Friday, September 22, 2023

Color Play: binding

Hello, everyone. This is the table runner in-process. I did use the extremely modern pattern involving squares, several of the Road to Round Top fat quarters,  and a revolvers-on-stone accent fabric. 

The quilting is done, but the final wash will, of course, wait until the binding is sewn in place. Today's post shows auditions of binding fabrics.
various views of the runners and candidates for binding. 

The choice comes down to whether the binding should be as low-volume as most of the fabrics, or contrast with them.

I'm leaning toward the darker gray with little reddish dots all through it. The orange floral from the fabric line come off as either too brightly orange or too pale, and the lighter grays have the same lack of contrast. The crackled-wood look of that one across from the grunge print stands out too much, wanting to make itself the star of the show. The darker gray floral is nice, but I think the little reddish dots will play up the flowers in the middle block. The dark gray "Grunge" at one corner of the top photo is just too much sharp contrast for me here.


Wednesday, September 20, 2023

A New Pinny

Hello, everyone. Today's post introduces a new pinny for my bowl of pinnies. 
The top side: pieced from leftover half square triangle and strips. I added a grab loop just for fun, but it could also be used to keep the pincushion from going astray while being used away from home. The grab loop, already sewn into a bit of strap, was another strip in the stash. I quilted along seam lines for the top side of the pincushion. 
The bottom side. I quilted along the pattern lines of this charm square. The navy is a little darker than the blue bits on the top, but it's still compatible. 

As y'all can clearly see, the overall pincushion is about 4 inches square after stuffing.

This little thing is a rest for me, after last week's finish on the Old-and-new quilt. I especially liked finding a use for the leftover corners from the flag wall hanging.

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Old-and-new and DONE!

Hello, everyone. The Old-and-new Quilt is done.

The Old side.

The New side

Details of the angels and Log Cabins, and the block made from the My Favorite Color Is Moda book. (Link to that book is in the last post.)
Angel blocks and all but one of the Log Cabin blocks from stash. 
Sashing and binding from a mini jelly roll in gray.
Purple solid stripe from stash, left over from making the sewing machine covers a while back.
Final size, 62 inches wide by 82 inches long. Small double or big twin, basically.
Yippee! Another one done.

Thursday, September 7, 2023

It's quilted!

Hello, everyone. 

The new-and-old quilt has been quilted and it's ready to be squared up and bound. Woo-hoo!

Monday, September 4, 2023

Gooey Butter Cake

Hello, everyone. 
Gooey Butter Cake has always seemed like a cousin of Lemon Bars: a base that's more dry and a gooey top. 
It's a standard of Duke's Bakery in Alton, Illinois, where on Sunday morning after church the cars line up down the block as people pick up their  breakfast. The butter vanilla scent fills the kitchen while it bakes.




Saturday, September 2, 2023

Update on the vintage quilt project

 Hello, everyone.

Today's update on the vintage quilt project: there is light at the end of the tunnel! Most of the quilting is done. (Perhaps 10 inches are left to go, approaching the left side from the center.) Then the binding, then it will be done!

Just to refresh, these are the vintage side


and the new side


The new side, and the batting, are a little bit larger than the almost-queen-sized vintage side. There will be a bit of trimming after the quilting is done and before the binding is added.

The large "tile" block near the top is from the My Favorite Color Is Moda book. The log cabins and the angels and other various scenic-centered blocks are from stash. Yes, there are still a lot of orphan blocks in my stash! 

The vintage side has a lot of stars that were made from crumb quilting, in a huge assortment of clothing fabrics of the 1930's. Cotton muslins, various blousings, even cotton flannel are represented. The green, red, lavender diamonds that form the hexagons around the stars also incidentally form a 3-dimensional block at the intersections of the hexagons. All of the vintage seams are hand sewn. 

So, leaving y'all to resume the rows of quilting and hoping to finish Real Soon Now....

Monday, August 28, 2023

Texas themed quilting fabric

Hello, everyone. 

I am on various quilt oriented email lists. One of them is Art Gallery Fabrics. Recently the promotional email was about a Texas themed collection called "The Road to Round Top", that being a prominent and well known geologic feature in, IIRC, central Texas. It's a big hill, basically, and I think there is a walking trail to the top.

This is the set of fat quarters in the collection.  The greens are on the gray side, and the whites are on the vanilla-custard side. I already have some other fabrics that go with it, too. 
It's so pretty.
I feel like a table runner out of this pattern would show the fabrics nicely. 

Or maybe a Friendship Braid type of table runner, like the ones in various Youtube videos.