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