Seed Packet

I let a few days go by and suddenly its been weeks since I've posted. Just to keep my "quilt journal" up to date, I've started Kaffe Fasset's Seed Packet quilt. This is part of the twin size top ready for its pieced borders. The problem is my design wall will need to be taken out to the living room where there's more space for me to plan out the borders this quilt. As I sit here contemplating my low energy, it may not happen today.

Also going on: hot humid weather, every plant which I optimistically planted needs water, weeds need to be pulled, and the remodeling project begin date is approaching. It involves the kitchen, dining room, living room, entry, and laundry room. Packing, donating, furniture moving, and painting (done by us) and then a month or so of remodeling (done by someone else). Dust, noise, people in and out of the house. I will be hiding either in my sewing room or outside.

I'm already looking forward to fall when the house will be put back together.

Until next time, Mayleen

My quilt at the National Quilt Museum

A short detour from thread painting my latest project ...

My quilt, Paint Can Posy, hung in the "I am an Artisan" Challenge exhibit at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY this month. My husband and I were able to see the exhibit this past week when we went to the fall Paducah AQS quilt show.

 I made Paint Can Posy last year for the challenge sponsored by Kaffe Fassett and Free Spirit Fabrics. It hung at the 2017 International Quilt Festival in Houston and I think this is the last exhibit it will travel to before coming home.

 It was machine pieced from mostly Kaffe Fassett's Artisan line of fabrics. I hand appliqued, hand big stitched quilted, hand embroidered and beaded it. Jan Hutchison machine quilted it.

You can see some of the circle appliques made of Cosplay fabrics and more hand embroidered details in this photo.  

I couldn't help but notice this quilt as I entered the National Quilt Museum! 

Mistaken Identity made by Gail Stepanick and Jan Hutchison. Jan is a member of Prairie Quilt Guild and so am I.

The National Quilt Museum now allows non flash photography and I took many photos to enjoy later. So many beautiful quilts so if you ever have the chance to tour the museum, be sure to go!

I am still trying to figure out the blogger comment issues I'm having. Some of you have suggested possible fixes. I've tried them and they haven't worked so I'm still working on it. Unfortunately, my computer is doing some interesting things these days.
Comment Update: This is weird. My husband just noticed that comments are going to his old gmail account!?!

Until next time, Mayleen

January Jumble

Prairie Quilt Guild's tradition is that the immediate Past President may ask the membership to make a quilt block of her choosing. She then puts together the quilt as a remembrance of guild members. I took a little different path and asked for orphan blocks. One guild member gave me all of these vintage quilt blocks!

It took a bit of pondering but I decided on a layout after carefully measuring and trimming the blocks. Yes, quite a few points got chopped off and nothing is even. Some of the blocks weren't the right size so I added an extra strip of fabric. Do you see my little mistake? I didn't calculate the correct amount for the inner spacer border and had to add a narrow purple and gray strip under the red border. I like it just as it is and someday will have it quilted with a Baptist Fan design.

I'm guessing most of the fabrics are from the '60's, the era I grew up. They remind me of my Grandma Goossen's aprons. She was a great influence in my life and I miss her very much. She liked to crochet and tat but I didn't know until after her death that she had also quilted for a short time. The quilt she made was used up and gone before I came along.

On to another subject, Quilty 365. I told myself I wasn't going to get involved with this but I did anyway. The idea, which I think is a great idea, is to make a block a day in 2016. Here's the link if you want to play along:

January 1 - I made a block

January 2 - I made a block

January 3 - I forgot to make a block

One day, I remember I was supposed to make a block a day so I make 5 more to catch up.

I forgot again and again and again.

I think I'm going to make and applique the circles for the rest of the background blocks, stitch the blocks together, add borders and call it something like "Twenty-seven days in Winter" (if I make it to 27). I'm anticipating my kids cleaning out my sewing room someday and wondering why 27 days?!?

What's this mess? These are the bits and pieces for Bonnie Hunter's latest mystery quilt, Allietare. I wasn't going to do this one either but I decided it would help me improve my piecing skills. Allietare is Italian for gladden, rejoice, become cheerful! 

