A closet got cleaned out

Take my heart in Feb 2015

I realize that a swap deadline of February 28th would suggest pretty much anything but a heart block is timely, what with it being exactly two weeks (a fortnight!) past Saint Valentine's Day but I figured what the whatever.  After all, I have received a handful, maybe not even that many, of heart quilt block requests for February over the years.  So few in fact that they might all be from the same person (I keep a list & when I get a request I put it on the list, when I get a second request, I put a tic mark, etc.  Maybe I need a better system, but for a long time this was the easiest way to look at all kinds of different ideas on the same plane). 

That's right I have been getting "let's make a heart block"-type requests for a while.  & ignoring them.  Then for whatever reason hearts just clicked & over the past six months I have gotten four more requests for a heart block (trust me, that's a lot).  So without further ado the February block for the Facebook Quilt Block Swap group CAN BE a greater than or equal to 4.5" unfinished/4" finished heart block of your choosing.  Or it can be a double set of 12.5" unfinished/12 finished 9-patches or it can be as many sets of different heart blocks & two, exactly two sets of 9-patches.  Because that clears it up, right?

Let me back up ever so slightly.  For February 2015 you CAN make a heart block, either by piecing it or appliqueing or embroidery or whatever OR  & this is a big OR...OR you can make something much much simpler, but you have to make more of them...

I wanted to offer a block that would also work for a beginner (or even someone with less time), along the same theme but I wanted to make the exchange fair.  I realize that a set of blocks that takes a week-end & a dozen FQs to make is just not the same as a block that takes two fabrics & two hours so this is what I came up with:

If you do not have the time or skills or motivation to make a set of the more advanced heart blocks (below) you have the option of making a set of TEN 9-patches (well, eleven if you keep one for yourself). 

Your nine patches MUST be three x three of 4.5" squares.  You should use two & only two different fabrics BOTH of which must be low volume & one of which should (but not must) have a heart theme- in the event you cannot locate a heart theme any other "romance-y" type print (flowers for example) would be acceptable.  Frankly even two read-as-solids or even actual solids would be fine.  .  Everyone can send TEN & ONLY TEN of these 9-patches (you can send as many sets of the more complex blocks as you like).  By low volume I mean colors that are "soft " i.e. pastels or creams or whites & patterns with a minimum of contrast (for example I own & LOVE a fabric with pale pink & coral poppies on a white background BUT they are outlined with a thick black line therefore, despite a majority of soft colors, this would NOT qualify as a low volume).  The example above might look dark, I assure you it is not; the darker tan color is way lighter than the latte I was drinking when I started this blog post Sunday morning.  & I don't mean the day before yesterday.

For your ten 9-patches you will get either ten 9-patches back OR you will get one more complex heart block for two 9-patches (so you might get 10 9-patches OR eight 9-patches & one pieced heart block OR six 9-patches & two pieced heart blocks etc. all the way to the very unlikely possibility you will get five pieced heart blocks & no 9-patches).  The converse of this is also true:  if you send five pieced heart blocks you might get back five pieced heart blocks & that is it OR you might get ten 9-patches (which I dearly hope doesn't happen but that is a bit out of my control).

I don't want to reinvent the wheel so I am directing you to this link for the basic 9-patch instructions.  Our nine-patch unit is 4.5", so you would need 4.5" squares (or strips if you were strip piecing) & then you can pretty much follow the directions here.  You will end up with a 12.5" unfinished/12" finished 9-patch.  Big, simple & fading to the background.

***

Now for the heart blocks.  Again, you can make ANY HEART BLOCKS YOU WISH in ANY TECHNIQUE.  For the hearts, you do not need to limit yourself to low-volume fabrics, but please do try to stay in the range of pink-red-purple-blue-black-gray for your darker/brighter shades.  Your five blocks should be at least 4.5" x 4.5" unfinished BUT they do not need to be any particular size & they can even be rectangle.  The end result will be a hodgepodge of sizes & shapes (at least one of the examples I am giving is a rectangular block) that can be used for a sampler.  & yes, it is possible you might make a rather large, many pieced heart (perhaps like this one), or a foundation pieced heart (like the Feb 2013 or even the Feb 2012 from Block Lotto)  or even something less complex like these free patterns from Simplicity.  Or maybe something here will make YOUR heart go pitter-pat.  Like I said, try to limit your not-low-volume fabrics to the Valentine-y color range (pink, red, purple, blue, black & gray) & try to use at least three fabrics; try but don't make yourself nuts.

As always, we swap in sets of five (so make six so you can keep one for yourself).  If you choose to make only the 9-patches please make to sets & limit yourself to just two sets (for a total of ten blocks).  For the heart block send as many sets as you like, you can also send two sets of 9-patches if you wish, but you don't have to.

Let me restate that so it is clear:  for the low volume fabrics there are no color restrictions (a pastel green or yellow would be perfectly acceptable) but for the darker louder colors the preferred palette is  limited.  & only not 9-patches can have anything outside of low volume; all the 9-patches should be low volume fabrics only. 

