plethora

It surprised me how much I enjoyed piecing together this scrappy purple quilt top. It turned out only 39" x 33", and though I rotated it around in every orientation, I really like the way I first created it on the design wall, though wider than tall is not my norm.

Happily, it's my sixth scrappy quilt finish of the summer, and apparently 'fits' for the QuiltCon 2027 American Patchwork + Quilting Pick-A-Color Scrappy Challenge. So that's cool! Might as well enter it and see what happens. No matter, I'm super happy with it, and happy to have found a good use for all those scraps.

Of course, a pieced quilt back was in order. I had a few scraps from making the front to start with, and needed just a few small pieces from stash to bring it up to size.

For quilting, I went with an uneven grid using Aurifil 50wt 5003 [Wine], 2515 [Light Orchid], 4225 [Eggplant] and 4020 [Fuchsia]. I also had a 40wt 2570 [Aubergine], and considering it was a heavier weight than the rest, I just stitched a few lines in each direction, specifically stitching over areas of Kona Raisin, the darkest fabric.

In fact, I used all five of those threads in both directions, often trying to 'match' them to the majority fabric in any one area. There were so many different fabrics used, though, that wasn't entirely possible. I think the multiple fabric and thread colors just add to the fun. A plethora, am I right?

Then, rather than a traditional binding, I went with a facing, using the Quilt Facing Tutorial by Audrey Esarey @cottonandbourbon. I really like the look of a facing on this particular quilt. Oh, and in trimming this quilt square, it shrunk just a tad, finishing at 38" x 33".

SO. Keeping it real here. Having this quilt finished has really encouraged me on. I find that what project I work on often depends on how much time or focus I have at a given time. So after machine-sewing the facing for plethora on Saturday afternoon, making a block for the Patchwork City project was a good next step forward. And Sunday morning, I was in the mood (yay!) to start remaking my block for my Bee Sewcial Courthouse Steps quilt, which I've been talking about doing for weeks. Hopefully I'll get back to that today, and move forward on that big project. AND today begins week two of our kitchen remodel, so I'll be back to making a block or few for the kitchen quilt each day. So at least I feel like I have some direction, and that's a good feeling for a Monday.

WIP List

My to-do list is suddenly out of control. I've mostly been progressing through one scrappy quilt after another over the summer, but this week I've added a couple of new quilt projects to my list. That AND I realized I had more WIPS than I thought. So let's see what all I've got going, ok?

1. The purple quilt, where quilting has just been completed and next I need to make and stitch on a facing. This one should be my next quilt finish, and relatively soon, so I'm feeling good about that.

2. I've received all of my Bee Sewcial @beesewcial blocks for my latest prompt! They are all up on the design wall, percolating, and I love them. A proper layout is next on the agenda, so mulling that one over. I'm thinking of possibly adding some more black and white, so I need to firm up some plans before moving ahead.

3. The Kitchen Quilt is brand new this week, and fortunately, I'll be working on its blocks over the next several weeks. So I'm feeling ok about taking my time with this one for now.

4. Oops! I'm joining the Elate QAL with Carolyn Friedlander @carolynfriedlander, which officially began today. I actually purchased the pattern and pre-ordered her new Memento fabric weeks ago, so it's been on my mind. The fabric is on it's way to me now, so my next task there is deciding which fat-quarter pairings I will use. There are 28 fat-quarters in the collection, and I only need 18 for the medium size quilt I'm planning to make.

5. Up to date on the BOM with Seattle MQG, there will be one more set of blocks to make in September, then I assume we'll get the layout instructions in October. So if I follow instructions as they arrive, I shouldn't have to get serious about a quilt top for a while.

6. The Inspired by Nature workshop I took with Vicky Conley @vicki_conley_are_and_design last month was great, though I wasn't totally happy with my result. So it'll take some focus to take a fresh look at it and move forward, and it's TBD what I decide about all that.

7. Remember the Patchwork City quilt blocks I was hoping to continue with the Tula Pink fabric I got off the free table at a guild meeting? Well I've only made one 'new' block so far, and though I do want to continue, I feel like that project will take some real focus too. It's a mix of pieced and paper-pieced blocks, and will probably continue on the back burner for a while.

