Scrappy Backs

I found myself resisting quilting the last couple of days. I think it is all about finishing those UFO's. It is more work than one realizes. Not so much the physical work as much as psychological. So hard to explain. Maybe other creative people know what I mean. It is a good lesson about finishing.

What I did was to pull out the small container of scrap pieces that I started forming into blocks, with the intention of making into scrappy backs. I know that a back is best if it hangs over the top by 3" all around. Quilting will move the pieces, which has happened for me. These scrappy backs are easily cut off and tossed. I will join what is in the container and trim them to rows and then put everything back in with a note to self about what comes next.

I also worked on the scrappy totes. This one is finished to the point of needing straps. The second one is cut out and waiting for machine quilting. Again, I am not really inspired to work on them today and am ok with setting it aside.

New Month, New BOM Releases

I've been cultivating youthfulness of my spirit lately. When I look in the mirror and see the age lines showing up, I have come to accept this vision as as a fact of life. One healthy option seems to be cultivating a youthful spirit. For one thing, I have a floral wreathe to wear when I go into town and a new very bright and sparkly Indian-style skirt. AND I went to the circus Friday Night. That's what I mean. I think you have to step out of the comfort of a cozy chair and warm room to laugh a little, whether it is at yourself or with a crowd.

Each month a new block is issued for the BOM groups I am in.This is from the Gratitude / Harvest Solstice to Solstice BOM. The block here is actually 20" square so pieces were larger and it was a 2-color pattern. There was simply not enough of the light to do it so gold was added.

This next one shows 4 of the blocks to the Rising Stars BOM I might rename Pretty in Pink. There is a lot of the Paris fabric to what I gathered for a pink/gray color choice, though serving as more a complementary than a pop type of fabric. I want to keep it scrappy and love the variety of squares and color choices. My plan is to use some of the Paris fabric in each block, and perhaps use the white frost for the stars wherever possible. With eight blocks to go, I am already in love with it.

So far, I have a couple of BOM tops completed, and plan to buy batting to finish only four quilts going out this year: Debi's Blue Wheelchair quilt, her husband Tim's Seasons quilt, my godson Tim's Grinchmas quilt, and my younger Son's Cat quilt.  

I put dates on the sidebar projects so that I could stay on track with them. My goal in 2017 was to either finish or move the UFO projects to a more finished state. 

It took me more than a day to do the two BOM squares between selecting fabrics to a finish press. As I worked on them, I recalled a couple of things about doing BOMs. First of all comes the commitment for each month, and then the variety is not always something I might chose on my own and certainly gives me an opportunity to learn more. I am able to shop from the closet in very creative ways. Because I am following someone else's plan, there is less thinking about it and more doing. I know I like the thinking part, but honestly I have come to love the mystery and the BOM as well.

While the BOMs and Mystery quilts are appealing, at this point, I need to work on finishing the UFO projects first. I do plan to use some of the pre-cut squares I have to make totes until there are enough of them in my trunk to replace the oldies. I bought a drop cloth from Home Depot and will use it as lining for the two I am making right now. I don't usually wash my totes and would like to make these both durable and disposable. 

Cat Quilt

I put two borders on the Scrappy Cat quilt, and love how it turned out. It was an easy pattern, and used up a lot of scraps. I did add another row of cats to make it as long as it is. Unfinished it lays across my queen size bed.

It was necessary to purchase the green focus fabric for the outside border & binding. While I was at the store, I bought a small floral green & pink on a light aqua background fabric to finish the back as well. It is pieced and ready for basting.

Claudia sells brighter fabrics at 5 Heart Quilts & carries a lot of floral and geometric prints. Debbie's sells more muted tones and has a lovely wall of batiks. Claudia has an art degree and a real eye for matching. In this case, she led me to a green, and said green reads as a neutral. The leafy print does remind me of the Plant Nation where every color fits. I love how the quilt looks.
 

2-day Tote

It seemed like a good idea to use up small pieces of the Patriotic themed fabric. All of it, scraps. Maybe it was me. Something new. Everything that could go wrong while I was making this went wrong.

I plan to keep this one, not because I love it or even like it, but because I am not at all pleased with the energy I put into it while I worked and do not want to give the energy, let alone the tote to someone. 

Here's my whine: First of all, I didn't understand some of the terms like wadding instead of batting. Metric numbers. Stabilizer. Ticking. And I think this is a quilt-as-you-go type of project where you add a piece of fabric to the batting & press it down. You quilt a direction on each piece, going with the direction it lays on the batting. It started to feel like paper piecing and I am so not good with that process. And I couldn't understand the pattern nor the tutorials. THEN my machine started acting up, changing tension on its own, catching thread in the bobbin so that it had to be re-threaded so many times that I lost count. A needle broke, and when I changed it, the machine needed cleaning. I even found a needle point from a different break. I got cold and turned up the heat, then got hot and .....

