Looking better...

I think I need to keep going with this project, because these blocks are working for me.

I'm having a lot of fun with these, though they're not going very quickly. Too many decisions!

I have learned that I don't use a lot of red, surprisingly enough. The orange and turquoise piles tie for the biggest, and I have ONE string of brown. What can I say? I love brights, but I didn't think I would like them all together as much as I do. It helps that the dark purple (it's photographing black here) through the middles and the corners give your eyes a place to rest, otherwise I'd just be dizzy.

It may take a while -- this is a good one to come back to in between projects -- but it's definitely a keeper. My first string quilt!

Now I just need to keep the cat out of the box.

Even the cat is tired of all my scraps...

I have a box on the top of my cabinet to collect all my fabric trimmings. Seems a shame to waste them, and I figured someday I'd dive in and do a string quilt.

I admit it was getting a little overloaded, but I didn't think it was piled high enough to warrant a citation from the in-house fabric police.  When I came home the other day, the box was on its side, and the strings were everywhere.

I took it as a sign that "someday" had arrived..

Now I just can't decide if this is the start of something really cool or something incredibly hideous. Only time -- and a dozen more blocks -- will tell!

At last...

...both "sister quilts" are finally finished!

I made these two tops last Fall from a Modern Workshop layer cake and a few Kona solids. I'd been obsessing over triangles (still am, come to think of it), so made the first one, then made the second simple block one with the leftovers just to get them out of my kitchen.  It took quite a while to get back to them and finish them off, but they're done, and off my to-do list.

I love how you can get two totally different personalities from the same fabrics.

Though I'm not a big fan of poly batting, I have to admit that the medium loft does make the quilts extra-cuddly, especially with my wavy, random lines.

I used the same medium-loft batting and quilted zig-zags down each row of triangles instead of diagonally down the quilt. It created a really neat argyle effect on the front and a great texture on the back.

I'm not sure which one I like better, though I'm kind of partial to the airiness of "Isoceles." But there's something about the boldness and concentration of color in "Leftovers" that makes me happy.

It's a toss-up!

Questionable Values...

I did manage to finish another one up amid my bouncing from project to project. I'm still on the fence with this one.

"Questionable Values" in Kona Robin's Egg, Tarragon, Ash. Bound in Coal.

I had high hopes for this quilt. I sketched. I worked up a pattern. I even hand-painted some of the squares when I ran out of coordinating fabric. But when it all came together, I wasn't thrilled.

Don't get me wrong, I love the design, it's just that the colors, which looked so marvelous stacked on my cutting table, don't do it justice. The Tarragon and Ash are just too close in value (hence the name) so they get mushed together, making the blue pop more than I intended. Kona Ash has a tendency to suck the life out of its neighbors if they're not strong enough, and I think that's what happened here. If I make it again, I'll go for higher contrast.

So on one hand I'm happy that it's done and I can add another quilt to my pathetically short list of finishes for this year. On the other, I wish I had a little more love for it, but they don't all look as great in real life as they do in our heads, do they?

Maybe it'll grow on me.

Self-discipline was never my strong suit...

I know I said I had to finish a couple other things before I dove into my Jane Sassaman fabric, but it was just sitting there, begging to be chopped up. Taunting me, even.

These blocks (and the possibilities that this fussy-cut fabric presents) are really cool, though there isn't enough contrast for that top center one to work. That one will have to wait for another project. I'm purposely not doing the kaleidoscope effect on the black blocks because the repeat was smaller, and I think it lets the flower blocks pop a little more. Given I'm just playing at this point, that's all subject to change.

I need to do a few more of these to a) get it out of my system or b) make a complete quilt. Then I'll go back to my to-do list!

Dear Jane...

I have read your book and become inspired.

It's about time I broke into my stash of your fabrics -- I've been hoarding saving them, as Foghorn Leghorn says, "for just such an emergency," and now the wheels are turning.

I just have to finish a couple other things first.

Next up...

After I did a little 'nother-quilt-done jig and had a glass of wine to celebrate my clean workspace this weekend, I dug into my WIP/UFO corner and came up with this, which has kicked around my condo since I made it almost a year ago. I was all psyched about it when I started, then my friends started having little boy babies and all my girly quilts got put on hold.

Made from a Moda layer cake (Modern Workshop, Oliver + S) and a few Kona solids, these triangles are about three-quarters of an inch shy of equilateral (don't ask how I got to those dimensions, I couldn't tell you), so I'm calling it "Isoceles." Definitely a lesson in working with bias edges and trying to get long wonky rows of triangles straight again.

