April Monthly Recap

The first finish of the month was Razzle-Dazzle.

The second finish was Grandiose, Macnas series no. 8.

One quilt top was finished - Paint Party, Macnas series no. 12.

Enchanted, Macnas series no. 9, is also fully finished - I'll share its reveal post in the next few days.

The rectangles for Yutori (Macnas series no. 13, a surprise addition) were cut out and leader-ender sewn into pairs. 

The pairs have been finger pressed and are ready to be sorted in early May.  Hopefully they'll also become a flimsy before May ends.

I frequently mention my waiting-to-be-quilted closet.  Until very recently, the entire hanging rod was filled with tops/backs waiting to be quilted along with backings waiting for their tops to be sewn.  

As of the end of April, there are now only 8 tops/backs for the Macnas series plus one gift quilt still hanging in the closet; and I know exactly how I plan to use that empty space.  

Stay tuned for the story and photos later in May.

Finally, here is the monthly backyard photo for May 1.  The grass is definitely greening up, the trees are fully leafed out, and we once again have shade.

* * *

Looking ahead, May will be a hectic month with two family birthdays, our 51st anniversary, Mother's Day, and a slew of doctor appointments, plus the last days of Young Man's third grade year,  a board meeting for DH plus their monthly club meeting, and a board meeting for me with minutes to prepare afterwards.   

I WILL make time to sit and sew/quilt or else because, like the graphic in my side bar reads, "I make stuff because I get sad if I don't."

Quiltdivajulie

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"Measuring progress is often like watching grass grow.  While it's difficult to detect movement on a daily basis, it's simple to see growth over time."

Frank Sonnenberg

Grandiose - the Quilt

Grandiose, quilt number 8/12 in the Macnas series, is finished.

The quilt's name comes from the backing fabric's name - Grandiose by Philip Jacobs from the Kaffe Fassett Collective's Vintage line.

The binding came from the stash - no selvage, but it has been waiting for a long time.

The color palette was pulled from the stash in December 2023, inspired by the colors in the backing fabric.

The rectangles for Grandiose were cut in early January  2025, and the top was finished in September 2025.

Quilted in April 2026 using Glide thread in Robin Egg and my all-over liberated nested spiral fans.

There's something so wonderful about these colors - a bit mysterious while being simultaneously soothing yet energizing.

* * *

Macnas series quilt number 9/12 - Enchanted - is rolled onto the pool noodles ready to be pin basted.  Looking at the calendar, I'm not sure how much extended studio time I'll have for the next week or so but I plan  to squeeze in some short sessions whenever there's a break.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Creativity is not the possession of some special talent.  It's about the willingness to play."

John Cleese

One Day at a Time

Quilting of Grandiose, Macnas series no. 8, has started.  Honestly, getting bobbins wound and stitching the first few passes is one of the "hurdle" points in every quilt.

That said, I'm delighted with the way the Robin Egg thread plays with Grandiose's colors.

Hopefully over the next few days I'll be able to finish Grandiose and pin baste Enchanted (no. 9 in the Macnas series).  

(and yes, I've been considering quilt ideas to work on once the entire Macnas series is done and dusted - there's a lot of stashed fabric waiting to be used)

Indoors our two Christmas cacti continue to bloom and there are a few more buds ready to open any day now.  

Outdoors, the three clumps of iris that were planted last spring survived the winter and are budded and/or blooming.  The flowers are purple with mottled white areas - so pretty.

The azalea that moved to our house from elder son's yard a few years back is blooming profusely, despite the late freezes.  I only wish the flowers lasted a bit longer (the photo will supersize if you want to see the blossoms in greater detail).

I'll end with this gorgeous sunset photo taken on April 9.  Since then, the trees here are almost fully leafed out and we once again have shade - funny how its absence over the winter months became the norm.

* * *

There's lots of random background stuff going on that isn't blog-worthy yet.  Things like harvesting ephemera from older magazine issues, cleaning and tidying the studio, sorting and gathering bits for three future projects involving paper and glue, household stuff, and errands.  

It's all good but I'm glad I learned long ago to work in bursts in between everything else.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Many of us have made our world so familiar that we do not see it anymore.  An interesting question to ask yourself at night is What did I really see this day?"

John O'Donohue

Grandiose - The Flimsy

Grandiose, Macnas-inspired number 8 of 12, is now a quilt top.