***

The heart block I made was about as easy as it gets.  I began with a log cabin center:  two 2.5" squares, one pink & one dark gray & added a 2.5" strip of the pink to make the heart.

 

& if you are wondering about that strip of fur at the bottom of the frame, someone I love thought I was taking a picture of her.

I added a strip to the side, decided it looked too wide & cut it down to 2".  I then took two 7.5" squares & cut them corner to corner to put the whole thing on-point.

 

 

& that black edge in the lower right corner?  They got tired while I was arranging & forgot they were supposed to be posing.  Yes, they sleep like that all the time.  One of them has separation anxiety.  Guess which one.



 

This brought me to three fabrics.  Also, notice the busy fabric is a combo of low volume (pink, white pale gray, pale brown) & the preferred dark colors (red, black, dark gray) & just the smallest amount of dark brown.  The dark brown is not great BUT it was next-to-impossible to find fun (i.e. with hearts & dogs) fabrics w/out some "other" colors which is why I used the word "preferred" when I said red, pink, blue, purple gray & black. 

 



But you don't have to make this heart, you can make my heart, there really are tons of blocks out there.

Last but not least the bullet points

 

• You can send exactly ten 9-patches or as many sets of five hearts as you desire or exactly ten 9-patches & as many sets of five hearts as you desire
   
• The 9-patches are low-volume only, two fabrics only & ideally one will have a romantic print.  These 12.5" unfinished/12" finished blocks should fade to the background
• The heart blocks can be square or rectangle or whatever just at least 4.5" on each side.  They can be low volume or darker/brighter colors (try to stay in the pink-red-purple-blue-black-gray if you can)
• Blocks are due in the last Saturday in February 28, 2015.  Please remember to review the guidelines about what you need to do such as send (an envelope to return your blocks in), the address is in the Facebook Quilt Block Swap group file "mailing label", etc.

Knot garden from last summer for this spring

I am up to my eyeballs in pending projects, some of them quilting projects, some of them farm projects, some of them tied to the end of the semester & naturally I am attracted to those projects with no discernible deadline.    Or those I can do nothing about.

Earlier this month I was obsessing on the next stage of the Cotton Robin, which is absurd as I will not even know what I am working on until the next part arrives & the deadline for that is a week away.  I needed to stop looking at what I had done before & what I had made for my own centerpiece (I was inspired to make two exact centers & I am working along on my own & am looking forward to seeing what happens when two quilts jump off at the same point & one travels & the other stays home). 

What I am not doing is double checking the Facebook Quilt Block Swap block directions for AUG, OCT & DEC (yes, blocks are planned that far out).  I have also not finished my own block swap commitments due at the end of this month.

Instead, I pulled out blocks from a swap-gone-by & have been working steadily on a quilt for no one in particular, no deadline in sight & no reason I could not table it until I was way less busy.  But it is SPRING!  Almost.  & I want to do something with flowers & gardens & it is still too sketchy outside (80s F last week, below freezing last night) to do much other than knock down old dead vines & think about where to put those rose bushed currently residing (by nigh) in my bathroom.

So to the Knot Garden I went.  The block pattern was put forward by S***, another block swapper who made the mistake of competently answering questions on the board so I made her co-admin (HA!).  I made a ton of these for the swap , but was not even in the top five swappers; it was wildly popular & I can see why.  Among many other good qualities, it is easy to chain piece & uses scraps wonderfully. 

I decided on a 7 by 7 block layout which meant I needed to make quite a few more blocks & have been making one or two or three whenever I have suitable fabric out.  I wish I had made them way-back-when because it would be a lot easier to make several of the same & swap them around than to make one or two like I am now.  I also plan to put a border on it (right now I am leaning towards pieced corners, & maybe a center side medallion, but nothing too snazzy).

My hope it to have my spring quilt finished (or the top, anyhow) in time for Spring.  Because Spring springs early in central Fladidah, kinda.  It coils up a few times & fools you & then BOING!  it's summer. 

Orphan quilt blocks & the best intentions

Over at Block Lotto there is a monthly block for December (which I don't remember there being in previous years..?  Maybe I just need more coffee) & there is an extra leftovers lotto.  In brief, any block that has ever been lottoed pattern-wise, your choice fabric-wise.  In my case & I am guessing more than one or two other Block Lotto regulars, I often made doubles of blocks, but because they were in the exact same colorway (fabricway), they were not lotto eligible.  Here are three of them:

 

These plaid plaids were made for the April 2012 lotto.  I envisioned making myself a quilt top of these extras; I really liked the way they looked....I really did not enjoy making them.  I don't even know what I didn't like, but I found these in a bag with the directions & NO! handwritten across the top of the page.  Maybe I need to revisit them, just so I can be more specific.  Maybe not.

I added these to the lotto because I really wouldn't mind winning some random blocks.  I am on a fabric book kick à la Gwen Marston.  It is what I plan to do with those first Rainbow Connection blocks.  Not that I cannot make more of my own, but there I something so appealing about other people's duds.

