Geometry Lesson II :: Baby Geo

I I love this design so much that I had to make a baby size quilt!  But first I had to redesign the original: Geometry Lesson, in order for it to make sense and fit the size.  Plus, I got to use different colors and you know how fun that can be!

BABY GEO
34" x 46 1/2"

Teal, aqua, pear, turquoise and everything in between!  Put it together with a background of Kona Ash and you are sure to have an amazing combination!



Jumping right to it, quilting.  I've learned over the years that quilting can make or break a quilt.  Thread matters, or in this case colors.  I used Aurifil 50wt Light Emerald #2866, Bright Turquoise #5005 and Spring Green #1231 for all the quilting.  It felt right to use a few different colors, but not too many.  The fine line was drawn at three.



I had a plan when I started, but it quickly proved to be far too much for me and this quilt.  Which is weird since I've done it before.  For some reason it didn't want to take hold and I ended up grabbing my seam ripper...twice!  

In the end settling on 1/2" lines instead of the original plan of 1/4" lines.  One thing that stayed steady was having a curve element in the quilting.



With this design, I tend to work off the Drunkard Path blocks as the beginning of the curves.  After that it's whatever the quilt wants.  Strange, I know.  It hasn't failed me yet, so I'll continue to work that way until it tells me otherwise.  Grids, curves and a straight line section here and there.

I keep telling myself simple isn't a bad thing and maybe I should do that instead.  Then for one reason or another it ends up like this.  Mind you, I'm not complaining especially after seeing the results.  Can I say I long for the days when I would quilt simple and not so dense?!  Then again when I did that I'd wish I quilted more detail!  It is what it is!



Part of the design created this grid.  I wasn't expecting it at first and was delighted when I saw it starting to happen and come together.



The back ended up being pieced together using some of the colors from the front and finishing it off with a Jade Green binding.  I was tempted to match the binding like I did on the original quilt design.  Maybe that was the area where I subconsciously kept it simple!



A close up of the grid shows two different thread colors and would you look at that?!  It looks almost perfect!  You know how it can get trying to keep things straight...it doesn't always happen!  

There are always inaccuracies when it comes to quilting.  I tried to keep my lines as straight as possible while quilting on my domestic machine, as well as keeping the lines straight with the rectangles or strips of the design.  But honestly, as hard as we try (or maybe it's just me) nothing is ever perfect.  So we adjust our quilting by adjusting our widths and lines.  Always in hopes of making it better or perfect or good enough. 



You would be right if you think I'll be making this quilt again!  I rarely make the same design twice.  But the possibilities are endless with this kind of design.  My mind goes crazy with color combinations.  Believe it or not, I'm seriously considering a muted palette for the next one.  

What color combination would you like to see?! 

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Super Star :: Mission Accomplished

It was touch and go at times, but I accomplished what I set out to do!  Make a super sized Evening Star Block surrounded by improv and quilted it the best I could do!

The top was finished at the beginning of August (Super Sized), but I had to work up the courage to quilt it.  So it sat and sat until I gained the mental strength to tackle what I knew would be a tough job to tackle.  I was especially worried about quilting the center of the star.  It needed to have that 'medallion' effect that required free motion quilting, and with it being super sized...well, let's just say I was dreading it!  The rest of the quilt didn't worry me as I knew it would be geometric straight lines.  That I knew I could handle!

SUPER STAR
48" X 62"

I'm just glad it's finished!!  I can check it off my list and move on!  There is a lot of work that went into this little bugger!  But I know it will be appreciated by the person who requested it and by the person whom it will be gifted to!  Isn't that what makes it all worth it in the end?!  I have to remind myself of that during those times when I get frustrated, but in all honesty...I loved making this quilt!



I do not know how people can do free motion quilting so perfectly beautiful on domestic machines.  Especially with a large quilt.  I try.  And try.  It's just so awkward and cumbersome!  

My thread of choice was Aurifil 50wt in the following colors:  Lobster Red #2265, Neon Orange #1104, Medium Red #5002, Canary #2120, Spring Green #1231, Dark Cobalt #2740, Dark Purple #2545, Jade #4093 and Light Sand #2000.  That's a lot of colors, but needed!



From the back you can see the detail a little bit more.  I added pebble quilting in between the points.  Since we all know real pebbles are never perfect, I nailed perfectly imperfect pebbles!  The medallion center was a bit more complicated and hard.  I used a different thread color and design for each round.  It wasn't easy to quilt or to come up with ideas for quilting.  That's just me though!



All in all...I couldn't be happier with how it came together!  I'm not beating myself up about the quilting at all.  I did me, did my best and that's all I can do!  Perfection in my eyes!  And of course, wash...dry...crinkle helps a tremendously!



The remaining area was filled with geometric lines.  I'd mark a section on a side and replicate it on the remaining sides.  When the sides were filled, I duplicated the top and bottom sections until that was filled up.  As long as the quilting fits with the design, then I'm good!

