Optic Strings - the Quilt

Optic Strings is finished.

Started in June 2019 as part of the

Unconventional and Unexpected QAL 

hosted by Sujata at Basket full of Scraps.

 

After getting the blocks designed and all the strips cut

from my stash of solids and reproductions, things stalled.

I used the format of the 100-Day Challenge as a jump starter.

Quilted with my favorite liberated unmarked spiral fans

using Glide thread in Pink.

Backed with Michael Miller's "Bellflower" print.

There wasn't enough yardage to match the print 

along the long center seam so I reversed the two lengths.

Since there is no defined top or bottom to the front

this made perfect sense to me.

Laid on the leaf-covered khaki grass,

the quilting disappears and the quilt's surface

looks so "flat."

I like the colors against the brown leaves - 

(this quilt has always read "warm" 

(as opposed to "cool") to me)

. . . color vs. drab . . .

And honestly I could not be happier with

my decision to change the binding fabric.

* * *

You can read all of the posts associated with this project

by clicking on the Optic Strings label below.

And you can read about its off-shoot companion quilt

named Conundrum by using its label.

I'll also be posting this finish over at 

Basket full of Scraps.

* * *

I have the January utility mats to finish up

and hopefully one of the two waiting low volume quilts

to FMQ and bind before month end.

But first, Little Man will be with us this weekend

and we'll celebrate Early Christmas

with his family on Sunday.

Time to sit back and enjoy the moments . . .

Quiltdivajulie

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“Brown is neither one of the basic color perceptions nor a primary color used in color mixtures, but for human beings it is constantly present both in nature and in their everyday surroundings. It is the color of the earth itself — of rocks and sand, of the bark of trees, of the fur of animals. In that sense, at least, it could be called the basic color of everyday life.”

Kunio Fukuda, The Colors of Japan, 2000

Davies Quilt Show Wrap Up 2019

This was my spot during the three days of  

the 23rd Annual Davies Manor Quilt Show

for my Dumpster Diving display and demo.

(L to R:  DD3-Waterfall, 

DD2-Good Morning Sunshine,

and DD1-Willy Nilly)

Here are the same three quilts looking from the 

wall towards the center of the room.

On the back side were the other three completed DD quilts.

(L to R:  DD4-The Christmas Edition, 

DD5-Catharsis, 

and DD6-Lagniappe)

Over the course of the three days,

in between talking to show visitors

and explaining the scrappy process,

I stitched together the purple and green strips

and assembled 45 DD triangles in squares

that will become DD 7 - Respite.

(layout TBD)

I also sat and chain pieced solids

for what will become DD8 - Bella.

It was such fun to see peoples' eyes light up

with the possibilities of these 1.5" strip segments

as they realized they didn't need a pattern.

Elsewhere in the show area . . . 

sCRUMBtious hung in the 

machine pieced-machine quilted area.

Conundrum was in the Small Wall Quilt category . . .

. . . as was Mosaic.

MO Color Story was in the Large Wall Quilt category.

My cross stitch pillow and a scrappy Christmas runner

were in the Accessories category.

And April Showers was part of the smaller

but still amazing exhibit of BLUE challenge quilts

from earlier this year.

Next year the Davies Challenge will follow

the same 24" x 24" approach

but with the theme of GREEN.

I have three ideas and I'd like to make them all.

Time will tell!

Little Man made a marble bag

with the help of Miss Andrea 

and her hand crank sewing machine.

It was awesome to see the difference

in his ability and understand

from last year to this year.

And this big bag full of now-freshly-laundered fabric

was my take-away from various vendors.

The local Modern Guild had four tables of fabrics

for sale this year - their members clean out

their stashes and sell the bounty to 

raise funds for their dues and speakers -

so we all benefit.

I picked up a set of 31 hand pieced

churn dash/hole in the barn door blocks

that have been hand washed in Orvus soap

(three times before the water was reasonably clear)

and are now drying flat between towels.

And there are enough random scrap pieces

from the grab bags to start cutting 1.5" strips

for a "someday" spiderweb quilt.

* * *

It was a busy and worthwhile weekend.

Next comes the "take down" day

and the "give back" day

and then this year's show will be done.

Quiltdivajulie

Conundrum - The Quilt

Conundrum is finished!

Measures 30" wide x 42" long

Created using the cut off corners 

from the blocks for Optic Strings.

Layout inspired by the "String Grid" quilt on page 22

of Roderick Kiracofe's Unconventional and Unexpected.

I'm counting this as a finish for Sujata's UandU QAL.

(Luminous, InspiRED, and Optic Strings 

are still waiting to be quilted)

Backing is by Keiko Goke ("stripe plaid")

I used the single leftover triangle to create a label.

Quilted with Affinity variegated Rainbow thread

(with Glide Bark in the bobbin)

using my unmarked liberated free motion all-over fans.

And here is where Conundrum will live

for the foreseeable future -

what you see when you first step through

the door to my design studio.

This is the view as you leave the design studio.

* * *

Next up under the needle?

Dumpster Diving 6 - Lagniappe

Quiltdivajulie

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"The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery.  There is always more . . . "
Anais Nin

Shifting Gears

Since plans call for me to do a three-day

Dumpster Diving demo during our annual

Davies Manor Quilt and Fiber Arts Show

on November 1st, 2nd, and 3rd,

I need to get the two waiting Dumpster Diving tops 

quilted and finished in the next two weeks.

