Smaragdine and Leprechaun - the Quilts

Smaragdine (meaning emerald green in color) is finished.

24" wide x 44" long

Quilted using my liberated orange peels with Glide thread in Basil.

I love the bold backing fabric (Brandon Mably's Chips).  

What originally began as my version of Lancaster Diamonds has evolved into a small wall quilt for the month of March.  

As a friend said, "sometimes diamonds are not a girl's best friend."

Leprechaun, another wall quilt for March, is also finished.

24" wide x 41" long

Panel named "Hello Lucky" by Andrea Tachiera for Henry Glass.

Quilted with my all over liberated spiral fans using Glide thread in Basil.

The wonderful plaid binding was left over from a previous project and is absolutely perfect here.

Backing is Jumble in green from the Kaffe Fassett Collective. 

* * *

And now that both of these are finished, I need to get busy and pin baste Macnas (an Irish word for playfulness).  

With all its greens, I'd like to have it ready to use in my recliner during March. 

Quiltdivajulie

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"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop."

Confucious

Projects Moving Forward

Both Smaragdine and Leprechaun are now backed, sandwiched, and pin basted.  

It feels good to have them ready to FMQ.

Here you can see their respective backing fabrics.

Both quilts will be quilted using this thread.

Once Smaragdine and Leprechaun are finished, I'll get back to the blocks for Ruth.

In other studio news - I am going to loosely participate in this year's 100 Day Challenge.

It starts on February 18 - the introduction is here.  

I'm going to do my own thing and create a series of collaged 4" x 8" shipping tags using my still-being-gathered tea bags.  

I've also decided to participate in this year's June-July Index-Card-a-Day (ICAD) challenge.

Again, I will do my own thing and play with more collage and a lot of my stashed postage stamps on these 4" x 6" gridded index cards.

* * *

Oh, and my sister sent this framed cross stitch back to me and now it is hanging in my studio.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Detours in life may lead to discovering places we never knew we loved.  Embrace detours."

Anna Pereira

One Down, More to Go (Photo Heavy)

This was the scene at 6:30 am when the feels-like temp was -4.

(temps below zero are very unusual for these parts)

The snow continues to "flurry" and will for another few hours.  

I know 5-6 inches is nothing compared to what some of you are dealing with, but that much is a pretty big deal here.

Instead of working  one prompt a day along with the January journal folks, I went ahead and did my own thing using their prompts.

This is the cover of my now-finished altered book.

I hadn't planned on tying the salvaged Sudoku page signatures in place but when the no-sew method I tried failed, I resorted to Plan B.

As it turns out, I'm oddly happy with the end result.

Inside front cover with this volume of Heidi's original owner signature/date still visible.

I'm going to share a few of my favorite two-page spreads.

I'm especially pleased with this one as I had never made a tea bag book before.

I used a no-sew tutorial I found online but next time, I think I will stitch the spine rather than using her glue-up method.

The journal cards in each of the empty tea bag "pockets" bear another word that is meaningful to me.

The sewing pattern papers are from a well-used Raggedy Ann/Andy pattern that has been with me since forever.

The final prompt of Reflect.  The postcard lifts up to reveal even more words I chose to describe my journey.

I'm glad I played along but I don't think I will continue to be a participant going forward.  

I'd rather watch a few of the You Tube videos to learn a new technique or two and use them in my existing projects vs. starting something entirely new.

And for those who may think I've abandoned my love affair with fabric and quilt making, never fear.

I picked up this panel for March and will back it with the last of my Brandon Mably Jungle in green.

Smaragdine is also ready to be pin basted with the Brandon Mably Chips as backing.  I'm still debating on the binding - I think I like this brighter green instead of more of the KF Moss Rose.  I have both sets of strips cut and will decide once the FMQ is completed.

And now, since today is a "snow day" I plan to head upstairs to the studio . . .

Quiltdivajulie

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"Have fun even if it's not the same kind of fun everyone else is having."

C. S. Lewis

This, That, and More

The first thing I needed to do was to sew the rows together for Smaragdine since they were sitting on top of my sewing table and it was easier to just finish the top than put the parts away.

24" wide x 45" long

After the first of the year I'll quilt and finish this one to use on our dining room wall in March.

Here's a close up of the sewn-together 3" squares.

The pieced squares came from my abandoned Lancaster Diamonds project (click here to read more).

I also had the last batch of prepared strips for Dumpster Diving 12 - Confetti's next group of blocks laying on the sewing table.

Now they are sorted and clipped into groups of 14 strips to make the next nine blocks (and it is far easier to move those clipped groups out of the way than 126 already pressed strips).

There are 7 blocks on the design wall plus these next 9, meaning I still need to prepare enough additional 14" lengths to make the final 4 blocks for my needed total of 20.

Once both of those projects were cleared off the sewing table, I started pieced short strip sets (previously sorted) for our new January kitchen table quilt.

I think it took me longer to press these 20 slabs than it did to sew them together (not really, but sewing is much more fun than pressing).  

I need to prepare 64 slabs before I can start on the next step . . .

And outside the studio, I have finished the first two of twelve pages for my slow stitching aka waiting room project.

Each individual page will feature threads from the same group of neutral Perle cottons (no. 5) but the design will be different for each one.

This page features vertical rows of kantha-stytle stitching.

The second page involved more thread changes and multiple stitch orientations.  

I'm not sure how I'll approach the next page, but I'm thinking about some sort of circle or spiral design (maybe with a large vintage button in the center).

