SCRAPPY: PLANNED OR RANDOM

0910: black and white ... and a little bit of red ...

Structured piano lessons are starting for Colin andLuci this month; no more free exploring (random pounding - oh, did KK say that LOL) No more free explorationsounds a little harsh, doesn't it. We all need time to be adventerous stepping out on our own and exploring. Maybe the concept should be rephrased to directed, more purposeful and thoughtful exploring ??? This I know for sure: Everyone needs time to play.

 

That's what you will notice with several of the quilts in these pictures. Taking time to play with scrappiness. I like to choose a theme or color palette to work with when I do scrappy quilts. You would probably call mine more planned scrappy than true scrappy.

 

On occassion, I have pieced some quilts where I used the common trick of dropping all the patches in a paper back and pulling the next patch to be added to the block at random. I don't know about you, but I find it more difficult to go totally random with my scrappiness. Does that me I have control issues? LOL

 

I love the drama of black and white with a splash of red and have the quilts and fabric in my stash to satisfy that visual hunger. One of the most favorite quilts in booth displays at market was pieced with black and white with a splash of red ... especially appealing to the guys.

 

Some notes about the patterns featured here in the collage:

* a hand pieced red and white quilt top I found at a tag sale. I have always loved this pattern. It's a tricky one to keep all those bias edges square and straight. I will have to do some squaring and easing of fullness with this one before I can begin to think about how I would like to quilt it. I also need to decide if I want to try to find a coordinating fabric to finish out the borders or not. In the meantime, it's lovely to look at on the quilt rack just like it is.

* the quilt on the left is a pattern I developed for our anual December mystery quilt party using the stack and slash technique. The blocks and quilt were sized just to the right dimensions so the extra blocks could be used in the outer border.

 

* the quilt on the right is one made from a popular pattern/techniqe that we've seen lots of places in shops, classes and workshops, and across the internet ... STRIPS AND CURVES by Louisa Smith. I gathered my fabrics to fit my black and white color theme, added in the fussy-cut piano keyboard fabric here and there, and used a range of reds to round out the strip strata ... what a great way to play with color and practice piecing those curved edges.

And finally, the pattern for the quilt that was so popular in booth displays at market and quilt shows around the country ... MQS 126 QUEEN ANNES' LACE. This pattern was original included in the collection of designs in my book that is now out of print called Blocks That connect.

The book was written to be used as a manual for my beginning patchwork piecing classes and is chock-full of all kinds of tips and tricks to help you be a more successful quilter while having fun developing your skills and honing your craft.

 

I am in the process of re-releasing the patterns individually as e-patterns readily available for immediate download.

 

Queen Anne's Lace is designed to give a beginners quilt a more advanced look with the pieced border (which included secret fudge-factor tips making everything fit together perfectly.

 

Another feature is the optical illusion of the center appearing to be set on-point. But the best part: the patches used in the border are actually left-over scraps from piecing the blocks used in the center of the quilt.

 

Thanks for stopping by... be brave and play scrappy today - well, at least, take time to play!

PUMPKIN PATCH CLASS: DIAMONDS ON THE DOUBLE

Ah a day for petting the fabrics, playing in the scrap bins, and getting a little bit ahead on the cutting for several different projects while I prep for Saturday's class using my pattern called MQS 112 DIAMONDS ON THE DOUBLE at Pumpkin Patch Quilts in Lee. Here's what I worked on cutting:

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BABY SHOWER QUILT

Sindy and her friends wanted to make a quilt - a grandma quilt - for a new baby due to arrive in May. They gathered their scraps and yardage and set to work.

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CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRIES

Susan's quilt ... a scrappy 9-Patch using all different shades of red and brown. Part of what makes this quilt so effective is the way Susan used so many different textures, so many different shades, and varied the scale of print. What really pops is the fabric that is a paisley with reds and browns and just one little spark of blue.

Light red is always a shade that is hard to grasp when on a search through your stash because we have labeled that tint "pink" so we breeze right on by the pink fabric basket. But look how well the pinks work in with the reds keeping a good flow of value across the quilt top.

Susan's plans are to use this quilt on her bed during the month of February. How perfect is that since this quilt looks to me just like chocolate covered cherries or strawberries dipped in chocolate. I would never have thought to use this color combination which just goes to show there is inspiration no matter where you look (or taste LOL).

