Davies Quilt Show Wrap Up 2019

This was my spot during the three days of  

the 23rd Annual Davies Manor Quilt Show

for my Dumpster Diving display and demo.

(L to R:  DD3-Waterfall, 

DD2-Good Morning Sunshine,

and DD1-Willy Nilly)

Here are the same three quilts looking from the 

wall towards the center of the room.

On the back side were the other three completed DD quilts.

(L to R:  DD4-The Christmas Edition, 

DD5-Catharsis, 

and DD6-Lagniappe)

Over the course of the three days,

in between talking to show visitors

and explaining the scrappy process,

I stitched together the purple and green strips

and assembled 45 DD triangles in squares

that will become DD 7 - Respite.

(layout TBD)

I also sat and chain pieced solids

for what will become DD8 - Bella.

It was such fun to see peoples' eyes light up

with the possibilities of these 1.5" strip segments

as they realized they didn't need a pattern.

Elsewhere in the show area . . . 

sCRUMBtious hung in the 

machine pieced-machine quilted area.

Conundrum was in the Small Wall Quilt category . . .

. . . as was Mosaic.

MO Color Story was in the Large Wall Quilt category.

My cross stitch pillow and a scrappy Christmas runner

were in the Accessories category.

And April Showers was part of the smaller

but still amazing exhibit of BLUE challenge quilts

from earlier this year.

Next year the Davies Challenge will follow

the same 24" x 24" approach

but with the theme of GREEN.

I have three ideas and I'd like to make them all.

Time will tell!

Little Man made a marble bag

with the help of Miss Andrea 

and her hand crank sewing machine.

It was awesome to see the difference

in his ability and understand

from last year to this year.

And this big bag full of now-freshly-laundered fabric

was my take-away from various vendors.

The local Modern Guild had four tables of fabrics

for sale this year - their members clean out

their stashes and sell the bounty to 

raise funds for their dues and speakers -

so we all benefit.

I picked up a set of 31 hand pieced

churn dash/hole in the barn door blocks

that have been hand washed in Orvus soap

(three times before the water was reasonably clear)

and are now drying flat between towels.

And there are enough random scrap pieces

from the grab bags to start cutting 1.5" strips

for a "someday" spiderweb quilt.

* * *

It was a busy and worthwhile weekend.

Next comes the "take down" day

and the "give back" day

and then this year's show will be done.

Quiltdivajulie

Mosaic - The Quilt

After three months of making block parts for Mosaic,

(click on the link above to read the project's back story)

I decided I didn't want to continue this project

to the point of making a full sized quilt.

So I took the 120 completed block parts,

turned them into 30 full blocks,

and laid them out on the design wall.

And then, within less than 24 hours,

I had a completely finished quilt.

(definitely a studio speed record for me)

I quilted Mosaic using my favorite mix 

of liberated swirls and flowers.

And to work with the variety of colors

I used Affinity Rainbow variegated thread.

I am over-the-moon-elated with the results.

I chose the darkest of the Bella blues

used in the quilt for the binding.

This happy scrappy saturated wall quilt 

makes me ridiculously happy!

26.5" x 31.5" 

* * *

Linking this post with

the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Quiltdivajulie

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"The world is changed by your example not your opinion."
Paul Coelho

Mosaic Blocks in Green

Green has been the RSC color of the month for March.

Early in the month I sorted out eight QSTs

for each of my forty blocks.

And then I got sick . . . 

This past week I was finally able to sew my blocks together.

The plate above holds 320 pairs of tiny "ears" 

that were trimmed from the HST corners.

I did not trim these the first month.

After seeing the results 

I changed my plan and decided trimming 

 made for a neater back with less bulk in the seams.

The HSTs were then chain stitched into pairs . . .

. . . and those pairs were sewn into blocks.

I'm especially pleased that this month's blocks

pressed even flatter than last month's.

I really like the way the multiple greens

dance and play with the background blues.

I wasn't too sure about that very light green text print

but it adds a bit of sparkle to the mix

and it does in fact read as pale green.

The March greens now join January's reds . . . 

. . . and February's yellows in the project box.

I wonder what color we'll be playing with in April?

* * *

Linking up with The Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Quiltdivajulie

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"It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction.
Fiction has to make sense."
Mark Twain

March Goals

The quilt top of the month for March

will be Dumpster Diving 5 - Catharsis.

After two design changes, a third one is in process

and I'm finally ready to rock and roll

to get this to flimsy stage by 3/31.

My number one quilting project for March

will be the 70273 Project's Quilt No. 697

from last fall's Davies Manor quilt show.

The top currently measures 56" x 77"

and commemorates 86 lives.

I also need to put away all of the quilts

from the cancelled trunk shows.

