Scrappy Bow Ties - The Quilt

Three years ago last month I decided to participate

in the "modern" group of Barb's Bow Tie swap.

I made a LOT of bow tie blocks 

and sent off 80 of them to be swapped

with the other participants.

A few weeks later, I received a package from Barb

filled with 80 blocks made by other participants.

But HOW to use them?

Sometime during mid-2016

I came up with this row-style setting.

It was the first quilt I'd made using grays

as the background fabrics.

But then the finished quilt top stalled.

I had just purchased my APQS George sit-down longarm

but I wasn't very good at using it and

I didn't feel confident enough to quilt this.

So the top and the pieced back 

were hung in my closet . . .

Over two years later as I sandwiched the layers,

I still wasn't 100% sure of how I wanted to quilt

these scrappy bow ties.

But as I was pin basting the final row,

the answer dawned on me.

Liberated orange peels!

So I did -- and I love the results.

Evenly distributed unifying texture 

without an overpowering amount of thread.

(Glide's Nickel on top and Lead on the back)

The gray and white striped binding

adds a little bit of sassiness to the quilt's edges

and plays nicely with the scrappy back.

I am ELATED with this long overdue finish.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Practice doesn't make perfect. Practice reduces the imperfection." Toba Beta

Scrappy Bow Ties - Gifted

Our family dentist is retiring later this year.

We've been with him just over 32 years now -

ever since we moved to Tennessee.

So I decided to gift him a quilt as our thank you.

Scrappy Bow Ties is now his and he loves it.

And since a gift quilt deserves a gift bag,

I made this one in the XXL size.

While we were chatting I asked if he had any

families where he was now treating 

more than two or three generations

and he responded with a story about a family

that came to the office to take 

a FOUR-generation photo with him.

He started with the grandfather, then his children,

who brought their children,

 who are now bringing their toddlers.

So many good memories to savor

after he stops coming to the office.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Keep searching for the colors when everything turns gray.”

Christy Ann Martine

Scrappy Bow Ties - a Flimsy

Last year I played along with

the "modern group" within

Barb's Bow Tie Swap.

I posted about it twice -

HERE and HERE.

It took me a long time to decide

HOW I wanted to assemble the 108 blocks.

(80 swap blocks plus 28 of my "seed" blocks)

I was determined to come up with an arrangement

that used only the blocks already on hand.

I ultimately opted for a simple color-related row approach,

sashed with strips from a Christmas-gifted 

jelly roll of grayed neutrals from the

Zen Chic (Moda) Background Essentials group.

The quilt top measures 48" x 60"

(each bow tie block finished at 4")

Max and I are going to attempt to quilt this

using Barb's Baptist Fan stencil.

We'll see how it goes.

In the meantime,

I'm delighted with the way the top came together.

Quiltdivajulie

September Recap for 18 in 2018

For this month's recap, 

I'm starting with three projects

that seemed like marvelous ideas

but turned out to be less than I'd hoped.

The first involved a bundle of scraps from Mari.

I had planned to keep them all together,

plus adding in a few more from my stash,

to make a scrappy string-ish kind of quilt.

The more I worked with it,

the less it spoke to me . . . 

So I am going to share 

the low volume strips and bits

with a friend who is short on those 

and the rest is now back in my stash.

The second involved these fabrics 

from the Outback Wife line.

I love their stories and textures,

but no matter how I've tried to use them,

they came out dark, off-balance, and un-inspiring.

As a result, they've been handed off to someone else

who is wildly excited about them.

The third change-of-direction this month

involved my autumn tree quilt.

These untrimmed blocks left me disappointed.

The individual fabrics are okay,

but the feel of the mix just doesn't work.

It doesn't help that autumn is not 

my favorite season of the year, either.

This idea will return, but not in this form.

(go check out  Lynne tree plans shared here)

On the QUILTING front, 

I quilted and finished two quilts this month.

Scrappy Bow Ties (above) 

and 

Flummadiddle (below)

I didn't get to the other two 

that were on my September goals list,

but they will happen during October - 

one way or another.

One the PIECING front:

I pieced this top and donated it to 

a local guild's Hospice project

as part of my 2018 comfort quilts effort.

I converted my 25-patch low volume project into 

Just Because - a modified scrap vortex style quilt top.

This one really helped empty the neutral crumb boxes.

