Octagons -- finally done!

This quilt has been years in the making.  Literally.  It started with admiring MacQuilts' Paperweight quilt that she made from a kit of Kaffe shot cottons.  And then I got the pattern and hunted down the recommended kite ruler.  And I started cutting...and cutting. 

This pattern calls for width of fabric strips in 2.5" and 2.0" so as I bought fabric, I'd cut two strips and put them in a bin.  Since I'm a scrap quilter, I have no "palette" -- and you can see that as you look at all the different octagons.  Not all brights nor reproductions nor novelties nor prints nor.....

This is an Aardvark Quilt pattern and I do love it.  She gives good directions about using lights, darks, mediums in order to get a sense of depth in the quilt.  I didn't really achieve that as well as I'd like.  I used black on black fabrics for the kites -- as you look at various examples, this is easier said than done.  

The pattern calls for this to be assembled in rows with inset seams.  Not my preferred method of construction so I put mine together in blocks.  This requires laying out a lot more as you go and not being able to move the octagons around for balance.  That was ok with me.  I had my wedges done -- just not assembled and I previewed those.  I would absolutely put it together like that again.

AND, to that point -- there will be another quilt.  This uses a boatload of fabric because you are cutting 60 degree triangles and that results in an equivalent number of "opposite" triangles -- but rarely enough for a full hexagon.  I was able to use some of them for the half hexagons on the edges of the quilt.  When putting together "unmatched" triangles and maybe scrappy-pieced kites, it will be a lot more fun and layout will be a lot less important because it should be a happy bedlam of scraps.  How fun is that.  I hope to put that on next year's list -- I needed to walk away from these for a while.

But, it's done and I do like it a lot.  I quilted it last spring and finally finished the binding last nite.  It is going on the guest bed for Thanksgiving and is the washer right now!  Yea!!!!  It's a small queen and I couldn't get a picture of the entire thing so you'll get bits and pieces.

I've done a few other things in the meantime -- two more charity quilts delivered, started an occasional block for myniecetheathlete's batik quilt -- that is my "spring project" for sure.  Finished a baby quilt from a class I took -- more on that later.  My Hurricane Sandy quilt is on it's way to New Jersey Project Linus (see last week's post if you want to help out).  It is so cold and the coverage is heartbreaking. I hope it can keep someone a bit warmer during all this tragedy.

AND, I did manage to spend three days in Houston with mom22smartchix -- here's my loot before I packed it up to come home.  I bought two kits which is not like me at all and two goodie bags from Cherrywoods and a few other things.  More on that and the incredible quilts and great booths and trends.

I wish each of you a wonderful, healthy, family filled Thanksgiving....with plenty of good calories.

Jan

A Call to Action

What a two weeks....Hurricane Sandy, a presidential election (and an end to political ads) that reminds us of the privilege of being able to "vote", and now a nor'easter to complete the trifecta!  I suspect all of us know many people in the northeast who have been without power, had damage to their homes, have been inconvenienced by mass transit issues, or maybe even lost all their possessions.  This time 18 months ago, I was traveling to NYC and the financial district on a fairly regular basis.  Coverage of the storm from Battery Park was particularly fascinating to me.

If there is one thing I know -- it's that quilters have kind and giving hearts.  I think it is in our DNA.  We've seen it disaster after disaster -- Katrina, Japan's earthquake, Australia's fires, and now Sandy to name just a few.As you would expect, the troops are rallying and there is a need for warmth.  Are we up for it?  OF COURSE we are.  So far, I've seen these two calls for action and places where quilts can be sent to aid the victims of Sandy.

American Quilter had this information about sending quilts to the Project Linus coordinator who will distribute.  If you read this, you will see that this not your typical PL quilt for a child.  Instead, they should be twin to queen size.  All the info you need is included as well as contact information should you have a question.

Victoria Findley, who many of you may know as BumbleBeans, has been active in NYC with an organization she helped establish that provides quilts to people in shelters.  They have expanded their outreach to include those impacted by Sandy.  Her information is here and you will note they are asking for store bought quilts or blankets, as well.  Contact information is also provided for questions.

I was captivated by early coverage of the storm and then slipped away to Houston for the International Quilt Festival (oh, my!) and didn't have the TV on the entire three days of 80+ temps.  So easy to forget the suffering and cold of others when you are out of the fray!

