Marigold--A Meadow Mist Designs Mystery--post 1

Front to back: block background fabric, 
accent fabric and main background fabric 

First: A dear friend's dad, who served in the Signal Corps British Army during WWII, needs a quilt. He served in Africa and Cyprus. Dementia is robbing his brilliant mind. His daughter, who lives in the U.K., and I are collaborating on this project. She loves literature and loves looking at quilts; but, doesn't sew. If you have knowledge of a print, symbols that were used during that time, would you please contact me? Thank you!

Goal number one on my August list was to select fabric and begin piecing the clues for Marigold which is a free Meadow Mist Designs mystery. (This is the third project that I decided to start last month. Gertie, my inner squirrel, ran rampant. I should had have my head examined; but, all will be well!)

I was intrigued to participate in this mystery because the remaining fabric consists of about a yard and a quarter of scraps. I have an over abundance of those!

Dutchmen's puzzle block

Again, my quest is to use what I have! I dug through my stash and came up with more than enough main background fabric. This was leftover from the Sweet Tooth mystery and I had planned to use it to with the Sweet Additions blocks that I had sewn last year. If I have leftover fabric, I'll use it in the Sweet Additions project.

I'm about an eighth of a yard short of the solid that I chose for the accent fabric. I returned to the store where I had originally purchased; however, this solid wasn't available. I checked my local quilt shop and the area fabric store; but, I was unable to find it. 

I believe it is a Moda solid; but, there is no information on the selvage so I'm not sure! I have no idea what the color is. I purchased it because I liked that it was a brown toned dark grey! If I'm unable to find a closer match, my plan is to supplement the accent fabric with another dark solid fabric that is a similar value.

I also don't have enough of the yellow, which is the block background fabric. I'm about a quarter of a yard short. I do have a similar fabric available from my stash that will work so I'm okay there. 

All four Dutchmen's Puzzle blocks

In August, we received clue number one. We made two different blocks. I used the color swatches shown in the clue to guide me as I looked through my solid scraps to find enough fabrics to construct four Dutchmen's Puzzle blocks. I used green fabric because I had it. Although it wasn't a color listed in the swatches. 

Starting the selection process

Then, I moved on to selecting scraps for the six pointed star block. While I had enough of a few solid scraps, I had to go to the prints to find chunks big enough to cut the pieces needed for the block.

Kitted pieces sans the background fabric

After selecting the star fabrics, I cut the size pieces needed. I kitted the pieces with the block background fabric. While the directions were to have a print center in the star and solid star points, I used what I had. I did make one star without solid rays. I liked that fabric and had a big enough piece to cut the center block so I made the entire star out of that fabric. I hope I won't regret my decision later!

Five completed star blocks

After making nine blocks, I put them together to see how they look. They look cohesive. I didn't take a photo of them so you will have to trust me on that one! Bring on clue number two!

Small bits scrap bag

I ran out of days last month to post about this project. Here is the continuation of progress regarding the Marigold mystery! For September, we were to make Ohio Star and Chain blocks. I checked out my small scraps bag and found a few scraps that I could use for this project. As I was looking at the scraps, I thought why not also use the leftover chunks from the Modern Quilt Mystery from last year? I hadn't gotten around to putting the Sweet Additions blocks together; but, I figured. . .when I do. . .I can make a smaller quilt or I can---wait for it--- buy what I need!

Sweet Additions possibilities

Out came the bag of chunks. There was some stitch removal. There was some trimming and in the end, I cut the segments for the blocks and kitted them in a plastic bag.

Kitted block parts

A few days later, I cut the background pieces. I'm about out of the background. Maybe, I've purchased a similar background;. If I haven't, I've another that will work.

Background pieces cut

I sewed these blocks the day before and morning of my knee surgery. By the way, the surgery went well and the recovery is going well. I wrote a bit about my knee in my previous post. 

I did not read the directions correctly. I had cut too many chain blocks and not enough Ohio Star blocks! It's okay, I like those chain blocks. That extra block may become part of the back!

Ohio Stars and Chain blocks

I'm ready for Clue number three which will come out in October. While I can peek at the reveal for the mystery, I haven't; I like not knowing where or how the blocks will be used. Making progress on this project was goal number 10 on my September list. Linking to Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell and To Do Tuesday.