I have also accumulated a few more quilts to quilt...oh joy!  It wasn't but a couple years ago that I would never ever start a new quilt until the one I was working on was finished.  It motivated me to finish one and it felt like the reward was getting to start a new quilt. These days are different!  Now I have too many ideas!  A blessing or a curse?   

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It Wouldn't Stop Growing!

How often have you started making a small quilt and the next thing you know...it grew into something much bigger than expected?  Because of the way I work, usually with no or little plan, it happens quite often to me.  

  

When I started this quilt I was determined to use the fabrics I picked in the May Blogger Bundle I curated for  Needle & Foot Fine Fabrics.  You can read my post about the bundle and the start of this quilt here:  Blogger Bundle. 

The bundle is still available in Bernie's Etsy shop, you can find it right here:  May Blogger Bundle. 

I began paper piecing the 4" kite blocks with the idea that I'd make a simple, small table runner.  It would be the perfect size to showcase the fabric and be a relatively quick project to complete in a timely manner.  

The paper pieced block is by Flying Parrot Quilts and is free when you sign up for her newsletter.  It's one of those blocks that I've wanted to play with for a long time and this was finally the time to do it!



My first batch of blocks gave me a good start, but I soon discovered I needed more.  I would layout my blocks and decide I had to have more in order to distribute the prints around, and even then I couldn't decide on a layout.



Eventually all of the blogger bundle fabric was used and I was left with a feeling that there still wasn't enough.  This was a 'put on your thinking cap' moment for me!  In the end I went through my stash and picked fabrics that would compliment the original fat quarters.  

It still didn't mean I had a layout in mind though!  In time that idea finally came and the rest fell into place.

46" x 61"

I decided to keep the prints together in threes and add a plain square.  The background is Kona Snow which lets each print standout.  It took a while to get just the right layout!  Once all the blocks of four were pieced, I figured it was the best time to tear out the paper. 



After careful thought I choose Kona Black for the inside 1 1/2" border (finished) and a 3" outside border (finished).  With the three blocks that stood out the most, black, it seemed like the best idea.  Plus, I could then use black for the binding.



Believe it or not, I kept the quilting pretty simple!  The center of each block looks so poofy!  I didn't do any quilting in the black border at all.  But I did quilt some groovy diamonds in the outside border.  They look a lot like the kites!



One other detail about the quilting...I decided to use a heavier thread.  I had a spool of Aurifil 30wt in an off-white.  I like to add the color name and number of the thread I use, but this thread was unnamed!  But the number is 6722!



Again with the pieced back!  I didn't have a big piece of anything that would go with this quilt!  So I grabbed my left over Kona Snow, a piece of Kona Bone and lastly Kona Ivory.  And with all my little bits and pieces I made four slabs and gave them the wonky block effect for the finishing touch!



The funny thing is I originally was aiming for a runner, which led me to think I'd instead make a baby quilt.  By the end of it all it grew to a good sized throw quilt!  Welcome to my wacky world!



The May Blogger Bundle was inspired by Spring.  The start of sprouts, flowers and weeds!  By the time I finished it became Summer with oppressive heat and humidity!  Its amazing how just  a couple of months can change so drastically!

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Louver :: The Finish

The moment we've all been waiting for!  I feel like all the hype leading up to this 'unveiling' might be a big fat let down!  And with the last two blog posts about this technique...I may be walking the line on too much all at once!

The truth is, I was having a heck of a time getting photos of this quilt.  Either the Kona Ice Frappe was too washed out or I couldn't get good shots of the texture.  I believe this might be a quilt that needs to be seen in person in order to get the full effect of the texture, how the 'twists' change depending on the angle you are looking at it and how it feels to the hand.  My hope is to enter it for QuiltCon 2019.  Even then there is no guarantee it'll get accepted!  

Without any further 'hype' and build up...here she is!

LOUVER
35 1/2" X 45 1/2"

'Louver' is so named because it reminds me of the slats of a venetian blind.  By changing the angle of the slats it changes the amount of light that gets in.  While my quilt isn't letting anything get in, it does change from different angles.



The 'textured twists' also have an optical illusion associated with them.  One side of the piping is sewn up and one down.  You can change the illusion depending how you iron it.  I've pressed different curves into each panel giving it a wave effect.



Where the twist happens it becomes darker and stands out in a very interesting way.  With this quilt and the two mini quilts (Huge Progress #1, Blue Wave #2). 



I've been imagining other ways to use this technique.  I love to explore and experiment!  Pushing the envelope is nothing new in quilting, and it certainly has been a driving force in many of my quilts throughout the years.   Right now, this is my 'thing', my obsession!



I used Aurifil Mint Ice thread (#2800) for the quilting.  Mint Ice is a very light, light green.  It's almost looks light grey.  The 'textured twists' being what they are, quilting over them would be a disaster and ruin the effect.  It was super difficult to line up each color across the quilt.  You know how easy being a scant off on any seam adds up throughout a quilt and throws off lining up blocks.   It was no different with this quilt!

 

I dealt with that issue by quilting organic curve lines.  It was the perfect way to cover up any issues with the lines being off and it frankly, I love how it turned out!  I happen to be a big fan of dense quilting!



