SNOW DAY

All Public and Parochial Schools are Closed Today. I haven't heard the weather, but I looked outside, and it looks like the teachers decided to prolong their long weekend. I can't say I blame them but they'll be in school till August at this rate. The kids went back to bed. I am snowbound, with no machine, and three kids. Not my idea of a picnic. So I'm going to do some busy work today. See GIANT box of fabric to cut. My rotary cutter, if it could talk, would be begging for mercy right now. Not a chance.

RETURN TO SENDER!

I carefully pinned the delivery guys, at 5:30 this morning, and went to sew them up. No tension. None. I may take it apart, I don't know. So I am presently in limbo, and this is tough. Such a great stay home holiday perfect for sewing. I am a little depressed. I was hoping to close a deal.

Glitches are opportunities. So I will do some cutting. I want to make a tote bag of the left over delivery guy fabric. I need a new handbag. I have some good pencil case zippers I found for $.10 at my favorite fabric store. Many opportunities. Tomorrow I will find a new machine. Scarlett said, "Tomorrow is another day!"

Kaleidescopes from Hell

I'm having trouble with my kaleidescope quilt. I took a class on how to make these, based on the book "Magic Stack and Whack" by Bethany Reynolds. I took it because I was more interested in the cutting process, because I wanted to make a wall hanging out of kaleidescope hexagons. You find the right fabric, (in my case a bali japanese print with a large repeat), make all these hexagons, and put them next to each other to create something very unique. The contruction process is like a puzzle, that you control. It's very fun. So for this class, I thought I found the perfect fabric. Lots of solid space so my centers wouldn't look weird if my piecing was lousy, unique, VERY INEXPENSIVE. I think I paid $3 a yard, I bought the bolt. Also it is perfect for a picnic or beach blanket because it has these little prints of different states. See picture. However, most people picked fabrics with a 12" or 14" repeat. Mine had a 22" repeat. I did all the cutting, because where would I possibly start, and pieced them all to see what I would get. I used my favorite JoAnns Fabrics staple yellow, that reminds me of my room when I was little, and I ended up with 22 blocks. 18 yellow, (4 solid orange batik, for something different). I was going to use this orange as sashing, because the class quilt had sashing, but I knew I would run out, so I started to make my sashing thinner. I laid them all out yesterday, on the floor, to try to come up with something, and they were like Pop Art Optical illusions so close to one another. I am having trouble coming up with a placement that will highlight the individual blocks. Sashing very far apart? 3" is way to close. Use a darker more contrasting color. I could use bold solids. Most of the other students incorporated the pattern into their final quilt, either in the backing, or in some way on the front. I had so much left over that I cut 12 1/2" blocks of it and thought I could lay them next to each other, in a checkerboard pattern. This proves WAY too busy. But not something I can throw out completely. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing correctly, and in a way that is pleasing to the eye. I have decided that I have so many blocks that I am going to make it double sided. I want maximum contrast and SMOOTH visual transition, with emphasis on the uniqueness of each kaleidescope. It's a challenge. I will try again today. Checkerboard may be the way to go. I just "WANT IT OVER" and that is a bad place to be, opportunities die in this place. I'm trying to keep an open mind. Today I'm going to try to clean the slate and come up with new ideas.

I changed my darning foot and the quilting process is a little smoother. So I hope to finish the 1930s crossroads today, and I have a great idea, so I'm stewing that while I sew.

Progress!

My cousin noted that I tend not to put a border on my quilts. This is true. It makes me think of George Lucas, who said that an artists work is never finished, just abandoned. Borders.....are so final. Is it a frame, or the period at the end of the sentence. I can't tell, but I figured it was a worthwhile pursuit to find out. So here is IC2 WITH A BORDER. The ICs I'm going to make into Quillows.....stay tuned.

Here are the CROSSROADS. I have a backing in mind for the Green and White, and I think I will attempt to quilt the 1930s Crossroads. Goals for today: 1)Getting the backing ready for the Blue and Brown. Have to make my Delivery Guys match up. 2) Piecing the Kaleidescope. I"ve been stalling for a while. Time to close the deal. 3) Finish 1930s crossroads.

Status report

I'm on target to get 7 quilts finished. The three that are up in the air are: pink and yellow log cabin, Indian orange peel and the scrappy diagonals. To inspire myself I took a picture of a half finished Indian Orange Peel. I'm just tired of it, and they are not my favorite colors, but I need to get it out of the way. It does have potential. I have fifty arcs to piece, and a few left of the border pieces. Maybe I can push myself over the weekend.

The scrappy backing for IC2 is getting very time consuming. I'm trying to just get through it. The sewing machine hunt didn't happen, I was too busy, and I may just work with what I have and look to buy one at the quilt show. Going to sew!

IS IT WORKING?

Is it working?

Blue is just not my preference. But I'm pleased with my progress.

Stay tuned.....

