Quilt Reveal: Fear of the Missed Deadline

 I was going about my merry way, planning today's post to say I have been quilting for the last two weeks but have nothing to show for it. Just cutting some scraps, organizing the sewing room, finishing quilting Boundless.

I even figured I could show you my library stack to keep the post from being too boring. I went to the main library recently and gathered these books.

Then I thought, is Project Quilting over? And sauntered my way to the website to find out. Nope, there is one last project, and it is due in three hours! I can't make a quilt that fast. I already used up the last of my scrap in last week's project.

Then I read the challenge post. It is about conquering a fear. Seriously?! It is daring me to make a quilt in three hours. Very tricky, people. Can I make it?

Step aside, I have another emergency quilt to make. Anyone who complains about the lack of vacuuming can blame the Kim and the Project Quilting people.

 

To make it quickly, I raided the Spare Parts box. That is where I put my orphan blocks that are leftover from other quilt projects. Since my project last week used leftover from another project and I got away with it, I decided to push the rules even more. What are they going to do, fire me? It is the last project of the year.

I figured I could use these pieces and fill in with the leftovers from the Boundless quilt and the box of scraps I am currently cutting for my scrap quilt.

I decided to just use the pieces based on their size and not worry too much about anything else. If it fits, that is where it sits.

I even took a break to make a scrappy lunch - throwing whatever I could find in the kitchen together to get it done quickly.

 

Ta-da! And because of the deadline, there was no time to take a lot of in progress pictures.

 

I had to edit this post to show you how close I came to missing the deadline.

2022: Week 5: 15 Minutes to Stitch

I started to cut the scraps from Lansing Leaves to use in the Postage Stamp quilt, but I decided that I didn't want that much orange in that quilt. I spent the week piecing the Lansing Leaves scrap for the backing. There isn't any room to store any more scraps so I need to use them up.  Normally I try to make a generation quilt, but this time, the next generation will be the back. At least this will keep the baby grandchild quilt from being born before the parent quilt as so frequently happens here. The baby was born first with Project Quilting last week, Flight.

 

I have been enjoying piecing the back. Just joining the scraps based on their size. I had tried this before with a utility quilt that gave me trouble, but I think I must have been trying to make sure everything was balanced and cohesive.

I have found that I have trouble when I am trying to make one piece, and adding to it, like the first Project Quilting piece I did this year. Even though I used Postage Stamp as a leader and ender, I found it to be a constant interruption in working on the one piece, since the stamp had to be every other thing I pushed through the machine. For this back, I am piecing two parts of the backing at a time that will eventually be joined together. It feels like less interruption to keep one train of thought.

 

 

2022: 15 Minutes to Stitch Week 5

I had a solid week of quilting again this week. Besides piecing the back, I went through a bunch of craft magazines to donate. Those blocks in the photo are from the orphan box - they were rejects from Life of Plenty and I think they will fit in perfectly here.

15 minute days this week --7 out of 7

15 minute days this year -- 30 out of 30 days

Success rate  = 100%

Linked with:

15 Minutes to Stitch

Oh Scrap

2022: More Finishes Than Starts

 There haven't been any changes in this chart, so I didn't update the date. But since I have made so much progress on Lansing Leaves, I am closer to having more finishes than starts for 2022.

If you are interested in bright, colorful crochet, Lucy at Attic24 always shows lots of beautiful photos and free patterns. I don't crochet, and I still really enjoy looking at her blog posts.

If you are used in learning how to use repurposed textiles in quilts, Rhonda Cox Dort offers lots of information on her blog, including beautiful free patterns and free classes.

StoryGraph turns your book reading into beautiful graphs. It analyzes your reading to find patterns and reading preferences and offers suggestion. It looks like an alternative to Goodreads.

Quilt Exhibit: Scrap Quilts

 

Hello! Welcome back to the Musee de la Grande Route.  You are in for a treat today - a showcase of a specially curated selection of quilts.  Presenting a curated selection of the scrap quilts Shasta has made. While there are many more scrap quilts in the Work in Progress Hall and more completed scrap quilts in the Repository, all of the curated quilts in this exhibit are completed quilts. I limited myself to 15 pictures to avoid overwhelming you. In this way, future exhibits can present additional quilts as the collection evolves.

