Cran-Apple Crisp ~ Finished!

Cran-Apple Crisp (55' x 69") is finished!

I used Lynne's Slashed Squares tutorial

 (using my own two-color version ~ scrappy, of course)

and added a half-square triangle border.

To avoid any serious measuring stress,

I went with Gwen Marston's

" Too short? Add on" approach.

Chris used her new Swirly Gig panto ~

I love how the quilt crinkled and softened after a trip through the washer/dryer!

This is the back . . . 

And here is the quilt, folded on the back of my recliner.

Perfect for these cool (cold) drizzly days!

Working on the bindings for these last few quilts has reminded me

once again of what I fell in love with early on ~

so many colors . . . so many possibilities . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

Dancing Star

First, go back and read my post from August 28th about this quilt.

In the words of Essie Bendolph Pettway (b. 1956),

who's quilts in the Gee's Bend book served as my challenge inspiration:

"leftover irregular shapes and sizes of prints and solids . . . 

combination of introspection, action, and

flexible but unbreakable will . . . "

She continues:

"I love my job, but at times it gets a little stressful.

I come home and sew. . . 

Sewing at home gives me peace of mind and a challenge."

Once again, Chris did an awesome job of quilting on Dancing Star.

Here you can see (from the back) the design she used

on the three circular elements.

Just look at this wonderful swirling free motion texture . . . 

Here is the quilt, laid on the driveway.

And here it is from the other side.

I followed the 2-sided "get-together" process

of Polly Bennett (b. 1922), another Gee's Bend quilter:

". . . just putting pieces together - any color, any sizes.

Back in them days, I didn't care how they looked,

I just put them together using old clothes mostly,

and sometimes go down to Linden and get scraps 

they were throwing away in the clothes factory . . .

the dump truck going to come get it anyway."

Again, in Ms. Pettway's words:

"I get pleasure from my quilts.  

I enjoy seeing other peoples enjoying my work.

I enjoy doing good work."

So do I . . .

Quiltdivajulie

Jester - The Flimsy

Introducing . . . Jester (the flimsy).

As I cut out the segments for Spirit Song, 

I trimmed the leftovers into 2-1/2" squares 

and/or 2-1/2 x 6" segments.  

Those rectangles became the colorful basis for this  65" x 65" quilt.

The central blocs were created using a pattern found in 

Kim Brackett's book Scrap Basket Surprises.

The borders?  They are my own liberated invention!

Remember all those bonus half-square triangles 

that were generated as I stitched the block segments?  

This is border 1.

This is border 2. 

Note ~ your eyes are not playing tricks.  

Throughout the quilt, I used several different blacks.

This is border 3.

The outer border is Michael Miller's Jet Black.

This is border 4.

(and there are even some HSTs leftover for the stash box)

Just LOVE the colors!

Quiltdivajulie

p.s.  I tweaked the new layout design a bit - hopefully it will load faster and run cleaner now . . .

Let It Be . . .

If you read my last post, you already know that working from a kit is not "my thing."

When I put the 5th row of unpressed blocks up on the design wall, I discovered the last block was upside down ~ which meant I immediately reached for my seam ripper.

But then I then stopped.

"Wait a minute - what was it about the quilts showcased in Accidentally on Purpose that made them so special?  What is it about so many other vintage quilts that tickles us today?

Right - that "not quite perfect" part.  So I put away the seam ripper and left the block right where it was.

When it came to piecing the borders, I promise (honest!) I was following the directions:  right ~ left ~ angles ~ everything.  But I came out with 6 of A2 and 4 of A1 instead of the designated 6 of A1 and 4 of A2.  Sigh.

Again, instinct led me to reach for the seam ripper.  A moment of indecision and again I chose not to un-sew.

So here is the flimsy of Let It Be with borders ready to be stitched in place.

Not quite the way the designer and the folks at Connecting Threads envisioned it ... but imperfectly okay, just the way it is.

Quiltdivajulie

Flimsy Finish

This was the scene on my studio floor Sunday morning.  Jester is on one design wall and Milestone is on the other so, since they are stalled, anything new has to go on the floor.

