Turquorangellow

Yeah, that name. I'm not crazy about naming my quilts. I kept referring to this quilt as the turquoise, orange and yellow quilt while I was making it, so a mash-up of the colors works for me. I made the top way back in September last year during a time when I needed something quick, mindless, and cheerful while adjusting to a new life without my father in it. Thus, the bright colors and simple design.

The pattern is from Sew Katie Did. I had read a blog post of hers from way back in 2011 where she talked about magic numbers and showed a quilt she was working on. I shamelessly copied her design. I hope that was okay. I don't think she had a pattern published and the blog post read like a tutorial. So anyway, this quilt is made with one block with 2-inch, 4-inch and 6-inch squares (plus seam allowances). I built it one block at a time, cutting batches of squares as I needed them to distribute the colors, fabrics and (to some extent) values.I also rotated the block more or less randomly. I did not spend a lot of time planning it out. It was the project I needed. 

Here is the block in isolation--bad image, I know, but I didn't have any photos of the individual blocks so I cropped heavily. My favorite fabric is that woodcut-looking print of flowers in orange. 

We went on a vacation in October, and I took the top along to find some backing fabric as a souvenir. I challenged myself to find just the right backing in the one quilt store near where we stayed. And I found it! Turquoise dots with orange and yellow in the centers. For some reason my camera eliminated the center colors on bigger photos, but here is one I took as I was trying to decide if it was necessary to match the seamline for the back. (I decided it wasn't necessary.)

I basted it sometime before the end of the year, but I set it aside so I could make the baby quilt that I wrote about last week. I finished it a couple of weeks ago as soon as the baby quilt was done.

My favorite quilting for quick quilts is walking foot, with some version of wavy lines. For this one I decided on diagonal lines, about an inch give-or-take apart. Took almost no time at all.

I had bought the bolt end of the backing fabric, so I had enough to make binding, too. 

So here are the stats for this short and sweet quilt: 

Block Pattern: From Magic Numbers post by Sew Katie Did. Block is 14 inches square, and I made 16 in 4 rows of 4.

Fabrics: A variety of new fat quarters I collected last year, plus bits and pieces from my stash. The back is urban elementz Basix by Patricia Ritter for Northcott from 2017. I wonder if they still make it. It looks like it came in several colors and fun dots.

Batting: Fairfield 80/20.

Thread: Superior Masterpiece in Granite for piecing; Superior King Tut in Temple for quilting; Superior Treasure in Antique (I think?) for hand sewing the binding.

Size: Pieced: 56 1/2 inches square

         After quilting: 56 3/8 by 56 inches

         Washed: 54 by 53 5/8 inches

Machines: Singer Featherweight for piecing; Singer Treadle 115 for walking foot quilting and for machine work on the binding.

(Selfie in the mirror! I was going to use this photo for the IGQuiltFest, but I never got around to posting.)

I just mentioned the name of the quilt to my quilt advisor. He said, "Why don't you name it TOY?" (Get it?) Hmmm. It doesn't look like a TOY quilt to me. Then he said he didn't really care about quilt names, and I could name it Bob if I wanted. (He names everything that might need a name Bob.) Oh well. 

Probably the truest colors of all the photos

I plan to donate this quilt--haven't decided on a organization yet. Maybe for a younger recipient? What do you think? 

I'm linking up this week with Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday and with Michelle at From Bolt to Beauty for Beauties Pageant.

BTW, I just changed the font size? Is that better? Why didn't I do this years ago?? (Old eyes.)

(Just a reminder: I'm not affiliated with any company, so when I mention products, services, or stores I'm just documenting what I used or liked.) 

Baby N's Quilt

Oh my. It has been a very long time. I mentioned at the end of December that I had a baby quilt to make. I really thought I could finish it by the end of January, but my quilt construction pace was as slow as...well, molasses in January, I guess. But the quilt is done, baby has come, and gift has been given, so I can finally share here. (I did do some other sewing in the meantime, and will share shortly.)

Let's just jump to the end and then we can back up a bit--or a lot. 

So, the inspiration for this quilt came from my niece's photo of the nursery--and especially-- the beautiful rug. 

She said she was not all that fond of the pink, but that she liked the moodiness of the other colors in the rug. She also expressed a preference for solid fabrics over prints. I loved the idea of solids and moody colors, but I will admit that for several weeks I was stymied. First of all, I was not at all sure of the actual colors in the rug. With a little research, I found it online on a store's website and printed out the photos that became my basis for choosing colors. I was still uncertain, though, because I noticed a strong LED lamp in the baby's room. I have struggled to transition to LED light in my home, and have been highly aware of how the differences in daylight, incandescent, and warm or cool LED light can affect color. I spent hours  days shifting my Kona color chips around along the edges of one of the photos of the rug. 

