HARU - the Quilt

Despite last week's tension issues that slowed progress, HARU is now a finished quilt.

(HARU - Japanese word for spring)

57" wide x 69" long / inspired by Kaffe Fassett's Tussie Mussie design / made with KF Collective fabrics (aside from the binding)

Another happy is that I've finally found the perfect place to use this well-aged striped fabric.

Finally, a photo with very true-to-life colors.

Quilted with my liberated all-over nested spirals using Glide thread in Amethyst.

I was also able to use most of my remaining KF Jungle Paisley yardage for Haru's backing.  I've had that fabric design it in my stash since I first used it in my 2011 quilt named Hidden Potential made using a bunch of Lynne's orphans.

Young Man, shown above in one of his very happiest places, is spending his final weeks of summer vacation with his not-local grandparents.  He spent week one at wakeboard camp (new skill), this past week was spent at surf camp (using a much larger board than he had last year), and I'm certain the ocean beach will figure prominently in next week's adventures.  He turns NINE on Monday and becomes an official third grader the following week.  

Like so many others have said, it feels like he was born just last week.  We are so grateful to share his joyful journey.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Do not spoil the wonder with haste."

J.R.R. Tolkien

Haru - the Flimsy

Once the top for Haru was sewn together, I laid my version of Tussie Mussie on the studio floor.

It is always such fun to see a top all together after spending so much time with the many pieces and parts.

After the top was pressed, I hung it over the balcony to let the Best Press finish drying.

(the colors in this photo are very true to life)

I pinned the 60" x 72" top on the design wall so I could get a full photo.

And finally, I added the backing fabric along one side.  

Oh, YES!

* * *

Since the photos were taken, said backing has been cut and sewn together, pressed, and hung to finish drying.  I need to get the baby quilt (Moxie) quilted next since our friends' baby is due in early summer.  

But once Moxie is finished, I'm pretty sure Haru is going to jump ahead of the other eleven quilts waiting to be quilted.  

Quiltdivajulie

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"Be brave enough to live creatively.  The creative is a place where no one else has ever been.  You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition."  

Alan Alda

I'm Back

The attic project to upgrade and improve the A/C air flow to younger son's room upstairs is finished.  Things are much cooler now thanks to DH's efforts.

My first project was to finish the back for Moxie and get it pressed, along with the top (shown here waiting to be pin basted).

But instead of pin basting, I simply HAD to start webbing the top for Haru, my Tussie Mussie project.  

After errands this morning, I'm hoping to get the rest of the top webbed this afternoon/evening.

And I don't know HOW it has happened so quickly but this is Young Man's last full week of first grade.  

This photo was taken by his teacher last August.

And Daddy took this photo this morning to commemorate Wacky Hair Day (their  final full  week is filled with special Spirit Week fun including PJ Day, Bring Your Favorite Stuffie to School Day, Crazy Colors Day, and more).  

It has been SUCH a good year and he's learned so much - not to mention how much he has grown and matured.  

Let's hope when the first day of summer vacation arrives next week, he won't break his arm like he did last summer!  

(Dee Dah will certainly NOT take him to the skate park that day - no sense in tempting the fates)

Quiltdivajulie

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"Play leads to brain plasticity, adaptability, and creativity.  Nothing fires up the brain like play."

Stuart Brown, M.D.

Tussie Mussie Layout

Here are the blocks on the design wall . . . there was very little rearranging involved in this layout.

I found it interesting how the look changed as I walked from one side of the room to the other.

Before anything could fall off the wall and get mixed up, I clipped the blocks so they're ready to web.

The quilt's name also appeared at long last -- HARU which is Japanese for spring.

Quiltdivajulie

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"All art is knowing when to stop."

Toni Morrison

Tussie Mussie Moves Forward

Even before I finished stitching and pressing the rest of the individual  HST blocks, I HAD to create a four-HST big block.

Here are all the rest of the stitched and pressed individual HSTs.

There are 8 in each stack.

Four big blocks on the design wall.

Then I stopped to actually READ the directions in the book.

OOPS - KF has you make the blocks as pinwheels where I did these as square in a square.

That's fine, I'm never very good at following directions in a pattern.

So I sat and studied his layout and figured out how to create a layout that looks very much like his while still piecing things the way I started.

Here's a black and white version of the project photo in Kaffe's book Quilts in Italy.

And here's a black and white photo of what I have laid out on the design wall so far.

* * *

Lots more to do on this before it is ready to sew, but so far I'm liking what I'm seeing.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Difficulty is inevitable.  Drama is a choice."

Anita Renfroe

Studio Time Pays Off

As I stitched together the final seven blocks for Dumpster Diving 12 - Confetti, I stitched one HST at the beginning and end of each DD seam.

By the time I finished the seventh DD12 block, I had also sewn 130 HSTs together!   

(the ones with the green fabric facing up are the ones that are sewn, the 60 pink-side-up pairs are still pinned)

I just had to press four sets of eight HSTs . . . 

Then once the final blocks for DD12 were pressed and squared, they were laid out on the design wall.

One of the reasons this project has been stalled is that the wide sashing and cornerstone approach was not making me happy.

So instead of cutting the sashing strips at 2.5" for a 2" finish, I will cut them at 1.5" for a 1" finish.

(the one above was cut at 1" so I could visualize my plan)

Oh, yes - this approach I like.  

I'll trim down the already-cut green strips and cut some new ones at 3.5" for a border that will be trimmed back to 2" after FMQ.

