Plans and Reviews

The project plans for August are taking shape, and I'm eager to share them with you. Mostly, the plans for the month will involve quilts I've had on my yearly goals list and projects "uncovered" when I went digging for that black/gray fabric back in June.

Let's just review those '23 goals, and see how we're doing...

The print is a bit small, but if you click on the list it can be enlarged. It is also linked to my original goals post back in January.

Our tendency as quilters is to fixate on how miserably we are doing at completing our goals, and I could certainly do that, too. However, I am pleased to say that I've been successful in staying on task as far as the goals list is concerned. Now, I may not be on track to complete very many items, but I am sticking to the list - mostly.

I attribute one simple thing to my staying on task - Post-It Notes. I often make the list and then forget the list - I post it in January and then - out of sight, out of mind - I don't see it again unless I think to go back to look at it.

This year, I wrote several of my most-want-to-make quilts on notes and plastered them to my machine. Works like a charm! I see every single day the things I most want to do!

In fact, two of those notes have been removed because they are done! These two notes have been removed from the front of my machine.

 Below is the pine tree quilt. It's inspiration was our trip through the Rocky Mountains and those never-ending, awe-inspiring vistas of jagged, tree-lined mountains.

Pine Tree Quilt, aka Alpine, was finished in late June. It still needs to be quilted, of course.

 The other "finish" took a bit of a turn and became two quilts. I thought I wanted to use my Wm. Morris remnants to make a diamond quilt. But when I pulled out the remnant tub, I realized that I mostly had darker pieces left, and I didn't think the diamond pattern would suit. So I put the Morris fabric aside, and pulled a gazillion floral prints. That became my diamond quilt which I started in Florida back in January-February. I finished the flimsy in April (I think) but I don't see a post about it in my archives. *smh*

To use the WM remnants, I decided to make economy blocks. This suited me, and I proceeded. I have no post that I can find in which I shared this flimsy - I don't even have it on my list of quilts for '23. (I tell you, I am failing big time at keeping this blog up to date and accurate!)

I need to get this flimsy out and do a proper photo shoot of it - I don't think this is the full flimsy, but it's the best I can find. *again,smh*

Anyway, I took one idea - WM diamonds - and turned it into two quilts. 

The one I'm currently working on is  Posies and Polka Dots. I last actively worked on this in November. Then I put it away for the holidays and the Florida months, and basically have only dreamed of it since. How nice to have this back under the needle!

The two pics above show different layouts - can you detect the difference? I couldn't decide which version I wanted, so I have spent a lot of time thinking about this while I make more blocks. I needed more of all three varieties, and that has been very satisfying to work on.

I have rambled enough. I do have an August wrap-up collage to bring tomorrow, plus I'll talk more about those Post-It Notes  -  and who knows what else??

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Pine Trees Flimsy

Wanna' see what I made?? I finally have an honest-to-goodness finished quilt top to share! And I'm rather stoked about it, too!

To be perfectly honest, I have far fewer finishes to boast this year than in any other year since I retired (2009). I've spent a lot of my time doing other things and consequently have spent less time in the quilting room.

The idea for a pine tree quilt has been marinating for awhile now - since summer 2020 - after traveling through the breathtaking Rocky Mountains with just the most incredibly expansive, seemingly infinite forests one could ever see. I wanted to sear those views into my memory, so I though making a quilt would be a worthy effort.

I tried making up some patterns, and I auditioned some blocks, but nothing ever truly "spoke" to me. Most of the attempts turned out to be rather ugly, actually, like the block above.

Then at one of our retreats while we were shopping at Mae-Lynne Makers, my friend Becky pointed this pattern out to me. Eventually, she talked me into buying it. I am so glad I listened to her. The pattern was super easy and quite fun to make. Sharon is making one, too, and both of us have enjoyed the process. 

My quilt top is now finished, and is awaiting its turn on the long arm machine. I love the background that I used, and if you look at the quilt upside down, the negative space also looks like a pine tree. Cool.

In a quick review of the pattern, I would recommend it to other quilters - maybe not a beginner - but it would be easy enough for anyone with average ability. The directions say to use a scant quarter-inch seam when sewing together the three layers of each tree, and I would strongly recommend that. I was not so mindful of my seams, and the result was that my blocks all came out just slightly shy of the pattern's size of 6.5" x 8". Mine were between 7.75" and 7.875" in length. The other recommendation I have is that YES, you have to trim! I believe the pattern is written so that blocks will be slightly wider than 6.5", so trimming is essential.

Like I said, I am quite stoked to be able to share this finish for June. Finishes have been rather sparse of late.

In other news, click here to read an old post about today's significant milestone. Still no coral or jade, but then this year (the 44th!) has no significant gift. Doesn't matter. We'll have a memorable evening, regardless.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Pine Tree Progress

Even though I continue to whittle away at deep cleaning the quilting room, I have been sure to throw in some occasional fun stuff.

All through this cleaning process, the Pine Tree quilt that I started with my friend Sharon a few weeks ago has been out on the table. And I am happy to report that progress has been satisfactory.

