BORDERS

 Today's Joe Project was about Borders.  He asked us to make a border using two fabrics.  

Joe had us choose a fabric from a bag of fabrics he brought, without looking, and use it with ours to make one of the sides of the border.  The other side would be made with our other border fabric and a piece of clothing we were asked to bring.  I didn't bring clothing, so I used one of other fabrics I brought.

This green dotted fabric is the one I picked from Joe's bag.

We had homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

Back to work after lunch.

Working on the next side, I wasn't happy with how it was going and quit early.

JOE PROJECT

 I tuned into Joe Cunningham's Quilt Freedom Workshop.  His special guest was Pat Pauly.  I just love her work.

In the last part he showed us how to make this little block. 

Well, mine's a little different from his.  But I did use two fabrics that don't 'go together' like he asked.

WORKING ON OLD PROJECT

 I got out an old project from 2018.  It was a workshop with Joe Cunningham.  He had us make 'gates' using two fabrics, all sizes and shapes.  I was limited on my fabric choices, and I wasn't really happy with them.  After we made all these 'gates' everyone got a photocopy of a Franz Kline painting.  He told us to make something that looks like that.   I hardly worked on it after the workshop.

So, here it is, five years later and I feel like I really want to finish it.

CHARLIE BEING QUILTED

 My little Joe Project quilt, Charlie (made from a fabric I bought in Charleston NC) is finally on the longarm being quilted.

JOE WORKSHOP 12.0

First Joe showed us a lot of vintage quilts from the International Quilt Museum that featured secondary patterns.  They included a lot of Log Cabin and Courthouse Step patterns.  The way the were set or colored created a secondary overall pattern.

Then he showed us a process to make an interesting effect.  

I used some of the vintage Yukata cotton print I've had to make mine.

First step was to make a block with a wave of color through it.

Then put a large print fabric, the same size, over the top and slash them both into one inch strips.  Then sew them, alternating, back together.

QUILT FREEDOM WORKSHOP 14.0

 Today's Quilt Freedom Workshop with Joe Cunningham was about three color quilts.  We started off by looking at some quilts from the International Quilt Museum.

Then he had us cut and sew our fabrics in specific ways, producing parts and pieces to make into an arrangement that pleases us.

This is how I left it at the end of the workshop:

Darrell has been working on the railings for the deck.  This is the first piece.  There will be glass installed into it - it will be very interesting.

SOLO SATURDAY

 I took Darrell to the airport in the morning.  He'll be teaching in Connecticut this week.  I'll be home alone (with the dogs and the cats.)

I spent the morning upstairs putting the latest Joe project together.  I'm not happy with that bar of yellow at the bottom.  I may take it out and replace it with more Xs or I was thinking I might hand sew some embroidered Xs in that space.  What do you think?

After lunch, I was out on the deck, sketching a still life as an assignment for Liz Steele's 'Foundations' workshop I've been doing.  It's a series of pre-recorded videos and instructions that is done at your own pace.

PARTS AND PIECES

 I've been making more 'X' blocks for my latest Joe Project, first with the solid yellow background.  But, now that the yard of Brandon Mably fabric finally arrived, I've been making some with that as the background.  And, bonus, I should have enough of that fabric left for the binding.

OLD JOE PROJECT

 While cleaning up a big box of fabrics, I came across this old project from a Joe Retreat.  I was not happy with it when I put it away, but now I think it has potential.  I want to add some pieces around the sides, as a sort of border.

First I had to make up some 'parts'.  Unfortunately, I had used up almost all of the leftovers that were in my scrap bin.  I did manage to find a few pieces I could use.  But, for the most part, I made up most of the parts here today.

ADDING ON

 After I put all of the 'X' blocks together from Joe's Workshop, I thought it was just blah.  So I thought I'd add a few more with variations.  I'm all out of the Brandon Mably fabric, so I went with a solid yellow, Kona Bright Idea.

Something is not quite right.  So, I went looking for some more of that Brandon  Mably fabric in the background of the larger 'X's.  I'd already tried finding it at the commercial fabric shops online.  Today I tried looking on Etsy and lo and behold I found a yard at $14.50.  A little pricey but worth it, since it's out of print.  But, I was shocked to see the shipping would be $10.50.  That makes it $25 for one yard.  Yikes!  But I purchased it anyway, because, you know...  Then I see it's coming from Montreal and it's going to take a while for it to get here.  I guess I'll set this aside for a few weeks while I wait.

