Sea of HSTs - the Quilt

Sea of HSTs is finished.

Inspired by a Gee's Bend quilt (see link below second photo)

I started this one in early 2019 to use up a huge stack

of over-enthusiastically die cut HSTs leftover from 

the block corners for Someday is Now.

By July 2019 the top was completed.

I pieced a scrappy back using the last of the HSTs

and into the waiting-closet the top and back went.

Quilted with my liberated Baptist fans with spiral centers

using Glide thread in Sea Foam.

No - your eyes are NOT deceiving you.

We have lots of snow and VERY cold temperatures.

(we haven't seen this much snow here in thirty years)

This is something I have not been able to do before -

take a photo of a newly-finished quilt laying on almost 8 inches of snow.

And here's the back of the quilt.

The finished quilt measures 45" wide x 57" long.

While the adults worry about the weather,

Little Man is having the time of his life.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Be uniquely you.  Stand out.  Shine.  Be colorful.”

Amy Leigh Mercree

January Wrap Up and Goals for February

I quilted and finished three quilts in January --

Haimish, Sukoon, and Winsome.

I have pulled and prepped three more long-waiting projects

for quilting during February --

Sea of HSTs, Heliophilia, and Someday is Now

have their tops and backs rolled onto pool noodles

ready for batting and pin basting.

(and for the record, that broken window shown in Heliophilia's post

was at long last replaced with a complete new installation just last week)

I moved one project to quilt top status in January --

Dumpster Diving 10 - Do Tell

And I finally settled on the design I want to use

for my twelfth and final Dumpster Diving quilt.

There's lots of prep work needed before

any stitches will be taken on DD 12 -  Journey's End

so please don't expect an update any time soon.

February's quilt top/back goal is Lagoon,

the kitchen table quilt planned for June.

The blocks are sewn and the borders are cut

making these one ready for layout and assembly.

(plus a pieced backing to design and sew)

I've chosen and started two longer-term projects that will help me 

use up many of the leftover Dumpster Diving strips and segments -- 

Nubilous and Hoppipolla

There are others still in the gestation phase.

I'll share more on those if and when they actually happen.

I finished at least one of each of the differently sized

lined drawstring gift bags.

These quickly became my "tomorrow" project

which needs to change if I'm going to have the stockpile

I've planned by year end.

(truly, they don't take that long once fabric choices are made

and the cutting out is done, especially since the biggest part 

of my learning curve has already happened,

so I"m not sure why they fell victim to such procrastination)

Beginning with February, I plan to choose fabrics and cut out 

all of the bags during the first week of the month

 AND I'll make all of the drawstring ties first 

so they're ready to insert as each bag is ready.

I also want to try some of the 

paracord for ties in the smaller bags.

The largest bag (upper right above) is huge.

In the photo it is filled with FOUR of our couch pillows.

The other bags in these photos are filled with an assortment

of Little Man's building blocks, hot wheels cars, and a couple of books

making those sizes more likely to be used more often.

I do think that some sort of assembly line process

will work better than this month's start-to-finish with each individual bag.

We'll see how things go with the next batch.

And unexpectedly, I completed a Do-Over

for Trick or Treat, October's kitchen table quilt top.

* * *

Away from the machines, I rearranged the closet where I keep my project boxes

so that the ones slated for attention in 2021 are front and center

with the others moved off to the side.

Here's to the month ahead . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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“Listen to the colour of your dreams.”

The Beatles

Bemused - the top and the back

This tray held 64 sets of four strips,

each strip comprised of four 2.5" squares.

One set a time, I worked my way through the stack.

As each sixteen patch was sewn,

I attached it to the previously sewn blocks.

(arranged in rows of 8 blocks)

Since this was a scrappy postage stamp style project,

there was no great need to lay out the blocks

prior to sewing them together;

in fact NOT laying them out

probably gave me a scrappier look

than I could have achieved any other way.

Row by row the design wall began to fill up.

Eight rows of eight blocks or 

1,024 squares cut at 2.5" from the scrap stash.

The sewn-together top measures 64" x 64"

Bemused will be one of my monthly toppers

for the kitchen table in the coming year.

(Bemused: "to occupy the attention of; absorb or engross")

Here's a detail shot of some of the many fabrics.

The back was pieced using four different 

well-aged Yuwa 30s collection prints.

(purchased during a deep discount online sale)

Since these remind me of my 

grandmother's kitchen table cloths,

it seemed fitting that they back 

one of my kitchen table toppers.

I pulled out the long leftover strip

of border segments from Sea of HSTs, 

pressed that 3" strip to be used for binding, and

trimmed it to equal my usual 2.5" binding strips.

I'd like to get Bemused quilted before month end,

but if it happens in mid-January I'm okay with that.

(my knee and leg have felt better this past couple of days

with only minor twinges when going up or down stairs . . . 

hopefully this means I can start working with Max

in the coming week or two)

* * *

And to all those no-reply bloggers 

who left comments on the previous two

For the Birds posts - thank you!

Quiltdivajulie

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“The most important work we will ever do is within the walls of our own homes.”
Harold B. Lee

Bits and Pieces Rescued

These are all but one set of the leftover HSTs

from making the back strips for Sea of HSTs.

