Piecing Purple Stars

This week's purple piecing project for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge was 4" Sawtooth Star blocks.  I began making these stars during last year's RSC, but did not have a plan for how to use them.  My plan is to continue making them this year and set them together medallion style when I decide I have made enough stars.

 

These stars started out as strips in my 2.5" scrap bin (thank you, Bonnie Hunter!).   I try to get all the pieces cut out early in the month and use the block components as leader-enders as I'm doing other piecing.  At this size, the blocks go together quickly!  

Need purple inspiration?  Check out the weekly link-up for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!

Mass Quantities of Half Square Triangles

One of my goals for the first part of 2016 was to finish my Quilt Like An Eagle quilt top.  I was kind of dreading the last step in my design, because it involved making a LOT of half square triangles.  

My plan was to make a dog-tooth style border using HSTs.  After auditioning a couple of different sizes for the HSTs, I settled on 2 1/2" finished blocks.  What the heck - I only needed a little over 100 of them!

Since I usually make HSTs a few at a time using the Easy Angle ruler and scraps, I knew I needed a different technique for this project.

I pulled out one of my handy-dandy quilt reference tools:  All-In-One Quilter's Reference Tool by Harriet Hargrave, Sharyn Craig, Alex Anderson and Liz Aneloski.  The book had a great set of diagrams for making 8 HST units at a time from two fabric squares AND a table listing what size squares to cut based on the finished HST unit needed.  I quickly made a set of HSTs using their instructions and measurements, only to find the blocks were too large and would all need to be trimmed to size.  

So sorry, but I'm from the "measure twice, cut once" school of quilt block piecing.  I really don't like to cut my HSTs over-large and then trim them, especially if I'm making mass quantities of HSTs!

I decided to consult my other favorite reference, Google.  I found Karen Walker's "Magic 8" tutorial for the same HST process, but she included the math for figuring what size squares to cut.  The simple trick is to add 7/8" to your finished HST unit size, then multiply that number by 2.  That calculation will result in HSTs that don't need trimming.  She does note in the tutorial that you can add an extra 1/4" to your cutting measurement if you WANT oversize HSTs.

 

Once I did the math, I was ready to start making lots of HSTs.  Based on the math calculations, you cut two squares of fabric (in my case, light and dark), and layer them right sides together.  Draw a line from each top corner to each lower corner, forming an X.  Stitch a 1/4" seam on each side of the diagonal lines - there will be a set of parallel seams following the X.  Now cut the block in half from top to bottom.  Without moving anything, cut the block in half again from left to right.   Again, don't move the pieces, but cut along both of the lines forming the X.  You should have 8 triangles showing when you're done cutting. 

 

Press the triangles open and do a happy dance because you've just made 8 HSTs!  

Do  little more math and figure out how many squares you need to cut to make the remaining 90-something HSTs for the border...

 

Once the border is finished, I'll post full pictures at Quilt Like An Eagle.

 

 

Where Have All The Purples Gone?

Yay!  This month's color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is purple!  Purple is my favorite color and I love incorporating it into my quilts.  Good thing I have a decent stash of purple fabric and scraps though, because purple is definitely not a color currently in favor with fabric designers.  I try to add new purple fabrics to my stash on a regular basis, but the pickings are slim.  Purple-themed batiks and blenders are fairly common, but prints are more scarce.  Purple does show up as a combo with orange and lime green in some Halloween prints.  And it shows up in some floral prints - think irises and pansies.  I'll just keep watching and collecting - there are great purple fabrics out there if you look!

 

A quick dig through the 2.5" scrap box produced enough centers for some white 9 patch variation blocks.  I added them to the purple 9 patch variation blocks from last year's RSC and moved that project along.  

 

Some scraps from the reproduction fabric scrap box got this Scrap Jar Star going, but I had to make a few new scraps to finish it.   

 

I added it to last year's Scrap Jar Stars and now that project is a little closer to completion, too. 

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's purple scraps at this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge link-up.  There will be lots of inspiration, I'm sure!

 

Mardi Gras Birds - Just in Time for Spring

I finally finished all the hand stitching on my Mardi Gras birds applique project.  Mardi Gras has come and gone, but I still finished in time for Spring!

Whenever I think of birds and Spring, I am reminded of a ditty I learned in childhood:

Spring is sprung
The grass is riz
I wonder where dem boidies is?
Dem little boids is on da wing...
Ain't dat absoid?  Da wings is on da boid!

  I haven't done much hand quilting lately, so this project was a good exercise.  I didn't do anything fancy, just cross-hatch and outline quilting.  In the border, I just followed the design lines of the border fabric.  As I was stitching the border, it occurred to me I use this lazy pattern of border quilting on a regular basis, so I plan to use a fancy border stencil or pattern on my next hand quilting project!

 

 

Here's my "lazy" border quilting from the back. 

