It's Been So Long...But Worth The Wait!

I can't remember the last time I bought fabric!  I think that might be a good sign.  At least I shall tell myself that.  Other than a few pieces for backings, which in my book does not count as 'fabric', I've been on a virtual fabric diet!  



While I still haven't figured out what to do with the fabric I'm not attached to in my stash, I slowly continue to build on the 'good stuff' that is essential!

  

I do love a good bundle of Low Volume fabric!  When I saw this fat eighth stack from Pink Castle Fabrics, I knew it needed to head my way!  

You know how sometimes it's a fifty fifty bundle, half is good and half is just so so?  This one is 100% all good!  Love each and every one.  My one regret...I wish I had bought another one!  This is a good addition to what I have already.  There won't be any excuses now!



This is just about as cute as can be!  I'll take some time to admire it before I whack it to pieces!

I've made HUGE progress on my Striped Octagon EPP project!  Yay!  The size mishap ended up not making a difference in the least!

As I was stitching the pieces together in the evenings, I would get a flash of an idea on where to take it.  Should I leave it as it is?  Wall hanging, quilt, runner...pillow?  



When the BIG idea hit me, it stuck with me and I couldn't do anything else but follow through with my vision!  There were times when I changed my mind and had to rethink a few thing.  I even had to redo a couple spots a few times until it was as good as I could get it.

I'll share more details soon!  I'm super excited about this one!  Sometimes I feel like I've lost creativity and quirkiness in my quilt designing lately.  This put that thought to rest!  

You can get the free pattern here:  'Striped Octagon'  from Tierney Barden.  I've got ideas for my next batch!

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Sunday Stash

Is The Suspense Killing You?!

I didn't mean to keep you in suspense!  In my last post I shared the third baby quilt I made using the last of my hand dyed scraps (Depleted :: Bye Bye Hand Dyed).  I kept you on the hook long enough! 

The first baby quilt I made when I decided to cut the heck out of my hand dyed fabrics, was this one:

32" x 39"

Since the blocks were only 4.5" unfinished, I was able to cram a lot of HST's in this one.  I kept like colors semi contained when I pieced four blocks together.  It's kind of hard to see, but I really did! There are so many colors exploding in this one, your brain goes into over load!



The blue border (1 3/4") is a good way to contain all the chaos...otherwise it might feel like there was a virus out break!  I'm not complaining, really I'm not!  The more color the better.

The quilting is a combination of 3/4" and 1/2" lines.  Some going this way, some that way.  I like the look of different widths, vertical and horizontal...total mix up!  And is there anything better than 'a pile of quilt'?  



As you have guessed by now, I had a lot of HST's to use!  Quilt #2 feels very traditional to me. Traditional in the sense, that there are squares, sashing and setting squares.

Again, I was able to match up the centers with matching colors.  After a few twist and turns, hemming and hawing, yes-ing and no-ing, I added 1" borders around each block in the same color, and finished with a 1 1/2" in light grey.

Medium grey was used for the final sashing and for the borders.  It's amazing how far you can stretch a stack of blocks just by adding borders and sashing.

31" x 45"

This was the perfect chance to get my geometric thinking cap on for quilting.  I don't think I really had a choice on this one...it felt like it was predetermined!  It had to be!

  

It was also destined to be that I used matching thread for each block color.  My hera marker was put to the test as I marked each line from one corner and radiating to the edges.  



I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  The back always tells the story!



Each of the three quilts has the same basic design.  A four patch of half square triangles with the same color in the center.  

This quilt shows that off the best I think.  Probably because each block is self contained and your brain doesn't go cuckoo staring at it!



While taking pictures of these quilts, I set the camera down while I moved the quilt around. As I was getting up to grab the camera I looked at the display screen and saw the coolest shot!  I don't think I could ever have set the stage for a photo like this.  I like the close up of the rotary cutter and everything else out of focus.  Good stuff!

Thank goodness for digital cameras! Can you imagine what it would be like if we didn't have them?  

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Finished or Not Friday

Depleted :: Bye Bye Hand Dyed

This in no way means I'm not going to hand dye fabric again!!  I love the process, I love seeing all the unique colors and textures.  That being said, I decided it was time to cut what I had on hand and figure out what to do with them.  This way I can start with a fresh batch when the weather warms up!

It's no secret that my favorite design for hand dyed fabrics is the ever popular Half Square Triangle (HST).  I can pack in every conceivable color and color combination and it always looks good to me.