Now I just need to pull out those bags of someday quilt tops & count out just how many extra blocks I have.  Because I know I have an easy dozen extras of the March 2011 block, in a variety of well, variations.

52 Photos Project: Celebration!

52 Photos Project this week is all about Celebration.  I got nothing.  I am not saying there is nothing in my life worth celebrating, there is plenty, just that the past few weeks have not been celebratory.  I could go to the archive but I like the photos to be current, or at least recent.  I think it helps keep me alert if I have to make these connections with right now.  As I reread that I can see how cracked it sounds, but I'm going to let it stand.

So.  Celebration.  Did I mention another rule is nothing staged.  I can go looking for a subject but I cannot make it.  Who makes these rules, right? 

Back to Celebration.  This is all I've got right now:

That's right I made it & more than a couple years ago.  Still apt. 

Baby boomer

Today was the last full day you can get your September Block Lotto blocks posted in time for the drawing.  This month I made a whopping ONE block.  I tried to make two, I thought I would make four (I cut the heads for four) but in the end only one really passed muster.

The block had, for me, limited appeal.  I liked the look of it, but could not imagine what I would do with piles of this guy.  Lucky for me, there is no chance I might win.

The appealing part was thinking of ways to dress him...her.  Whomever.  Yes, I admit I never got to that part, but in my head I imagined cropped tops & knee high boots (a go-go boomer!).  Alas I ran afoul of the head.  It took three tries to get it right; I still don't know what I was doing wrong. 

After I made the first, I made the second & lined them up &...&....& their hands didn't meet.  For reasons I lost interest in discovering I had somehow made the first one slightly less than 1/4" too small, all around.  I would never have caught it if I hadn't made the next one exactly right (again, no idea how) & seen that somehow I had a bigger (better) boomer. 

My plan is to toss the baby boomer into the envelope with the other guy as a free gift with win.  Maybe it will make a good ?label? for the back.  There is no putting it in a row with right-sized ones though, the little off-ness is un-missable. 

Back on Block Lotto

I accidentally sat out last month's Block Lotto.  I had blocks made but because of home network stoopidness & bad weather & being out of tow, I never posted them.  I am taking no chances this month; I put up the first block I made & am putting together many more.  Because I want to WIN.

In the meantime, here is one of the I-Spy houses made from, you guessed it Bird Trap block fabric.  I am thinking of launching a whole new set of bird traps around this I-Spy theme.   After all, I have plenty of fussy cut fabric.

As for the Bird Trap quilt itself, I am getting the final square-em-up borders on today.  I hope.  I decided against one outer border & have started to put on a few narrow borders to slowly bring it back in line.  In square.  In rectangle, I guess. 

I am also toying with entering it in a quilt show happening in September.  The submission deadline is later this month & I really should be done.  On the other hand, this show while charming is a bit old fashioned.  I am thinking this might be too weird.  Eh, I have plenty of time to decide.  Unless I drag my feet & miss the deadline & then the decision is made that way.

52 Photos Project: Uncommon Shapes

Over at 52 Photos Project this week it is "uncommon shapes".  The first shape I thought of was an exclamation point.  You know! 

Whenever anyone talks about not-often-perceived shapes I do usually think punctuation.  They are not quite letters&numbers, but meaningful just the same.  & I have a slew of photos of things that look like commas, semi-colons etc., but in the end I decided to spare you.  Instead of going with a shape that has a meaning I decided on a shape that doesn't get much press:  the sexagon.

Yes, yes you can call it a hexagon or a six sided polygon, but it will be "sexagon" to me for as long as I have a sense of humor.  & here it is, the reason I like sexagons:  they just fit together so nicely.

I had many many scraps left over from the rolling stone rainbow blocks & I thought, wouldn't it be fun to amass a pile of rainbow flowers?  So I have begun; I may never finish.  Let me revise that, I will probably finish, just unlikely it will be a whole quilt of just this shape

No more debt

I did not win Block Lotto in April.  I didn't really think I would as I only made two birds blocks.  Actually I made SLEWS of bird blocks but the wrong size, the wrong color because I actually made them for my Bird Trap Quilt Block quilt top. 

 

Those two birds have long since been mailed, & I revised my debt to 18.  & since this month's block is lovely, but just not my thing I had planned to knock a few more off before the end of the month.  I knocked off 21. 

Here's the thing:  they were really really easy to slide in between more complicated, brain-taking blocks.  I have been composing boats & bird traps more or less as I go.  Then I started bringing extra bird traps up to size to make a top.  & the way my sewing room is se up I need to stand & walk a few steps between sewing machine, cutting table & ironing board.  This is mostly a good thing; it kills me when some quilters complain their back, shoulders, arms, etc. are achy & then I find out they never once got out of their chair in a whole day of sewing.

So while I don't mind the hopping up & down, once I get to one place I would like to spend more than 30 seconds there.  So I cut a bunch of geese squares, the four smaller ones for the background & the one larger one of the goose itself & slid a few of those through the machine, under the iron & so forth while doing what I was really doing.

