Hundreds of Squares and Triangles, plus a Finish

If you read my last post you know I'm making 100 patches as my leader/ender project right now. I ended up making nine more blocks, for a total of 18 so far, and no end in sight of those squares! I think I'll make 20 blocks and switch to something else as a leader/ender project. Two thousand squares is enough for now.

I finished the last few rows of this quilt, but have yet to sew any of these rows together. DD#3 is calling this quilt, "The quilt formally known as Purple Rain".

I decided I wanted a break from all of that piecing, so I quilted and bound this quilt today instead. It's a rare day indeed that I completely quilt any quilt in a day, my arm just doesn't like that. I did some really easy edge to edge wavy lines to quilt the entire quilt. The quilt is 57" x 71", so a throw sized quilt. This is the quilt I made with fabric I reclaimed from a rejected project. DD#2 was supposed to get the first project, so she claimed this one too, even though I actually remade the first one for her. No worries, my kids can have as many quilts as they like. 

I really love both purple and green, but I have made SO many quilts with those colors in the past year, I am really enjoying making the 100 patches with every color. Once I get the purple and green batik quilt top together, the next wedding quilt is red and white, so a very nice change from everything I've been working on. Once I have all three wedding quilt tops finished, I'll do a basting spree and get them all basted. 

I still have a few more quilts basted and ready to quilt, but none of those have deadlines, so I've been ignoring them. I have finished enough quilts to get enough pins back to easily baste the three wedding quilts, and even my grandson, Mr. J's quilt should I be able to get his quilt top done before the basting spree too. At least I've finally got his quilt pattern chosen, and I'm ready to cut it out. It will be a large twin, but I'm letting the fabric patterns do most of the work, and there is a minimal amount of piecing to do. Not every quilt needs to have intricate piecing I'm learning. 

This latest finish brings my total finishes for 2019 up to ten, and seven of those have been UFO's. Not a bad total after four months. I was hoping to have at least 20 finishes this year, and I'm halfway there!

Attempt at Modern or Abstract?

Now that the Asian quilt top is completed, it's on to the next wedding quilt. I don't plan on basting them until all three quilt tops are finished. Of the two wedding quilts left, one is a twin-sized modern quilt, the other a king-sized curved log cabin. I debated which one to work on next, and decided that I'd save the log cabin quilt for last. I didn't save it because I'm dreading making a king-sized quilt, I make king-sized quilts a lot. I saved it because I think it will actually be faster to piece that than the twin-sized quilt. I have all the pieces for the log cabin quilt cut to size, and there are two varieties of blocks. I can easily chain piece all of one type, then chain piece all of the other. It really shouldn't take that long to get all the blocks made. 

The twin-sized quilt is my attempt at a modern style quilt all in batiks. I LOVE my equilateral triangle dies, it was quick as can be to cut out this quilt. I'm having to work sideways on my design wall, because the quilt won't fit vertically. 

Here's what I've got done so far. In my mind, I'm picturing the purple as a pool of water at the bottom of the quilt. (Remember, I'm working sideways) While there is only 8 rows of purple, there will be 18 rows of green. I have random purple "raindrops" falling though the green sky into the purple pool below. I suppose you could consider the purple clouds with the rain falling from them if you put the purple section on top. 

I don't know that this is modern so much as abstract. I think I was just in the mood to make something REALLY different from my usual. The end proportions of the colors of the quilt will be almost exactly 1/3 purple, 2/3 green. The rows are off from that, but since I'm adding purples among the greens, it comes out almost exact when you consider number of pieces. 

I've debated making the purple section the center of the quilt, with 9 rows of green on either side, but I'm leaning towards sticking with my original idea with the all the purple on one end. I will be trimming the edges of the quilt straight, when I cut equilateral triangles with a rotary cutter I cut half triangles for the edges, but the die I have doesn't have that option. I'll just trim when the quilt top is finished. 

