Short and Sweet

Not a lot of progress today. Instead of the patriotic table runner projects I flitted back to the Christmas applique project and finished the last small block that I was behind with. Hopefully I'll get the 3 pieced blocks done this weekend. I will say, that this one is my favorite of the applique blocks so far.

 

Tomorrow I need to put in some quality house cleaning time (I need the exercise) before and after the 'day job'. No fun Friday for me.

 

But, all is not lost, as come Saturday, I'll be heading out to the Annapolis Quilt Guild's annual show, and we're going to take the opportunity of being 'an hour off in that direction' to shop hop a few of the shops out that way that we never seem to get to. The last time we headed out that way was when I first started quilting in 2009. Looking forward to revisiting those shops (if we can remember how to find them--as if that would ever be a problem--wink).

 

Did I mention that this guild has a fabulous raffle quilt ? (fingers crossed).

 

If I play my cards right, get up when the alarm first goes off and skip reading the morning paper, I should be able to knock out all of the housecleaning tomorrow freeing up the weekend for all things quilty. Heck, I might even get in a little quality time with the sewing machine tomorrow night.

 

Sunday, the daughter is taking Daddy to lunch and a movie, so I'll definitely be taking advantage of the opportunity to fly solo in the studio.

 

Hope you're planning something fun for your weekend as well. 

 

 

Taking Inspiration Where I Can Get it

As if I don't have enough to do already, I decided to take a detour and do a little organizing/purging in the studio.

Late at night I try to play 'catch up' with some of my favorite blogs that I may not have time to read daily (or sometimes longer :( ). Anyway, I read with great interest that Lane was doing a bit of cleaning in his studio. He was talking an inspiring game about his pulling things out of the closet that he hasn't regularly used, which made me want to evaluate my pattern storage plans.

I subscribe to all of the quilt magazines, and while I hoard absolutely no other magazine, I just cant seem to let these go when I'm done with them. So I file them in the Ikea cardboard magazine holders, and when I've got a full shelf of holders, I transfer those to the guestroom hutch and start a new set of files on the studio bookcase. I just got smart about a year ago and now when I read these magazines I put a Post It flag on the pages with patterns I'm interested in. Makes it easier to put a hand on later in the year and reevaluate that selection.

Anyway....prior to becoming a magazine collector I picked up a lot of patterns at shows and in quilt shops, and I downloaded a ton of interesting ideas off the Internet, which I printed out. For years they've taken up an entire shelf of my bookcase, filed in plastic page protectors in 3-ring binders. Yeah, that's handy.

I bought myself a box of hanging file folders and a plastic bin to hold them and set to work filing those patterns in a more user-friendly manner, purging all of the patterns that have become 'what was I thinking when I printed that one out?. I ended up with more room on the book shelf for books, and there's even space for a basket that's holding my next quilt project. (It's a modern quilt, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to not drop everything and start on it.)

 

Not too shabby. Managed to cut some scraps from the project below into the scrap drawers this morning before I left for work, so now the cutting table is clean and tidy..

 

I was even motivated enough to hang my cool pin cushion shelf that I picked up at Ikea not too long ago.

 

 

Now they're all spread about on the various shelves in the studio and there's room for more. So we'll be on the prowl (not to mention we've got a few to make -- maniacal laughter).

 

Anyhow, not as major an undertaking as some would go for, but I do keep things pretty neat and well-organized, so the little purges when I've got a couple of free hours before or after work are the ones that work best for me.

 

Speaking of work....we're probably gonna flit (back) to one more project tomorrow.

 

These are my wonky patriotic table runners. The panel on the right is the top, the panel on the left is the back--it's just a 'scrapped' back from leftover fabrics from the two quilt tops. There are two runners hanging there...one for me, one for Jenifer. She was having second thoughts about taking one...said she could think of someone else whose year-round Americana decorating might better lend itself to this, but I pointed out that this is just a table runner that she can put out for a couple of weeks around Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day and then she can fold it up and put it in a drawer until next year. That gave her a new perspective on the matter, and she's back on board. I just need to sandwich and quilt and bind. Maybe tomorrow night.

I keep forgetting that when you're 29, you don't want your mom covering your house in quilted fabric, especially if your design aesthetic leans more toward modern/minimal. She's doing a pretty good job reining me in when I tend to suggest I make her a quilt for each season/holiday/room/occasion/because I have these fabrics that I think she'll just love (she usually doesn't)..

