CHQuilts

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

My design wall


I now have a design wall, a do-it-yourself portable, but functional design wall.

As noted in a prior post, I wanted to make The Quilt Show cohost Ricky Tims’ Kool Kaleidoscope quilt. The pattern for this project is available at the above link.

The design requires simple shapes cut out of fabrics sewn together into several strata, and put together again like the pieces of a puzzle. I almost gave up on the project when Ricky said a design wall was a necessity. But then I started thinking about how I might remedy this problem.

I thought about where I could mount a hunk of batting for a makeshift design wall. I have such a small area – a breakfast nook off the kitchen – which I have designated as my sewing space.

Alas, I have just finished my DIY design wall. When I’m not using it, I can fold it and put it away. I’m sure I can even store fabric pieces on it. I tried it out with some orphan quilt blocks from my last project. It works great!

Sometimes solving problems is so simple, if you just take a minute to think them through. This was one of those times. I stapled some extra quilt batting to a cardboard cutting board. Fabric pieces stick to the batting so blocks or shapes can be auditioned and/or rearranged there before being sewn together. 

I've had this board for years. It may have been something I bought when I began quilting, though I’m not sure why. Or it may have been something I used for blocking crochet blocks for afghans long before I started quilting. Either way, it has been around for a long time and has rarely been used. I’m glad I finally found a good way to use it.  

I hope to start on my quilting project very soon. I’ll be anxious to share my progress.

Sunday, September 12, 2021

Bigger isn't always better

CHQuilts: my quilting space with friends
When my husband John and I retired, we downsized from a five-bedroom house. While I miss the square footage, I don’t miss the upkeep. That was the place however, where I made my first two quilts. The funny thing is, I didn’t have a quilt studio then either. It was just a room with a table and a sewing machine.

I was a beginning quilter, so I had no fabric stash, and just one quilting ruler that came with a kit of sorts with a rotary cutter and cutting mat. I did have a quilting book or two and was starting to collect quilting magazines. Still, I had no idea how much fun it would be to collect all the goodies we quilters swear we can’t live without. It was, after all, the early 1990’s. I had no idea what I was doing. I only knew I wanted to do more of it. Those days were way before I ever considered turning my spare room into a quilting studio.

I realize now what a treasure that little room at the top of the stairs could have become. But alas, that was then. This is now. I do all of my work, with a few exceptions, at a small breakfast counter just steps away from my kitchen. I have divided the space into two main areas; the left side is for cutting/pressing and the right is for sewing. What more could a girl need?

I really can’t complain. My space may be small, but it is mighty. Every quilt I’ve made in the last 16 years since we moved to our little house in the woods in the Arkansas Ozarks has been done in this space. I’ve free-motion quilted several huge quilts and put together several quilt-as-you-go projects. Both of these require maneuvering bed-size quilts in my tiny space.

No doubt I am envious of the beautiful quilt studios I’ve seen in magazines, or online which resemble quilt shops I’ve visited over the years. But, I’ve made this work. It is all doable, as long as I follow the guidelines I’ve laid out for myself.

Rarely can I work on more than one project at a time, unless they are small projects. But that fits into my philosophy of finishing what I start. I like working on a project to completion.

In the near future I want to make The Quilt Show’s Ricky Tims’ Kool Kaleidoscope quilt – there will be more on that when I get into it. But suffice it to say it will require that I have some kind of design wall. For non-quilters, a design wall is a designated area, often covered with batting or felt, where quilt blocks or other elements of a project can be placed for review. Fabric can be placed upon the wall and it will generally stick without having to use pins. It can be viewed so as to check for color, placement, or layout. It offers a distant perspective that is next to impossible any other way. Many quilters consider a design wall to be mandatory.

For this specific project, it will be necessary to create a design using many small pieces that fit together like a puzzle. Without it, this project might not be doable. I currently have no space for a design wall. I can pin some batting onto one of the small walls on either side of my space, but it is hardly big enough. I suppose I could cover my window with batting and use that, but I like my huge picture window overlooking the backyard and the woods behind. I also like the natural light from that south window.

I have been thinking about ways to solve this problem. I think I have one. I have a folded cardboard cutting board (for scissors, not a rotary cutter) that I could cover with batting. It is about 3 feet by 6 ft., so it would serve my purpose. And, it could be folded up and stored when not in use. The more I think about it, the more I think this might be my next project.

