3/4 CIRCLES

 I wanted something to do with no pressure, no due date.  So, I worked on my Crushing It project.  I had to cut the centers first - that's a step that is not my favorite, but it has to be done.  I only cut 10.

Then I started sewing the 'orange peel' parts on.  I got 3 of the 4 done before it was time to quit.  These are actually quite fun to sew.

MORE TEAL

 I trimmed up a few of the parts for my project and then they didn't fit right anymore.  It was very frustrating.  I was conflicted about what to do about it.  Should I add something in there? - then it would be wider and I really didn't want that.  Should I just sew them together as is?  - then it wouldn't be square anymore and I'd have to cut something off.  I decided to let it stew for a while.

Today, I went back up to the studio after staying away for a few days.

I looked at the project and decided to try putting some more teal in the gap.

What do you think?

WEDGE CURVES DAY TWO

Here's how it looked at the end of day two.  Still lots to do.

I'm not to sure about some of that stuff on the bottom right.  And I'm conflicted about how much more blue/teal I should add.  

I'll sleep on it.

I can't believe that the more fabric I use on the project, the bigger the pile I take them from gets.  How does that happen?

 

WEDGE CURVES DAY ONE

 Took a workshop with Sherri Lynn Wood today on Improv Wedge Curves.  Here's what I made:

The plan is to add them to the half done project from my last workshop.  So, I put up the the pieces of that up on the wall and added these new pieces.  I need more.

CUTTING ORANGE PEELS

 I spent the morning cutting the 'orange peel' shapes from the black with white 2-patches for the Crushing It quilt.  It was slow and monotonous work and I had to pay attention to the accuracy of my cutting, too.  I'm glad that's over with.

Today was a meeting of the Brave Patch Finish It Friday group.  I worked a bit on my DWTW2 that's been on the design wall all week.  I did make one block and got some great ideas.  But, I had to take it all down because tomorrow I'll need the wall for a workshop.

ONE BLOCK

 I cut out enough pieces to make one block of the Crushing It quilt.  I wanted to make sure it would all fit together before I cut everything out.

CRUSHING THE PARTS

 I'm working on making a pattern called All Eyez On Me by Latifah Saafir using her Clammy Ruler.  I'm going to name my quilt Crushing It because I'm using the Kona Color of the Year 'Crush' Fabric.

I sewed together a bunch of 5" squares today.  They still need to be trimmed using the Clammy ruler.

MONDAY FUN

 It was another fun Brave Patch Monday Sewcial.  We started out doing our 30 Minutes of Play.  Claudia spun the wheels to pick the colors, shape and theme.  I tend to ignore the prompts that don't work with my group of other 'blocks' made during these sessions.  Here is what I made today:

Then I made this week's Art East Mini Charm block, #16 The House:

BOOK CLUB SUNDAY

 The Brave Patch Book Club met today to talk about the book we've been reading (looking at, because there's more pictures than words), Woman House.  

As usual, there was a lively, lovely discussion.

After, I sewed together some of the white with black squares for the Crushing It quilt I had stacked up. I cut them into their new shape.  That was fun.  Lots more to go though.

Just for fun I took the parts I had cut out and sewed them together.  No, I don't know what I'll do with them, but they will make interesting seeds for some new project.

MOM'S 90TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

We all gathered at Julie and Jeff's home to celebrate Mom's 90th Birthday, which was on the 13th.  Most all of the family, my cousins and their families, showed up, plus Aunt Marlys (whose birthday was yesterday) and some family friends.  It was really very nice to see everyone again.  There was lots of good conversation and catching up.

Julie did a great job on the food and there was a cupcake tree, with a special one for the birthday girl.

I brought a bunch of quilts with me.  I offered them to anyone that wanted one to take one home.  I got a lot of takers.  It was nice to see them find a home (if a little sad to see them go at the same time).   My Ribbons quilt found a friend with my cousin Steve's son Chad's youngest daughter, Emi.  She seemed quite pleased with it.

WORKING THURSDAY

 I worked on quilting a little more on Nebula.

I finally got caught up with the Art East Quilting Mini-Block Sampler.  Here is #14 The Cyclone and #15 The Gem.

Then I recovered the ironing board with a new cover of a oatmeal colored wool fabric.  It definitely looks a lot better.

NEBULA LOADED

 After adding a 6" border all around the too-small backing I made the other day and sewing on the zippers, I got Nebula loaded onto Erik the longarm.  I'm using a pale lilac Aurifil 50wt thread on the front and the back.  Since there is so much background, I'm going with an easy pattern that I can free-motion and get done quickly.

