Stormy Seas

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Working with the batiks proved to be irresistible so shapes were printed on two of the fabrics.   I actually have the individual units for a block stitched but not yet pressed or stitched together into the block.

This little pile of pieces is all I need for the next block.

The Stormy Seas quilt will be a long-term project as I plan to make it large enough for a king-size bed  and will be using 9″ blocks.  There’s a lot of stitching ahead of me on this one, but I have no deadline so can just enjoy the making of the blocks over the next year or so.

One of the other projects that is likely to get started on sometime in the next month or so will be made with these charm packs and the one larger piece of fabric from that line.  I have  a few ideas in mind for this one.

It has been amazingly mild this week.  The mornings are a bit chilly, but as the day wears on we are hitting temperatures in the 50s.  The other day, Mr. Q.O. got this photo of one of the trees at the front of our building.

Each week new floral arrangements are placed on pedestals in the lobby.

Smudge and Lester look so sweet in this shot — but don’t be fooled.  Lester was wanting to curl up in the pink chair and was hoping Smudge would move.

Project Preparation

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When the Rouenneries line of fabrics came out, I fell in love with it and bought some charm packs and a bit of yardage.  Initially, I printed the shapes for Drunkard’s Path units on 2 of the charm packs.  At that point, I wasn’t sure how big I wanted to make this but now, as I look at the blocks, I’ve decided to print the remaining charms and continue making these blocks.

The deciding factor was that I’d rather have a quilt in a size that’s useful than a couple of wall hangings.  So the printing of the remaining charms is on my list for this week’s preparation day, whatever day that ends up being.   It also is the first of a few charm pack projects I want to work on over the next few months.  I have a number of charm packs and have set a goal for myself of coming up with some design ideas.

I rather like this routine I seem to be falling into of setting aside one or two days a week to plan and print shapes for a variety of projects.  On that note, after I decided to use additional fabrics for the Storm at Sea blocks and figured out the layout I’ll use, I had my new cheat sheet filled out in about 5 minutes.  Now all that’s required is cutting the fabric to the appropriate size and printing.  Another on the list for this week’s preparation day or days.

On Friday evening, we decided to go over to the local deli for dinner.  As we walked down to the sidewalk, we saw flashing lights, ambulances, fire trucks and then we saw a car that was literally hanging from the side of another car at a 45-degree angle.  For a fleeting second, I thought perhaps there was filming going on in the area, which isn’t unusual, as it was such a bizarre sight.  It was difficult to believe what we were seeing was real.  After we came back from the deli, the cars had been separated and a definite crease could be seen all up the side of the one car where the other had seemingly driven up it.  It appeared as though a driver exiting from an underground parking garage and making a right turn was struck by the second car’s right front wheel on its left rear wheel and the momentum caused the second car to ride up on top of the first.   I can’t imagine how frightening that must have been for the driver of the first vehicle.  The good part to the story is that no one was injured, but I can only imagine the damage that was done to both cars.   Mr. Q.O. took a photo with his phone, but we haven’t quite figured out how to get the picture from the phone to his computer.

Neither Smudge or Lester like being in cars.  Smudge would rather curl up and have a nap with some soft friends.

While Lester likes to watch out the window from the safety of his own home.

Stormy Seas

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Back in March, when the Inklingo Storm at Sea collections came out, I made this block and had a plan for a quilt using these 4 fabrics.

Why I’ll never know, but I didn’t sketch out my idea or make any notes about it. But, wanting to get the fabric cut and ready to print on the weekend, I sat down Saturday afternoon and tried to remember what I had in mind when I purchased the initial 4 fabrics.  I spent ages trying to sort out just what that plan was but finally realized that, whatever that initial idea was, it’s not going to happen.  Whatever it was I had in mind, I certainly didn’t buy enough of 2 of the batiks.  So I spent hours working on two different ideas, sorting out just how much of each fabric was needed for both those design ideas.  By Saturday evening, it was down to the point of calculating if I had enough square yardage of each fabric — and it went on and on. So instead of playing with needle and thread, I was working out fabric requirements with the calculator.