If you'd like to see other projects where I've done similar kinds of slow stitching, please click on that label at the end of this post.

* * *

Little Man is spending Saturday and Sunday with us - I'm hoping for some rock painting or watercolor fun this visit instead of starting another Camp Sefton quilt since there's already one design from a previous visit that is filed away for "someday". . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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"Organizing is what you do before you start something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up."

A.A. Milne

Welcome November

Our October/Halloween decor has been packed away for another year and the November/Thanksgiving decor is in place.

This basket belonged to DH's mother - she used it for a wastebasket but we fill it with fairy lights, colorful leaf picks and an assortment of pumpkins.

The two wool mini pillows were made by a member of a long ago quilt group - she did such beautiful work.

And yes, there are a number of owls mixed in.

I especially like the colors of this ceramic set.

My grandfather's buffet in our dining room . . .

And a glimpse of our newly set-up but not yet fluffed or embellished Thanksgiving tree in the foyer, almost ready to brighten our evenings after the end of Daylight Savings Time on Sunday.

* * *

In the studio - my Garden of Collage journal is indeed completed (photos pending).

I've also finished hand stitching the first of twelve "pages" in my slow stitch journal.

And one evening I sat and stitched the stack of 3" blocks and then the rows for Smaragdine, our March dining room wall quilt.  

Open enrollment research is on the list for next week, along with a lot of other errands -- while I really want to spend my time getting started on the FMQ of Inglenook.

Quiltdivajulie

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“It will all shake out. Meanwhile, I’m putting up more twinkle lights.”

Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) in the movie You've Got Mail

Studio Time - Part 1

Audrey over at Quilty Folk is proposing an informal quilt along - you can read about it near the end of this post.

She suggested we start digging in our stash for older fabrics to use.  I went with the colors in her fabric pull (shown near the end of that post) since I so admire her quilts and I didn't want to re-invent a color palette that might not have worked as well as hers.  

I decided it was time to move the three remaining seasonal dining room wall quilts forward (I was tired of them lurking about the studio).

January's Gnomeville is now ready for pin basting - that's the backing you see around the edges.

The runner pieced with Gnomeville's extra parts now has backing (upper - aged Moda diagonal stripe) and binding fabric (lower - more recent Art Gallery diagonal stripe) chosen and cut to size.

I've hung this project in the closet for now (sans batting) since it is not on my get-it-done-soon priority list.

Then I completely changed my plan for February's Heart Throb.  

Instead of using a panel, I went with these charm squares from a Moda line named Flirt (lots of hearts and love language text).  

Since this photo was taken, the squares were taken down and clipped and are now ready to web together into a top.

For March's Smaragdine, I cut the sixty alternate squares (KF's Moss Rose) and have paired/pinned so I can leader-ender the pairs as I work on the next few Dumpster Diving 12 blocks.

The Brandon Mably Chips yardage under the blocks will be used for backing and I went ahead and cut the binding strips while the Moss Rose yardage was out.

No more serious pondering for these three - only a need to sit and sew (or quilt).

* * *

I'll be back in a day or so with Part 2 to share the progress on my various paper-based projects.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do."

Steve Jobs

Dilemma Resolved

Last December, I fell in love with Nancy's idea of making a Lancaster Diamond quilt (or some variation thereof).  

You can read about that HERE.

Since then, I've posted about the project several times - the easiest way to see those is to click on the Lancaster Diamonds label at the end of this post.

And ever since, my brain has been trying to resolve the dilemma of how to set my not-at-all-like-the-pattern scrappy green diamonds.

And I mean there has been a total overload of too much thinking . . . 

Earlier today I decided I'm just tired of trying to figure out how to set the diamonds.

So I cut 3.5" squares from the 25 diamonds in the project box.

I also pulled out the stack of strata I'd made in case it was needed to cut more diamonds and cut even more 3.5" squares.

By the time I finished, I had 56 squares and enough single strips to piece together for four more squares (also meaning that the project box was completely emptied).

With each one becoming a  3" finished square, definitely not enough to make a dining room wall quilt for March, but by using the Kaffe Fassett Moss Rose yardage to cut alternate squares, I can make it work.

I've decided to name this wall quilt Smaragdine (adjective meaning emerald-green in color).

* * *

Once the remaining squares are cut, I'll tuck this back on the shelf until after the first of the year.

And between now and when I pull it out again, I won't have to overthink at all.

Quiltdivajulie

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"All great changes are preceded by chaos."

Deepak Chopra

Green, Green, Green

The rows for Macnas have been sewn together and the top has been pressed.  

I am really happy with how such a simple arrangement of rectangles is so very pleasing.

Here is the whole top on the floor of my studio.  

51" wide x 72" long

Macnas now goes into the 'waiting to be quilted' queue for a finish later this month.

I have also sewn together enough dumpster-diving slabs to cut out the diamonds for our March dining room wall quilt. 

On the left is the latest fabric being auditioned for sashing.  

There is one more session left in the Lancaster Diamond Sampler Zoom class with a focus on "finishing it up."  I'm pretty sure what I want to do (again, not like the original) but I also want to wait and see what the leaders share.

My plan to make reversible placemats for February/March was discarded in favor of two unique sets.  

This set will be for March - liberated organic cross hatch quilting using Glide thread in Mocha.

I'll use this Moda Grunge for binding.

* * *

I've ordered a couple of yards to make the whole cloth tops for February's placemats - might as well finish up the March set while I wait.

Quiltdivajulie

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"When every day seems the same, that is because people have stopped noticing the good things that appear in their lives."

Paul Coelho