Evening in the Garden Quilts

May 11, 2014
by Valerie 1 Comment

Sunday Stash Report: 5/11/14

Happy Mother’s Day, everyone! This photo has nothing to do with the holiday. This is Anni Slywalker. She never makes it into the blog because she’s so hard to photograph and she doesn’t hang out in the studio, but I caught her on this quilt the other day.

Good news on the destashing efforts. I finished the Floral quilt, which used 8 yards, and nothing came in.

This week: +0 yards, -8 yards
YTD: +64.75 yards, -101.5 yards
Net stash used 2014: -35.75 yards

So, I’ve used a hundred yards of fabric so far this year, and I’m more than a third of the way to my goal of destashing a hundred yards this year. Looking good!

I hope you’re spending today doing exactly what you would like, quilty or not.

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

May 9, 2014
by Valerie 8 Comments

Floral!

Yuri is delighted with this latest finish, and so am I. You can have your tiny calico prints. These are my florals!

This quilt is 54″ x 72″, 48 nine-inch blocks, so of course it pieced up in no time. It’s related to this quilt from last year. That has solid gray for relief, this does not. Some people find it to be too much pattern. I wouldn’t dress like this or anything, but it’s making my happy. It was not windy for these photos; Yuri is behind the quilt, pushing out the bottom.

Technically it holds together. Mostly florals, good variety of scale. Similar colors, but not completely matchy. I love how the orange trucks and barns pop on the Madrona Road fabric. Good value change.

Without the cat, the quilting shows up well in this late evening light. I added a second layer of batting under the light, feather quilted areas (Warm and White). The feathers are done in a peach Living Colors, and the straight lines are old rose Bottom Line, both Superior. The quilting took much longer than the piecing.

I like this photo because it shows how much greener everything is than my last finish. Finally!

Lastly, I did take this photo of one of my Oriole friends. They are a lot of fun to watch, but hard to catch with the camera.

Hope you are enjoying spring and having some finishes. I’m linking up to Finish It Up Friday and Whoop Whoop Friday.

May 4, 2014
by Valerie 4 Comments

Sunday Stash and Goals Update: 5/4/14

Hello! Let me first confess that I did not take this picture. I tried all morning, but my Baltimore Orioles would not cooperate. Still, they are fantastically colorful and entertaining at my feeder. I have seen up to six at a time, and the males are so bright!

Stash:

I bought three yards of solids on Saturday, but considering that I was actually standing in Fabric Shack, I think that shows amazing will power. We stopped in Waynesville, OH on the way to the Reds ball game to celebrate my husband’s 60th birthday. Yesterday was a Derby Party. Therefore, nothing was finished this week.

This week: +3 yards, -0 yards
YTD: +64.75 yards, -93.5 yards
Net stash used 2014: -27.75 yards

April Goals

1. ~~Quilt gray and yellow quilt~~. Finished. See 1 and 2 here.

2. ~~Make commissioned baby quilt in navy~~.

3. Make a floral quilt. No, I didn’t. I made a beach quilt instead.

4. ~~Design a block for my Slow Quilt. I’m collecting the fabrics~~. Done.

Here’s the block I’m using in the Slow Quilt. It’s a version of Storm at Sea. Saturday’s purchase was the last of the fabric (I think).

May Goals

1. Finish bright floral quilt.

2. Make blocks for Slow Quilt.

3. Donate older baby quilts to Project Linus.

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

These are not ambitious goals, I know, but they reflect the fact that it is May. I will be away some, and working on the yard and garden, so I’ll be lucky to accomplish these.

Does anyone know of a site that has taken up this Getting It Done/ Monthly Goals project? If there’s not, would any of you be interested in linking here? Please let me know.

I hope you’re all progressing with your Stash and quilting goals. I’m linking up with Sunday Stash Report at Patchwork Times.

May 2, 2014
by Valerie 7 Comments

Beach Quilt Finished

I finished another in the continuing series of beach-themed quilts. It began in 2010 when I made this quilt for a sick friend, all from stash, I think. It turned out nicely and was appreciated. I think the busyness is contained by the dark inner border. Then, in 2012, I used some of the leftover fabrics plus lots of khaki Kona to make this one. Obviously, it didn’t use much of the beachy fabric, so I continued. Last July I made this quilt. It turned out well, but was a process. Follow the link in that post to see how I cut lots of squares and then ended up editing about half of them. So today’s quilt uses many of those edited pieces.

The quilting is with a brown variegated thread from Coats and Clarks and a blue/green variegated Lava from Superior.

The back is so subtle it doesn’t show in the photos, but it is antique postcards in lovely cream and pale blue tones.

And, never fear, if you don’t like this one, I have scraps left for at least one more!

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

April 27, 2014
by Valerie 2 Comments

Sunday Stash Report: 4/27/14

Hello! First and formost, the new phone arrived and all is well! It’s a Samsung S4, except it’s red (!), it takes fabulous photos, and loads all the wonderful Android apps, so I’m happy here. I knew you’d want to know.

On the fabric front, progress was not made. While I used 7 1/2 yards to make a beach themed quilt, I bought 9 yards from Fabric.com. It was the oddest thing. I was attempting to click a link, and I missed, and got Fabric.com, where there was a sale and free shipping. It felt like destiny. It’s good stuff, don’t you think? And most is designated for planned quilts. Yes, I am working on destashing. Yes, I will do better. Next week.

This week: +9 yards, -7.5 yards
YTD: +61.75 yards, -93.5 yards
Net stash used 2014: -31.75 yards

That’s still about a third of the way to 100 yards, isn’t it? I’m okay with it.

Are you doing any better controlling your stash? I’m linking up with Sunday Stash Report at Patchwork Times.

