Restocking The Basics :: Must Haves & Gotta Haves

There are basic fabrics we need on hand all the time.  Like white.  Lots and lots of white!! And of course one of my favorite background colors such as gray.  If I could I would have bolts of these two on hand times two!

Kona White, Kona Nightfall, Kona Shadow

  I used the last of my Kona white on my Drunkards Path quilt.  Which was just barely enough, but I got clever and was able to make it work.  I knew I had better get more ordered and the quicker the better.  

I would love nothing more than to buy by the bolt on a couple colors.  Since I don't have a connection the next best thing is buying from fabric.com.  They always have a buy more, save more on most of their Kona cottons.  For 10 yards of Kona white, I was able to get the price down to $4.34 a yard.  That's not bad!  

While white is must, probably my favorite background/backing color to use and have on hand is Kona Shadow.  My dark blue stock was also getting low, so welcome Nightfall!

Pink Flamingo, Honeysuckle, Valentine

I've been trying to find a Neon Pink solid with very little success.  These lovelies made it in my cart for 'just in case', but they were a far cry from Neon!!  I tried unsuccessfully to grab Kona Color of the Year Pink Flamingo when it first arrived on the scene.  When I saw it was actually in stock...I pounced.  Tell me why I didn't buy more than one yard!  Because it's really, really pretty to me!



This is my second batch of Diamond Hexie Stars.  I started making them while I was in Oregon.  Star Light, Star Bright was my first batch.  I've decided these will be my long term project for the rest of the year.  I'm using bright Kaffe Fasset fabrics and fussy cutting for the most part.  But I needed more...and when I was tempted with more...I couldn't resist!



Cyndy at Quilting is more fun than Housework offered up a hand picked bundle to fulfill my EPP diamond project.  I loved her note!  I know!!! What the heck is going on with me and prints?  You'd think I have finally developed a relationship with prints after all these years! 



I see many more diamonds being cut from these fabrics and I think I'll start right now!  

There it is, my latest acquisitions to my stash.  Some must haves, and some gotta haves!

LINKING:

Oh Scrap

Sunday Stash

Storm Before The Calm...Storm At Sea

It's always nice to try something new.  A new hair style, a new food, a new technique.  It means we are open to trying something different.  

Our Guild is doing a Paint Chip Challenge that is due at our next meeting.  I was so thrilled that we were going to do this when it first came up at a meeting a couple months ago.  I've seen other guilds that have done these and it always peeked my interest.  Basically, we were randomly given two actual paint chips.  The rules are pretty simple.  We must use the two colors as the starting point and are allowed to add one more color and a neutral.  

Simple.  Realizing our 'reveal' meeting is quickly approaching I needed to get my butt in gear and come up with a plan.  My colors are gorgeous...IMO!  A beautiful teal and golden yellow.

So what was I to do?  Yikes!  There wasn't much time to ponder or worry about my current 'mojo' rut.  Out of the blue the idea of 'Storm At Sea' came to mind.  Its a block that interests me, a block that can be toyed with using colors and a block I could paper piece for accuracy.  

Why not?  Let's do this!

My first fabric pull started with this batch of fabric.  Great start!  Love the magenta!  If only it was that easy!

I'm not much of a planner.  I'm a 'fly by the seat of your pants' kind of a girl!  It's easier for me to play it by ear than plan every detail.  So, when I picked my block and picked my fabric I was sure I had it in the bag.  I did not!  

Storm At Sea

I'm making a 24" x 24" mini quilt that requires nine 8" blocks.  I'll be paper piecing these blocks for accuracy and frankly...you know I love paper piecing!  

The above block was my guide to color placement.  And I tried.  While cutting the pieces for my templates, I quickly discovered I didn't have enough of this color, then that color and then I cut the wrong color...it went on and on!

When I'm paper piecing numerous of the same block, I like to cut all my pieces prior to stitching. I cut, sub cut, cut the wrong color, cut the right color and eventually...finally...I think I hashed it all out.

It was a frustrating process.  Working from my stash didn't go quite as planned.  Whats better: having a well rounded stash of lots of colors or having a stash that has plenty of yardage but not much variety?!  

There are nine templates for each block.  Nine.  I know!  You would thing a little 8" block wouldn't be so involved, but it is!    

The small square in a square is 2 1/2", the larger one is 4 1/2" and the diamond is 2 1/2" x 4 1/2". That little one is just adorable!!

  

Tomorrow I hope to take all the parts and pieces, put them together in a timely fashion with no fuss or muss. 

And hopefully, they will all turn out to look like much like this one.  I have no idea how this is going to turn out.  It could be good, or it could go terribly wrong!  

Storm at Sea is one of those blocks that trick you into thinking there are curves, yet there are none.  In a quilt, there is a lot of movement and flow, which I'm hoping will come through with my quilt.  It's hard to say what will happen.  It could end up being 'The Calm Before The Storm' instead!

It was a fun exercise in making do with what you have on hand!  Have you made a Storm At Sea quilt before?  Would you do it again?

