My #The100DayProject Plan

Spring is arriving in spite of all the confusing weather many of us are experiencing. 

  This morning we had snow and this afternoon we had sunshine.

I do enjoy a slow spring though -- the flowers last longer!!

After lots of mental waffling, I decided to join the #The100DayProject which began on April 3 -- it's a global movement to promote building a daily creative habit by "doing every day".

There are lots of artists and writers participating and a fair number of quilters.

Anyone can participate and most of it happens on Instagam.

Because my studio continues to be clogged with lots of UFO's, at the last minute I decided to focus a bit harder on finishing or eliminating or repurposing as many UFO's as possible during the 100 days.

(I might even try not to start anything new, but that's going to be tricky.)

There's a pile of projects down there at the lower right corner of the design wall, so on Day 1, I pulled out this set of eight 6" blocks that I made in 2014 (during QCQAL led by Alison at Little Bunny Quilts) with the plan to finish them into a child size quilt to be donated once it's finished.

6" blocks and only eight -- so the first step was to frame all of them up with triangles (square in a square style) bringing them up to 9 1/2" blocks! 

Sashing will also grow the size of the quilt quickly.  I always start a sashed setting by adding the two sashing stripes and one cornerstone to each block.

(HERE is an older post I wrote about how I do this.)

End of Day 1!

On Day 2, I laid them out on the floor (design wall is busy) and added some setting triangles of this cute black and white cat print (it's old).  I made quilt a few cutting errors -- directional fabric!?!

And then when I finally got everything cut, I realized I had cut them "too small" -- arghhh.

Not enough fabric to recut, of course.

No worries -- just another opportunity to be creative!

Black polka dot to the rescue!!

I added a strip of the polka dot to the outside of each setting triangle!

Clever, huh -- it will make a border and no one will know I made a cutting mistake!!

(You, of course, are sworn to discreet secrecy by virtue of reading it.)

End of Day 2!

Eager to get back at it, I planned to assemble the blocks and setting triangles on day 3.

I started with the lower left corner block and the three setting triangles -- do you see what I saw?

The corner setting triangle units are too small . . . or are the side units too large?

Either way, it's not going to work without a fix of some sort!!

No more cat fabric, no more black polka dot!?!

I decided the side units could be trimmed down a bit without effecting the finished setting (whew!!).

And no math brain was required, thanks to my Marti Michell Diagonal Setting ruler!!

Here's where I made the mistake -- I measured the size of my blocks with sashing on one side and used that to choose the cutting size for the side units, but I forgot to add the second sashing when choosing the cutting size for the corner units, so they technically were too small.

Study the picture above for a minute -- does that make sense?

Marti's tool eliminates the "math" and only requires one to measure the blocks (preferably correctly).

Once I figured all this out and trimmed the side units, the next challenge was to determine the most sensible order of assembly -- here's how I organized the sections of the quilt.

(View from the sewing machine of my design floor area.)

Opposite corner sections went together first -- notice there are more sashing pieces included on the upper left corner unit than the lower right one.

Then I added the center rows to the finished corner sections.

Once that long seam was sewn, the final two corner units can be added. 

End of Day 3 -- a completely assembled quilt center -- time to pause and think about a border.

Before I left the studio, I did some #stashdiving (love this hashtag!!) and found three possible fabrics to pin up along the quilt top hoping that when I returned the next morning my intuition would quickly choose one to use. 

Happily, my intuition never lets me down!

Borders!!

End of Day 4 -- ready for a backing and some quilting!! 

I love this diagonal setting with sashing but given all the goofs I made during the assembly process and because this is the second time I've floundered through it in the past month, I created a cheat sheet with some notations for future use.  I'm sharing it here -- partially for your benefit and partially so I don't lose it!!

I laid out the setting in Electric Quilt and printed it out.

Then I trimmed it and cut off the corners so I'll know in the future to put those on last!

Finally I cut it into rows with the setting triangles included.

Notice that the sashing is on both sides of just one row -- that eliminates potential "partial seam" situations that can occur when adding the setting triangles -- you don't need to test that theory, I already have and believe me, it happens! 

Now I never have to figure out "how to proceed" -- I can just proceed!!

I pasted all the sections on a fresh sheet, added notes to the back to remind me to measure the edge setting triangles with one sashing piece included and to measure the corner setting triangles with both sashings pieces included.  It's in a protective sleeve and will live with my Diagonal Setting rulers!

I still need to organize a backing and then it goes into the quilting queue for a week while I finish the quilting of another UFO!  It's been an energizing four days and I hope I can maintain my momentum.  With over 80 UFO's, I need it!!

Enjoy a stitchy weekend!!

