Otsego Revisited - the Quilt

Otsego Revisited is finally a finished quilt.

 

48" x 60" 

You can read the back story 

for the quilt and its name HERE.

Otsego Revisited actually counts for two different challenges

from Ann and Kaja over at the Ad Hoc Improv Quilters blog --

Flowers from mid-2019 and Positive Thinking from mid-2020.

Quilted using another of my unmarked free motion designs 

named Liberated Swirls and Eddies.

(inspired by a mashup of the Pajama Quilter's Dwirling,

 Leah Day's Ocean Currents, and 

my own love of wide open curved stitching)

Since these photos were taken, the quilt has been laundered.

It's all soft and cuddly now - ready for spring to arrive.

And since today is Winter Solstice,

the days will now get incrementally longer

which makes me very happy.

* * *

I'll be back with a new post after Christmas weekend.

Wishing you and yours a safe and healthy holiday!

Quiltdivajulie

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“A good listener is very nearly as attractive as a good talker. You cannot have a beautiful mind if you do not know how to listen.”

Edward de Bono

Incremental Progress

In addition to the two quilts-in-progress

on the design studio wall

there are three more in my sewing studio.

Left side - the first few Otsego Revisited blocks

Right side and quilt rack -

Dumpster Diving 9 - Blue Springs Road

partially sewn together

Table top - Heliophilia HRTs paired ready to sew together.

(and yes, that's also the way my brain feels these days;

scattered between too many thoughts, worries, and ideas)

A few days later, the HRTs were sewn and pressed.

105 yellow and gray

44 yellow and green

(I won't need all of them but with a scrappy project

I like to have extras for layout options)

Also on my short list are these two pillowcases.

A very special young man 

will be turning 4 all too soon.

Shifting gears a bit, back in 2013

Cherie (one of my book's SSOBB barn builders)

gave me these scrappy leftovers when

Lynne and I visited her guild in St. Louis.

I was in the midst of making Open Ended

as part of Vicki's Fractured QAL

so I used that technique

along with some of my greens and yellows

and Cherie's scrappy squares

to make this happy scrappy quilt top.

Cherie recently posted about this project's

new forever home - click HERE

to read a feel good story.

* * *

The move-out from younger son's apartment

and the renovation of our bonus room 

into his new living quarters are also progressing.

All but a few tiny bits of carpet are gone

and the staples have been removed 

from the OSB flooring boards.

The ceiling is freshly painted

and new lighting has been installed.

Both of the closets have been emptied and painted

with new LED lighting has been added.

The walls are about fifty percent painted.

New wood laminate flooring is on order

and expected by early next week.

Inch by inch we're getting things done.

Quiltdivajulie

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“The whole culture is telling you to hurry, while the art tells you to take your time.  ALWAYS listen to the art.”

Junot Diaz

Status Update

One of our giant coleus plants in the back yard

Quick update on the state of things in my world.

Half of the carpet has been removed

from the room under renovation and

we've decided on the new flooring.

The paint color has also been decided upon

and one end wall/part of the ceiling have been painted.

All of the many shelves and table tops have been emptied 

and the small forest of decorated Christmas trees

that spend most of the year in one corner of that room 

are temporarily on Max's table top in my studio.

Elder son's closet is empty and the contents 

are downstairs on one side of our garage

with plans in place to deal with all of it so that

none of it returns to the upstairs room.

The non-furniture items being moved here from

younger son's apartment are boxed and stored 

on the opposite side of the garage.

(the larger items will be moved here later this month)

* * *

In our county, there are now well over 12,500

confirmed cases of COVID-19 and masks

are now mandatory for the entire county.

Sadly there are far too many who are not willing

to respect the health of others by wearing masks

and/or observing any kind of social distancing.

Needless to say, 

we continue to stay at home as much as possible

aside from PT (me) and early morning trips to

the big box home improvement stores (DH).

* * *

My old computer has been retired

and will remain in storage for one year

before being wiped and discarded.

The new computer has been moved into position

and I absolutely love my new 27" monitor.

(it should also help reduce future neck strain issues)

The online backup program I use

 is creating a new backup profile for this computer

and then, once that is complete, the only other big task 

will be to set up my local bootable backup drive.

* * *

And in between all of the other activity around here,

I managed to spend a little time with Otsego Revisited.

(see this post shared on the AHIQ blog 

for an update/refresher on this project

for the current "positive thinking" challenge)

Random width strips to piece forty 8-ish inch slabs

(which will then be die cut into 80  six-inch HSTs) 

have been sorted and are ready to sew

whenever life's other demands allow.

A few minutes here and another few there

will hopefully add up to a happy-scrappy quilt top.

