Dodecagon Progress and Tips

It's been several months since I shared the beginning of my version of Marge Sampson-George's Dodecagon pattern (HERE).  I've been poking along with it and have just started the final assembly of dodecagon #13 of what I think will be 21 in the final version.  I am so inspired by Kate's version (@midknightquilter on Instagram) that I've started to mess around with the basic layout suggested with the information Marge included with the templates and papers.  

Here are the first twelve!

Looking at them on the living room floor isn't ideal but it's the largest clear flat space in the house right now.  Thinning out is a messy business but that's another story!

All of them will be outlined with black hexagons and there will be four large floral pieces plus more hexagons outlining the dodecagons -- maybe scrappy greens??

Does auditioning for the color using the rug count?

This week, I spent a morning with some local gals who also want to make this pattern -- they purchased templates and paper from Paper Pieces here in the USA.  Not that I'm an expert but I'm thirteen blocks ahead of them and was able to share some tips about what is working for me.

Maybe you might be interested, too?

I think some of the tips I've discovered will apply to other English paper pieced designs with similar centers where eight or more pieces comes together.

I prefer thread basting my EPP (have never been a glue fan -- not even in grade school) and I find that doing my basting in the same direction around the pieces is an advantage.  I happen to go counter clockwise but clockwise would work too as long as you are consistent.  

Shouldn't do "either or" -- pick one and stay with it.

The advantage in my view is that it enables you to swirl the seams at the center without giving it much thought because the seam allowances are lapped the same way on each individual piece.

The photo below zooms in on the hardest spot to match -- the "corner" on the brown blade where the pink blade has to match is more of a "bend" and so going slowly and double checking before the stitching starts is important. 

Get careless about this and you'll be destitching!!

I've been assembling the blades into quarter sections of three -- seemed quite logical to me but the group had all tried to construct a half block (sort of Dresden plate style). 

I think the logic I applied comes from piecing 8-pointed stars in quarter sections.

This approach helps me achieve a sharp V-intersection at the center of the blocks and that's critical.

Then I piece the quarter sections into halves and finally do the center seam which I do in two separate seams coming from the outside edge to the center, tying off my thread and then coming in from the opposite edge.  The result is that I haven't actually sewn through the center -- there is a tiny little hole but it doesn't seem to be a problem. 

If you look back up at the dodecagon outlined in black hexagons, you'll see my centers aren't perfect but a search on Instagram for #dodecagon shows me I'm doing as well as most others with this!

And the blocks are getting better with experience!

So perhaps these are some helpful tips you can apply to your own work!

Looking ahead, in the studio this week, I've started to review Emily Breclaw's new book, Adventures in Hexagons, which was just released by C&T Publishing.  This is the beginning of my version of one of the quilts she designed for the book.  The patterns in the book are compatible with Marti Michell's hexagon templates sets which I'll be using for the cutting and I'll be machine piecing using the technique I teach, Set-In Piecing Simplified.

More to come on August 1 as part of her blog tour for the book!!

Ready for the weekend!!

We've had a bunch of rain so weeding should be a snap and is at the top of my "to-do" list!

See you next week!

Mary

Scrappy Long Time Gone Piecing Progress

I'm  looking back at my Instagram posts to see when I began to piece this quilt -- looks like I posted my first finished block on March 19.  Here I am, almost 4 months down the calendar and still on schedule!?!  I sorted out all the blocks by "sections" to be sure I had everything finished.  I didn't even need the "amnesty" week the organizers allowed for catching up with the block piecing!!

Once I was sure I had everything, I began organizing the checkerboard fill-ins sections and assembling the six sections of the top.  Sorting through the leftovers from sixteen weeks of piecing provided most of the strips needed for the checkerboards and helped clear off the cutting table.

My strip sets were various lengths which helped keep everything scrappy.

Once the strips sets were pressed, I paired them up for quick cutting by laying them right sides together with the seams meshed together.

It's important to maintain consistency when piecing light/dark 4-patches.  You think it won't matter which direction the pairs are facing, but it does!!  Take my word for that -- been there, done that and it doesn't work -- well, it does if you de-stitch.

To quickly pair up sets, I start by sorting them into stacks by color as above. 

Then I pair up all the sets from one stack with something from another stack until that stack is gone, so I've paired up all the turquoise in the picture below -- time to move on to the green stack.  

Sometimes I "manage" the combinations by only pairing up a warm color with a cool color.  

I find it doesn't pay to get too fussy because there is a gremlin hiding in the studio closet who comes out and rearranges what I've arranged?!? 

Case in point -- there were not blues or purples together when I laid out this group of blocks!!

I must say, the crisp contrast of the checkerboard sections have me thinking about a larger scale checkerboard quilt -- the 1 1/2" strips make for a cute piece but I don't think I'd stay with it for a larger quilt at that scale!

