Despite the fact that my Prism bee quilt was already on my Finish-Along list for this quarter, I've actually had it in my head that I needed to get this one done before I start with another "queen bee" project. It just so happens that this meets that just-in-the-nick-of time deadline for both... it is my turn again already in July/August with my Summer Smoothie Block and the FAL quarter ends in June! Talk about killing two birds with one stone?!?
It all started with a jeweled color palette inspiration that I just coulnd't get out of my head... you may remember my Jeweled Kaleidoscope quilt and this improv project? While I was waiting for my busy bee members to finish thier blocks, other quilts just "skipped line". When you pack away a project
for too long, then there is a real danger that something else moves up on the to-do list.
This quilt really only really started to make sense to me when I started grouping the diamonds together by color... it was quite a challenge since I hadn't planned it this way, otherwise I would have given my bee members different instructions. Once
I had re-arranged, there were a couple of blocks that had to move to the back, but I really
like the single "flower" shape that came of it. I kept it simple and did straight line quilting echoing some of the lines within the design.
Quilt: Pattern: Prism from Brigitte Heitland for Zen Chic (free quilt pattern)
Started: June 2016
Fabrics: various prints in jewel colors, low volume fabrics
Finished quilt size: ca. 62" x 62" in. (ca. 160 x 160 cm)
Thank you @blockmquilts @iloveneutrals @machenundtun @mellmeyer @qvilted @venivedivicky for all your lovely blocks that went into making this quilt!
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Since I only have just one finish from my FAL list, pretty much everything goes back on the list. Hey, better one finish than none, right?
AMH Quilt – basted, partially quilted, but I took the stitches out. My second
quilting attempt wasn't a hit either, so I will most
likely invite my good friend, Mr. Seam Ripper, to the party, and hope that the
third time is the charm. These were my very first quilting blocks, and needless
to say it makes straight line
quilting a little difficult.
My third quilt pattern top is FINISHED, which
I’m pretty excited about since it was my pre-packed, take-it-with-you basket project.
The back is partially pieced, and this has moved up to a top spot on my
priority list.
My fourth quilt pattern top is ALMOST finished... just two side borders for a flimsy finish. This is another high on the list project as well as pattern writing. I consider it an accomplishment since I only started it last quarter, and the quilt is pretty heavy on applique.
My Patchwork Treffen group has a small little trip planned this fall to go to Denmark for a quilting weekend. As far as projects go, it really takes a lot of planning to have enough to do, even though at such get-togethers you never accomplish as much as you think you can. Seeing as how I can't take my sewing room with me, I really want to make sure that I carefully plan all my projects because there's no going to the favorite stack for a forgotten snippit.
As far as my my quarterly goals list goes, my bee quilt has not exactly taken top priority since I am working on my second and third patterns right now. But it is actually the perfect kind of project to put together when we are snuggled up in a cozy cabin, sewing machines humming, and chattering happily away.
I have to admit that at first I really struggled with this layout. With so many shades and tones, when I first laid this out randomly, it really wasn't coming together as I had envisioned. At some point I had the idea to cluster the diamond points according to color. Once I shifted blocks a bit, I knew it was my "that's it" moment.
Sometimes you just need a sew-without-thinking project, and I would say that this will be a perfect snuggle up on the couch, and pull the papers out after a long day of sewing... don't you think? But you'll have to wait until after the trip to see this one put together.
Any sewing retreat/quilting group stories to tell? Any unfortunate forgotten snippit tales?
Linking up this week to Let's Bee Social.
When I said that I was doing a lot of secret sewing, I really wasn't kidding!?! My Jeweled Mystery quilt top is almost finished and will go out soon to be longarm quilted - my first quilt to be finished by someone else! If you don't know Iva's work, then you really need to check her out here... just amazing!
Well, now that the cat's out of the bag that I'm working on writing quilt patterns, I can let you in on a few behind the scenes in the works. The
second pattern that I am working on really is a little bit of everything -
traditional piecing, paper piecing, applique, and curved piecing... is
there anything that I left out?!?
... and what's a good quilt block without a little bit of mini cuteness in the mix? 1 1/2 inch HST cuteness to be exact.
It's
been fun for me to explore a variety of time saving techniques to make
things come together faster... like this great HST tutorial that I
found on Pinterest... why re-invent the wheel, right?
Hmm... trimming HST's in not exactly my favorite part, but a necessary evil that now matter how hard you try, you just can't get around.
Aside from our move, our big guy starts school this Saturday, and we have been enjoying the relaxed, off-schedule summer days. Despite the slow pace of things, I'm sooo ready to make it back to my sewing room!
Linking up to Let's Bee Social.
Before our recent move, I was actually able to make significant progress on two secret projects that I've been hinting at for way too long... I'm in the process of writing my own quilting patterns! Since it is such a lengthy process not only to write the pattern, but also make a sample quilt, it's been hard keeping it under wraps... week after week making lots of progress, but nothing to show!
If you have seen very many of my quilts, you may have noticed a little addition here that doesn't usually pop up in the rest of my projects, and is definitely not a staple in my fabric stash. Somehow I felt like that this quilt just needed to have grey in it! So, am I the only one who chain pieces paper pieced patterns?