Hence the 21.  I don't mean 21 geese, I mean 21 completed blocks that meet the May Block Lotto requirements.  There are also many orphan geese just sort of piled up, in different stages of completion. I'm sure they will make a fine border on something. 

I got the first three blocks posted in time to get the June Block Lotto sneak peek & while I am prohibited from going into any detail before the first of the month, it is safe to say that while I will make a block or two (I hope) for Block Lotto, I am unlikely to go as crazy.  So I am just as glad my previous Block Lotto win of 38 low volume hearts has been paid back in full. 

Holi

Like everyone who saw it in Outsourced, I was charmed by the celebration of Holi.  Also I was so glad not to be there, pounded with powders of whatever, leaving stains & shooting dust in my eyes &...OKay, maybe a little bit of Holi-with some advance notice-would be just the thing.  The more I think about it, the more I want Holi to happen here.  & of course minutes after I had that though I realized we kinda already do.  I mean, what was Mardi Gras if not a festival of color?  Although the only the only color they seem to fling are those beads...

Even more like Holi are the color runs popping up all over the country.  There are several an hour or so from here but I am not one of those people who can be an hour away first thing in the morning.  The horses don't like it, for one.

In a world made small with coincidence, the first set of rainbow connection quilt blocks are due this Saturday, just after Holi.  I for one am very excited.  Because when I come right down to it, I would rather quilt than run a 5k.

Last but not least, today I finished the blocks for my own rainbow rolling stone quilt.  I plan to add the narrowest of narrow sashing (like maybe 1.5", tops) & zipping it up as quick as I can.  I have wanted this quilt for a long time & I managed not to get sick of it while I made it.  Big blocks helped, I suspect. 

More than I can chew

I have been compulsively working on Bird Trap Blocks for weeks now & trying so hard to keep from blogging about it every day.  Because I cannot stop thinking about Bird Traps, I cannot stop talking about Bird Traps.  You people are lucky, anyone I can get on the phone not so much.  All my waking hours, some part of my brain is arranging, re-arranging; I rotate them, I imagine different parts coming together, I cannot stop. 

Because the Bird Trap Blocks are improv (I like to call it jazz piecing), there never was a set of directions.  One of the guidelines is a plank round of 1/2-square triangles.  In short, I am cranking through 1/2-square triangles.  & the big question everyone who asks about this block is where did they all come from?

In the other side of this post, Block Lotto's week-end update this week is all about How-To's.  So this is my How To tip.  How to take a bit of extra time & build up a supply of random 1/2-square triangles that you might never use...unless you decide to make Bird Traps along with me. 

& now for the meat.  A couple of years ago I made a quilt top of rainbow colored rolling stone blocks.  I was approached by a friend who was looking for a rainbow themed quilt for a regional GLBT fundraiser.  I made the top in a bit less than 5 days.  That's soup to nuts, telephone call to mailing the top off.   I never took a picture of the original & the pics I got of the completed quilt were not digital or I would share, but I loved the top & have been thinking about making one for myself ever since I made it.  So here are the blocks I have made so far for the quilt for myself; the fabrics are different, but the color-concept is the same.

What does that have to do with anything at all?   am glad you asked.  See those on point squares at each corner?  Well, each one of them began as a 4.5" square & then had little squares added, flipped, pressed & clipped to make them what you see.  This means that every single rolling stone had 16 orphan, 1/2-square triangles cut away as scrap.  & all it took was an extra swoop in the chain piecing to gather them together.  This quilt top (& the original) is a 4x4 pattern, at 16 leftover units per block, that means a total of 256 1/2-square triangles going spare. 

If this all sounds a little bit compulsive, I hear you.  & after all I had no idea I was going to be Bird Trap Block possessed when I started down this road.  On the other hand, without that cache of trash I probably would never have thought improv block design was an option. 

Besides, this random piecing has served me well before.  One of my favorite quilts began as the same 1/2-square triangle leftovers from a very large churn dash block table runner.  One of my go-to baby gift quilts (& grown-up quilts) begins with strings.  & I have never been put off just because none of the pieces really fit together.

So my tip?  Uhm.  I guess, if you are already sitting there, piecing & cutting, what's one more for the pile? 

Blue rainbow

I had been cruising block patterns, looking for my Rainbow Connection quilt block.  I know it looked like I had already made my choice, but honest, that block was just an example of what COULD be done.  I choose to do the blue blocks so I could do something different.

Choosing the block has been mostly fun.  I wanted to avoid anything that relied on many similar blocks to make a repeating pattern because I knew that every block in this swap is dealer's choice.  In fact, while the block should be 12.5" unfinished/12" finished, there is no reason a person couldn't make a 9-10-11 inch block & size it up with a narrow border.  Given the shear volume of quilt block patterns I peruse & then discard for the every other month swap, I consider myself well qualified to say I want a block that is 12" finished or just under, works on light v dark for the pattern (because I am limited to mostly blue, after all), works as a stand alone, etc. & then put my hands on such a pattern with a minimum of fuss.  The real trick was deciding on qualities I did/didn't want.

