here.

So you know I'm "Happy" (here's why)!