The pieces of paper headed “Monkey’s Inklingo Cheat Sheet” are invaluable when working out a quilt design and come with each collection as well as are available to download at the Inklingo Web site.  Once I get my design sorted out, I can make a note of exactly what size of fabric/freezer paper I need for each shape/each colour and am off to the races.  I use the cheat sheets all the time and keep them filed in an accordion folder with my freezer paper.  The four cheat sheets seen here, however, are destined for the recycling bin as neither idea is going to fly.

When I finally realized that neither idea would work with the initial 4 fabrics alone, I gave up for the evening.  On Sunday afternoon, I started going through batiks and pulled out some other blues and a green.  Now I know exactly what I’m going to do with these 11 fabrics and, with any luck, will have all the shapes I need for the stormy seas blocks printed sometime this week.  The only decision left to be made now is just how large I want to make the Storm at Sea quilt.  Once that’s decided I can have my cheat sheet filled out in no time.

We were about to go out somewhere on the weekend, and I had left my purse on the couch for a minute.  I think this look says Smudge was hoping we were off to the pet store for kitty food and toys.

Lester was having some quiet time on the windowsill, although there isn’t much activity now for him to watch other than flying leaves.

Dots of Colour

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The baby quilt I was working on back in August and early September will finally be basted, hopefully this weekend.  I was lucky enough to win a gift certificate, so used it to buy the fabric above for the backing.  I couldn’t find an appropriate flannel but when I saw this fabric I couldn’t resist it.  Perfect for a baby quilt, I think.

These 3 fabrics were also purchased with the gift certificate — what a treat!  Initially I had thought the stripe on the far left would be perfect for the binding, but it’s too pink.  I love using stripes to get different effects in pieced blocks and for bias binding, so this is a welcome addition to the stash even if it’s not used for this particular quilt.  Lately I find I want to use a bit of black in almost every quilt I make, which explains the middle choice.  The one on the far right intrigues me.  I think I’ll have fun with it and already have an idea.

Thursday night I got out the completed blocks for the Harpsichord Quilt.  I have a long way to go, but was pleasantly surprised when I realized I already had 2 of the vertical rows complete.  The centres of the last three pink and cream big stars are done.  If the weekend weather is as rainy and cold as they’re predicting, I think I may have at least 2 of the stars completed by Monday.  Now I’m seeing the benefit of a large block as I may well have this top together by month end.

Smudge was chasing leaves on the windowsill for a while on Thursday morning and then peeked out from under the lace.  We couldn’t resist this photo, even though it is a bit blurry.

Later on, Lester was on the windowsill.

And Then There Were Three

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Blocks stitched and shapes printed for three projects on Wednesday, that is.  Project one, the big pink and cream stars.  One more finished so there are now three completed.  Tuesday night I started thinking about different settings for the big pink stars and have decided on one that will include 6 of the large stars and some other elements.  Three more big stars to go and then the setting and it will be done.

The pieces printed and cut out for the remaining three big pink and cream stars.

Project two, two of the Pickled Ladies done.

Lots of clamshells printed and cut out for project two.

Lots of the shapes needed for the arcs also printed and ready to cut.

Project three, the Harpsichord Quilt.  One new block pieced and pressed.  Smudge was determined to be part of this photo — you can see his shadow.

Lots and lots of black and gold octagons and the little coloured squares printed for project three.

While my printer wasn’t going quite as quickly as in the video I showed yesterday, it was humming along for about half an hour last night.  I like working on projects in groups of three.  Getting the freezer paper sorted out made it all so easy.  In next to no time I had the fabric pressed to freezer paper and printed for all three of  this Wednesday’s projects.  Perhaps if I keep doing this for the next couple of weeks I can have all the pieces printed and ready to stitch for another 3 or 6 projects.  What other ones?  The Summer Picnic Dish, also known as pickle dish.  The Rouenneries Drunkard’s Path — I have another 3 sets of charms to print for that one.  The Storm at Sea is definitely on the list for next week.

For the most part, the cats had no interest in what was going on.  Lester had a nap.

