REVIVAL OF AN UFO

There has been a box marked UFOs sitting on the top shelf of my sewing room closet that I know hasn't been opened for at least 20 years.  I found lots of interesting things in it that I don't even remember making.  Among them was this quilt top.  In digging into my memory bank, I think it must be from about 2003.  That was the time I was busy making quilts for a book I was writing about combining two blocks to form secondary patterns.  The publisher then notified me that I had too many pages of quilts/patterns, and that I would have to eliminate two of them.   Obviously I wasn't going to need this one; so I must have just folded it up and stored it away.

I've decided to revive this unfinished project by quilting and binding it; if for no other reason, because the fabrics are interesting and from the early 2000s.  The design is simple, and I love the two traditional blocks combined.

THE STATS:  Revival, 2003-2024, 29" x 29", Machine pieced, Machine quilted.

My quilt making style has not changed much over the years -- I would still make this revival quilt again.

STRINGING ALONG

 String quilts are always fun as you can use a variety of scraps without a lot of thought in choosing colors/patterns.  I've done many variations of a string quilt over the years, but decided I wanted to add some applique to this one.  The idea of applique on patchwork has always intrigued me.

THE STATS:  String Along, 2024, 31" x 31", Paper pieced, Machine pieced, Hand appliqued, Machine quilted.

I didn't intend for this quilt to have a Christmas look; but it is leaning that way, and I'll probably use it during that season of joy!

MIGRATING AGAIN

 Here is the table runner I mentioned in my Fall Migration quilt post yesterday.   Even though Fall is my favorite season in nature, I struggled working with the fabric colors of orange, copper, gold, etc.  So, I decided to do the same layout in colors and fabrics more in tune with my personal aesthetic. 

This was much easier for me to work with -- don't know why as I've made many, many multi-fabric and different color quilts over the years.  

THE STATS:  Migrating Again, 2024, 16" x 28", Paper pieced, Machine pieced, Machine quilted.

FALL MIGRATION

In this quilt, two simple blocks were combined, each block repeated 32 times, and  rearranged to produce a secondary quilt design. 

I like this new arrangement of the blocks.  It is different from quilts I have made using the two blocks previously, but I'm not happy with the choice of fabrics.  I try hard to embrace a bunch of bright colors together, but I can't seem to make them work cohesively.

To fully conquer this new layout, I'm beginning a table runner in this design with fabrics that better suit my aesthetic.  We'll see if it is the fabrics or the layout bothering me.  Check my next post on "Migrating Again".

THE STATS:  Fall Migration, 2024,  27" x 27", Paper pieced, Machine pieced, Machine quilted

Even the back is pretty bright, as I used scraps to piece it together!

The first quilt that I made using these two blocks was in 1988, and was pictured in an article I wrote for Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, issue #294 in 1995, about creating secondary patterns with two blocks.

Migration #1

 I made a second quilt in 1995 with the same two blocks, different color/fabric, with patches for signatures; and it was included with the pattern in my book, Keepsake Signature Quilts.

Migration #2

ORPHANS OF THE SEWING ROOM

 I'm in between quilting projects; plus my new washing machine was delivered this morning, and I have piles of laundry to do since my old machine died last week.   I was deciding what I was going to do in between loads, and guess it was time to tackle a big and messy project.

I have this plastic tub that I mindlessly throw in orphan blocks plus extra pieces I have cut and didn't use in projects.   Like in the Olympics; they tried hard, but just didn't make the podium.  Some of them didn't even make the trials, but still were worthy participants.

So, I'm conflicted -- do I save them or toss them all? Or, do I do half and half; save some, toss others?  When I'm long gone and had participated in the quilt world for many years, will someone find them as a treasure; or wonder what was that crazy old lady thinking?

DEMOCRACY MATTERS, PART TWO

I've always loved red, white, blue, and star quilts; and because of the importance of this election cycle, I'm drawn to them even more! 

THE STATS:  Democracy Matters, Part Two, 2024, 32" x 32", Paper pieced, Machine pieced, Machine quilted.

