Yesterday I visited a ceramic tile and tableware store, Heath Ceramics, in San Francisco. They make custom tiles for decorative use, not for only bathrooms and kitchens. They have patterns on display as 18″ square blocks, very design wall like. These two caught my eye.

These tiles look just like the 112 triangles I have from my current quilt top that I’m working on. The Marcus fabrics Aunt Grace heart quilt, a free pattern from them, has 56 hearts made with the cut off corners technique. I’m thinking that I can use the ones from the lower edges to make a scrappy quilt.

I started the heart quilt last week as a way to use up the box (see ☝️) of 1930’s repro fabrics I have ‘collected’. These started life with the Farmers Wife’s quilt, went on to a few scrappy squares and scrappy diamonds quilts, and finally to the Simple Pleasures BOM quilt.

I fear it’s a never ending bottomless box though.

Be Kind.

I completed the four blocks for the January installment of A ribbon Runs through it. By the fourth one, I was able to sew it together quickly, and without any ripping. The fabric packs ship mid-month, so I’m good to go for the next installment of my other BOM, Reunion.

I finally got the Spider and the Fly quilt finished. It has been on my longarm for(ever) a long time. Not for lack of trying to finish it, but because my system is not working as it should. I got my longarm back from its repair/tune-up on January 18th, it was gone for three weeks. They replaced the missing check spring, and didn’t find anything else wrong with it. It is working well now. It’s the q-matic system that is spazzing. It will quilt for a few inches and then the machine will stop stitching, but still moves with the robotics. There is some disconnect there, I have checked all the connections and updated all the drivers and reset everything that could be reset. Still, same issues. While limping through finishing the last ten inches of the last row of pantograph on the S&F quilt, I wrote down all the steps I went through to get the machine to work. It is a two page list, single spaced. I have sent this in to the techs at Bernina, with my dealers help, and I hope that they can come up with a solution for me. I think it has to do with the control board in the control box. Or that the computer, which is four years old, needs a memory upgrade.

I am loading up my Christmas figs sampler in the meanwhile, as I can do some free hand and ruler work on it and enjoy using my machine again. This morning I laid the wool batting over the frame so it can relax a bit, this is a bagged, precut piece of Hobbs Heirloom. I want to keep this quilt for myself, as I really like it and spent a year making it, well, not 365 days, but 12 months of a BOM kit. I still like the fabrics and the colors. Joann Figarella has come out with a Christmas Figs ll, which is just as pretty and coordinates well with the first version. I am almost done with all my scraps, I probably have enough left over for one more lap quilt. I also have a bunch of the Halloween figs scraps, but most of those I used in the Spider and the Fly quilt. Might be one more small quilts worth there too. First, I’ll put a binding on the S&F quilt though.

The Pansies are almost done, I didn’t make my end of the month goal of finishing them, but I am getting closer. The leaves are made up of many different greens, I think I have one more bud to make and three more leaves. I am trying to come up with a creative way to frame or finish this piece. My “frugality” caused me to use a smaller than desirable piece of Aida, and the lower right side has only about an inch of selvedge. I was thinking of using a circular or oval mat, or frame, if I can find one. I just may end up making a small pillow.

Be Kind.

This week I am working on the four blocks for the January installment of “A Ribbon Runs Through It”. These blocks finish at 12 inches square, and each one, although it the same uses colors/prints, they are in a different mix. This pattern comes with a block layout sheet or (BLS) as the maker calls it. It is very helpful when laying out all the block pieces and getting them in the right place. From start to finish, each block is taking me about two and a half hours to cut and piece together. It’s a bit fiddly at first, but after the second one, I think I’m developing a rhythm. I set up a small folding table next to my machine with a wool ironing pad and my iron. It saves me a little time on the up and downs of pressing the units. If you haven’t invested in a felted wool pad, you are missing out.

Stitching on the Vintage Pansies is progressing too, I would like to be done by the end of the month, we’ll see. I realized today that I am missing a skein of DMC, might have to go to the store soon. I am thinking of knitting more and more, and I have a half done shawl, but I just want to cross stitch right now. The Longdog patten for The Pilgrims Progress is also calling to me. This is large piece, 305 x 367 stitches, about 16″ x 19″, it is one color. It’s a long term project, no hurry to finish. I will be using a scroll frame, so it will be possible to have a smaller piece going at the same time.

Off to Sew.

Be Kind.

