Repose - the Quilt

Repose is now a finished low-volume quilt measuring 54" x 70"

Made using roughly 375 four-inch tumblers die cut mid-June 2024 from 69 unique stash fabrics.

I'm glad I decided to use a darker backing instead of another low volume.

Quilted using my liberated free motion all-over nested spirals and Glide thread in Pink Rose.

Here's a photo of the backing and the Cherrywoods off-center strip.

And a detail of the binding - no info on selvage aside from the fact that it is a Free Spirit print (several years old).

* * *

Repose was intended to be finished for use in January with the rest of our low-volume quilts, but that month has come and gone for 2025.

However, I'm totally ahead of the game for January 2026.

(you can see the earlier posts for this project by using the Repose label below)

Quiltdivajulie

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"Cultivate the habit of being grateful."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Repose - the Flimsy

REPOSE is the first finished quilt top of 2025.

55" wide x 70" long (before trimming the sides).

Here's a detail showing some of the fabrics (taken while I was pressing the top).

And here's another detail with the lamp light (the one that let's me know my iron is ON) in the upper left corner.

A bit of the top's pressed back side . . . 

And another view of the finished quilt top.

Once I pin baste and quilt LOGOPHILE (waiting on the noodles since September) and quilt the six pin basted since September birthday placemats, REPOSE will be next in line.  I'd like to say it all of those will be quilted by month end, but I know better to make promises I'm not sure I can keep.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Nothing is stronger than gentleness."

Abraham Lincoln

Spoondrift - the Quilt

Spoondrift (a showery sprinkling of sea-water or fine spray swept from the tops of the waves), started in August 2022, is finished.  

Outdoor photos were still a huge challenge due to wind and lingering dampness, so I had to settle for these flat-on-the-driveway shots.

The wind conveniently flipped this corner over for me.

The extra blocks were pieced into the backing (again, the wind flipped the corner).

Finished size is 50" x 70"

Quilted with my beloved all-over nested spiral fans using Glide thread in Robin Egg.

And while it is hard to see in these photos, the binding is a scrappy mix of fabrics from the stash.

The colors when photographed indoors are much closer to real life. 

As we put away the Christmas quilts and decorations, Spoondrift will be one of January's low volume quilts.

* * *

Wishing each of you good health, safety, comfort, and all manner of goodness in the coming year.  

And if you haven't read it yet, you might want to pop over and read Nancy Near Philadelphia's year-end post (click HERE).

Quiltdivajulie

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"Let us come alive to the splendor that is all around us, and see the beauty in ordinary things."

Thomas Merton

Good News, a No-Sew Journal, and a Surprise

Those of you who visit regularly will immediately understand the significance of this photo.

The left foot, despite still being a bit swollen, is finally happy in my normal shoe - what a most-excellent Christmas present.

Over the past few days, I've spent some time playing with an idea shared by Meg of MegJournals - a no-sew journal using old book covers.  (you can see her video for this method HERE)

Many years ago, Cherie from St. Louis (now Pittsburgh) gifted me a small blank journal from See Rock City.  I used the covers from that journal to make my first-ever no-sew journal project.

The entire premise consists of creating an accordion/concertina style journal by building the pages using scrap paper, resulting in a patchwork-like effect.

If you look at the backgrounds on these example pages, you can see that I did just that.

This particular page features old advertising, coffee-dyed learn-to-print paper, a vintage sheet of Current stationery, and a collaged torn edge from who-knows-where and a scrap from long-ago handwritten meeting notes.

More interesting papers with a couple of extra bits collaged on top.

I really like the look of the patchwork-y backgrounds and I had fun finding bits to collage in strategic spots (to help strengthen some of the joins).

That said, I am not so terribly in love with the rather unsubstantial weight of the "pages."

I definitely liked using the red journal covers as the front and back of this journal and I will use that approach again with some of the thrifted book boards in my stash.

All in all, I'm quite pleased with the way this turned out, despite the lighter-than-usual page weight.

At some future point I want to make another version using a single continuous paper as the foundation and collage patchwork-style on top of that.  

* * *

AND I actually managed to sit and FMQ a portion of Spoondrift!  

I stopped after the first bobbin's worth of thread so that I didn't overdo things.  It would be amazing if I could get this finished by year end (it has only been pin basted since September).

We shall see.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, there is no such thing.  Making your unknown known is the important thing."

Georgia O'Keefe

Introducing Studio Squirrel No. 5

Introducing Violet (named for Dame Maggie Smith's Lady Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Downtown Abbey), who has joined her merry band of cousins Chase, Hunter, Mischief, and Flash in my studio.

You can see all of their photos in the sidebar and posts with their previous appearances by using the 'studio squirrels' label below.

In between other things, I managed a bit more sewing time as you can see by how many more pairs of rows are on the design wall.

Here's a different view that includes a glimpse of the backing fabric (far left) - a gift from two online and later in-person friends.

(I am waiting to press all of the pairs before sewing them together, just in case adjustments are needed)

* * *

And then the squirrels distracted me with a nagging reminder that the clean out and re-org of my studio drawers was still waiting to be finished.  

(done and dusted now)

Next up on the clean up the studio list will be the big closet in my design studio where project boxes, lined drawstring gift bags, and all sorts of other stuff are jumbled on the shelves and stuffed into the corners.  I can manage the lower step on the step stool now which will let me reach the top shelf and I promise to ask the guys for help if there's something I can't quite reach!

