The Next Day

There has been snow.  Here is an update of the view I shared yesterday.

 

And, later, some blue skies and sunshine ... which made going outside to shovel walks and dig out the car so much more pleasant than it might have been ...





I am going to play with knitting this afternoon–even if I don't get any further than knitting swatches and decided on a pattern for some yarn in my stash–and plan for a simple dinner later of French onion soup and some of the wonderful bread I picked up at the Farmer's market yesterday.

It's a perfectly lazy Sunday afternoon in Santa Fe.

Saturday Stuff

It was one of those gray, cold, windy mornings that make you want to stay under the covers a while longer ... which I did.  But eventually I did get up and about and out of the house, headed to the Farmer's Market at the Railyard.

It was still dry outside when I arrived, but the sky looked ominous.

I was surprised to see that there were still vendors outside.

Most of these booths were filled with natural holiday decorations–wreaths and swags made from evergreens and/or dried chiles, dried sage fashioned into animals, wreaths, smudge sticks ... and a ranch selling meat (with a barbecue going).   It was a bit more lively inside and soon after I arrived became as crowded as the Farmer's market outside is during harvest season.




My little sleep-in made me late enough to miss the shiitake mushrooms I planned to pick up from one of the mushroom vendors–I settled for some oyster mushrooms and now just need a plan for them–but it was otherwise a successful trip.

I walked back to my car in the rain.  As I drove across town, the rain turned to (tiny) hail and then to sleet.  Just as I was pulling into the driveway, there was snow coming down.


And then it was coming down harder. And it started sticking. Soon, the view from my desk looked like this.

I feel like I went through almost all the phases of Winter weather in about an hour ... except for the one where the sky is blue, the sun is shining and the air is crisp and calm.  If the forecasters are correct, the sun will be back in full force on Wednesday.

In the meantime, it might be a good time to try snow-dying ...

Reminder:

If you are catching up on blogs this weekend and missed my post about my entry into the Everything Old is New Again block design challenge ... I would appreciate your vote (you must have a Facebook account to participate).  Here's the block and the link to take you to the challenge/voting page.



Vote here for your favorite

Office Party - A Challenging Comedy of Errors

This is the block I designed for Modern Quilts Unlimited's monthly block design challenge, Everything Old is New Again.

I thought this curvy design, my interpretation of the traditional Bow Tie block was rather festive, so I called it Let's Party.

If you like my block design, I'd appreciate your vote ...  even if you don't like my block ... you might want to click over and see what others did, starting with a bow tie for inspiration.

Modern Quilts Challenge Link

You will need to log into Facebook in order to vote.

If your reaction to this combination of fabrics is one of "what was she thinking?" then keep reading as I share the comedy of errors on the path of making the block.

This monthly challenge started last summer; a friend sent me email about it because–no surprise to anyone who reads this blog–I love challenges.  Each month a traditional block is chosen and published by MQU and you have to design an original 12-inch modern block design based upon it.  But I was reticent, for a number of reasons:

• Although I very much like and am definitely influenced by Modern Quilts, I would consider myself a Modernist, though not necessarily a Modern Quilter (with a capital M and a capital Q) and I feared the kind of reaction Laura Lang describes in her recent article about the Modern Quilt Police. It wouldn't be the first time ... and frankly, I already have enough grief in my life.
• The winner of this design contest is determined by a social media popularity contest and I have such a small social media footprint that I figured that I wouldn't have a chance, so if I played along, it would be simply for that reason, to "play" with the challenges. 
• For the first traditional block announced last summer, Flying Geese ... I had nothing in terms of a new interpretation. 
• Blocks (and the sampler quilt at the end of the challenge)  had to be made ONLY from fabrics from Michael Miller.  I never choose fabrics for my projects based on who made them and because my stash is one of a scrap quilter, I don't even always know whose fabrics I'm choosing and using.  

But even if I was personally uninspired, I loved following along to see the modern interpretations of the traditional blocks so far and when the November block was announced, inspiration struck and my design idea stayed stuck in my head and insisted I make it. 

