Wonky Log Cabin Style blocks

I have all these stupid really nice shirts that have been cut up for two, count them TWO, quilts already.  They are in boxes ready to go to retreat and get sewn together.  But I STILL have all these shirt pieces and the pile doesn't seem to be going down any bit.  Why doesn't my favorite $14 a yard material do that?

So yesterday I decided to test a few log cabin like blocks with the bits and pieces.  Nice.

I made more today.  Sixteen more in fact.  I do need two additional ones but I think i can do those tomorrow.

Too dark

Too light

I wanted to see what kind of background would look good.  So I got out several and made my choice.  I am thinking to set them wonky like, but I may work out some shadows.  I keep seeing the blocks in my head with shadows.  (I keep seeing the block in shadows in my head)  Hmmm.  Oh, In my head, I keep seeing the block with shadows....that's the correct grammar!  LOL.

I think I can work this out.

  This orangy yellow was perfect!

   

Just right

                      Does this look like a shadow to you?  I want it to look          
                                        like it is floating!

Shadow?

glen

The story of my BOM blocks for Basics

Well, you know you will get a story when you talk to me!  I set about to create some green blocks for the BOM Basics stuff.  I thought, hmmmm, my block was the Jar so I will make  one of those.  In all the many many many years I have been sewing and quilting, I have never made such a horribly bad block.

Yes, it was so bad that I actually tossed it! I have resisted digging it out of the trash but since the trash goes out tonight if I can just stay away for a little longer..........

Anyway.  Nothing was working.  Nothing.  It was too small, it was poor workmanship, it wouldn't lie flat.  It was truly a mess.  So it is staying in the trash ......  for now.

And I made another really nice jar block.

So I thought I would make a few more.  Something different now.  Hey, I like that churn dash thing where you make TWO at ONCE!  Right up my alley.  Yeah, buddy.  Up my alley.

So I dug into the made fabric bin and dragged out an approximately 14 inch square of fabric and set out to add a really vintage piece of green I got from my Aunt's stash when she died.  Well, wouldn't you know the stupid blocks weren't large enough.  Aughh.

I had to add to the edges of both blocks.  Now how can that really be happening to me?  I think they are cute, and interesting, and they do have that vintage fabric and all.......so I am going to send them.  I made them bigger.  I figured "made blocks" with "made fabric" would work.

See my cute shoes?  These are the best shoes, they make my feet look sexy!  Like someone else's feet and not mine!

glen

BOM - Bug Jar!

Back here at the tail end of the middle of the group, there have been some really great and fabulous blocks already done. Some were even blocks that I had hoped to post as my month! I guess getting in line to be first can be a good thing sometimes! LOL.


But I think I found something really exciting. I am a total insomniac. I stay awake for a long long long time every night after everyone else has gone to bed. I have three dogs snoring softly (some NOT so softly) and I can hear Frank snoring from all the way out in the living room with the TV going! I watch a lot of late night TV and cruise the quilt sites on my iPad until about 2 or 3 AM every night.

One of my favorite blocks has always been the Bug Jar. I have collected fabrics to make a Jar Quilt for a long time but have never really made one. Maybe this will turn the corner on that idea today!

I thought we could make a Fabric Jar Block. I envision a quilt with jars of different colors – one red scraps, one blue scraps, a yellow and a green jar. An orange sitting on one corner and a tall purple one in the middle maybe.

Wouldn’t it be cool to have a whole shelf unit full of different sized jars of fabric? Way cool. You can have mixed up colors of the rainbow in each jar and maybe different sizes of jars of multicolored scraps. You can dream in rainbows! If you can sleep!

Here is how to make a bug jar. I will show you some variations as well and you can get creative from there.

You need a background fabric. And a lid fabric. The coolest lids I have seen are from stripes so find a nice stripe scrap for your lid. And of course your made fabric.

For a 12 inch finished block this will measure 12.5 inches unfinished. Oh, just for reference .125 is 1/8 inch and .825 is 7/8 inch.

Cut:

8.5 x 8.5 of jar contents – this is your made fabric

1.75 x 5.5 – this is your striped fabric lid

Background – 2.5 x 12.5 block top

                      1.25 x 12.5 block bottom
               Two 2.5 x 8.5 block sides
               Two 1.75 x 4 lid sides
               Four 1.5 x 1.5 squares for jar corners

You can make a 6.5 inch jar block by cutting the following:

4.5 x 4.5 jar contents

1.125 x 3 – striped cap fabric
Background – 1.5 x 6.5 block top
                      .825 x 6.5 block bottom
              Two 1.5 x 4.5 block sides
              Two 1.125 x 2.25 lid sides
              Four 1 x 1 squares for jar corners

                                                            To assemble:

1. Get your bug jar square made fabric. Mark a diagonal line on your four jar background corners. Place the background fabric corner squares on the four corners of the bug jar square and sew on the diagonal (actually just to the outside of the line). Press toward the outside and trim the excess from the back of the jar. This makes the jar corners.

