A temporary case of quilters block

Usually I am all gun ho on whatever quilt I'm working on. I want to get that one done so that I can work on the next one. Right now the inspiration has stopped. I've been working on a log cabin quilt. I'm not sure what I've done wrong but I did something because the blocks are not coming out right. My husband started a rule with me when I started quilting; Don't start another project until you've got the current one done. Well that's great but what about instances like now. I think these blocks need to sit in time out for a while. I need to stew on them & figure out what I did wrong. In the mean time there are 3 quilts to bind & more fabric to play with. I am hoping my inspiration & motivation will hit soon.

 I'm planing on going to a quilters funeral tomorrow. I knew her in passing & by reputation. I worked with her mom 11+ years ago in the professional world.  I'd better keep this short. It's getting late & that alarm will come awfully early. I hope y'all had a good day. More later on

Vicky

Traveling, scraps & what I'm working on

Last week was a blur. Monday & Tuesday I spent with my kiddo & getting ready for 2 lectures/trunk shows. Wednesday I was up before the sun & I was headed down to Independence KS. My friend Maria went with me. (More about Maria in a little bit). It was a great drive & we got to the church in plenty of time. It's always fun to hear the comments when we are setting up. I have a fold up cart that I bring the quilts in on. By the third trip the comments start coming. I take 40+ quilts with me whenever I go.  We had a great time with the Crazy Quilters of Independence KS. It was a great group of ladies. I won't be forgetting the " Trouble Maker or the Entertainment Cordinator" any time soon. We asked where the quilt shops were, we wanted to hit some of them on the way home. The closest one was in Edna KS. The name of the town sounded very familiar to me. I remembered why when we went through downtown. That is where the Edna Mattress Factory is. That is where my dad (he builds custom bunk beds) gets his mattresses. We found the quilt shop " The Quilters Patch". It is a great shop! We had great conversation & great shopping. I came home with a scrap bag & some yardage (SHOCK!!) I found some unique KU fabric. I need to get busy making my soon to be arriving niece/nephew a KU quilt. My brother is fanatic when it comes to KU basketball. 

 The next day we were up & on the road with the sunrise. Randi joined us to go to Topeka KS. I had a presentation to the "Country Quilters of Topkea". I think this was the largest group I have spoken to. I think there was 60 quilters there. It was a lot fun & it went by very fast. I did make one large error. The day before I had taken all of my patterns into the quilt shop in Edna. I put them into my shopping bag. I took that bag out of my car & left it at home!!! I was could not believe that I did that. I did sell some patterns that day & I mailed them out the next day.  I will be emailing my patterns to the quilters that were interested. On our way home we stopped at "Stitching Traditions". They have moved to a great new location. All three of us had a great time shopping. I had to ask about scraps & I hit a jackpot! We'll I consider it a jackpot when I leave the store with a large black trash bag full of fabric! It was a good day. Thank you to both guilds. I am greatfull for the invitation to come & show you my quilts. 

I am still working on my batik/black log cabin quilt. I'm hoping to have more time to work on it this week. Any progress is good progress though. I am hooking up with Judy Laquidara at patchworktimes.com

I hope y'all are having a good day. It's cold & windy here in the middle of the USA. I'm off to do chores & make some bread. More later on. 

Vicky

What I'm working on

I'm the cutting queen today. We'll actually I started cutting on Saturday. My local quilds quilt challenge this year is to make a quilt using 20 blocks or a block using 20 pieces in it. We're celebrating our 20th anniversary this May. I decided that I wanted to make a log cabin quilt with 20 pieces per block. I got my Accuquilt cutter out with the log cabin die & started cutting away. 

I haven't counted all of the pieces yet but I think I'll be cutting more. I'm not a fan of smaller quilts for our use. We (I mean me) like big quilts!!! So far I haven't gotten into the batik bins yet. All of those batiks were scraps that hadn't been put away yet. I've gotten into the black stash. That is the one pile that changes size so quickly. Since I'm a huge fan of blacks I use them & replace them all the time. 

I am also getting things ready to cut out a Double Wedding Ring quilt. I've always wanted to make one but I never wanted to cut the curved pieces. I did try once to cut curved pieces with a template & rotary cutter. I only cut out one set. My friend Joelyn is letting me borrow her Double Wedding Ring die. 