Because my space is so small, the only way I can make it functional is to keep it organized. I don’t think quilters set out to be messy, but it is almost impossible not to be. While I haven’t quite gotten to the point of throwing things over my shoulder and onto the floor, Eleanor Burns style, there are always scraps of fabric, threads, pins, pin cushion, scissors, needles, a seam ripper, extra bobbins, spools of thread, templates, rulers, as well as fabric that needs to be put away, to name some of what quiltmakers need. My space requirements just dictate that I have to clean up my mess before I start something.

Fortunately, I rather like the cleaning up and organizing my precious ‘stuff.’ I consider it a part of ‘quilting.’ It is a project all its own, that is almost as satisfying as quilting itself. It is positively mindless, which makes for good therapy. When my mind isn’t wandering, I’m listening to music or an audible book on my earbuds. Either way, I’m in another world, one where there is no pressure or pain, no drama, no obligation. It is freedom! What could be better?

At the same time, sorting scraps of fabric into squares and strips, often times by color is a way to keep things neat. Big pieces are put into a basket—I have baskets for everything—and scraps that are too small are either thrown away or kept for applique projects. I am not quite as organized as I’d like to be in this area, at least not yet. Maybe someday…Usually, I just discard small pieces because I really don’t have the room to keep them. I have to say though; it is painful to throw them away. I dearly love fabric, even little pieces of it. When I’m done with a project, I sweep all the scraps that aren’t big enough to sort, into a brown paper grocery bag. When it is full I will make the painful decision to finally toss it into the trash. Until then however, I can always rummage through it to see if there is anything I’d like to keep. Saving tiny scraps that way postpones the inevitable, but because it takes so long to fill up the bag, I might have a better solution before that happens.

My quilting space may never be a feature in a magazine, but it will suffice because where there is a will, there is a way. Oh, and bigger is not always better.

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Is it time to make a traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden?

 
Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt I have been thinking I'd like to make a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt, but I wasn't sure I was ready for all the work involved. I've never done English Paper Piecing (EPP) before. Was I ready for all the work this would be? It is really an ambitious project. Heck, I didn't even know if I would like this technique.
 
I've done paper piecing before, but this was very different. The only real similarity between the two techniques, is that both require removing the paper in the final project.  
 
With EPP, the paper is a simple template that determines the shape of the fabric piece. Once pieces are constructed, they are sewn together, often by hand. With paper piecing, the paper is a portion of a shape, which determines where fabric is cut and sewn together on the sewing machine to form intricate designs.
 
Even after quilting for more than 20 years, I still consider myself a newbie, likely because there seems to be an endless supply of skills and techniques I have yet to learn. So, when in doubt, make a table topper. I love table toppers because they are just the ticket for practicing new skills.
CHQuilts:Hexi sample
I find I am attracted to hand-sewing. I love that zen feeling that comes over me when I'm stitching. So, I bought a set of templates that included a couple different sizes of hexagons, watched a few YouTube videos, and decided to tackle this new task. 
 
I Googled 1" hexagon shapes and found a downloadable sheet of 8.5" x 11" hexi shapes. I printed a couple pages onto freezer paper sheets. I simply, but carefully, cut them out. Because the shapes can be reused a couple times, I am now well-stocked with papers.

I liked the glue stick method, rather than basting the fabric around the template.  I also like to press them to make them really crisp and easy to sew together. I admit that makes it a little more difficult to get the papers out, but I can always print and cut out more if I need to.

I decided to make a couple of "flowers" using 1" hexis out of one of my favorite fabrics, a paisley print that for some odd reason I've never been able to use in any other project. I have often picked it out to use in a pinkish quilt, but it just never quite fit. The fabric always read "peach."
 
No worries though; I decided that it didn't really matter with the sampler project I was planning to use for my EPP practice piece.
 
Hah, no matter how I try to tell myself colors don't matter, I just can't fool myself. Colors will always matter. But, I decided to play a little trick on my own eyes and everybody else's, by adding bubble gum pink fabric as a background color. It worked too. No one would ever mistake this as too peach-colored.
 
This is a trick I learned when I was putting tile down in our old house. I bought some pink tile that ended up looking very peachy. I was really disappointed when I got it home. But, I put it on the floor and painted a burgundy accent wall and wallpaper with tiny pink flowers. The peach vanished. These tiles were pink!
 
I have finished this project and am pretty happy with how it turned out. I hand-quilted it just for fun and I really like it.
 
All-in-all, I decided that I like English Paper Piecing. I'd like to do And, I like hexagons. I like hand-sewing. I'm just still not sure I want to make a whole quilt with them. Maybe if I used bigger hexis, or a less than traditional pattern than the typical Grandmother's Flower Garden. The jury is still out. 

