The Bat Block

A couple days ago, I was rummaging through my orange scraps thinking I'd make a little something seasonal, and found a #batblock! I pattern-tested the block for Louise @imfeelincrafty like 7 years ago. So I decided it was finally time I make it into something. Better late than never, right? 

The block being just 10.5" x 6.5", I decided to make a little wall hanging. I grabbed my stack of orange fabrics and was surprised that what I'd used in the bat block wasn't the traditional "pumpkin" orange. But I found some oranges that I liked - a mix of prints and solids, then found a few black prints to include. First, I made some improv four-patch blocks using the stacks method from Nicholas Ball's Inspiring Improv. Then I used a handful of scraps sprinkled among them to make several rows of patchwork. You may or may not be able to tell, but there's one row above the bat, and three rows below.

For quilting, I used Aurifil 50wt 2692 [Black] to quilt the bat, and that was SO fun! Then I used Aurifil 40wt 3920 [Golden Glow], a variegated thread, to quilt vertical lines below the bat and 'sky' curves above. The little hanging finished at 11" x 15", bound with a black stripe. Then I made a casing for the dowel and a hanger of black cording. Such a fun little project I didn't even have in my mind's eye two days ago!! BTW, if you love Louise's little bat block pattern as much as I do, you can find the pattern here.

Diamond Cut

The HuRTy ruler by Latifah Saafir @latifahsaafirstudios had been in my studio for two full years, and last week I finally pulled some scraps from the bin and gave it a try. Let's just say I was duly impressed! Never had I made HRTs so effortlessly. So I decided to try my hand at a small quilt of HRTs, and chose a tetrad (four-color) palette made up initially of Kona Rich Red, Heliotrope, Orchid Ice, Key Lime, and an unidentified green similar to Kelly.

Honestly, it made sense on my color wheel, but I wasn't so sure in reality as I began to make blocks. I added in gray and black to see if that helped things at all (I think it did); and then incorporated a few solid triangles, which I think helped even more. Whatever, the dye was cast, and I moved forward with my plan.

Inspired by a painting by Andrew Kuo @andrewkuostudio called "I Forget", my little quilt was composed of HRTs, one half in a vertical stripe, and the other half with more blocky shapes. And of course, this project was an obvious candidate for a pieced backing. 

I turned to an old favorite quilting design - Fancy Straight Line quilting from Jacquie Gering's Walk book. I used Aurifil 40wt 1231 [Spring Green] for quilting with 50wt in the bobbin and 50wt 2692 [Black] for the binding. 

The little quilt finished at 12.5" x 24.5", which I didn't realize until this very moment, is very nearly the exact proportion of the 3" x 6" HRTs. Perfect. It's times like this, when I can just play with fabric and thread and design, that I'm so grateful I have the supplies and ability to sew. It's such a satisfying way to create.

Binding Techniques

After presenting my tutorial for matched binding at Seattle MQG recently, I came home thinking about the various binding techniques I'd tried over the years, and thought I'd do a little round-up in case it's helpful for you all. 

• Straight Matched Binding [click link for my tutorial]

Matchy-Matchy

• Angled Matched Binding [clink link for my tutorial]

Red Cross Meets Very Peri

• Binding Flange by Julie Herman @jaybirdquilts 

The Mango Block

• Two Toned Binding by Ellyn Zinsmeister @ellynz 

• Single Fold Binding by Yvonne Fuchs @quiltingjetgirl

From One to Nine

• Quilt Facing Tutorial by Audrey Esarey @cottonandbourbon

l'uscita

• Wide Binding Tutorial by Audrey Esarey @cottonandbourbon

Matrix

• No-Tails Binding by Linda Hungerford @flourishingpalms

Sands of Time

• Striped Binding [click link for my tutorial]

Swoon

Of course, there are oodles of other options. Check out my Quilt Binding + Tutorials pin board for some of them! And let me know if you have a favorite that I haven't mentioned, ok?

