Holiday Table Topper

So I pulled a few more fabrics for the

holiday table topper that is happening in my studio.

Here are the blocks on the design wall . . .

. . . and here are the blocks being assembled.

For now, this is the design wall view.

(at least this is for next year and not this month!)

Close up of just the word blocks.

(one for each week of Advent)

And, true to form, I'm just as excited about playing

with the trimmings and scraps as I am about the topper's front!

Quiltdivajulie

Alpha Palooza - The Quilt

I LOVE IT ! ! ! 

Alpha Palooza measures 42" x 60" 

Chris quilted this with free motion Baptist Fans 

using a variegated thread featuring raspberry and turquoise.

This project is mostly Lynne's "fault" . . . 

I was part of her Red Letter Quilt Along.

(except my letters were 25 purples & 1 turquoise)

But I can't blame it all on Lynne ~

I've wanted to make an alphabet sampler 

ever since I learned to make free-pieced letters during Tonya's First Ever Online Class

(that's when I made And Sometimes Y)

and I had a whole box of 1.5" strips left after making Dumpster Diving,

one of the many legos quilts made after Tonya shared her idea with everyone.

Photo taken with late afternoon sunshine.

(and yes, that is the toe of my rainbow shoe)

You can see more photos in the Picasa Album here.

SO happy with the way it all came together!

Quiltdivajulie

Ready to Add Binding!

WOO HOO!!

Alpha Palooza is ready for binding!

Chris and I met up over the weekend . . .

I LOVE the free motion Baptist fans she quilted!!!

(C is for Chris, after all)

More photos soon!

Quiltdivajulie

Alpha Palooza - Revising the Flimsy

The unstitching process hasn't been as difficult as I feared . . .

However, getting a decent photo of this background fabric is a challenge!

The background, in real life,

is very warm and inviting.

In these photos, it looks a bit flat and boring.

While I unstitch the final two rows of letter blocks,

I will be pondering what to do about the border corners.

I don't have enough of the background to piece four blocks,

and there are not enough of the surrounding scraps to make blocks.

Maybe I'll just add the side border the way it is in the photo.

Hmmmmmm . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

Not So Wordless Wednesday

The blocks are done!!

Yippee!  Yahoo!!

However, it may be a while before you see the flimsy . . .

Why?

Well . . . I stitched the blocks together, but I'm going to unstitch them again.

Why?

They need more room to breathe.

Losing all those 1/4" seam allowances squashed everything too close together.

Besides, I want to turn this into a lap quilt instead of a wall hanging.

Glad I have a nice new seam ripper!

Quiltdivajulie

Pieces of Progress

So . . .

the next letter for my alphabet sampler

should have been "m" . . .

On my first night back in the studio,

all I could muster was the "o" above.

Elsewhere in the studio,

the first six shirts have been deconstructed.

(much easier using the cutting table and rotary cutter)

* * *

Now, I know several (!) of you

have expressed concern about

some of the colors shown here recently ~

Hopefully these next two photos will reassure you

that I'm fine and have not entirely lost my way.

Here is an inspiration photo

from Gwen Marston's Liberated Quilting book

for the stash-enhanced Moda-based assortment.

No cutting has happened yet ~

I'm feeling a little better each day now

(darn cold)

so hopefully something will happen soon.

And here is a peek

at one way to re-purpose the quartered Dresdens . . .

again inspired by one of Gwen Marston's re-cut block quilts.

* * *

Nothing is set in stone,

but the fragmentary ideas

are beginning to come together.

* * *

See ya'll again early next week . . .

Quiltdivajulie

A Few More Letters . . .

After a long pause, I've added f, g, and h 

to finish out the second row . . . 

. . . then i, j, k, and l to form the third row!

* * *

The letters are only 3-1/2 inches (give or take a smidge),

which is a challenge for me.

I'm used to making larger capital letters!

Next up is the letter m . . .