I finally finished piecing the London Fields quilt top.

AND I finished piecing the top of Tea Party

for our local show's annual challenge.

(this one MUST be quilted during early October

since turn-in days are October 30-31)

And last but not least, on the Squirrel Club front:

I spent a lot of time rearranging the stash

(and the studio itself)

due to the arrival of this bookshelf.

I spent time putting together 

annual photo books for the quilts I've made

during the last fourteen years.

I celebrated a major milestone birthday

and our older son celebrated his 40th.

I turned these into a series of step-out blocks

for the two Freeform Pinwheels classes

I'll be teaching in mid-October.

(design from Sujata's Cultural Fusion Quilts)

After week one's classes,

these step-outs will be turned into a quilt top

so I can use it in during week two's classes

when we talk about layout and assembly.

I also cut out pieces and parts to make

four additional Christmas quilts.

* * *

It was a busy month for so many reasons

and October promises to be even more hectic.

One stitch at a time . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."

Steve Jobs

18 in 2018 - Second Half of the Year

I've spent a lot of time thinking about 

what I want to accomplish in my studio

during the second six months of 2018.

On the Piecing front -- 

these are the projects I want to work on

and hopefully bring to flimsy status

and maybe even quilt by year end:

GAZEBO - Sixteen Patch

Fabric purchased Cyber Monday 2017

Strip sets partially sewn

OUTBACK WIFE

Fabric purchased May 2017 

Fabrics laundered and half hexes cut February 2018

Layout plan changed April 2018 - ready to start sewing

SOMEDAY IS NOW

Organized Chaos pattern by Sujata Shah

Focus fabric purchased April 2017

CURRENT STATUS - ready to start sewing

THE LAST CAMELLIA

Inspired early 2018 by photo in a book

then modified to a slightly different design.

Scrappy stashed fabrics cut and ready to sew

PANELMANIA CHALLENGE - TEA TIME

(substitution for Busytown panel project)

Challenge issued November 2017

DUE DATE – November 1, 2018

Design decisions made for front AND back

Cut out and ready to start sewing

SHIBORI - THE REMAKE

Original Flimsy Reveal Post - October 6, 2017

Reimagined Early 2018 - Top and Back taken apart

Updated fabric pull (above) for new design plan

LOW VOLUME 25-PATCH

First stitches taken April 2018

Need to keep stitching

LONDON FIELDS

Pattern purchased 2017

Fabrics cut out early 2018

Blocks sets sorted onto plates - ready to start sewing

AUTUMN SPLENDOR

Scraps from Mari with pieces from my stash

String-style quilt strips cut - ready to start stitching

FRANKLIN SQUARE

My fifth Cultural Fusion Freeform Rail Fence

Fabrics pulled and paired - ready to be cut out

GARDEN PARTY

Inspired by the Two by Four design

strips sets cut/paired - ready to start sewing

On the quilting side of things,

I want to finish the final five quilts 

that are still hanging in my closet --

RETIRED, TOO

Date Started – November 2017

Flimsy Reveal Post - January 19, 2018

CHERIE’S BROKEN DISHES

Date Started – September 2016

(parts gifted during AQS Chattanooga)

Top Completed – October 2016

Flimsy Reveal Post – October 2, 2016

SCRAPPY BOW TIES

Date Started – Barb’s 2015 swap

Top Completed – May 2016

Flimsy Reveal Post - June 2, 2016

PARTLY CLOUDY

Date Started – October 2017

Top Completed – November 2017

Flimsy Reveal Post – November 23, 2017

PARTLY SUNNY

Date Started – October 2017

Top - Completed January 2018

AND

As I finish the quilts listed in the piecing group above,

I also want to get most of those quilted by year-end

so there is no backlog staring me in the face

come next January. 

Finally about my 2018 Comfort Quilts effort --

I plan to finish piecing, quilt, and finish 

six more quilts for Jack's Basket

and

five more for A Doll Like Me.

At that point,  I will have made 

ten quilts for A Doll Like Me

and fourteen quilts for Jack's Basket

during calendar 2018.

I have a new plan for Jack's Basket in 2019 

and I've decided that to focus my efforts

for one organization rather than 

trying to keep up with two groups

like I have this year.

* * *

But for the rest of this year

I plan to . . .

Quiltdivajulie

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"You must look within for value, 
but must look beyond for perspective."
Denis Waitley