A New Log Cabin Start

There are so many projects that are on the list. Oodles to choose from really. But what do I do? Start in on a brand new project! Of course...

Starting something new!

I've had these fabrics stacked up together for ages. They aren't so incredible together that it makes them hard to resist, but somehow.... I just haven't been able to toss them back into the stash bins either. So this past week found me free cutting strips and sewing quarter log cabin blocks. The loosey goosey plan is to make 18 of them. We'll see. Right now I'm just making it up as I go along!

Soaking a quilt

Also going on behind the scenes is that I sandwiched and machine quilted {very simply}, the Lattice quilt. It's the one that was made as an answer to the #AHIQRED and the #UANDUQAL challenges. While I knew that most of the red fabrics had been soaked prior to starting the quilt, I had this faint memory of running out of fabric and raiding the stash totes for more. So... Into the tub it went today so as to hopefully stop the bleeding in it's tracks and save the lighter white/gray and blue fabrics from total ruin. Isn't this crazy? All the red dye in the tub is from about 15% or less of the red fabrics. It's not as bad as some of the quilts I have soaked previous to today, so unless there is a lighter fabric that ends up being super absorbent to errant dyes {which unfortunately happens a little too often}, it's probably going to end up fine. Fingers crossed!

So glad I got this quilt to the finished stage a few weeks before graduation. It feels like we are practically going in circles lately, so many things happening. We have an extended family member wedding coming up this next weekend, lots of organization and planning involved in our church campout that we help host every Memorial Day weekend, Senior graduation coming up for our youngest and on and on and on. All I really want to do is hole up and quilt for two weeks solid, but tell myself that the hand quilting that happens in the evenings will mostly tide me over....

My Answer to the AHIQ Maps Challenge

What I love most about starting something on a whim, is that it often stimulates the brain in unexpected ways. I have been so stumped about what to do with the AHIQ Maps Challenge. For goodness sakes, the challenge was thrown out to us in July? To me, quilting 'maps' felt kind of complex and 'arty'. Not really my thing on the best of days. Summer complaint fatigue didn't help any either. My brain like mush most of the time.

Basic log cabin

The crisp, fall weather has definitely helped to wake me up a bit. With this project, here I am, basically going in circles with the uncomplicated sewing I started earlier this month {enjoying how open ended and pressure free it is}, and it hits me from out of the blue. This log cabin sewing reminds me of how I constantly have to turn around and go back when I'm driving in a new-to-me area! Okay, why not? And so without a lot of extra thought for the end result, I decided to applique a turn right arrow onto the center of my quilt. You see how it works around here? Apparently I have to start some challenges quite by accident!

Turning into my answer to the Maps Challenge!

After that, I just kept on cutting and sewing the 2 1/2" strips, {all without measuring the proper lengths}, until I found myself with a real mess on my hands. Well, you knew it had to happen eventually. I can almost see some of you nodding your head. Uh huh.  Free sewing just doesn't make for straight, square quilts, ever, ever, ever. Sometimes I think my purpose here in the quilt blogging world is to make all the rest of you quilters feel pretty awesome about your own stitching efforts. lol

Too much crazy, even for me....

And of course, by now, I'd also decided that eventually there needed to be a 'road' unit added in as a single round in the quilt. All that accrued wonkiness was definitely becoming a bit deflating in terms of making it larger. Not that I was truly upset you understand. Mostly I just found myself curious as to the resulting dilemma: how very much the fabrics had started misbehaving, at which point it manifested itself and, how very, very quickly it multiplied past a certain point in the sewing.

Not a lot of options so I'll try this....

But hey, it really, really needed to be addressed before moving on. I get that. And so I thought about it for several days until finally, today, I girded myself to do the insane. 'Cuz I was NOT unpicking. Nope. Out came the rotary cutter and I very calmly cut across the length of my quilt, right at the pre-determined area.*gulp! Then I layered the two edges, smoothed from the center of the quilt out, and then very carefully cut once again. Fingers crossed it would take care of all that slack and bias stretch!

What do you know, it might just work out!

