Turkey Tracks: August 26, 2019
Wow!
What else could one say about this amazing EPP (English Paper Piecing) quilt top?
The pattern is “Can Can” by Willyene Hammerstein. It’s in one of her newer books, MILLIFIORI QUILTS 3.
Karen plans to put on a border to set off the center. She’s thinking about what color now. Options she discussed were black or the dark magenta.
Turkey Tracks: May 27, 2019
I have watched Megan work on this quilt for three or four years now. The construction time wound through the threads of her life. Sometimes, when her life events got tough, the quilt got put aside. But some times, the work on it offered solace and coping.
It was a complete delight for many of us at Coastal Quilters (Maine) when she brought the finished quilt to show us on the same May 2019 weekend she graduated from college. In the past two years she has held down a full-time job, mostly a full-time college schedule, and the juggling of living alone with two beloved dogs to nurture. Those of us who know her well knew that when this young woman finished the border and took the quilt to be quilted, she had gone around all the sharp edges life had thrown at her and was in the home stretch and moving full steam ahead. What followed next was a significant job offer right here in Camden, so we will have her with us for at least another year.
There are earlier pictures of this quilt in progress on this blog, if you care to go back to them. But to refresh, this is Willyyene Hammerstein’s “La Passacaglia” quilt from her book MILLIFIORI QUILTS. Megan designed the large border treatment, and Alewives Quilt Shop quilted the top.
The quilt has wonderful, organic-inspired quilting.
I love the yellow border.
The back is a VELVETEEN! I never would have thought to use velveteen. It’s so soft and yummy…
GO MEGAN!!
And congratulations on graduating from college!!
Turkey Tracks: August 12, 2018
It’s always fun to bring a year’s project to a close.
Here is “Whirlygig,” a version of Willyene Hammerstein’s “Valse Brilliante” English Paper Piecing quilt, from her book MILLIFIORE QUILTS.
My “rules” were brights and text in every block. I used text fabrics to square off the quilt and chose an Essex linen blend for the wide charcoal border.
The backing is an Art Gallery fabric involving printed cuneiforms.
This quilt is lively and fun—a good lap size.
I should also say that several friends are also making this quilt and have found templates that allow them to hand stitch without the English Paper pieces, all the glue involved, and so on. When they finish I will post pictures. Their blocks are beautilful.
Additionally, several of us have followed Bonnie Hunter’s recommendation to use Signature thread 60 weight cotton for hand piecing. We think this American-made thread is perfect for hand piecing as it has very, very few tangles and does not create much extra weight to projects—in terms of the seam folds. It practically disappears with EPP piecing. We’ve bought it from both Amazon and Red Rock Threads.
Turkey Tracks: June 23, 2018
I’m planning ahead. I have the body of my version of Willyene Hammerstein’s “Valse Brilliante” EPP quilt finished—with border and backing fabric picked out. And I’m moving right along with my Katja Marek’s 52 THE NEW HEXAGON blocks. I selected a fabric for the connecting triangles the other day.
So…
What’s next?
This quilt is…
I’ve always wanted to make a wedding ring quilt. I have the templates for non EPP piecing–just the old traditional way to make this block. Every now and then I get them out and think about how to start and wind up putting them away again. Maybe this EPP project will get me going. I hope so, anyway. I did not buy the EPP templates for the inner circles, just for the rings. There are 90+ template pieces for the inner circles, so I will make them myself as I go–if I need to do that.
Turkey Tracks: May 2, 2018
“Winter: Dawn Trees” is now sewn together and is being quilted–with a grid pattern on my domestic Janome 8900. This quilt is my design, inspired by Amy Friend’s workshop and book, IMPROV PAPER PIECING. I drew the three different blocks on EQ7 (now EQ8) and had that system print out the patterns. I started with ALL tree blocks lined up in a traditional pattern of rows and rows–until after the workshop. Then I put them into a more “modern” arrangement. I really like the quilt and will post pics when it is totally finished, which won’t be long now.
Thanks Amy!!
Here is an EQ8 picture of what the quilt would have looked like if I had not added the fractured dawn light block and just lined up the trees. Pretty, but not as interesting I think.
