More Quilt Show Pics

A few more pics to show and then I'll get back to regular posting. Loved this solid fabrics version of an old quilt block! It's one that's been on my bucket list for a long time. 

So bright and happy!

And here it is, my favorite part of the whole show--the Jim Tharpe guest collection. Ahhh.. I am such a sucker for vintage and antique quilts. Some dated back to the 1800's!

From the Jim Tharpe collection

I love the whimsical fabric usage so very much. Probably up-cycled old clothes?

From the Jim Tharpe Collection

The way they used a couple colors in almost every block until obviously they ran out of a fabric. Then they made-do.

From the Jim Tharpe Collection

Have to smile at the new addition of background fabric. Why the green? And you know me, this was probably my favorite in the whole show just 'cuz I found it charming, especially that little tiny sliver of green added onto that next to last block in the bottom row.

From the Jim Tharpe Collection

It all makes me even more determined to be less self conscious about fabric pairings. I mean, look at the sashing in the top and bottom rows in the quilt below? And the gingham strip added onto a smallish block there in the far right row? I don't know if I could ever deliberately do that, but it's so charming. Love it!

From the Jim Tharpe Collection

I entered four quilts in all, all pictured below. The first one is Geese Tracks & Vases. One of my favorite quilts I've ever made. And yes, I have lots and lots of favorites....

Geese Tracks & Vases

The second quilt is the marsala challenge quilt. I just wanted to see it hanging up in a show 'cuz I thought it was an interesting quilt.

Unexpected Crossroads

The third quilt is Learning Curves which they hung sideways for some funny reason. I checked and the label was in the bottom corner of the quilt like always. I'm curious if they thought it didn't matter which way it hung? Oh well. I entered this one primarily because it was fall colors. Always good to see in a fall show.

Learning Curves

And the fourth quilt is the Pickle Dish Insanity quilt. I left this picture unfiltered as it was an interesting view, kind of a faded look from the bright lighting I think. The value changes were still very evident so that made me happy. And the piecing and hand quilting looked good. I always have to wonder about that....

Pickle Dish Insanity

I don't want to add any other observations about my quilts as I'm obviously in a funky mood. We've had a very long, tough summer in a lot of ways that I don't feel free to discuss completely. To give you just a quick peek into our lives--in just the previous last two-three weeks my husband has been sick once again with a recurring illness, a cousin and her family stayed with us for several days immediately after breaking her ribs in a car accident, my mother-in-law needed some help because of her bad health and we've had other company. More company to come this weekend that we're actually kind of excited about {except for having to clean the house!} and oh yeah, we also went to a funeral. I am not complaining as this is just a season in life and what we do. It's part and parcel of large family dynamics and involvement in our church. We have much to be thankful for, especially when all we have to do is read the news to hear of so much destruction and devastation in other parts of the country. My heart goes out to all those who are just trying to survive!

So yes, absolutely, I am head down in my stitching every chance there is. No I am not going to quit making quilts in my weird and wonderful style, thank you for all the reassurance offered. It would have probably would have been better to just attend the quilt show this year and not have to deal with the emotion of having my quilts involved. My emotions are, well, possibly a bit frayed these days? Don't mind me. Really, I'll be fine. I'm just gonna go find some fabric and start three new project first chance I get....

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!

Working On a Few of My 17UFOSin 2017

This time of month always gets to me. I look at the 17ufosin2017 list and think, 'Oh no!, another month gone! Did I get anything done at all?" And then it's time to settle down and think things through logically.

Vintage Coxcombs

Vintage Coxcombs, above, now has all the applique blocks done--20 of them! And they were stinkers too. I haven't had that much trouble with applique for a very, long time. I think it was a matter of over thinking things, trying to correctly center the applique and yet not lose touch with the whimsical placement I was striving for. Who knew that imperfect stitching could be so difficult to achieve! I guess I just thought it happened by breathing. After all, it's easy enough to get the look when we don't want to. The best part was working with these fabrics and colors. It's hard to get a good picture of these muddy looking blocks, but they are so soft and mellow looking. LOVE that!

It's been a different kind of month. My nicely stitched borders for Folksy Flowers didn't work out as planned either. I've had to use the seam ripper and take some stitches out. Going to have to extend those scallops and hope that effort will do the trick. Otherwise, I'll have to dream up something else for this border.

