Curves in Quilts = A New Project

The program for last week's guild meeting was "Tackling Curves in Quilts" presented by Mary Ruth Hudson. She shared a great variety of different designs that all featured curves. The next day, she taught a workshop with the Blue Onion pattern by Karla Alexander of Saginaw Street Quilts.

Blue Onion pattern by Karla Alexander of Saginaw Street Quilts

That pattern might look familiar to anyone who has been reading my blog for awhile. I made the Blue Onion pattern back in 2021, renaming my version "Blooming Onion," and it is still a favorite of mine. I really need to get this one quilted and finished!

Blooming Onion quilt top, 60.5" x 80.5"

There were a few reasons that I took the workshop even though I had already made this design before. One was the fun of enjoying a sewing day with guild friends and learning some new tricks from an excellent teacher. Another was the fact that the class fee included the ruler that the Blue Onion pattern was designed to use. (The pattern does include instructions for cutting the pieces without the ruler, and that is how I made my earlier version.

Ovals All Ways ruler by Creative Grids

I didn't choose any fabrics for this project until two days before the class. My plan was to make a smaller version of the pattern, and I knew I could pull enough fabrics from my stash. I started with these three coordinating prints that I've had in my stash since around 1999, then pulled other fabrics to go with them.

We had a great time in class, and most of us got at least six blocks made. As expected, I did learn some new tricks from Mary Ruth, and I continued making more blocks after I got home on Friday and through the weekend. I still have one more set of six blocks to finish piecing. I've started playing with possible layouts. 

This is going to be an extremely bright quilt! My plan is to use 20 blocks for the quilt top, which should finish at 40" x 50". I hope to get the last group of blocks made today, and maybe even get them all joined together into a quilt top too. 

I'm  linking up with:

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Artful Improv quilt top done!

Cindy Grisdela is a quilt artist and teacher who has also written two books about improv quilting. She was the speaker at our recent guild meeting, and also taught two different workshops. I was lucky enough to take part in her "Artful Improv" class, and today I am happy to share my finished quilt top from that class.

We learned about several different improv techniques that Cindy uses regularly including improv blocks, angled stripes and improv curves. At the end of that first day, I had this collection on parts up on my design wall.

The next day I was very frustrated and unsure of how to proceed. I decided to keep making more parts, adding them to the wall and doing some rearranging. This was my design wall at the end of day 2.

After making one more set of angled stripe blocks, it was time to start puzzling everything together. I had to trim down some blocks to make them fit, and others got strips added to make them larger. Here's what I had at the end of day 3.

Artful Improv #1, 26" x 31"

I was happy with the piece so far, and could have stopped there and called it a finished top. Instead, I decided to add borders to two sides utilizing two more techniques from Cindy's class, inset strips and curved stripe borders. I like the way they make the quilt even more asymmetrical, but I'm not sure they fit in with the overall piece. They feel like unnecessary additions to the quilt rather than being fully integrated with the rest of the design.

Artful Improv #1A, 29" x 34"

I'm not sure if those two borders will stay on the quilt or not. There's a very good chance that I will take them off, but for now that decision is on hold.

I found this quote on Cindy's website about a 7-day workshop she took with Michael James: "Taking a class that pushes you out of your comfort zone is a great way to grow as an artist." This improv class was definitely way out of my comfort zone, and I struggled at times, but pushed through it and am happy with the result. I look forward to playing with Cindy's ideas even further in the near future.

A Little Citrus by Cindy Grisdela

The quilt above is one of my favorites that Cindy shared with us in her class. You can read more about Cindy Grisdela's quilts, books and classes at her website HERE. The Artful Improv class is available as either a workshop for a group (info HERE) or as an on-line class that you can take on your own time (HERE.) Either way, I encourage you to explore Cindy's techniques to make your own improv quilts.

Linking up with:

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA

A Quilted Heart

Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to take part in a Zoom class called "Crazy in Love with Free-Motion Quilting." It was taught by Mel Beach, a quilter and teacher based in San Jose, CA. Here is one of Mel's samples for the class--check out all of the amazing quilting!

It was a great class, and we spent the day learning and trying out a wide variety of heart-based quilting designs. We would start by drawing out each design on paper or a white board, then try stitching the designs. Here are some of my stitching samples.

Besides trying out the different stitching designs, I also tested several different colors and brands of thread. I had consistently better results with Aurifil 50 weight on my old Singer machine.

The next day I finished up the decorative stitching on one little heart. This measures about 6.5" across and 5.5" high. 

I'm planning to cut out the heart, finish off the edges, then leave it in a public place as part of "I Found A Quilted Heart" to brighten someone's day. I had never heard of doing this until a couple weeks ago from my sister in Wisconsin, and then Mel talked about it in class too. You can learn more about "I Found A Quilted Heart" at their website HERE.

If you belong to a guild that is looking for speakers or teachers, I can highly recommend Mel Beach. She has a long list of lectures and workshops that she offers, and she is a fun teacher with tons of creative ideas for you. Her teaching info is HERE or you can check out her blog HERE.