I remembered the December 10 deadline, but for some reason thought it was the date that you could START entering your block ... not the absolute, drop dead, must be posted by deadline. Yesterday morning I saw a mention of the deadline and realized my error.  I also realized that I would have to quickly make my block based on whatever fabrics in my stash I could absolutely identify as Michael Miller fabrics. It's only the busiest time of the year ... no problem. 

Note to fabric manufacturers:  Please consider printing your name and fabric information on BOTH selvages so that those of us that buy fat quarters will somehow have a clue whose fabrics we have. 

So, that's why this block is made from some old (vintage?) Michael Miller yardage, Daily Grind, that I won at a quilt retreat at least a decade ago, a fat quarter of Stitch Circle that happened to be the side that had the name on the selvage and a sparkly fat eighth of Confetti Border that was acquired for the MQG Michael Miller fabric challenge. 

Using that office cubicle print as a background for my Let's Party block led to a story (in my head, at least) of office workers waiting for the end of day and the holiday Office Party. 

I am celebrating my quickly finished entry on these lists: 

Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Quilt Shop Gal's Creative Goodness Linky Party

Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts

Another Visitor

My (indoor) cats often take me to the window and try to tell me about something that they can see, but I cannot.  Today, I spotted him (her?)



As both my cats and I looked through the (dirty) window, he stared back. Johnny stood up on his hind legs, scratching at the window with an urgent need for me to open the window for him.  (It didn't happen).  When I stepped outside to try to get a better photo and see if he had a color, he took off over the fence.

This was my first real look at what I think is the third cat that regularly visits my yard and sends my cats racing from one window to another around the house so as to keep an eye on them and intimidate them as much as an indoor cat can.

I wonder if he wishes he could come inside as much as Johnny and Grace would like to get outside to take care of him?

He is definitely curious about what's inside.  I regularly see his shadow on the window shade as he perches on the side of the house outside the bedroom which has become my home office.  He also regularly leaps from the top of the fence to my roof–I suspect the metal roof on this house becomes quite warm and cozy even on a cold day. The frequency with which I hear him (and his friends) on the roof makes me wonder if I should consider them more squatters than visitors.

He looks to be healthy and well-fed.  I hope he has a warm home to return to when the sun goes down and the storms arrive.

My Winter Sunrise

Yesterday, Hilda shared a spectacular sunrise photo–it's worth a click over to see.  It inspired me to take a moment this morning to take a moment and share one of my own.

Here's my sunrise over the fence.

Before I moved, I could literally watch the sunrise from bed each morning.  Now, my bedroom is on the west side of the house, so I no longer have that luxury and when I'm up and about on the east side of the house, I'm usually too preoccupied with making coffee and getting ready for the day.

Thanks, Hilda, for the reminder to take a moment and enjoy the beauty right outside my front door.

Another Workshop Project

I was gifted with a guild workshop in November, along with the argument that I could pull fabrics from my stash so I couldn't say no. Life has been especially harsh (in case you wondered why I stopped blogging) and my heart wasn't really in it, but I went.

The workshop was taught by Karla Alexander.  Each student chose a project with curves from one of her books or patterns.

A bunch of us choose Electric Fence, the cover quilt from her book, Color Shuffle–clicking the book image will take you to Amazon.

I generally choose technique classes, not those based on making a quilt, so  I went into this one with the idea that I would make a smaller kid-sized version of the project–made from 20 blocks instead of 35–and concentrate on the technique and design ideas shared in the workshop.

When I was choosing fabrics from my stash, it seemed my bright choices were going beyond "electric" and I started to think of this little quilt as Neon Fence.

 

Yesterday, as I was (finally) putting the blocks together, I thought about Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and wondered if those electric sheep were jumping over neon fences? I'm not sure where that idea came from–I'm really not much of a fan of science fiction–but some jumping sheep may show up in the quilting design when I get there.

First, I need to decide up on borders.

But, for now, they are no longer blocks on the design wall waiting for me to DO something with them ... now it's an in-progress quilt on the design wall waiting for me to finish it up.

