At Least I Tried

Awhile back I received an invitation to {apply to} enter quilts into the 2018 Primitive Quilt Show in Houston. At first I brushed it off as something that would be a ridiculous waste of time.

Hills and Valleys

Then later on, decided why not? It's not a bad thing to challenge ourselves occasionally or try and get out of our oh so familiar comfort zone.

A close-up

It took a lot of time to take the crummy pictures that we usually end up with around here. There's never enough time or a good enough set up. And for some reason, that's not where my heart is. My daughter helped tho and points for that.

Fun to see different pics of the quilts

Everyone is busy of course, so you have to understand that help is very limited when it comes to things like taking advantage of the very best daylight hours. We had to squeeze in our one and only photo session at the end of a work day but before dusk.*ugghh  Cue the hysterical laughter. I could tell immediately that the full quilt pics were going to be terribly washed out.

Big Blue or otherwise known as the 'ugly quilt'

We deemed it good enough. Really, what else could be done? These quilts will not hang in the air by themselves! And as expected by moi, both entries were rejected. No big surprise--my quilts aren't ever wholly 'primitive'. Nor do they seem to fit into any other genre of quilting easily or well. I'm still pondering what particular box or genre they might actually fit into....

A close-up

I admit to being a little disappointed when receiving the polite rejection letter, but overall it was probably worth the effort and angst. Just a deep breath out and then, okay. So I tried and failed. No big. It definitely helps that I didn't make either of these quilts specifically for the show. That would have been a bit more demoralizing I think.

Trying to determine the top side of the quilt...

Truly, I try NOT to make quilts specifically for entry into any quilt show. Quilting is my happy place and pressure and deadlines do not make me happy. That said, I think maybe I'd better suck up my comparison anxiety nerves and go ahead and enter a few quilts into the {almost local}, regional quilt show once again. If there are people who regularly click into Quilty Folk to check out my latest makes, then it stands to reason there will be a few people who might enjoy seeing them in person. Variety is the spice of life and we quilters do so enjoy being inspired.*wink

The First Finish {or Two} for 2018

It's past time for a finish around here. I was seriously starting to get a little twitchy seeing my completed quilt top list growing and not ending up with any real finishes. Do you do that too? Blue and Gold Strings has been in the hoop for well over a month, so it ended up being the first true blue finish for 2018. Such a great quilt to be stitching on though, couldn't have planned it better.

Blue and Gold Strings

I have adored getting the hoop out and just letting my mind wander, while working with this free style quilt. It has such a happy feel to it that it always worked like a magic elixir in making me relax and unwind. Ahh.. just letting the tension and stress of the day slip away while enjoying some fabric and thread play...

Looking at the corner applique

Though hand quilting is rather slow going, it has so many benefits I cannot imagine ever quitting it completely. {Not to mention that I can't afford to have everything professionally quilted!} Getting to spend quality time with fabric in the hoop is like that extra bit of sweetness that we reward ourselves with sometimes. I've contemplated giving this quilt away, but honestly, it might not be best time yet. Most of my family doesn't appreciate this one quite as much as I do.

Just enough stitching....

Stitching on this quilt has really helped restore my flagging faith in my personal ability to make unique and charming quilts. I think anyone who regularly quilts knows very well the normal ups and downs of creativity. There is always the 'better' quilt just over the horizon if only we can just focus for an extra minute or two. Maybe next time we'll get everything just right! Haha  You can believe that I'm already in the quilting room diving in to the next three or four projects with much more enthusiasm than they probably warrant.

Hanging off the deck railing

So, no, you don't need to feel that I'm down in the dumps and need a morale booster. Some quilts just speak a little louder, tell the story a little better, and perhaps more importantly, reflect more perfectly what we feel that our muse looks like in our head. It's just a wispy feeling that doesn't always gel correctly in every single quilt that we complete. And that's okay. We get parts and pieces of it right all the time and that just propels us to keep moving forward.

Cannot even imagine this quilt without the border!

And not to bore you, but the second finish of the year was that quick little picnic quilt I pulled out the other day on a whim: The 70's Are Calling. I skipped the batting and put a flannel back on it like Beth so nicely recommended. I'd have never thought of it myself and it just makes me like the quilt all the more.

The 70's Are Calling

Just a bit of diagonal wavy line machine quilting and smaller than normal width binding and it was done! Easy peasy. It has a lovely weight to it and any stretch you see is from the blocks not being squared prior to sewing.

A fun flannel backing....