Folksy Flower borders

 As I mentioned in a previous post, the prep work is all but finished for the solids challenge blocks. I know if I just pick up one block and get it stitched, the others will follow quickly. For now, they're just sitting in a bag, waiting in my quilt basket over in the corner of the bedroom. Taunting me. Or rather, haunting me?

Solids Challenge

Learning Curves is hanging out over there in that corner too. It's all ready for the hand work phase of the binding. The quilting is very simple on this quilt and I'm not 100% sure it's enough. Oh it'll hold together just fine--it's got machine stitching in-the-ditch around every block as well as the echo quilting around the curves. I'm just a little dissatisfied with the overall look. But not really wanting to invest more in this quilt either? It's a conundrum....

Learning Curves

Then there's the Eagle quilt which was slated to be in the hoop by Independence Day weekend of this year. Yep. That's not happening! I could never find a cheap backing fabric {I refuse to pay full price for backings} and wasn't feeling particularly pressed to get to the stitching. Other quilts seemed more demanding than this one. Then, just the other day, I found some backing fabric at a Quilt Guild yard-sale. Fabric by the pound! The blue fabric is slightly over a yard of 110" wide fabric too, which just makes me smile. Score one for the patient quilter.*wink

Eagle quilt

So no matter what my sad sack expectations tells me, I did just fine in June. Progress is definitely being made, even if it's a slow pace, and at this halfway point in the year, there are already 9 out of 17 items checked off the list! Yay for me!

Of the three remaining projects on the list, one is at my friends for longarm quilting attention. It's not looking real good for a fast finish, but maybe by the end of the year? Nothing I can do here about that. Another item is a love/hate project and I waffle back and forth between ditching it completely or being tenacious and diving in regardless of my trepidation about liking it in the long term. The final item on the list that needs to be addressed is going to require some intensive applique border work. I have the ideas roughed out on paper and a tentative fabric selection in the works. Other than that, I'm practicing extreme avoidance. I don't wanna. At least not right now! But I will eventually 'cuz it's a lovely quilt and no matter how I whine and snivel, quilts rarely get neglected here forever....

Okay! That's the June 17ufosin2017 wrap-up. I feel so much better now getting it all in proper perspective! Thanks to Meredithe for the monthly prodding to be accountable!

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!

Making Progress on 17 UFO's

Knowing May would be a busy month, I worked hard on my 17 ufos in 2017 list early on in the month. It felt good to knock two quilt tops right off the list: Rising Sun and the Improv. Woven Basket. 

Two more finished quilt tops!

And all through the month I made myself keep plodding away at the Vintage Coxcomb blocks too. The star pieces took a surprising amount of time and it took forever to figure out the most efficient way to get them into place. Finally after sewing {and then seam ripping} the fifth block, I got smart and marked the circle shape onto each block. It's not a perfect solution, but it really helped with placement of the star tips, of which I did not want to be same-o, same-o from block to block. There seems to be enough variation to satisfy my imperfect soul and now I'm just looking at sewing the circle shape onto the remaining 10 blocks. This part is easy and by the end of the month I should definitely be playing with layout!

Vintage Coxcomb blocks

Learning Curves is in the hoop and making very slow forward progress as well. There have been a lot of interruptions the last couple weeks and also, I've been focusing a lot on the applique projects. All my hand work time seems to be in the late evening and there often is a choice that has to be made, applique or hand quilting? Occasionally, the applique wins out, especially if I'm really pushing a project completion such as with my Vintage Coxcombs blocks above.

Learning Curves in the hoop

This latest border on Folksy Flowers was a mixed applique/pieced border and so of course it had to be slipped into the queue too. I tell myself, 'Oh it's just a little bit of hand work' and then three days later I finally finish up.*groan   There will be two more rows added onto each corner of the quilt and then there will probably be one large row to enclose the entire quilt. I've been trying to make sure the corners of each of the latest rows are not cut out on the bias, but there definitely is a bit of wonkiness with this quilt. Hopefully not enough to ruin the quilt! Crossing my fingers with this one.....

Folksy Flowers border

So that's that. Two more items marked off the list and forward progress on three others. Not bad for a crazy, busy month!

Marking things off the list!

Time to link up with Meredithe and other fellow quilters over at Pomegranate and Chintz!

