Look what arrived at my house recently!
I can’t even imagine knitting at this level of talent.
Here’s a closer picture of the neckline and how the gradation of sizes works downward.
There are tiny beads embedded in the bottom fringe. Look closely as they are subtle and there are many in a definite pattern.
And I LOVE this rich dark teal green color.
Giovanna knows me very well.
THANKS GIOVANNA!!!
“Gradations,” the 4th and final quilt in my half-rectangle triangle series, using Latifah Saafir’s Hurty ruler, is on the longarm.
I am sewing the colorful polka-dot binding on “Scrap Cabin” at night and have almost finished the 3rd side. (Rachel Hauser’s online sewalong in January, Stitched in Color blog.) Sewing binding is soothing, but for me, slow. I must sew tinier stitches than other people do??? I shared this quilt with Patchwork Gals this past week. Boy did it eat up stash fabric in my strip bins.
Here’s my design wall yesterday. “Big Slice” is folded on the left as it is all ironed and is waiting for its turn on the longarm. These two in-process quilts are being made with the Cat’s Cradle ruler. The left-side one is a 4-inch block made with the smaller ruler. The right-side is made with the larger ruler and is an 8-inch block, so will finish at 64 by 64. All the large blocks are done, but I’ll let this big-block quilt simmer for a few days before sewing the blocks together–in case I see something I want to switch.
There are many ways to set this Cat’s Cradle block, including one that makes a star. But I fell in love with the diagonal rows of little blocks and the rows that form with this setting and with this color placement in the block.
This big-block quilt is going to be a donation to the new Tunnel To Towers project here in Charleston, SC, that will house 98 local homeless veterans. (Tunnel to Towers started after 9-11 in New York city for those first responders who were injured. Now it is a national project for mostly homeless vets. (https://t2t.org/homeless-veteran-program/). They have asked the local quilt community for quilts for each bed, and we will do that work with pleasure.
Here is the smaller 4-inch block quilt. The 40-inch center has been webbed, leaving the horizontal rows unconnected, but so that the blocks stay in proper order. Now I’m adding blocks to the top and sides. I will need 16 by 18 rows in total to make this quilt a rectangle at 64 by 72.
When I pulled fabric pieces from my stash, I cut blocks from each piece of fabric for both quilts. The big blocks are done, but I now have to sew the 4-inch block parts I cut. And I will need to cut more along the way. It is a fun block to cut and sew though, so I don’t mind. And, again, ALL of these winter projects have been made from my stash fabrics–exept for some backings.
I am feeling really good about using up so much stash fabric this winter. It feels like making the fabric load much lighter. There is a balance for a scrappy quilter between keeping a stash of many colors and prints/solids and having an overload of fabric.
I’m walking again!
I’m taking it slow and wearing a brace, but the knee is ok for walking again! I’m so happy about being outside again.
Here’s “Big Slice”–made from block 5 in Tara Faughnan’s Block 2 online class–finished. Now I need to find a backing for it. I’ll use that midnight purple for the binding, and it is already cut.
This quilt had to be either 60 by 60 or 80 by 80, so I stopped at the smaller size. I’m intrigued by how circles form around some of the checkerboard squares depending on what colors surround them. I added the light blue and the brighter pink to Tara’s palette as I needed more variety.
I used the same paper templates for ALL of the curved pieces–which is a method Tara Faughnan teaches. You can use regular printer paper and a bit of glue–and you have no trouble with the templates sticking to the fabric–unlike what happens with freezer paper now that the formula has changed for the sticky side.
I’ve put the leftover fabrics back into my stash for the moment. I do love the scrappy forms of this block though…
The Scrap Cabin quilt came off the longarm Wednesday and got trimmed yesterday. I’ll put its binding on today. Recall that this quilt came from an online quiltalong hosted by Rachel Hauser of the Stitched in Color blog. I guess I’ll also call mine “Scrap Cabin.” The quilting texture in this quilt is awesome.
“Improv Sandbox” is totally done now–the binding is finished. I know you’ve seen this quilt many times now, but I do like to post final pictures when I finish a quilt.
These blocks are handmade–and were done over the winter when I ran out of handwork. Then I set the squared-up blocks in an improv arrangement. I just pulled existing scraps and made “funky” squares–many with a log cabin focus, but not all of them. I started with the grey square in the middle, as I had a lot of grey scraps in various sizes and strings.
