Blocks Almost Done

I've got just 8 Bird of Paradise blocks to finish on Alice's View, which I should be able to knock out during the next few days. Then I can start putting blocks together to determine the finished size of the center--a panel that will need borders to bring it to the right size.

My hope is to finish the quilt this weekend and deliver next week.

Bird of Paradise Block Photo

Here's a photo of one of the Bird of Paradise blocks. There are a few like this one, and there will be several other variations using different fabrics. I can't wait to see the rest.

Bird of Paradise Blocks

After some time off for vacation, I'm back to quilting again. I'm working on Bird of Paradise blocks for Alice's View. These blocks have pops of color to make them stand out from the otherwise purposely dull background. It will be a couple of days before I finish a set of blocks and get pictures up.

Shoo Fly Blocks Done

I finished the Shoo Fly blocks for Alice's View tonight. Next are the Bird of Paradise blocks. However, it may be a few days before I do more sewing. My sister Cass, who lives in another state, is coming this week for a visit and a short vacation together. I'll get back to the quilt when I can.

Design Adjustment

I've decided to make an adjustment to the design of Alice's View. The Island Path blocks were so slow and I was getting really discouraged, so I decided to change them out for Shoo Fly blocks, which are also based on 9-patch. The construction is much simpler and I'll be able to move along much faster now. I feel good about the decision, and the overall design looks nice on my EQ sketch.

Dancing with the Stars

I don't usually watch shows like Dancing with the Stars, but recently I learned that Mark Dacascos (Chairman of Iron Chef America) was one of the contestants. I'm an avid watcher of Food Network so I decided to tune in to the dance competition just to see him. Mark, a martial arts expert, did very well as I expected. He got good scores last night, and as I see it, his biggest male competitors are Donny Osmond and Aaron Carter.

I'll keep watching as long as Mark is still in the competition--which should be quite a while as far as I can tell.

Slow Progress

Work on the Island Path blocks for Alice's View is very slow. So far I've finished three blocks, and will complete the fourth and fifth tonight--just a small dent in the 17 Island Path blocks for the quilt. I hope the Bird of Paradise blocks are quicker to make.

First Island Path Block Done

Here's the first Island Path block for Alice's View. Lots more to go!

Sewing Alice's View

I started sewing on Alice's View tonight. I'm working on two Island Path blocks at the same time, using paperpiecing. I got through most of one block, and I should have both finished tomorrow night. I've got a long way to go, but the remaining Island Path blocks should go faster now. It was a little disappointing that I worked all evening and didn't finish even one complete block. But the first steps always take a while, ironing fabric, figuring out dimensions for strips, etc. The pace should pick up. I'd like to have all 34 quilt blocks pieced by the end of the weekend.

Fabrics Chosen for Alice's View

I will probably go into more detail on my process later, but for now here is my collection of fabric for Alice's View. The fabric is mostly stash plus a few new fat quarters. There are five piles, each containing an assortment of dark mediums and accents. Each pile will be used to create several blocks, along with the dark violet-blue in the top right corner which will be in all of the blocks. There were more than a dozen fabrics that didn't make the cut, but they could come into play if I run out of any of the first picks.

Tomorrow I'll assign each pile to a color--pink, orange, yellow, blue or green. Then it's a matter of following my Organized Chaos map (see previous post) to make a scrappy quilt. I should be sewing tomorrow night.

New Project

My next project is Alice's View, a play on the name of one of my co-workers. My idea was to begin with a picture window framing her favorite vacation spot. I had spies working to find out where that might be, and although she said she and her family never go anywhere, she reluctantly agreed that Hawaii would be "okay." Are you kidding? (smile)

With that clue in mind, I found the beautiful panel below, approximately 44" x 24". Although you wouldn't actually see the ocean life in the water through a picture window, it ties in to a recent trip that Alice and her family took to Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The panel will form the center of the quilt, surrounded by Island Path and Bird of Paradise quilt blocks. The quilt block color scheme will be rather analogous, creating a neutral sort of background, so as not to take away from the theme panel. I shopped my stash and found blues, turquoise, purple and greens that will work. I found one large piece of violet-blue solid in my stash which I'm hoping will be enough to fill the dark blues in all of the blocks. While I was out picking up some extra fat quarters for the project, I couldn't find more of the exact fabric, but I did find a decent substitute--mottled, not solid. I'll know later if I need it.

Layout for Alice's View (theme panel goes in the center)

Actual quilt will be scrappier.

