Odds and Ends

Thanks to Winter Storm Fern, I have spent quite a bit of time in the studio since Friday.  The photo above shows the very long runner after the binding was applied.  

(We were fortunate in that we were spared the very worst of the freezing rain, so our power thankfully stayed on.  That said, we are not going out anytime soon.  DH has managed to chip away enough of the drift in front of our frozen down garage door to get one car out in an emergency but the rest of the driveway and the neighborhood streets are solidly covered in layers of ice-coated snow and frozen sleet.   The city is valiantly trying to clear the main roads but it is very slow going with the snow/ice/very low temperature combination.)

The finished runner is now living on the back of the rocking chair in my studio.  

I also had enough uninterrupted sit-and-sew time to sew the top together for Hanabi, Macnas series 10.    Having the second flimsy of this year so quickly behind the first was an unexpected bonus.  

(My focus was helped a lot because I had the sunshade pulled down on my studio window to keep me from looking outside very few minutes to repeatedly check on the weather)

Again, no beauty shots of the finished flimsy (photo taken before pressing). 

Hanabi - a Japanese word for fireworks

As I stitched the rows for Hanabi's top, I used the segments for Rastro, one of the four Macnas series bonus quilts, as my leader-enders.  By the time Hanabi's top was finished, so were all of the segments for Rastro.

Rastro is short for RASTROPHILIOPUSTROCITY is a noun meaning a spontaneous combustion of creative spark that is followed by action in order to manifest and bring into existence.  

Instead of putting the segments (not yet pressed in the photo) back in the project box, I decided to play with a layout on the design wall.  If life cooperates, I'll get this top sewn together before the end of the month.

(Six 6-rectangle segments per column x 13 columns, made with 2" x 4" finished rectangles leftover from previous Macnas quilts, yielding a top measuring roughly 52" x 72")

I'll close with a photo of the drift that formed across the back of our house.  I wonder if any of it will still be visible when I take the next monthly backyard photo on February first?

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

"When the creative pulse sweeps over you, grab it.  You grab it and honor it and use it, because momentum is a rare gift."

Justina Chen 

Decisions

For a long time I've been planning to use the leftover 2.5" strips and bindings to make a very scrappy utility/comfort quilt.

Earlier this week I decided that the color mash-mash was just TOO scrappy since I love controlled chaos but despise the "pull it out of the brown paper bag and sew it no matter what" approach.

SO . . . I am going to use this group of strips, bindings, and short bits from the resource boxes to make a set of six "beachy" placemats.

I'll use the pieces of Marcia Derse blues (left) for their reverse sides and I'll use a narrow turquoise stripe from the stash for binding.

Ideally these would become a Christmas gift come December but realistically they may not be ready by then.  Time will tell.

These strips and more short pieces from the brown and gold resource boxes will become a second set of six placemats to be used here during the autumn season - beginning in 2023.

The group in the foreground will be used for backing / binding while the upper group will be used to piece the tops.

There are still plenty of strips still in the drawers, but I am relieved to remove the worry about finding a way to have so many different and unrelated colors play together nicely.

I mentioned a while back needing to make another "new big brother" quilt for next Spring so . . . I pulled out the leftover Seuss fabrics from Little Man's Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz quilt plus the remaining pieced bits from Ohana to assess what I had to work with.  

The photo above shows a mock up for the pieced insert I'll add to the backing (under the name tag).

(Rident means "laughing, smiling, cheerful")

These are the two newly-pieced side columns (they're each twice as long as what shows here).  I added the 2.5" strips of black and white stripe to the mock up above as a nod to the planned clown stripe binding.  

The other leftover pieces of Seuss yardage have been cut into 2.5" strips for Rident's top so I could see what was available to lengthen the backing's scrappy coin-style column (more than enough).  

Yet another situation where I can stop wondering how to make the pile of scraps into a coherent quilt.

I'd like to get that coin column pieced and the three columns attached to each other before Rident is set aside so I can work (without so many wandering worries) on things with a more pressing deadline.  

We shall see how that goes.

Another major decision was to set aside Spots and Dots and use Ferhoodle for October's baby girl newborn quilt.  I plan to add a 2.5" outer border from the pink/black polka dot before this one gets pin basted for quilting.

I really do need to get on this one soon.

