Blue Baby 'Geo Pop' :: Top Complete

It's been a while since I sat down and got a blog post on the books!  It's not that I haven't been busy making and sewing, it's just that I haven't taken the time to share.  There are many things that I make that I never share.  Most are intended for my Etsy Shop and are made to replenish my stock.  I would bore you to death if I showed everything! 

Then there are things that are well worth sharing if for nothing else that to inspire!  

It seems much longer than a month ago when I share my pink/coral/peach 
Baby Geo Pop quilt:  Girly Delight.  When my sister asked if I'd make a baby quilt for a friend using blues, I couldn't resist doing 'Baby Geo Pop' one more time!

What I love about this design besides the graphic nature, it can be completed in less than a day!  The most time consuming part is cutting, sewing and trimming the half square triangles.  I happen to enjoy the entire process of HST making.  I think because I know that whatever color, whatever print, whatever layout or whatever size...they are always going to look great.

For a smaller quilt using solids, I try and use 10-12 different shades or colors so that I have a good variety.  I'll cut 2-3 squares from each of those colors along with the exact amount of the accent color and begin by pairing the squares together.  You know the rest...sew, sew, cut in half, press.  I almost always press my seams to one side, that way I can use my 
Bloc Loc Ruler.  It makes the process easier and saves a lot of time.  I doubt I'd make so many HST quilts if I didn't have that ruler.

The good news is I finished the top!  There isn't really any bad news!  I've got a good month or two before it needs to be finished for the baby arrival, so for now I'll set it aside.  Quilting it will happen, I just don't know when.  I like that feeling!

I like blue.  I don't love it, but I like it.  When the top was finished I have to say I went from like to love!  Crazy how that happens, but I'm sure glad it did.  

You might not believe this (or it might not be a surprise at all!), but I think I want to make another one except a lap size!  When was the last time I used yellow for a quilt?  I guess stay tuned is in order!



The Geo Pop pattern is available in my Etsy Shop:  'Geo Pop!' .  Now it's time to plan my next adventure in HSTs!

  LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING 
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Back in the Groove!

Change is never easy but it's often necessary and very welcome.  On Memorial Day weekend we received a call from my son who lives in New York City saying he has had enough of the city life.  His relationship was over and he wanted to get out of town.  Which meant he was coming home after 3 1/2 years.  We could hear the anguish in his voice and knew this was serious.  We were all looking forward to having him back home again and were more than willing to make the changes needed in our daily lives.  Which meant...I no longer have a sewing room.  

You never know how comfortable and efficient a sewing room is until you have to 'relocate'.  I found a small space in our kitchen nook to set up my sewing station.  For the past couple weeks I've tried to 'fit in' and make it function.  About the only things I've managed to make are pot holders and mini mini quilts.  With the space in the center of all activity, I couldn't focus for much more than something small.  Inevitably someone needs water or ice, makes breakfast or lunch, or just gathers together for conversation!  

Don't get me wrong, I'm beyond thrilled to have my son home again!  I just need to find my groove again!



Here is the new normal for me.  A corner off the kitchen that houses my quilting essentials.  



I had to take a picture off the wall to hang one of my design walls, but didn't cover the nail in the wall.  It was driving me crazy so I hung my 'masked mascot' up to ease the unease!

A couple days ago I decided it was time to try making a quilt.  Albeit small...it was an attempt to put the space to the test.   

I pulled fabric, cut a stack of squares, chain pieced some HST's and...

...trimmed with ease.  I think I found my groove again!

The design wall behind the table is less than ideal.  For a small quilt I can almost layout and arrange blocks without having to contort myself in an unnatural way!  I will need to pull out the table so I can work behind it when I work on large quilts though.

'GEO POP'

I did finish the quilt top, which made me very happy!  I felt a sense of accomplishment and relief that I can make this space work.  This quilt pattern is available here 'Geo Pop'.  

Another problem to solve is photos!  Before I could snap away without worry, now I get a different 'glow' and I've yet to solve that problem.  I will...I most certainly will!

POT HOLDERS
9" x 9"

One of my small projects was this set of pot holders.  I could probably have sewn these is a closet, but I had to start somewhere to get the feel of the new digs!

BONUS HST MINI
4 1/2" x 4 1/2"

Of course I saved the bonus HST's from the pot holders and promptly made this mini mini quilt.  Another accomplishment! 

