Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Monday, August 3, 2015
Tuesday Archives - Two for One Sampler Quilt
This week's topic for the Tuesday Archives is "Sampler Quilts". I've made a few sampler quilts over the years. The first sampler quilt was made from 1930's prints and it was the subject of a previous Tuesday Archive's post on BOMs. So it makes sense (at least to me) to post about the second and third sampler quilts out of my sewing room this time around.
I'm including both sampler quilts because both came out of the same BOM program at the local quilt shop. That BOM was one of the most fun and challenging I've ever participated in. It was called the Brown Bag challenge. The first month everyone brought in a paper bag with enough yardage to make 12 blocks and then went home with someone else's bag with instructions to make any block we wanted so long as it finished at 12". Since these blocks were going to other quilters, many with a lot more experience than I had, I decided to pick a few of my fabrics to make "test" blocks before I made the block that had to go back in the bag. That way I could figure out the instructions on my block and then not mess up the block that had to go back in the bag. The plus was I'd get enough blocks from this BOM to make two quilts. Here's what my blocks and the blocks that went back in the bag looked like.
The block on the left of each pair is my block, the block on the right was made from the fabric in the bag I brought home each month. It was quite a lesson in color theory. It was a wonderful chance to work with color combinations that weren't really my style. It was a lot of fun. Here's the quilt made from my blocks.
I was pretty happy with how it worked out. This quilt now lives at my sister's.
Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed when I got my brown bag back at the end of the year. My bag was short a couple of blocks and a couple of the blocks in the bag had significant construction problems that required some rework before they could be used. I made another 3 blocks for a complete group of 12 and then set them together.
The Brown Bag Quilt stays up in the closet till Drama Teen has a sleep over. Then it's used for cuddling while the girls eat popcorn and watch movies.
I didn't intend to end up with two pink and green quilts, that just sorta happened. Both quilts were wonderful learning experiences, not just in making the blocks but in coming up with setting options.
That's all from my archives this week. You can see more quilty history over at Val's Quilting Studio.
I'm including both sampler quilts because both came out of the same BOM program at the local quilt shop. That BOM was one of the most fun and challenging I've ever participated in. It was called the Brown Bag challenge. The first month everyone brought in a paper bag with enough yardage to make 12 blocks and then went home with someone else's bag with instructions to make any block we wanted so long as it finished at 12". Since these blocks were going to other quilters, many with a lot more experience than I had, I decided to pick a few of my fabrics to make "test" blocks before I made the block that had to go back in the bag. That way I could figure out the instructions on my block and then not mess up the block that had to go back in the bag. The plus was I'd get enough blocks from this BOM to make two quilts. Here's what my blocks and the blocks that went back in the bag looked like.
The block on the left of each pair is my block, the block on the right was made from the fabric in the bag I brought home each month. It was quite a lesson in color theory. It was a wonderful chance to work with color combinations that weren't really my style. It was a lot of fun. Here's the quilt made from my blocks.
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| Paisley Roses finished in February 2011 |
I was pretty happy with how it worked out. This quilt now lives at my sister's.
Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed when I got my brown bag back at the end of the year. My bag was short a couple of blocks and a couple of the blocks in the bag had significant construction problems that required some rework before they could be used. I made another 3 blocks for a complete group of 12 and then set them together.
 |
| The Brown Bag Quilt finished in May 2011 |
The Brown Bag Quilt stays up in the closet till Drama Teen has a sleep over. Then it's used for cuddling while the girls eat popcorn and watch movies.
I didn't intend to end up with two pink and green quilts, that just sorta happened. Both quilts were wonderful learning experiences, not just in making the blocks but in coming up with setting options.
That's all from my archives this week. You can see more quilty history over at Val's Quilting Studio.
Design Wall Monday - A Finished Flimsy
It was hot this weekend, so I spent as much time as possible in my sewing room. Well at least when I could get away from report writing and laundry (Yes I'm up against another work deadline, but at least the end of this project is in sight). The last border strip was added to Grand Illusion on Friday night. After spending a bit picking off all the loose strings, it was finally ready to photograph.
It still needs a good pressing, which will likely happen sometime this week. The plain borders do a lot calm down the busyness of this quilt. I like the bright colors, but I probably should have selected some lighter shades, as it is, it seems that the pink, green and teal are all the same intensity. A bit of variation in that might have toned it down some more. Though Grand Illusion is not one of my favorites, its far from being hideous. The backing is all pieced, pressed and ready to go. Now I just need to prep the top for quilting. Once that's done it will go off to Trudy for quilting.