I used an edge-to-edge quilting pattern called 1458 HEARTS AND VINES FLIPPED E2E for Susan's quilt and got to hone my "relocate to two points" while working on the quilt.

First I set up my rows with alternating plus and created a CSQ file of just two rows sized specifically for Susan's quilt top. I was pushing the limit of throat space as I rolled - the two row pass is about 17.5" but with the start/top point in the middle I actually needed 22" of sewing space. I ended up going back in and dividing my CSQ two row file into two separate rows when I got the the bottom half of the quilt. There is nothing worse than to be quilting along and get the "abort" message due to an obstacle in the sewing path! That is when you take time out, regroup, breath ... and have another chocolate covered cherry. LOL

I mentioned earlier that I used "relocate to two points" with each roll to set up the next two (or one) row. Because of quilt shrinkage I couldn't just use the start/end points. I used the points of the hearts in the quilting pattern and my crosshairs to check to make sure I kept the pattern lining up correctly as I stitched my way down the quilt. It took a little bit to get used to seeing the quilt design not line up on the screen but knowing that it was lining up on the quilt. I also drew a "throat space-quilt edge" pattern boundary for each pass so I could check to make sure the rows were going to fit in the stitching space. That little trick helped me know when to switch to a single row pass.

Like the way this pattern looks? Want to add it to your pattern library? It is one of 3 patterns that for one day only ... the MONDAY ONE DAY featured patterns markdown of 30%. The patterns featured for today only at only $10.50 per pattern are:

STATLER

• 1149 WOVEN HEARTS E2E
• 1457 HEARTS & VINES E2E
• 1458 HEARTS & VINES FLIPPED E2E

INTELLIQUILTER

• 1149 IQ WOVEN HEARTS E2E
• 1457 IQ HEARTS & VINES E2E
• 1458 IQ HEARTS & VINES FLIPPED E2E

... know your craft ... practice your craft ...

... be innovative with your craft ....

SCATTER GARDEN UPDATE

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A PROJECT IN HAND, ANOTHER IN MIND

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QUILTING FOR JILL

First ... let's take a look at those quilts I teased you with yesterday. I promised more pictures of the customer quilts I've been working on, so, here they are! Jill has been bringing her quilt tops to me for her for several years now. Jill used to be a fabric rep for a fabric company and found herself with yards and yards of samples when she retired. Jill makes the best use of a variety of fabrics in her quilts of most any one I know in the quilting world. She has a real eye for color and manages to put just the right little bit of zing in simple traditional quilt patterns.

Jill brought 3 quilts to me to finish up for her this time. She asked for simple edge to edge quilting on the first two. I put leaves on the Fall Chain and simple daisies on the purple and aqua quilt. For the life of me, I can not think of the name of this block. Any one out there able to help me?

Jill's third quilt - the red, white, and blue chain quilt features a piano key border with red frames, a 3" white inner border, and a 6" white outer border. She knew she wanted feathers in the white borders and an edge-to-edge design in the main body of the quilt. Some quilters refer to this kind of quilting as border-to-border quilting.

We decided to use a wiggly line serpentine stitching for a faux "stitch-in-the-ditch" to help define the red frames. I also used the same stitch to define the piano keys.

I used a swirling pattern for the body of the quilt and I digitized a new point-to-point feather pattern to use in the white borders. I love how easily this feather pattern sets up in the borders. I designed it to work as a dead-end border layout so I don't have to struggle with working my way around the corner.

The results is a frame of a beautiful feather design that surrounds the quilt in graceful undulating lines.

KALEIDOSCOPE QUILTING

Recently I taught a class at Pioneer Quilts based on my kaleidoscope quilt that is published as a pattern in Marti Michell's book Kaleidoscope ABC's. We had such a good time learning how to use Marti's Kaleido-Ruler making it much easier to complete the blocks.

Last week Darlene brought her quilt top in for me to finish for her. I thought you might enjoy seeing the "after class" tutorial I put together for the girls and how great Darlene's quilt looks. The "after class" tutorial is to serve as a reminder filled with those little class details, tips, and tricks we tend to forget the day after class ... but we still have more blocks to piece.