2. Sew the background jar sides to the sides of the jar piece.

3. Sew the lid between the two lid sides background pieces to form a long skinny strip.

4.  Lay out the block in the following order:

block top (background)
lid strip
jar strip
block bottom (background)

5. Sew the block together and trim to 12.5 x 12.5 inches. If you are making the smaller block you will trim your block to be 6.5 x 6.5 inches.

If you want to be creative and make a different size jar you can sketch your block in a program like EQ or on draft paper. Here are some measurements for a tall block and a baby food jar block. You assemble the block the same way as before.

Tall block that finishes 8 x 12. To make it finish 12 x 12 just add 2 inches to your sides to make the block background wider.






For an 8 x 12 finished block:                       For a 12 x 12 finished block:

          2 x 8.5         Block top (background)       2 x 12.5
          2 x 3.5        Lid (stripes)                          2 x 3.5
  Two 2 x 3          Lid sides (background)           2 x 5
          5.5 x 8        Jar fabric (made fabric)         5.5 x 8
 Four 1.5 x 1.5      Jar corners (background)      1.5 x 1.5
 Two 2 x 8            Block sides (background)      4 x 8
         2 x 8.5         Block bottom (background)   2 x 12.5


If you want a flat bottomed jar, leave off the two bottom corners of the jar. You can tweak the measurements in any number of different ways and make a variety of different shapes and sizes. Oh, you can make the top corners of the jar larger than the bottom two corners and have a different sort of jar.

Enjoy!

glen

Finally got the camera going for the Echo Challenge

Got back from the dog show (friend took Best of Breed with her nice Borzoi) and lunch with vet cousin Karen (who is crafty buy does not quilt but her son Matt is my biggest quilt recipient, he loves my quilts).

And got my camera from Valerie to take this picture.  I was a bit disappointed with it, the reality is much deeper in color than the photo.  Lighting.  Never right, either too dark when you want it light or too light when you want it dark!

So here is my "wall" of frames.  I know, I know.  One or two colors, but it was just screaming for this purpley pink stripe.  But I do so love the graphic-ness of the bold black frames.

We shall see, we all know it can change in a heartbeat!

glen

More hearts!

More hearts coming your way.   These guys were fun and flashy.  I used a telephone book page as my stabilizer and it worked beautifully!  Cheap too!  And I found some summery made fabric and pasted those suckers on!  LOL.  This will be a fun fun fun quilt.

I should be at the post office tomorrow, then I do the filming for Inside Edition concerning the dog dumps at the shelter mid afternoon.  I will let you know when I will be on national TV so you can all laugh at my interview!  I am sure I will be tongue-tied at some point.

More hearts, I am nearly caught up, just need to sew the binding down on the Solids Swap and it will be keeping the hearts company at the Post Office.  then I have the other two July bee blocks that will also be in the mail.

Did I say I was busy?????

glen

Recap and Catching My Breath

I have two people's June blocks here.  One we were waiting for her to move.  Has the move been completed?  Can I send the blocks to you?

The other is Mary's strips and those are hanging on my wall as well.

I have to work on bow tie blocks for Helen and heart blocks for Barbara.  Luckily Barbara's blocks only have to go just down the road from me!  LOL.

I have to sew the binding down on the Segmented Solid Swap and it will be off in the mail.  It is looking fabulous with the quilting.  I really like it a lot.  I went to the George Rodrigues' Blue Dog Exhibit yesterday and thought, darn, I should have done a blue dog!

Retreat! The Leaves are coming!

No, silly, not surrendering, but a Quilting Retreat!  I am home and boy did I miss a lot of stuff here!

I am not sure about catching up any time too soon, we are hanging our quilt show this next week, so I am going to be plenty busy.  But I did want to get this done at least to the quilt top stage. Thank you all so much for the leaves, this is one incredible quilt!

The leaves were a total hit with all the ladies!  The first thing I did was to just pin them to the design wall willy nilly without any direction.  Every time someone looked up from their sewing, they would rearrange a block or a strip.  I tried to get the blocks to look like a tree but there was no way it was going to work.