The first cut and sew looked promising and so I did the same to the other side. Then, realizing it was gonna have to happen on the other two sides as well, turned the quilt and cut one side at a time into the top and bottom of the quilt too.*whew! Pin, pin, pin and then sew and iron. Would you look at that quilt below! It's much, much flatter and neater than it was before. And I'm not the least bit unhappy with the new look as per those affected strips being slightly curved and much more narrow. Oh, that was a sticking point for sure. Where oh where to make the least offensive cuts? But it works. Thankfully it was a good day in the quilting {and/or living} room today!

I'm absolutely sure this has made quite a few of you cringe and want to look away, but I am having a enormous amount of fun here. Really. A bit of anxiety about the unknown has never killed a single one of us! The next row is going to be where I attempt to make that 'road' unit, but after getting this piece squared up {not pictured here in this post}, I ran out of creative ambition for the day and basically called it quits.

Obviously my version of this maps challenge is going to be very interpretive {improv. anyone?}, but it should satisfy my desire to not intentionally duck a hard challenge. Frustration with dreaming up a workable idea is one thing, but avoidance just gets me to the point of being very annoyed. Kaja and Ann are our wonderfully creative motivators over at AHIQ and are very tough quilters to keep up with on occasion. They like to keep us on our toes!

And here it is, almost totally flat!

Earlier in the week I also dove back into Playing With Scale #2 after leaving it sitting idle for almost three months. Something about the quilt was bugging me and I felt that it needed a chance to gel a bit more. I don't know if it was the quilt colors or the way the strip units were behaving, but I just had a feeling that to continue on at that particular point would end in regret. This time I'm starting from the hst angle on purpose. Maybe I'll backtrack to the strip units as I want to slip these hst strips inside some of them anyway!

Playing with scale #2

Once again, I didn't get nearly as far as I'd like, but what I'm seeing on the wall is making me very happy. All the hsts are cut very freehand and once sewn into units, then I'm just lining them up into a long row, joining like sizes one square to the next. At the point of having a long strip of hsts, I'm using a ruler and trimming off the excess at the edges, taking care not to straighten them to the point of rigid formality. Before trimming, they are very rough and scary looking but afterwards, have a great organic feel to them.

It feels good to be working this type of improv. again and mixing it up with all the other quilting that I love to do. It's when I get boxed into rigidly pre-determined ideas and patterns that I start feeling the most twitchy, bored or otherwise start to lose creative mojo. Balance, people. It's always about the proper balance....

It's Never Quite As 'Quick and Easy' As It Seems

Sometimes we have quilt projects that just need time to simmer. Dozens of potentially good ideas spin around in our brains for precisely how to move forward. And tho at times it feels really complicated, the minute it all 'clicks' into place, then we feel so relieved that we gave it time and space to get things right. In the meantime, there are generally lots of other projects that can more than fill up our creative time.

Adding a simple round of borders for Tidbits quilt

It's really is good to have numerous quilt projects on the go, all in different phases of completion. I like how it somehow works to keep the mind engaged and subconsciously focused on the 'in flux' quilts--those balky phases sandwiched in between moments of almost effortless momentum. This impulsive start {from the throw-away bits of another project} hasn't ever felt especially demanding or persnickety. No grandiose design ideas that may or may not pan out. Mostly, it felt that the quilt was just wanting to BE. And so...., me being me, I decided to make it a scooch larger so as to actually put it into practical use some day in the future.

Cutting and sewing strip units for log cabin type borders....

I love the look of log-cabin type borders, especially when they aren't perfectly matchy-matchy. It seemed like an easy-peasy way to make this quilt larger without an enormous amount of effort expended. After all, this wasn't on any priority list!*sigh   Digging through the stash totes culled two larger lengths of fabric that could be easily be used on opposite sides of the quilt, exactly mirroring each other. The other two sides of the quilt, well... they seemed fairly happy with a hodge-podge of cream, gray, taupe and lighter black prints.

Is it large enough yet?

It felt good to use up some of the odd yellow gray and weird taupe colors that never seem to settle well into any other color palette. I also threw in remnants of two text fabrics that brought a little extra energy to the quilt. It was an eclectic mix of neutrals and oddball colors for sure, but actually felt rather calm and confident once sewn together. There's just something about blending blues and greens with neutrals that makes good sense! And of course, our AHIQ challenge of 'playing with scale' found its way into this surprisingly spunky quilt too. How could I not include those larger 'hills' or buttons or whatever else they're called? I do so adore a touch of whimsy and 'what in the world was that woman thinking' in a quilt!