Purple Month Nine of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge--post 10

Purple Strings

Goal number three on my September list was to piece the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks. This month the color is purple. At the beginning of the month I was organizing a bin. In the the bin were not one but two small bags of purple scraps. Adding the contents of my dedicated string bag made for a plethora of purple!

One purple block

I'm coming to the end of the constant fabric and likely I will not have enough to finish the project; but, I have another piece of fabric with dots that will work. I would have had enough of the fabric had I not changed the block orientation back in March! I'm fine with not having enough. I'm working with scraps and using it up works for me!

Two purple blocks

I had planned to make three purple blocks. I pieced enough purple for three blocks. However, I discovered that even after raiding my chunk drawers, I don't have enough variety of black strings to piece the third block. I still have enough gray strings. I did make an online order for a whole bunch of fat quarters that are a small print on a black background that appear to read as a neutral. If I use all of those, I will be asking my small group to send me some black strings. . .LOL!

Remaining purple scraps

After making these blocks, I had to see what all the blocks together look like so far. This is going to be a big quilt. . . .about 104 inches square as I'm planning to have a four by six block design. I am planning to piece grey and black string blocks to border this piece. It is likely that I will continue making blocks into next year. For sure, I want an orange, a red and a pink block. As for the other two blocks, I'm sure Gertie, my inner squirrel, will have an opinion or two to offer!! She's been telling me yellow and aqua.

All of the blocks so far

My knee surgery was last Monday. My surgeon left her initials on the knee to be revised. I said. . .what? Where is the love? She kind of looked at me and I said I think that knee needs a little pre love. How about leaving a heart? She thought that was a good idea. She said she would have to add a heart in the future.

The surgery was long (4.5 instead of three hours) and successful. I could straighten and bend my leg the day after more than I could before surgery! The top part of the prothesis was loose so I have a whole new one. I hope that is the last knee surgery I will have! I was in the recovery room for two hours--I remember nothing but the last 30 minutes or so. Because of the length of the surgery, I got to spend the night.

Marked and ready for surgery

I experienced hours of nausea. I was able to come in the afternoon the day after surgery. I was sent home with a wound vac. It is a small item that hooks to a tube in my spongy bandage. At intervals, the machine slowly compresses the bandage against the wound to remove any weeping (in two days there wasn't any). The compression blows air on the wound and helps it heal faster.

Homr

I also was introduced to a drug that blocks the nerves so there is less pain. The honeymoon from the drugs injected during the surgery have worn off. I have a lot of muscle soreness and stiffness. In the next week, this will lessen. I have less actual knee pain than I had before surgery. Recovering from knee surgery was goal number 11 on my September list.

Linking to Finished or Not Friday, So Scrappy and Patchwork and Quilts.

Summer Virtual Retreat

At the end of September, our guild held a virtual retreat. It started on Thursday and ended on Sunday. Because my family was in town until late Friday afternoon, I didn't really check in until after my daughter and granddaughter departed for London.

Toilet paper roll challenge

In our retreat bag, we were gifted an empty toilet paper roll. We were challenged to make something useful from it. There were some awesome entries. I had help. My little four year old carefully covered it and we made a cord holder out of it. She had fun. I had fun watching her carefully select just the "right" piece of fabric and glue it in place. 

Cord holder

The cup contains the Elmer's glue school glue container. The plastic zip lock bag contains a wet paper towel to wide fingers when there is glue build up. The newspaper grocery ads protect the surface from errant drop action.

There was a mini-precision workshop. We were gifted a small wool pressing bar and a bottle of a pressing spray that our retreat leader had made out of vodka and water. It really gets out the wrinkles from the fabric. We were gifted some fabric that was in the color of our team. My team was the red team. The pieces were cut on an Accu-Quilt machine. 

After hearing that the blocks were coming out small, I compared the Accu-Quilt piece to the piece I had cut. My piece was slightly larger which would make a difference. When I sewed my blocks, I was careful to sew a generous scant 1/4 inch. 

Comparing my cut with the Accu-Quilt cut

When I pressed, that red fabric wanted to shrink. It wasn't a hundred percent cotton so that could also have been a reason why people had trouble getting their blocks to size.

The blocks were called Jarts after the lawn game from the 70s. That is my era; but, I wasn't that familiar with the game. The block looked like Bonnie Hunter's current leader/ender, Tulip Swirl. 