When I made my quilt, I used strips and scraps from a country red and blue exchange from a couple of summers ago. As you can see, this quilt works great as a scrappy stash buster and I love the circular motion created by the block units as your eye travels across the top of the quilt.

POSTAGE STAMP HEXAGON QUILT

As promised, here is the story of the Hexagon quilt. I started the hexagon quilt in the early 90's as a take-along project while waiting for our kids during music lessons, contest performances, cross country races, and track meets. It was small and easily fit into my purse in a plastic birthday card sized envelope. I had everything I needed ...

• pre-cut fabric hexagons
• card stock foundation papers
• basted hexagons
• scissors, needle, and thread
• the project (at that time it was small enough to fit very nicely into my bag without being wadded into a ball like a rag

But after this kids graduated and went away to college part of my "empty nest" was no more waiting time to be filled and the hexagon quilt was put away for another day, to work on sometime, and soon a forgotten UFO. Until, last summer.

One of the things Eryn asked for last summer was the hexagon quilt. Did I still have it? Could she have it? Could it be her quilt to finish? Absolutely! And, even better, Eryn would be visiting during her in-between homes moving time which happened to coincide with our Scrappy Sister annual quilting retreat.I had been using 30's reproduction prints for the hexagon quilt, and, at the retreat, we just happened to be trading strips of 30's reproduction fabrics. Eryn got to take my place in the strip exchange so she would have a stash for cutting new hexagons. She circulated through the tables during the retreat driving hard bargins with the ladies as she traded strips for different strips she liked better. We got her set up with a rotary cutter, a stacked template like I describe in yesterday's post, and the UFO quilt kit.

I would hear off and on about surprise "squishies" arriving in the mail as different Scrappy Sisters mailed 30's scraps to Eryn to help her along the way to finishing her quilt. And what progress she has made!. When I gave the UFO to her it measure about 18" in length and about 12" in width. Check out the length now! I think it must be nearly 4'x6'. It covers the top of her dining room table. The desired finished length is still up in the air. She has decided it will be a large wall hanging rather than a bed quilt. And from the looks of things, I think it might be time to think about ordering the half hexagon card stock from Paper Pieces.


While I was visiting Eryn earlier in June we found some great looking organizing containers for her hexagons. She used the antique sherbet glasses for sorting the unbasted hexagons by color. By the way, if anyone knows the name of the crystal pattern for these glasses, let us know. I know it is hard to see that pattern on them from this picture. I'll ask her to send me a picture of just one so you can get a good look at it and help us identify the pattern. She is looking for more. She has eight right now but would like more since she has more that eight colors. I think she needs about 4 more.

After she bastes the hexagons she sorts them into her Fiestaware tea cups. Her new search now is to find brown Fiestaware. Do they even make it in brown? I think the cinnabar might be her closest bet. She's done a great job working the reds into the quilt. I tended to avoid the reds when I started because they seemed to jump right off the quilt at me. She has also added some of the more bold colors that have joined the palette of 30's prints ... the darker blues, the brighter oranges, browns (which are very hard to find) and, for today's project she has been working in the black prints with grace and style so they look like the belong in the quilt. Not an easy task.

During our antique outings we also found this primitive tool boxs. I thought it would be a good storage piece for my studio or to use for display in the different shows I go to. Wrong! It is perfect for storing the 6" squares of fabric before they are cut into hexagons. Another bin is used for her cutter, scissors, needle case, and template, and she uses an antique aluminum measuring cup for corralling her pre-cut card stock shapes.

How big are the hexagons? Eryn is working with hexagons that measure 3/4" on the side. Just the right size to not make the quilt seam "klunky" and yet big enough to allow centering of fussy cut prints from the conversational prints of the 30's.

STAR BOUQUET

One of the things I did while I was in Alabama visiting my daughter was to help her with her first real quilt. You'll remember me posting about the sock monkey quilt she wanted to make for her friend who is expecting her baby in October.

While Eryn worked on piecing blocks, I basted fabric hexagons to card stock forms which she will add using the hand-piecing English Paper Piecing technique to her hexagon quilt. She has been working on her hexagon quilt for about a year now but that story is for another post. Stay tuned!
Bottom line ... when I got home I realized how much I like revisiting this hand piecing technique. It's a nice change from sewing like a mad-woman at the longarm or piecing samples for classes and patterns as fast as I can make them on my home machine. So off I went to Paper Pieces to see what kinds of projects they had that might interest me.

