Evening in the Garden Quilts

Adventures in Fabric Art

Tag Archives: freshly pieced


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Git Along, Little Scraps

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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.

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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…

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

 

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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.

 


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WIP Wednesday: Picking up the Pace

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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.

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


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Progress on Tops

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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.

 

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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?

 

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


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The Slow Quilt is…slow.

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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.

 

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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.

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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.

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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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Progress on the Disappearing Pinwheel

WIP Wed

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Yesterday I sewed together all the Disappearing Pinwheel blocks for the center of the quilt.  There were lots of points to match, and I found myself forced to use pins.  There was also a lot of wonkiness due to all the bias.  It will be fine, but if I ever made another I would make my own pinwheels first, in an evenly divisible size, rather than use the technique shown here.  But I like the fabrics together.

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I also sewed 88 scrappy HSTs for the outer border.  This is already pretty large, and I ran out of orange fabric, so it’s not getting much of a border.

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I am going to use all this peachy tone-on-tone space for some feathers.  I was studying up last night from these three books, including my Christmas gift, Fabulous Feathers and Fillers by Sue Nichols.  This book has useful information on designing and drafting feathers, but isn’t exactly what I thought it would be.  She makes beautiful feathers, on a home machine, but they are very tight and regular, and she marks them all first.  I’m looking for something more organic and freehand.  Karen McTavish’s are like that, although she’s using a long arm, as does Judy Woodworth.  I seem to make mine in a different direction than they do.  I don’t know if that’s important, but I’m going to think about it.

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

 


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String Top Assembled

WIP Wed

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Yesterday I got the string blocks sashed and assembled.  I’m really liking the small size of these quilts (40″ x 60″) for quick, fun construction.  I said I might use a few pins, but I didn’t use one!  The sashing was Kona Snow, cut to size, with cornerstones, and it stuck to the blocks like velcro.  I had no problems getting this together.

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The result was termed, “Bright and cheerful”, which is exactly the look this customer requested, so I’m on track.  Today I’ll sandwich both quilts and get started on the quilting.

Hope you’re making good progress.

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

 


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Progress on Scrapitude

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I found a few hours on Monday and Tuesday to get caught up on Step 4 (parts 1 and 2) of the Scrapitude Mystery Quilt that many of us are doing through Sandy’s blog, Quilting for the Rest of Us.  It went together very quickly and very neatly.  Occasionally, I had difficulty turning patches correctly, but that was my own perceptual problem.  I quickly learned to check before I sewed!  I am pretty happy with the way this is turning out.  It is very scrappy.  I wish I had used more variety in the largest triangles, but I think it will be fine.  This is my first mystery quilt, and the scrappiest thing I’ve done so far.

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I’m linking up with WIP Wednesday and Scraptitude Linky Party.


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WIP Wednesday: Triangles

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This week I’ve been playing with HSTs in grays and aqua through turquoise.  I’m trying to do something interesting with the color transition, but I don’t know if I have.   I sewed half of them together wrong, so I had to rip apart my nice, pressed open, unstretched blocks and sew them back together, probably all stretched out.

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So it’s coming.  Slowly.

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Also, I completed Step 3 in the Scrapitude Mystery Quilt at Quilting for the Rest of Us.  Each of these steps is pretty quick, and we’re skipping December, so you could certainly catch up if you want to join us.

 

What are you working on?

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


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WIP Wednesday: Pink and Green Strings

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So far this week I haven’t worked on any of the goals on my list.  Instead, I’m off on a fun tangent with a new string quilt.  On Sunday I bargained with myself that if I would just do some long overdue paper work, I could dig into the basket of pink and green strings under my cutting table. These are the leftovers from about three different quilts, plus some other oddball salmon pinks I was glad to use up.  I divided the cabins by color, rather than value.  It seemed to work.  And, for once, it seemed to make a dent in the strings!  These are 12″ blocks.  I’m working on a theory that a smaller size, like 9″, is a more efficient use of strings, as well as a more convenient size the press, etc., but I might have to make another one to test that out…

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I was just going to piece a few blocks.  So I pieced 35 wonky log cabins.  And then assembled them into a top. And now I’m quilting them.  Just seemed like the thing to do this week.

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No fancy quilting on these busy blocks.  I’m quilting long lines on the diagonal with the walking foot and some beautiful thread.  If you push enough tables together, you can support any quilt!

What are you working on?

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