The main part of top of “Valse Brilliant” is done. I’m now picking out the English Paper Piecing papers–at night while watching tv. It’s a slow process, of course. VB, as those of us doing it in Coastal Quilters Maine call it, comes from Willyene Hammerstein’s book MILLIFIORE QUILTS. (I did not do WH’s border treatment.) My “rules”–setting rules comes from workshops with Timna Tarr–were simple: brights and text in every block.
I’m going to put some wide charcoal Essex Linen (blend) borders. Right now, this quilt is not big enough, really, to be lap size. The border fabric is washed, but NOT ironed yet.
Here are my monthly blocks for our Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild challenge to make Jen Kingwell’s “Long Time Gone” quilt. It’s an improv type quilt. I am using all Cotton+Steel. Roxanne Wells gave me the idea of using the more formal quarter log cabin style to get stripes, and I like how that came out. The courthouse step blocks started out being blue, green, and pink/red done in ombre, light to dark. Then I decided I liked them mixed up better, so put all the darks together, all the mediums, and all the lights.
Here are my May blocks. Yes!! I am ahead now and have all of May to catch up with other projects.
Here’s what all my blocks look like now. I’m really liking how they are going together.
And here is a reminder of what Long Time Gone looks like:
Turkey Tracks: March 8, 2018
I am working on a Traveling Quilt right now.
And I’ve almost finished quilting the Tula Pink 100 Modern Quilt blocks on the long arm. By later today, maybe, I’ll make and attach the binding. I’ll finish up the binding at night while watching tv. This quilt is all Cotton+Steel fabric, which I continue to love.
(I am still watching PROJECT RUNWAY, regular and All Stars, but have almost caught up. I find the creativity in these programs to be endlessly engaging. AND, a friend suggested I take a look at SISTER WIVES (The Brown family) on The Learning Channel. Oh my. I am fascinated with this program.)
I spent some time trying out these large selvage blocks. They are a riff on Amy Friend’s “Circuitry Quilt” in her INTENTIONAL PIECING. Mine are larger and, for the most part, using busier neutral fabrics alongside. The blocks are subtle. I’ll mix in the purple blocks I’m working on now. I think I’m looking at a warm and a cool quilt, but who knows. Time and more blocks will tell.
“Valse Brilliant” is coming together. The secondary patterns are emerging. I’m working on the third row now. And that upper right corner piece.
This block is a leader/ender project, with a center of “made” fabric from my bags of crumb fabrics–for the most part. I now have 30 block centers of the 63 I will need. making the centers is total play for me, and as such, very peaceful and soothing.
Betsy Maislen is working at her “Long Time Gone” blocks. She’s now finished her set of churn dash blocks:
Look at those fun centers. The churn dash block is my all-time favorite block. Well, ok, alongside New York Beauty. And any kind of square in a square. And… Face it, I just love to piece blocks. I am so looking forward to making these little guys. They are…smallish.
Now I only have “On Ringo Lake” (Bonnie Hunter’s 2017 mystery quilt) to quilt on the long arm. I have several leader/ender projects going, but I am beginning to see my way clear to start the neutral/vanilla quilt I want to make with my Cotton+Steel fabrics. I despaired about getting the project pile down, but there is only a foundation pieced tree block I designed in Amy Friend’s workshop with Coastal Quilters left to do. AND, LOL, a whole lot of knit fabrics to sew into delicious clothes.
And she persisted…
Turkey Tracks: February 28, 2018
Margaret Elaine Jinno recently gave me this adorable little chicken.
I’ve put it near my hand so you can see the scale.
It’s weighted with what feels like sand, but I don’t think I want to pierce its tiny body duly with a lot of pins. I attached it to another treasure: the pin cushion Linda Satkowski gave me some years ago now at a Coastal Quilters (Maine) retreat.
This little hen watches tv with me at night. And, she’s good company too.
She sits next to other treasures I have on the little table next to my sofa.
