Welcome May! Scrappy Kaffe Flimsy

May! It's a pleasure to welcome a new month!

 

April ended on a super-high note as I finished a flimsy! It feels so good to have a finish to share. Feast your eyes on this Kaffe Fassett beauty.

Last November, I  began sewing my collection of 2.5-inch squares of Kaffe Fassett scraps. A block even easier than the 9-patch, I opted to keep it really basic with a 4-patch. The collection of random fabrics collected here in this scrap quilt date back a whole lot of years. I did some serious reminiscing with some of these beauties.

All the while I was making the 4-patches, I had absolutely no plan for them. I trusted that when I had a while giant mess of them made, I would know what to do next. I knew that an idea would come.

 With my best sewing bud Sharon's input, we came up with the easiest and (as I see it all together now) the very best option. Keep it super simple and use just one fabric for setting squares. Let the 4-patches be the star of the show. And they truly are. I love-love-love this quilt top. 

The nature of scrap quilts - at least in my experience - is that piecing small bits is acceptable as is making blocks with 'near matches' when necessary. Using the scraps is the main goal, so improvise as needed.

Pertinent details on this quilt: Blocks are 4" (finished); 4-patches are made with 2.5-inch squares; it is 18 x 22 rows and measures 72" x 88"; it contains 396 blocks; 198 pieced and 198 setting. It does not have borders, but I may add some. We shall see...

Are you a fan of Kaffe Fassett fabrics? When they first began appearing on the scene, I was not a fan, but they grew on me. And then I sorta' became obsessed. I have a way-too-big stash, and even though I've made quite a few KF quilts over the years, I really need to get crackin' on making more.

Maybe sometime this month, I will devote a post to sharing all my KF makes in one place. That'd be fun.

I'll try to be back tomorrow to do the April collage and share some plans for May.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Sewing With Sharon

After a super-long hiatus, Sharon and I have finally had a sewing day together and it was wonderful! I honestly could feel myself regaining my quilting mojo as we got into the day. The sound of our machines chugging away, the soft wafting of classical music playing, occasional spring bird calls drifting in through the open window - ahhhh, it was all so very much NEEDED! 

We both have finishes to show for our time, too, which is always the boost one needs to get moving onto the next project. Here's what Sharon finished - a layer cake quilt that she started at retreat a week ago is now a finished quilt top.

 The layer cake was one of the recent French General lines. One can never go wrong with FG fabrics. She simply divided the entire layer cake into pairs, then cut off 2 2.5-inch strips. This left her with a 5.5" square which she surrounded with strips and corners. At retreat she finished this as far as stitching all the blocks into vertical rows. Here on Tuesday morning, she stitched the horizontal rows, and VOILA! a finish!

For my own finish, I finally took the baby quilt off the long arm machine. I loaded it onto the long arm back in mid-September, and had it nearly all quilted. On the last pass across the quilt, I began having issues with the top thread breaking about every 8-10 inches. It was so daggone aggravating. I just left it. And left it. And then Reagan was born, and we had the holidays, and then we left for Florida. Well, you see how things sorta' lagged there for a good, long while.

The quilt was intended to be finished by the end of September when Reagan was to be born. I could not solve the breakage issue, and I already had one quilt ready to give her, so I put off dealing with it. This is a sweet fabric line called Effie's Woods by Deb Strain/Moda. I was gifted a lot of it - including the panels - and I had it sewn up in no time. Here's the post I wrote 4 days prior to Reagan's birth in which you see the quilt on the frame.

I did the last of the quilting Monday evening (yes, I still had breakage) and Tuesday, I bound it. I hope to wrap it around our sweet baby Reagan very, very soon. I'll get a proper picture of the quilt as well as the baby in the quilt, too.

With those two finishes out of the way early on, we both moved on to other projects. Sharon continued with yet another precut project. After her layer cake finish, she pulled out a jelly roll project using Tildas! Oh, that scrumptious fabric! She has a fast and easy design that is a twist on the popular "race" quilt.

