Wrapping up 2017

So here's the round up for 2017! If you're tired of all these year end statistics and 'Wowsers! Look what I accomplished!, then feel free to check back in a later date. I'm actually sort of blown away by the numbers, but then I was always the person who scoffed just a little at other quilters great big pile of finishes. What are they making anyway? Quilt in a Day sort of quilts?

2017 Finishes

Okay, laugh with me here. We all have the ability to grow and learn! Come to find out, they probably deliberately carved out time for finishing up. Ughh... Not always the fun part for me, especially when it comes to machine quilting! I still almost break out in hives thinking, 'This is it! This time I'm absolutely going to ruin my beautiful quilt top!' 2017 was definitely a finish-it-up sort of year for me though. I had great determination to whittle away at my completed quilt top list, even if only by a little bit.  Just to give you an idea, the beginning of 2016 found me with 28 completed quilt tops, 2017 with 25 and as of today, there are only 22!

2017 Finishes

That never stopped me from starting more projects of course, but it did slow me down a few times. Okay, more than a few times. Starting is so... much easier than finishing up. Probably why I only had a net gain of 3? Oh well. That's the sort of detail that doesn't even make me flinch anymore. I figured out a long, long time ago that when I stop playing with current quilt projects, then the progress on hand quilting or machine quilting slows to a sluggish speed of almost nothing happening. Creativity seems to beget its own sort of momentum around here.

2017 Finishes

It's always fascinating to see every, true-blue finish in one single post. Occasionally a newer quilt, but usually the older, as of course I am always lagging a year, or two {or five?} behind. As I've stated before, this isn't necessarily a bad thing! Stitching those older quilts, while in the midst of putting together the brand new projects, makes for an interesting sort of influence--back and forth. Color palettes, design, technique, it all comes into play. Maybe it helps to nudge me into revisiting an idea that floated off into the ether. Or reminds me how much I love certain color combinations. Whatever. I can't imagine ever doing anything different or trying to be caught up to the point of always and forever finishing a quilt directly after the quilt top is nailed down! Just trying to some day get that backlog down to something that's a bit more manageable!

So, the numbers.... 19 completed quilts this year! Woohoo! One is a little Christmas table runner not pictured above in the collages. Just decided not to try and squeeze it in since it was such a quickie!

• 1 Table Runner
• 1 Comfort quilt
• 10 Lap quilts
• 7 Bed sized quilts
• 9 of those quilts were completely hand quilted
• 6 quilts were a mixture of hand quilting and machine quilting
• 2 quilts were completely machine quilted
• 1 quilt was longarm quilted by a friend
• 1 quilt was a combination of longarm quilting {by friend} and a little bit of hand quilting

As always, I gave a few away too--13 in fact. New quilts and older ones too. It doesn't really matter does it? I talked about making/giving here, earlier in the year so I won't go on and on about how much I loooove giving away my quilts to just the right person.

One of the gifted quilts.....

And because it does sort of melts my heart to see my quilts being loved and appreciated, I thought it would be a nice time to share. I know some of you feel the same way! 

And another one.....

So that's the wrap up for 2017--a very good year! Thank you to everyone who drops by to take a look at the current quilt in the hoop or everyday progress. It's wonderful to be a part of this quilting community and make friends who actually enjoy talking quilty stuff! I'll be diving into the 2018 quilting projects as soon as we clean up the New Years mess, get everyone off to school, work and regular routines. 

Sorry for the quilty posts overload this past week if that's not your sort of thing. Eventually I'll even get caught up on replying to all the comments! Which brings me to another point real quickly. I don't reply here on the blog unless it's to answer a question that several people might be interested in knowing the answer to, such as pattern source etc.  If you have been commenting on my posts and NEVER get a personal reply? Then I don't have your email address and am getting stuck at Google Plus or somewhere without a clue how to reach you! Just drop a line to my personal email {can be found here} or leave an email address in your blog comment. Easy peasy. I promise I'm not ignoring you on purpose!

Finished and Gifted!

In spite of my initial ambivalence towards this quilt, I was very happy to be gifting it today. Tomorrow is my oldest brother and his wife's 25th anniversary, something that I love being able to celebrate with them. 

Straight & Narrow is a finish!

This was a very fast finish for me, only just started in October of this year! Normally I would just dig through the completed quilt top drawers to find something suitable for gifting, but in this instance, I wanted something a bit more 'formal' or even 'modern' looking in terms of design. Not for the fabrics and color though. Oh no. That was the conundrum. I wanted something that was obviously toned down and perhaps mellow looking {not eye catching at all}, but of course, at the same time,  it simply had to exude that cozy feeling I'm always trying to instill directly into my quilts. Agghhh! Quilting can be so hard.....

Looking across the quilt

I finally narrowed it down to this muted color scheme of tan, creams and country blues and then of course, ended up thinking it looked so plebeian and  boring. I second guessed myself a half dozen times and had all that wonderful angst that ends up making me insist I'll never, never, in a million years make a quilt specifically for someone ever, ever again! Adding the darker fabric with the golds and orangey-red crosses definitely helped perk it all up and bring a level of interest back to the quilt. Totally helped reestablish my equilibrium.*sigh  Why do we do this to ourselves?

Outside in the frosty winter air...

I was mostly following a pattern {Quilt Sampler Fall & Winter 2013 magazine} which makes it even more incredible to see it actually finished. Following patterns is like falling into a coma for me. My entire brain just wants to shut off. But once again, I proved to myself that it's good to trust our instincts. That gut level that prompts up to continue on even while the rest of our being is trying to enact a full on resistance. But, but, but... can't I just add a little bit of excitement? Change things up for more energy and 'first look' impact? hehe   This may not be the most exciting quilt I've ever completed, it did exactly what I was hoping it would do. It looks exactly like what I WANTED, NEEDED and EXPECTED. And that's important to be able to execute and see come to fruition.

And in terrible lighting in the stairwell!

I had some struggles with the machine quilting, having to deal with some drag on the fabrics at the connecting seams. Finally I realized that if I just stitched in-the-ditch down the length of the darker strip of fabric first, then that would take care of the bulk of my problems there. And of course I came back and hand quilted in that darker area with the applique, both inside the crosses and also along the lighter blue stripes. That is most definitely my favorite part of the entire quilt, seeing that lovely texture come into play.

A closer look at the hand quilting....

Overall, I was impressed and amazed to see the quilt start coming together in such a good way that I was feeling happy about the end result. Truly, it was a good challenge. Didn't hurt me at all! On another note, the binding fabric ended up being an easy pick. I just went with a burnt orange 'feather' fabric that added a nice bit of color to the edges of the quilt. My brother has an eclectic interest in chickens and ducks {manifested into a barnyard full} and so including the feather prints just added an important bit of personality. He'll notice the feathers even if nobody else does! And yay! for me, getting some of those oldy fabric used up and out of the stash bins. That's always a win to see them used up and hopefully well appreciated.

Random Sampler Is a Finish!

Things always slow down in the fall, that's what I've been telling myself for months. So here we are and it still feels like we are careening from one week right into the next. I ended up in Portland this past weekend and snuck in a little visit to my youngest sister. Did I do any hand work that was prepped and sitting in my bag?

Random Sampler

Um, no. I was too busy trying to keep from shivering half to death. It's usually 10 degrees warmer in Western Oregon than what we deal with here in Eastern Washington, but that cold damp air! Brr...

Can you believe how far we are into November? I keep walking around in a fog just blown away by how close we are to Thanksgiving already! This quilt was one I was absolutely determined to get finished up this year and it's always had an expected Thanksgiving deadline--at least in my mind. Yikes! So, knowing this quilt was so crazy close to a finish, I knuckled down and finally got the binding figured out and all sewn on. Love the leftover binding tote for quilts like this--didn't have to dig into the stash at all and the work is half done already!

