Auspicious Sky

Every once in a while a project comes along that just about takes all you've got. This one was that for me. 

At my first meeting with the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild in March, I heard about a star quilt challenge - something that had been in the planning for several months. The deadline was today. Ie. I was way behind from the get go. What seemed even remotely possible when I finally got around to starting was to take the Lucky Star blocks I had made so far (each 6 1/2") and pull them together into a small quilt.

I call it "Auspicious Sky", honoring those Lucky Stars that gave me inspiration in the first place. I surrounded them with a sky of Kaffe Fassett shot cotton accented with bits of Robert Kaufman Essex Yarn Dyed Denim and Kona Nightfall. Quilting was somewhat randomly spaced straight-line using several different blues, from midnight to royal.

Backing is Kaffe's Shirt Stripes in brown which I just happened to have in my stash, and seemed apropos. And for binding, I used more of the Essex.

Finishing at an odd 38x68" (I used every inch of the shot cotton I had), this is one of those where I'm glad I made it but I'm more than glad it's done. The vision is my mind's eye to start is not quite what I ended up with, though close. I found the improv piecing a challenge, the shot cotton somewhat unstable in such a large quantity, and my original quilting plan just didn't pan out.

So that's a perfect explanation for why this quilting thing we do can justifiably be called a journey. There's stops and starts, hills and valleys, detours and unexpected turns. But in the end, it's a trip worth having taken. Time to plan the next.

This finish was on my FAL Q2 list for 2013. Linking with Fabric Tuesday.

Common Affection

Some projects turn out exactly as you had imagined them, and others . . . Well others just take on a life of their own. This project was one of the second variety.

March was my month to choose a project for the Mid-Century Modern Bee and I chose the Hugs & Kisses block by Little Miss Shabby. And then I dug into the stack of charms I had gotten in the Low Volume Swap last summer. Without even realizing it, I even used the fabric I had swapped in my sample block - the blue/gray/white circles (Quilt Blocks by Ellen Luckett Baker for Moda Fabrics) in the bottom right-hand corner.

The blocks came in right on schedule, and one day I put them all on my design wall and began mulling over what to do with them.

I posted a picture in the flickr group, and my bee-mate Carla/Grace and Favour made the quilt-changing suggestion to put them on-point. Oh yeah.

 

At that point, I was talking filling in around the blocks with solid grays when bee-mate #2, Linda/Flourishing Palms suggested matching up with the skinny bits to make all those block conjunctions squares. Good idea! But when I started adding those pieces up on the wall, it dawned on me that I really needed to link up the skinny bits out on the edges too. So that's what I did, using three different grays in the process - Kona Ash and Iron plus Michael Miller Couture Stone.

 

Things were getting a little more complicated . . . 

If I'd known all along what the outcome would be, I would have pieced things just a bit differently, but I made it work, and was pretty pleased with the result.

If I had it to do over, I would have used more low-volume prints for those squares inside of the 'border' line, but then again, I didn't really 'see' that till I was done. Anyway, I forged ahead, quilting with Aurifil Light Beige (#2310). I did a straight-line coil, starting off centered in the upper-left of the quilt and echoing at 1" increments. Binding was scrappy solid grays with a couple of snippets of gray prints.

To be honest, this quilt is as much a collaboration as any I've done. The block was designed by Little Miss Shabby, my Mid-Century Modern Bee joined me in making blocks, Carla suggested the layout, Linda gave me the idea of continuing the accent strips, and I ran my quilting and binding thoughts by daughter dear before moving forward. So yeah, it's small (45" square) but for me, there's alot wrapped up in this quilt.

As I finished it, I started mulling over a name for it, and I came up with "Common Affection" - common for the cooperative effort of my bee in working jointly towards a goal, and affection as a nod to the Hugs & Kisses block. 

Weather wasn't really conducive to a decent photo shoot, but hubby was willing to run out during a break in the rain and let me take a few shots. I loved the one against the blue building (a random smoke shop!); he liked the one below against the brick. So I figured I'd share them both . . .

This project is on my Q2 Finish-A-Long list. Also linking up with Fabric Tuesday.

2013 Finish-A-Long: Q2 List

After a successful first quarter of FAL finishes, it's time to make a list for next quarter! Funny thing - though I have alot of ideas brewing, I only have a few projects actually started. So three it is!

x and + quilt - I began making and swapping these blocks over a year ago, and kept hoping for a third round. But when that didn't materialize by the time I saw Instagram's #xandplusalong this February, I decided I better just get started and make more blocks for myself. So I had 40, and have 40 more cut out.  This finish is my number one goal for this next quarter.

Mid-Century Modern quilt - One thing about participating in bees - you usually start accumulating blocks. So I have just received the last of 13 Hugs & Kisses blocks, am thinking of making a couple more, and then need a design plan to pull them into a quilt.

Lucky Star mini quilt - I am loving making these stars, but honestly don't think I can wait until the end of the year to use any of them, so I've decided to make a mini quilt. I have a tentative plan and some background fabric chosen, and look forward to moving forward on this one.

This is kind of random, but then again the perfect time to mention the Projects at a Glance sheets I came across over on from Pixels to Patchwork. Designed as a way to list all your projects for a single month, I am finding it much more helpful than my usual assorted lists. There are also Individual Project Sheets available if that is helpful to you. Just fyi . . .

Linking up with Leanne/shecanquilt and the Finish-A-Long Q2 linkup.