Turkey Tracks: November 7, 2019
Sewing Projects, November 2019
Winter is my intensive sewing time.
The bed is the bedroom next to my quilting room is my project staging area when the longarm holds a quilt. On the bed there’s a finished quilt top and its backing and binding fabric all set to go when the longarm is empty again. There are garments—saved to sew in winter. And, all sorts of other projects, from an EPP project, to The Color Collective blocks, to my own inventions.
Here’s what my design wall looks like now. The top blocks are meant to use up the solids acquired for The Color Collective projects. The 14-inch block is from Then Came June’s Checkered Garden Quilt, and I’ve written posted about it before now. It’s a leader/ender project from Bonnie Hunter’s method. The big blocks below it are the 20-inch Radiating Log Cabin blocks from Tara Faughnan’s The Color Collective Season 1, hosted by Amy Newbold of Sewtopia.
To the right are various projects—to include just playing with shapes with ideas garnered from a workshop with Amy Friend (curved foundation piecing) and from Nicholas Ball’s new book INSPIRING IMPROV, which I high recommend.
I think there is a flying geese project in the making, done with 6” wide blocks and bright colors. And the Jen Kingwell “Glitter” blocks are ongoing and will probably wind up in an improv quilt.
Below, hidden are the improv bird blocks I’m making off and on.
My quilting life is very rich I think.
I’ve moved blocks around and around below, but I think I like this arrangement, so will sew it together later today. L Then I have to decide if it is a 60-inch wall hanging or a lap quilt AND how on earth to quilt it. Hand or machine, for starters.
The “shapes” blocks are fun. I’m going to cut the teal blue/green block on the right in half and see what develops. These blocks will go into my Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild “prompt” quilt where other members will make blocks for me as well. But, my turn will not come up until NEXT November as there are many of us in this challenge. So there is plenty of time to play with shapes and clear colors over the year.
My Cotton+Steel “Slopes” quilt from Amanda Jean Nyberg is on the long arm now. I quilt until I get tired, then stop and play with other projects. It all gets done.
The winterizing outside is DONE, so it’s time to move into my winter sewing in earnest. And we may get SNOW tomorrow.
I love the change of seasons and enjoy each and every one.
Louisa Enright's Blog 
OMG, if it’s still fall and WINTER is your “intensive sewing time,” you’ll need even more rooms in your house to organize all your beautiful work!
Very inspiring to look at all the quilting ideas and themes that you have gone through since I first met you. You have really stretched out and I love them all, your unique collection of colors and styles. You go girl! Beautiful!
Louisa, i teach quilting classes. A group of my students is interested in making a NYB quilt. In our search for a pattern, your beautiful “Let There be Light” popped up, but i couldn’t find a pattern for it anywhere. Do you have one for sale?
Oh my, Helga. Thanks so much for this sweet message. I don’t have a pattern. I just combined a traditional NYB block for the larger blocks with a smaller one that I drew on EQ7, which is now EQ8. If you know someone who has the Electric Quilt program, they could draw the smaller block for you. Or, you could draft one yourself for foundation piecing and copy it??? How you combine the blocks can be up to each student, so each has an individual improv kind of quilt. Good luck and send pictures if anyone does the project. I will put them on the blog.