Smudge was looking a bit bored, I think.

What Is Inklingo?

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Watching this little video made me laugh out loud — it’s the perfect antidote for a grey November day and maybe it helps explain the stacks of freezer paper I have cut in so many sizes.  Do turn your speakers on as the music absolutely makes the video a laugh-out-loud delight!

Watch at the end — there’s a shot of a beautiful feathered star, which makes me think new collections with the shapes for the feathered star block are coming. That has me redesigning the setting for the pink and cream quilt, incorporating more borders and fewer blocks, as a feathered star is definitely on my list of quilts to make and I know I won’t be able to resist starting a feathered star quilt — maybe even in red and white!

The Making of Big Pink Stars

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Two of the nine pink and cream stars are made and I’ve sorted out a stitching sequence that makes them very quick to construct.  The first part is to make the centre 8-pointed star.

Once that’s done then I stitch all the pieces that need to be stitched into pairs or triplets together.  It’s then just a matter of adding rounds to the centre — a great opportunity for lots of continuous stitching which makes the star go together quite quickly.

This picture shows the centre after I added the first round of cream pairs and started adding the next round of pink diamonds.  Everything is ready now to just keep stitching until the star is done.  I’ve found that pressing after I get the third round of pink diamonds added is the most efficient.  All that’s left after that is to add the final star points made up of the 2 cream and 1 pink diamonds, a final press and the star is finished.  This will actually be a quick quilt to make as the setting is planned and won’t require a lot more work.  As of now, I plan to use the sewing machine to join the blocks and sashing.

Monday night some time was spent sorting the stack of freezer paper sheets that were lying about that I use to print shapes on my fabric.  As I use the custom sizes suggested in the various Inklingo collections, I have quite the variety of sizes of freezer paper cut  ranging from 3.25″ x 5″ all the way up to 8.5″ x 14″ and, as freezer paper can be reused many times, I keep it.  Over the past few months the stack of freezer paper sheets on my printer was becoming unruly, to say the least.  So a few hours of organization, and I can now see at a glance if I have the size I need and find it easily.  What started me organizing it was sorting out what I need to print for a couple of the projects I’m working on. After a few frustrating minutes of trying to figure out if I had the right sizes of freezer paper already cut, I realized it was time to just sit down and organize it all. Now the trick will be to keep it organized and file the sheets away after I’ve used them.

The gardeners have been and have taken out the flowers and cut down the hosta on the roof garden.  The trees have lost most of their leaves now and it looks very stark.  At least we haven’t yet had snow although there apparently was some snow to the north of us on the weekend.  The cats are finding cozy spots to curl up and nap.  First Lester.

Smudge:

October Clamshell Report

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Time for another Clamshell Club report.  The months seem to be flying past!!  This month I made some progress on two clamshell projects — Clam Balloons and the Pickled Ladies.

In October I was actually able to tear myself away from the Pickled Ladies and add another clamshell diamond block, so now there are three.  Two of the three are quite similar in that there’s a lot of the same fabrics in them, but once there are more blocks done and they are separated from one another I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.   Mr. Q.O. says they remind him of hot air balloons which led me to a name for the quilt, Clam Balloons.

I have been so focussed on stitching the Pickled Ladies that I forgot just how much fun it is to put the clamshell diamonds together, and how quick.  Two evenings of stitching and the diamond was done.  Getting enough of the clamshell diamonds done to be able to sort out placement is a goal I have now for the end of the year. Then I can start adding the black sashing where necessary as well as the setting pieces and hopefully have this done rather quickly.  The Clam Balloons won’t be a large bed quilt, but rather a good-sized lap quilt.  I think it will be a great one to have in the winter as all those lovely bright colours that will make me think of summer.

There are now 43 Pickled Ladies, with another 35 or 40 waiting to be stitched. Some exotic Asian florals have been added to the mix.  There are lots of little pieces waiting for me to stitch to make the arcs, and I plan to work on those this evening. This will be a long-term project as I’m pretty sure that I will keep going on this until it’s a bed-sized quilt.

