Me and Jane, Jane and I

Jane and I are getting re-acquainted. The group I am working with at Quilters Common receives the patterns and tips for 5 blocks each month. Between one thing and another I found myself way behind … a year and a half behind! So, this past month I was determined to get back to work on my Jane blocks. I have established a new goal of 8 blocks a month, which I must meet if I want to have a quilt finished for the groups planned quilt show.

I was quite busy and so far I have 9 new blocks and I also redid 2 blocks. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge these photos. When finished viewing them click on the “x” in the upper left corner of the page to return back to this post!

: F-5

: C-6

: J-4

: D-7

: I-10

: I-5

: B-4

: D-5

: E-1

: B-8

: H-10

This is my redo of F-5. The original was a combo of machine piecing and hand piecing for the curved “melons”. I was so annoyed with the result that in protest I designed a curve free version of the block which I discussed in a previous Jane post. But, then I came across the “That Quilt” blog and redid the block using reverse applique for the melons. I am now a fan of reverse applique! The difference is very obvious (at least to me). No more wonky squares in the corners!

I redid H-10 because the color was wrong. My scheme calls for this to be a purple block, but I did it in red!

: H-10

I also came up with my own way of finishing I-10. The sections are paper pieced and then I sewed them together by hand. My method of sewing the pieces together was to treat the block like a very modified nine patch with three rows. I am happy with the result.

: 3 rows

: 1 and 2 finished

: I-10

That’s it for now … still planning to finish one more new block by the end of this week!

Improvising with Scraps

It certainly has been quite a while, but I finally have time to post again! Back in March I brought my improvised scrappy blocks to the Boston Modern Quilt Guild Retreat and put a quilt top together.

I finished this quilt a couple of months ago on my long arm.

The back of the quilt has a few of the blocks, too.

I am still saving my scraps and sorting them by color, but maybe I should throw them all in together and try a different approach next time! No matter what, it is a great way to be thrifty and also environmentally green. Reuse, recycle, and don’t waste any of your precious fabric!

Jane for April 2015

This month I managed to finish 3 blocks before the monthly meeting.

I am finding some different modern fabrics to work with that I think work well with all of the Kaffe fabrics that I have been using.

Here are my blocks:

: E-9 Quilt Jail

: H-12 Hannah Lou’s Hearts

: G-2 Mohawk Trail

My heart’s are looking more like a flower, but I needed to use Green and Green Hearts did not seem very appealing to me so I went with pink and bright green fussy cut flowers.

If you look at Mohawk Trail you will see that I haven’t stayed with the program once again! The center block is rotated. I think this looks better and several of the ladies in my group thought so, too. Sorry Jane!

I have decided what I will use for sashing fabric, although at only 61 blocks finished perhaps I am thinking too far ahead? But, I needed to because I discovered that I was using up my 10 yards of backing fabric much too quickly. No doubt due to my extravagant cutting when paper piecing. I tried to get more of the same fabric, but after buying from two sources and getting two different greige goods that were not the same shade of gray (ha ha, gray greige goods!) I decided that I will be using a different color for my sashing. And, that will be a nice light brown/gray fabric. I am using Moda Bella Stone for my sashing.

What’s Going On With Jane

I have been fitting a Jane Block in here and there, so I thought I would post pictures of them.

Jane’s Oak has been done a bit differently. I machine pieced the bottom instead of appliquéing it, so the white on the sides is missing.

I had a dreadful time with the Parcheesi block after trying to hand piece it and came up with a rebellious melon free solution!

The block is really very similar to its neighbor Deanie’s Daisies when approached this way. I may still do it the correct way in a year or two!

I was happy with the rest of the blocks and I found the melons in Dad’s Plaids to be very cooperative. I sprayed the heck out of the fabric with Best Press and then used the needle turn method for both the appliqué and reverse appliqué. I also used Jenny Haskins Template Magic as a guide for turning the fabric. That stuff is great because it sticks to the fabric and can be reused a few times.

I did not cut the back out of Poof because the seems for the piecing were not secured so I am afraid they will rip out. Maybe some fabric glue? Not sure so I am leaving it as is for now.

I now have 59 blocks done, but am way behind in the group I am doing this with. I must be about 8 months behind now. But, I am still getting them done and am pleased with the results, so I am not giving up on this!

Scrappy Monochromatic Blocks

The Boston Modern Quilt Guild is making charity quilts this year and members have been asked to donate blocks made with fabrics that are from the same color family. The quilts will then be made with a rainbow of the different color grouped blocks.

I came up with a strategy for my blocks which involved sorting all of my fabric scraps by color and then selecting strips from each pile and sewing them together.

After sorting the strips I trimmed them so they were all about the same length and so that each strip was a uniform width, but the strips are various widths!

Then I sewed them together.

For the blocks that I decided to make I made sure that the pieced strips panel was 38″ long and about 15″ wide. This is enough to make several blocks. You do need a 38″ long strip for the log cabin block featured in this article.

Trim the uneven edge and don’t forget to save your scraps that are too small to sew with. These will be the stuffing for a pillow!

I cut my pieced strips 3 1/2″ wide and some are 2″ wide.

One of the block designs is a log cabin block. This block uses one of the 3 1/2″ wide strips with other fabric scraps. The center is a 3 1/2″ square bordered with 2″ strips.

Sew the strips and then trim them to the correct size. Use a square ruler to make sure your cuts are correct. The center block will be 6 1/2″ square.

Then continue adding the 3 1/2″ wide pieced strips. Sew then trim to the correct size as you go. Once the block was larger than 6 1/2″ I got out my 12 1/2″ ruler to trim the block.

The block will be 12 1/2″ square when completed. These are two of the blocks:

Here are some made with purple and green strips.

