Color Values - Part Blue

I dug in my box of blue fabric and found plenty of options. I don't know if I'll go with these fabrics, or keep digging.

Color Values - or is it Hues

After a week of 6” blocks, I decided I needed something larger, so I’m making 12” star blocks to go with the Pennsylvania blocks I received in a birthday swap. I put the first three up on the wall and stood back. Believe it or not, there is a different pair of yellow and blue fabrics in each block, but from a distance they all look alike. I need more contrast in the color values unless it's hue. I can't remember which, but I do know that if my "scraps" are so close in color/tone/value/hue I can't tell them apart from a distance, then I might as well use just one fabric -- not that I have enough of any single yellow or blue to make 20 blocks.

So an experiment was in order. Would you believe my folded FQs can stick to my design wall? Ok, I'm not certain any one of the fabrics is a full FQ, but still. But on to my experiment.














I pulled yellow FQs from my stash, threw them up on the wall and took a picture. Then I turned on grayscale. I think I've got enough variation when I look at ALL of the yellows. Now I'll have to do the same think with my blues.

Another SBS Block

F-10 Aunt Sukey's Choice

This is another block I'm making for the SBS Swap. This one goes into my quilt. Tonight I'll dig through the stash to see if I can find enough fabric, but then I think I'm going to work on something else. A week of 30's reproductions and small blocks is about all I can stand at a time. Or maybe it's that I want to see significant progress.

I think I'm in need of some mindless piecing about now. Who knows what that means I'll be working on next.

Now isn't this cool. I was playing with Picasa and think I've stumbled across my sashing color. Lavender. What do you think?

SBS Swap Block Set #1

This is the first of the five block sets I'm making for the SBS swap. Even six of these 6 inch blocks don't take much fabric. When I added it up I think I used about 3/8 of a yard. Not a very big dent in my stash. But that's the good news. It all came from my stash. I don't know if I'll be able to do that with the other blocks, as I don't have a lot of brown with small scale prints. We'll see.

What's On My Design Wall? - 7/27

Multiple things.

A couple of weeks ago I pulled out my birthday blocks with the intention of making star blocks. Then technology reigned havoc, and there was no quilting going on. Then I started cleaning up and hung the table runner on the wall, as much to get it out of the way as to work on the applique. (There's that "A" word).

Finally this past week I had to start piecing or go crazy, so I've been working on my Sylvia's Bridal Sampler blocks. These are the last three I've finished. To jump start my piecing, as well as my SBS, I've joined a Blue and Brown swap on the SBS list.

Due to the number of blocks in the quilt, this swap is different than others I've joined in the past. We make a set of 5 blocks to swap and can make up to 5 sets of blocks, each set having different focus fabric. I picked 10 blocks I'd be happy to make and started 'testing' them in the 30's reproduction fabric for my quilt. I got my list last night and Ladies' Aid Album (bottom block) is one of my swap blocks, and it this weeks BOW.

Check out the links over at Patchwork Times to see what's on other quilters' design walls.

Stash Report Week # 30

Six inch blocks don't make a very big dent in the stash. I made two last week. Hunter Star, E10 in Sylvia's Bridal Sampler and D6 - Odd Fellows Patch.


Fabric Added this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 160 yards

Fabric Used this Week: .125 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 55.077 yards

Net Stash: +104.923 yards

5 More to Go

I finished hand quilting this block earlier this evening. I just needed to finish the stitching in two of the squares so it didn't take long. Just had to sit in front of the quilt!

Next up, in theory, is the rail fence block.



In all of the other blocks, I've stitched 1/4" around the pieces -- but I have no desire to do that with this block, and it really doesn't need that much quilting. So I don't lose what little momentum I have, I may skip this block and go to the next one. To see a picture of the entire quilt, click here.

116 to Go

I've finished D-6 Odd Fellow's Block from Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. I started this in January 2007 as a block a week. Had I kept up I would be closing in on the final blocks this summer. But clearly I've fallen behind as this is block # 24.

I think now I'm going to go put a few stitches in my nephew's quilt.

Piecing and Quilting Again

It's not a very big block, and it's not finished, but I am finally piecing and quilting again.

Tonight I decided I had to piece. No way around it. It's been a month since I sat at my sewing machine and I couldn't stand it any longer. I didn't want to start a new project (well, knew I shouldn't) and currently don't have a cutting space set up (I was eyeing the kitchen counter), so I checked to see what this week's block on the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler list is.

It's D-6 Odd Fellow's Block. It's paper pieced, which is not normally my favorite technique, but with my limited cleared space it was perfect. I still have one section to go. Probably could have finished it tonight, but there was a new episode of Leverage on, so I sat at the quilting frame and stitched on my nephew's quilt.

I haven't put a stitch in it in 'forever' -- my guess it's been six weeks. After tonight's quilting I still have about 1/8th of the current block to go.

Of course, the computers still need setup correctly, the office and studio still need to be cleaned, and now there's even a larger pile of stuff on the other end of the sewing table.

Where has the Quilting Mojo Gone?

About once a year I get into a quilting slump. For several years it was around October or November, usually after I spent several intensive weekends sewing non-stop. Then one year I kept right on quilting through October and November, only to go into a forced stop last July.

I had decided to rearrange the entire office/studio, paint and pull up the carpet. Needless to say there was no quilting going on for several weeks as I moved everything out, sorted, ripped up the carpet and painted.

Not everything got done. The floors could stand to be refinished, the chair still needs to be recovered, the window coverings are temporary paper shades and there are still boxes to be gone through, but I finally got the room back together to the point where I could quilt.