Hopefully my mojo, groove, spark will continue as I settle in and adjust.  Change is a good thing!

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING 
MIDWEEK MAKERS ● NEEDLE & THREAD 

PEACOCK PARTY  ● TGIFF ● WHOOP WHOOP FRIDAY

BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY  

Oh What a Week!

This past week has been one long and stressful week!  One for the record books!  Last Sunday evening we had a serious storm come through that moved fast and furious.  The wind was some of the strongest I've seen.  The results were power outage for 16 hours but no real damage for us.  We walked and drove the neighborhood the next day and saw the true extent.  Trees across streets, in power lines and hitting many houses.  We felt very lucky!

Just when we thought things were calm and peaceful, another storm rolled through Monday evening.  We had no idea of its strength at the time, and were feeling lucky...until the very end...when we lost power...again!

The next morning we saw that a tree top had snapped off and there were numerous limbs strewn across the lawn.  Come to find out the two storms were the strongest straight line winds Tennessee had seen in a decade.  Quick and powerful storms are no joke!

We ended up not having power for 70 hours...that's just shy of three days!  Because we are an older neighborhood and the power grid is a mess, we could look out our windows and see neighbors with lights blazing.  Seriously!  Three houses down the street!

Thankfully that neighbor three houses down let us bring our freezer full of food to their house with electricity!  Thankful would be an understatement!  We also had a couple borrowed coolers full of food that we iced down in hopes of saving as well.  

While it was only three days, it felt like three weeks!  The stress of not knowing when the power would come on, whether or not the storm zapped appliances and did the food survive was getting to be too much!  

All that being said, I wasn't able to sew!  Luckily I had a couple quilts that were in need of bindings.  That simple task took my stress level down a notch or two.  

Because I don't have new and exciting project that I can share, I'm sharing my go to quilt design again!



Yellow sashing and a dark gray border, capped off with a light gray binding.    



I quilted both quilts using a gray variegated Aurifil thread, which works well with all the colors.





Turquoise sashing, light gray border and a dark gray binding.



I once again quilted 1/2" and 3/4" lines which at certain points created a grid of tiny rectangles.



When our power finally came back on it was met with a sigh of relief, a scream or two and a happy dance!  It was a miracle in my book!

I'm hoping to have something new to share for a change!

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING 
MIDWEEK MAKERS ● NEEDLE & THREAD 

PEACOCK PARTY  ● TGIFF ● WHOOP WHOOP FRIDAY

BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY  

Half Square Triangle :: Lap Quilt

A few weeks ago my productivity was halted when my small machine that I use for all my piecing made a big clunk and refused to budge.  I couldn't believe it and was slightly devastated!  Of course I took it in for repair right away and crossed my fingers that it wasn't anything major.  

All was not lost though!  I took advantage of the piecing down time to quilt some quilts using my big machine.  I'm fortunate that I have two machines!

COLOR EXPLOSION
51" x 62"

I've always loved this design and enjoy throwing all the colors of the rainbow into it when I make one.  I usually reserve this design for baby quilts using six HST blocks and two borders, but with a treasure trove of HSTs already made I decided a lap quilt was worth my time.



I like to pair up colors and then add another color element in the centers of each block.  I've learned that if something works there is no need to change it.  As they say 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'!



I love a good rainbow and while this quilt has every color under the rainbow, it doesn't have that true spectrum we associate with rainbows.  



I was unsure if I would add a border until the very end.  As you can see I did!  I added a 3" border using Kona Medium Grey because I love the look of this design with borders.  Using a good neutral gives it containment without interfering with the colors.



One thing I was sure of was the quilting part!  You know, the usual...straight lines!

 

I always divide my quilt into sections before I start quilting this design.  After mapping out the sections I marked the 1" lines with my Hera Marker.  It's a lot of work marking the lines before hand, but it's also necessary.  By marking first, I can make small adjustments here and there to make sure the lines are as straight as can be.  Truth be told...the seams and points aren't perfect!



There are enough 'guides' along the way that I can follow so that while marking and quilting I don't get too far off the beaten path.  



I used Light Fern Aurifil thread 50wt (#2882) for all the quilting.  It was a good choice as it didn't stick out like a sore thumb!



