Gone Dotty - the Flimsy

Gone Dotty is now a flimsy (quilt top).  

With the slightly oversize borders to allow for straightening after FMQ it measures 56" wide x 68" long.

And this is what it looked like on my sewing table after I finished added the final border.  The crumpled look is so different from the more graphic flat-on-the-wall look.

I need to set it aside now for a bit while I get busy on the FMQ for the four remaining placemats I'd like to have ready to use on Easter Sunday.

Quiltdivajulie

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

“Life is a combination of magic and pasta.”

Federico Fellini

Gone Dotty - Revised

So this is where we left things at the end of last week. 

And just as a reminder, this is the vintage inspiration quilt.

Friday evening I did a bit of rearranging and this is where things are now.

I like the calm vibe and consistent diagonals of the first layout but it also feels a bit predictable.

I love the energy is the revised layout but I want to do a bit more tinkering and pondering before I sew the HST strips together.

Perhaps this will be a good week for some FMQ while Gone Dotty rests on the design wall.  Or maybe I'll take a few days off from the blog and do some cleaning out and editing of the resource and crumb boxes (they're getting very messy and overcrowded).

There was no sewing over the weekend, in fact I never even made it up the stairs to the studio.  Puzzles and lego building, coloring and so much reading, lots and lots of time outdoors, and a couple of Disney movies completely filled the days.  It was awesome.

Quiltdivajulie

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

“Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”

C.S. Lewis

Gone Dotty - HSTs Finished

This is what sixty-four strip sets with five 3" HSTs in each look like on the design wall.    (If you missed Gone Dotty's introductory post, click HERE)

I plan to add a 3" border all around using the Brandon Mably Jumble (far right).  The spotted stripe (center) will be used to make binding and the Tula Pink Lemur Me Alone fabric (far left) will be used for backing.  I'll need to piece the back with a horizontal seam since the pattern runs the length of the fabric and the lemurs look silly standing on their heads or tails.

I like the way the graphic black and white border and the other two black-whites with pops of color help tie the whole project together.

I know I said earlier that what I have on the design wall would not be the final layout based on the inspiration quilt's arrangement.  But the longer I look at the HSTs laid out this way the more tempted I am to simply tweak their placement within each of the eight groups.

Little Man will be here this weekend so I'm not sure how much studio time I'll have since the weather is supposed to be reasonably nice and he loves to play outside.

Quiltdivajulie

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

“Creativity is magic.  Don’t examine it too closely.”

Edward Alber

Introducing Gone Dotty

June, 2021 - I pulled as many different polka dot fabrics as possible from my stash (yardage and resource boxes).  This is what I came up with.

The original plan doesn't even matter any more because there have been so many changes in direction between then and now.

But over the past few weeks, using this array of polka dot fabrics, I've been cutting 2.5 x 4.5" rectangles for a baby quilt named Dot to Dot and pairs of 4.5" x 9" rectangles for die cutting 3" (fin.) HSTs to make a lap quilt named Gone Dotty.  

Here are the first few sets of HSTs for Gone Dotty.

There will be 64 different polka dot fabrics paired with a limited number of black and white polka dots and others that read like a polka dot -- eight different color groups each with eight different polka dots. 

Cathy L. shared this vintage beauty last year and I knew instantly that at some point I would make my own version.  Gone Dotty is that project.

Cathy is making sets of 5 HSTs from her scraps and tossing those sets into a box.  I just know that her super-scrappy version (scroll to the end of the linked post to see photos) is going to be amazing.

This is what my design wall currently looks like but this will not be the eventual layout.

Process note:  In order to get five HSTS using a die that cuts four from each 4.5" x 9" rectangle, I used two rectangles giving me eight HSTs from each of the 64 fabrics.  I'm making all of them but only five of each fabric will be in this quilt.  

The other 192 leftover HSTs  (3 each x 64 fabrics) will be used to make a second baby quilt tentatively named Spots and Dots.

But for now, Gone Dotty is my focus.  Stay tuned . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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

“There is a magic about you that is all your own.”

D.M. Dellinger

Vintage Blocks and the Plan

I shared these hand-pieced blocks with you

a couple of posts back.

I needed the design wall space

so I pulled older fabrics to go with them

and tucked things into a project box.

