Legally binding

One of the best motivations for me to get a quilt to the finish line is to enter it into my quilt guild's annual show.   I spent a good number of evenings over the past month or so hand sewing the bindings on some quilts that have been patiently waiting for a while.

The first one I finished was my Michigan quilt, which I previously blogged about here and here.

I had this quilt professionally longarmed about 2 years ago, by a local quilter named Laurena who used to quilt for many of the members of our guild before she retired.  Coincidentally,  Laurena happened to come to our show  and she was pleased to see that some of her handiwork was still on display when she saw this quilt hanging there.

Another quilt I finished for the show was my La Vie En Rose quilt which I blogged about here.

 I didn't get a good photo of it hanging in the show, but trust me, it was finished.

It's kind of embarrassing that both Michigan and La Vie En Rose both date back to 2013!  (Sometimes having a blog can expose truths that you just don't want to admit. 😏 )

A third quilt that I finally finished was this one from 2018, which I blogged about here.

I had three other quilts that needed binding to get them ready for the show, but at least they were created in 2019.   The first of the three was  Fierce Ladies,   

The second was my guild's Block of the Month, the  Half Square Triangle Sampler

And the third was a quilt I created for my guild's member's challenge which will get it's own blog post in the near future.

Six quilts may sound like a lot, but these are all fairly small. On the other hand, that was 24 corners of binding that needed to be coached into submission. 

Feels good to get them finished.  Thank goodness for quilt shows! 😁

Everything's coming up roses

My "La Vie en Rose" quilt top is finished.

As I said in a previous post, this quilt started with a bunch of fabrics pulled from a sale bin.  I thought it would be a fun challenge to use all of them in one project, but I wasn't sure what that project would be.   I usually tend toward jewel tone colors, but something about these soft neutrals was very appealing.

More than one of the fabrics had roses as part of the fabric design, so that became my inspiration.

I chose the block pattern of a square in a square because it always reminded me of a rose.

While still designing in my head, I had a conversation with my mother-in-law and she happened to mention that she loved the song "La Vie en Rose".   As a young woman in Montreal, my MIL was a fan of Edith Piaf who was the French singer who made the song famous.

My MIL was  fresh out of secretarial school and working at a law office when she learned that Edith Piaf was going to perform at a cabaret in Montreal.  She was not old enough to go to the cabaret because they served alcohol, but her boss pulled some strings and she was allowed to attend.   I could tell it was a lovely memory for her. I believe she used the word "mesmerizing".

Upon hearing this story, I just knew that I had to name this quilt "La Vie en Rose" in honor of my MIL.   What's more, my MIL is a big fan of neutrals in her decorating style so I knew these fabrics would suit her.

It seemed like the perfect fit.  Then a weird thing happened to make me feel that it was truly meant to be.   I was listening to an online radio station as I was sewing up the last few seams and what song did they play?  You guessed it...La Vie en Rose!    The station I was listening to usually plays show tunes and Broadway stuff, with the occasional Frank Sinatra thrown in, but never a French "chanteuse".  Until now.  I was just amazed at the timing.

You may recall from a previous post  that this fabric group included a Tasha Tudor print with woodland animals on it that I just loved.  I'm happy to say  those cute little critters made their way into the finished quilt.

And just in case you were wondering, the block I mentioned in my last post, made with the darker pinks, did not make the cut.

I plan on using it on the back as part of a label.

How does your garden grow?

I'm still working on paper piecing "roses" for my latest project.

 I'm not sure if the one on the far right will make it into the final quilt (at least not on the front of the quilt).  It has a lot more contrast than the others which is not the look I am aiming for.

I set myself a challenge to make a quilt using a least a little bit of each of the fabrics from this group of scraps that I selected from a sale bin.

There was only one 2 1/2" strip of the dark pink on the left, so  I had to combine it with the dark pink solid to make this block:

It seemed like a 2 1/2" strip of fabric that was 30 or so inches long should have been enough to create a 6 inch block, but paper piecing requires making oversized pieces to be sure you have enough to cover your seam allowances.

Here's an example of a before and after:

On the left is a finished block, and on the right are the pieces I cut to make it.  Crazy, right?  And just to show that I wasn't cutting pieces with a lot of extra, here is the pile of trimmings that came from making just one block:

You can see that there was not a lot of excess on any individual piece, but it all adds up.