... but behind
the scenes, this quilt top is getting close to being finished! The first
pattern will of course be a paper pieced pattern with some applique... what else, right? Somehow I'm
just not ready to step away from my jewel colors, and this palette has
made it back up on my design wall once again.
There's no offiical release date lurking around the corner, and I even hesitated about letting the cat out of the bag too early. There are still a few boxes in random corners throughout the house waiting to be unpacked, and our big guy starts school this next month (!?!), so needless to say, my plate is pretty full. Are you working on any summer sewing projects?
Linking up to Let's Bee Social.
If you've followed me on any of my quilting journeys you know that color is my favorite part of the quilting process and feels easy to me, while the actual quilting part is what I struggle with the most. Since my Jeweled Improv Mini is my first improv project, I really was a little clueless where to even start quilting. Sometimes balanced designs give you little hints, but
there's nothing symmetrical here!
Somehow the obvious choice seemed to be to shadow the points: Obvious, but perhaps a little too obvious... predictable was not what I wanted on an improv project. Instead I really wanted to challenge and push myself, not to mention avoid the downside of having several points that would have to be backstitched since this gal doesn't bury threads!
In the end, I actually did let the design dictate the quilting to me. I started by making the white open V at the bottom of the quilt my starting point, and filled it in. Once the radiated V was in place, I changed the direction of the quilting lines into an L shape on both sides.
I really wanted to use my variegated threads that I had purchased a while back (with no particular project in mind), but I decided that to use it all over might be too much and take away from the overall design. I used a white Auriful thread for the main quilting, and simply accented a few random points, which I think continues with the improv style.
This past Saturday was the first HH Patchwork Treffen with my girls since we've moved, and my first time back at the sewing machine in three weeks!?! Let's just say that it was a much needed sewing time, and I'm super excited to have my first project checked off my Q3 Finish-A-Long list!
Linking up this week to Let's Bee Social.
It's no secret that I've become a huge fan of paper piecing since the very first stitch... but what I'm not a big fan of is the amount of seemingly still good and usable scraps that can be produced throughout the process.
I really wish that I could make grandiose claims of being a good little quilter that uses every last little delicious bit, scrap, and snippit that one creates when cutting up fabric only to sew it back together again... but I have to admit that large amounts of scraps overwhelm me, and in a big way! No worries, I don't throw away every little snippit that happens to fall to the floor, but the reality of it is that if it's too small then it lands in the trash before it lands in the scrap bin.
After finishing a few of my bee blocks, I realized that I had too many great scraps to just scrap (pun intended!) So, I decided that it was time for me to try out an improv project. I made up several long, wonky half square triangles and played around with a few design layouts.
This is the design that I finally settled on, and I kind of like how it's come together. It's not a highly improv piece, but improv enough for me. I have a few more projects and techniques to get out of my system first before I jump in with both feet.
How do you use your leftover bits and pieces? Do you save every little scrap or are you able to let the teeny tidbits go?
Linking up to Let's Bee Social and Sew Cute Tuesday and Scraptastic Tuesday.
I can hardly belive that it's my turn to be the queen bee in our quilting bee, and it couldn't come at a more perfect time.... just before our move! Even as early as February, I have been thinking about what block I would like for my bee quilt. I ended up "auditioning" three possible blocks, but was not really sure if I wanted to impose curved piecing or a 100 piece paper pieced block on my other bee members. The most likely candidate, the Churnstile block from Stitchery Dickory Dock, was top of the list, but after I had made a few blocks, I realized that I had very specific ideas about the direction I wanted to go with the colors.
I knew that I wanted to do paper piecing because... well, I just love the accuracy of it, but I had used up all my other free pattern ideas. So, I decided to search some other quilting bees to get some inspiration. When I first saw this block, I was a quite puzzled. Hmmm.... very simple and it really did nothing for me.
... that is until I saw the blocks put together! I thought ahhh... now I see it - wow, what a fantastic design! There are several versions of this block out there, but I used Zen Chic's free pattern Prism, and printed it at only 85% (the original is huge!)
So, you might now recognize that pretty little stack of jewel tone fabrics that I shared last week... here they are again, all cut up and worked in with some colored low volumes. This is not my only project planned with this palette!
... and now I get to sit back and enjoy while all my busy bee members do the rest of the work for me ; )
Linking up this week to Let's Bee Social and Sew Cute Tuesday.
What's your favorite part of the quilting process? For me, hands down it's pulling fabrics for a new project. I've always been drawn to intriguing patterns and strong colors, and thinking about how fabrics might mix, match, and compliment each other... well, you just can't get any better than that in my book!
I've had this vibrant little stack of fabric in my head now for months! I've always loved a rich jewel tone palette, and once I had seen this quilt, I knew I had to embrace it. Of course, I had to go pretty heavy on the green tones. Let's just say that you will be seeing a lot of these snippits sewn into several upcoming projects!
Without giving everything away, let me just say that these are the colors that I've picked for my bee blocks, which is one of my four secret projects in the works right now. I won't be able to hold it much longer, and get to share next week!
if you're thinking right now... yeah, yeah, nice fabric stack, but show me something made with these jewels, then I'm afraid all I can leave you with is a small side project that I will tell more about later... it really has it's own story too.
Linking up this week to Let's Bee Social.