I pulled out the leftover backing from Young Man's quilt (he's graduated from Little Man - thanks for the suggestion Elaine) and added it to the yardage purchased for DD12 (shown on the left).

It feels so good to see such definite progress on two different projects!

Quiltdivajulie

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"I think rules are the ruination of the art world."

Iris Apfel

Moxie, Tussie Mussie, and My First Zine

I've sewn together the yellow leftovers and cut both sets of 5" squares for the baby quilt - I've named the quilt Moxie (noun meaning nerve, courage, and determination).

The tropical parrot leftovers were' quite enough for the backing so I'll add a broad stripe of the rainbow fabric left from one of Little Man's quilts.

(I really do need to come up with a new blog name for LM - he is NOT so little anymore and, as he pointedly reminded me, he'll be in SECOND grade next year)

I also pinned the pairs together for Tussie Mussie's HSTs.

There are enough to make a quilt top approx.  60" x 72" with some leftover HSTs to play with when layout time comes.

I've also made my first zine (a small booklet made from a single sheet of paper - 9" x 12" in this case).

I collaged the surface with bits torn from a recent White Flower Farms catalog - I've always liked their watercolor illustrations for the garden collections they offer, so in this booklet I found a way to actually use some of them.

I need to keep this handy for gray rainy days and next fall and winter when there is very little green or color to be seen out outside.

This was a fun way to spend part of an afternoon . . .

And the back cover.  

* * *

In other news, DH took his final dose of Paxlovid this morning and is feeling ever so much better than he did last weekend.  His energy comes and goes but that's to be expected.

So far Younger Son and I have not shown any COVID symptoms.  We've all been masking in the house and will do so for another day or two.  There's also been a LOT of hand washing and considerable bleach water used to disinfect laundry / floors and thankfully it has been just warm enough to have a lot of windows open to air out the house.

Quiltdivajulie

Monday Miscellaney

Looking ahead, I die cut the 6" HSTs for my version of KF's Tussie Mussie quilt.

I'll get these sorted and paired so I can stitch a few in between the remaining seven blocks for DD12-Confetti.

I used some paper scraps to collage the fronts of a few note cards.  

These are the first four.  

Old book pages from thrifted books (in all sorts of languages), bits of sheet music, and a few map scraps make these fun to create and hopefully fun to look at for the recipients.

(also a not-too-intense after-dinner way to spend time in the studio)

There were a LOT of leftover end cuts and paired segments after finishing Abendrot and I've figured out a wonderful way to use them.

Friends of elder son's family (and ours) are expecting baby number two later this summer, so I shall turn the yellows plus some turquoise/teal yardage from the stash and leftover backing (tropical fabric) to make them a baby quilt.

(we gifted them Rainbow Charms for their first little boy)

And finally, I haven't shared the mid-February finish of the Green Journal in my ROYGBIV series - this is the front cover . . .

Pages from a thrifted children's book . . . 

SO many colors in a thrifted atlas . . . 

A gifted shirting block from Cherie (blog no longer active) . . . 

A postcard from Nann . . . 

(the missing first sentence of the quote was used on one of my green Rolodex cards)

And the back cover.

(Note - these ROYGBIV journals are created with plenty of empty space to add more bits and pieces over time)

P.S. - DH has tested positive for COVID so if I don’t post for a few extra days you will know why - especially since my computer is in the sunroom where he is staying.

Quiltdivajulie

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"The artist creates for the liberation of his soul.  It is his nature to create as it is the nature of water to run down the hill."

W. Somerset Maugham

More Squirrel-y Additions

National Squirrel Day Part Two: 

I sorted my collection of KF books into date-published order and added small labels to the spines so it will be easy to put them back in chronological order. 

Of course I had to sit and browse through some of them . . . 

When I encountered TUSSIE MUSSIE from Quilts in Italy, I remembered how much I've always wanted to make this.

No time like NOW to create the fabric pull . . . so off I went.

TA-DA . . . Proposed backing on the bottom, fabric stacks in the middle, and possible binding fabric along the top edge.

I will go ahead and cut strips from each of the stacked fabrics since this glorious assortment is monopolizing my design-cutting-basting table.

But as I was taking this photo, one of the comments left on Saturday's post - the one from Cherie (no blog) who was part of the SSOBB (see sidebar for permanent link) - popped into my head.  

Cherie wrote:  "I found a cool stuffed squirrel while thrifting shirts and he has lived in my studio ever since"

I quickly headed downstairs to the spot where we keep our grand-dog's toys.  

We bought her this squirrel because her very favorite thing to do when she visits is to watch for and bark at and chase the squirrels.

Since she does not like the toy (with a squeaker in his tail, even), I have now claimed it as mine and moved him to my studio!

His name is CHASE, for obvious reasons.

After he checked out the greens in my diamond squirrel project, he hopped to the other side of the room to meet up with Max.

And then he was off to the design studio where he just had to get paws-on with the new fabric pull for Tussie Mussie.

 (Note to self:  Blogger's spell checker does NOT like those two words.  It keeps turning them into "Aussie Aussie" -- so I must come up with another name for the project)

And because there is never ONE squirrel anywhere, I have this character on order.  

(the print will arrive unframed but I have one ready and waiting)

I've chosen the name Hunter.  

There's quite a difference of opinion here as to Hunter's gender and so I chose a neutral name meaning a hunter or provider - of ideas in this case.

* * *

And so ends National Squirrel Appreciation Day 2022.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”

Albert Einstein