Auditioning for "Best" Choice is the Key to Stash Busting Quilt Projects

 I should have kept count of the number of projects I've seen "die on the vine" so to speak while students and customers hunt for more of the exact same fabric or the perfect fabric.  Certainly, that was my excuse for not finishing projects until I discovered picking the "best" of the available choices gives me excellent results!  

Not only has that strategy helped me get to the finish line over and over again, but it's led me to create some of my best quilts -- no make that some of my favorite quilts!

Now I confidently dive into my stash and audition my way to the "best" available choice -- it's worked before and I know this strategy will work again.

First, I own lots of fabric and I've chosen each piece myself because I love it, so it makes sense to shop in my stash first.  I love to buy fabric as much as anyone but I love the feeling of delight when I use something that has been "aging" in my stash.

Case in point - currently I'm participating in the Darty Kite Pattern Company's mystery sewalong -- the only thing we were told going into it was the shapes being used and the finished size. A couple days ago, we received instructions for the fourth step.  

Thank goodness I was finished with the third step and ready to move forward.

At this point, I don't see myself adding new colors -- the fussy-cut lavender background floral was my guide for settling on the purple, blue, and green palette with pink accents.  So I started to pull possible prints for the next round based solely on color.  

(Do you recognize any of these prints??)

For example, I brought the entire stack of blue prints with a similar value to what I've already used over to the design wall -- then pinned any up there that caught my eye and put the rest back on the shelf.

I left the room for a few hours and when I returned, I quickly pulled down the blue prints that "stuck out" leaving me with the two you see above.  I repeated this step for each color group until I had a small assortment of choices.  

Elimination is definitely the easiest way to make a decision!!

"How did you think to chose that color/print?" is a question I've been asked many times about many of my quilts.  The truth is, I don't think about it as hard as you think I do -- I react to the possibilities I've assembled.

I'm not more clever or smarter -- I've learned to listen to what my mind likes.

The only advantage I've had over most quilters is that I've been part of hundreds of similar decisions in my teaching career coaching other quilters to adopt this "best option" approach.

So yes, I do make it look easy.

If I took this top shopping I might find something different but not necessarily better.  The important aspect of making choices for me is to like my choice and use my stuff (which at my age might otherwise be doomed to a yard sale)!

So here are the winners for the next round!  One more night on the design wall and tomorrow I'll reaffirm my choices and start cutting

 Between bouts of piecing this quilt top (by machine, of course), I'm knocking out charity quilt tops to use up more UFO finds and keeps me supplied with productive "leaders and enders".  Last week, I found two more unfinished teaching samples -- arghhh -- but by the time I get this step finished, they will be ready to layer and quilt!

These demo samples using Marti Michell's Flying Geese Ruler*** are becoming a couple of wheelchair size lap robes.  There were a few left to piece and it was a good reminder of how accurate the pieces are when cut with this ruler -- uniform and square "geese" units that are going together beautifully!!

And this pile (which I don't even recognize) will go up on the design wall next for some creative exercise.  More Marti Michell demo pieces of course!  I do love that print!!

Summer here is rushing along -- I found my first monarch caterpillars of the year early this week and today I watched a spicebush swallowtail lay a few eggs on the spicebush in the side yard!!

Plus "the tomato" has set on and is growing -- I have one Mr. Strippy heirloom tomato plant in hopes of having one excellent homegrown tomato in August!!  You see, I love tomatoes but my body does not -- they really crank up my arthritis so I only eat one excellent tomato annually.

Time to cut 120-some hexies!!

Mary

***EDIT April 2025

Marti Michel closed her business in late in 2024 and while some shops may still have a stock of her templates, you can also find them on Ebay and Etsy. 

An Ode to Straight Lines

 Okay, maybe this won't exactly be an "ode" but as I was quilting this Mississippi Mud over the past couple weeks, I found myself expressing gratitude to my brain for finally coming up with a good quilting strategy for this pattern.  

How many of these have I made?  

How many of these have I convinced other quilters to make?  

How many hours have I struggled to meander quilt Mississippi Mud with consistent spacing and scale?

"Straight lines" or almost straight lines is what enabled me to quilt 21 tops in 2021!