To see what everyone else got done over the weekend, you should check out Patchwork Times; Laugh, Love, Quilt; and Cooking Up Quilts.
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| Grand Illusion, A Bonnie Hunter Mystery |
To see what everyone else got done over the weekend, you should check out Patchwork Times; Laugh, Love, Quilt; and Cooking Up Quilts.
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Stash Report - Week 31 of 2015
It was a pretty successful week in the sewing room. Grand Illusion is a finished flimsy. I promise there will be picture in tomorrow's design wall post. Enough Twinkle Star blocks got completed so that I'm just one month behind. It's been slow and steady progress all week, which is about as good as it gets for me.
Used last week: 0.90 yards
Used in July: 1.94 yards
Used in August: 0 yards
Used year to date: 18.29 yards
Purchased year to date: 10.25 yards
Net used for 2015: 8.04 yards
I was looking back at my progress this year and remembered that back on February 1st, I posted these photos of all the yardage that's tied up in my UFOs and WIPs.
Well it's been 6 months, so it's time for an update.
Pretty much the same fabrics, though fabrics have been added to the stack for the Midnight Mystery quilt and the backing For Grand Illusion. So if you look closely, the stack has actually grown an inch since February.
I'm not sure that's so bad, it means that at some point the fabric will go out of the stash as it has a designated place to go. As of this morning the stack is already a little lower because I've started cutting out the back for Grand Illusion. I've only pulled one fabric out of the stack since February and that was the black background fabric I used for Flame Test. But I have been cutting from other fabrics in the stack. If you take off the backing fabric for Grand Illusion that I added on Friday, it looks like the stack has dropped by about 0.5 inch so far this year. It's not really a great measure of fabric out because any left overs go back into the stash, but is another way to assess progress on the 20 plus UFOs and WIPs in progress.
You can check out other stash reports over at Patchwork Times.
Used last week: 0.90 yards
Used in July: 1.94 yards
Used in August: 0 yards
Used year to date: 18.29 yards
Purchased year to date: 10.25 yards
Net used for 2015: 8.04 yards
I was looking back at my progress this year and remembered that back on February 1st, I posted these photos of all the yardage that's tied up in my UFOs and WIPs.
Pretty much the same fabrics, though fabrics have been added to the stack for the Midnight Mystery quilt and the backing For Grand Illusion. So if you look closely, the stack has actually grown an inch since February.
I'm not sure that's so bad, it means that at some point the fabric will go out of the stash as it has a designated place to go. As of this morning the stack is already a little lower because I've started cutting out the back for Grand Illusion. I've only pulled one fabric out of the stack since February and that was the black background fabric I used for Flame Test. But I have been cutting from other fabrics in the stack. If you take off the backing fabric for Grand Illusion that I added on Friday, it looks like the stack has dropped by about 0.5 inch so far this year. It's not really a great measure of fabric out because any left overs go back into the stash, but is another way to assess progress on the 20 plus UFOs and WIPs in progress.
You can check out other stash reports over at Patchwork Times.
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Rainbow Scrap Challenge - No Black, but a Little Red
It was a good week in the sewing room. Grand Illusion is a finished flimsy, finally. No pictures yet, but I'll fix that once the sun is up today. The plan is to get the backing made this weekend, then it can go off to Trudy for quilting. I'll be happy to get that one off the WIP list before it becomes a UFO.
In spite of the productive week, I'm still a month behind on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks. I finished off June's teal Twinkle Star blocks earlier this week.
There is only one star completed using July's color red.
So I'm still a month behind with the challenge. Hopefully now that all the vacation and business travel is over, I'll have a chance to get caught up this month. August's color is indigo for the sampler quilt, but Angela gave the option to use black as this month's color. My plan is to use black and gray for August's Twinkle Star blocks.
But first there's laundry and a work report to finish up this morning. Hopefully there will be some time this evening to at least pick out the fabrics for August's Twinkle Star blocks.
Check out more scrappy fun over at Soscrappy.
In spite of the productive week, I'm still a month behind on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks. I finished off June's teal Twinkle Star blocks earlier this week.
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| Twinkle Stars, Tutorial by Andrea Feldbush of Soscrappy |
There is only one star completed using July's color red.
So I'm still a month behind with the challenge. Hopefully now that all the vacation and business travel is over, I'll have a chance to get caught up this month. August's color is indigo for the sampler quilt, but Angela gave the option to use black as this month's color. My plan is to use black and gray for August's Twinkle Star blocks.
But first there's laundry and a work report to finish up this morning. Hopefully there will be some time this evening to at least pick out the fabrics for August's Twinkle Star blocks.
Check out more scrappy fun over at Soscrappy.
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