There are two successes today, both because I followed directions and both because they came from great patterns.
This is the way yesterday's block is supposed to look. Blocks for this swap were requested in any holiday fabrics.
I really like this pattern and my version of it is called Naughty / Nice. Both blocks were relatively easy to make as long as the directions were followed and contrasting colors were used. Both measure at 12.5". This month's partner has not emailed to say what her plans are for the blocks she gets, and that always can change. What she did say is that she is withdrawing from the swap due to personal time demands.
It does take time to do these blocks, and a 'fail' means starting over. Its like being in quilting school or having training that you do on your own. It means being exact, knowing what your skill level is and then, as they say, pushing the envelope.
One of my closest friends told me that her black cat died last week. I plan to make her a comfort quilt that has cat blocks. Merlin was the only cat whose company I enjoyed who was not my cat. For as long as I can remember, whenever I visited my friend, Merlin slept with me. I think the quilt will comfort me as much as her. This is the quilt pattern we settled on from the Jinny Beyer Studios called Tessellating Tabbies, and it is paper pieced. I plan to make it with a tone- on-tone black for the background cats, and use batiks for those shown here in colors. Guess I am upping my game with this one and the paper piecing. I really like the play of lights and darks with this and other quilting choices I make.
The JBStudios presents a lot of free patterns online that have always both intrigued and challenged me. There is so much to be found on this particular site, including some of her fabrics, which are advanced high quality as artisan pieces. http://www.jinnybeyer.com/quilting-with-jinny/free-patterns.cfm
Lights and darks have had controversial meanings in our culture, much like north and south, mainstream religions and politics. I wonder why humans need the opposition or contrast, and yet here I am loving the work with it in the fabric arts. Clearly in this art form, the high contrasts make the piece pop so much better for some of us than monochromatic projects do. While I like fabrics that 'go together' or blend because of their harmony and peacefulness, they don't hold the same interest for me.
Thought I might try another block for my second swap partner this month. Its challenging for me to make single blocks rather than to chain stitch them into a quilt. Yet, this is a very excellent way for me to learn.
This is a successful attempt at following the pattern. I've tried this one before both as a 12" and a 6" block, and what was different here, is the pattern maker included her personal tip or success story about trimming after each part of the pattern was assembled. Her tip made it come together the way it was planned.
This is an unsuccessful attempt with the same pattern. It is good enough to go on the Wintery Bed runner I am making for my own bed where no one will know or see anything that might be considered a mistake or an out take. It has no real shape when I look at it, yet done is done. I may give it another go and pay attention to the instructions. Its a laugh on me when I do this, and I wish that my mistakes would end up looking more creative or artistic.
Its sort of funny that this happened because I was just musing to myself that I could make more 12" blocks for that bed runner, and here is another. Number 7 of 16 planned for it. I can see what happened and could pull out the ripper. Its just as I wrote, done is done.
I finished the Log Cabin block for my swap. This pattern calls for them to be 1.5" wide, which is an inch less narrow than what I learned to make. My partner wanted it in dark blues and cream with the dark blue center. Tradition says the centers are to be either a red or yellow to symbolize the hearth.
It is quite pleasing to look at, and I would bet her finished quilt will be stunning. Some of these are made with all one fabric for the dark and one for the light, which makes them sophisticated. She was ok with the scrappy look which is what I did here. It looks to me like a dark sky over a sandy beach. I like it a lot.
The high contrast in quilting has a great deal of appeal. There are endless names for it: Naughty & Nice; Night & Day; Sand & Surf; Male & Female. Everything is up to interpretation.
When we are with an opposite, and imagine we are holding hands in a dance, spinning, we really only have eyes for that being while the rest of the world is blurred. Its energetically very charged, and so it is in quilting.
The Log Cabin pattern is remarkable from how unique blocks can look to the myriad of layouts for the quilt. I think I made four of them this year, and all of them so very different from each other. There are not any Log Cabin quilts planned for next year, but they go together so easily that one might get made.
I am still working on those Money Trees. And also, have another idea that I saw...with Hershey's Kisses in a jar...I am using plastic so I can mail them. I need to simply buy the candy, wrap the jars and glue the label on the lid. I thought they might make an easy gift this year for the elders in my family. I might add some affirmations too.
It was a great day to catch up raking leaves. Luckily we have a leaf blower! I filled the trash container for the second time this Autumn and pick up isn't until Thursday.
My gardens are growing on their own and only need a small bit of maintenance. There are three trees out back and they drop at different times, so raking needs to be done in increments over a few weeks. I have decided to move the pond towards the center of the back wall because its a spot that doesn't get water from the underground sprinklers and I think it will be more accessible for birds and animals.
We brought the bin of holiday lights in from the shed too, so I spent time washing windows and trying to hang them on new suction cups. The cups will go back to the store. I put up a few nails over each window and let light strands hang down. I bought 24-hour timers a few years back, so now I can enjoy them later at night as well as early in the morning. I used to string them outside but like them better this way.
I pulled out the soft items too and was surprised at how many things I've made myself over the years from early potholders, coasters, wall hangings, a table cloth, to pillowcases and a lap quilt. Clearly, they were practice pieces and still make me smile.