At first I toyed with doing something from the plain & graphic neighborhood.  Maybe 9 small 4-patches with narrow white borders between, but when I tested it, there was too much just-background (white).  At least in my view, anyhow.  I decided that might be a better choice for a higher impact color, like red or orange.

While I was rolling all that around, I was also thinking about what blue fabric I had in enough yardage to make six of the same good sized blocks that was unspoken for project-wise.  One fabric I have is a white & blue, mostly white.  I couldn't count it as my background, because it is not all white, or even white-on-white, but it was too white to count as my color fabric.  Knowing I had PLENTY of it, though, began steering me to a block with a center piece that could use up some of this, but also have room around for the blue-on-blue fabric requirement.

I cruised around Quilters Cache in the 7" - 11" range to see if anything caught my eye & of course a few things did.  But none of them were exactly what I wanted so out came the Brackman.  I went straight to Category 14-square in a square & after a pleasant hour or so settled on my block.

I confess I took a few detours.  I thought briefly of making the sawtooth block (Brackman #2648, not to be confused with the sawtooth star: after the Christmas Star debacle of '10 I have been rather off stars.  No fault of the quilt blocks, I know but still, these things leave a mark.).  The sawtooth has a lot of open space in the center, even if I did use the blue on white toile I was thinking I might.  Then I thought I might make a 4-patch of sawtooths/sawteeth, but when I sketched it, even with a center sash & post, it just was not all that appealing.  I put this idea in the better for a different project pile & moved on.

I kept looking for something that had a enough happening to keep me interested for six blocks but still met the "keep in mind this is for beginners & you don't want to scare them off" mantra I have been chanting.  I briefly considered Jack in the pulpit (B#2472), but one of our every other month swap blocks has that same kind of bias-y corner piece & was happening at the same time, so I discarded that one.

But there, on the same page was my choice:  one of the legion of blocks called Mosaic, specifically Mosaic # 21 (B#2470).  I could see it would lend itself to scrappy 1/2-square triangles perfectly.  Have I mentioned I have a lot of blue scraps?  Well, I do.  It would also work very well with the blue toile I originally went looking to accommodate. 

So I began.  I made a draft (cut but not sewn) with the toile & well, it just wasn't sharp enough.  I also raided the scrap pile for the other pieces.  Very pretty (I actually plane to make up the one block, just for having it.  Also it might make a good group swap block some day), but this being a color specific swap, I thought the lines should be crisper.  So I changed it for a medium blue (the value of the toile, but in a solid).  It looked Okay, so I cut the pieces & stitched SIX of them up without taking a good look again.  I wish I had.  They are clunky & would need something small or a certain kind of layout to make them look nice.  I liked the block, just not the scale. 

Back to the drawing board.  Because blue, while a wonderful color, can be kind of bland I decided on graduated color dark-to-light thing. The final decision was to size everything down & add another row & changed two facing 1/2-square triangle side pieces for flying geese when possible & Voilà!

Block Lotto progress

I have been meaning to jump back into Block Lotto for way-too-long now.  There have been some blocks that I really wanted to win, but alas like the lottery You Cannot Win If You Do Not Play.  So I didn't win. 

This month's Block Lotto block is a revisit on another that I that I actually DID participate in with some changes.  I think the size is different & I know the colorway is.  This time it is "low volume" a true challenge for a novelty-aholic like myself.  even when the colors aren't glaring, the contrast sure is.  The idea of sorting through my strings while I was in the throes of bird trapping just did not appeal BUT I knew a block I had made before was probably right up my alley (my brain, like my body is running at anywhere between 60-80% of my usual self these days). 

So in an unusual twist I decided to Follow The Directions, even the "this is just a suggestion" directions.  I know, right?  I cut larger than I need rectangles from the pile of muslin scraps I always have & when I came across a string that met the requirements I put it in place.  I even made two-at-a-time so as to have both sides of the heart when I was finished.

& while I did read the diretions, I did not remember if the direction said all hearts could have busy backgrounds.  So you know, the doxies seemed obvious. 

Split star encore

Last year in June, the Facebook Quilt Block Swap Group had a split-ish star for our swap, specifically the Massachusetts Star.  It would be a mistake to say it went badly, but it did not exactly go well.  Multiple blocks (in one case every single block from one of the swappers) were wrong; specifically the parts were all right but they were assembled all wrong.  The Massachusetts star is a two fabric 9-patch, but seven squares of the 9-patch had something going on; they were either 1/2-square or 1/4-square triangles & it was their arrangement that made the split star effect.   When the layout was incorrect, it just didn't work.

Unfortunately I had set this block for a month the 6th blocks were all going to a Quilt of Valor project.  A LOT of people wanted to participate & I think that was part of the problem.  People who were not interested in such a complicated block gave it a shot anyway because they wanted to be part of the Quilt of Valor.  To round the fiasco out nicely, after the Quilt of Valor quilt top was made, quilted & almost ready to go we learned one of the fabric's color had bled into the adjacent blocks & the quilt was not eligible for the Quilt of Valor program.

