Evening in the Garden Quilts

June 11, 2014
by Valerie 5 Comments

Git Along, Little Scraps

It’s been a dreary, rainy week here. I know we need it, but it does not energize me to do household tasks. Sewing seems the best option.

Amanda Jean’s post about her Scrap Basket Quilt Along for charity prompted me to get out my plaid and cowboy left overs (some “scraps”, but mostly yardage that goes with nothing else).

Interestingly, her post today about choosing colors is much more like what I usually do when starting a scrap quilt. Color really inspires me, and I usually look to see which fabrics have serendipitously landed next to each other in the scrap basket, and then pull other unexpected but wonderful choices. For some reason, I went directly to these themed fabrics, feeling a boy would love them far more than I do in my stash. So my quilts won’t have all those gorgeous colors in them. Unless I make another…

So, I made enough Rail Fence blocks for a plaid quilt. (The centers are khaki, if you can’t tell.)

And yesterday I made all the cowboy blocks. I mean, there’s so little else to do with barbed wire print… I enjoyed remembering the quilt shop, (I believe) Extra Special Fabrics in Guthrie, OK. (I misidentified it on Twitter as Los Vegas, NM, where I have also purchased fabric, same trip, wrong shop.) Their specialty is western prints and they have a ton. I already used up the Roy Rodgers/Dale Evans print I bought there. We can’t keep it all.

I sewed up every little scrap, except for some yardage for backings. I figure the extra blocks can go into the back. And I really don’t want to put any of this back in the drawers.

So, are you going to join us in making fun quilts for a good cause?

I’m linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

June 9, 2014
by Valerie 10 Comments

Design Wall Monday: 6/9/14

Apologies in advance for these photos, done in low light with a phone. Oh, well.

Last night I finished the top to the Slow Quilt, and I’m happy with it. It’s big: 70″ square. It’s going away for a while, until I can get the right batting and find some inspiration for the quilting.

All that careful piecing wore me out. While catching up on blog reading, I spotted this post from Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts. It’s a quilt along for charity (Margaret’s Hope Chest) using the Rail Fence design (talk about Zen piecing!). She also mentions that they really need boys” quilts. This started working in my brain and I couldn’t wait to get to it. Of course I have overflowing scrap bins, but the “boy” thing made me remember that I had a whole stack of plaid yardage left from a long ago quilt (he’s 31, it was his HS graduation…). In the same drawer I found all my cowboy yardage/scraps. (What, you don’t have a plaid/cowboy drawer in your fabric closet? Well, maybe I won’t, either, when these are finished!).

I am jumping the gun on this. Amanda doesn’t look like she’s even going to start cutting for a few weeks, so there’s plenty of time. But I had the house to myself on a rainy Sunday, so I started to play.

I started to realize that all those plaids were going to be ~~chaotic and horrible~~ a little busy jammed together in a Rail Fence, so I added khaki Kona. (Now that I look at it, I think maybe the reason these plaids are left over is that they do have khaki stripes and threads through them, and I used the more white ones in the other project…) So, I think this is working, don’t you? I did actually cut the strips pretty straight, I just have them crooked on the wall.

So that’s what I’m doin today, blissfully piecing strips and whacking them into blocks. Check out Amanda’s post and join me.

I’m linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

June 8, 2014
by Valerie 3 Comments

Sunday Stash Report: 6/8/14

The center of the Slow Quilt came together last night, though it still needs borders. It will be a while till this is finished and counts off the stash.

So, nothing in and nothing out this week, but that’s okay.

This week: +0 yards, -0 yards
YTD: +64.75 yards, -110.5 yards
Net stash used 2014: –45.75 yards

In other news, the garden is growing well, and we have a bumper crop of cats.

I’m linking up with Sunday Stash Report at Patchwork Times.

June 4, 2014
by Valerie 1 Comment

WIP Wednesday: Picking up the Pace

I have now completed eight of the sixteen blocks for the Slow Quilt. Each block is not so very slow, only taking twenty minutes or so to assemble after everything is cut. This does not at all resemble their final arrangement, which will include sashing, but arranging them on the wall like this does have me considering options.

The reddish solids are Oakshott Cottons that I won last year. Each block has twenty-eight pieces that I rotary cut and am piecing conventionally. Paper piecing might have been a good option for the long triangles and diamonds, but they are coming out well with a little care.

The rest will have more peach colors in them. I was very confused at first in the cutting, and found it best to stick with all the green themed blocks. I think I have it figured out now. The results will be more colorful as I make more progress.

Hope you are coming along with your projects.

I’m linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

June 1, 2014
by Valerie Leave a comment

Sunday Stash Report 6/1/14

Stash:

A new month! Happy June to everyone. A quilt (Beach Quilt V) was finished this week, and no new fabric came in. Doing well on the stash busting.

This week: +0 yards, -7.5 yards
YTD: +64.75 yards, -110.5 yards
Net stash used 2014: -45.75 yards

Goals:

May Goals

1. ~~Finish bright floral quilt.~~ Yes!