It will be used primarily for covering up cold groceries, throwing across a wet patch in the car, sitting on the grass at the park etc., and just generally making sure that there is quilt always available in the car. I'm not sure I would ever go out and specifically buy these types of fabrics for quilt making, but it turned out to be a fast, fun little project. Who knew where this quilt making addiction would be taking me 20+ years after that stutter-stop beginning! Linking up with sew, stitch, snap and SHARE #19!

The Adhoc. Improv. #29 Catch-up Post

I can hardly believe we're into the third year of Kaja and Ann's adhoc. improv. challenges! This focus on utility improv. has been so timely for me as a quilter and I'm thrilled they are continuing with the prompts. First up for AHIQ #29 is the completed quilt top for Ann's last challenge, 'Use Your Words'.

Make Beautiful Things a completed quilt top!

This top started with orphan blocks and the idea that that the entire quilt would be a message of sorts. What do I want my quilts to say?  It took awhile to come up with something meaningful as I'm used to ending rather than starting with word additions, but in the end, I was quite satisfied with the results. How interesting that this quilt was also a jump start for their very next challenge, 'Playing With Scale'!  All those little, wonky crosses I ended up appliqueing onto the border {trying to fix the too-bold border without taking it completely apart} are just smaller repetition for the larger yellow crosses in the center of the quilt.

Playing with scale is something I've been nibbling around the edges of for a long time now, ie, making largish, out of proportion basket quilts and of course, adding repeat elements into much of my border work. Continued use of earlier used shapes and/or design is practically Quilting 101 right? But this particular prompt forces us to think about using scale in a more focused and practical way. Love that! And yes, ideas are already percolating on every available burner....

A closer look at Make Beautiful Things

As most of you know, there is almost always a quilt in the hoop around here. This latest one is a {much} former Adhoc. Improv. quilt where I was trying to play with strings in a less inhibited way. Starting with fabrics and a colorway that seemed 'peaceful' felt right. Way back at the beginning, it was a really good way to help me calm those scary, you're-gonna-make-a-big-mess-and-regret-it, sort of panic attack. Onward Ho! Nearly two years later into the Adhoc. Improv. invitationals and I feel waaaaay more confident about working with improv. strings. Just generally more confident about the whole improv. thing altogether if you know what I mean! This quilt feels very satisfying as a 'me' quilt and I'm not real sure this place would have been reached without the improv. linkups and supportive community and conversations.

Blue and Gold Strings quilt in the hoop

I was really hoping to be at the point of starting to sew these improv. basket blocks together by now.  However, there will 20 of them in total and guess what? That makes 80 basket handles to applique.*sigh  A couple of posts really resonated with me this week as I contemplated my personal 'making' approach. Kyle said what I've been thinking with her late 'How do you eat an Elephant?' post and then Cathy said it again, only briefer. It just makes me laugh to know I'm not the only quilter who just switches off on a project occasionally!

Working on the stringy improv. basket blocks

As these improv. basket blocks are a bit tricky to handle, I decided not to cut the string slabs apart until I'm ready to sew them all together. As you can see, the stay stitching is already taken care of so there won't be a delay when all the basket handles are ready to go. At that point I intend to audition the basket handle parts with the stringy basket parts, and then hopefully all will be in perfect harmony. At which point they will be set on point alongside the pineapple blocks and then we will be discussing side/corner setting options!

The Pineapple Quilt

And last, but not least of the open-ended adhoc. improv. projects is Vintage Lily. A little bit has to be trimmed off the top of the center block and then it will gain a 2 1/2" or so border all the way around. I'm kind of taking the wait and see approach with that until all the improv. snowball blocks are sewn together and trimmed. For these, I'm using the 'square in a square' formula from Sujata Shah's book 'Cultural Fusion Quilts'. To get the snowball effect, I'm just not cutting quite as far into the center of each square as the instructions might indicate.

Vintage Lily

As I had mentioned earlier, this quilt seemed to be begging for a very simple, perhaps casual, framework of blocks in order to have that vintage-y look that makes me so happy. After completing Scrappy Tulips last fall, I've been in the mood to try a scrappy snowball look once again. That time I cut little squares and sewed in a diagonal from corner to corner. For these 5" blocks, Sujata's method makes more sense and also seems to result in a bit less waste. {No affiliation, just telling you the method inspiration!} I am loving working with many of these fabrics and have particularly enjoyed adding in several button down shirts of my son or husband. There's just something about shirting fabrics that add to the vintage appeal!

