Back to batiks...

My artist friend, Morian, got married last month. She's been such a great inspiration to me since I first saw her lively and colorful pet portraits. I think I first met her at the Deluxe Indie Craft Bazaar a few years ago. And it turns out she also works where I used to work back in the late 1990s.

Once I discovered her wedding date, I knew I wanted to make her a quilt. I also wanted to use batiks because they are so painterly in tone and they'd be a natural for her. If nothing else, it would go with the batik fabric bowl i made for her a year ago.

Adapted from Villa Rosa Designs' Tulsa Town pattern, I jogged the centerline to minimize matching seams. The rusty red background was a repurchase of a batik I loved from and used a couple of years ago in the Garden Gate quilt I started at Quilt Camp 2011.

The back wound up being large expanses of even more of my favorite batiks.

One of the little details I worked into the front was a Dr. Who TARDIS. When Tom first saw the top's layout, he thought a TARDIS would make itself right at home. I chose these swirls and he later told me it was just the right choice because apparently there was a Dr. Who episode/image pairing Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' and the TARDIS. I have to take his word for this because I just have not been able to sit through an entire episode.

Proud as a...

'Only' 11 months after checking out the book from the library and working on it here and there, I finally finished up this little project.

I thought this project absolutely PERFECT for my friend whose pseudonym is Gwendolyn Peacock. 

It took me a bit of time to collect the fabric I wanted to use. I quickly discovered I would not be able to find the Liberty fabrics specified. At the time, I was well in the throes of my batik phase. The body fabric was a pretty easy decision, but I didn't know how I planned to replicate the tail feather 'eye' look. I even went so far as to buy some feathers to use.

Every so often, I'd find a fabric that I thought might work, and would buy a fat quarter here and there. I also needed to find the pins and sequins I'd use. At the beginning of March, I felt my prayers were answered when I came across this exotic piece of Ombre Marrakesh by Michael Miller. I saw lots of peacock feathers and a varied range of tones. As it turns out, this beautiful print is only seen if your look at the underside of the 'feathers.' The wrong side has smaller batik pieces appliquéd onto them.

For the eyes, I finally cut into my new felt collection. I once imagined I would plan my first cut into the pristine pieces of felt as a ceremony or sacred event. Reality—I tugged a corner big enough to use from the stack, chopped off each color, and smushed the remainder back into the stack. How quickly we forget the once regal and revered.

This is the finished project, only a mere 50 weeks later! I gave it to Gwen this past 'Gwendsday' and she loved it! I know it'll have a good home. We both remembered one of the first gifts I gave her was also a homemade pincushion—an Araucana chicken.

An extra treat was that my project was mentioned in OKCMQG's March Flaunt Your Finish post. Special thanks to Leslie for doing such a wonderful job gathering our write-ups and photos, editing, and sharing our finished projects! Unbeknownst to me until recently, I've been a big fan of Leslie's for a couple of years. She's done a couple of houndstooth quilts, including a PLAID ONE—the first one just a month or so before I did mine for Baby Cairo. I bet I came across her blog way back then while doing research and was duly amazed and inspired.

Kapalua Batik...

I am not sure how long ago I purchased this jellyroll, but I know it's been sitting around awhile. I never had much of a plan for it, but finally made a quilt top from it this month.

I knew I wanted to add some solids (yes, SOLIDS) to my next project, so what better place to hide some in plain sight among all these colors? I found four solids I could love—a bright chartreuse, a deep raspberry sherbet, scrumptious eggplant, and bright orange. I played around with several different designs on the computer. I wanted to intersperse the solids but wasn't sure about its order—randomness, hard pattern, or perceived randomness IN a pattern? And then, what would be the easiest way to sew it all together? My first runs at it looked something like:

Colorful, but not too orderly/orderly enough. Then I was reminded of a zig zag pattern I liked and came up with how I wanted to  sew 20 sets of two strips, then each of the solids onto that. I arranged all 40 strips into a spectral order I liked, numbered them (you'll see number labels in my layouts), and paired them. Here are those 20 sets of strips, arranged beautifully. Yes, it did take quite a bit of manipulating to get them to lay this way, but what good is having beautiful fabric if you can't fondle it?

Once all of the pairs were put together, I needed to add them to their solids. Which way to best attach the solids—long strips or short ones? Short ones won the day. (Based on the arrangement in this shot, I am wondering if I am a wanna-be bartender? Look at the cocktail napkin fanning of those blocks!) Problems I ran into in this jelly roll of strips was the fact that all the long edges were already 'pinked' and they were not all consistent in width. Using all those edges as guides gave me some wonky dimensions. This required some adjusting of seams along the way and that gobbled up lots of time. In the future, I will straight cut all the strips into a width I know is consistent and even.