Back to growing my garden....

"Finish It February" becomes "Make It March"

I created another block on my newest project, which I have dubbed "La Vie en Rose".

Each block measures 6 inches, and the center pieces are quite small.  I could never get them sewn with any accuracy if I didn't paper piece them.

I'm not usually a fan of paper piecing because it is a bit tedious to be honest.  You can't really do any chain piecing, and you have to stop to trim and press each seam as you go.  That being said,  I have a new ironing setup at my machine that has made things much easier.

This is the Dritz Petite Press mini iron.  I saw it mentioned on Bonnie Hunter's blog and was curious to try it. I have been disappointed in the past with small travel irons that just did not get hot enough, but this one really does.  HOWEVER...it does seem a bit tipsy and I did burn myself at first when trying to use the little metal stand to rest it on.   So, I came up with a solution that works just great....

I took a tall coffee mug from my cupboard and used that to rest the iron on.  The built in stand makes a perfect clip to secure the iron to the rim of the mug.

AND, to keep the mug from tipping over, I filled it with spare change to weight it down.

It's a system that works perfectly for me now, and I haven't burned myself since.

On a completely separate subject, now that February is over, it's time to 'fess up on how I did with the "Drop and Give me Twenty"  pledge from  last month.  I did manage to complete one quilt, but it was not the quilt I had hoped to finish. And I did manage to finish the knitting on the sweater for my son.  Now I just have to sew it together and then hopefully never, ever make another man's sweater again!

Quietly creating

A few weeks ago, I came home with this set of  scraps from a Super Bowl sale, and I have been tossing around ideas of what to do with them ever since.

.

Something about the neutral tones with the touches of pink was just very calming, and serene.  It was just the feeling I was looking for in an otherwise hectic February.   I chose a square-in-a-square block variation and sewed up the first block:

Not much contrast, I know, but I wanted more of a whisper than a shout.

Being a complicated block, it seemed best to paper piece it.  I turned to my trusty Electric Quilt software, and created a pattern, dividing it up into five sections:

Then, knowing I wanted to make multiple blocks, I took the time to figure out the approximate size to cut each fabric piece for the least amount of waste.  This was important, because I was working with some small sized scraps.

Piecing followed along pretty well, but I often had to stop and check to be sure I was using the correct  triangles that I had intended  in the right  spot.  I decided that a cutting diagram would be a good idea to help keep track of the pieces.  I used a file folder, and made a true-to-scale drawing of each piece.

When preparing for the next block, I placed my cut pieces on the diagram to keep track of where they belonged in the block.

Sewing  was a lot easier now that I had a way to keep things organized.  Here are the two blocks that I have done so far:

and here are the fabrics I have chosen for the next few blocks.

Now that I have the cutting diagram for reference, I can cut pieces for more than one block at a time, and know that I can keep them organized as I progress with the sewing.

Finish It February

My local quilt shop had a Super Bowl sale, so I did what any quilter would do and supported my local shop.  I picked up a few fat quarters for $1.00 a piece, but I had the most fun going through her three large boxes of scraps.  The first fabric that caught my eye was a Tasha Tudor inspired print with this adorable little bird on it:

I think it's a wren.

The same fabric also had these sweet rabbits.

Rabbits this cute must surely be called "bunnies".

What's a woodland print without a wise owl?

Before I knew it, I was searching the  scrap fabrics to find coordinates for the woodland print.  I ended up with these:

The large piece of fabric on the right is one yard from a bolt that was on sale for $4.00/yard.   My head is already brewing with ideas for how to use this feminine collection, but it will have to wait for now.  My motto  for this month is "Finish it" February, not "Start Something from Sale Fabric" February.

I took the "Drop and Give me Twenty" pledge to do something sewing related for 20 minutes a day in February. Other than washing and ironing the above fabrics,  that hasn't happened.  (Don't you just hate it when real life  gets in the way of crafting?)  I have managed to knit for at least 20 minutes every day, so that counts as  progress, right?

My bottom line goal for February is to finish the sweater I am knitting, and to finish at least one quilt (including sewing down the binding) so that when our guild show rolls around this Fall I will have at least one thing ready to contribute.  Anything beyond that is icing on the cake.

A big snowstorm is coming our way this weekend, so hopefully I will make up for lost time.