A Finish! Plan C

I have finally put the finishing touches on Plan C, a quilt that is as super-easy to make as it is super-fun! The directions are the clearest, most easy to follow of any quilt I've ever made. I did not use the seam ripper once! That's saying something! *grin*

Plan C, a pattern by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Company, is made here with Park Avenue, an old line of fabric from Three Sisters/Moda. I had a layer cake of it and some additional yardage. The background fabric is an old, old, old Jinny Beyer.

So now I am experiencing this really weird feeling of not being sure of what I want to work on next. Too many options sometimes leaves me inert. Wish I didn't have that tendency. I am headed up to the sewing room to work out some options.

Tomorrow I will share with you the details of the lovely day I've had today. A dear old friend and former student (class of '83!) came down from Columbus for a day of stitching. It was delightful! 

Thrifty

I finished this quilt top earlier this month, but have failed to share it here. The only photo I  have of it is substandard, but we'll go with what we've got.

I really ought to hang it up and try for a more decent shot. I searched a book of quilt block patterns, and found that the name of the block is Thrifty, thererfore, that is what I'm calling this one.

This is the 2nd quilt of 3 I am making with this invented pattern. I saw it made up in a shop and couldn't fathom paying for something so simple, so I've been making quilts using different sizes for the units. The first, which I called Victorian Roses (after the feature fabric I used), had 3.5" blocks for the 4-patch units. It made up fast, and I opted not to put borders on it, as it was quite large without them. You can see it by clicking here.

Now I've made this one, in which the 4-patch units are made with 3" squares. More manageable size, but I still have opted to forego borders. I really don't see a need for them, plus (and this is the real kicker) I don't have enough remaining fabric!

My plan is to make one more in which the 4-patch units will be made with 2.5" blocks. Just mt little experiment going on here. I always used to tell my students that I was a visual learner, and this supports that claim. I will have 3 quilts of the same pattern, gradually reduced in size. Interesting. At least to me.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Your Input Would Be Appreciated

A few days ago I was stash-diving, and came across a piece of fabric that I have become somewhat enamored with. I do not remember buying this fabric, and sadly, I have only 1 yard.

This is it, and even with my limited use of Photoshop, I cannot get the background color to look the way it looks for real, which is a greener blue than this. It's a Nancy Gere fabric from Windham called Harpers Ferry.

And so, I am asking for advice. I need ideas on how to use this 1 yard of pretty fabric. I have some options for companion fabrics.

At first, I was thinking I'd do a 2-color quilt using this Robin Pandolph fabric. Don't these 2 look great together?

The color of the floral looks a bit more true in this shot; not as blue. 

There is a neutral that I would throw into the mix, if a 3-color quilt is the way I decide to go. It is a P&B Textiles fabric called Apple Cider.

And, if I were to want to go with 4 fabrics, I even have that. This is a Marcus Brothers fabric by Faye Burgos.

I did the least editing on this picture, and it actually is the closest to the correct color for the main floral. Weird.

So, the problem is that the fabric I like best is the fabric with the least yardage. I have not measured out the other 3, but there is definitely more than 1 yard.

I had the thought that I'd do a strippy quilt and use the floral as the strip, and make blocks - say churn dash - out of the light and medium fabrics. That'd result in a soft, low contrast quilt. By adding the dark fabric, I will lose that romantic floral look, but I'd still be pleased with the results, I think.

So, quilty friends, how would you proceed?

Happy Quilting!

Figured it Out

In the previous post, I was puzzled by one item on my January to-do list. I couldn't remember what quilt I was talking about! Imagine, forgetting a quilt! I hardly thought it was possible!

Well, it looks like a mystery quilt solved the mystery!!

I rather vaguely named it on the list because at the time I did not know the proper name for the project I was going to do.

I finished this mystery quilt for Terry's guild retreat in March. It's called a Bradford Star, although the pattern for the mystery project was named differently. I used Westminster Fabrics from my stash for the quilt, and I really love it. Read all about it here.

So, to correct the totals from the previous post: Done: 13; No: 12. That's just better than 50%, and that's alright with me!!

Tomorrow, I am going with aforementioned Terry to a One Stop Shop Hop over in Dayton. I am really looking forward to it. I have already set my spending limit, so I won't be doing too much stash enhancement, but I am allowing myself to do some. I will report back, to be sure.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Revisiting 25 Things To Do...

Back in  early January, I posted a blog in which I was admonishing myself for wasting so much time on ridiculous internet games. I titled it 25 Things To Do ...

I have been in a bit of a quandary for a couple of days wondering what I want to start on next. There are SO many things to start, that I find I am not starting anything! To hopefully get myself back on track, I thought I'd look back on that January list and assess how well I've done in 6-7 months at tackling the list.

