WIP Wednesday

 It seems like I have been doing a lot of sewing in the past week. Here is what I have to show for it. 

I had a crazy idea for the Color Commotion quilt, the one with the colored center squares. Turns out it was a hideous idea! Even though this batik contained all the colors in the blocks, once I sewed it on, I absolutely hated it.

Even Mark, who always gives me very good feedback, said, "Are you sure you like that?" at which point I knew I was on the wrong track! So I got out my trusty Jack the Ripper and took that border off, and added a solid black border. Whew. SO much better.

I'm still calling it Color Commotion, but the black border has a calming effect that I really like. I briefly toyed with the idea of using the batik as the backing. After all, I have six yards of it. (Why?? Apparently I loved it so much when I purchased it 10+ years ago.) But no. Not even for the backing. I'm donating it. I'm sure there is someone out there who will make something beautiful out of it, but that someone is not me. Instead I'm going with a great print by Giucy Giuce. Understated, with just the right pops of color.

 Jettstream, for which I'm writing a pattern, will have no border.

I used three sample blocks for the backing, along with a lovely blue shot cotton, and it's so very soft.

I only made one block for my blocks of the week. It was a "catch up" week for the Riley Blake challenge so a new block won't drop until next Tuesday. I haven't received the block yet today for Moda Block Heads 4, but they released another bonus block last week, so I quickly made that one yesterday, Mix and Match designed by Michelle White for Moda Fabrics.

And finally, I completed another Double Ruby Ring, 7 out of 16.

My progress so far.

April  Monthly Report:

Used up/donated: 28 yards
Brought in: 4 yards
Net: -24 yards
Year to date: -112 yards

And that's it for this week.

WIP Wednesday, 4/20/22

 Progress was made this week on a couple of things.

I'm still caught up on both blocks of the week.

This is Block 13 of the Riley Blake Designs challenge 2022, Double Cross, designed by Sue Daley.

And Block 5 of the Block Heads 4 by Moda Fabrics, Two of Five, designed by Barbara Groves of Me & My Sister Designs. I always find this interesting as I'm sure it is just a new name for an old block. But it was nice to have a block that went together so quickly.

I worked for several days on Jettstream 2.0, the version with all-black center squares.

These were two of my favorite blocks out of the 20 new ones.

Then came the hardest part for me, even though I enjoy it--trying to place the blocks in such a way that the same colors aren't too close together. It's a toss up sometimes.

 You fix one problem but create three more problems. I'm willing to move things around once or twice, and then I just leave it alone.

I'm happy with this version. I have a wild and crazy idea for the first version.

Now to get busy and write up the pattern...

WIP Wednesday, 4/13/22

 It is spring break here in Fresno, which doesn't really make much of a difference in our daily schedule for Mark or me--although he has umpired six softball games in the last two days. But yesterday, since Christa and Aaron were both working, and the kids were out of school, they came over for a bit.

Charlotte and Gabe (and ultimately Aaron as well, I think) want to learn to crochet. So I set out to accomplish that. Gabe got as far as learning the foundation chain and then he moved on to something else.

Charlotte kept practicing the foundation chain, while Gabe sewed a Tubby Wubby, cute little felt creatures (and Levi was either playing a game or texting a friend).

Gabe finished Coney, the Sausage Dog (they all have really cute names).

Charlotte came back over last night and we learned the single crochet (confusingly called double crochet in the UK). At the same time, she introduced us to the movie, Sonic the Hedgehog, which Mark and I both really liked.

I didn't realize that Mark snapped a picture of us during the crochet lesson. Definitely not the most flattering picture of me, but I kinda like it anyway.

Charlotte also took home the other Tubby Wubby kit, the little Yeti, and sewed it together as well. Her hand stitching is looking good!

And what have I been working on this week? 

Well, I began yet another block of the week, this time called Moda Blockheads 4. This is totally out of character for me, to actually participate in a block of the week at the same time it's going on, and to be caught up!

This is my basic fabric pull, although I will probably add more as I go along. I have pulled from several fat quarter bundles, and I'm pretty sure one was named Peanut Butter and Jelly, so that is the name of the quilt going forward.

