::Nine-Boxed Quilt::

Some quilts take time to finish.  Mostly because those other quilt ideas get in the way.  Sometimes even those quilts take awhile too.  I’m pretty sure I have a box of those “ideas.”

When I looked at the November date on this photo and the rainy blustery day I was thankful that it looked like this today.

Nine-Boxed’s original story and making details are here, but as I said it sat for awhile and on a quilting exhibition to Sandie’s for another quilt I thought why not just quilt it too.  She happen to have this design board already loaded so we went with it.

I’ll admit this quilt has grown on me a bit.  I wasn’t so sure I liked it at first and am now kinda wishing as I look at the photo that maybe I could have at the very least thrown it in the dryer for a bit to decrease it, poor thing has been rolled up in the closet for a month or longer.

In person it is really the Carolina Chambray that makes all those bits shine.  The blocks consist of a simple nine-patch made improvisationally.  Links to a few tutorials on the technique are also available on the original post about this quilt.

My twist was adding in a block when creating the nine-patch block that was entirely made of strip-piecing.  I’ve got a whole tote that contains scraps that are strips and they were calling me.  There are some goodies in there.

I also added a block of background fabric into the nine-patch construction here and there.  I always like that “floating” look.

Backing I bought ages ago on sale when Drygoods first opened and for the binding I revisited that scrap strip tote for scraps of binding left over from other quilts.

It has no home yet.

I’m off to market tomorrow and then teaching workshops with Jacquie on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Come join us if you can!

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::Binding Line-Up::

Ok, I’m going to go finish sewing the binding down on this quilt,

so I can start sewing the binding down on this one.  I’ve certainly had my fair share of quilt tops in need of quilting, but this is a first when it comes to a line up for binding!

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::Modern Crazy Piecing Play::

I’ve had two quilts in process for Jacquie’s and my crazy piecing class on May 22nd at Island Quilter.

I almost scratched this one, thinking it didn’t have enough dark values, but you know what?  No dark values=softer mellow feel and for a baby quilt that’s just perfect.  Everyone loves a mellow baby.

I had to confine myself with some masking tape on my wall to keep my size down.  My tendency is to get larger and larger.

With the floor freshly mopped I basted it this morning and didn’t even have to move the table out because of its wee size.

I have a HUGE tote full of neutral scraps and I crazy pieced a load of those into the background as well.  It just needed something in those zones.

I’m thinking sky blue vertical lines for quilting.  I want it to retain it’s soft drape and I only have cotton batting, so I’ll have to refrain from getting them too close together.

Then I couldn’t resist putting this up on the blank design wall.  All of it except the four rows that won’t fit.  Triangles are Saturdays class.  Large it will be.  My original plan was a lap quilt, but dreamt of it on our bed…then I thought, what the hell, what man wouldn’t want to sleep under mermaids with sea stars as pasties?

It needs some rearranging and those extra four rows, but I like it, all scrappy and such.

Roan’s been on the couch for three days with a virus, so my sewing time and catching up with him on Dr. Who has been steady.  If you’re an Instagrammer then I have also been destashing.  I’m here.

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The Flip Triangle is a day-long workshop where we’ll get you off to a great start in creating a modern quilt with sharp points and design.  Choosing fabrics for high impact, proper technique for cutting and successful piecing of triangle blocks will be covered.  Great class for beginners, but all levels of sewists welcome.

Experience: all levels welcome; great for beginners

Date: Saturday, May 4th 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Drygoods Designs in Ballard

 

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::Opposing Triangles Remake::

This is the second Opposing Triangles that I’ve pieced and my long arm quilter friend Krista Withers has quilted.  The first has been traveling with the modern quilts in the International Quilt Market and Festival Exhibit for about a year.  When Krista’s exhibit at Island Quilter came up she asked me if I would make another top for her to quilt and have as her own.

Because I just plain L-O-V-E this quilt I’ve been itching to get some photos before the quilt went back to Krista.  We’ve never managed to find the time until yesterday’s gorgeous Seattle day.

