Time to See All Those 2018 Finishes Together in One Post

Some years there are more finishes than others. The last two years have been especially good ones for bumping the oldest quilts off the list . It's often difficult to want to work on the oldy moldy quilt projects, but they never get any easier to work on by just ignoring them!

2018 Finishes

It's always great fun to slip a baby quilt or two into the mix and have a fast finish. And this year I even made an oversize doll quilt {hmm... is that actually a baby quilt too?}

2018 Finishes

As usual, I kept my hand quilting hoop busy all throughout the year {both of them, if you want to know the truth of it!}. It's become an oh-so-important part of my quilting journey and I can't even imagine life without that little bit of stitching time late in the evenings. Those peaceful, meditative hand quilting minutes have become something I unabashedly crave at times. It positively grounds me in the best way possible and dare I say, nourishes me as well.

2018 Finishes

The program used to group my picture collages didn't have a good 4-picture setting, so I put my Quilty 365 in two different groupings. It's been on our bed for quite awhile now. I adore waking up to it and then later in the day, snuggling back into bed with it once again. Move over husband dear, I got a good quilt now. lol  Sometimes I think that all my quilting years have led up to this one quilt, in terms of making a quilt that resonates on almost every single level.

2018 Finishes

Overall, I'm not sure how much these quilts represent 'me' as a whole--the way I've mixed up the old quilting projects with the new. It's something that I always find very interesting though, these end of the year quilt reviews. You pop over to someones page and in one click, get to see an entire lineup of the years finishes! What fascinates me the most, is the quilting voice that is always so immediately apparent! There's rarely any doubt whose quilt page you're viewing and that's the very best thing about this time of year. I bet most of us could look at any of these picture groupings and immediately tell what quilter made each of those quilts. Love that!

So now with the details: 2018 found me ending the year with 19 finishes again! That kind of suprised me as it didn't feel like so many. Yep, I was on a finishing mission once again. Trying to get some of those very old, not-as-interesting quilt tops out of my hair.*whew! It was very, extremely, tedious at times, I kid you not. Crossing my fingers things won't get quite that bogged down ever again! Want some year end statistics? I do like to keep track just for curiosities sake.

• 1 Doll quilt
• 2 Baby quilts
• 1 Comfort quilt
• 7 Lap quilts
• 8 Bed-sized quilts
• 6 quilts were completely hand quilted
• 9 quilts were a mix of machine and hand quilting
• 4 quilts were completely machine quilted

By the end of the year I had also given away 17 quilts, a mixture of new and old quilts. That was a little nerve-wracking at times. My family lives in dread that they'll wake up one morning and all our quilts will have been given away! hehe  One was given for a church raffle, for helping to make money to buy their building. Still waiting to see who winds up with that one as I do like to keep track of where my quilts end up!

Lots of ideas for the next year. Stacks of fabric that have been simmering on the counters for months and months and need a little bit of attention. Mostly I just intend to quilt the things that I find interesting without getting too far into the weeds with those pesky squirrels! There are 5 or 6 open-ended quilt projects that will hopefully get wrapped up and around and around we go. I loved diving into the orphan blocks totes and intend to try that some more of that. Adhoc. Improv. is definitely still a happening thing and umm..., there is a scrap bin monster that just has to be addressed soon. No ifs ands or buts about it! Taking up way too much room over there in the corner of my quilt room.*sigh Oh, and don't forget about those oh-so-tempting QAL's popping up all over blogland. Probably gonna join in on with the Unconventional & Unexpected one and also, Lori's String Quiltalong. Sounds like a good start to me!

ThisTree of Life Quilt Just Makes Me Happy

Ah... this Tree of Life quilt. It was one that was on my bucket list for a very long time. In fact, here is a Pinterest board where I hoarded images of the more special ones that had caught my attention. And one day in 2014, I finally got started on my very own.

So, so happy with how this one turned out!

As usual, I ended up drawing my own pattern. No doubt this particular pattern is available somewhere out there in the land of quilting, but I couldn't find one with the 'trunk' put together just the way I wanted, or even the size of block I needed. It's easy enough to make though, if you'd like to try one for yourself.

