Dumpster Diving 9 - Blue Springs Road - the Quilt

Dumpster Diving 9 - Blue Springs Road is finished.

53" wide x 68" long

Started in mid-2019 when I impulsively bought

a fat quarter bundle of blue and white "Bequest" fabrics.

After multiple design considerations, 

I settled on SPRING by Valori Wells

using the fabrics from that bundle 

plus blues and yellows from my stash.

Once the long long long strips of segments were sewn

and laid out on the design wall, that plan changed again.

The top was completed in late July 2020.

Dumpster Diving 9 - Blue Springs Road 

was quilted with my liberated echo daisy fans

using Glide thread in Sky.

I used the last of the backing from Copacetic

to make the binding for DD 9.

As I continue my effort to FMQ and finish

my backlog of waiting tops,

I'm stitching out a sample of each design I use.

I started at the bottom with the original design

used on Copacetic at the left.

By the third motif, I modified the design

making it more fluid to stitch.

As I worked my way across the next to the last pass on DD 9,

I mistakenly stitched a second echo around the center hook.

Instead of taking it out, I used that variation to finish the quilt.

Then I stitched myself a small sample so I'd remember

that I like this version more than the single echo-ed center.

* * *

ADDED LATER in response to questions:

I think the rows appear to be so “straight” 

because I don’t stress over their exact linear placement. 

(hence the reason I begin the name 

for each of my FMQ designs

with the word "liberated")

Once I stitch the first row working left to right

along the lower edge of the quilt, 

 I cut my threads and return to the left 

to begin the second pass/row.  

The second row nests down into the first row 

and so on and so on as I work my way up the quilt.

By the time I get to the upper edge, 

one side of the last row or two 

is inevitably closer to the top  than the other - 

but the overall effect is still that the rows 

are moving horizontally across the quilt.

* * *

FMQ goals for April include

Dumpster Diving 8 - Bella

(waiting on fabric because I changed my mind

about the protective border and binding)

Dumpster Diving 10 - Do Tell

and

Dumpster Diving 11 - Mischief Maker

Quiltdivajulie

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“I never get tired of the blue sky.”

Vincent Van Gogh/ Stephen King

More Progress

While Max was still set up with the lilac Glide thread

I went ahead and quilted this runner for my sister.

12" x 60" 

When I pieced the back for Dumpster Diving 7 - Respite

I knew it would be larger than needed . . . 

As it ended up, this runner became a bonus project.

Quilted with my liberated all over fans,

this will be headed to Michigan later in the week.

Dumpster Diving 9 - Blue Springs Road

has been pin basted ready for quilting.

I tried several different threads in yellows and blues

before choosing this spool of Sky.

It will work beautifully on both the top and the back.

Next step will be to stitch out a sample since 

I haven't used the fans with daisies in quite a while.

Quiltdivajulie

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“I’m just too colorful for words.”

Clairee in Steel Magnolias

Dumpster Diving 9 - Blue Springs Road - the Flimsy

After days of sewing long seams 

in between other activities,

this quilt top is finally sewn together.

The oversize top currently measures

55" wide x 74" long (untrimmed).

It looks quite crooked in the photos

but in reality it is surprisingly straight.

Once quilted, I'll square it to roughly 50" x 63"

(don't hold your breath - that won't happen anytime soon)

This particular project was conceived

sometime in mid-2019.

I have lost track of the design changes

but am delighted with my final choice -

such a traditional color combination

but such a non-traditional layout.

* * *

Renovation update:

Final wall repairs are in process

and then the last of the wall painting

can be completed.

Flooring is in transit.

Once it arrives,

DH will do the floor leveling

that needs to be done.

A few days after that

the laying of the new floor can begin.

One step at a time.

Quiltdivajulie

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“One of the sincerest forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.”

Bryant H. McGill

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

Blue Springs Road - Change of Plans

Once the ver-r-r-r-r-r-r-ry long strip had been cut

into forty-five 70-ish inch length strips 

(with a whole lot of the long strip left over)

I randomly pinned the lengths on the design wall.

Hmmmm . . . . not so sure about this.

The inspiration design seemed like such a good idea

but when translated into dumpster diving mode,

the blue-on-white (instead of the original's solid white)

just didn't do anything for me.

These two fabrics were the original backing plan.

Feeling totally underwhelmed,

I wondered what would happen if I used some of the

long leftover strip to cut more 70-ish inch lengths

to fill in where the blue-on-white had been?

Oh, yes - this is much better.

And instead of the blues-on-white backing options

I am going to use this wonderful blue yardage.

Nothing like having the quilt tell you what it wants to become!

* * *

And then there are the yards and yards

 of no-longer-needed-blue-on-white strips.

I thought briefly about sewing them together 

into made-fabric and die cutting  

for another as-yet-unknown project.

But that didn't excite me much.

I also thought about packing the many strips 

into a USPS Priority Mail envelope 

and sending them to a new home .

Anyone excited by that possibility?

NOTE ADDED LATER:

I drew names out of a hat from those

who responded today and

the blue and white strips are going to . . . 

Linda Swanekamp.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring; all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

Leo Buscaglia

Dumpster Diving 9 - Blue Springs Road Begins

There were so many different things

I really should have worked on over the weekend,

but this project  has been calling to me.

So it became my late week/weekend focus.

One pair at a time the blue on white segments

were sewn together again and again.

This group of ten 70-ish inch strips 

will be rearranged to eliminate most of the situations 

where the same fabric ends up next to itself. 

This is the second "white" column 

comprised of an additional four lengths.

(my design was inspired by "Spring" - a free

Valori Wells/Robert Kaufman download found HERE)

Then I started on the blue and yellow segments.

I first sewed pairs of segments.

Those pairs were paired with other pairs and sewn together.

This is what the top of the large boxful looked like.

And this is the side view of that same box.

Before sewing the shorter multi-segment strips together,

 I just HAD to pull out a few put them on the design wall.

Finally all those short multi-segment lengths were 

sewn together into one ver-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-ry long strip.

Next step will be to cut 

the uber-long strip into 70-ish inch lengths.

The quilt top's planned dimensions

 are 50-ish x 64-ish inches.

No matter how careful I am, the long narrow strips

twist and bow during the sew-together stage

and again during the quilting process.

So I've learned the hard way to make the top wider and longer

so there's plenty of room to square things up later.

* * *

I started the set up of the new computer Saturday afternoon.

It is working but there are a lot of elements

that still need to be dealt with 

like connecting to the printer,

updating files, moving documents, and more.

The good news though

is that the new computer

is faster by a lot AND

it loves the new Blogger.

That makes me a happy camper.

Quiltdivajulie

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The Listening Song
(sung to the tune of Frere Jacques)

Eyes are watching.
Ears are listening.
Lips are closed.
Hands are still.
Feet are very quiet.
You should really try it.
Listening well.
Listening well.

From Ms. Cathy - 
our grandson’s Pre-K 3 reading teacher

Dumpster Diving Prep Work

There has been a lot (!!) of computer time the past few days

with massive edits for the organization

where I serve as Board President

and another group of edits/thoughts/suggestions

 for Lynne's work-in-progress Zebras quilt tutorial.

In addition to all that focused brain work,

 I've felt lethargic/distracted and unable to sit and sew.

So I've been cutting fabric into little pieces instead.

June's color for the  Rainbow Scrap Challenge is PINK.

(much more fun than May's dark green)

I'll make one block with the darker pinks in the first photo

and the second block with these lavender bits.

Dumpster Diving 11 - Mischief Maker 

will be colorful if nothing else.

Next I tackled the boxes of fabrics and scraps 

gathered for Dumpster Diving 10 - Blue Springs Road.

