Summer Breeze Flimsy

Making this quilt has been so satisfying. I hardly even thought about what I was doing most of the time; my desire was to make something simple and fast and enjoyable.

Mission accomplished.

If you click back to this post, you can read about my fascination with our wide open blue skies and the trees surrounding our yard. I love those views of blue and green together; the intention was to create a quilt that evoked the summer "look" from our porches or out our windows.

Over a year ago, I pulled these fabrics out and considered very seriously making the quilt you see in the picture - Plan C, by Miss Rosie Quilts/Carrie Nelson. Never happened, but I did keep the fabrics nearby. The fabrics were ready, but my ideas still needed to marinate.

When I actually made the move to work on this, I really never did have a firm idea of what I would end up with. I knew, though, that there would be nothing wrong with making the layer cake into hourglass blocks. So that was my start. I did the entire stack and trimmed them to 9.25 inches. That is where I was when this picture was taken.

Then I unfolded the half-yard cuts. At that point I had a very big surprise. I'd been assuming all along that these 5 half-yard cuts were all from the Summer Breeze line of fabrics from Moda. Well, I was wrong. They are from two different lines by April Cornell (also from Moda) called Secret Garden and Amanda.

Never, I mean NEVER, did I suspect that I had anything other than Summer Breeze! How could these look so perfect together and NOT be from the same line? This is one of those happy accidents that occur from time to time.

The next step was to cut these April Cornell fabrics into 9.25-inch setting squares. Fortunately, the half-yard cuts were generous and I could get 8 from each piece for a total of 40 squares.

I set them alternately with the hourglass blocks, and have 8 blocks across with 9 blocks down.

I did not allow myself to fuss about placement - too much. I sewed the first two columns together randomly, but did lay the rest out on the bed so that I wouldn't end up with unpleasant combinations at the end. This probably saved me a lot of time as well, because I stacked them up in Eleanor Burns' fashion, and whizzed right through the construction phase.

Then borders. Because this center part has so much yellow, I knew I wanted a solid green inner border. I searched the stash and found a few candidates; the one I chose is rather strong, but I wanted the green to have a 'presence' so I went with it.

The outer border came from that large piece of clearance fabric I bought a couple of weeks ago. The original plan was that it would be the backing for this quilt. Since I used it for the larger border, I will likely return to that clearance table to get a bit more to make up the difference and do a pieced backing.

The basics on this quilt are simple, and I might try making another one with some random layer cakes I have had here for far too long. To recap:

• 1 layer cake, made entirely into hourglass blocks, trimmed to 9.25 inches.
• 2.5 yards setting fabric;  one piece or several different pieces of fabric - cut to 9.25-inch squares
• Stitch alternately an 8 block by 9 block quilt top. My borders are 2.5 inches for the inner; 5.5 inches for the outer.
• Final quilt measurement: roughly 93" x 84".

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A New Beginning

I will tell you a little secret: I love living out here in the country.

We have trees all around us and wide open skies; our little 15 acres of rural Ohio suits us perfectly. I have said on more than one occasion, "I love living here!"

When I gaze at that crystal blue sky with the bright green leaves in the foreground, I think "I oughta' make a quilt in these colors." This combination of blue and green is so fresh and sparkly.

And that idea is now coming to fruition with my newest start.

For some time now I have had a Layer Cake of Summer Breeze by Moda. I know there are lots of Summer Breeze versions - 1, 2, 3, 4, and maybe more - mine had been sorta' nagging at the back of my mind to be used for something. I actually referenced it in this post from June 2019.

These ideas/notions/hankerings have to simmer awhile before any action can occur.  Action has now been taken, as of last Friday.

Bug hunk of backing fabric; I took the entire bolt-over 6 yds.

When I picked up my Berninas from Old Town Fabric Shop, I checked out their clearance table, and what should I see??? Why, yes, Summer Breeze yardage.

I do believe this is the proverbial aligning of the stars.

So, by gosh, I started a new quilt. I don't have a pattern. I have only the vaguest of plans. From the 10" squares in the Layer Cake, I made hourglass blocks.

From the half-yard cuts, I plan to make setting blocks. I need to do the math to see how many I can get from the yardage, and proceed with constructing the quilt top.

Here are some shots of my hourglass blocks and the accent pieces to go with them

This picture shows the half-yard cuts in the bottom of the shot. They are all florals, 3 with blue background; one of yellow background, and one of cream background. Also tucked into that corner is a piece of solid green. I see way more blue and yellow and not enough green. I think I will use that solid green as an inner border. I need to measure things so I can be more decisive; just haven't gotten that far along in the process yet, I suppose.

Big blocks; simple design; fast quilt. It doesn't have to be fancy and involved to be pretty.

