Another Tangent

 I shopped on Tuesday at our local quilt shop, Old Town Fabrics, in Chillicothe. Sharon met me there and we really cased the joint! I had a few specific things I wanted to investigate, and all the new fabrics were really enticing. I took my time and soaked in all the goodness! (And bought just a little bit, too.)

But the most exciting thing to come out of that trip to the fabric store was a wonderful light bulb moment while I was checking out Corey Yoder's newest line. You see, I still have fabric from her early lines left over from when I attended a class she taught, and another class taught by Carrie Nelson, in which I used CY fabrics. My idea is to use my remaining fabrics from Lulu Lane, Flower Mill, and Sundrops in the quilt along we are doing. Won't this make a fun, spring-inspired quilt?

And when I looked in the tub, well, hello jelly roll! I'd forgotten about you. It will make the construction of yet another version of our quilt come together in no time. I was so stoked to make 9-patches that I went straight to work on them. So far, I've used only the Lulu Lane Jelly Roll and yardage.

Look closely at this pic and you'll see the neutral Lulu Lane yardage for additional background in the 9-patches. It's as if this were meant to be, I tell you.

Here are my first 20 blocks all stacked up and clipped together in groups of 10. I plan to make a pretty big quilt - so this will be my work for awhile longer. I am not rushing, but I am eager to keep going.

I have to show you these 2 blocks - mistake blocks. I am so used to making 9-patches with 5 darks and 4 lights. That has been my preferred "look" for years. The opposite is used in our quilt along; it requires 4 darks and 5 lights - and I am forever checking myself to be sure I'm getting it right. 

I missed on these two. Corrected now. Sewing continues.

If you are trying to let me know that you are sewing along with us, there might be some issue with my email link. A friend told me today that she was unsuccessful at contacting me, so I will have to dig in further to see what's up with all that. Technical issues give me fits; I am slow to figure it out.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Blockheads 3 Begins Today

Any of you who follow Moda designers on FB, blogs or Instagram surely know that today is the official start of Blockheads 3. Being a flunk-out of Blockheads 1 and Blockheads 2, I am reluctant to tell you that I am considering trying again. Maybe the third time will be a charm!! Regardless of my track record, it hasn't stopped me from following all the buzz leading up to this big day.

Blockheads 1 was held in 2017. I printed off every single pattern - like maybe 40 or 50 total - and made exactly one block. I could still make that sampler if I want. The patterns are organized neatly in a 3-ring binder in the quilting room. Here is the one block I made from round one.

Blockheads 2 came in 2018, and I really did intend to participate in that go-around. I actually decided to make two of each block using very different fabrics which would have resulted in two completely different quilts. One was a colorway that was strong and bold; the other was a colorway that was far more subtle and muted. However, I must have missed an announcement somewhere along the line telling us that blocks would be in varying sizes.

Above are two blocks from round two in the bold colorway. Below are some blocks made in the muted colorway.

I stayed caught up in Blockheads 2 for maybe 8 weeks, but when a week came along featuring a ginormous 24" block, I knew I would never have enough fabric to make it work. I needed more background fabric.

And that's when I stopped. Cold turkey.  On both colorways. I still have the bits within arm's reach in the quilting room, buried deep on my cutting table.

But, by gosh, I continued printing out instructions for each and every week right to the end of Blockheads 2. If I were to find some suitable background fabrics, I could actually finish. And maybe I will.

And so here we are on Day 1 of Blockheads 3. It will be another sampler quilt. It will have more Moda designers participating. There will be options for blocks of varying sizes or consistent sizes - participants decide. And, yes, I am considering getting into the game.

Will I flunk out again? Can I even consider that I will be so organized that I could go back and do the blocks from the earlier Blockheads in the corresponding week of this current one? That would be a fun challenge. Maybe I am a glutton for punishment. Maybe I just like a challenge. Maybe I am just off my rocker.

At this very moment, I don't know which way I will go.

I do know one thing: as soon as I tap the 'publish' button on this post, I am heading upstairs to make the first block of Blockheads 3. It is called Star Chain, and it is featured on Corey Yoder's blog today. The instructions are available for downloading. I have seen some beauties posted on the various social medias today, and I want to add mine to the mix.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Village Top Finished

Saturday afternoon I spent a couple of hours at the sewing machine and attached the remaining rows to my Village quilt. Overall, I am quite pleased with how it turned out, and for a quilt that was nowhere near my radar at the beginning of April, I have a fun, cheery quilt to show for my efforts!

My version is slightly different from the pattern. It is designed to make use of Charm packs, and I did that, but I didn't have enough to do all 132 houses. My version has 100 houses - all Corey Yoder fabric lines -- Lulu Lane, Sundrops and Flower Mill. Even the yellow I used for my background is CY.

All the time I have worked on this quilt, I have thought these houses look like sherbet or fruit parfaits. Shall I call my quilt Sherbet Village? Parfait Village? It's a sunny neighborhood with that happy yellow background, so maybe it should be Sunshine Village Parfait? Parfait Sunshine? I don't know.
Whatever I decide, I know I am happy to have another quilt top in the finished column.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

First Full Day of Spring 2018

Happy Spring!!

Well, with this morning's weather, I may not be dancing as wildly as Snoopy, but I don't mind the snow - especially since I have absolutely nowhere to go today, plenty of sewing to do, or a book to read, and laundry to fold. Many options. Sounds like a good day for staying in and letting Mother Nature do her thing.

All these pictures were taken from our front porch. That last picture shows our little dogwood tree down front; I will be sure to repeat this view in about a month when it should be in full bloom. Seems very distant with these snowy conditions.