31" x 42"

Normally I make large HST's blocks (6"-7"), but since I was using the end of my stash I had to go smaller.  Technically you could say I was using scraps.  In the end I was able to make all my HST's 4 1/2" unfinished.  I cut up everything!  Everything!

Believe it or not, I ended up with three baby quilts!  This one happens to be the last one I pieced. I was bound and determined to use every single HST...and I did too!

 

I twisted and turned until I had large orange, yellow and blue squares.  Then figured out I could make a couple small squares in pink and purple and one blue flying geese.  Now that's what I call by the skin of my teeth!



With three different quilts, I decided different quilting all each one was important.  It's been a while since I have done concentric circle quilting and thought this would be a good choice for this one. 



If you haven't tried concentric circles...you should!  I traced a circle in the center for my starting point.  The first few I went very slow.  But after that it was pedal to the metal!  I used the edge of my walking foot as my guide and it gave me just the right amount of space between the circles.

I couldn't imagine doing a large quilt, although I'm sure it would be very doable.  If you are thinking about trying concentric circles, I would recommend trying it with smaller quilts first!

 

I love, love, love the effect!  Even if you get a little wonky here and there, it still looks good. And as we all know, washing and drying hides just about any little error!



The grey is one of my favorite shades ever:  Kona Shadow.  That color is so perfect for just about everything!  I wanted to take a risk (for me) with the binding, so I used Moda Saffron. It makes for a very nice frame!



Hand dying more fabric will be determined by the weather.  I really am not a fan of cold and basements are cold!  I think there is just enough room left down there for my little dying station!



Here is the lovely stack of baby quilts all scrap inspired, all hand dyed and all different!  I'll share the other two in case you were curious!

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Mindless Stitching :: EPP:: Striped Hexie (?)

I've been calling this shape a hexagon...it is not!  A hexagon has six sides, this is an octagon because it has eight sides.  A stop sign...I know this!  Math lesson over! 

I saw this design on Instagram, good old Instagram!  At the time I was in need of a mindless project for my evenings and when I saw it, I knew it was the one for me.  



The reason I've called it a hexie is because that's the name of the pattern!  I wonder if they know it's not?!  Funny how one thing gets stuck in your mind and stays there regardless of right or wrong.

You can get the free pattern here:  'Striped Hexie'  from Tierney Barden.  I knew I would be using solids just as Tierney had, after all I've plenty of scraps that would love to be used. 

 

I wasn't sure how big I would go with this, so I set about making color combinations that would give me a flowing rainbow of choices.

Note:  this batch of octagons ended up not being in the first picture piece.  I made a terrible mistake...you'll see!

Once I got my colors together, I cut my strips and began piecing each grouping together.  I used a glue stick to secure the fabric to the template and make sure my stripe was lined up correctly.   I prefer thread basting as opposed to glue basting.  It is most certainly a personal preference.



With a lot of English Paper Piecing (EPP), you have to decide how you want to stitch the pieces together.  I decided I'd start by making sets of four.  



After laying out all my octagons and settling on a layout, I grouped and marked my sections and began stitching.

Why didn't I use that batch of octagons?   Let me tell you!!  When printing templates of any kind, you are told over and over to print actual size and sometimes their is that little square that should measure 1" so you know you are printing correctly.  This I know.  This I have done time and time again!

Except this time apparently.  I didn't realize I had two different sizes until I had every single piece basted.  It wasn't until I laid out all my beautiful pieces did I realize I totally mess up.  



You can see the difference here.  I could have kicked myself and boy oh boy did I have a swearing tangent!  After all the careful color pairings and not duplicating any color, I was left feeling defeated and so damn mad!

Once I got over the self pity, I sorted the sizes and tried to reconfigure something with what I had.  I ended up having to make a few more using the correct size, or the size I decided to go with.  Luckily, it worked and I was able to breath again.

I'm not sure what I did or how I did it. Probably printing on different days, using two different browsers or printing from iBooks is a good place to start.  

Yet one more lesson learned...again!



I'm adding white squares to the sides and think I'll end up adding a border or negative space around it.  I did have to cut extra squares in order to do this.  Thinking back, I remember measuring a square, printing a template from Incompetech that was that exact size, cutting the squares, holding them up to the original square (which wasn't the original square at all), trimming them again ... at that point I should have known something was fishy!

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Oh Scrap!