WEEK 21 OF PLAYCATION2024

 It's Tuesday at 1pm!  Time for Cheryl Arkison's Playcation 2024.  I tuned in and made this week's improv block.  It was based on a Log Cabin, but not.  This week my block ended up looking almost like Cheryl's.  I was able to make it using just scraps, too.

MEMORIAL DAY AT HOME

I got busy quilting on Coordinates early and worked on it until lunch time.  It's looking great!

Then at noon, it was time to join the Brave Patch Monday Sewcial with my friends.  I prepped the Pegasus t-shirt with interfacing then cut up it up and made a large rectangle (with inset 'patches') to use on the backing of the Pegasus Bars quilt.  

CONCERTINA BOOK

Handmade Book Club's book for the month of May is the Concertina Book.  

I've been working on mine a little at a time.  I used the last of the drawing paper on a roll that I've had since 2000 for the signatures.  

I wrapped the signatures in some paper printed with bears.

I used Kraftex for the cover and the straps.

Sewing the signatures together was a bit tricky.

BURYING THREADS

 I finally got back to working on the neglected Coordinates quilt today.  I spent about 3 hours tying off and burying the rest of the threads.  That task is now done and I can continue with the actually quilting.

Before

After

A QUILT FOR BECKETT

Darrell's first Great Grandson, Beckett, was born in April.

I turned my Cogs project into a small quilt for him using Mickey Mouse fabric as the background.

 

NEXT BLOCKS FOR BOM

 I finally got around to making the next blocks in the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild's Block of the Month for 2024 - #SEAMQGBOM2024.  I was confused about the instructions at first.  I sent a question to the designer and she answered right away, but I've been busy with other stuff, I guess.

WEEK 20 OF PLAYCATION

 I tuned into Cheryl Arkison's Instagram account for her weekly improv block lesson.

I sorta followed her instructions.  But since my block is rectangular, not square, it turned out completely different.

FRANKIE FEETSPLINTERS

 Next stop was Ballard where Frankie Feetsplinters hangs out in front of the National Nordic Museum.

I sketched him while Darrell took a walk in the neighborhood.

Then we walked down the block to have lunch at Portage Bay Cafe, one of our favorite places.

OSCAR THE BIRD KING

 We got on the 7:40am ferry to Vashon Island and made our way to Point Robinson Park where Oscar the Bird King lives.

I came to sketch him. He was in the shade and it was a bit cold, but there were logs arranged to sit and visit with him, so it was very pleasant.  Darrell walked down to the beach to see the lighthouse.

Then we headed back to the ferry and got some popcorn.  When I worked and went to Vashon, a lot of the times I would get a little bag of popcorn - the highlight of the day sometimes.  

Today turned out to be a beautiful day.  The sun was shining and life is good.

Then we made our way to Ballard for our next stop.

RAINY SATURDAY FUN

 On our morning walk this morning, I saw this absolutely gorgeously vibrant orange Azalea bush.  I stole a couple of flowers off it.  

I came home and did some eco prints to see what color I could get from them.  I just used alum and steamed the flowers between watercolor paper. 

It didn't come out like I thought.  That's half the fun sometimes.  You never know what you'll get.  It's an indigo blue and yellow.  It's definitely more blue than it appears in this photo.

I pulled out a batik print that I thought I might use for the end of the Pegasus Bars quilt.  I pinned it up to audition it.  What do you think?

PEGASUS BARS QUILT IS PIECED

 While enjoying the company of Brave Patch Finish it Friday folks, I finished piecing the bars of wool for the Pegasus Bars quilt.  It still needs something to go across one end.

Then I went down a rabbit hole looking for a Pegasus to put on the back thanks to a suggestion by one of the BP Ladies.  I did find a t-shirt on EBay that I think I can use.  It will be here next week.  

And the next Color Box came from Quilted Strait quilt shop.  These are my next installment of all of the Windham Artisan Cottons - shot cottons.

Although I don't understand why anyone would need a white/white shot cotton, it's just a white fabric.  Not really a shot cotton.  It is nice quality though.

INSPIRED BY PEGASUS BARS QUILT

I saw this improv quilt on Quiltfolk's Month 2 of Break the Rules.  Kirocofe talked about it and I was inspired to make a copy of it. This quilt is made of pieced strips and scraps of different materials.  On the opposite side is a flag showing Pegasus.