Yep, it can handle a couple more border rounds!

It definitely took longer than expected to finish stitching all these borders to the centerpiece. I was thinking an evening or two, zippity, zip. Ha! It took four evenings of dedicated time and effort! Lots of auditioning, then measure, measure, measure, cut, pin, pin, pin and then the sewing of course. {The applique work on the extra three pieces don't even count!} And even with all of my very careful measuring, the inside of the quilt {in only one direction} was approximately half an inch narrower than the outsides of the quilt. Oh I am so traumatized! Not!

Always trying to measure twice, cut once!

Another simple quilt top hiding out in the drawers is good stuff. I know this one can be dragged out and finished up lickety split for another niece or nephew wedding, right? The minimal, almost modern look to the quilt should make for an easy, well liked gift.

Tidbits finished up at 82" x 87 1/2" inches!

So there it is, my latest rabbit hole of a project. Gonna have to take a good hard look at all my lists and get serious about those projects that really matter. What do you think. Was Tidbits a worthy distraction?

Another Finish for 2015

Another finish for 2015! I had this quilt done in time to enter an application for the Primitive Quilts and Projects quilt show in Texas later this year. Alas, it did not get accepted. Apparently I'm not primitive enough, nor modern enough, honestly traditional or really, anything you can put a label on. Oh well. I do love my quilting and am quite happy with whatever it is that I do!

X's and O's--the LV log cabin quilt

And this quilt was enormously fun to make. It flowed from the very start in a constant stream of 'what if's'. Nothing about it ever seemed to be those major risk taking types of  'oh no! I could be ruining my quilt right now' decisions. You know the ones--they that cause us to chew on on fingernails until we can see positively that it was the right and good decision.

Looking at the stitching

The color isn't just right in these pictures {a little too much sun and not enough time to do it up properly} but I think you can see the bit of whimsy I added to my quilt. It makes me smile, these busy, busy birds. I love the big stitch quilting too as it adds to the primitive, antique, perhaps vintage look. And those floral fabrics I added.... swoon....  I really need to get in the habit of buying more of them.

The scalloped border probably seems a bit odd to some persons as it sort of blends into the large floral fabric, but it was one of those ideas. I really had no choice because it just had to happen. Yep, and I love the way the color in the big flowers adds unexpected energy around the outside of the quilt. And in such a 'formal' setting too! So interesting to me for some reason. Because of the whimsy? The unexpectedness?

My busy birds

I do so love those quilts that make people question 'what was the quilter thinking, anyway?' So happy to add my quilting to that part of history!

And the quilt below is my second entry, finished sometime last year. I've always thought it had a slightly primitive vibe even if the color isn't quite true to the genre. I don't regret trying at all.

The red and blue 'My Tree' quilt

Oh well. On to the rest of my week which is crazy busy. You probably won't be hearing from me until sometime next week as I have a funeral and a wedding to attend and all the family that is coming into town to take care of, feed, and keep stocked with clean towels. Some day soon I will have more time to quilt. Some day soon I will have more time to quilt. Some day soon I will have more time to quilt.......

Sometimes It Just Flows....

So who cares about square? I decided to sew the log cabin blocks together into rows, just centering the seams block to block as I went.

Sewing the log cabin blocks together

As I sewed each row of blocks, I would add an extra fabric strip either at the front or the back of the row to help match the rows up in length. Then when it was time to sew the rows together, I smoothed out the extra bits of fabric overlap {in areas where blocks were longer than others} by cutting a very slight curve in the row where the longer blocks nestled up to the shorter blocks. The important thing is just to make sure that everything lies completely flat before you start cutting. {Yes, it truly was flat when I started cutting....}

Cutting the rows so they nestle together well...

This resulted in the log cabin blocks having a more free appearance, especially as the vertical lines {that naturally appear as you set rows of blocks together} sort of disappear. Love that! At that point I just folded the quilt top in half and cut fairly straight sides. Then I did it again vertically. My quilt is not 100% square, but it's relatively square and I'm 100% good with that.*wink

I played with the idea of adding some applique. How could I not?

Thinking about some applique work...

Then I played with the idea of adding some borders. In my opinion, it needs both! But then, you probably know by now that I'm a die hard applique fan and also, that very few of my quilts have ever made it to the finished stage without a border. Or two?