One thing I really do need to do is sit down and figure out how many I’ll need for a bed-sized quilt and make some window templates for the setting pieces that I’ll use to square it off.  Having the window templates will mean that I can print and cut those setting pieces as I’m printing and cutting the clamshells.  And I know myself — if I leave that all to the end, I’ll keep putting it off and putting it off but if I have all the pieces ready to stitch, then the quilt top will get finished as soon as there are enough of the Pickled Ladies.  I have a feeling I have less than a quarter of the blocks I’ll need for the quilt, so I’d best get back to work on them!

The cats have had a very relaxing weekend.  Smudge:

Lester:

Bloggers’ Quilt Festival, Fall 2010

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Amy's Creative Side - Blogger's Quilt Festival

Once again, Amy is hosting the Bloggers’ Quilt Festival.  If you click on the button above, you’ll find thumbnail photos from the participants and, if it’s anything like the spring festival, you’re in for a real treat with lots and lots of lovely quilts to see and stories about their making to read.  All this in the comfort of your own home!

I debated showcasing Chintz Circles again so soon, but couldn’t resist it as my entry in the Quilt Festival.  When the Inklingo Orange Peel Deluxe collection was released, I had played with the various designs and had a lot of fun doing so.  One of my favourite variations was the Alabama Beauty block and, while I had only made one block of it, it stayed in my mind.  Eventually, the lure of that block, particularly with my aunt’s 90th birthday coming up, and making an Alabama Beauty quilt with shabby chic fabrics was irresistible.

My aunt’s favourite colours are pinks and greens and I remember the chintz that was in her home when I was growing up so, as soon as I started making the quilt, I realized Chintz Circles was the perfect name for it.

Karen Dianne was making Alabama Beauty blocks at the same time and had shown some of hers on a design wall.  As soon as I saw that secondary circular pattern emerge, I knew exactly how I wanted to make my aunt’s quilt and I was off to the races.  By mid-April I had hand pieced 6 blocks and saw the first two circles appear.

Choosing the fabrics for each row became more complex as I had to be absolutely perfect with the placement of the fabrics that would emerge as circles.  I developed a routine for doing that as I finished a row and would sort the fabrics for each block into separate envelopes.  During the piecing, I was often thinking about the rousing games of double solitaire I used to play with my aunt at the cottage during the evenings.  We would be laughing so loudly that my mother, who was invariably trying to listen to a baseball game on the radio, would leave and  go listen to the baseball game out on the porch.  I learned then that long nails, while looking good, were also a great deterrent to an opponent in double solitaire as I developed strategies to avoid getting stabbed by my aunt’s perfectly manicured nails as we competed to be the first to put a card up.

By April 21st, a total of 16 blocks had been pieced together and joined and 9 complete circles had appeared.

As the quilt top grew, it took longer to add more rows and see more circles appear but by May 18, there were 25 blocks joined and 16 circles had made their appearance.

I was then in the home stretch and on June 21 a total of 42 blocks were joined, 30 circles had appeared and the hand piecing of the quilt top was complete.

The backing fabric was found, the quilt was basted and the machine quilting began. On July 20, the quilting was finished, the binding tacked down and this photo was taken very shortly after the last stitch was taken to attach the label.

August 1 was my aunt’s 90th birthday.  That morning I had washed and dried the quilt and it had that wonderful crinkly look that quilts get after being washed and dried.  Then came the best part — when she opened the gift and saw her quilt.  She still has those beautifully manicured nails I so remember from our double solitaire games!

Everything about making Chintz Circles was an absolute joy.  Choosing the fabrics, making the blocks and joining them together, quilting it, even working the thread ends in was fun as I often found myself reflecting on some of the marvelous memories I have of the time I have spent with my aunt over the years.   I still find that I quietly laugh to myself when I remember those double solitaire games and the fun we had.

There is no doubt I would have not made this quilt were it not for Linda Franz‘ brilliant invention of Inklingo. Having perfect shapes with stitching lines and matching points turned what may look like a difficult block to piece into something that was an absolute joy to stitch and blocks that went together perfectly every time.