 

I just need to add some picture hanging strips to the back.  I learned this technique for hanging small quilts years ago from somewhere in blogland, but I couldn't tell you where.  The Command Picture Hanging Strips are a little like Velcro - you can feel when the two strips have made solid contact because they click together.  One set of strips is stitched to the quilt and one set applied to the wall.  The strips on the wall can theoretically be removed - your mileage may vary.  

Quilty 365 Loves Mardi Gras...and stuff

 

It's time for another report on my Quilty 365 progress.  Here are February's blocks, laid out to mimic the calendar page.  I'm still hand-appliqueing each of my blocks, but it might be time to try some machine applique.  Although hand-stitching is soothing, time constraints and wrist strain can be negative influences on the process. 

 

Mardi Gras influenced a lot of my fabric choices this month.  Purple, green and gold are the traditional colors of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, so I had fun playing with some favorites from the stash!  I don't really care for most commercial Mardi Gras fabrics (you can only toss beads, masks and confetti on a black background a certain number of ways before it gets boring), but I had at least one bit of scrap that became a Quilty 365 block.  The other fabrics are all things I've collected over the years just because they feature purple, green and gold.  On Fat Tuesday itself, I practiced appliqueing tiny circles to represent Mardi Gras beads. 

 

Another color that featured prominently in February was brown, as that was the color choice for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I realized that after blue, brown may be the next most populous color in my stash.  Some of the fabrics are fairly new, others are more vintage, and the brown paisley on the bottom is from a man's shirt I found at an estate sale.

 

February also had several birthdays.  My oldest son, who loves hiking and camping, got the bears and canoe.  The Tula Pink raindrops are in honor of the Soul Queen of New Orleans, Irma Thomas (one of her signature songs is "It's Raining").  I have a friend who's nickname is "Grotto"; how often do you find fabric mentioning a friend's name?  And the seashells are for my friend Karen, who celebrated her  birthday on February 29th - only her 16th birthday - imagine that! 

 

Last but not least, I got to play with some Valentine's Day fabrics.  The tiny red hearts on the bottom right might be one of the oldest fabrics in my stash; I still have bits of this print that dates from the late 1980s.  The Victorian collage fabric on the bottom left is another oldie.  I've had it for years, but never used it because it was too pretty to cut! 

That's my circular tale of fabric love for February - 117 blocks to date.  I haven't attempted any block assembly yet.  I think I'd like to set the blocks on point.  If I at least start stitching them up in groups of four, it will speed up the top assembly a little.  I don't want to end the year with a daunting pile of 366 individual blocks to assemble!

Quilty 365 instigator Audrey is hosting a monthly link-up for other circle-loving quilters.  If you think stitching circles sounds boring, check out the link-up to see all the different ways quilters are interpreting the challenge!

Dear Husband's Log Cabin Quilt

In the summer of 2014, I started working on a Log Cabin quilt for my Dear Husband.  

It was his first request for a quilt, and he chose the colors and general layout scheme.  He has always had a thing for log cabins (the structures), and this may be as close as he ever gets to having a log cabin of his own!

 

By the end of November 2015, I was stitching down the binding.  The quilt was finally finished in time for Dear Husband's early December birthday, but I didn't get an opportunity for photographs until last weekend.

 

Once again, my LAQ Cindy Braiwick did an amazing job on the quilting.  There are several different designs throughout the quilt, but these pinecones are one of my favorites.  And how lucky was I to find a backing fabric with log cabins?

 

This block has a wreath of oak leaves surrounding a dog's face.  Hard to see, despite my best attempts at photographing.  Dear Husband is a dog lover, so Cindy was sure to include Man's Best Friend in her quilting designs.

 

Dog bone in the quilting!

 

The full quilt, hanging from the balcony at our camp (the white diagonal strip on the bottom left corner is just the stairway railing).  Dear Husband has been enjoying the quilt for weeks, and judging by the amount of dog hair it has already accumulated, so have our dogs!

 

 

 

Brown Stars in the Rainbow Scrap Universe?

Today is the last day for playing with brown scraps as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I didn't use up a lot of brown scraps this month - not because brown doesn't inspire me, but because my current RSC projects aren't calling out for more brown fabric.  Still, I made some Sawtooth Star blocks and used a lot of brown fabrics in my Quilty 365 circles.  I'm saving the brown circles for the monthly Quilty 365 link-up, but the Sawtooth Stars are twinkling here today.

 

This batch of stars has a mix of brown & pink scraps plus some of the brown paisley from an estate sale men's shirt.

 

These darker brown scraps are left-over from a Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt from years ago.  I did a different colorway than Bonnie and wound up calling my version the Ice Cream Quilt.

 

I have a general plan in mind for all these Sawtooth Stars, but for now I'm just going to keep making them every month and enjoying the scrappy fabric play.  