The back and binding are Kona Shadow.  It's my favorite light grey and one that I use over and over again.



As for my small machine...it made it home after two weeks away.  Turns out it was so full of lint that the gears were caked with it and they couldn't turn any longer!  I won't say I'm a cleaning fanatic, but I honestly clean my machines regularly!  And I take it in once a year and have professionals service it.  

I'll try harder, clean more often and hope this doesn't happen again anytime soon!   I use a brush and pipe cleaners.  How do you clean your machine?  Do you have any tips or tricks that you can share ?!

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING 
MIDWEEK MAKERS ● NEEDLE & THREAD 

PEACOCK PARTY  ● TGIFF ● WHOOP WHOOP FRIDAY

BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY  

Blue HST Geo :: In the Bag!

Another finish!  Just when I thought I might never get to the end of quilting my stack, I made it through one more!

HST GEO LAP QUILT
51" X 67"

I don't particularly love the quilting process which is why I accumulated quite a stack that needed to be finished.  There comes a point, at least for me, that you have to do the dirty work before you can move on to the fun stuff.    



The kitchen sink of straight line quilting was added to this quilt!  We've got 1" grids and 1/2" lines inside the squares and rectangles, 3/4" randomly dispersed lines throughout the quilt and some other details that brought the entire quilt together and finished!  

I used two different thread colors: Aurifil 50 wt #1148 Light Jade and #2745 Midnight.  



I used Kona Celestial for the binding and the squares/rectangles.  I like having the bold color as the focal point in this design.  I considered doing a scrap binding, but in the end I went with Celestial as the binding.  The dark frame seems to pull it all together to me. 



I think next time I make this quilt, I'll take it down a notch with the quilting adventure!  While I love the effect of all the different lines it does take a lot of time.  I don't think the design would suffer in any way if I went with some sort of all over grid.  We'll see.  I might forget by the time I make another one!

The back of the quilt really shows graphic shapes with the darker thread.  Although it's difficult to see, you might be able to make out some of the other quilting for a better understanding of the 'kitchen sink' of straight lines.

It's no secret that in between piecing or quilting quilts I love to have a palate cleanser of sorts.  A small project to recharge my batteries.  Those kinds of projects are always so much fun and honestly, if I didn't have an 'intermission' from machine quilting I'd go stark raving mad!!  Not a pretty look I assure you!  

What do you do to keep refreshed or recharged when it seems there is no end in sight with a project?!  Maybe you buckle down and get it done, get a glass of wine, or toss it aside?  All of which I have done myself!

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING 
LETS BEE SOCIAL ● MIDWEEK MAKERS ● NEEDLE & THREAD 

PEACOCK PARTY  ● TGIFF ● WHOOP WHOOP FRIDAY

BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY

Hiding in Plain Sight

There was a time not too long ago when every quilt I made was photographed and blogged about the second it was finished.  It was a stead fast goal of mine to finish a quilt before I would start a new project.  That doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about the next project, it meant I had to wait and that was pretty exciting to me.  There were never WIP's, never a pile of quilts to quilt, and I was proud of that.

Somewhere along the way my rules changed.  I became a rebel!  Okay, not so much a rebel maybe I loosened up a little bit!  I'm certainly not complaining!  With my new found freedom I've discovered a quilt or three that was stowed in my closet waiting for...what?  I don't even know!  I probably shoved it in there so I could make room for another project to get underway!  I know it's not abnormal to have half a dozen things happening all at once, every one does, and I shall not dwell on the good old days, instead I'll embrace it and move on!

54" x 72"

I'm intrigued by geometric shapes and half-square triangles are a fantastic way to experiment and play.  I could spend hours if not days turning, flipping and moving the blocks to create different patterns.  I've fallen in the rabbit hole far too many times!

This time I stuck with a plan and besides moving a few background pieces, it was written in stone!  The squares and rectangles are Kona Nautical, which in this picture look black, but in reality it's a very dark blue.  I arranged them semi haphazardly and filled in with a lot of blue and green HST's in many different shades.  

When I start a quilt like this, I grab every fabric in the color scheme I'm going for and cut all my squares.  Generally I'll cut 2-5 squares in each color, but it depends on big my chunk of fabric is.  Then I'll grab my stack and randomly pair up sets.  That way I'll have a bunch of different combinations of colors after the HST's are made.  Random is better for me.  