So I had the idea in my mind and printed out so I could follow it while piecing. Zig zag. I attached 80 pairs of paired batiks to 80 solids and started thinking about the vertical strips I'd build to make the zig zag. Hold on a minute. What if I rotated these blocks and mixed up the pattern a little? Hmmm. Sure, I could do that. It wouldn't be a hard zig zag, but more of a suggested zig zag?
Time to commit. Here's how the columns of blocks went together. Having to go back and 'fix' some of the strip inconsistencies made this part of the process a bit more tedious than necessary, but all in all, it still went together fairly well. Oh, did I mention I wanted the back seams to be pretty, too? I pressed and flared my seams and love the effect even though no one sees them.

I'm not sure how I'm going to finish, back, or bind this top, but I'm happy to have this much done. Right now it's about 54" x 67". Voila!

Catching up...

I've written about my artist friend, Morian. I love her paintings. I love what I've learned observing her painting style. And she's a really nice person, too. So, every so often, she does a giveaway of some sort—random drawing, Pinterest pin, etc. I have won TWO of the two contests I've entered (a stuffed orange tabby kitty pillow and a print of one of her horse paintings). I was feeling a little guilty about this, beyond just curtailing the number of her contests I enter. Morian well deserved something FROM me, so she got a fabric bowl made from my favorite batiks. I'm happy to say it lives on her desk at work. Ironically, for the past 7 years, she's worked for the same company I worked for 16 years ago. Small world, indeed.

Back in September, friends of ours were having a special 'homecoming shower' for their little boy, Fletcher. He's lived at The Children's Center in Bethany, Oklahoma, since he was a little baby, just over 7 years ago. Anyway, they were hoping to bring him home to live in October, so friends were throwing a shower to help his family in getting some needed supplies and equipment to aid in the transition. Due to an insurance glitch, his homecoming has been delayed. Well, just a couple of days ago, the insurance company has relented and Fletcher is due to come home and live in his OWN room under her family's room for the first time. Everyone is very excited. This is the first Task-It™ Basket (pattern designed by my friend, Martha) I made. I made the process far more complicated than it needed to be but got it done with minutes to spare! Ha, ha! I loved the Dr. Seuss characters! We placed a few toiletry items and lotions inside.

Fast forward to December. Friends in our former community group were having their first baby. Dad is a serious Alabama fan. What better than a Tide Task-It™ Basket? I was going to put the baby's name on the crimson lining but decided dad may hijack it someday for his TV remotes! This basket it a bit smaller because of the one-way print direction and a first set of seams I misjudged. Their beautiful son arrived a few days early and has made his parents and family very happy. We couldn't be more pleased for them! Roll Tide!

These Task-It™ Baskets are becoming great go-to gift beginnings—make it, fill it, give it!

More bowls...

Here are the most recent bowls I've made. The aubergine and crimson one was for our daughter-in-law. They are in the process of updating their home and hopefully this will fit in with the facelift.

The lighter color one was for a friend who moved to Tulsa. She's decorating a new home and these are her three colors.

Bowls minus "B" minus "s" equals OWL!

My sweet friend Kelsey was telling me about collecting owls when I saw her several days ago. I happened to come across a cute owl pattern on Etsy, via Pinterest. That pattern was sold out, but I came across a few more. I made a sample, liked it, then set out to make one just for her. He's been named Wilbur and she sent me a photo of his new home. I'm so tickled!

SmartHours—winding down...

SmartHours runs through September so there are only a few weeks remaining. Our newest billing was last week and here's the highlights. Soley due to SmartHours pricing, we saved $81.63 this billing. This billing cycle was $75.61 less than last year at this time, and that includes our moderate run of 100˚+ days, including some 109˚ and 113˚ days! We used 97% if the kilowatt load this year compared to last. And, had we been on SmartHours last year, our bill might have been $64 less. All tolled, so far we saved just over $350 this summer soley due to SmartHours pricing and time of use. And our bills have been $484 less this year than last from May through July.

Based on this year's experience, I'll gladly sign up for SmartHours next year. I can't think of any reason why I wouldn't. The savings are incredible and I can't really think of a downside. Once I got over Tom's initial misgivings, it was smooth sailing. I know we could have saved even more if we were uber vigilant, but for a couple of comfort hounds, we did well. I'll have one more summary in late September—stay tuned!

Fabric bowls...

