Cross-pollinating Heart Block Ideas

Hearts are taking over my design wall

On the left is an unfinished "around the block" style round robin. We started with a muslin or interfacing, marked with a 4" grid. Each participant made blocks with dimensions that are a multiple of four and basted it to the grid. As the round robin progressed, quilters had to fill the available spaces. I loved the heart blocks (and blocks made with heart fabric), but always thought the quilt needed something more.

On the right side of the wall are my first three blocks for the February block lotto. This is a "quilter's choice" month, the guidelines are to make 9 inch (finished size) blocks, using at least two colors from the palette of pink, orange, cream and gray.

The other thing happening with the Block Lotto in February is that we have moved to our new home at blocklotto.com

I still have considerable amount of "behind the scenes" work to get everything the way I want it and we're ALL learning as we go, but blocks are getting made and entered into the drawing and that really is the point, isn't it?   To motivate everyone to make the jump from our old blog, Julie from The Intrepid Threads is sponsoring a giveaway of a FQ pack in this month's colorway. You don't have to make a block to enter ... though if you win, you might be tempted.

I've been thinking that my heart round robin quilt could use an injection of more orange and some gray or other neutral, what do you think?


I know that there are some good block ideas on that grid that could be translated into 9 inch lotto blocks. Here are a couple of close-ups of blocks that I think could make great lotto block candidates:

 

 

There are also some interesting heart block patterns being made for the lotto that I will resize to use to fill in the blanks and finish my heart sampler.
You can check out all the blocks made so far here.

To take a peek at what's happening on more design walls, check out the links at the bottom of Judy's Design Wall Monday blog post. 

Last week's adventure

Last week when driving home from an interview in an unfamiliar part of town, I passed by a Goodwill Outlet.  I had to stop and check it out. Here's a peek inside.

 

I had a little time and was up for an adventure, so I decided to poke around for a few minutes and look for woven plaid cotton that I could use in a quilt, inspired by Lynn Dykstra and  Bonnie Hunter.  And, the price was right.

 

I  quickly found and purchased 6 pounds of mostly cotton:

• 5 cotton shirts
• 2 pairs of cotton pajama pants (new, from the Gap, with pricetags)
• some cotton shorts that I couldn't resist because I liked the plaid
• a silk plaid top for my CQ stash
• a linen plaid shirt

After a trip through the wash, I clipped off the buttons for the button jar and cut the cotton garments into flat pieces, ready to cut and use for quilting. Next time, I'll plan ahead, spend more time and be selective, but this was an adventure and a start on a stash of re-useable fabric:

You MIGHT be a quilter if ...

I was laughing at myself at Central Market today when I noticed some tamales with interesting fabric packaging in a freezer case in the aisle as I walked by  . . .  and bought a package to try while thinking about what kind of quilt I could make the printed cotton bags.  FYI, the back is covered with the usual product packing stuff like nutritional info, ingredients and company contact info.  I had black bean tamales for lunch today and am happy to find out that they not only have interesting packaging, they are tasty, too.

I already have some quilt design ideas for these bags . . . what would you do?  And what crazy un-quilt-related something have you bought lately, with quilting on your mind?

They reminded me of those flour sacks from the 1930's with the flour company logos and some cool vintage quilts I have seen made from them, Like this one from the Infinite Variety exhibit in New York last year, where all the logos were re-embroidered to create red work blocks.




For anyone who's now craving tamales, cursing me and wishing they lived in Texas so they could buy yummy tamales in cool cotton sacks from their local grocer, you might take a look at the Texas Tamale website–where you can buy them and have them shipped to you, wherever you are–US only ;-)

Finished Cameo Tote

I didn't finish in time for the guild's Show & Tell, but the large tote I made from the Sunday afternoon workshop is finished now and hanging on the door, filled with a couple projects to share with friends later today.

I hope to be able to fix her smeared "lipstick"–a side effect of choosing to use some leftover fusible batting in the bag and not carefully checking whether or not the red pen I used was, in fact, suitable for adding permanent color to fabric.  The fusing process made the red ink run. I also will probably also darken the beads in her necklace–I was going for something that would look like jade (to reflect the Asian influence in jewelry in the 1920's) and ended up with something that looks more like turquoise.

I do love doing workshops and learning new things and especially love technique classes ... but I often have a hard time finishing those small projects ... so this bag, finished a few days later feels like victory.

What do you do with those small class projects?

It's been a while ...

