Vintage Blocks Flimsy

Vintage Blocks Flimsy

Though I don't spend long, uninterrupted time in my studio these days, I do peck away at a lot of my quilting goals. Here is a flimsy finish I started the week before, and by adding the whole spectrum of tiny squares I completed the border. I'm waiting for inspiration before I add the embroidery.

Vintage Blocks Wall Hanging

Vintage Blocks Meet Vintage Fabric Pack

In the first years of quilting, I spent considerable time acquiring new fabric. Then I began collecting old fabric, blocks, quilts, ephemera, and so on. The day of reckoning came when I said, "What am I going to do with all this stuff?" (or my kids if I leave it undone.) And that pretty well sums up where I am at currently, and hoping to direct my quilting energy and time to correcting. 

I am a sucker for the tag sales where there are stacks of blocks stuck in a baggie for $2 with lots of pieces waiting to be sewn. It just screams, "Make me, Julie!" Mind you the fabric is from the 1940's, and 85 years later still not sewn together. It's usually a case of someone trying out a block, and it didn't come together as well as they'd planned. Many start out as hand sewn, and honestly those are the best as you can easily unpick them. It's not always necessary, though, and often I like the look of hand pieced, slightly imperfect blocks. That was the case here even after fixing a few seams that had pulled.

Halloween Spiders Half Hexie Quilt Finish

Halloween Spiders Half Hexie Quilt Finish

The spiders are creeping down the quilt, some half hidden, some in full sight. These are the friendly kind of spiders though, and have done a lot in reality to get me through some of my own fear of them. Having to look through pictures of all kinds of arachnids was unpleasant, but by dissecting the body parts to give even a rough representation here helped me compartmentalize it. 

This first photo shows what the quilt looks like hanging in my hallway finished. Dark block walls and spotlight lighting are dim, and art quilts pop. The quilting shows well, and the colors are deeper. Hanging a quilt out of direct light keeps it from fading, and if you are using delicate fabrics or embellishment it becomes even more important.

Halloween Half Hexie Spider Embellishment

Halloween Half Hexie Spider Embellishment

First of all, I am not a spider lover. I do tolerate them much better as a gardener seeing their benefit, and would never destroy one or a web, but embrace them? No. This is me trying hard to look up web images of spiders without raising my pulse and blood pressure to create these little beasties. It has helped to be honest, but they will always cause me to jump when I see a big one.

Halloween Half Hexie Table Topper Quilt

Halloween Half Hexie Table Topper

The Coshocton Canal Quilters held their quilt show this past weekend. It was a very nice show as it always is, and if you're ever in this part of of Ohio, it's worth the trip. It typically falls on the same weekend as the Ohio Mennonite Relief Sale which is held in Mount Hope, and you get your fill of quilts and quilty items. A friend came to town, and we squeezed both into one day. It was a lot for one day. 

One of the things I really look forward to is the Quilter's Corner in both places. Around here it means pre-loved items typically donated to raise money for the organization. They did not disappoint at either event, and I will show you some of my lovely finds in the coming days. For today let me share one of my favorite buys, and personal challenges I take every year. Buy something, and use it immediately. Don't sort and store it. Use it. So this little project was a baggie of scraps I got for $2. 

Quick Baby Quilt with a Panel--Christmas Idea

Getting Back in the Groove with a Panel

Very briefly, I have been on a hiatus again. Life got crazy busy this year between the garden, greenhouse, family, and first grandchild. Yes, we got the blessing of our lives a few short weeks ago, and it's as good as everyone said it would be. I'm elated, and sewed my little heart out before she arrived! That's all for another day, but today let me show you what I did with a simple panel left languishing in my stash for the nursery at our house. This type of project makes a darling Christmas gift for someone on your list whether young or old as it's a quick and economical make overall. 

Scrappy Heart Crush: How to Use a Paper Template/Pattern

Scrappy Heart Crush: How to Use a Paper Template/Pattern

In the past blog post, Free Pattern: Scrappy Heart Crush, I showed how to make the paper template above. Today I'll show you how to use it, and add a few cutting and trimming details to the template.