After binding the baby quilt, I moved on to a scrappy 4-patch project from last fall. I wrote about it here. I didn't realize I'd made so many 4-patches - I'd separated them into groups of 10 and had about 150 total, so it seemed as good a time as any to begin sewing them together. With Sharon's input, I decided it best to just keep it simple, so with a whole stack of a rather neutral Aboriginal Dots (iykyk; one of the KF designs) I am in the construction phase of a really awesome scrappy 4-patch Kaffe quilt.

 And I'm gonna have to come back with a picture for you. It's dark as I write this and I just know I wouldn't get a good photo in poor lighting. 

Now, about that thread-breakage issue on the long arm . . . I am not yet convinced that it is entirely corrected. I will soon load on another smaller quilt and fiddle with the tension. I do believe minor tension adjustments, a bit of oil, and a new needle will solve my quilting woes.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

The Last Snowbird Stitching

Apparently, I took way more projects to Florida than I could ever possibly accomplish. Really, though, I had no idea how to gauge it. I felt it would be better to have too much than not enough, and with that in mind, I totally overdid things! There were tubs that I never once opened, and projects that I never once touched. I definitely didn’t shirk sewing time, either. Going into this 3-month Florida stay, knowing how much time I'd have for sewing was a total unknown. 

This picture shows 4-patch blocks laid out across the dining table in stacks of 20 (except that bottom yellow and blue stack which has 4). Tally that all up and you get 624 blocks. 

And guess what? I made a couple hundred more after this photo was taken. At vacation's end, I figure I was in the range of 800 4-patch blocks. All from the 2.5-inch scraps. 

And what's more??? I haven' finished them all yet! There is no doubt I will have in the thousands when (if!) I get them all stitched up.

In non-sewing news, I wanted to share this darling picture of a certain granddaughter who was none too interested in snuggling up with the Easter Bunny. She was keeping a safe distance, for sure.

Back to sewing - I am going to take some of the 2.5-inch scraps with me to retreat, just in case the other projects make up faster than I expect. I have 2 projects cut out and ready to begin on Monday morning, so we shall see what sort of success I have working on real projects and not scraps.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

A Closer Look At The Process

Never have I devoted such a huge amount of time to sewing nothing but scraps. I had no idea it would be as time consuming as it has been. 

Now don't get me wrong. I am glad that I've done this. I took lots of time over the past 5 years or so trimming and prepping all these scraps, so putting myself to the task of turning the scraps into something useful was always going to be the necessary next step. Using the 3 snowbird months to focus on this was a really good idea. Besides making a few curtains, a pillow cover and two slipcovers, I have only stitched scraps into 9-patches and 4-patches.

 My 2.5-inch scraps contained an impressive mountain of strips. I dumped them all out onto the guest bed and removed all the Kaffe Fassett strips. I will use those all together - maybe with some solids. That's all yet to be determined.

With the remaining strips, I paired them in pleasing combinations and began chaining. 

And chaining. 

Miles and miles of chaining. 

The collection of long strips you see above is a mere fraction of what I have waiting to be subcut into 2.5-inch units. I did cut a lot of them, but have many, many more to do once I get home. I made it my goal to sew as many of the strips as possible, attempting to pair ALL of them. That did not happen, but I did lots, and it feels as though I made a significant dent in them. For the ones I did subcut, I now have quite a nice-size collection of 4-patch blocks that will serve me well when I decide what quilt - or quilts! - these will become.

 

The photo above shows the subcut units. I stack these near the iron and press them to finish.

I had an equally hefty tub of 2.5-inch squares. Mostly, the squares are singletons or perhaps just a few squares of the same fabric. Not entirely, though, so I sorted out the squares with lots of repeats. My thinking was that if I could make 15-20 blocks that were all the same, then I could create a quilt with the "organized" scrappiness that I frequently prefer. I also sorted out neutral fabrics. I learned with the 1.5-inch scraps I used in January, that sorting saves time. I still know that to be true, and will continue sorting when I get to the 2-inch scraps which I will eventually get to.

