Win Some, Lose Some

Making the blocks for this quilt is really time consuming and it isn't my favorite thing to do.

After I make the individual pieces for the block I put them up on the design wall where I have a space, but generally I decide to shift it to another spot. Oh what fun. In the photo above, the new pink pair directly below the watermark is too pale, and I'll have to replace it. (sigh)

Gotta do what you gotta do. Still though, I'm liking where this is going.

Birds Fly In!

Mari sent me this bird for the student bird quilt. I so love seeing what quilters do with my birds.

Julie S sent this one.

I've got a couple more on the way,  but I could use another three or four, so if you're interested, please let me know. Also, email me so I can send you my mailing address. 

If you want to make your own birds, you can get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop. It's an instant download and you can make them out of scraps. It's a lot of fun.

I'm teaching the birds at Night Owl Quilt Studio in Amherst NH on Friday April 17. Alas, the class is full, but email the shop if you are interested in attending a future session.

Size Matters

IF I inserted yellow blocks between the green and the orange, I'd have to shift things around, so here I did that, leaving space for the yellow blocks to go. (I still had to find yellow fabrics for those blocks, but let's leave that aside for the moment...)
 

The rail fence blocks I've been making from Sujata Shah's book, Cultural Fusion Quilts, (which is a really good book, by the way, and it's still in print, so go get one...) Anyway, the finished blocks measure sixteen inches square. A quilt four blocks by five is 64" x 80".  But for the design to work best, the quilt would have to be FIVE blocks by SIX. I'd need to make FIVE yellow blocks, and one extra block each of PINK, ORANGE, BLUE, PURPLE AND GREEN. That equals 30 blocks in total.

DETOUR AHEAD!

Now you may have noticed that in the previous posts I had four pairs each of Blue, Green, Purple, Pink and Orange. Each fabric is unique, so that means 40 unique fabrics. If I were to make 30 blocks, that would mean I'd need TWENTY more unique fabrics. And lemme tell ya, even with MY really terrific stash, that can be tricky. Not that I don't have the fabrics, but that I may or may not have sufficient YARDAGE to make really good pairs that meet the requirements I have already set for myself. Remember, I'm trying to DEPLETE the stash, not add to it by going fabric shopping. So stash hunting I will go. I'm a big believer that my best creative decisions come when my proverbial back is against the wall.

BACK TO THE SIZE...

If I add yellow blocks, which I am planning to do, then the size thing gets cuckoo. Thirty blocks arrange FIVE rows of SIX yields a quilt 80" x 96", which I think is way too freaking big. 

HOWEVER....

If I keep the blocks 3x3 (instead of 4x4) then the blocks are 12" square. And an arrangement of 5 rows of 6 yields a quilt.... 60" x 72" which I think is just peachy keen fine and dandy. That's within my comfort zone, but when I think about why I am making this quilt, and the overarching project, then clearly I don't want extra blocks left over. So a big quilt this shall eventually be. 

AND AS TO THE DESIGN...

I really like the idea that simply moving around a small block in each of the larger blocks, and then arranging the colors and prints just right will allow me to have my cake and eat it too. I can keep the zigzags of each color WHILE keeping the colors more or less in their own 3x3 block.  

In other words, I get to play with my viewer's heads, which is something I really like doing.

Yeah I know, I'm a bad woman.

What If?

This is the last photo from my last post.. 

I swapped two of the pinks and two of the purples. The orange pair in the top row is too blah and doesn't work. I'll have to replace it. Bear in mind all the fabrics came from my stash and I haven't shopped for any fabrics for this project.

Here I have replaced the errant orange block.

I had an idea. Since what bothered me was the blocks seemed to be very distinct and didn't flow into each other, so I wondered if I could arrange the blocks to make the design less rigid. I replaced the blocks in the  corners of some of the blocks so I could get long diagonal zigzags of some of the colors. There's a long purple zig, a blue one and a pink one, but I didn't like the connection between the green and the orange.

In the color wheel, what goes between green and orange is yellow, a color for which I did not create any blocks.

Hmmm... this throws so much of this out of whack.

More Wonky Blocks

 

I'm moving right along making the components for each color, but it's annoying I can't see them all on the design wall. 

Well, this kinda sorta works, but not really. I'm pretty sure one of the oranges doesn't work, but it's hard to tell. There has to be a better way.

It occurred to me that I could lay out how I would like the individual colors arranged by using one block from each pair. I arranged them in diagonal rows, while trying to keep larger prints separated. As I did this it occurred to me that I could arrange the blocks, instead of all sixteen on the wall, that I could use just nine of each color pair. That way all the blocks would fit on the design wall and I could see what they would look like.

