Fall Leaves

Every year as fall approaches, I've admonished myself for not having made a quilt to reflect the showy, colorful leaves we enjoy here in south-central Ohio. This year, if all goes as planned, I am finally going to have my quilt. 

The 24 blocks above were all made at last week's quilt retreat. I had the parts cut out and ready to sew - a smart idea for every retreat project, I've learned. All the fall fabrics are from my existing stash. Since I wanted my background fabric to be consistent, I bought a couple more yards of Thatched, by Robin Pickens.

Now, since being home from retreat, I have 50 blocks completed. I needed to make more 'sub-units' - that is, stem parts and HSTs. It takes no time at all to get a block made if the sub-units are done up ahead of time. It's fun to pull random browns or golds out of a pile of 2.5" squares and then 'build' a leaf with ready-made parts. These blocks are 6.5" (6" finished).

Mostly, my efforts have been to be as random as possible with each leaf blending in a wide variety of colors and prints. Just for an experiment, though, this morning I made a leaf from all dark colors, and another leaf from all gold colors. 

I like these controlled looks, too, and they will meld effortlessly into the rest of the leaf blocks.  I don't know how many more leaf blocks I will make - perhaps I will stop at 72, for a quilt that will be 8 blocks wide by 9 blocks long. I have a full tub of brown fabrics, so a border is very likely, both to make it larger and to use more stash.

Happily looking forward to making more colorful leaves!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Planning and Prepping

It seems doggone near impossible lately for me to maintain an interest in regular posting to this blog. I think it's because I have slowed down so very much in my productivity. There's a direct correlation between the amount of sewing and the amount of blogging. Consequently, if I'm not producing as much, I am not writing as much.

So, what have I been doing in the quilting room?

Preparing for a quilt retreat!

A week from today, I will join most of the Frankfort Girls (and a couple of extras) for a 4-day/3-night retreat at Needles n' Pines over in Nelsonville. It's the same retreat center we go to several times a year, and we always have such a wonderful time together.

Being productive is the name of the game at a retreat, so I should have a few things coming up for future blog posts.

 

I have cut one layer cake into 3" squares for a fun and fast quilt. I bought this layer cake last year while at retreat, and have had as a 2023 goal to make it into something. Wait till you see what I've come up with!

I will be tackling another 2023 goal while there - making a Falling Leaves quilt. I mentioned recently that I've always wanted to make a maple leaf quilt using fall colors, and now I am about to make it a reality. The parts are all cut - I've used only stash fabrics and scraps for this quilt. I have no idea how many individual blocks I will get out of what I've cut, but it will surely give me a whopping start. 

Yet another goal on the '23 list is using my stash of Effie's Woods fabrics in a quilt for my granddaughter. No, she doesn't need another quilt, as my daughter will tell me, but I can't help making 'just one more' for her. I seem to have accumulated quite a bit of this line thanks to my friend Jan who gave me all her remnants after she finished a quilt using Effie's Woods. I have picked up additional pieces along the way, so I will peruse my options for easy, scrappy-style quilts.

Lastly, I'd really like to continue tackling that '23 goals list by using my Winnemucca fabric. Click here to go back to read about the fabric I purchased last summer while vacationing out west. I have no firm plans as yet, but I do see either star blocks or churn dash blocks using this little collection. Or pinwheels blocks. Or 9-patch blocks. Or chains across a quilt with any of the above blocks. Lots of options still under consideration!

So, if asked what I've been up to lately instead of blogging, I guess I'd have to say I've been planning and prepping. Activity like that does not really translate well to blogging content.

Have a great week! It promises to be a hot, busy week here at my house.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Fall Is In The Air

Sometimes I take a notion just to make a block I have never made before. One that I wanted to do last fall was the Maple Leaf block in fall colors, and I just never did it. 

Well, about a week ago that notion once again got hold of me, and this time I followed through. I have absolutely no plan in mind for the two blocks I made, but I like them and I think I will make a few more.

Now, you know what I sometimes like to do with random blocks I make. I test them out in a photo editing app to see how they'd look in an entire quilt.

For a table topper or a wall hanging, four blocks would be sufficient. 

Take that 4-block arrangement and drop it into a bigger grid, and you'd see what a bed-size quilt would look like.

I could also turn them in different directions as an alternative. Sometimes this provides something worthwhile, but in this case, the leaves are almost entirely lost.

In the larger grid, I see an interesting design, but not leaves, necessarily. I won't entirely dismiss these last two options, because if I played around with some sashing strips and cornerstones, they might be winners. As is, though, I'm not overly impressed. But it was fun to see what designs came out of such playing around.

Do you experiment in the sewing room? What interesting things happen when you do?

The leaf block was made from Lori Holt's Farm Girl Vintage book. My fabrics are just a bunch of random pulls from the fat quarter dresser drawers. Most are old and have been cut into previously. The background is leftover Grunge from the quilt I made for Emma.

Happy Quilting, Friends!