Flaneur - the Layout

Flaneur has reached a major milestone - all thirty blocks are pieced/pressed and on the design wall.

Started in November 2021 in response to the color palette from Bonnie Hunter's Rhododendron Trail mystery.  

After a few design changes, the 3" (fin.) HSTs were die cut in March 2022 and sewn leader-ender style for what felt like forever.

The pressing was then done in groups of 10-20 whenever I had the iron on.

The final layout is NOTHING like my original idea (inspired by Random Vector by Susan Kephart) or the second plan (inspired by Birds in Flight by Bertha Robinson ca. 1950).  (see this post for photos)

(you can read all of the previous posts for Flaneur by using the label at the end of this post or in my sidebar)

V3 (above) was inspired a photo I found online long ago.  There was no maker info attached to that photo and the only pattern I found that even comes close to this arrangement is called Dusky Mountains by Phoebe Moon Designs.

When sewn together, the thirty blocks will yield a top that is 60" wide x 72" long.  

This photo shows the most accurate color balance for the Tula Pink Fairy Dust background.

p.s.  I won't be sewing the blocks together because with this backing and binding they are currently headed to Linda S. to be finished and sent out into the world as a comfort quilt (like several others from my Not a Mystery series) as part of my ongoing Pay It Forward effort.

* * *

And so, with the conclusion of this project, I am officially calling an end to my Not a Mystery series. 

Quiltdivajulie

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“The tension between what is, and what we dream of, is important. Not to discount what we have, but to hold onto that middle ground, because it's in there that the magic happens.”

Susan Branch

Kefi et al Move Forward

Two more rows of Kefi's blocks have been sewn - the darker greens and the blue greens.  

Here is a view of all the colors - only four more rows of blocks to finish.

Since the blocks are laid out on their sides on the wall, I rotated that last photo to show ("more or less") how the actual layout of the quilt top will look.

The row of  blue blocks is read to piece, press,  and trim.  I have found that if I can prep the next row before I leave the studio, it is so nice to walk back in and just sit down and sew.

I cut a few more triangles from the slabs for Razzle-Dazzle.  And after looking at the sideways layout for Kefi as I sit and sew, I have decided that R-D will be laid out like this.  

Nine columns by eleven rows - one triangle at a time.

And now that I see the triangles laid out like this, I am seriously rethinking my idea for the side pieces, which is why I didn't share it earlier.  I figured it would change and it already is (grin).

(reminder - I am using Lynne's Scrap Slab Triangles tutorial for these projects.  There's a permanent link in my side bar to her Etsy shop)

And . . .  each time I have pressed a row of blocks for Kefi or a set of slabs for R-D, I have pressed a handful of the HSTs for Flaneur.

I'm delighted to report that ALL of them are now pressed and ready for layout, when the time comes.

* * *

Tomorrow marks the fifteenth anniversary for my blog, with over 2,800 posts and 25,000 comments along the way.  

I am so grateful to all of you for being part of this journey!

Quiltdivajulie

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“Imagination is the true magic carpet.”

Norman Vincent Peale

Bits and Pieces

I pressed the first stack of HSTs for Flaneur.  You can see that there are still a lot more to be pressed.

I also sub-cut all of the scrappy trips tubes for Raconteur.  

It was so nice outside Saturday that I sat and unpicked the strips.  That means eighteen more blocks are now ready to assemble as time and energy permit.

When I sub cut the tubes, there was one extra 2.5" "ring" from each, so those were turned into a very long strip of 2.5" squares.  

Once pressed, I will set this long strip aside to use as an insert into the low volume backing.

Jan O. posted about a recent finish for her guild's charity program and a light bulb went off in my head.

I have a large stack of 2.5" scrappy brown strips (foreground) left from an unknown project that would work perfectly with her design.

I'll pair each brown with a low volume - scrappy of course.

I've named this one Hospice 1 as it will be a comfort quilt.

Hospice 1 is now ready for its first round of leader-ender (or mindless) stitching.

And then I thought about this jelly roll that has been in my studio for eons (from long before I quit buying pre-cuts).  Again, pairing the darker prints with low volumes would make another comfort quilt, which I've named Hospice 2.

Hospice 2 is also ready for its turn as a leader ender or mindless stitching project.

* * *

Progress comes in many forms . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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Living Up to its Name

I shared this fabric pull in a recent post (click here).  

I plan to make another scrappy economy block quilt with those fabrics along the lines of my 2018 Scrapbook Quilt (label in sidebar and label at the end of the post if you want to read more about it).  

At this point I'm planning to use my smaller KF crumbs to make scrappy center squares for a new quilt.

Then Lynne posted this very wing-y bird along with the wing's yardage source . . .  and you can probably guess what happened next.

DING DING DING - you were right.  

I ordered enough of the fabulous flamingos to back my new project.

It took only a couple of minor edits to adjust the fabric pull for the backing change.  