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

I just love, love, love this quilt


This morning I woke up feeling proud, accomplished, and satisfied. Last night at 9 p.m., I knotted my thread, cut it, and let out a sign. I finished hand sewing the binding to the back. After 18 months, I finished my quilt.

This one was my favorite—no really. I know I say that each time I work on a quilt, but this one is special. This one challenged me. This one honed skills I didn’t have when I began more than 18 months ago. This one has certainly beefed up my quilting resume.

My only disappointment, and that may be too strong a word since I’m elated with this quilt, is that it wasn’t my own design. I’m not sure why I’m stuck on that element, because I only choose to make quilts from patterns I love and want to complete, but creating my own design is the one thing I want to master. I want to sit down with graph paper and colored pencils, or at the computer keyboard and let my imagination run wild.

I’m not sure this will ever happen. After all, every quilt I make since my first quilt was complete in 2003, is uniquely my own, always one of a kind; it is similar to others, but always different. Despite all the people who have sewn this quilt commonly known as Afternoon Delight, no one has this one. The pattern, designed by the late Sue Garman, will have been made by hundreds, and perhaps even tens of thousands of people. Mine is but one of those, but still, this one is all mine. Though it was Garman’s pattern, I collected all the fabrics. I picked the the colors. I decided on the quilting designs. And, of course, I did all the cutting, piecing, hand applique, and quilting.

I have no way of knowing if I will ever achieve this element of my quilting journey—designing my own quilt. I’ve modified existing designs, which could qualify as making them my own, but in my mind, it isn’t quite the same. I hope I can someday achieve designing, but who knows. If I never do, that is OK too because I love quilting. I love every quilt I’ve ever made.

And the list is long for those I still want to make—traditional patterns—like Grandmother’s Flower Garden, Double Wedding Ring, and so many more. I plan to stay busy as long as my fingers still function and my eyes still see, despite a growing difficulty.

I’d have to go pretty far though to love a quilt as much as this one. I loved making this one. I’m enamored with this quilt. It turned out so much better than I imagined.

Finishing a quilt is always joyful, but this one has taken my breath away. I’ve loved every stitch.

Monday, February 22, 2021

Joy of the finish!

In this case, the finish is my latest quilt top; it is not quite a completed quilt, but to me, it is epic all the same. Once it is quilted and a completed quilt, I have no doubt it will be my favorite.

No, really. I know; I always say that about each project, as my friend Nancy points out to me with every quilt I make and deem my favorite, but this is different. I love everything about this quilt. I loved making it. I’m crazy about the varied fabrics, need for precision, and wide range of colors. But mostly, I am so grateful for all that it has taught me.

To be honest, if I would have seen this quilt in a magazine ten years ago, I probably would have thought it amazing, but would have kept on turning pages. I would not have decided to make it back then. I would have thought it to be too busy, too colorful, and just not to my liking. In my early days of quilt making, which actually pre-dates those ten-years by about double, I liked to make simple, almost Amish quilt designs. I leaned toward mono-chromatic color schemes. Admittedly, I may have been afraid of too many colors. I had little experience with applique and was not very good at it. So, I wouldn’t have had an interest in making this quilt years ago.

That was then; this is now.

Quilting has been a huge learning experience for me, with each project presenting its own unique challenges. I have always loved a challenge. Whether a new project presented a new design, colors, patterns, or skills, each quilt I have made has taught me something. Each one makes me a better quilter. And yet, there is still so much to learn, so many quilts I’ve yet to make.

In short, I grew into this one. This pattern was “The Quilt Show” 2020 Block of the Month, called “Afternoon Delight.” It was designed by the late Sue Garman. Her directions were impeccable and easy to follow.

This quilt top took about a year. All of the applique was done by hand. I learned to love needle-turn applique. I tried all kinds of different processes for preparing the pieces for applique. I’ve found that the best one for me is simply needle-turn, where the needle is used to turn the fabric under so it can be stitched to a background fabric or other piece.

This was a scrappy quilt, using fabrics I already had. The fabric and colors were of my own choosing, although a kit with the pattern and fabrics was available. I bought some new fabric as well. This project is retired now and no longer available on “The Quilt Show” website but it can be purchased elsewhere.

This quilt taught me to love a variety of colors. I no longer think this quilt has too many. I now wonder if there is such a thing as too many colors. This quilt compliments my sunshiny yellow walls and would do the same for any decor, since it includes a rainbow of colors.

In addition, I believe this is the first quilt I’ve ever made that is actually large enough to fit over the pillows and drapes over the sides of the bed.

Now, the only thing I have to decide is if I want to machine- or hand-quilt this quilt. I’m leaning toward hand-quilting. I believe less is desired, given the complexity of the design. We’ll see.