Of course I got carried away and will be making a lot of these blocks, so I will make my own quilt with these blocks. Usually I would use all different colors, but I really love the idea of using strips that are in the same color group. The finished blocks are sublimely wonderful.

Boston Modern Quilt Guild Photos

Just a quick post. Here is a link to the photos I took at the guild show. Lots of creativity and quality crafting. Enjoy!

show photos

See this previous post for details on the show.

Boston Modern Quilt Guild Show

The Boston Modern Quilt Guild is displaying their quilts at the Fabric Place Basement in Natick, MA. The quilts will be on display each weekend starting January 31st through February 15^th. Here is what they are saying about their quilt show:

“The Boston Modern Quilt Guild is a group of people who are passionate about modern quilting, patchwork, and sewing. The guild is holding its annual quilt show this year at Fabric Place Basement in Natick MA. The show will run for several weekends and is open to all quilters and to everyone interested in modern quilts and quilting.

Over 50 quilts will be on display at Fabric Place Basement each weekend from January 31 through February 15. Guild members will be there to answer questions, serve as ‘white glove’ ladies (although we do allow touching; we’re modern, after all!), and conduct demos.”

LOCATION: Fabric Place Basement, 321 Speen Street (Cloverleaf Mall), Natick MA
DATES: Each weekend from January 31through February 15.

TIMES: 10:00 am – 7 pm on Saturdays; noon – 6:00 pm on Sundays.

For more information, contact BMQG at http://bostonmqg.blogspot.com/

I will have 4 quilts on display at the show:
Garden Continuum
A Very Bight Quilt
Flowers! and Cocoa Kaleidoscope

Aunt Virginia’s Plan

This is a follow up to the blog posts about the Butterfly Treasure Quilt.

As I mentioned in my Butterfly Applique Post I gave the Finished Bow Tie Quilt to Pat. If you recall, from the Quilting Treasures Post, she gave me that quilt top and the Butterfly Blocks ,which she found when she was cleaning out her mother’s house because her mother had moved to an Assisted Living apartment.

Pat had said she would give the finished quilt to her mother, Lydia, for Christmas and when she did her mother remembered the quilt top and told her the story behind it. When Lydia was 13 years old in 1930 her Aunt Virgina gave her the quilt top and butterfly blocks with the thought that Lydia could improve her sewing skills to impress a young man that Aunt Virginia had in mind for Lydia to marry eventually.

I guess Lydia was not very interested in the young man because she never did finish the quilts! So Aunt Virginia’s scheme did not go as planned. But Lydia did keep those quilting treasures all these years for Pat to find and give to me.

I am glad that Lydia had the opportunity to share this bit of quilt history with her daughter Pat, because the day after Christmas Lydia fell and broke her hip. The fall was because her heart was so weak, and she passed away on January 4th. Lydia was 97 years old.

My heart goes out to Pat during her time of grief and I will always remember Lydia and her Aunt Virginia’s plan when I snuggle under my Butterfly Treasure quilt.

Holiday Cheer Gift Bag

Here is a quick pattern for a Holiday Gift Bag. This little pouch is a good size for a bottle of wine or perhaps a bottle of Pear Vodka for your Hairdresser! Debi was VERY happy with her Pear Vodka. Start with two coordinating pieces of fabric each 15″ x 18″ and one 20″ piece of ribbon. Place the two pieces of fabric right sides together and sew a seam across the short edge on one side.

Open up the two pieces with the seam in the middle and fold in half lengthwise, right sides together.

Now sew seams as follows:

Start on the fabric you want on the outside edge about 4″ or so from the first seam sewn. The starting point can be adjusted depending on the length of the neck of your gift bottle. Sew from this point towards the inside (lining) fabric and continue along until you get around the first corner. Then STOP! Leave a gap of a few inches, so you can turn everything right side out, and start sewing again until you get to the folded edge, and then stop. Start again at the fold by the bottom of the outside fabric and continue towards where you first started, but STOP before you reach that point to leave an opening that is large enough for your ribbon. Don’t forget to secure your stitches when starting and stopping.

My stitching is a bit messy because my first ribbon gap was too high!

Now, reach inside the opening and scrunch the tube up until you reach the other end and pull it through so your tube is now right side out. Adjust the corners and press the opening closed. Sew along the bottom edge to close the opening.

Fold the lining inside of the bag (it is now a bag!). Find the ribbon opening on the side seam. Pin a safety pin to one end of your ribbon and run it through the hole, around the bag and out again.

Put your bottle in the bag, tie the ribbon and clip the ends. Debi said she liked the gift bag, too!

This pattern can be adjusted as needed to accommodate any gift!

Happy Holidays and Cheers!

Vintage Butterfly Applique Quilt

I have finished my vintage butterfly quilt. I love the colors in this quilt! This is the quilt I made with my vintage 30’s butterfly applique blocks that were a gift from my Mother-in-Law’s friend. As I mentioned in my last post her friend Pat gave me some “quilted fabric” that turned out to be wonderful quilt tops and blocks that her mother made in the 30s.

I saw Pat yesterday and she was very pleased with both quilts, but I could tell the Bow Tie quilt was calling to her, so I gave the finished quilt to her. She is going to give it to her mother for Christmas. He mother is in assisted living with short term memory loss. But, her long term memory is fine so I imagine it will be quite exciting for her to see her old quilt top again. At least I hope so! Maybe she will be wondering when and how it turned from a quilt top to a finished quilt!

The Butterfly Treasure Quilt took all of my quilting attention for the last few weeks. Both it and the wall hanging version are finished. The wall hanging is made with some wonderful Kaffe Fassett prints, so it gives the 30s pattern a new look! The pattern for both is also finished now and for sale at Craftsy.