It's been a while since I shared my wall for design wall Monday or took a workshop.  Here's my wall today:

 

From the top, I've got January's Lotto Blocks, the Block Lotto Banner Quilt (because I need a better photo of it),  a portrait I stitched today in a workshop with Lolo Jenkins and my first 6 Just Takes 2 blocks.

I couldn't believe that it's been a few YEARS since this former quilt class junkie signed up for a guild workshop.



I was pleasantly surprised at how much light we had in our "meeting" room, despite it's lack of windows--and lots of tables for everyone, too.


The workshop with Lola Jenkins was just about perfect--lots of learning and fun, too. Although I made the standard class project--Lola is holding the class sample in the photo--others in class brought their own photos or portrait drawings and everyone's project looked great ... and I think everyone finished stitching their portrait well before the end of the 6 hour class.

And, I think everyone had fun--even those that weren't that comfortable with free motion quilting before they arrived.  I confess that I wasn't aware of Lola's work, but I wouldn't hesitate if I had another opportunity to spend time, learn some more of what she has to share.

Since I brought her home, I've made my flapper a little more Cameo like--she's destined to be part of a large Tote--perfect for packing up for the next workshop or taking a quilt to show and tell at a guild meeting. (If I finish in time for tonight's meeting, I'll post an update

To see what's on the wall of other quilters around blogland, check out the links on the Design Wall Monday post on Judy's blog, Patchwork Times

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed ...

Something old, something new
Something borrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

This phrase popped into my head earlier this week and I realized that besides being a a wedding tradition to ensure a happy marriage, it also is a way to categorize my current set of quilting projects and plans.

SOMETHING OLD

Stephanie from Loft Creations invited quilters to join her in finishing Project in Progress in 2012 and  being part of her no rules, loosely connected, group of quilters supporting one another through the year as we finish up projects appeals to me.  


 First up for me is a project to use some flannel plaid  strips that were cut before I left Michigan three years ago.  I've pulled them out, pressed them and,  after seeing the solved Planet Patchwork New Years Day mystery, decided to make a plaid flannel version of Chips and Strips.  Here's my progress so far.  


SOMETHING NEW

I put together a few crazy quilt blocks for others, I've never made one of my own.  I joined the crazy quilt journal project and have joined Debra's Tuesday Stitchers.  Most of the group will be following along with Sharon B's Take a Stitch Tuesday on Pin Tangle.  Some are also part of the CQJP.

SOMETHING BORROWED

Julie has organized a round robin and group blog, The Cotton Robin.  I'll be borrowing the quilt projects from three quilters and add rounds and help finish these quilts.  I cannot share photos of any info about my center block because the identity of each quilt's owners is a secret that only Julie knows.

I added a twist and made two center blocks and two quarter yards of fabric.  I'll be making a quilt of my own based on the same center and fabric and am looking forward to seeing how my two "twins separated at birth" look when they are reunited this summer.


SOMETHING BLUE

 I know . . . when you look at this button or think about the RED & white quilts from the Infinite Variety show in New York last spring, you might not see "blue" . . . but *I* did and am making the blocks for this interesting project using Indigo and Civil War inspired reproduction fabrics.  The quilt was inspired by the Infinite Variety show and designed by Gay Bomers from Sentimental Stitches and Brenda Papadakis (author of Dear Jane), who are revealing the directions in chunks, twice a month on the website, Just Takes 2.  

Here are my first six blocks. 

 

SIXPENCE IN MY SHOE?

I don't know what the quilting equivalent to "sixpence in my shoe" could be . . . perhaps an original block for this year's Block Lotto to ensure prosperity and continued success?   

I launched the Block Lotto as an activity on a quilting forum TEN YEARS AGO.

We've moved to blog land and continued to grow each year–last year we made almost THREE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED blocks.  We've also outgrown the limits of group blogs on Blogger and my biggest Block Lotto project this year will be working on a new home for us ... though I also want to make a sampler quilt from this year's 9 inch blocks.

In the meantime,  anyone can join the fun--here's my four blocks for January.

 

Quietly Ushering in a New Year

I saw the new year in, quietly, in the company of the cats--all of us snuggling on (them) or under (me) this wonderful quilt that arrived in the mail a few days ago. I read, watched an old movie, reflected on the past year and planned for the future.

The quilt has been in my hands for a few days, but I am still blown away by the quilters in the block lotto community from around the world who created the blocks, put it together and got it quilted and into my hands in something like a month as a get well, Merry Christmas, feel appreciated kind of gift.  It accomplished all of the above.  The blocks are all past lotto block choices, re-sized to be the same size, made in the original colorways–something I personally NEVER would have thought could work so well.