QUILT FREEDOM WORKSHOP 12

 Today was the 12th Quilt Freedom Workshop with Joe Cunningham.  That means it's been a year of monthly zoom workshops.  Time flies.

Today he talked about pattern progression and showed us quilts from the International Quilt Museum with examples, all curated by the museum director, Caroline Ducey.

Then we started on a project of our own.  He had us cut out 6 inch squares and 1 inch strips. We were to slash the squares diagonally and insert a strip.  Then slash again and insert another strip to make an 'X'. 

Then he had us modify and explore how far we could go with deviations. 

I stayed on the conservative side.

I still have a few more to make.

SEATTLE MQG SEW-IN

 We had the last of the year Seattle Modern Quilt Guild's Sew-in on zoom this afternoon.  It was fun, as always.

I was finishing up working on my Bias Strip Daisy project when the meet up started.  I had been working on it most of the morning and made some good progress.

I put it aside at this point and worked on making more Bowtie blocks from yesterday's Joe project while we talked about trivial stuff and enjoyed each other's company.

JOE WORKSHOP 7.0

 Here we are with the 7th Quilt Freedom Workshop.

Today we made Bowtie blocks.

We always end with a song.

PROCESS NOT PATTERN

Joe Cunningham's Quilt Freedom Workshop this month was about following a process instead of a pattern.  

He was broadcasting from the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln Nebraska.  He and the curator showed us several Log Cabin type quilts along with some cotton crazies. 

We all fell in love with this quilt.  Maybe I'll do something like this someday.

His assignment was to follow a few steps and create ten 6" blocks.  What we do with them is up to us. 

Starting with an approximate 7" square:

1. Add a strip.

2. Cut in half, flip one side and sew back together.

3. Remove one corner and replace with a different fabric.

4. Insert a strip.

Then square up to 6" squares.

Some of mine ended up as rectangles so I had to cut off the long side and add it back to the short side to make them big enough to make a 6" squares.  That just added more interest!

I loved making these.  I'm much more engaged in improvising than I would be if I was making the same block over and over.

Here are my first ten, I'm really looking forward to making some more. Maybe with different steps.

 

67/100

I added a border to the Joe Project:

I want it to be rectangular.  I don't know how I'll do that.  I'm out of the two greys I used for the background.  I suppose I could order more.

Then I spent some nice quiet time making more background triangles from  the scrap bucket.

66/100

I got the Joe project, Flowers, squared up.  I had a hard time with this, I ended up unsewing and resewing and scratching my head.  In the end, I gave up and left the last mistake in.  The vase ended up upside down somehow.  Looks fine to me.  I'm not picking it out again.

Then I got a few more triangle blocks made. 

65/100

I was determined to get some work done on my 'Flowers' project from Joe's class.

I got to here by lunch time.  I'm happier, although it's not completely flat...but it will quilt out.

After lunch I went with Darrell to Home Depot.  They didn't have what he wanted so we headed down the hill to Cross Cut Lumber.  We encountered the West Seattle Traffic for the first time.  We went down Highland Park Way SW along with everyone else.  [The West Seattle Bridge has been closed down since March because it has cracks and is unsafe].  Highland Park Way and Roxbury are pretty much the only ways out of West Seattle.

When we eventually got back with a load of plywood for his new shop cabinets, I went upstairs to my studio.  The dragonfly that found it's way in yesterday was still there.  We had removed some screens from the windows and left them open all night.  He didn't leave.  I don't mind it if it just sits still, but I kind of freak out if it starts flying around bashing into things.  I just know it will end up in my hair.

Here's what I got done today.  I'm working on the 'background' now.  I have lots of low intensity colors and grays that I'll use.

I need to step up the pace if I want to get it done soon.

62/100

This is how my Joe project looked when I started out this morning.

I thought it needed more contrast in the flowers, so I was trying out different fabrics.  I ended up going with a different dull orange.

Here's how it looked when I gave up for the day.  It is frustrating how to get it to look the way you want and sew it together.

So, I moved on to working on my triangle scrap blocks.  This is way more fun.