In the meantime, while all the fabrics were out ... some of them found their way into a December block for Blocklotto.com.  It's the last of the long rectangles, called Wonky Strips.

You can read more about guidelines and find a link to the pattern here: 

Wrapping up the Year with Wonky Strips

Reflecting on Workshops

I gifted myself with a 2-day workshop with Patty Hawkins for my birthday yesterday and so, today, my design wall is a portable one.

The organic-looking shapes are "me," but the rest of it is completely outside my comfort zone in terms of colors, techniques, process and ... well, just about everything else. I came home feeling completely spent and absolutely loved it.

We started by sketching and abstracting a shape from a magazine page, then constructing a paper collage from construction paper (with a bit of newsprint) ... not using scissors. Can you find the torn paper collage (value study) of my leaf-inspired shape in the gallery of collages?

Letting go and just following the process where it led me was not easy for me, but well worth the journey.  While my project is far from done, I came home with a clear idea of where I wanted to go.

As I looked around the room and the great variety of projects, I saw that some others had followed a different path, using familiar-to-them shapes in their usual color palettes–they stayed in their comfort zone and used what they knew would work ... and ended up with very successful pieces that definitely looked like "them," but I wonder if they came home feeling creatively spent and what they felt they learned from their effort.

A couple others raced through the workshop, as if it was a competition and produced multiple pieces–which may or may not have embodied the process and techniques we were there to learn ... but I have no doubt that they went home feeling like the "winner" of the day. 

We all approach learning in our own way.  As adults, it is harder to let go of what you think you know and try something knew.  I actively had to work at it as I know some of my classmates did.  Over the course of the two-day workshop, I felt like I could almost see the lightbulbs coming on over the heads of those  that had, like me, suspended disbelief and worked out of their comfort zone, following the path presented to us. 

Thank you Patty, for teaching me a new way to look at design and nudging me along an uncomfortable, but rewarding path. 

If you have a chance to take a class with Patty, don't miss it. She's a great teacher (and encourager).

A New Community Service Project

Saturday, the Northern New Mexico Quilt Guild had a community service sewing day.  They need more large bed-size quilts and organized an interesting bed-sized scrap quilt for us to make.

On the floor in the center of the room were packets of 30 background fabric squares.  In four piles spread around the room were  strips of fabric in different widths.   To create a quilt "kit", we picked up a background packet and then chose 120 of the strips–30 from each size/pile. It looked something like this:





It was a fun way for everyone to build their own kit.

I bordered about half my blocks during the morning. After a lunch break, we gathered our chairs for the guild meeting.  I came home after the meeting and finished making the blocks. I had 30 blocks bordered, sliced and re-assembled by the end of the day.

Here's some blocks on my design wall, showing step 1 and 2.




The quilt pattern we used (with the designers permission) is Scrappy Love by Cintia Gonzalez (of My Poppet) from Fresh Quilts magazine.

I am looking forward to squaring up and putting together my blocks and seeing ALL the quilts that came from those 4 piles of strips on Saturday.  

Joining the lists for Design Wall Monday and  Oh Scrap!

QOV Works in Progress

I feel stalled on my quilts for Quilts of Valor ... so maybe blogging about these works in progress will help me kick my butt into gear.

My guild's QOV mini-group has started a challenge.  We each start with one of two panel designs ... and make a quilt (top) by January. This is mine.

I have an idea about where I want to go with this, but ... haven't yet actually done ANYTHING beyond thinking about it.

Since I haven't EVER made a quilt using a panel, this may turn out to be more of a challenge than I envisioned ... but, you know, I have a very hard time saying know to a challenge ...

The colors are actually more dull and muddy-together than they appear on my screen. One of my goals is to do something to help pull apart the image of the eagle from the top half of the U.S. by repeating all the colors in my quilt.

In the meantime, I have started using the bag of 1 1/2-inch QOV strings that were gifted to me.

I simplified a block that caught my eye when reading blogs–I can't exactly remember where, does anyone recognize it? Anyway I drew a foundation pattern with pencil and paper and have been paper-piecing these blocks.