The colors are just SO right with this backing.

When this project makes it to the front of the line, it is going to be such a happy quilt to work on!

Quiltdivajulie

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“Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business.”

Tom Robbins

Works in Progress

I'm still playing with the leftover polka dot rectangles (2.5 x 4.5). 

Here you can see my "test" for the second baby/toddler quilt with a layout inspired by a vintage utility quilt.  The bottom group shows four rectangles sewn together.  The middle group shows trimmed 2.5" segments and the upper group shows trimmed 1.5" segments.

Time will tell if I stick to the inspiration quilt's layout that uses only 2.5" segments (resulting in a baby/toddler size) or whether I incorporate both the 2.5" and 1.5" which would yield a slightly larger quilt. 

The rest of the leftover rectangles (in the shoebox) are paired and pinned ready to be stitched together and then paired a second time to create the 4-rectangle sets.  

Originally I planned to use these as leader-enders but now I'm thinking I will just go ahead and get them sewn together and laid out (once a design wall is clear).

Either way, I have named this quilt Ohana (meaning family).

Once Ohana becomes a quilt top, I'll pull out the project box holding the extra polka dot HSTs from the making of Gone Dotty.  These are ready to be laid out and sewn into a quilt top that I'm calling Spots and Dots.

I really want to get all of the polka dot projects to flimsy stage now instead of putting them into the closet for "someday." 

These HSTs for Flaneur have been my leader-ender effort for the past few weeks.  They're all sewn now and I've pressed the first few . . .

But as you can see, there are a lot more that still need to be pressed open since there are nearly 400 HSTs in the layout.

As I was clearing off the top of my sewing table I took the time to stitch up three strip sets for Raconteur, a low volume scrappy trips quilt.  One set is shown here on the cutting table and the remaining strips are grouped and stacked in the shoebox.

I went ahead and made two test blocks to convince myself that the low volume prints would work.  (I've seen lots of photos of LV scrappy trips but I wanted to see blocks using my fabrics before proceeding.)

Raconteur will become one of our January quiet quilts but I'm hopeful it will be finished long before then.

* * *

Little Man will be here this weekend for a sleepover. 

Last Sunday during our weekly family dinner he happily told me that he'd like to make another quilt while he was here.  I had to explain that making a quilt is too big for a weekend so we are going to make a placemat "from scraps" that he can take home and use at his house.

Something tells me he will also want to make two more - one for Mommy and one for Daddy.  Good thing I have lots of scraps.

* * *

Has anyone else encountered the apparently random "sign in with Google" issue when attempting to leave a comment on someone else's blog post?  I have tried several times to "log in" (despite already being logged into Blogger/Google) without success.  So to those who are not receiving comments from me - it isn't that I haven't tried!

Quiltdivajulie

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“We are mosaics – pieces of light, love, history, and stars all glued together with magic and music and words.”

Anita Krizzan

FERHOODLE - the Layout

Lynne and I spent a couple of hours on the phone one evening and I sorted some of the leftover rectangles into groups of five as we chatted.  

When I went to move the stacks off my sewing machine, I decided it was simpler to just sew them together.   So now the blocks for Ferhoodle ("to mix up") are laid out on the design wall.

I pulled this yardage out of the backing stash and pinned it up beside the blocks.  It has been in the backing stash for eons but never found just the right quilt for it to be used, until now. 

Hooray!

And for those who wonder where/how I come up with the words I use as quilt names . . . there is no simple answer.  I hear words in song lyrics, I see them in printed materials, I find them in the thesaurus, I hear them in conversations, and I am not afraid to go online and look up the "vibe" of a project and see what words might pop up in the process.  

I also have a file folder with a Word document where I make notes to myself about possible quilt naming words for the future.

* * *

I've started prepping the rest of the leftover rectangles to leader-ender into pairs which will then be turned into pairs (meaning four rectangles will end up sewn together) since the HSTs for Flaneur are all sewn now and waiting to be pressed open.  

Stitch by stitch progress is happening.

Quiltdivajulie

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 “Words and magic were in the beginning one and the same thing, and even today words retain much of their magical power.”

 Sigmund Freud

Dot to Dot - the Layout

Initially I thought about scattering the colors throughout the quilt top but when I arranged the 8" (when finished) blocks in rows . . . well, there was no more pondering/auditioning needed.  

Here's a straight-on view - the top will finish in the 48" x 64" range when it is sewn together.

I recently gifted the last of my finished baby quilts so this one will be a new one to have on hand.

Another quilt shop in our area is closing - the owner is retiring so she and her husband can travel.  Much of the yardage in her shop is not significantly marked down yet but I bought this fun print at $4/yard specifically to back Dot to Dot.  

I like the way the blocks and the backing play together and that the finished quilt could be gifted to a boy or a girl.