Check out what other quilters are working on this week at Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt.

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 5/29/2022

It has been a very busy week for quilting here after getting very little quilting done in the previous weeks of the month. I started by finishing the binding and hanging sleeve on my Boston Fiesta quilt in preparation for the quilt show. There's one more quilt needing a hanging sleeve, plus labels for all three quilts to get them ready for drop-off next Sunday.

At the end of the week, I was able to take part in two Zoom quilting classes through the local guild. This was my first time for Zoom classes, and it was a very good experience. I missed the social aspects of taking a class in person with other people, but it was nice to not have to worry about packing up my machine and all the supplies, plus I didn't have the hassle of getting to the classes on time (always a challenge in Atlanta!) 

This is a close-up peek at my Intriguing Interleave quilt from Thursday's class. I'll share more info and photos about this quilt soon, plus some photos from the other class too.

My stash report is showing a little progress in the used direction this week. I used 1/2 yard for the green Charm Basket blocks that were shared in yesterday's post. My projects for the two quilting classes used a total of 1.625 yards from the stash. There was no new fabric added last week, but I'm seriously tempted by some of the Memorial Day weekend sales!

2022 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:            2.125 yards

Used year to date:          34.0 yards

Added last week:              0.0 yards

Added year to date:         39.0 yards

Net added in 2022         5.0 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of stitching time. I spent more time on quilting-related activities this week than I have in ages. There were the two 6-hour classes, plus the time spent prepping for those classes. I also finished the Boston Fiesta binding and sleeve early in the week.

15 Minute Challenge for 2022: 

5/22 - 5/28           7 of 7 days

2022 Total      145 of 148 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stitching and DeStashing--Week 26, 2019

Yesterday I had the rare pleasure of spending the day in a quilting class. I don't know how long it had been since the last time I pulled out my little travel featherweight for a class, but I had to spend some time the night before making sure it was running well and getting used to how it works again.

Our class was called "Practice What I Preach" by Pam Buda. It was a skill-building class filled with lots of tips and hints for how to get the best results with different techniques for making basic units like quarter-square triangles and flying geese. There weren't many techniques that I hadn't tried before, but Pam shared tons of helpful suggestions. Best of all, we got to try out several different specialty tools/rulers that she recommends, and what could be better than spending the day with a group of quilters! The photo below shows Pam's class sample.

"Practice What I Preach" class sample by Pam Buda

The project is a small wall quilt, finishing at 43" square. When I got home from class, I finished making all the different units for the blocks and got three of the blocks assembled. I hope to finish the other two blocks today.

I was going for a Christmas look, and the dark fabric does have green in it, but it sure looks black in this photo. Everything in this photo appears somewhat darker than it does in person.

I'm counting all the fabric cut and used so far for this project since it is has all been stitched into units that are almost made into blocks. All that will be left to do is add borders. I also finished my Tiny Tuesday blocks for June, using 1/4 yard for them. You can see those in yesterday's post. My numbers keep getting closer to even. 

2019 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                        1.875 yards

Used year to date:                   24.125 yards
Added last week:                          0.0 yards

Added year to date:                   27.75 yards
Net stashed year to date:       3.625 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. I was on vacation this whole past week, so I spent lots of time quilting, even though I should have been taking care of other projects around the house. It felt great to indulge in some serious quilting time!

15 Minute Challenge:  

6/23 - 6/29              7 of 7 days

2019 Total         167 of 180 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch challenge at Life in Pieces. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

TBT--My First Quilting Class

It's time for another week of Throwback Thursday over at Krista Quilts. I just discovered another Throwback Thursday link-up over at A Quarter Inch from the Edge. Last week I showed my first ever quilt, made along with my sister in spring of 1995. You can see that post HERE. This week I wanted to share the quilt I made in my first quilting class.

In the fall of 1995, I signed up for a beginning quilting class at Patched Works in Elm Grove, WI (the west side of the Milwaukee area.) The pattern we were making was a scrappy split nine-patch. Even then, I knew that I didn't like the "anything goes including the kitchen sink" type of scrappy quilt. I preferred a more limited color scheme and kept mine in the jewel tones. Many of the fabrics came from the scrap bins at the store, but I had already started collecting some fabrics myself. Here is a close-up showing a selection of prints.

We learned some tricks for making multiple half-square triangles, and the piecing was quick and fun. It took me close to a year to get the quilt layered, quilted and bound. The quilting is very simple, just stitch in the ditch. The borders don't lay very flat, but otherwise I am happy with this early effort. I learned that I love scrappy quilts as long as there is some cohesiveness to the fabrics chosen. I also figured out that for me piecing the quilt top is much more fun than the doing the quilting, something that is still true today.

Split Nine-Patch 1995
38.5" x 52.5"

Check out other Throwback Thursday quilt posts at Krista Quilts and at A Quarter Inch from the Edge. Even better, add your own post to the link-ups.

Julie in GA