I felt like the universe was telling me to stay away from more complex blocks & I confess the past year of Facebook Quilt Block Swap Group blocks have all been on the beginner/advanced beginner end of things.  I even pulled a Kansas Troubles style block I was that worried about, which I kind of regret.  Then about a week ago, I got the sneak peek of the October Block Lotto Block & I love it.

It takes three fabrics & they would need to be different from each other to have the contrast to make the edges sharp & while it doesn't have the 1/4-square triangles, it does have flying geese, which can be tricky.  I will have to chew on it over the winter & maybe come up for something for next spring.  In the meantime, though, isn't it a pretty star?

Broken watermelon dishes part 2 for October 2012

First let me say that I had already picked the block, made the samples & written the directions before it registered that this block (Brackman 1193a-Broken Dishes) is very very similar to (OKay, the same as) the component block from last year.  Yes it is a 4-patch of 1/2-square triangles but I promise that is where it ends... 

What can I say, the end of summer/beginning of school quilt block swap can be tricky.  In general interest is high but available time is low.  I thought if we could make a component  block again; that is a block that can stand on it's own, but also is part of a larger block & then I thought wouldn't it be great if I came up with a pair of component blocks & we could do a swap for all the pieces, then I found a larger block made up of equal parts of two smaller blocks & thought YAY! I got started & finished before that penny dropped that we were making the same block.  Sorry.

The name of the larger block in this case is not entirely clear, but I have been calling the whole thing broken dishes ( I made a version of this quilt once before & you can see the completed quilt here).  "Broken Dishes" is actually the name of just this block.   The quilt was made from alternating "Broken Dishes", a 4-patch of 1/2-square triangles & a variation on snowballs (our August block "Broken Plates" ) & I will put up directions as well as other suggestions when the swaps are further along. 

To make one October 2012 swap block you will need eight (8) different fabrics.  The good news is a 4" square of each of these fabrics should be enough to make two (2) blocks.  Everyone has scraps hanging around right?

Now for part deux.  As with the August block, all your fabrics should be limited to colors found in ...a watermelon.  The fabrics don't have to show the image of a watermelon (it is better if they don't actually).  They don't even have to read-as-solid (although it is better if at least half of them do) just so long as EVERY color shown is a color you could find in a watermelon.  I promise this is not so limiting as it sounds:  watermelons include green, from dark to light & well over into the yellows, pink from hot pink to palest baby pink, black, brown, white, off-white, etc.  Because this is a component block (that is, this block paired with another block to make a larger overall pattern), I am asking people to avoid using an all white, white on white or even mostly white fabric; the other component is almost all white & the edges will be blurry if any of these are as well.

& while I do not want to be the color police I am also asking people avoid using ANY blue or purple-colors never found in watermelon, at least not one you would ever eat.  I discarded a dense pink floral that had just a few flowers with pale blue centers.  On the other hand, while orange is not a color usually associated with watermelon, general melon yes but not watermelon, although I think General Melon would be a great name for an alternative superhero.  Maybe a sidekick.  I digress.  Let me start again: I had trouble finding pinks without some orange or coral overlap, so I guess a little very little orange, mixed in won't kill anyone (sorry Mom, I know you had strong feelings on this one).  Ditto red.  But for both of these less is a whole lot more.

Let's begin:

Cut eight (8) different fabrics into 4" squares.  Sort them into pairs of one light & one dark, or rather lighter to darker.  I find the easiest way is to identify those fabrics that are without a doubt dark & without a doubt light & pair those with the mediums.  

Make 1/2-square triangles using your preferred method.  My preferred method is described in previous posts here & here, but it is results that matter.  You should end up with a 1/2-square triangle that is 3.5" square. Actually, you should end up with 4 different squares (2 of each) for a total of eight & enough for two blocks.  If they are a bit big (mine were), please do square them to 3.5" before moving to the next step

Take the 4 1/2-square triangles & arrange them, 2 with the darkest side to the center & 2 with the lightest side to the center.  Keep in mind, the light/dark thing is relative to the pair; the contrast is not going to be super-sharp & that is OKay.

 As always, we swap in sets of FIVE.  Blocks are due IN HOUSE the last Saturday of October, October 27th.  You send five blocks & get five back (you are welcome to include a 6th block for a donation quilt; if no one asks to be the 6th block person you will get your own block back).   If you would like to include these blocks to be swapped in your August swap block package, you can BUT keep in mind you will not get any blocks back until after the second swap (this swap, the October swap) has happened.  Lastly, you do not need to participate in both swaps to participate in one, nor do you need to participate equally in both.  You can make multiple sets for this swap & none for the other.

