Reciprocity Pt. 2 - The Reveal

Reciprocity - a Kitchen Table quilt - is finished.

(originally named Double-Sided Four Patch,

the name was changed to Reciprocity 

in October of last year as a nod to the

double-sidedness/dual functionality of the quilt - 

i.e., reciprocal, reciprocate, reciprocity)

This is the quilt's front.

This is the quilt's back.

(I took these photos indoors due to windy, rainy weather)

Later in the day this was the sky looking one direction.

And this was the sky when I turned ninety degrees to the right.

After a couple more cloudbursts, the rain finally moved on.

That meant I could clean the pollen off the patio table

and take my series of outdoor photos.

I'm honestly not sure which side I like better.

The quilt measures 60" x 60"

(taken on the driveway

because the yard was still too soggy)

Like I said, I'm not sure which side I like best.

Quilted with liberated unmarked

free motion echoed orange peels.

This is the first time I've tried echoing these

and it won't be the last - I love the texture.

Thread:  Glide's German Granit thread

(spelled without an "e")

which blended beautifully 

across the wide variety of colors.

Bound with a well-aged dark green print.

* * *

Reciprocity will be enjoyed

whether on or off the kitchen table.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Don’t think or judge.  Just listen.”
Sarah Dessen

Reciprocity Pt. 1 - How It Happened

In late 2017 I gathered all the random 2.5" strips 

from various spots in the studio and put them into a big box.

(strips cut for bindings but not used,

projects that were started but abandoned, etc.)

Some of those strips were cut into rectangles/squares

 that became this quilt top originally called Mercyful One 

but now known as Comfortable.

It waited in the to-be-quilted closet for almost a year

but is now bordered and paired with a three-fabric  

pieced backing - all of which has been pin-basted for quilting. 

More of the 2.5" squares were used to piece 

a double four patch table topper named Reciprocity

that would later become one of my

Kitchen Table quilt projects.

More of the low volumes were cut into squares

that became four patches in Squares Aplenty.

(top donated to Covered in Love)

Last December I used still more of the low volume 

strips and squares in the scrappy back of Zephyr.

(Zephyr is hanging out in the to-be-quilted closet)

The last of the 2.5" strips were used 

to piece the top for Bemused -

our Kitchen Table Quilt for January 2020.

* * *

After almost a year of waiting,

the blocks for Reciprocity's top and back 

were finally sewn together last month.

The quilting is done and on Wednesday, 

I'll share photos of the finished quilt.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Listening is not a reaction, it is a connection.  Listening to a conversation or a story, we don’t so much respond as join in – become part of the action.”

Ursula K. Le Guin

Reciprocity - The Flimsy and Back

I last shared this project in May 2019

when the blocks were finished and clipped for webbing

to become a kitchen table quilt.

Since then it had been sitting in a project box.

Last week I finally sewed the top and the back together.

(shown above before their final pressing)

Here is Reciprocity's double four patch top.

It measures 60" x 60"

I love the random scrappiness of the four patches.

I also love the way that gray/black print unifies the whole.

Here is the sewn-together backing.

This was supposed to be quilted and ready on April 1.

Oops.

I plan to get it finished in time 

to use it for the final part of April 

and so I'm back on track for May.

Maybe by then the worst of pollen season

will be over so I can take outdoor photos

without first having to scrub down our patio table.

Wishful thinking, I know.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Let’s take our hearts for a walk in the woods and listen to the magic whispers of old trees . . ."

Wild Woman Sisterhood

Redefining my Focus . . .

As typically  happens after a week away at JCCFS

(and a long weekend away with family)

I need/want to re-visit my project list

and waiting fabric pulls.

The biggest decision is that I'm going to take

several projects already underway and

re-design them to become 60" x 60" table toppers.

That way we'll have a different one to use each month

AND 

I have a year-long-date-oriented project list 

to help  keep me on task.

 (see list at the end of this post)

* * *

This revised approach meant that

I needed to change my plan for Halcyon 

(my Granny Cabin qal project)

 from a 48" x 60" lap quilt to

the designer's 58" x 58" throw design.

A new coloring sheet was completed and 

a few more squares of certain colors were cut.

Now I'm ready to sit and sew.

I also pulled a scrappy assortment from the stash 

that suits Halcyon's color palette.