* * *

When I was cutting rectangles for this project I knew I was over-cutting.  I also hoped I would be able to make another scrappy baby/toddler quilt with those extras.  

I sat down this weekend and counted the bonus rectangles and there are enough to make TWO crib size quilt tops.  I've named one project OHANA (which means family) and the other FERHOODLE (meaning to mix up).  

Both design ideas are chosen and I've started sorting the rectangles into combinations so they can become my leader-ender project once the last of the HSTs for FLANEUR are finished.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Consistency is an underappreciated form of intentional magic disguised as a mundane doing.”

Victoria Erickson

Agglomeration's Progression

Last November, like hundreds (thousands?) of other quilt makers around the world, I was drawn in by the colors for Bonnie Hunter's 2021 mystery quilt named Rhododendron Trail.

I knew I wouldn't make her mystery quilt design but I pulled colors from my stash to see what I might make instead.  2021's initial plan was to make a string quilt with broken grid (you can re-read that post HERE and see my other NOT a Mystery results HERE.)

Because I prefer scrappy, I also pulled smaller pieces from the resource boxes, but then the project stalled and the boxes sat.

At some point I cut WOF strips from the previously-pulled yardage so I could die cut HSTs for a second NOT a Mystery quilt project named FLANEUR  before putting the yardage back in the stash (I wanted/needed the piles off my cutting table).

And as usual, my plans changed again (and again) for both Agglomeration and Flaneur. 

Ultimately, I decided to make a set of spring/summer placemats with the WOF strip remains (shown above) instead of making a quilt named Agglomeration. 

Over the weekend I sewed rectangles from those WOF strips into scrappy back slabs for six placemats, substituting oranges in place of the yellows (which are now in their resource box).

 

I cut the reversible side for the placemats from Agglomeration's planned backing fabric.  

Once sandwiched with batting excess from larger quilts, these will have their turn with Max before being trimmed to 14" tall x 20" long and bound with my favorite black and white stripe.  

* * *

During this four-month journey, I've realized I don't want to make any more NOT a Mystery quilts because I spend far too much time dithering about how to use my mystery-inspired fabric pull instead of actually making what I want to make.  

SO, if I am ever tempted again, I will limit myself to a set of six placemats or maybe a runner for my sister (thank you, Little Man, once again).  

Piles of yardage can be intimidating.  

A pile of scraps on the other hand . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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“To each his own magic.”

 Libba Bray

Flaneur - Little Man's Influence at Work

Some of you may remember my splashy announcement last fall about making TWO more quilts for my NOT a Mystery series (color palette inspired by Rhododendron Trail, the 2021 Bonnie Hunter annual mystery quilt).  Well . . . here's an update.

These were the strips cut from the scrappy assortment of colors meant to be paired with the dotted gray to make HSTs for the second of the two quilts.  (see photo below for the inspiration quilt).

I named the second project FLANEUR (meaning deliberately aimless).

I don't know if you can see it in this photo, but the gray fabric had issues.  There was an inconsistent "fade" in the gray.  I thought at first it was the lighting or my eyes, but as I cut more and more strips, it was obviously all through the yardage.  

UGH.  I stopped and put it all away.

Fast forward into 2022 and I decided to forget about using the dotted gray and use this Laura Heine Color Fusion multi-directional text print instead.  

I made it this far pinning pairs to leader-ender.  But my heart wasn't feeling much joy about the grayed text and . . . 

. . .  my original inspiration idea was no longer interesting so I stopped once again.

And then THIS incredible quilt made by Bertha Robinson popped up in my Pinterest feed.  (Birds in Flight Variation, ca. 1950, cotton, cotton/polyester blend, and polyester, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama)

I fell in love instantly.  

I also knew in that very same heartbeat that the wishy-washy text print would have to go.

Do you remember this fabric that I used as the background in Spotty Town?   (Pinkerville Fairy Dust in Cotton Candy by Tula Pink)

I used it to make a few test blocks . . .  and oh, yes - this is SO MUCH better.  

Now I will unpin the already-paired-with-gray sets and proceed to leader-ender the soon-to-be-newly-paired HSTs over the coming weeks.   

What I'm really looking forward to is playing around with the many layout ideas Bertha R. used in her incredibly interesting quilt.

* * *

And for the record, my plan to make Agglomeration (the other of the two 2021 Not a Mystery quilts) has been completely removed from my waiting-to-be-made list.  

I've waffled and faffed about since last fall worrying about the design (after deciding I did not want to make the originally identified broken grid string quilt).  

I'm tired of trying to make something happen that clearly wasn't meant to be.  Especially since Little Man and his Camp Sefton quilts reminded me just how much fun making quilts can be.

(and please remind me come November that I have decided not to start any more NOT a Mystery quilts when the 2022 color palette is released!)

Quiltdivajulie

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“You know what the issues is with this world?  Everyone wants some magical solution for their problem, and everyone refuses to believe in magic.”

The Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland