Sukoon - the Quilt

Sukoon 

(An Urdu word, the national language of Pakistan and 1 of 23 in India,

Meaning peace, calm, relief, serenity, wholeness, and tranquility)

The finished quilt measures 54" wide x 66" long

The last time I shared photos of Sukoon,

the newly-finished quilt top did not have borders.

When I pulled it out to prepare for the free motion quilting process

I was still not totally in love with the top.

Adding a narrow dark green batik inner border

and Grunge outer borders/binding made all the difference.

Quilted with my all over liberated fans and flowers

using Glide thread in Pink Rose. 

In earlier posts for Sukoon I showed a photo

of the hot pink backing with large stylized elephant heads.

Obviously that changed, too.

These quirky owls are a much better fit.

(Art Gallery Lugo collection by Jessica Swift for Angles

purchased from Needle and Foot - Bernie's Etsy shop)

I made sure to include more liberated flowers this time

including several that spill out into the border.

Now that Sukoon is finished

I'm very happy with quilt.

Proof yet again that if we as makers listen carefully

to the quilt, it will tell us what we need to know.

* * *

I'm linking this post with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

(even though Sukoon wasn't one of my RSC-specific projects)

since there's lots of scrappy goodness featuring this month's PINK color.

Quiltdivajulie

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“I believe in pink.  I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner.  I believe in kissing, kissing a lot.  I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong.  I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls.  I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.”

Attributed to Audrey Hepburn

Otsego Revisited - the Flimsy

The second of my three tops to be webbed is done.

This is Otsego Revisited. 

48" x 60"

Otsego is a small town in Michigan

where my mother attended high school.

My favorite grandpa lived there when I was young

and his back yard was bordered with

the most fragrant sweet peas I've ever smelled.

When I saw Robin Picken's Sweet Pea and Lily line

at a local quilt shop, that layer cake

simply HAD to come home with me.

Scrappy greens from my stash

plus strips cut from that layer cake 

were combined with other fabrics from the stash

resulting in this saturated scrappy goodness.

And it looks just as good when rotated 180 degrees.

I'm not sure which way I like it best.

 Backing and binding strips . . . 

I'm so glad I gave these fabrics a second chance

after giving up on the first blocks I made.

Now Otsego Revisited is off to the

'waiting to be quilted closet.'

(more on that closet next week)

* * *

There's one last set of clipped blocks

to be webbed into a quilt top (Jingle Bells).

But then, instead of diving into Hello July's

scrappy red, blue, and cream tumblers as planned

I'm going to do something that was totally unplanned.

(spontaneity is seriously missing from our lives these days)

Bonnie Hunter has been sharing sneak peeks

of a design she's calling Appalachian Autumn.

I'm going to use these long stashed fabrics 

to create my own version.

I'm naming my impromptu project Resplendent 

which means

"brightly colored in an impressive way"

Time will tell if my results are impressive or not

but this quilt top will definitely be brightly colored.

* * *

And I finally figured out

why I was so unhappy with Sukoon.

It wasn't the quilt top at all.

It was the top paired with 

that hot pink elephant print.

When I put it alongside this Art Gallery owl fabric

I realized I just needed to change the backing.

Dilemma resolved.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Listen to your heart.  It knows everything.”

Paul Coehlo

Sukoon - the Flimsy

Sukoon is now a quilt top.

48" wide x 60" long

As much as I like the version of Slopes in the book

(No Scrap Left Behind by Amanda Jean Nyberg)

I must confess to being somewhat underwhelmed 

by my non-solid scrappy version.

I can see two things right off that I would

 do differently if I use this design again.

When choosing fabrics I'd adjust the level of

contrast to show off the "slopes" more effectively

and I would definitely make my angled trimming 

more pronounced and less timid.

HOWEVER . . . 

Sukoon wasn't meant to be a copy of the book's version.

It was intended to be a scrappy comfort quilt.

And it is.

So all is well.

* * *

My book's publisher (AQS)

is currently planning to liquidate 

all remaining copies of my book.

BUILD A BARN - No Pattern Construction

So, before they're officially "sold out"

I'm offering autographed copies for $10.00 each

with free domestic USPS media mail shipping.

(Amazon sells the book for $24.95)

 

Now is the time if you want/need 

a copy for your studio bookshelf,

your guild's raffle table / library, 

a 4-H, church, school, or scout group,

the local senior center's book exchange,

your nearest Little Free Library,

 or for birthdays or other gift-giving occasions

including upcoming Secret Santa swaps.

Payment via PayPal is the easiest

but I also accept personal checks via mail.

And please be sure your email is linked to

or included in the body of your comment

so I can respond to you.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Everything in writing begins with language. 

Language begins with listening.”

Jeanette Winterson

Short Term Goals and More

First - I want to finish webbing the top for Sukoon.

Second - I want to web the top for Otsego Revisited.

Third - I want to web the top for Jingle Bells.

THEN I can start playing with another project

that has been cut out and waiting for a while now.

A tumbler quilt I've named Hello July that was

seeded with the fabrics from this layer cake.

With the movement of items back to the bonus room

aka Younger Son's new living space

it was time to clean and freshen up the design studio.

DH helped me add this small design wall

in place of the quilt hanging rod

on the entry wall of the room.

Flexible display space . . . I like it.

And I inherited a leftover 2-drawer filing cabinet

that fit perfectly into the opening between

two of the existing drawer pedestals.

It is perfect for printed/bound tutorials, 

patterns with acrylic templates,

information on speciality rulers,

and patterns of all sorts.

And there was even enough space on top

to add a splash of color with four of my quilts.

Progress comes in many forms.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Don’t listen to criticism from someone you wouldn’t see advice from.”

Melissa Bolton

Craving Pink

A couple of years ago I cut up lots of

 low volume prints and pinks for two different projects.

Neither one of the projects came to fruition

and the strips have been waiting patiently.

Along the way since then

I've kept adding assorted pinks 

as leftovers from other projects

have presented themselves.

Saturday afternoon I realized 

that I need a healthy dose of PINK

so I pulled out that box. 

(pinks and low volumes are both 

"comfort food" colors for me)

I sorted the strips by color group

and wider and narrower.

I'm making slabs that are 

between seven and eight inches wide 

by the length of the strips.

The wider strips are (for the most part)

being positioned on the outer edges

to allow for trimming to 6.5" squares.

Eventually there will be eighty 6" finished squares.

By late Sunday afternoon 

there were twenty scrappy slabs 

on the design wall.

(sadly my phone camera is reading 

these as darker than real life)

This is the plan for those slabs.

When I first flipped through Crazy Mom's latest book,

her Slopes design was the one I most wanted to make

but it has taken all this time for that to happen.

(I've started before but those ended up

turning into other variations of coins quilts -

you can see most of them on my 

Coins Quilts page by clicking HERE

or using the coins quilt label in the sidebar)

I'll use this yardage for backing.

I bought it on deep discount

simply because I loved it.

Now I know why I needed it.

* * *

I have named this project SUKOON meaning

"peace, calm, relief, serenity, tranquility."

Sukoon is an Urdu word.

And if you are wondering,

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan

and one of 23 languages of India.

Quiltdivajulie

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“The best listeners listen between the lines.”

Nina Malkin