Farmyard Baby Quilt Finish

There it is -- hanging on the clothes line drying in the sunshine -- all finished and ready for a happy baby boy who is due to enter the world in the next week or so!!

Marti Michell's Tessellated Windmill tool has become my favorite go-to for making eye catching quilts out of my stash!!  Based on an off-handed remark between the new parents, I settled on a farm animal theme for this version.  My stack of novelty prints yielded a surprising assortment and they went on the road with me last month to be organized and cut.

I started by laying out the fabrics across the extra bed at the hotel one evening.

Then I played around with a group of plainer prints in browns and greens for the alternate windmills. This has been a successful strategy for me with this design -- start with a collection of themed prints and add a palette of simpler prints that set off the themed prints to fill out the assortment.

This is my final arrangement by rows.  This is a good way to get a quick preview of the amount of contrast achieved -- my palette is subtle with lots of medium value prints but if I had wanted more visual contrast, I could have made exchanges easily at this point before beginning the cutting.

Marti's tool is multi-sized and I love that all the pieces are cut before any stitching is done!!  Her cutting strategy is very efficient as well.

There is very little fabric waste (though I was sorry to lose this cow's eyes)!!

By the end of the evening, everything was cut for the quilt and laid in my travel box by rows with layers of paper to separate each row.  Now I could begin the piecing as soon as I returned home!

The next evening found me back in my room with nothing interesting on TV. My machine was in the car, so I brought in into the room and set it up.

I laid out the quilt and did the "shuffle" following Marti's instructions that come with the tool -- the instructions are easy to follow if you read the words along with the pictures -- don't skip the words!

Assembling this quilt is chain-piecing friendly!

I leave the chain stitching in tact for the pressing.  Flipping every other pair up makes pressing the seams in opposite directions easier.

I only clip the chain between each set, leaving the chain that holds each set of four together -- simplifies the next step! 

When I move from the ironing board back to the sewing machine, all my blocks are organized. 

Since I was not in the studio and would need to pack up, I went ahead and stitched the blocks into rows and set the rows together.  Less effort to pack and less effort to untangle back in my studio. 

I was making such good progress that I stayed up a bit later than usual and finished the top that evening!

I found a quilt shop on the drive home and there was a perfect backing -- it was even on sale!

This past week, I realized the baby's due date was upon me so I quickly layered up the quilt while the extra high table was set up in the living room (it needed to come down for Thanksgiving).  Friday found me home alone with no car so George and I launched into the quilting.

Another aspect of making this quilt design that I enjoy is that I have a quilting strategy that works -- I've done it several times and I don't see any reason to mess with it!

I used "continuous curve" to outline each piece and for this quilt, I echoed all the simple prints.  By the end of the day, I had the majority of the quilting finished.

These Holsteins look so gentle and lovable -- I don't recall Uncle Verde's lead cow Bessy looking that cute when I was 10 years old?!?

And how weird is this -- those pigs came "together" in the finished block in spite of chopping up the fabric randomly?!? 

Saturday afternoon found me finishing the quilting and thinking about the binding. This perfect stripe was waiting right on top of the stripes stack in my stash!!  And I have enough of it left to bind another quilt.  I'm in the habit of buying narrow stripes like this "just in case" -- 3/4 of a yard will bind just about any size quilt and to go on a shopping trip to try to find this when I "want" it would be exhausting.  It's easier to look through my stashed stripes on-hand in the studio!

I washed the quilt on Sunday afternoon and hung it out to dry since the weather was sunny and mild.  Willie showed up at the end of the afternoon and we pinned the quilt to the side of the cowshed. 

This is finish #3 from my fourth quarter list for the 2016 Finish Along -- the list is HERE!!   

Quilt Stats

7" Windmill blocks set 6 across by 8 down

42" by 56"

I have three more pieces to finish for a 100% success this quarter -- one is layered, and the other two are about 50% quilted!! 

How about you?  Are you staying on track with your goals for this quarter?

I hope your week is off to a stitchy start!

Mary

UPDATE -- 12/30/16 -- Logan has arrived and is thriving.

Mom and Dad are tired but adjusting.

The quilt was appreciated! 

4 X 7 -- Week 4 -- A Big Finish!!

The last day of February, 2015!!

I hope it's also the end of the brutal cold spell we've been enduring here in Northeast Ohio!

And the wrap-up of a productive month of stitching!!

 

I'm sure the extra cold weather has been a positive factor in the amount of stitching I've accomplished this month.  There were quite a few days I didn't budge out of the house.  And we've had lots of sunshine -- which is a positive impact of the fact that Lake Erie is completely frozen over. 

Hard to comprehend but it's the shallowest of the Great Lakes and so during a very cold spell, the ice grows quickly. 

 

This week I began to set together the "sunflower" blocks from Nathalie's "not a mystery" sew-along.

You can get to all her posts about the quilt HERE.  Nat's blog is in French so you'll have to learn how to translate it via Google or Bing, but several of my American students have been making it also and had no trouble following along.