I did a lot of cleaning, besides washing all the windows inside, and pulled out the next few quilts I plan to finish. The only thing that is left to work on before the holidays are those Money Trees, and they are just easy to pick up and put down.
I laid out fabrics for one of the block swaps. This one is is for a log cabin block in dark blues and creams and goes to a new quilting friend I've made who lives out east and immigrated from northern Italy over four years ago. We have been chatting a lot, which makes me deeply appreciate being online. She has told me much about her life in Italy, and of course, because of the December holidays, we have been talking about the seasonal traditions.
I feel pretty lucky to make easy acquaintances with quilters for the short time we are in the swap together. Over the years, it seemed that creating friendships has not always been easy. People are short on time, yet with online connections, we can just sit in front of our computers when it is convenient.
I've been thinking how to go the next step with my planning / financial issues that bunch up expenses towards the last quarter of the year. I saw that other bloggers have similar issues and make commitments with their blogs to do small projects that are group-inspired. I looked at what they did for the last couple of years and while some projects are great, others are not items I would take interest in making.
To meet my own needs I decided to do monthly projects on or by the 22nd of each month in celebration of Winter Solstice (12/22/15). I've been collecting ideas I see that I want to use, and now need to make my gift list and then match up my projects for peeps...now that is a catchy name. Projects for Peeps. I will sit with that for awhile.
I belong to several groups that always have ideas and think that if I am at least a month ahead planning, that I can keep going. Also, a number of quilting magazines and You Tube videos give great patterns. Needless to say, some of these projects are going to take more time than one sit-down-day.
I've also been thinking I would like to make a quilt or two that is meant to comfort someone...to have it ready to go when need arrives. As it is, there are 13 quilts that are in process right now that are designated to family members, plus others I want to make that are as of now undesignated. That's a lot.
This year, I did come up with a lot of smaller projects, some not even quilting like those Book Safes. I love the two Book Safes I made! And now I am working on Money Trees. If anyone has ideas, please email them to me privately and I will consider if they would work with my skills, interest and budget. The challenge is always making something someone will actually use. I don't want to turn out projects that are not well received or useful to the recipient.
Feel free to use the comment link on the sidebar with your ideas. They won't go public but if there are ideas good to share, I will do that too.
I am in an apron-craze right now. I've always wanted to make aprons for women in my family, and did make one for my Daughter-in-Law and one of my Nieces. Aprons have a rich history not only for cooking and baking, but for working in gardens and many service industries.
A pre-printed & cut, yet not finished apron appeared in a bin I went through this morning. It has a little feel of canvas but not quite that tight a weave. Cannot tell if it was pre-washed or would shrink, yet thought it was a good idea to line it too. Claudia, from 5 Heart Quilts, a fabric store in town, said that you can help pre-shrink small fabric pieces by spraying them wet and then steaming them dry.
I wondered if it came from the pieces my friend Virginia passed on from her Mother. I didn't tag it before storing last year. As I looked at it, it seemed the bottom piece was meant as pockets. It got top stitched in place and with vertical lines running between the houses did make the pockets.
Having just finished a different apron with a tie around the neck and ties at the sides, I had a good idea how to do them. My choice of color for the ties was settled by finding some pre-cut red for the waist ties and pre-cut green for the neck. Its a little long but works according to the print. I used a muslin for the back and top stitched around it for security on the seams. I am not at all sure how it will stand up to use and washing.
Its still pretty exciting for me to find a use for fabrics in my stash. I am getting better in seeing how to make things happen. Whomever bought this piece thought it would make a nice apron, yet either never found time for it or changed her mind. I honor the Ancestor-quilter for her original ideas and investment in the materials, and give thanks this morning for who she was and where she was in her life. I do hope she likes how it turned out. I do.
As Winter moves into most of the country, the high temps where I live are in the 70's during the days. I cut a couple of roses to bring inside for my table that have that true old rose scent. Roses in November. mmmm.
Its hard to think of quilts when it is this warm. And, enough leaves cover the ground, so I need to fill the trash container for pick up later today. I admit the excitement for the 2015 to do list hasn't touched me yet. I moved the two project bins to fit behind my futon, which means they are out of sight and out of mind.
I am determined to finish the gifts for the Grandkids and my Sons, get them all wrapped and out the door. I bought five rolls of wrapping paper, and some different additions to tuck in with the tied ribbon. Each gift will be wrapped and set within bubble wrap to keep it safe. Then the gifts for each family go into a larger box. I've created this sort of gathering place for the gifts, boxes and wrapping material just so I know where everything is and what it is.
Some of my family members will put their gifts under the tree and save opening until Winter Solstice, and others will be ripped open as soon as they are seen. Needless to say, this is why I hold off sending the packages until the middle of December.
My younger Son, Jerrod's quilt is next. His birthday is 2/2. This is the Kaleidoscope quilt I started at the last quilting retreat. It should never have been left this long between working and means laying it out and working with pattern instructions to see just where I am.
So the concept of out of sight, out of mind has a price to be paid when I do it. In truth, that price will be exacted for all the projects in those two bins. All of them in are in different stages of completion. If I was smart, I left them with instructions-to-self so I could just step right in.