So many different fabrics . . . 

468 rectangles cut at 2.5" x 4.5" and, in the case of Grandiose, 29 different aquas and at least that many different chartreuse greens.

52" x 62" before quilting, Grandiose will now go into the to-be-quilted queue.

Next up in the Macnas series will be No. 9 - Enchanted (yellow-orange/pink with black and white)

You can see the entire series (finished, quilting pending, or waiting to become a quilt top) here.

* * *

The prompt for Week 38 of the Full Deck Challenge is CHAOS.

I went with the chaos that happens when a new puzzle is opened and dumped out on the table.

This is the reverse side of the shipping tag.

(the pieces I used came from a puzzle I found at the $1.25 store)

The prompt is for Week 39 comes out on Thursday . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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"Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.

Jane Austen in Sense and Sensibility.

Moving Forward Again

My energy is returning -- and while this post might look like I was crazy productive since my last post, it actually shows the results of a week's worth of "a little here and a little there."

Our September decor is out - sunflowers and apples with a few black and white touches like these ceramic acorns.

Every year after school started, my mom would take us to the apple orchard where she would buy a whole bushel of apples to make applesauce for the winter months.  The owner always gave each of us girls an apple and one year, I lost my first tooth when I bit into mine.

I've added another few rows to Grandiose (Macnas-inspired no. 8) so now there just a very few more to go.

I had hoped to have all 12 quilts in the series finished by year end - I now realize I'll be happy if I have all 12 quilt TOPS finished in 2025. The remaining four are ready for layout and assembly so I'm pretty sure I can meet this revised goal; and if 2-3 of them get quilted as well, then hooray.

The leader-ender block progress for Incandescent is moving this one forward on the design wall.  Once all the blocks are sewn and pressed, I'll do a bit of rearranging (maybe) before sewing the top together.

I finally decided on the alternate fabric for these 3" HSTs and got everything die cut so I can prep Xanadu (not previously blogged about) to become another leader-ender project as I continue my way through the series of Macnas-inspired quilt tops.  Each of the color stacks contains at least 4-5 or more different fabrics/prints/textures.

Once all the HSTs are made, I'll decide on the final layout - for now I'm happy to have this part of the prep work done.

Finally, after thinking about it for several days, I created my week 36 shipping tag for Shana's Full Deck Challenge 3.  

This is the tag's reverse side - as you might have guessed, the prompt was Flowers.

I also worked in many short sessions to create a total of 60 altered vintage slide frames.

This group features postage stamps with bits of torn tea bags.

Another group has bits of old road maps.

All the others have different types of script or text in their windows.  All of these will make great bits to add into my journals and altered book projects.

There are lots of tutorials out there for altered slides - most of them completely disguise the original printed words and logos with paint or paper.  I tried one or two that way and they felt all wrong, so I went back to my ink pad method with little bits of collage.  

* * * 

I'm not 100% yet as my focus/attention span is still shorter than usual and I still need an occasional rest break, but I'm delighted to be doing as much as I am.  

We've also had some marvelously cooler weather which means reading on the back porch.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Everything has a value, provided it appears at the right place at the right time.  It's a matter of recognizing that value, that quality, and then to transform it into something that can be used.  If you come across something valuable and tuck it away in your metaphorical suitcase there's sure to come a moment when you can make use of it."  Jurgen Bey

Catch Up Post

Grandiose (Macnas series no. 8) now has its first 8 rows sewn and pressed.  Only ten more rows to go. 

The three-strip blocks for Incandescent are my leader-ender project whilst stitching the top for Grandiose.

For every two rows of Grandiose, I get thirteen finished blocks for Incandescent. 

Slow and steady.

Esperance is finally pin basted . . . 

. . .  and ready to be quilted.  

I have been thinking that I'll use the same amethyst thread used for Haru, but I am also wondering about a soft pink?

I finished cleaning up some odds and ends on the paper play table.  These four book covers have been updated and repurposed.

Two of them have papers bound inside using a three-hole pamphlet stitch.  

The other two have three-ring binders.  

The reproduction Country Diary book is filled with an eclectic group of papers while the postage stamp cover has a single sheet with notes to myself for the time I am inspired to fill it with papers.