Two fabrics + 80 feet of clothesline = Fabric Bowl

We were invited to a friend's 50th birthday celebration. I knew I wanted to make Leesa something, but what? As it worked out, I was able to wrap each of the two fabrics two ways which gave me a four-level range of gradation. When I purchased the fabric, I was thinking of mimicking a zebra pattern. I knew, a few rounds in to the base, it probably wasn't going to succeed. But I kept on, lightening the black/white balance until the top four rounds which were my darkest tone.

Made from 2011 BOM Batiks

A few days later (I think that was last night) I started my own bowl. Months ago when I was working on my BOM batik quilt, I saved .5-inch wide strips intending to make a fabric bowl someday. This was also before I took the class. From the background color fabrics, I cut the supplied 3-inch wide strips down to 2.5 inches. I started with the dark tones, worked into the middle and light tones, and finished with more dark strips.

Paper piping ready to be wrapped

Instead of using clothesline, I tried out some paper piping cord. I bought this stuff decades ago when I was sewing spa and makeup bags from vinyl-laminated fabric—it was c.1988-1991. One thing I really liked about using this piping is that it is on a spool so unwinds easily with no tangling or twisting. I LIKE. I worked directly from the spool; wrapped the cord at the sewing machine; then stitched a bit and wrapped some more. I like the shape of this one—a little curvy and a turned down lip. Got this one done mid-afternoon.

More Giardiniera

I've been wanting to make something special for a young friend of mine from the same fabric as my Lemon Pepper Poppy Quilt. I cut mostly .75-inch strips from the remnants and arranged them into a pattern I liked. This wound up being another bowl with a 6-inch base (as were the two previous ones above) with a slightly turned under lip. I loved it for her! And she loved it, too!

I've got a couple more bowls to make for friends and family while I'm still in the bowl-building groove.

from The Gourmet Yarn Co.

Two weeks ago, I took a class at The Gourmet Yarn Co. on knitting the Spectra Scarf designed by Stephen West. Owner Margaret Schroeder taught the class. It was a sluggish start but after two hours, we all got the hang of it. I've been working on it off and on and am pretty pleased so far. The only part I didn't like was finding a mistake I couldn't live with 70 rows back. Yup. A big part of knitting is fixing mistakes. I'm getting better at it. I pulled the 70 rows; managed to get all the stitches back on my needles; and am now back about where I was before. I've learned a couple of things through this project. First, I've been purling incorrectly for years. I was throwing my yarn the wrong direction and twisting my loops. Ugh. And two, with long sessions of knitting, I've much improved my hand positioning/use and cut down of lots of extra repetitive motion. I am only about 25% done, so there's lots to do. It takes a certain kind of faith/folly to knit in the summer on 113˚ days while dreaming of cooler temps down the road.

Tosh Merino Light (Ruby Slippers) and Crazy Zauberball

I fell in love with this scarf when I first saw it on TGYC's Facebook page in a near-Cherokee Red and blues/gray variegated yarns. They were out of the red when I bought my supplies, so I chose a plum and orange/taupe/gray/purple variegated yarns. I still think I'd like to do a red one that will remind me of Fallingwater's tower of windows.

Only three more panels...

I finished the BOM Month Six panel several days ago. We were busy getting house spruced up because a re-fi home appraisal. I finished the three main blocks relatively quickly, but needed to get other chores done before filling in around them. As suspected, cutting the crooked pink fabric took a little extra time but turned out fine.

I'm just now adding it to the right side of panel five and joining four-five-six to the main body of the quilt top. I'm very excited to have two-thirds of the top's field finished. I like thinking my piecing skills have improved since the first panel.

As we close in on cooler months (please!!!), I need to consider what I want to use for binding and backing, and where I want it quilted together. For a piece THIS big, size-wise and investment-wise, I want the pros to do it. I'm not even sure what I want to do with it once it's done. I've got a few months and some more hundred-plus-degree days to think about it. (On Saturday, we tied a 1980 record of 50 days at 100˚ or more. Upon seeing a still hot forecast for several more days, I mentioned to a friend that this stopped being funny a long time ago. Understatement!)

Okay, I'm a little projectless right now. I suspect I'll come across something I've been meaning to do so don't think there will be too much of a lull in the action.

All fixed now...

I finally got down to getting the two stars in my BOM quilt corrected. In one, from my Month 1 (March), I'd managed to sew in ALL four of the flying geese modules BACKWARDS. I wound up with a very nice squared off block but not the themed Indian Star as intended. The other boo-boo was in Month 3 (May) where there were two color variations of the same block pattern, but one 'sat' vertically and the other horizontally. Both of mine were horizontal. Granted, it wasn't a big mistake but knowing I made it would not let me sit still to not fix it.

