Auditioning Fabric for Borders

It's been a rather unproductive week for me.  Lots going on at work and home. The biggest issue for me this week has been my shoulder.  I hurt it a few months back and am on an anti-inflammatory for it.  I should have gone back to the doctor this week and asked about cortisone shots. But my doctor was killed in a farming accident and I don't have another one yet. So I really don't feel like doing much when I get home. But I did finally get the borders cut and on Scrappy Joy.  It took me months  to decide but I finally got it done. 

Using fabric from my stash has a down side.  I don't necessarily have enough yardage to make borders and backs. Especially if I am doing a scrappy quilt such as Scrappy Joy and Pretty in Pink.  That means finding a fabric that will fit with the pieced part of the quilt.  The best way I have found to do this is to audition the fabric.  I lay the quilt top across the rails of my long arm.  Then I lay the fabric that I think I want to use as borders next to it.  I leave it for a day or two to see if I like it. Sometimes it takes a week or more to decide if it works.  Sometimes it fits right away.  But as I am sure you all remember, I've been auditioning fabric for both Scrappy Joy and Pretty in Pink for months now while I worked on other projects. 

Several months back I pulled some fabric from my stash for the borders of Scrappy Joy  It has been lying next to the quilt top all of this time. Something just wasn't working for me.  The color was good.  Not too dark, not too bright, but it was just wrong for this quilt.  I finally decided it is the print that is wrong.  The print is too contemporary. The print fabrics in the pieced part are much older.  They just didn't harmonize enough for me. 

I had a similar problem with this cute pink bandanna print.  I came across this fabric on clearance and thought that it would be cute on the Pretty in Pink quilt.  The price was right and I bought enough for the borders and backing.  But when I got it home it didn't work, at least not for the borders. Aurora loves the fabric so we are still going to use it for the back.  It's her quilt after all.

So I went diving into my stash and found this bright blue print that seemed more in line with the other prints. I laid it out against the quilt for a few days. But it still didn't work.  It was just too bright.  It was washing out the other colors in the quilt and I really wanted the piecing to take front and center.  So that one was out.

Also in my stash was this light pink solid.  Aurora liked the pink but didn't think it was pink enough.  I felt that it didn't do anything for the quilt.  It didn't scream look at me which was good but it didn't draw your eye into the quilt either.  You want the border to frame the quilt or at least contribute to the appearance. Not just lay there. That was all the light pink was doing.



Next from the stash was this dark blue print. The print was an even better match. It didn't scream look at me but it did make a nice frame for the pieced part. But it gave the whole quilt a darker feel.  Not quite as cheerful as it seemed to be without the border. I wanted it to be more cheerful.

For the pretty in pink quilt I found this bright pink solid in the stash.  Aurora was sold right away. She kind of takes after her grandmother when it comes to colors. Any way she loved it and even told me how big to make the borders.  She went with a wide 5 inch border which made the quilt big enough for her to sleep under even if it's not a twin size.  She's pretty anxious for me to get this one done.  She asks about it ever time she visits.

 I still needed the right fabric for the Scrappy Joy quilt.  I wasn't finding anything in my stash but I did come across this pretty fabric in the store. It's bright enough to keep the quilt cheerful. It doesn't draw attention away from the piecing.  It does draw your eye to the center. It frames the quilt nicely.  I went with a 4 inch border to keep the focus on the pieced part.  It is going to be a large throw size when it is finished.

So I finally have those two quilt tops ready to put on the machine.  That makes five tops that are ready to quilt. I just need to make the backs.

I haven't done any long arming in over a year.  Simply because I haven't had a quilt ready to put on the machine. Since I last quilted, there has been an update to Quilt Path. That's the computerized system that's on my long arm machine. So I need to do some studying on the new program.  There are five you-tube videos as well I need to watch. I want to watch them over and over until they are completely familiar to me. I also need to do a deep clean and oiling of the long arm.  All of which I plan to do by the end of September.  In the meantime, I will keep getting quilt tops ready.  Hopefully I will get enough done that I can really get using the long arm down.  I feel like I am starting at square one again because it has been so long. But that is okay, I am going to do it.

What are you getting accomplished?  How do you decide on fabric for borders?

Finally Some Stitching

Until yesterday it had been more than 2 weeks since I did any sewing/quilting.  Not for lack of projects mind you.  Mostly it was lack of time.  We have been busy canning and well we finally just got all of the jars put away.  The house is still in chaos and I need to focus on getting things cleaned and organized.  I did straighten up the family room today. I spent an hour and half straightening up the studio yesterday.  I did two loads of laundry and folded them and put them away.  I cleaned my toilet and did some general picking up.  There is a lot more to do but I definitely made some progress.

So I rewarded myself with sewing. I spent a good part of yesterday and today just sewing.  I got all of my HST four patch blocks done! Yay!!! And they look really cute! Double Yay!!! I am really excited to start putting the sashing and corner stone on and get it laid out.

