FINISH #16

I trimmed the excess from the newly quilted "Seven Plus" quilt and sewed it's binding on today.

It is done!  This is Finish #16 for the year.

The quilt is 54" x 72".

And it took 7 years and 6 days from start to finish. 

SEVEN PLUS QUILTED

 The Black and White quilt I've been working on has been named "Seven Plus" because it took a few days more than seven years from start to finish.  I used some red and black fabrics from my stash of old fabrics and made the backing yesterday.

Then this morning I loaded it onto the longarm, programmed a pantograph and got busy quilting it.

I finished up by the end of the day.  It's off the machine.  And while it was quilting, I made some binding.  Maybe I can do that tomorrow.

BLACK AND WHITE AND A LITTLE RED

 I started making this quilt on August 11, 2019.  I made six blocks and decided it was done.  I put it away and a few years later got it out and thought it should be bigger.  I made one more block, got bored with all those precious seams needing matching and put it away.

I ran across it again a few days ago and went back to work on it.  I made more blocks and now I think it really is done.  It's a quilt top, 54" x 72", and it only took one day short of seven years.  Maybe that should be it's name.  The Seven Year Quilt.  But then, really, it's still not a quilt.  It may be an Eight Year Quilt before I get it quilted.  We'll have to wait and see.

FABRIC SEARCH

 I've had this piece of Ikea fabric for a few years.  I started using it for the Monday 30 Minutes of Play improv pieces.  I was getting so upset because the piece kept getting smaller and smaller.  And I love it!  So, I went on a search for more.  I've been searching Etsy, Ebay and Google to no avail.  Ikea isn't making it anymore and no one has any for sale.  Heartbreaking.

Then, the other day, I ran across this a fabric, made recently, that was the same pattern, but a lot smaller.  I bought two versions. They aren't anywhere near as nice, but.... Here they are with the original on the bottom:

If you have any of that bigger print, I'll buy it from you!

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.

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.

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.

MONDAY SEWCIAL

 Today was Brave Patch's Monday Sewcial, our weekly get-together.  We decided last week to do some  improv play at the start of our meet.  Claudia spun a wheel and came up with some prompts and we got busy sewing.

Here's what I ended up with:

NINE-PATCH PI BACKING

 I started yesterday and finished up the backing for the Nine-Patch Pi quilt.

It's almost too small, I think I'm going to have to add some to the length.

BACK AND LOADED

 I made a backing for the Long-legged Star quilt and loaded it up on the longarm.

I had found this great ombre cloud print in my stash - it's an oldie, probably from the late 90's by Nancy Crow.  I didn't make a label, but I did ink my name in one of the white stripes.  

Then, I loaded it onto the longarm and started quilting it.  I got about half way.

SASHED

 I originally wanted to put white sashing with small black crosses in the intersections.  I have lots of Kona black, but I was surprised that I had no White.  

I looked through my white prints, but nothing seem right.  So, I went with this black and white strip that I fussy-cut to be all the same.  It turned out kind of funky.

LONG LEGGED STARS

 I started making these star blocks in Joe Cunningham's Quilt Freedom Workshop last weekend.  Instead of just throwing the three blocks in the scrap bin I decided to make more and turn them into a little quilt.  So, this morning with the Monday Brave Patch group, I made some more!

BACKING PROBLEM

I ordered three yards of black and white fabric with numbers for the back of the Nine-Patch Pi quilt.

It arrived with a small hole in it.

I thought about complaining since I wanted to use it in one piece for the backing.

But, I will be piecing parts in because there isn't enough for the complete back.

I don't need to worry, they would probably only send me a quarter yard anyway to make up for the hole.  More trouble than it's worth.

SATURDAY WORKSHOP

 I'm signed up to take a monthly zoom workshop with Joe Cunningham called Quilt Freedom Workshop.  This month was about two color quilts, or two fabric designs.  I started out thinking I would use black and white.  Then when I saw the project I changed the black out for a print with black and white.  (it's not actually white, it matches Kona Oyster which I used as my white).  

Here's how it ended up at the end of the day:

I want to spend more time moving the pieces around before I settle on the final.

CHANGE OF DIRECTION

Jeez Louise.  I had started out with a stack of white and black fabrics, gradating from light to dark.  And as I've gone along, I've had to reject and replace a few because I didn't have enough of that particular fabric.

It happened again today, when I started on the fifth row.  I didn't have enough and just went with the next one from the stack.    So, after I made the fifth row with this fabric, I re-assessed and realized that some of the upcoming rows I didn't have enough of the fabric I had picked, so this problem was going to just get worse!  I went through my stash and come to the conclusion that I didn't have the fabric range to do this right.  I've even been thinking it would look better with just one 'white'.

I decided this last one would look great for that.  I had recently bought it at Quilted Strait, so there should be more of it out there somewhere.  But, I need to make sure I can get some more (enough) to finish the project before I commit and do something stupid.

But first, a really nice walk in the park!

Here's how it looked at five rows (soon to be redone).

I erased some of the trees in this painting and lightened the sky.  I'm still not happy with it.  Is it the colors?  I'm beginning to think I hate this palette.  The trees are all the wrong colors!  But, what do I want?

BLACK AND WHITE TOP

I got the top done. 

FRIDAY LITE

We picked up Quentin early this morning.  He's going to spend the weekend with us.

First stop was breakfast at PCC.  He wanted waffles.

Then I went to Puyallup to drop off a couple of quilts for the Fair.

Back home, I worked on the black blocks for the Black and White quilt.  I have all of the parts made, but only got one block sewn together.

After lunch, Quentin and I painted.

I even did a quick drawing of Jax in the garden.

SOME OF IT

Well, I didn't have a whole day, but I did get the four-patches and the centers of the black blocks done.

B&W BLOCKS

I worked on the Black, White and Red blocks (I need a name for this quilt).

I finished the white blocks and have got everything cut out for the black blocks.

Need a long day to get the top together.

When I called his name, he chose to shun me.

DISTRACTION

Instead of doing things I should be doing, I've started a new project.

It's a palate cleanser.

It should use up some of the black and white prints I have a draw full of.