There’s quite a mix of fabrics for the triangles.  Echino, Kona, Alexander Henry Heath and Mirror Ball all surrounded by white Kona and placed into an Osnaburgh background.  I aligned them so that they travel one into another for a zig zagged effect.

Krista’s quilting on it is stellar of course and sinks into the Osnaburgh and wool batting nicely.  My favorite of the quilting are the subtle moons quilted in here and there.  There’s a balanced of straight line quilting with the outlined triangles and more whimsical quilting in the background.

Fremont was hopping and we made use of the park area under the Aurora Bridge by the lake.

It makes me itch to get mine back, though I must admit I think I like it better the second time around!

It’s not looking like the weekend weather will be as nice.  I’m off for a run before the rain comes and then a day of sewing.  Tomorrow I’m a spoiled brat and will be hanging out and teaching a Psychedelic Baby Block workshop with some of my favorite students.

Have a great weekend!

 

 

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::Flash Back::

In what seems like a lifetime ago I spent my winters in a not-so-little-now fishing village called Troncones in Guerrero Mexico.  My friend and I would load up the truck with our bikes, my dog Fe and our bikinis to make the three day drive from Flagstaff.

I feel fortunate to have done this, I love the people of Mexico, admire their love of family and of course L-O-V-E their food.  I have loads of the funny kinds of stories one would have when language isn’t always clear.  I however can not top Jefe telling some senoritas that he was pregnant, nor will I forget them bursting into laughter.

The mercados would be full of kitchy folklore influenced goods that I thought of when I spotted this fab Alexander Henry at Quiltsandwich.  I instantly ordered two yards ( Cartas Marcadas).  This morning I made some napkins to replace the tattered.  I’ve been eating up a few of my choice Alexander Henry novelty fabrics  by making napkins, so I’ll likely have some more to show you soon.

I added a few ‘active solids’ I’ve been eyeing.  I’ve had a thing for gray lately because I fell in love with this simple quilt.  The woodgrain is so subtle on the Michael Miller Les Amis Faux Bois and I wanted to nab it before it disappeared.  Never enough of the Pearl Bracelet, only one of the best fabric lines ever produced.

Carolyn Friedlander’s Architextures is another one of those great blender lines.  The hit of navy wavy lines is a perfect addition to the few navy fabrics I have in my collection.  Navy can keep on trending in my opinion.  It’s great to add another dark color to the value mix.

I love the grid on the background of this one here.  The more graphic designs that continue to be pumped out the better.

Thanks Quiltsandwich for the great additions!

Happy Sunday and Happy shopping!

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::Scattered Quilt::

Scattered has been finished for a bit, but the Seattle spring weather is rather temperamental, so photos haven’t really been an option.  The times between the hail, rain and sunshine I’ve snapped some photos, but they’ve provided this quilt no justice when it comes to showcasing its true colors.  The yarn dyed denim in person makes the crimson bits appear extremely saturated.

Nice of them to build that blue building in front of my view of downtown Seattle eh?

Yarn dyed Essex linen eats thread, and by that I mean you really can’t see it, but creates the best quilted texture!  I started with an off-centered rectangle in lavender thread and went round and round.

As I got further from the center the rectangle naturally became more curved.  I love the effect.  I got the idea from this amazing quilt by Karen.  I gravitate towards any quilting design that is continuous or runs off the edge, I’m not a stay-stitch or burying threads kinda quilter.

I’ve certainly dug through the stash on this one.  Really old Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, Erin McMorris Park Slope (one of my favorite lines ever), Echino, and Denyse Schmidt.

I self bound it in the same linen.  I thought an addition of bits into the binding would have been a great effect, but got lazy. Backing by Echino polishes off this quilt nicely.  The drape is amazing combined with the linen.

And it matches my lilacs.

Scattered is a remake of my Split Decision quilt that I use as a class sample for teaching Slice and Insert.  I wanted to create another layout using the slice and insert technique to showcase the design potential of this technique.  Jacquie and I will be teaching Slice and Insert on Monday, May 20th at Island Quilter and I will hold another workshop on Saturday, June 29th at the Quilting Loft under the name Split Decision.