Mary

Another Mini!!

The information for the current challenge quilt for the fourth issue of Curated Quilts has been laying on my cutting table all month with this little stack of prints out of my stash. 

I had a germ of an idea -- to recreate my LIFT OFF design (introduced HERE) in a smaller scale but really was struggling with the color combination -- not into it at all.

I put the fabrics away having decided not to struggle against my instincts and then this print surfaced in my stash while looking for something else.

It's that color combination mostly -- a bit brighter than the palette in the information but it's the same!?!

Yea, I'm in!

I used the Lazy Girl Flying Geese tool this time -- I like it for small scale geese -- and got to work!

My results with this technique are good and the "larger" pieces of fabric are easier to use.  

I made 1 1/2" by 3" units this time

LIFT OFF only needs 20 geese, so I had it laid out in no time. 

There are measurements in the guide I wrote (buy it in my Etsy shop HERE and support my charity quilt gang's batting fund!!) for quilts using six different sizes of geese.  The smallest is 12" by 18" finished -- perfect for a mini!! 

An afternoon of stitching had it ready to layer and quilt -- what color of thread to use?

I can't believe I had three choices since I don't typically work in such a saturated palette.

When I came back to it the next morning, I had decided to go with vertical "matchstick" quilting and use all three thread colors -- easier than making a decision and I like quilts I see on Instagram and Pinterest where several thread colors are used.

I started with randomly spaced lines of the fuchsia.

This looked good.

Next came the blues and most of those lines are centered between the fuchsia lines -- once that positioning decision was made, the quilting went quickly! 

Better!! 

Finally, the orange thread.

I inserted these lines randomly, adding them where it felt right! 

I can't believe this quilt is being made by me -- look at all that texture? 

Here's a closer look at the quilting.  As I began, I confess to feeling hesitant but if I don't experiment with ideas, how will I know if they work for me?  So forward I went!

I love the spark the orange thread adds!!

I squared it up at 14 1/2" and auditioned all four of the geese prints -- they all looked fine but I preferred the green.

And I added those clever little corner pockets for hanging while binding it! 

It's finished!!

The pieced design disappears since all the fabrics are the same value -- mediums.  I'm surprised the orange pops out since it's so close on the color wheel to the fuchsia -- it must be just slightly lighter in value.  It's definitely saturated color!!

I'm going to enter it into the challenge even though it's quite different and a little harder to look at than most of the entries which are more subtle and sophisticated.  I hope other "traditional" quilters are inspired to try out some modern techniques and ideas for the creative boost it gives one!   I'm glad I made it -- now I know the small size of LIFT OFF works beautifully for a mini and I love the results of the multi color threads quilting experiment -- I'll definitely do that again!!

It was fun!!

Best of all -- I used up every inch of that bright paisley which I don't know why I bought it in the first place!?!

You can check out all the entries for yourself HERE at Curated Quilts!

Happy Easter

Mary

Project Quilting Challenge 9.6 -- SCRAPS

Once again, I wasn't going to go for the challenge even though I'm good at making quilts with scraps but then as I was making my bed on Wednesday, a inspiration caught my eye.  I saw a "pattern" as I looked across this Kaleidoscope quilt that I had never noticed.

I grabbed a piece of kaleidoscope graph paper (it's a copy from the inside cover of Marti Michell's Kaleido-ABC's book) and sketched it out with colored pencils before it disappeared from my mind!!

You already know what happened next, don't you?

Yep, before the day was over, I was cutting fabric and piecing 9 blocks just to see how it would look.

I used Marti's small Kaleido-ruler and made nine 6" blocks.

Her piecing strategy for these blocks is perfect (also found in the book) and so by the end of the afternoon, I had a finished 18" top!

Pillow??

The next afternoon found me exploring quilting a spiral with my walking folk -- moving past the hesitation of trying to decide if the quilting would "ruin" it almost created another UFO.  

Happily, I convinced myself that if I didn't like it, I would just give it away but once I got through the first couple rings, it was easy and I'm delighted with the way it looks!!

Wallhanging??

The Project Quilt Challenge was looking for a minimum of 12 fabrics so I used 4 different prints of my three colors plus the background print (just in case I finished it before the deadline).  

If scrappy quilts intimidate you, using a single background print is a good strategy because it eliminates all the choices for that part of the design and it unifies a piece nicely.

When I left my studio Friday afternoon, I was still waffling -- pillow, wall hanging, table topper, UFO?  

If I did a pillow, did I have a form that would fit or would I have to go shopping and I really don't enjoy the finishing process necessary to make a pillow cover.  

If I did a wall hanging or table topper, it wouldn't work in my house -- to whom could I gift it?