My lessons: Don't do this kind of project again. Make my own pattern. This one is too narrow & long making it inconvenient for things I carry. Read the pattern at least 3x. Stop working when frustration wins. Re-purpose the Patriotic scraps by cutting them into the sizes in my bins. Stop whining. You know who you are.

I put some bubbles in bath water, got in for a long soak and to wash my hair. That always feels good. I took the time needed to release the tension. When I dried off and put on clean clothes, I was ready to start on a different project.

Designer Me

I've been trying to find patterns for tote bags that I could use and easily make. I really loved that scrappy beach/camping towel tote I made a week ago. It was a joy to make. Using that finishing concept, I am designing a simple market bag tote & converting some patterns I did find.

I think what I liked about towel tote most of all was that I could use my scraps. There are so many in my closet that were cut ever since I started quilting. I pulled out a container of 3" scraps. I don't know why I cut 3" & 4" squares because the ones sold in the store measure 2.5", 5" and 10". And actually, those are the sizes called for in most patterns. Now I have a large container of the 3"s and this is a perfect opportunity to see if they work.

This tote will be one of those things that I make as I go, but I will write the steps and take photos (hoping to remember). It will be fashioned like the towel tote.

The plan, thus far, is to make the outside panels 16.5" deep by 12.5" wide, as a raw measurement before it gets seamed. I have laid out what I think will work for both panels. Using 3" squares, it takes five squares to measure 12.5" across. It takes seven rows of 3" squares to measure 16.5" the long way. Therefore, it will take a total of 70 squares to make up the two panels. I chose to make this a rainbow effect, however, if I make another one, I may try to do a different theme.

The piece for the sides and bottom measure at 9" wide and I will need to work this up to see how much is actually used for the length to connect them all. I found an orphan piece that is exactly 9" and was way long. Obviously, I need to treat it as if it were one piece rather than pieced and cut it with inches to spare. Now to find the lining. Finding larger pieces of fabric is getting to be the challenge.

Then I joined a Mother's Day Tote Swap, not to swap but to get the tote pattern & tutorial. Fun. The facilitator is from Australia where they use metrics where they call the stuff in the middle of the quilt wadding. Its a whole new technique and is giving me the opportunity to use up some Patriotic scraps. More on that later.

Judgment Card Mug Rug

My next project is another one of the Mug Rugs for a swap. This one is a Tarot Card Makeover. I shuffled my deck and drew out the Judgment card. 

Usually this is seen as an angel trumpeting over a grave yard, raising the dead. It is, symbolically a wake-up call to the person getting the reading for something they need to look at, perhaps something they have been avoiding. I found an angel with trumpet silhouette. It was easy to machine quilt. I included smaller squares on one side as a border and put two layers of Ultra-bright heat resistance so it can be used in the kitchen without fear of those hot pots.

Funny thing is that the class lecture is about becoming more aware of our shadow and waking up to what we are wanting NOT to hear. 

I was close to buying backing fabric for the Grinch scrap quilt. The simple 1-yard focus on the top is in teal and I had another Santa skiing fabric that is a tinch darker but works. I cut to size and joined two pieces as a whole fitting the top. The quilt is still a UFO waiting for batting. This ski fabric makes the quilt reversible with a whole different look. It is a real challenge to shop FIRST from my closet and is getting harder, in fact. When I say first, it is that I want to explore options in the closet bins before going to the store. Thing is, when I go to the store and buy what is needed for a specific pattern, there is always some leftover! It is my hope that he will love the look.

Salamander Mug Rug

Of course I work to complete what is going, yet I do have a couple of new projects to keep that love of new things started. I find that I cannot just work on them no matter how good finishing makes me feel.

This is a finish of a new project that is going to the Reptile/Amphibian Spirit Guide exchange on SwapBot. I love the image, love how it worked on a scrap of red I had and love how it looks laying on a piece of gray fabric. I wanted the complete focus on the Salamander so chose to do binding and the back in the same gray. 

Most people who know me know that I am a huge fan of Animal Spirit Guides. The Salamander has numerous messages for us that often focus on living in connection with Nature as well as asking us to use our time wisely.

Another project I worked on was to complete another row on the Cat quilt. It will need a small white border around the center piece, and then I have a lovely new green fabric I just bought for the final border and binding, as well as a sweet pink floral with lots of green on it for the back. This one will need to wait until I buy more batting. I do have three quilts I'd like to ship out in the fall & all need batting.