Category: Quilting in South Carolina

Quilty Update And “Pot Pourri 4” is Finished

I’ve been busy!

Life…happened.

And life has included watering outside as it is again very dry. But our weather has been spectacular for days now. This morning we had a little colder weather, and I needed warmer clothes and slippers on my bare feet.

And life has included that there are a host of quilty projects happening.

The most recent “Pot Pourri” quilt made from the 3 1/2 inch Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star squares is finished. It is “Pot Pourri 4.” There are MORE quilts from these blocks not called by that Pot Pourri name. And…I still have about half a bin each of the colored and neutral squares.

PP4 came out much cuter than I had thought it would be–but what could go wrong? It’s scrappy goodness from great fabric prints!

The backing is a turquoise wideback that works well. I used a kind of light seafoam green thread and a pantograph that was new to me and suggested by Wendy Curry, my Canadian online longarm quilting friend: Rhododendron. It was a fun panto to sew. I used the backing fabric for the binding.

My online class “Blocks 2” with Tara Faughnan has started. The first block with which we are playing is the Hourglass block, also known as “Broken Dishes.” It’s long been a favorite of mine. Tara, as is usual, had dozens of ways to manipulate it–modern, improv, and traditional.

What drew my interest in my current moment of making a series of at least 3 scrappy quilts from the half-rectangle block–using Latifah Saafir’s Hurty Ruler–was Tara’s example of taking that half-rectangle block and making it into an hourglass form.

I set up a palette from my solid stash that came as close to Tara’s palette as I could–though I did limit the number of colors but made sure to have darks, mediums, and light fabrics included. And then I made two quilt versions of the half-square rectangle hourglass blocks I made (3 by 6 inches)–one dark and one light/bright.

Here’s the dark one–which is 18 inches square. I’m hand quilting it with my 12-weight cotton threads–just a simple grid. I pulled threads that match these colors. I might try facing these two little quilts, as I need to learn to do that well. It’s all about play, right? And with the binding on PP4 finished, I was missing night hand sewing. Otherwise, tv makes me so restless.

I got the lighter one sewn together last night and will layer it today. I’ll use the brighter threads to match the brighter colors.

I like both of them, but I have no idea how I’ll use these two blocks–but I do have some ideas. And I think this block would make an awesome bigger quilt. But I’m not going there right now.

I will play with the traditional hourglass block before I break up this palette. Maybe just a few blocks…LOL.

The design wall is FULL!

I’ve got the blocks set now for the second half-square rectangle quilt. The first is on the longarm and is now basted and waiting for me to finish it. I’m using a challenging panto that is new to me, so I’m hesitant I think, but also engaged in these other projects.

To remind you, here is “Arrows” which is on the longarm.

Here’s the second quilt: “Diamonds.” I changed out the bottom row diamond and am making one I like better. The top two rows are sewn together–after days of moving blocks around and trying out more diamonds than originally planned. And, playing with ways to NOT make the diamonds altogether symmetrical. Or, all of the neutral backgrounds symmetrical–as would be typical in a traditional quilt. I wanted the edges to feel a bit…scattered.

PP5: Crosses–is on the right and needs to have its rows sewn together to free up space to finish it–which is not far from being done.

I also know what I’ll do for the third quilt in this series–and am already looking forward to starting it.

I also got tired of pawing through my 12-wt thread spools for the “right” color and put them all into shallow boxes where I can see them all at one glance. I’m loving that!

OK, folks. That’s it for now, and I’m sending all of you my best wishes for a lovely week.

A Gift Idea From Cassandra Beaver

I love Cassandra Beaver’s blog, which I follow.

She is just super creative, especially with modern improv quilts.

Her post today features a “mug rug” that is big enough for a mug and a small plate. It strikes me that a set of those would be a nice gift for…someone.

AND, she features a ruler that intrigues me as well: a Square in a Square ruler. You all who read on a regular basis should know that I adore clever rulers. And this one covers such a basic quilt block task. She used it to make a Snail’s Trail block as well if I’m reading right.

Turn Two Easy Quilt Block Components Into One Adorable Gift!

