March Mini and other things

 

It seems like I just wrote a blog post, but that was a month ago. Good grief. Where does the time go? I have been sewing, apparently too much because I'm suddenly experiencing flair-ups of extreme pain in my right hand. My guess is tendonitis. As for cause? Most likely, rotary cutter. 

Its torture to not be able to sew. I'll have to find other activities. Walking/hiking works. But most everything else I do involves my hands. Ugh. 

Anyway, lucky for me, I have lots of scraps that can be sewn into little quilts with little to no cutting. I have little bins of these things everywhere. One is full of "waste" triangle squares, which I rename "bonus” triangle squares. I grabbed a handful of them and made this.

I had to cut the border strips and stitch on the binding, but that was before the worst flair-up. I hand quilted some simple lines down the centers of the rows and the borders, and though you can barely see the quilting, ts a sweet little quilt and feels heavenly to the touch. It will probably be a gif. 

Good news! My friend has offered for me to come over and use her electric Go-cutter, which I have been taking her up on. But I still have to pre-cut the fabric, so even that will have to wait for a bit.

Meanwhile, I was really itching to do something fun, and so I grabbed my little bin of 1 1/2 x 2 1/2" bricks. I was inspired by the darling little brick quilt Janet O gave me, and taking her idea as a starting point,  I made this:

The only thing I had to cut were the binding strips, which is actually a fake binding. I sew it on like a border, then sew the quilt together like a pillow. I had only a four inch opening to close at the end. As of now its un-quilted. I did machine quilt in the ditch between the “binding” and the body of the quilt, which gives it definition. The "binding" is a little wonky, and slightly wider than I had planned, but that's because apparently I can't do even the simplest math, and I cut the strips 1/4" too wide. The method needs a little fine tuning, but is potentially a brilliant way to fake a binding onto a tiny quilt or a mug rug. 

 

 

Here they are, relaxing on a bed of dry maple leaves. (See the little tree starts coming up?)

 

 Here's the link to Wendy's blog for more Monthly Mini's

 

 

I also made a throw for a friend, before the hand issue got out of hand (no pun intended).

I saw this on Pinterest:

 I thought it would be a good way to use up some of myy reds (or any other color, for that matter, but I have an overabundance of reds). So I started in and got this far ...

 

... then I thought I'm not so sure I want stars, so I played around with it. 

This is what I ended up with. 

 

I'm calling it Exploding Star. You can see how simple the blocks are, and there are no doubt many design possibilities.

I have an appointment with the hand doctor coming up, hopefully some PT. I have a big first-time four-day quilt retreat coming up at the end of next month. Hopefully I'll be in shape to do some sewing!

(editing seems to be on the fritz tonight. Oh well ... )

love, Sandy

A Matter of Scale

 

I think I've finally recuperated from our Quilt Show, and thought I'd go ahead and show you the two quilts I had in the general exhibit. 

 

Above is the Log Cabin I made as a sew-along with Temecula Quilt Company a couple years ago, followed by a detail shot below.

 

 This quilt was really fun to make, because it allowed me to use a ton of scraps and small pre-cuts, as well as dig into my "precious" tiny pieces and other fabrics I'd been hoarding for years. 

Compared to the detail shot, I think the full quilt looks rather bland. It does not necessarily pull the viewer in to examine it up close. The wonderful array of fabrics is completely lost at a distance. Many may pass it by in favor of the more graphic and colorful quilts. 

I believe the problem is a matter of scale. It wasn't until I finished the quilt and saw it hanging that I realized the scale was all wrong, and I wish I had either made the blocks bigger, or made the quilt smaller. The upshot, however, is that I live with this quilt up close and personal, as it is in the rotation of "cover up" quilts I use on a daily basis. Like when I take a nap, or for a throw on the end of the bed. Up close, I can examine and enjoy the individual blocks, and appreciate the array of fabrics within. But a learning lesson, for sure.

A different example of scale caught me by surprise, when I turned the corner into an exhibit bay and saw this:

 

I thought, "Oh, that looks like a miniature version of my Road to Oklahoma quilt."  Then I realized, that IS my Road to Oklahoma quilt! It just looks tiny hanging next to the larger quilt its next to. 

 

Designed by Nancy Mahoney and published in Marsha McClosky's book "A Dozen Variables" close to fourty years ago. Ageless! The design is paramount in this quilt, and the individual fabrics are secondary. The scale of the blocks is perfect. 

Following are a few more quilts, just to highlight the amazing talent and variety of styles used by the quiltmakers in our guild.

 

Quiltmaker/artist Lisa Saporta, who does beautiful improv. 

 

Quiltmaker/artist Thom Atkins, usually noted for his beadwork, "paints" a beautiful scene in fabric.

 

Quiltmaker/artist Kristie Schulman, who's use of color and shape makes her quilts sing! (you can see why I might not want my quilt next to hers ... ha ha!) 

As always, I wish I had taken more pictures. As always, I wish there were at least one or two more days to thoroughly examine each and every quilt in the show. Sigh ...

 

All for now, 

Sandy 

February Mini

Real quick post here as I have to leave for my haircut in a few minutes, and we all know how important that is. Plus this will be a total experiment because Blogger has totally changed the format for creating a post. Everything is appearing in code! Anyway ... a couple months ago I thought I'd try to recreate this little antique

I substituted black for the strips because I couldn't find an appropriate red in my stash.

Cute, but far from the original. Fast forward, our beloved Wendy to the rescue. Several beautiful cuts of red fabric appeared in my mailbox! I chose one and got started right away, recreating the recreation. I set it aside when done, then realized when I was getting ready to post this morning that I hadn't quilted it yet (!) so I proceeded to do so. That's why I'm late.

Here are the two "sisters" ( or maybe cousins?)

I love them both. Now go to Wendy's page to check out the rest of the bunch. Love, Sandy