This is OK. Nothing more.

NOW, I can't say this is much of a surprise to me. As I was making the components I wasn't quite sure how well they would work together, because the fabrics were kind of bland and rather predictable, but when I get stuck my modus operandi is to:

"Break it! Break it good!"

I already have some ideas.

Stay tuned.

Making Blocks

Each pair of colors I have chosen will make 16 4-1/2" pieces, that when assembled, make a four by four block that will finish at 16" square. As I make a set of blocks, I've been putting them up on the design wall.

A couple of weeks ago I talked about the limitations of my design wall - it's big, but not big enough for four sets of these blocks to be laid out completely, so working out how to arrange the blocks is going to take some thought - how can I do this without spending a lot of time on the ladder? I'll figure it out, but first I have to finish making all the components.

The Next Thing

Cherie was right when she predicted that my next project would be improvisational. But after a couple of quilts based on straight lines, you kinda had to know that I would do something off-kilter.

Given that my long-term goal is to use up as much fabric in my stash as I can in the next 15-20 years, I have decided to make quilt tops that please me. They may or may not have a purpose, or a reason, or a future home. I may or may not have them quilted. I'm going to take a look at the fabric in my stash and the bins and take whatever hits me at the moment, and do something with it.

In other words, I am going to Play. I am going to try to have some fun.

In January I made these as part of a proposal to teach a class based on Sujata Shah's method of making traditional blocks with gentle curves. Here I have arranged the blocks in a Rail Fence arrangement.

Here are the same number of green blocks arranged in a kind of zig-zag design.

As I looked around my studio and saw the leftover pieces of various projects, I decided to do something with these pieces.

Since I had made four blues and four greens, I knew that I had to have four pairs of the other colors - so I selected oranges, pinks and purples. I deliberately chose fairly plain darker fabrics and the lighter ones were mostly equally blender-ish, but I did allow a few of them to be larger, busier prints.

Here you can see all the pairs and the prints in detail.

That's the start!

Need Help

 

A few years ago I asked for birds so I could make a bird quilt exclusively from birds made by students. I got enough birds for TWO quilts. I made one, and I bring it to classes I teach so students can see REAL birds made by quilters other than me. These are the birds that I didn't use in the first quilt. I'd like to finish the second quilt, but as you can see, most of the birds face left and only four face right.

I need about a dozen right facing birds, like this one, above. Can you help me? Would you be willing to make me a right facing bird for this quilt? The birds should be on a LIGHT background, like the WOWs, above.

If you would like to help, email me at patcherymenagerie AT gmail DOT com. You know how to put them together. I live in the US and the birds can fit in a normal envelope. 

THANKS!

This and That

 

I finished the binding on the Green Birds quilt, so that's done. I'm gearing up for changing the quilts to spring colored quilts on the first of April, so this is good. This is the first bird quilt I made that didn't use White on Whites as a background.

The greens weren't even the same fabric in each block. 

(If you want to make your own birds, you can get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop. It's the ONLY place to buy it.)

Some time ago my sister called me and told me to read the book, Project Hail Mary. So I did. Earlier this year we learned there was to be a movie about it, and she and I went to see it yesterday. It was grand. I recommend it. I REALLY recommend it. Now, I read the book, so I knew what was going on, which was a good thing, because 1, I didn't stress myself out about the ending, and 2, as I age I find it slightly difficult to hear properly in a loud movie theater.

I've also been reading, catching up on some housework, going to Swim class and Tai Chi class and working out in the yard with the spring clean up when the weather is warm and sunny. I've also been keeping up with the new seasons of Top Chef and Tournament of Champions VII as well as watching Grace and Father Brown on BritBox.

I've also updated the blog page "Not Yet Quilted" showing quilts I have that aren't finished yet. This is kind of a big deal. In 2022, the year my dad died, I completed two quilt tops. The average before that was anywhere from eight to ten. In 2024 I made twelve. In 2025 I made fourteen. So far in 2026 I've made five!!!!

I don't know what I'm going to do next, but I need to do a deep clean in the studio first.

Binding the Green Birds Quilt

 

I am finally sewing the binding on the Green Birds quilt.

Otherwise I've just been doing the usual blah blah blah.  Still have to prepare the backings for three quilts: The Yellow Macnas, the Dancing Jewels and the other one.

It's a Flimsy!

 

The Opalescence quilt is now a flimsy. Here is a shot of the back. Regular readers know all the backs of my quilt are this neat.

Here's the quilt. It's a bit lighter in real life, and I'll try to take a picture of it outside if the weather permits over the next few days.