Once again I'll be applying my Organized Chaos Grid and System to create controlled scrappiness. My plan is to use the same dark blue-violet in each block, adding two varying fabrics per block. Below is my map for the project.

Organized Chaos Map for Alice's View

Here's a funny little story. I found the theme panel on the internet at eQuilter.com. I needed it in a hurry and didn't want to take the time to look around locally to "maybe" find something I liked better. The fabric arrived in a couple of days, which was wonderful. Today I saw a bolt of the same fabric at my local fabric store! I laughed.

Strippie Quilt Top #2 Done

Strippie Quilt Top #2

Close-Up

Two of the fabrics in this strippie quilt are leftovers from my granddaughter's Poodle quilt. The black and white print is also from stash. The finished quilt will be given to a local children's shelter this Christmas.

Keeping Track of Ideas and Project Lineup

A member of Stashbuster asked the group: How do you keep your WHIMMs (Works Hidden in My Mind) in the forefront of your mind? Also, How do you incorporate all the different potential quilt projects into your lineup?

Usually I have a couple dozen WHIMMs floating around in my head, inspired by a myriad of things. I usually come up with my own designs, some of them being pretty well set early on, while others are just a wistful thought--perhaps a title (Alice's View, My Little Monkey), a piece of fabric (Paris Brown) or a color scheme from a piece of clothing (Cathy's Southwest).

Some WHIMMs live in my head for years, waiting their turns to land, like so many planes circling a runway at a busy airport. Others get attention right away, motivated by an absolute deadline such as a birthday or retirement--those need to land now! Usually I can see three or four quilts making their final approaches, all lined up, one after the other. The rest continue to circle the runway, waiting patiently--for now.

I'm in the WIPs and WHIMMs group at Stashbuster and I appreciate being able to keep a list of projects on the group's database. I can review the list and be reminded of my ideas. As I review, a quilt or two will begin to insist on being made soon. Okay, you're on the short list!

How do I keep track of the ideas? Some WHIMMs are sketched on paper and put in a folder for later. The folder is actually labeled Quilts Landing Soon. Eventually I draw nearly every quilt on EQ6, and some are created there long before I'm ready to select or cut any fabric. Northwinds has been in EQ6 for several years now. I have yet to cut any fabric. Perhaps this winter. Some ideas like Parts Only are completely in my head. I know what that quilt looks like in general and that's enough until its time comes.

Quilts in the Movies

A member of Stashbuster recently posted a message wondering if anyone had noticed quilts in the movies. I seemed to remember a quilt from You've Got Mail, where Kathleen (Meg Ryan) was sick in bed and Joe (Tom Hanks) came to visit her.

I did a little websurfing, but couldn't find the exact scene. However I did find a photo of Kathleen lying on her bed, with a quilt draped over the foot of the bed. More than likely it's the same quilt, a scrappy Pinwheel in cozy, comforting neutrals.

Here's the link to the photo, in case you're interested:
http://www.sachistorichouse.com/v/blog/ygm07.jpg

Stashbuster Members Meet

Yesterday I got to meet Diannia, a member of Stashbuster, face-to-face at my home. Diannia was selling some books through the Stashbuster Fling-It-All group and I was interested in a couple of the books. We live just a couple of hours apart, and Diannia and her husband happened to be coming to my town to visit family, so they delivered the books in person.

I got to see some of Diannia's beautiful quilt tops, and I showed her my stash,UFOs, PIGs, WIPs and messy studio. It was so nice to be able to see each other face-to-face. The visit was rather short, but we're talking about getting together again in the future. She comes this way now and then, and I go to her town once in a while, too.

So glad I got to meet you, Diannia, and looking forward to seeing you again!

Strippie Quilt Top #1 Done

Focus Fabric

Isn't it cute?

Quilt Top (from stash)

I finished the first Strippie quilt top last night. Originally I was going to add a border to make the quilt bigger, but I think it's an adequate size for a younger child, finishing about 40 x 52.

I've put together several combinations of fabric for more of these quick and colorful quilts. I may sew one more of these tops, then start a quilt due in October.

Strippie Quilt #1

Last night I started working on a quick charity quilt, based on the Quick Strippie quilt at MaryQuilts.com: http://www.maryquilts.com/quick-strippie/ . I'm using a cute cartoonish kitty fabric in medium purple and yellow-orange, adding strips of bright orange and dark purple--all from stash. I'm adding borders in the dark purple, as well. The strips are cut and tonight I should have the top sewn.