I probably took a hundred pictures of this darn quilt!  I kept thinking I could do better, capture the detail, let you could touch it with your eyes.  Whether or not I succeeded...it was fun for the first fifty photos!    



It's a simple design.  Basic rectangle panels divided with sashing.  Hopefully I elevated the simplicity by the detail.  



I can't stop running my hands across the twists!  Clean hands are required!  And I continually walk around it and grab a peek from different angles.  

It has become much more than I thought it would be when I started this adventure.  There have been times when an idea falls flat.  In fact, I had one of those moments yesterday!  When it works, it's magical!  

I hope all the hype was worth the wait!  

I know there have been so many of bloggers affected by not getting notifications when someone makes a comment on their blog.  Rumor has it the problem is solved.  Here is the link to that claim:  Blogger Help Forum

I have tried and when I comment I get not one by two notifications.  My concern is, and I don't know how to check it to be certain, when someone comments they are asked to subscribe.  I don't want you to have to subscribe to leave a comment.  It's ridiculous!  If that happens to you....Please, email me and let me know!  

You can reach me here: jaynebug {at} comcast {dot} net

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Blue Wave :: Scrap Mini #2

I haven't had a chance to photograph the large quilt yet, so I thought I'd go the 'scraps before the original' quilt route this time.

BLUE WAVE MINI QUILT
16 1/2" X 17"

For this quilt I went with improv wave strips and a dark blue background using Kona Nightfall.  The trick here was to get a good curve and still allowing the 'textured twist' to show.



Except for the strips on the left and right, it worked.  The outside strips ended up having one straight edge and one that was curved.  Yet again, they became scraps from scraps.  You just can't let it go can you Jayne?!  (no...I cannot)



I am shocked that I didn't have a dark blue thread in my stash!  I ended up using Aurifil Delft Blue (#2730) which I don't hate!  



I quilted curvy lines from top to bottom.  Some areas were left open, some areas were super dense by the time I finished. 



If you haven't tried organic curves or even straight lines, I would encourage you to give it a try.  It's a nice change from perfection, but I'd argue that it is still perfection just in a different way!



The back highlights the quilting in a completely different way!  As you can see, I didn't quilt at all in the textured twist strips.  It didn't really need it.

By the time I show you the original project, you'll be so sick and tired of it you may not even look!  Sorry about that!  If you know me, you know I latch on to a project and keep going until every scrap is gone.  That could mean 2 quilts, 3 quilts or more!!

JUST FOR FUN

If you are on Instagram, you know about 'stories'.  Did you know you can do polls with stories?  I bought this fun little rainbow flower pinwheel and asked in my poll 'Do You Love Rainbows'?  I was surprised to see there were 14% of the people who did not...What?!  How can you not love rainbows, love color...but, the good news is 86% do love rainbows!  

So I will informally ask you...Do You Love Rainbows? 🌈 

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Huge Progress :: Plus A Mini Quilt

If you remember last month, I started a project I thought was going to be laborious and tedious.  My post 'Tedium Begins' shows you exactly what I'm talking about.  It had all the makings of something that was going to be time consuming and most likely push me to the limit.  

I'm happy to say that wasn't really the case when it came time to sew!  It really was an intense time cutting and pressing all the pieces, but the main part, the part that really matters wasn't quite as bad as I had thought it would be.



Perhaps the hardest part was making sure I got all the beautiful folded strips in the right order on each panel I was making.



Writing numbers on each strip with a black sharpie and taking my time paid off!  I ended up with four big panels to work with.  Each panel ended up being about 18" x 22".  When I first started cutting and piecing I was worried I wasn't going to have enough to work with for the quilt.  



Turns out I had plenty!  So much left over that I was able to make two mini quilts and then some!

This is my first mini made from the scraps.  I kept it simple, light and worked with what I had on hand.

TWISTED HERRINGBONE
15" X 18 1/2"

The strips finish at 1/2" and 1/4" wide.  Even though the strips were super skinny, I was still able to give the 1/2" strips that signature 'textured twist' to them.  And that made me happy!



It was certainly a fun exercise in tiny piecing!  One that I always enjoy immensely!



I quilting this one using the best of both worlds.  Free motion pebbles and ovals and straight line matchstick quilting.



As you can see, some of the FMQ ended up being a little funky!  It matters not at all to me!  I will most likely never become great at FMQ, but it certainly isn't going to stop me from doing it!

The background fabric is Kona Ice Frappe.  I pulled out some thread and settled on Aurifil Pale Green #2880.  Normally I wouldn't go green with this fabric, but it matched and in the end blended perfectly!



Binding is always a place where we can add a little extra zing!  Even something as simple as yellow, orange and red pieced together gives an added visual.

The second mini I made will be another post, another day.  I also hope to get some pictures of the quilt in the next day or two so I can share the main event with you!

I'll leave you with a couple fun and interesting pictures!



A warped view of the panels and...



The near perfect pressed panel back!

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