Backing for Morning Garden Quilt

 

There are several Charley Harper prints in the Morning Garden Quilt, so I decided this one with frogs and butterflies would be the centerpiece of the pieced backing I will make for the quilt.

I used the leftover blocks on the backing too!

This is the finished backing for the Morning Garden quilt.

I always place the flimsy on top of the backing so I can ensure the backing is at least six inches bigger than the quilt top all the way around.

This one is ready to go!

Backing for Nightingale Quilt

 

This is the Philip Jacobs print I have chosen for the back of the Nightingale Quilt.

And this is the binding I have prepared for the quilt when it comes back from being quilted.

This is another shot of the Nightingale quilt, this time in full sun. I love bright colors, and these brights on black just pop and sing! It creates such a beautiful design. You see the colors first, then you realize this is patchwork. 

It is almost embarrassingly easy to make, and it works with any fabrics with a black background. I have a couple of testers making them now and I am eager to see how they turn out. Each one will be unique, deepening on your own style, which I think makes the best quilts. 

What has been so exciting for me is that everyone I have shown this quilt to just freaks out. "OMIGOD that's GORGEOUS" has been the consistent response, which is very encouraging.

You can get the tutorial here, at my Etsy shop. It's an instant download, so you can get started right away.

Nightingale Tutorial is Live!

Here's a beauty shot of the Nightingale flimsy. I just received the backing fabric so I will be working on that soon and will deliver the quilt to the long-arm quilter.

The tutorial for this quilt is finished and you can find it here in my Etsy shop. It's an instant download, so you can get started right away!
 

The Lesson

I threw myself a birthday partly this past summer, and my long-arm quilter came. I gave her a flimsy to be quilted and all the guests and I were looking at it. Someone asked her a question. She flipped the flimsy over, revealing the back. (I felt like somebody threw open my underwear drawer.)

"Look at this. See how the seams match perfectly? See how the seams are pressed so neatly? See how there are no loose threads? This quilt is square and lies flat. THIS is a dream to work with. I quilt over 300 quilts a year. THIS is rare. You wouldn't believe the crap I get. I LOVE quilting Lynne's quilts."

I was taken aback, to say the least. I know I do good work, and we have all heard about how long arm quilters are fussy about the flimsies they quilt, but I thought it was a story worth sharing. You can look at the back of the Nightingale quilt, a detail of which is in the photo above. You can see the seams are neat, and there are no loose threads Sure, the fabric ravels, and some of those threads show, but that's the nature of the beast.

If there are any of you have don't believe the stories you've heard, here it is writ large: Press your seams, trim your threads. Make sure your work is square and lies flat without any ripples. It makes a big difference.

The Nightingale Quilt

 

This is the new Black quilt. It is called Nightingale, and I will be releasing a tutorial on how to make it soon. 

This is 60" x 72" and has about 50 unique fabrics - and the one thing they have in common is they all have a black background. The quilt goes together surprisingly fast.

Here's a closeup of one section, so you can enjoy the variety of fabrics.

Morning Garden is a Flimsy!

 The main body of the Morning Garden flimsy is complete. I will add a border to it next. (You can see it over on the left.)

Earlier this week when I was sewing the blocks into rows, when I would complete a row I would sew it to the row below it (so I was joining two rows into pairs), and I inadvertently inverted one of the rows so I sewed the two rows together the wrong way. I hate when that happens, but I took it apart and sewed the two rows together again.

And sewed it wrong AGAIN!

That was my cue to exit the studio and do something else. When I calmed down a bit, I went back into the studio and unsewed the seam again.

Then I double and triple checked and sewed the two rows together, properly.

And then kept going.

Morning Garden

 

I made all the blocks for the new Slide Show quilt, whose working title is Spring Garden. Here I have just thrown them up on the wall. I will rearrange the so the fabrics are well distributed. I can't quite see what it will look like without the "background" fabric.

Here I have placed the "background" fabric where it belongs, and I can immediately see the blocks with the light centers have to change. That is not a surprise. I can't really design a quilt unless I can see all the fabrics and blocks together. Obviously I've got to place the rest of the background fabric, and I have some rearranging to do, but overall I am very happy with the way this is turning out.

A New Slide Show

In 2021 I made a quilt inspired by water on the road that reflected the sky in it. I called the quilt Deep Space.  It was based on the Slide Show quilt from Colorful Quilts for Fabric Lovers. I am making another one in soft greens and teals. 

Here are some of the fabrics I have chosen.

Here are some of the blocks I have made.

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In this quilt, I have decided to use a print that will sort of run behind the back of all the blocks.

You can see some of the blocks set on top of that fabric, so you can get an idea of what this is going to look like.

A New Black

 

I've decided to make a Black quilt, so when I was reorganizing my fabrics, I cut some blacks with bright colors.

I've paired some black fabrics. I am excited about this. I am still waiting for more fabrics, so I have to set this aside until they arrive.

I'm also planning a quilt for a friend of mine who has helped me out around the house several times in the last year. We have discussed colors, and I have to let that roll around in my head before I get started with that.

And I have started hand sewing the binding on the Peonies quilt.

HOWEVER...