Enjoy!

Bits and Pieces, October 2nd

Hello October!

I bought my Halloween candy yesterday at Costco–which was totally jammed by people filling their carts to the brim. I guess I should have bought toilet paper. The final checkout man said the swarm was due to the dock strike AND people buying goods to donate to those in need after the hurricane. Heavens Knows there are LOTS of very needy hurricane survivors.

These dwarf Mexican petunia plants I planted last year are an unqualified success. They bloom for all but the coldest weather and are gradually filling in the areas that need filling in–like where I took out some Mondo grass on the driveway end of this bed.

Look at this gorgeous color–and this plant is VERY hearty.

These petunias come in white and pink too–a light pink. Every now and then one of these purple plants throws out a white or pink plant, so I dig it out and plant it elsewhere. Now I’m trying two of these offsprings in the big blue container on the screened porch that has struggled to grow…anything. The sun hits it directly in the afternoon.

The Mexican sage is, again, dancing in the wind. This plant, too, is new to me. It is especially fun to see through the tv room windows. It may be struggling with a bit of wet roots, due to the 24 inches of rain we got a while back. Three storms ago, was it? Or it is just turning leaves as it is cooler now and the light is different.

Look at these buds on the new camellia I planted last spring. Holy Moly! I can’t wait to see it bloom this winter. The other camellia, gift of Bryan and Corinne for my birthday last March, is on the other side of the house. It’s got buds too, but nothing like this little guy. The gift camellia is a different type of camellia and will be taller and much wider. This one in the picture will be lower and will spread sideways.

This beautiful White Heron (A Great Egret) let me take a good picture the other day while walking. S/he stood, not moving a muscle. I think creatures can sometimes tell if you pose a danger. (Note the black legs.)

Well, this is a fun project, highlighted in the weekly newsletter I get from Aurifil threads. It’s a leaf shaped potholder.

It’s made by Amira Ameruddin, known as amira_little mushroom cap on Instagram. She has a video showing how she made it.

I’ll be making one. For sure. I have…scraps.

A Fun Scrappy Block

I am enjoying Rachel Hauser’s blog “Stitched in Color.”

In recent days she highlighted this block and tutorial from Andy Knowles of “A Bright Corner.”

http://www.abrightcorner.com/2017/02/scrap-bin-geese-block-tutorial.html

Here’s the block Rachel Hauser made–and I love how she used color in it.

Screenshot

And here’s the block I went right upstairs and made out of my cut-up stash of strips and squares–which also instigated a little reorganization in those bins–which included bringing some leftover bagged projects that I can now donate happily.

This block is 12 inches finished–so, hmmmm–maybe it will be my first little quilt to put into the new library kiosk that will happen one of these days.

I also broke down and ordered the plastic templates for the “Glitter” block with which I’ve been playing. I can’t quite let go of it yet. I’ll be interested to see if these templates make a difference in the cutting and sewing.

I finally got back to walking and listening/singing with music yesterday!

It’s a Beautiful Day!

You would never know we were worried about a hurricane only two days ago!

The death/damage from Helene inland has been terrible. A dam in North Carolina below Lake Lure broke and devastated a small town below it. Tennessee has also been hard hit. I am feeling so, so lucky this morning.

I got “Arrowheads” off the design wall last night–which opened up room for the other projects trying to happen. The arrowheads run from the top right corner to the bottom left corner. Some are more subtle than others, but they do form a line for the eye to hunt for and follow. The “left” or “right” rectangles shift on either side of the arrowheads. Perhaps the line should have been from right to left as that is how we read…but I also wanted this arrangement to be subtle.

I love this quilt top–all made out of fun and not subtle fabrics just sitting around in my stash. I think there may be a series in the making with this large half-square rectangle block made with Latifah Safari’s Hurty ruler.

I put the leftovers on the design wall–just to get them up so I can see what I have and what needs to be cut and sewn. None of these blocks will stay this way–but I do want to play with diamonds mixed into rows. Clearly I need to cut and sew more blocks–and to employ better color mixtures than what’s on the wall now. And I’m anticipating LOTS of moving of blocks around.

