Pet Project Show #24

My self-imposed rule for using prints that show as solids is 

becoming less defined. I have started adding fabrics that have more color mixed into them. A book called Colorific by Pam Goecke Dinndorf is the influence. Color seems to be the most interesting thing about quilts for me, but I have so much to learn. I keep turning to new resources to find out how ways to use it effectively. Even blending in tiny amounts of color that appear elsewhere in the quilt are helping to tie the palette together for my eye.

Above, the salmon has small yellow flowers, and below the grey is pulling in the teals and greens. If you squint hard, which we often do picking fabrics, it still shows as mainly a solid. Also, the above block is about 12", while the one below is only 6". Viewed from a distance, the 12" color will have more color impact to you.

The other thing repeating itself during construction, is how the Moda pattern suggests assembly. I think the instructions are rather typical. We tend to construct smaller blocks or units that can then be sewn all together without a Y seam. It made sense to me, but I kept seeing another way. 

What I Was Seeing and Thinking

Can you visualized the 3 pieces on each corner made up of the navy square and 2 half-square triangles? They make a triangle unit. Sewn together by themselves, I have greater control over the precision. I sew non-bias edges to the square making a flying 'goose' only with a square. If I construct this way and sew it to the unit inside, my bias edges aren't as likely to distort. 

This 6" was not a candidate to try it on as it only had 2 corners that could be broken down. I was not as pleased with the end result, but will blame it on my laziness with pressing. 

The HST should have all been pressed open, but they were so little! I thought I could get away with a little cheating, and pressed to one side. I'm sorry, but it shows in the end result.

Look above at the smoothness of the 2 horizontal seams above. No puckering, and they lie flat. Now compare them to the vertical seams. See the puckering? Me, too. I am trying to decide if I should redo it, but I have definitely learned my lesson.

I picked a block I could experiment on. This will be a large corner block with many pieces. What I'm showing is just the interior of the block.

The sewing diagram showed sewing flying geese for the top and bottom HST. Then HST units at the corners would be sewn to the same flying geese units to make up right and left columns. Those columns are causing me the most problems as they are not coming out straight.

I did this instead.

I pressed everything open.

What an amazing difference in the trueness of the block!

I was astounded, and then perplexed. 

Why?

My wall looks like this now.

And in my policy of full disclosure, I did a quick run to my LQS to buy a few more 'oddities'--colors I wouldn't normally keep in my stash, but needed to keep going. They aren't a mixture of color like I was trying above, but more of the one color only theme. I'm excited to use them today.

Can I leak a little of my secret to you? 

I have tracking numbers now. 

Linking up with~
Sew Can She

Thank you to each one of you who link up with the Pet Project Show. I love to see your work here!

Come on, Doxie Girls.
It's Saturday, and time for the weekly 

Pink Doxies 

Pet Project Show. 

Add your link here every Saturday-Monday. 

Rules

Do we have to have rules? 

No worries! It's EASY.

1. Use the blue 'Add Your Link' button (below left)
to upload a picture of something you've created 
in the past week. Any kind of handiwork--
share it now! It can be a work in progress, 
finally finished, or even your fab new fabric. 
Whatever it is that inspired you to create this 
week, we'd like to see it here. 

2. Please link to a specific post, and not just your
blog address. It makes it easy for anyone following 

your link to find the project.

3. Provide a backlink to Pink Doxies with a link in
your post, or pick up our Pet Project Show
button in the sidebar. Copy the code, then 
create a Pet Show widget with 'Add by HTML' 
on your Layout page.

-OR-

1. You can link up to your Instagram. 
Click on the Instagram icon at the bottom 
of the link up screen. The URL of your Instagram 
feed will be your link. 
Please hashtag #pinkdoxiespetproject

Either way you link up, remember it's a party
here, so schmooze with the crowd! Visit others 
who've linked up. Leave a comment so they 
know what you like about their work. 

Don't miss a post! 

Follow me on Bloglovin' or by email. 

The Linky Party starts now, and runs until
Monday, June 15th at midnight. 