I had an appointment with my financial advisor recently, and we were talking about the "what-ifs" and close calls in life when he mentioned that one of the staff members who had greeted me when I walked in had recently lost everything when his house burned to the ground in the middle of the night. He and his fiancee escaped with their lives - and nothing else - both were completely naked!  Immediately I said, "Can we make them a quilt?" My advisor practically jumped out of his seat. "YES! How much money do you need?" So I'll be making the couple a quilt. He is a drummer for a band in his free time, and she works in health care.

Binding Peonies

 

I had made the binding for the Peonies quilt just after I finished it, so all I had to do was sew it to the quilt. Regular readers know I sew my bindings to the back of my quilts, and then do the finish hand sewing on the front.

It's going to be really pretty.

The Big Clean

 

Not only did I get the stash organized, but I cleaned the whole damn studio. (Well, 85% of it.) It started in this corner, where the return for the central A/C is located. It's getting to be that time of the year, and the heat has kicked on once or twice in recent days, so it was time to cover it up. As long as I was back there I decided to clean the area, and moved everything to do it. I also cleaned the shelf that runs along that wall under the windows.

You know how it is, you get on a roll and keep going.

This was what the studio looked like "Before." Sure, it was nice to work on the stash, but that was the least of my problems. This was late last Thursday.

This is the "After," taken just before midnight on Saturday.

SO much better. At least now my stress level doesn't INCREASE when I walk into the room.

This is good, because I picked up the Peonies Scrap Slab Triangle quilt from the long-arm quilter and now I have room to lay it out and add the binding to it. This quilt has a home, so I have to get it ready to go.

This is the eleventh Scrap Slab quilt I have made, and they are all different, and made from scraps. If you want to use up your scraps, this is a good, fun way to do it. You can get the tutorial here, if you are interested.

Finally - Sewing!

 

There's nothing like getting a big project done and then doing something you like as a reward. I made a bird. And not just ANY bird, a freaking Majestic bird.

I started with this bird. I found a piece of the green wing fabric, and it said it wanted have something blue in it. Alas, it came out a bit more bland than I would have liked, but still. So then I moved on to the other one.  They make me laugh. 

I added the last row to the Little Blocks quilt.

In the Great Stash Clean Up I found this fabric I had bought a year ago. I found six yards of it. Not only did I iron it (finally)...

I cut it into two three yard pieces and sewed them together. Now it will be the backing of the Little Blocks quilt.

Going to be awesome!

I had an idea for another tutorial, one that I am tentatively calling "The Easiest Quilt Ever," so I'm working on that. I think Julie's squirrels have migrated to my studio...

If you want to make some birds, (and you really do), you can get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop.

and oh, I joined Facebook. I'm still not sure how it works yet, but I'm there as me.

Stash Reorg

 

It only took a month, but I have finally finished reorganizing my stash. And not just my stash, but the piles of fabric I had lying on the extra table, stacked on the recliner and thrown all over the place.

I ended up getting some shelf dividers from Amazon and that helps keep some of the stacks separate, and keeps them from falling into each other. This should help me keep it nice and tidy. I even used some to create more space on the top of the bookcase. I had had lots of large pieces of fabric - many planned for backings of future quilts, and now ALL those have been ironed and folded and are neatly arranged on the top of the bookcase. I'll need a step stool to reach them, but that's no problem.

Moreover, all the worktables are clear and I can get to work without the added visual stress of the fabric clutter all over the room. To be sure, I have several quilts in mind after revisiting all those fabrics, and I can't wait to get started.

And there's a new tutorial I want to write, and an old one I want to update and a pattern I should write. 

And I want to add a row to the bottom of the Little Blocks quilt because it looks too square and I got the Peonies quilt back from the long arm quilter and I have to add the binding and finish it.

Gosh, I sure am glad I am retired!

Murphy Visits

 

We all remember Murphy. Murphy's Law states that if anything can go wrong, it will. 

Can you see it? The quilt is all sewn up, but can you see the big glaring No-No?

Since I added a row of blocks to the left edge of the quilt, the big double sized blue block is now right smack-dab in the exact center of the quilt. 

Dammit.

There is, of course, only one thing to do, and that's rip it out. I decided I could shift the blue block to the right, and decided to do that by rotating it and the white and pink blocks to the right of it 180 degrees and sew it back in the empty space those blocks occupied. Problem was, there was a light blue block that would have sat right on top of the big blue block, so that one had to get replaced as well.

Major ARGH!

HOWEVER! I have learned that when you goof up like this there is only one thing you can do. Take a deep breath and just get to work. Fix it, and do not get emotional about it. Don't get angry, don't swear, don't grumble, and above all, don't put it off.

OK so that's done.

I like the way the center blocks are all off center, and the dark centers and the light centers kind of blink. It's fun, and I might make another one.

But I want to continue reorganizing my stash first.

OH: Here's a plug. Last year I so enjoyed Magpie Murders on PBS. They have another season this year, called Moonflower Murders. They are both murder mysteries and what makes them unique is each one is a murder mystery set in another murder mystery with many of the cast members playing dual roles - one in each. It's a clumsy way of describing a very elegant, enjoyable series. Moonflower Murders just premiered on Sunday September 15th, so if you want to watch it will be easy enough to catch up. I highly recommend both seasons.