So yes, do go check out Ann and Kaja's AHIQ current link-up and invitation. Anyone interested is welcome to join in! And in a total aside, read this if you have a chance. Some people just GET 'quilting', even under the most challenging of circumstances....

A Little Bit Here and There

There's been a lot going on around the home front, but the quilting has been pretty slow for the start of this year. Oh well. Thankfully there is always a quilt in the hoop to work on! For now it's the 2016 adhoc. improv. quilt with largish free-cut strings and some simple applique.

Gold and Blue Strings quilt

So far I'm enjoying the stitching tremendously and just going with the flow. In a moment of quilt room opportunity the other day, I stumbled across some older, vintage looking blocks. This, ahem! required some very deep digging as they have never actually been classified as a legitimate project before. They have been in my possession for about three years--found in a rummage room sale for dirt cheap. Never really sure what would happen with these or why I even bought them as the fabric appears to be a decor style fabric possibly used in reupholstering? But you know how it is. I. Just. Could. Not. Resist the siren call of these bright, funky prints.

The 70's are calling

The cutting and piecing was obviously very rough with these blocks. Rather than take them apart and re-cut them, I just started sewing them together 'as-is'. It is so not square, but I didn't want to spend a huge amount of time on them either. Eventually I intend to find a backing and a piece of flannel to use as the batting and then it will probably be tied instead of properly quilted. I'm thinking car or beach blanket? Whatever. It sure was a fun, lazy bit of time in the quilting room. #noregretswhatsoever

Finding My Way With Another Improv. Sort of Quilt

As always, I'm not sure what I'm doing or where I'm supposed to be going with this Adhoc. Improv. thing. It seems to pull me down some interesting roads though! This is the second effort with improv. strings and I have yet another project I'm quite desperately wanting to dive into. It never ends. First things first though!

The centerpiece coming together

Auditioning the layout for this quilt was a very quick event. No matter which way I turned the blocks to check out various sashing pieces and layout options, I promptly flipped the blocks back to the 'hills' facing downward. That is the way they want to be and that is that! Having the sashing running both horizontal and vertical  made everything look busy to my very fussy eye. I also immediately tossed out all the darker, brighter reds in favor of this red homespun check. Either I'm getting more confident or this quilt is quite, quite determined to be made a specific way!

Looking at the unfinished border piece facing toward the quilt

It's a fairly simple serene looking quilt and too much of anything easily makes it look overdone to me. I'm still scratching my head in wonderment, but the border-work is completely the thing for me. It makes the quilt almost make sense in a weird sort of way and I just nod my head and say 'Yes, this is it, exactly what it needs!' Any of this making sense to you?

In fact, I cut the border pieces out on a late evening after some very busy {and possibly stressful, haha} days and made a bad cutting mistake. All my border background pieces are approximately 1 1/2" too short. I just wanted to pull out my hair. How could that have happened?  But... I like the fabric choices so well, I just unpicked the two checked sashing pieces and made them slightly more narrow. Just a bit, because I'm also going to trim just a smidge off the outside of the quilt. The border pieces shall remain the same because 'they work'. And I don't even know why or care. It just is.

And facing away....

And there's more of these chunky crossroad blocks happening too. I'm now at the 3/4 mark with these and still enjoying them very much.

More chunky crossroads blocks

Hopefully by next months Adhoc. linkup I'll have all 100 of them sewn, trimmed and be looking at layout options. One can hope. It's been a busy spring with no sign of let-up..... Linking up with Ann and Kaja. 

A Weekend of Applique

Two more blocks finished up for my solids challenge quilt. The goal is to finish one a month and though I was behind with the March block, I quickly made up for that by finishing it and the April block over the weekend. Woohoo! I had to add a tiny bit of print for the birds eye 'cuz all the solids looked odd.

March and April blocks done

So far it's been a fun, simple project. Not nearly as stressful as I thought it could be, working with pure solids combined with applique! I've also finished up the applique bits for my gold and blue improv. string blocks pictured below. Still need to sew the rectangle units with the applique to the string blocks, but in the meantime I've been playing with them on the wall.

Just playing

Hmm... Not sure what I'm doing with this particular quilt, but the fabrics are definitely working their charm for me. I will have nine blocks in all which feels like a good start for something. Something quite nebulous for now as I can't quite picture where I'm going! It's been a different kind of project for sure. The applique addition was an impulsive move, but one that felt right. And for now, that's all I have to go on. What feels 'right'......

Linking to Moving it Forward Monday!