We were to make four blocks. There are many ways to put these blocks together. The quilts made with the Jarts will be fun and will provide comfort to someone. By the way, my blocks were right on at four and half inches! Whew! As for the size issue of the red fabric, I learned 

Label and four Jart blocks

that it is important to place the fabrics carefully on the die to avoid shifting. Shifting could have happened with the cuts that I received.

We sewed. There were guest lectures. One was about Accu-Quilt dies. The lecturer rents space and the dies so people can cut out their projects much quicker than at home. One lecturer talked about how to prepare your projects to take to the longarmer and a little about the longarmer process. Another lecturer talked about the importance of keeping your machine clean and oiled.

Rail Fence variation charity blocks

We played BINGO. I won a game and a twenty-five dollar gift certificate to a great quilt shop that is in my friend Nancy's garage. I'll be going to visit after I recover from knee revision surgery. My surgery is tomorrow!

We were given a white square of fabric to make a label. Since our quilt show is around the corner, it was an opportunity for people to make a label. Some people were creative. I missed some of the directions so mine is plain. These will be trimmed to three and a half inches and used to label the quilts made with the dart blocks. 

Yellow string Rainbow Scrap Challenge block

We also made a second charity block using two colors. One color had to be a neutral and the other fabric could be of your choosing. The directions were from a four minute Sewing Parts On Line FaceBook video. 

These blocks will be used to make quilts for a kid's camp. If I were to make these, I'd heavily starch the fabrics as all the edges on are on the bias. 

Green string Rainbow Scrap Challenge block

While I like participating in the retreat activities, I really like making progress on my own project. This retreat had so many activities and so many people that needed a lot of help that I wasn't able to work on my own projects as much as I had anticipated. I did piece the yellow and green string blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

In November, one of my small groups will be the hosts of a virtual retreat. I like attending a virtual retreat because I can eat my own food, sleep in my bed and not have to pack, cart, unpack, cart and repeat my supplies. I also won't forget an item. I like to listen to people chat. I get inspired and pick up a gem of a tip too! 

Sharing what I did on this retreat was goal number four on my September goal list.

I haven't been commenting on your posts because Blogger hasn't updated my blog roll in at least six days. Chantal, At the Corner of Scrap and Quilts, had a similar issue which resolved itself after several weeks. I'm hoping for the the same. Linking to Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell and To Do Tuesday,

Garden Flowers Is A Flimsy--post two

Progress mid July

Warning: this is one long post with many photos! Grab a cuppa! 

Goal number five on my September list was to share my progress on the Garden Flowers project. The last time that I posted about this project was July 22. I had moved from the plan of orienting the flower blocks like photos on a wall to arranging them around a center medallion.

Adding the sawtooth border and beginning to fill in the background 

I had raided the parts department for the leftovers that became the center star, points in the outer string border, half square triangles that I had incorrectly cut for the last Bonnie Hunter Mystery and an arm/hand I had made for a previous book club project.

Changing the position of the hand/arm

I had about a yard of yellow fabric to use for the background. This was a scrap from a previous project. I knew I couldn't make cutting errors because of the limited quantity! When I was creating the center medallion, I planned ahead so that the sides measure a full finished inch so that I could piece the sawtooth border. 

Adding a tiny spacer

When it came to inserting the flower blocks into the sawtooth border, I decided that I didn't want to cut into a HST to piece in the flower blocks. There would be too many seams and the design would get lost. I pieced a larger white triangle in this area. My goal was to piece as few Y seams as possible. Sometimes I had to add a spacer to make the pieces fit. it was like working on a jigsaw puzzle! If my flower blocks had finished to six inches, I would have caused myself less figuring!

Adding more background

For the most part, once a piece was in place, I left it and worked to piece one section at a time. I did consider eliminating the top flower; but, decided that it added to the overall design.

More background in place

It was scary to watch the remaining background fabric diminish. It was exciting to see the piece take shape with every addition so I was encouraged to keep going.

Flowers in place, hand/arm in place

While I would have liked to have had the top flower closer to the group, I was over Y seams! I pinned the hand/arm in place and began constructing the borders.