I'll sash the blocks with these double pink prints.

I haven't decided on cornerstones yet

but I might use the fabric

 on the left in the next photo.

I'll use these two fabrics for the backing.

The green came from Wanda's stash a couple of years ago.

The brown gingham with flowers came from 

one of the vendor tables last weekend.

This was another set of hand-pieced blocks

that were rescued from a vendor's table

for $5.00 last weekend.

They were very dirty so I soaked them in Orvus soap

and let them dry flat between layers of towels

after I took this photo.

The blocks will need a good pressing

and some squaring up 

before anything else can happen.

At this point I'm thinking I'll use this

soft yellow older print fabric

for the backing.

I may change my mind once the blocks

are sewn together - but this is the best option

of the older fabrics on hand right now.

You can see more of my previous

rescue quilt projects HERE.

* * *

I don't plan to work with these

until some time next year,

so I've made lots of notes and 

put them in the respective file folders.

All in good time.

Quiltdivajulie

Conundrum - The Quilt

Conundrum is finished!

Measures 30" wide x 42" long

Created using the cut off corners 

from the blocks for Optic Strings.

Layout inspired by the "String Grid" quilt on page 22

of Roderick Kiracofe's Unconventional and Unexpected.

I'm counting this as a finish for Sujata's UandU QAL.

(Luminous, InspiRED, and Optic Strings 

are still waiting to be quilted)

Backing is by Keiko Goke ("stripe plaid")

I used the single leftover triangle to create a label.

Quilted with Affinity variegated Rainbow thread

(with Glide Bark in the bobbin)

using my unmarked liberated free motion all-over fans.

And here is where Conundrum will live

for the foreseeable future -

what you see when you first step through

the door to my design studio.

This is the view as you leave the design studio.

* * *

Next up under the needle?

Dumpster Diving 6 - Lagniappe

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------
"The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery.  There is always more . . . "
Anais Nin

Conundrum (f/k/a Optic Geese) - The Plan

(the pins indicate where additional blocks will be placed)

This is the first bit of sewing I have managed

since coming home from teaching at JCCFS.

First I randomly sorted the triangle units

into 35 sets of four using my plate system.

(there was no way to sort them other than randomly)

But this first glimpse of sewn blocks

on the design wall gave me pause.

So I went back to the inspiration photo.

After dithering around for a couple of hours

with the blocks and then auditioning sashing options,

I decided enough was enough.

I'm rapidly approaching the ending point

of this 100 day challenge

and even more than that artificial deadline,

I am ready to move on to other projects.

I shopped the stash and chose 

this reproduction birdhouse print for the quilt's back 

and two well-aged brownish pieces of yardage.

The diagonal gingham will be used for cornerstones

and the brown with oval spots will be used for sashing.

The soft brown tones play off the other colors nicely

without seeming wimpy or demanding undue attention -

and I hope my head can now stop feeling 

like it might explode from trying to be 

overly scrappy with this whole project.

* * *

At this point it looks as though the blocks

 will be squared to 6.5" - but I won't know 

for sure until they're all sewn together.

Meanwhile, despite my desire to find closure,

the jury is still deliberating . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------
“The stars align more often than we realize – but we’re usually too busy staring down and our feet and wondering why we feel stuck.”

Amy Atherton

Lagniappe - The Flimsy

Lagniappe - Dumpster Diving 6 - is now a flimsy.

It was made using bonus HSTs cut while 

making Dumpster Diving 5 - Catharsis.

Inspired by two different but very similar vintage quilts.

When it came time to add the sashing strips,

I auditioned ever so many fabrics.

None of them worked - mostly because

the geese were so very scrappy.

So I pulled out this beloved green batik

that has been hoarded in the stash

and VOILA - the geese were happy.

The finished top measures 49" wide x 65" long.

This is the backing fabric:

Romantika from Peacock Pavilion 

by Vikki Chu for Michael Miller fabrics.

YES!

It feels marvelous to be moving projects forward

instead of just shuffling their boxes around.

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------
"I have long thought that anyone who does not regularly - or ever - gaze up and see the wonder and glory of a dark night sky filled with countless stars loses a sense of their fundamental connectedness to the universe."
Brian Greene