Three Cheers For the Red, White & Blue! --- Part 4

I had noted in a previous post that I purchased a used straight stitch machine.  I wanted it primarily for quilting my quilts and need to get comfortable using it.  I've made one mug rug with it and pieced the last QOV top with it but want a chance to quilt another project a little bigger than a mug rug before moving onto working on some of the layered or flimsie lap quilt projects I have outstanding.  So what better step up from a mug rug than a table runner!

I have a sideboard in my dining room (really an old dresser) that right now is still sporting a Christmas runner (gasp!).  I had planned to make a Spring runner for it but got way laid so why not a summer runner to honor Memorial Day and July 4 --- even if they have already passed!  Ok, so it'll be ready for Labor Day.  The good news was that the fabrics came from what still remains from the stash collected for the QOV top.  As of now the top and backing for the runner are finished:

It's the "Star Spangled Banner" (free) pattern from American Patchwork and Quilting (and not to be confused with the "Star Spangled" runner I made for our terrace table back in 2013 -- has it been that long?!?).  This was another Accuquilt Go! project for me since I was able to cut the block strips with their Log Cabin die.

Accuquilt has enough of a variety of dies that it's possible to cut just about any project out with one.  While I often examine a potential project to see if I can use the die cutter to make most of the cuts for it, there are times when hauling out the cutter and dies for a project isn't worth the effort.  However, for log cabin block strips it is so worth it!  I cut all of the blue strips with the die from the leftovers from the recent QOV project.  I also cut some of the light strips from that stash too but was also able to use a few light strips already in my Log Cabin Strip Storage Box.

This was an idea I got from Mary Johnson over at Making Scrap Quilts From Stash (and unfortunately, I can't link to the exact post --- she changed her blogging platform in 2018 and the 2016 post I got the tip from is not on her current site).  Ingenious, huh?!?   Mary makes a lot of charity quilts for Heartstrings and always has a ton of projects in the works so obviously knows a lot about keeping things organized.

APQ's original runner design featured white wool stars appliqued on but I did mine in a gold cotton print.  For some reason, whenever I am looking at QOV designs, I always want to add either a touch of gold or gold stars to the design.  And while this project isn't for a QOV, I'm still in that mode right now so that's where my mind went.  The stars were also cut with the GO! with fusible attached although I still have to fuse them down to be stitched in place.  The central panel in the backing will be the label area and written on when the runner is finished.  I've always said that the easiest way for me to ensure that a quilt gets labeled is to make sure the label (or a space for it) gets put into the backing. If I have to add it later, it might never get done!

So next step is to get this quilted!   To that end, the shininess you see on the top is the plastic preview paper I have over it as I audition stitch designs:

I have a few more books to look at for ideas specifically related to log cabin blocks/quilts before I choose the final design.

It should also be noted that I'm also collecting the parts for another table mat:

This is another APQ free pattern.  I'm making it smaller than patterned to go on a table in our living room.  Can't use up too many of these RWB scraps though, have to save some for future QOV projects!

Linking up on Pat's Sloan's latest UFO check in.  Go see what everyone else is working on too!

Three Cheers For the Red, White & Blue! --- Part 3

When I started working on a QOV top from my R/W/B stash, I had also hoped to make some more projects from the stash when it was done.  The good news is that I had a good reason to do so and another good cause to apply it to.  I learned about Kat Drinkwater's Covered In Love charity quilt drive back in February and donated String blocks to her January/February drive and Star Flower blocks to her March/April drive.  Kat spends May and June catching up on finishing up the quilts from earlier block drives.  When she announced that the next drive was to be in July, I figured I'd be ready to participate by then.  I want to do all the drives this year and since she has traditionally asked for the July blocks to be made from R/W/B fabrics, you know I was in!

This year's drive is called "Oh My Stars".  Kat's looking for 12-1/2" (12" finished) Star Blocks this time around.  Given the "Star" prompt, this also seemed like a good time to play with some new block designs or block making techniques I want to try out.  A themed drive like this is also a chance to make some blocks with some of the quilty piecing gadgets you don't get to use often.  Here were the ones I chose:

One of the first patterns I found was for a star block that was part of a quilt along project.  An ombre fabric had been used to achieve the gradient effect in the Double Sawtooth Star blocks in the quilt from Bernina's "Summer Sparkle Quilt Along". 