Happy Monday and first day of Spring Break for use public school people in Seattle.

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::Stash Archive Value Quilt::

Another fun sample for the Color Value Workshop tomorrow.  It’s huge!

Hoping to show this one quilted by the end of the week.

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::Fabric Stash Additions::

I can’t help but shop when I have Open Quilting Studio at Drygoods.

I scoped out the new Moda Boho Flower Child and PBJ last week and had to stop myself from purchasing the blue color way too.  Since my stash lacks navy I made an exception with the navy Liberty.

I’m loving the reds thrown a little closer to orange and I can’t seem to say no to any mustard colored fabric as late.

The Flower Child fabrics reminded me of the Orla Keily’s designs I’m in love with.

Look what else has made a return!  Alexander Henry Heath in metal.  This fabric is a must have for any stash.

Today I finish my Value Quilt top.  Off I go!

P.S.  Class this Tuesday and next at Drygoods is open free-motion quilting studio!  Sign up for one or both.  Machines, all the tools and quilt sandwiches provided.  Should be a load of fun.

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::Spring To Stash::

Sunday Stash time!  I toured through the arboretum to take photos of Nicquelle’s Quilt last week and then made the most of my venture by heading to Stash in Columbia City.

Any excuse to head to a fabric store right?  I love the feel of fabric boutiques and Stephanie’s picks never disappoint.

I’ve been slowly collecting the Tula Pink Swallow fabric.  In my fabric quest I’ve been seeking out more ‘active solids.’ This tone on tone print is one of those that helps in binding all of my novelty prints together when digging through the stash with a project idea.

I felt the same when I discovered the Hexagon dots.  This citron color is climbing close to the top of the color list.  I love the brightness it brings when paired with lavender, aquas or crimson.

If you’re in the market for a great low volume fabric I would suggest nabbing some of this Dear Stella Paris Tower.  I am now thinking I should have bought more.

The Tula Pink Little Bits just seemed to jive with the whole stack.

So I actually got around to using some fabric this week.  This weekend I finished up the binding on this quilt that is currently in the wash.

I also am halfway through my new Value Quilt.  I am loving the on-point design.

And I picked new fabrics to make another Triangle pillow.  Looks like I could use a whole batch of spring pillows.

Happy Sunday!

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::Spring To Seattle::

Niquelle’s Quilt is finished.  My intension now is to make a larger one that her family can lovingly use in her memory.

Since Seattle is in full bloom I detoured through the arboretum on my trip to Columbia City to visit Stash.  I knew the blossoms on the trees would fully compliment the soft colors in this quilt.

This tree and its low branch had photo shoot written all over it.

I love everything about this quilt.  Not only does it have some favorite prints thrown in there, but I included a mix of fabric types as well.

Flannel, double gauze, linen blends and quilting cottons are all present.  So sad to see the Amy Butler Wallflower in mustard and the Heather Ross Moons go, but so happy to see them in a quilt!  The tactile effect is hard to explain.  It is somewhat heavier than most quilts, but also light and soft.

I spent some time with my friend Sandie quilting it on her long arm.  I mentally struggle sometimes with not home machine quilting all my quilts, but quickly got over it on this one!  We quilted it with purple, pink and white variegated thread.

The swirl pattern is perfect and when I finish my mermaid one I will likely do the same.  Then I will do this design again and again and again… The pattern shows well from the back on the solids.

The side triangles that I cut in half (or actually in half plus a quarter-inch to make them an actual half triangle with binding on) to create the edges of the quilt went into the backing.  Some angle piecing went into its construction and some other scraps made their way in to create the panel.  I always seem to go vertical with back panels.

I finished it off with the Erin McMorris Weekends fabric that was included in the front.  Sorry, that’s a load of photos…can you tell I love it?!

Keli at Make*Do*Mend and I just added this class to the calendar.  If you wanna combine some fun fabrics together and learn some mad skills join us on Saturday, May 4th from 10am-4pm at the studio.

We’ve got some space in the value class tonight too.

Psychedelic Baby Block on the schedule for Saturday!

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