What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

…a project that’s not the Tattoo Quilt!

The quilt on the design wall in the Bottoms Up! studio in 2013

I’ve gone as far as I can on getting ready to quilt the Tattoo Quilt. The top, backing, binding and threads are in a bag. The trip to Katrina’s has been rescheduled thanks to a bout with the flu—yes, I always get a flu shot, but I had a reaction to the last one and wonder if that’s why I caught the flu. I haven’t had the flu in decades and was completely caught ...

Of course there are various tones, a few florals with pink in them, etc. I even used the wrong side of some that were just too bold the way they were. It finished at 59" x 61" and has a pink print backing with the same fabric ...

My words for this year are “catalog” and “organization”—Nothing romantic about that, is there? 

 Grace — a topic near and dear to me.

Grace is one of those things that means a lot to some people, including myself. Prevenient grace was something I knew nothing about prior to my baptism, but embraced post-conversion. The older I get, the more I practice giving grace to others; and now I’m trying to give myself more grace—it’s easier now than it was earlier in my life. 

While Grace in this context may not be what the pattern designer meant when she designed this block, it’s how I’m seeing it. While a swan may ...

 Hell hath no fury than a confused quilter.

Fury is the block and my fury rose while cutting the pieces for this one. Goodness gracious, this one required six hours of cutting the fabrics. 

I celebrated my birthday by spending the entire day in the studios. At 9:00 am I walked into the cutting room. I took a 20 minute break around noonish, went back to cutting and emerged at 3:15 pm with all pieces cut. Y’all, the cutting on this one is tedious.

I immediately moved into the sewing room and stitched sections A, B, C ...

 Courage, dear heart.   — C. S. Lewis.

This was the saying that kept going through my mind as I pieced this block. Fiddly, and time-consuming; and my mind went to enough different places while I worked on it that I made several mistakes in the cutting of the fabrics. 

No coup here, but this was a good start on the first day of piecing this block.

I’m now considering cutting out the remaining pieces of the entire quilt so I can just sew, trim and press. A long weekend should fill the bill, so long as I’m not interrupted.

The Hope block…as in I hope I have the wherewithal to continue this project…

DISCLAIMER: When I started writing this post, it was about 6 weeks ago. Life (actually, death) intervened and I talk a little bit about it in this post, so here’s your trigger warning. All references to days are from that time because I didn’t feel like guessing at when they were. Enjoy.

My goodness. Talk about labor intensive—two sections have a triangle about half the size of a pea. And Sunday, I saw where someone on Reddit had pieced the quilt and ...

Make lemonade from lemons, right? And I’m a huge fan of lemon pie.

Fifteen years ago I started a quilt (actually, several quilts were started) and did not finish it. This was back in the days of owning a quilt shop where my eyes were bigger than the time I had to get things done. 

A book by Sandy Bonsib—“Sweet Treats”—had several easy-to-make quilts, each based around two blocks, and all named for pies and other desserts.  

At the time, I thought it would be a good idea for a club at the quilt shop. I started ...

 This one was fun from start to finish.

A couple of years ago I made a baby quilt for my neighbors at the apartment complex—their little girl Charlee is adorable.  It was a version of “eat sleep play repeat” that I made for Max several years ago.  

Now they have Waylon—and I wanted to do something different.  I saw the Moda fabric line “ABC…xyz” by Stacie Hsu and thought it was perfect for a little boy.  I ordered the panel and some yardage.

When it arrived, I put the panel on the design wall and stewed over ...

All the things in one jam-packed year.

Sunrise on the ridge

All the stuff we experienced this year may not seem like much to many, but the sensory overload after 2.5 years of isolation was a lot…for us.  

Because it wasn’t just about building a house — it was a lot about family. 

In our extended family, we lost 4 members; two expected, two completely unexpected.  The unexpected always hurts the most, doesn’t it?  You don’t see it coming and WHAM, it hits you.  My Godbrother and my cousin died; I’ve known both their entire ...

 One of my oldest UFOs is ready for gifting!

I mentioned to someone recently that I am a great starter, but finishing this quilt makes me feel like I can tackle all those projects waiting in The Bins. 

I talked about this quilt in a post a year ago.  I got the top assembled, pieced the backing, and packed it up in anticipation of The Move.  

More about the quilt—when I owned a quilt shop, we were contacted by Rhonda Dieker, the author of and designer of the quilts in the book “Wacky Rails.”  She was doing a book ...

 I have the main part of the uneven nine patch leftovers sewn together.

( blocks from a swap and quilt here )  I am ready for borders. 

This has been a long time project. Well, it seems that way. It became part of my 5 quilt UFO project in March. I had 10 cut in April. I had 5 made in May.  I made more blocks in June. All the blocks were made in July  And the top is made in August. Jen didn't border hers, but, I am worried if I don't do something, it will be hard to have the binding meet the points on the edges. decisions..decisions...decisions

 I needed to cut a bunch of 4 1/2 inch squares ( blocks from a swap and quilt here ) for the rest of the uneven 9 patches I have left. I was able to see a size of quilt that I would want with some of them. I think I want it longer, as far as I can, with what I have left of the blocks. I have been able to use up smaller pieces of cream scraps for the 4 1/2 inch alternate blocks. It feels good to clean up a stack of odd pieces.

one of my ...

I have a bunch (scientific term) of leftover blocks from a swap and circa 1880 quilt here. It is time to stop moving them around, and, do something with them. The blocks are 4 1/2 inches. I cut a variety of 4 1/2 inch creams, and, started sewing them at a guild open sew. This is as far as I got. I still have a pile of squares that need trimmed, and, it might be enough to make a good size quilt. So, more trimming and cutting, and then, we can resume the regularly scheduled program. I am ...

I had a chance to assemble more of my rectangle wrangle quilt. It seems magical, as I add each row, and, see how the pattern emerges. There are a lot of seams that need matching, so, it is slower than my patience, sometimes. It is a big quilt, probably queen size, and very heavy. But I love it so far.

more ohio stars for the border

I am linking to:

TGIFF

TGIFF different   

please consider ...

I am so excited. I have all the blocks done for rectangle wrangle, and, I have started to assemble the top. I think it is going to be a fun quilt to make. Other than playing with the blocks to see how they will look together, I am just sewing twosies.

My One monthly goal for July was to have all 84 blocks finished And, I have met the goal. yipee

I have also played with making the ohio star blocks for the border. I think I have made 4. They are small, and, I need 56 of them. I ...

I am finally working on the downhill blocks for rectangle wrangle. All of the uphill blocks are finished. I think the remaining strips are a little ho hum, but, I will use them. Apparently, I have pulled out all my favorites.  In such a busy quilt, they will fit just fine.

I want to finish all 42 downhill blocks for my July one monthly goal at elm street quilts.
I didn't finish my june monthly goal but, I did add three ufo finishes for june and the PHD report

I am linking:

design wall monday 

oh scrap

I have a love/ hate relationship with Jen kingwell patterns. I fall in love with the quilts, but, agonize over the patterns and execution. My quilting buddies decided to make wensleydale found in kingwell's book. I started gathering scraps and colors for it. The templates and book was pricey, so I waited for a cheaper alternative. I ended up buying the paper piecing papers over the templates. But, I waited until I wanted to paper piece the blocks, which didn't happen. So, I bought the templates, anyway. They are fiddley to cut. My cut pieces don't match ...

I have made progress on my rectangle wrangle quilt. I try to make 2 blocks every day. There are 84 blocks, so slow and steady wins the race. I tried to take it with me for a portable project, but, made too many mistakes. It has to stay home. poor baby

oh scrap