Eira - the Flimsy and the Back

The scrappy back for Eira was pieced

using five different low volume fabrics

leftover from previous projects.

Fabric one . . . 

Fabric two . . . 

 (which you might remember as a previous 

covering for my ironing table) 

Fabric three . . . 

Fabric four . . . 

. . . and fabric five.

The "fix" has successfully

been made in Eira's top.

Now I can cut batting and get this pin basted

so Max and I can get to quilting.

(scroll back to previous post

for link to Snowflake pattern)

Quiltdivajulie

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"Do not spoil the wonder with haste."
J.R.R. Tolkien

Eira - The Flimsy (almost)

And we have a completed quilt top . . . 

except that I noticed something near the bottom

AFTER I took this photo.

Glad I saved those extra pieces and parts -

I forgot to include one of the snowflake's extensions.

I need to mix and match the prints before 

I take this apart and insert the correct blocks.

Thankfully this is close to an exterior edge of the top.

The back is ready to sew together

but decorating the house and other things

took priority this weekend.

All in good time.

* * *

And for those who asked how large the squares are:

in all fairness to the designer, please click HERE

to purchase your own copy of her well-crafted pattern.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man's desire
to understand."
Neil Armstrong

Halcyon - The Flimsy

The top for Halcyon is sewn together.

Here is a view of the back side . . .

And here is another view of the alternate block's back side.

(I made this in response to Then Came June's

Granny Cabin QAL - you can read my 

introductory post HERE)

Halcyon's flimsy measures 58" x 58"

and will be perfect (when quilted)

as a table topper for our round kitchen table.

I am so pleased that I decided to go with

the mix of scrappy light blues

for my background.

And I'm pleased with my color choices

for the two focal blocks in the quilt top.

I didn't follow the pattern's directions (gasp)

when it came time to assemble the top.

I sewed mine together in "rows" based on the 

assembled purple/pink and yellow/green blocks.

Some rows were block width while others

were the width of the larger light blue squares

and there was a bit of fancy dancing done

to make those rows coherent.

Why?  

Because I chose to use a scrappy background

and had laid it out on the design wall 

rather than using a single background fabric.

Halcyon's scrappy back is still on the other design wall

waiting for me to sew it together.

But in the meantime I've gotten sidetracked 

by another long-waiting project.

When I share For the Birds with you next,

it won't look anything at all like this photo.

And I'm pretty excited about that.

Quiltdivajulie

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"It would be wise to embrace your childlike wonder and see nature in all her glory anew.  For then you would renew your connection to the planet that sustains your very essence."
Akasha

Conundrum - The Flimsy

This is where Conundrum was earlier in the week.

And despite making these decisions,

I shared that the jury was still deliberating.

While the deliberations continued,

I kept sewing sets of four triangles into blocks.

(it took longer to press the many seams in 

the 35 blocks than it did to sew them together)

After seeing the pressed but untrimmed blocks 

laying on the table, the jury came back with a verdict.

NO sashing -- NO cornerstones

So the blocks were squared to 6.5" 

and laid out on the design wall accordingly.

And I realized almost immediately

exactly where this wall quilt will hang -

on the entry wall of my design studio.

(the blue kaleidoscope quilt has been there for years

and it's time for a bit of a shake up)

Optic Strings and Conundrum waiting patiently

on the ironing table for their turn to be pressed.

What a transformation!

30.5" wide x 42" long

And yes, I did stitch all around the edges

to help stabilize the many, many seam ends.

The secondary designs move and shift

depending on where you are standing

and whether or not you squint a bit.

Not too shabby for a stack of 

sacrificial scrappy corner segments.

I've chosen this well-aged Keiko Goke for Yuwa

"Plaid Stripe" yardage for the backing.

* * *

Like Optic Strings, Conundrum is

part of the UandU Challenge.

There are a few linked posts

at the bottom of this page

if you want to read Conundrum's back story.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Because most of the time, things that are worth doing are either massively inconvenient, exhausting or terrifying.  Does this mean you shouldn’t do them?  Absolutely not.  Step out of your current reality and then take another step.  Believe.  Expand.  Ride out those chances while you still can.”
Victoria Erickson

Optic Strings - The Flimsy

The top after being sewn together - before pressing

I started this project in mid-June of this year.

I had cut the sets of strip pairs earlier in the year

but was stalled - until I discovered The 100 Day Challenge.

One block a day . . . seemed like a reasonable approach.

Back side of the quilt top after pressing

As things progressed, the one block a day turned into

seven blocks per week (or 14 every other week).

You can read through the update posts 

using the links listed HERE.

Optic Strings - the flimsy

48" wide x 64" long

80 blocks - each one with a unique pairing of 

a reproduction print and a Moda Bella solid.

