Miracle Color Catcher

For just about the entire summer, I have had two quilts draped over some furniture in the screened porch for just a bit of lively color. Both are quilts I quilted this summer, and both are blue Kaffe Fassett quilts. So, yes, lively color is a given. 

One quilt was Economy Blue, shown in part here with its polka-dot backing. I made the top in 2011 and quilted it in June.

The other quilt is my Cobalt Stars which has the same backing fabric as the first. I made this quilt top in 2021 and quilted it in June. 

So, as I said, these two quilts have resided on the screened porch since mid-June. Now that I am thinking of closing up the porch and preparing it for fall and winter, I needed to wash these two quilts. I didn't dare store them away with the probable chance of stink bugs and spiders residing in their folds.

Off to the washing machine! I am eternally grateful for whatever little voice whispered in my ear just before shutting the lid. "Use a color catcher," it said. Neither of the quilts had been washed, and while I don't often worry about blues running color in the wash, I thought there was just enough white on Cobalt Stars that I didn't want to take any chances.

And I am so glad I did! I do not have a clue as to the science behind the way these little things work, but how grateful I am that they do!

Look at the blue captured by the color catcher! I am blown away. What a lucky girl I am that I thought to do this. I would hate to think how blue the crisp white would be on Cobalt Stars. It probably would still be pretty - I mean, blue, right? - but I used a white background on purpose. 

Now I've got two freshly laundered quilts perfectly squishy and cuddly with their colors in tact. Thank goodness for little blessing!

That's all for today, Peeps. 

Guess what!??! Cate is coming tomorrow!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Another Quilt Quilted

So far June has been productive at the long arm machine. This week I loaded another Kaffe Fassett quilt from a very long time ago - I will look it up later - and quilted it on Wednesday afternoon.

This quilt top wasn't exactly square and flat. It had a fair amount of waviness and stretchy bits. I don't have really vivid memories of making it, but it has been long enough ago that I am sure I wasn't as careful about bias stitching as I am now. Waviness notwithstanding, I plowed on and worked it out as I went. I know it is never gonna' pass quilt police inspection by any stretch, but I don't need this quilt to be perfect - I just need it to be finished!!!

The quilt is called Economy Blue and is featured in the book Country Garden Quilts. I looked back and found that I made this in 2011. Here's a flashback post. I later posted this update. The quilt measures 62" square.

It was quite pleasurable gazing at all these magnificent KF fabrics as I quilted along. I have only small bits of most of these fabrics now; I have made a lot of blue KF quilts since 2011, that's for sure. I ought to tally them up just to see what the total would be.

For this quilt, I used the same backing as the previous one. I also used white thread on top and navy thread on the bottom.You can see that my tension is a bit less than perfect by all the tiny white dots of white top thread showing through on the back. Since this quilt is for me, I will wash it and then ignore it. With all the wonk stretchy wavy blocks on the front, this additional imperfection on the back won't bother me in the least.

I know quilters are supposed to measure things, but this quilter often opts to "guessitmate" or "eyeball it" which often comes back to bite me in the butt. This was one such time. I thought for sure I had cut enough binding, but daggone it! I needed a few more inches. Sigh. 

I ought to learn. 

I doubt I have.

I am stitching the binding down today, as I am with the Frankfort Girls at Terry's house. It will go fast, and I will soon have it in the washing machine to achieve that crinkly goodness. I will try taking some pictures of this quilt outside; these indoor pictures don't do it justice. The colors should be more vibrant and vivid.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Finished Top ~ Economy Blue

Well, it's not the most perfect quilt top I've ever made, but I finished it. I hope that when it's quilted, the "waviness" will be subdued and will look acceptable.

The inner section consistes of 36 small square-in-a-square blocks. The same sized blocks also form the border. The remaining blocks are larger square-in-a-square blocks. Well, the big blocks and the little blocks decided not to play nice together. The smaller blocks had to be eased quite extensively to fit the larger blocks. I suppose I could have gone back and made adjustments, but I opted to keep on sewing.

Ten or 12 years ago, I made a quilt with many triangles, and it too was a bit wonky in places. My grandmother hand-quilted it for me, and she managed to "quilt out" the fullness. Today, after a few washings, it looks loved and wonderfully puckery, just like quilts are supposed to look! See for yourself, below. (It's also peeking out in the picture in my header on this blog.)

I hand-pieced this quilt called English Elegance roughly 10 years ago.

I hope that will be the case with Economy Blue.

I Know It's Crazy, But...

...I haven't finished the borders on Economy Blue, and all I can think about is the next quilt I want to make! Are all quilters like this??

Economy Blue with top and side border placed, but not sewn.

I have a lovely bin of fabric from a year or two back called A Breath of Avignon by Sandy Clop/American Jane for Moda. It's been behaving itself in its bin all these many months, but here in the last week, it will just not be quiet!!

