WIP Wednesday, 5/25/22

 Today my mother would have been 94. Hard to believe she's been gone nearly four years.

The other day I got a new "friend" chair for my sewing room. It was kismet, I think. I had been feeling bored with all the things at home and my entire wardrobe--probably fallout from nearly 2 1/2 years of the same old thing, day after day.

Anyway, on the way home from an errand, a neighbor was having a garage sale and I spied this chair. I love this color. Case in point: the Making Mischief quilt on the wall. So I stopped, asked her how much she was asking, didn't even try to bargain her down and paid her on the spot. I told her we lived one street over and gave her the approximate location. She then said, "Oh, are you the house with quilts on the wall?" (you can see my design wall from the street because my sewing room used to be our unused living room). Yes, I said. 

She then said, "You know that old pickup truck across the street from  your house?" Of course. It's in my quilt calendar from last year. "Well, it belongs to my uncle!" Like I said. Kismet.

My mother might have even liked the color this chair. She loved fall colors. And she like hearing me talk about quilting. I wish she could come spend an hour visiting with me.

So. The Making Mischief quilt (it now has an official name...)

The square-in-a-square border is on. And I love it! 

Even the trimmings are pretty.

Where to next? 

That limey green makes my heart sing. I would have to order from Oakshott in the UK and I would be willing to do that. But I have decided that green isn't working for me. Purple for sure. And that Kaffe Fassett stripe on the bottom will make an appearance at some point. I'm just not sure when or where. But I got out my sketch pad and I think I have a plan. I'm going to keep it to myself for now. I'll either sink or swim with this quilt. It's really making me work. 

The latest Moda Blockheads 4 block is number 10, "Autumnal" designed by Chelsi Stratton. It was nice to have a block that went together so quickly.

Sunday I had a virtual sewing session with Stephanie @stephiepeterson and Pam @purduepam. We are making the Hygge sampler by Annemarie Chany. We usually manage to schedule a sewing session every other month, and then work on two blocks. 

This month we made the teabags.

And five tree blocks (I realize there are only four blocks here but I wanted a square photograph, and the fifth is pretty much just the same).

It was so much fun to chat and sew.

Yesterday, Mary @maryonlakepulaski and I worked on our perfect pineapple blocks. She is WAY ahead of me but I'll keep working to catch up. Virtual sewing is the perfect thing for these blocks as they are so repetitive.

Thanks, friends. Sewing with you was just what I needed!

I just finished binding my two Oakshott quilts today and found the perfect presser foot for machine binding. I'll take a picture and post it next week. Until then....

May Monthly Report:

Used up/donated: 6 5/8 yards
Brought in: 11 3/8 yards
Net: + 4 3/4 yards
Year to date: -107.25 yards

WIP Wednesday, 5/18/22

 Last weekend I was at a cabin just outside of Yosemite for several glorious days of sewing (more pictures tomorrow). While my friends finished several quilt tops, I worked only on my foundation paper pieced pineapple blocks. They are time consuming. The good thing is that you kind of get in a rhythm, and what monotony there was was alleviated by chatting with friends as I sewed.  I completed six! I know that doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment, only six blocks, but I was thrilled. I decided that I am going to try to not repeat any of the prints. I did the math. The center red and white polka dot will be the same in each block, as will the cream and black dot. Each block requires 32 different prints and I plan to make 30 blocks. So. A total of 960 different prints. I don't think Mark will doubt for a minute that I can pull this feat off! My friends added a couple of their scraps and those are fun additions.

This was the last week of the Riley Blake Designs quiltalong. Block 16 is A Single Blossom, designed by Gerri Robinson of @plantedseeddesigns.

Setting instructions will be given next week, and the information says that the setting will require 17 blocks, and to either repeat one of this year's blocks or choose a block from a previous year. I did not want to repeat any of the blocks so I browsed through the quiltalong from last year and chose Summer Picnic by Christopher Thompson of @the_tattooed_quilter. Because I had made half of the blocks in the blue colorway and half in pink, I tried to combine the colors in this block.

I'm excited to see the plan for these blocks next week.

I just finished getting caught up on Moda Blockheads 4 with Block 9, Cross My Mind, by Brigitte Heitland for Zen Chic.

I noticed that there was another bonus block, the fourth one, called Zipper.

I made a few more square in a square blocks for the medallion so hopefully by next week I will have that border completed and sewn on. 

It's been a good week.

WIP Wednesday, 5/11/22

 Let's begin with Moda Blockheads 4. I completed three blocks since last week.

Block 7 is Game Board by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings. I really like the pale pink print with the writing on it: I must have flower always & always, by Claude Monet.

Next is Block 8, Wild Geese by Kate Spain.

And finally, Bonus Block 3, Star Turn, another block by Lisa Bongean.

