Category Archives: New York Beauty

Weekend Plans

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First up, some Inklingo Cheat Sheets filled out so I can sort out what sizes of freezer paper I need to cut. Then I can print more of the New York Beauty shapes on the fabrics I’m using for these. I had some pieces of fabric that were already cut so they’re behind the cheat sheets but there is more to come. It’s the weekend, so this is my play time for the NYB blocks and who knows what else. Maybe a log cabin block, maybe some more of the tiny Drunkard’s Trail, or perhaps the 2″ Drunkard’s Path. The shapes for those last three are already printed on the fabrics I’m using, so it will be easy to pick up some of them.

I’m saving the strips from grading the seams of the NYB blocks in this little glass jar. It’s getting very colourful and will be even more so by the time I’m done, although I have a feeling I’ll need to use a larger jar.

The big book box has lots of shapes already printed and cut out, ready to stitch.

The laptop is charging now as I want to play with a couple of design ideas in EQ, but hopefully out on the roof garden. The battery on my old laptop doesn’t hold a charge as long as it used to, but I think it’s good for about an hour of play. So those are my quilting plans for the weekend. What are yours?

While we were taking the pictures, Baxter was determined to get the jar lid.

A cartoon drawing of Baxter, drawn by Mr. Q.O.

A Baker’s Dozen of New York Beauties

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This is the latest one I finished. It definitely goes in the Monet set of blocks. This has three batiks in it as well as the metallic fabrics. I love the metallics but they are a bit thicker than normal quilting cotton and definitely thicker than a batik. The batiks in these blocks will help to cut down on the weight of the quilt, whatever size it ends up to be.

I’m amazed that 13 of these blocks are already finished. I had always wanted to make a New York Beauty quilt, but paper piecing? Not for me, too much machine work. Trace the templates? No, nowhere near as accurate and thin a line as I’d want. But being able to print the templates on my fabric? I was in! In seconds! That’s the beauty of Inklingo – printing on fabric and getting perfect cutting lines, perfect stitching lines and perfect matching points. It makes even the sharpest of points easy to stitch whether by machine or by hand.

Seams graded on the latest block and it pressed beautifully. Of course the batiks help. It is a bit more of an effort to get the blocks that have all metallics in them to press to their best advantage but it’s worth the effort as I love the effect they give.

I think I’ll make two more of these blocks and then start playing with setting ideas. I have a few ideas so the temporary design wall may be put up within the next few days so I can play. Clearly I’m making a series of these quilts as I have lots of blocks still to stitch but I don’t want to make these large quilts. I’d rather see them as colour-saturated small pieces to hang on a wall.

Still no flowers on the roof garden, but Baxter is on patrol on the windowsill. Mostly at night, though. He clearly seems something out there that we don’t see. He’s not as interested in watching out the window during the day as he is at night.

Mr. Q.O. captioned this one, “Don’t try this yoga pose without an attendant.” We call this one Baxter’s pretzel pose.

A Dozen Little Blocks and a Repeat Appearance

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In next to no time last night I had an even dozen of these done. Now there are only 462 left to make. I could barely write that last sentence without laughing out loud. While it seems like an enormous number, I know I had the first 200 or so of them done in just a couple of weeks — and that involved tracing of templates, adding matching points and then cutting them out. I hate setting deadlines for myself, so am just going to enjoy however long it takes to stitch these.

This box now contains 370 little 2″ blocks.

After seeing the photo of the two blocks on my post yesterday, Mr. Q.O. insisted we take the photo again. He was right, the one yesterday seemed a bit muddy.

So much for me saying it was summer weather. Yesterday it got rather cool again but at least the sun was out. Our forecast for the long weekend is still looking like a true summer weekend with humidex readings in the 30s – Celsius, that is.

Baxter really does take his fabric minding duties seriously. When we set up to take photos, he’s almost always there to oversee the process.

Monet Block 2

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A few pieces were taken out of the big book box and another Monet block made. Right now I’m not sure which is my favourite (if one is at all) – the Tiffany Lamp blocks or these softer Monet blocks.

I finger press as I stitch, which makes the final pressing very quick.

Now I’ve made one of each of the New York Beauty 1 and 2 collections for the Monet quilt. I’m not sure how many blocks will be made for this quilt, but know that it’s going to be fun playing with the setting. That said, now that I look at these two side by side, I think this newest one may be put in the Tiffany Lamp quilt pile. It may not be soft enough for the Monet quilt.

