Evening in the Garden Quilts

Adventures in Fabric Art


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Donation Finishes

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Today I mailed off two packages of donation sewing.  I had so much fun making these flag blocks that I didn’t want to stop (I made 32!)  I warn you, they are addictive.  Here is Alycia’s post.

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I also said goodbye to the Tulip Quilt.  I said at the time that I didn’t want any more disasters, but these things keep happening.  I sent this to Colorado to warm a flood survivor.  Here is Luana’s post.

Now my studio is cleared out a bit and I have no more excuses not to work on Oh My Stars.  I haven’t had a lot of help with the Christmas carols, though.  Most people seem to be like me, and want to leave the red and green till December.  “It hasn’t snowed a single flurry, but Santa, dear, we’re in a hurry…”.

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


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WIP Wednesday: Lots a Blocks

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This week I straightened up my studio from the last few projects.  Then I decided to take a crack at neatening up this.

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I made these 16 block to send off to Quilts of Valor, and I have 16 more in progress.  Great way to use up scraps, and they’re even having a contest!

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Also, I dug out my Oh, My Stars blocks from two years ago.  I need to look up the directions and perhaps rethink where I want to go with them.  Someone please hum some Christmas carols, because I’m just not feeling these right now.

I hope you’re playing with fabric.

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


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String Finish

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I’ve been sewing and sewing, but not reducing much stash.  I don’t like to think I have very many UFOs, because I usually finish projects straight through, but I do have a few.  I pulled out these 35 string blocks that are 6-9 months old.  They were made with remnants of the Midwest Modern fabric I used in this quilt.  I think I probably meant to sash them to make them large enough for a donation quilt of some sort.  I tried them with cream, gold, and pink, the consensus on Twitter being the pink and yellow batik.

 

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They were numbered, so I put them up on my design wall, and really liked the set without sashing, so I used the pink for borders.  The blocks are so busy that I didn’t think intricate quilting would show up on them.

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I stitched three wavey lines on alternate rows and columns.  In the empty blocks, I put a free-hand rose with four leaves.

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The borders, though, were ripe for feathers!  They were a bit wide, so I did a scalloped border first.  Then I marked a curvy spine and lower boundary for the feathers and had at it.  I used a butterscotch-colored Living Colors thread from Superior, 40 wt, I think.  I was in a great feather zone and had a lovely time working on them.  Unfortunately, I also sewed feathers every time I closed my eyes that night.  Ah, the price of great art.

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The back is just barely pieced, and used the rest of the batik, plus a pink and yellow piece  for which I was happy to find a home.

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This ended up 52″ x 67″, which makes a nice throw, and I put it in my shop.  I have no idea where Yuri was during these pictures, but I managed without him.

I hope you’re playing with fabric today.


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Sunday Stash: 9/22/13

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Well, it wore Yuri out, but we finished this pretty string quilt today (photos coming!) to put a little dent in the stash, in addition to the half yard for the landscape quilt.

This week:  +0 yards,  -8.5 yards

YTD:  +123 yards,  -193.25 yards

Net stash used in 2013:  -70.25 yards

The weather has been cool an comfortable here for sewing lately.  How are you doing with your destashing?

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


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North Dakota Landscape Finished

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My landscape quilt based on a vacation photo is finished, and, I think, successful.  This particular scene was in North Dakota, but we saw many similar landscapes as we crossed the U.S. To the west, and then came back east through Canada. Here was our route. Making this really didn’t take that long (it’s only about 18″ x 24″), but I kept puttering around on other things because I wasn’t that comfortable working with images and applique.  My friend, Carol, of LandscapeLady fame, guided and encouraged me on Twitter.  Ironically, while I was working on landscape, she was dipping back into patchwork.  Always good to stretch a bit.

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Interestingly, I didn’t use any fusibles on this project.  It has very simple pieces, so I cut freezer paper templates, ironed them to the right side of the fabrics, and cut around the templates.  I used spray adhesive to hold everything in place on a muslin background.  In addition to the muslin, I used two layers of water soluble stabilizer on the back as I machine appliqued everything down and did some decoration with thread.

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This spool of Perfect Quilter variegated thread is what I used to stitch millions of blades of grass in all three layers of the grassy field.  I thought it added texture and helped to unite the three different fabrics a bit.  The top green is less saturated than the earlier photos because I turned it over and used the reverse of the fabric.  That left it a little splotchy, so the stitching helped to even that out.  Then I clipped the top edges of the grass fabrics, frayed them with a brush, and put the top only through the washer and dryer.

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I quilted everything using invisible thread.  It gave it lots of definition.

 

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Design-wise, it was tempting to add some object to the foreground for interest, even though there was nothing in the original scene.  I decided that I really wanted to keep it all about the grass and sky.  I am fortunate to live surrounded by farmland, but it’s cluttered (in a nice way), hemmed in farmland.   The Great Plains are so much about space and distance.  I hope I captured that in this piece.