April 20, 2014
by Valerie 6 Comments

Sunday Stash Report: Happy Easter!

It’s a beautiful Easter morning here in Ohio. I hope all of you have a wonderful day.

The stash numbers are good this week. I used 7 1/2 yards for the string quilt, and nothing was added.

This week: +0 yards, -7.5 yards
YTD: +52.75 yards, -86 yards
Net stash used 2014: -33.25 yards

In other news, I’m in day 3 of smartphone withdrawal. My BlackBerry Q10 (Q for Quilter, right?) wanted me to update the operating system, and when I did, it froze up, and now makes a pretty good paper weight. It is covered under the warranty, so I could have had it replaced for free, but I decided to change phones. I’ve been a happy BlackBerry devote’ from the beginning, but I suppose it is time to get off that ship. It’s kind of like Beta tapes: we were better, but the industry passed us by. I’m coveting Android apps and continuity with my tablet, so I’ve ordered a Samsung S4. It will be here…in just…a few days… Ack!

I don’t like to think of myself as having to be constantly connected to technology. I spend much less time in front of a computer than many people, but I am really missing the phone. The last two years we have taken vacations that took us out of cell and data range for many days at a time, and I was fine with that. I wasn’t trying to quilt, or fussing much with the blog. The camera still worked. DH and I were together, so I knew he wasn’t trying to reach me, and neither was anyone else. We just communed with nature and had a great time. I mean, the national parks post the weather forecast right in the visitors centers. We were good.

But home is different. I like having the whole world in the palm of my hand. It might be the camera I miss most. I was trying to lay out a quilt top. How was I supposed to tell if the colors are balanced without taking a photo? I muddled through the old fashioned way, but then I couldn’t share the results with the Twilters. Or the Easter card I got with fabric bunnies. Or the new box of thread. A picture is easily worth 144 characters.

I’ve tried to remind myself that many famous quilters were successful without anything remotely electronic. Jane Sickles, for instance, made a pretty spectacular quilt. But face it, if she could have, Jane would have Tweeted pics to her friends of each new block she finished. And snapped a few to see if that border was going to work. Yes, she would have.

Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. And I’ll be much better by Tuesday…or Wednesday. Don’t expect a post then. I’ll be busy trying to get my life back into that little plastic thing.

Enjoy this spring day! Hope you’re using that stash! I’m linking up with Sunday Stash Report at Patchwork Times.

April 18, 2014
by Valerie 8 Comments

Another String Finish

Lately, it seems as though all I do is show you finishes. One day soon, I hope to have some more interesting content, but I haven’t had much energy lately, and it seems like all I can do to post occasionally about what I’m making. So many of you are more inspirational! I’ll try to get back there.

I had fun setting and quilting my favorite string blocks in a new way. The gray is Kona Ash. The thread is Coats and Clarks, an older spool that was the perfect colors. It worked out well that I have this to add to my Etsy shop, because a few days ago I sold the aqua and gray chevron quilt that I had there. It went to Denmark, which seems fun. My quilts have been so many places I haven’t yet!

I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out. The quilting could be more defined. (I think it’s better in person than in these photos.) What if I had had the patience to use decorative stitches in the solid areas? Hmmm.

Hope you’ve had some good finishes lately. I’m linking up with Finish It Up Friday, at Crazy Mom Quilts.

April 13, 2014
by Valerie 3 Comments

Sunday Stash Report: 4/13/04

Krissi is pleased that no new fabric came in this week, but 9 1/2 yards went out as I finished the Yellow and Gray quilt. We’re both spending more time outside, now that the weather is getting better.

This week: +0 yards, -9.5 yards
YTD: +52.75 yards, -78.5 yards
Net stash used 2014: -25.75 yards

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

April 11, 2014
by Valerie 7 Comments

Construction Related Finishes

This week I finished this twin-sized quilt in colors I love. It began with the scraps from one of the Construction Baby Quilts, supplemented with squares from my 3 1/2″ bin. Then I added a bit from yardage to fill it out and have enough for the diagonal effect. I’m very happy with the result.

To my surprise, when I searched for backing fabric, I found a print on gray from the same line as the original fabric (“Under Construction” by Kanvas Color), and on sale!

The quilting is in the ditch between every square, and then some diagonals across the quilt. Yes, there is a bit of Mirror Ball Dot!

Also, I found the perfect fabric for binding in my stash, orange with yellow stripes. This reminds me that I’ve wanted to mention when I solve my quilt design problems: as I go to sleep at night! In this case, I planned to bind the quilt in a solid orange, but it was getting dark in my studio, so I thought I would wait for morning to choose the right fabric. Then, as I was falling asleep, I remembered the perfect fabric for the binding. Extraordinarily bright, I had passed it up many times on other projects. Now, was it in the Orange drawer or the Stripes drawer? The Orange, I thought. And, in the morning, there it was! Often when I find myself at a crossroads on a quilt (or a brick wall), I consciously think about it as I fall asleep. More often than not, answers become clear to me, and they are usually the ones that make it into the quilts. When do you do your best design work?

Here’s my finish from last week. The red, white, and black construction baby quilt caught the attention of a customer on Etsy, who special ordered one in solid navy. It did turn out very nautical, didn’t it? I quilted it all over with navy Bottom Line. That meant that the thin dark thread also went over areas of red, white, and light blue. I thought for a while about the thread color. Other than possibly using smoke Monopoly, I couldn’t come up with anything I liked better. I’m very happy with the way it came out, so I guess navy was fine.

With all that navy, I had to be very diligent with a lint roller and careful to keep it away from everything until I could get it safely packaged to mail. Whew!

See more finishes at Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.