My checkerboards are all finished and I am past the halfway point with the final assembly.  I've run into a couple instances of the checkerboard being too long.

No need to panic!!

Experience has taught me to simply go back and take a slightly deeper seam here and there in a band until the lengths match. 

No need to destitch -- and as you can see my Bernina 1/4" foot makes it easy to see what I need to do.  I'm guiding the original seam along the inside edge of the presser foot. 

From the right side, you hardly notice and no one else will notice it at all!!

This is section 5, waiting for me to return to the studio and stitch it together.  I love how the black is making everything sparkly and breaking up sections to calm the quilt down a bit.

One more session in the studio and it will be ready for the borders.  I found a backing fabric in my "big hunks" stash -- love when that happens!!  And I think I've come up with the quilt's ultimate destiny -- that should provide the incentive to move all the way through the quilting!!

Most of the colored prints in this quilt have been gleaned from my scrap basket and my strip boxes.  There are even some precious little favorite "last" bits tucked here and there.

The center blue square in the upper left corner churn dash is a scrap from the first dress I made when I was 11 years old!!

So time to start a new project, right?

And it's on the cutting table -- hopefully I'll be far enough along with it later this week to share!

Keep on stitching -- there's lots to do!!

Mary

Linking up with SCRAPTASTIC TUESDAY today!!

Third Quarter 2017 Finish-A-Long Goals

Given that I didn't meet all my goals for the second quarter I'll be rolling over these two projects -- quilt tops that need quilted!  I'd like to give my Smorgasblock quilt away in mid-September -- perhaps the "deadline" was too far off to motivate me during the spring?

I also want to finish this sweet little crib size quilt and get it listed in my Etsy shop -- it really needs a nicer home than my UFO shelves, don't you think?

Then there are the two quilts I picked up from Sarah at Quilting by the Mill in early May -- binding is cut -- surely I can get that put on sometime in the next 3 months???

This is my orchid kaleidoscope quilt top -- in four sections for a more manageable quilting experience.  It's gorgeous and will look fabulous in my newly redecorated bedroom, so time to get in gear and finish this one, too.  I think I can quilt it using the same pattern I used on a previous kaleidoscope quilt so trying to figure out "how to" should not be an excuse to hold me back. 

Here's another quilt I want to gift in September and it's a simple quilting job as well!!  Will I get it done??  I sure hope so!!

Many years ago, my youngest sister, an anthropologist brought this piece of fabric back from Ghana for me.  This heavy cotton is handwoven in strips and the strips are stitched together.  It's impossible to photograph the "joining" but it is down the middle of the widest black stripes.  I finally found a project for it!!  The Maker's Tote by Noodle Head (at the moment, the pattern is being shy -- okay, I've set it down in a stupid place -- so you'll have to go HERE to see it).  It looks a bit intimidating to me but @robotmomsews is hosting a sew-along on Instagram during July -- might just be the motivation and encouragement I need?  

I'm thinking some of this Kaffe that a friend gave me for my 70th might work well with it??

Six goals -- two per month?

I think I can do this!!

What's on your list?

Mary

Linking up at She Can Quilt -- I'm number 69!! 

Check it out -- there's some inspiring projects going on out there!!

Is "Catching Up" Possible?

I've been pondering that possibility the past couple days -- no answer yet, just more questions.

I'm supposed to be on a little botany trip with friends but a brief illness changed my plans and yielded 4 empty days -- bonus!!  I can get caught up!!

A little naïve, perhaps?

I've fallen behind on the blocks for Sew Fresh Quilt's Jolly Little Christmas SewAlong so spent time last week getting three of the blocks cut.

And now happily, here's the time to piece them

I tackled the snow men first!  Look at these cute little faces!?!

Zoom, zoom, the piecing goes so quickly!

Although all these units had to be "destitched". 

Going too fast and forgot to insert the brim of the hat pieces -- not just once, but six times!

One of the "perks" of chain-piecing?

Soon I was back on track and in the end finished two more darling blocks for the piles!

Wouldn't this block make the cutest border or row in a quilt?? 

The Holly and Berries blocks went together quickly and Lorna has shared a design on her blog for a cute tablerunner project using this block!

This is always the dangerous moment for me -- I'm on a roll, really making good progress!

"Let's do the third set of blocks", she said!

Going carefully, double checking the organization of the pieces to be stitched!

Achieving consistent skinny bands by measuring the seam allowance from the left instead of the right -- excellent tip someone shared with me years ago and easy to do with the Bernina #37 1/4" foot.

Ornaments ready to trim and press -- this block is so cute!! 

All the units are stitched and in the correct positions -- awwwesomme!!