Take a look:

1. Sew buttons on DS's shorts and pants. DONE.
2. Finish hand-quilting brown/pink quilt. NO.
3. Put Civil War patterns from last year's Brackman quilt-along into sleeves and binder. NO.
4. Finish hand-quilting Schnibbles. FINISHED ONE; NEARLY FINISHED A SECOND.
5. Make book covers. MADE ONE.
6. Work on Wendy's pillow. NO.
7. Work on Robin's pillow. NO.
8. Sew batik leftover strips into a quilt top. MADE ONE QUILT TOP; HAVE A 2ND STARTED.
9. Make Farmer's Wife block(s). NO.
10. Make Civil War block(s). NO.
11. Stitch decorative designs on white jacket. NO.
12. Finish curtain for closet. NO.
13. Make little book bags for twins. DONE.
14. Cut out blue/beige quilt. DONE, AND THE QUILT TOP IS DONE.
15. Cut out floral stars quilt. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THIS IS.
16. Cut out Thimbleberries red, gold, blue quilt. NO.
17. Cut out red and white quilt. NO.
18. Cut out pastel triangle quilt. DONE, AND THE QUILT TOP IS DONE.
19. Finish Adam's t-shirt quilt. NO.
20. Work on Lone Star quilt. HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS STEADILY.
21. Begin Pink Lemonade doll quilt-along. QUILT TOP DONE.
22. Clean off sewing room dresser. DONE.
23. Finish 5-pointed star quilt. NO.
24. Get a package ready to send to Amie for her postage stamp quilt. HAVE ONE READY.
25. Work on Mom's signature quilt. COMPLETED AND DELIVERED.

Score: Done 12; Not done 12; Unknown: 1.

That's exactly 50%, if my math serves me correctly. I have had some productivity, at least. I am a bit concerned about item #15. I honestly do not know what quilt I was thinking about. I suppose I could figure it out. Stay tuned, for I will definitely let you know if I figure it out!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Finished Wall Hanging

On a whim at the end of quilt camp, I began a red, white and blue wall hanging. Just minutes ago, I finished off the binding and hung it on the door. It's a week late for the Fourth, but I will leave it up for the rest of summer, I think.

I am quite pleased with it. The size is 20" square. The pattern is an adaptation of a Thimbleberries tablerunner. Instead of joining 3 stars, I opted for just one and it worked out just right, in my opinion. The fabrics are all from my stash, and the red and the blue are Thimbleberries fabrics, ironically enough. Perfect.

I want you to take a closer look at the border quilting. The design is from a handcut template that I found in my grandmother's quilting stuff. (A few months back, if you recall, she cleared out all her templates, and they came to me!) 

And speaking of Grandma, I am planning to visit her tomorrow. For awhile throughout the spring, I'd made the habit of going twice a week to see her, but  I've backed off to just once a week this summer. A mid-week visit will be a good thing.

Happy Quilting, Friends!



More Quilt Camp Wrap Up

Maybe you've heard about our extensive storm damage and subsequent power outages here in southern Ohio. In fact, most of you probably lost your power longer than we did. We were fortunate that our outage was just 3 hours. Many in the area were without for days, some more than a week. Couple that loss of electricity with the extraordinary heat wave we have had, and I can tell you people were miserable! I was counting my blessings that we had our a/c!

Well, in addition to losing power, some of our quilt campers lost internet service. Consequently, I just last evening received a batch of Day 5 pictures and some more finishes!! My dear friend Kay, the original organizer of our yearly camps, has sent along 25 pics, of which I will share just a few. You can click here to see the earlier wrap-up.  To see all the 2012 Quilt Camp posts, just enter 2012 Quilt Camp into the search box over there to the right.

Sit back and enjoy the show!

Sherrie's mother, Pat, made tremendous progress on her quilt. She began with charm packs and jelly rolls. By eliminating the cutting, she was able to zip right along to a fabulous finish!

This is Kay's Tag Sale, complete with sashing, a variation from the original pattern. It looks great. Remember this is to be a gift for a baby boy, so the baseball-themed fabric and blue sashing/borders work really well.

Sharon R., if you recall, was our new-to-quilting camper. She finished her Potato Chip quilt, and it has already been quilted by a local longarm gal, and Sharon is ready to bind it! Well done! I think we have a new quilter joining our ranks!!

Georgia just plugged away all week on her embriodery blocks. The machines that do this embroidery are fascinating; the work they can produce is just incredible.

Here's a close-up shot of the block she was holding in the photo above. Here are some of the other blocks she's using in this quilt.

It's going to be a great-looking quilt, no doubt about it.

I have already shared a pic of Betty's Grinch quilt, but this might be a better shot of it.

And here's Anita's Log Cabin quilt. I really like how she chose to set the blocks together. There are so many variations one can choose with Log Cabin blocks, but this seems just right.

Linda has camped with us before, but she and I were never attending on the same day at the same time this year, so I missed her completely! Here she is at work on a Comfy Care quilt for a neighbor who is Amish. The fabrics are solids, just like the Amish would use for their quilts.

Another quilter I completely missed was Kelly, co-owner of our new quilt shop in town, Old Town Fabric Shop. She came to work on this intricately-pieced quilt. She teaches some classes at her shop, so maybe this is one that will soon be offered?? Looks like a pleasing variety of reproduction fabrics in this! I have to tell you, Kelly was a student of mine, and now she's a quilting pal. I knew she had potential way back in junior English!! *lol*

One quilt that is being taught at Old Town is this one, Amish With a Twist. Pat is taking the class and spent some time working on her homework so that her teacher wouldn't be disappointed in her!! Fun, fun!!

I will add this one last picture, not because of the finishes, but because it's just so cool to see the variety lined up side by side there on the design wall. Anita's Log Cabins, Betty's Grinch, and Sherrie's stars. Wow. Just wow.

Okay, barring any further emails of pics of quilt camp, I think that might just wrap up this wrap-up!

Happy Quilting, Friends!