It's a finish!

Although I adore the established look of most antique Tree of Life quilts, I couldn't get this version out of my head. It made me seriously consider whether or not I wanted to broaden the potential color palette a little more than the basic {two or three color} look so consistently used in the past. In the end, I couldn't resist the more-color-please! idea, nor the siren call of trying my hand at using busy {perhaps vintage} looking backgrounds. The challenge of turning out a cohesive looking quilt proved to be quite irresistible.

A close-up

Although very much touch and go at times {the seams are not exactly perfection!}, this was a positive feeling project clear through to the end. The colors, the blends of prints, the use of woven fabrics {which I always get mushy over) all helped to keep my endorphins running on high. The very universal layout, with a little solid color sashing in between blocks, also definitely helped to ground my colorful, busy looking quilt. It keeps the overall appearance firmly rooted in tradition, which I love and appreciate. Nothing to be ashamed of, using the foundations of antique/vintage quilting in our newly creative efforts!

Hanging on the railing

It was a little surprising at how much I loved having this quilt in the hoop, even though it's been four years since the top was started. There are times that I probably feel a little 'disconnect' from a project started that far in the past. We doubt ourselves and say, 'Seriously? Why did I make this again?', discounting the value of that specific moment in our quilting journey.  It's just fact that most of our styles continue to grow and change with time and continual forward momentum.

One of the things that I think helps in staying connected to older quilt tops, is when we deliberately strive to pursue our unique voice in all aspects of design, quilt after quilt, choice after choice. With that, and blending years worth of fabric choices {not making a one fabric line quilt}, then the overall look shouldn't feel stale or particularly dated in just a few, short years.

Love how the wonk in the woven fabric
 setting triangles quilted out!

I will reluctantly admit to having some issues with the backing on this quilt. It was sandwiched and pinned on one of those horrible, terrible, no-good days that we all have occasionally. By the time I realized there were five slits in the middle fabric, well.... I didn't particularly care. This fabric was one that was given to me years ago in a bag of other misfits, so the cuts were not of my doing. Nevertheless, it needed fixed and so I decided to try something new. The patches were hand sewn on top of the backing before the hand quilting started, and after the entire quilted was pinned. Yeah. It was a job, but so interesting to see how it looked afterwards. I wouldn't exactly recommend doing these patches on purpose, but somehow they appeal to me all the more for their brazen impertinence.

The strange tale of the backing patches...

And so that's the story of my Tree of Life quilt. Doubtful that this one will ever be given away. It's just too whimsical and yep, fearless! for anyone else to properly appreciate. Right? hehe  Told ya! the wonk would quilt out of the setting triangles. Hand quilting is the best....

Crossing this one off the list!

It's nice to finish a quilt on the bucket list occasionally instead of just meandering willy-nilly where ever our muse takes us. Oh right. I did that too.....  Linking up with Linda and Julie at sew, stitch, snap, SHARE #23!

Every Stitch Counts....

I just couldn't stand it any longer. This quilt {Quilty 365} needed to be in the hoop and that was that. You know how it is. Once a decision is made about the next quilt-in-the-hoop, it's just seems to be time!

Next up in the hoop!

I did manage to wait until the Tree of Life quilt was ready for binding, but it was touch and go. Not that this quilt was hard to work on at all. Oh no. These colors were perfectly satisfying to have in the hoop. The binding was an interesting choice as I really thought the orange/peach would give it a too matchy, matchy vibe. Nothing else popped though and using a brown or black just seemed boring. Surprisingly, this drab peach works well, especially when it's folded over and such a tiny little bit of color is all that will be showing. It was thrilling to find an larger, much older piece of plaid fabric that worked wonderfully for the binding. It's been hanging around in the stash totes for years and years! Now to get it all hand stitched to the back of the quilt.

Ready to stitch down the binding

Trying to keep up with the 6and6in2018 was problematic this month, just like last month. This little Tidbits quilt has most of the little 'hills' stitched down though. Only a few left to go now. Well, maybe it's more than a few, but still.... My granddaughter was at our house for five days and nights so this little bit of hand work felt like serious progress! The applique probably would have been all finished, but there was so much up and down, putting it aside etc., that finally I just folded it up and put it away. Didn't want a loose pin to find it's way into her foot or something equally traumatic!

