Weave Got This! :: :: It Begins

I hadn't touched my sewing machine in 10 days due to travel and out of town company. AND I had finished the big project I'd been working on just before leaving. I was kind of feeling like, "what now?" And it dawned on me, with the100 Day Project looming, I should get my first assignment for the guild's new BOM out of the way.

It basically involved making strip sets that will be used in upcoming blocks. They only required four of my six colors, but I'm ready for March's assignment, and really looking forward to seeing the design develop.

Calendar Cascade :: It Begins

OK! It was time to really get going on this Seattle MQG BOM, Calendar Cascade. I had a couple of hours on Sunday, knowing it would be a busy (not much sewing) week, and dove in. 

One thing to know about this BOM is that the rows are not being created in calendar order. Not sure why, but that's the case, and I'm going with it. So even though I did the first few assigned rows on Sunday, they were actually rows 1, 4, 7, and 8. (Count how many shapes are in a specific row and that will tell you what month it's for - one for January, two for February, etc.)

I was able to get back and do the final (for now) assigned row, 5, and now I'm caught up. For May, we'll be assigned row 2, and I may do it then, or I may wait and batch create several assignments later. We'll see what else is going on. But for now, I'm caught up, I'm liking where it's headed, and am content with that.

Like, Totally :: September

Near the end of August, I took my #1 sewing machine in for a cleaning, then promptly left for a 10 day vacation. That all resulted in over a two-week break from sewing. Period.

So over the weekend, I finally drug out a backup machine, and got to work on this month's #seamqgbom2024 blocks - a combo of striped and regular HSTs.

Boy that felt good! The blocks were straight-forward enough to be a perfect reintroduction back into sewing. Just two more sets of blocks to come in this delightful BOM.

The BOM

Oh it feels great to have another quilt finish. Especially since it's the Seattle MQG block-of-the-month that was begun last year. I worked on it in fits and starts, but when I finally decided it was time to finish it up, progress went really well.

If you remember, I filled in between the year's modern traditional blocks with Kona Pond, Jade Green, and Emerald. I had a small amount of a berry solid that was used too, and I think it really added a lot. Anyway, once the puzzling was done, I had fun making a pieced backing from some of the scraps and backgrounds I'd been using, along with a couple of coordinating stash finds.

For quilting, I finally settled on Aurifil 50wt 5006 [Light Turquoise], which may seen an odd choice, but a neutral didn't seem quite right. 

It took several hours  - between 8 and 10 - to do organic straight-line over the whole thing, and I was surprised how much thread I used! For comparison, the spool I used (which was new when I began) is on the left in the photo below; a new spool on the right. And the finished quilt is just 53" x 56". 

There's one little tip I thought I'd share, in case you want to try organic straight-line quilting. Once you are done covering the entire quilt with stitching, go back with a ruler and see how many lines of stitching are in, say a 3" section. In my case, in the segment shown, there were 12. Then I move my ruler across the quilt and see if there are sections that could use another line of stitching. If there are either too few lines or too large a gap between lines, I place a pin to mark where I want to go back and add more stitching. It's definitely not a science, rather all personal choice, but something to consider if you like.

For binding, I just had to go with matched binding. 

It took me a few minutes to decide what to use where, since obviously I didn't match in absolutely every section, but I am SO pleased with how it turned out! I think the placement of the binding adds a lot to the overall placement of the background fabrics, which pleased me to no end. 

So yay, my second quilt finish for 2023. I'm not 100% sure what's next, and that's a great place to be. Whatever, it feels good to be moving forward.

#SeattleMQGBOM2022 
#SeaMQGBOM2022 
#YearOfDoublesBOM 

Linking up with Meadow Mist Designs' Favorite Finish Monthly Linkup.

Chickenscratch Quilt

Well, my chickenscratch quilt may just be the most unique quilt I've ever made. The blocks were begun back in January 2021, completely hand-stitched with white perle cotton #8 and a handful of (mostly) variegated Aurifil cotton floss. The project itself was the brainchild of Blair Stocker, and she led us through a year-long block-of-the-month called the Snowflake Sampler, snowflake embroidery being one of the many names for this kind of vintage embroidery.

By definition, Chicken scratch embroidery (also known as Broderie Suisse, Australian Cross Stitch, and Depression Lace) is a variation of cross stitch that is traditionally stitched on gingham fabric using perle mercerized cotton thread or stranded embroidery thread. The gingham squares act as stitching guides and help to form a lacy pattern. [source: Quilting Daily]

For my version, I used 1/4" grey Carolina Gingham by Robert Kaufman, and there were three finished block sizes - 10" squares, 10" x 20" rectangles, and 20" squares. Where some folks in the BOM had issues with not really being able to match those gingham squares when piecing the blocks into a top, I thought the mismatched gingham seams added to its charm and reflected the time-period where this kind of stitching was done. In short, I just went with it.