Note to self: Doing it right the first time takes less time than coming back in to fix it later.

Here are the finished fixes, along with June and July blocks pinned to the bottom edge.

Time to tackle another project! I've got a couple of ideas in mind, including making some miniature (half-size) BOM blocks. I came across a blogger (Pat) who was doing this same BOM from a shop in Texas. Guess everything IS bigger in Texas because she received enough extra fabric each month to build complete half-size blocks along the way to make a lap quilt. Ah, so envious!

Another finished quilt...

I've been working on this quilt for some time. Once I got the top done, with all its subtle progressions of color, I decided I wanted to do a patchwork back to it.  I started with the same grid as the top then began plotting out a new and simpler design for the back. One thing I especially liked about the backing was there were no corners or points to align. I basted the top and back together, in hopes the machine quilting would align and look 'good' on both sides.

I first stitched within the nine colored squares, one 'row' in. It was kind of hit and miss on seams lining up*. Sigh. Then I did three rows of decorative stitching each way from edge to edge. Good. Everything's joined together, but a little puckered on one side. Time for binding. My miters didn't work out just right the first time so I ripped off the binding and took a bigger seam allowance and finally tried out my 'walking foot' on my machine.

I'd never used one before and now see it would have helped me from * the beginning. Double sigh, but I know better now. Because this quilt has been bangin' around the house for a couple of months, picking up lint and critter fur, I washed it when I was done. Not only did it clean it up, all the puckering seemed to even out. Kinda looks like it was done that way on purpose—"oh, yes, I meant to do that." Yuppers! Made of 45 different batiks, this 50" x 50" quilt is my 'watching TV quilt.'

I am very happy to have this done since buying the Bali Pop pack in mid-January from Quiltworks. The purple and gold backing fabrics and binding came from Savage Quilter. The next one on deck is an Oklahoma City Thunder themed one for my son, Matt. They're still in the playoffs. Thunder Up…whatever.

Block of the Month Quilt...April...

Maple Star Block

Let's see—the opposite of procrastination must be obsession. That's my overdrive mode when that new packet of fabric and instructions hit my hungry little hands. I started this journey in March. This month there were only two basic block patterns—Maple Star and Milky Way.

I had Milky Way in March's blocks, but this month's was a little different—the three Milky Way blocks overlap. I am still not quite sure if the object of the exercise was to blend or differentiate the pattern. The three colors are distinct enough but when butted next to each other, some distinction fades.

In March, I showed you a photo of a completed quilt—objective in 8-10 months. (I'm still not sure if this is a 10- or 12-month program. I've seen conflicting information.) This time I wanted to give you a slight glimpse of March's finished panel, along with April's panel in the foreground.

Basic Block Layout

The manner in which the instructions are written and fabrics are supplied provides specific directions/fabric for the pattern blocks, but the backgrounds are completely free form. I do very little spontaneously, so it's not surprising that I started filling the backgrounds with carefully arranged, rotated, and repeated strips of four different combinations of six different fabrics each. When I needed to fill larger, smaller, shorter, or longer areas, I added or removed individual 2.5 x 2.5-inch squares to fit. The instructions provide basic graphic explanations, but I like expanding on them. I use Adobe Photoshop to plan out the whole project—in color, with grids, and cutting information. It helps me walk through the project and anticipate most possible concerns/challenges.

Bali Pops batiks framed in orange and blue

Since finishing on March's blocks/panel, I've been working on another quilt top. Several months ago I bought a Bali Pops pack of 40 brightly colored (Mangoes & Margaritas collection) batiks—2.5 x 42-inch strips. I considered different 'strip' patterns but eased myself into panels of finished two-inch squares. Shortly after purchasing the pack, I decided I must arrange all 40 strips into color spectrum order. Done. Then what? Okay—25 squares in each block; first block colors 1–25; second block; colors 6-30, then 1–5 at the end; third block, colors 11–35, then...etc. To not make it look so predictable, I serpentined the order of the colors and rotated the blocks to create a bit of visual chaos from just too much mathematical order. Don't believe me? I can show you the Excel spreadsheet I used to plan it. Yep, that's so totally...ME! I have only completed the top. I have more batiks in purple and yellow-gold to patch together for the back (in a much simpler pattern and fewer pieces). And it will get a vibrant lime green binding around the edge. Tom kind of adopted my first quilt and uses it for naps in the TV room. This one will be mine for pretty much the same purpose. So, do you think I'll be able to sleep under all that color?