So good to have this one finished!

This is definitely one of my oldest unfinished quilt tops. Started sometime in 2012 from one of the first online QAL's I ever joined up with and one that almost got sidelined completely. It got bogged down sometime after most of the original blocks were finished {how to put the puzzle together and have it look good???} and then it was quite awhile before the quilt top itself was finally sewn together. The large applique basket block was an orphan block that just begged to be incorporated into the quilt and I've never regretted that. It helps give the quilt personality! Also, it's good to remember that all through the making of this particular project, I constantly referred to Gwen Marston's 'Liberated Medallion Quilts' book. It's a lovely, wonderful book to have on the shelf if you like to do your own thing.

A little bit of hand quilting on the applique basket...

I still love the calm, cozy colors in this quilt. Somehow that creamy white just helped make the quilt glow instead of  getting overwhelmed by the dark undertones in most fall fabrics. It's a trap I fall into a lot of times, loving these colors but not quite get the balance right. And I adore the use of plaids, something you'll see me gravitate to over and over again. Overall, it just feels like an inviting quilt and that feels like a win.

Love seeing then hanging off the railing....

Because it was such a busy, busy quilt, I ended up machine quilting it in simple vertical lines and then went back and hand quilted the larger basket block with perle cotton. There was one big pucker in the back of the quilt that I tried to think would be okay to ignore. I even took the colored thread off the cone and replaced it with my usual white thread. But no. It was just too bad to wink at. Couldn't leave it be! Ugghh.. Hate having to rewind the other thread and change out the bobbin again and just for a few inches of thread. The funny thing was, somehow I ended up folding another part of the quilt into the 'fix' and then had a horrible mess on my hands. No I did not take a picture because I was just too furious! lol  In the end, I had two fixes {well, actually three after fixing the place where it was caught} and it took lots of extra time that I was sure would have been better spent elsewhere.

But now I can be happy with it and thankfully it washed up beautifully. I'm always bracing myself for red dye issues these days! So glad I went ahead and pushed myself to get this one done by this fall. It's too nice to be sitting folded up in a drawer for years. And yes, I have bounced around a lot this year, from project to project and all different looks and styles. It's all about having different projects in different stages so as to always have something to work on--no matter the crazy things going on in my life. And getting things finished up. Doesn't it feel wonderful to wrap up a years-in-the-making sort of project?

Little Red Riding Hood

So here's Lil' Red Riding Hood, the latest finish. It was started in fall of 2015 on a total impulse one day. I had been making a series of circle quilts and this one incorporated some of the leftovers from the other quilts. Don't you just love the feeling of 'using up' and being frugal!

It's finished!

It also included 5 fat eighths from a traveling stash that I had received back in 2014. These fat eighths were {'little red riding hood'} conversation prints, something I don't usually buy and potentially a good challenge for me. One day, after a little bit of play, the entire plan for the quilt came together all in a rush. Overall, it was a fast little quilt and one I don't remember feeling a great deal of angst about. Maybe it was the idea that anything was better than having orphaned bits languishing in the totes. Or perhaps it was just one of those days when all the stars appeared to be in alignment!

Loving the texture

Whatever the case, it felt like one of those quilts that practically make themselves. I completely hand quilted Lil' Red Riding Hood with #8 perle cotton thread {just got done a couple weeks ago} and fell in love with it all over again. It may seem soft and sweet--totally non consequential--but up close, it has a lovely, cozy feel. It's absolutely a feel good quilt. Nothing to be ashamed about that! The hand quilting added a much needed texture and all together, the process seriously helped soothed some ragged edges around here. For me. Who cares what anyone else thought about the quilt draped across my lap in the evenings!

This one actually looks good on the back too....

Another thing that made this quilt interesting to me was the fact that this quilt has lots of soft blue/green fabrics in it. They were fabrics that I'd tried and tried to play with so many times in the last several years. And finally, they found a home with Lil' Red Riding Hood, a quilt that basically sprung up out of nowhere. So ironic when that happens. I guess that just proves that we can't force anything when it comes to quilting!