Tuesday was another fabulous day here, with wonderfully warm temperatures. We went for a walk but, of course, forgot the camera. The shops have their planters out and there are some pretty arrangements to be seen. If it’s not raining today, we’ll try again.

Baxter still has his particularly unique way of drinking. It’s hard work. After he’s had a drink, he needs to rest. You can tell that the fur on one side of his face is pretty much soaking wet in this shot.

Tiffany Lamp Quilt, Block 10

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Block 10? It doesn’t seem as though I’ve made anywhere near that many! Ten done for the Tiffany Lamp quilt and one for the Monet quilt. I’m going to try to lay them all out on the floor — maybe when Baxter is sleeping. Otherwise it might be a nightmare! A series of these quilts is definitely in my future.

The back after grading the seams and pressing. I’m still thrilled with the Rowenta travel iron. It presses well and heats up quickly. The biggest bonus is it’s so lightweight and easy on the hands.

And yes, this is another quilt in a box. In the big book box. Not all the pieces are printed yet, although there are quite a few ready to cut and more sheets of fabric ready to print. This time the box also contains all the fabrics I’ve picked out for the Monet and Tiffany Lamp quilts. Yesterday I finished cutting the remaining shapes for the ’30s Drunkard’s Path. I need to get a fair bit of stitching done so those pieces will fit in that book box.

Summer is here. This weekend is the Victoria Day long weekend, the traditional planting time here and the weekend often thought of as the first long weekend of the summer. The gardeners were seen on the roof garden yesterday, the weather is glorious and one sure sign it’s summer is that the lounge chairs have shown up out on the roof garden. We’ve turned the heat off, the windows are open and it’s wonderful!

Baxter lounging about. Mr. Q.O. captioned it, “Are you perchance going to the kitchen?”

Bright New York Beauty 2

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The partially completed block I showed yesterday is now finished. And it’s bright. Almost need your sunglasses bright. I think I may do a series, as Wanda at Exuberant Color does, of small quilts with these blocks. That way I can play with the colour combinations as much as I want, play with the layouts as many ways as I can think up, and just generally have fun. I’m going to print some more shapes from the 12″ Sunflower collection and do quarter blocks that will play with the NYB 1 and 2 collections. Some will be for the Tiffany Lamp quilt, some for the more muted Monet type effect and some will be … well, I don’t know quite yet.

Even with the thicker metallic fabric it still presses like a dream. And, of course, grading the seams as I finish the block helps.

We had a lot of rain and a couple of little thunderstorms yesterday. I hope that’s it for the rain for a while as the window cleaners are about to do our windows.

This shot of Baxter was taken last week but the look on his face makes me laugh so I couldn’t resist using it.

Hand Piecing a New York Beauty 2 Block

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What’s in the box?

Loads and loads of printed sheets for the New York Beauty blocks, both those from Collection 1 and Collection 2. Impossible for me to resist these. As though she knew, a very special friend sent me another one of these marvellous box books but this one is huge! Some of the sheets in that box are 8.5 x 12.5 inches and they aren’t folded over or cramped in there at all. The book box is that enormous and it’s deep so I can print as many sheets of fabric as I want for these blocks. It’s pretty clear now that the Tiffany Lamp quilt is going to be larger than I originally thought. I’m adding some batiks and a few other metallic prints that play nicely.

So on to hand piecing a New York Beauty block from Collection 2. I stitch the two bands of triangles and the small arc to the corner piece. When stitching the two bands of triangles, I take advantage of the continuous stitching possibilities so they’re done in next to no time.

At this stage, I press it. As the triangle intersections don’t meet when the two bands are joined together I’m quite happy to press both bands in the same direction.

Now all that’s left is to join the four units and the block is done. And it’s really that easy. With the perfect matching points and stitching lines, piecing a New York Beauty is fast, simple and oh, so gratifying as each block is done! Getting perfect sharp points takes nothing more than stitching on the stitching lines. The finished block will be shown tomorrow.

For a great tutorial on how to machine piece one of these beauties, check out this post on the All About Inklingo blog.

Baxter was ignoring the camera so Mr. Q.O. was making some very weird noises to get his attention. I think the look on his face says it, “What the heck?!” He had just been drinking in his wonderfully funny style, so the fur on the right side of his face is still quite damp.

Two Different New York Beauty Blocks and a Giveaway

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As if I wasn’t having enough fun with the first New York Beauty collection, on Sunday a second New York Beauty collection was released. Of course I had to make a block. Truth be told, I’ve printed enough for 12 blocks of the new collection and another 12 of the first collection. The Tiffany Lamp quilt is going to be even more fun, if that’s possible, to make!