Quiltdivajulie

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"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch.  Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit."

e.e. cummings

An Old Project Becomes New Again

Sometime last year after being inspired by

this post of Linda's at KokaQuilts,

I cut a big batch of reds, blues, and neutrals 

into 9" squares.

I managed to track down the pattern for Bertha

all the way from a quilt group in England.

But then the pattern and the squares

along with the whole idea sat in a box - until this week

when I discovered the box under something else 

I pulled out of the closet.

I decided to forego the Bertha pattern (HSTs)

and make hourglass blocks instead.

(Hourglass blocks are the current challenge

 over at the Ad-Hoc Improv Quilters blog)

The first photo shows 48 sewn-together pairs of squares 

after they were cut apart into 96 HSTs.

(pairs of reds/neutrals and blues/neutrals)

After the big pile of HSTs were pressed open,

I created 48 new pairs and drew lines on the back sides

to prepare for stitching into hourglass blocks.

(the yardage at the top of the photo will be used

to piece together a backing)

This was the stack after the second round

 of stitching and cutting apart.

Instead of standing at my ironing table in the studio,

I took the unpressed blocks outdoors and

set up a sit-down ironing spot on the back porch.

SO much nicer than staying indoors 

on a beautiful spring evening.

* * *

Next step will be to trim the oversize blocks

into uniformly-sized 6.5" squares.

THEN it will be time to arrange them on the design wall.

I've named this project Fourth of July.

(even though this is Memorial Day weekend)

My goal is to have the quilt finished

by the first of July so it is ready

for this year's Independence Day.

Quiltdivajulie

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“When we were young, we were told that poetry is about voice, about finding a voice and speaking with this voice.  But the older I get I think it’s not about voice, it’s about listening and the art of listening, listening with attention.  I don’t just mean with the ear; bringing the quality of attention to the world.  The writers I like best are those who attend.”

Kathleen Jamie

Copacetic - The Quilt

Copacetic

47" x 60"

Inspired by the current AHIQ Hourglass challenge.

Quilted with Glide thread in Graphite.

I drew this "how-I-did-it" diagram for my 

liberated free motion quilting ideas file.

(most of my daisies have five petals

but there are several with four or six -

that's the "liberated" part of my process)

Unmarked fans are one of my favorite quilting designs

so I'm happy to add this variation to my list of options.

I purchased this backing specifically for Copacetic.

And while I don't ride a bike now,

I spent years peddling my way through

childhood, adolescence, college, and early married life.

Here's a better look at the print itself.

We don't have deep shade on the grassy areas

so dappled sunlight was my best option

for a flat-on-the-ground photo.

The diagonal plaid binding suits the quilt perfectly.

And I am so happy that all the fabrics (except the backing)

were waiting for me to find them in the stash.

* * *

I haven't laundered the quilt yet

but I'm guessing the texture will be wonderful

once the quilt has been washed and dried.

Pretty sure this one will become a go-to recliner quilt.

(you can read earlier posts for this project

by clicking on the Copacetic label 

at the bottom of this post)

Quiltdivajulie

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“When the bird of the heart begins to sing, too often will reason stop up her ears.”
Hans Christian Andersen

Copacetic - the Flimsy

Finally - a sunny (but still soggy) day.

Copacetic (the quilt top) measures 48" x 60"

These colors are so much more true-to-life

than those with indoor lighting.

Given its gentle nature, 

I'm currently considering free form fans

when it comes time for quilting.

All in good time.  

Quiltdivajulie

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“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.”

Rumi

Copacetic - AHIQ Hourglass Challenge

This inspiration photo was saved years ago.

Maker unknown (NOT my work)

Combining that inspiration with 

the current Ad Hoc Improv Quilters 

hourglass block challenge . . .

Here is my fabric pull --

fabrics to the left for 6.5" squares

and fabrics to the right for hourglass units.

My goal is to cut one square from each fabric

to achieve an eclectic scrappy vibe.

(that bicycle print from the stash

will be used for the back)

Here's a closer look at the 

pairs of fabrics for hourglass blocks.

After trimming the hourglass blocks to 6.5"

this is what was left behind.

(I started with 8.5" squares)

Somehow, I messed up on the math and ended up

with half  as many hourglasses as were needed.

Back to the stash for fabric pull part two.

Leftover trimmings from the second 20 hourglasses.

First layout - to get them all up on the design wall.

(the colors are so much prettier in real life -

the mix of indoor and window light was not cooperating)

I'll do some tweaking

and maybe a bit of substituting

before I sew this together.

Target size 48" x 60"

And I've named this one Copacetic,

which means "completely satisfactory."

Quiltdivajulie

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“Tone is often the most important part of a conversation – 

and listening is so much more important than what you say.”

Hoda Kotb