There were enough leftovers from the layer cake to make another top, which you may or may not remember. That one actually got quilted, though I think I was waiting until both of them were done to take a picture. It's been so long, I can't remember.

It's been wonderful working in the cooler Fall temps, but it also means someone is back to napping in the middle of my projects. Quilting may take longer than I thought.

Picnic time, part two...

I'm sure y'all are tired of seeing this quilt. But given I spent most of the weekend cleaning up my workspace and sorting through all my half-assedfinished projects, I don't have anything else to show you. So here are some of the detail shots I took before I entrusted my masterpiece to UPS.

I know I've said that half-inch quilting was well worth the effort, but when the quilt was washed? Oh. My.

The only word I can think of to describe the texture is "luscious." Not a word normally reserved for fabric, I know, but the crinkles and the softness...it's absolutely sublime. There -- I've thought of two words! I'm definitely going to be doing this on another project soon -- one that's going to stay in my house!

I'm pretty proud of the "rock pocket" execution here, too. I made some cute little napkins to tuck in one of the Velcroed corners. The appetizer-sized silverware fits in another. All the corners are piped with the binding fabric and lined with the backing fabric. 

I didn't quite trust my hand sewing to keep the binding on through as many washings as this might get, so I attached it to the back and flipped it around to the front to stitch down by machine. More security, and I don't think the quilt suffers any for it.  :)

I think I'll have to realign the buttons on this one, but I thought it was pretty ingenious -- using the entire corner makes the pocket big enough for a pair 6" plastic plates. I thought about trying to make a pocket for glasses too, but it would have been too lumpy. This way, it will at least be relatively flat when it's folded up. And they can put the glasses in the carrying bag.

Plates? Check. Napkins? Check. Silverware? Check. Seems the only thing this quilt is missing is the food!

Like sands through the hourglass...

A dear friend of my mother's was addicted to "Days of Our Lives." I spent a week at her condo in Florida one spring break while I was in junior high, and we ate lunch with the Horton's and Brady's every day, rushing up from the beach just in time to make sandwiches and settle down in front of the television. That opening line was forever imprinted in my memory that week, and even though Mrs. P's been gone for many years, she was on my mind throughout the creation of this little hourglass quilt.

This was supposed to be finished in May before the birth of my friend's baby. I'm not entirely sure what happened but here it's September, the child is almost four months old, and I'm just finishing it up. Summer was one big unproductive blur, and I have the tan to show for it.

Anyway, I love this! I started out with part of a Kona pastel charm pack, but it just wasn't bright enough. And at some point before it was fully pieced the little guy was born, so out came the pinks (I was positive he was going to be a she!) and in went more saturated prints, solids and pops of orange. The result was this sweet little thing that matches perfectly with the bright yellows of his nursery. I took it to the beach last weekend to finish the binding and bury all those pesky threads. The concession stand served as a great backdrop for the final photo.

Slowly but surely I'm getting back in to the groove. Maybe this will be the Season of Finishes? I can hope!

Time for a picnic...

Well, it's DONE. It took long enough, and I missed the wedding deadline, but the Picnic in the City quilt is finished. And I love it!

I made the center a few years ago from a couple "Summer in the City" charm packs, then didn't do anything with it (surprise, surprise). When I heard my cousin's oldest was getting married, I brought it out. They're her colors (she's a redhead!), and I thought it would make a great gift, but not big enough for the picnic size I envisioned. Fortunately, Jacquie had some Kona Mango that worked perfectly and made it just the right size for two (how convenient is it to have somebody to trade fabric with???). The quilting is all a half-inch apart, which made for some work, but it was totally worth it. Love!

The "rock pockets" in the corners have Velcro for the little cocktail silverware and napkins I'll tuck in, and one corner has two flaps for some small plastic plates, and I made a very cute carrying bag out of the backing fabric for it, complete with grommets and rope handles.

I still have a few threads to bury, but I can ship this one off to the happy couple next week!

On second thought...

Ever get partway into quilting and regret your design? That's where I am today.

I love the effect that this quilting has on my Picnic in the City quilt -- it's just that these half-inch lines are taking FOR. EVER. It's killing my productivity.

There's no choice but to plod along. It's too late to turn back now!

My QC inspector is hard at work...

I always wonder if the recipients of my quilts will find them as snuggly and user-friendly as I intended. Good thing I have someone on staff to pre-test them for me. Although he doesn't come cheap, his work ethic is unparalleled and his assessments accurate, so he's worth every penny.