A lot of the squares have some sort of fabric print focus that is…fun…like the ice cream cone in this square.
I’ve had this lime green fabric for many years in my stash–not used because I could never find the right use for the 2 yards I had. The print features peanuts, and I bought it as it reminded me of a cherished memory from my childhood. I was at my grandparents in Georgia–a small rural town–and my farmer uncle dropped in mid-morning with a bag full of freshly boiled and salted peanuts. The family women were sitting on the “north porch,” a screened porch that was cool in the morning–probably shelling peas or snapping beans for the noon big meal. My aunt, married to my uncle, LOVED boiled peanuts, and we stopped our work and enjoyed the treat he had brought to us. I can get teary-eyed even thinking about this special moment–one of many from my childhood days spent at this family compound of multiple houses.
The 2 yards was not quite wide enough, so I cut it and used this neutral fabric to create the back. I don’t like to see a thin strip of fabric located at the center of a quilt back–as that means two seams right at the center back. I prefer this method, which spreads out those seams more. For whatever that is worth…
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
It has been a productive week in the quilt studio.
The 4th quilt top in my series of 4 using the Hurty ruler designed by Latifah Saafir is done. AND, the math on the final border MATHED. I’m calling it “Gradations.”
The backing should come in the mail today. But I have to quilt the quilt presently on the longarm, the yet as unnamed “Scrap Cabin” from Rachel Hauser’s recent online sewalong.
Grandmother duties took me over to Bryan and Corinne’s, where I got a picture of the white camellia now blooming in front of their house. I think a white camellia is in my future. Their pink camellia has been blooming for some time now.
One of our new neighbors stopped by with a little gift for me. They bought a house here some months ago and are exploring this region.
This new neighbor’s mother sews quilts, and my neighbor follows my blog. She made the covering for this mug using a Cricket machine. That’s new technology for me. I can’t even…
What a sweet and thoughtful gift!
It is bright and sunny and cold here, after a big storm front went through earlier this week–significant enough so that they closed the schools. But we got some much-needed rain and escaped the possibility of tornadoes. There have been big fires north and west of us as the state is–or was–very dry. BIG fires.
Have a great weekend everyone!
And, the scrappy log cabin quilt done during Rachel Hauser’s Sitched in Color online sewalong–Scrap Cabin–is on the longarm. I haven’t named my version of this quilt yet.
And, the block for the online class Blocks 2–month 6–the final month–from Tara Faughnan dropped March 1st. It’s called “Grid Work.” What a very fun year this class has been.
And, I’m sewing down the binding on the improv quilt I made called “Improv Sandbox.” (The mural background below is the Ravenal Bridge which is famous here in Charleston, SC.)
Here’s the very busy design wall:
The wedding ring quilt (month 5 of the Blocks 2 class) kind of speaks for itself. I’m entranced with it. I have one more row to make it 60 by 60 and have the fabrics for that row organized. I would like for it to be bigger, but… I’ll likely call it a day on this one as 80 by 80 means another row plus 4 more end-of-row blocks.
The quilt on the left is the 4th and last of my series on the half-rectangle triangle ruler made using Latifah Saafir’s Hurty ruler: “Gradations.” The outer border is working well–all the pieces are cut and sewn, and I’m really liking the fabric choice. So far, the math for this border is…mathing. Whew! I’ll sew more of that final border later today. So, this quilt will be off the design wall soon.
Above the wedding ring quilt is the start of a scrappy something–using the smaller Cat’s Cradle ruler’s 4-inch size. The sewing and cutting are proceeding as leader-ender blocks. The big block up there is made using the bigger ruler at the 8-inch choice. Not sure where this one is going…just playing and using up a LOT of scrap pieces in my stash.
Yesterday I went to Home Depot to get a folding lawn chair that isn’t one of the “beach chairs” that are so low to the ground. I want to sit in my driveway or back yard to get some sun. I, came home with plants and wearing a shirt that got dirty while carrying the plants to the cashier as I didn’t get a basket along the way.
Pansies and a red cyclamen.
Spring is almost here. The birds are all singing again. And the grass is trying to green up.
Tonight we will have thunderstorms and, hopefully, some rain.
Louisa Enright's Blog 