More than a few times, I've admired a block, guessed who of the almost 50 quilters who put this together made it and then looked at the list that was sent along with the quilt to see if I was right.

Here are photos of the quilt on my design wall--my photos are a bit skewed; the actually quilt is perfectly square ;-)

Laura E organized the effort and put together the blocks.  Cathy S quilted it (beautifully), bound it and sent it to me.

The blocks (and their makers–with links to blogs if they have them ... and I know about them):

Row 1: Jeweled Geese ( Andi), Dutchmans Puzzle (Linnea), Thrifty (Pokey), Stacks (Sue), Log Cabin with Attitude (Cathi), Scrappy Heart (Christa)

Row 2: Log Cabin (Janet H), Cactus Pot (Kathie), Cracker (Deanna), Darting Bird (Wendy F), Hearth and Home (Coralie), Pinwheel (Benta)

Row 3: String Heart (Kim G),  Tic-Tac-Toe (Rho), Maple Leaf (Krista), Wonky Fly (Caroline), Framed Pinwheel (Laura), Variable Star (Laurina)

Row 4: Yankee Puzzle (Corinne), Scottie Dog (Gail), Buckeye Beauty (Ellie) , Asian Star (Céline), Home Circle (Gwen). Violet (Cathy)

Row 5: Sawtooth Star Star (Julie P), Liberated Basket (Cathy S), Amish House (Kate), Modern Clover (Karen), 16-patch (Debra), Oklahoma Boomer (Julie)

Row 6: Scrap Basket (Terri), Shoo Fly (Vivi), Liberated Checkerboard (Maree), Pineapple Blossom (Irene), Quilter's Choice (Andrew), Free style  House (Ginny)

Row 7:  String Squares (Laura E), Ohio Star (Nan),  Reeds (Janet S ), Curved Rails (Helen), Free-style Trees (Kathy S), Sampler with String Corners (Belinda)

 

The rest of the blocks (and their makers):

Row 1: Pinwheel, Liberated Checkerboard (Maree)), Wonky Fly (Caroline),  Curved Rails (Helen)

Row 2: Flying Geese (Céline), I-spy Snowball (Gail), 9-Path in a Square (Tina), Fireworks (Blondie)

Row 3: Quilter's Choice (Andrew), Scrappy Trips (Sandi), Label, Double Wrench (Barbara)

Row 4: Curved Rails (Helen),  Double 4-patch (Debbie), Bow Tie ( Ginny), Words (Balinda)

If I messed up any of that, I hope the quilt makers will let me know--I am planning to print a key to the blocks on fabric and use it as part of a hanging sleeve.   When it hots up in Austin in a few months, this will hang on the wall near my desk so I can always be reminded of the great quilters in the block lotto community.

Saturday Update

The quilt has been trimmed and the binding sewn on and now I'm enjoying the process of stitching it down by hand ... all 10 yards of it. I decided on a red/green/gold poinsettia print from my stash for the binding because I liked how it looked with both the front and the back of my quilt–although there's no way anyone will see poinsettias in that skinny binding ;-)

I think another night of movies and stitching and my quilt will be done, done, done ... in time for Christmas.

I also decided to use two of the leftover star blocks to make big square pillow shams.

Inspired by the leftover triangle squares, I added a pieced border around the star blocks:

 

And then a plain border to make them the size I need–24 inches

 

I am looking forward to quilting these smaller pieces--it will be so much easier and quicker.

I need another Friday Night Sew In ...

... and fortunately for me, I'm not alone.  I'm joining this Friday night's Sew In, in hopes of finishing In the (holiday) Mood, my quilt made from swap blocks. 

The quilting is essentially* done.  I plan to trim it, bind it, cross my fingers and send it through the washer and dryer ... and put it on my bed.

I'd also like to make a couple of pillow shams using the leftover star blocks (still on my design wall.

* I still need to figure out what to quilt inside the plain 6" print square centers of some of the blocks (like the one at the top of this photo). Most have interesting prints, so I'd like to keep the quilting to a minimum, which I fear may be at odds with the wonky, bendy, sometimes pretty dense feathers which cover all the white areas of the quilt. I had a little brainstorm about it yesterday, but if you have a good idea, please suggest away ...


If you have a project in mind to complete before the holiday, why not join me for the Friday Night Sew in? 

Update from the Occupation

This in-progress photo of my Occupation project will tell you a few things.