Yikes! How did that even happen? I very rarely have a quilt WIP list this long. But I don't feel too bad about it, knowing my scrap basket it almost empty from all the scrappy quilts I've made lately, but it does feel a tad overwhelming, yes. Especially since I was hoping to make at least one more scrap quilt with what's left in the scrap basket, and I was hoping to take a fabric printing class and make something with my own printed fabric, just to try something new. So we'll see how it goes. #1 is top priority, and I fully intend to get serious about #2 and #4 next; then #3 and #5 over the next couple of months as I get the info I need. That doesn't sound too impossible, does it?

A Kitchen Quilt

So I shared Monday about the kitchen refresh we're having done, and I thought it might be fun to have a related project to work on throughout the process. You've heard of temperature quilts, right? A specific color of fabric is selected for each temp range, and blocks are made each day of the year to record the temperatures.

Well, I'm planning a kitchen remodel quilt, where a specific fabric is chosen for each element of the process. Many of the colors I chose apparently represent those processes in architectural and remodeling blueprints; others more closely represent the actual items in our new kitchen. Below are listed the different components of the job, the color I chose to represent each, and the specific fabrics I'll be using.

Site Prep/Demo – RED [Kona Rich Red]

Structure Changes/Plumbing, Electrical & EVAC Rough-In/Drywall – YELLOW [Kona Canary]

Red Oak Flooring – TAN [Kona Tan]

Backsplash/Tile – IVORY {Kona Ivory]

Beech Veil Cabinets –NATURAL [Kona Natural]

Matte black Hardware – PEPPER [Kona Pepper]

Countertops – GOLD [Kona Gold]

Stainless Steel Appliances – SILVER [Kona Silver]

Kitchen Plumbing (sink, disposal, faucet) – BLUE [Kona Prairie Sky]

Finish Electrical (recessed lighting, under cabinet lighting, switches & outlets) – ELECTRIC BLUE [Kona Royal]

Painting – SNOW [Kona Snow]

Completion – WHITE [Kona White]

For 'background' I'm going to use some natural colored scraps of Essex Homespun and other neutral cotton-linen blends, because I've been wanting to use them up. Though my initial thought was to make HST blocks, the shapes of the scraps will dictate other random shapes as well. 

Though temperature quilts usually consist of making a block each day, I'm going to be looser with my 'rules,' as my time period will be much shorter than a year. So if more than one thing is done during a particular day, I'll make blocks in more than one color; and if I just feel like making more of a particular colored block in a particular day, I'm going to allow myself that freedom. Being without a kitchen for several weeks feels monumental, so I'm going to let myself embrace this project however it feels good. Fair enough? It's just day two, and the progress has led me to use two colors already. Plus, I've found that some of the background scraps let me to make more than one block, so I just went with it. We'll see where the process takes me.

Kitchen Refresh

Last night was the last meal I'll be cooking in our current kitchen. We moved into our house on October 25, 1986, so this year will be 40 years that my family and I have been cooking in this space. When we moved in, our daughter was three years old; our son, just eight months. I fed my young family from there, the kids grew up and learned to cook there, scores of family and friend gatherings were hosted there over the years. So it's bittersweet that demolition begins tomorrow to make way for a new, updated kitchen.

It's been a long time coming! Considering our house was eight years old when we bought it, our kitchen is nearly 50 years old, and it shows. So we're pretty much gutting it and rebuilding from scratch. It's been a lot of work getting ready for this week (AKA 'Start of Work'), and already I'm missing the familiar routine. But we're excited! As of just hours ago, the kitchen and dining room are completely empty, and now it's up to the experts to recreate the spaces for us.

I marked the occasion yesterday by baking StudioDIY's @studiodiy Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are hubby's and my very favorites, and it felt important to bake them one more time before we live without our kitchen for a while. 

So stay tuned. I'm not sure when I'll report back in on the remodel, but I expect I will. Wish us luck!

Weave Got This! :: :: Blocks 8A + 8B

It was kind of exciting stitching up this month's BOM blocks, as they are the next to last batch of the design! As with most of the assignments, there were two pairs, mirrors of each other. This month's batch each measures 10.5" x 11.5".

So it felt great getting these done, and of course, I'm still really looking forward to seeing the final design!