* * *

Alpha Palooza

should finish out at 30" x 40"

and I've already picked a spot in my studio

to hang it once it is all done.

One day soon . . .

Quiltdivajulie

Alpha-Palooza

Remember the plain bare-bones letter a?

WOO HOO ... naked no more!

Beautiful "b"

Colorful "c"

Daring "d"

Enthusiastic "e"

In addition to enough leftover 1.5" strips to make 

thirteen more 12.5" blocks like those in Dumpster Diving (not!) . . . 

I pulled out my crumb boxes to enhance this joyfully scrappy, alpha-effort.

Crumb boxes?

Square lidded boxes from The Container Store

for the smallest precious bits of fabrics

(with room for expansion).

I've made all the filler blocks ~

now it is time to tackle the rest of the alphabet.

Only 21 more lower case letters to go!

Lynne is almost through the how-to posts for her Letter Along project ~

I really need to get busy!

Here's how the previously-chosen backing, etc.

looks with the new plan.

WOO HOO!!!

I LOVE IT!

Quiltdivajulie

Let the Lettering Begin!

I am slow to get started, 

but my letters for Lynne's Letter Along

have finally started to appear!

I've made letters before, lots of letters ~

but they've all been CAPITAL letters.

(check out my lettered quilts 

using the page link 

in my sidebar)

So my personal challenge with this sampler

is to make quasi-controlled lower case letters.

The letters themselves measure 3-1/2" tall.

With the background fabric all-around, 

the "blocks" measure just over 5-1/2"

(these will be trimmed when it comes time to piece it all together).

After working with large letters,

these smaller versions are a bit of a challenge ~

but I'm happy with the results so far.

(The colors are much more vibrant in real life

as you'll see once they're off the design wall.)

Lots of other things going on this week,

so it may be another few days before more letters appear here.

* * *

Don't forget to stop by on Thursday for the giveaway post!

Quiltdivajulie

Fried Marigolds and a Friday Finish

My poor sad marigolds . . .

the high heat index has worn them out

despite daily watering.

Since Mother Nature is keeping it so hot outside,

I decided to take indoor finish photos of Bits & Pieces.

[Yes, the quilt has been through the washer and dryer already.]

These are what Tonya describes as 

low contrast letters ...

I didn't want the words to be the first element noticed,

just a part of the quilt that draws the viewer closer.

Chris did her usual awesome quilting

using the Effervescence panto and turquoise thread,

despite the bulky seams that come with crumb piecing.

You can see her quilting photos here.

You can read more about the quilt's evolution

here and here.

Quiltdivajulie

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

July's Binding Tally:  Four finished / four to go.

Birthday "B" for Brenda

Brenda (of Scraps and Strings) has a milestone birthday approaching.

She asked for capital B blocks so she can create a birthday quilt for herself.

I love the idea ... 

may need to borrow it in a year or so when my next milestone happens.

So here is her BLUE B in the BLAH BLAH BLAH background fabric

laid atop the remaining blue yardage (to prevent light flares on the floor).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRENDA!

Quiltdivajulie

UFOs No More

MIL's childhood doll

Now there are TWO pillow shams on the guest bed . . .

Ochenta (translation = eighty) was finished just before MIL's 80th birthday,

but she never made it home from the hospital so 

she never saw her quilt and I didn't have the heart to finish the shams.

Here's a better look at the quilt itself.

This panel was leftover after I finished eldest son's His Favorite Jeans quilt.

While the "finish it" mood was at work,

I went ahead and turned it into a small pillow.

Here's the back ~ featuring leftover binding and two lengths 

of leftover backing from one of last year's charity quilts.

Not too bad!

Another UFO bit the dust when I backed and bound

this 5" x 7" leftover piece from my Transitions Priority Quilt.

Perfect size for a mug mat!

When I listed off the projects that I need to finish,

I completely forgot to add Bits & Pieces.

The strips to make liberated letters for the border are all cut . . .

One day soon!

Quiltdivajulie