I suspect many of you are like me -- extremely grateful for all you have as we go into the Thanksgiving season -- and acutely aware that there are people suffering physically and emotionally that we can help. I'll be getting my Orca Bay ready to ship -- I knew it was a donation quilt when I made it and now I know it needs a home with someone who will not care about a few missed points!

As other means of getting quilts come to light, I'll be updating this post to include them.  BUT, don't forget that the most immediate thing we can all do is donate to American Red Cross.  It's so easy and provides much needed resources instantaneously.  I do feel blessed to live in a country where generosity and caring are basic traits of most -- we just hear about them less than the slugs that are out there creating problems.

I hope you and your quilting are blessings to someone that needs it this week!

Jan

UPDATE -- here is additional information about another outlet for donating quilts to help out.
Long Island Chapter for Quilts for Kids.org.  They are working with the local schools in Long Beach, pediatricians in the Rockaways, and the Community Outreach Center of Nassau Community Hospital and Winthrop Hospital.  In addition, they are going straight to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Vehicles to give to people in need. They are asking for child sized quilts.

Quilts can be sent to Carrie Crowley Davis, Long Island Quilts for Kids, 304 North Ocean Avenue, Patchogue, NY  11772.  You can also reach out to Carrie at ccrowleycsw@aol.com

NEW UPDATE -- Michele at The Quilting Gallery is matching up people who can't quite make a quilt but are willing to make quilt block(s) and others who will assemble and quilt.  If time keeps you from making a quilt (or if you don't have one in inventory), this might be the way to help.  Just check out the link and see what you might be able to do.  Thanks.

It Takes a Village -- Part 2

It's that time again -- Amy has her fall edition of Blogger's Quilt Festival active for a week, starting today.  If ever you wanted to see an encyclopedia of quilt goodness, it's worth taking a stroll through all the submissions.

I am going to submit my "It Takes a Village" because of what it means to me.  I love this quilt.  I love the women it represents.  I love to quilt.  

Seriously -- take a minute and walk through the incredible quilts and stories over at Amy's Creative Side!

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I am a scrap hound.  I admit it.  I like it.  I profit from it!

I call this quilt "It Takes a Village" for a very special reason.  Only about 40% of this quilt is from my scraps.  The rest have come from my friends in the village where we lived outside Chicago.  It's all batiks and I haven't done much with batiks in the past few years.   A few of them, however, work mainly in batiks (to my advantage, I'd like to say) and aren't particularly fond of small scraps and using them up (to my advantage, I'd like to say!!!!!).

When we would get together to sew, it was always great fun to find a little baggie of snippets.  Some might be a bit too small to use but many could easily become 1.5" squares or greater.  And there was one particular trash basket at MacQuilts house that was always worth going through if I could get there before the cleaning lady.  My goodness, I've found some great scraps in there.  Tsk!  Tsk! 

Even more touching for me have been the times that a package would show up at my door after we moved to Kentucky and there would be baggies of cute little batik goodness in there.  Hence, the name of this quilt.

I did lots of "cutting" for it but not in the usual sense.  I pulled out all my 1.5" squares, some 1.5" strips,  trimmed up all the donated scraps, and started sewing!  This has been such fun.  Between the fabric and the randomness of it, it really was "grab and go" sewing.

The quilt is modeled after Tonya Ricucci's "Lego" quilt that I found on her site about a year ago.  There are a number of posts where she talks about her process and that led to a plethora of similar quilts being made and enjoyed by other quilters.

Basically, these are 10.5" blocks that are set 6 x 6 so the quilt finishes at 60" square.  As I started to lay it out, I wasn't thrilled with the fairly apparent demarcation where all the blocks were coming together vertically, so I changed the setting a bit.  The first row is six 10" blocks.  The second row starts with a half block followed by five 10" blocks and ends with another half block.  That breaks it up a bit.  You can certainly still see the blocks when you look but it's a bit less obvious. The third row is six 10" blocks and so on.

As I laid the blocks out, I actually looked for places where the "logs" were the same fabric end-to-end -- or at least similar.  This is the first time in my quilting life that I wanted same fabrics touching!  That helped break the lines a bit more.  As you can see in the red piece here in the corner, there are two blocks there but the same fabric is a bit of a fooler unless you look closely.

So -- I love this quilt.  It's really not mine.  I made it but the fabric was from special people who are now in Chicago, Iowa, and the Bluegrass area of Kentucky.  My intention (once I get it labeled and washed) is that it goes to them.  It can travel among MacQuilts, CookingMama, Mom22SmartChix, MyNeicetheQuilter, LogCabinQuilter, and ShirasGram.  They can keep it as long as they want (years!) and then pass it on to the next one.  I certainly don't need it -- I've had my joy in looking at the fabric, playing with them, remembering the person that shared them, and often recalling the project they were used in.  Aren't quilting friends the best?

