The Lady Priest

 

Marjorie, the Lady Priest, LOVED her quilt. And she is no shrinking violet. I could have made it a lot brighter and noisier and she would have loved it as much. (That's Hank, my dad's "driver" in the background. He's a real sweet guy and made our meeting possible.)

We hit it off like gangbusters. My dad was thrilled. He has long had a special place in his heart for Marjorie, and the fact that she and I got on so well brought tears to his eyes.

"Daddy," I said, "You gave Marjorie a quilt, but you also gave ME a friend! Thank you so much."

It's not very often I meet somebody who thinks as fast as I do, talks as fast as I do (and as loud as I can be when excited), who switches gears and jumps from topic to topic at the speed of light (like I do) and is wicked smart, and just... clicks!

So TOTALLY NOT WHAT I EXPECTED.

The Garden Party Beauty Shots

 

I did all my errands on Saturday morning. The laundry was done, the sheets were changed, the bills paid. I considered working out in the garden, but decided to sit on the couch and finish sewing the binding on the Garden Party quilt.

I finished about dinnertime, and there was enough light left to take beauty shots, so I drove down to the community garden and hung the quilt over the door. I really like this quilt, and I think it came out great.

I ran the quilt through the washer and dryer so it is soft and crinkly. Now I will write the story of the quilt to give to the Lady Priest and then bring it to my dad. He will deliver the quilt at a later date.

Garden Party

 

Thank you Stitchinpenny, for naming this quilt. Garden Party it shall be. There were a lot of good options. Thanks for all your suggestions. I have sewn the binding halfway around the quilt and hope to be finished this weekend. It's really pretty.

After I finish the binding on this, I will add the binding to the Deep Space quilt. I still have to put the binding on the pink barn quilt, Larkspur. In mid-October I'll pick up The Pink Panther and then bind that one. Can't wait!

Ever had one of those weeks where every day it's something, and then you get to the end of the week and wonder... where the hell did it go? That was what this week was for me.

The next couple of weekends will be spent putting the garden to bed and swapping out the summer/winter clothes, taking the screens out and putting the storm windows on the porch doors and that kind of thing. 

I've been replying to several requests for my address for bird blocks so there are more coming my way. If you would like to join in, please email me at patcherymenagerie AT gmail DOT com.

Binding the Lady Snaps

 

I have been sewing the binding on the Lady Snaps quilt. It is really coming along very well and I think it will be very pretty. 

I need a better name for the quilt than "Lady Snaps."

Anybody got any better ideas? I designed the quilt to be reminiscent of a flower garden, so perhaps we start there.

Binding for Lady Snaps

 

I knew that for this quilt I wanted a variety of colors and fabrics. I chose one fabric for each color - pink, lavender, blue, light green, yellow and orange and cut strips about 21" long. I also cut strips of a floral print with a white background. Then I sewed the strips together, inserting the floral print between each of the colored strips. 

 

Next I folded the long strip lengthwise and laid it out on the quilt - hoping to avoid a join in the corners.

Although you can't see it in this picture I have one corner where a join lands on a corner. Usually this isn't a problem for me, but for this one I had a hard time with it. At any rate, the binding is attached to the quilt, and I have folded it over to the front and pinned it in place. All (all!!) I have to now is hand sew the binding down.

Lady Snaps, Quilted

 I picked up the Lady Snaps quilt this morning.

It is quilted in daisies. So pretty!

I'll add the binding to this and get it delivered as soon as I can. 

I have received a couple more of the coolest birds! I'll show you those tomorrow!

Snapped Together

 

Once I had trimmed all the Snaps blocks to size, I took them off the design wall and clipped them together. After I worked out in the garden for a while, I came back in the house, and started webbing the top together.

This is sewing the first pass.

I pressed the first pass.

I made clam chowder for dinner, then started sewing the rows together. I sewed it most of the way, and thought I'd stop because I was getting tired, but I had only three rows left, so I pushed through and finished sewing the top together.

I think I said the other day that this is a quilt that will look better in use than it does on the design wall, and this picture, taken after I finished pressing the quilt, proves it.

At any rate, here it is, sewn up on the design wall. I'll bring it to show my dad later. Next I will have to prepare the backing, as I am sure he will want to give it to his friend sooner rather than later. I think I am going to call this one Flower Garden.

Snapping

 

I made a few minor adjustments. I've also been trimming these and squaring them up. I will likely sew this together this weekend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANET-LEE!!!

Almost "It"

 

I'm pretty sure. I'm almost sure. I'm 98.999% sure this is IT. Of course I may yet change my mind, but if I do change something it will likely be something small.

I tried to divide the lights into "busy" and "not busy" and surrounded the colored blocks with rings of busy or not busys. After I thought I had that all set, I tried to make sure there weren't too many busybodys next to each other, and that "not so busy" ones weren't congregated in clumps either. After I did THAT I looked through it and tried to make sure the same print in a block wasn't right next to itself in the next block. The more prints you have in a quilt the harder this is. There are 81 blocks with two fabrics in each block, and I have about 100 different fabrics. I also try to ensure that animal prints and flowers don't consistently look right side up (because there really is no top and bottom to this quilt.)

For a generic quilt for a person I don't know a lot about, I think this is really pretty. It will look better when it is quilted and crumpled, but then, all quilts that are designed to be used, do.

Lady Snaps Grows Up

 

Even as I laid out the yellow blocks surrounding the center last week, I knew that arrangement would be boring and that I'd change it. But I had to make more blocks first!