Years ago quilters were used to making a lot of their own paper templates, or improvising to recreate a pattern. We aren't as comfortable drawing up our own patterns anymore, and rely on purchased patterns where all measurements are laid out. EQ8 is a big help, but often a pencil and paper is more than adequate. Most people are very capable at creating their own patterns. I encourage you to try it because it's such a confidence builder, and gives you options when you see something you'd rather not spend a lot of cash on. 

Free Pattern: Scrappy Heart Crush

Happy Valentine's Day 2024!

February rolled around sooner than expected yet it's the same time every year. It's funny how that happens. I don't decorate much, if at all, for minor holidays, but it's nice to have a throw to bring out to lay across the couch back. Also, red is especially nice as a pop of color during the drab months of winter!

I added two outer borders this morning to finish this off, and I like how it ties the colors together. 

Scrappy Heart Crush Quilt

Scrappy Heart Crush Quilt

February holds Valentine's Day, is heart health month, and the anniversary of some good, and not-so-good things in my life. For the past 3 weeks I've gotten one bug after the next with the last one knocking me for a real loop. Low energy had me looking for a mini project while I put Lorelei on hold. The scraps were calling out so I dug into my reds coming up with a neat little heart block. The beauty of it was how fast I could sew it. In under 10 minutes I had a 10.5" block to trim! in no time at all, February was looking up, and these blocks were ready for a quilt.

Lorelei Quilt: Lesson 1 Center Pinwheel

Lorelei: Lesson 1 Center Pinwheel

Tools: I used the Creative Grids Flying Geese & 45/90 Degree Triangle Ruler to make this quilt. I believe this to be an indispensable ruler for any quilter, but there are many similar rulers you may already own. This ruler trims the upper point off the triangle. You may use any similar ruler or the corner of any square ruler by allowing it to hang over the fabric strip. 

*An accurate 1/4" seam allowance is important with all piecing. Test your machine so you know the sweet spot. As you add seams to a block you may need to compensate with a slightly smaller seam allowance as you go. That may only be a thread's width. Don't be afraid to rip and re-do. 

**Pressing: Press each set of units as you finishing chain stitching them. I use a dry iron for pieces with bias as steam distorts.

Lorelei may appear more complicated than it is. Let's break the block down into a 9 sub-blocks. The entire block is 15" finished, and each of the 9 sub-blocks are 5" finished. There are only 3 different sub-blocks within the block. If you master 3 sub-blocks, you've got the whole quilt! 

Lorelei Quilt: Free Pattern Coming

Lorelei Quilt

Many evenings we sit in front of the tv to wind down before bed, and often there is nothing worth watching. I prefer to have my laptop open, and fiddle around with EQ8. I bought the 10" Accuquilt system a few years ago, and haven't felt I've been able to use it as much as I'd liked. So my goal here was to create some patterns using shapes available in the core group of dies, and that's where I started. I went on to design this block using 3 of the dies, and those shapes can also be easily cut with my favorite Creative Grids ruler, the 6" Flying Geese and 45/90 Degree Triangle Ruler. This ruler should be in everyone's repertoire. Therefore, the Accuquilt system will lend a hand in cutting several shapes, but it is not essential.

Glitter Top Done

Glitter Top Done

What a relief to finish this top last week! Okay, I may have been a little sad to see it end, but only for a moment. I've never done any quilt with so many of the same block, and likely won't again for a long while.

Glitter Blocks Week 6: All Done

Glitter Blocks Week 6: All Done

Did you ever think I'd get this done ahead of schedule? I did not, and I'm surprised. It leads me to two possible conclusions: the vacation with bad weather or having a schedule laid out ahead of time--or maybe both. Either way they are done, and I've laid out all 162 to make sure they work.

The shocker when they were laid out was I wound up with close to the same number of light and dark backgrounds without planning. It wasn't a juggle to lay them out, and even if it wasn't a definite light or dark it was fine using value as a guide.

I'm hoping to get these together this morning, and just maybe while the snow starts falling this afternoon I will load it on the longarm. We are due 2" in the next 24 hours, and while it's not a lot life will slow down here. My goal is to have it bound by Tuesday for a show and tell Wednesday. It's good to have a plan, right?

Hope your home is warm and tight as we all buckle down for winter here in the U.S. I think it's finally coming.