Beginning to add the background borders

Truly, the background chunk was down to a few pieces. I decided that I should take another look at perhaps adding a different shade of yellow as the borders because I didn't think I had enough.

Auditioning alternate background border fabrics

One look at the existing yellows with this project and I knew the current background was the only option. I did more math and measured the existing scrap. It was possible that I had enough if I didn't have math errors!

Determining the best use of the remaining background fabric

The reality is I have math errors. I measured twice. I measured twice again and cut once. With each slice of the background fabric, I said a silent prayer that I my math was correct!

Background borders added

In the end, there was enough background fabric. I breathed a sigh of relief! 

Leftover background

There had been enough background fabric after all. Although, the scraps remaining were little!

Auditioning more sawtooth HSTs

I liked what I had created! I began auditioning the string borders. I allowed my brain to think about quilting motifs in the open background spaces. It was then that I felt the design was lacking some spark. It was too plain.

Cutting more HSTs

There were a few remaining HSTs so I placed them around the flower blocks. I considered stopping with adding a few here and there; but, the center didn't feel finished. I made more HSTs. I auditioned them  almost encircling the center.

Piecing HSTs strips into the background

I liked the effect as it felt more finished. Then, I had to psych myself up to piece those HSTs into the top. I had sweaty palms and heart palpitations removing the borders and cutting into the finished top!

Half of the HSTs added

Because of how the flower blocks are inserted into the center medallion, there is no way that the HST strips would line up. I decided I was okay with a little jog!

An HST border added

Inserting the second half of the HSTs was challenging. I spent about two days adding this border. I did use a few of the remaining background scraps to fill the spaces. The repetition of the HST border was a good addition. Now the center felt finished! 

Adding the upper string border

I added the upper string border and smiled! 

Finished flimsy

I added the lower string border and smiled some more! I'm glad I challenged myself to add those HSTs! I did find a pink print for the backing and have layered and glue basted it. It is ready for quilting which will happen after I recover from my knee surgery.

Linking to: Finished or Not Friday and Patchwork and Quilts.

Lala's Irish Chain Sew Along With Melva--post 2

Week 5 sewing patchwork pairs using the background

Goal number eight on my September list was to make progress on Lala's Irish Chain Sew Along with Melva. About three weeks after Melva released the clue, I did sew the clue for week five which was to sew patchwork squares using the background as one square of the squares.

Midway through week six clue

Week six clue was to make more patchwork squares. I was glad that I was behind because it gave me a chance to see how the constant fabric was used in the design. I chose to randomly put nine units into a group. 

Week six clue finished

The piles were colorful when I had finished! Week seven clue was putting the clues from week five and six together into the chain blocks. I followed Melva's previous pressing directions. The seams nested together so stitching the blocks together went without a lot of angst as long as Gertie, my inner squirrel didn't distract me! 

Five patch block

While I did try to distribute the patchwork colors throughout the blocks, it didn't always work. I also tried to not have the same fabric next to each other. I also tried to go for a random placement. These plans didn't always work. I knew the teal and the green were close in value so those blocks sometimes get lost. Some of my lime greens were also too close in value to my colorful squares to create a crisp chain.

Adding the five patch blocks to the nine patch blocks

In the end, the colors are bright and happy. I'm reminded of jelly beans when I look at the colorful squares. The background fabric is fun. I do like the ideas I tried. I am happy to have used scraps.The five patch blocks have the look of being out of focus which is unique and might work in the end. For sure, it will be a quilt that will warm someone!

In progress photo

I continued piecing blocks. The more I pieced, the more defined the design became. Still not "crisp" but, fun all the same. Once I had all the blocks pieced, I looked through my stash for a border fabric. I came across a fabric that would be a great main fabric so I may try this pattern again! I auditioned a few fabrics and in the end, I decided I wouldn't add the border.

Completed blocks ready to be sewn into rows

Friday, I managed to stitch the rows together. Because I mostly paid attention to Melva's pressing instructions, my seams nested nicely. It currently measurers about 70 by 80.

Finished top

I plan to find a backing from my stash. . .I have a stripe in mind to be supplemented with leftovers from the front. I auditioned a green fabric from my stash that will be the binding.

Green binding

Piecing the back is a project for another day! It would be great if I could get the back pieced and the project to the longarmer before my knee surgery next week. Linking to: Oh Scrap and Sew & Tell.