After making a couple test blocks from my hand-drawn pattern, using a leave-in stabilizer for the foundation, I decided I liked it well enough to create something more precise in EQ.

Then, I woke up a few weeks ago, on the morning when the QOV mini-group meets, thinking about using the method where the foundation is printed on (the non-shiny side) of freezer paper and you don't sew through the paper. I thought it would be an easy thing to print some foundations onto freezer paper and try it at the mini-group ... turns out the hardest part of the process is getting the freezer paper–cut off the roll–to become flat enough to go through the printer. This is easier said than done ... but I did it, though I was late for the mini-group.

These eight blocks represent the original 3 (with foundations) and 5 made using the freezer paper method. I will need 80 of these 7 1/2-inch blocks to make a quilt that is 60 by 75 inches.

And then, there's this ... still waiting for me to quilt and finish it.

The backing and batting are ready ... I think I just needed to think through the how and where.  There isn't enough space in my sewing room to open the work-table I would ordinarily use to baste a quilt and I am still thinking about the best way to do it in the space I have.  I may take it with me and see if I can use the tables at the quilt shop after the meeting today. I am looking forward to quilting it ... as usual, it's the basting that slows me down.

Joining all the pretty appliqué project links at Esther's WOW (WIPS on Wednesday) and WIP Wednesday on Freshly Pieced.

Row Quit Progress

The row quilt progresses

Here it is with it's third row complete–Twinkle blocks, which are this month's block pattern on Blocklotto.com

I thought I should come clean and show you how they live on my small design wall  ... not as rows, but as vertical strips.   The design wall is narrower than the rows, but even vertically, it still works to give me an idea to see how I like the blocks and colors adjacent to one another.

In addition to making the 7 Twinkle blocks this week, I also played with all these tiny leftover triangles.

Believe it or not, when they are this small, I usually toss them, but I think those shiny irridescent shot cottons sucked me in and I couldn't resist playing and seeing what they might become. 

I posted more details on my process (both for the row and the leftovers) on the Block Lotto today:

 Week 3 - Twinkle.

You can find more information about the 9-inch Twinkle block, with links to the block pattern and paper foundation piecing version here:

Twinkle, Twinkle, Monochromatic Stars in October.

More Circles ... For a Good Cause

I used the sample blocks from the 6-minute circle demo I mentioned yesterday to make placemat's for one of my guild's community service projects. You might recognize them as two of last year's lotto blocks: Sunrise and Bead-on-a-String.



I had fun playing with quilting designs over the weekend and finishing them up–the bindings are sewn down by machine, so no Slow Sunday Stitching for me today.

I wanted to try Karen's Feather Galaxy fill pattern ... but I never quite found my rhythm.

The dark gray thread showed up a lot more than I expected on the gray-on-black background, too.

I will likely try it on another project and probably change it up enough to make it work better for me. You can see what it's supposed to look like in this YouTube video.

Even if it isn't "right," I really do love the combination of spiral, feather shapes and pebbles.

6-Minute Circles, Redux

If you have followed my blog for a while, then you know I have embraced Dale Fleming's 6-minute circle technique and it has become a beloved tool in my bag of quilting techniques and tricks.

Recently, I was asked to demo it for my mini-group and then we decided to practice by making circle blocks for a small group quilt.  This morning I needed some playtime, so I made these three blocks.

We are using two southwest-inspired fabrics for all the circles and adding fabrics from our stash to frame them–purple for the one with the gold background and green for the red background.

For those unfamiliar with the technique, there are a few good videos online of Dale Fleming demonstrating her technique:

Simply Quilts
The Quilt Show (you must be a member to view this one)

Her book is also a great resource and goes far beyond the "6 minute circle" in showing you how you can use this technique–here's a link to the kindle version:

I mostly followed the steps as outlined, until seeing the circle tutorial Marie put together where she leaves the freezer paper on until after the seam is sewn. I found it SO much easier to see where I was going ...

Marie has great step-by-step photos of the entire process in her tutorial, but here's a quick look at what sewing the seam looks like.

