Life is Tweet!

This is a quilt I made way back in 2014. I hadn't even written the bird tutorial. I remember wanting to make a "row quilt" with different blocks in rows. I was making it as a sample quilt for a class in which I would teach how to make the birds, butterflies, asterisks and hearts. (That happened only once.)

My birds simply did NOT behave. They did NOT like being on the same baseline. And then one of them simply HAD to be taller than the rest.

The hearts were no better. Of course it didn't help that I couldn't seem to make two even remotely the same. And then that little guy just seemed to float higher than the rest.

The butterflies had minds of their own as well. And it didn't help that they simply didn't FIT when they were all lined up. So they just did their own thing.

By the time I got to the asterisks I knew that all hell had broken loose and there was no point to try to prevent it. The asterisks wanted to fly on their own and by that time I knew that this quilt wanted to do its own thing, and what the quilt wanted, I had to let it do. So I played with them until they floated the way I wanted them to. When I got to an arrangement I liked I then had to figure out how to sew everything together, so I started at the bottom and worked my way up. 

Much finagling was involved.

Then I sent the quilt to Chris Ballard in Tennessee and told her to have some fun with it and go all out. As you can see, she did.

I've been making a lot of what one reader called "block quilts" and I thought you would all like to see something else.

Incidentally I'll be up in Northern New York in a couple of weeks teaching a Bird workshop for the Borderline Quilt Guild.

If you want to make your own birds, or butterflies, or asterisks, you can get my tutorials at my Etsy shop, here.
 

Dancing Jewels Complete!

 

The Dancing Jewels quilt is finished. 

Quilts look so different outside. In the shade or sun this quilt really sparkles.

My nephew is happy with it.

As you can see, there's a bit of ham in this kid. (Type "nephew" in the search box at the right to see more posts about him.)

I made the new quilt because my nephew said his old one was wearing out. This is the "old one" I made him in 2015. I had asked if I could see it because I was interested in just how worn out it was. When he held it up I was stunned! Several fabrics had worn out completely, and the binding had come apart from the quilt in at least two places. I'm pretty sure the quilt got washed once a week. (That's 624 washings.) I'm surprised he didn't ask me to make him a new quilt sooner!

Given the wear of the original quilt, I stopped hand sewing the binding and ran it through the machine. I figured that hard use necessitated a very sturdy binding.

According to him, "It's perfect. I don't need a sheet or even a blanket. I just wrap myself up in my quilt at night and I'm just fine." You can see pictures of the quilt when it was new, and a photo of him wrapped up as he sleeps in his quilt here. 

I told him that the biggest compliment a quilter could get is evidence of a quilt worn out because it is so well loved.

Binding Dancing Jewels

I've made and adding the binding to the Dancing Jewels quilt for my nephew. I have been staying up late to watch the tennis in New York and it has been going on VERY LATE, so I was so tired I didn't finish pinning the binding over to the front. That will happen next, and then I'll finish it.

This is the back of the quilt. I used the leftover backing as binding for it.
 
 

A Collection of Riches

 

I picked up three quilts from my longer quilter, Janet-Lee Santeusanio, the other day. This is Dancing Jewels, for my nephew. I'm happy with it, and will be working to finish it up for him ASAP.

I also picked up another quilt that doesn't have a name yet. I've been referring to is as the Jewel-toned Macnas quilt.

Here's another photo. This quilt has a home, so I'll be working on this one after I finish the one for my nephew.

The third quilt I picked up is the third Nightingale*** quilt. The first two of these flew out of my studio pretty quickly so it's nice to have this one to myself.

This photo of a small section of the back of the quilt may show the quilting better.

I have always loved brightly patterned fabrics on a black background, and since I believe if you are going to "go for it" you should really GO, I have picked equally vibrant prints for the back of this quilt. I also like to use panels on the backs of my quilts.

I was giving a talk to a quilt guild once and a lady came up to me afterwards and said, "You like busy backs." I looked at her and said, "Mostly, I hate boring ones." 