As for the foot - I'm finally able to wear my normal orthotic in the surgical shoe and I can't believe how much I've missed that support.  The swelling continues to lessen but standing still for any length of time is still uncomfortable - walking is actually easier.

Busy week ahead - hopefully with some studio time in the mix.

Quiltdivajulie

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"All this endless thinking.  It's very overrated."

Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham

Today's the Day

These are the first six tumbler rows for Repose.

I ended up sorting the sewn pairs onto plates and I'm assembling them in two-row-pairs so I can rearrange if necessary before final assembly (hopefully before year end).

Here are those same rows but viewed from the opposite end.

I'm looking forward to more sewing time towards the end of the week.  

* * *

Later today DH has his second cataract surgery . . . fingers crossed all goes well and he no longer has the brain strain of one "new" eye and one "old" eye.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance."

Coco Chanel

I Sewed

I sewed -- I actually sewed!

I told DH it was easy to tell it had been a while since my wall calendar was still on October and today is December 1.

The individual low volume tumblers for Repose were pinned in pairs before my surgery so they were what I pulled for this initial sit and sew session.

Once all the pairs were sewn, I sorted them loosely by the dominant fabric or color.

I haven't decided yet whether to (a) sort 9 of these pairs onto 18 plates and piece the rows from those, or (b) sew these pairs into fours, the fours into eights, and the eights into sixteens before adding the necessary single tumblers for a row 19 wide once the rows are arranged on the design wall.

My guess is that I will go with option b . . . I'm in the mood to sew, not move back and forth between the machine and the design wall.

These are my two newest nutcrackers who stand guard near my computer.  

And LOOK - one of my two cactus is blooming!

Quiltdivajulie

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"Always have something beautiful in sight, even if it's just a daisy in a jelly glass."

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Eye Candy to Share

I spent some time in the studio on Saturday taking inventory and making some longer term decisions about my pending project piles (amazingly, several fabric pulls were put back on the shelves - they just weren't going to happen).

There was a lot of moving around between piles until I had a mix that made me happy and were most likely to be turned into quilts that look and feel like "me" rather than the designers.

I also made a lot of notes in my project files, especially with the new changes, so I would be able to remember what I was thinking by the time I get back to these.

There was quite a bit of "pick up and put away where it belongs" as well.  When I can go up and down stairs again, it will be so much nicer to walk into reasonably tidy rooms.

And about that inventory . . . 

I  have four projects previously blogged about that are cut out and ready to start stitching (Repose, Rubricate, Shirts and Such, and Vellichor).

There are eight pending projects with fabric pulls, design plans, and backings from the stash (three of which are shown above).

And then there are the fourteen quilt top/backs waiting for their turn with Max.  Spoondrift is pin basted ready to FMQ.  Logophile is rolled onto the pool noodles ready for pin basting.  The other twelve are neatly folded onto hangers in the "waiting to be quilted" closet.

All in good time.

(you can use the labels below my signature/quote to see previous posts for the projects named above)

* * *

Surgery tomorrow - once I am clear-headed enough to post, I’ll share an update.

Be back soon.

Quiltdivajulie

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"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."

Henry David Thoreau

A Bit of Studio Time

The other day Lynne shared a new project she's working on using her bright on black fabrics.

That sent me upstairs to look at my bright on black stash.  

Hmmm - it was getting messy so I've been tidying and refolding.

So many pieces left from previous projects .  .  .

Some of the yardage came from backings and bindings . . . 

Other pieces were used in B.O.B.  (flimsy) and its backing and Razzle Dazzle - which may or may not get quilted before the end of the year . . . 

These half-yards came from a recent eQuilter sale . . . 

And these were going to be used for the back of Tuxie-Tude but with the change to black and white backing, these can go back in the stash.

I'm itching to make something with these, but obviously it will be a while before I start anything new.

At the other end of the color spectrum -- one of my goals this week was to finish die cutting the rest of the low volume 4" tumblers for Repose.

(The squares from a mix of 69 unique fabrics had only been waiting since June)

My next step was to pin pairs of tumblers and sort those into groups of ten for easy counting.

There are 320 tumblers in the 16 clipped sets shown above, plus 9 more pairs (bottom right), and 18 single tumblers for the row ends (bottom left).

My plan is to make a top 19 tumblers wide x 18 rows long (342 tumblers) 

I won't start stitching these until later in the year - but at least the project is ready to go when I am.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Gazing at beautiful things acts on my soul."

Michaelangelo

Pieces of Progress

The fabric for the birthday placemats arrived and has now been cut into 18" x 24" slabs.  

They've been sandwiched with batting and backing and are ready to be quilted using Glide in Dijon.

Spoondrift was rolled onto the three pool noodles back in early July. 

Finally the  layers are pin basted.

I'll use Glide thread in Linen to quilt this one.

I decided to use a different piece of yardage from the stash to back Logophile.

(you can see the previous choice here)

I cut/pieced the backing and now all three layers are rolled onto pool noodles.

Once the placemats and Spoondrift are quilted, I'll pin baste and start quilting Logophile, which will then become one of our kitchen table quilts.  

I've also randomly paired and pinned the Cherrywood bits for Shirts and Such so they're ready to use as leader-enders whenever I work on Tuxie-Tude's rows.

Background work isn't always fun but it surely helps move projects forward.

Quiltdivajulie

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"One of the most powerful things I've learned (about art) is progress is not linear."

Alison Beere