I would absolutely make this quilt again.  It's a great way to use those 1.5" strips of all sizes and walk down memory lane.  I hope you're finding time to be creative and remember those you enjoy sharing your quilting with!  Jan

A Quilter's Fairy Tale

Once upon a time in a place far far away, lived a woman named Terri who was diagnosed with a terrible-horrible-very bad-no good illness that caused her to think about what was important in her life.  After going through surgery and terrible-horrible-but effective treatments, Terri spent some time deciding what she must do.  She had a strong sense of urgency about everything.  So, Terri decided to make a quilt for her son who she loved so much it hurt.  She learned to do photo transfer on fabric and collected all matter of pictures of this special son, other family members, his infant clothing, his childhood artwork, programs from plays this aspiring performer had starred in, menus and memories from a different land that was also far far away.  She worked and worked and worked -- with a passion and fervor that only women who have had this terrible-horrible-very bad-no good illness can understand.  She worked on her special son's quilt until she got to a place where she wasn't sure what to do.

One day while talking to a woman she had met in a Bible study in her home, she mentioned she was making a quilt and needed help.  This person liked Terri immediately and offered to share what little knowledge she had about quilting. Little did Terri know that this woman periodically transformed into the quilting witch. 

One nite the quilting witch went to see what was needed -- thinking that maybe binding or squaring up or something simple was the next step.  What she found was a big quilt made from all kinds of special fabrics (stars to remind the special son to reach for the stars and he would be a star some day) with all kinds of special pictures and personal information.  It was truly a labor of love.  But -- there were problems that the quilting witch had to address.  

Some of the seams were on the outside of the quilt.  This was a first and very concerning.  Really -- there were seams on the outside of the quilt.  She told Terri those had to be ripped out.

Some of the blocks were barely being held together because of the tension from the sewing machine who had been very cranky part of the time.  She told Terri those had to be ripped out.

Some of the blocks weren't square or had other problems and she told Terri those had to be ripped out.

Terri set about ripping out almost the entire quilt - proving yet again how much she wanted this special quilt to be just right for her son she loved so much that it hurt.  She prayed for him as she ripped and never fussed at the quilting witch.

Over the course of the next few months, Terri sewed, Terri ripped, Terri sewed some more, Terri replaced some pictures, Terri sewed some more-always praying for her special son that she loved so much it hurt.  Then one day -- the quilt top was done!  Terri had done it!  It was square, the seams were on the inside, and it was was going to hold together for all the years ahead.  

So, Terri learned to hand quilt and wrestled that heavy heavy quilt for hours and hours and hours and hours.  Always praying for her very special son and staying focused on the task at hand.  And then, Terri finished the quilt and the binding and it was just perfect.  She had done it!  

Soon after, a sort of terrible thing happened; Terri moved to another land far far away from the quilting witch. But it was good for Terri and she continued to quilt and she met good quilt teachers and bought fabric and learned new techniques.  An Accu-Quilt made it possible to cut fabric since the rotary cutter and her missing lymph nodes did not get along. 

One day, the quilting witch got a picture that made tears come to her eyes.  Terri had made a most complicated quilt and it was glorious.  She had made a double wedding ring -- this is a very very hard quilt that the quilting witch would never have tried to do.  But Terri had not only tried -- she had finished it and it was on her bed.  She had done it again!

Most fairy tales have a happy ending.  This fairy tale has two.  Not only did Terri become an accomplished quilter and go live among a quilting community that loves her, the terrible-horrible-very bad-no good illness knew that it had to leave this most special of quilters.

The end.

Have you had your mammogram or done your breast exam?  DO IT NOW if you are delinquent.  Terri had Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) which is not about lumps --- it's about swelling or redness of the breast and is very aggressive.  It's a really really bad terrible-horrible-very bad-no good breast cancer that many women do not know about.   Now you do!  Make sure others you love know about it too.  If you are a blogger, consider a post this month about breast cancer -- we have to keep this in front of women to remind them to stay current with exams and support each other.  It is a terrible-horrible-very bad-no good disease!

I hope you are as inspired by Terri as I am!