There were so many ways to rearrange each leaf. 
And they were so different. 

About mid morning Linda says, "You know, it would look good with frames around some of the leaves."  So I took a section and test framed it with some of the chocolate browns I brought.  I thought it would work and everyone loved the effect.

So here is the first group of leaves framed with the brown.  I had just three browns since I really had not planned on doing this with them.  When one of the ladies suggested a trip to the Local Quilt Store, I jumped into the back seat like there was no tomorrow.

I found the most incredible tan fabric that looked like bark with dark striations throughout.  As it was being cut, I all of a sudden saw ELEPHANTS in red thin line drawings!  And everyone in the shop began searching for something else.  We found a bird, a camel, the elephant and a tiger.  Later I wished I had bought more of that fabulous fabric but the quilt shop was closed and the next day was Sunday!  Aughhh! 

I need to look online, did you know the shop had the new Moda Fabric for $13.50?  Aughhh!

It was a  work in progress all afternoon as well.   The lighter brown really made a difference in the outcome. Lots of oohing and ahhhhing over the progress.  About mid afternoon I was putting in the last seam.  All work stopped everywhere in the room........waiting........waiting........waiting..........ta dah!

I am going to quilt it with swirls that look like the wind blowing the leaves around.  And I may get my friend Jessie from the retreat to do it, she does such beautiful work.

It is beautiful!  Incredible!  Can you see your blocks in there?  They are my favorite, but don't tell anyone else!

Final leaves

Mary Frances send these fabulous leaves.  Yes, all of them are fabulous! 

I think that is all of them.  I have a retreat this weekend and I plan on putting them up on an uncluttered and totally blank design wall and seeing what happens.  I will have lots of critics and an equal number of fans.

I am hoping to come home with a quilt top frm the leaves.  But who knows.

I also hope to come home with a Solids Swap completed. 

Between those two items, I may not get another thing completed!  However I am hoping to put a serious dent into my UFO pile.

Thank you Mary Frances!  I like them......a lot!

glen

July Bee Blocks for Mary with a History!

I had a lot of fun rooting around in my 99 Cent Purple Cow Shirt Collection.  I tossed in a couple of other goodies.  Like some of Frank's Dockers, couldn't resist that one.  I figured when you are old and grey you can point to those blue patches and chuckle.  Your great great grands will think you are crazy!

I want to make a few more.  Do these look OK to you?

Don't you just love the plaid in the center of the bottom strip?  That is the edge of the sleeve.  It is slightly seersucker and makes the wonderful scallops.  I had to put that on top and not bury it in a seam!

The flags are from the second quilt I ever made.  It is also the one I use in lectures as the Ugliest Quilt Ever Made.  It was really awful.  I used homespun and the stuff stretched and moved and nearly walked across the room. The seams are lousy because the machine I used was the machine I got when I first was married in 1972.  It had been used and abused and put up wet! It's plastic gears were worn down and barely moving. 

I don't think anything about that quilt was straight or square!  The blocks were log cabins with friendship stars in the middle.  Nothing but seams!

Guess what?  It is still a UFO!

glen

Leaf and Blue Jean update

Well, I can tell you that Frank spent the the other night in his closet taking inventory.  I guess he was making sure that was the ONLY pair of dockers I got my hands on.  Hee Hee, actually I did go and find one more pair that was in equally bad shape.  It was a slightly different shade of blue.  I really wanted a black pair, but they seemed to be in good shape.  I need to take scissors in there with me next time I go on a scouting mission.

Here is the blue jean quilt.  It is a finished top now.  Chloe the Smelly Basset likes it ---- a lot.  She would not move so I could sew the sections together.  I had to bribe her with a doggie bone.

The quilt top is so large that I spread it out in my kitchen.  My kitchen is not small by any means.  And the quilt takes up nearly the entire floor.  I will have to get out the tape measure tomorrow and see just how big it is.  See my knees and tennies?  I had to get up on the cabinet to take the picture.  Don't tell Frank, he hates when anyone sits on a counter.  Like I am going to break it.....yeah right. 

There are some pretty cool features in the quilt.  I will square it up tomorrow and see what happens 

I did get some leaves today.  You all just know what I need!  That is why I love you guys so much!

Here are leaves from Jessica.  I am glad you did them, they look fabulous.  And your work is very nice, really, I am not kidding! 

And I have to admit, every time I think I am thinking outside the box, you gals just one-up me.  But I love that too!  Here I was going along dreaming of putting this quilt together and what it would look like and I get these in the mail today as well.  I adore the green!  When I opened the bags my first thought was..........oh no!  I should have asked for green hand dyes for the background!