This reminds me of something some art critic or historian (I can't remember which) said of the artist and illustrator Alphonse Mucha: "...he doesn't like empty space." 

Apparently, neither do I.

***This quilt is really easy to make, and you can get the tutorial here, at my Etsy shop. While I think it is pretty spectacular made with bright colors on a black background, you can of course make it any color or colors you want. You can see it in green here, And made from bright prints on a white background here.

No-Batting Nonchalant is a Flimsy!

 

The no-batting version of the Nonchalant quilt I am making for my granddaughter has reached the flimsy stage. She and her parents both love the quilt and my DGD oooh'ed and aaah'ed when I sent detail pictures of the various fabrics in the quilt (Cats, cats, cats, Dinos, flowers, bikinis, bicycles, beetles, dot and stripes to name just a few).

I had a black and white backing fabric on hand for this quilt, but it just seemed too depressing compared to the lovely fun happy prints on the front, so this floral print is on order.

Piece by Piece

 

I'm working my way through the big no-batting quilt for my DGD. I've taken to sewing blocks together in chunks rather than complete rows, so I have divided the design into four big columns.  The section still on the design wall is the fourth column, and what you can see on the floor at the right is the third one.

I took the blocks off the design wall and grouped them by rows, and clipped them with a tag showing which row number.

I pin the blocks in each row together while I "watch" the US Open tennis.

Then I sew them together, and press them,

then join the rows into pairs and pairs into quads, etc etc.

The stack of 16 rows that were pinned together fill this space, above. 

This empty space represents the rows that do NOT fit on the design wall. So I have to design them, then pair them up and continue as above.

Sewing the pieces together in this way allows me to make pretty good progress. I expect to have the top done by the weekend.

The Demise of the Tri-Recs Ruler Set

 

The Tri-Recs ruler set, which I use in my Scrap Slab Triangles quilts, has apparently been discontinued. I am sure they can be found for sale somewhere on the internet, but I have found two other options and want to tell you about them. Both options are made by Creative Grids and can be found in quilt shops or online. 

This is the Creative Grids 2 Peaks in 1 6" Triangle. (Part number CGR2P1) It combines the two pieces of the Tri-Recs ruler set in one template. It is a one to one match for the Tri-Recs ruler set and no adjustments are needed to use it. But I think it's a bit more awkward to use.

The other option is two rulers. They are sold individually. 

The first is the Triangle Squared ruler (Part Number CGRTMT2).  It would be used to make the center triangle of the Scrap Slab Triangle block. 

The second is the Perfect Rectangle ruler (Part Number CGRTMT3). It would be used to make the side triangles of the Scrap Slab Triangle block. 

Both rulers are larger (taller) than the ones in the Tri Recs set, and you'd have to remember to cut along the appropriate lines. I use painter's tape to help me get the right line and not forget when I'm cutting.

They work great. The disadvantage is having to purchase two rulers and nowadays these things aren't cheap.

I love the Perfect Rectangle ruler and have used it to make the Needle in a Haystack and Pink Panther quilts. It's also the ruler used to make any of my Zebra quilts.

I'm in the process of updating my tutorial with information about using the new rulers and that will be available in the next couple of weeks.

If you have any further questions email me. PatcheryMenagerie AT gmail DOT com.

Size Matters

 

I've prepared about 75% of the blocks needed for the no-batting quilt for my DGD. The design wall is not nearly big enough, since this quilt needs to be about the same size as a flat sheet for a queen bed. There needs to be about six more rows added to the length....

and this piece will be added to the right side of the quilt to make it big enough. I calculated it would need about 450 pairs. I've got most of those made, so now I have to start sewing the blocks that are up on the design wall and get this going.

I'll be working on that this week pretty intensely as the pool at the Y where I go for my Arthritis Swim classes is closed this week for the annual maintenance. It's amazing how much I miss it.  Can't wait to get back in the water, exercise to oldies music and catch up with the other ladies of the class.

I don't usually make quilts this large. It veers into territory I consider "quilt wrangling" which is simply awkward to maneuver around. I'm 72 and although I can get down on my hands and knees and get back up again, it isn't as easy as it used to be and it sure isn't fun.