Remember all those quilts that moved off the "to be finished"?

Click HERE to revisit my parade of finishes.

About half of them were quilted with straight lines or straight meanders.

And many more have recieved the same treatment since then.

I can do either on my big APQS George or my standard Bernina with a walking foot.

Not only is it easier to do, it's become easier to figure out how to do it!

So reconsider the straight line and quilt one of those tops in your stash this month!!

I've prepped a scrappy binding from my 2 1/2" strip box -- there's another idea that just dawned on me?!?

How many scrappy bindings have I made and never thought to dig through that box?

I layered up the second one of these Mississippi Mud lap robes yesterday and began the machine quilting this morning.

While you are here, type Mississippi Mud into the search bar (right side near the top) and see all the variations over the years of my pattern -- many are from students.   Quilting these two tops has another idea brewing in my head for a variation of it - if it happens, I'll share it.

And you can purchase a copy of the pattern HERE -- downloadable PDF so you can start a new project right away!?!  

Finally, I'm going to break one of my personal rules and make a current affairs statement.

If you are concerned about the Supreme Court ruling about "presidential immunity" this past week and the potential danger of this distortion of the Founding Fathers' intention for balanced government -- I urge you to write to your federal legislator's and express your concerns.

I saw on Instagram this morning that the ACLU is urging us to take action.  

As one commentator said last week, we the people need to act for the good of our descendants.

We elect presidents not kings and that's what set the United States apart 248 years ago.

This isn't about political parties -- this is about democracy.

Don't ignore this.

Respectfully,

Mary

An Excellent Rule!?!

An English Instagram friend recently posted 

"if you finish a project, you can start three new ones"!!

Sounds like an excellent rule, don't you think??

And since I just finished a couple projects, I'm caving in to this one.

This is the first step of a new mystery quilt along led by the Darty Kite Pattern Company for EPP or hand-piecing -- Chrysalis Cascade Mystery!!  Of course, I'm machine-piecing it.  

I would like to EPP it, but my left hand voted NO so . . . . . .

My plan is to stash-dive for the fabrics and I started with this lovely floral because it has so many 

fussy-cutting options.

I'm out to the final round of this step and of course, 

using my rotary cutting templates from Marti Michell's Set G*** for the pieces.

One last fabric to audition -- I left it laying on the sewing table and hope when I go back to it tomorrow morning, I'll be able to say "yea or nay" to this pink print.  I am using a 1" hexagon cut-out to focus in on the section I think I want to use since the designer suggested a print with a curved motif.

Of course I need "sew-offs" when I use the Set-In Piecing Simplified technique with all these 1" seams so the hourglass blocks from my 30's repro print stash are serving that purpose although the original plan has morphed from a large lap robe into three wheelchair lap robes since those will be easier for me to quilt.

The sew-along has a

Facebook group 

if you want to see all the inspiring starts for this project!!

Mary

***EDIT April 2025

Marti Michel closed her business in late in 2024 and while some shops may still have a stock of her templates, you can also find them on Ebay and Etsy. 

 

Grace Graduated

 And you know what that means?!?

Grandma made her (another) quilt!

 I've had this quilt top finished for a year and I knew when I was making it that it was for Grace but I put off quilting it until the deadline was bearing down hot and heavy.

The pattern used is Exploding Hearts and I made it with a layer cake. 

More about that HERE.

I layered it on May 7th and 8th.

As I was motoring along with the quilting one morning last week, I considered "why was I waiting" to quilt it?   Stop and think!  I actually did try to come up with a quilting plan when I first finished the piecing.  I looked at Pinterest and Instagram for ideas -- nothing!

And so as is often the case for me, how to quilt it was my "bump in the road" and I put it off until the last moment!?!

Thankfully, the looming deadline was the big motivator!! When I sat down to actually start the quilting I took the simplest approach and used the same "grid" idea from the last Mississippi Mud top I quilted!

Brilliant!!

The quilting lines are about 1/2" off the seam lines and (this is awesome) they avoid all the lumpy seam intersections and don't call attention to any of the "not quite perfect" intersections!

My lines aren't perfectly straight but when looking at the piece as a whole, that's not obvious!