And Ferhoodle's name is also changing to Penelope Rose, which seems much more fitting than a word that means "to confuse or mix up."

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

"A good artist has less time than ideas."

Martin Kippenberger

Utility Mats Plus One

All five of these utility mats are finished, finally.  

Four of these are going to Michigan to my sister and her family while the spiderweb is now hanging in my design studio.

The binding used on the larger basket block was the last bit from a long ago gifted quilt.  

I used the blue version of the raspberry shown above for Ongoing Conversation.  (I don't know what happened to the photos in the reveal post - they've gone AWOL.  So the linked post shows the flimsy.)

The binding on the blues from Concatenation rectangular piece was from a half yard of fabric purchased specifically to become binding.  Finally it has found its home.

I used the last of this solid pink binding on the piece made using leftovers from the side triangles used in Pretty in Pink

Originally I planned to use the black and white clown stripe on the two basket blocks but it overwhelmed both of them - hence the change above and the change here. 

Like the blue stripe above, this green plaid was purchased to be made into binding (although some of it was also used in several of our Christmas quilts - see that label in sidebar).

I bought two yards of this binding fabric for a project that never happened. I absolutely love it on this orphan block from Feisty.

As I was sewing it down, I realized it might also be ideal for Razzle-Dazzle so I'll test that theory when I get the top assembled (I've put the rest of the binding with that project to remind myself).

And,  as I was walking past the newest design wall, I noticed this grouping still in the same three pieces that I rescued from Lynne's stash last June.  

Now they are sewn together with backing, batting, and binding - ready to be quilted and turned into a small wall quilt for the studio.  

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

"Filling a space in a beautiful way.  That is what art is to me."

Georgia O'Keefe

So Much Binding

Happily, I was able to choose these leftover binding pieces to use for each of the five utility mats.  

Darlene (no-reply blogger) left a comment on the previous post asking what utility mats are used for.  I responded with a comment on that post but I will add my response here as well, in case others might be wondering what my term means.  

For me, UTILITY MATS include placemats, mug mats, table/dresser runners, hearth mats, end table toppers (used under lamps, bowls, plants, etc), small wall hangings (ideal for cubicles), and as spots of color on any surface that needs them. 

There's a label in the side bar for UTILITY MATS that will pull up  posts that feature my previous utility mats to give you lots of visual examples.

Since one thing always seems to lead to the next . . . THIS happened.

(top row, left to right) 

Bindings for Spots and Dots, Concatenation, Hoppipolla (note, the too-bright yellow border was later removed and replaced with Brandon Mably's Jumble, hence the binding choice), Logophile, and Burnt Orange (pendingcomfort quilt).

(bottom row, left to right) 

Bindings for several more comfort quilts including Comfort Zone, Cinnamon Rainbow, Takmeel, and Shaggy; plus a backup binding that I found in the 2.5" strips drawer already sewn together but not yet pressed. 

Today I'll hang each of these prepared bindings on the hanger with their respective backing fabrics in the 'waiting' closet in my sewing studio and hopefully get started on the finishing of the waiting utility mats.

* * *

So why do I make so many of my bindings ahead of time?  

Mostly so they are ready to go once the quilt is actually quilted and ready for binding; but also because seeing the prepped bindings this way keeps at least a few of my brain cells from playing the "what if I use THIS fabric" game when I'm supposed to be focused on MAKING instead of PLANNING.  

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

"Art, in itself, is an effort to bring order out of chaos."

Stephen Sondheim

Change of Heart

I finished quilting Optic Strings earlier this week.

Tuesday I sat down to attach the binding.

The solid pink was not quite the right shade of pink

and felt too much like a harsh, rigid frame

so I stopped after the first long side and corner.

What to do?

Take the quilt along and go shop the stash.

I pulled out the other solids and considered options.

Too light, too dark, too bright, too meh, too whatever.

They all went back on the shelves.

And then my eye landed on a partial yard of

Fanciful Forest by MoMo for Moda . . . 

Not a solid and not a reproduction 

like the rest of the top's fabrics.

Mostly pink (which was my first choice) 

but also softer and mottled with other colors 

found in Optic Strings' top and backing.

Oh, yes - this will do beautifully.

I've made new binding 

and hope to have a full-fledged finish

to share with you on Friday.

