Ruth - the Flimsy

Ruth is now a completed quilt top -- 56" wide by 72" long.

I had planned to take the top outside for photos because the colors are less stark that my photos show, but it super windy again today so indoor photos were the only workable option.

Here is a close up of some of the fabrics.

My long insert strip was exactly long enough for the backing - hooray!

(Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements Rue le Peltier)

Here is the quilt top laid over the end of the pressing table and backing.

I'm delighted with the way Ruth finally came together - I confess to having my doubts along the way but trusting the process paid off once again.

(and since someone will ask, the quilt in the background is named Someday is Now - inspired by a Sujata Shah design)

Quiltdivajulie

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"The act of sewing is a process of emotional repair."

Louise Bourgeois

Ready to Assemble

And we have a layout -- Ruth's blocks are now ready to sew together.

Here she is from another angle.

I also sewed the strip pair end-cuts together based only on nesting the seams and not putting the same fabric next to itself.   

The not-yet-pressed strip assures me that Ruth will indeed be a color-story beauty once she is quilted/finished.

Here is the strip hanging on the design wall.  

(I have three extra blocks for the top/bottom so the insert strip is long enough for the backing)

This closer up photo does a better job of showing the colors.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Make something . . . for yourself or of yourself or someone else with a friend out of wood from stuff you found with paint with clay with words just please whatever your do make something." 

Jo Hildler.

Arrrrgh

Younger son was sick but is better now.

Then DH got sick but he is better now.

So Friday evening I finally had a chance to sew a few more blocks for Ruth.  

(layout is planned at 7 wide x 5 long - blocks are 8" x 14" finished)

But I should have resisted the "what if" idea to turn the blocks on their sides.

Nope - don't like it.

This was the next step - take things down, move them around, big pile of blocks on the floor (hummed to the tune of the 99 bottles ditty).

I tried a couple of "planned" groupings but stopped.

I decided to use the first photo above to recreate what I had before I started moving things around - but by then my brain and body were too tired to deal with it.

So, I'm hoping to get things back to where they were later today and maybe even get the final few blocks sewn/pressed.

* * *

Little Man (shown here during the annual First Grade Hip Hop Festival) will be here Sunday for an overnight since there is no school on Monday but Mommy and Daddy both have to go to work - meaning I'll be back with a new post on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Never cut what you can untie."

Robert Frost

Abendrot Resurfaces

I first posted about my Abendrot project HERE.

Since then, I've spent far too much time pondering what to do next.

Turned out I cut 35 WOF at 3" and the second 35 WOF at 2.5"  

Oops!

Friday night I hit upon an idea and Saturday I made sure I followed through.

Each of the 3" WOF strips was paired with one of the 2.5" WOF strips.

Here are the first 25 pairs of WOF strips sewn together.

There's a pressing marathon ahead.

 (I plan to do a few at a time - definitely NOT all in one standing)

Here are those same 25 pairs with the remaining ten sets laid on top.

Once pressed, I'll sub-cut segments from each WOF pair.

Then I'll have options - I can lay them out ala Metamorphosis.

Or I can turn them into some sort of four-patch arrangement.

Or I could lay them out into some sort of vertical columnar coins design.

I want to wait and see what the sub-cut segments look like before deciding.

And yes, I have three projects sitting on my sewing machine table.

I stalled on DD 12-Confetti after I did the Zoom presentation but I know better than to put it where I can't see it.  

Ruth is ready for the rest of the blocks to be assembled (each block is on its own styrofoam plate).

And now Abendrot has joined the mix - if my plan works, I'll be able to leader ender the segments as I stitch the blocks for Ruth.  

Time will tell.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Don't dance for the audience.  Dance for yourself."

Bob Fosse

Ruth Moves Ahead

I felt more like stitching than I did quilting, so I put together the eight ready-to-assemble blocks for Ruth.  

This photo was taken before the horizontal seams were pressed open.

I'm feeling better about this now that there are more blocks on the design wall.

Plenty of tinkering to do once all the blocks are sewn given how different some fabrics look next to their neighbors.

And since I had time, I went ahead and prepped the rest of the WOF pairs, turning them into half-WOF sets of four.

Those sets were then sub-cut into groups of seven with one set on each of the stacked plates.