After my Singer 301 completely balked at sewing with the feed dogs lowered; after trying everything I could think of, talking to a couple of knowledgeable friends;  asking some locals for a recommendation for a good sewing machine mechanic ... I decided to see if I could quilt this large quilt (90" square) on my little Bernina 153.   After muscling through the center blocks, it got easier and seemed possible and so I decided to put diagnosing my 301 on hold and to continue quilting on my purple Bernina.

I am filling all the white areas with unmarked, bendy, wonky, feather shapes–have I used enough adjectives to let you know they are imperfect?  Whether they look like feathers or not, they are adding great texture to the quilt. 

The quilting may not be finished before Occupy your Sewing Room ends, but I am still hopeful that I will be done for Christmas.

After a big Friday Night Sew-in (FNSI) Push, I am now quilting the last round of blocks.  The end is in sight.
.
I was becoming quite obsessed with getting this done last night.  Good thing for me, someone insisted–and she really did dig in and INSIST–that it was time to take a break . . .  or my shoulders would have really been hurting this morning. 

The Occupation has Begun

I "occupied my sewing room" for a few hours over the weekend and am happy to share that my Christmas quilt, In the Mood, is now off the wall, the back has been pieced, and everything is layered and pin-basted and ready to be quilted.

I realized when I was opening up the Singer 301 that I plan to use for this project and rearranging the furniture, that it's been a long time since I've:

• sewn on the 301
• machine quilted anything this large

 The virtual table supporting my quilt is actually three pieces of furniture: the art deco vintage sewing cabinet, a modern sewing machine table and a table from IKEA.

 I'm itching to play some more with unmarked, free motion, 'liberated" feathers ... and may pass on the Austin Guild's panel of Long Armers that are presenting tonight.  Decisions, decisions.

With this work-in-progress OFF the design wall and onto the table, here's what's on the wall now: the leftover blocks and units and the quilt that inspired the 16-patches and on-point setting in my quilt.

Tasty (Veggie) Treats

There is finally enough of a chill in the air that I feel in the mood for making soups and roasting vegetables.

A couple weeks ago, when I read Julie's post about making baked kale chips, they sounded so good, I dropped what I was doing and headed to the kitchen to make some.

Today, I followed a link to Make Your Own Veggie Chips on chow.com and . . . decided to make an afternoon snack of  Carrot Chips.

(The photo is from the chow.com site–I confess that my carrot slices were not as uniform as these and a few looked more like curly fries . . . but they were tasty.)

I'm off to the farmer's market tomorrow to stock up on more veggies: for chips, for roasting and to make stock for soups.  Yum. 

I'm going to Occupy my Sewing Room

 Barbara has created an interesting event for quilters in blogland and beyond this month: Occupy Your Sewing Room.

I don't think there's any political comment . . . just a reason to spend some quality time with your quilt projects ;-)

The timing is pretty perfect for me--I have been rolled off my contract gig and I'm back in job-hunting more ... and without a reason to take a break, for me, job-hunting can become a 24/7 obsession. 

I plan to get that Christmas-y quilt top OFF the design wall, quilted and bound and onto my bed.  Since I pulled out the blocks and started working on, that project has been taunting me . . .  it even has it's own theme song now, Will I be done for Christmas (sung to the tune of I'll be Home for Christmas)

Will you be "occupying" your sewing room or just finding a few moments to finish some quilt projects for gifts or . . . too busy with the holiday social whirl to quilt at all this month?

Turkey, the Macy's Parade and Setting Triangle Math

My Thanksgiving morning was perfectly nostalgic. Up early to put the turkey on and make a nice breakfast. followed by watching the Macy's Thanksgiving parade on TV . . .  updated a bit because as I watched, I cut setting triangles and assembled a Christmas quilt top from those old swap blocks.

With a large design wall, it was a lot easier to figure out what I meant by my mysteriously coded sketch and lay out the blocks.

It seems I always have to go look up setting triangle math, whenever I put blocks on point.  I know that the magic number is the square root of 2–1.414–but I never remember what to do with it ... so off to the computer I go.

Here's how I will remember NEXT time:

• Since I'll need MORE side triangles, I MULTIPLY the finished block size by 1.414.  Then, because I am going to cut the square into quarters, as for quarter-square-triangle units, add 1 1/4 for the seam allowances.
• For the corners, I do the opposite and DIVIDE the finished size block by 1.414.  Because I am going to cut them diagonally in half, like half-square-triangle unites, add 7/8 inch.   

For both kinds of triangles, round the measurements to the nearest 1/8 inch ... so you can easily cut them.

