Welcome to July

Right end of our mantel 

(the half-gallon canning jars were my maternal grandmother's)

Center of the mantel

This sign encapsulates so much of my Michigan childhood

from herds of holsteins grazing in the fields,

frequent family outings to regional ice creameries, 

my maternal grandfather's stories of life on the farm,

and so much more . . .

. . . including the sign on September's barn

in my book's cover quilt See Rock City. 

Left end of the mantel

Left end of the hearth

Right end of the hearth

Fourth of July (2021) on one living room rocker

Hello July (2021) on the second living room rocker

The cedar chest's orphan block runner

The Kitchen Door Quilt (2016) on one side chair

with a pillow made from Finnish linen purchased 

the summer between my junior-senior year of college 

while I was part of an all-Michigan orchestra tour 

that criss-crossed Finland.

Inspi(RED) (2020) on the second side chair

with a second pillow made from another piece

of that well-aged Finnish linen.

Gotta Love It (2011) on the back of the couch

And Moments in Time (2016) on the back of my recliner

* * *

Wishing each of you a safe (!!) 

and satisfying Fourth of July weekend. 

Quiltdivajulie

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“Purer colors…have in themselves, independently of the objects they serve to express, a significant action on the feelings of those who look at them.”

Henri Matisse

Hello July - the Quilt

Hello July 

53" x 63"

Started just over a year ago with the purchase

of a Mackinac Island by Moda layer cake

that I enhanced with more fabrics from the stash.

I die cut just over 300 4" finished tumblers.

What a delicious mix.

I used the very last pieces of Keiko Goke's 

Sashiko print for the binding.

Quilted using Glide thread in Graphite

and a lot of wavy vertical liberated lines.

* * *

I have two more that I want to quilt

yet this month -- Gerful and Fruit Smoothie.

Fingers crossed! 

Quiltdivajulie

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“You are my blue crayon, the one I never have enough of, the one I use to color my sky.”

A.R. Asher

Wrap Up and New Goals

Now that all eleven quilts in the

Dumpster Diving series are finished,

I put together a video so I had photos all in one place.

CLICK HERE and enjoy.

(just fyi - this is on DH's YouTube account)

* * *

Now about those goals . . . 

Fourth of July is ready to pin baste for some FMQ action.

So is Hello July.

Fruit Smoothie is also waiting for FMQ 

so it will be ready for use on July 1.

* * *

I'm not sure why but I've been more in the mood

to quilt/finish some of these waiting tops/backs 

than I have been to sit and sew at my Bernina.

I'm still working on my RSC red projects

(lined drawstring gift bags and Hoppipolla)

and here it is almost June when Angela

will announce the next color of the month.

Oh well, it's all good because

every stitch moves something forward.

Quiltdivajulie

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“I never met a color I didn’t like.”

Dale Chihuly

Hello July - the Flimsy

Webbing the tumblers together worked beautifully.

Hello July is now a finished quilt top!

Seeded with a Mackinac Island layer cake,

I added multiple fabrics from the stash

to enhance the scrappiness factor.

Have I mentioned lately that I truly love my die cutter?

. . . no corners to trim, no blocks to square.

Having grown up in Michigan and

having visited Mackinac Island countless times,

the fabrics in that layer cake really do capture

the beautiful spirit of the place.

Quilt top currently 56" wide x 64" long

(side edges will be straightened after quilting)

19 tumblers wide x 16 rows

(4" finished tumblers)

This is the fabric I've chosen for backing.

Those expressions and whiskers tickled me.

And it turns out there really ARE otters that live on the island.

(I didn't know that until I did a bit of research)

Fabric - Acadia Otter Assembly 

by Betsy Siber for Michael Miller

* * *

Now for a housekeeping note . . . 

Thank you to those who left comments 

on last week's Trick or Treat top/back post

and especially on Saturday's Dumpster Diving post.

Blogger deleted my comment notification email

(unbeknownst to me)

so I wasn't able to respond like I usually do.

Answers to questions from the Dumpster Diving post:

Where did I find the backing fabric?

from a line by Debi Payne for Quilted Treasures

and is still available from several sellers online.

The panel with the critters?

from The Wild Things line for P&B Textiles -

purchased from Pineapple Fabrics

but they no longer show it on their website.