Just a little more applique left...

Also for the 6and6in2018 challenge, I pulled out the Solids challenge quilt and finally, finally made a decision about the border. I've been agonizing about where to take it from these simple, punchy blocks. I've dithered between a clamshell type border, pieced triangles, applique work and everything in between. The funny thing, is that it probably won't even matter what the border looks like. It's just that the quilt is so small at this point, it's going to need something! I'm still cutting out the pieces, but as you can see, solids are not much in the equation anymore either. That was a huge decision too, as solids was the initial 'challenge' goal. It's a relief to let that go and just do my own thing, unfettered from restriction, from here on out.

So yes, it's a little strange, but I'm not sewing the center of the quilt together until I know exactly how long the borders will be. Of course I know what the measurement is supposed to be, but that doesn't mean it will actually happen. It feels safer to wait and adjust the sashing widths as necessary rather than try for a skinny coping border solution. Lots of confidence that my border will be wonky huh? Yep. It's gonna be a three deep sawtooth border. Lots of wiggle room there with the way I sew!

Starting to cut the border pieces...

And here's the little munchkin who kept G'ma and Papa hopping this past week. Wowsers, was I tired by the end of her time with us. Two year olds just don't fit seamlessly into our lives anymore!

Taking over Grandma's bed...

Good times though. She's such a little bundle of sunshine and love! Wouldn't trade it for all the quilting time in the world. Although.... now that my time is more freed up? Can't wait to get back to the quilting room! Linking up to 6and6in2018! Only worked on those two projects {Tidbits and Solids Challenge} for the month, but even a little bit of progress is better than none?

Railroad Tracks Baby Quilt

About an hour and a half before I generally wake up, a woman called my phone 5 times this morning. Even after she was told positively that the number she was calling was wrong, she stilled called two more times. I didn't bother answering those last 2 times and decided that if she called even one more time, her number was going to be permanently blocked. 

All the blocks sewn together....

Some people are just so stubborn, it makes zero sense. And so I have a headache today.*ugh  Why, why, why? Which means I'm going to sound cranky. {And it might even be true.} I also tend to despise Daylight Savings week as it totally messes me up for days and then to have my day start out extra early with the clueless phone woman. Can I just go back to bed?

Slab strips for the border work

So yeah, Quilting. That's undoubtedly why you dropped in. I've been working on the improv. railroad track blocks {from Maria Shell's Improv. Patchwork book}, until I had the base of a baby quilt size. Each block ended up just being shy of 12", so then I had to decide whether or not add another row of blocks or maybe go with borders. Since all my trim-offs had been used up, it was an easy idea to go for borders. I do have a fondness for that look...

Sewing the borders together

My niece had her baby early last week so then I knew this quilt was destined for a little boy. So glad that worked out {thanks momma!} as this quilt had already taken a sharp turn away from femininity with these unlikely crayon colors. And he's really sweet and adorable, we've been to see him several times. That helps motivate me just a little towards getting this quilt done in time for the upcoming shower.

Auditioning more borders

Initially I thought to add railroad track borders on all sides of the quilt, but after adding the top and bottoms, decided no. Much too busy. I hate admitting to it, but I actually make a fabric run to buy the lighter green plaid fabric. Yeah. Nothing in the stash seemed to work and I was running a bit dry on inspiration.

Getting sandwiched and ready to be pinned

While working on this quilt has been a lot of fun in some ways {loved playing with my trim-offs!}, it's also been a little too uncomfortable, if you know what I mean. These are not my best colors for getting in the zone and I've constantly been beset by insecurities and frustration. As you can imagine, it makes the decision making process more difficult than usual. It's a very good thing this quilt is so small or I'm confident this particular quilt would have overwhelmed me completely. There was a point where I just wanted to be done with the whole project and sincerely felt like somewhere, somehow I had taken a wrong turn. Next time I need to try it in better {for me} colors? 

Tree of Life

The hand quilting on my Tree of Life quilt has proved to be very therapeutic in contrast. Hmm... It feels so very peaceful....