I tried to acheive the same effect with my fabric choices.  I'm not sure I was as successful but it was fun to try anyway.  The block as designed was only 10" fnished so I added a border around mine to bring it up to the size Kat needs.

Another block I wanted to make was the Split Ohio Star blocks from Judy Laquidara's "Road to Brownwood" quilt.  This quilt has long been on my "I Want To Make That" list.

However, I had also looked for stars to make in other places.  In my "QOV Ideas" file, I had this McCall's booklet:

There were quite a few interesting star blocks in this one --- including the Split Ohio Star (for Massachusetts).  I also decided to make the Mississippi block too.

Speaking of getting to use those quilty tools:  for the middle units in the Mississippi blocks, I was able to make those quicker by cutting the shape with the Accuquilt Go! Signature block die:

When combined with 3" finished HST triangles (also cut with the Go!), the units finish at 4-1/2" (5" unfinished) so after sewing them up, I trimmed them down with the 4-1/2" square on the Value die.  So with that, I've now got four blocks to mail out to Kat!

Seeing as how I originally found out about "Covered In Love" from a post linked up at "Finished or Not Fridays" on Myra's Busy Hands Quilts blog, it's only fitting that I link up my latest blocks there as well!  I'm joining Cynthia over at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework who also posted her July CiL blocks and bring some more attention to Kat's great cause!

Three Cheers For the Red, White & Blue! --- Part 2

In my last post I had been playing in my R/W/B stash to finally make up the last of three QOV tops that I hope to get quilted for distribution this year.  When you finish a project there are a couple of options open to you.  You can:

1. Just put all the leftovers back in your "stash storage system" of choice.
2. If  you use a Scrap Users System, you can start cutting up the scraps into the precut sizes you prefer depending on the amount of each fabric you have left.
3. Or you can ask yourself:  is there enough of anything here that I can apply to another project?

As my sidebar will attest, I am guilty of acquiring many "Squirrel Projects" as I read through all the quilty blogs and websites that are around.  Pat Sloan's site is one of my favorites and she also does posts for other companies (although I was sorry to hear she'll no longer be doing the podcast for American Patchwork & Quilting).  One of the companies she does posts for is Aurifil Threads, hosting their "Designer of the Month Series".

For June, the featured designer was Annette Plog, one of the "19th Century Patchwork Divas".  I love reproduction quilts so know the work and books of this group of women well!  For Aurifil's DOM series, Pat interviews the designer about her interests and quilty journey and the featured designer will offer a block designed around the year's theme.  For 2019, the theme is "Traditions" and the block Annette offered was this one:

What's cool is that if you make the block and link it up (this month's deadline is July 15), you have a chance to win an  Aurifil thread prize.  This was one of those times when I saw the block and could visualize how I wanted to work it up (and you can see another time I did that here).  So I downloaded the instructions with plans to make up a block once I had finished my QOV top.

This was the block I made:

I did make one change and made the center square a "Square In A Square" unit instead.  Seems good right?  Except that when I went to link up and looked at some of the other blocks, something seemed amiss.  It didn't take long to realize what it was:  I had made my block following the picture in the instructions:

However, if you compare that to Annette's block earlier in the post you can see the difference, LOL!  I don't feel bad because if you look at the blocks submitted, you can tell who worked from the blog post and who worked from the pattern instructions!  It was funny, after I had my block made, I thought it had looked a little different than what I had visualized!  I was going to just upload it as it was but then I wanted to see what the block would look like in the original design so I made another one up.  Here's that one:

Just goes to show what happens when you play with color position in a design!  I think I'll upload both of them.  More entries, more chances to win, right?!?  I'm not done with this stash yet, there is still more R/W/B fun a comin'!  Stay tuned!

Three Cheers For the Red, White & Blue! --- Part 1

Well, I'm about half way through the month and for a change feel like I got a few things accomplished!  As the title notes, all the things are related to the color stash I'm working from:  Red, White & Blue fabrics.  I've been attracted to R/W/B quilts since I began quilting and have made a few quilts in that color scheme as well as a few tops still waiting to be quilted (and to see them, click on the "R/W/B Quilts" label on the sidebar).