Since the top is so big (97" by 96") I went with rolling it onto the bar for the top.  So far so good.  It's working out very well.

I had stopped at Pacific Fabrics yesterday and picked up a king-size (120" by 120") Hobbs 80/20 batting.  Overpriced at $67, but I did get 20% off that.

SEATTLE BOM #3

 This year's Seattle Modern Quilt Guild's Block of the Month (BOM) is called 'Diamond Flare'.  This month's prompt finishes off the square that was started last month.  I'm still using scraps.  

LOTS OF DOINGS

 I finished my Not Joe project this morning.  Then I removed the paper that was covering the other 'Gift' blocks hanging on the design wall to see how the new one went with them.  It works with them really well!

Then, I put the zippers onto the backing I made for Nebula and loaded it onto the longarm.  I put the batting on the machine, too.  Then I thought it might be a good idea to measure the top.  And lo, I discovered that it was 97" by 96".  Good grief.  That means the backing and the batting are too small.  I was so frustrated.  Luckily, the Monday Sewcial group was able to talk me down and I eventually got over it.  I need to make the backing bigger and buy a bigger batting.  No big deal.  Phfft.

Then I made the next month's part of the SeaMQGBOM2023 and added it to last month's.  It still needs a small border around it.  I'll get to that tomorrow.

Then I went onto Amazon and ordered a king-size Dream Cotton Request batting.  It won't be here for 10-14 days.  That will give me lots of time to make the back bigger.  I could even quilt something else in the meantime.  Life is good.

NOT EXACTLY LIKE JOE'S

 I started working on what was supposed to be the project Joe showed us yesterday in his Quilt Freedom Workshop.  I wanted to make something that would work with my other 'Gifts' blocks.  That meant more orderly, less improv-y.  I made a strip set but didn't want to cut into it until I knew how it would look.

I made a simulation of the strip set on paper, then experimented with it.  This first one is more like Joe demonstrated.  It ends up looking like jagged lightning.

But I cut the complete strip set like this, and liked it a lot better.  

So I cut the strip set into 4" sections then cut them diagonally and sewed them back together.  Then I laid them out to see how that would look.  I was surprised at how long they would be.

I experimented with how they'd look if I sewed them back together crookedly.

Then I cut one of the units diagonally the other direction and sewed it back together.

This was interesting.  I'm going to sleep on it and decide what to do tomorrow.

BLACK AND WHITE STRIP

 I took all of the leftover cuts from the black and white strips and the white and black strips I cut the 5" squares from for the All Eyez On Me quilt that I'm starting.  This was an easy sew - mindlessly (well, almost mindlessly) alternating darks and lights until I had a very long strip.  I'll use it on the backing - if I ever make the top.  I think I'm going to call it "Crushing It".  Because.

Then I made HST squares out the leftover pieces from the charm pack I used.  I paired them with a white with black crossword print fabric.  Now I also have 24 4" HSTs for the back.

BACKING FOR NEBULA

 I worked on making a backing for the Tula Pink Nebula.  I started that top in 2021 as a block of the month, making one 'block' a month for a year.  I finished the top and it's been languishing ever since.  I got a lot done before Brave Patch Finish it Friday started.  I inked my name onto the pre-printed label that came with the kit.

BLACK AND WHITE SQUARES

 I spent yesterday going through my stash, choosing black with white fabrics and white with black fabrics for an upcoming project.

I cut a strip from each, then cut them down into 5" squares.  I need at least 240 squares of each.  

I put a good dent in my stash.

NEW FUN STUFF

 I got a package from Jet Pens today.  I've been wanting to check out the Posca pens for a while.  They should be fun.

I didn't need another fountain pen, but I bought this Lamy Safari.  Apparently, I didn't read the description of the pen.  The Safari pen is made of plastic!  I had a very hard time getting the barrel back onto it after I had installed the converter because the plastic parts were bent outward.  I had to squeeze them back into shape, which wasn't easy.  I don't like cheap things, but I'll give it try.

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There's also one of each color of the Micron Pigma Pens - my favorite.

GROOVE SESSION: PLAY

 It's time for Brave Patch's Groove Session with Sherri Lynn Wood this morning at 9am.

She gave us some prompts and we spent a pleasant half hour improv playing.

Here's mine:

Afterwards, I finally made the binding and sewed it onto Loretto.

It is done and ready for a new home.

I love how the backing turned out.