Triangles are not hard to sew, especially when the die I used to cut them trims the corner in a manner where they are really easy to line up. I've yet to use a pin while assembling the rows. What is taking so much time is having 41 triangles in each row, and I'm laying out one row at a time. I don't mind having two similar triangles together but I'm trying not to have them blending into diamonds or half hexies. It's a bit easier now that I'm in the greens. I had about 40 different green batiks, but only 19 different purple ones. I don't have a stash of batiks, I usually just buy them as I use them. 

Since I am only assembling one row at a time, I am using lots of leader/enders right now. I switched leader/ender projects when I was working on the Asian quilt. My bin of 2" cut squares was completely overflowing, and it was time to do something about that. 

So far I've made nine 100 patch blocks, and I have enough strips of ten to make three more blocks. All I can say if that my squares finally fit in the container I use for them. I've cut more yellow, orange and purple squares, but aside from that I'm still working from the original batch. 

If this is what the silverware divider looks like after I've sewn up 1,200 squares (and added back in maybe 200-300), you can imagine how heaped it was before. I plan to keep making hundred patches at least until I get this wedding quilt top assembled. How many blocks will I end up with? Who knows, but I know I won't run out of squares. Looks like I may need more pink though, it's getting pretty low. I'll cut more if I need it. It's easy enough to go to my 2" strip drawers and grab out whatever color I need, because all my strip drawers are also sorted by color. 

I think I might have a couple hundred patches hanging around that I made a couple years ago, when I stop working on these as leaders/enders I'll look around and see if I can find them, then stick them all together. I've got enough blocks made now that I'd consider this a UFO if it doesn't get made into a quilt this year. A lot of the time, when I'm working this scrappy, I'm working with a rough idea of what I want to make, but I don't figure out size or exact layout until I'm tired of making blocks. I have a couple different ideas for a layout, and I'm guessing I'm going to end up with more than one quilt out of the 100 patches. With these I'd rather make two twins than one king-sized quilt, but we'll see. Right now I'm just making blocks, with nothing set in stone. It's kind of nice to work on something with no deadlines while I'm also making progress on the deadline stuff. 

I get about four rows of ten made for the 100 patch blocks while piecing one row of triangles. I have twelve more rows of triangles to make, so 48 more rows of squares will get made, which is almost 5 more 100 patches. I can also piece more squares while sewing the rows of triangles together. After the wedding quilt top is together, I'll see if I want to switch leader/ender projects again or keep making 100 patches. I need to have some fun no deadline stuff going on, and I'm trying to limit those projects to either a different UFO or just sewing up some stuff that's getting out of hand like these squares were. It's all good, progress is progress, and quilts are getting finished, just not all at once. 

Quilty Musings

Do you ever get asked why you quilt? Why do you cut up perfectly good fabric to reassemble it in a different fashion? Have you ever given a quilt to someone who didn't appreciate it? Have you ever given one to someone who cherished it? Do quilts matter?

I'm sure there are a lot of answers to these questions, but this is what I've been pondering this week. I make a lot of quilts, and I give most of them away. I have given quilts to babies, to people celebrating weddings and anniversaries, toddlers moving from crib to big bed, teens who outgrew their kid quilt, people fighting illness or loss, people just to let them know I care, and even complete strangers via various charities. Some of those quilts have been received with tears of joy, others with polite nods. 

I received news this week that a friend of mine passed away. When she was found, she was wrapped in the quilt I gave her several years ago. I know she loved that quilt and used it all the time. I hope it brought her comfort in the end. 

I'm being blessed with three grandchildren within 12 months time. The third of those is due any day. Those babies were touching my quilts soon after birth. As were all the other grandkids I've got. We use quilts to build blanket forts, snuggle and watch movies, keep warm on long car trips. Two of my grandkids won't sleep at a hotel unless they've got one of their quilts with them. 

