What's Next?

 

Now that the PRIZM quilt and its backing are all ready for the longarm quilter, the design wall is empty.

EEK!

My studio has been a real mess, with fabric strewn about everywhere. I spent some time over the weekend folding up what could be folded and putting it back in the stash, but there's a lot that's just piled up. I wasn't in the mood to make slabs, but I did want to do something, and a dear colleague of mine has just become a grandfather for the first time. A scrappy baby quilt would be just the ticket to clear off my worktables and get me busy.

I decided to make a slashed squares quilt - but in minis. This is practically the simplest quilt anywhere. Surround a square with fabric, cut that apart and rearrange the pieces. You can see pictures of the various slashed squares quilts here. You can get the tutorial for them here. 

Over the last couple of evenings I cut squares and strips and paired them up. I used only what I had lying around. I did not cut into yardage from my stash, nor did I go rummaging in my scrap bins. I just took what was lying around in a mess, and cut from that. 

(True story. A couple of weeks ago as I was FaceTiming with my California family, I showed off a quilt I was working on in my studio. On my way to the design wall, I walked past my stash. "Oh Memere," my DGD exclaimed, "You have a lot of quilts." I paused. "Oh no, honey, those aren't quilts, that's just my fabrics. I use those to MAKE quilts...")

When I got bored with cutting I ran the pairs through my sewing machine, 

then I pressed them. Next up will be adding fabric to the opposite sides. Then I'll trim them down and add fabric strips to the other two sides. This stack has about 35 sets. I haven't calculated how big I want this quilt to be, or how many blocks I'll need just yet. 

BTW, it's my best pal Julie's birthday today. Swing on over to her blog and leave her some birthday cheer. This picture was taken last year when she came to New Hampshire for a visit.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE!

Serendipity

 

When the CEO said he knew where the Goose Rocks Beach quilt was going to go, he wasn't kidding. Turns out the family room in his home is decorated in brown and blue.

I also received lovely emails from the CEO and Mrs CEO, who put as the subject line of her email: "I, too, am speechless..." She wrote that is the most beautiful quilt she has ever seen. Both loved reading the back story. Mrs CEO is a cancer survivor, and wrote that in the past she would have treated the quilt as a work of art, but having lived through the last few years, she promised me the quilt would be USED with as much love as I put into making it, if that is possible.

I can't tell you how much fun this has been for me. I don't feel like I gave anything away, my heart is so full of their joy.

Mrs CEO reminded me of something. I wrote this quilt's story. It's nothing I usually do, but I think perhaps I should. Every quilt has a story, and while I know them all, my family members don't. So I have a new project, to document the "Story" of each of my quilts, so the story as well as the quilts will live on.

Now that's serendipity!

Goose Rocks Beach Goes Home

 

I gave Goose Rocks Beach to the CEO. He's been wrestling with dramatic changes over the last few months, and I know he's been stressing out big time. I wanted him to know how deeply I appreciate the concern he has had for his employees, keeping them safe. (Read: allowing me to work from home.)

I told him that if ANYBODY at the company needed a hug it was him. I said I couldn't give him a hug, but I had something even better. Then I pulled out the quilt, and my normally loquacious boss was at a loss for words. To say the gift of a quilt was a surprise was a dramatic understatement. He thought the colors were perfect. He loved the title and knew where Goose Rocks Beach was, as he loves that part of the country, and vacations near there every year.

He loved the quilt, but was so happy to have the story of the quilt to go along with it. The story was a synopsis of how the quilt came to be, from the inspiration photograph (another colleague) to the choosing of fabrics, arrangement of blocks, quilting, QA testing by Millie and the binding. When I got home later I added the photo above at the end and added more details.

I also gave him a copy of the Slashed Squares tutorial and every photograph I took of the quilt from start to finish. Hey, he's the CEO of a manufacturing company. This is a guy who likes to know how things get made.

Here's part of the thank you note he sent later:

"Hey Lynne,

I am so blown away!

I feel very special today, believe me, to have my own Goose Rocks Beach masterpiece! ... I am deeply touched and am deeply grateful.... Goose Rocks Beach, well, Rocks!"

I am equally happy. THIS is why we make quilts!

Goose Rocks Beach is Done!

 

I've finished the Goose Rocks Beach quilt. The weather is supposed to be lousy the next few days, so there won't be any outside beauty shots. After I took these pictures, I ran the quilt through the washing machine to make it soft and cuddly.

I'll be gifting this quilt in the next few days, so I created a power point document about how the quilt came to be. I'll give this with the quilt so the recipient will know how the quilt came to be.

This is a Slashed Squares quilt, and if you want to make one, you can get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop. It's an instant download, so you can get started right away.

Binding Goose Rocks Beach

 

I've attached the binding to the Goose Rocks Beach quilt and now I'm joining the ends.

Here I have pinned the binding to the front for sewing down.

And here I am sewing the binding. The quilt will be going to somebody special as soon as it is finished. It will be a surprise, so I am excited about it.

Here is the whole quilt, so you can see it. (This photo was taken before I added the binding.)

Goose Rocks Beach is a Slashed Squares quilt, and it's really easy to make. You can get the tutorial here, at my Etsy shop. It's an instant download so you can get started right away.

Return to Goose Rocks Beach

This is my colleague, MJ, in a photo taken a few years ago. We crossed paths in the office and I told her I loved the colors she was wearing and asked if I could take her picture. She said as long as I didn't include her face it was OK. 

This photo was the inspiration for the quilt, Goose Rocks Beach.

 

Ann helped me with the title by suggesting the Maine seacoast, and indeed, Goose Rocks Beach is a real place in Maine. The quilting design is called "Undertow." Anyway, I have now chosen and prepared the binding for this quilt.

This one doesn't have a home yet, but it is nagging to go to a particular person.

Goose Rocks Beach, Quilted

 

The Goose Rocks Beach quilt has been quilted. The quilting design is called "Undertow," which is amazingly appropriate!

I made the flimsy back in January of this year. It's a Slashed Squares quilt, and very easy to make. This one is made from scraps and fabrics from my stash. You can get the tutorial here, at my Etsy shop.

When I made the quilt I thought it was handsome, but it didn't really thrill me. But now that it has been quilted, I really like it.

I think I am going to use the brown fabric for the binding.

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.



==

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.