My last post left me wondering whether I would make 9-patch blocks for the Prairie Vine project or construct more houses for Village. Here's what won out:

A 6-house neighborhood for my Coriander Village. I love this construction business! *grin*

The total house count now stands at 17. All of these houses have come from the Sundrops and Lulu Lane fabric lines by Corey Yoder. The next group of houses I make will see some Flower Mill fabrics mixed in. I am about to crack the seal on those charm packs and begin cutting.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Old Dogs DO Learn!

Even with a king-sized quilt finished off in big-stitch quilting, I attended a workshop Saturday on that very topic at Old Town Fabric Shop in Chillicothe. The guest speaker was Corey Yoder of Coriander Quilts, who designs fabric for Moda and creates pattern, as well.

When I did my quilting, I had no prior instruction, nor anyone giving me tips or advice. I just did what I thought made sense as a seasoned quilter. Attending this workshop/seminar would let me see things I ought to have considered, methods I might have tried, and simply dozens and dozens of examples.

The day began with a trunk show, and gosh, for a young woman, Corey sure has finished a LOT of quilts! At her age, I was still mostly just dreaming about making quilts (and buying fabric).

Here is Corey in the upstairs classroom at Old Town Quilt Shop. See the pile of quilts beside her? She has already shared all of those, and I didn't take a single picture. I thought I'd go back later and take a few, but we were just too focused on our mission to allow time for that. *grin*  Everyone in attendance created a circle - albeit loosely formed - and we showed the project we brought and shared ideas for possible big-stitch quilting. Corey was great in this segment of the day, as she has "an eye" for seeing what the resulting quilt will look like. All the sharing was really helpful, making it a wonderful give-and-take for everyone. Sometimes, we end up doing something we had never previously ever considered.

The many expressions of our speaker - what a sweet thing. She was so well-spoken, super supportive and most encouraging. She didn't rush us; she didn't come across as a know-it-all; in fact, I'd invite her over for our next sewing session without a moment's hesitation. Down to earth. Easy-going. Friendly. Personable. That's Corey.

After a 30-minute lunch break, we went to the next room to spread out our work and begin quilting! Corey roamed around, stopping when a quilter needed help or encouragement.  It was very informal and quite comfortable. We chatted as we stitched, and helped one another, too.

I mentioned the lunch break. I can't forget to show you the tremendous feast that Cindy and Kelly prepared for us! My goodness, look at the mountain of fresh fruit! This was truly fresh and delicious! The sandwiches came from an Amish/Mennonite store in the Frankfort area, Old Home Place. Delish!

I said in Saturday's post that I would share what I learned from this seminar. First, let me just say that now I can make the official "quilter's knot." I know! I've been quilting all these years, and never knew how to do this! I learned to make a knot from my mother or grandmother, and I've always continued to do it that way. I am now reformed!

Second, I used 505 Spray Baste. Oh my goodness. This will be life-changing. I dislike stretching a back and batting and layering on the top, and then keeping it taut without wrinkles and puckers. This will make all that so much easier. I can't believe I've come so late to this game.

Third, I generally use whatever needles and thread I have on hand, and since I have all of Grandma's stuff on hand, most is no longer labeled and pretty darned old. I bought 4 spools of Aurifil 12 wt. thread (recommended by Corey) along with a package of #7 embroidery needles. These made quilting very easy, and I finished fast because of it. It helps to use the tools that are designed for the task you are undertaking. I will try to keep the needles together and not let them get lost on a pincushion, never to be properly identified ever again.

I'm sure I learned more, but those are the big ones. Here's a cute, sweet anecdote Corey shared. She told about going back a long lane to her grandmother's house and playing under the quilt frame with her cousins. Her Grandma Lulu (thus the name of the new line of fabric) always quilted, and the children spent many hours there while their mothers all quilted at the frame with Grandma. She said they'd get scolded for flicking the scissors or thread from underneath, and making them hop unexpectedly on top, startling the quilters. I can so envision that orneriness!

Finally, as the day wound down, I shopped. Oh gosh, I just couldn't resist, and you don't get 10% off every day, now do you? The store had a sweet display of Corey's products - patterns and precuts - so I splurged. I only bought fabric; I will figure out my own patterns. If you click on her website, you can see some of what I passed up. Let me tell you, a couple patterns were really calling to me, however my rule of thumb: fabric always trumps patterns. So there.

I hope Old Town continues to do these fun seminars with nationally known designers. I've attended two (my first featured Laurie Simpson of Minick and Simpson) and both have been totally worth it.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Big Event Today!

I probably should have been hyping this previously, but today a famous quilter will be in Chillicothe at Old Town Quilt Shop on Water Street. I signed up for it about 6 weeks ago, and have been eagerly anticipating it ever since.

The guest is Corey Yoder of Coriander Quilts. She's a new-generation quilter, young and vivacious, hip and cool, (my impressions of all these millennials who are joining and trendsetting in the quilting world!); her workshop today is on big-stitch hand quilting.

Now, if you've followed this blog for very long, then you know I am no stranger to this technique, as I spent 3 months doing that ginormous quilt for Erin last October-November-December. I won't link to anything because there are so many, but if you hit up that archive tool over in the side bar, you will be able to find them.

So why am I attending this? Well, one can always learn a few new tricks, you know, and I wonder if I did things the way she will be instructing. One thing I am curious about is burying the knots. I never did feel as though I had a good method of doing that. I also used a different type of thread than she suggests, so I would like to get her take on that.

I will be sure to take a few pics, and soak up as much information as I can, and then I will report back here next week!

Happy Quilting, Friends!