While all of this dithering was going on, I was also trying to figure out a pattern. I wanted it to be kind of simple so that it wouldn't fight with the rug. I tried a lot of ideas--a strong contender was nine-patches with solid squares based on an old Amish quilt, but I just couldn't get the gradations of color to fit my vision. Then I started playing around with the flower block from the free Floret Table Topper tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew. After studying the inspiration rug, I knew that I wanted just a bit more variety of color in the block so I added a little strip in the center of the flower and drafted a paper foundation pattern that would finish at 5 inches. Using my Quiltography app, I laid out a bunch of flower blocks, but the design quickly became too busy for me, so I sprinkled them around and added bars and vertical sashes between. I experimented with a light background, but the colors looked too bright, and I realized that the quilt really needed both black to keep the colors looking moody and pink to lighten it up for a baby. I tried out two designs with my app. In one, the bars were all rectangles and in the other I threw in some triangles, like this:

This design was just a general guide. I knew I did not want regular horizontal sashes, but my app did not allow me to eliminate them. I combined both designs to make the bars as irregular rectangles or blunted triangles (yes, thanks to my math teacher dad I know those aren't the right terms, but you know what I mean). I also reversed the direction of the flower petals from my plan so they would spin forward.

Gradually I narrowed the colors down to ones that I hoped would at least complement the rug. Just before Christmas I ordered a bunch online from a new-to-me store in Ohio because my local stores only have the basic set of Kona colors. Those fabrics came in just a couple of days. Maybe they thought they were a present? Anyway, I'll shop there again.

I had no idea how much fabric I needed, so I bought a bunch of quarter yards, a few half yards, and 2 1/2 yards for the background fabric. The background is Kona Pepper rather than Black to lower the contrast just a smidgen. I could not find a Kona dusty purple that I liked (I don't have the lastest Kona swatches, so I don't know if the color even exists), but I had a couple of scraps of dusty purple tone-on-tone prints that were just the colors I wanted on their back sides, so I added those to the mix. The purple I did order was a Moda, but it was a little too strong, and I didn't use it.

I made the flower blocks first. So much fun! I used freezer paper foundation piecing for the quadrants to make them nice and crisp and accurate. 

That was the fast part of the quilt, but the whole design turned out to be more complicated than I anticipated. I wanted to sprinkle colors around so I had to be careful of how I used each one. I also decided to foundation piece the bars to keep measurements accurate. I made patterns from graph paper

and planned to piece them no-tear style with freezer paper. I made patterns in three different lengths, that could then be varied by reversing them and/or turning them 180 degrees, I made additional copies of the patterns on freezer paper that I could use as rough templates for less fabric waste as I pieced. 

I put the flowers up on the design wall in the approximate placement in my quilt plan. I would plan each strip, press the freezer paper template on, cut out the bars and foundation paper piece them, put the strip on the wall, and plan the next one. Here's how I planned each strip with folded fabric (using black construction paper to stand in for the black fabric since it was easier to use than handling a big piece of fabric). 

And up on the design wall...

All went well at first. Then I started pulling the freezer paper off sections, and a mild disaster happened. There seemed to be too much adhesion (or maybe too loose a weave in the fabric?) and my fabric started to fray. That never happened before. I ended up having to do surgical repairs, replacing several bars that were too frayed to be salvageable. I stopped using the freezer paper and used newsprint for the rest of the quilt, still using the no-tear (and no-tears) method. Sure glad I pulled off those sections before too much of the quilt was made and damaged. One other goof-up happened when I accidentally grabbed a piece of black fabric instead of pepper. More surgery was required. Good grief. But after all of the strips were done and I had inserted black vertical sashes, I was thrilled to see that the quilt was looking like I had envisioned it.

While I was doing all the sewing, I kept wondering what I was going to do for a backing. Long before I started planning this quilt, I had seen a wideback fabric at my local store. In fact, I liked it so much I had almost purchased it. When I started sewing the quilt I realized that the backing colors were sort of like it. I kept visiting the backing, and finally decided to buy it even though I wasn't sure if it would work. Then, whenever I was working on the quilt, I'd lay it out with my copy of the rug photo on the ironing board, trying to picture how it would all look together. 

Silly, no? I was still worried about how the quilt would look in all the different kinds of light. But, as you know, in the end I chose that backing.

Finally the top was done, and it was time to figure out the quilting. I really liked how the top looked and although I tried drawing all sorts of quilting plans and laid thread out in different ways, I just couldn't figure out what to do. Meanwhile, the baby's due date was getting closer and closer. Finally, I decided to just quilt in-the-ditch (-ish) everywhere and let the quilt pattern be the pattern. 