I did this on my APQS George with a straight line tool and follower foot, but it could just as easily be done with a walking foot on any sewing machine.

BONUS -- since all the lines begin and end at the edges of the quilt, there were very few thread ends to bury -- just where the bobbins ran out!!

Plus I finally was able to use this gorgeous floral print that I've been hoarding!!

On May 20th, I bound the quilt and labeled it by stitching a dedication and my name right into the quilt with my computerized Bernina's lovely script alphabet using the memory function to write out phrases.

Of course, it's been so long since I did that sort of thing, I had to get out the manual -- thank goodness I organized all my machine supplies a few years ago and the manual was easy to find!

Grace is my oldest grandchild and as I stitched out her name, I recalled the moment her mom called to say she was expecting and my excitement!

She did very well in school and is headed off to college in the fall perhaps to become an engineer?  Here we are in front of her "baby tree" as she calls it -- a Japanese lilac seedling from my garden that I gave her parents the year she was born.

Look at all those cords and medals?!?

Time to start thinking about the next graduation quilt so I stay ahead of the game!!

And if you like this quilting idea, go ahead and copy it on your next project!!

Mary

Scrappy Quilts for the Win

 Another long pause from me -- I'm thinking I might be about finished with my blogging career if that's what its been?  I've always created my posts with a goal to teach or share something useful to other quilt makers but having stepped largely away from the more active part of the quilting world, I have few ideas to share that seem new to me.  I feel like I've said everything I can about finishing projects and working with scraps and using tools effectively and staying true to your own creative energy.

The current "sewing with scraps" interest continues for me and yesterday I happily began to assemble the scrappy log cabin blocks into a large throw.   It will take a couple more sessions to assemble it completely -- an hour at the sewing machine is my current time limit (thanks arthritis!?!).

I'm so pleased with the results -- the quilt has so much sparkle (it's the turquoise and orange scraps).

 I estimate it used 4 3/4 yards of fabric even though the 1 1/2" strip box is still half full . . .   

. . . and there are still pre-cut logs on the mat.

Perhaps there needs to be more log cabin blocks pieced -- maybe a couple wheelchair lap robes?

And bonus!!

All the hourglass units are pieced for the next quilt top -- I used them as "leaders and enders".

They aren't quite as consistent in size as I  had hoped -- turns out the starter charm pak squares weren't actually 5" square so the accurate 5" squares I cut to fill out the assortment are bigger making for some lopsided hourglass units.  

Do you know how much I dislike trimming???

A dozen years ago, I started using UFO's as "leaders and enders" and that strategy worked so well and I finished so many piecing UFO's that now I have to start new projects so I have productive "leaders and enders".  By the time, I finish piecing one quilt, I often have most of the units done for a new quilt (although it makes for a very messy cutting table?!?).

The little scrappy star quilt top is all set together -- it is suppose to be a charity quilt but it hasn't been donated yet -- well, it's not finished.  

Am I delaying because I like it a little too much???

I also pulled out a very old UFO and got it quilted this past month.

It's a Mary Ellen Hopkins log cabin idea using the six colorways of the print I colored for Kings Road Imports back in the mid-1990's. I challenged one of my quilter clubs to make something using all the colorways and this was my friend, Laura's make.  A few years ago, she was having a "thin-out" and gave the top to me.  Now it's hanging in my sewing room where I can see it from the sewing machine!

 I need to focus on quilting tops for a month now -- they are piling up a bit more than I like at this point.  This afternoon, I'll layer the Exploding Heart top I made last winter for a graduation quilt for my oldest granddaughter. 

I shared it in this post last March (HERE).  

Graduation is in 2 1/2 weeks -- yikes, Mary -- cutting it a bit close aren't you??

I'm not even mentioning all the normal distractions of spring here.

This gorgeous fellow and three side-kicks have been here all day -- foraging in the oak tree and taking turns sucking up sunflower seeds from the feeder.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

And I can hardly tear myself away from the back windows with a clear view of the yard!!

Time to get that quilt layered.

I hope spring is settling into place where you are!!

Mary

One Thing Leads to Another . . . .

 . . . . . unfortunately?!?

 At least, that's what is going on here the past couple of weeks.