Broken watermelon plates part 1 for August 2012

The next two swaps are separate swaps BUT they can be combined in equal parts to make a larger overall block (you can see the whole completed quilt in a very different colorway here).  The first part of the component block is due the last Saturday of August.  You do not need to participate in both swaps to participate in one, nor do you need to participate equally in both.  You can make multiple sets for this swap & none for the other or whatever.

The colorway is...watermelon.  This is not so limiting as it sounds:  watermelons include green, from dark to light & well over into the yellows, pink from hot pink to palest baby pink, black, brown, etc.  You will also need a white or white-on-white.

You will need four 3.5" squares of different fabrics in the watermelon colorway, one for each corner of the "plate".   By watermelon colors I mean all your fabrics should be limited to colors found in a watermelon.  The fabrics don't have to show the image of a watermelon (it is better if they don't actually).  They don't even have to read-as-solid (although it is better if at least 1/2 of them are).  Watermelons include green, from dark to light & even some of the greenish yellows, pink from hot pink to palest baby pink, black, brown, etc.

Please do not use blues or purples or anything with a lot of white in either the background or the pattern.  Blue & purple are not generally to be found in watermelon, not a good one anyhow, & white is the other color you will be using for this particular block: one 6.5" square for each.  If there is white in the corner pieces, the whole thing gets kinda blurry.

Let's begin:

Cut four (4) fabrics into 3.5" squares.  Ideally you will have a mix of dark, light & medium fabrics.

With a pencil or a disappearing fabric pencil, you can very faintly mark a straight line from one corner to the other on the BACK of each square.  However, as you will be stitching directly on this line (not 1/4" from it) & you want to be sure there is no line to show through, you could instead fold the squares along the bias & press in the line from corner to corner instead of drawing one.  This second method is how I did it.

Match the square you marked with one corner of the larger white or white-on-white square, right sides together & stitch on this line, creating a solid white or white-on-white diamond surrounded by 4 different watermelon-colored corners.  I find the easiest way is to deal with two opposite corners at a time, then press them back & deal with the other two corners.

& you are done.  That is this whole block, but do not put the scraps away just yet.  The post for the other component of the larger block (due the last Saturday in October, October 27th) is right after this one & you can use some of the same scraps in that one.  Let me stress you do not have to do both, just that they can be put together (in equal parts) to make this quilt, as well as a number of other variations.

As always, we swap in sets of FIVE.  Blocks are due IN HOUSE the last Saturday of August, August 25th. You send five blocks & get five back (you are welcome to include a 6th block for a donation quilt; if no one asks to be the 6th block person you will get your own block back). 

Dash It All, Light & Bright for June 2012

I am late getting the June & August blocks up; my computer problems continue to be a factor although I have been assured that now the two semesters from Hell are winding down there will be time to deal with everything that has been decaying over the last 9 months, including but not limited to the house computer.

So, as I have left everyone, myself included, stuck with a mad-dash to the June block deadline, I thought Churn Dash was the way to go.  & the twist:  while the completed block should be 9.5" unfinished/9" finished (& a pattern for just such a block can be found here), the churn dash itself can be any size.  You can make a 6" churn dash & then add borders (or border, there is no requirement to center the churn dash within the block) to bring it up to 9.5" unfinished/9" finished.  You can make two or more of the itty-bittiest churn dashes imaginable & if you can fit them in the 9.5" unfinished/9" finished block you are welcome to include more than one in a single block.  Moreover, you can set your churn dash(es) on point rather than plain old conventional whatever-you-call-not-on-point, if that is what you like.  It is as you wish (& whatever works best with the materials on hand).

The only requirements are that the 9 pieces (4 1/2-sqaure triangles & 4 connector pieces & center square) should all be of equal size & that your fabric choices should be light for the background & bright for the dash itself (the center square is background).  Neither of them have to read-as-solid but the contrast between the dash & the background needs to be sharp, so take care when choosing prints & maybe avoid prints that include some of the same colors for both the background & the dash.

Each churn dash, regardless of size, is made of 9 equal parts.  If you are making a churn dash to "fill" the blocks, these pieces will be 3.5" unfinished/3" when assembled.  A slightly smaller churn dash would be made from 2.5" unfinished pieces & an border of the background fabric to bring it to 9.5" unfinished/9" finished.  But as I said before, you are welcome to go even smaller (alas it is not possible to go larger within the 9.5" unfinished/9" finished dimension).

Finally, the unifying thing here is the proportion.  If you exclude the center square (which should be your background fabric), each of the remaining 8 pieces of your churn dash are exactly equal to each other in size & have within each piece exactly equal parts background & dash fabric.

& that's all.  Equal parts of each fabric + 1 extra square of background.  & if you decide to go with an odd size, that much more background fabric.  & you are done.  Please, make one set of six blocks, five to send (we always swap in sets of FIVE) & one to keep.  Blocks are due the last Saturday of an even numbered month, which in the case is Saturday June 30, 2012.