When the QOV mission was founded, I just knew I had to join in both to contribute and for the chance to make more R/W/B blocks and quilts!  Years ago I donated blocks for MODA's "Just One Star" block drive and I already have one R/W/B QOV top waiting for quilting.  Well now I've got another:  "What Goes Around Comes Around" is a flimsy!

When I started this one (after seeing it on a post on the Katy Quilts blog), I didn't know its origin so I called it the "Garlic Knots QOV" because it looked like one of Bonnie Hunter's Addicted To Scraps blocks:

However, I eventually found out it was actually the pattern "Patriotic Patchwork" by Debra Finan from the Love of Quilting July/August 2012 issue.   I was pretty sure I had that one since I have a few other issues from that year (I had a LOQ subscription back then) and I saw another quilt in that issue that I recognized.  I couldn't for the life of me remember where I had put it until I finished the top and began looking around to see if I had any large backing pieces.  When I had started on this round of QOV work, I had actually gone through and organized all the  R/W/B stash.  I remembered from that inventory of the stash that I had a few large cuts of fabric and had also put aside some fabric bundles for potential projects.  So of course what's the first thing I find?  This bundle:

....with this on top!  This is the quilt I remember seeing when I had done a web search for the issue.  And sure enough, here's the original "Patriotic Patchwork" pattern in it!

So it turns out the design was right under my QOV nose the whole time and hence the quilt name!  I also had a whole lot of that stripe print in the bundle so some of it will become the backing for this quilt.  So now I have the three QOVs I wanted.

They all are now (approriately enough) stored in this bag:

It's one of the C&T Publishing Eco Totes that I got a few years back when they were promoting the Island Batik "Quilted In Honor" fabric line with quilts designed by C & T authors.  These bags are great for storage or carrying around at quilt shows.  They are eco-friendy too since according to the C & T site, they are made from recycled water bottles.

So now that I have a stash of tops and backings, I need to plan to get them quilted by September so I can offer them to the local VFW for distribution in November for Veteran's Day.  However, that was not the end of the R/W/B fun.  More to follow in the next post!

Another Once A Month Update....

Summer is officially here and I'm still struggling to get in gear for Spring!  Both my sewing and cutting tables were pretty piled up and it took me a long time to cut through them.  They're still not totally clear but at least now there is some space for working on a few projects.

As usual all the new and exciting Squirrel sutff that comes in through the email and Bloglovin' had me filing away ideas fast and furious.  I also made another new aquistion.  I've long fretted about whether to replace my Euro-Pro and Janome electonic machines.

I wanted something with a wide harp space like the Horizon but given the issues I've had in the last few years with those machines, I longed for a simple and reliable mechanical machine like the vintage Singers I have.  So I was once again back to researching machines and honed my choices down to either a Juki TL 2000 series or a Janome 1600 or a Brother PQ-1500.  New, all were still a bit more than I had to spend right now even though they are all far cheaper than a comparable electronic machine with all the "bells and whistles".

I was hoping to luck up on a good condition used one of any of the brands.  I did eventualy find one --- an older model Brother Nouvelle 1500 which seems to be the precursor of the PQ series.

Purchased from a sewing machine repair shop over eBay, it cost about the same as what I paid for my Euro-Pro back in 2004 which had been a bargain priced "bells and whistles" machine back then.  Admittedly the Nouvelle is a bit doudy and when she first arrived she gave me fits by not responding to the foot pedal!  However she eventually came around and I've got to admit she stitches like a dream and can go really fast!  It came with all the necessities:  quarter inch foot, walking foot, free motion foot, zipper foot, knee lift, extension table, a few bobbins and the high speed needles it takes.  I have a ruler foot and additional bobbins on the way.  I also ordered a new brighter LED light for the machine which I've gotten used to having on all my machines including the Singers.   As a I did my research, I was glad to see that the Grace Company has quilt frames that wide throat domestic machines like this can be loaded on to and used like a long arm.  I expect to be an empty nester in a few years and might then have an extra room for such a set-up.