They opened up a whole new thought process in my head. 

And we all know that could well be dangerous!

Thanks ladies!  I love my leafies!

glen

A windfall of leaves for today

Didja see my leaves? These beauties arrived today from Alexis and Sara. What wonderful things they are. Thanks for the extras too! I am nearing the ability to put them together. Do I need to get the stuff off my design wall by finishing it, or can I just take it down and call it a UFO again. Those poor stripes started out as a UFO. Sigh……….

glen

Solids Swap - Italy

I was so totally prepared to come here and whine and beg forgiveness and claim (rightly so) that I was so busy with life stuff that I couldn't possibly meet deadlines.  I have been spending most of my between crisis times searching the Internet for the perfect painting.  The just right photo.  The one that would sweep me away.  It was tough.  Then I got sucked into the  sewing.

There were ideas for a lot of photos I saw, and as people posted and I saw what they were choosing, it was always like..........darn....they got the GOOD one.  What will I do now???

Then I saw this one just this afternoon.  I really liked the colors, and Song is from California.  It looks really California to me.  Actually it is Italy.  It could be either in my mind's eye.

I also liked the piecing potential in there.  It looks like one picture was painted.  Then another.  The first was slashed and the second one inserted.  I definitely liked that idea.

Of course to really do that I needed about 5 more inches.  But I adjusted.  I will come to that, my darlings.

First, I chose fabrics.  I had been saving these beauties for something special.  I figured one day I would get the courage to cut them up.  Up to this point, I was not able to do that.



Then I cut the fabrics up.  Yes, I did.  I really did!

Then I sewed them back together.  I am liking this.  Proceeding with wild abandon.

The dogs were bugging the doo-doo out of me, so I got up, yelled at Frank and got back to work.

Here is the little tower.  Oops, I need another building.  And a larger sea on one side. 

That's more like it.  Where is that tree now?  While I was thinking up the tree, I though it needed a stop border.  You know, when things get really busy?  So I framed my little picture.

Now my excitement level is leveling out.  And I am beginning to critique it.  I like the seam lines, it makes it look ......like something I liked somewhere else.  But of course I am beginning to think it is not so great now.

Maybe I will try again in a couple more days. 

Sigh................

glen

Leaves - more leaves

It has happened again.  My horrible week has been brightened by the arrival of leaves in my mailbox!

I got a two-fer today.  One of each!  One appliqued and one curve pieced from Jorie.

Thank you, they are beautiful!  So crisp and green!  I am getting quite a collection.

I love that almost everyone has tried the curved pieceing and all have succeded!  Yeah!  That is a new wrinkle in your brain.

glen:  at least it is not on your face!

Blocks for Glen

Hi Glen! I didn't see anywhere about a size requirement/request, so these blocks are two different sizes. If you did have something else in mind, I could easily trim/add to them.I hope you like them, I will be sending them out on Thurs!

♥ Jorie

more leaves from cindy - how I love them!

Muscular Colors

I have been having a hard time finding just the right painting, photo or picture for my inspiration. Something special for the basis of our challenge piece. I have been looking exhaustively at Klimt, Degas, Renoir, Klee, Cezanne to name a few. I liked the houses of Cezanne, but I could not find the series I loved so much two years ago. So I kept looking and looking and looking.  I even polled my interior designer daughter who informed me she does not deal with paintings and sofas, that is for the interior DECORATORS to do and huffed away. 

I knew that.....but I thought she would give me something since she designs modernistic interiors in old buildings.  Juxtaposition.  In moods too, I see.

All of a sudden I remembered this beauty was sitting on my table for a week or so. I can see a lot of potential here.


Hmmmm.

And you know what, I think I can handle four of him! LOL.

With a little manipulation I think he will work. Now to pull my suntan browns, warm sweet browns, and other muscular colors.

One reader noted on my blog.......Poor Frank!

glen:  now how did she know this is not a picture of him?

Sping leaves for Glen

Here are my June Scrap-BEE blocks for Glen- leaves! With curved piecing! Thanks Glen, for finally getting me me to try some curves- I was thrilled with how well they worked. I'll put these in the mail for you this week.

June SCRAP BEE Block from glen

In the last six months I won a gift card to a local quilt shop, then I received a Joann’s gift card as a thank you for a quilted jacket I donated to a dog club raffle, then I got a gift card to Connecting Threads for Mother’s Day! Over that period I had a few buckaroos to spend. Guess what I spent it on? Gosh and by golly! I must have a thing for green all of a sudden. These happen to be the last four purchases I made online! Does it look like I am losing my mind to green?