The “glitter” blocks to the left are a challenge–and I’m not having fun with them. I can’t get the points at either end right–so that there is 1/4-inch beyond them. I’ve measured and redrawn the pattern several times now. It’s a different and exciting block, but… I’ll make one more, sew these together, and call it a day. I’ll probably hand quilt it??? I’ll see what it looks like sewn together. Maybe it will become part of an improv quilt.

The “crosses” leader/ender top made from the bins of 3.5-inch squares (Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society) in light and dark colors is growing. I can sew together the row in each block, but not the whole block, so it looks a bit “off” right now as most of it is pinned. The bins ARE SLOWLY going down.

AND yesterday, I made a new pin cushion, using scraps and ground walnut shells for the filling. The shells came with a packet of powdered “emery,” which is an abrasive mixture of some form of alumina. (Emery used to be ground rock. Emery is used on things like stair treads and fingernail boards.) Directions said to make an extra little bag for the emery and to put said bag inside the pin cushion–among the walnut shells–and it will keep your pins sharp.

I recently started pinning my quilt tops on the longarm, rather than using the red snappers–using new-to-me pins (Magic pins). The ones made for using on a longarm canvas are quite sturdy–and mine are now in a pin cushion made and gifted to me years ago in Maine by Linda Satkowski. (It’s going strong Linda!). I used hers as a model for how to make my new pin cushion, which now holds the pins for the design wall. I think the combo of walnut shells and emery I bought on Amazon were too pricey–and not enough of the walnut shells is leftover if I want to make another pin cushion to gift to someone. Well…maybe if I make it smaller???

Yesterday I roasted my first fall butternut squash–with garlic, dried herbs, olive oil, and salt. I didn’t use the rosemary in my herb garden which I would prefer for this dish as Mount Pleasant is still spraying for mosquitoes. That spray is said to be GRAS–or “generally regarded as safe,” which means only that no one has done any searching for problems. Here in the USA, we allow thousands of chemicals in our food that Europe does not allow. My take is if it kills insects, it can also kill us or make us sick.

Except for the butternut squash and the fruit, this dinner was from leftover “assets.”

Have a great weekend!

Hurricane Helene and a Rainy Day

Hurricane Helene is hitting Florida as a category 2 hurricane. As you can see, here in the Charleston, SC, area, we are on the outer edge of the track, which as of right now, is projected to curve west and away from the coast.

But, tornado warnings are out, and hopefully we will get some rain but not too much. It is very dry.

For me, it will be a rainy day of sewing and some cooking chores.

It’s been a busy week so far–with the two monthly quilt meetings I attend happening right together, one at night and one the next morning. What a gift these meetings are!! Both are so full of energy and ideas and very nice people.

Here are SOME of the postcards we recently did at the Charleston Modern group–and mailed to the member whose name we got. Once again, the creativity soared. (I did the red churn dash with the little sheep in the middle, and I received the wonderful modern orange and green one on the lower right.)

I LOVE improv quilts, and I really loved this one shown at the modern group. It’s BIG and so fun. I really have to get out my box of orphan blocks and play with them on the design wall. There just isn’t enough time in every day!!!

I should take more pictures at these meetings, but I get involved emotionally with each and every quilt and think about taking a picture too late. Both groups put pics on their online group choices. Patchwork Gals is a private FB group, but you can see photos of quilts shown on the Charleston Modern Quilt Guild website if you are so inclined.

I got the binding on Pot Pourri 4, so I have hand sewing at night. Today I’ll work on the big half-square rectangle quilt to finish sewing it together. Then I’ll have design wall room again. LOL.

And now I need to make a quick trip to the grocery store before the rain and wind start in earnest.

The 4th 9-Patch Quilt

…is off the longarm.

It’s a sweet, scrappy, functional, fun quilt: “Pot Pourri 4.”

I have lost count of how many quilts I’ve made from cutting up the Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society fabrics about 5 years ago now in Maine. Someday I should do a post on all of them to date. But–the two bins of 3.5-inch squares are each only about half gone now. And that doesn’t even get to all the squares and strips I have.