To begin with, anything on sale will always catch my eye and they are currently running a special on all star patterns. Two patterns and four charm pack pre-cut shapes later I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the mail. Tuesday was a happy day at our house.

But as I opened the package and looked inside my pattern I groaned. What on earth was I thinking! Yes, read the fine print on the pattern. I think ... no, I know ... when I was ordering I had a hard time visualizing just how small the pieces must be to make a quilt that finishes at ... look again, you read it right the first time ... 14" x 16". Those little pieces are smaller the my thumbnail!

The sides of the hexagons (that's how you measure hexagons) is 1/2" and the little six-pointed star finishes from point to point a total of 3 1/2". The good news is I now have a use for those tiny scraps in baggies at the back of the drawer.

I gathered up my red, white, and blue scraps and decided today was the day to tackle this project. After all, I only need to make 23 stars. I haven't even thought about the diamond shapes yet that are used to connect the stars. We'll just take this one tiny baby step at a time.

First step was to create a cutting template. I found with the hexagon quilt using a template with the 1/4" seam allowance added on makes a big difference when pre-cutting the shapes. I like to use the extra-thick template plastic from EZ Quilting. I trace the small finished-size card stock on the template plastic and then use a ruler to add the quarter inch. After I have one shape cut out from the template plastic, I put a piece of double stick tape on the back, stick it to the template plastic and cut out another layer. I usually end up with about 4 layers stuck together. Then I don't have to worry about trimming away the edges of my template as I cut my fabric shapes with the rotary cutter.

Then next step was to gather my fabrics. I don't need big yardage for this project - I just need a strip about 2" x 10" for the jewel shapes ... 11 different blues and 12 different reds. I can also cut the hexagon star centers from this yardage. Not making much of a dent in the stash but every LITTLE bit helps. I have plenty of patriotic fabrics in my stash. I absolutely love red, white, and blue, and, two years ago our small quilting bee traded fabric strips in country reds and blues at our annual retreat.

After the fabric shapes are cut I'm finally to the basting step and it was just as I remembered. Relaxing! Put in a movie to listen to and look up occasionally in the really good parts, sit back in the rocking recliner, snacks and beverages close at hand and enjoy the afternoon. (Opps, I think I forgot to tell you, I dropped my DH Mike at the airport early this morning to fly to San Diego. He is playing in a three day trombone fest with our son ... 76+ trombones in concert with the San Diego Symphony and Marvin Hamlisch in a big star spangled Fourth of July celebration firewroks and all. What a great sound! If you live in the San Diego area you'll not want to miss this concert. So, it's just me and the dogs for this Fourth of July holiday.)

Of course, after all those little pieces were floating around on the cutting table I had to think of some way to keep things organized. Hooray for me! So far I have two stars completely sewn together and all the pieced basted for two more stars. What better way to celebrate the Fourth!


Have a happy and safe holiday celebration.

A QUILTING DAY FOR ME

When this hobby becomes your career there is a shift in thinking from what pleases you to what will market well. What pleases you is still a part of the decision making process because that is part of what gives your product the stamp of your personality to your product. So when the rare day happens that you get to work on projects that will never be in a show, never be used as a class sample, never be published, it becomes a real treat. I got to have one of those days today.

When we woke up this morning we had a light dusting of snow and freezing temperatures. Schools called late openings and I called my Tuesday sewing group to let them know we wouldn't be having class today. The temperatures warmed through the day and I was snug as a bug in a rug enjoying working on a quilt for my daughter-in-law Andrea. She needs a "new Momma" quilt. She is in the hospital at complete bed rest awaiting the arrival of our grandbabies - twins, Colin and Lucy. We're hoping she can make it to at least the end of February before having the babies. She's been in the hospital since the week after Thanksgiving. It's been a very long haul and she's being a very good sport through this ordeal. And, I think I need to get this Momma quilt done pretty quickly. So today I started cutting.