Block Studies Collective | Hourglass

Truly impromptu - like on the last day of sign-ups - I decided to sign up for Tara Faughnan's @tarafaughnan Block Studies Collective. A six-month membership, it is in its second season, and honestly, I was just plain curious. Tara's gift with color has long impressed me, and I was hoping I could learn a little something. That said, it all begins with a palette and a block to focus on for the month.

Starting late as I did, I chose to select fabrics from my stash, matching Tara's palette as close as I could. 

(L-R) Konas Navy, Windsor, Harbor, Cyan, Seascape?, Cloud, Bubblegum,
Carnation, Baby Pink, Artichoke, Spice, Coral, Ochre

The whole objective is to work small and play with shape and color, this month with the hourglass block. I made some pretty precise, and others more improvisational. Here's my finished quilt top, 19.75" x 21.25".

For a quilt back, I used leftover blocks, scraps, and a bit of my original fabric pull.

And then for quilting, I did an angled grid. First I quilted vertical lines about 1/4" apart using primarily Aurifil 40wt 2730 [Delft Blue], adding in several lines of Aurifil 28wt 2710 [Robin's Egg]. Then at an angle, I quilted lines 3/4" apart with the lighter Robin's Egg thread.

And finally, it was time for binding! I was auditioning binding options, thinking that a particular blue would look good on one side, though I really preferred the darker blue over all. Then it dawned on me that it was time to try the No Tails Binding Tutorial by Linda Hungerford @flourishingpalms. That way I could do one color on just one side. If you happen to be a member of The MQG, there's a video presentation of Linda sharing the technique, which is a good supplement to her written tutorial. My one tip after trying the technique is to be sure and use coordinating thread on those mitered corners.

So I'm calling this little quilt "Sands of Time," a nod to the hourglass block. I kind of wish I'd gone a little more improvisational with my blocks and layout, but it was still a very fun exercise, and I like the finish well enough. 

Floral Stitches VI

It's hard to believe this is the SIXTH floral stitches sampler I've done. You may remember at the start, that I signed up for just six of the 12 months offered. Well, I extended that, so I'll be stitching the entire collection. I've just enjoyed them too much to stop now!

Besides echo stitching inside the flower petals, I really enjoyed doing some wrapped backstitch in some of the 'rainbows.' Finally, I added a definite ringed border to the design with a backstitch and chain stitch combo. For each of the three main colors - red, green, and blue - I again used Rebecca's tip of rotating through three shades of each color. I think that's been my go-to method ever since I heard her mention it.

And just for fun, here's a pic of the backside... could be neater, could be worse. It's not something I think about much!

Kelp

Karen @capitolaquilter chose Kelp as the Bee Sewcial prompt for this month. "Refer to my Jellyfish for the Palette: primarily blues/greens of all shades for background and mostly yellow/orange but can lean towards mustard/rust and include greens as long as it contrasts with the background. Sprinkle in bits of other colors as necessary." Karen also provided a link to Monterey Bay Aquarium as a source for ideas: https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/giant-kelp

Here's my first block for her, 12" x 14", inspired by a kelp variety common at the aquarium - Dictyoneurum reticulatum AKA reticulated alga. I improv-pieced a rectangle of orange and yellow scraps before cutting them into kelp-inspired shapes. Then one by one, I pieced them together with the background fabric.

My second block measures 11" x 14.5" and is inspired by a feather boa kelp. I debated whether or not to piece the 'border' with smaller bits of the various colors, but for variety-sake, I decided to. Plus I kind of like the addition of that darker green 'just because.'

Windows Update

Though I took a brief break to stitch this month's floral stitches sampler, I've mostly been working on White Windows, the embroidery piece by Colette Moscrop @colettemoscrop, and I'm loving it. I even took it (and worked on it!) when we went out of town last weekend.

Somewhere along the line, I decided I needed to keep track of the embroidery stitches I'm using to fill in the windows, since I'm trying to use as many different stitches as I can come up with.

