::Value In, Value Out::

Funny how my design wall has enlarged, yet I still need more room.  My plan is to create four squares on-point for this quilt to take it to my Seeing Value Workshop on Tuesday as a new sample.

This quilt is a long overdue thank you gift.

I’m holding a lot of medium value fabrics in my stash which leads to a blended look.  While I like the low contrast I still need to move some stuff around to make the corners of the squares a little more defined.  Rectangular would be fun too, maybe just three long ones.

Value Tutorial is here and more examples if you can do without the drive.

Off to Open Quilting Studio for the day!  Happy Wednesday.

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::Design Wall Play Date::

I woke up early this morning and finished the last few seams on my Star-Gazer Quilt top.  It’s cute, simple and I love the colors.  I really need to make it outside for some photos to bring out the baby blue.

But instead I opted to stay indoors and play with that bin of unfinished projects I was telling you about.

The values could use some rearranging, but I love seeing stash in one place.  These blocks and eventual quilt will become a gift for someone who helped me out a few years ago.  It might get some gray cut in like this.  To be decided at a later date.

I only put it up to take it right down, but it was enough to get us reacquainted with one another.

And another kind of triangle is taking shape.  I got a bit more of it up before the sun went down.  It most definitly needs some more dark crimson to make it shine.  I’m curious of its final outcome.  It’s already quilted in my mind.  This will be a quilt for me!  All these favorite fabrics couldn’t possible leave my presence.  Because Jefe might likely not go for sleeping under mermaids, it might have to be my couch quilt backed in flannel.

Then for good measure I cut this leftover starburst to bits.  It might never turn into a thing, but sometimes when I don’t know what to do with something I think, “why the hell not?”  Coin quilt popped into my head, but I just bagged it for now.

I also waxed every square inch of my body that needed less Alaskan in its life and got my brows done.  I’m ready for Quiltcon.

Are you?

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::Like A Mix Tape::

This morning as I was pulling out samples for my Seeing Value Class on Saturday I was listening to KUOW.  They were covering the closing of Easy Street Records on lower Queen Anne.  At age 15 I got a work permit so I could work at my local record store, so their expose brought back a lot of memories.

I don’t remember my first 45, but in my rural Michigan town, taking our allowances and riding our bikes to the pharmacy to buy candy was slowly replaced with picking out something from the top 40.  Sadly, dancing to 65 Love Affair sticks in my head (but was better than Jolly Ranchers on my teeth) and that the purchase of my first album “Thriller” came much later.

I figured out the last actual album I bought was Bebel Gilberto’s Tanto Tempo, maybe 9 years ago.  Since my marriage and move to Seattle, KEXP and my husband have become my music libraries and I don’t think I have to fill you all in on where my mad cash goes.

So what does this have to do with quilting?

Remember the mix-tape (some of you might not)?  The idea was to create a play-list of your favorite songs, and if you were good at it, you could fit all your favorites within the 45 minutes each side of the cassette allowed while creating a flow to the music at the same time.

Really not unlike a value quilt in many ways.

You have a certain amount of space you want to fill or a certain size to your finished quilt.  Luck would have it that unlike a cassette you can choose your length.

In the case of a value quilt you have many genres of fabric that you love and you need to create a flow to make all those personalities blend.

The common theme, instead of being music is fabric and when the value of the fabrics is precisely placed a flow is created, just like a good mix-tape.

Sometimes, just like a mix-tape, you forget to hit pause in time or in the quilt’s case, you didn’t step back to check in on how values were blending and you lose the flow.  That’s what happened in the middle of this zig-zag and I just decided to leave it.

Of course mix-tapes were made for different people and the design layout of Value quilts can reflect the receiver too.  Zig Zags aren’t for everyone, just like Pearl Jam.

I won’t even get into low volume, that would be just too metaphoric.
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::Seeing Value Workshop:: $85 Saturday, January 19th from 10am-4pm at the West Seattle Stitch and Sew Studio.

Learn how color value can transform your quilt making design process.  Create multiple designs with your newfound knowledge of value and simple half square triangles.  All levels of sewists welcome.

::Whole Cloth Quilt Finishing Class:: $85/Tuesdays, January 22nd and 29th at Make*Do*Mend in Ballard.  Quilt top, batting, and a backing…baste, quilt, and bind!  Learn the essential basics of finishing a quilt without piecing a thing!  Create a simple crisp modern baby quilt while learning the process.  Quilting designs with a walking foot will be a covered.  Walking foot required.

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::Adding Stitch and Flip Triangles to Half Square Triangles::

I had to take these off the design wall to focus on what really needed to be done.

I started fiddling with the idea of using scraps for half-square triangles with stitch and flip triangles during my Swirling Medallion class.  This simple technique from the book lends itself to so many designs.

I went with a small sized square so I could use up even the smallest of favorite scrap fabrics.

They are ideal for chain piecing.  Think of it as an ongoing project in between all those others.  I simply have added a stack of white squares to my sewing table and as I produce scraps from other projects I add hsts to the mix.

I think on-point might be what I go with and I’ll mess with them more before I teach the Stitch and Flip Triangle class and the Psychedelic Baby Block Class that will cover this technique and more.

It would be fun to play with value a bit more, but the process itself is so gratifying as you watch it grow.  Rather addictive I would say and always fun to see those out of print fabrics that you have miniscule amounts of on display in a quilt.

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::Improvisational Strip Piecing Workshop::  $85 Saturday, September 8th, 10am-4pm at Island Quilter on Vashon Island.

An all day workshop to explore the creation of your own quilt designs utilizing improvisational strip piecing.  We’ll cover this improvisational patchwork technique while constructing blocks for your own quilt design. All level of sewists welcome.   Quilting Modern Book required.

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::New Homes::

I’ve got quilts in closets, quilts under beds, quilts on beds, quilts hanging in stores as class samples and two bowls full of quilts that are used daily in the living room.  Most made by me, some created by my Mom and a few tied quilts by Jeffrey’s Grandmother that he used as a kid.

I’m a true believer in quilts being used, so some of mine needed to find loving homes.

The baby cross quilt stayed somewhat local.  Safely delivered to a new baby in Spokane.  The new mother, a dear friend of mine is a true lover of fabric.

The free-motion orange peel quilting on this is so fun and the same that I used on the Leftovers Quilt below.

I don’t think I’ve ever meet a charm square quilt I didn’t like and all the extra 4.5″ squares from my Scrappy Sunshine magic number quilt needed a home.  Leftovers will travel back home to Northern Ireland with my niece Ella this month.

My sister-in-law Allison scored HST LOVE for her living room.  I’ve still got the similar Pantone Pop for myself.

The first Unknown Direction traveled to LA to live with Alissa’s new baby.

Roan’s remake of it now lives on his bed, so this quilt still is with me in a way.

I’m sure more will find homes as the pile increases again, but I do have a few that will live with me forever.  What do you do with most of your quilts?

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Flip Triangle Quilt Class

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