Do quilts matter? I guess it depends on who you ask. I recently learned of a quilt I had given that had been met with indifference. At the time, it was not appreciated. The things is, circumstances changed, and now that same quilt is cherished. It's not serving the same purpose I made it for, but perhaps, that was never it's true purpose to begin with. Maybe why I thought I made it wasn't why it needed to be made. It was needed to bring comfort now, when life hasn't worked out as expected. 

I guess it's just really hit me that my quilts are being used from cradle to grave. Would a blanket or $20 throw serve the same purpose, maybe, but I'm thinking not. I think a lot of people do appreciate the thought and work that goes into a quilt, the love that makes people spend so much time creating something just for them. 

Worth It

Do you have stages of quilting that you don't really enjoy doing, but you think they are worth it, so you don't avoid it? I have a couple things I avoid doing (yes, I'm talking about you, applique), and other things I've changed the way I do it to like it better (machine sewn binding, anyone?) One thing I don't avoid, because it's worth it, is on point quilt settings.

I've started assembling the Asian-Inspired quilt I was working on. I do not enjoy assembling on point settings, and the fact this one has sashing doesn't make it any easier. Is it worth it? Absolutely! It's coming out just how I imagined, and although it took me using three rulers to cut setting triangles large enough for these huge blocks, it is totally worth it!

I know that assembling on point quilts is not my favorite, and I know when I get the center assembled I'm not going to want to mess with the top anymore until it's time to quilt it. Thankfully, my math skills did not let me down, and I oversized the side triangles and corner triangles enough that the quilt blocks float the amount I was wanting. Now instead of trimming the quilt to add a narrow black border, I can skip that step, and just trim it enough to straighten the edges after it's quilted! Yay for math!

Now that I've confessed I don't like assembling on point settings, is it any wonder that I have several on point quilts that are UFOs? Most of my UFOs are straight set, because I simply make more straight set quilts than on point ones. I've also realized I really don't avoid on point settings, I've finished one on point UFO within the last six months, and assembled another into a quilt top, besides this one! One thing about doing something you don't much like doing, you sure get a sense of satisfaction when that step is done! Now to finish assembling this massive on point quilt :-)

Thrift Stores and Finishes

 When DH and I were on our anniversary getaway, we went to several thrift stores. That's something we often do on vacations, you never know what you'll find. We did far more looking than buying, but I did get a haul of men's shirts.

I bought 45 men's shirt in total, but five of those went to one of my sons. I also bought some misc clothes for other family members. What was once a pile of men's shirts is now a tote of fabric.

One of my grandkids took most of the buttons I cut off for crafts. I really like using men's shirts for quilting because I love working with plaids and stripes. 

I came across the tail end of an online argument against using men's shirts for quilting. I didn't chime in on the argument, but I will state my opinion here. The online argument was not about using clothing to make quilts, or how long quilts made out of used clothing will last, but was about "taking clothes away from poor people who might need those shirts". 

I really had to wonder how many people stating this was a problem had ever been inside a thrift store. American thrift stores are not running out of clothes, in fact, thanks to Marie Kondo and Netflix's Tidying Up show, thrift stores are being overrun with clothes. Most Americans have far more clothes than they realistically need, and there is no shortage of used clothes. 

Secondly, if you look through used men's button-down shirts, you'll realize that most are a poly/cotton blend, so they need less ironing. I'm not buying any poly/cotton blends, leaving most of the men's shirts behind. 

Third, by shopping at a thrift store, I am giving money to a charity, thereby helping someone besides a retail market. 

And lastly, since I donate a lot of my quilts to charities, I'm actually giving to charities twice, once when I buy shirts or fabric, a second time when I donate what I made. 

On to less apparently controversial subjects (up until I saw the online argument I didn't realize using clothes for quilting was controversial), I've had a couple finishes!

This quilt was a UFO, made from bonus HST's from two other projects. The border fabric was simply chosen because it's what I had in stash that matched the center. I used orange thread for the quilting, because, why not use orange?

More exciting that that UFO, is that I finished the quilt for my grandson, due any time now. 