(you may remember the postage stamp cover from this past spring's Postcard Swap - I ended up storing the postcards I received in a small wood box which meant the cover was fair game for a future project)

The prompt for Week 34 of Full Deck Challenge 3 (Shanouki Arts You Tube channel) is "happy scraps."

This is the front of my tag . . . 

. . . and this is the back.

I've considered several other approaches to this challenge for next year but I keep coming back to how much I enjoy working on these shipping tags.

Creating these tags, I've surprised myself since this is the first year-long (or any other) challenge I've continued for more than a few weeks.  

* * *

I've also just realized we are nearing the end of August and I had intended to make a set of six new placemats for September. 

I've pulled the fabric, pressed it, and will get it pin basted shortly.  I won't have them done by the first of the month, but they will be finished and in use before September ends.

 

Quiltdivajulie

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"If living life is an art, then only you can be the artist to make it colorful."

Sagar Gosavi

Fandango - the Flimsy - and Beyond

Fandango is now a freshly-pressed quilt top measuring 52" x 72" (ish).

(number 7 in my series of 12 Macnas quilts)

The coloration in this photo is way off - the colors are much warmer as you can see in the other photos.

Here's a detail that shows some of the pieced rectangles (lights and darks).

And here's another that shows the Cherrywood segmented rectangles.

A finished top meant it was time to sort the sewn pairs for Grandiose (Macnas series no. 8).

I used the aquas as the "dark" and the chartreuse/limes as the "light" for sorting purposes.

The stacks were sorted onto 18 plates (one for each row) and I've laid out and sewn the first two rows (not yet pressed or attached to each other).

These color make me happy.

Young Man and I played around with watercolors one afternoon and I've framed his rainbow for the shelf in my sewing studio.  It looks SO good with the ROYGBIV journals on the shelf just below.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Laughter is an instant vacation."

Milton Berle

The Rest of the Series

I've finished the first three quilts in the Macnas series (Macnas, Reverie, and Tuxie-Tude).

This set of sewn pairs will become number 4 - Vellichor (the beautiful wistfulness of used book stores; the strange romance evoked by the smell of old books and paper).

As soon as these are pressed, they'll be sorted into 18 rows and sewing of the quilt top can begin.

This set of pinned pairs will become number 6 - Wallaroo (Common name for species of Australian macropods intermediate in size between kangaroos and wallabies)

I'll use these as leader enders as I sew the top for Vellichor.

(number 5 - Rubricate (to mark with red) is nearing flimsy status with only 7 more long horizontal rows to be sewn)

This set of pinned pairs will become number 7 - Fandango (Fandango is a vibrant and lively shade of purple with pink undertones, often associated with a lively and energetic feel. It falls within the spectrum of magenta tones, offering a bold and eye-catching hue that can evoke a sense of creativity and fun.)

I'll use these as leader enders as I sew the quilt top below.

These sewn pairs will become number 8 - Grandiose (name inspired by the Philip Jacobs backing fabric's selvage).

Once pressed and sorted into rows, I'll use Fandango (above) as leader enders as I sew the top for Grandiose.

These sewn pairs will become number 9 - Enchanted (adj. – utterly delighted or captivated; fascinated; charmed or under a spell; bewitched; magical).

Once pressed and sorted, I'll sew these into a quilt top using the pinned pairs for Hanabi (below) as leader enders.

These pinned pairs will become number 10 Hanabi (Japanese word meaning fireworks).

They will be used as leader enders as I sew Enchanted's pairs into a quilt top.

These pinned pairs will become number 11 - Morning Fog (name inspired by an early morning waterfront photo).

I'm very happy with the softer assortment of scrappy neutrals - the evicted grays simply did not play well with the light blues.

And finally these pinned pairs will become number 12 - Paint Party (inspired by photos of Young Man helping paint a restaurant's patio fence).

The planned alternate gray rectangles from Morning Fog were also a fail here - instead I used Tula Pink's Fairy Dust (white) which totally supports the inspiration's "happy" vibe.

For all of these projects, you can click on their name labels at the end of the post to see their individual back stories/progression posts.

* * *

Now that all the planning, cutting, pinning, and pairing is out of the way, let's see if I can find enough time to sit and sew/quilt so these are finished by year end.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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Do something.  If it works, do more of it.  If it doesn't, do something else."

Franklin D. Roosevelt