Lil' Red Riding Hood

This quilt ended up being 58" by 63", pretty small for my personal preferences, but a decent sized lap quilt. I've had to teach myself how to stop when a quilt says it's done. Too many over-sized, design monstrosities through the years until now, mostly just-the-right-size-at-finish. Well, that's what I tell myself anyway!  Linking up to sew-stitch-snap-SHARE #14.

Fall 2017 Bloggers Quilt Festival: Flocks of Geese

Okay, here we go! This is my second entry into Amy's Bloggers Quilt Festival! There are a lot of entries, so I am planning on catching up by this weekend. Flocks of Geese is a brand new finish so thought this was a good way to show it off.

Flocks of Geese

This quilt was another one started in 2014, but was finally put into the hoop in August of this year. It's a little different style than what you might expect from me, but I think you'll find parts and pieces of my quilting 'voice' regardless! I'm honestly not sure what propelled me to start in on this quilt, but for sure, I remember the taupe, linen-like background fabric {for the geese} was part of the initial motivation. What to do with this beautiful fabric? And then it sort of evolved as always.

Looking at the stitching!

I stole the bird pattern from another quilt I had finished up early in 2013. There's just something about that bird template that just makes me happy and it seemed like it could add a certain amount of necessary whimsy lacking in this quilt. Just a quick photo-copy and reduction in size and wallah!, the bird fit perfectly into these six inch blocks.

Love how sparky it looks....

Generally I'm not one to fuss too much about the backing fabric, getting by with clearance fabrics and random chunks of fabric I've fallen out of love with. If the colors blend and the pattern isn't too offensive, then it's a go for use as backing fabric. And you wondered why I rarely show the backs of my quilts?

This time I made sure the backing fabric was in a color and print that added to the overall look and feeling of the quilt. Having used that dull grey-brown fabric throughout the quilt, I knew a rich looking backing fabric was key to, well, loving the quilt. {It also has about a half yard of a blue/white plaid up in the corner.} It was a bit flat looking compared to most of my efforts and honestly, none of my family really likes it. They say things like 'That's nice' or 'I like other quilts of yours better'. Wah! Just kidding. I much prefer my family to be honest and not shower me with false platitudes.

Washed and crinkly straight of the dryer, but still a bit damp...

I did make sure to add several different light through medium colors of green for the binding in order add another level of interest. It needed that bit of spark on the outside edge. Between that and the hand quilting, it finally had enough texture and interest to make me happy. All the flying geese blocks have a straight line stitching through the middle of the geese {in various colors of blue and green thread} and the wide sashing has a overlapping circle design in a darker variegated blue and/or wine colored thread. Most of the thread in this quilt is Valdani #8 or 12, my absolute favorite threads to use. Beautiful thread. I think that's part of why this quilt feels more like 'me' now that it's done. I know this stitching! We have many secrets together....

For those of you that are interested, I have another entry in the festival as well... Scrappy Tulips. More my 'normal' style I suppose. And why not check out all of the other great quilts too? I've found some good blogging friends this way! As always, a big thank you to Amy for putting this festival togehter!

Finishing Up

There are at least three different AHIQ projects in the daydream stages. Stacks of fabrics gathered and being fondled and ideas simmering in the background. Alas, time has gotten away from me in these dog days of summer and I count myself fortunate to have even found time for stitching down a binding. 

Improv. & Cherries a finish!

This Improv. & Cherries Or Berries {or whatever they are} was one of my improv. projects from last year. I started with make-fabric units from the scrap bin and then raided the stash totes to find the rest of the sashing and border fabrics.

Washed and drying on the floor....

