Snow and Tell

We got eight inches of snow yesterday and last night. Looks magical out there. So happy I no longer have to worry about shoveling the driveway and getting to work.

 This is a Tourtière. It's a French-Candian meat pie. It is made with various kinds of meat and mashed potatoes. My grandmother used to make it. I haven't had one in years and decided with the snow falling outside that it would be a great dish to make. My grandmother had a little gizmo that made those rosette openings in the crust. Gosh it was good, and really took me back.

I finished the Scrap Slab Triangle Rainbow flimsy. I'll have to think of a name and order the backing for it.

Rainbow Triangles

I feel like I cheated for this one. All the triangles were already sewn together, and I had the side triangles all cut out.

I don't like to work on long rows, so I sew my blocks together in half rows. This is the upper right quarter of the quilt. Much easier to work with.

The top half of this is all sewn together. When I added the side triangles, I put then together so they created rhomboids. I should have this all sewn together before Thanksgiving.

This is a terrific way to use up all your scraps. You can get the tutorial here, at my Etsy shop. This is the fourteenth quilt I have made from these scrap slab triangles and they are all different.

More Scrap Slabbing

 

When I clean my workspace, I often make slabs of whatever color fabrics I have. I have stacks of these triangles in many colors. Back in March I toyed around with them but wasn't feeling this love for this.

I tried alternating the blocks but I wasn't excited about that either, so I packed the pieces away. Lately I have been watching my pal Julie tinker with the same idea and I decided to revisit these colorful blocks.

Taking a page from Julie, I divided the blues and greens into lights and darks, added pinks and put the blocks up on the wall. I knew I'd have to add some blue green triangles way over on the right, but I didn't have any blocks I liked, so when I went into the studio the other day, I made a stack of them.

I was happy with that, so I started adding some creamy light side triangles. I will sew these together.

I've made thirteen variations of this quilt. You can get the tutorial here, at my Etsy shop.

Not Mine!

This beautiful quilt was not made by me, but by Julie M, who attended a workshop on the Scrap Slab Triangle quilts I gave to the Rising Star Quilters in MA several years ago. The quilt was displayed in a recent quilt show in Concord MA, and now the quilt will be published in an upcoming book with pictures of the quilts from the show.

I am always so excited to see what students do with my tutorials. I would never have thought to use black fabrics in the side triangles of the quilt, but they work fabulously in Julie M’s quilt.

Thank you Julie M for allowing me to share pictures of this stunning quilt!

This is a Scrap Slab Triangle Quilt. If you want to make one, it’s a great way to use up your scraps. I’ve made 13 of these quilts and they are all different. You can get the tutorial here, at my Etsy shop.

Kangamangus, Finished!

 

This is a close up of the Kangamangus quilt. You can see some of the warm brown fabrics, the creams and the spectacular quilting. I've had this for a few weeks, waiting for me to add the binding and finish it up.

I finally got to it, and actually took it out for beauty shots the next day. Such is summer in NH. 

Sometimes you arrange it, back up, and you just know that you've got the "definitive" shot. That's what happened this time. I looked at this and I thought, Yup. That's the one. Funny that.

I didn't stop though, because I have learned that sometimes what I THINK I see is not what shows up in the camera, and there's nothing more irritating than getting home and looking at the pictures on my computer and thinking they suck and knowing I'll have to go out again. At at rate, this is pretty good too.

Long time readers know I dislike brown, and I hate, loathe and despise beige, so this quilt is rather a departure for me, but I really like it. I'm keeping this one.

Yeah, I know. Live and learn.

This is a Scrap Slab Triangle quilt, and I have made a few of them. You can see them here. If you want to use up some scraps, you can get my tutorial here. I am continually surprised at how many variations of this quilt there are.

Black & White Harlequin Finished

 

The Black and White Scrap Slab Triangle quilt I am calling Harlequin is finished.

I stitched the binding while watching Father Brown on BritBox. But I must have missed a season or two because Mrs. McCarthy, one of my favorite characters, is no longer on the show.