The Quilting Witch

Flying in Circles

Don't you love these colors? This quilt hangs on a wall in my living room and makes me smile every time I see it.  This is the most recent circle quilt I've made but it's certainly not going to be the last one.  I've fallen in love with this block again.

When I posted the picture of the circles out of our challenge fabric, I had pulled out the templates I bought years ago at the Chicago version of the International Quilt Festival.  They are from Elisa's Back Porch and work like a charm.  There were several of us who bought the templates and packets of 20 FQ of batiks which makes a medium sized quilt.  One of us (logcabinquilting) stayed up until 2am to finish hers that night! One of the reason I love them is that you get a 8.5" block with just two pieces!  How cool and quick is that?

The purple quilt was my first circle quilt from those templates.  Unfortunately I didn't take any close ups when I made the quilt.  But there was sufficient fabric left over from the fat quarters to make a little wallhanging for a co-worker as a thanks for a kindness she provided. I have to say that making the larger circles is a lot more fun than the smaller ones!

This quilt was made for my niece when she graduated from college and got her first apartment.  I loved the colors and I called it "Tequila Sunrise".

I also decided to make one for my son's girlfriend after they had been dating a bit (now my daughter-in-law I'd like to say!).  This is when I decided my stash needed more black and white fabrics to go with the ant fabric I found in Virginia a year or so before.

This had been a "find" since she was working on her PhD and had been studying leaf cutter ants. I grabbed it when I saw it and hoped that there might be an occasion to put in a quilt.  So -- lots of collecting started and the end result was a large lap sized quilt.

And, because she is Canadian, I thought I'd make a special label.  That was not smart.  I made up a pattern of the maple leaf and cut it into pieces in order to paper piece it.  Never again.  This was hard.  I'm reasonably happy with result but some of the teeny-tiny pieces and points made me fidget way too much.  And -- for all our Canadian family and readers -- HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I was lucky enough to have a few circles and fabric left over to make a Project Linus quilt that ended up being displayed in the Project Linus booth at the Chicago International Quilt Festival.  That was pretty cool!

Which brings us "full circle" to my last circle quilt -- Flying in Circles.  I got the plaid fabric in a swap at a small quilt group I attended in Chicago.  So, using it as a focus fabric I pulled golds, purples, blues, plums, etc.  The border is brick colored and a bit deeper than it shows up here and I used the last of the fabrics to make some flying geese for the border.

I'm looking forward to pulling randomly from the challenge fabrics and seeing how many blocks I can make.  I have no idea when I can get to it -- but they are cut and waiting for me and I can periodically pick up 2 fabrics, sew one seam, and have an 8" (finished) block.  Gotta love that.

I have one quality control trick that I use that ends up creating close to perfect circles and avoids the square not meeting the circle at the end.  I use one pin in these blocks.  I pin at the top to make sure I have the pieces square and lined up.  I then finger press each piece to get the center and cut the tiniest of notches in each (pins fall out somewhere in the process).  All I have to do is slowly sew the pieces (square wedge on top and slowly straightening it as I sew -- but not stretching it).  When I get to the notches and they are "close" I know I'm on track and I keep sewing.  If they are off too much, then I've probably stretched, didn't maintain a 1/4" seam, lost my focus or didn't have them square at the start.  So, I stop and rip.  It's easy enough to go on and maybe compensate for it and end up pretty close at the end.  But, I'd rather rip a few inches and try again.  If the same thing happens again, I've cut badly or notched badly and I rip again and take a deep breath!  I hate for the block to win.  At the end, a pair of tweezers is wonderful to keep the pieces moving through the machine and squared up since squaring at the end is just as important.  

I hope you have been flying in circles in only the best of ways!  Jan

Bouncy - Bouncy - Bouncy

Well this has been a week of bouncing around like a rubber ball.  

I had a perfectly good plan of action -- try to re-purpose the florals that didn't work in the D9P, finish the challenge quilt top out of the fabric line you see above, clean up the quilt mess that has exploded in my quilt room.   A good plan.  And then this happened:

My-niece-the-quilter came to visit and brought more goodies than should be allowed.  The tote had strips and strips -- yards and yards of strips.  The bag had 1" cuts and some selvages (one addiction I don't have), and a few other scraps.

I love her good taste in fabric!  Modas.  Batiks.  Sock monkeys.  Kaffe.  The list goes on.....

Did I mention a jelly roll of batiks that are pre-cut to 10.5" and pinned together?  WHAT IS SHE THINKING?