That might be my one minor regret. If I were to do it again, I think I'd stipple it. There were LOTS of threads to tie off and bury. I also dithered about thread color. I didn't trust my machine to quilt with a darker thread on the front and lighter thread on the back (I didn't want light threads "poking through" like little specks of dust). So I choose an olive green thread for most of the lines and blue for the lines on the flowers. They didn't look that different from each other, but allowed me to not play thread chicken with one of the colors. They showed like a dark gray the back, but I don't mind. They make their own pattern over the flowers. Here's how that looks:

And, can I say I'm really proud of how straight I got that backing? My vertical thread lines are almost spot on with the floral pattern. 

When I finished the quilting, I was pleased to see that I had enough fabric bits left to make a pieced binding. Here it is all laid out to make sure the seams wouldn't fall at the corners. (How about that sunshine?!)

Stats: 

Pattern: Flower Blocks are inspired by Cluck Cluck Sew as noted above. The rest of the pattern is my own design.

Fabrics: Kona solids in Amber, Ballerina, Ballet Slipper, Bison, Bluejay, Cloud, Curry, Denim, Desert Green, Dill, OD Green, Pearl Pink, Pepper, Sable, Sky, Smoke and Violet (there might be a couple of these that didn't make the final cut as I was sewing), plus two old scraps of who-knows-what from my collection. Hillside Meadow wideback from Art Gallery Fabrics.

Batting: Fairfield 80/20.

Thread: Superior Masterpiece in Granite for piecing;  Mettler Silk Finish Cotton 50 wt. in Smoky Blue and Burnt Olive for quilting; Superior Treasure in Antique for hand sewing the binding. 

Size: Pieced: 54 1/2 by 54 1/2 inches

         After quilting: 54 by 54 1/4 inches

         Washed: 51 by 51 1/4 inches

         

                                    A bit windy after washing

Machines: Singer Featherweight for piecing; Singer Treadle 115 for walking foot quilting and for machine work on the binding.

It felt so good to finish the quilt. I sent it out along with a little present for baby's big brother as soon as we received word that baby had arrived. It made it to Chicago in one day and was almost at its destination when my tracking notifications indicated an error and then completely disappeared for a day. The next message indicated that it was at the wrong postal facility not far from where it needed to go, and there it sat for several days with no word at all. It seemed it was no longer "Priority." I was really sweating it out, picturing it in a pile in a forgotten bin or worse in a corner somewhere with rats gnawing on it. After five days, the package was declared officially late, so I opened a complaint case to get it moving again. (Sometimes I think the post office needs to hire special "Moms" to look for lost things when technology fails.) Fortunately, things got back underway, and the package finally arrived. Whew! 

The gift received:

And the tiny giftee:

I will admit to a few challenges when I made this quilt, and at one time I wondered if it meant that this little girl would be a feisty little soul. But she's adorable and chill. And all those challenges gave me more time to meditate on her and her family before she was born. I hope there is a baby somewhere in your life that you can gift with a quilt. It's really a satisfying project. 

I'm linking up this week with Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday and Michelle at From Bolt to Beauty for Beauties Pageant. 

 

I'll be back next week with another finish that's been waiting for a post.

(Just a reminder: I'm not affiliated with any company, so when I mention products, services, or stores I'm just documenting what I used or liked.) 

Happy Wholecloth Flowers

Hello, 2021. Can you believe some quilters have new finishes to share already this year? That's amazing. I have a finish to share, but it's really the last finish of last year. I shared one photo of it in my 2020 wrap-up post, but didn't have time to get a post together for it, so here it is again.

Looks wonky; just the breeze

During November I had the thought that I might be able to eek out just one more quilt. I had a two-yard length of fabric I had bought as a souvenir at a Ben Franklin store on vacation in October 2017. I love Ben Franklin (think five and dime store, variety store...much cooler than a dollar store), but they are few and far between in my state now, so shopping there for fabric was high on my list of vacation activities.

I knew immediately how I wanted to quilt this fabric, but it took me this long to get to the quilt. I wanted to make it just a bit wider than the fabric, and when searching around in my bins, I discovered that I had a bunch of solids that were in the same color families as the fabric. And I don't even have that much solid fabric. There must be a connection between those pieces and this print. Are these "my" colors?

I used newsprint (packing) paper to foundation piece 1-inch (finished) piano keys for the borders. I didn't feel like planning corners so I just attached the strips and used a partial seam to finish it all off. 