I had not before switched to a zipper foot (as recommended by the author) so I thought I'd try it today. I liked how easily I could follow the edge of the freezer paper circle, but it bugged me that I couldn't see the needle going into the fabric like I could when I used my open toed foot.

Now that I've been making these circles for a while, I have a little checklist of methods and reminders that work for me:

• Take the time to create a double-layer of freezer paper.  It creates a sturdier edge in the center and will last through 5 or 6 blocks.
• If you are putting a circle in the center of a block, make it easy to get it centered perfectly by cutting the freezer paper the same size as the background/frame.
• The circle (or whatever shape) is always cut to be the FINISHED size
•  If you are gluing fabric-to-freezer paper, go lightly. When you are gluing fabric-to-fabric, be generous, especially along the circle edge.
• Press well after every step. 
• Leave the circle fabric large if you want to be able to move the frame around and decide what goes in the circle. Otherwise, I start with a square that is 1 inch larger than the finished circle size.

It's a fun block, which is 90% preparation and 1 seam.  Ours are 9 inches (finished size) with a 7 inch circle.  I have a couple layer cakes that could become simple circle quilts for community service next year.

Row Sampler Progress - Week 2

The second row I added is made from the Many Triangles blocks we made in August. You can find the link to the block pattern for the blocks (which are 4 1/2 by 18-inches) in this post on Blocklotto.com

Earlier this week in another Block Lotto post, I blogged about how I modified the pattern to create a row from 3 1/2 of the wide blocks and my thinking when I chose the fabrics used in this row.  You can find the details here:

Week 2 of 12 + 12 = 1

Below is a closeup to show you the black bean tamale sacks (printed with black ink) I used for this row and how they look in combination with my other fabrics.

 

And here's how the completed row looks next to the the row of tulip blocks. 

I am joining the party for WIP Wednesday on Freshly Pieced.

Signs of the Season

Yesterday, I enjoyed my first pumpkin spice latte of the season ... along with a flip through the recently arrived AQ.

I make mine by adding a heaping tablespoon of pumpkin crack butter, made from the recipe that I blogged about a couple years ago, here.

I also woke up looking for my slippers, feeling like oatmeal for breakfast ... and wondering if it was time to turn up the thermostat and find out how well this new-to-me house is heated. (The previous tenant intimated, it wasn't so good.)

Last night, I craved soup for dinner.  I tried this recipe for Curried Carrot Soup.  It was very easy and pretty tasty.

The photo from allrecipes.com

I am thinking about pulling out one of my flannel quilts for the bed.

I'm also planning to pull out some yarn from my stash to knit some socks–it is Sock-tober, after all.

It definitely feels like Fall at Sophie Junction.

12 Weeks, 12 Rows, my New Sampler Project

I shared this photo of my test block for my latest quilt idea with a few of the commenters on my Saturday post with the brown tamale sacks.

(If I didn't send you a link to the photo, you may be a no-reply blogger)

I've had this idea to combine some Allison Glass Handcrafted fat quarters that I couldn't resist when they were offered on Massdrop with the tamale sacks to make a sampler quilt from this year's Block Lotto patterns with a folk art feeling.

I questioned my decision after a friend made a pair of beautiful quilts from the same Allison Glass fabrics and expressed the opinion that they only work with one another and no other fabrics.  So, before I did anything else, I first made this test block, using my Tulip Quilt Block pattern.


Your mileage may differ, but I kind of fell in love with it.

The background for this one came from the chicken tamale sacks which are printed with a bright yellow ink. These are the larger sized (one dozen tamales) variety. 

I was so happy with the result, I quickly made the rest of the blocks I needed for sampler row quilt I am making.

I will be blogging weekly updates over on Blocklotto.com with lots more detail, my thoughts on the project, and the design decisions I make along the way,  beginning with this post: 

12 + 12 = 1 Sampler Quilt

Of course, I'll be sharing my progress as it appears on my design wall, here, as well.  Be prepared to see lots of tamale sack blocks on my design wall. 