Tree of Life in the Hoop and the Other HST Quilt in the Works

Like most other diligent hand quilters, I tend to roll straight from one quilt in the hoop to the very next. This 'Tree of Life' quilt has been calling my name lately, sort of impatiently if you want to know the truth of it. It seems to be the time. 

Tree of Life in the hoop

So, okay, I'm fine with working on these colors right about now. Winter is settling into it's 'Oh no! There's more snow! mode and everything is sooo cold and chilly. These colors are bright, peppy and just feel good in contrast. This quilt was one of those bucket list quilts but also a very whimsical start. I need to remember that all those stacks of fabric piling up around my quilt room will eventually find their day as well.

Also something important to remember is that just because a quilt was on my bucket list doesn't mean that it will end up looking exactly as imagined. This crazy blend of busy-ish fabrics tend to make this quilt look a little more vintage that all the patterns and photos I usually admired. I really stretched myself with this fabric selection and that's a good thing. It feels unique and makes each block feel a little more special. I had to work harder to feel satisfied if you know what I mean. Plus I learned a lot. I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for making and learning from these sorts of choices 3 1/2 years ago! And yeah, it's a little wonky from using homespun fabrics in the setting triangles and not trimming every block to exactly square. Hand quilting will take care of the worst of it {it's very forgiving} and then washing and drying after should take care of the rest of the wonk. In spite of the fact that this quilt rejected most all the fun colors of perle cotton, {it wants to do boring white/cream thread}, we're all good here.

Tree of Life

This past weekend saw me working on adding another round of borders to my HST Medallion quilt too. It was the 5th round of first the black coping strip border and then the pieced triangle border. I tend to lump them both into '1 border round'. It never seems to photograph well when the pink hst's are on the outside edge, especially if they are sewn in the lightest pink colors. Ughh...  Oh well. You can get the idea of where I'm at--exactly halfway through the 10 rows of hst border work! Uh huh. It's gonna be a big one....

One more border for the HST Medallion

I am extremely pleased to report that this hst border went on together as well as the last one did! Yay! Improvements have been made and might be here to stay! {Well, for the life of this quilt anyway...} Lots of notes to refer to, but basically there are specific perimeters that make all the difference in precision. So proud to know that all that improv. work hasn't quite ruined me yet....

HST Medallion about halfway thru....

And because I couldn't bear to take if off the wall just yet, I simply piled all the quilting paraphernalia back on the counter like usual, pushing and stacking it way to the back. Can you believe I iron large quilt tops in this space? Without emptying the countertop first? If you've been following me for very long, you understand that my quilting room is quite small. There is absolutely no room for complete chaos and I often have to tidy up just to jump to the next quilt. Projects are almost all in small totes or the 'in progress' units piled right on top. I have to be extra efficient with all my under-the-counter-space and try really hard to always have my iron and cutting area board ready at a moments notice too. Seriously, I am not complaining! Anythings better than having to work from the corner of the living room, dining room table and/or hall closet like I did for so many years. Having a dedicated quilt space is divine. I'm imploring you, please make room for your own if you haven't yet! You'll never, ever regret it.

Linking up with Linda and Julie for sew, stitch, snap, SHARE!

This Quilt Top Finish Feels Like a Good One

Lots of traveling the last couple days for the District girls basketball games. We won District champs! Yay! So on to Regionals for the next round. My niece is on the varsity team and my youngest daughter is swing, mostly sitting the bench for varsity. Still, we do like to support our kids even if it feels like there is NO time for the other important things in life--like quilting? lol

My Tree of Life quilt is a finished quilt top....

I did get the chance to sew the border fabric onto my Tree of Life quilt. I am really, really happy with the way it turned out! Such a leap of faith to work on those particular background fabrics in the blocks and think they might actually come together in a pleasing way! There are those that will probably feel that the dark print in the border dulled the rest of the quilt down, but I think it adds an almost old fashioned-like charm. It looks pretty fabulous draped over a bed too and that it the way it will likely get used the most around here.

Tree of Life sort of laying flat....