So I had to psychoanalyze myself and see why I wanted all this green. The diagnosis was that I was thinking of trees with green leaves -- big leaves, long leaves, bushy leaves, climbing vine leaves, trees with funky leaves and leaves on bare branches!  Leaves with Monkeys!!!

So I thought you might like to join me in thinking about leaves!

Here’s what you do.

Go find yourself some green! You can toss in just a few accent colors too maybe. And brush up on doing some curves. If you don’t want to do curves, don’t worry, I can fix that too. Just read to the end and that will be for you! But if you have always wanted to try curves, then this is your chance!

Gather up some greens. Maybe a few zinger colors won't hurt, but don't overwhelm it. If you want to use some of your 15 minute fabric for the leaf then you will need those zinger colors for the spine and veins. (I wonder why leaves have human anatomy?) You will need a neutral background for this leafy challenge. Neutral-ness is up to you!

Let me say up front, this is not a precise piecing type block. Sometimes you don't really know how large the block or the leaf will end up to be. Think Buggy Barn technique and let your mind blow!

If want to try curves, let's see if I can intelligently walk you through an easy way to do them. If you don't want to do curves, or the fear factor is high, then keep reading to the end and you will see an alternate way to play.

 I found that large pieces are easier to work with than smaller ones at first. Start out with your leaf fabric and cut a leaf shape about 12 or so inches long. Make the curve gentle. Gentle curves are so easy to work with when you are learning. You can get fancy dancy later.

Cut the leaf in half. Either curvy or straight. I did my first two straight.



Hunt in your scraps to find the leaf's spine. Sew it together --- oops! No thread in the machine!  And trim for desired look.

Oh no, I was so excited I got ahead of myself, I didn't make the veins!

Take the other side and whack off a piece across the half in a straight line. Add a different green or a zinger piece to the bottom of your leaf segment. Sew it back together. Do it again. Maybe even again!  Straighten up the inside of the leaf half so it can be sewn back to the first piece.

You should now have your leaf. I trim the leaf so the curve will be gentle and straight.

OK, let’s put it into a neutral background.  I used scraps of  muslin I had in the "white" box.

The background should be just larger than you want the final block to be. Lay the background right side up and place the leaf right side up on top of the background where the leaf will end up. Some people use a French curve or a flexible curve but I just use a ruler edge. I

Carefully move the edge of the ruler along the edge of the leaf keeping the rotary blade against the ruler while I cut the same exact curve in the background as in the leaf.  I trim about a 1/8 inch piece of the leaf as well so the curve will be as exactly the same as possible.

Make a registration mark by placing a pin at a recognizable point. I forgot to take a picture of the first side so this is the second side.  You can also make a pencil mark where the two sides meet.

Fold the leaf back over the background so the right sides are together at the registration point. Pin. Some people use hundreds of pins, some use just a few strategic pins and some don't use any.

Sew slowly making sure fabric edges meet.  Stop every few stitches to make sure your bottom piece is even to the top piece. Some people use tweezers to keep the top piece in place over the bottom.  Either way, this is not the time to be a speed freak! 

Open out and press and you have it half done.

Do the same for the other side making sure your first cut for the curve has both the background and the leaf right side up. (Smile, check it again to make sure!) Lay it back together like a puzzle.  Check again, then cut.  (even so, I have done it wrong!)

Sew the curve just like the other side and...........................

Press. Voila! You have a leaf!                    These are so fun!

If you do not want to piece a curve, make some green fabric by sewing your scraps together.

Cut a leaf shape. This can be deeper and sharper than the last one since we are not piecing it. Slice it and add a spine and veins as before.

When your leaf is complete trim the edges and applique it the neutral background using your favorite method. I used a small zigzag stitch with a stabilizer.

If you want to make a stem for your  small leaf, try it by slashing and adding it like we did with spine block piece.   If I do this one again I will make the leaf first THEN put it on the branch!  I ended up doing a double treat on this block and appliqueing the other side of the leaf down.  It is cute though!

Curve piecing or appliqué, your leaf will be beautiful! Try some small leaves, fat leaves, skinny leaves or some really odd leaves! They are soooooo addicting

I hope this was enlightening. IF you have any questions, please let me know. It I wasn’t clear enough about the curve piecing you can find a number of tutorials on the internet using the various techniques.

And I have the perfect words for the bottom of the quilt!

                                                                               LEAF ME ALONE!

                                                                            Don’t cha just love it???!!!

glen