This week has been productive, I got a few things started and finished. Got the “comfort and joy” piece made into a little pillow, the pompoms were a bit of a pain. I finished stitching the Cecropia moth, I am looking for just the right frame. I am leaning towards a golden one, but may just go with black. Hoping to find a ready made one that will fit, which necessitates a trip to the frame shop (ie Michaels). In hindsight, I wish that I had used a square piece of linen, as it would have been easier to frame. Sometimes frugality can be a hindrance to crafting/finishes.

I started stitching the Vintage Pansy piece, I am using Aida cloth and one strand of DMC. I had a little problem, there are colors on the chart that call for two different strands to be used together, as a blender. Since I am only using one strand, I compromised by using one thread for the left slant of the the cross and the other for the right slant.

I sewed up 16 blocks for the Reunion BOM, four from December(top) and twelve for January(lower). I made a slight error cutting the directional fabric, two blocks aren’t complete. I know where I can get more of this fabric, so its not a real problem, plus this fabric is used else where in the quilt, so I may be able to switch the already cut triangles with a larger piece in the coming months. Sort of a robbing Peter to pay Paul scenario.

This weekend I would like to start the “A Ribbon Runs though it” BOM. I got the fabric and pattern pack in the mail a few days ago. I opened it and looked at all the colors and prints, got overwhelmed and put it aside. This is a quilt that I will be happy to do in small bites.

Reading blogs this morning, and saw one with a bunch of photos from the Road to California Quilt Show. I wish I could have gone, its been a long time since I attended, maybe 2016? I am signed up to attend Empty Spools at the end of March. I’m still a bit apprehensive about being around that many people indoors. They are requiring all attendee’s to have three vaccines on board, and all the usual precautions. I’m taking a class with Susan Carlson called “Fabric Collage Menagerie”, I am still trying to decide on my subject/animal. Interestingly, Sarah Maxwell is going to be there for that session, teaching the Reunion Quilt (same as above), as it is her pattern. I few other teachers that will be there are Gloria Loughman, Sue Brenner, Pricilla Bianchi, Velda Newman, and Krista Moser. The last day of the seminar, attendees are allowed to tour the other classrooms. It is so inspirational to me to see all the work each class has done, and to meet these quilt designers/makers.

Be Kind.

Last month I decided to join a quilt a long with Christa Watson using her pattern Blooming Wallflowers. I bought the PDF and looked through my stash for a large enough piece of background fabric. I came across the scraps and remaining fabrics from the El Camino BOM I did in 2014. There was enough of the blue for the background and lots of scraps for the “flowers”. This past week Christa posted a video about cutting and the Quilt-a-Long started. I got my pieces cut in two sessions and then sewed the triangles in a square together in two more sessions. I got excited about finishing the top and did so yesterday. I like how it turned out, and coincidentally, my colors match the ones that Christa has in her sample version. This quilt pattern is unique in that the size of the blocks, not the number of them, determine the size of the quilt. All three sizes given in the pattern use the same number of blocks. The quilt a long is a weekly one, going on through February, so still plenty of time to join and share.

I have been stitching X’s a lot too, I am almost finished with the moth piece. I am going to start the Pansy bouquet next. Funny thing, I ordered the flosses from 123 Stitch a few weeks ago and when they came in I decided to put them away in a bag, so I wouldn’t misplace them. As I was putting them into the box that has all my cross stitch in it, a bag of floss fell out. Wouldn’t you know it was the bag of floss I had already picked for this project? I think I am going to start a journal of cross stitch projects, no more double orders. I got this cute little book a while ago, although its not sewing themed, I think it’ll work.

My Longarm is still at the repair shop, I may just call on Monday, and check on its status. I keep finding all these great looking pantographs to do, and beautiful ones to keep in mind for future quilts. I am even thinking of putting the Misses Miller quilt on the frame first up. That BOM sampler quilt has been finished for a while, I think I am going to do some hand guided and some computerized quilting on it. Looking back, I finished the top on January 20, 2020, ha, where does the time go?

I’m toying with the idea of a paper pieced quilt, similar to this one “Catena” by Timna Tarr. She made this one in 2011, and the pattern appears in Quilters Newsletter Dec/Jan 2013 issue. I may do batiks, with a white (ish) background, or thirties prints, or green and red like the original. I saw this quilt recently on Gladi Porsche Quilts she is using Asian prints for her version. I have a drawer full of indigo prints that might work, but they might be too similar with not enough contrast. It is a “simmering” quilt idea. I think I am going to pull out the Simple Days quilt and see what needs to be done with it. Then I have two months of the Reunion quilt to do, and the first block of “A Ribbon Runs Through It” BOM should be arriving next week. Lots of fun in store!

Be Kind.