It's July! ~ June Quilt Show and Tell

It's July! The year is half over but summer has just begun. [Finally.]

On the quilting home front, first up, Lori's Stringalong Project. I didn't get as much accomplished as I'd hoped but I am very happy with what I have so far.

Here is the pieced section on my bed, so you can see scale and layout.

I was rescued from my setting dither by blog friend Penny, who very kindly did a layout for me in Electric Quilt 7.

I was stymied because I have very limited sashing and corner fabric and could not allow myself a cutting experiment/ error. With Penny's invaluable help, I could print out diagrams and make notes for exact cutting amounts and for the always boggling diagonal piecing structure.

My stack of blocks might have sadly languished in their box without the diagrams.

Once I cut the sashings I could then cut the setting triangles. Penny also kindly included cutting measurements but I wanted the big triangles to have their long sides on straight grain, therefore needed to cut a large square into fourths, and I'd need 3 [12] of them?

I spent a somewhat fun evening [in my imagination, I don't even recall who the guys was!] thanking my old middle school geometry/ algebra?  teacher for imparting the basics: a x a + b x b = c x c [''a squared plus b squared equals c squared'', my keyboard won't write this.]; so the square is cut the square root of c.---or 19"-ish. Aren't we so glad we paid attention back then! And we told our parents math was a waste of time, "I'll never use it!"

So here I am , hoping for some rainy days to continue piecing.

I still love my Baskets but in a way I feel that they are soooo simple that they in some ways evade the fun challenge of strings. I can't lift the photos from FB and Pinterest but some of the antique string quilts that Lori has featured for inspiration are fabulously creative and intricate. Something to mull over.

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Bitty is a small someday/ maybe/ future ''heirloom'' [how outdated and dumb of me] baby quilt that many of you have watched me work on for 2, 3 years now.

She was unfolded and taken to the beach yesterday. Of course my Frixion pen wouldn't work in the hot sun.

I was slightly dismayed that the project is not, as I thought, half done. Maybe 1/3 done. But I do have all summer. [The fabrics are white ground, not ivory.]

I do love the texture of the handquilting.

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Year in the Country: June / Rooster is finished. 

So cute! I modeled him on a picture of a breed called Grey Lace Orpington, I love the name! But Orpingtons are usually blond, who knew? Truly he is an all-American Plymouth Rock, I think. HERE

The hollyhocks will all get yellow french knot centers after it's quilted, and button eye removed then replaced. I always have to tack on the eyes so the birds come alive!

This is the only block that did not have the name embroidered on it. So I added it, Rooster wanted recognition.. Not in the photo, he fell on the floor, lol, but I found a little orange plastic piggy on the beach. He will maybe get attached in the end too, it's a farmyard, needs a pig.

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At the church flea on Friday I found this toile valance, $2.oo.

It has really cute, sharply rendered scenes. Part of the reason Hideous was set aside is that it features a purple toile and I've used up all the scenes; what's left is repeats. I was thinking the rest of the blocks can have black toile, or if I find purple dye I may try overdying it.

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Back home: Does anyone know what this is growing in my zinnia pot? Mel? Is it an herb or a weed?

And from Kit, more tea party garden art. Kit has teacup flowers! Aren't they adorable.

Many thanks to those who have asked about Mo and his knee.

He seems fine, he likes his supplement; he is struggling with the sudden heat but that's another issue. I find he loves burbling water, he even likes me to drizzle his water from a bottle so he can lap it as it falls. He may find it hard to breathe when he drinks as his flat face makes his nose submerge at times. I plan to look for a water fountain for him, though he prefers to have ice in his drinks, not sure how that'll work, hahaha.

This was last night, I was getting ready for bed and when I came back from brushing my teeth, I found this! Look at that face, those puppy dog eyes! ''Mommy, you can sleep over there."  He had NO trouble at all jumping up and making himself at home on my side of the bed, on my pillows. "Were you reading my Kindle, Mo!"

Have a wonderful July! Stay cool, but enjoy the warmth and freedom too.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach..............