I plan to use Mary Anne Fons' method of pre-sashing.  I've done it that way a few times now. I find it easier to do it that way.  What you do is cut your sashing pieces to length. Sew a sashing strip to the left side of the block. Sew a corner stone to a sashing strip and then sew it to the bottom of the block that has the sashing strip.  Then sew your blocks together.

I get my blocks all situated with the sashing and corner stone, then lay out the quilt and make adjustments. Then I sew sashing and corner stones to the top blocks and to the right side of the last column of blocks.  Then I just sew everything together by rows. I am excited to see this top completed as I think it is going to be adorable.

I also got the borders on the Pretty in Pink quilt. I went with a wide 5" border and it really looks good. I went wide with the borders to get it closer to a standard throw size quilt. Aurora will be using it for a TV quilt. I took the time to figure out how big I need to make the backing and how many strips I need to cut for the binding.  I made a note of that information and pinned it to the top. Hope to get that done this week.

I was tempted to cut the borders for the Scrappy Joy quilt. But I finally decided that I didn't like the fabric I had out for the borders.  I had been going back and forth about it for a while now. The print was just too modern compared to the prints in the quilt.  I did see some fabric in the stash that I think will work better.  I will be getting that out of the bins this week as well.

I am going to try doing a task oriented calendar.  I guess it would be similar to a bullet journal.  What I need is to decide what needs to be worked on the next day. That way when I get home and am ready to start 30-30-30, I just start without having to decide what to work on and where to start.  One thing I know for sure is that I won't be going over two weeks without sewing any time soon. It just feels so much better to get things done.

Oh and I did some scrap management while I was at it.  So big thumbs up to me.  It felt so good. I just really don't want to go back to work tomorrow.  So much more I want to do.

What have you been up to? How do you stay on top of projects?

Heritage - How much does it define who you are?

About 4 years ago I wrote a post about having a quilting heritage. I quilt partly because my forebears quilted. But I have much more than a quilting heritage. So this weeks blog isn't about quilting.

I come from a long line of strong women. I know that because how they handled the things they faced, I can face whatever comes into my life.  That doesn't mean I have to like it. that doesn't mean it will be easy.  It does mean I am capable of dealing with hard things. The tumultus time we are currently living in has me thinking about a lot of things.  One of which is how my heritage defines me.   It's about who I am.

This past couple of weeks, my family and I have been canning food.  Both my husband and I grew up in homes where canning took place.  In the first half our marriage, we canned a lot.  We had big gardens and canned what we grew. As well as taking advantage of relatives who were willing to share their extra produce from their gardens and fruit trees. In our home it has always been a family project.  This doesn't surprise anyone that knows me.  People identify canning as being part of who I am. I have been sought out for advice on canning by people older and more experienced than I.

Crafting is another part of my heritage. Growing up, there were always supplies available to me, even if it was just crayons and paper. Mom made us salt clay to play with. My mother was creative. She didn't think so but she was. She sewed our halloween costumes even when my brother wanted to be a T-Rex.  In fact Mom made a paper mache head for the costume. I think other members of the family even pitched in to help. Creativity was encouraged and fostered. We tried to pass that on to our children.  I have three children who draw quite well. The others dabble in other medias.

I come from readers as well. Reading was encouraged and there were lots of books in the house.  My husband's family not so much, but he is a reader. Our house if full of books from all genres. For the most part my children are readers. Again a heritage that has been passed on down.

Both my husband and I were taught to have good work ethic.  My husband more so than I.  I am proud to say that my children have that work ethic. Their bosses have even let us know that they really appreciate it.

We were taught right from wrong.  We were taught to stand up for ourselves and for what is right.  We were taught the violence didn't solve anything. We passed those lessons on to our children.

We were taught that the color of a person's skin is irrelevant. That all men and women are entitled to the same treatment as everyone else.  We were taught not to judge others. Quite simply judging is wrong.  We were taught that we had no idea what a person has gone through or may be going through so be kind. My mother had a gift for accepting people for who they are and loving them unconditionally. A lesson she tried to pass on to me.  I still struggle with it at times. My father had the gift of being calm.

I was taught to be a contributing member of society by learning to be a contributing member of my family. We taught our children that they were a part of the "unit" (family) and that as a member they had a responsibility to contribute to it.  That lesson transfers over to anything they belong to not the least of which is society.

I know I have been blessed in my life. But I work hard for what I have.  My heritage was a gift passed down to me by my ancestors.  But what I have done with that heritage is what makes me who I am.

Someone recently accused me of having "white privilege".  I dis-agreed with them. I work hard.  I've struggled financially and spiritually at times. I've been hurt by those I've trusted. I've been wrongly passed over for promotion based on idle gossip.  I've felt like I was failure at times. I've been judged on my appearance. I've been belittled because of my religion. I've been criticized for choices I made, Some of which were heartbreaking decisions.  I don't have any special privilege.