I quilted with a panto longarmer Wendy Currie recommended to me for another project some weeks ago: Rhododendron. She suggested three different pantos for “Prickly Pear.” I used New Wave and went on to have it enlarged by Urban Elementz and used it for the “Make The Churn Dash Block Modern” quilt I made–which is now bound and finished. So I thought I’d try Rhododendron for this “Pot Pour 4” quilt.

It laid down lovely texture and was fun to quilt.

Now to trim and bind it today–before I leave for the Charleston Modern Quilt Guild meeting tonight.

Then I will have night-time handwork again.

Bits and Pieces, September 2024

Where does the time go?

How did we get to mid-September already?

Our weather has been so gorgeous, though it is still too dry. I have had to take time to water the planted beds around the house. But, the walking has just been awesome these past weeks.

More of the clothesline rope came. This one is braided diamonds, and I’ve since read that a “straight” braid is easier to work due to raveling at the ends with the diamond version. I like this one a lot, but will try the straight type if I keep going on these rope bowls. They are so fun… And I think they make charming gifts.

Here’s one of the two books I ordered, and it is so, so helpful. This author has a business where she sells the straight braid rope she recommends. She apparently also sells colored ropes and can suggest dyes to make fun effects like the bowl on the cover. I believe the dye or paint is added after the bowl is made.

The current quilt top, made with more of the 3 1/2-inch squares I cut from my Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society fabrics when I cut up what I had been, clearly, hoarding, is on the longarm. ( I am still working the problem with the canvas leaders being “off,” but so far this quilt seems ok.)

I’m using a new panto recommended by Wendie Currie called “Rhododendron.” Wendie is a professional longarm quilter, and she lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario. She posts her finished quilted quilts to her blog, so that gives one a lot of inspiration. What fun curves for this blocky quilt.

The design wall if FULL of delicious projects, and the challenge quilt, now called the name of the challenge, “Make the Churn Dash Block Modern,” is almost bound. That’s hand-sewing at night.

I’m having so much fun with Latifah Saafir’s “Hurty” ruler. I’m sewing these blocks and rows together now. I could have gone on and on making blocks. This quilt will be called “Arrowheads.” See the downward facing arrowheads that run from the top right corner to the bottom left corner? And I played with the placement of the left and right diagonals of this half-rectangle block.

This block is 4 by 8, and I’m so NOT done with this ruler play. This top has gobbled up a lot of fun stash fabrics too. Yesterday, before I quit upstairs, I found a fabric in my stash that is muted green with lines I can use for the binding, which I’ll cut on the bias. It’s perfect!

These crosses are the next quilt using the 3 1/2-inch squares of Cotton+Steel Ruby Star Society squares I cut up. But with this setting, which I like, I have to lay the rest out and sew them out by rows as the 9-inch block that is off-set won’t sew together without one neutral filler block needed for the join–which is a pain to sew.

I pulled out Jen Kingwell’s “Glitter” blocks a week or so ago and made a few more. I had thought to hand sew them at night as I was out of quilts to bind. Ummm… No. This block is best sewn with a sewing machine. Maybe the four outer edges could be sewn by hand, but… And now I have a quilt to bind and one more on the way, so machine sewing will be my choice.

This block is difficult to make, and I’m still struggling with it. People have made gorgeous big quilts with this block. I’ve redrawn the pattern pieces and will try one or two more times to make it easily and correctly, but… Next I have to see if these blocks will sew together accurately–and that will determine if I continue for a bit. I’m just using scraps to make these blocks.

The postcard my fellow member of the Charleston Modern Quilt Guild came in the mail. Isn’t it delicious!! I will treasure it.

My friend who has been helping me with my longarm took me to meet the local longarm group on Friday. They meet monthly at a local quilt store about an hour from here: Angel Oak Stitchery in Harleyville. The owners use and carry Innova longarm machines, so that was fun. And the shop is very nice.

Next week will be busier for me as both local quilt groups are meeting. Meanwhile, have a wonderful day today and a wonderful week ahead.

“Prickly Pear” Quilt is Finished And An Update

Hello, hello!

