Goose Rocks Beach

The brown, blue and cream/white Slashed Squares flimsy is complete, and it is now called Goose Rocks Beach. 

Thanks to the readers  who suggested names. Earth and Sky were clearly elements, but music and food just didn't do it for me. Ann got me in the right direction when she suggested Maine. So I opened Google Maps, and found Ogunquit Maine (an easy drive from my house), and scrolled north along the coast, looking for any name that struck me. Goose Rocks Beach is an actual place in Maine, just north of Kennebunkport.

If you want to make a Slashed Squares quilt, you can get my tutorial here, on my Etsy shop. It's an instant download so you can get started right away. You can see more pictures of these quilts here.

Quick Quick Quick

I keep forgetting how quickly this quilt goes together. I've got all the blocks sewn together and the bottom two rows are sewn, but they aren't sewn to each other just yet.

I need a title for this. This blue brown white or cream combination is very popular because it is so soothing, and it strikes me as out-of-doors, but it isn't beach-y.

If you want to make this quilt, you can get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop.

It's the Little Things

One of the things I like best about the Slashed Squares quilt is the way the center block can really be made to stand out.

Here are some of my favorites.

When I am arranging the blocks of my Slashed Squares quilts, I always try to make interesting centers like this.

Sometimes the values of the blocks don't exactly cooperate the way I'd like them to, so I have to find a way to make them look good, yet not "read" as a too dark "blob."

Now it is time for me to sew this together.


If you want to see more of my Slashed Squares quilt, click here.

If you want to make a Slashed Squares quilt of your own, click here for my tutorial, on sale at my Etsy shop.



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Shuffle Along

As I have said before, just getting all your blocks up on the design wall is only a start.

I got up Sunday morning and went into the studio to look at what I had put up on the design wall. I didn't like the areas where dark values spread across two or three blocks. The first thing was to move those around. I try to make sure there aren't any "blobs" of areas of too much dark, or "holes" of too much light.

I also want to make sure the blues and the browns were evenly distributed throughout the quilt. I also try to avoid the same print to close to itself in adjacent blocks. It can't always be helped, but I do try.

This is what I have after an awful lot of tinkering.



If you want to make a Slashed Squares quilt, you can get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop. And if you want to see more Slashed Squares quilts, you can see some here.

Eighteen and Cut!

After I made 18 blocks, I decided I had enough.

After braving the crowds at the grocery store, pharmacy and gas station (a snowstorm was due to hit about 5 PM and everybody wanted to get their shopping done and be back home before it started), I got home put a chicken in the oven to roast, went into the studio and started cutting up the blocks.

After dinner I went into the studio, turned on PBS and "watched" Howard's End and Sanditon on Masterpiece Theatre while I rearranged the pieces and set the blocks up on the design wall. These aren't sewn together. In the top photo there are three blues that touch each other where four blocks meet. That will change. That has already changed, as you can see in the second photo.

This layout is by no means set. The pieces in the rearranged blocks aren't even sewn together. The block in the upper left is too dark and the one in the lower right is too light. Now the fun will really begin, however this gives me a good idea of what it will look like and I am already happy with it


If you want to make a Slashed Squares quilt, you can get the tutorial here, at my Etsy shop. You can see other photos of these quilts here.

Sweet Sixteen

I now have sixteen basic blocks. I want more so I'll have more variety, so I'm not done quite yet.

I've had a fat quarter of that center fabric for at least a dozen years. It isn't what you think of when you think of brown, but I think it fits in.

I love this brown outer fabric. I bought some of it for a quilt I made a couple of years ago, and then I saw the bolt on the sale rack later. Had to take more of that home!

Fabric about making stuff. That was a no-brainer!

You can see where this is going here, where I have lots of pictures of my Slashed Squares quilts, and if you want the tutorial for these quilts, you can get it here, at my Etsy shop. It's an instant download so you can get started right away.

I'm excited about the way this is turning out.

(Just a reminder that you can click the photos and then click again for more detail)

Primo & Segundo

Here is the batch of blocks I started yesterday for the new Slashed Squares quilt. (You can get the tutorial here.)

And here are some pairs I have planned for the next batch.

Yes, those are dinos. In a quilt about light blue, brown and creamish, that fabric fits. When orange gets dark it turns brown, so the fabric is perfect for this quilt. Plus it's one more thing viewers will get to discover.

And speaking of...

So you like this blue on white fabric?  Think again.

It is fussy cut from fabric that has different bands of colors. Don't look at your fabric for what it IS, look at it for WHAT ELSE it can be!