When it came to a quilting plan for this kind of quilt, I really wondered about it for a while, as I knew I didn't want to quilt over my hand-stitched designs. It was Yvonne/@quiltingjetgirl who first gave me the idea to tie it, and right away, I loved that idea.

That process still took some figuring out. First, I clamped my pieced quilt back to my dining table, added a layer of Quilters Dream Cotton Request batting, then the quilt top of course, and pin-basted it everywhere I intended to place a tie. I had initially thought I would pin and tie evenly every 6", but decided that really did conflict too much with my stitching. Considering the batting recommended a maximum of 8" between quilting, I used that as a guide instead, pinning along seamlines, then uniquely in each block to stabilize but not interfere. 136 pins later, I was ready to tie!

The fun thing about Yvonne's idea to tie the quilt was that she suggested tying so the knots were on the back. That's the part that really sold me. But that did indeed mean that I needed to begin each knot on the back! I used my 12" wooden hoop to secure one area at a time. Then I basically pushed my needle in using a safety pin for placement guidance, removed the pin, and completed the stitch, going through the quilt sandwich twice, then typing a square knot, securing tightly. Once all the ties - all made with size 8 perle cotton - were done, I trimmed their tails to 1/2" long.

The quilt finished at 60" square, bound with more grey gingham. So loosely 'quilted', and with the lightweight batting and hand of the gingham itself, I ended up with a super comfy cozy quilt. Loosely quilted quilts are not my norm, so I'm wondering if I should add more ties. Then again, it's unique in every other way, so why not?  

And yeah, nothing about this project has photographed well. The stitching is colorful and beautiful, and despite all the wrinkled-looking photos, it is really sweet and lovely in person. Let's just say I'm glad I took the time to explore chickenscratch, and though I couldn't quite imagine a quilt made from my blocks, I'm glad I saw it to a finish just to see how it would turn out. Definitely worth the year of handwork!

Salsa Medallion I

So I'll tell you right off that I'm behind. In fact, until now, I hadn't even started in on this year's Seattle MQG block of the month. Other things just seemed to take priority. But (hopefully) I'm ready to catch up now and stay on board.

This year's Block of the Month is super clever! It's called the "Salsa Medallion," obviously a medallion quilt; and offers mild, medium, or spicy options every month. SO many options, all around a central theme each month. In fact, it's very much like a 'choose your own adventure' BOM!

Deciding on a palette was a quandary as is often the case, but I finally settled on making this project the first where I dabble with the Pantone Colors of the Year, Illuminating and Ultimate Gray. So Kona Highlight and Cotton Couture Pewter will be my main focus; and already in this one block I've added in bits of Kona Punch, some stripes, and a couple of other random scraps, including one lone piece of a  print by Yoshiko Jinzenji.

So for now at least, I've created my center focal block. I really debated what to do, but when I saw what Laura Loewen/@quiltfortco was doing with her Rocky Mountain Puzzle blocks, I was drawn in that direction. My block measures 13..5" x 17". I thought it might be interesting to begin with a rectangular block as the center focus rather than square. We'll see how that works out!

If you're interested in following along or just want to explore a great resource, do feel free to check it out. There's so much good information there.

Begonia :: February

I wasn't alone in wanting to get right to it when Stefanie posted February's assignment for our guild BOM. Where on January's blocks we only used two fabrics, this time we got to use five of the ten! So definitely, some personality is beginning to show!

Basically, we just had to make a bunch of 3 1/2" (unfinished) half-square triangles, using the 8-at-a-time method, which resulted in a few extras to save for later. I ended up cutting my starting squares at 8" to give me just a little more wiggle room. Considering we need to make three times as many HSTs for March, I'm thinking maybe I should get a head start!

Check out the #begoniaquilt hashtag if you want to see more. There's a wonderful variety of fabrics being used!

Begonia :: It's a Mystery!

Another year, another new project right? And my latest is the new block-of-the-month announced at our recent Seattle MQG guild meeting. I was excited to see what Stefanie/satterwhitequilts.com had planned for us. Boy was I surprised when she said "mystery quilt!" It's called Begonia, and will be built in a medallion quilt fashion.



Step one was to select a palette and fabrics and create a swatch panel. I couldn't believe how difficult it was to make a fabric bundle. I was trying to pull at least mostly from stash, and I was able to do that with just ordering more of my background, Kona Everglade.

The first month, we're also making some diamond-in-a-square blocks, and doing alot of fabric cutting for the months to come. If you're interested in joining us, everything will be posted on our guild blog. The introductory post is up, providing fabric requirements, the monthly schedule, and January instructions. I'm not usually much for surprises, but this will be my first mystery quilt and I'm totally up for it.