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go sew.

Glitter Blocks Week 5: Christmas Vacation

Glitter Blocks Week 5: Christmas Vacation

I checked the weather forecast days before leaving for a break before Christmas. I had cut just under 50 blocks thinking I would have a back up in case there was bad weather, and thankful I was! It didn’t just rain—it poured! It looked like a movie set when you looked up at the streetlights. More like tropical storm strength than just a shower! There were spots of sunshine a few days, but still cool so much of my time was spent at the machine listening to podcasts. Here I had finished 25 blocks the first 3 days.

Glitter Progress Week 4: 91 Blocks & Counting

Glitter Progress Week 4: 91 Blocks & Counting

Fun stuff, right? I told you in another post what fun I'd been having pairing up fabrics I might not have used in another quilt, and these couple are good examples. It's just a fun quilt, and I'm trying out lots of combinations. I love the fabrics whether old or new, and am getting a kick out of some of them. 

This week's progress report is slower than other weeks. I'd say it's Christmas preparations, but it's actually been extra time spent cutting blocks to have ready over the Christmas to New Year's week. Hours. I will reiterate, I'm glad I have templates, though I'm only using those for the background and cones. 

Glitter Progress Week 3

Glitter Progress Week 3: 83 Blocks and Counting

I had so much help taking a photo today, but the light was great! How's that for a week's work? I went from 56 to 83, and that's averaging slightly higher than my 25 block a week goal! Honestly it was a lot of sewing, and I'm not sure I'll hit that every week, but I'm about halfway now. 

Glitter Quilt Progress Week 2

Glitter Quilt Progress Week 2

Sixteen blocks last week became 36 in a short while, then 18 more, and 20+ cut out, and ready to sew this weekend! See, I told you this was going to be a quilt to hold my attention!

I keep finding little short cuts that make this go faster, and I'm glad because I'm altering the quilt dimensions to suit my needs. I'll be making it slightly narrower, and a row longer. I thought that would reduce the number of blocks, but actually it adds 10 more.  I need to keep after it so I get it done on time, and don't burn out. Making the same block repeatedly isn't my strong suit so it needs to get done fast!

I'll have more pictures next week, but it's darn hard squeezing life in during daylight hours. We need that good light for pictures, don't we? Hope you are finding the holiday peaceful enough to have a good quilting project of your own. 

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go sew.

Glitter Progress and an Organizational Work Plan

Glitter Quilt Progress and Plan

Ooooh, I like this quilt, and so far so good! This is a fun project to get me actively into my scrap bins, and I love how it allows me to mix those fabrics in novel ways. Our scraps are an amalgamation of everything we've created whether modern, vintage, or traditional, and mine reflect that diverse work. These blocks do too. We can get stuck with thinking a certain fabric can only go with other fabrics in the same line, or ones we've used them with before. It's hard to shake off what goes together. It's like when you wear an outfit. Those jeans go with that shirt and these shoes. This is shaking it all up for me.

Some of the vintage feeling fabrics are truly old, and others are remakes. Some are old shirts. A few were definitely the last bits of favorite prints that I even pieced the very end parts together to get one last square. I'm loving the using-it-up mentality in this work!

Glitter Blocks Machine Sewn

Glitter Blocks Machine Sewn

For months I've looked for a good project that would hold my interest, and I think I've found one. It's Glitter by Jen Kingwell, with the pattern found in Quilt Lovely. Years ago I loaned out my copy, and it disappeared unfortunately. I had already made several projects from the book and convinced myself I didn't need it, but this quilt was still nagging me to make it. I had the templates purchased, and though it's a straightforward pattern, I repurchased the book. I really enjoy looking at Kingwell's fabric pairings in the photos, and it feeds me ideas.

Measuring Oversized Blocks Accurately

"You Can Never Have Too Much Purple"

You are either a purple lover or you're not. I can tell you I have one purple shirt in my closet so I fall in the "maybe not" category. I don't dislike it, but I'm not drawn to it. Never the less, I was given most of these blocks in a bag of charity fabrics, and I thought it would be a quick finish. It actually wasn't too bad, and I learned a few things along the way. Let me share one on how to accurately measure oversized blocks.