Spread the word, and tell all your stitchy friends.

*The first Saturday party of each month will
feature several of the Doxies and my
favorite link ups.
By linking up, you are giving permission for me
to post your picture with a link back to your 

blog or Instagram account. 

An InLinkz Link-up

When to Ask for Help

Still hot off the ironing board!

I believe I write as often about struggling with projects as giving Pink Doxie readers help. Quilter bloggers don't wake up one day full of knowledge, and able to share expert tips and tutorials. We spend hours sewing, and figuring things out. I think I'm the Queen of Mistakes, but it's actually a quick way to learn if you aren't afraid. Sewing technique is more basic for me, while playing with design gets me really excited, and occassionally in over my head. I'm not shy to ask for help, and fellow bloggers are usually happy to help out. Thank you.

This was the real thing last night. No glamour shots here! This is how it looks when I'm trying to figure out if the whole idea is coming together or falling apart. I was more in the 'It's not working' camp earlier when I looked over just the blocks. Arranging them on the wall in as close to position as I could, it looked a little better. The additional fabrics are picks for the next blocks I'll make. I have the pattern turned below to reflect the design wall.

Solids aren't my first choice when I can use a print, and I thought this quilt would be fun to make in prints. I chose to use colors as close as possible to Moda's suggestion, but in a print that was mainly that one color. So a print that comes off as more a solid. I also decided it would be a stash only quilt, and I might have to modify my rules to make it work. That was the case in the large block where I used my Cotton+Steel kitties, and I'm running into more as I pull fabric for the next blocks. 

My biggest concern was whether the colors were all working together, but that may be more an issue with the mulit-colored pattern itself. You can see the how difficult it is to eye the chosen fabrics, and decide if they work. Today I made the top block, and the next two below. 

I'm more secure that it will work as I move on using additional colors. I've started with large blocks, and moved to medium next. The medium blocks are providing color across the spectrum to balance the large blocks with the slightly odd, unrelated colors. I'll plug away at this today, and hope to have it done by the end of the weekend to show you. Next week is going to be a doosey for new projects! (I have a BIG secret!)

The colors are given in Bella Solids, and I looked for a correspondence chart between Moda and Kona. I ran into Walnut Street Quilts blog, and a treasure trove of information about pressing, some errata to the cutting dimensions, and Moda to Kona colors! If you're making this pattern, she's your go-to resource. I'm so thankful to Patty for sharing so much solid information.

 Another thing that should be mentioned is there are no written directions in the pattern. There are diagrams for cutting and sewing order. You need to have some idea of how to do HST, Flying Geese, trimming up, and so on. A big help would have been the measurement of each finished section so it could be trimmed before sewing it to the next, but there is none. 

Heads Up: Mary at Strip Quilts has a sweet Giveaway for a table runner kit that runs until June 15th. This blog is a good visual resource for ideas using pre-cuts. It's easy to join, so check it out.

Linking up today with~
Quilt Shop Gal
Crazy Mom Quilts
A Quilting Reader's Garden
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Quilting Jet Girl

Moda Modern Building Blocks Mashup

Moda Modern Building Blocks have dominated my design wall these past couple of weeks. Cut out, looking pretty, but unsewn. It seemed like a waste to take it all down without completing them, so I started this morning. While I sewed the first blocks, I stared at this grouping of fabrics. I was weak. Darn! It's way more fun to cut these blocks out than to sew and press seams.

I've been sitting on these Cotton+Steel kitties a few months, and thought they would be adorable in this block. I needed a 19 1/4" square of fabric to then cut diagonally. Unfortualtely, I tend to buy only a little bit of a fabric if it's not on sale, so I bought just half a yard. The same thing with the Karavan geometric fabric. I had enough of the Moda arithmetic fabric to cut out a 19 1/4" square, so I split the block up into different prints in the same colorway. I had yet to add the Kona Snow solid into the block.

We had sporadic thunderstorms all day long, and the light was grey in the studio. Taking pictures on dim days is a challenge, but I'm trying out a new portable LED light. It's not as good as daylight, but better than without it.