I have plans for a community sewing event I'd like to try to launch next year.  I will still need my electronics for that so for the time being I have put them in storage and will pull them out and invest in repairing them then.  For now, me and Nova the Nouvelle will spend some time getting to know each other!

We started off our relationship by piecing and quilting a quick mug rug gift for a friend's birthday.

 

This was made from the same June Tailor printed panel pattern kit I used to make the mug rugs I gifted for DH's family Kringle last Christmas.  Her next test will be finishing up the quilting on my Cobblestones and Scrappy Trips projects.  If she can successfully tackle those, I've got a whole line of TBQs (To Be Quilted) we can continue to work on togther through the end of the year.  I'd love to clear my shelf of tops and partially quilted projects to make room for some new projects!

In my last post I also talked about wanting to make another QOV top.  I finally had some time to sort through the seven potential projects I had picked out last month and make a final decision.

I've made good progress on this quilt and hope to finish sewing the top over the next few days.  I orignally saw this quilt on the Katy Quilts blog.  If you are looking for QOV ideas, you have to check her blog out -- she quilts for a local QOV group and there are always so many great looking designs that come through her feed for this purpose!  The only downside is she often doesn't have pattern information for the designs so be prepared to do a little research or quilt math or fire up your EQ software if you want to make any of the designs she showcases.  I did find the info for this one  (although admittedly that was after I had already figured out the piecing design) and found out that this is the "Patriotic Patchwork" quilt by Debra Finan.  It appeared in the July/August 2012 issue of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine (which I know I have a copy of around here somewhere) or can be purchased as a stand-alone digital pattern from The Quilting Company website. 

This one got the thumbs up because the same outer border fabric used in the quilt Katy showcased I actually had in my stash.  I also had enough of a scrappy mix of R/W/B prints to make the rest of it completely from stash.  So I finally made good on a "One Thing Challenge" these last two weeks and because this project is relatively easy, I might still make the deadline of having the top done by July 4 as originally planned.  To completely finish it, I'll only need to add backing and possibly binding if nothing in stash works for me when I get to that point.  Once I jumped in on this, I felt the way I do when I'm in Quiltville Mystery mode because I quickly cut out all the squares and borders needed for it and then went right onto the production line of making red, white and blue four patches.  Guess I'll be nimble and ready when Bonnie Hunter sounds the annual mystery siren call after Thanksgiving!

Still so much to do but I'm glad that now I am actually working on things rather than just THINKING ABOUT working on things!   I'm hoping I can keep up a steady momentum and get some more things completed.  Let's see what the next "Once A Month" post brings or if I can get back here before that!

Just One Thing

As noted in my previous post, I've had a slow Spring quilt-wise and am trying to get myself back in gear before the Spring and Summer get away from me.  If it's anything like last year, Fall and the holiday season will be here before you know it!

Fortunately for me, Amy Ellis (she of Bloggers Quilt Fest fame) has put out a call for quilters to join her in focusing on "Just One Thing" each week.

Much like the monthly and quarterly finish alongs, this will slow it down even more (for those of us that struggle to just get started or stay on track or FOCUS on their INTENTIONS (eh, hem!).  Amy's twist is to name Just One Thing you want to get done each week.  That doesn't have to be a finish -- it can be moving something along, taking 10 minutes a day to sew on a project, or even just finally picking out the fabrics for a project.  This is perfect for me!  When the year started, I had mapped out my priorites for each month in order to keep track of my INTENTIONS this year (yes, I think if I keep saying it, maybe I'll finally pay attention to them!),

In my planning calendar, May (as well as the rest of the summer) was supposed to be for getting back to my Quilts of Valor Projects.  At the end of last year, I was in discussion with one of the members of my commnity garden who serves on the Executive Board of one of the Building Associations.  She has long wanted me to teach a quilt class after seeing one of the journal covers I made when I attended a journalling workshop we held in the garden a few years ago.

She had shown me the draft of the application for a grant she planned to apply for to help fund the class supplies so it could be offered for free.  Taking a look at the application requirements for the types of events that can be funded, I realized it was also a perfect potential funding source for an idea I've long had for starting an annual Quilts of Valor drive in our community.