They were heavy before and they're still heavy

so I'm dealing with them in very small groups

since my stamina is still recovering.

When I teach at John C. Campbell Folk School in September,

(class project photo pending on their website)

I want to take 12-14 journal covers to sell in their Craft Shop.

The outsides are assembled and linings have been chosen.

Next steps will be to assemble the covers and quilt them.

Hopefully they'll all be ready for the final steps

by the end of the month.

If not, these might spill over into April.

I'll be teaching Lynne's Liberated Birds

 at our local quilt shop on March 18 and 25.

(day and evening classes)

AND I need to prep enough quarter square triangles

 to assemble forty blocks for my RSC Mosaic project.

This month's color is GREEN - which should

look really good against the blue backgrounds.

* * *

And in my non-quilting world,

I need to prepare for and chair my first 

Davies Manor Association Board meeting,

and get things ready for our tax guy.

One thing at a time . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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"Set realistic goals, keep re-evaluating, and be consistent."

Venus Williams

February's RSC Blocks Complete

Little by little,

I worked on the forty Mosaic blocks

throughout the month of February.

After sewing all the HSTs together

and giving them a good press,

I trimmed away the extra corner bits.

The 3" blocks lay so much flatter

with those tiny pieces removed.

Here are all forty of the February yellow blocks.

I really like the way the different background blues

create a subtle sense of movement.

And because I never actually put all of January's red blocks

up on the design wall last month, here they are.  

(you can read my introductory post for this project HERE)

* * *

I'm also happy to share that the third antibiotic

seems to be working - my fever has been gone 

for just over 24 hours now.

It will take a while to get my stamina back,

but at least things are moving in the right direction.

* * *

Linking up with The Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Quiltdivajulie

Red Mosaic Blocks for January

And then there were forty quarter-blocks

featuring a wide variety of reds.

Earlier this month when Mosaic was introduced,

I calculated I would need to make

 32 quarter-blocks per month.

That was before I realized that 

those 3" blocks would finish at 2.5" 

which then meant that the 

four-part block would finish at 5" 

instead of 6 inches.

My revised plan now calls for a layout 

with eighteen 2.5" blocks across 

by twenty-two 2.5" blocks long

for a total of 396 2.5" blocks.

Those 396 quarter-blocks will yield 99 5" blocks

which will be laid out 9 across x 11 long

for a top measuring 45" x 55"

So instead of die cutting 

2,560 quarter square triangles,

I 'll need 3,168 QSTs.

I wonder which focal color 

Angela will choose for February . . . 

* * *

Linking up with The Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Learning is not a race for information, it's a walk of discovery."
Anonymous

RSC 19 - My Project Begins

Cathy and Gayle have been making blocks

inspired by these vintage beauties for a while now.

Cathy calls hers Vintage Thingamajigs.

Gayle calls hers Potato Chips.

Last July I decided I would join them and

use these blocks as my RSC 2019 project.

I'm calling my version Mosaic.

(I didn't start any new projects during RSC18

so I could finish up those from previous years -

you can read about my 2014-2018 RSC projects 

by following the links on my RSC page HERE)

I drew a diagram (left) 

to work things out in my own head

and used one of Gayle's photos (right)

to remind myself which layout I plan to use.

(these can be square set like Cathy's or set as above)

I ordered this die to improve my overall accuracy

and to reduce the number of corners to be trimmed.

A single charm square or smaller scrap

on one side of the die yields 4 QSTs 

which is good for the accent triangles.

A rectangle cut 4" x 8" 

yields 8 QSTs which is great for

the focal color (January's is red)

and for the backgrounds.

I'll be using these Moda Bella blues

for my backgrounds.

(the inspiration blocks used muslin)

I've pulled this gathering of fabrics

from the resource boxes to cut QSTs.

I'll have to pull and cut more later in the year,

but these will definitely get me started.

Here are my first four 3" blocks.

Since I want to make a quilt 48" x 60"

I'll need 320 3" blocks to create

a layout 16 wide x 20 long.

That means I need to make 32 little blocks a month.

And for those who love numbers,

each 3" block has 8 QSTs which means 

the quilt top will contain 2,560 QSTs!

Here's a look at the back side of the blocks.

And since I want the layout to be super scrappy,

I'll wait until all of the 3" blocks are pieced

before combining groups of 4 to create 6" blocks.

(the layout then will be 8 wide x 10 long)

 Only 28 more 3" blocks to piece 

for the month of January . . . 

* * *

Linking up with The Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Quiltdivajulie

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Instead of wondering "Why?" or "What if?" or "Why can't?" or "Why didn't?" -- how about just opening yourself up to the wonders around you?
(from DailyPositiveInspirations.com)