For the corners, I used the twelve inch star block as the starting point.  12 / 1.414 + 7/8 = 9 3/8 inches.  Because I inserted six inch 4-patches into the side setting triangles, I used 6 in the side triangle math. 6 * 1.414 + 1 1/4 = 9 3/4.

I don't like crowds

As much as I like music and live performance and the idea of the Austin City Limits Festival (ACL) that began today, the thought of attending a party for 70,000 kept me away. I'll be watching from afar on YouTube this weekend.

OK, it's not that afar. The parking lots and ramps at the office park where I work were designated as official ACL parking.  I knew this so planned ahead and went into the office extra early–at 7AM, I still had to queue in a line of traffic including two large buses to get far enough to talk to the security guys and make my case for being able to park without an ACL permit.  I was told I could be towed . . .

The performances started just after 11AM. By 2PM, no one was coming into the parking lot, and cars lined both sides of the street as far away as my apartment complex ... where some festival goers were actually sneaking in by following residents through the gate and then parking and scaling the 8' fences to get out and walk to Zilker park. I happened to be picking up a package at the office when three "dumbest criminal" types were scaling the fence right outside the office while the property manager and I watched as she opened the door for me and my big box.

Hmmm ... it just occurred to me that if I subscribed to the for-pay version of YouTube, I could watch and listen and SEW . . .  I barely sewn more than sample blocks for the September Block Lotto (so I could write directions) and I think I could really benefit from some ME (and my fabric) time ;-)

It's all Wendy's fault

After I posted the photos of my Praire Gothic chairs and wrote about making some floor cloths with simple stripes . . . my friend Wendy, who is an extraordinary rug hooker with a great sense of color,  noticed a bit of a butterfly wing visible on the arm of the chair.

"You should put some of those butterflies on your rug," she commented ... and with that simple comment,  my immediate reaction that I am not a painter, and the discussion that followed, the door opened to considering a design other than simple thick and thin stripes I had planned.

Despite my inability to wield a paint brush, I am now noticing–and seriously considering–design ideas everywhere. This morning, it was painted on the table of a café where I stopped for coffee and a breakfast taco.

Am I crazy to think that this folk art style painting is in the realm of possibilities for a non-painter like me?

Edited to add ... after I blogged about my chairs, the Etsy vendor that sold me the fabric blogged about my chairs, and Jane Sassaman (who designed the fabric) blogged about my chairs, I emailed the links to John's Upholstery so they could see how much everyone loved my chairs..  He responded by thanking me for appreciating their work. 

I can't resist sharing

Yup, another record-breaking day.   But look at what's coming ... days with temps less than a hundred are on the horizon.

My Prairie Gothic Wing Chairs

It's been a pretty lousy couple of weeks at sophie junction ... though maybe I'll whine about it later, since the week seems to be ending on a pleasant note. The upholsterer delivered these chairs this morning and I am very pleased with the result.

I bought the chairs when I moved to Dallas (after donating ALL my living room furniture in Michigan).  I found them on Craigs list.  They were in rough shape, upholstered in a pale green silk that was falling apart, but they had great bones and I could tell that they were once fine furniture.

Then I got stuck, both in making a decision about what fabric/color to cover them with and finding someone to do the work.

Earlier this year, I went on the hunt for a large scale organic print.  I remembered that some of Jane Sassaman's fabric had been printed on lightweight canvas for home deco ... and the hunt began.  I found an Etsy vendor, Imagine Fabric,  with a 15 yard bolt of this print from Prairie Gothic and I knew it was the one.

Didn't John's Upholstery do an amazing job in  wrapping that large print around the chair (and getting everything to end up symmetrical and matching)?

Next home deco project on the horizon . . . painting a floor cloth using these colors.   I'm thinking thick and thin stripes in blue, red, green and pink.

How to talk about the weather

The TV weathermen have gone from counting the days so far this year with temps at 100 or higher, to counting the consecutive "three-digit days" to counting the days with record-breaking highs . . . and now consecutive record-breaking days.

A friend kindly asked today if it wasn't better than the bitter cold of winters in Michigan–lately, I'm less sure.

This morning, my goal was to get to the Farmer's Market, run errands and get back home before the temperature made it to 100. I made it–when I got home and put everything away, it was only (only!) 94. 

I don't think I'm the only one with this mindset–the Farmer's Market near me was bustling this morning and lots of people were talking about the weather.

I Love Lucy

I love the clips in this Google-produced video to celebrate what would have been Lucille Ball's 100th birthday today. Some of my favorite episodes are here. How about you?