 

  It's a charming block, cut with Marti Michell's new 2" Kite and Crown template set.  There are two more rows to add but I'm using the blocks as part of my piecing demos at the Farmpark Quilt Show Vendors Weekend today and tomorrow.  I've started to search my stash for a border fabric, but might need to go shopping on this one!

The BIG finish for the week has been the quilting of my fun, fun, fun fruit and veggie Tessellated Windmill quilt top.  I spread it out on my double bed to get some pics -- Willie refused to move at first.  I used 7" blocks, set 8 by 10, and the quilt measures 55" by 70".

But he finally emerged for a closer look at the ants.

And it has his official seal of approval!! 

I think this is the 9th quilt I've made using this tool since Marti Michell introduced it a couple years ago.  If you can't find the tool locally, I usually have some in stock -- e-mail me at maryhueyquilts@hotmail.com

 Because it can be done in block sizes from 2" to 9" and is easy to cut, easy to piece, and I've found a simple quilting strategy that I use over and over with variations to the border, it's become one of my "go-to" quilts for gifts and donations. 

This one is not a donation or a gift! 

This one is for me. 

My fruit and veggie pile is so much fun to play with and this is the third big project I've made from it.  I was able to come up with enough names of fruits and veggies that I didn't repeat any as I worked my way around the border.  

Finishing this quilt also gives me another "gold star" on my 2015 UFO Challenge list over at http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/how-to-quilt/finishing/2015-ufo-challenge  So I'm two for two and looking forward to the "number" for March. 

 

Wahoo, wahoo, wahoo!!

Hope the momentum I have going carries me through March!!

A big THANKS and a hug to Sarah over at http://www.berrybarndesigns.com/ 

for the motivation of the 4 X 7 Sewing Challenge.

 

Hope you are able to stitch away your weekend!!

 

Mary Huey

www.maryhueyquilts.com

 

What is your fabric hoarding weakness?

One of the aspects of quilting that we all seem to have in common is the accumulation of a "stash".    Last week over at Amy's Creative Side, she shared this quote.

 "The thing is: if you are never going to chose your own fabric, why do you have a stash at all?"  (April Rosenthal) 

 Reading that has triggered a landslide of thoughts during the past week about my own stash. 

 

I've been on both ends of stash development -- I've sold it and I've bought it. 

As a shop owner for 26 years, I suspect I've single-handedly built some pretty awesome stashes out there -- conservatively, I estimate that my contribution to local stash inventories might surpass 125,000 yards of high quality cotton fabric. 

That's a lot of fabric!!

 

And my own stash has the potential to keep me going for another 20 years though those last couple years will be frustrating as I'll be challenged by lots of "ugly" fabric.

 

As I get ready to set up my display for Vendors' Weekend at Lake Metroparks Farmpark Quilt Show this weekend, I'm pushing to finish this quilt. 

I know that when quilters see it, the first thought that will pop into their heads if they like it is to make one "just like that". 

And that is what diverts us from using our stash. 

We want to make that quilt in those fabrics. 

So my fruit and veggie Tessellated Windmill quilt will send someone on a quest to find all the veggie and fruit prints out there so she can make this quilt.  (If you can't find the tool locally, I usually have some in stock -- e-mail me at maryhueyquilts@hotmail.com)

But you are better served by using the inspiration of quilts that catch your eye to use your stash and here's how I do it. 

 

 When I see a quilt that inspires me, I take a deep breath and try to identify why I love it!  

What seems to catch a quilter's eye about this quilt is the way I used a set of fabrics unified by a theme contrasted with the "neutral" black prints.

 

So if that's the inspiration, how can you take that and apply it to your stash? 

What style of prints do you hoard?  (Hopefully, you use them once in a while as well!) 

 I hoard bird prints. 

 I hoard them in fall colors.

I hoard them in Christmas prints. 

I hoard them in Oriental prints (in fact, birds make up about 1/3 of my Oriental stash).  I'm already thinking my next Windmill quilt (love to make this quilt) needs to begin with this stack of Oriental crane prints. 

So find your hoard and contemplate using it this time.  And don't let these issues side track you!!

 

Have you ever heard yourself say, "if I use it, I won't have it anymore". 

If you use now, you are the one who got to use it --

 not some unknown quilter who grabbed it up at the yard sale for 25 cents.

How about this one?  "Its too beautiful to cut up." 

If you use that gorgeous large scale print on the backing of a quilt you are going to keep, 

you'll always have it!!

"I'm looking for the perfect pattern for it.

Really?   How long have you been in that mode?

Watch for opportunities to use those hoarded fabrics because it's more fun to play with them than it is to refold them. 

 

Once this weekend is over, I'm going to make a small wall hanging using this panel (love, love, love) to participate in the Tree Bird Blog Hop from March 13 to 23.  It's been on the "scared shelf" for over a year now and I'm looking forward to chopping it up!!

It's back to the quilting for me!!  For those of you living in Northeast Ohio, I hope to see you at the show this weekend.  My booth will be in the classroom just past the milking parlor. 

Stop by and say "Hello"!!

 

Mary Huey

www.maryhueyquilts.com

 

 

 

The Other Christmas Quilt

I actually gave a new quilt to six of my closest people this year -- some sort of record for me!!  One was finished early in 2014, four were quilt tops that needed quilting and this one was just cut out at the beginning of October when I set my finishing goals!  