This photo shows Dumpster Diving 6 - Lagniappe

in the process of being pin basted.

This is  Dumpster Diving 5 - Catharsis.

I know how I want to quilt Lagniappe 

(fans of some sort) but I'm still waffling 

about how to quilt Catharsis.

Diagonal cross hatching comes to mind . . . 

I went ahead and pin basted Conundrum

and will quilt it first to get myself

back into the free motion quilting groove.

I also pulled out this sample block that I used 

when teaching at The Folk School.

The too-strong black and white strip and the

pale tips of the brights-on-black and purple wedges

have annoyed me for months now.

Problem resolved

thanks to a new set of Sharpie markers.

NOW I'm willing to quilt this square table mat.

* * *

Hoping to have some finishes to share

in the not-too-distant future.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder."
E.B. White

Conundrum - The Flimsy

This is where Conundrum was earlier in the week.

And despite making these decisions,

I shared that the jury was still deliberating.

While the deliberations continued,

I kept sewing sets of four triangles into blocks.

(it took longer to press the many seams in 

the 35 blocks than it did to sew them together)

After seeing the pressed but untrimmed blocks 

laying on the table, the jury came back with a verdict.

NO sashing -- NO cornerstones

So the blocks were squared to 6.5" 

and laid out on the design wall accordingly.

And I realized almost immediately

exactly where this wall quilt will hang -

on the entry wall of my design studio.

(the blue kaleidoscope quilt has been there for years

and it's time for a bit of a shake up)

Optic Strings and Conundrum waiting patiently

on the ironing table for their turn to be pressed.

What a transformation!

30.5" wide x 42" long

And yes, I did stitch all around the edges

to help stabilize the many, many seam ends.

The secondary designs move and shift

depending on where you are standing

and whether or not you squint a bit.

Not too shabby for a stack of 

sacrificial scrappy corner segments.

I've chosen this well-aged Keiko Goke for Yuwa

"Plaid Stripe" yardage for the backing.

* * *

Like Optic Strings, Conundrum is

part of the UandU Challenge.

There are a few linked posts

at the bottom of this page

if you want to read Conundrum's back story.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Because most of the time, things that are worth doing are either massively inconvenient, exhausting or terrifying.  Does this mean you shouldn’t do them?  Absolutely not.  Step out of your current reality and then take another step.  Believe.  Expand.  Ride out those chances while you still can.”
Victoria Erickson

Conundrum (f/k/a Optic Geese) - The Plan

(the pins indicate where additional blocks will be placed)

This is the first bit of sewing I have managed

since coming home from teaching at JCCFS.

First I randomly sorted the triangle units

into 35 sets of four using my plate system.

(there was no way to sort them other than randomly)

But this first glimpse of sewn blocks

on the design wall gave me pause.

So I went back to the inspiration photo.

After dithering around for a couple of hours

with the blocks and then auditioning sashing options,

I decided enough was enough.

I'm rapidly approaching the ending point

of this 100 day challenge

and even more than that artificial deadline,

I am ready to move on to other projects.

I shopped the stash and chose 

this reproduction birdhouse print for the quilt's back 

and two well-aged brownish pieces of yardage.

The diagonal gingham will be used for cornerstones

and the brown with oval spots will be used for sashing.

The soft brown tones play off the other colors nicely

without seeming wimpy or demanding undue attention -

and I hope my head can now stop feeling 

like it might explode from trying to be 

overly scrappy with this whole project.

* * *

At this point it looks as though the blocks

 will be squared to 6.5" - but I won't know 

for sure until they're all sewn together.

Meanwhile, despite my desire to find closure,

the jury is still deliberating . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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“The stars align more often than we realize – but we’re usually too busy staring down and our feet and wondering why we feel stuck.”

Amy Atherton

Conundrum (formerly known as Optic Geese)

These are the trimmed corner triangles

from this week's batch of Optic String Blocks.

Same parts sewn together into pairs and 

randomly plopped on the design wall.

This is the new inspiration quilt

from Unconventional and Unexpected.

(click here for that story)

A quick side note for those who have asked.

I am using this large triangle ruler

to cut away the sewn on corners

from the previously shared flying geese blocks.

I am not unstitching all those corners.

Here are a few more blocks on the design wall

with spaces added for future sashing and cornerstones.

Interesting to see how the different colors

appear to create such different patterns

when reduced to black and white.

Same blocks but in a different arrangement.

Again in black and white.

This has possibilities, 

but I need to work with it some more.

Checked the inspiration quilt in black and white

(phone photo of the computer screen)

to help reassure myself I'm on the right track.

And then . . . 

it happened again . . . 

What if I turn the squares on point?!?

And what if I mix up the colors

instead of keeping them in pairs?!?

* * *

Time to let this simmer until next week when

I'll have more triangle units to play with.

While you wait, 

I've completely updated my Studio Space page

here on the blog - click here to go see.

(there's also a tabbed page link at the top of the blog)

Quiltdivajulie

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“The best scientists and explorers have the attributes of kids!  
They ask questions and have a sense of wonder.  They have curiosity.  ‘Who, what, where, why, when, and how!’  They never stop asking questions and I will never stop asking questions, just like a five-year-old”
Sylvia Earle