They are now a 13.5" x 13.5" reversible mat.

This is the back - pieced with leftover border strips.

Quilted with my well-loved liberated free motions fans.

And this is the final set of HSTs.

A single reversible mug rug at 4.5" square.

I almost like the back better than the front.

And then there were more leftover pieces

from other projects to be dealt with.

A single mug rug backed with pink and orange bits

and a double mug rug that is the same on both sides.

Two larger mats pieced with leftovers from Epicenter 

and the double four-patch table topper.

Three small reversible mats 

- shown here are the front sides -

made with sections from a border print 

that was part of a swap bundle.

And these are the backs

pieced with leftover strip sets

from Shift Happens.

* * *

Some of these will be used in the studio

and at my computer desk.

Others will become gifts when a need arises.

* * *

The best part?

These are NOT orphan bits lollygagging in the studio!

Quiltdivajulie

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“Do not worry that your life is turning upside down.  How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come?”  

Rumi

Sea of HSTs - From the Beginning

This is the quilt that inspired Sea of HSTs . . . 

that and the fact that I was left with 

a large stack of leftover batik triangles

after making Someday is Now.

"Triangles in Squares"

Maker Unknown - Gee's Bend, Alabama - 1970s

76-3/8" x 76-1/2"

Part of the Ella King Torrey Collection 

of African American Quilts

at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Accession No. 2006-163-4

I've posted about the background work for this project

HERE and HERE and HERE.

This past week it was finally time

to start laying out parts on the design wall.

LOTS of experimentation was involved

including raiding the project box

for Lagniappe to swap out several fabrics.

By Friday the layout was settled

and a plan for the extra pieces devised.

Clearly this one is a challenge to take photos indoors.

(my design wall is NOT that pink)

The sewn-together center measured 

33" wide by 45" long.

Once the borders were sewn in place

the quilt top measured

45" x 57"

And then it was time to work with 

the leftover HST blocks.

I created two 67" long insert strips

to use in the quilt's back.

From the Outside In by Malka Dubrowsky 

and Typewriter Keys by Julia Rothman.

Both of these have been in the stash

waiting patiently for a long time.

The colors in the top in this outdoor photo

are closer to reality but now they look faded out.

The neatly folded top and back are headed

to the closet of waiting-to-be-quilted projects.

I hope they don't wait there too long

because I really like this one's quirky nature.

(I'm thinking August needs to be a month

for quilting and finishing . . . )

* * *

There were nine extra sets of 4 HTSs plus one single

left behind after making inserts for the back.

I'll share their fate next week -

and it did not involve the trash can.

Quiltdivajulie

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"You need to let little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you."

Andy Warhol

Optic Strings and Conundrum - Week Five Recap and More

These are Week Five's seven blocks for Conundrum Optic Strings.

(click HERE for the introductory post)

Blocks 1-4 up close.

Blocks 5-7 and the rescued triangles 

ready to make 14 more geese blocks.

(35 string blocks made / 45 yet to go)

As some of you can tell, I have been on a mission

to move several stalled projects forward this month.

Lagniappe now has all of its HSTs sewn.

Next I need to trim the corners and

pin the HSTs into pairs for flying geese blocks.

For the Birds - I simplified my layout,

trimmed the blocks to the same size,

and counted/sorted 1.5" (finished) HSTS

to use for sashing and borders.

(those will be leader-ender sewing)

Birds free pieced using Lynne's Liberated Birds tutorial.

And because there were still more HST parts leftover,

(originally cut for Mosaic which morphed into this little quilt) 

I labeled their project box Pinwheel Economy blocks.

The yardage on the right (from the stash)

will become a scrappy back.

I'll decide later what to use to surround the scrappy pinwheels.

And so yet another "give a mouse a cookie" 

aka Squirrel project begins.

Maybe someday I'll learn not to over-cut

when starting a new scrappy project.

Right . . .

Inspi(red) took a big step forward this week.

All twenty blocks are pieced and the 

last three 1.5" inserts have been thrown away.

(this one is a squirrel project

designed to use those skinny insert strip

from another AHIQ project - now named Luminous)

The clipped blocks now join five other tops

that are waiting to be webbed together.

One day soon . . .

The stacks of snowball blocks from last week

now have their corner triangles pinned in place

ready to be sewn leader-ender style in the coming weeks.

And Sea of HSTs even back out to play.

I've started sewing the twelve 16-patch blocks 

together and hope to get the scrappy sashing strips cut

so this one can be laid out and sewn together

in the coming week(s).

And, of course, there were leftover HSTs 

beyond those needed for the 16-patch blocks (sigh) . . . 

What's a scrappy quilter to do but sew them into pairs

(leader-ender style)

to be used as insert strips for the quilt's scrappy back.

Sadly, I also sent another comfort quilt this week -

this time to another former law firm co-worker 

whose husband has metastasized cancer.

(Meet Me in the Rose Garden was made 

using Bonnie Hunter's Sister's Choice design.)

* * *

I'll be back again next Monday with another recap post.

(my goal is to resume posting 

2-3 times a week starting August first)

Quiltdivajulie