For some reason, this project didn't have that effect on me and one day I decided my attitude would greatly improve if I put all the bits and pieces away. All the units are finished, some need trimming before they're sewn into blocks. I think I was just so disappointed with my piecing skills that I needed a break from this project. Maybe a quilt top will happen in the future.

I started working on Love Entwined again! Most of the little pieces in the flower arrangement are glue basted and waiting to be stitched. Do you see the red tulip on the left side of the pot of flowers? I got it all stitched down and realized the petals don't cover the stem, they just barely meet it. At first I thought I'd just applique a small circle at the base of the flower to cover my mistake but as time went on, I realized I'd always remember that it wasn't appliqued correctly. I made up my mind to take the flower completely apart and reposition it. 

However today at my Applique Group meeting, one of the ladies suggested that if I just move the lower red petals down I wouldn't have to take all those tiny petals off. Sometimes solutions are so obvious I don't recognize them!

Now this is totally different for me. I'm taking part in a color challenge and the first assignment is neutrals with only one (maybe two) accent colors. No patterns, has to be original work. Ordinarily, I would never choose gray and peach but it is a challenge so a challenge it will be. Its supposed to be finished in three weeks but I'm not even sure what finished will look like! Lots more work to do on it.

There's some play going on too! While in Houston at the International Quilt Festival last fall, I took two classes with Kaffe Fassett. This is one of the classes, Bright Squares from his book, Heritage Quilts. I haven't always followed the light, dark, light layout but I'm still playing and enjoying it.The colors are so much better in real life! 

I chose polka dots because, even though I seem to have quite a few polka dot fabrics, I rarely use them. Suddenly there seemed to be polka dot fabric in each quilt shop I went to and I ended up buying "a few more" fat quarters of fabric. Now I have more polka dot fabric than when I started!

One more row of three blocks to go and these are the squares I have left. At first I was going to use what I had left and discover new exciting color combinations. That's not working and I'm going to have to cut more. I was surprised which colors do not play well with others. I can't keep that bright yellow Aboriginal Dot from trying to steal the show.

Leftover squares are going to be made into a doll quilt for our granddaughter, Elizabeth. I hope she likes bright yellow and peach with pink polka dots!

 I'm learning how easy it is to make a Dresden Plate and what fabrics not to select.

Leo the Lion was delivered to our grandson, Ethan, during January. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a full photo of it. Just recently, the weather was 70 degrees where he lives so I don't know if he's able to enjoy this very warm quilt. However, winter's not over yet.

Mediterranean Hexagons was the other class I took from Kaffe Fassett and Liza Prior Lucy at Houston. Last week, it went to the machine quilter. Since she's going to be closing her customer machine quilting business, this will be the last quilt she quilts for me. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out! 

This quilt will hang in the Common Thread's quilt show this June. If you're anywhere near Wichita, Kansas June 16 - 18, please come to our show!

This is the backing of my Mediterranean Hexagon quilt. A little out of my comfort zone but I like it. How far would you drive for a certain kind of fabric? Unfortunately, my local quilt shop didn't carry a Kaffe fabric which would work for the Mediterranean Hexagon backing. I purchased "Brandon's Brocade" from Material Girl in Grand Island, Nebraska which was at least a 5 hour drive one way for us, regardless of what Google predicted. Its not what I thought I'd buy but its what the quilt needs.

That was January for me. It started out dreary but ended well. I had a finish, a few quilts put on hold but am looking forward to a finish or two in February!

Until next time, Mayleen

You could even say, "It glows!"

Looks like I've been missing since before I went to Houston! Whoops.

When I got back I decided to finish one of my class projects, Mediterranean Hexagons taught by Kaffe Fassett and Liza Prior Lucy, so it wouldn't become another UFO. I have no idea why it took 3 weeks to finish the top but it did.  

I like these fabrics because of their saturated color and, of course, I like most reds and pinks! However, this much of them in one quilt is a little out of my comfort zone. If the top is a little out of my comfort zone, the backing - Brandon's Brocade - is way, way out of it! Showing the top to you now because I don't know when it will be quilted.

Its been difficult to motivate myself to work on my traditional projects again but after I finish a minky quilt (why does this scare me?), its back to my Love Entwined quilt.

Until next time, Mayleen

Wednesday - Sewing Day!

I always think of Wednesdays as sewing day!