2. Make blocks for Slow Quilt. Um, made one.

3. Donate older baby quilts to Project Linus. I put them in a bag… I made a new one from scraps….

4. Commit to a small pouch/bag project and gather supplies. Nothing. Never though about it.

June Goals

1. Make blocks for Slow Quilt.

2. Donate baby quilts to Project Linus.

3. Commit to a small pouch/bag project and gather supplies.

4. Make something with scraps just for fun.

Well, that was easy. But it’s summer, and I can’t make myself get too serious about this stuff. July and August may look the same!

Hope you are making some kind of progress! I’m linking up to Sunday Stash Report at Patchwork Times.

May 30, 2014
by Valerie 8 Comments

Beach Quilt V

This week I made the latest in the Beach Quilt series. This might be my favorite one yet. The fabrics are like sand and sea glass, and the top went together effortlessly, as the warm early summer breezes blew in.

I always change up the stitching a little. This time I tried using free motion to quilt the wavy lines. They are not as even as the ones I do with the walking foot, but it was much easier on my shoulders not moving the quilt around as much. I did all the stitching in Superior’s Living Colors poly thread, with aqua Bottom Line on the back. It looks like metalic gold, but it is just a golden color, 506. The backing is a beautiful awning stripe.

What did you finish this week?

I’m linking up with Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

May 28, 2014
by Valerie 3 Comments

Progress on Tops

I made the first block for the Slow Quilt. Yes, it’s a modified Storm at Sea block. It turned out fine. The only slightly dicey parts were the long triangles (scalene!), but they were okay. Now to make some more color decisions and do some more cutting.

Meanwhile, my last Beach Quilt sold, so I put together more scraps for another one. I love to make this pattern! It practically puts itself together while I think my thoughts. Also, the fabrics are great. I will be sad when I am truely out of them. Maybe one more, scrappier top… This top is finished, the back is pieced (one seam), now I need to piece the batting, and I hope to sandwich it today.

What are you working on?

I’m linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

May 25, 2014
by Valerie 5 Comments

Sunday Stash Report: 5/25/14

Happy Sunday, and happy Memorial Day Weekend! The weather here is gorgeous. Hope you’re all getting to spend time as you want, sewing or with family. Some of us are sewing along on Twitter, #mdsi.

This week: +0 yards, -2.5 yards
YTD: +64.75 yards, -103 yards
Net stash used 2014: -38.25 yards

The yardage used was for this baby quilt I made for Project Linus from scraps. I have several quilts set aside to give them, and I thought I’d add one or two before I called my connection. I was also looking for some non-fiddly chain piecing to do, and this filled the bill, at least for the four patch part of the Disappearing Four Patches.

I used a different tutorial from last time. I found this one from Missouri Star Quilt Co. I don’t know if it comes out exactly the same as rotating all the center bars, but it is easy, and most of the seam allowances were turned the right way to make assembly easier.

The backing is the cloud and planet fabric. It’s quilted all over with stars, loops, and clouds, using one of Superior’s newish Fantastico variegated threads.

I’m linking up to Sunday Stash Report at Patchwork Times.

May 21, 2014
by Valerie 3 Comments

The Slow Quilt is…slow.

So. Trying to get back into the groove after our short trip. I was burnt out from all the walking, the allergies are plaguing me (this is new to me, and I’m not good at it), and I may have picked up some germ in Williamsburg. Plus, DS is home, DH is not, and it’s hard to get a routine going. Then I look at the fabrics I need to cut and I am SO not sure what to do. I’m using my Oakshott Cottons, and really don’t want to waste anything.

Today I did cut out fabric for one block, plus the black and white background for all the blocks. I really like the print, and can’t wait to see what it looks like.

Of course, about the time I got my sixteen little piles arranged on the sewing table, the thunder and hail began in earnest, and Yuri came running up to the studio. Touching, really, how he wanted my comfort, but when he skidded to a stop in the middle of all the piles, I don’t think I was very comforting.

They are all clipped or pinned together now, and maybe tomorrow I’ll get the first block sewn together. Lots of little bits and angles. We shall see.

I’m linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

May 18, 2014
by Valerie 6 Comments

Sunday Stash Report: 5/18/14

This report comes from the road as we leave Williamsburg, VA, and head for home after four nights away. The Marshall University John Marshall Fife and Drum Corps was invited to the Drummers’ Call at Colonial Williamsburg in celebration of Armed Forces Day, and our son was proud to march. He probably heard his first fife music here as a small boy, and now he’s playing in the streets of this special place. There were 14 corps from the US and Canada, quite spectacular. My husband’s parents were also able to attend.

With traveling there’s been little sewing, so the stash is the same.

This week: +0 yards, -0 yards
YTD: +64.75 yards, -101.5 yards
Net stash used 2014: -35.75 yards

Hope you’ve had a good week.