However, first I wanted to approach the local VFW about awarding some quilts this year during their annual Veterans Day ceremonies in November.  Depending on how open they are to the idea and if I could get their support in promoting a bigger event in the future, I would then work on planning a larger sew-in event for next year.

I already have two tops made (which can be seen here and here) but wanted to make a third one and get all three quilted by September which is when I would reach out to the group to gauge their interest and if intrigued I could then work on applying for the grant at the end of the year for submission next January.

My One Goal for last week was to pick out the third project from the rather large stash of ideas for Quilts of Valor that I have accumulated:

Yeah, that's a pretty big pile of ideas!  Before I even got deep into the pile, I managed to find seven right off the bat that interested me either in terms of the techniques to make them or that I already had some fabric to start them off with.

This week's challenge is to make the final choice.  I'm hoping to pick something relatively easy.  While I'd love to get a top done by the end of the month, I'm guessing getting the piecing started by month's end might be a more realistic and probable goal.  That's it!  Well not really:  I also need to (again) clean off my sewing and cutting tables just in case I actually might want to, uh, sew!  But the focus is picking the project.  However, I'm sure if I can get that going, other good things will happen along the way too.

Amy is running this primarily through Instagram but says you can email your submissions in too.  I've long stayed away from social media but always enjoyed particpating in and viewing Amy's twice a year Bloggers Quilt Fest.  She moved the Spring edition of that to Instagram three years ago so maybe this is just the thing to entice me to try that platform.  If you want to check out this year's edition that was held back in March, check out the links for it here.  I've already caved on setting up a Pinterest account, so why not go whole hog?  Well, we'll see if that happens.  Right now, it's more important to get this project selected!

Update on April and May's Doings

Gee, I didn't get to post at all in April!  Yet during that month and as this one got underway, INTENTION has been on my mind --- I just can't say FOCUS has been at the heart of it!  I can blame some of that on the gardening season which is in full swing and the fact that I've spent a lot of time at our community garden....

...and setting up the seed and root starts indoors that I should have gotten started at the beginning of  March.

Hmm, that Basil pot on the end needs watering.....

On the quilty front, I've did have a few moments here and there to do a little stitching...

1.  With all the green scraps laying around from the "Emeralds" project (and more on that later), I managed to finish Part 1 of  "Roll, Roll Cotton Boll" which is another of Bonnie Hunter's old mysteries....

....and lucked up on a sale of some perfectly-themed backing fabric for it!

2.  After donating string blocks for Kat Drinkwater's "Covered In Love" quilt charity project at the beginning of the year, I wanted to really make sure I made some blocks for her March/April block call.

The block design was so "Spring-y", it really suited the time of year!  Looking forward to seeing what she wants for her next block call which won't be until July.

8/31/19 Update:  See all the pretty "Late Blooming Quilts" made up from everyone's donated blocks here!

3.  In April, I helped a friend host an Afternoon Tea for her Building Association (this was just a small part of the set-up).

I wanted to use this box  I have to hold tea bags at the event.......

......but its cover is worse for the wear.

My dream has long been to make a quilted piece for the cover that would allow me to try out machine-sewn silk ribbon embroidery.  However, in the meantime, I thought I could maybe piece a little  tea-related mini quilt for it instead.  At first I was going to use designs from Maaike Baker's "Cups and Saucers" book (the link is to the updated edition):

However, then I found a cute online project with even smaller blocks called "Grandma's Tea Party" by Beth at Piece By Number.  I liked the smaller blocks in this one because it would allow me to fit more blocks within the same amount of space.  However, I started too late for these rather intricate paper-pieced units so only got the tea pot done by the day of the event.

The good news was that where the tea box was displayed in the room it sat with the top sitting open so no one was any wiser of the lid's condition.  After the event, I did get a few cup blocks also sewn up.  I had fallen in love with the background print I used -- it reminded me of old-fashiond wallpaper but I think the contrast with the cup prints could have been better.  Even so, they are cute so I want to finish the blocks and the piece up eventually.