(You need to say that word in a falsetto sing-song voice (-;  )

Oops -- the top half and the bottom half aren't lining up?? 

It seems that in my confident state of mind,  I fell into the "look at the pictures and skip the words" trap.

Result -- units that needed trimmed were not and now there needs to be more destitching.

Conclusion -- no, catching up is not possible today -- because I've made more work for myself by being careless and not reading everything!  Lorna does a great job of organizing these posts and writing instructions -- I need to do a better job of using them!!

Perhaps I should do a study on whether it takes longer to read or destitch??

I'm out of here -- going for a walk and get centered!!

Mary

The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

Have you ever been to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show?

It's huge!! And outdoors!!

Just one day -- always the second Saturday in July.

I went once -- 2010 -- have the t-shirt to prove it!

Sisters is in the high desert of Eastern Oregon and rain is uncommon in July, so hanging thirteen hundred quilts outdoors is less risky than it might seem.  I understand the quilt hanging begins at dawn and by 9 a.m., the streets are open and the typical 10,000 visitors have until 4 p.m. to take in as much as they can.

As I recall, the picture below is the side view of Jean Well's shop, The Stitching Post.  Jean began the show in 1975 and today, the whole town seems to be involved.

The buildings are equipped to make the hanging of the quilts go quickly and efficiently.

There are special exhibits tucked here and there and inspiration abounds.

There is also a week of workshops these days during the previous week.  

Entries come from all over and this year, two of them are mine!

Both are for sale (time to thin out my collection a bit) and while I won't be at the show this year, I will be lurking on the social media sites for updates!

Trip to the Stars is one of my own designs that I created to teach my students and followers how to use Marti Michell's Sashing Stars tool set when it was introduced.  I originally ran it as a mystery quilt but it is now available as a (downloadable) pattern in my Etsy shop!

This is the middle size (approx. 69" square) -- the pattern also includes instructions for the wallhanging size (46") and a bed size (92").

I also sent off my version of a One Block Wonder.  It's a gorgeous quilt but it doesn't fit into my house décor so it spends too much time living in the pile of teaching samples on the guest bed.

Hopefully, someone will fall in love with it and buy it during the show!!

Do you want to see more? 

Click HERE to get to the website and explore their social media links and watch the video from a previous show!  Then maybe you'll make plans to visit it in the future!!

It's fun!!

Mary

Long Skinny Triangles

Long skinny triangles -- isosceles -- not my favorite shape to stitch up until Marti Michell introduced the Peaky & Spike Triangle Set.  

I wrote this post when it first came out (HERE) so I know how well it works, but I still wasn't eager to make this unit of the Long Time Gone SAL quilt top!  So I procrastinated it all weekend and then realized late Monday that I was leaving early Tuesday morning on a quick teaching trip to the Indianapolis, Indiana area -- grrr.

The tool set features those brilliant engineered trimming corners so I knew the stitching would go well, but I hadn't cut any of the pieces and I realized during supper that a deer chomped on my young sassafras tree so I needed to spray the entire yard which is ready to burst forth in daylilies flowers (aka, deer candy) before I left town or I'd really be fuming!!

Having secured the garden's bounty for another couple weeks, I decided to try knocking out the piecing before bed since all was packed for an early departure in the morning.

As with any of these odd shapes, the trimming is critical since it simplifies setting up the pieces for stitching!!  No guessing, just align the trimmed corners!!

I ignored the pressing guidelines and pressed one side away from the center triangle and the other towards it.  My purpose was to make nesting the two finished triangle units possible. 

A quick layout and a bit of rearranging for the sake of variety.

And I was ready to stitch the pairs together - love how precise those side intersections are!

Here is the back so you can see the pressing. 

Rather than stitch the diamonds into rows, I set together pairs . . . .  

then clusters of four diamond units . . . . .  

and here is the finished result!!

All together in a little over an hour (yeaa!!) plus I ironed my clothes for the trip!!

(I hope I took a lopsided picture and that the piece isn't actually crooked.)

Once again, I encourage you to wander over to Instagram and check out #longtimegonesal to see what other quilters are doing!!

I also put together the first section of the quilt top over the weekend so it can travel with me and be part of the trunk show Tuesday evening.  I'm using a rather old black print with silver stars -- dates to the early 1990's?  If I remember correctly, the print was inspired by a piece of fabric found in a movie wardrobe studio.  Mary Ellen Hopkins approached her friend Irwin Bear at P&B Fabrics with it and he printed it in several color ways.  Mary Ellen would have loved this scrappy quilt and I like the way the black gives one's eyes a place to rest. 

My pineapple blocks are a little catty-wampus -- not sure why but I'll need to be more careful on the rest of them -- still 13 to go but that's next week!!

Make sure it's a stitchy week!

Mary