I haven’t posted recently as I’ve been busy.

We were meant to get that big storm that developed on the Carolina coasts, but it went north where it is causing a lot of flooding damage, and we didn’t get one drop of rain. It has, again, been so dry. But it is also cool and so lovely. Today I will walk, for sure.

A new and already much appreciated and cherished friend here helped me so much with sorting out the leaders on my longarm. The middle was tight and the sides were way too loose and the ends of the leaders were wildly “off,” so it was impossible to get a quilt to lie straight and true. I was SO frustrated! We completely took off the leaders and put them back on with a true line on the bar. And I took out the red snapper fasteners and am going “old school” and pinning my quilts to the leaders.

Thanks to my friend, things are better now. I just finished quilting the challenge quilt for the Charleston Modern Quilt Guild: “Make The Churn Dash Block Modern.” So that will be its title. More pics when I am done. And I had such a good time making this project. This quilt lay straight and true as could be on the longarm.

Prickly Pear is finished–and this picture does not do it justice. I can’t get the colors right. Anyway, how graphic and modern is this quilt? I love it.

Annabelle Wrigley designed this quilt for The Color Collective, fourth year, as the guest designer. And the fabrics are hers: Ruby+Bee solids. The outer triangle rings–made in quarters around the circle–are easy to sew together, and I used Tara Faughnan’s method of a reusable paper template using a bit of glue, rather than sewing on paper and having to remove it. That was nice as there are LOTS of these rings needed for each block. The curves were easy to manage with a bit of glue.

What was NOT nice about his pattern was that the seams often didn’t butt up–especially on the triangle rings, so I had to cut into seams. AND, one background template wasn’t quite right. I will admit that I didn’t view the instruction video at the time, and they are not available now, so… Perhaps that video would have made things easier.

I quilted with a matching pink thread, and the New Wave pantograph available at Urban Elements. As glue was involved, I did wash this quilt, and washed quilts always look “fuzzy” in pictures.

Here’s the backing–I had enough of this Ruby Star Society fabric in my stash. How lucky was that, as it is perfect. You can see the pantograph better in this photo. I love this panto so much that I ordered it again, but spread out a bit, and it is perfect. I used it in the challenge quilt.

I had to order a lot of extra fabric to make the whole quilt, and I have lots left, so I’ll play with the alternative setting for this block, which involves the quarter circle only. It looks like fun. Perhaps a smaller wall hanging?

My oldest granddaughter just turned 18, and she chose this quilt when she was over here one day.

This is my 227th quilt, and, as usual, I have another quilt ready for the longarm, two on the design wall, binding being hand-sewn on the challenge quilt, and I pulled out Jen Kingwell’s “Glitter” block again and cut a few more. Then there is the Cat’s Cradle ruler and block. I really like that ruler, and I have…an idea.

More later…

The Postcard Challenge

We are expecting rain today–and we need it!

I wouldn’t mind a rainy day. Not at all.

At our last meeting, the Charleston Modern Quilt Guild organized a giant postcard swap for all the members. Anyone who filled out an envelope’s address then was given another member’s filled out envelope. None of us knew who had OUR envelope–which would be sent to us in the mail and, then, the postcard each of us received would be shared next meeting in October.

Here’s the postcard I made and mailed–using some of my favorite sheep/knitting fabric.

I used light fabric on the back for the message I wrote.

I’m still going down the rope bowl rabbit hole.

Here’s a recent picture–minus my least favorite one with the green bands of fabric, which went upstairs to hold the yarn for the bowls. And, minus the one with pale blue fabric that is now on the kitchen bar as it has been put to work holding the hand-knitted little hand towels I use to dry my hands.

I’m really liking that big deep

You can see how big that blue bowl is in this picture:

And here’s the bowl on the kitchen bar. It is the perfect size for the hand towels.

I am not as fond of using fabric strips as I am the yarn. (Thanks again for this method to Rick Sanchez and his video demonstrating how to use the yarn.) But I also like the “just plain” bowls. They are elegant to my mind.

The bowls will be gifts. Of course they will. And my gift is the total fun I’m having making them.