There is the Longaberger basket Jill Bruns gave me. Jill sent Coastal Quilters members, via her quilting daughter Gus Bruns, all of her Longaberger basket collection. There were enough baskets for each of us to chose one. I keep mine close and can feel Jill’s energy nearby. My little basket holds the odds and ends that I use almost every night–you can see my needle book–made from a pattern Becca Babb-Brott found. And, the top of my fabric glue pen I use for English Paper piecing (EPP). You can see the little zippered pouch Becca made for me. And the tin of thread wax (Unicorn Thread Gloss handmade by Robot Mom Sews) gifted to me by Gus Bruns. The thimble came from a collection left by Gina Caceci’s mother.
So you can see I watch tv at night and sew with a community of friends and the magnifying head piece I also treasure. I use the latter when I need a much more close up view.
Speaking of sewing at night, my current EPP project is moving right along: the “Valse Brilliant” quilt by Willyene Hammerstein, found in her book MILLIFIORE QUILTS. I used brights and text for each of the 99 blocks I made (11 rows of 9 blocks):
I have pieces to finish the edges, and I’m thinking I will use text neutrals for the edges. I think neutrals will let the blocks stand out–moreso than a color.
Turkey Tracks: December 28, 2017
I finished Clue 5 yesterday.
The pile of units is looking healthily large:
I will be interested to see how my colors will work in this mystery quilt, “On Ringo Lake,” by Bonnie Hunter.
Instead of working on the LAST THREE blocks of the big star quilt…based on my design from Amy Friend’s Improve workshop and her book IMPROV PAPER PIECING…
…I played.
I think it is really important to have play time with sewing.
And, like many quilters, I have the ongoing battle of using scraps so as not to waste too much fabric. Plus, I like scrappy looks in a quilt.
I pulled out some old blocks–because I wanted to see how the very modern fabric I chose for their sashing would actually work with these blocks. The blocks are a riff on Bonnie Hunter’s “Nine in the Middle,” from her ADVENTURES WITH LEADERS AND ENDERS. Instead of the 9-patch middle, I am using “made fabric.” The sashing fabric came from Rebecca Babb-Brott’s Etsy store, Sew Me A Song.
I like it. I like, too, the neutral block. I have A LOT of neutral scraps, so will kind of dot those around this quilt like polka dots. I will use colored squares on most of the neutral centers. The all-neutral one is a bit stark.
We learned in one of Bonnie’s mysteries, to use the Companion Angle ruler to cut the big triangle in the outer block. With a 2-inch strip, one can line up on the 4-inch line so as to get the top of the triangle cropped off. This technique would combine with the Easy Angle ruler for the outer triangles. No waste that way. You could also use the new corner cutting ruler and lay a 2-inch square over a rectangle and cut. More waste, though. And, of course, Bonnie always shows how to draw a line on a small square, lay it over the rectangle, and sew a scant seam. So many ways to make a unit.
Friend Linda Satkowski is making these “made” fabric blocks by using the same colors, like all the reds, all the blues. I think that’s very interesting too.
Right now I have TWO leader ender projects: The above and this one:
Garlic Knots, from Bonnie’s QUILTMAKER magazine column:
I THINK Bonnie made this quilt, and I suspect it is in her upcoming new book. Here’s a picture. If anyone knows where this quilt appeared, let me know so I can credit it??
I think I would NOT do a border…??? I seem to be in a borderless moment.
Finally, I played around with Amanda Jean Nyberg’s idea of making birch tree trunks from scraps. She made a small block, starting with a 5-inch square and making thin tree trunks–for a pincushion. I started with a 7 1/2-inch block and used 1-inch trunk columns. It so does not work: the block-size math isn’t right, it isn’t square, and I don’t like how the trunks lean. Will continue to play around with this one though. Clearly the beginning block size needs to be much bigger. Meanwhile I’ll throw this block into the Parts Department box and will probably frame it somehow to make the math work with other blocks.
I had a fun afternoon and emerged relaxed and ready to enjoy dinner and, later, to watch tv and sew “Valse Brilliante” English Paper Piecing blocks (Willyene Hammerstein, MILLEFIORE QUILTS). I have quite a lot of those blocks now, but that is a story for another day.