Memories

Memory quilts.  I'm not sure there is an "official" definition, but I use the term to describe quilts made to memorialize departed loved ones.  I have been making memory quilts (in my typical s l o w fashion) in honor of my father, using fabrics re-purposed from his large wardrobe of plaid and striped shirts.  Another memory quilt was completed yesterday.

 

After making two earlier memory quilts, I realized I needed to streamline the process a little if I ever wanted to finish making 7 quilts - one each for the children and grandchildren.  This was the first quilt in the streamlined design - HSTs in the center, then a border, then a zig-zag border and finished with an appropriate novelty fabric border.  Not so obvious in the picture, but the novelty border here is fish, as my dad loved fishing. 

 

Again, I turned to my LAQ, Cindy, who quilted jumping fish over the entire quilt top.

 

I added a label (personal info obscured here) to keep track of pertinent details. 

 

I put the last stitches into the binding yesterday afternoon while enjoying a beautiful, almost-Spring day at our camp.  My goal was to finish the quilt by the intended recipient's birthday - today!

 

Memories!

 

 

A Scrappy Finish

As I mentioned earlier this month, I don't need much in the way of brown scrappy blocks for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects.  That being said, I did find two great brown print 100% cotton men's shirts at an estate sale last weekend. 

I love paisley fabrics and I have an even greater appreciation for them after learning more about the fabric style during Barbara Brackman's Stars in a Time Warp series.

This shirt not only has a great paisley design, it also has a fancy machine ground - the very small background dots - known as picotage.

Once I get the shirts "deboned", I'll use some of the fabric for my collection of 4" Sawtooth Star blocks.

 

Despite my lack of brown scrappy blocks, I have finished a Rainbow Scrap project from a few years ago.  

 

I started this scrappy, green Trip Around the World quilt in April of 2013.  I was determined to bust through a huge stash of green scraps and old (ugly!) yardage.  At the time, bloggers everywhere seemed to be making scrappy Trips using Bonnie Hunter's process.  I jumped in with enthusiasm! 

 

After finishing the top, I pieced together the backing using more fabrics in my stash.  I then handed it off to Cindy Braiwick, my LAQ, to work her magic.  She used a wonderful leafy frond design for the body of the quilt.

 

In the border, she quilted frogs, turtles, alligators and lily pads! 

 

I even found a piece of yardage in my stash to use for the bias binding.  The quilt will live on one of the beds at our camp, where the color green and the wildlife in the borders will fit in perfectly!

If you have been on the fence about making a scrappy Trip Around the World quilt, I highly recommend it.  It's a great scrap buster and Bonnie Hunter's technique is fun and easy.  I'm definitely thinking of making another one, this time in an attempt to bust through more blue scraps.

There's lots more scrappy inspiration at this week's link-up for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!

 

 

Mardi Gras Circles

I have long admired antique quilts with lots of little appliqued circles (berries, cherries, dots) as part of the quilt design.  I wondered if I would ever have the patience and skill to add such an element to one of my quilts.  Since I have been appliqueing circles for Quilty 365, I've gotten fairly proficient at Perfect Circles, using Karen Kay Buckley's templates.  I decided to try making some very small circles for my Quilty 365 block as a way to celebrate Mardi Gras 2016 (February 9th).

 

Beads are a big component of Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  Float riders toss thousands of bead necklaces to enthusiastic spectators, allowing everyone to join the celebration by bedecking themselves in purple, green and gold "finery".

 

I decided to make Mardi Gras "beads" for my Quilty 365 block.  I used the smallest Perfect Circles template and chose some vivid purple, green and gold fabrics.   

I discovered there is a thin line between a "just right" and too large seam allowance on these little circles.  A quarter inch seam allowance is way too big, but if you cut the seam allowance too small, the fabric will fray when you gather the circle around the template.  I found a generous 1/8" seam allowance worked best. 

 

The scissors in the picture (also by KKB) were extremely helpful in cutting out the circles - they have finely serrated edges that help hold the fabric steady during cutting.   

Since my seam allowance was so small, I wanted to use a fine gauge thread for the running stitch used to gather the circles around the template.  I use Aurifil 50 wt. thread for all my sewing, and it worked great for the running stitches.  

I used a water-soluble marker to mark the outer "bead" circle and then just eye-balled the inner circle.  I held all the beads in place with a dot of fabric glue.  

I started stitching the beads early Mardi Gras morning, so I needed some New Orleans coffee to get me going!

 

I used matching thread to applique all the beads.  I didn't realize the inner circle was a little wonky until I was almost finished, but Mardi Gras isn't all straight and organized, so I didn't mind.  

I found I did have the skill to make circles this small, but I'm not sure about the patience.  Making lots of circles this size is probably a project one wants to take in small bites - not as part of a marathon!  

PS - no affiliation with Karen Kay Buckley, I just find her products to be very useful!