It's obviously a larger quilt as I couldn't find a place to get it stretched out on the floor properly. I'm always bumping up against the dining table legs these days and also, we have stuff sitting in every corner of our living room as we are still in the middle of our bathroom remodel. My husband moves very, very slowly with anything on 'my' list so I just hold my tongue best I can manage and do a little more hand quilting in the evening to happy myself up.*wink

A little closer look....

I also managed to squeeze in the binding on the quilt below late last week (shown with the binding sewed on by machine, but not yet hand stitched). It's a quilt an older cousin of mine made for a granddaughter just before she had a stroke. I volunteered to do the binding for her as recovery is going to take awhile and the granddaughter wants so badly to be using it. It was an easy bit of hand sewing one day while I sat with her to keep her company and help out in other ways.

My cousins very lovely quilt that I was helping out with...

It's sad to think of all the quilt projects we would be absolutely pining to work on if something happened to us, so it was a joy to work on. This week is shaping up to be as busy as the last, but for some reason I'm having trouble letting go of the idea that this project is one that I really want to jump into. I don't have the book {yet} and honestly, I'm almost having to slap my wrist to keep from ordering it....

Oh My, This Tree of Life of Mine

I've been working on setting my Tree of Life blocks together. I knew exactly which fabrics were needed for the setting triangles, but the problem was, there wasn't any large pieces except for in one particular fabric. And it was a woven. Uh oh, you know what that means! After cutting the one big square and then cutting twice on the diagonal, my cutting template was going to be a little wonky.

Tree of Life finally all put together...

I suppose I could have should have used a large piece of paper first, but you know me. Once a decision is reached, I am off and running. {Must be a result of letting go of the left side of the brain in order to fully embrace the artistic right--there is no easy melding of the two!} So I fussed and I fiddled with my odd bits of fabric, trying to make sure I had enough fabric to cut all of my setting triangles without using an excessive amount of any one fabric. Imagine my surprise when I noticed they did not all end up at exactly the same size and length. Hmm... Well, some quilts do need a little more finessing than others, don't they?

Choke, gasp, giggle... Looking at the picture below, you can see that I completed managed to forget about some of the sashing and had to deal with that as well. It gets worse. I totally forgot it in several end pieces. Yep. No idea how that can possibly happen, but I will say that sewing late in the evening is often prime time for trouble of this sort.

A big 'oops'...

But I did finally get it all ripped out and put back together properly.*sigh Just a little bit of stretch in some of my woven setting triangles though. Yes, yes, I pinned the dickens out of all the pieces, but sometimes this can happen with loosely woven fabrics and seam ripper (ahem!) assault. Hey, I was NOT in a good mood about this, okay?

I persevered and sewed it all together best I could, then ironed very carefully. I painstakingly trimmed the outside edges of the quilt once and then went back around trimming much closer for the second round. On the second round of trimming, I cut out a few little wobbles in the fabric caused from stretching and hopefully, hopefully, hopefully, that will take care of the worst of my troubles.

All put together!

One can only hope! The picture above does not show the quilt laying completely flat so it probably looks worse than it actually is. I had been thinking about the possibility of adding a border, and now with my setting triangle issues, I am settled on the idea. It positively needs one now just to hold things stable.

Auditioning a border fabric...

This black fabric with the little orange flowers suits me perfectly and luckily there is just enough! I love the combination of sweet little flower print, homespuns and scrappy trees. It all makes me very happy.

Ready for the next step!

Upon measuring the outside of my quilt, I also realized it does not come out anywhere close to 'square'. Adding this border will help to square it up and ensure the outside edge doesn't have the odd ripple after being quilted. Oh you have no idea how much this quilt top has made me laugh, all the fudging, fussing and fiddling in order to make it look reasonably well put together! Thankfully this in not my normal method of sewing or I would probably never finish anything at all. The name 'Tree of Life' should have been a harbinger of things to come for me with this quilt, as my life has never, ever been straightforward, simple or easy....

So You Want To Make a 'Tree of Life' Block Like Mine...

A few people have asked about the pattern for the Tree of Life blocks I've been making. I would love to point to you straight to a book, but no... I had to fiddle around and draw up my own. Mostly because I wanted a different style of tree trunk than I was finding!

13 1/2" Finished Tree of Life block

I drew up a larger style block as making hundreds of tiny half square triangles did not appeal. The picture below has the cutting instructions for making the bulk of the tree (units 1, 2 and 3), which include all of the leaves on the tree. If you want to use a mixed fabrics for the leaves as I did, then it's best to cut 12 squares instead of 11, mixing up your fabrics to reach that total. Or you can cut the 11 squares and then add in an extra triangle or two if you have orphan ones in your scrap bin.

Cutting Instructions for Units 1-3

I sewed all of the half square triangles with one of these methods. If you wish to achieve greater accuracy with your hst's then I suggest you cut your squares slightly larger and then trim down after sewing and ironing.

The picture below has the cutting and sewing instructions that I came up with for the tree trunk (unit 4). Mine actually finished up slightly larger than expected and so I just trimmed down after sewing. There was plenty of room at the edge to not worry about cutting off points.

Cutting/Sewing Instructions for Unit 4

After sewing a couple of these tree trunks, I determined that a certain sequence of sewing turned out a better looking unit. If you look at the picture above, I've tried to show you that particular sequence in a picture diagram there at the bottom of the graph paper. Following steps #1 through to #4 {and ironing after every step} produced the very best results for me. Sorry for  the cutting 'abc's' being out of order. The notes to myself were written like this and I chose not to rewrite later after I realized the weird order. Honestly, my handwriting tends to get worse the neater I endeavor to be. A second attempt would could have been fatal!

A closer look at the tree trunk...

As you can see, I chose to make every tree with at least two different leaf fabrics and sometimes three. Most of the trees seemed to look better with an odd number of different looking leaves, but this, of course, will be up to you.

Mixing up the leaves

Even after making all of these Tree of Life blocks, I find that my hst's are still quite the work in progress. When sewing the four units together, I ended up having to use a pin at every single seam and other places as well. Did my blocks all end up at a proper 14" minus seam allowances? Well, no. But they are definitely in the ball park and that's really all I expect {or need}. Trimming down over-large hst's just for accuracies sake is not something I enjoy these days so a less than perfect block is not going to be an issue I stress about.

Oh, and for those that wonder about ironing? I ended up ironing my hst's as usual, but then I didn't iron again on units 1, 2 and 3 until I had the entire Tree of Life block together. It's very important that you iron the Tree Trunk pieces as you sew, but the rest is just pointless. Leaves going every which direction makes for bulky seams no matter what. Just sew your small rows together in a consistent manner, unit by unit, and it all irons out nicely at the end.

My advice is to make one test block before getting in too deep. Best of luck!

It's a Saturday and I Don't Even Know if I Have Time to Quilt...

Just playing! I have such a small space in my quilting room that it becomes quite an exercise in frustration at times. Especially with blocks like these where the color is pretty much all over the place. Still, there is plenty of room to figure out the important things.

My Tree of Life blocks

I like the light so much better upstairs than downstairs in the middle of my living room. Plus, nobody walks across my quilts in the quilt room except me. I do have to deal with the occasional random comment though, which can either invigorate me or send me into a self pitying spiral.*wink

Trying to balance the trees....

Regardless, there have been decisions made. It's the old fashioned setting and an orange background. Who'd have thunk it? Every other color made me want to go running for the hills except for this leftover I-felt-sorry-for-this-orange-languishing-in-the-clearance-bin fabric. I bought it a long time ago for a baby quilt and ended up buying the rest of the bolt.*sigh  I know, I know. It's a very bad habit and one that should most definitely be kicked to the curb.

So... I've already cut the orange strips {no second guessing this one} and determined the fabric for the connector squares too. Now I just need to find time. And motivation. Hm... First things first. The family seems to think that groceries have become a top priority.....

More Tree of Life Fun

Back to the Tree of Life quilt for a bit. I can't seem to sustain working on this quilt as the hst's are totally driving me bonkers. Only four blocks left to put together after these, thank goodness! Still don't know how I will set the blocks but I wanted to be sure and have enough for whatever direction it wants to take.

