September Recap for 18 in 2018

For this month's recap, 

I'm starting with three projects

that seemed like marvelous ideas

but turned out to be less than I'd hoped.

The first involved a bundle of scraps from Mari.

I had planned to keep them all together,

plus adding in a few more from my stash,

to make a scrappy string-ish kind of quilt.

The more I worked with it,

the less it spoke to me . . . 

So I am going to share 

the low volume strips and bits

with a friend who is short on those 

and the rest is now back in my stash.

The second involved these fabrics 

from the Outback Wife line.

I love their stories and textures,

but no matter how I've tried to use them,

they came out dark, off-balance, and un-inspiring.

As a result, they've been handed off to someone else

who is wildly excited about them.

The third change-of-direction this month

involved my autumn tree quilt.

These untrimmed blocks left me disappointed.

The individual fabrics are okay,

but the feel of the mix just doesn't work.

It doesn't help that autumn is not 

my favorite season of the year, either.

This idea will return, but not in this form.

(go check out  Lynne tree plans shared here)

On the QUILTING front, 

I quilted and finished two quilts this month.

Scrappy Bow Ties (above) 

and 

Flummadiddle (below)

I didn't get to the other two 

that were on my September goals list,

but they will happen during October - 

one way or another.

One the PIECING front:

I pieced this top and donated it to 

a local guild's Hospice project

as part of my 2018 comfort quilts effort.

I converted my 25-patch low volume project into 

Just Because - a modified scrap vortex style quilt top.

This one really helped empty the neutral crumb boxes.

I finally finished piecing the London Fields quilt top.

AND I finished piecing the top of Tea Party

for our local show's annual challenge.

(this one MUST be quilted during early October

since turn-in days are October 30-31)

And last but not least, on the Squirrel Club front:

I spent a lot of time rearranging the stash

(and the studio itself)

due to the arrival of this bookshelf.

I spent time putting together 

annual photo books for the quilts I've made

during the last fourteen years.

I celebrated a major milestone birthday

and our older son celebrated his 40th.

I turned these into a series of step-out blocks

for the two Freeform Pinwheels classes

I'll be teaching in mid-October.

(design from Sujata's Cultural Fusion Quilts)

After week one's classes,

these step-outs will be turned into a quilt top

so I can use it in during week two's classes

when we talk about layout and assembly.

I also cut out pieces and parts to make

four additional Christmas quilts.

* * *

It was a busy month for so many reasons

and October promises to be even more hectic.

One stitch at a time . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."

Steve Jobs

On Second Thought . . .

I liked this approach a lot when there were only a few blocks.

But as I finished ten of the 25-patch blocks

and laid them out with the different alternate 10" squares,

I liked the look less and less and less.

In fact, I didn't even take any photos of the mishmash-mess.

I just started tinkering with alternate ideas.

In the end, I didn't want to go to all the work of designing

and then making a quilt top that didn't excite me.

Instead, I decided to make a totally scrappy low volume quilt

using the 25-patch blocks and a large section of 

already-pieced low volume scraps 

leftover from making Zinderella last year

plus more bits and pieces from the resource box.

It took only a few  hours of power stitching

to create this deliciously scrappy 49" x 72" quilt top.

(it really is square - the photo makes it look skewed)

There are so many awesome fabric scraps in the mix.

Bits and pieces from here and there plus 

some from long distance online friends.

The top was designed/constructed with a bit of symmetry -

if you look closely, the grayish rows of squares 

form dividers between similarly sized sections.

Just a bit of calm within the chaos.

I'll use this long-stashed piece for backing.

With a horizontal seam and a 6" insert row of scraps

leftover from the front,

it will play beautifully with the front of the quilt.

I have named this one JUST BECAUSE.

* * *

SO much better than the original plan!

Quiltdivajulie

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"Reading inspirational and motivational quotes daily 
is like taking my vitamins."
Rosanne Cash