Scribble Scrabble Goes Home!

 

I visited my cousin M and his wife N and delivered the Scribble Scrabble quilt. M was amazed. He had to examine every inch. "Is that a martini glass," he asked at one point? (Yes.) He kept saying it was Magnificent. 

About the backing, which was old maps, chosen because M travels a great deal: "The back is perfect. Did you know how much I love maritime history?"

He also loved the quilt's story I had written and printed. 

I was very happy. Both M & N love the quilt and their grandson loved looking at all the little details I put in there for him (dinosaurs, cats, bugs...)

Yeah, I'd say it was a hit.

Funny thing is it makes me just as happy to give this quilt away.

Scribble Scrabble Beauty Shots!

 

Here is a closeup of the quilting on the Scribble Scrabble quilt.

I took it outside for some beauty shots. It wasn't brilliantly sunny, but it was still nice out, so I brought the quilt outside and took a few beauty shots.

.

.

The quilt is done, and the story is written. I'll be delivering this to M&N later this week.

What's next? Something exciting!

My son and granddaughter will be visiting me next week. Whee!! I will be making her a third dress (this one with Dino fabric) and I want to leave enough unfinished so she can help me complete it.

Binding Scribble Scrabble

 

I've selected a dark fabric for the binding of the Scribble Scrabble quilt.

I pinned the binding over to the front of the quilt. I like to get the binding of the quilt pinned all the way around before I start hand sewing it down. It means I don't have to stop sewing to pin it over.

I like to "watch" television while I sew the binding.

Can't ask for anything better than to watch than the Olympics! Now I don't need an excuse to sit on the couch and watch TV!

Updates

 The birthday party was a wild success. The food was terrific, and the company was great. Alas, there were  no photographs. We were all too busy enjoying ourselves.

It's so much fun when you gather your friends together, and even though they may never have met each other, they all get along and have a good time. That's what happened. Instead of cake, I made red velvet cupcakes. They were delicious. I got some nifty gifts (which I didn't ask for) and some positively HYSTERICAL birthday cards. It was great.

My friend Janet-Lee, who does the longarm quilting on my quilts came and brought some custom decorated cookies. ("Too stinkin' cute!" somebody said.) 

She also brought the Scribble Scrabble quilt, which was tricky for a bit because M's wife, N, was attending the party. (M was traveling for work.)

N was talking about the quilts my grandmother made for all us kids. This seemed like quite the lead-in, so I brought out the Scribble Scrabble quilt, told the story and presented it to N, who was appropriately gob-smacked. I have to put the binding on it, and then it will go live with M & N.

My boss also came, and I showed him the office and remarked that I would soon be returning the WFH computer equipment back to the office. "Well, you should hang on to it. We're going to be needing you and this way you can work from home." So I did a bit of rearranging. I moved the big monitor to the corner so it would be available but not in the way. It really opened up the room and I can still work in it easily with my own laptop. Normally I write the blog from the couch, but working on a desk, with a great view, and the TV close by, is pretty cool.

I know I am going to love being retired. 

This and That

 

I've got the bindings for the three quilts all made.

I've got the hanging sleeve for the Not Paper Pieced Quilt all ready.

I've got the backing for the Scribble Scrabble quilt ready. It's maps because M travels a lot for his work.

My son, DIL and DGD are together taking Tae Kwan Do. They have all just graduated to their Purple Belts. (Yes, my son has a Fourth Black in Kenpo Karate and Mr Park and his staff knew instantly that he had some prior training, but I think the three of them taking classes as a family is a terrific thing.)

And I am kinda sorta planning a new Holiday wall hanging. Obviously it won't be ready for THIS Christmas, but I am having fun with it.

HOLY MOLY! Christmas is next week.

Scribble Scrabble is a Flimsy

 

Over the past few days I have sewn the blocks of the Scribble Scrabble quilt together.

All quilts look better when they're sewn together, and this was no different. Without the spaces between the blocks showing through, the design really pops.

I added a narrow light border of bright colored prints on a white background. That will be 1" wide when finished.

Next I selected eight different fabrics of mostly golds and browns on a black background and cut them up into roughly 20" lengths by 3" wide, joined them at an angle and sewed that to the quilt. I have already ordered backing fabric for this. I think this is going to make a terrific couch quilt.

And coming soon, a blast from the past...

Just in time for me to show off to the Seabreeze Quilt Guild in Exeter NH on Tuesday January 9, 2024, where I will be giving a trunk show of my letter based quilts. Perhaps I will see you there?

Scribble Scrabble

 

I've finished making the blocks for the new quilt. I have played with the layout, and I am very happy with this, and I am going to sew this up.

I will add a thin inner border of fabrics with bright colors on a white background. Then I will add a wider border of dark fabrics that are in the quilt.

I have asked my Darling GrandDaughter for a name for this quilt and she said, "Scribble Scrabble."

So there!

Break it Good!

 

What I never liked about this quilt was the bright white center. To me, if the very center of a quilt is white, or the lightest value in the quilt, then it reads as a hole. So I made a couple of blocks with the center pieces  are less bright, and I like them better.

Well, this is a little bit better. 

But it still isn't singing for me. So I have decided to BREAK IT GOOD!

This isn't really breaking it in a significant way, but I certainly like this better than the other way. Even though I think it's pretty boring.

Now THIS... (at least the top three rows) I like a lot. I am not sure about the pink block. It tends to overtake all the others. But this makes me happier than the other versions, so I'll be pursuing this idea.

I spent yesterday with Sargent, so I won't have any news about this for a day or two...

Slogging Along

 

This is coming along, but isn't really signing for me yet.

Here I have made more blocks and put them up but there is still something about this that is bugging me.

I stopped making blocks, and started putting up the smaller component pieces on the design wall so I could see where this was going and if I liked it.  

It's okay.

I remember what the Selvage Fairy said to me once, "It's interesting to me that the worst thing you can think about one of your quilts is that it is just 'nice.'"

I suppose this is nice, but it just isn't singing for me. But don't worry, I'm not going to give up. I know kinda sorta where I want this to go. 

Fractured Shapes Up

 

Before I could make blocks, I had to pair up some fabrics. When I had chosen fabrics for this quilt, I knew I wanted some of the blocks to have busy backgrounds, and some to have boring backgrounds, but busy "rail fences."

M has two big black dogs, so I had to put some cats in the quilt. I figured if nothing else, his grandson would have a lot of fun finding the cats.

There are foxes too!

This is shaping up.

The Next Quilt

This is my cousin M. I spent Thanksgiving with his family. Had a great day. As I was looking around, I noticed his family room needed a quilt. When I got home that night, I went right into the studio and went through my books to figure out what kind of quilt it should be. I wanted something relatively simple.

In the end I settled on Kathy Doughty's Fractured quilt. It's a variation on a rail fence quilt. I started pulling fabrics. M's house is relatively neutral, so I wanted earth colors - blues, greens, browns and an occasional purple. These are the ones I chose.

On Black Friday I went into the studio and cut the strips into segments and then made the first blocks. This is the row that goes down the center. The quilt is ginormous - as designed it is 84" x 96". That's seven feet by eight feet - which is stupid big. I'll make mine smaller.