With all this scrap stitching, I did create a few routines into the process. For example, I always pressed to the dark on the side seams, and pressed open on the final center seam. I made all my squares have the darker fabric in the upper left and lower right. And, I rarely lifted my presser foot. I employed the Bonnie Hunter method of "leaders and enders" so as to waste as little thread as possible. (Google Bonnie Hunter or 'leaders and enders' - you'll definitely learn, if you're unfamiliar.)

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Scrappy 4-Patches

Whenever I find a few minutes to sew, I’m working my way through the vast, seemingly bottomless tub of 2.5-inch strips and squares.

Over the past 4-5 years, I've made a concerted effort to "manage" the excess of leftover fabrics from old projects. The best management method I have found has been to cut remnants into typical or standard-sized parts for quilts. The 2.5-inch square and strip are about as standard as it gets in quilt making; consequently I have loads of fabrics cut in these sizes.

Above and below is a tub of completed 4-patches. These were all made with strips that I sewed together and then subcut into 2.5-inch units that I then sewed together for the 4-patch. As a result, I have stacks of 4-patches with the same 2 fabrics which will be very nice for a "controlled scrappy" quilt.

I have some very bright combinations as well as many subdued combinations. I can see some children's/baby quilts for the bright 4-patches; I can see a more traditional scrappy quilts using the darker reproduction fabrics.

Behind my machine is a big pile-up of strip sets. I pair up two fabrics and chain-sew them together one after another. When I get in the mood to subcut them, I stop chaining, and move on to cutting and pressing.

I have plenty of subcuts ready to press and also ready to sew. It seems that whatever I'm in the mood for, I have a stack of that waiting for me. I've got all the bases covered.

Sew long strips? ✅ Cut subunits? ✅ Press subunits? ✅ Sew subunits? ✅ Press finished 4-patch? ✅

I am surely going to be glad to get home to begin sewing on something other than scraps. While this has been a suitable endeavor for me while snowbirding in Florida, it definitely lacks variety. Gratefully, we have been busy doing all the 'fun-and-sun' activities, so dull sewing hasn't been anywhere near burdensome. And, face it -- I will be so glad to have actually made an effort at using these bazillions of bits salvaged from the scraps and remnants from 40+ years of sewing.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

February Wrap-Up

I've missed a lot of posting this past week because I was having trouble loading pictures here on the blog. I don't know who is doing something different, but I have done things the exact same way for ages, yet the photos just would not load. I ended up doing an "end-around" by iPhone to load pictures to a draft, then coming to the laptop to write and organize the pictures. Whew, so much bother.

I'd not yet posted my February collage, so even though I am more than a week into March, I will go ahead and share, just to have the record and to remind myself of all the Florida fun.

TOP ROW: We actually had hail one afternoon in early February, so to be sure such a rare event was recorded, we snapped a picture of hailstones in DH's hand. The next two photos are from our fun outing to a remote area along the gulf. We went to Ozello, a small fishing town, and found a quaint little restaurant, Peck's, for a mid-afternoon cocktail and appetizer. It was a perfect Florida day.

MIDDLE ROW: For sewing updates, we need only look to my efforts in scrap control. I brought all my 1.5- inch squares and strips for some focused efforts at making 4-patch blocks and 9-patch blocks. I did that until I had no more! (Well, nearly no more; I admit to leaving a few odd bits unused.) Because I found an Instagram sew-along called #tinyninepatchchallenge hosted by Taryn @reproquiltlover, I made as many 9-patches as I could (402!) and tried a super-small 9-patch made with 1-inch squares. Only one, thank you very much. *wink*

BOTTOM ROW: The lake by Moonrise Resort is called Tsala Apopka; DH and I went out with cousin Dave for an early morning fishing excursion. Oh, what a beautiful lake! So peaceful, and so pretty! No fish were caught, but I sure do love the gentle rocking of a pontoon on the lake! More sewing - making slipcovers for 2 "cubes" that slide nicely under our kitchen bar, and a cushion re-covering for my cousin Sandy; this matches her kitchen valances and table runner.

With a new month, I have turned my attention to the tub of 2.5-inch squares and strips. I piled a few of the 9-patches alongside some of the new blocks, and the size difference seems massive. I feel like I am working with giant-sized squares after 2 months of those little 1.5-inch pieces. It is a refreshing change, that's for sure.