I'm excited & not to nervous about those curved seams anymore! The background will be black. I haven't decided what colors the melons will be. I really like the bright batiks but I saw Randi from barristersblock.blogspot.com use black with '30s scraps & it was gorgeous! I'll keep y'all posted. A few things need to be done before I can sew today. Hope y'all have a good day. The sun is shining here in the middle so the USA!!!! More later on,

Vicky

Over the moon

This past Thursday I taught my very first class. I taught the string piecing technique to a fun group of quilters. There was about 6 of us at the beginning and more trickled in. It was fun to see what everyone brought. Some brought whatever was in their scrap bag, all batiks or red/whites. There was a lot of traveling down memory lane. Memories being sparked by seeing fabric that was used in previous projects. String piecing is highly addictive & it's a great way to use it all up. There are so many different ways to construct the blocks & lay the blocks out & that the possibilities are endless. If you have never made a string quilt I highly recommend them. Google "string piecing" & you will find lots of information & pictures. 

I had a wonderful surprise. The president of the guild had made one of my patterns!!! I had given my lecture/trunks how to this guild in November & she had already made the quilt! She made my "The Cross" quilt. It's a string piecing block. She is working on another Cross quilt this time using brown instead of black for the cross. Norma thank you so much for bringing the quilt it made my day. 

I hope y'all are having a great day. It's sunny & 50 here in the middle of the US. My windows are open & I'm enjoying the afternoon. Maybe there will be some fabric/sewing time later on,

Vicky

It's a learning process

I've been working on my Drunkards Path blocks. My original plan was to use scrappy creames & scrappy dark Civil War repros. I thought that if I had enough of a contrast that I would get the effect that I was looking for. I was wrong. I layed the block out & it looked horrible. So now I had to find a layout that I liked. I found that I liked all of the cream backgrounds & dark backgrounds separated. So instead of a large quilt I've ended up with two smaller quilts. This project has not gone as planned but sometimes that is how it goes. I have been able to use up lots of fabric though it doesn't look like it in my stash. My curved piecing skills have improved. By the time I was done piecing the blocks I didn't have as many puckers along the curve. As with anything you'll get better the more that you pracice it. I want to continue piecing curved seams. There are other quilts with curved seams that I want to make, Wedding Ring & Apple Core to name a few. Here are a few pics of the process from cutting with the dies to playing around with block layouts. I will post pics tomorrow hopefully of the finished quilts. I've got one done & I have figured out what I'm going to do with the borders on the other. Hope y'all are staying warm in this cold weather. More later,

Vicky

Me & curved seems

I am a huge fan of quilts with curved seems! I have alwys been intimidated by them so I've never made them. I think that besides the curved seam it was the cutting. I didn't want to cut all of those pieces. I did try once and it did not go well. So when my Mom asked me what Accuquilt dies that I wanted I listed all of the dies that had curved pieces. So my husband went in with my mom & got me the Drunkards Path die for me for Christmas. I was thrilled!!!! I had to start playing with fabric immediately.

I know that DP is usually made with just 2 colors. I decided that I wanted to make my first DP quilt using Civil War reproduction fabrics. I started to sort fabrics. The scraps had to be a certain size in order to fit the die. I was a little concerned at first I didn't think that I had that many large pieces.  Low and behold I do! My husband will be thrilled this color way is right up his alley. I'm piecing it on my treadle. I started it on my hand crank but she has become cranky & the tension is not right. I'm hoping that it will be done in time for my guilds show this year. They are having a display of quilts that have been made on a treadle or hand crank machine. I'll keep y'all updated on my progress. I hope that you had a great Christmas. We had a great time here. I'm off to pin more pieces. Have a great night 

Vicky

A day of binding

I'm all caught up on my binding. Woohoo! I think that binding is my least favorite part of the quilt process. I had 2 baby quilts & one for me to put bindings on. 

The first baby quilt is for some friends second baby girl. I made it on 66 red eye treadle. I love working on my treadle. Do fun & relaxing. All of the fabric for the top was scraps. 

The next baby quilt is for my best friends sisters little girl. I used some extra trip around the world blocks & put a fun purple border on it. 

Then it was time for me to finish the latest string quilt. I'm not sure what to call this quilt. Those colors just "Pop" against those black strings. 

I hope y'all have a good day. More later on

Vicky