At first, I was just using stitches that were familiar to me. But as I've gone along, I've been consulting the internet and a couple of embroidery books I have in my library. We'll see if I run out of ideas before I get to the end!

Matchy-Matchy

Last week at Seattle MQG, I participated in what we call a 'Round Table' - a chance for several members to share a skill with the rest of the group. I was asked a while back to share about matched binding, which I was happy to do.

I took a few samples of finished quilts with matched binding, necessary tools - minus my sewing machine - and also made up a small (16" x 20") sample quilt to demonstrate the technique.

I shared the same demo with five different groups of about eight people, using a glue stick and wonder clips in place of my machine at each of the color-change junctions. Sorry, my hands were too busy to take photos, but it worked well enough! Once I was back home, I sewed the binding with my machine, hand-stitching on the back as I normally would.

The piece, which I'm calling "Matchy-Matchy," was quilted with an uneven grid using Aurifil 50wt 5021 [Light Grey], which I actually thought looked more like a light tan. Whatever, I liked how it let the grid show off without being too stark color wise. 

The demo got a great reception from my fellow guild members, some of which had never seen the technique before. I think I even convinced some of them to give it a try! 

P.S. It was surprisingly, harder to catch the true colors of this quilt in the natural light than inside. The second and fourth photos are most true - with the pink more of a peach color, and the medium blue more of a light teal.

Like, Totally :: October

This month's #seamqgbom2024 blocks were a great next step after a satisfying quilt finish - HST in a HST blocks. Despite it being a breezy day, I went out and got a photo real quilt before the rain started...

Good thing I was quick!

Hard to believe we have just one more month of blocks left. I'm really looking forward to seeing my blocks all up on the design wall, and making them into a quilt top!

Side Chairs

It's been a while since I've had a decent-sized quilt finish, so it really feels good to have completed my chair quilt now know as "Side Chairs." 

Definitions of side chair. noun. a straight-backed chair without arms. synonyms: straight chair. - www.vocabulary.com

Side Chairs was initially inspired by a quilt made by Kathy Peters of Marquette MI, called "Table Scraps" that I happened across in Liberated Quiltmaking II by Gwen Marston. Making one little block eventually led to many many more, and I'm not sorry one bit. To me, the OOP Mod Tex Flower in Sorbet by Studio RK is the star of the show.  The solids are all Kona colors, and the stripes are orange pin stripe and pink pin stripe by makower uk for Andover. And the remaining print is Amy Butler's Midwest Modern Martini, which is a longtime favorite.

I couldn't resist making a pieced quilt back out of project leftovers, and the binding was made from the last of the floral print.

For quilting, I went with Dimensional Arrows from WALK 2.0 by Jacquie Gering, because it reminded me of the chairs. Using Aurifil 50wt 1104 [Neon Orange] felt like a stretch, but it was the only orange I had, and honestly, I don't think it stands out that much on the front. Not even sure why, but for the bobbin I used Aurifil 50wt 2423 [Pink], and as you can see, the contrast is much more noticeable.

Measuring 46" x 62", Side Chairs is so maximalist, but I love how some chairs are so obvious, and others you have to hunt for. Oh! And in the center of them all, is a dining table. Our dining room wouldn't actually fit 39 chairs, but the random number is more symbolic of generosity and connection, than an actual amount.

It was fun to go out for an actual photoshoot for this quilt, something hubby and I have rarely done since the pandemic.

Hubby thought he was clever snapping a photo of me taking a photo....

Which reminded me it would be a nice idea to get a decent photo of myself with my quilt. So....

"Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious." ~ Ruth Reichl

Thought it would be nice to list the posts about this project, just to record its progress:

7/4/24 | Chairs

8/12/24 | Pull up a chair

8/24/24 | A Seat at the Table

9/25/24 | Find a Seat

Linking up with Quilting JETgirl's Favorite Finish {October 2024} linky.