So far, all I've done with the 2.5-inch squares is to make 4-patches. At some point, I might switch over to 9-patches, but I am content to continue these for awhile longer. Since I don't really know what will be next for these blocks, I can just keep producing them in the hopes that some amazing quilt will present itself. I get ideas eventually. Just trust the process, right?

Wish me luck at future posting. I swear these photo-loading issues are about enough to cause me to just quit blogging altogether. I hope whatever needs to be done becomes clear to me at some point.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Change Of Pace

 I am still working my way through the tub of 1.5-inch squares with the goal of making 9-patch blocks. Here's how the tub look when I started.

The tub also contained a good number of 1.5-inch strips which I mostly have not yet touched. I say mostly because I did use a couple of the lighter neutral strips. My grand total so far is 194 9-patch blocks  - all from the little squares in this tub. See them below in stacks of 10; they are a thing of beauty!

Most of my 9-patches are pretty; I mean that the colors or fabrics work nicely together. Complimentary, in other words. However, several look quite bizarre, and I would never, ever use the combinations together in an actual planned quilt. Since these blocks are all made from leftovers and the purpose is a scrappy quilt, then the occasional "ugly" block is permissible and expected. When one limits the options to just the squares available, the definition of a "pretty" block gets stretched quite a bit.

So, my title today says change of pace; let me share what I mean. Because I have gotten to the sad and scrappy bottom of the barrel of the 1.5-inch squares, I can no longer come up with '5 darks and 4 lights' with which to create a 9-patch. I can, though, make 4-patches. These will work right in with a collection of 4-patches I have worked on back home - a 'Leaders and Enders' effort. I brought all those with me, so I have scads of 4-patches as well as scads of 9-patches.

It was fun coming up with these simple combinations; the resulting block (2.5") is such a perfect size for some yet-to-be-determined project. I've made more than what you see above! Check out the stacks below! All told, I believe I've made about 100. This is definitely the way I will continue to use up the bits I'm having trouble using in 9-patches. It's much easier to make a 4-square combination than a 9-square combination.

I continue to follow Taryn over on Instagram as she leads quilters through her fun little sew-along called Tiny Nine Patch Challenge. Some of those participants are using 1/2-inch squares! That's too small for me! I ought to make one just to show the difference. Others are using 1-inch squares. I am content to go no smaller than 1.5-inches. 

It won't be long until I need to put these away for awhile, as my sewing room will be turned into a guest room! Sharon is coming for a visit! Yes! Isn't that grand? Can't wait!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Starting Again

It seems my case is hopeless. Some quilters have the ability to finish one thing before starting another, but I am not one of them. 

I'm sorta' happy about it, too.

Some of my most enjoyable moments in the entire quilting process come when I am starting a new quilt. Finishes do feel good, don't get me wrong. Taking the last stitch in the quilt top or the quilting or the binding - all those rank right up there on the satisfaction meter. Honestly, though, I believe starting something new beats them all.

I mentioned in this post that I was super-inspired by Sheryll's Ohio Star quilt when we had show and tell last Friday morning. That quilt stayed on my mind all weekend! So, yesterday, I finished up some partial blocks for my 4-patch scrappy quilt, then rewarded myself by allowing ONE block. 

Just a test block, you know. To be sure of the size of my cuts and all that. Yes. 

I've made no more, but I have parts for 3 more cut out. *smile* I tell myself that these can only be made once work has been completed on current WIPs.

And speaking of current WIPs - the Scrappy 4-Patch is coming right along. I have gazillions of 4-patches made, pressed and trimmed. Several had the first round of corner triangles added, and now the final round has been added on these.

As it is a scrappy quilt, I am allowing the 4-patches to be as wild and random as can be. For example, that one on top has a Kaffe Fasset scrap, a shirting scrap, a juvenile scrap, and a calico floral scrap. Quite the mish-mash. The surrounding red is consistent, to give order to the madness. The shirtings are all varied, too. As the quilt comes together, the red seems to do well enough in preventing too much chaotic.