In order to give you a large selection of quilts, I have kept my definition of scrap quilts broad, and am showing you all kinds of quilts that fit my definition of scrap quilts. Feel free to discuss /debate.

Mighty Matchstick Mansion is one that truly and easily fits the definition of scrap quilts. It uses scraps left over from making a scrap quilt. It uses any and all fabric leftover without any regard to any criteria. You can't get scrappier than that.

 The Rail Fence is definitely a scrap quilt by every definition. It uses a large variety of fabric, most of which are leftovers from other quilts.

Leftover Rail Fence uses scraps. Even though it is improv and not traditional,  the number of fabrics makes it a scrap quilt. The unplanned nature of the fabric selection and the bright fabrics make me think scrappy even though that doesn't really have anything to do with the official definition of scrap quilts.

Coin Quilt is a scrap quilt that uses a lot of different fabrics. While some are leftover fabrics (scraps), a lot of them were cut from fat quarters.

 

 

Simply Squares and the zig zag quilt on the right also use a large number of fabrics. All of the fabrics had been recently purchased and had not been used in any other quilt so they are technically not scraps, but purchased fabrics are legal for scrap quilts and I am willing to use that loophole. The zig zag quilt and its fraternal twin were made from a kit that came without a pattern, so I repurposed the fabric.

 

I Llike You a Llot Llama is definitely made out of a lot of scraps, so it fits my definition of scrap quilt.  But is not a normal scrap quilt with pieced scraps and most people would put it in the art quilts category and not the scrap quilt category. I put it in both.

  

Little Nine Patch uses scraps and I limited myself to the scraps that were in one shoebox.

 

 

Valentine Art Quilt For Swap are also made with scrap fabrics, and even some paper. The Bargello is made from a jelly roll. The bargello picture is from my blog and the photo appears wider than it is so the proportions are wrong.

The Christmas Trees looks like a scrap quilt but most of the fabric is old but not leftovers.

 

Butterfly Wreaths is made from a variety of fabric, some new and some scraps. Because it uses a large variety of fabric, it easily fits the definition of scrap quilt in my book.

 The Heart Quilt uses a variety of scraps from finished and unfinished quilts.The limited palette and the fact that  it is the background that is scrappy may require some people to look twice to make sure it is a scrap quilt, but I think a jury would rule in my favor.

The  Thirties Boro uses leftover authentic and reproduction 30s fabric from the yoyo quilt which is not finished. Another quilt where it is the background that is scrappy, but the eclectic nature of the fabric makes it obviously a scrap quilt.

This one has a wide but limited range and easily fits my definition of scrap quilt.The smaller picture is from my blog and this quilt was given away so it is nice to revisit it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quilt Reveal: Thirties Boro

May I introduce you to my mini quilt of the month for the month of August?

Last year, I was working with my thirties yo-yo quilt.  It is still a work in progress, but in the meantime, I had some precious scraps that will not work for that quilt.  There are so many wonderful ways to use the scraps, but I decided to make a boro quilt.

Here's the video that I used. I even pressed the quilted quilt, which I don't normally do.



Collages have a tendency to look awful until they are finished. It is a fine balance to take the time to make a pleasing arrangement, but avoid the overthinking that would make it look predictable and boring.

Once it was stitched down, it probably would have looked fine with a binding, but I decided it needed something more. Collage quilts are quite popular right now. I see quilts designed by Laura Heine everywhere right now in my internet surfing. I decided to add a focal point. I probably should have chosen a more interesting focal point, but I had the big piece of green fabric and I thought of circles.  It was late at night when the circles turned into a tree.

The tree applique and some other stitching form the quilting stitches.

The circles puff a little bit to make it look dimensional.

The threads are leftover pieces from the quote quilt. I added some stitching that goes a different direction just to secure more of the long edges.  I like how the tree makes you look at the other shapes again to try to figure out what they are. Is that a mailbox? A sign? Or another tree?

In true Shasta style, here is the back.

It is approximately 9" x 12".

Linked with:
DrEAMi

Quilt Reveal: Heart Quilt

When I learned that you could make a heart with squares and rectangles instead of triangles, and saw the sweet quilts that were made that way, I wanted to make that quilt.  But every February, when I saw a quilt that was made that way, I resisted.  I already have enough heart quilts. I need to work on some other holiday quilt, if I make a holiday quilt at all.