Blue and Brown - I'm out of control

I'm out of control. It's not really a problem. See all these crossroads blocks. They are huge, and I think I made way too many. We shall see. I want to close the deal so I am piecing like mad to figure out what I don't need anymore, so I can sell them on ebay and send off to the quilting universe.
I really don't like blue, and I'm not convinced that it's going to turn out, but I have alot of confidence in the brown batik crossroad - which I really love, and bought enough of. I found my self making four patches using the blues of the group which I like the least, and I want to examine why that was my habit. Maybe saving the best for last. Maybe feeling bad for the underdog. Not sure. We shall see. Hoping to have this one sandwiched by end of day. Stay tuned. I will also have the IC2 pieced but I've decided on a Gee's Bendy backing so that might not happen today.
The trick with this block is to orient the crossroad block the same way every time you pin. Doesn't seem like it would be a problem, but on my first one I found myself taking some apart at the end because they wouldn't orient correctly. Also the pinning is critical because if these points don't match up completely it will look totally sloppy. With some patterns (such as NYB) you have so much movement and drama it won't affect the overall impact of the quilt. Not so with this one. Pin Pin Pin. So far I am very pleased with the neatness of this one. Yeah!

Progress

Well, I'm having tension problems. I've spent quite a bit of time ripping seams. I've decided to spend my time piecing and finishing quilt tops this week, and this weekend I will go invest in a good quilting machine. Attached is my "Men with Packages" fabric. The Blue and Brown Crossroads is coming along, and I'm almost ready to put IC2 together. I am going to try to get them and the kaleidescope quilt completely pieced and sandwiched by the weekend. IC1 is sandwiched. It's folded up neatly, I can't show you a picture yet. It looks great! I'm very excited! I'm going to sew!

IC2

Okay. IC1 is ready to quilt. I would love to show you, but I've misplaced the camera (I think - someone may have "borrowed" it). Also I made a change to the plan. The Pink and Brown Crossroads is not Blue and Brown Crossroads, which matches my "Delivery Guy" fabric (can't wait to show it). So I've made a big dent in the cutting for that, and I'm very excited to be quilting IC1 during the SUPERBOWL! I love when my team isn't in the superbowl, I'm not emotionally vested and I can enjoy it more. Fingers crossed the camera shows up!

The Tri-State Quilt Competition! Yeah

I got into the Tri State Quilt Show! Yeah! As it can't jinx me, attached are pictures of my quilt, which I named "Beauty's Color's". Not as cool a name as last year's entry but just as fitting. The top two pictures are after it was quilted. The bottom two are before it was quilted. My Grandmother (Gram 88) called me up when I got the mail (acceptance letter) and read it to me. (This is sweet) I had her looking for it all week. She also got a jury duty summons (for her). (This is hilarious) And she went to the casino for a few hours yesterday. Very eventful week for both me and Gram.

Knocking out IC1 tonight. Can't decide on the backing but it may come down to eeny meeny miney mo because I'm pumped! Yeah!

Organizing the Stash/my February Challenge

Well, I've had some distractions. It was my brother's birthday. Ouch. I've taken to organizing my stash. I found things were a little out of control. I need to keep things in order by volume. Fabrics I have enough of, fabrics I have a plan for, etc. February is my month for finishing old things to make room for the new. I have a kaleidescope quilt (22 blocks - my choice fabric had a 22" repeat). It's cool, though , great colors, and despite my best efforts, traditional sashing is the best way to display them. I ran out of my sashing color - the first of two times this ever happened to me. Second time was IC1, and, by the way, that is going well. If it's a snow day tomorrow you will see.

Also, while cutting for IC 3 I came up with an idea to do an I Spy scrappy Irish Chain and we shall see where that goes. I have alot of 3 1/2 squares cut to do a traditional scrappy around the world quilt (I don't really enjoy the traditional around the world, I'm much rather do a diagonal), and I have a pattern I love, called CROSSROADS, (I will post it, soon, it was in a quilting mag a few years ago) which I have made a few different quilts as presents. I have an unfinished all green and white CROSSROADS (want a great St. Patrick's day fabric to back that with but that totally LIMITS it, doesn't it?), and a scrappy 1930 one I haven't finished because I havent' found the right backing, but I'm going to break down and finish it in white. And I have to finish the pink and yellow log cabin. So, busy month.

So here is the list, from start to finish:

Scrappy IC

Green and White Crossroads

1930's print Crossroads

Scrappy diagonal - make into full size

Kaleidescope

Pink and yellow log cabin

IC1

IC2

Pink and Brown Crossroads (I cut for this one recently, saving pinks) and lastly.....

Indian Orange Peel (iop)

Half of these are in limbo due to my inability to make a decision. I promise to decide and close the deal.

The Indian Orange Peel is from a class. I went to the class, picked out a great fabric, found a million fabrics to mix with it, and I"m over 1/2 way through, but it's paper pieced and so boring, the lull between excitement and the construction stage. Well, truth be told, the teacher (who was a great instructor) refused to let anyone rip a seam in her class - she (AND ONLY SHE) ripped all seams. This turned me off. I found this to be the equivalent of someone telling me I can't wipe my own butt. Life is about wiping your own butt. So, I'm going to get over it and finish it. It' s a great pattern, so busy, so dramatic. It's worth a finish. Also I picked the main fabric out because it matches my Mom's living room at her mountain house well. So it even has a home, when it's done. More incentive to include it in February finish madness.

We'll see what I can accomplish by the end of the month. The New Jersey tri state quilt show is first weekend in March and I will give myself $50 for every one I finish. Ha Ha It all comes down to more fabric, more inspiration! Yeah!

That's a good deal though, huh?