This quilt features the fabric line from RJR called Sweet as a Rose. I was able to pick up the quilt kit while in Houston for quilt market. I got a good start on piecing the blocks today but I wanted to share a tip to help make piecing the square-in-a-square block a little easier and more accurate to piece.

When sewing the triangles on to the sides of the squares most patterns direct you to crease the middle of the square and the triangle and then match the creases for accurate placement of the triangle on the square. I like to use the point trimmer from Judy Martin. I trim the corners off the triangles before sewing them on. Then when I place the triangles on the square the nipped off corners fit right up to the edge of square. No creasing ... no guessing. And, my square in a square comes out right to size each time.

I don't know what it has taken me so long to get on the pillowcase bandwagon. But today I jumped in with both feet and had a ball. I've always had seasonal pillowcases and special pillowcases to match the quilts, but I always made them the way my mother taught us when we were growing up. Her pattern features a cuff and hem all from one piece of fabric. She always had us use French seams, too, so there were no raw edges on the inside.

But today, everything clicked into place about how to make these pillowcases with the little accent strip and the separate cuff. I was still able to do my French seams, so no raw edges for me. I think our new Winter pillowcases turned out pretty great, and I have a Puppy Pillowcase/quilt bag for delivering Pat's Puppy Love quilt to her. We're almost finished with the binding!

For the last thing of the day, I'll let you in on a little secret. I really like the way the February Free Pattern of the Month is going together.

ELEPHANTS, BATTING, AND TUCKS, OH MY

And a busy day it was, but very productive. I notice you all must be a stumped as me as to what to do with those left-over batting scraps. Not a word or suggestion from anyone as to what to do with them. I'll share some of my favorites and the one use I don't like.

First, the use of batting scraps I don't like ... seaming all the scraps together to use as a full piece of battting in another quilt. I don't like the way the batting stretches with the seaming; I don't like the bump or lump it leaves along the seam line in the quilt sandwich. Having said all of that, I will in an emergency splice batting together in a quilt of my own, but never in a customer quilt. Tomorrow I'll go through the directions for my method of splicing batting so there are no lumps or distortion of the batting to interfere with the overall finished look of the quilt.

So, what do I do with my batting scraps. My customers always get their batting scraps back whether they brought in their own or purchased batting from me. That helps eliminate my batting scrap stash.

I keep bags of like batting together ... all the 80/20 in one bag, 100% cotton in another, etc. Periodically, I will go through the bags and sort by size. What will work for place mats, pillows, baby quilts ... what can be spliced together for a quilt project. After this initial sorting, I will have small pieces that are ready for cutting into smaller pieces for ...

• the local schools to use as erasers for their dry erase white boards (I always carry one with me when I teach classes and workshops for guilds, conferences, and quilt shops.)
• mop rags for wiping down my longarm table ... oil drips and dust
• the longarm "diaper" ... place a batting scrap under the machine to catch the overflow drips while the machine is not in use
• and ... I always have my box of 5 1/2" squares going for the on-going coaster projects

I'll let you in on a little secret. You can use the same technique I used yesterday to make a pot holder. I would be cutting my squares in the 8"-9" range. I would also use Insul-Bright for the batting to help reflect the heat and protect my hands more than regular batting. I also like to use this batting for table mats and place mats to help protect the family heirloom oak tabletop. Another stash busting tip ... use your orphan blocks for the backing and inside lining of these pot holder projects. You would still need to to the woven 4-Patch for the front side so you can get inside easily to turn the pot holder.

And now onto the elephants. Kristie and I have been working the last few days on a project - trying to figure why her purchased digitized files are not going through. Well, after many attempts and much sleuthing on both our parts, we figured out that her server is thinking I'm trying to pass on a virus or I'm trying to send her spam. So, the emails with the files were being blocked. by her server. Just one more thing to check if you're having any trouble with the digital downloads from Mountaintop Quilting.

In the process of all this problem solving we talked about an upcoming quilt project she has for a customer. The client wants elephants quilted on the quilt. Kristie sent me some pictures of the blocks and I came up with two possible designs for her to use on the quilt.

The first one is fairly simple with a pretty quick stitch out as she works across the rows. The second one is more complicated but larger. It measures at almost 20" in pattern height and a little more than 24" in pattern width. You can cover a lot of "miles" pretty quickly when a pattern is designed to that height.

