Scrappy Flimsy

Here's the scrappy block flimsy. I like it.

I've got 18 people coming over on Saturday for a celebration dinner, so I'm not doing much sewing.

Scrappy G-block Quilt

I'm always pleasantly surprised when I arrange a whole series of scrappy blocks and they all look good together. I made 30 12" x 12" blocks from some of my big pile of precut "chunks" leftover from all the cat quilts I made (affectionately called Gizzy quilts). I laid them out on the floor, moving them around a bit.

They looked pretty good together, and I liked the way the colors flowed around, so I sewed them together into a 60" x 72" flimsy.

It's raining out, so I can't take a picture of the whole thing, but it looks good. Now I'm working on the backing.

I still have a gigantic pile of stuff left over!


PS: Go check out Steffi's blog. She asked if I would mind if she made a Rules quilt of her own. I told her to go right ahead. She's almost there, and she's doing a great job!

Chihuly

My son and I visited the Chihuly exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts yesterday. Dale Chihuly is a glass artist.

(yeah, this lime green "Icicle Tower" is all glass.)(Mind-blowing!)

The show was amazing. The galleries were packed with visitors, and we were all in awe. Fortunately, viewers were not discouraged from taking photographs, so we all snapped away.These were inspired by Native American baskets. It was amazing to see several nested pieces inside larger pieces. In this photo (below) five smaller pieces are nested inside a large bowl.Every room in the exhibit was amazing, but this room, with the pieces resting on a glass ceiling, lit from above, was a huge favorite. There were so many things to find... starfish, cherubs... it was fabulous.This was the bottom of a stunning limey-green "chandelier"I thought it was just fabulous. My son took this photo of me standing in front of it.
After spending a couple of hours looking at everything, our brains were overstuffed (Artists call it "museum head"), and we found a beautiful, quiet, comfortable place to sit down and relax.
Those are my sneakers. After walking around for a while, I like to take my shoes off and wiggle my toes. After a rest (and after I put my shoes back on), we went back through the Chihuly exhibit a second time.We had a wonderful day.

Gizzy Blocks

I've decided to try to make at least five "Gizzy" blocks every day. That way I can get a enough blocks for a lap quilt in a week. I figure 60" x 72" is a great size for napping or to keep away the chill on a cool night. That means 30 12-inch blocks in five rows of six blocks. I've now made 18 blocks, and here are six of the most recent.
The first recipient is an older gentleman who recently had to put his wife in a home because she has Alzheimer's. He'd been caring for her all by himself, so this is a tough time for him. I thought a quilt would make him smile.

As you may know, if you've been reading Millie's blog, I've been cleaning my house like a madwoman. I'm getting rid of a lot of stuff, and I'm being pretty brutal about it.
These are wooden backed rubber stamps. They are high quality, and strong enough to emboss velvet. I don't need them, and I don't want to just throw them away. I'd be happy to give them away, but I would like them to be used. Leave a comment if you are interested, or email me.

Blogger's Spring Quilt Festival 2011

This is my quilt, The Quick Brown Fox, that I made in 2010. It started as just something to while away a few empty days, but grew and developed into a special quilt I love very much.

The phrase is an example of a pangram, a sentence that uses every letter in the alphabet at least once. It started as a way to use "orphan" letters I had made for another project, but grew when a blog reader wondered if I would add a jumping fox and a dog. To fill in the empty space, I added the flowers and the little bird.

I started the quilt in January of 2010, and finished the top in May. It went to the longarm quilter, Chris, in July, got back home in October and I finished it up in time for Thanksgiving. I love all my quilts, but this one is extra special. It's currently on display at Quilted Threads in Henniker NH.

It is completely original, designed by me. There were no patterns, I used no templates, and it is not paper pieced. The free pieced letters are inspired by Tonya Ricucci's Word Play Quilts. The quilt is 57" tall by 48.5" wide (145 x 123 cm).

See more quilts in the Spring 2011 Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Finito!

After much of this:
I have finished this:I will attempt to take some better photos outside, but the weather report shows rain for the next week. (blech!)

Anybody got any creative titles for this quilt? I still haven't found one I like. (And, yes, I will finish the black version.)

You Asked...

I generally pay absolutely no attention to who manufactured or designed the fabric I buy, but somebody asked about this fabric, so here it is.

Suggestions, anyone, for the title of my white Rules quilt? Julie has already suggested "Evolution."

you can click the photo to enlarge.

Ready to Go!

I have made the binding for the white Rules quilt, and I have made the hanging sleeve. The next step is trimming the quilt down to size, and adding the binding and the sleeve.

All the Fun

The white rules quilt is back from Chris, who did her longarm quilting magic. But first, here's the fabric I selected for the backing:
I liked that it had all the colors, and was happy and bright. So here it is quilted:
Gorgeous, stunning, in an all-over celestial sun pattern. I love it.

Now, the question of binding. Sure, I can do a WOW. But it would be the fourth white quilt I made with a white binding, and I'm beginning to get that been-there-done-that feeling.
So I have been thinking... why not the same fabric as the backing?
I haven't decided quite yet.

Yes, yes, yes! I've decided to use that fabric as the binding! Thanks, ladies.

you can click the photos to enlarge.

Gizzy Blocks

After the Mother's Day festivities at my Mom's house, I got home, turned on a movie and started making 6" blocks from the leftover chunks from the Gizzy quilts. Putting them together as I go won't make much of a good looking quilt, so I decided to sew them into 4 x 4 blocks, and then work from there.

Me: 1, Studio: 0

Woo hoo! The sewing studio is CLEAN! I have reorganized my fabric stash and am very happy.

I had four big bins full of fabric less than a fat quarter in size, and those have all been sorted. I added those pieces to the bins that live under my ironing table, and rearranged the shelves in the bookcase to accommodate all the rest. I've added another bin for Selvages, one for Solids, and labeled all the others.
There were some casualties. I found several fat quarters I just hated, and a lot of fabrics folks have given me that I've had over the years and can't stand. I saved some larger more neutral pieces for foundations for a selvage quilt, but there was a lot that is go-go-going.

I have to sort through the stuff in the bureau, but that's another project. All I have to do now is vacuum, and the room will be finished and ready for the next project.

"Gizzy" Quilt Blocks

Four years ago I started making and selling kitty quilts. They were 24" square, and custom designed for each cat. They sold well, and went all over the world - all over the US, to Great Britain, Germany, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The quilts were all "modular" and essentially strip pieced. I made blocks as I have described here. I made the quilts for several years, and finally stopped. But I have a lot of the precut blocks left over. The "blocks" are 6-1/2" square; 6-1/2 x 4-1/2"; and 4-1/2" x 2-1/2".

How many do I have left over?
The ruler is resting up against a stack of 6-1/2" square blocks, and it's 11" high.

Think I have enough for a couple of quilts?


Me too.

What does this have to do with cleaning the sewing studio? Stay tuned.

Getting There

OK! I've got the fabric bits all sorted and I've picked up most of the stuff on the floor, and I've been doing some other organizing. My fabric stash needs straightening up, and the whole place needs to be dusted and vacuumed. One step at a time.

Chris has sent me a sneak peek of the quilting she did on my Rules quilt. It's pretty awesome, but I'm not going to post pictures until it is finished.

Critical Mess

I've had it. It's time to clean the sewing room. But first, I have to organize all the scraps of fabric by color.

Chris tells me the white Rules quilt is quilted and she thinks I'll love it. Woo Hoo! Can't wait to see what she's come up with. Next she'll work on Laughing Out Loud, and I am sure that is going to be quite the knockout!