But then this month, I came across a quilt tutorial from Sew Can She. I was about to resist again, but then Project Quilting made it their challenge to make something with a heart on it. I can make this quilt and break out of my cycle of desire and resistance. How long can it take? One week max.

So I made it, adapting the pattern to make a small quilt. It took less than a week.

February 2, 2020. 02/02/2020 was the first global palindrome day in 909 years. The next will come in 101 years on 12/12/2121 and after that there will not be another until 03/03/3030. It was the 33rd day of the year and there are 333 days left.  The date is so special, wouldn't it be nice to have a quilt with a finish date of February 2, 2020 on it?  I started this quilt on that date, knowing there was no way possible I could finish it that day. I figure I can use that as a start date. Who said you can't put a start date on the quilt?

I decided to make a quilt with 20 blocks on it. I made the 20 blocks. I made the setting blocks. Then I realized there isn't a way to make a quilt on point with 20 blocks (If it is possible, please let me know how).  This meant I had to make the quilt with a straight setting.

While you are still close enough to the picture above, did you notice how perfectly the quilt sits on the batting scrap? The batting scrap is just exactly the right size.

Unfortunately, I had already chosen a border fabric when I took that picture. To finish it within a week, I birthed the quilt. I carefully cut the backing in two and pressed down the edges so that I could piece it like a pillow without having to sew any edges. The quilting would seal in the space where the pillow would be inserted.

However,  I made a mistake with the layers. I had the top on top so I could see the edges, the backing under it, right sides together, and the batting at the bottom. This meant that when I sewed it together, the top was upside down on the top and the batting was at the bottom. I had no access to the backing.  It is good that I had to piece the batting, because I had to cut into it to turn the quilt.  I was afraid that I would have to rip out sewing the edges, but once I had access to the back, I was able to turn it again to make everything be in the right  position.

I lightly quilted it so it would retain the sweet, minimal look.

Since the Project Quilting challenge is Put a Heart on It, let me show you the quilt on point so you can see the hearts! See, there are 20 hearts to represent 2020!

Courthouse Steps

I am cleaning up for a family gathering and still cleaning my sewing room as a part of 15 minutes to stitch.

This means that the room where I sew has to be returned to living room / dining room status. The dining table had some fabric strings on it, and instead of finding an appropriate box and an appropriate place to put the box, I thought it might be better to just turn them into blocks.    Bonnie Hunter's  crooked courthouse steps quilt tutorial came at exactly the right time. Cleaning by sewing. That's my story and I am sticking to it!

15 Minutes to Stitch: Week 41

This week, I cut and prepared the binding for the drunkard's path quilt. I cleaned the dining table as well as sewed seven string blocks. These are the same blocks shown different ways. The seventh one is under the needle.


15 Minute sessions of stitching this week: 7 out of 7
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year: 247 out of 286 sessions
Success Rate: 86%

Linked with:
15 Minutes to Stitch 
Finished or Not Friday

Butterfly Wreaths -- Quilted Scalloped and Bound

I finished quilting the scallops for Butterfly Wreaths.  It wasn't as hard as I expected it to be.  I wound up having the exact amount of thread I needed to make that last row of quilting. I switched to another slightly darker thread, which will be fine because it shows on the back and not the front. I followed the instructions to make bias binding, and I wound up having the exact amount of fabric for binding this quilt. When you add in the seam allowance, the scallops don't wind up being as deep as they looked when they were being cut.

Here's what it looks like from the back. There are several different colors of thread on the back, but it isn't obvious and adds interest. It looks so pretty, I'm not sure where to add the label.

The wind posed this shot.

It isn't finished yet!  I will wash away a little bit of stray marks where I marked the cutting line for the scallops, and then will be adding these beads in the light squares. I have to justify all the beads I buy to embellish quilts, and I have enough of these leaves for all of the squares.

[Edited to add: I am going to call this finished for now. This quilt finishes at an awkward size - too small to be a wall hanging over the couch, and too big to fit comfortably on the bulletin board.  It will probably serve best as a table topper, which means I shouldn't be adding embellishments on it. Also I need to get to the backlog of quilts that also want to be finished.]