Moving Right Along

After dinner last night I went into the studio and started cutting cream blocks and some long strips for my new Slashed Squares Quilt. Then I looked over my tutorial and realized I didn't need a lot of blocks, so I decided to start putting some pairs together. I figured I'd make a few blocks and throw them up on the design wall to see how they looked. So I got started.

Once these blocks are complete I'll step back and figure out what I need. Maybe I'll need a few light blocks or dark ones. I'll surely need more with brown on the outside. Anyway, this is a start. Like I said, these blocks go together really quick!!

If you want to make a quilt like this, you can get my tutorial here.

More Bloo!

After watching Ken Jennings win Super Jeopardy, last night, I went into the studio and dragged out the blues and browns and white-ish fabrics.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to stop soon...

I already know this Slashed Squares quilt is going to be cool.

I've also started to cut the strips for the quilt. As you can see my definition of "brown" is flexible!

You can get the tutorial through the link above.


OH! Go visit Julie!

Blue Brown & White

A couple of months ago I had an idea that didn't go anywhere. Not because it wasn't a good idea, but I got a better one, and followed that path instead.

Unlike my pal Julie, I do not put fabric pulls like this in a box for working on later. I put them back in my stash. I like to know that whenever I decide to make something I have ALL my fabrics available to me.

ANYWAY...

I've been doing the "stuff" that bogs us all down. Cleaning, bookkeeping, organizing, upkeeping... you know. The stuff that keeps you away from the sewing studio. I was told once that when I do not spend regular time in my studio I get "snarky." I also get down and depressed. When I thought about it, I realized it was true.

The solution is to get the hell into the studio and do something, anything. I remembered the brown and blues and whites. I was talking to Julie about it and although I wanted to do something with those colors, I didn't want to do another Zebra quilt, or another Scrap Slabs. "Make a Slashed Squares quilt," Julie suggested.

I thought it was a good idea. It's a quick quilt, and I can make it on autopilot. I decided to make this one out of scraps. Since I need a 7" square for each block, I decided to start there and went through my scrap bins to find fabrics from which I could cut that size square.

I spent about an hour in the studio and it was enough to settle my nerves. I'll go back in there tomorrow, but this is what I have so far. No, I do not know how many blocks I will need, or how big the quilt will be, or where it will live or any of those details. I'm going to cut fabric and see where the colors take me.

Because, hello, that's how I roll.

I'm So Charming!

Charm quilt:  A charm quilt is typically a one patch quilt where no fabric is used more than once.

THEREFORE:

This is a Charm Quilt. (Magic Carpet)
I feel charming...

This is a Charm Quilt. (Fifty-Eight Carats)
Oh so charming...

This is a Charm Quilt. (Geode)
It's alarming how charming I feel...

All three of these quilts are made with one block (in this case a large diamond) and in each of them, each fabric is used only once.

I love nothing more than strictly adhering to a rule and blasting it to smithereens at the same time.

Sadly, I have been asked if there are patterns for each of these quilts. (Cut large diamonds from 58-65 large prints and then arrange them as desired.)

Yeah, no pattern. Sorry folks.

Sorry, not sorry.



lyrics from "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story.

A Very Nice Day

The northeast US is experiencing unseasonably warm weather. When I woke up this morning it was pouring rain, which is in and of itself highly unusual for this area in January. Normally, the daytime temperatures hover around freezing, 32F. If the temperature gets above 40F, native New Englanders refer to it as "a nice day.."

So when the temps went up to 60F, and the sun came out...

I actually opened the front door so I could enjoy the fresh air. Millie and I have both been out on the porch enjoying it.

In quilting news, the Geode quilt has taken a trip to its forever home. You'll see just where later. I am currently working on sewing the binding on the Spring of Teal quilt. I also have to sew the binding on the Whirlygig quilt, and prepare backings for Early Autumn and Not Paper Pieced.

On the home front I'm working my way through each drawer, cabinet, shelf and closet getting rid of the stuff I don't use or need and organizing what's left.

And oh, by the way, the movie Little Women is truly wondrous. Go see it.

The Big Girl Bed

This is my adorable granddaughter and her Dinosaur Diamonds quilt.

And this is her big girl bed. Honestly, I didn't think it was going to be so cool. I am totally and completely jealous!!

Geode

I started sewing the blocks for the scrappy diamond quilt together. Since at least two sides of these blocks are on the bias, when the chunks start getting big, I often leave them on the floor.

This is put together in long diagonal rows.

I wasn't quite sure if I liked this quilt, but it's growing on me. As you can see I used a dark blue batik in the fill in triangles along the sides.

I didn't use fill in triangles at the top or bottom. I like the way this look like it's stacked. I've decided to call this quilt GEODE. Right now it's 63-1/2" x 75".