They say variety is the spice of life and that holds true for me...but only when it comes to quilting and fabric!  

Sometimes when I'm pulling fabrics for a 'theme' color quilt, there are shades I'm not in love with.  I have to force myself to use them anyway.  I may only cut 1 or 2 blocks, but I throw them in the mix for variety sake.  

What would a geometric quilt be without geometric quilting?  I printed a coloring sheet via EQ8 and began the intense quilting process.  I started with the squares and rectangles first.  Stitching in the ditch and then quilting a 2" grid inside each shape.  After that it was a puzzle of lines.  I tried to keep a flow with the lines so it didn't look too haphazard in the end.  It worked and every inch was covered!

As always there were blocks left over and as almost always I didn't have a large enough piece of fabric for the entire back!  By adding the extra blocks to the back I was able to stretch my backing to fit and give the back a little visual interest as well.

The backing is Kona Pickle, which I love!  It's a rather bold and different kind of color that not everyone is attracted to.  

I added a binding of Nautical and this guy was done!  Well, this guy was stuffed in a closet!  When I finally released it from purgatory, I washed and dried it for the a true finish!  To me, a quilt isn't truly finished until it's been washed! 

I do want to get back on track a little bit with project finishing.  Maybe that should be my New Year Resolution?!  Probably not!  I've never ever ever followed through on a resolution...why start now!

Being the end of the year, do you scramble to finish WIP's and UFO's?  I know I do!  I want the old gone and make room for the new!

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING ●  LINKY TUESDAY 
LETS BEE SOCIAL ● MIDWEEK MAKERS ● NEEDLE & THREAD  ● TGIFF 

BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY

Graphic Baby :: The Saga

I have been quilting other things besides cute little paper pieced critters!  This quilt is the middle of one of my 'tunnel vision' adventures of using every piece of fabric until it's gone.  It all started with half square triangles for one quilt, became this baby quilt with the trimmed and left over HST's from the first and ended with a mini quilt 'Serendipity'.   Normally I would have share the original quilt first, but I haven't quilted that one yet!  So, bear with me as I take the unconventional and backwards way of sharing projects this time!

GRAPHIC BABY
37" x 53"

I had to design the quilt first so that I knew how and where I wanted the dark blue square and rectangle.  That resulted in having to make more HST's with the dark blue to form the shapes.  

The original HST's blocks were 6 3/4" and I trimmed those down to 6" in order to fit with my design.  

By extending the shapes in the border, it feels like the dark blue shapes are floating over the top.  It also gives it a twist, a little oomph, a step up on the design.

Quilt these kind of quilts for me is predetermined!  I almost always quilt using straight lines in varying widths.  While I quilt that way on them, I don't have one overall design that I use time and time again.  Each one has it's own quilting personality.  

 

I used a combination of blue, green and grey thread.  Marking out sections first and then using one thread color for the entire section.  Again, that could change from quilt to quilt.  It's our prerogative to do what we feel or want to do!

There's always an abundance of texture with this quilting after washing.  Its one of the payoffs of a finished quilt.  Theres that, and it does cover up the missteps of less than perfect lines.

This quilt has been done for quite a while and seeing it now...I really need to get the original idea quilt finished.  I've been dreading the task.  It isn't huge, it's just big.  Lately I've put off quilting several quilts because of their size.  My least favorite part of the entire quilting process is quilting.  I don't like to wrestle, man handle and twist these days.  I'm talking quilting here...!

It's no wonder so many people have their own long arm machines!  Is it just me or does it seem like more and more people have long arm machines these days?!  It would be heaven...I think...but I also think I would never be able to handle it!  

These graphic HST quilts and another quilt design I'm working leaves me with a question that I hope you can help answer.  

We all know it's extremely common for quilt patterns to have three, four and five different sizes included.  Is it common to have several sizes in a pattern but each one is designed differently to fit the size of the quilt?  For example, different sized blocks for each quilt or where the layout is different to accommodate for the size.  One quilt I'm debating about writing a pattern for uses the same sized blocks, but because of the sizes the layout is different.  Would it be weird?  Would it be better to make each a separate pattern and price it accordingly?  I don't know what makes the most sense, so your input would be greatly appreciated!

LINKING:

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Crazy Mom Quilts