A few more Tree of Life blocks

I do enjoy playing with the hst's on the wall, rearranging them until there is an interesting tree. Some fall into place easily and others make me wonder what I was thinking to pair particular fabrics. For instance, the orange leaves on the plaid background (bottom left) is not going to stand out as a definite 'tree'. Oh well. Good thing I'm a fan of having blurred and indistinct blocks in my quilts. It's one of those antique utility quilt things that can be charming if done right {not to say that I'm doing anything right here! lol}.

Playing with the trunk

Very fun to play with the stripey tree trunks too. Since both of these fabrics are wovens, they can easily be flipped to present whichever side I want to use. For both of these trees, I decided to have one striped triangle going in a different direction. Little details that make me smile, both now, and again later when I'll be using the quilt.

Trunk changed up directionally, but not the background fabric....

As you can see though, I was careful to make sure the polka dot background is all running the same direction throughout the block. It just gets way too chaotic to mix everything up directionally, so I pick and choose the elements to play with per each block. It's definitely been an interesting quilt so far, although the background fabrics for one are a little outside my comfort zone. And the many hst's. Let's not forget those troublesome little parts. Pin, pin, pin, pin....

A Few More Tree of Life Blocks

I just got back from a few days in Oregon visiting my brand new little niece {Remington Price}!  Love that sweet little girl, but it's good to be back home too.

The forest is growing

I now have a small forest of trees growing on my design wall. So far the ones that I like the very best (see the two blocks below) are not the ones that show as well from a few feet away. But that's good. Every quilt should have interesting details up close as well as from a distance. In theory, we plan really well for that to happen. Right? Uh huh..... In reality, it's mostly a lot of luck and having some wonderful fabrics to back us up!

A couple of my favorites

I have definitely found out that the trees seem to need a little time on the wall before being sewn together too. All the leaf pieces need to be carefully but also casually planned out. lol  Is that even possible? Anyway, the point being, if the sewing is rushed, then hello! seam ripper. Which, of course, I despise. Weird leaf placement (like the one below on the right) just gets under my skin and I will not rest until it gets properly taken care of.

Playing with them on the wall...

I am so hoping for a big chunk of quilting time to happen this weekend, but we shall see. There are issues that have been sadly neglected around here lately like oh.., house cleaning? Grocery shopping?

My First Tree of Life Blocks

You know me, always jumping around from quilt to quilt. I've been sewing a bit here and there on the half square triangles and finally decided to put a couple trees up on the wall. I drew my own pattern for the trunk of the trees as I couldn't find one I liked well enough to make eighteen of.

Tree of Life on the wall

Each tree will have leaves in at least two colors, so I will have to play with the layout each time to try and get a good balance. The background is very busy {I was so afraid of that!}, but I'm trying not to freak out too much. Yet. It's always best to wait and panic later after I see them all together in their unbridled busyness.*wink

Do you see it?

This lovely tree had a snafu. I almost left it just the way it was, but when it went up on the wall with the others, I didn't like the way it looked at all. Much too lopsided. Plus, It's one of the very first I've put together. Better learn how to make it properly first huh?

Oops!

It was an easy fix although I don't like my new Clover seam ripper at all. Guess I'll have to upgrade once again. Yippee skippee. So very exciting to buy new seam rippers.... Anyway, Now I have my first three Tree of Life blocks done and up on the wall! Not as vibrant as I thought they might be, but I might just like them anyway. Maybe. Reserving judgement on that until I see more of them together. lol  It's actually quite difficult for me to work with 'white' background fabrics vs. say a cream or a tan as the blocks don't 'blend' like I'm accustomed to. I'm working hard to overcome this instinctive aversion and break out of my box a little.

My first 3 Tree of Life blocks

More half square triangles to sew together with this easy peasy method. I'm not squaring them up at all, just letting the chips tips fall where they may. If I get a little bit of imperfection out of it, then all will be good.

Sewing the hst's

Now it's time to do a little grocery shopping and stock up for another busy weekend with family! Hopefully I'll have enough time to get a post up for the Bloggers Quilt Festival as well. It's only the best online quilt show around!