My head has been bouncing like a rubber ball since all this came to live with me.  I had already cut the circles that you see above out of the balance of the challenge fabric (that was instead of finishing the challenge quilt which I decided needed 8 more blocks).  

But, I kept being distracted by the batiks.  I mean really distracted!  I have never had a jelly roll of batiks and these colors are incredible.  This is the perfect chance to try Wanda's (Exuberant Color) tutorial on separating lights, darks, mediums.    Wanda is a master (mistress?) on value and you will love reading her blog and learning from her if you're not already a follower.

This is my design wall after bouncing around.  A few circles from the challenge fabrics led me to think about my shirts and what a circle quilt from the plaids/stripes might look like so I made a block.  I had the templates out anyway, right?  The workmanship is not the best but I think I like it and believe I could get king sized quilt out of just sleeves -- never mind the backs and fronts.

I also made two practice string blocks from the 1" goodies -- I think this will make a great donation quilt for a child.  And these are very different fabrics from my normal stash. How can you work on these and not smile?  They are cut at 5.5" to finish at 5".  Aren't they the cutest?

And, because I had to go a funeral three hours away in the beautiful Appalachians, I decided to take a break on the way home and see if I could find a companion fabric (besides black or another solid) for my pink FQs that was my birthday gift from my-niece-the-quilter.  I love this -- it works with the light salmon on one end of the spectrum and the deep pink on the other.  

What a week!  I love the fabrics but I honestly don't understand gifting such a treasure trove.  This young woman buys good stuff -- and I've been telling her since before she was born that I was her favorite aunt.  I think she believes me, don't you?  And -- to add more joy and anticipation to the future quilting here at iquiltforfun -- my-niece-the-athlete has decided she wants a large queen out of batiks.  I can't wait to go shopping with her to see what she selects or what jelly rolls she decides on.  She's doing lots of research and will pick the fabric and pattern.  I get to the the cutting and sewing and quilting.  I love my girlies!

I hope you have had a wonderful week full of good quilting surprises and family that loves and appreciates you!  I certainly have.   

Jan

Windham Fabrics -- we need to talk!

Let me start by saying I love Windham Fabrics.  I have bought yards and yards of them.  And the fabrics used to make this quilt definitely taught me more lessons than I wanted to learn!

This is Waffles by Aardvark Quilts.  I love the simplicity of her designs and the clarity of instructions.  I made it about two years ago and finally quilted in when I went to see MacQuilts in the spring.  The fabrics are the hand-dyed Gees Bends solids that I paid a pretty penny for several years ago at the Chicago International Quilt Festival.  The fat quarter bundle had about 20 fabrics in them -- all neatly tied up.

I really liked the shading and coloration of many of the shades and they reminded me of Cherrywoods (YUM!).

BUT -- when I opened them up and started to think about what I wanted to do with them -- I was in for a not-so-great surprise.  The fold lines on about half the fat quarters had offset and had a faded look.  And not just a little bit -- a whole lot.  And when I say "fold lines" -- these were not at the edges where sun/light might have caused them -- they were in the bundle where the FQs had been folded and compressed against another. They actually mirrored the lines of the actual fold of the fabric.  I've never seen that before and I hope never to see it again.

Here are some leftover scraps and I've put pins in the discolorations in case you have trouble seeing them.  I was beyond not happy when I saw this and how many fabrics were effected.  Some to the point that I couldn't cut enough strips to make a block.  I know this was not the fault of the quilt shop and I believe they were not aware of the problem.  They are very reputable and were always my favorite booth at the quilt show each year.

When I saw the offsetting and started researching how to handle them before I did anything else -- there wasn't much out there.  There were lots of comments from other quilters who talked about bleeding and washing them with Retayne beforehand. I particularly remember one quilter saying that she was washing her red fabric when the water splashed on her white blouse and it looked like she had cut herself!  Really?

I ended up washing similar colors in small loads with Retayne and color catchers and watched the rinse water.  For those that had a lot of color in the final rinse, they got to go back through the same process one more time.  I also checked the FQ bundle that mom22smartchix bought and hers were equally bad so it wasn't just mine.  Small comfort in that.

I don't know anything about hand-dying, don't know the proper terms, don't know what may have gone wrong but I do know that this was not a good experience - nor typical of Windham Fabrics.  Interestingly, if you were to buy the fabrics today, they come with a suggestion that each color should be washed separately and line dried!  

Fingers crossed for the final washing now that the quilt is finished!

I hope your week has been full of good surprises.  Jan