This is the new block I made with the first collection.

This one was made with the new second collection. I can’t get over how amazingly easy it was to put together. It took about an hour and a half to piece, although it took me much longer to decide which fabrics I wanted to use in which spot. I was going for a much more muted, almost watercolour, effect with this one and I think I accomplished that. For those who paper piece, the collection contains a page that can be printed for that purpose. They are both 6″ blocks.

It’s easy to press. I pieced the two triangle strips first and pressed them, joined the small arc to the quarter circle and pressed that and then joined all the pieces together.

I can’t possibly choose a favourite between the two types. Do you have a favourite?

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Now for the giveaway.

Have you ever been tempted to make a Double Wedding Ring but have shied away from it because of its supposed difficulty? You can win the Inklingo Double Wedding Ring collection which makes stitching a DWR unbelievably simple. It really is Double Wedding Ring with training wheels on. I’ve made a small table runner with the collection and couldn’t believe how easy it was to piece. There are loads of possibilities for designing, as you can see on the All About Inklingo blog. To be entered in the draw, leave a comment at the All About Inklingo blog by Saturday, May 12. The design shown above, Blossoms in Niagara on the Lake, is one of my favourites of the many gorgeous design possibilities shown on this post at the blog. Scroll through the posts and see all the amazing things one can do with the Inklingo DWR collection.

But don’t just stop there. Have a good look through the All About Inklingo blog. It is full of creative inspiration, design layouts, EQ7 downloads using Inklingo shapes, and the list goes on.

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Baxter was posing on the couch on Saturday. I love the crossed paws. He has a little “milk moustache”, as we’ve been calling it. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, I think you’ll see it.

Two New Beauties

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New York Beauty blocks, that is. This is the one that was partially finished yesterday.

Because I couldn’t resist, another one was stitched. There are seven in total that are done now and it’s time to print some more. I’m going to keep printing the combo sheet with all the shapes so that I can mix and match to my heart’s content. I’ve not settled on a setting yet but that will come when I finish making the blocks, however many blocks that may turn out to be. I know I’ve said it before, but they are amazingly quick to stitch, particularly when taking advantage of the continuous stitching possibilities. This block truly has it all for me — curved piecing, sharp points, continuous stitching.

I’ve used the little Rowenta travel iron all week now and I’m really impressed with it. It gets very hot very quickly and presses blocks like the New York Beauty ones fabulously well. The pointed tip on the iron really helps when dealing with sharp points like those in these blocks.

Today I’m treating myself to a pedicure. It’s almost time for sandals so a pedicure seems in order. My plans for the weekend include printing more of the New York Beauty shapes and getting more of the 2″ Drunkard’s Path blocks ready to stitch. What are your plans?

Baxter was stretched out on the floor again. Mr. Q.O. thinks he looks rather elegant in this pose. I think he’s just waiting for one of us to toss a favourite toy for him to chase.

Making a New York Beauty Block

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While I’m definitely not going to drop the red and white quilt for a long period of time I made the decision, after reading some of yesterday’s comments and thinking about it, that my self-imposed pressure to finish it was becoming counter-productive. I do want to see it finished soon, but I think a week or two of not thinking about it and feeling guilty for working on something else is going to go a long way to making it an exciting project to work on again rather than one on which I feel pressured to work.

So with that freeing thought, I decided to work on a Tiffany Lamp block so I could add to this group shown earlier.

When I’m making a New York Beauty block I start by adding the arcs to the two corner pieces first. That’s quick and easy.

Then I make use of the continuous stitching possibilities and add all the small triangles to the diamonds. That takes two threads and is done in next to no time.

The next step will to be once again take advantage of the continuous stitching possibilities by adding the large triangles to the diamond/small triangle unit. Once all the large triangles are added, the centre part will be finished and all that will be left is joining that to the top and bottom arc units.

The photos were taken before the stitched pieces had been pressed as I don’t press this until I’ve got all the triangles added to the diamonds and then one final press after the arc units are joined to the diamond/triangles centre. It really is a fast block to stitch. And presses beautifully. And the finished block will be shown tomorrow.

Isn’t it funny how giving ourselves permission to move away from a project for a while is such a relief? It’s one thing when it’s a quilt that’s needed in time for a gift, but to impose that kind of pressure on myself to finish the red and white quilt with an arbitrary deadline was really silly as it took away from the fun I was having making it. I’m hoping this short break from working on it will put the fun back into it.

Baxter has no deadlines. He gets to do what he wants to do when and pretty much wherever he wants to. Including bath time.