Stitching this week might have to take a back seat to housework. I am hosting the card group on Thursday, and family is coming on Sunday. Not only must I tidy up around here, I have food prep, also! Heavens! Do I remember how???

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

 

 

4-Patch Frenzy

For a couple of years now I have been making slow progress at taming the 30-year-old fabric scrap situation in the sewing room. What a task! For awhile, I will be very industrious, making great headway through the boxes, piles, tubs, and drawers. The job is so massive, and my commitment never seems to last very long. Another idea takes my focus away from scrap management; I leave the task unfinished and move on to something more exciting. Scrap management is drudgery work in comparison to a new quilt.

However, I am making progress, and having a specific quilt in mind for the scraps makes it so much easier to muster enthusiasm for the otherwise dull task.

This scrappy project has been in the works for over a year, and I have renewed focus on it since last week's quilt retreat. Those 4-patch centers have been my main focus this week.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I was up to my eyeballs in 2-inch squares! The bin they were stored in was quite full. I wanted to turn ALL the scrappy squares into 4-patches. Whew. Seemed like I'd never finish. But finish them I did.

The pile of chain-pieced 4-patches grew and grew behind my machine.

Finally, all were made. I took the pile over to the table to cut apart and stack. How many did I make?

As I cut them apart, I stacked them in groups of 10; the grand total came to 204. That means I started with 816 squares. Geesh. Next up: pressing them open.

The quilt I am making will not require 204 more blocks. Do you see how scraps work? The situation is ongoing. With each quilt I make, I amass more scraps that potentially will be cut down into 2" squares - the cycle never ends.

Well, it could end. 

I could stop quilting. Uhhh, no. End of that conversation.

I could stop saving scraps. Again, no. Fabric is too darned expensive; I can't bear the thought of tossing out a bit that still has potential. 

Mostly, I enjoy the challenge of using scraps to make pretty quilts. However, not all scrap quilts are created equal, in my opinion. Some are way too 'busy' or chaotic-looking. More and more I find myself subscribing to the 'less is more' philosophy. In previous posts, I've used the 'controlled scrappy' description. Yes, that is what appeals most.

Let's change topics real quick. Did you get snow this week? On Wednesday, we had about 2". Here's the maple tree in our front yard.

Tree leaves aren't out yet, but some of the undergrowth in the background is almost fully leafed out. The snow really clung to the branches and leaves. Made a pretty picture. It was all melted by afternoon. April in Ohio - snow is not frequent, but it's certainly not the latest snow we've ever had.

Happy Saturday!

My Retreat Projects

 My retreat week was extremely productive. I am known to be quite a procrastinator, but by gosh, I really focused on the projects I wanted to finish and got 'em done! 

I surprise myself at times.

Nearly everything I took to work on involved finishing works in progress. It feels very good to have made significant progress on these.

First up, I wanted to finish the Double Irish Chain that I'd worked on with Sharon. Here's a click back to details on our previous work. I had all the 25-patch blocks done; at retreat, I made the setting blocks and constructed the quilt top. I ended up decided to add a row to the width, so I made the extra blocks necessary. I won't be adding a border.

The next WIP on the to-do list:  my red and white stars quilt. I'd previously finished all the stars, so I went to work cutting and sewing. Below is a portion of the finished blocks. I did finish them all, and now have only quilt top construction to do.

It's been a very, very long time since I last worked on the scrappy quilt I am making from random 2" squares. Even so, I consider it a WIP, and not a UFO. (Just sayin'.) I took the project tub, hoping I would be able to recover my mojo on this quilt. I did! It had been over a year since I last did any significant work on this quilt.

I call this a controlled scrappy quilt. All the center 4-patches are entirely from my scrap tub. The red print and white shirting fabrics surrounding the 4-patches are more orderly, yet do not match. I like how this looks and am totally getting excited about finishing this quilt top.

In addition to these, I also worked on binding quilts. I shared the secret sewing in a previous post, and I shared the two little quilts here and here.

Onward! Today Sharon is coming and we have much catching up to do. I am unsure of what I will work on, but you can be confident that when I decide, I will share it all here.

Happy Quilting, Friends!