I'll go with the 10.5" square approach

so I can mix these colors around.

* * *

Shifting gears for a moment --

Some of you may have seen this photo on IG.

When we met up with my sister and her husband,

I delivered these four bags filled with 17 quilts.

(and four recently-turned walnut bowls)

One bag for each of the nephews and their family

and one for my sister and her husband.

They all love quilts and live where it is cold.

(except one family that now lives in FL)

It makes me so happy to know these

 will be appreciated and enjoyed.

After all, isn't that the real reason we make quilts?

Back to my revised game plan --

I came up with a way to incorporate

all three of the JCCFS strata leftovers into

ONE quilt instead of three smaller projects

Meet FAUVE (adj:  Vivid in color)

The former wall quilt will became the center 

and I'll use the long columns as borders.

I need to play with the inner stop border

and the outer border fabrics - I like 

this BOB but these strips are too narrow.

And in the Squirrel Club department,

I've been cutting 1.5" squares 

for several weeks now --

Wanda and Lynn D. and so many others

are making 1" postage stamp blocks

using solids as the alternate squares --

and we already know I have a thing

for scrappy 1.5" strips.

When I found this 2012 tutorial online 

I knew I would go this route instead. 

I will need to make 48 of these 12" blocks

with 144 1.5" squares in each one

for a lap quilt that measures 48" x 60"

At this point I have cut about 1/4 

of the tiny squares that will be needed.

But since I am delighted to have found

 a plan that works for me,

I've named this one BONHEUR 

which means "happy."

* * *

There's a lot of other pondering 

and planning going on in the background;.

In between cutting out pieces and parts

for a number of waiting projects

and stitching the blocks for Halcyon,

I want (need) to spend some time quilting with Max.

* * *

One stitch at a time.

* * *

Recap of My Table Topper Game Plan for 2020

January - Squares Aplenty

(minimal redesign needed for sewn top - 

back pieced - ready to quilt)

February - TBD

(waiting project not yet shared)

March -  Bemused

(2" scrappy postage stamp ala Red Pepper Quilts - 

sewing started - not yet shared)

April - Reciprocity (side one)

(top sewn - ready to quilt this two-sided project - 

formerly known as the Double-Sided Four Patch)

May - Reciprocity (side two)

(back sewn - ready to quilt this two-sided project -

formerly known as the Double-Sided Four Patch)

June - Halcyon

(Granny Cabin QAL project - work in progress)

July - Frabjous

(fabrics pulled for coins style design - not yet shared )

August - Farmland

(another waiting project - 

Crazy Quilt design from CFQ book - 

not yet shared here on the blog)

September - Shift Happens

(top and back sewn - ready to quilt)

October - Sweater Weather (side one)

(waiting project not yet shared)

November - Sweater Weather (side two)

(waiting project not yet shared)

December - Merry and Bright

(waiting project not yet shared - 

Christmas fabrics cut and ready to sew)

Quiltdivajulie

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“There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself.  It is the only true guide you will ever have.  And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.”  

Howard Thurman

Double Four Patch Table Cover

I don't think I've shared this project before.

The scrappy four patches were cut from

"that overflowing box" of 2.5" strips.

They were leader-enders until it was time 

to sew the larger blocks together.

Each double four patch block will finish at 7.5"

The blocks are laid out 8 wide x 8 long so

my table cover will finish at approx. 60" square.

And then the blocks came off the wall.

Now they're clipped and ready 

to be sewn into a flimsy.

Early on I pulled these fabrics

to use for a scrappy back.

Width-wise things were fine.

Length-wise not so much.

And while I like multi-fabric backs,

I did not like these four as large pieces

knowing that I wanted the quilt 

to be usable with either side showing.

I added two greens to the mix and

cut as many 10.5" squares as possible.

Then I used the leftover strips

to piece more 10.5" squares.

Laid out 7 wide x 7 long 

it will make an interesting back.

I took the blocks off the design wall and

clipped them so they're ready to be sewn together.

Hopefully before too long.

* * *

Thankfully I can rotary cut and machine stitch

with my thumb in a now-smaller splint.

(and almost into a wide foam "band-aid")

Pinning things together however is awkward and

more than a few pins have landed on the floor.

The good news? 

My knuckle is healing.

Quiltdivajulie