Turkey Tracks: November 9, 2017
The block pile for the English Paper Piecing “Valse Brilliant” is growing. This quilt is from Willyene Hammerstein’s book MILLEFIORE QUILTS. And this work was one of the many Coastal Quilters (Maine) challenges proposed and started last winter.
There are close to 40 now. I need just under 100 blocks I think.
My rules are brights and text fabrics, every block must have both. Two forms of blocks emerge, one with darker color on the wide pieces and one with darker color on the narrow pieces. When I glued block pieces, I often made both versions from the two chosen fabrics. You can see both versions below:
I had fun with this block, which uses one of the Cotton+Steel whimsical fabrics with a desert motif and one of the C+S basic fabrics:
I have also used a lot of the “pearl bracelet” fabrics, both large and mini, from Lizzy House from Andover because they have such clear, bright colors.
I found an old computer laptop lap support tucked away in John’s technical supplies. It works perfectly as a platform for English Paper Piecing blocks.
It is thicker on one side, and I put that side next to my body so my hands and arms have support. This laptop platform saves a lot of wear and tear on arm, wrist, and neck muscles. When I am putting on binding, I use a fat couch pillow for support. Otherwise, I am always bending my neck over too far.
My as yet unnamed millefiori quilt (Katja Marek) is done but for one side of binding. Pics to follow soon. It may be my most favorite quilt ever.
Turkey Tracks: September 19, 2017
I haven’t been able to work on this project–which came out of an Amy Friend workshop earlier in the year–because I was trying to catch up on other started projects. I’m kind of driven that way, actually, and I allowed myself to start too many projects–which made me cross. Amy showed us how to design our own blocks, and this is mine. I am so happy to have had time to make another block last week. They are 16 inches and foundation pieced, so each one takes a bit of time. I am using all Cotton+Steel fabrics on the charcoal solid background. You can start to see the funky shape a bit now. I am loving these blocks!
By the way, Amy has her first designed fabrics out now. You might want to go to her blog (During Quiet Time) to see the fabrics, which she designed to be used in foundation pieced projects as that is her first love AND to see what she is making with these fabrics.
I have Bonnie Hunter’s 2016 Mystery Quilt, En Provence, on the long arm, but have been distracted with–among other projects–picking some clothing patterns, making my “cutting out” patterns, buying some fabric, and–oh my goodness–making the first one, a tunic in linen. More pictures coming on these projects soon. Meanwhile, En Provence, has at least two runs done and the binding made. I’m using a pale lavender thread which is awesome with this quilt and its backing.
I FINISHED MY KATJA MAREK MILLEFIORE QUILT. It’s been a year long project to paper piece it, and I LOVE how it came out. More pictures coming when it is quilted and bound. It will go on the long arm next, and I finally figured out how I want to quilt it.
Now I am doing Willyne Hammerstein’s paper pieced quilt called “Valse Brillante,” from her book MILLEFIORI QUILTS. And then there were…SEVEN blocks. These guys are a bit more tedious to make, but aren’t they fun? I am liking this project.
My rules are text, brights, and some solid fabrics. We learned about making “rules” to follow from Timna Tarr when she came to Coastal Quilters (Maine) last year for a workshop. When I glue blocks, I make two of each block with the brights and text fabrics reversed: one small, one large of each.
Friend Becca Babb-Brott lucked into taking a two-day Gee Bend quilters class at Maine’s recent Fiber College. Of my friends, Becca is the one who loves improv quilting the most I think. So this class was right up her funway path. Here’s what she has done so far. Note the use of solids. These pieces will be connected, and they are actually wider than they appear here now. Note the jean pocket on the lower piece. She plans to add another pocket. Using old denim is something the Gee Bend quilters do/did a lot. They used what they had. The Gee Bend quilters advocate working out the width of your piece and them building more to the top and bottom. It will be interesting to see where this one goes.
Gee Bend comes back every other year, and we are already plotting going when they return.
If you don’t know the Gee Bend history, take a minute to google them. Their quilts are unique and are both old and modern and not quite describable. They defy “rules.”
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