I had a plan in mind when I ordered those wildly colorful Mendoza fabrics ~ but, as usual, the plan changed.  While browsing through the free patterns available on the Robert Kaufman website, I found this one and knew it was "the one" to use.  Of course, since I wasn't using the fabrics suggested in the pattern, it took some head scratching and such to figure out what to put where and how to piece the rest into a back  . . .  but it worked itself out (thanks to the gorgeous blue I re-discovered last week whilst cleaning out those drawers). 

 The top measures 45 x 60 (I added to the pattern's original 44 x 51 dimensions by including the horizontal borders top and bottom).  And yes, I realized (too late) that I hadn't squared off the corners (oops!)

It was windy when I tried to take photos  ~ I never did get a shot of the back without the flipped over corners (despite several push pins on the back side of the fence).  At the bottom of the tree panel, I was able to keep the selvage intact (you should be able to see when the photo is enlarged).  

Honestly, I'll be glad once this is quilted, trimmed, and bound ~ the large scale and colors of the back are a bit overpowering with the extra 6" all the way around (makes life easier for Chris to long arm).  And then there's the name.  Suggestions are welcome!  

Now to get the border squares sewn together for the PIF quilt . . .

Quiltdivajulie

Fan-tastic!

SO glad I took the time to re-make the borders!


And I am REALLY happy with the purple thread Baptist Fans quilting (thanks, Chris!!)

The label on the back ~

Part of the center (in the sunshine) ~

Draped full length over the stone seat... even when I fussed with the camera settings, the gorgeous saturated purple borders still look blue.  I hope you'll believe me that they really are royal purple!

(And now that I've tried crumb piecing, I know I'll do more of it.)

If you haven't checked out the other quilts being created during Tonya's 2010 Liberated Amish Get Together, do click here to visit the group photo album.

Here's to the weekend ~

Quiltdivajulie

"H" is For . . .

It is finished! It's been such a long time since I bought the set of floral fabric strips from Wanda . . . you can find her H tutorial here.


Here's a single close-up of my 45" x 60" lap quilt. The complete set of photos are here. I hope you'll take a moment to view the slideshow . . .

In keeping with the gorgeous florals in the quilt, here are a couple of azaleas that were blooming nearby.

There are more flower photos in H's photo album. The azaleas are truly spectacular this year!

This cheeky mockingbird provided a non-stop serenade while I was taking these photos. What a wonderful lunch hour!

Today's post has been brought to you by the letter "H" . . .

Quiltdivajulie
---------------------------
"Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." (Nathaniel Hawthorne)

No Words Needed ~ Finished!!

This is the lettered back (quilt hanging on the design wall). Participating in Tonya's 2010 Liberated Amish Get Together has been a LOT of fun! If you haven't checked out the other quilts being created during this international challenge, click here (and be sure to visit the Flickr photo album).

Here's the liberated front. Now ~ for those of you who have been following my blog, you know I take and understand the need for "proper" quilt photos. But . . . you also know my favorites are the candid shots. So . . . .

No Words Needed and I spent Wednesday's lunch hour in the gardens of The Dixon ~ 80 degrees and sunny ~ fabulous! So is the custom quilting that Chris added to this quilt . . . the more you look, the more you'll see why I love this quilt!

The azaleas around town are in glorious bloom ~ what a backdrop for a quilt photo!

And since No Words Needed became an essentially reversible quilt, here is the "other side."

Enlarge any photo to check out the details, and enjoy!

Quiltdivajulie

At Long Last ~

Asian Odyssey has been birthday-gifted to our daughter in law! She chose to have her birthday dinner here ~ how utterly perfect!!

I've posted about this project several times ~ including here and here and here ~ if you want to see more photos of the fabrics and some of the amazing places she visited, you can visit my Picasa album.

So many kudos to Chris for her fabulous free motion quilting that truly made this quilt sing!!

This is a closeup of the center block where I hand applied the final bits after everything else was finished. [reminder, all photos will enlarge if double clicked]

And, yes, I did create a label using a few last bits of silk (outer borders created using the teal kimono's waist tie to give me me a finished outer edge to work with).

It took a very long time, a lot of research, and even more pondering ~ but the resulting 45" x 60" wall quilt has surprised even me. And the very best part? She loves it ~ she really, REALLY loves it!!!

Quiltdivajulie