Four blocks and a bonus so far.

Block 1, Square Wheel, designed by Lynne Hagmeier of Kansas Troubles Quilters

Block 2, Cooee, designed by Jenelle Kent of Pieces to Treasure.

Block 3, Kouign Amann, designed by Laurie Simpson of Minick & Simpson.

Block Bonus 1, Roundabout, by Moda Fabrics.

Block 4, Spinner, designed by Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs.

In addition, I'm caught up with the Riley Blake Challenge 2022 blocks.

This is Argyle Square, designed by Melanie Collette of @hellomellydesigns

As I mentioned, this is totally out of character for me, but I actually attribute it to the fact that I'm really working on sewing down my stash this year, so I'm very motivated, coupled with the fact that after a very long time where I didn't feel like sewing anything, or even being in my sewing room, it feels good to be at the sewing machine again.

Charlotte showed me how to do a poll in Instagram Stories. Let me rephrase that: I told her what I wanted, and she did it for me. (Note: she said it was easy, but I don't believe her. I watched her and she did it so quickly that I doubt if I'll be able to do it again myself the next time...)

I have finished as many of the Mischief blocks using Oakshott cottons as I intended to make. So yesterday I trimmed  it (always kind of scary when you are working with EPP), and auditioned the first border, as I have always intended this to be a medallion-style quilt. My question was whether to use these Kaffe Fassett stripes all the way away, or to add some of the dotted batik that is in the center of each Mischief block.

More pollsters thought stripes all around was the way to go, but I'm still unsure of which direction it is headed. At this point, I'm pretty certain that the striped border needs to be about half as wide as it is currently. Having never done an Instagram poll before, it was kind of fun to be able to pull up the results and see who actually voted for each option. 

Finally, I'm back to sewing Jettstream blocks for the version with the black centers. I really think I'm going to like this version so much better than the first one. 

Whew. It was a productive week!

WIP Wednesday, 4/6/22

 Last week I was working on the Oakshott version of my Charm Parade pattern, named Jettstream. I finished it and it looks like this:

For various reasons, which I will talk about more at a later time, I need to remake it. It took awhile to solve the dilemma, but I finally decided that all the center squares need to be black, so I cut some squares of Kona black and put them on each quilt block to see how it looked. I actually like it much better. It seems a little less color chaotic. I'm now in the process of making the second version of the quilt with the black center squares.

I'm still up to date with the Riley Blake block challenge, having completed Block 11 yesterday. This is Pop Star, designed by Heather Peterson of @ankastreasures. I had the pleasure of meeting Heather several summers ago.

Since I'm using a fabric bundle by Crystal Manning named Rosa, I thought this block would work well to add the selvage in the center square, along with some color registration dots. Selvages are always a fun little surprise that make me so happy.

And that's it for this week...

Quilts by the Water: Aquatic/17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, California

 

The idea for Aquatic began at the aquatic center of a local high school. I noticed the tile by the outdoor showers when picking up grandkids from the pool.

While I don't consider myself a "blue" person when it comes to fabric, I had purchased a fat quarter bundle of Blue Carolina by Christopher Thompson for Riley Blake Designs. It had a beautiful range from small prints on a white background, through the mid range blues to deep navy.

This quilt came together quickly, as it was just a matter of cutting squares and then trying to mimic the tile placement from the aquatic center.

Darby Myers, who does nearly all of my quilting, did a wavy kind of pattern, just perfect.

A friend taught at the high school and during one of her lunch periods, she was able to get us into the aquatic center when it was not full of students so we could take photos of the quilt. Because it was high noon, we had to deal with bright light and shadows. 

Once we had decided on a second calendar, of course we had to make a trip to the coast. We chose 17 Mile Drive, one of our favorite spots in all of California.

I love how there is a range of lights to darks that mimics all the shades of blue in the sky and water. 

This quilt might have converted me into a "blue" lover. 

Quilt: Aquatic

Designed and Made by: Cindy Wiens

Quilted by: Darby Myers

Size: 55" x 65"