Along with the 100 day challenge,

Optic Strings was also part of Sujata's

Unconventional and Unexpected challenge.

I shared my first post about this UandU project

on Sujata's Basket of Scraps blog - click HERE

The inspiration quilt was made with

rayon, velvet, and sateen and was tied.

Mine will be machine quilted in the very near future.

And the best part is that I finished this top

right at the 100-day mark.

 (give or take a day or two)

* * *

Stop back on Friday when I'll share a major update

about the "squirrel" project named Conundrum

that sprang from the leftover corners 

saved while making Optic Strings.

" If you give a mouse a cookie . . . "

Quiltdivajulie

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"A sense of wonder is desperately important."
Dr. Jane Goodall

Squares Aplenty - The Flimsy

I mentioned this project in passing once before.

It started because I had a stack of leftover low volume four patches.

When Kevin the Quilter started his 

SSSSSQ sew along earlier this summer,

I grabbed the waiting four patches and did my own thing.

Double four patch blocks set with alternate squares

of a much loved print that has been in my stash

for so many years I've lost count. 

I raided the blue-green resource box

to cut the 4.5" squares to combine

with the low volume four patches.

It felt so good to use some of those stashed pieces.

And now the result is a 48" x 60" quilt top.

My top doesn't look anything like Kevin's mystery top -

but that's perfectly okay with me

because those lovely four patches are 

no longer languishing in a project box.

I pulled these leftover pieces to create a scrappy back.

It is pieced and pressed and waiting in the closet now.

My new roll of Hobbs 80/20 batting 

has been ordered and should be here any day.

Quiltdivajulie

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“To be more childlike, you don't have to give up being an adult. The fully integrated person is capable of being both an adult and a child simultaneously. Recapture the childlike feelings of wide-eyed excitement, spontaneous appreciation, cutting loose, and being full of awe and wonder at this magnificent universe.”
Wayne Dyer

Partly Sunny - the Flimsy

The first time I shared this project was

 almost two years ago in November 2017.

The plan was for 374 die cut 3" finished 

HSTs laid out 17 wide x 22 long

using 48 fabrics - 24 yellows and 24 grays.

The fabrics had been pulled back in June 2017

but it took another few months to settle on a design.

As things progressed, the layout changed to 16 x 20

for a top that would measure 48" x 60"

And then, things changed in a big way.

I decided to abandon the single orientation 

approach and instead used the HSTs 

to piece Depression blocks.

It happened because I just couldn't face

pinning and stitching 320 individual HSTs together.

(I hadn't learned Wanda's webbing system 

from her Colorwash 360 class yet - 

I'm so glad I took the class and learned her method)

This post from January 2018  

shows the results of that decision.

And then the quilt top . . .

and the scrappy back hung in the closet.

I knew I wasn't in love with the revised layout

but I kept hoping I'd fall back in love with it.

It didn't happen.

In January 2019 I shared this post

and began unstitching the entire quilt top.

One HST at a time, I felt better and better about my decision.

 In April 2019 I shared those unstitched HST blocks

on the design wall as they were originally intended.

The blocks were clipped together

 and prepped for webbing the top together.

But then they again sat in the project box waiting.

Until a week or so ago when I sewed them all together.

After pressing the new quilt top,

I happily pinned it to the design wall.

Oh, NO -- there's ONE HST turned the wrong way!

Being a liberated quilter, 

I would normally chuckle and move on.

But in this case, that one errant block

was all anyone who saw the photo could see.

So I did a bit of surgical unstitching

to remove that block and turn it around the right way.

And here is the result.

At long last, Partly Sunny is a flimsy worth finishing.

The best part is that this scrappy back 

is already pieced and 

the flanged binding is already made.

One day in the not too distant future

Partly Sunny WILL be quilted and finished.

Quiltdivajulie

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“I believe that curiosity, wonder, and passion are defining qualities of imaginative minds and great teachers; that restlessness and discontent are vital things; that intense experience and suffering instruct us in ways that less intense emotions can never do.” 
Kay Redfield Jamison

Inspi(red) - The Flimsy

The idea for this quilt arrived in February of this year

as I trimmed the strip-pieced center panels for Luminous.

I've always wanted to make my version of

Amanda Jean Nyberg's Birch Trees design -

and this was the perfect opportunity.

I could combine the already-pieced skinny insert strips

with reds from the stash and count this project

 towards the AHIQ Red is a Neutral challenge.

I've also always wanted to make a RED quilt -

so the collision of timing with all these elements

was absolutely perfect for me.

The finished top measures 48" wide x 60" long

and features 20 different red fabrics from my stash.

I found a very red reproduction print in the stash 

that will work beautifully for the back -- 

another bit of fortunate timing.

Inspi(RED) makes me VERY happy!

And I have another empty project box.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Think and wonder, wonder and think.”
Dr. Seuss