There was a bit leftover at the end of each strip set - I've set those aside to make an insert strip for Ruth's backing.

So nice to have an afternoon to sit and stitch.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Be silly.  Be honest.  Be kind."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ruth Moves Forward

Hmmmm . . . there's something unusual in my sewing studio.

Why?

These new LED ceiling lights were ordered weeks ago but between the first set being damaged by the shipper/returned to Amazon before being delivered to us and the second "expedited" set being caught up in the snow/ice last week, it took a bit longer for them to arrive than we expected.

Here are the other three laid out on Max's table.

And here they are installed.  

The light quality is so much better.  

(my old fluorescent fixtures were installed a long time ago - maybe 2010'ish?)

With so much fabulous light, it was obvious I needed to not only clean up the small amount of installation "dirt" but a lot of other dirt that hadn't been particularly visible.

(note to self:  I really need to schedule a more regular cleaning routine for this room)

After another afternoon sewing session, there are fourteen blocks for Ruth on the design wall.

Anticipated size is 50" x 70" which means I needed my sturdy two-step stool to get the top row of 8" x 14" blocks pinned to the design wall.  

(but now that I can visualize the size of the quilt, I'll wait to finish adding blocks to that top row - no sense in tempting fate)

The next eight blocks (on the stack of plates) are ready to assemble.

I didn't want a quilt with high contrast blocks so I'm liking the rather mysterious way KF's multi-color strips behave when randomly sub-cut.  But in some cases, at least right now, there are a couple of blocks that seem muddy.

So, when layout time arrives I'll have four extra blocks to work with and, if problem blocks remain after that I'll go back to the stash and cut more strips as needed.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Creativity is a continual surprise."

Ray Bradbury

Heart Throb (the Flimsy) and Ruth Begins

Heart Throb is now a flimsy.  

27" wide x 45" long 

Once quilted, HT will hang on our dining room wall next month.

(made with Flirt charm squares by Moda)

I promised myself that once Heart Throb's top was webbed, I could start on one of my waiting projects.

You can see Ruth's introductory post HERE.  

And what I had forgotten was that, in addition to being the name of DH's maternal grandmother, my maternal great grandfather's sister was named Ruth Lena -- which makes this quilt's name Ruth even more appropriate.

It was wonderful having the strips already cut, sorted, and paired - I could open the project box and just start sewing.

Here are the first six blocks on the design wall.

These are the rest of the strip sets sewn, ready for their first pressing.

When the final sub sets are cut, there's a small piece leftover.  The width varies depending on the particular set of strips since some are longer than others.  

I'm saving those to create a colorful insert strip for the backing.

This photo shows the form I use to keep track of my notes for each project.  

Finally, here's the link to the Maggie Pearl free download.

* * *

Most of the area schools are still closed due to lingering ice and, for many areas the extremely low water pressure caused by too many broken water mains/pipes.  

LM's school is open but the children have to bring their own lunches and bottled water since the Memphis water system has a boil water advisory in place.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance."

Coco Chanel

Introducing Ruth

So what did I do on National Squirrel Appreciation Day?

I played in the stash instead of working on things that I should have been doing.  

I've had the Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements yardage for quite a while (center - from his Abandoned line, Rue le Peltier) but have never found a quilt that it suited.

So this time I created a fabric pull to suit the backing.

The fabrics on either side are from the Kaffe Collective except for one (lower left, second fabric) which is by Anna Marie Horner (one of the few of hers I own).

And rather than squash the fabric pull into a project box, I went ahead and cut the sets of WOF strips for a Maggie Pearl quilt (free downloadable design from Penelope Handmade).

While cutting, I started calling this Cordelia (one of my aunts) but finally named it RUTH; the name of DH's maternal grandmother - an artist and definitely not afraid of color.

Again, I need to get a three projects quilted and piece/quilt that big brother quilt before I can sit and sew these strips into sets, but I know they'll wait patiently in their project box until I'm ready.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Society pushes us since childhood to be in a chronic state of fight or flight.  Rush to school.  Compete for good grades.  Compete in sports.  Achieve.  Perform. . . . Our nervous system needs:  stillness, quiet, play, and creativity.  We're humans, not machines."

Dr. Nicole LePera