Evening in the Garden Quilts

Adventures in Fabric Art

Tag Archives: Evening in the Garden


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Sunday Stash and Goals Update: 5/4/14

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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.

 

Storm at Sea

 

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.


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Beach Quilt Finished

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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.

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

 

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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!

 

 

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

 

 


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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.

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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.


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Sunday Stash Report: Happy Easter!

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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.

 

 


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Another String Finish

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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.

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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!

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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.

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

 


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Sunday Stash Report: 4/13/04

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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

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

 

 

 


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Construction Related Finishes

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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?

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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.

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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.

 

 

 


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Pillow Covers

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I finished up these four pillow covers Monday (two of each).  The tops are made from a great vintage tablecloth.  I don’t have any idea of the age, maybe 1960’s?  Help me out if you know.

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It was in nearly perfect shape, except for a permanent stain near the center.  This allowed my to cut four 18″ tops from the four corners, two of each design.

Without any flaws or thin spots, I didn’t stabilize it with anything, I just treated it like new home dec fabric.

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I layered the tops with cotton batting and white cotton fabric, and did a little curvy quilting on each with variegated pink Sulky rayon.

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The backs are a gray Kona, envelope style with a single dot of Velcro to keep them closed.  I machine bound them with Carnation pink Kona.  These are listed in my Etsy shop, but if they don’t sell soon, they may end of on my sofa!

Hope you are making progress on your projects.

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


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Sunday Stash Report and Goal Check: 3/30/14

The Stash this week:  Nothing in and nothing out.  I felt like I had a finish when I completed the gray and yellow top (140 3″ squares), but I won’t count it until I quilt it.  Good news:  I found the perfect backing for it on sale at Fabric Shack.  Bad news:  It wasn’t the only thing I ordered.  This new biweekly fabric ordering needs to stop, but I needed some navy for a commission…Yeah.

This week:  +0 yards,  -0 yards
YTD:  +44.25 yards,  -65 yards
Net stash used 2014:  -20.75 yards

 

March Goals

1. Assemble Disappearing Pinwheels top.
2. Quilt DP quilt.  Finished, and mailed off for Oso, WA.
3. Make baby quilt for Etsy shop.  Hey, I got on a roll and made three! Chevron Strings, and the Construction Quilts.

4. Make floral quilt for Etsy shop.  Nope.  But I’ll be finished with four pillow covers before the month is over, so that’s something.

 

April Goals

1. Quilt gray and yellow quilt.

2. Make commissioned baby quilt in navy.

3. Make a floral quilt.

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

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Also, I found this book at Half Price Books this week.  When I said, “curves”, I was thinking of something simple like Drunkard’s Path (and that’s in here, but fancy).  This is very advanced.  Right now, I think I’m most interested in the bias curves, but the paper pieced stuff is interesting to consider.

 

How did you do in March?

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

 


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Chevron Strings Finished

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Late last week I finished up my baby-sized string quilt.  Then one day I dashed out between the snow and the sleet to take a few pictures.

Sherbet Strings

The blocks are 9 inches, pieced on paper.  The sherbet colors are all strings from my bins, but the cream floral was yardage.  It was a good use for  an older piece of fabric, and I had just enough.

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This was inspired by the batik backing I had left over from Disappearing Pinwheels.

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I stitched between all the blocks with the walking foot.  Then I flipped it over and quilted all the dragonflies, using white Sulky rayon in the bobbin. (Well, I skipped the side-view dragonflies, because I found they didn’t look like anything identifiable from the front.)  The Sulky isn’t very heavy, so the design on the front is subtle, but I like it that way.  It’s there if you look for it.

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I used a green with a variegated stripe for the binding.  No new techniques this time, except for a different layout for the string blocks.

Hope you are enjoying the satisfaction of finishing things this week.

I’m linking up with TGIFF and Whoop Whoop Friday.  (Please DO NOT go over to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, because *I* want to win her great giveaway!)

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