UFO? -- remember we are trying to avoid creating more of those!!

I guess it was good to end the day pondering all of that because Saturday morning, my brain had it all figured out.

Pillow, with a flange edge so the 18" piece would fit the 14" form I have that needs a new cover plus an odd idea for a different finishing strategy!!

I needed a zipper, some gray polka dot for the backing and happily -- they were both on hand in the stash -- no shopping delay!!

After setting the zipper into the backing of the pillow cover, I layered the top and the back RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER!

(Stay with me.)

Then I bound the edges like I would a quilt!

Am I wierd?  

I would rather bind anything than turn something right side out!!

(I also do not like to "stuff" things!!)

Here it is, ready to create the flange. 

I laid the form on the back side and estimated how deep a flange I could use.

Then I tested it by pin basting a line 1" from the binding all the way around the pillow cover to create a flange. 

I remembered that we always sat on pillow forms when I had the shop to flatten them down some and make inserting easier.

In it went for a test run!

Good!

Form came back out and I stitched the flange in place.

Since I don't have a guide on my walking foot, I used painter's tape as a stitching guide and lengthened my stitch to "4" just in case I want to remove it some day.

And here it is -- bringing a touch of spring to the living room couch!

Perfect!!

This finish was easy and I love the pop of color around the outside edge -- so much easier than covering cording and all that fuss!!

Plus, if I pop the form out, I can use it for a table topper!?!

This is the last challenge for the 2018 version of Project Quilting. 

I met 5 of the 6 challenges and had fun doing it -- feeling very creative!!

Thank you Kim and Trish!!

Click HERE beginning Sunday afternoon (3/25/2018) to vote for your ten favorite challenge projects!!

Mary Huey

Another Finish and a Simple Pattern

Last fall, my quilting gang and I took on a project to make a half dozen twin size quilts for men coming into a local recovery home where they live during the final stage of their transition to a sober life.  The director of the home welcomed our offer and made only one request – that they be “manly” quilts.  Fine, I said, not realizing that our supply stash was heavy on “not-manly” fabrics.  So the challenge became one of finding inspiration for simple quilts we could produce easily and still achieve a “manly” look.  One morning, I woke up with the inspiration for “Lift-Off” in my head.

Ever since Marti Michell introduced her small Diagonal Set Triangle Ruler, I've been thinking about using it to cut and create a flying geese quilt using giant 5" by 10" geese units!!

 Both of the triangles needed for a basic goose unit are cut using the full ruler.  It's the same combination of large and small triangles as Marti's standard Flying Geese Ruler -- just bigger!! 

Most of the units are the standard layout -- one large and two small triangles, but to create the look of a flock of wild geese lifting off a pond, I included several of these "combination" goose units.

Wait until you see how they fit into the design!

It took me most of that day to cut out all the triangles and piece the geese.  At the end of the day, I had the basic layout of the flock up on my design wall.

Then I stumbled across this print while searching through our "charity" stash and the background of the quilt materialized easily!

The quilt is built in vertical rows and while I had the background sketched out on graph paper, the sizes of the available fabric dictated the final sizes of the background pieces -- the idea is that the flock is lifting off a lake (where they spend the night because it's safer) and heading out for a day of foraging in meadows and marshes nearby. 

Once the layout felt right, I started to assemble the vertical rows.

I quilted it in two sections of three rows with (somewhat) parallel vertical lines for ease in handling and to reinforce the flow of the pieced design. 

Have you tried quilting larger pieces in sections?  It is definitely my "go-to" strategy for the past decade.  It's so much easier to handle since I am working at a large sit-down machine (APQS George) when quilting.

Finally the day it was finished!! 

I love the way the movement of the flock up through the quilt! 

It reminds me of days I've been lucky enough to come across a flock of geese or swans lifting off and moving on! 

Next week, it is off to it's new forever owner.

I hope it will remind him each day to keep "lifting-off" for the next good thing!! 

I've written a 3 page guide to help others create this quilt.  It's isn't a complete pattern as it assumes you already have a favorite way/tool for creating flying geese units.  It includes a chart of six sizes from a 12" by 18" wallhanging to a full size quilt, very basic instructions, and a drawing that you can use to play with the design.  

(Can you see this with a "rainbow" background?)

You can purchase a PDF copy of it from my Etsy Shop HERE and support my group's efforts!

All proceeds from the sales go directly into our "batting fund" so we can keep layering up quilts!

We are grateful for the opportunity to bless others with our skills!

Have a lovely weekend!

Mary

P.S. Happily, this is also one of my first quarter 2018 Finish Along goals -- DONE!!!