This is another "green bird" made with scraps (actually ALL my birds are made from scraps). This guy's wing is from the leftover backing of the Little Blocks quilt, which is next up for hand sewing the binding.

This fabric has so many options for birds, and I am probably going to make them all.

There are at least 12 different designs you can make with the Scrap Slab Triangle tutorial. You can get the tutorial here, from my Etsy shop. It's a terrific way to use up your scraps.

Binding & More Green Birds

 

I've added the binding to the black and white Harlequin quilt. It is made from several different black on white prints. Here you can see the backing fabric I selected.

I've folded it over and pinned it all the way around. Now "all" I have to do is hand sew it down.

Here's another bird on a green background. This bird's wing fabric was in a pile of scraps.

The wing fabric for this bird was from the leftover scraps of the backing of the Kangamangus quilt. Yes, of course I fussy cut the wing exactly. If you've got fabric with such a great print it's a shame NOT to use it to get the most out of it.

Orange

 

I'm wrestling with the idea of Christmas colored scrap slab triangle quilt. Mostly I'm stuck with how to make it colorful and yet balance the colors, so I've set the idea aside for now.

 I went through one of my big scrap bins and pulled out all the orange fabric.

I ironed my fabrics and paired them up.

Then I cut them up into Scrap Slab Triangles. It's amazing how quickly I made forty of these.

I've made a dozen Scrap Slab Triangle Quilts, and I know there are more to come. If you want to make one, you can get my tutorial here.

Kangamangus Backing and Updates

This is the fabric I have ordered for the backing of the Heartbeat quilt. The big leaves are about 4" long, so I think this will be great. Years ago I gave a talk to a quilt group and one gal came up to me afterwards with a comment about the fabrics I chose for the backs of my quilts.

"You like busy backs,"

"Not necessarily," I replied, "but I think a tiny print is boring and that's a lot of space to fill. I think the back of a quilt should compliment the front, rather like a good frame compliments but does not overpower the artwork it surrounds."

Mostly though, I just don't like boring.

A few years ago I bought this panel of owls. I happen to love owls. I think this would be fun to include in the back of the Heartbeat quilt. It's fun, and I think sometimes we take things way too seriously. I haven't decided to include it yet, but I think it would look good. We'll see.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The biggest other news I have is about me. Over the years I have put on too much weight, and my blood pressure has gone up. My doctors are also worried about my A1C. I am not diabetic, but I fall into the pre-diabetic range. Those three things together are not good. So I have visited a nutritionist and am making the appropriate modifications to my diet and lifestyle (meaning I have to move my body more). I am also testing my blood regularly. It's been quite an adjustment and that has been occupying my thoughts and time the last week or so.

My Mom and her boyfriend are also recovering from their respective trips to the hospital and are now reunited and happy to be back together. My Mom is 91 and he is 89. I am under no illusions. 

It was -7F here this morning, and I am glad I can stay inside where it is warm. We've got snow on the ground and it's pretty. Take care and stay warm and safe.

Kangamangus

 The new quilt is at flimsy stage. I added a cream border and decided to call this HEARTBEAT. I haven't chosen a backing yet. (Everything I like at eQuilter is out of stock, so I'll wait another week or so and try again.)

But I will use this as the binding.

Every time I have gifted a quilt in the last couple of years I have written a story about it. I thought I might make a book for every quilt, so I thought I might make a list.

Well, it took longer than I thought. I'm not done, but I was kinda sorta not really surprised that I got up to 100 and there were still quilts to be added to the list. Of course that does not include the 200 Gizzy (kitty quilts) I made years ago.

When I saw the list I knew I would not have books for ALL of them, but heck, it gives me a project I can work towards completing.

Making the list made me realize I hadn't created a page on this blog for Quilts made in 2022, so I fixed that. Now that I have the official list I will rearrange some quilts on those pages (I noticed a couple lived in two separate years.)

Sideways

 

By the time I figured out that I wanted the design to run sideways, I had sewn three rows together, so I had to do some unsewing. Then I had to move the blocks on the design wall, yet keep them in sequence so I could shift the design. I used Julie's paper-plate method.