It was all made in the 'flying by the seat of my pants' approach and it definitely helped to have access to the tiny, little design wall available in my quilting room as well. It ended up being machine quilted in a lazy cross-hatch pattern and then I came back and did some big-stitch hand quilting on the borders. It's very, very difficult for me to have the courage to machine stitch across the top of applique and so hand quilting is often the answer around here. Understand that I do very much appreciate the results! Just that little bit of hand stitching gives the quilt a very soft, approachable look that melts my mushy, quilt-loving heart.

Looking very cheery

It feels like a very cheerful quilt to me with the pops of pink, red and yellow and I love it, odd applique elements and all. In my mind the applique is the icing on the cake, the whimsy that makes it stand out from hundreds of other scrap-bin style quilts.

Quilts are part and parcel of the decor around here...

For now, it's taken up residence in a fabulous new basket gifted to me--a place where it's sure to be well used because of its accessibility {and probably its lack of pretentiousness too}. Everyone knows that the 'hands-off' quilts are hanging on the quilt racks or stacked in the corner shelves. Right?

Linking to AHIQ #24 with Ann and Kaja. Maybe by next months link-up, I'll have a better idea of what my new ah-hoc improv. project will entail!

Loving My Scrappy Tulips Finish

Scrappy Tulips is finally a finish! Yay! I opted to hand quilt this one a little more intensely than I usually do of late. It seemed like it just soaked up the texture like a sponge, so it was a good call.

Scrappy Tulips a new finish!

This one was started back in 2014 sometime, but I can't find the original post. The paper pieced tulip pattern was found in an older quilt book I picked up at a guild yardsale for $1--Quick & Easy Strip Quilting by Helen Whitson Rose. Such a great find!

Loving the hand quilting texture....

The tulips turned out to be a very fun way to use up some of those languishing scraps in the scrap basket. Of course if I'd have known the background color they would end up on, none of the tips would have been red! Which just goes to show that pre-planning isn't always the best way to operate. How could I have known how very much I'd love the fade-in, fade-out effect of those red tips?

Might have to keep this one for myself!

The stipey background choice was pure luck as I was auditioning every color under the sun and not feeling any love. Then I remembered a funky, striped backing fabric I'd bought and thought 'why not?' And the quilt just continued to develop with a mind of its own, like so many of my quilts do!

Such a fun quilt

I worried and fretted about the color of the triple blue, center sashing. Thought it was a bit too dull and 'meh'. Tried to fix it with the next border and then later with a bit of applique. The snowball border was an impulse decision made while I was currently infatuated with the idea of making a snowball quilt. That quilt never happened because apparently this border got all of that out of my system. At least I thought it did! Now I'm wondering if it should be made after all? Those scrappy little bits sparkling in the corners of the snowball blocks really make me happy!

Scrap bin quilts make the best sorts of quilts!

In fact, the entire quilt feels like happiness. It's just one of those that came together very well in spite of all the worries and concerns. Just the right amount of scrappy, great colors and a happy, fun vibe. What more can we ask for? If I'd have only known this kind of result was possible 15 years ago, I'd have pushed myself to be much more adventuresome a long, long time ago!

Linking up with Linda and Julie over at sew-stitch-snap-share!

Learning Curves is Finally, Finally a Finish!

At long last the binding is firmly attached to Learning Curves. And so, it becomes another quilt checked off the list this year! Woohoo! The list is maybe not shrinking by much, but it's also not really growing by leaps and bounds either. But lets not worry about that today. You would not believe much I absolutely dreaded starting the quilting process on this quilt, but ironically, that all fell into place quite easily.

Another good finish

It's all relative of course. I didn't venture into any complicated quilting, just kept it super simple so hopefully it would drape well in the end. Stitch in the ditch on the outside of every 16-patch and then hand quilting with various colors of #8 Perle Cotton a scant 1/4" on the inside of every single curve. Once the stitching was started, I had to question 'why the dread'? Perhaps because of the size or general disconnect with the quilt? This is a fairly large quilt at 80" x 96" with a more contemporary look than I generally attempt to do, so perhaps that's why the normal exuberance and excitement wasn't there. The different than expected outcome was purely a side effect of the entire quilt experimentation, but something I feel comes off well in these vivid autumn colors. It turned out to be quite okay.