The reason why this quilt is so big is that it is destined to live on a bed just atop the flat sheet whenever the weather is warm  - so it substitutes for a blanket, but isn't as heavy. Therefore it needs to cover the entire bed, be long enough to tuck under the mattress at the bottom and to cover the body or bodies of whoever is sleeping in the bed.

You can see the no-batting quilt I made for myself in action in the photo above. Mine lives on the bed all the time, on top of the top bedsheet and under the blanket. In the summer I replace the wool blanket with a cotton one, and on hot nights, I toss the blanket aside.

I Hate it When...

 

I've decided to make a "Nonchalant" quilt for my DGD as her no-batting, not quilted quilt. I want to use up the leftover Macnas blocks I have, so I counted how many I had, then went through my scraps of white fabrics with bright colors and cut Macnas sized blocks. I had to cut enough WOWs (about 400), so I did that. Over the last few days I have been sewing pairs together. 

So far so good.

Then I ran out of white thread, so I got another spool of thread, threaded my machine and sat down for a power sewing session. I had about 50 pairs to sew.

After I was done, I started cutting them apart. Imagine my dismay when I saw this on one side of the blocks.

All fifty of them!

No point in getting aggravated about it, so I got my seam ripper and ripped all the seams out, then rethreaded my machine, sewed a couple of test blocks and sewed those fifty pairs again.

Sigh.

Steps

 

I taught a class on my Scrap Slab Triangles quilts this past weekend at the Night Owl Quilt Studio in Amherst NH. I brought seven of these quilts to show the students, and discussed what was different about each of them. It was a great class.

Later at home I worked out how to make these look like boxes or stepping stones. So that will be my next one. This photo shows how, above. It was made with my leftover pieces and needs a bit of fine tuning, but you get the drift.

If you are interested in making a Scrap Slab Triangle quilt, you can get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop.

Happy Birthday DGD!

 Here's an early birthday wish to my Darling Granddaughter. I don't know how TEN years have passed! 

Her thrifty grandmother has been counting all the extra Macnas blocks that were bright colors on white and there are enough to make a good sized no-batting quilt for her, so that is in the works.

Join Me Up!

 

It was time to sew this quilt together. But first I had to cut the setting triangles for the sides and bottom.

It was easier not to put the pieces I had sewn together back up on the design wall. Eventually it was easier to see how the layout was working and not to be confused about what was to be sewn to what, I just moved all the pieces to the floor of the studio.

Any concerns I had about the success of this design just evaporated as soon as I saw it like this. This is going to be a knockout!

DGD is thrilled.

Sliced and Paired

 

Slicing the blocks in half diagonally and then matching pairs together and sewing was fun. It went faster than I had expected.

Now that the quilt will be a bit smaller, it will only need 50 or so blocks. I have them all sewn, but haven't really tinkered with the design yet. The half square spaces on the bottom and left will be black, and the ones on the top and at right will be white.

My DGD is very happy and excited with this. I am also thinking about what to do for her "thin" quilt. I shall make it the way my grandmother made ours all those years ago - tied with crochet cotton. All the knots are still intact. I have one that is almost 50 years old and it has held up rather well. We used them daily and they were washed regularly.

My DIL teased that her daughter's room would have the highest concentration of Lynne Tyler quilts anywhere.

"Not hardly!" I texted back. "You can't compete with this!" It's my quilt closet, and this isn't even all of them.

We Interrupt...

 

I finished up making the blocks and then sliced a couple and sewed them together, threw them up on the design wall and took this picture. Then I sent it to my son and DIL.

DIL: OMG that's going to be a really cool quilt!

DS: Hang it in a museum!

So I text back that I think, YES! It's going to be a hell of a quilt, and I had to ask if they really wanted me to tie it instead of having it quilted.

My DIL texts that she thinks it ought to be quilted, but that my DGD really wants a thin quilt like the green one I made for them.

So we go back and forth, and we talk to my DGD. She wants a thin quilt. I'm happy to make her one.

But it won't be this quilt.