I am still not real comfortable going into a retail store, but I did not have fabrics on hand that might work for a quick, easy backing. The next best thing was to search online for fabric immediately available for curbside pickup at Joann. My first choice would have been a local independent store, but they don't have a big online presence at this time. (I hope that might improve in the future, but I know that's hard for small stores.) You can not imagine how long it took me to look at (agonize over) every bit of fabric, squinting at or enlarging to try to determine how the colors and prints might look in real life. I fancied a small print multicolored floral, but of course, that was just a fantasy given what was available. I finally settled on a mottled yellow print.

It was described as a floral print, although I couldn't see that on my screen, and the colors sort of vibrated between yellow and orange. I took a leap of faith that that might translate to a goldish, cheddary (not lemon!) yellow. I was thrilled when the fabric was just as I envisioned it when I picked it up. The flowers just show up as texture, but it works well with the front of the quilt.

I knew that I would be tempted to over-quilt this, but I wanted to keep it a soft and not too lengthy project. All of the quilting is following the shapes. I tried to follow as close as I could, but did not obsess about it, so there are lots of wobbles--enough to keep it playful. 

I started with the shapes of the biggest flowers, then the tan leaves, and finally the interiors of the biggest flowers and some of the ladybugs. I was tempted to outline some of the small flowers, but wasn't sure how to keep myself from doing all of them, so I stopped. My freemotion quilting is a little rusty. I don't do it as much as walking foot quilting these days, and my stitches were a bit tiny, but the machine has a great stitch (tension is just perfect), so it still looks good.

I puzzled over the border a bit. I get bored quilting in the ditch, so I did not want to do that. I thought of a vine with leaves, but wanted it to be even simpler. Then I remembered that I had some very old cardstock stencils from back in my hand-quilting-only days. The biggest one just happened to be the width of the border.

I used to carefully measure and plan these kinds of borders to go around corners with symmetry, but not this time. Following the borders in the same style as they were attached was easier and had a more modern vibe. 

I used my hera marker for the lines, which worked well on the solids. And the soft December light by my window was just right to see the lines as I quilted with my walking foot. I left the last bit of border clear for my initials and the date.

(before washing, the washout marker shows)

When planning the size of the quilt, I made sure to allow enough fabric for the binding. I love pieced scrap bindings, but again, in the interest of a quickish finish, a single fabric was preferable, and the big print achieves the same purpose of varied colors. 

I took my time with the piecing and quilting, but it could have been a very quick project. I know that I will keep my eye open for other very large print fabrics to do this again because it was really fun. Minimal piecing, minimal marking, loosey goosey quilting, easy backing, along with a fun print--who doesn't love that?! (The only thing I might have done differently was center the main fabric vertically so those big bottom flowers weren't cut off in an awkward spot.)This quilt is going to be set aside with another similar-sized quilt until I have one more, and then I'll ship them off as a donation. 

Here's a gallery of photos after washing. I tried and tried to get good photos in the sun, but our weather has been fickle. The sun would peep out, I'd run out and get set up and then it snuck back behind the clouds. But I did get a few.

Where's the sun?

I did find some sunshine for a few seconds through the living room window.

Here are the stats for this one: 

Pattern: Wholecloth with piano key border
Fabrics:  Free Mind by Hoodie Crescent for Newcastle Fabrics; various solids, mostly Kona, but some others, too; probably a perennially-available Keepsake Calico fabric from Joann

Batting: Hobbs Premium 80/20

Thread: Superior Masterpiece in Granite for piecing; Superior King Tut in White Linen for quilting; Yellow, hefty hand quilting thread from my drawer (the label is gone, but it's got a nice glace finish)

Binding: 2 1/2 inches cut, double layer, machine sewn to front and hand stitched on back. 
Size: 48 1/2 by 60 1/2 inches before quilting; 47 3/4 by 59 3/8 inches after quilting; 44 by 55 3/4 inches after washing on cold and machine drying on low.

Machines: Singer Featherweight for piecing; Singer Treadle 115 for free motion and walking foot quilting and the machine work on the binding.

So that's a final wrap on 2020. After the week we just had in my country, I truly wonder what awaits us in 2021. Quilting will continue to be needed as a balm, I think. I gave my two machines a spa treatment this week while I was between projects. Then I started a new project, a Year of Scrappy Triangles, 52 patterns by Leila Gardunia. I think (hope) I can handle one block a week. That's all I'm going to say about it right now. I'll tell you about my "rules" for these blocks after I have a few made.  

Have a safe, healthy new year, and keep quilting!

I'm linking up with Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday (yeah, I know I'm late), Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop and Wendy at Wendy's Quilts and More for Peacock Party.

(Just a reminder: I'm not affiliated with any company, so when I mention products, services, or stores I'm just documenting what I used or liked.)