Strip away the color and you're left with value

One thing I've been trying to explore is the importance color value. I've bought red and green filters to aid in this. Yeah, they work but I wanted something easier. This week I discovered I can use the digital camera on my phone (which has a black-and-white photo option) to not only take photos, but preview in grayscale. WOW! Compare the two photos of the same subject and you can see how different color values pop or recede. As I get more involved in designing my own quilts or choosing colors for others' patterns, I know this will be an excellent tool.

Now that I've got all this piecing out of the way, need to move on to some other projects. Stay tuned! I'll be posting illustrated instructions for making the pet food bags soon!

PS—Speaking of tools, I welcomed the arrival of a new sewing machine into my home last week! I've been perfectly content with my c.1975 Lady Kenmore free-arm machine for the past few decades. My mother had bought it new for herself in hopes of updating from a decades-old Singer Featherweight. She never really liked the new machine and never got the knack of threading it. My first sewing machine was also a Kenmore, but a bit farther down the line, features-wise. I think I got it in early high school. When she gave me hers (late 1980's?), mine retired and went off to a friend. So, welcome Bernina Aurora 440 QE. I'll have more about this a little later. I plan on naming her (another Gwen-inspired notion) but think the name 'Bernice' has already been taken.

Another fabric store...

Eight new Fat Quarters: roses, ferns, flowers, batiks, and turnips!

It's often said we least appreciate that which is in our own back yard. Fair enough. But what if we don't know it's in our backyard—or down the street just one mile away? I had the extreme pleasure of discovering Savage Quilter, 6815 North May Avenue, 840-1466. They have no Web presence to speak of. My intention was to stop in at the Bernina store and laugh at their prices. I saw SQ next door and decided to pop my head in. Oh, my stars and garters! I literally stood there agape for at least 15 seconds. I love Quiltworks, but sometimes it's just fun seeing all that fiber love someplace else! The prices were comparable. One group of fabric that I especially loved was the food prints—bananas, leafy greens, pomegranates, potatoes, etc. I got the turnips fat quarter because of the purple and green together. My friend Naomi mentioned something I probably noticed but couldn't put my finger on—they could use better lighting.

That said, I'll be off to Quiltworks tomorrow! They're having a 25% off bolt prices all day. National Quilting Day is 19 March, so I suppose they're celebrating a couple of days early.

Anyway, I am excited to find a new source for fabric!

Block of the Month Quilt...

Tea Leaf Block

First steps... I got my mitts on my first month's fabrics/pattern last week. This is a 10-month project called Stars Over Bali Skies. Its finished size is approximately 68" x 76", so this is my biggest undertaking so far, in size and number of pieces. In addition to getting these four main blocks done, I've fondled and cataloged the additional strips to make up the big quilt's background. Tonight I saw the finished piece at Oklahoma Quiltworks. I've seen pictures online, but seeing it full size and in person about took my breath away! The last time I checked the classroom, only about 1/3 of the top was done. How am I going to stay patient until the end of the year!? Sigh.

Hope someday mine looks THIS good!

When I went to pick up my packet last Thursday, I was pleasantly surprised to see my friend Becky at the shop. I also discovered she is doing this same BOM (Block of the Month), too! She's a far more experienced quilter than I so I look forward to see how hers comes along over time.

I started out early with a BIG mistake—piecing blocks together when I was tired. We had an unusually long Sunday, so when I started later that night, I didn't realize how tired I was until I started making a series of little mistakes that grew into a sloppy block. It kinda looked okay but would not square up properly. The next day, I bought replacement fabric in purples and gold for that block and the second try at the Puzzle block turned out much better.
My favorite block, Indian Star, this time around has got to be the one with all the oranges! It contains four Flying Geese and I'd never done that before. I like the swirls in the light fabric and the bold dots peppering the orange. Or maybe I just like the warm colors.

The Milky Way block was easy enough and the first to incorporate joined strips cut to make one-inch squares.

Looking down the road, I suspect this will be a quilt top I send out to be professionally stitched together. I've got until January to have to make a decision (and save up to pay for it).

In case you didn't know, I use my computer extensively in planning and reporting on my quilt projects. Several months ago, I discovered my laptop computer's screen cracked. Note to self: Do not lay a pen on top of your laptop's keyboard and apply pressure via cat or stack of papers/books. When Tom started doing some work at home and I got my iPad, we got a new, more powerful wireless router. Now our Wi-Fi connection fills the whole house. This week I sent off my laptop to have its screen repaired and expect to get it back next week. I look forward to working on the quilt files right where I have all my fabric instead of bouncing back and forth between my office and my studio areas. Tah dah!