Each participant got to keep their place setting from the event.  My friend had picked up special settings for each of us that had helped with all the planning, sourcing, food prep and set-up!   Hmmm, I think making a special mug rug may also be in order.....

As to my other projects?

4.  Wholecoth on Hold

When I finally (after a year's delay) got started on my wholecloth project back in January (!), I thought I was good to go.  But it didn't take long to realize that trying to quilt a queen-size top on the 18" hoop I have wasn't going to work easily.  The hoop has worked great with the mini, wall hanging and lap quilts I've stitched on it before.  However, with this project, when I kept trying to turn the hoop to stitch (I started working from the center), all it did was twist all the rest of the quilt around the base of the hoop.

At that point, I decided that a bigger hoop or maybe even a frame was in order.  I admit I've been awed by the work being done by Karen over at her Quilts...Ect/Karen's Quilting blog as she hand quilts her "Good Fortune" quilt (from the last Bonnie Hunter mystery) so that may have just had some added influence in making this decision!  However, checking the features and prices of various frames and hoops, at first I thought this might not be something I could justify purchasing since I don't do a lot of hand quilting.  However, as always the Quilt Muses look out for me and I managed to snag a used Grace Company no-baste hand quilting frame off of eBay recently for an affordable price.

What I like about this model/style is that it's adjustable to load three different sizes of quilts (baby, lap and queen).  Of course the down side is that now I have to rip out the little bit of stitching I had already done (which fortunately was not that much) and take out the basting so I will be able to load the project onto the frame.  Addtionally, this time around I'll have to work it from one end of the quilt to the other.

 I had also considered getting a Q-Snap frame which would have allowed me to continue to work on my project as is with it already basted.  I admit that I liked the idea that for future projects, using the Grace frame means I can eliminate the basting step completely.  Additionally, the Grace frame can be folded down for storage with the project being worked on still on it.  Even so, while I work on the quilt, I will have to figure out where I'm going to stand it while it's extended to its full queen-size width when I'm not quiliting on it.

While I did find some information about the frame on the company's website, it took a deep search to access it so they have clearly moved away from offering hand quilting frames.  Even Hinterberg which used to be the other big name in hand quilting frames, now only offers a "build your own" kit that provides only the cogs and gears for the rollers with instructions to source/make the actual frame legs and rollers.  Funny, when I started quilting at least half of all quilters still hand quilted.  I know that percentage has dropped over the years due to the advancement of machine quilting techniques and machines.  Does this mean hand quilting as a skill is now going the way of the dodo?

5.  What about Emeralds?

After making up all the blocks back in March, when I put them up on the wall, I was not excited about what I was seeing and even after trying to rearrange things a bit, it took me a while to figure out why.  What I came to realize is that while I had been very attracted to the magazine quilt and had noted the greens used in it, I had not taken into account the ratio of the specific shades and colors of green represented in it.

The majority of greens in the patterned quilt are in the yellow green - olive ranges with a just sprinkling of darker greens among them.  The greens I had pulled from my stash were just the opposite -- the majority were in the dark blue-green range with a just sprinkling of spring, olive and pale greens.  So the visual balance of color in mine is totally different than that of the patterned quilt.  Which makes sense since that's totally reflective of the shaded color palettes I tend to use.

I am still very excited about using the Blendables thread I purchased to quilt this with so I will eventually push forward with it as is.  Fortunately the darker overall tone will also be balanced by the fact that the tan fabrics I had pulled to use for the border setting triangles are of a darker value similar to that of my blocks in contrast to the lighter tan fabric used in the patterned quilt.   So I believe that in the end, the overall color balance of quilt will still be good.

6.  Spring projects:  As usual there are a lot of things I had wanted to work on once Spring hit.  I wanted to make a table runner for my dining room sideboard for Spring, finally get to a Spring Wool Wallhanging that I kitted up years ago and I wanted to finally paint a Spring barn quilt for my terrace (I previously made ones for Summer and Fall).  For May, the plan had been to get back to my Quilts of Valor projects and move them towards finishing.

So of course, at this point the question is "How the Heck Am I Going To Get To It All?!?!?"  Well,  hopefully I have a possible answer to that and I will share that in future posts!