Here is proof of that progress - 50 pine trees! My forest is growing! I have the makings of about a dozen more read to stitch up. And I only need 64 trees total, so I am in the proverbial home stretch.

Now, all these need to be trimmed. That will be a tedious job. But I tell ya' - the best way for me to do tasks like that is to commit to doing 10 at a time. As I sew the blocks, I pin or clip 10 in a bundle. That helps me keep track of my progress. Then, when I trim I just take a bundle at a time and work through it. If I have an audio book going, it can be easy as can pie.

On another topic, we celebrated the first day of summer this week, and while it's been so cloudy and dreary, I did take a picture from our back yard just as the day ended - the golden hour, I've heard it called.

 

Today we get to spend the afternoon with our granddaughter, and then this evening we will go to see a movie at the Ohio Theater - Goldfinger, a James Bond classic. The Ohio Theater has a 50+-year-long tradition of their Summer Movie Series in which a wide variety of classic films are shown for just $5/person. Cheap entertainment! We've been going to these movies since the early 1980s. Last week we saw Rear Window, an Alfred Hitchcock classic, which neither of us had seen and which we both really enjoyed.

Hope you are making the most of this first week of summer! 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Pine Tree Progress

For the past couple of days I have been at a quilt retreat with the Frankfort Girls. I brought all the fabric and all the bits for my pine tree quilt to work on. I determined that I would spend at least a day on it and in that time I have made the following progress. Click here for some history and earlier work on the quilt.

First, I went ahead and cut all the 3-inch HSTs down to 2.5-inch HSTs. I didn't think I could stand to waste all that fabric, but in the long run, I knew I would be happier with the block made with those smaller triangles. I am glad I did it.

Then I made a sample block, which you see above. Quite the mix of green, isn't it? As a stand-alone block, it is not at all pretty. However, it is my hope that when I have 20 or 30 blocks, I will have a quilt that looks like a dense Rocky Mountain forest. We shall see if that proves true.

Here is the pile of trimmings taken off the HSTs. Not so awful. The final product will be worth it, I hope.

Back in June, I made this block, and while I like it a lot, I really wanted all green to mimic that density of the forests. I will now need to find something to do with this orphan block; it is far too pretty to be left unused. Click here to read about that initial trial block.

The other gals here at the retreat have been incredibly productive, and I have a wonderful little quilt parade all lined up to share with you tomorrow. You will definitely want to come back to check it out!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Pine Tree Quilt Begins

After exhaustive efforts in considering options for pine tree patterns, I have finally settled on one that I think I will like. I still hold out the option of changing my mind, but I did decide that I wanted one made with gazillions of half-square triangles. 

Because those could be made even if I do change the pattern, I have spent the last several days making about 200 HSTs. 

WHEW!

To provide some background, and to remind you regular readers of what I'm doing, this idea for a pine tree quilt came from being in the Rocky Mountains this past June. Looking out from one mountain across a valley and over to the ranges beyond, one gets the sense of the vast, dense forests that blanket the mountains. It is breathtakingly beautiful and it inspired me to try to preserve that incredible beauty in quilt form. 

I've yet to take picture that truly illustrates the vastness of the mountain-covered forests. Try as I might, the cell phone camera just can't do the job adequately.

When I study pictures that attempt to show the density of the forests, I notice that there are multiple shades of green. Sometimes, this is due to shadows; other times the tree varieties differ. Unless we were up in the highest elevations, we did not see snow. Most of the touring around we did would look a lot like the two photos shown above.

So, how to depict this in quilt form? 

The more modern options were appealing to me because they wouldn't require the tedium of endless HSTs. Here is a pattern I seriously considered.

(Google search)

However, I tend to prefer traditional patterns, and I could not give up the idea of a true, old-fashioned Tree Of Life pattern, like this one.

(Google search)

I like the traditional pattern better (for my purposes), but I knew I needed much more green.

Multiple fabric pulls later, I had a nice collection of greens from which to select. 

Also in the depths of the sewing room, I uncovered a roll of triangle papers to aid in accuracy. With so many HSTs required, I knew that this would eliminate issues with matching up points and seams.

Trouble is, I thought I was getting 2.5-inch unfinished triangles, and instead I have 3-inch unfinished triangles. Ugh. Rethinking...

Since I've got 'em all made and cut, I am not turning back. I will try making trees with larger triangles. I have yet to make a test block; I hope I will like it.

Currently I am still in the prepping stage. Cutting all the triangles out, then removing the paper, then pressing them open - it takes awhile. After that, I will proceed with adjusting the remaining block parts to fit these larger triangles.

I still have a lot to do. And I am happily looking forward to seeing how this will turn out. There will be lots of shades of green, brown trunks and even the background will be a different green, I think. I am considering what will suffice. This process is still in the creating stage. 

Is your internal body clock all confused this morning? Mine sure is. Time change always has me a bit 'off' for a day or two. I'll adjust, of course.

Have a great Sunday!

Happy Quilting, Friends!