 

15 Minutes to Stitch: Week 10

This week, I spent quilting and binding Butterfly Wreaths. Also learning how to scallop and do bias binding.  Yesterday, I started another (hopefully quick) quilt. I am almost done touching every. single. thing. in the master bedroom to see if it sparks joy. I have a couple of box lids of things I have kicked out of the room and I need to find new homes for them. After that, I need to do some general cleaning before I tackle deep cleaning another room.

15 Minute sessions of stitching this week: 7 out of 7
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year: 69 out of 69 sessions
Success Rate: 100%

Linked to:
Oh Scrap!
15 Minutes to Stitch Week 10
Slow Sunday Stitching - I stitched the binding on this quilt.
Moving it Forward 
What I Made on Monday 
Needle and Thread Thursday

Quilt Reveal: Mighty Matchstick Mansion

In order to use up my scraps, I decided to make a rail fence quilt.  This quilt is designed to use up the scraps that were too small to fit into the rail fence quilt. These are all one and a half inch strips that are too short for the rail fence quilt.  So they are more like matchsticks really.

It took a long time to cut up the scraps for this quilt, because it is supposed to use leftovers from the rail fence quilt, named Fourth Rail.  I had to cut the scraps for Fourth Rail, and then the leftovers were used for this quilt. Sometimes I cut up a scrap of fabric and Fourth Rail used them all and there wasn't anything left big enough for this quilt, so I had to move on to the next scrap.  Also since this quilt is one block, I sewed more of Fourth Rail as a leader/ender, which meant I was making two quilts at the same time.

Some of the more astute viewers may wonder whether it is a courthouse square or a log cabin because it has elements of both.  Well, it is both. No, I take that back. It is neither. It is a mansion.

And because little matchsticks are able to make something like a mansion, they are pretty mighty. So this is a Mighty Matchstick Mansion.

It finishes at 16" x 17 1/2" and since it is bigger than a breadbox and was made in the correct time frame, I am submitting it to the Bigger Than a Breadbox Project Quilting Challenge.

Once I figured out I was early for the challenge because the deadline is noon on Sunday, not Saturday, I quilted it some more and cleaned off some of the stray threads.

I really enjoyed making this quilt, and it is very tempting to change my original plan for Fourth Rail and make it improv rather than traditional, but I am going to keep going as I have been. That has always been my biggest issue with making a long term scrap project. There are so many great ideas, it is hard to stay committed to one until it is finished.

I Llike You a Llot Llama

We interrupt regularly scheduled programming to bring you a very special Llama. I took a vacation from my vacation. I was running around thinking about all the things I wanted to get done before I went back to work, and decided I was going to take a pure vacation day that didn't entail getting ready to go back to work.

I watched this video.



I looked at my trash can. You know how I have been making circles out of my fabric trash. Well I can make other things besides circles too.  It's strange that the colors washed out in these photos since I did take the quilts outside to photograph them and it is bright outside. (edited to add: I took new pictures which are slightly better and replaced some of the old ones.]

The fabric scraps were mostly used as is, straight out of the fabric trash can, although I did have to make some skinnier. I didn't make sure they were all the same size.  I used double-side fusible web (Steam a Seam2) instead of liquid glue to  hold down the fabric scraps, and used a stick glue to help hold down the pieces that overlapped.

Then I cut out the shapes and fused them to the background.

Then I stitched the strips down. For this quilt, I used the wavy line stitch on my machine to avoid having to change feet. Then I added decorative stitches.

I birthed the quilt and then I stitched around the shapes with dark thread and added the words and ribbon. It was a lot of fun.

Those of you who know me are probably wondering why I used a llama instead of an elephant. "Don't you know you can use any shape with this technique?"

Way ahead of you. In fact, I finished the elephant before the llama, only because I had to piece the batting for the llama. I used scraps for everything - including the design, the background, the backing, and the batting. The size of the pieces were dictated by the size of the scraps.

The thread was new. This technique takes several feet changes, but by the time I got to the llama, I became more economical.

The circle was surprisingly in the right place to be an eye.

The border ribbon is made out of jute and polyester. I thought it worked well with the elephant.

Both of these were a lot of fun to make.

Linked to:
Off the Wall Friday 
Friday Foto Fun 
Oh Scrap! 
Moving It Forward Monday - these quilts were a brief respite from making the Sweet Land of Liberty and the Colonial Bricks quilts.
Monday Making