You have the option of sending a 6th block with your five swap blocks; you will get five back & the 6th will go to whichever member of the group asked for them to make a quilt to donate to in her community.  Please let me know by May 15th (or sooner, as it is more-or-less first asked/first given) if you want to be the 6th block person this go round (& you might want to take a look at the guidelines in the Facebook group about the 6th block as there are some restrictions).  We have had 6th block quilts go to organizations across the US & then across the Pacific to Australia & I would love, love, love to expand it to even more places & groups.

Little cedar tree

Phew.  So.  Well.  I guess I don't have to say "I am way behind" although "I'm sorry I am so behind" would not be out of line.  The bad news about being behind is that the deadlines keep coming, washing over me & moving on.  That is also the good news, because there is something liberating about admitting I'm going to be late.

Yesterday was the deadline for the Facebook Quilt Block Swap 10-2011 swap block.  It was one of the deadlines that rolls on up whether I am ready for it or not.  Not only was I not ready, I had not done most of the prep work either on-line or in my own house.  Samples of the block were made eons ago; I put up three swaps worth at a time, which is six months worth of swaps & I do this at the end of the previous swap soooo pictures of this (& the next & the previous) swap block went on-line in June.  Good thing, too because there is no way I could have cranked them out between the end of the last swap & in time to get them here today.  I didn't even get the packages that have been arriving all in one place until this past Friday, which is BAD.

One missed deadline does not seem to have mattered so much.  There was no last call for the block(s), but we got plenty anyhow.  I have been calling this "one cut of the cut glass dish" because, well, it is one component of that more complex & much larger block.  It is also a block in its own right, which I had planned on noting but....but...

Among other inconveniences of this whole remodel business was that we decided to put in the same new floor throughout the kitchen, dining room (which is effectively now part of the kitchen), the front room (which was the living room/tv room but has been sort of drifting in purpose since we made the old florida room a year-round part of the house & moved the tv etc. in there), & hallway (which is still a hallway, no real change there).  This meant packing up the books in the front room (maybe we could start calling it the library, hmmmm) & that meant packing my Brackman & that meant I had no idea what this block on its own was called.

Well, the Brackman came back out early last week & now I know.  It is called Little Cedar Tree & it is Brackman #1311a.  .It is a charming little block really.  & with five of it's fellows & three "blank" squares, makes one of my most favorites.  Good thing, too because you would not believe the pile of envelopes waiting to be swapped!

Raining & pouring

The kitchen contents are packed, the kitchen is a giant hole in the middle of the house, I don't have time to be in my sewing room never mind the space to move in.  What more could I possibly want?  Oh right, unrelated internet problems CHECK, a recurrence of a thought-we-solved-that plumbing issue CHECK, a delay in the kitchen sink (because- get this- the company that makes them didn't know they made them & the company that placed the order placed the order wrong; I know right?) CHECK.  & then some good news:  I won the Block Lotto!  Again!

I loved this block from the moment I saw it.  I even loved the different sizes.  I envy the Block Lotto-er who was able to make the quilt using a variety of sizes so quickly (you just know her kitchen is not in boxes in her sewing room). 

I wanted this block (so greedy after winning last month as well) so bad that I promised the Block Lotto gods I will donate the rest of my chances for the rest of the year.  & I plan to.  But I never said how many I would make...  On the other hand if I am going to renegotiate with the universe AFTER I have gotten what I wanted maybe I deserve my kitchen sink to go AWOL.

Don't come around here no more OR Step One

I fell in like-a-lot with the July Block Lotto block as soon as I saw it.   I am a fan of off-kilter graphic designs & I knew right away it had real potential in combo with large scale novelties (I am on an eternal quest for not-so-obvious places to insert smaller pieces of a large scale print).  Yes, I know, not everyone looks at 10" 16-patches & says "needs something big & confusing, pattern-wise", but there you are.

First let me show you one of the sets I made.  Alice in Wonderland just as she meets the Cheshire Cat, right?  Hence the title of this post (you are actually most welcome to come around as often as you like, cyberly anyway).

& then on July 31st I learned I won! 48 of these puppies will be working their way to me (I kept none of the blocks I posted because I had made a few back-ups for a not-yet-determined project; I really enjoyed MAKING this block).  That same week another quilt-blogger of my digital acquaintance asked how it was that I never took the process pledge.  The answer is mostly I never thought of it.  Also my process is not exactly linear; very few things come to me even in a roundabout way.  Mostly I stare at blank walls until it just seems like it has always been that way. You read that right - I do not have a design wall.  & brace yourselves, quilters...I could have a design wall; I choose not to.  I have a hard enough time staying interested in a project that is draped across my sewing table & even then, once I am finished I am very likely to send it elsewhere, so sick am I of thinking about it.  If I actually had to look at the d*mn thing, on the wall I just might stop quilting all together.  Have I ever mentioned deadlines make me tense?  Well they do & a design wall is a giant looming deadline as far as I am concerned. 

So here it is:

Step One- try not to think too hard about the quilt design.  This is best accomplished by never looking at the potential components directly or as a whole.  I'm really not kidding.  Instead heap everything together, ideally on a surface not quite large enough so that it periodically falls over & everything gets reshuffled & jumbled.