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------

“Living in a zoo means it wasn’t always sparkly dresses, but I would still dress up.  I had this pink sparkly dress and fairy wings, and I’d put those on and then go dance in the zoo.”

Bindi Irwin

18 in 2018 and Beyond - May's Roundup

On the PIECING front,

I made more progress on The Spotted Winkel project.

Not on the 18 in 2018 list,

but very much on my to-do list,

I also pieced these blocks

for the 70273 Project.

Also not on the 18 in 2018 list,

I designed, cut out, pieced, and quilted 

a class sample quilt for Fabric for the Flock,

where I'll be teaching a half-log cabin class in June.

From the QUILTING list,

I quilted and finished Colorful Crumbs.

I pin basted my Liberated Wedding Ring,

another hold over top/back from RSC 2016.

I've finalized my design decisions 

(after much deliberation)

and chosen multiple colorful threads.

So far, I've quilted about 1/3 of the quilt.

From the COMFORT quilt list,

I pin basted my RSC yellow Doll Like Me quilt.

I used the scraps from the class sample quilt

to piece a Doll Like Me top.  

Since this photo was taken,

the blue backing has been sewn together

and this one is also pin basted.

May's RSC color has been PINK and ROSE.

I am working on a big stack of paired HSTs

(current leader-ender project)

for a 36" square top for Jack's Basket.

(it will be backed with a scrappy back

made with the two alternating pink squares - 

and I'll use the sassy binding from

a previous project to finish it off)

I also quilted and finished Geese for Misty,

a 48" x 56" lap quilt.

This one is being handed off today

and will soon be on its way 

to its destination.

In the OTHERWISE category,

I spent some time reorganizing my stash.

The resource and crumb boxes 

were moved to the two lower shelves

so that the folded yardage would all fit 

on the three upper shelves.

This arrangement is SO much easier to work with,

I just wish I had done it months ago.

My collaborative quilt - GLORIOUS - 

is here and I've sewn the binding to the front.

I'll get it hand stitched on the back a little a time. 

PT for the bursitis in my hips 

and the sciatica in my lower back 

is going well -- 

but I don't want to add anything else

to the list of aching body parts.

I've also decided that I will use the fabrics

set aside for a project named Franklin Square

to make Abilene - one of Laura Heine's fabric collage quilts.

I've never made one of her quilt designs

and I'd like to try one just for the fun of it.

And there's something about a purple-ish cow quilt

with a neon green print backing

that amuses me to no end.

* * *

To see what the others are sharing

for their May 18 in 2018 recap posts,

CLICK HERE.

Here's looking forward to June!

I have 3 (and hopefully 4) more to quilt and finish

before my St. Louis lecture/trunk show in early July.

* * *

And until Google/Blogger resolve the problem

with comment notifications by email,

I'll continue to respond to your comments here on the blog.

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------
"The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser - in case you thought optimism was dead."
Robert Brault

Binding for Glorious

Option No. 1

Option No. 2

Option No. 3

Option No. 4

At this point, I narrowed the choices to Options 3 and 4

Option 3

Option 4

Can you guess which one I chose?

Option No. 4

Why?

I like the mottled nature of the slightly-darker 

and less-yellow'ish green background.

I like the seemingly random appearance 

of the design's darker green.

And I like how the scrollwork design 

reminds me of wrought iron garden gates.

The binding strips have now been cut and pressed.

One day soon I'll get it sewn on 

and start finishing it by hand.

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------
"Focus on the journey, not the destination. 
Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it."
Greg Anderson

Binding Underway!

I am SO in love with this quilt!

Chris quilted free motion (!!) Baptist Fans 

using an amazing variegated thread that includes raspberry and turquoise!

Here's a sneak peek at the binding.

(see why I was so excited about the thread color?!?)

I am so happy with the way this has all come together . . . 

Thanks, Lynne for hosting the Red Letter-Along

(and thanks again (!!) to Tonya for her free pieced letters & her legoes project)

Finished photos soon!!

Quiltdivajulie

Not So Wordless Wednesday

Whole lotta binding going on ...

The heat index was 120 on Monday and 110 on Tuesday 

so no outdoor finish photos until it stays under 100!

AQS Knoxville?

The new AAQI traveling exhibit will be on display Thursday-Saturday.

I'm hoping to see it on Saturday!

Quiltdivajulie