Does the whole world know that Northeast Ohio (my home base) was in the totality path of Monday's eclipse?  Family members from the east and the west came to experience it and so I was cleaning and preparing for a short spurt of houseguests which requires three sleeping areas.  I have two guest rooms but to make the third space, my sewing room had to host a cot.

To make space for the cot, I needed to fold down one end of my big cutting table so not only did I need to clear out the supplies that live under that end of the table, I had to clear off at least that end of the table.  While that isn't a difficult task the combination of dealing with a messy box of scraps and the temptation of having that cutting mat cleared off (30" by 36") was more than I could resist.

You guessed it!!  Pro-quiltinating was triggered because tidying up the scraps coincided with a couple of ideas that merged into one project and now seem to be spawning another project.

Here's how it went.  It all started last summer when Robin Pickens introduced a new fabric line -- Wild Blossoms which featured a stunning edge-to-edge print.  In her blog post in March 2023 (click HERE), she shared her ideas for some table runner layouts using that print and a group of 3" blocks she was piecing for the Moda Sewcialites 2 sewalong.   When the fabric became available, I ordered a yard intending to do the same.  

But the 3" blocks weren't happening -- just looking at the tiny pieces put me off.  Then I came across Terry Rowland's colorwash scrap quilt on Instagram (click HERE).  Her blocks reminded me of little single-round log cabin blocks -- so much simpler than tiny piecing!!  Out came my Marti Michell 1" finished strip Log Cabin*** ruler and the box of 1 1/2" cut strips and I was off.  I have finished setting the strip of 3" log cabin blocks in between strips of pale greens and the Wild Blossoms print.  It's around 84" long and 16" wide -- yes, I have a long table.  Now for a backing -- can I do that without leaving the stash??

Have you used one of Marti's Log Cabin rulers -- there are four?  I have to admit I scoffed when she first introduced them but since I was working as an educator for her products at the time, I had to learn to use them and teach with them.  

It took one block to turn me into a reformed log cabin fanatic!

As I was cutting the colorwash blocks for the runner, I realized I had an overflowing box of strips that needed used so why not start a new quilt at the same time?!?  Everything I needed was at hand!!

The cutting is progressing in 20 minutes sessions as I clean up the pile of scraps (and a forgotten box full found under the cutting table) but I'm not allowed to start piecing until I get this star quilt top set together.  (Well, maybe just one block to see how it looks . . . )

After all, it will be a perfect leader/ender project while I piece these 280 hourglass blocks I cut last week???

That project started as an attempt to use up a 5" charm pak of 30's prints but of course one pak doesn't yield very many hourglass units so I had to get out the 30's stash and cut another 156 5" squares!?!  

It's okay I tell myself -- I'm sewing my stash, sewing my stash!!

Besides, I need one block on the design wall to use as a guide for which direction to travel through the piecing . . . . right?

Justified!!

On top of all that, I wrote this blog post -- guess who doesn't like to clean??

Pro-quiltinating rules!!

Mary

P.S. The eclipse was pretty amazing!!  And the first thing I did when everyone left on Tuesday was open the cutting table back up!!

***EDIT April 2025

Marti Michel closed her business in late in 2024 and while some shops may still have a stock of her templates, you can also find them on Ebay and Etsy. 

Quilts to Share

 Sometime in the late 1980's, my husband, youngest child and I were on a short weekend camping trip to Western Pennsylvania.   As I recall the two of them were out, perhaps on a bike ride and I was on my own for a bit -- maybe birding, maybe walking, maybe stitching??  I was in a reflective mood triggered by something I no longer recall, but what I do remember is deciding that if I was going to continue to "work" as a quiltmaker/shop owner/teacher I needed to start being more generous with my skills.   I loved my work and did it mostly for myself, because it was so enjoyable - but I felt at the time there needed to be more than personal enjoyment.

And so began a new commitment to sharing quilts as often as possible.  Over the past thirty-plus years, the count of "quilts to share" that I've either produced myself or organized a group of quilters to produce is a lost number but I'm sure there have been hundreds.

Last week I shared a couple batches of wheelchair size lap robes - an easy size for me to handle in spite of the increasing restrictions of my arthritis!   I can experiment with ideas and block designs in a small way and quilt them without crippling myself -- that means I can keep stitching!