Pondering a border...

Yeah, lets go with two this time. I made up my mind that the inner border needs to be scalloped. The whimsy of it really appeals to me, especially with these subdued colors. It's like the little brown hen who in a close up has the glossiest feathers in the flock!

I like to cut my scallop borders out of freezer paper, making them the exact length of the border. Then I figure out the width of each scallop, find a template or shape to use as a guide and get going. It really doesn't matter if the scallops on two borders are slighter wider than the scallops on the other two borders. Well, in my world it doesn't matter. Maybe in yours?  I think the eye is easily pleased with the symmetry after it's all appliqued together and doesn't even notice slight discrepancies. Anyway, using a pencil is very much preferred as I often have to erase and restart in an effort to get the scallops {relatively} evenly positioned.

Getting the scallops all figured out...

Before I actually cut the scallops, I sew the two borders together with a slightly less than 1/4" seam. If you notice, I draw a line at the bottom of the paper to indicate the lowest possible point of the deep curve. This is to ensure that there is plenty of room for seam allowance both for sewing the border on, and also for turning under the seam on the scallops. It's the line that saves my sanity!

Measure, measure, sew.

Having the scallops cut out of freezer paper also means that when I'm ready, the pre-marked scallops can be ironed right onto the proper border. I haven't done that yet  here {just checking to make sure the length was correct}, but after it's ironed on, I either mark the scallops or just start cutting with the paper still on. Whichever, both--it all works! The important thing is to remember to only cut through the top border fabric and not both. lol

Check, check, checking....

And before I forget, look what came in the mail for me! A lovely package from Rachael at Blue Mountain Daisy. Towards the end of December I won her giveaway of a copy of Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine!

Very sweet package!!

Looky, looky what I get to see in wonderful pictures! Rachael's beautiful 'Happy As A Clam' quilt. Such a happy quilt. I love all the little details. Thank you Rachael for a very interesting read this week!

Very fun read!

And now it's time to get back to the bookwork that I'm drowning in these days. I really, really dread the end of January for exactly this reason....

Playing With the Log Cabin Blocks

I don't know what there is about this quilt that just keeps drawing me in. Lately it's somehow become my 'go-to' project for those extra minutes in the quilt room. 'Oh I know, I'll just sew up a couple more log cabin blocks!' And now there are 42 blocks in all.

Log Cabin blocks on the wall

The colors are very muted and low key, but the difference in prints is just delightful. Very intriguing to this weirdly wired brain of mine! I love working with the light pinks and the more blocks I make, the more pink I add. It's completely out of my control, I assure you.

With potential strippy setting

Originally I had big plans.  My thoughts were to make about four long strips of log cabin blocks intermixed with strips of that gorgeous floral panel fabric I won from Barb awhile back. When I only had 20 blocks it seemed like a good plan. I liked it.

A topsy turvy look

But then I made more blocks. Hey, there was plenty more strips already cut out. Why waste fabric? I threw them down on top of the panel fabric one day all topsy turvy and sucked in my breath. Oooh. Maybe that was what really needed to happen.

Topsy turvy, but smushed together
{My personal favorite}

But then Tidy Tilda got ahold of me and I started arranging them in {sort of} neater rows. Hmmm... That was even better. But made my head hurt trying to figure out how to get it all worked out properly without losing too much fabric bits.

And anther potential setting...

I played with a couple other ideas and then I stacked it all up and put it away. So many ideas to ponder. And... the kicker is, because I was originally going to do rows of blocks, the blocks are not what you would call square. Each log cabin block is at least 9 1/2" in width, but the length is anywhere from 9 1/8" to 10 1/2". Yikes! To square up or not to square up--that is the question! Lots to think about, isn't there? So much fun. It really doesn't have to be shiny new quilt patterns or the newest fabrics to get us all fired up. Just quilting what we love.....

New Log Cabin Blocks

I've slowly cut strips from the stack of low volume prints until I had enough to do something with. It took me awhile to get in the mood to start sewing though, mostly because the charm of these particular fabrics is very, very subtle. Working on the crumb blocks helped a lot, allowing me to see wonderful texture from combining unexpected prints together into a whole. We really shouldn't underestimate the ripple effects simply caused from playing!

