Cut it Out!!

In my last post I talked about how quilting a large stack of quilts can be too much all at once.  By taking a break and making a small project in between recharges me to get back to the larger task at hand.

One of those 'intermission' projects was this project.  Rainbow paper pieced scissors.  

GEOMETRIC SCISSORS
11 1/2" x 11 1/2"

I've had this project cut out for weeks hoping that I'd get a chance to make it.  The Geometric Scissor pattern is another amazing design by Kristy Lea of Quiet Play.  The scissors are part of her Quiet Play Pattern Club 2019 which is still available, and happily she has another year lined up for 2020! (Pattern Club 2020)  As you can see I'm a huge fan of Kristy's!



The easy part was picking the rainbow fabric, the hard part was which background fabric to use.  I decided to use something a little different and went with a fat quarter of Coffee Peppered cotton.  



I could have left well enough alone, but I couldn't very well do that!  It's not in my nature!  I ended up making a border to increase the size and give it a boost.  I designed the border in EQ8 and printed paper piece templates.  And very soon after I had the extra element needed to finish it up.  

Near the end of piecing the border I realized I was literally cutting it close with the background fabric!  I needed and used every piece of that Peppered Cotton fat quarter!  

 

I could have went around the house a found about another dozed pairs of scissors for the photo...but that would have been a bit over the top!  Instead I settled on three pair that were within arms reach.






The detail is worth a couple detail shots, I think!  When I'm paper piecing something as detailed and tiny as the pieces in the handles, I grab larger pieces of fabric than normal so I don't have to worry about being short.  For those who freak out at the waste of it all...even larger pieces for this were pretty small!  That's what my scrap totes are for!



Another element to take it over the top was the quilting.  Or I should say:  in my mind I think it's over the top!  Pebbles using Aurifil Burgundy thread.  I normally try to match thread with backgrounds, but I had the urge to step out of my comfort zone and choose a color that would be visually impactful, but not outlandish.



I also wanted to keep the scissors sharp (pun intended!) and opted not to put one single stitch on them.  Finished off with a red border and viola! it was done and my itch was scratched!



My plan is to maybe take it to our Guilds Holiday Party and add it to the small gift swap.  They say you should give gifts that you yourself would love...and I do love this!

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

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

Walking On Sunshine :: Finally!

I put off dealing with this quilt for too long!  By dealing with, I of course mean quilting it.  I had big ideas about how I'd like it to be quilted, but in the end I just needed it to be done.  

'WALKING ON SUNSHINE'
49" x 71"

I think I started making this quilt in June or July.  So much time has gone by I can't be quite sure!  The colors are probably one of my favorite combinations to play with.  Yellow, orange, pink in various shades and various brands were pulled until I had the right combination.

Each circle is 12" and the block is more rectangle than square at 12" x 14" finished.  I borrowed the 12" Glam Clam ruler from a friend  (Glam Clam template by Latifah Saafir) and with very little trouble began making 12" half circles.  

When it came time to pair the halves, I took an enormous amount of care to match the seams.  I did use glue on the seams to ensure I would be accurate.  The results were well worth the time and I believe I achieved some pretty accurate seams.

My initial plan was to have someone else quilt this for me.  I had ideas, but didn't feel I could pull off a show stopping finish in the quilting department.  The passing off of the quilting duties didn't pan out.  That left me with the only other option...me.



Once you start you can't stop!  I totally had to commit to it.  I tend to bite off more than I can chew, but I decided this wasn't the time for that.  First, I quilted in the ditch of all the seams including around each circle.  Then I quilted 1" vertical lines from top to bottom.  



I choose four blocks to keep blank so I could do something special on the inside.  I perhaps should have put a different design in each blank block, however I wasn't feeling that adventurous!  Instead, I did this circle design in one block.

 

And this square design in the remaining three blocks.  Please, please don't look at the stippling too close!  Now your looking, aren't you?!  

May as well share to good with the bad.  Like I've said numerous times, I'm not perfect.  And I don't mind sharing the not-so-good.  

On the back I used Kona Orangeade.  I just love that shade of orange!  And the binding is Kona Bright Pink.  

I used Aurifil 50wt #2145 Orange Yellow which seemed to be the perfect compromise.  I worked well with all the different colors in the quilt.

While I didn't take the quilting over the top, I did manage a finish.  I can't complain with how it turned out.  I'm just happy it's finished!  

I don't feel like I've had many large quilt finishes to share.  I've spent the past couple weeks getting down to business with quilting and finally have a few more to share.  One more is left, but at this point I'm not going to go there!  I wanna make more quilt tops!

Onward and upward!

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

1/2" Hexie Kaleidoscope

I've been semi feverishly trying to finish up a small stack of quilts.  Quilting is going well, yet there are still a couple more to get to.  It always seems to take longer than I'd like for this process!  

In between the large quilts I've tried to work in a mini or a wall hanging just to break up the monotony...it's working for the most part.  

After I finished the first 'Hexie Heart' wall hanging I was determined to make another.  The process of hand stitching the hexies together goes super fast and you end up with a fun design.  For the second go around I decided to use solid fabrics, stay in the rainbow theme, but use 1/2" hexies instead of 1".  I'm so glad that I did!  It's ten times as adorable!

KALEIDOSCOPE
18" X 18 1/2"   

Oh the magic it makes!  I decided to use a dark background for a change of pace.  The fabric is Kona Gotham and I think it makes the hexies electrified!  They stand out in the best way possible.

 

With my hand as a reference...you can see just how small the hexies are in real life.  



Once all the pieces are together it measured 10" x 10", that will also give you reference to the size.



And what would a English Paper Pieced project be without a shot of the papers on the back?!  I made myself a chart of the design with each color section labeled.  Once I had that figured out along with my fabric choices, I wrote a corresponding number on each hexie so that I could get the colors in the right position.  A simple guide that makes sewing the pieces together much easier.

  

When I made the first one, I actually pieced together hearts to go inside the circles.  This time I decided I'd quilt a design in the centers instead.  It made it so much easier.  Plus, you can quilt some pretty great designs especially when you use colored thread.  



I grabbed my Aurifil rainbow mix of colors and proceeded to quilt some geometric stars.  They aren't the most perfect starts, but I love when I can use my walking foot instead of free motion quilting.  The walking foot wins out every time!



I stitched a tiny zigzag around and inside the hexies using a variegated rainbow thread (see back photo!).  I like that look better than the first go around with this design.  I then quilted 1/2" lines in a hexagon around the center using a dark gray thread.  From there I did a few rainbow 'flower' rounds and finished with many more concentric gray rounds. 



Why I don't use a dark background with rainbow designs I'll never know!  White backgrounds feel crisp and clean and you think they will make the colors standout, but a dark background seems to enhance the colors.  I'm a fan and I'm drooling just a bit!   



With every design (this one included) I tend to figure out better ways to accomplish or enhance things.  The center design, the quilting design, background colors, quilting...just to name a few.  And when that happens you know there will be another project along these lines.  I'm always trying to make it easier or faster or better!  Some things are hard to resist!

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