After I piece the two RSC blocks shown above,

I want to work on Blue Springs Road's 

bits and pieces as leaders-enders while I

piece the remaining spiderweb blocks for Feisty.

But that meant the gathered long strips 

had to be cut into smaller bits first.

I had planned to use black on white in the design

but as I sorted through the box of blues

I discovered more than enough of these

blue and whites - so I'm going to use them instead.

The stash of yellow strips were also cut into smaller pieces.

This particular Dumpster Diving quilt 

will feature longer segments to play into the feel

of the free download called Spring.

Here are all of the segments ready and waiting

for me to pin them into pairs

that can be kept beside my machine 

for easy leader-ender stitching.

I also tackled the stacks of pink and aqua yardage

that had been set aside for Dumpster Diving 10 - Do Tell.

My goal was to cut 3-5 strips from each of the fabrics

and then get them back on the shelf where they belong.

Mission accomplished for this one.

(I won't sub-cut and worry with  pinning pairs for Do Tell

until that process is completed for Blue Springs Road)

After making the various RSC placemats using 1.5" strips

along with the RSC Dumpster Diving 11-Mischief Maker blocks,

I had a pile of leftover pieces that didn't work

with any of the other planned Dumpster Diving quilt projects.

I started putting those random leftovers in one box.

It didn't take long to realize there would, indeed,

be a thirteenth quilt in my Dumpster Diving series.

I've named No. 13 Surplus, for obvious reasons.

Here's a look at the accumulated strips (so far).

Oh yeah, I'm obsessed . . .

(you can click on the labels at the end of this post

to read previous posts for any of these projects)

Quiltdivajulie

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“The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood.  The best way to understand people is to listen to them.”   

Ralph Nichols

Enough is Enough - Decisions Made

At some point in time I decided I would make 

a series of twelve Dumpster Diving quilts.

Since then I've made myself dizzy with ideas.

This past week I decided enough was enough.

Dumpster Diving 9 - Blue Springs Road

will feature these blue and white strips cut from

an impulsively purchased fat quarter bundle.

I'll mix in some yellows and possibly bits of gray

and use the free Spring design 

by Valori Wells for Kaufman Fabrics.

I'll use this yardage for DD-9's backing.

The color palette for Dumpster Diving 10 - Do Tell

was inspired by the thought of 

a bouquet of full blown pink peonies in 

one of my grandmother's vintage aqua mason jars.

(name inspired by an award-winning

 lush pink peony variety from the 1940s)

I've gathered these pieces from the resource and crumb boxes

ready to be run through the die cutter when the time comes.

This is the yardage I chose for DD 10's backing.

Dumpster Diving 11 - Mischief Maker

is underway as one of my RSC 2020 projects.

January's blocks are here.

February's blocks are here.

March's blocks are waiting to be made.

The yardage above (right) will be DD11's backing

and the yardage on the left will be it's binding.

Dumpster Diving 12  - Journey's End

will feature black and white and red.

I have a design in mind

but need to do a bit more planning

between now and the time this one begins.

EDIT ADDED LATER -

DD 12 - Journey's End did not happen.

The red and black strips eventually became

an Etcetera Quilt known as Drama Queen,

which was donated to Mercyful Quilts 

during Hands2Help 2022.  

You can use the Drama Queen label at the end

of this post to see the posts for that quilt.

And this will be the backing for DD 12.

* * *

Meanwhile . . . 

Dumpster Diving 7 - Respite 

is still waiting to be quilted

and

Dumpster Diving 8 - Bella

is ready and waiting for block construction.

* * *

It will obviously be a while

before the rest of this series is worked on

but at least I can quit thinking about how

I'm going to finish out this series of 12 quilts.

Decisions made.

Quiltdivajulie

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“There will be a few times in your life when all your instincts will tell you to do something, something that defies logic, upsets your plans, and may seem crazy to others.  When that happens, you do it.  Listen to your instincts and ignore everything else.  Ignore logic, ignore the odds, ignore the complications, and just go for it.”
Anonymous