My fabric strips

After thinking through different ideas about how to use these fabrics together, I decided on making log cabin blocks. I used to get stuck on the idea that difficult or complicated blocks made for better quilts, but more and more, I'm trying for simplicity {whatever that may be} in order to let the fabric, prints and/or color combination speak 'louder'.

 I cut the low volume strips into random widths from 3/4" to about 3", usually with a mix of several widths per fabric. I wanted the different strips widths so that I could more easily create a 'free' looking block, but I did use a ruler {and the straight of the grain} so I didn't have to worry about weird bias stretching. The fabrics may be quiet and subtle, but they can still have character. Mixing different widths seems like a super easy way to achieve this.

Starting the log cabin blocks

Starting with a set of five, {working in a chain piecing manner}, I made the first log cabin blocks. I sewed the lengths together, ironed them open and then trimmed at the end. Rinse and repeat around the center square. They don't look like much in the picture, but let me tell you, I am very excited to see them come together! The part between envisioning a quilt in my head and then trying to make it happen is often very difficult. Those wispy ideas seem very mercurial and uncertain when in reality, I need to remember that those ideas are just the spark. It's the place where I get started is all. And how many years did it take me to figure that out?*wink

The first 5 blocks on the wall....

Onto the next set of log cabin blocks! I will keep adding strips of fabric until they are approximately 9 1/2" square. Right now I am tentatively planning on making at least 32 blocks. Depending on how I end up setting them though, the number might increase to 40 or more. I like to keep my options open and um... free wheeling? This quilt is much more serious to me than the crumb blocks, but really, it's just a different kind of play.

Starting a new set

And why not? That's the best part about quilting for me, never quite knowing where I'll end up. Every now and then I actually get a result that feels rather brilliant and then all the frustration and agony of making the next decision feels totally worthwhile. When I get bogged down with indecision... well, then I just go play with something like the crumb blocks! Something that feels very no-pressure to me because honestly, I don't much care about the end result. Of course I'll be thrilled if it turns out to be really cool, but if not? What have I really lost? A bit of time and a handful of scraps from the scrap bin!

Crumb Blocks play

And yes, I did end up sewing the little strip of orangey-yellow into the crumb blocks after all. I really like the energy it adds to the quilt, that little unexpected bit of zest. Hmm... I think it's time to leave this on the wall and let it simmer for awhile. There are other, more important, projects beckoning right now!

A Finish!

My Scrap Attack #1--Log Cabin quilt is done! Got the binding on and yes, rushed to get pictures and link up with Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday. Now all I need to do is get it washed and put a label on.

Scrap Attack Log Cabin

This quilt wasn't made for my son per se, but it turned out to the perfect quilt to send off to college with him. Looking at it in its finished state makes me very happy. Knowing that all the blocks were made straight out of my scrap bin makes me almost ecstatic!

Scrap Attack Log Cabin

I need to make sure that I play more with those messy pieces over in the corner of my quilting room. There seems to be a treasure trove of great quilts buried somewhere in the spillage, I just know it.*wink

Me and Machine Quilting, the Saga Continues...

The Giveaway is open until Saturday for anyone interested in a piece of Hobbs batting! I was thinking... that I probably need to get better at feeding sneak peeks of my quilting progress so that wazaam! I can wow everyone with the awesome finished quilt at the end. Instead, I have this tenancy to dribble out pictures of all my various efforts and angst, boring you for the two years or so it takes me to get to a proper finale.

Getting ready to start quilting

Like the picture above. Does anyone really care that I FINALLY remembered to try using blue painters tape to start my initial quilting grid? Hello? I only read about this for the first time about 4 years ago! And yeah. I do like it--a lot. I'm hoping that if I post of picture of actually using the blue tape on one of my quilts, I'll remember to use it the next time I try machine quilting.

Grip & Stitch discs by Clever Craft Tools

And these discs? Wonderful invention. I heartily recommend them to anyone that hates the thought of wearing gloves to quilt. About two thirds through my initial gridwork, I was thinking about chucking this quilt through the window or giving up for about two years. My shoulders and arms were killing me. I was actually thinking about caving and going to the store for some ratty gardening gloves, ughh... Then the aha moment! You know, where I remembered winning a giveaway earlier in the summer?