Link to Lori's blog, for everyone else's string quilts: Humble Quilts

A Winter's Work ~ Spring Finishes

Hello, friends---Welcome to June.

May has seen three big quilt finishes for me . I have to say I was super-proud yesterday when I sewed the final stitch in La Grande Sajou's binding!

This was a ''little'' quilt, Humble Quilt's Fall project, inspired by the Parisienne shop known as Sajou. I think we chose that first center block in early October.

I chose a rose from a red Provencal print--it was all I had that seemed to work. That choice set the stage for my entire "French inspired'' medallion* quilt.

 I say French though maybe  that is only in my imagination,lol.

Many of the gorgeous reds I hunted down online are from American Jane. Who knew they made provencal prints as well as cutesy Americana kids' prints.

The final border is a hand blocked French border strip, found on etsy. It was added after the quilt was quilted because as we well know raw quilted edges often need a lot of straightening and squaring.

The binding also AJ, had to be attached in stages, first just to the hand-blocked border which had waves and curves due to its handmade process. The corners were carefully matched and mitered. Then the binding was sewed again through the back and batting etc. This was all somewhat time consuming.

The backing is a beautiful small tablecloth, thin batiste, that my mother cherished and gave me. Despite its pastel effect its hand blocked design was inspirational in my color choices.

The edge is a pink and white sprig, with picotage , tiny dots.

My quilter did a wonderful job of centering the tablecloth and doing a subtle holly leaf quilting as I requested.

I had worried about all the reds fading/ running.

Here is the quilt in its Retayne bath, scary!

No red showed in the water, but these are the Color Catchers, just a faint pinkness from its final wash and fluff. What a relief.

That final stage ---the wash n fluff is nerve-racking, isn't it!

*What I admire most about Lori's projects: they make me think and grow as a quilter, they inspire me to try new things. On my own I would never make a medallion quilt, don't like them! And despite my mom's influence, her love of French fabrics, using them in a quilt is not something I'd have done without this project's challenge and inspiration.This is the hallmark of a great teacher, I believe. Thank you, Lori!

Begun October 2018-finished June 1 2019.

(I was so proud yesterday. I showed my son! I got the lip curl and eye roll: "It's really, um, red, mom." )

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Another just-finished quilt: TQC 1880 Sampler.

1 block [or more] per week from January 2018 to end of September 2018, about 36 blocks; I set it side then for a winter put-together. A FB groups friend helped me with the oddball setting. Yes it's triangles, not set in rectangles.

I love it!

I wish maybe I hadn't used up my chrome yellows for the back though. What a waste, what was I thinking. It looks good to me but the fabrics can't be replaced and are unusually bright yet authentic to the 1800s date. btw The yellow backings did run, both in the Retayne bath and in the wash/ Color Catchers. I find yellow to be very unstable, worse than red sometimes.

This quilt is square, the wind blew it crooked. Really.

 As I searched for the right mottled black setting fabric, despite having ordered the one TQC suggested, more of  tan, I was surprised to find these similar vermicelli or seaweed choices in my antique fabric collection. The look must have been popular! Bet it hid a lot of dirt.

Pink borders and self-bindings, a hallmark of TQC style.

 

Begun January 2018, completed May 2019.
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And since I had leftover blocks, I made this little doll quilt.

Red lucky horseshoes and green apron backing.

Too cute, my new fave.

Begun April 2019, completed May 2019.

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> I want to mention that NONE of these quilts is a ''SCRAP" quilt. I chose each and every fabric from my stash or ordered them especially.

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Happy days for me, I feel like my winter was a success even though the two big projects I had planned [Silent Night and the two Antebellum Schoolgirl projects, Hideous and Best Friends in Blue] were entirely neglected. If we get some rainy days I will piece the final 11 stars for Silent Night, so I can applique the tiny village one the bottom border this summer. And OMG, I have to make t-shirt quilt.

I'm hoping for a busy and fun summer, aren't you? As always, my Mo supervises intently.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach.....


Not meaning to be insensitive to others' weather related woes, but I do love a good storm. We had some big thunder and wind last night, not so much rain. Mo is like, Yawn, but the whole house shook. Hard.