What I have is a great heritage.  It was the example that was set for me by my ancestors.  It is the skills that were given to me by family.  It is the morals and ethics that I was taught. It is the understanding that working for something makes it mean so much more. It is knowing that I am a member of the unit. It is understanding that I must contribute to that unit. So NO, I am not privileged.

What I am is a survivor, an achiever, a teacher, a mentor, a crafter, a quilter, and the descendant of wonderful strong people who persevered. But most importantly, I Am A Daughter of God! And He expects me to work hard, love everyone, forgive others whether they deserve it or not, and strive to come back to live with him.

Who are you?  What was your heritage? What have you done with it?

Planning Quilter or Evolution Quilter.

My children brag about me.  I have to admit I find it rather gratifying that they do.  But I am realistic enough to know, that my abilities are not quite what they believe they are, My children, however, just think I am being modest.

On Arianna's wedding day, I decorated the cake and then went to check on how the bridal party was doing getting ready.  Arianna asked how the cake turned out.  I replied something to the effect it's okay, it'll work.  Arianna told me I wasn't instilling confidence in her. But Chrissy piped in saying, "Arianna you know how modest Mom is about her work. I am sure it is amazing." The guests thought it was amazing. Arianna and Victor loved it, so all is good. But I wish I was more adept at decorating so I could have done a truly amazing job.  Maybe I am my own worse critic.

This past weekend, we had some acquaintances over for our Independence Day Celebrations.  They are friends with my daughter TaKayren and her husband as well as a co worker of my husband.  We were getting to know each other better and the topic of interests came up.  The wife commented something about me being a really talented quilter. (TaKayren nodded in agreement) I said I enjoy quilting but a talented quilter would plan out her quilts and would be very precise.  My quilts on the other hand just sort of evolve.

The old saying that "Failure to plan is a plan to fail" doesn't quite ring true for quilting and least not for me.  Oh I know that if I carefully planned out each quilt, made sure I had all the materials, and tools I needed, and picked out every mistake/flaw, that I would make competition worthy quilts. I am just not that kind of quilter. For me, most quilts evolve as I make them.

An example of a quilt evolving is the one I am working on now, the HST quilt. I just planned to do some quick HST blocks and sew them all together. The blocks are all sewn and I was pressing them open (trying to use good pressing techniques of course) when I realized that they would be much cuter as four patch blocks with sashing and cornerstones. The number of squares that I have is divisible by four so this was definitely doable.

Now I needed sashing and cornerstone fabric.  At first, I thought I would use white for the sashing but it just looked wrong next to the blocks. It was too white. Fortunately, I was able to get 2 mini-jelly rolls of the same solid fabric I used in the HST. Sashing using the solid fabric and then cornerstones from the print fabric would be really cute. But the print fabric I used has been discontinued so no print cornerstones. (consequence of sewing from your stash) I ended up buying a mini-charm pack of white fabric. With sashing and cornerstones taken care of it was back to pressing open of the squares.

Since the solid half of the HST are all the same color, I figured I would use four random prints per block. I am a big fan of randomness in any of my creations.  I think it gives it a more natural feel. But I also realized that this would make layout a little tricky.  The more I worked on pressing open the half square triangles, the more I realized that the print should be matching in all four patches of the block. 

This change of plans was going to be a little trickier. I had no idea if the number of each of the different prints were divisible by four.  So before I started trimming up the HSTs. I sorted them by print.  Fortunately for me each print has either 8 or 12 squares.  Both of which are divisible by four.  So far the evolution is really coming together.  I can see it in my mind quite clearly now.

I am about 2/3 of the way through trimming up the squares.  I was planning to be done trimming them by this weekend but as usually life got in the way. The sashing and cornerstones should be here tomorrow.  I am hoping that there will be enough of the sashing strips left over to do the binding. If not I am sure the plan will evolve once again.

I'm not saying this is the way I always make quilts.  A few have been straight forward, followed a pattern and turn out great.  But quite often the quilts evolve as I make them.  I like to think that the quilt is talking to me as I work with it. I like to believe I am putting a bit of myself into the quilt.

Now if I had started out with a plan, I would have everything on had before starting. There would not have been two trips to the MSQC website to buy what I need.  I would also know if I am going to have enough strips for binding or not. I defintely would know what size quilt it was going to be. (I am the queen of non standard sized quilts.) But I rather enjoy the creative evolution of each quilt. And the only problem with multiple visits to a website to buy supplies, is I end up buying more stuff than I need. But I will use it all eventually. (Or die trying)

How about you? Do you follow a plan to the letter? Do you have everything figured out in the beginning? Or do you sew by the seat of your pants?