(read all about that here)

 

This is the quilt that was cut out -- a Tessellating Windmill for my grandson.  I cut it using Marti Michell's terrific tool and a layer cake -- it was a cutting demo during a quilt show in 2013?  I had purchased the fabric for the border and the binding so once the top was together (a couple days!!), it was time to think about the backing!!

One of the side effects of working almost exclusively out of my stash these days is that the BIG pieces of fabric are disappearing so pieced backings are becoming the norm for me.  I thought you might enjoy seeing the process I use to create one of these. 

 

It begins with a little math.  I have divided the width I need to achieve by 4 and plan to make four panels approximately 18" wide. 

After deciding gold/yellow would be a good choice for the backing (won't show the dirt), I pulled that stack (okay, two stacks) off the shelves and pulled out all the ugly ones.  Well, maybe they aren't ugly, but they are pieces I've owned for quite a while and have hardly or never used.  They want to be used!! 

Once I have a pile, I press all of them and sort them into four groups -- each group will give me about 92" in length which is my target.

Here is a stack of six pieces for one panel ready to trim to the same width.  It's easier to do this before stitching the pieces together -- to trim a 92" long panel straight is challenging!!

In a short time, I have four stacks of fabric ready to piece together into four panels for my backing.  The leftovers are folded back up and returned to the shelf.

And the hungry wastebasket is satisfied for the day!

By the end of the afternoon, I had a backing ready to go.  The panels aren't all 18" -- some are wider, some narrower -- it's what worked.  The lengthwise grain of all the pieces runs on the length of the backing so they will behave similarly when I quilt. 

 

Would it be easier to buy a backing?  Perhaps, but I already own this fabric -- so no new outlay of cash.  It reduced my stash by 4 1/2 yards (always good).  Now I have space and cash to buy some fun new yardage next time I'm out shopping.

I used the same backing strategy on his dad's lap quilt -- panels went across the quilt and there went another 3 1/2 yards of fabric.  I'm not sure which gives me a bigger thrill -- finishing a quilt or using up a lump of stuff out of my stash?!?

And what a rush to finish 5 quilts over the past three months -- it feels like a personal record!!

My list of "tops ready to quilt" is down to thirty (from 45 at the beginning of the year) and I'm feeling very encouraged about moving through those piles in 2015.  It would be so exciting to only have a dozen quilt tops on that shelf at the end of the year!!!

 

With that said, my goal for today is to layer up a quilt!!

What are you doing to get 2015 off to an energetic start?

 

Linking up over at The Littlest Thistle 2014 Finish Along to celebrate with all the others!!

 

Mary Huey

www.maryhueyquilts.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Placemat Frenzy

I know you'll find this hard to believe, but last week during the studio clean-up, I found a couple of UFQ's?!?  Actually I found more than a couple, but these two might come in handy very soon.  I hear I have nieces getting engaged and I need to be prepared.  So during September, I'm going to set a goal of finishing up the two sets of placemats I found. 

The first was made using Marti Michell's Flying Geese ruler to create these lightening streaks.  If you belong to a Marti and Me club at your local quilt shop, the pattern for these is included in one of the early club patterns -- I have 4 of them pieced and a lovely backing fabric already chosen. 

 For years, I have interlined placemats and table runners with flannel rather than batting -- it gives me a flatter finished product (no tipping wine glasses).  I buy a plain white flannel which I wash and dry two or three times to make sure it is preshrunk completely.

I also found 4 of these ready to assemble.  This set was made with a pack of 5" charm squares, 1/2 yard of border fabric, and Marti Michell's Tessellated Windmill tool.  They are 3" finished blocks and I love that there is NO waste using Marti's tool. 

One of the placemats is even finished -- why did I stop? 

Isn't the backing fabric lovely? 

Since I have no idea where my nieces' tastes fall in the area of decorating, I need a little more flexibility in case neither of these sets work.  During the clean-up, I found a stack of 8 fat quarters that I've been itching to cut up.   And placemats are perfect -- a simple project that doesn't require a huge investment of time.

I'm going to use another pattern which I wrote 12 years ago.  I use it over and over!!  My Fat Quarter Placemat pattern uses a stack of 8 fat quarters to make a set of 8 placemats.  Sometimes I've given away 6 and kept 2 for myself.  Sometimes I've given away two sets of 4.

I often make or purchase a set of napkins that coordinate.  For that bold group of fabrics, I'm going to make solid color napkins -- two each in gold, turq, red, and dark gray -- keep the fun, funky look going! 

These backings are very coordinated but sometimes I choose a much larger scale print or a different style to make a truly reversible set. 

One of the sets I made using this pattern several years ago (long since given away) used 8 background prints -- today, we would call them "low-volume".  Once the tops were pieced, I layered them with the flannel interlining and before adding the backing fabric, I added an herb embroidery design to each one (justifying that Bernina embroidery machine I bought!).

Linking up over at Freshly Pieced -- just love seeing what everyone else is up to these days!!

Mary Huey

www.maryhueyquilts.com