My mom was part of a church sewing society which met on Wednesdays during the fall, winter and spring months. Many of the women who attended were older farm wives and this day was not only a day of growing spiritually and doing something meaningful for church missions but it was also a day of socializing.

No socializing on my Wednesdays but I try to keep it just for sewing and not let a lot of errands and "things to do" creep in to my day!

Fifteen years ago, my mom embroidered tea towels with scenes of teddy bears doing housework. I wanted my kids to dry dishes with them so they've seen a little wear. Instead of them just laying in a drawer and never being seen, I decided to make them into a wallhanging. This is a little on the "cute" side for me but I still like them and hope to finish hand quilting this wallhanging someday.

About the block above, I'm not particularly fond of mending but I do enjoy sewing!

Clean day is also not a favorite day for me but it needs to be done. No cleaning fairy at our house!

Probably my favorite day is Bake Day! Unfortunately, that usually means an unhappy moment on the bathroom scale the next day.

Back to Wednesdays and sewing days - Yesterday, I finished handpiecing the clamshell blocks! I can hardly believe the blocks themselves are done. Here are some of them, not in final arrangement yet though. There are 13 full diamond blocks, 8 half diamonds for the sides and the 4 corner blocks.

Next up is figuring out how to make and sew on the scalloped sashing. My quilt is inspired by Kaffe Fassett's quilt in his Museum Quilts book. He used a narrow bias strip to make his sashing but had to make small tucks at each scallop. I don't want to do that so I'll have to draft a pattern for the sashing. The sashing fabric is green and will also be hand pieced/appliqued to the blocks.

I hoped, in one of my more optimistic moments, to have the top completely done by the end of the year. LOL My schedule this month has gone crazy with something on our calendar nearly every day of the month. I'll be checking in from time to time though and will let you know how my sashing saga is progressing!

Clamshell Diamond #11

This past week has been a hard one for me. I came down with a cold and although I'm doing better, its not gone yet. My husband now has it too so it will be quite awhile before life is back to normal around here.

I'd planned to work on the quilt show's fairy tale settings but was just too miserable. Instead I was able to do some hand work and finished clamshell diamond #11 which is in the middle of the photo. In the lower right corner, is #12 waiting to be glued together. I'm not sure about some of the fabric placements so that may change.

Since I've used up most of my favorite colors of clamshells, its getting more difficult to get a good color layout so I've begun cutting out more of the brighter colored clamshells. I think my favorites are the clamshells made from Kaffe Fasset fabrics probably because the colors are so intense. A few years ago, I never would have believed I'd write that!

Be back soon!

A clamming I will go!

I'm not even sure where or when I purchased Kaffe Fassett's Museum Quilts book but I'm sure I bought it because of the colors of the quilt on the front cover! This has been one of those quilts that will not go away and I've finally given in. I'm going to make it or maybe I should say, try to make it! He calls this a "challenging quilt" which should tell me something, shouldn't it?!?

My version will be made from both my stash of the past 30 years and from contemporary fabrics some of which are Kaffe Fassett fabrics. When I first saw his fabrics, I thought they were so ugly! I was especially turned off by the cabbage and roses fabric. Ugh. BTW, fat quarters of both the yellow and purple color ways of this fabric are now in my posession. I've decided I like the intensity of the colors. I'm not sure yet how well they will play with the dusty rose and sunflower fabrics from my crafting days!

I've been busy cutting out clamshells and preparing them for putting together the diamonds. Because I took the "Process Pledge", I've decided to take you along on this journey so my next post will show you how I've been preparing the clamshells.

I've made over 700 of them so far so please (!) don't tell me I've done it wrong! I still need to make around 500 more but I've decided to start putting together the diamonds first. Does the amount of time spent on making something with that many pieces scare you? I found this quote on Journey of a Quilter's blog.

"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish

something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will

pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to

the best possible use."

- Earl Nightingale

To help keep me motivated and encouraged, I've joined the Clamshell Club a group of bloggers working on clamshell projects! If you'd like to see our progress, click on the button in the upper right hand column. Click again on the end of the month updates (top of the page) to see a list of bloggers who are sharing what they've accomplished on their projects.

Spiderweb Selvage Quilt update - I've found some wider bright selvages so I can make more blocks! I'd really like to finish this top before Christmas.