Learning Curves Has Already Been a Journey and It's Not Even Quilted Yet

Learning Curves is now a completed quilt top. Whew! This one has been such a long process for me. I got my initial inspiration last fall from a gorgeous tree that totally stopped me in my tracks. I simply could not believe that nature could create leaves so vivid and dramatic. So colorful and yet real.

Learning Curves catching the light

Plus I had been working with my Big Stars quilt, totally frustrated by my inability to master curved sewing. I mean, they laid flat--kinda. But it wasn't great and I knew it. During my ensuing enthusiasm for bettering my meager skills, the two somehow melded into this insane quilt idea which I now call 'Learning Curves'. Now, strange as it may sound, after sewing 480 curved segments, I feel pretty confident about sewing a simple curved seam. Funny how that happens!*wink

Focal point of Learning Curves

But still, there were the stops and starts. The doubts along the way. The sheer tedium of sewing 480 curved segments. The deviation from original layout plans.

Full on Learning Curves

The weirdness of looking at my design wall and seeing something a little too contemporary for my comfort zone. Yikes! Is this reflective of the growth in me as a quilter? Or is this me being a crazy compulsive? lol

And another view of Learning Curves

Until finally, I have this. Wowsers. I am completely blown away that I actually got this far! I did it!! And wonder of wonders, I like it. Especially after I added the little whimsy of an appliqued flower in the center of the one completed circle. It sorta makes it more 'me', even if it is almost too cute for this particular quilt! 

This (80"x96") quilt top feels very done to me now. What do you think? Personally, I can't imagine adding borders or any more extra touches to distract from all those busy curved pieces....

Working With Fall Colors

Still trying to get the quilt top finished up on Learning Curves. I have all the blocks sewn together and ironed. Then I played and played and played with the layout. Ugghh. How many different ways can my eyes cross? It's not the quilt that I'm Ughhing about, it's the decision making. What looks good, better, best?

Learning Curves

And no I'm not showing you that. I took a zillion pictures and most of them are fuzzy. Even my camera got dizzy from the lack of focus and direction.

Pin, pin, pin

I did manage to settle on a layout that seemed to stand out from the rest, so went with it before I changed my mind. Nobody was at home when I checked it all out for the final 'did I get all the blocks going in the right direction and are the greens all stacked together and looking weird together' perusal. You never know. There always seems to be an 'oops' moment lurking around the corner with me! lol

A little Fall mini

I also have a little Fall mini that I've been working on here and there. I had hoped to have it done by Halloween which is starting to actually look possible. The center of the quilt is designed by Diane Knott of Butterfly Threads and was published in the latest Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine. Even though I adored the original, I had to change it up and then of course you know me--more borders had to be included. Why stop when there is more fabric to use up?

Plodding Along With the Learning Curves

So this weekend... I actually made it into the quilting room, over and over again. I had this idea of what I wanted to accomplish and somehow it never quite materialized (lovin' that pun right now) the way I envisioned through my rose colored glasses.

Working on Learning Curves

You might remember this project from earlier in the year? I was determined to learn how to master the drunkards path curve and got overly ambitious in my enthusiasm determination.

Where I got stuck with my Learning Curves....

I had this plan for a quilt that would include umm... yeah, thirty 16-patch drunkards path blocks. Yep, I do like big quilts and thought it would be funky and bold and etc. etc. Come to find out, it is a HUGE project and looked way more contemporary than I was prepared to even think about at the time. I might still be. I'll probably be getting back to you on that.

Now, I have decided to be done with dragging my feet over making a decision. Add that in with the fact that the leaves are doing their beautiful fall thing outside my window and all of a sudden I'm much more interested in working with these fabrics again. Anyway, long story short, I planned to finish up the curved piecing segments, trim each of those segments, sew all my blocks together and start working on a layout plan--all over the weekend. HA!

The sewing really wasn't too bad. I've finally got the curved piecing thing figured out. Turns out though, that the trimming alone took a million hours of my time and made my hand hurt and was just so incredibly tedious. Thus the broken up work time in the quilting room. I trimmed 288 curved segments this weekend and then just inexplicably quit. My work ethic clearly needs to be re-examined.

Only a small portion of the havoc I have wreaked

Honestly, I had the most fun brushing my trimmings off onto the floor, just letting them fly everywhere. Very juvenile of me for sure (I do have a trashcan), but it made me feel very good. And creative. Just look at all the color on my ugly carpet now? lol