The Case of the Quilt Quandary

Have you been watching a lot of TV since the shelter in place began in mid March? Mark and I no longer have to get up early, and we often watch old episodes of Perry Mason while we eat breakfast.

After watching several episodes, I noticed something interesting. Probably at least 75 percent of the episode titles uesd alliteration: The Case of the Final Fade-Out,  The Case of the Avenging Angel, The Case of the Scarlet Scandal, The Case of the Twice-Told Twist. Being a bit of a word nerd, that always makes me happy.

What does that have to do with this post? For awhile, we had a bit of a mystery on our hands.

This is my quilt, Spool Play.

Back in late 2018 or early 2019, I was approached by a quilt guild in southern California to present a trunk show and also teach a class in sewing with selvages, scheduled on April 27-28, 2020. I signed the contract and then there was really nothing to do until the beginning of this year. I was supposed to mail Spool Play, the quilt I was using for the class, to the program chairman three months prior to the class date. So toward the end of January, I was ready to mail it out. I could not find it anywhere. Mark and I searched high and low, in every cabinet, closet, and drawer. We pulled out every quilt in the house. We counted (which is how we found out we had 99 quilts made by me, and about 7 others made by friends or family). We refolded and neatly stacked every quilt. Spool Play was nowhere to be found.

I kind of freaked out. Mark asked me if maybe I had already mailed it to the program chair? Hmmm.  Wouldn't I remember if I had mailed a quilt?? He reminded me that we both have CRS--can't remember "stuff" (haha--his politically correct version).

I didn't want to actually contact the program chair and said, "Hey, I can't find my quilt. You don't by any chance have it, do you?" I mean, how ditsy would I sound??

Finally, I decided I had no choice but to call and ask. Why, yes, indeed, she had had it since December!!

Mark and I finally decided that in the midst of the holidays we had packed it up and he had taken it to the post office, which is why I didn't remember mailing it. That is the only thing that makes sense.

And then the pandemic hit. My trunk show and class were canceled. The program chair said she would return the quilt as soon as she could make it to the post office, but it might be a couple of weeks. Totally understandable.

Last week, I remembered that I still didn't have my quilt back, and I needed it because I'm possibly developing an online presentation for sewing with selvages. So I really needed that quilt!

I hesitated to contact her but I really wanted it back. So I emailed her. She called me soon after reading the email and was SO apologetic. She thought she had mailed the quilt back to me weeks ago! She put it in the mail that morning, and it showed up on my doorstep three days later.

It's kind of funny (now that it's safely back home) that I forgot mailing it in the first place, and she forgot that she had not mailed it back.

I'm just happy it's home. Mystery solved. Perry would be proud.

Night Blossoms

I've been fortunate to be friends with Amy Friend since the early days of blogging, so when she asked if I would be interested in participating in the sew-along for her new book, Petal + Stem, I said yes right away.

The quilt she chose for the sew-along is Whimsy Garden, a row quilt.  The thing I enjoy most about the book is that it can be a "choose your own adventure," because the blocks are easy to mix and match.

I have long been intrigued by "night gardens," gardens planted with flowers that bloom at night. A lot of the flowers chosen for night gardens are white, but not all. These were some of my inspiration photos.

For the background, I chose Blossom by Christopher Thompson (the tattooed quilter), navy with white, as it mimics the look of a star-filled night.

While I am using solid fabric for nearly all of the flowers and foliage, I decided to go with a little "glitz" for the white flowers, as if the moonlight was particularly shining on them. "Fairy Frost" in white by Michael Miller and another soft very subtle white pearly metallic-on-white fabric make the flowers look moon-struck.

While I only "signed up" to do Row 2, I'm having so much fun that I intend on completing the whole quilt. There will be some more white flowers, and the rest will be very pale solids in yellow, peach and lavendar.

Here is my one hint for foundation paper piecing: I always make an extra copy of each block, and I cut apart all the sections of the block (right on the line--no need to add seam allowance). If I encounter an odd shape--you know the ones: usually involving an odd angle or weird triangle--I place the section in question right side up (i.e., the side you would be sewing on) on the WRONG side of the fabric, and cut a generous 1/2" around it. That way, when I sew, I end up with the fabric going in the proper direction. There is a more detailed explanation here, with photos. It not only conserves fabric--I wasted SO much fabric before I started doing this--it will save a lot of frustration.

Here is Row 2 (individual rows tend to be tricky to photograph...)

Then, since we needed to buy some tomato plants, I took it to the local nursery for some beauty shots.

Amy designs very beautiful quilts and this is no exception. I'll be deviating somewhat from the pattern for the remaining three rows--exactly as the book is designed.

If you are sewing along, I'm sure you are enjoying this quilt. If not, you should definitely join. Did I mention that there are prizes?!

Happy gardening. :)

Live a Colorful Life Quilt Diary

Today I began something I have wanted to do for several years--documenting the quilts I have made since I began quilting in 1994. If you have quilted for awhile, do you ever wonder how many quilts you have actually made? Me too. Sometimes it's hard to believe I've been at it for 25 years! Some years have been more prolific than others.  I know there have been some that I never mentioned here. And while many of them live somewhere else, there are piles here at home.

Photos of early quilts will be pictures of pictures, in other words, poor quality and awkward styling--taken long before I discovered another passion--quilt photography.

Since I want all the information to be chronological, cohesive and easy to access, I started another blog: Live a Colorful Life Quilt Diary: laclquiltdiary.blogspot.com.

And so it begins...

Project Bag

Aaron is enjoying his new skill with knitting.

From experience, I know that you need a project bag, for many reasons--to keep it safe from children and pets, and also to make it more portable in case you want to knit in a different location (hopefully there are some Starbucks knitting sessions in our future).

I have made many lined drawstring bags, designed by Jeni Baker. She just came out with an expansion pack, full of variations.

I chose to make the "project" size (from the basic pattern), which is a really versatile size, and then chose the "bottom accent" instructions from the expansion set.  When going through some of my stash the other day, I came across a linen panel with four patterns, including an eye chart.  Since Aaron is an optometrist, it was the perfect choice

 The ampersand fabric was a good choice for the other side of the bag.

 For the bottom, I used black cork fabric. If you haven't sewn with cork fabric yet, don't be frightened away from it--I used my regular needle and polyester thread. Easy-peasy.

I also had just the right amount of this fabric with glasses to use for the lining, and it was the perfect color too!

I had already purchased several of these cute labels from Kylie and the Machine (she has so many cute labels to choose from). This is one of my favorites.

Leather cord for the drawstring and some wooden beads for the ends.

This pattern comes highly recommended. I hope you'll give it a try.

Pattern: Lined Drawstring Bag and Lined Drawsing Bag Expansion Pattrern by Jeni Baker (jenibakerpatterns.com)
Finished Size: 13" x 8" x 4"
Labels: Kylie and the Machine (kylieandthemachine.shop)
Cork Fabric: sewsweetness.com