I'm okay with that, I'm a patient woman, and I know that once they have a child, all bets are off. I've got every print from the Goodnight Moon line of fabrics staged and ready for baby's first quilt..in fact, there's probably enough fabric there for two quilts. I told my incredulous husband, who wondered why I would buy fabric to make a quilt for a nonexistent grandchild, that this is what is considered 'speculation fabric'. This is why we have stash. When the time comes, I will be ready. :)

 

 

If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Applique Day

If you're a regular reader, you know I'm a flitter. I flit from project to project, most of which I finish, except for the applique blocks which always tend to be part of a much larger undertaking that I've not set any goals for. (So wrong)

Like this Fiesta (not KKB's Fiesta, but Fat Cat Pattern's Fiesta) block that I started...a foray into fusible/machine applique that never made it past the first block. I couldn't decide on a machine stitch...the one on the center flower wasn't enough, the one on the motif to the right of it took a week to stitch out and I calculated that it would take me about 15.7 years to finish the quilt if I went with that one--which happened to be more of the look I was going for. I guess I'm just not wired for machine applique, so the box full of fabric sits in a corner, and the sole block hangs in the studio closet, in applique limbo (do I go with the heavy stitch, do I rip out all of those stitches and cut new pieces for the ones I need to restitch, or do I trash the entire block and reconfigure the pattern to include 1/4" all around and do this one needle-turn?).

Ah, but I digress.

I've still got that Karen Kay Buckley applique block that I took a workshop for.

 

 

It's my foray into applique with batiks...you know how there's always one person in your class/workshop who brings in the most beautiful batiks to use for their Baltimore album, and you're swearing about how your traditional-print fabric is fraying as you turn it under while they're ravel-free and sewing at twice your speed?  Yeah, that's what this was about. Of course I then learned that Karen appliques with the freezer paper under the fabric, which is probably the first method I learned (and it was miraculous that I came back for more after that). Not my favorite way to applique. Not to mention that I abhor the unnecessary 'surgery' of cutting my fabric to remove the freezer paper I've sewn inside. In trying to be true to the Buckley-style applique of the piece, and considering the fact that this winds up being an orphan block when done, it's easy to understand why this one is buried in an envelope in the closet.

 

We are one block away from a mini Aunt Millie's Garden. (Piece o' Cake Designs)

 

 

The fabric is so darn bright and cute, that we can't help ourselves from wanting to pull it out of it's little plastic bag and work on it now and again. This is usually our 'plane project', but we don't have any flights scheduled until November, and it would be a shame to let this sit for another 6 months, However, I am sewing it with DMC Broder cotton thread, instead of silk, which is more than enough reason to not want to stitch on this every day and finish it.

 

Last month, there was an opening in another guild's workshop with Barbara Burnham. Barbara is the woman who recreated and patterned the Baltimore Garden Quilt, which she published a book about.

 

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The block we took on in the workshop was Miss Parker's Pompom Dahlias

 

 

I love a good Baltimore-style class, and I've got to say I learned a whole lot more than I had bargained for in this one-day workshop.

 

I learned to use a piece of foamcore to tape your pattern and backing to, and then stick pin your pieces down as you  baste them to the background fabric (yes, I said 'baste').

 

 

And I was also reintroduced to appliquing with freezer paper on top. At first I had my negative 'been there/done that' thought, but once I started stitching that way--because I always follow what the instructor is teaching us, even if they say you can do whatever you're comfortable with--I was glad I did, because for now, it turns out I like to applique this way.

 

This entire quilt only uses 3 colors of fabric, so I swung by Jinny Beyer's studio and picked up a background, a red, a green and a yellow from one of her 'mottled solid' fabric lines to use on this block. I figured that if it turns out well and I like it, I can select a few more patterns from the book and run over to Jinny's for more fabric to make a small wall quilt. But for now, this one requires a bit more prep and sew time than I'm willing to put in at the moment, so it's also bagged and tagged for later. Maybe this will become the November plane project.

 

My newest distraction is a Christmas BOM designed by Erin Russek and posted intermittently on her blog.  It's called 'Jingle', and it's going to include 9 pieced blocks, 9 applique blocks, and a large center medallion. Here's her 'representation' thus far.

 

 

If you'd like to get in on this, here's a link to the Jingle info on Erin's blog:

http://erinrussek.typepad.com/one-piece-at-a-time/jingle-bom/ 

 

I've finished two of the applique blocks so far, I'm working on the third

 

(Note that I'm using the freezer paper on top technique)

(Yes, I need a manicure--badly)

The center medallion has been 'kitted', and I've got a box set aside with some appropriate fabrics and the pieced patterns. This one is high priority. Once I finish that small applique block above, I need to crank out the 3 pieced blocks before Erin uploads the next applique block and I'll be caught up. Then I can focus on the center medallion. I WILL have a 2013 Christmas quilt finished in time to display the day after Thanksgiving. (We are exercising the power of positive thinking here).

I'm also working on some non-applique projects -- I told you I was flitting about. But those are for another post, as my head is spinning from being reacquainted with all of these WIP appliques I've got looming perilously close to being sucked into the block hole of unfinished projects.

What are you working on now, and are you struggling to keep your head above water or lounging on a pool noodle raft with a pina colada?