Both these blocks finish out at 36". They were a bit challenging to cut out using the Moda diagram, but turned out fairly well considering the room for error.

The grey outer area is a grey hatching. So, if it looks grey, it IS!

It goes without saying that there are things I have to learn as I continue sewing. I always try to pass them on to you, even if they're little.

If you've heard of Leaders & Enders, and weren't sure what it was for, this is a good example. Notice how the seam becomes narrower at the end? It shows that I was having a hard time holding onto it as it went under the presser foot, or that the weight of the fabric in the back pulled it enough to turn it. Both can happen, and do. If I was ready with another couple of pieces of scrap to feed in right away following my seam here, it would help to keep my seam the appropriate 1/4". I had to go back and correct this, or my seam would have been floppy looking on the sides, and not met up correctly with the block next to it.

After I made the above correction, I realized my machine didn't sound as good as it should when I sewed. I made time to stop, and do a good cleaning with my brush in the bobbin case, under the needle case, and wiped down the outside of the machine. I changed my needle, and pitched the last. It was dull. Then I put a drop of oil in my bobbin case 'using my instruction booklet's directions'. Could you imagine I had been putting it in the wrong place all along? The result was a glorious hum that sounded like a newly serviced machine.

This was my first chance to try out my new gadget. I had seen these before, and wasn't sure if I wanted to shell out the money for a standing guillotine. This is the Gypsy Cutting Gizmo, and available through the link or your LQS.

Yes, oh, yes, it is worth it! Just cut, cut, cut without picking up your scissors, laying out the chain piecing, and individually snipping each one. What did I do without it?

Another of the larger blocks all sewn together.

We're set for another day of storms, and I have lots of obligations besides sewing. It's not yet 6 a.m. so I have some time to squeeze it some sewing time while the Doxies girls snooze here at the house.

Stay safe wherever you are.

To my Hive mates visiting from New Quilt Bloggers, thank you for visiting Pink Doxies. It's so wonderful to meet all you creative bloggers, and create a community with you.

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go sew.

Linking up with~
Freshly Pieced
Sew Fresh Quilts
Quilt Story
Scraptastic Tuesday
Late Night Quilter
Blossom Heart Quilts
Show and Tell Tuesday
Patchwork Times
Hug-a-Bit Quilts!

Sunday Stash

I unabashedly added to my stash.

The Cottage Garden by the Quilted Fish

for Riley Blake Design

This is the fabric line that Riley Blake is using for it's Modern Quilt Guild 2015 Fabric Challenge. I one was one of the lucky members to get a free fat quarter bundle of 6 prints, but the project I have in mind is going to require more fabric. I also have a few of these prints already, and love them. (Okay, I love the pink, and the others are nice, too. Did I say the colorway that came is all grey and teal?) The full line surpassed my expectations, and I can't believe I was waffling.

I'm giving a call out to this Etsy shop for amazingly quick service and attention. I ordered this on June 4th, and it was here on the 6th. Woohoo! Simply Love Fabrics Rocks!

It was so fun when I opened it! Bonus goodies--a Riley Blake package of buttons, and wintergreen mints that made the whole package smell wonderful! (I already ate one.)

Check out this mother/daughter duo!

So what am I doing with the lovely fabric, you ask? A challenge for me. This book has been in my hands for weeks, and I've designed my own medallion for the Riley Blake contest. I'm waiting on a few other fabrics to get started, but I'm excited now that the fat quarter bundle arrived so quickly. I'll try to keep it all under wraps for a few weeks, but you know how excited I get to share with you! Soon! I promise.

The Modern Medallion Workbook

If you're thinking about a Craftsy class, there's a sale this weekend. Thank you for clicking through my links, and supporting Pink Doxies.

The Pet Project Show #23 is still open for you to link up. Everyone loves to see what you're doing with your creative time.

Until next time...

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go sew.

Linking up with~
Show and Tell with Bambi
Cooking Up Quilts
Sew Many Ways
Molli Sparkles