Learning Curves is done! Funny how after the picture taking was done,
we notice the loose board on the siding. Uggh....

I started this quilt early on in the spring of 2013, cut all the drunkards patch blocks completely out of the stash and slowly started learning how to properly sew them together. By the time I was midway through sewing the units, I had it down pat and could sew every curve with only one or two pins. Amazing progress is what that was! And I can safely say that curves are tremendously less anxiety-producing little units than they were prior to this quilt. Mission accomplished!

So much color

It's a very warm, cozy looking quilt with a surprising amount of bright, vivid pockets of color. When my son was helping me hang it up on the outside balcony, I almost caught my breath at the rich color. Then later today, I hung it up in the stairwell {as per usual with most of my picture taking} and meh! The color was a lot more subdued. So glad I ended up using the very darkest green fabrics in my stash for the binding though. It really helps pull out that darker green color used in the quilt--makes it feel like an intentional 'background' fabric look. I had to really dig deep in the stash, but ended up with about seven different fabric pieces for the total amount of binding length needed. Any other color would have been far too busy a look for sure and this is an 'old' color. Not easy to find in the quilt stores today.

A little more subdued looking

I seriously considered giving this one away but my husband and youngest daughter have {probably} talked me out of that. They think it's a perfect quilt for using in my youngest sons bedroom when we have guests. Not girly looking like most of my larger quilts and simple enough to avoid intimidating those that worry about inadvertently 'ruining' a lovely quilt. Gotta appreciate the guests who care, but yeah, it's nice to not deliberately scare them away with a heirloom sorta quilt! Which, by the way. I do NOT have in abundance! Not my style. And if someone ever goes bonkers over this particular quilt, I'll probably bundle it up and happily send it home with them.*wink

Looking at it from the side

Despite the vibe you're probably getting from this post, I truly have developed a sort of fondness for this particular quilt {after all our struggles together, how could I not?}. It's just not one of my all-time favorites, never-gonna-pull-it-out-of-my-arms-till-I'm-dead kind of relationships! Sad but true. They can't all be the beloved favorite.

Still, I can love and admire the simple beauty of it all the same. It honestly happens to represent hours and hours of sewing {and learning} for me. That has indescribable value. It has lots of fabrics incorporated into the quilt that individually are interesting and lovely for me to look upon. It was actually very pleasant to see draped across my lap while quilting and I can only imagine how nice it will be to use on a bed. This quilt has an unexpected coziness factor stitched right into the quilt and it has to be a direct result of the the colors and fabrics used {various homespuns and reproductions--make-do mixed fabric use in several of the blocks?}. Nothing else explains why I keep getting that feeling, because the design itself does not read 'cozy' to me until I get close. And I'm proud of that. That feels like a 'me' element. One other things that makes me happy is that it's not a cookie-cutter quilt. Not boring at all. I really, really like that quality in a quilt!

And one more pic for good luck

And I know, I know. Ten years ago I would have pretty much been doing hand stands at getting a quilt like this to the completed quilt-top stage. And now I just admire it, check it off the list and then quickly move on to the {much} more exciting quilts currently in progress. Nary a pang of regret in sight! hehe  Can't ever please a 'process' quilter can you!

It's Not Perfect, But I Like It Anyway

I was looking around for a quick machine quilting project and remembered the green Floating Squares quilt. It took almost no time to sandwich and pin the top and then of course, why not dive into the quilting? So funny that I finished up the hand quilting on Learning Curves over the weekend too as it has some of the same dark green fabrics used as in the other.