I decided to make some pale orange blocks, and I alternated those with the yellow blocks around the center pink one. Then I alternated the blue and green blocks in the next outer ring. I moved the lavender blocks from the corners to the centers of the edges and pushed out the extra yellows to that next ring.

But then that other diagonal didn't make any sense. So I put the lavenders back in the corners and completed that ring with more pinks. But I had to... you guessed it.. make more blocks!

I like this a lot! I will rearrange the blocks so they look better, but the placement of the colors will stay the same. I like the way this looks. This is happy and floral, which is what I wanted and what I envisioned.

 Stay tuned!

Lady Snaps Grows

 

I got a little restless choosing bland blenders, so I cut some livelier greens to see what they would look like on the design wall. I put a few up, and realized it was just too much.

I moved some greens around, and they look better. I put some blues in there too, and a lavender. 

(Now look, I know it isn't QUITE there yet. I still have work to do.)

Now the orange block in the center bugged me.

Not too fond of that either.

Pink? Maybe.

I have to play a bit more. Not a problem, I can do that. I have decided that the center blocks of the blenderish colors will be the lights that are already in the quilt. I am also not quite sure if I will keep the colored blocks surrounding the center like an echo. Maybe not.

We'll see how it goes.

Lady Snaps Grows

 

Here are all the creamish blocks for the Lady Snaps quilt. Can you see the pale orange block on the far left? That reads too much as orange, so it is going to have to go. There's a light green block that may have to go too. Otherwise I'm pretty happy with these.

Right from the start I knew I would fill in the empty areas with blenderish light yellows, greens, blues and lavenders. Remember, I am looking for a flowery garden feeling. It may not be the most original or sophisticated quilt on the planet, but that doesn't make it any less attractive. I don't want those blocks to have strong patterns. The CENTERS of the colored blocks will be the same fabrics as the lights. I believe that will carry the flowery feeling throughout the quilt. (Heck, I could be wrong, but there's only one way to find out, and that's to make more blocks and put them up on the design wall. And please don't tell me about a computer quilt design program. I have no interest in making quilts that way.)

Before I cut any of the light fabrics, I placed them on the design wall to get an idea of how they would look. This tentative arrangement is no accident. Placed like this, I will need a large number of light green blocks than any other color. The lavenders will be in the corners (which is good because I don't have that many lavender fabrics) and the second most used color will be light blue.

I made the orange block in the center, and the yellow blocks surrounding it. Note that no block is in its final location. When I have a good feeling for how the colors work, I'll shuffle things around to their best advantage. And hey, if this ends up like something too predictable and boring, I'll just shift gears and try something else.

So how was work? It was fine, and I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.

More Lady Snaps

I finished cutting out the fabrics for the light blocks of the lady snaps quilt.

I needed forty blocks. In the end I didn't have enough florals, so I used blocks with birds, flying pigs, hearts, bras, dinosaurs, children's animal prints, blenders and others.I did not use the fabrics that had yellow or green or blue backgrounds.
 

I made a few blocks and threw them up on the wall. It's important to remember that these are the "secondary blocks." I think the others will be blenderish light rainbow colors. Keeping the blocks I have now, I could fill in with all blue or all green or yellow or any combination and it would still look good. But I haven't decided yet.

Lady Snaps

I had the idea to make another Snaps quilt for my dad's friend, the lady priest. Here are some pictures of previous iterations of the Snaps quilts.

This is Blue Topaz, the baby quilt I made when my son & DIL told me they were expecting.
 

This is Ola Pola, a quilt I made a year earlier and ended up giving to my friend Daniela.

It came from this book, except I rejiggered the size of the pieces so they would be easier for me to cut. So I think, how did I cut the blocks when I made these back in 2015 and 2016. I should have written the details in my notebook, don't you think?

Not really. Kinda sorta, but not really. There look to be two versions here. Which one did I use? Let's look at the next page...

Not much more help, but it does make me think I worked out the blocks to be 6" x 8". Still not sure, I decided to make a couple.

That confirmed it. The one on the left is 6-1/2" x 8-1/2".

My idea is to make a happy, colorful quilt with alternating blocks of lightish big florals with brightly colored centers and blendish blocks of rainbow colors with creamish center blocks. (Haven't got quite that far yet.) I know I've met this woman, but it was a long time ago. I remember her as being very nice with a big heart. I figure somebody like that will love a happy quilt filled with colors and flowers, so that is what I am going to make.

I grabbed these colored florals on lightish backgrounds. We'll see what happens when they get to the design wall. I do not edit myself at this stage. Yes, you can see a couple of dinosaur fabrics. I think they are fun. And there is a cat print, and a print of children from all over the world, and the really observant amongst you will see the fabric with the bras, and I just think that is way to funny to leave out. There are more fabrics, however...

As you can see I cut out a bunch of fabric already. I don't know if I have enough to use each big print only once (don't think so), but no matter. I will worry about that when it's time to lay out the blocks.

So that is the current sewing project.

The Really Big Thing in my life going on right now is I am going to be working at the office starting on Tuesday, so I have been packing. I am eager to see my friends and get back out in the world. I am under no illusions that Covid-19 is going away any time soon, so I intend to continue to protect myself and take precautions. I have a box of disposable masks that will come with me, along with some antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizer. I am pretty sure I won't get a whole hell of a lot done on my first day back (I am planning to bring a cake to share), and I know there will be an adjustment, but I am ready.