LINKING:

Needle & Thread

Oh Scrap

Main Crush Monday

Drunkards Path :: Getting My MoJo Back

It's taken me a while to get back in the swing of things lately.  I feel like I've done very little in the way of quilting the past couple months.  I thought the best way to get back into the thick of things was to work on a scrap project I started back in July.  My Clammed Out & Scrap Magic post talks about what to do with scraps from a previous quilt.

If the fabrics and color seems familiar, they are!  They all came from the infamous Glam Clam quilt I recently finished.  So many scraps!  

While cutting out the Clams for the Glam Clam, I was left with a ton of scraps.  It seemed like the perfect time to make some drunkards path blocks.

I had a tub full that I glue basted and quickly set about chain piecing those pesky curves. Except...they really weren't that pesky to sew!  

  

I choose to glue baste the curves to save myself from getting frustrated, and so I could put the pedal to the metal while chain piecing.  It seemed like a great idea...and it was!



I marked the center by folding and pressing a crease in each piece.  Here, I marked it with pen so you can see it better.



A small bead of glue goes a long way!  It doesn't take much to hold the two pieces together.



I line up the center point and with the tip of the dry iron I slowly move the top piece around the curve.  It doesn't take long for the glue to set.



Repeat the same process for the other half.



Before you know it...it's done!  There is a little fussing that has to be done when attaching the two pieces, like holding the top piece out of the glue when setting the glue with the iron.



Its worth it to me!  Usually when making this block I would press the seams towards the white. This time I pressed towards the print.  I didn't want the print to be seen through the white, which happens when you are doing just about any block.  



I did a lot of trimming so my blocks were good and square.  These ended up being 4".  I'd like to say they stayed that size!



They did not!  I wasn't terribly consistent with perfection when I slapped these together! When I put four blocks together they were a little askew!  I was only concentrating on lining up the curves for one big circle.  

After assembly, I trimmed all the blocks to 7".  Now that's something I can work with! 

I've played with several layouts since making the blocks, and even had to make more.  The top layout is a possibility, but this last one is not.  In order to do that one I would of had to sew each row together and hope all the seams lined up.  I love the layout and know that one day...it to shall become a quilt!

LINKING:

Oh Scrap

Main Crush Monday

Freemotion by the River

Let's Bee Social

Needle & Thread

Star Light, Star Bright

So, we all know it's Eclipse day today!   Many of us will get that once in a lifetime chance to see it in all its glory.  I'm excited even though I don't have the proper glasses.  ARGH!  I'm still going to experience it, and it is okay to look at it with the naked eye without glasses when the sun is totally covered...take a chance or not?!  

I have to say all the hype has gotten to me.  While I was in Oregon it lead every single news story several times a day. Then when I got home, same thing.  At 1:27 PM (CST), for two exciting minutes...I will be busy doing nothing more than watching a event...a big memorable event!

Before that, after that and for those don't get to see 'that', I thought I would share the only sewing I have done in a month!  Yep!  You heard that right!  I won't go into detail, but it's been a terrible month for me and my family.  

I spent two weeks in Portland with nothing more than a needle and thread.  English paper piecing is the ideal travel project.  Before I left Nashville, I had a mad scramble to come up with an EPP project to take with me.  I ended up keeping it super simple.  Diamonds. 



I'm going to sound like a broken record again, but the hardest part was picking the fabric.  I settled on Kaffe Fasset fabric for the center diamonds and added a bright solid for the outside.  I was in need of very bright, bold and happy colors.  Kaffe Fasset fit that bill to a tee!



My little EPP kit was filled with the essentials.  Scissors, thread, clips, needles and glue pen. I also brought the extra fabric both in prints and solids.  I grabbed Aurifil Sandstone thread (2370) in 40 wt.  I was hoping the color would blend with all the bright colors of the fabric and disappear...and it did!  I have to say it was the perfect choice!

Of course you must have plenty of the most important component of EPP, the templates.  I found this template at Sew Quickly where you can cut hexies, jewels and diamonds from one PDF template.  I love the versatility you get with this PDF.  I printed page after page on card stock and then cut the out with scissors.  



I used two different prints for each star.  Some prints I fussy cut so they would stand out, some were cut with a texture and color in mind.  The fabric I was working with were smaller pieces, so getting three pieces that were exact was sometimes an impossible task.   



After the stars came a solid that I felt would pop with the combination of prints.  I tried to be strategic, but it didn't always work out that way.



This one is the perfect example of semi-fussy cut diamonds.  The three circles are not the same, but they each have a green ring.  The other diamonds have the same linear blue print.



Here is another example of fussy cut matchy match!



I ended up making nine complete hexie stars and three stars.  With another half a dozen more in the pipe line.  



This was purely a project to keep me grounded, give me an emotional escape and keep my mind occupied while I was in Portland.  I still don't have a clue what I'm making or what it will become. Frankly, the last thing on my mind was a plan.  It was more important to have a distraction and not a plan.

Now that I've come home and had a chance to look at these sexy hexie stars, I've decided I want to make more and more!  This will be my long term EPP WIP!

LINKING:

Main Crush Monday

Freemotion by the River

Let's Bee Social

Needle & Thread

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop