Saturday, October 20, 2012

Design Decisions

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've now started two of the Disappearing Fat Quarters mystery quilts, the second one so that I could help my friend with the instructions she missed.

I took both quilt tops to class today and here's what I've decided:

This one is done.  It will be a Christmas table topper and I love it just the way it is.


So I will just be quilting it as is and binding it and it will be done.   I really love this colourway.

This one is not done and I've been struggling with what to do next:


I only got some dark green borders on it after this point and then I packed it in and decided that before I cut fabric and waste it, that I would do some designs in EQ7 first.

I narrowed it down to these two:

Option #1
Option #2

I've decided I like the second option more as it highlights the flying geese and doesn't fight with that border.  I also like the way it looks like ribbon and adds some nice curve illusions to the quilt.

I'm going to sleep on it and see if I still feel the same way tomorrow.

Until next time,

Mavis

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Doubles...

I liked the Disappearing Fat Quarter SO much that I was envisioning this one in this colourway and started making a second.  My justification:  my friend couldn't take the class on Saturday even though she was enrolled, so I needed to help her get through the homework.

Here's where I got:

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This is just the centre medallion.  It still needs the strata strips and the geese but I like it!  It will be the winter version.

Mavis



Monday, October 15, 2012

Disappearing Fat Quarters, the Sequel

Yesterday I posted about my mystery quilt Saturday workshop.  I finished all the flying geese and the four cornerstone blocks.  They were very quick!  I think it took longer to iron the geese than it did to create them.

And here is where I got to last night which is all my homework now done.





I love it!  And funny, I've got two of my former quilt designs swimming around in my head.  I think it's a familiarity thing,.  It these two:



The top one is my own design called Corn & Beans in Provence.  The second one is another Kelly & Arlene mystery and I think it was called "Dash to the Finish".

Well, it's Monday morning and the coffee is almost consumed so I better sign off and get ready for work.

Mavis

Sunday, October 14, 2012

What I'm working on...

Good rainy morning!

We're having our first rainfall in a lot of days.  The west coast is nicknamed the 'wet coast' for a good reason.  It rains lots here.  But not this summer/autumn.  It's been very dry and I know of at least one well in our area outside Victoria that has dried up.  Not a drop of water to be found.  So, needless to say, the rain is welcome.

As I write this, I can hear the constant tapping of the raindrops on our metal roof and it's comforting.  I don't have to be outside thankfully so bring on the rain!  Our gardens and lawns need it so badly, as does our reservoir.  It's one of those days where you just want to hunker down, put on a cozy fire, make a pot of tea and enjoy an indoor activity.

And here's what I'm working on today:

I received back yesterday "The Blessing" king sized quilt for our B&B King Suite.  It is now officially a quilt after the loving stitches added by Arlene MacKenzie of On Point Quilting Studio have sandwiched it together.   It's a LARGE quilt (understatement much!) and Arlene did a beautiful job on her long arm machine.  I'm now busy sewing on the polka dot binding.  I'm so happy with this quilt and I hope the guests who get to sleep under it will be blessed.  I named it The Blessing because this year our B&B business has been blessed and I wanted to name it something that would count as a spiritual monument to help us remember a year of blessing.

Here's a picture of "The Blessing".


and a closeup of Arlene's quilting on the back:


Yesterday I also attended a mystery quilt workshop through our guild.  It was called "Disappearing Fat Quarters" and our workshop teachers were the same Arlene MacKenzie who quilted "The Blessing", and her sidekick/co-creator of the quilt pattern, Kelly English.  They have done lots of mystery quilts and other classes at our annual retreat held at Pearson College and I've been in at least 3 of their classes, so I knew it would be a fun day.

The hardest part is choosing colours when you don't know what the pattern is.  You can usually glean a few hints from the description.  They used terms like 'modern' but that didn't give me enough to go on to feel comfortable.  But never fear, our fearless leaders are always available to answer anxious questions about whether fabric choices are suitable.  And Arlene gave me some necessary feedback about adding more variety, so I did just that.  And I'm pleased..very pleased.  Here's where I got to yesterday:



 The centre medallion is 4 blocks (before the triangle setting blocks) and they are a Double Disappearing Nine Patch. Here's a tutorial from a blog that I found that illustrates the method well:  tutorial for Double Disappearing Nine Patch.

Math is amazing and when Arlene and Kelly told us that they could get 4 setting triangles out of one fat quarter, I confess that I thought they were math heretics!  But I'm now a believer!  A FQ is 18x22 in most cases.  What we did was cut a 17 inch square from one fat quarter, then added a 2 1/2" strip on all four sides then cut into 4 smaller triangles (like an X).  And they fit perfectly!  Wow!!

We also learned about 3-D flying geese which is a COOL method and so quick!  Here's a link to a you tube video of Ricky Tims demonstrating the method.  3 D Flying Geese Video.  The time is in the cutting but after that the geese units are done in a flash.  So I'm now at the point where I have to make 48 of those to fly around the quilt and then 4 of a block called the 10 Minute Book as the cornerstones.  Here's another video demonstrating those blocks:  10 Minute Blocks.  The last half of the workshop is next Saturday so I'm really hoping to get a lot accomplished this week since my DH is out of town visiting his best buddy and not back until next Sunday evening.  We will be considering border options next week but until then, I have HOMEWORK to do!

After all that creative stimulation yesterday I had busy brain last night while trying to go to sleep.  All I could see was all my UFOs stacking up in their little bins under my quilt frame.  I knew that I had today started another NEW project on top of all the UFOs.   Oh my...so I took the first step...I updated my list to include UFOs (unfinished objects), PIGS (projects in grocery sacks) and WIP (work in progress).  The UFOs and WIP are really the same thing.  Work in Progress sounds way better than UFO, don't you agree?  PIGS include all the new projects I've got in my head and in some cases, fabric pulled and kitted up with patterns ready to go.  I just need to finish a few of the UFOs to be able to give myself permission to start 'another' new project.  I told myself no new projects this year until all my UFOs were done.  Right!!  Like that was going to happen.  Anyway, I am going to finish some things this week and I'll report more and upload some more pictures, but for now, I hear The Blessing call me from the other room, begging to be finished, so I'm off to bind that quilt and listen to the rain.

Blessings on your Sunday,

Mavis