Today another quilt I donated to Homegrown National Park went up for auction!!

It's my version of Pamalamajo Designs Whirly Weeds quilt.

Even though I don't enjoy machine applique, I did enjoy making this quilt since it merged my enjoyment of nature and making and sharing quilts!

I donated it to the first Homegrown National Park Auction which began today and ends on March 17.  The quilt is item #26 of fifty-two (really great) items.

Anyone can bid -- HERE IS THE LINK.

UPDATE - 3/19/2024 -- the quilt sold for $400!!

If you are one of the growing number of native plant gardeners in the USA, you may already know about the Homegrown National Park movement triggered by the books of Doug Tallamy, a professor at the University of Delaware.  His book, Bringing Nature Home, has opened the hearts and minds of thousands of Americans about the dangers of diminishing natural diversity.

The Instagram account @homegrownnationalpark has almost 70,000 followers.

The Facebook page has 22,000 followers.

And the website is full of native plant resources tailored to every region of the USA.

HERE IS A LINK to my favorite Doug Tallamy talk -- I hope you'll listen if you haven't already heard him speak -- his ideas are compelling and doable and lots of other folks agree!!

Bring nature into your backyard or patio or balcony!

And then "get on the map" -- my 60' by 200' suburban lot is part of the 5000 acres in Ohio where homeowners have started to rejuvenate natural biodiversity by planting native trees, shrubs, grasses, and forbs.  I'm on a mission to pass the 75% native plants mark in my own yard by the end of this summer.  My casual observations of native insects -- bees, wasps, beetles, and butterflies -- has increased over the past three years thanks to native flowering plants which makes my yard more fun.  I have more fireflies in summer and more birds year round than adjacent yards thanks to the changes I'm making in my gardens and yard.

Homegrown National Park is a rallying platform for this movement so check it out!! 

Mary

 

Ancient UFO Averted!!

 Have you ever started a quilting project only to realize a short way into it that you aren't enjoying it?  You are frustrated from the starting gun with some aspect of the pattern?  You don't like the color or fabric palette?  You don't like the construction process?

It just happened (again) to me!

I have admired Jen Kingwell's Wensleydale block since she introduced it in her Quilt Recipes book several years ago so when a friend lent me the templates for it, I dove right into piecing some blocks to "get the feel" of it.  I needed "leaders and enders" as I worked on the final assembly of my Summer Garden quilt top so putting together a few Wensleydale blocks seemed a "win-win".  I've also been trying to tame this jumble of scraps laying in the middle of my cutting table, so I began the blocks by pulling from it.  "Win-win" again -- dealing with scraps.

(Leaving the scrap pile in the middle of the cutting table isn't a great solution but it keeps my goal of dealing with the pile front and center instead of ignoring it in a basket underneath the table.)

The first block was ugly -- not enough contrast to suit me.

The second block was marginally better.

And by the time I finished the fourth block, I was beginning to sort out better value choices.

Color and value schemes can be corrected by paying attention to what didn't work on the previous block and experimenting as I go.

Now the  only problem was that I wasn't enjoying the piecing process and that my friends, signals the beginning of an ancient UFO in my experience!?!

So this is where I left things Sunday afternoon -- four blocks laying on the floor beside my machine.

Happily, my sub-conscious designer brain thrust an idea into my conscious maker brain the very first thing Monday morning (a rare but wonderful experience) and after breakfast, I headed to my sewing room, grabbed my 2 1/2" strip box, and eliminated that potential UFO in a burst of sewing!!

Three sewing sessions later and the four blocks have been saved from the orphan block box and turned into a cheerful little wheelchair size laprobe!!  

Today, I'll layer it up and add it to the little pile I'm quilting through this week.  I could make it bigger but right now this size charity quilt is my new solution to UFO's -- this is the eighth one I've made since early December!  It's an easy size for me to quilt -- usually two of my 40 minutes quilting sessions has one ready to bind.

Now to get all those 2 1/2" strips back into their box?!?

(And no, a bigger box is not the solution!!)

Morale of the story -- if it's not fun, change direction!

Enjoy your week!

Mary