 

I’m linking up to Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts, and Applique Tuesday on A Quilting Reader’s Garden.

I’m also linking up to Holiday Memories Mini Quilt Contest at Celtic Thistle Stitches. Come look at the great entries!


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WIP Wednesday: Scrapitude and Landscape

 BT6RdC7IcAAVc1fLast week I heard about the Scrapitude Mystery Quilt at Quilting for the Rest of us, so I pulled out my scraps.  It’s heavy on 2 1/2″ squares, and I have plenty.

I think I’ll use this in my guest room, so I tried to lean toward a palette of wine, green, and brown.  That yellow came out of there, but I left in a lot of diverse fabrics, so it really will be scrappy.

IMG_00000038I chose a dusty pink for my background, and actually labeled the stacks I cut, since this will be worked on monthly.

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Then I got down to chain piecing and soon ended up with Step 1 finished.  See what everyone’s doing on Sandy’s site or the Flickr group.

 

Once I had those all tidily back in their pink basket, I got back to work on my landscape piece.  Here’s what I have so far.

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I hope you’re playing with fabric.

I’m linking up with WIP Wednesday on Freshly Pieced, and with Scrapitude Progress on Quilting for the Rest of Us.

 


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Design Wall Monday: Vacation Image

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On my wall today is the beginning of a small quilt based on a photo of a North Dakota scene from out summer vacation.  Nothing is sewn down yet.  I’m living with it and studying the value.  I wasted time explored using the photo tracing tools on EQ7 for this, but couldn’t quite get to printing it quilt-sized.  This was such a simple scene that I just free-handed the cartoon on freezer paper.  Then I cut the sections apart and ironed them to the front of the fabrics for cutting.  They’re sticking to the piece of muslin with spray adhesive.  This is different work for me, but I’m enjoying it.

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In the meantime, I’m finishing the first sewing step in the Scrapitude Mystery Quilt on Quilting for the Rest of Us.  There’s plenty of time to start if you’d like to join us.

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


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Sunday Stash Report: 9/15/13

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Just a little fabric in this week, just barely offset by what I used, but it was in the right direction and the math was easy.  I needed some fabrics for my landscape quilt, and the two on top were very much on sale.  And sprinkled with gold metallic spots.  Obviously, I had to buy them.

AND, I’ve embarked on a great destashing project:  the Scrapitude Mystery Quilt at Quilting for the Rest of Us.  There’s a Flickr group, and it’s being heavily discussed/shown on Twitter, #scrapitude.  It’s just starting, so join us.

 

This week:  +3.5 yards,  -4.5 yards (wall hangings)

YTD:  +123 yards,  -184.75 yards

Net stash used in 2013:  -61.75 yards

 

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Instead of Yuri, whose main accomplishments are catching chipmunks to release in the house, and getting in the way of quilt photographs, I thought I’d show you my son today.  He is accomplished at many things, including playing trumpet in the Marching Thunder band at Marshall University, Huntington, WV, where he is a sophomore.  Yes, We Are Marshall, the movie.  They march about 300 instruments.

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

 


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Fall Wall Hangings Finished

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Both of these hangings are finished.  And they will look square when I sew down the hanging sleeves and press them a little.  These string blocks were fun to do.  The blocks were 6 1/2″,  and the quilt finished at 24″ square.  So much fun to quilt small projects!  All the fun and none of the bulk dragging on your shoulders!

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I practiced swirls in the “sky”, and did a leafy vine in the border.

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The feathers in the leaf at harder to see.  I like them, but I should have added an extra layer of batting in that area to make them pop.  I’m still happy with it.

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The Fall Cabins wall hanging turned out very well, too.  It’s 32″ x 40″.  Someday I’d like to make a larger quilt like this.

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Remember the plan on EQ7? Occasionally, I scan in fabrics and do a care full design. Usually, I just do it this way, to get a rough idea of the values and any secondary designs, and to check the math.

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I quilted straight diagonal lines in brown Bottom Line through the dark areas, and used yellow Sulky for feathers through the lighter areas.

Now I’m at work on a couple of things, including the Scrapitude Mystery Quilt that Sandy is sharing with us on Quilting for the Rest of Us.  It just started, many people haven’t cut their scraps yet, so you can certainly join in.  Several of us on Twitter are doing it, #scrapitude.  Great stash buster!

Can’t wait to see what you finished!

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


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WIP Wednesday: Still feeling like fall

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This week I combined two of my favorite things, rich autumn fabrics and string blocks.  This is 18″ square, and will be the center to a small wall hanging.  I think I’ll surround it with Candy blue, and bind it in a dark print.

I hope you’re playing with fabric this week!

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