I'm all caught up with the Riley Blake Block Challenge 2022.

Mosaic Butterly, designed by Jennifer Long of @beesewinspired,  required some concentration to get the fabrics in the right places, as none of the four quadrants was the same.

Block 15 is Tilt-a-Whirl by Cindy Cloward. One more block to go and then I hope they release the setting options!

I've really enjoyed using the beautiful Rosa line of fabric by Crystal Manning, and it has been fun alternating between the pink and blue colorways each week.

Auditioning some ideas for the future.

Today I picked up two quilts from the fabulous Darby. 

They are basically the same. But different. Ha...

In Color Commotion, the center squares are all different colors, and there is also a black border. Darby used variegated thread for the quilting.

Jettstream (named after an Oakshott fat eighth bundle, Jett) has black center squares and no border. It will ultimately be offered as a kit through Oakshott, which I'm very excited about. 

Michelle Bartholomew has been helping me with the pattern and she is amazing. 

And that's it for this week in May. Tomorrow I will be going up to my friend's cabin outside Yosemite for our annual quilting retreat. Spending time with friends in a beautiful location sounds like just what we all need. I'm not putting too much pressure on myself to accomplish lots and lots of sewing. But hopefully there will be something interesting to show next week.

WIP Wednesday, 5/4/22

 Ah yes, May the Fourth be with you.

It's been kind of a slow week in the sewing room.  

The Riley Blake Block Challenge has been taking the last week of the month off, allowing for a "catch up" week, so there was no block to sew from them.

I did make Moda Blockheads 4, Block 6, Spinning into Spring, designed by Linzee Kull McCray of @seamswrite, and I really like this block.

And even though I'm doing my best to sew mostly from my stash, I just love that background with the dots in diamond shapes so much that I tracked it down. It's by Maureen Cracknell and I located a yard on Etsy and it arrived today. I'm very happy about that. 

The rest of my sewing time was spent working on the Mischief quilt top, which I'm trying to turn into a medallion quilt. I had this imaginary conversation in my head with the quilt the other day after everything I tried just wasn't working.

Quilt: Hey, remember that 4" striped border you added to me? Yeah, way too wide...

Me:  Sure. No problem. How about if I trim down to an inch? And add some pretty squares all around for the next border?

Quilt (clutches throat): Help. Now I can't breathe!

Me: Geez. What a drama queen. How about a nice skinny solid border first and then a fun checkerboard? Do you like the pretty light purple?

Quilt: Meh. Too wishy washy.

Me: Okay...how about black? (on the right side)

Quilt: Too harsh.

Me: Dark green? (on the left, although it photographed like it's black)

Quilt: Yes, I believe I like that one.

Me: Any other suggestions? I'm tired of sewing and unsewing. You're so opinionated.

Quilt: Maybe sketch things out first? I hate having to correct you. But you'll be happy you listened to me.

I did a little sketching. I direct messaged Erin Burke Harris, who wrote a book called Make Your Own Medallion. I called my friend, Elizabeth (@opquilt), who always has good suggestions. Interestingly, both Erin and Elizabeth mentioned a suggestion by my friend, Anne @springleafstudios, who thought maybe I should delete the striped border and add a thin border of the yellow to give the blocks a little breathing room. 

So that's what I did. 

Then Elizabeth suggested adding a border of 3" square in a square blocks all the way around. She also thought I should consider using the same yellow as a background, which is a bolder choice than I would have considered on my own. But I think I really like it. At least if I make the required 44 blocks to go all the way around, using my precious Oakshott scraps, there is no way I'm going to say, "Meh...I don't think this is right either." At least, I hope I won't say that...

And for now, that Quilt better keep its sassy little mouth shut.

Quilts by the Water: Flower Bubbles/Salem, Oregon

 I don't actually have very many photos of Flower Bubbles, nor does it have an interesting back story. A few years ago, I purchased a bundle of bark cloth called Outback Wife by Gertrude Made. I purchased both the floral and solid bundles. I had previously made a quilt from square blocks with curved pieces added randomly and I really liked it, so I tried that again with this quilt. 

My plan was then to hand quilt around the circles and add some "shadow" circles as well. 

I'm still not sure what happened. I thought it was basted well, but after all the hand quilting, there were ripples everywhere.

 So I took all the hand stitching out and sent it to Darby for an edge-to-edge design. 

I have thought of still adding some hand stitching, but in retrospect, I consider it finished. 

We took it along last year when we visited our niece in Salem, Oregon. She took us on a tour of Willamette University and it was a beautiful day. I love the photo on the bridge with the reflection in the water.

But my favorite might be the one we took in the arboretum. 

Quilt: Flower Bubbles

Designed and Made by: Cindy Wiens

Quilted by: Darby Myers

Size: 48" x 56"