Looks like this one is good to go!

WIP Wednesday, a day late...

I'm still here, trying to crank through all my projects, waylaid by travel, pet sitting, and gardening in oppressive heat. So here are a couple sneak peeks as evidence that I'm not totally unproductive:

LOVE these tiny stars!

New week, new project...sort of...

I was working on something with a softer feel...but it just wasn't doing anything for me.

Enter these beauties from my stash:

Just what I needed to brighten things up a bit!

Time flies...

...when you're not sewing!

May was a blur. After that last post, all hell broke loose and now that the dust has settled somewhat, I'm back.

It began with a trip to Reno for a memorial service. Sadly, my friend Rick passed away after a seven-month fight with an extremely aggressive form of melanoma. He left behind two heartbroken little girls and a wife, one of my dearest friends, reeling in her new reality as a single mother. From the day he received it until the day he died, he slept with the quilt I made him, hoping the good vibes and love put into its creation would give him strength. In the end, it was just what he needed to keep him warm.

In the aftermath of a great service, we all took a trip up to Lake Tahoe, his favorite spot, for a beach picnic. It doesn't get much prettier than Tahoe in early spring.

I got stuck in a snowbank, but that's a story for another day.

When I came back home, I didn't feel like doing much of anything, let alone sew. But the cottage needed to be opened up for the season, so I headed to Michigan. South Haven didn't get very much snow this year, so there wasn't anything to hold the sand down -- as a result, I spent a couple days shoveling. Nothing like hard labor to get back in shape!

The first third of sand from the driveway. I couldn't lift my arms to take a picture when I was done.

I took a guided boat tour on the Lindy Lou down the Black River to learn about the town's development and see what was really upstream. Turns out none of the industry that created the town along the river (lumber and fruit, primarily) remains -- it's been replaced by vacation cottages and marinas, and reclaimed by Mother Nature.

 Cap'n Jim

Like salmon? Come catch your own!

Houseboats!

Covered bridge on the Kal-Haven Bike Trail. Used to be a railroad, now a 33-mile bike path to Kalamazoo.

I always love walking around before the tourist season starts and seeing the town wake up again.

The long-closed bakery, reincarnated as a hot dog stand

 

  Full slips means Memorial Day is near!

I also hitched a ride on a friend's boat to get out on Lake Michigan for a change of perspective.

And finally, there were sunsets...lots of incredible, glorious sunsets to put the finishing touch on each day. I never get tired of them, or taking pictures of them. It's never the same show two nights in a row.

Sunset behind the storm

Archie, Prisoner of the Beach

Back home, it's time to get sewing again! All those babies have arrived, and was I prepared?  Heck no!

Epic fail...

OK, maybe it's not epic, but it felt like it at the time, and kind of still does.

My go-to thread for piecing has always been Coats & Clark All-Purpose, bought by the fistful at Joann's and anywhere else I could find it. It's corespun, which means it has a polyester core covered in another material -- which I always assumed was cotton (or used to be when I first started buying it...anyone remember this? Or am I imagining things?). When I'm in The Zone, I can go through a spool in just a few days.

It's held up well to washing and ironing, and has never let me down...until this week.

I was about 80% finished with the quilting on one of my baby quilts this weekend, the quilt bunched on the table next to me, when I noticed one of the seams in the middle of the quilt looked a little funny. It was raised a little, like I hadn't ironed it all the way. And when I grabbed between my thumb and forefinger to take a closer look, this happened:

The seam gave way under my thumbnail like I was perforating it, the thread brittle, crackling as it broke. You can see the spiky little thread ends on the top part of the seams in the picture (which showed up best in black and white) -- they were like little staples when I pulled them out with tweezers.

Panicked, I started looking at more of the seams and found another (where the pin is, which is strange because these pieces were constructed separately and ended up next to each other pretty much randomly). Sick to my stomach and afraid to go any further, I secured the spots with pins and set it aside until I could look at it without crying. It's still sitting on my cutting table.

Near as I can figure, I melted the thread -- which, as it turns out, is polyester covered in polyester, not cotton, and therefore might not stand up to the cotton setting as well as it should. But I'm using the same iron I've used for months with this same brand of thread, and didn't do anything different in constructing this quilt than any other. Maybe I hit a bad couple stretches of thread that weren't completely covered? All I know is I have a quilt that I've put a lot of time into that now has the potential to fall apart at first washing unless I can think of a way to fix it without totally messing up the existing quilting.

I love a challenge, but now? Not good timing.

Has this happened to anyone else? Or am I a cautionary tale?