Immediately after starting to use these discs, I could feel the difference in my shoulders and arms--no kidding. I know I sound like a late night infomercial, but these are the real deal. I was so pumped, I went ahead and quilted one more time between all my initial stitching lines making the lines about 1 3/4" to 2 1/4" apart instead of the 4-5" I was thinking about settling for. For one mad moment at the end, I almost went for one more stitching line in between what was already done. I said almost. This is a quilt for a college kid after all.*wink One thing I did notice for me though was that the directions said to use the bigger pad with the left hand and the smaller pad for the right hand. I switched right away and felt more 'in control' of my quilting, probably because I'm a novice at all this machine quilting and don't know what I'm doing!

Looking at the stitching

So there you go. All the stitching was done with a variegated 100% cotton YLI thread that I splurged on earlier in the summer just for this quilt. Big mistake. Now I'll never want to use cheap thread again. This quilting hobby just keeps getting more and more complicated all the time doesn't it?

Piecing leftover binding together...

I saved money on the binding though, oh yes I did, which makes me feel positively gleeful! So fitting to use up random bits of leftover binding on this particular quilt don't you think? I didn't even lay it out next to the quilt to see if I liked the scrappy binding look, just plowed ahead with my decision. Hopefully I'll get time to sew it onto the quilt in the next couple days. October is a hopping month for us and the next couple days are sure to be busy!

Scrap Attack #1--Log Cabin Ready to Be Quilted

My Giveaway is still open until the end of the week! There is a Kathy and a Susan from Troutdale that are no-reply commentors making it impossible for me to contact them should they win! Fall has definitely arrived around here. My oldest son has been sleeping outside in our camp trailer and it's starting to get cold enough that he's decided to move back inside until he leaves again (3 weeks!). I finally pulled out the log cabin quilt I want to get finished up for him to take back to college.

Scrap Attack #1--Log Cabin

When I mentioned that I had it pinned and ready to machine quilt I couldn't believe how excited he was. 'You never told me!' he says. Men. We had this conversation at least 2 months ago.

Love all the different fabrics used throughout.

So now I'm committed, which is fine. I intend to do very basic straight line quilting anyway, nothing fancy. I'm sure it will get very well used making hand quilting an unnecessary evil. lol  The quilt is 70" x 84" so I'm hoping it will work well on his twin bed and still be wide enough to wrap up in. Quilts that are too narrow and scrawny never seem to get used, do they?

Probably not pinned close enough.....

For anyone that is interested, I get my rolls of batting from Heartbeat Quilting in Spokane, Washington. I order on the net and get my batting shipped through the post office. They have quick, wonderful service and no I don't have any affiliation with them whatsoever!

More Progress on the Improv. Log Cabin Quilt

I am definitely having fun with this quilt so far.  I'm not sure where it's going or how it's going to end up, but in the meantime, it sure is bossy.

Improv. Log Cabin quilt progress

I made some largish flying geese, cut one too short and then thought 'oh well', who cares! I just added another little strip of the blue background fabric onto it and stuck it into the lineup too. I already had the light colored fabric (a reject from a previous project) that worked perfect for the bottom border, but then the flower center demanded more attention. OKAY! Some quilts are just sooo determined to speak their mind.

Hmm... What a bossy quilt

I dug and dug through my totes looking for two more appropriate looking border fabrics, making an absolute disaster of my sewing room.  It was chaos. And really quite hopeless too. What I wanted needed was fun looking fabric. In a moment of weakness, I talked myself into going to the quilt store for a quick look around. (Ahem, you know I needed that little bit of binding fabric too.)

I did manage to find two pieces of perfect looking border fabric (what a huge surprise) and after sewing all that together something still looked a little wrong.  Not the fabrics, more like the proportion and balance to the quilt. I played with a lot of different ideas until finally in desperation, I threw up a blue triangle.  Oh the power of a strategically placed blue triangle.*wink

Sewing the binding onto the Vintage Reproduction

And yes I did get the binding fabric too.  It has already been joined to the other binding fabric and then sewn onto my quilt! It was not perfect, but it was workable and that's all I can ask for unless I want to go an hours drive away to find a bigger selection.

Checking out the quilting....

For all you hand quilting enthusiasts, I had to throw in a couple pictures of the hand quilting from the back of the quilt.

And some more quilting...

When I see this, it always makes me remember why I love to hand quilt.