This may be "just a baby quilt", but it was really a stretch for my FMQ abilities. The fabrics I used for the house were pretty plain, and there was so much sky that I wanted to add a lot of detail with the quilting. 

This quilt had me feeling so many emotions about my quilting. I don't consider myself proficient at FMQ. Maybe advanced beginner, intermediate? I've been FMQ for maybe five years now, but I've never taken a class, just used videos, books, and trial and error (lots of error). I still meander on most quilts, because it's fast and I prefer piecing over quilting. I do have a few designs I feel I am proficient at, but it's mostly easy stuff. I still can't do a loop de loop meander, my mind doesn't work that way. I did a loop de loop in the narrow black border, and honestly, it's the best I've done, but I wasn't having to travel multiple directions. 

I quilted ribbon candy in the larger border, and that was my first attempt at quilting that design at all. 

This was the house before it was quite done. I used a ruler to do the straight lines and ditch quilting. I had planned to use a ruler to do the roof shingles but my smallest clamshell ruler was still too big so I free-handed it. My first attempt at quilting a rope design, on the porch pillars, is pretty abysmal. That said, I think the woodgrain on the door came out well, and overall I like the look of the roof. I think the different textures on each section of the house add to the whimsical feel of the flying house. 

I wanted to pebble in the balloon area, and that was MUCH harder than I expected! It was also much more time consuming than I had anticipated. It's pretty messy, I'm not real thrilled with how I did, but it was my first attempt at this, and I still think it was good choice to add roundness to my square balloon area. Hey, from ten feet away on a galloping horse it looks great!

I took this photo as I started working on the sky, which I had saved for last. I was looking forward to quilting the sky, even though I knew what I wanted was some intense quilting.

I didn't want to add any more quilting where the balloon strings were, but I wanted to add some clouds and wind to the sky. I switched to a matching thread color for the sky, where I used the same gray for everything else. 

Yes, the inspiration photo I used for the quilting idea in the sky is better than this, but I was really amazed that I could even come close to what I wanted. It was one of those, "I did that?" moments. I am very happy with how the sky came out, and what started out as the most boring area of the quilt now has lots of movement. 

I still think my backing idea is pretty funny, and that I haven't shown DD#2 yet. She has seen photos of the front, but I never showed her the back. She won't see the quilt until it's time for baby, so we'll see what she thinks. As for what the baby thinks? He won't care!

Anniversary Getaway

Last week was our 35th wedding anniversary. To celebrate we took a trip to northern Arizona.

We went to see Grand Falls, which only runs seasonally. It's running right now due to snowmelt from the mountains. I'm guessing it also runs during monsoon season. The water is very muddy due to it only being runoff. To give you an idea of scale, look at the upper righthand corner. That's a building for shade up there, and it's tiny in this. These are big waterfalls. 

We also went to Bearizona, which is a drive thru/walk thru zoo showcasing North American animals. I LOVED Bearizona. Bears are my favorite animals, and although they have a lot more than bears there, I did get to see plenty of bears. 

This good looking guy was right outside my car window. 

A couple juvenile bears were play fighting on DH's side of the car.

There were mountain goats...

...and BigHorn sheep.

Deer,

Bison,

even wolves.

The jaguar was gorgeous. There are wild ones not far from here.

This is a javelina, which I sometimes see on our street. It's not a pig, it's a type of peccary. 

We saw a turkey showing off.

Some goats in the petting zoo portion.

I have a lot more photos of animals, but I'll stop now. I laughed at the beaver exhibit. They had to put metal shields around the trees to keep the beavers from cutting them all down. There were plenty of logs in there for them to chew on, but I understand them not wanting the beavers to take away their shade. 

I really appreciated the fact that over half of their animals were rescues, and they have plans to take in more rescues. 

Northern Arizona is a beautiful area, you get views like these.

We even saw some practical advice

So, last week was not a sewing week, but I had a blast spending time with DH.