Which is what I've been doing for the past year.

I'm horrible at finishing projects -- perhaps that explains the 29 UFOs and 36 quilt tops.

For the last 4 weeks or so, I've been into another forced stop. The computer and phone issues have been eating up all of my time. Now that they are nearly resolved, I have time for a few other things -- like cleaning the office/studio. I did stop yesterday and print off the pages for the paper piecing for Ladder to the Stars. That had been on hold pending the computers and printer issues getting resolved.

So, I'm off to see how much I can accomplish today.

There have been no photos in my blog for a while, so this morning I played with my new photo editing software. Those are the 23 blocks I've completed so far on my Sylvia's Bridal Sampler -- the one I started in January 2007.

Stash Report Week # 29

Another week of computer and phone issues, so no sewing. I did bring into the house 4 fat eights from the Kansas Troubles Stash Society Meeting.

Fabric Added this Week: .5 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 160 yards

Fabric Used this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 54.952 yards

Net Stash: +105.048 yards

Stash Report Week # 28

Too many computer issues to get even a minute of quilting in. So the report is short and sweet. Nothing in, nothing used. And it's driving me crazy!

Fabric Added this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 159.5 yards

Fabric Used this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 54.952 yards

Net Stash: +104.548 yards

Computer Challenged

Generally speaking, I’m capable of installing new hardware and software on my computers. Shoot, I install and troubleshoot software daily at work. But this has been a challenging six weeks.

It all started when my DH and I bought a wireless router for the house. We ran into issues and ultimately ended up just using the new router as a wired router. But somewhere along the way, I managed to mess up my external keyboard on my laptop. It was annoying, but not the end of the world. Then we got a new printer. I needed to install the new software drivers on my laptop. But somehow when I was attempting to fix the keyboard, I managed to tell my laptop I was in the middle of installing something else, so I couldn’t install the printer driver. Since we were on our way out of town, I decided I’d deal with it later.

In the meantime, I got a new laptop for work. The good news is the tech guys who worked on it did a great job. I think I’ve had 3 new laptops over the past 11 years and this one was the best swap out.

However, all of this swapping has left wires everywhere, and I hate to crawl behind/under the desks until I get everything working.

Did I mention the phone service swap? It required another piece of equipment, but I got the numbers switched, so the wrong line got swapped. It took me 2 days to figure out that. I now have another phone added to the pile of electronics on my desks. I’m afraid everything is perched haphazardly because I’m still trying to get everything back together.

Oh – my keyboard – got it fixed – but it required the operating system to be reinstalled. So I’m trying to get all the software reinstalled. The good news though is I can pull out my flatbed scanner and photo printer freeing up space on the shelf for the new phone adapter and phone.

The true irony? I think the keyboard issue was a bad hub.

The frightening part? My DH was also having computer issues during this same timeframe.

I really need to do some quilting and leave the computers to someone else, but there’s still software to install....

Computer Issues and Design Wall Inspiration

I'm having computer issues, so no pictures and this will be short.

Back in May, when Judy prompted us to show what was on our design wall, I had to figure out how to create the wall. I searched for the posting so I could give credit, but was unable to locate it until now.

Lyn posted on the Quilt In a Day forum her design wall, and that's when it came together for me.

My post back in May shows how I implemented the wall. Yesterday I bought a larger tablecloth for $3 and eventually, I'll make the buttonhole and put up a couple of more hooks to hang it. Have to clear the sewing machine off first.

Anyway -- thanks Lyn for making this click for me.

Stash Report Week # 27

All I got done this week was cutting up half the scrap basket into usable pieces. I'll count those pieces when I pull them to use in a quilt. So, the only thing I "used" was 1 1/4 yards of the purple striped batik I bought last week as vacation souvenirs. I gave each of my quilting buddies a FQ at dinner Thursday night.

Fabric Added this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 159.5 yards

Fabric Used this Week: 1.25 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 54.952 yards

Net Stash: +104.548 yards

Strings, Strips, Bricks and Blocks

I have no idea what has gotten into me. For the last couple of days I've been tackling the scrap basket. As you can see, great progress has been made. With the exception of the pile of pressed scraps, all that is left is the red, pink, purple and blue scraps.


My boxes are getting full. I've got 1 1/2", 2", 2 1/2" strips, strings, 2" x 3 1/2" bricks and 2" blocks and 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" bricks & 2 1/2" blocks.


One of these days I'm going to make a log cabin quilt with the 1 1/2" strips. Believe it or not, I haven't made a traditional log cabin quilt. As for the rest of the pieces, who knows what they'll end up in.

Green Scraps!

Last week I pulled most, if not all of my green scraps from my scrap basket to cut them up into usable pieces.

I just finished cutting the last of them up.

The pile at the top are the slivers which will be tossed out, then there were 3 pieces which were too big to get sliced up. The pile at the bottom are crumbs. I'm not into crumbs, but I know there are those who are, so one of these days, I'm going to box all the crumbs up and send them to someone.

The stack of 2 1/2 inch by 4 1/2 bricks is about 1 inch tall, the 2 1/2 inch squares about 3/4 of an inch tall. The 2 x 3 1/2 inch bricks and 2 inch squares are about 1 3/4 inches high. I'm not sure how many bricks and squares that works out to.

Then there is are the strips and strings. 2 1/2 inches, 2 inches, 1 1/2 inches and finally strings.

I think I'll dig through my basket and find another color to work on now.