I wonder which one Kristie will choose. Which would you choose? You can help Kristie make her decision by voting in the poll on the sidebar.

The last subject for the day ... the dreaded tucks in the back of the quilt. Rarely do I notice them before I am ready to take the quilt off the machine. I don't get them very often any more, (knock on wood) and I have a theory about that which you will want to watch for a future post about preparing backings that are square and straight.

One of the quilts I did for a friend for her granddaughter's Christmas present had a tuck in the back of it. Rachel got to unwrap her quilt for Christmas, but we told her she'd have to wait until I fixed it before she could take it home for her bed. Fixing Rachel's quilt was on the list of jobs today. Fortunately, the tuck was in a corner rather than the middle so I was able to basically work "from the center out" to the corner dropping the blocks back in, re-ditching the framing border, and then finishing up with the piano key border.

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts and comments about what causes those dreaded tucks to suddenly appear in the back of our quilts. We load the same every time; we use our clamps the same every time; we're usually consistent in the amount of tension between the bars every time; we check the distance between the take-up roller and the bed of the machine as we quilt. It is a mystery, and every time it happens to me, I am on a search working my way down the check list as to what could have made that happen.

Share your theories regarding the "dreaded tucks" with the rest of us in the comment area ... and don't forget to help Kristie choose her elephant pattern by casting your vote in the poll.

BATTING SCRAPS AND CHARM PACKS

There isn't a one of us quilters that doesn't have bags (lots of bags, usually) of left-over batting scraps from our quilting projects. What to do? What to do? Oh, What to do with all of these scraps that aren't the right size for any of our projects. Too small for lap quilts; wrong fiber content for baby quilts; not the right shape for a pillow sham; too puffy for a place mat or wall hanging. What to do? What to do?

I've had an idea kicking around in my head for quite some time thinking it through just how best to do this project. And the best part about this project is that is combines the use of two problem areas in my stash room - charm packs and left-over batting scraps. So, today was the day to as they say, "get 'er done!"

First, I cut up several left-over batting scraps into 5 1/2" squares. There's lots more batting scraps left yet, but I did fill the box.

Second, I pulled out the charm packs that I was least likely to use in the near future for any pressing project. The collection I used today was a charm pack from the 2008 Thimbleberries Club Lodge and Lakeside project for this year. I decided not to do this year's project since I still have last year's project, and the year before that, and ... well, you get the picture. The UFO list is for another day. If you don't have any charm packs waiting to be used up, this is a good stash-busting project. You need squares cut at 5 1/2".

Third, I sorted my squares into sets of six. One square will be used for the inside lining. You could substitute a plain muslin square for this patch if you're wanting to conserve fabric. Another square will be used for the backing. The remaining four squares are folded in half and woven together creating a four patch.

Fourth, I layered the squares/batting into a stack ... inside lining on the bottom - wrong side up; batting square; backing square; woven four patch unit. I pinned the stack together and then I was ready to sew.

Fifth, I sewed around the stack 1/2" from the edge.

Sixth, I trimmed any excess batting from between the seam allowances.

Seventh, I trimmed the corners on the diagonal to eliminate bulk.

Eighth, I reached inside the center of the 4-Patch and turned everything right side out so the raw edges of the seams were inside. I used my bamboo stiletto to gently poke out the corners trying to get them a square as possible.

Ninth, I top stitched around my new project ... a coaster ... 1/4" from the edge.

Not bad for a day's work! Well, I did complete more than four today and, I took time to get the process down in picture form in my photo album Free Pattern Charm Square Coasters with abbreviated directions in the captions. You'll have to watch for a posting announcing the free pattern available as a PDF on my website when we get it up.

I've seen this technique used in different ways. It makes a charming decorative ornament - skip the inner lining and batting - add a ribbon tie. A friend of mind follows a similar process to create the coasters in terms of layering, but hers are in the shape of a circle. It is part of her welcoming package to all new-comers joining in her private retreat.

I have some other ideas about how to use left over batting scraps, but I'd like to hear what some of you readers are doing with your batting scraps. Drop a line in the comments and share your ideas about great ways to use up those pieces of batting we just can't seem to just toss in the garbage.