I had to redesign two additional rows at the bottom.

Then it was start sewing things together. Pressing all the seams open kept the blocks more in shape. 

After I make my blocks, I always trim them to size. It means things sew up much more accurately.

Here all the rows are sewn together. I will add creams as a border and the quilt needs a name.

This is a scrap slab triangle quilt. You can get the tutorial here at my Etsy shop.

A Change of Perspective

 I started sewing the blocks together (far right).

As usual, when blocks are sewn together the design really starts to pop, and I am liking where this is going.

I particularly like this shape at the top of this photo. I had to do a bit of thinking...

The top drawing emphasizes the new shape I like, the bottom one is the original layout. Both of them cut off the design at either side. The quilt is designed to be 10 blocks across, and what do I do with the extra rows at either side? Neither one floats my boat.

Since I believe that you really need to SEE something in real life, I sewed a row of triangles to place beside a panel of three vertical rows I had already sewn together.

As I lay the strips together on the floor,  I saw this... which answered all my questions. ALL I HAVE TO DO is rotate the design 90 degrees, and I can get THREE perfect four row designs on my quilt.

I like this a lot better, so now I have some rearranging to do.

Stay tuned...

Right Church, Wrong Pew

 

This is the layout with the brown triangles and black on white side triangles. I stepped back and looked...

WHAT was I thinking? CLEARLYthe black on white side triangles were just plain WRONG! I had my box of leftover side triangles out, so I was not looking (or thinking) properly. It was apparent the side triangles needed to be CREAM or BEIGE...

Sigh. 

Back to the cutting table.

I had even bought a large selection of creams and beiges for just this purpose back in November. Must have had a lot on my mind. (ya think?)

This is SO CLEARLY so much better. Just goes to show you...

"No matter how far you've gone down the wrong road, turn back!"

I will start sewing this together!

This is a Scrap Slab Triangle Quilt, and is mostly made from scraps. If you would like to make one, you can get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop.

PS, My California family is not near the areas burning in LA right now, although some of the places we have visited have been affected.

Brown Zig Zags

 

Almost eight years ago I arranged the triangles for the third Scrap Slab Triangle Quilt in these zigzags. I called it Snow Day, and you can see it here. I decided to revisit those zigzags for the brown quilt.

Now in the photo above, I have not fussed over the placement  of the brown triangles. I can't really play until I get them all up on the design wall, but I do have enough to get a sense of the basic design, so I wanted to figure out a basic idea for the light side triangles. I went through my bin of leftover side triangles and put some up on the design wall and stood back to take a look.

Now I have to tell you a little design theory here. Dark AREAS tend to sink to the background but LIGHT areas tend to come forward. I do not want the LIGHT diamonds in this design to take center stage. So in order to do that I have to make the LIGHT diamonds boring and less interesting. 

Which means I have to make them boring to the viewer's EYE and NOT give them any contrast, (like color in the light diamonds). Your eye is drawn to CONTRAST, so I won't have any color in the light diamonds. So the color in the light areas above is going to go away. 

Here is the basic layout of the brown triangles so you can see what the overall thing will look like. 

You can also see the brown triangles are just randomly arranged, and they don't flow and they seem a bit jumpy and disconnected. That's the next task.

Here I have arranged the triangles so they flow into one another, and I lead you there through either color or pattern.

Here is another example of what I tried to do with the brown triangles.

It's funny, but when I first started making these quilts, I added the side triangles to the colored triangles before I designed the quilt. Now I place each piece intentionally.

Next up is figuring out which light fabrics I will use in the side triangles. The only way I can work that out is to try them up on the design wall and experiment.

My mother's boyfriend's surgery was a success and he is doing well. I have spent three days cooking for my Mom so she will be all set in her apartment on her own. She has Macular Degenerative disease, so she sees poorly. She describes it as "seeing through lace." What's good is that whatever I made, I kept half, so we both have an assortment of prepared meals for the rest of the week. I've been her chauffeur and errand runner so it's been nice to get home at the end of the day and not have to worry about having to cook.