The roaring bin of A Breath of Avignon; 1-yd. and 1/2-yd. cuts plus 2 charm packs.

It began as a whisper; then when I ignored it, the whispers became a bit louder, and finally, these past couple of days, I'm dealing with a definite ROAR coming from the bin in the sewing room. A French roar, mind you, but a roar, nonetheless.

Wouldn't it be roaring at you, too??

I don't dare start cutting this fabric until I have Economy Blue's borders attached.

These are the remaining blocks with which the other side and bottom borders will be constructed.

And one additional, yet significant factor to consider before cutting, a dilemma: my B of A collection contains very few neutrals, and a number of border prints. I'm feeling the need to be very selective with the patten I choose to use for this fabric. I've been paging through a lot of quilt books and magazines, searching for inspiration. At present, I'm leaning toward a strippy quilt, using the border fabrics to create the columns. Since I'm rather favoring the simple, get-em-done-fast quilts, I like the idea of big blocks, perhaps 4-patch or 9-patch on point. Perhaps an Ohio Star. Or a Churn Dash. Or I could mix it up and have a variety of blocks on point in the pieced strips of a strippy quilt.

Any ideas from readers would surely be appreciated.

A tangent that sorta' relates, but not exactly...I was reading blogs a bit ago and came across Creature Comforts, one that I've just recently begun to follow. Her topic today is Color Crush. I really like the recognition that we go through "crushes" with particular colors becoming our favorite for awhile - be it a week or a month or whatever.

I admit it: I've got a Breath of Avignon Crush going on.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Economy Blue Update

I've been working steadily on my Economy Blue quilt from this book by Kaffe Fassett.

I now have all the blocks constructed; this was very easy, just took a little time. All the blocks are square-in-a-square with some adding on a third square. Take a look.

I needed 48 dark centers surrounded with light. Here's a sampling, above.

I needed 48 light centers surrounded by dark, and here's a sampling of those.

Then there are larger blocks. Above is the light center and light outer block. The outer fabric will be the same on all the larger blocks with light centers. (Following that??) I needed 20 of these blocks.

Then I needed 20 larger blocks with dark centers and dark outer fabric. Again, this dark outer fabric will be the same on all the larger blocks with dark centers.

I loved these dark blocks. I took pics of several of them.

Scrumptious, aren't they?

So, tomorrow, I will begin the construction process of putting the blocks together to form the quilt top.

The top is constructed in units. I really like the look, although I never would have come up with it on  my own. Thankfully there are wonderful designers out there who do the creative parts for me!

Here are the 2 shots from the book of this particular quilt. Breathtaking. I've loved this quilt since the first time I saw it. I am so happy to be making one of my very own after all these years!

So, my "blue period" continues. Just like Pablo Picasso. He had a blue period, too, although his blue period featured paintings of sad, poor, downtrodden human subjects. These quilts are quite the opposite!

Oh, one more blue thing for you to look at:

My good buddy, Cheryl L., invited me over Wednesday afternoon, and I will probably go back later today. It's a great place to cool off in this incredible heat!

Slow, But Steady

I can be so slow sometimes. I guess I am doing a lot of other things, though. We've had a couple of really good dinners this week, I've read a book, walked 3 days in a row, so I suppose it it takes me awhile to get a couple of quilts cut out, it's really no big deal, right?

This is what I am really excited about: 2 blue Kaffe Fassett quilts cut out and ready for the sewing machine. Cool!

This is Blue Portugal.

This is Economy Blue.

Hope to get my machine in for repair today; will soon be starting on these beauties!

I Played with Kaffe Today

Oh yeah, and it was all the fun that you would imagine it to be!

Up in my sewing room sitting in a rather in-the-way spot between my "thoughtful spot" chair and the ironing board, you'll trip over my very large, too-heavy-to-move stash of Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

Behind this large tub sits 2 smaller, more manageable tubs of Kaffe fat quarters and pieces that I've cut.

I have dreamed for years of making the blue quilts - Kaffe Fassett has 2 different blue quilts in 2 different books, and I love them both. Over there on my sidebar I have listed as a 2011 goal to make a Blue Kaffe. Here, see for yourself how irresistable they are:

Blue Portugal is featured in this book:

The other one is Economy Blue:

And it is featured in this book:

I have sighed and dreamed over these 2 quilts ever since I bought these books, however long ago that was. I have definitely outdone myself in the prepping department: I have uber-yards of blue Westminster Fiber fabrics in those tubs I showed you. *grin*

So I pulled it all out today and spread it out on the kitchen table. Feast your eyes on this! Careful, you may swoon, so perhaps you'd better sit down!

A gorgeous sight, isn't it?

So I got right to work and have all the cutting done for Portugal Blue. I plan to get Economy Blue cut out before I call it a day and head to bed. The Tribe is playing out in Arizona, so we'll be up late watching the game. I will cut and listen . . .