What Really Works??

What Really Works??

 

It's funny how set in our ways we get... or at least I do! My personal rut has always been to check all my Yahoo quilt groups each morning as I drink my coffee and try to pry my eyes open far enough to see whatever current quilt project I'm working on. That's not happening, now that Yahoo has made changes that put my computer into lock-down-mode every time I go to their site, so I think I'll spend a bit of extra time on my blog each morning until they get their Yahoo Groups working again. In the end, we may all end up using our blogs to communicate! *grin*

 

So... what to chat about...

I'm currently working on a quilt top that's fighting me. I think I made every "mistake" that I knew better than to make on a scrappy quilt. Colors that were just a shade too light are "flickering" out, which makes the bold setting I was working with just sort of disappear into a jumbled mess. I totally LOVE scrappy quilts... junky results not so much! This one is "so-so", but I think it would have been spectacular if I had been more careful with my color values!

 

 

So... let's analyze where it went wrong...

I'm going to start with a confession. This quilt was started in order to USE UP some random HSTs and fabric strip pieces that I had in my fabric stash. I didn't worry too much about colors and sizes of my scraps, since what couldn't be cut one size could usually be cut to another size. And if you keep it random (not just toss all the pink fabrics into one row) then you can usually get away with murder on repeating some fabrics. If I had made this quilt before, or if it were being made with someone specific in mind, I would have probably either been careful to use more variety in my choices OR go more controlled (using all blues and creams or all greens and creams, etc.) but that wasn't my goal on THIS one, so I didn't fuss too much. Also, I don't have a design wall, so I either make my choices as I go, or lay a few blocks on the table to see what they look like together. Sometimes that's enough, but sometimes you don't see the mess factor until it's all done.

 

1) The star blocks. Notice how on some of them you see the star first, and on some you see the pinwheel first. Even that would have been "okay" if I had used some consistency in placement. For example, all the pinwheel-first blocks could have been put in the first round of stars, and the star-first blocks in the next round of stars. However, the best solution (in my opinion) would have been if I had just been consistent throughout, using all light pinwheels and dark stars, or all dark pinwheels and light stars. Sort of a "MAKE UP YOUR MIND, JEAN!!" kind of issue.

 

2) The log blocks. Okay.. this is COMPLETELY about color choices and values. In any scrap quilt, I like to add a few "zinger" fabrics that add sparkle or movement to the quilt. Unfortunately, the bright orange fabric in this one didn't add zing so much as chaos! If I did this over, I would still use that orange, but ONLY in smaller pieces... NOT in the bigger log strips! Or at the very least, not a big log in the center motif! To me, this just looks distracting.

 

So, in closing, I will finish this quilt.. it's worth finishing! BUT, knowing me, I will also make another one like it, using what I hope will be better choices. When I get the "replacement" made, I'll show a comparison of the two and see if I really did any better! *grin*

 

Happy Quilting!

Jean MaDan

 

As promised, I DID get this finished, but I still plan to do it again with better fabric choices.

 

 

 



Déjà vu

Déjà vu!

 

This should look familiar.... I did another of the Log Cabin Plus quilts. *grin*

 

 

I sold the first one the day I finished it, and I really wanted one for my own bed so I made another just like it.



Keeping At It

Keeping At It

Sometimes "finishes" are a matter of just keeping at it. We don't always feel like working on just one project from start to finish, but that doesn't mean they should be left as UFOs (un-finished-objects) forever, either. For example, this morning I finished adding the binding on two Christmas quilts that I had finished quilting MONTHS ago. But now they're done, and ready to gift when Christmas gets here. I'm way ahead of the game!!

 

On-going projects continue to receive attention as well. Here's where I am with my hand pieced Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt that I'm doing in 30s fabrics:

 

 

It's far from finished, but I'm making progress, so I'm a happy camper!

 

One of the ways I get so many quilts completed, is that I "bribe" myself. When I walk into my sewing room, I spend the first 15 minutes doing something I REALLY don't want to do. Maybe it's putting away stuff from my cutting table... or trimming up some random HSTs... or cutting out the binding for a quilt that is almost done. Once I've put in the time "breaking rocks", I reward myself by doing some sewing that I DO want to do.  If I have 3 different sewing spurts during a day, that's FORTY-FIVE MINUTES that has gone to less fun work, but it doesn't FEEL like it was that long because it was in 15 minute segments. I get a lot of completed quilts that way, and WITHOUT feeling like it was any kind of a burden. Give it a try... you might like it!

 

Happy Quilting!

Jean MaDan

 

What makes a scrap a scrap??

What makes a scrap a scrap??

Is it a scrap, or just part of the fabric "stash"?

 

I've been asked a few times what I would consider a "scrap". For ME, it's anything that's only usable if you trim it up in some way. It could be a piece large enough to get several usable strips or charms out of, or only one little square. Usually it won't fold neatly unless you straighten it up in some way. Here is a prime example of a LARGE scrap I was given:

I'm compulsive about cutting things on the straight of grain, so that's the first thing I check. Then I start deciding what the LARGEST pieces I can cut are. For the scrap above, here's what I ended up with:

Every single piece is usable for projects I know that I do! Note the tiny pile of trimmings at the bottom that will be thrown away. VERY little goes to waste in my sewing room. I will make good use of every inch of this piece in several of my scrappy quilts. It took me a few years as a quilter to realize I don't have to use it all in one block or even one quilt! LOL!

 

Happy Quilting!

Jean MaDan

 



Scrappy King Log Cabin Plus

How my quilts happen.....

 

Okay, so you know how there are always things you plan to do, but never really get around to? I had a little mental list of things I wanted to try, and decided I would put them in one quilt. So.... first thing I did was pull out my 1.5" strips, and decided to use those log cabin style. I wanted smaller blocks than usual, so I just made them with less rounds:

 

 

I did enough of those to exactly cover the top of a king size bed, but a bit longer to allow for pillow coverage. Then it was time to decide what borders I would use. The first was a no-brainer for me, because I wanted to try prairie points. (Yes, this really was my very first time to do those! LOL!) For the following rounds, I decided I would do a PRIVATE round robin... just doing a row around and THEN deciding what kind of round would go next. No pre-planning... just letting the quilt talk to me. This was the final result:

 

Personally, I REALLY like this one. It is very much "my sort" of quilt.

 

Happy quilting!

Jean MaDan

 



Mood Indigo

Mood Indigo



Wild Kingdom

Wild Kingdom

 

I started doing a set of blackwork embroidered wildlife blocks years ago, and decided this is how I would use them.

Happy Quilting!

Jean MaDan