I got out my wools, and was pleasantly surprised at how much I had, plenty enough to make this project. I will have to look through my horse fabric collection to see if I have a Pegasus.

I got three of the bars made today.

BABY QUILT IS A TOP

 I sewed the little yellow inset circles onto the top and the bottom of the Triple Cogs quilt.  

The circles represent a birthday - 4/2 + 24.  

I had some leftover circles that were cut from the underside of the background fabrics and some leftover yellow circles.  So I made a thing that I will use on the back somewhere:

LITTLE INSET CIRCLES

 I made the 12 little 4" inset yellow circles I need for the Mickey Mouse baby quilt today.

They still need to be trimmed, sewn together and added to the center cogs wheel.

But, here they are, stuck up on the wall:

TUESDAY IMPROV

 It's Tuesday, time for Cheryl Arkison's Quilters Playcation 2024.

Today's live feed was earlier and I missed it.  But, when I tuned into Instagram at 1pm, the reel was up and I watched it then.

Cheryl made a 4-patch of 4-patches using small scraps.  I made something slightly different, using my scraps.

This is week 19.

COG WHEEL TOGETHER

 Starting in the morning and working into the Brave Patch Monday Sewcial, I sewed together all of the arcs to complete the three ring Cogs wheel.  I added some borders to make it a bit larger.  It's 33" by 33" now.

Then I started making twelve inset circles to add to the top and the bottom to make it rectangular.

I've been thinking about what to add. Stars were at the top of my list for a while.  Then while showering I came up with the idea of representing his birthday with circles.  It's going to be so cool.  It will read correctly whether it's upside down or right side up.  

IT"S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR

It's coming up on my birthday when Mom would make me a Rhubarb pie.  And, there was Rhubarb at our local grocery store.  So, I bought some and made myself and my Mom a pie.  Mine is GF, her's isn't.

Oh my, they smell so good!

We took the pies to Julie and Jeff's to celebrate Mother's Day with Mom.  The weather was very enjoyable today.  We sat out on their deck, while Jeff barbequed ribs and made pizzas.  

TRY THEN TRY AGAIN

 The red fabrics I have don't exactly match the red I've already used.  But, there was one Kona red that was close enough.  I wish I had another red print.  But, I made some arcs with the Kona Chinese Red.

It was okay, but the solid fabric just doesn't look right.  So, I thought I'd try a yellow print.  I found a small piece in the scrap bucket and made two arcs from them.  These are much better.

MAKING MORE COGS

I got the other two arcs of the 14" cogs made and started on the black 7" arcs for the little quilt I'm working on.  I got all 4 of them made while visiting with the Brave Patch Friday group.  These are not sewn together yet.

I hesitated at this point because I'm not sure what color cogs to put in the center part.  The Mickey Mouse fabric has only red, black, white and a little light grey.  I'm thinking about adding another color.

 

LITTLE QUILT STARTED

 I enjoyed making the Cogs so much I decided to use the Mickey Mouse fabric I just purchased to make a little quilt made up of the Cogs.  I'm challenging myself to make all three sizes.  I started with the 14" arcs.  And the red fabric I used needed to be fussy-cut to get the pattern all  oriented the same way in each cog.

I got a good start:

COGS WORKSHOP

 I got out to the studio early, 7am, to attend a Jenny Haynes Cogs Workshop through the Sew Squad.  

Jenny is so good about sharing all her tips and tricks.  This workshop was about Freezer Paper Piecing.  

Here's what I had made by the end of the day:

WEEK 18 OF PLAYCATION 2024

 Here is the improv block I made for Week 18 of Quilters Playcation 2024 with Cheryl Arkison.

BACKING FOR PEACH FUZZ

 I spent the last few days sewing the scraps from Peach Fuzz together to form a few slabs.  The scraps were mostly curves which made it challenging, but fun.  I was pleased that I used pretty much all of the scraps, with only a few small pieces left.

I used those slabs to make the backing for Peach Fuzz.

SATURDAY WITH KIDS

Darrell picked up Skyler and Scarlett for the weekend.  We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant.

Then, back home, we painted rocks.

 

PEACH FIZZ IS A TOP

 I've been working on piecing the blocks for the Peach Fizz quilt.  The curves are coming together very nicely with a lot of pinning.  I got all of the rows finished and sewn together this morning.

It's a top!