My plan is to complete one row each week for the next 12 weeks.  Sounds easy, right?  Do you have any projects you wanted to finish by the end of the year?  What could you accomplish in 12 weeks?

What's next?

I do need to start QUILTING things ... but in the meantime, I have started a new project:

I acquired some of these (in a couple flavors/colors) when I lived in Texas–Thank you, Texas Tamale Company. I wondered if they could be used as quilting fabric ... I am about to find out.

While not exactly scraps, they are close enough and printed in the appropriate color–shades of chocolate– to share with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge list today.

A Tale of Two Quilt Projects

Two weeks ago, I have a pile of scrappy tulip blocks and a set of ziplock bags containing a little over 700 colored squares.

Today, I made the last block of the Tokyo Subway Map quilt and completed putting together the quilt top.

Here's how those two projects look now.

The smaller quilt is approximately 60 inches square. I still haven't decided if I will add borders.

The larger quilt is 100 inches square ... which is why I took it outside for it's photograph.



Both are made from pretty much the same set of scraps.

In the original Tokyo Subway Map QAL, there is some appliqué and more small squares on the back. I like the design–you can see a photo of someone else's quilt in the original Flickr group here–but I am not sure I'm up to cutting another 100 or so of those squares ... maybe I will combine that task with yet another scrappy work-in-progress ... and then the real adventure can begin (quilting that monster).

I'm sharing these projects with these lists:

Creative Goodness on Quilt Shop Gal
Can I get a Whoop Whoop? on Fabric Addiction

Progress Report and Lessons Learned (So Far)

I am still improvising solutions for working on large quilts in my small space with a smaller design wall.  This weekend, I went outside.



I am making a very large (100 inches square) version of the quilt. This chunk is 9 blocks (upper left corner) of the 25 blocks in the quilt. Because I decided to forgo cutting the 891 white squares in the original design and cut larger sections as each block allowed, I got a little bit of a jump start on the quilt-along schedule. Also, I am a little obsessed with it ...

Making the blocks out of numerical order made it easier for me to see the transitions of the various colored subway lines.  This corner includes blocks numbered 1-3, 6-8 and 11-13.

I mentioned before that I had saved the block patterns from the original QAL in 2010.  While I did save the block diagrams, I did not save the helpful blog posts ... that are now no longer online.  Oops.

I've approached cutting the white background into larger pieces where possible by cutting for the individual blocks as I assemble them.  I print the block diagram and mark it up to know what sizes I need to cut from the background.  I start with width of fabric (WOF) strips that are cut in widths that are equivalent to 1 square, 2 squares and 3 squares. As I am making the decisions of how to chunk the background area, I am also thinking about how the block can be sewn together and pressed, since the pieces in a single block will no longer be a simple 8-by-8 grid.

I suspect the time saved by not cutting those 891 small white squares is now being spent deciding what larger sized chunks I need for each block and puzzling the pieces together–but since I enjoy that kind of a challenge, it's all good :-)

It's going to be a monster quilt–had I made a single block before cutting the 709 colored squares, I think I would have decided to make a smaller quilt–but I am looking forward to quilting it and already thinking about the quilting design.

Because the scrappy orange line is prominent in this section, I'm joining the last orange link-up for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. If anyone has been eying the Tokyo Subway Map Quilt pattern but not sure they want to cut all those squares, I was thinking how one could cut the squares from one color each month as part of the RSC (there are 12 colored lines in the quilt).

I am also joining these lists:

Oh Scrap!
Design Wall Monday
Creative Goodness

Missing My Big Design Wall

I have some ideas about how/where I can put a big design wall in my little sewing room, but until that happens, I have been making do with the living room floor.



It seemed like it would work OK, until one of my cats decided to have fun and kept passing through, messing things up and nonchalantly leaving the scene of the crime.



When caught in the act, he quickly switched gears and tried to distract me with flirting ...

Incredibly, I did get the blocks sewn together.

I haven't yet decided on borders, binding or quilting design ... but I figure I have enough time to make those decisions and finish this in time for Spring's arrive in 6 months.

Sharing my adventure with the list for Design Wall Monday.