Block size?  12.5" (will finish at 12")

About my Dumpster Diving method?

Visit my dedicated page HERE on the blog

for a link to the original tutorial by Tonya Ricucci

that sent me off on this ongoing journey.

The notification problem has been fixed

(unless they change it again)

so hopefully I will be able to respond

to your comments on this post . . . 

Fingers crossed!

Quiltdivajulie

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“I need a break from all the noise.

I want to breathe clean air and swim in clean water.

I want to sit on the porch of an old cabin and listen to the stillness.

I want to be out where things are simple, and every breath is a reminder that there is beauty and magic left in this world.”

Brooke Hampton

Challenge Accepted

Last week when I posted about Hello July 

I mentioned that tumblers didn't lend themselves

to webbing so I would sew them into rows instead.

Judy S. challenged me to try webbing them anyway.

I used some of the scrappy leftover tumblers

just to see what would happen.

Voila!  

Webbing DOES work with tumblers.

(doing the happy dance . . . )

Thanks Judy for taking the time to leave that comment.

The tumblers are clipped and ready to web

AND I can use the design wall to lay out Resplendent.

I have the leaf blocks sewn together

along with the inner sashing and cornerstones.

(yes, I added four more leaves and attendant parts

to make my version rectangular -

are you surprised?)

I also changed the fabrics I was planning to use

for the inner border and binding.

The brown Grunge contains burnt red, orange,

gray, and cream accents allowing it 

to play beautifully with the top's center.

And the striped binding is softer / less harsh

than the scrappy dark gray binding

 that has gone back into the stash box yet again - 

maybe someday it will find its forever home

but not with Resplendent.

Next step will be to sew up the remaining HSTs

to create the scrappy outer border . . . 

This pattern is never going to be used 

so I'm offering it to one of you.

Please leave a comment if you'd like it

and be sure your email address is linked somehow

so I can contact you when I draw the winner's name.

(no active email means I draw another name)

One final thought . . . HOW do they grow up so fast?!??!?!!

Quiltdivajulie

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"I no longer listen to what people say, I watch what they do.  Behavior never lies."

Winston Churchill

Hello July - Blocks on the Wall

The 4" die cut tumblers for this project

have been ready to lay out for several weeks.

Finally they are up on the design wall.

My initial idea was to put them up randomly.

Clearly that didn't work out as planned.

After considering several variations

this tried-and-true diagonal layout

ended up being my final decision.

Tumblers don't lend themselves to webbing

so I'll be sewing this top together in rows.

I've named this tumbler quilt Hello July.

It will be used year round but come summertime

it will reside on the back of the couch.

But it might be a little while since my attention 

has been grabbed by another seasonal project.

 

I'll share more about that project on Wednesday.

* * *

Like so many others, I am struggling with the

onslaught of less-than-good news these days.

I am craving kindness and simplicity

over ugliness and complications,

especially when I am in the studio.

As a way to cut myself some slack,

I've decided to use some of the patterns

I've accumulated through the years

as starting points for a number of projects

designed to USE fabrics from 

my soul-soothing and colorful stash

to keep me occupied but not frustrated.

Some may never come to fruition

but the process of thinking about and planning them

entertains me and keeps me focused in the here and now.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves.

We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves."    

Humbert Wolfe

Short Term Goals and More

First - I want to finish webbing the top for Sukoon.

Second - I want to web the top for Otsego Revisited.

Third - I want to web the top for Jingle Bells.

THEN I can start playing with another project

that has been cut out and waiting for a while now.

A tumbler quilt I've named Hello July that was

seeded with the fabrics from this layer cake.

With the movement of items back to the bonus room

aka Younger Son's new living space

it was time to clean and freshen up the design studio.

DH helped me add this small design wall

in place of the quilt hanging rod

on the entry wall of the room.

Flexible display space . . . I like it.

And I inherited a leftover 2-drawer filing cabinet

that fit perfectly into the opening between

two of the existing drawer pedestals.

It is perfect for printed/bound tutorials, 

patterns with acrylic templates,

information on speciality rulers,

and patterns of all sorts.

And there was even enough space on top

to add a splash of color with four of my quilts.

Progress comes in many forms.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Don’t listen to criticism from someone you wouldn’t see advice from.”

Melissa Bolton