Floating Squares #2 and Learning Curves--ready for binding

Sometimes it happens that way when you make quilts with lots of different fabrics. It's not unusual to see the same piece of fabric in five or more different quilts around here!  The green Floating Squares quilt was a crazy, dive-deep-into-the-stash-tote sort of effort and also, my second time to attempt this sort of process {another of Sherri Lynn Wood's improv. scores}. Honestly, I'm not sure it's any better than the first, but for some reason I like it anyway.  Some of the things I like about it is the fact that it looks truly looks make-do and carefree to me. Kind of 'Gee's Bend-ish'? It's not square, just has roughly trimmed sides and the piecing is absurdly unapologetic in its lack of pretentiousness. If this quilt had been made in a fabulous color palette, I would probably be hand quilting the tar out of it with Perle Cotton and getting ready to hang it on a wall!

The Green Floating Squares is a finish!

I also really like that it has at least two fabrics that have been lurking in the totes for over 20 years and many, many more that are not the least bit new or exciting. That makes me sooo... happy! And brings back lots of memories too, as at least one fabric was used in my very first full sized quilt. I'm always intrigued by the blending of old fabrics with newer, and how even a cactus print fabric can nestle up against a Christmassy fabric in this sort of quilt without looking completely bizarre.

Love the addition of raspberry pink

In fact, in a one or two color quilt, the print often becomes secondary to the value changes in the dominant color. One thing I've discovered for sure, green quilts are tough to make. Wowsers, is it ever hard to make a pretty green quilt unless you stick to the lighter, brighter, clearer greens! It's one of my irresistible colors though. I buy it in every tone and shade, whenever there's opportunity. Greens are so serene and calm, but they can be surprisingly drab and murky too. I'm sure some of you are thinking 'Audrey, it's time to step away from the green fabric tote!'*sigh

Finally found the perfect place to use that strange
butterfly, backing fabric that was given to me!

I will, I will....  But there's no harm in challenging ourselves to step outside of our comfort zones, experimenting with new color palettes or new methods of putting a quilt together. It's often an excellent way to reinforce the hard earned lessons of value and intuitive piecing or play. And more importantly, using the oldy, moldy fabrics makes us feel less constrained to cut and hack into fabric and perhaps make a quilt we regret making. What's to regret about this one? Absolutely nothing!

#isitoouglytobeagift

I snuck away from the bookwork piling up on my desk to write this post. Guess it's probably time to get back to work! Linking up with Linda and Julie Lou at Sew, Stitch, Snap, Share #6. After all this dabbling in darker, more intense colors the past couple months, I'm about ready to start a brand new low volume quilt just to get myself back on an even keel!

Yay! Another Quilt Crossed Off the List!

Another finish today! This one is 'An Uncertain Crossroad' started back in March 2015 as a Marsala color challenge. I'd been slowly collecting the drab, clay/maroon looking fat quarters for awhile {who knows why?} and jumped at the chance to incorporate them into a quilt.

Uncertain Crossroad is finished!

The quilt design had a couple influences {click on the link above for the first idea}. Together with the color challenge and a bit of secondary inspiration, it just sort of melded into something that felt right. I had a lot of fun stitching this particular quilt and the brighter, sparky circles still make me smile.

So graphic and fun!

One thing I've definitely discovered over the years is this: if you are continually drawn in to a specific color or color family and you don't know why? Don't sweat it. Just buy the occasional fat quarter in those colors and eventually, maybe even a couple years down the road, you really will find a way to build them into a quilt! It's actually quite fascinating to dig challenging prints/colors out of the stash totes and finally be able to bring them to life.

Love it laying in the sunlight....

Sometimes in very surprising ways! You can see that the color family {mixed medium and dark tones} of marsala is used as the background fabrics with the lighter strippy cross sections in what I'd call the lighter version of marsala--mostly mauves, light and/or dull pinks. Some of those fabrics seemed destined to remain in the stash totes forever as they were so... boring! Surprise, surprise!

Used in this pattern, all the colors, including the sparky colors used for contrast, make for a bold, unexpectedly graphic quilt. Who would have thunk it that marsala could be used in such a way! I certainly never would have.

I have returned again and again to Roderick Kiracofe's 'Unconventional and Unexpected' book as a way to soak in some wonderful make-do quilts and ponder the effects of this type of piecing. It's something I personally adore and have tried to incorporate into my quilting. If you click on that second link above, it will take you to a older post with the inspiration from this book. I bought the book sight unseen and have never, ever regretted it. Some books are important and meant to be on our bookshelves.

Love the circus poster below where the tiger is roaring! 

This quilt was deliberately put together in a 'not quite perfect' manner that nonetheless required matching cut-to-size background units. I would have to say, this is one of my favorite quilts ever made, in how the various prints ebb and flow throughout the quilt. The effect is probably more obvious in person, but there is a great, {subtle} background texture that would not be possible with a one-fabric background. Or probably the hand quilting?*wink

A close up of the circles and that perfect striped binding!

I was amazed to find the perfect striped fabric for binding in the bottom of one of my totes. I couldn't have found anything more perfect for the quilt, bought for a border that never worked out! Finishing this quilt makes me think about other ways to play with backgrounds and even possibly the idea of attempting another color challenge quilt some day. It feels like a good finish. Not giving this one away!

It's a Wrap!

My goal this year is to have more finishes than great starts. It's been really tough at times as I feel like there's a leash attached to my creativity. But I'm trying. 

Summers End is a finish!

This quilt {Summer's End} was started in the fall of 2015 and was a quick journey to completed quilt top. I had lots of reasons for putting this quilt together, but mostly I was challenging myself to use up some oldy green fabrics. Plus I needed a fast little hand work project. Which meant the initial decisions were made quickly and without a lot of deep thought. Hmm...

Looking so much better in a close up...

So yeah. It is what it is and I can't say that I'm ashamed of it! But I knew it was lacking just a little bit of that 'ooh, la la' factor that gets us excited to keep quilting. I pulled it out of the quilt drawers this spring in anticipation of finishing it up for a young couple in our family. {Very belated wedding gift, but I felt that I needed time to consider the matter of quite possibly setting a precedent?}There was just something about this quilt top that I really thought could be salvaged into something fun. Thus the decision to try 'tying' a quilt once again after about 20 years!

My fantastic helper, in between baseball season and summer job.
Mom! My arms are killing me!! Are you done yet?

In my reading, wool yarn was suggested for ties that balled up rather than stayed stringy. I went ahead and made the purchase and now, after the first washing, I have very fuzzy, frazzled little ties. It's a bit raggedy looking at the moment, but I'm confident after some good use and more washes, this quilt will have little balls of pink yarn to look at. Personally, I think it adds to the fun, young and don't-take-me-too-seriously vibe going on with this quilt.

The green looks different in every light...

It was quite the experience trying to remember how to 'tie' a quilt properly and I made a couple mistakes. The biggest one being that I didn't tie square knots, instead just knotting it repeatedly and pulling on it real tight. Ughh. There will probably be a couple ties come out eventually if the yarn doesn't fuzz up quickly. Oh well! I machine quilted in a stitch-in-the-ditch pattern throughout the quilt and then came back and hand quilted every little basket with perle cotton. This thing will NOT be falling apart with or without the ties!

Trying to re-learn how to tie a quilt

The soft pink colored ties and binding help lighten the entire quilt up, which I felt it desperately needed. In the end I'm quite happy with the soft, loose drape of the quilt and the cozy look as well. This quilt will probably be used snuggling on the couch and it has the look of a something that won't be intimidating to eat popcorn and snackies while wrapped up in. Right?

A true-blue finish!

This is a pattern that looks marvelous done in the antique look such as sharp red baskets with a white background--all solid fabric punch and power. This one is lots softer and comes off very blendy with that floral basket fabric sort of sparkling in and out. It's not a perfect quilt by any means and I could have done a much better job choosing my fabrics. But it's a finish now and honestly, it just whets my appetite to work on more basket quilts. Get ready my friends, it's going to be a baskety summer around here in my little corner of the quilt world!