Stick and Stitch

A while back, I'd stitched up a couple of Dropcloth Samplers' Stick and Stitch patterns, without an idea of what I would do with them. Then recently I found I had some 3" bamboo wooden hoops, and thought I could use them together. I watched a video, 4 Ways To Back The Embroidery Hoop | Hand Embroidery 101 by The Authentic Embroiderer, and decided to try the 'cover the back with felt' method. It started with putting the embroidery into the hoop and gathering it on the back.

Then I followed the instructions in the video and stitched a felt circle to the back. For both steps, I used a single strand of Aurifil 12wt thread in a color that pretty much matched the fabric and felt.

  

Gotta say, I really enjoyed the process, and it went together neatly.

I liked it so well, I did it again.

So then.... I took both little embroidered hoops down to the Free Little Art Gallery Edmonds, where I've dropped off little art pieces many times.

Hopefully they'll find a new happy home!

Floral Stitches Year III - No. 3

I can't even believe I'm telling you this, but after being convinced that the last Dropcloth floral sampler was the final one I would receive, another showed up in July. What can I say!?

Even as I was stitching it up, I was second-guessing myself for not planning on Year III all along.

So we'll see.... but for now, this one was a treat.

Pick-A-Color :: Purple

I don't really remember why I set aside some purple scraps months ago, but I happened across them as I began my 5th scrap quilt of the summer, and decided I'd just keep adding to them, mission unknown. So by the time I was ready to work with them, I had quite a nice quantity and variety. I tried my best to identify them, and whether one piece, or much more, I know that at least Kona Eggplant, Purple, Hibiscus, Noble Purple, Tulip, Raisin, Orchid, Orchid Ice, Petunia, Morning Glory, Amethyst, and Lupine; and Cotton Couture Amethyst, Blackberry, and Purple are represented among them.

Pulling out this mix was timely, as I'd just read The Power of Purple: Depth, Ambiguity and the Color Between Warm and Cool by Carolina Oneto @carolina_oneto. What an interesting read! Besides calling purple "The Only Color With Two Temperatures," she shares a lot of its history, and ways to explore using it. My current project will probably not be quite so intentional, but it's good info to consider.

Meanwhile, my purple scraps are also timely, as I was reminded about the QuiltCon 2027 American Patchwork + Quilting Pick-A-Color Scrappy Challenge. "Eligible quilts will use at least 10 different fabrics and feature one overarching hue in the design." Well, my current pile of scraps definitely fit the bill there. So we'll see. I have already begun to piece the smaller scraps together, and randomly put them up on the design wall. IE. the photo is definitely not a final layout. But it's a start. I have a handful of quarter-circles yet to piece, and then I'll be left with a few bit larger pieces. My (hopeful) goal is to create something in the spirit of my recent pieced quilt backs. I know. I know. We'll see where the scraps take me. And wherever it is may or may not be submission-worthy. But I'm going to head in that direction and take it from there.

Overmuch

I was deep in the process of making scrappy grab&piece blocks when it dawned on me that my whole purpose - making a quilt top in the style of my pieced quilt backs - was not going as planned. The problem was simple. Unlike my pieced quilt backs, where I used the finite amount of scraps left over from piecing the front, I had what felt like an unlimited amount of scraps to pull from my scrap basket. It totally changed the look of the blocks, and when I realized what I'd done, it felt too late to go back. So I continued on, using as many scraps as possible, and created Overmuch.

Despite the unintentional change of plans, I enjoyed making the scrappy blocks very much, and obviously, used a good amount of scraps. For the back, then, I did do my normal thing, using leftovers from the front, as well as all the greens I could find in my scrap basket. I used several smaller-sized greens from stash to fill in, and was quite pleased with the result.

For quilting, I used Aurifil 50wt variegated 3320 [Light Spring] and did some organic straight-line quilting, which I don't think I've done for quite a while, at least not on a quilt this large, 52" x 60". Then I bound it in Kona Wasabi. I'm not sure what came over me, especially since I hand-bind my quilts 99% of the time. But I was in the mood for machine-binding, so that's what I did. The result is quite possibly, the scrappiest quilt I've ever made.

Overmuch is the 5th scrappy quilt this summer, and believe it or not, I already have scraps pressed and sorted for #6. Might as well keep going while I'm in the mood.