The quilt is pretty, and I like it more than I expected to. While it looks random, it isn't. Each block was placed, and while there are some blocks that seem to blend into each other, I left them there. I wasn't too worried about the overall "scheme," I wanted something that looked fresh and didn't look too perfect.

I remember some terrific advice I got years ago, "You never want your quilts to look like a machine made them." I don't remember the name of the person who said it. 

My own personal corollary is: "You don't want your quilt to look like it's a design you'll find on the tiled floor of a hotel lobby, airport, museum or public building." Yeah, I know. I'm a bad woman. 

I have six yards of this in my stash, and it will be the backing of the quilt. Woo hoo! 

WHAT will I do next?

I don't know either!

   

Almost, but Not Quite

 These are the last four rows of blocks to sew together for the pastel Macnas quilt, which shall be called Opalescence.

The pieces are pinned together, and you can see by the pins I have put on the leftmost edges, which row each one is, so I don't get them mixed up when I go to sew the rows together.

These four rows will be sewn together and fit into that space at the lower right of the quilt. Then I'll sew all the chunks together and the flimsy will be complete. 

I am happier with this than I expected to be, and am pretty sure I have the backing for it already.

Pastel Macnas Grows

 

I've sewn the top eight rows together into four big chunks and moved it to the top of the design wall.

There's also an eight block wide chunk at the lower left that is sewn together. That far left piece represents the bottom edge of the quilt. 

So it's growing.

The Design Wall Limitations

The design wall in my studio is 64" wide by 83" tall. When I show you photos of what's on it, I generally crop out the floor, and extra stuff around the design wall, like the door at left, the wall of the bookcase at the right (that's a long green cutting mat that hangs on the side of the bookcase) and the area above the design wall.

I also try to straighten the photo. This one, above, is a bit crooked. And I usually move the stepladder out of the way.

BTW, Thank you all for caring so much about my safety. I do indeed have to be very careful with the ladder. I have osteoporosis and arthritis and at my age balance is definitely an issue. It's why I am taking Tai Ji Quan, for better balance. It's not the "normal" Tai Chi. It's is designed for better balance. My Mom asked me the other day if I noticed any changes in my body seven weeks into the class.

"Well, my body hasn't changed. I haven't lost weight and I'm not any thinner, but the other day I put a sock on one foot while standing on the other, and no, I wasn't holding on to anything." Granted I was right next to the bed, but still. And it's only one foot. I can't do that quite as well on the other foot, but I'm better.) A few months ago I would never have even TRIED to balance on one foot. So the Tai Ji Quan class is working for me, although the change is gradual. But I am not going to risk anything on the ladder.

The Pastel Macnas quilt uses blocks that are 2-1/2" x 4-1/2". My design requires 30 of them in each row.

30 x 2.5" = 75”. Note my design wall is 64" wide, so I could only show 25 blocks across, like in the photo above. I needed to sew a lot of blocks together to make room for the extra five blocks to fit on the design wall.

Sewn together, those 30 blocks equal 60.5", which will fit just fine.

But trying to tinker with that many blocks while on a ladder is indeed foolhardy, which is why I have not bothered to fill the design wall with blocks. I'm working as high as I can comfortably reach while standing safely on the floor. Then I'll sew that all up and move it higher on the design wall and work below it.

In the photo above, you can see sorta how I'm working my way along. I've also been working to sew blocks together so I can have enough empty space on the right side to continue to add those five extra blocks to the design.

Is this ideal? Hell no. But needs must.

The size of the blocks definitely makes a difference. In the Dancing Jewels quilt, above, the top row of blocks is eight inches tall, most of the blocks are six inches wide and there are only 10 blocks in each row.

There are tricks. You might be able to see a thin sliver of silver on the green cutting mat in the photos above. That's a thin 24" long metal ruler that hangs on the same nail the long mat hangs on. If I want to remove a high block from the design wall, I just grab the ruler and slide it under the block. This disturbs the surface tension and the block loosens from the wall and flutters down to my feet. (It would be nice if I could catch them, but no such luck.) 

I also know better than to go anywhere near the stepladder when I'm tired.

Finally, Nancy: I used to be a 2D artist and I worked on paper. That means I'd put hundreds of hours into a piece of art on paper, (see the first photo in this post. )so I long ago learned to keep foods or liquids of any kind FAR AWAY from what I was working on. My cup of hot chocolate NEVER sits on my sewing, cutting, or ironing tables. I don't eat in my studio either. Snacking is also forbidden. In fact, I make sure to wash my hands BEFORE I got into the studio and get to work.