Between Quilts

Now that I'm finished with On the Ocean Blue, I don't know which quilt I'm supposed to work on next. I usually get prompted by the next quilt a week or two before finishing the current project. But now and then, I enter this limbo time.

I have several WHIMMs (Works Hidden in my Mind) to choose from, as well as a few WIPs (Works in Progress). But none of them are begging for my attention at the moment.

I may go ahead and do a quick charity quilt top just for something to do while I wait. A cute cartoonish cat fabric has been wanting to become a quilt for a while. I usually do Turning Twenty style quilts for charity, with lots of fat quarters. But I have yardage this time, and I'd like to make the most of it. Last night I looked through some quilting books, hoping for inspiration. Not there yet. I'll keep trying.

Meanwhile, I need to clean up the debris left over from the last quilt, make a new pair of pants, and catch up on some bookkeeping. Hopefully I'll be quilting by early next week.

Sailboat Quilt Finished

I finished the sailboat quilt today. There's a twist: The quilt is not for Joann. It is for my daughter-in-law's mother Nell, and I've been making it for her all along for her birthday this month. Joann Sets Sail was a cover name, in case Nell happened to look at my blog. There really is a JoAnn; she is my co-worker and my daughter-in-law Laurie knows her. JoAnn and Laurie both knew about the quilt and its true recipient. Aren't we sneaky?

The quilt has been re-named On the Ocean Blue. I gave the quilt to Nell today at a family get-together celebrating several August birthdays. Nell was very surprised and happy with her quilt. Enjoy the quilt, Nell! And enjoy reading about it on the blog!

On the Ocean Blue (formerly known as Joann Sets Sail)

Quilt back. Sailboat theme fabric used as backing for the outer border.

Another WIP done!

Joann Sets Sail Quilted

Here is Joann Sets Sail quilted and in one large piece.

For details, please read on.

Right half of quilt top, batting and backing.

I used 505 spray to hold the layers together.

I did not spray the center seam area (left side of picture), to allow me to open the layers easily later. Safety pins are holding the center seam area together.

Batting and backing trimmed, leaving an inch or two of excess on the edges.

Quarter inch masking tape marks the boundary for the quilting.
I'll leave the quilt's center area (left of the tape) unquilted for now.
The crooked boundary is to fool the eye later, hopefully blending

the left, middle and right quilted areas together into one big whole.

Freemotion quilted with loop de loops and sailboats

Close-up of the back. Can you see the sailboats?

Next fold back the right side's batting over the seam, keeping the right side's backing out of the way. There will be quite an overlap here. Carefully trim the batting even with the left side's backing so the edges just meet. Be delicate with the scissors, so the quilt top or backing doesn't get cut.

I just discovered this tape last week. It's WashAway Wonder Tape by Dritz.

One quarter inch wide, double sided, water-soluble and won't gum up needles.

I'm giving it a try for the next step instead of using pins.

Place the Wonder Tape at the edge of the left side's quilt back.

Bring the right side's backing toward the tape, turn the backing under a quarter of an inch, and lay it on the tape. No pins! Take your time with this to make it smooth.


Here is the front of the quilt, all ready for the final quilting. I rolled up the right side of the quilt as much as possible, and pinned the roll. We'll see how that works out.

Here's what the center looks like after the quilting. I'm not entirely happy with the result. There are gaps where the quilting did not cross the center seam. The seam is holding now, but once the quilt is washed, the tape will dissolve and the seam will gape open, exposing the interior of the quilt, fraying, etc. My solution: I did a wide curvy zigzag over the seam. The seam is stable now, and won't fall apart after washing. I can barely see it on the back
or on the front, and I know it's there!


The curvy zigzag is barely visible...except on the blue border. Oh, well...

Close-up of the center area

Center area back

And once more, Joann Sets Sail--quilted

Next, I'll attach wide borders in burgundy, apply binding, and it'll be done!

Fold one side (I chose the left) of batting/backing over the just-sewn seam. The edge of the batting/backing should overlap or cover the seam.

Carefully press the seam open. Turn the quilt over and press the right side,
as well, to make sure the seam is flat.


Next, join the halves together at the quilt's center seams. Trim the batting and backing even with the quilt top's center edges. Fold back the batting and backing away from the quilt top, using safety pins to keep in place. Sew the quilt top halves together
(no batting or backing in the seam, please).


Close-up of the back side of left half
Back of the quilt. Note the unquilted area on the left, to be addressed later.

Left half quilted previously