So many good things about this: another bit of the stash will be used up; I get a quilt that makes me think of our beautiful property - bright blue skies accented against lush, leafy green trees; fast, easy quilt that requires little thinking and planning and figuring.  

Sharon will be here today; we have not sewn together for a month! Our vacation and another conflict on Sharon's side, has kept us apart. There will be much to catch up on, and while we chatter away, I will trim those hourglass blocks.

Hope you have an awesome day!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Summer Breeze Finish

Today feels like summer, so it seems like a good idea to share a recent finish from Denise, who came over for a few classes through this past winter. I wrote about the Summer Breeze visit, but I mistakenly called it Summer Beach. geesh

Summer Breeze was a pattern that Denise had purchased through Craftsy. Her finish looks exactly the way the quilt was intended - an inviting quilt which brightens and livens an airy beach house.

 John Keats was correct; "a thing of beauty is a joy forever." I guarantee this would bring any quiltmaker lots and lots of joy.

Take a look at this picture which shows the backing fabric. Perfect. I love absolutely everything about this quilt, and really do think I will add it to my to-make list, using similar colors. What a fresh, clean quilt. I defy anyone to not want this on the bed through the summer months. The wonderful bright colors are controlled by the white, which makes it all the more appealing. Wow. It sure does make a statement.

It is beautiful, Denise! You should be quite proud of your finish!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Couple of Finishes

Claudia was over yesterday for some help with finishing her Summer Breeze quilt. After beginning her blocks here back in January, she had finished her blocks on her own. Then she sewed the blocks together and decided she wanted to finish it with piano keys which she had prepped on her own, as well.

Claudia wants to use this quilt on a daybed in her house, so she needed only to put the piano key border on two sided. So we put the light blue inner border around the entire center, and used the piano keys on two sides. She got the top done and it is ready to go to the quilter.

While Claudia sewed her borders, I brought my own Summer Breeze down and figured out how I would finish it. I had 7 blocks completed. Not a particularly conducive number for quilting purposes, right? I could have just used 6 blocks to make a small lap quilt, but I still had bits and parts, so I put my thinking cap on. With a couple of remaining 2.5-inch strips I managed to get an 8th block made. Then I took 4 of the leftover strips which had a 45-degree cut edge. The pictures below show how I utilized those leftovers - as the center block  in a square 3x3 block quilt.

The jelly roll I used was a Three Sister's line called Park Avenue. When finished, I think I can see this being used as a table topper cloth.

That's all for today, Peeps! Gotta' lotta' grading to do!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Park Avenue/Summer Breeze

I pulled out an old jelly roll by 3 Sisters/Moda called Park Avenue a couple of weeks ago to "play" with when Claudia and Denise were here for sewing instruction. You may recall that Denise had found a free pattern on Craftsy called "Summer Breeze" and while she followed the suggestions on the pattern to use a jelly roll of color along with a jelly roll of white/light, I did not. It was my hope that the lights in the jelly roll would suffice. (Plus I didn't have a white/light jelly roll in my stash!) If that brief explanation confuses you all to heck, then click here for the post.

I finally got back to working on my squares when we sewed at Terry's on Tuesday. I like the look I am getting (who wouldn't like anything with 3 Sisters fabrics??).

 This picture shows all the blocks I've finished laid out together. There are also 2 that are pinned. This is about the extent of what I am going to get from this jelly roll. The remaining strips are too neutral to work as either a dark or a light, so I am going to finish this as a lap quilt. I do see a couple of things I will change around in the pinned blocks. It is evident that the secondary design made by the light strips is interrupted in a couple of spots. That should be an easy fix.

This zoomed in shot shows the bottom right block (pinned) needed some readjusting.

So I shall fiddle with some spots here and there to see if I can come up with a layout that pleases me. I will then need to search the stash for acceptable borders. Fun! Fun!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Welcome to April

No April Fool's jokes here, friends. I was never very good at playing pranks on people. And, I am rather gullible, so I have had a few played on me.

What's going on in my little quilting world? Well, there is going to be a Frienzie wedding in July, and we all got together today at Sherrie's house to begin a quilt for bride-to-be Kaitlin.

Blue and yellow are the requested colors. We have a wide assortment, and a pattern, as well. It is Lincoln by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company.

We have 2 fabric lines going here: Summer Breeze, which is our main grouping, and Nature's Notebook, which I had in my stash, and brought along just in case.

We did not get as much done on it as you would think, with so many hands available for work. We had a considerable discussion on what fabrics to use for the star blocks. We are making it bigger than the pattern in the book so that took some time to consider. Sharon went straight to work stitching the piano key borders.

Have you ever heard of the border being completed before the quilt was figured out???

Here are a couple of shots of what we accomplished.

We are meeting again on the 15th to try to finish it. Having a day with these girls was a wonderful start to the month!

Happy Quilting, Friends!