EYE OF THE STORM

This great fabric was a gift from my friend, Susan, that she purchased at a quilt store in Hawaii.  I have some wonderful, thoughtful friends!

 I knew I would use it in a pineapple block, as I always enjoy working with this traditional design.  Depending on the distribution and choice of fabrics/colors, a different look appears every time!

THE STATS:  Eye of the Storm, 2024, 32"x32", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted.

The eye of the storm is normally associated with a bad storm or a hurricane; but it also has another meaning.  If a person is at the eye of a storm, they are considered to be in the middle of a conflict or disagreement that affects others.  Politics????

Some of my other pineapple-block quilts:

SCALLOPED PINEAPPLE   2021

OUT AND ABOUT   2023

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE   2021   

PINEAPPLE SALAD   2018

SHIELD OF STRENGTH

Creativity!  I don't consider myself particularly creative; certainly not innovative, and not an artist (no training).  I'm just an experienced quiltmaker from years of making and observing the process.  Maybe I can blame some of my questionable quilts on creativity!!

 THE STATS:  Shield of Strength, 2024, 24" x 24", Paper Pieced, Machine Pieced, Machine Appliqued, Machine Quilted.

For some reason, I really lacked enthusiasm while making this quilt.  I have finished it, however, in hopes that it may speak to someone, someday!!  Not a good photo day either -- dappled sun with wind!  Hopefully, some better pictures will come soon.

LOG JAM

When you pull out a 100 or so scraps from the bins to make a quilt, and your cutting table looks like a cyclone hit it; it made sense to me to make a different design from those same fabrics.  With a couple of leftover blocks from 'Triple Joy' and my mess of scraps, that is how this two-block quilt evolved.

It's an easy way to work when you randomly choose fabric pattern/colors by only sorting into lights and darks.  With half-inch logs, it all seems to blend and/or accent when needed. 

STATS:  2024, Log Jam, 31" x 31", Paper pieced, Machine pieced, Machine quilted.

Number nerd report:  457 pieces.

Years ago, these two quilts would have been called sister quilts because they either would have been made from the same design, but different fabrics; or had been made from a different design, but the same fabrics, as is the case with 'Triple Joy' and 'Log Jam'.

In 1993, the editor at Quiltmaker magazine asked me to make a couple of sister quilts for publication.  They were to be made from the same design and color, but from different fabrics.  They were published in their issue #32.

Nocturne #1

Nocturne #2

Now I can clean up my messy cutting table!!!

TRIPLE JOY

 My new favorite 3-inch block + my all-time favorite quilt layout + bunches of my favorite fabrics = my comfort zone!!  

This has been such a fun, relaxing project .

THE STATS:  Triple Joy, 2024, 33" x 33", Paper pieced, Machine pieced, Machine quilted.

There is probably nothing totally new in the making of quilts; but we, as the makers, create each of our quilts distinct because of our choices of fabric/color, skill set, and our personal aesthetic and experience.

RUSTICITY and Seminole Piecing

 

I've been wanting to work with some of the methods of Seminole piecing that I learned about in the 1980s, as I haven't experimented with the methods since 2016.  I can't find the book I had in the eighties about the subject, so this is definitely an experiment and a design-as-you-go project. 

 Seminole patchwork is sewing strips of different fabrics together; then sub-cut, inverted, and/or rearranged to create geometric patterns that were then used as design elements in their clothing.  Their technique in patchwork first appeared around the turn of the 20th century -- they were certainly innovators for their time!! 

An example from my quilt:

THE STATS:  Rusticity, 2024,  30"x32", Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted.

The colors and patterns of fabric I have chosen crosses over between Rustic and Urban; thus, the name Rusticity.  Rusticity is an interesting word combining two opposite implied words -- rustic and city; rustic relating to countryside and rural, and city indicating inhabited place.  I'm in no way a student of words, but I surmise the juxtaposition of the two words was not intended by a lexicographer.  Never the less, that juxtaposition of the word intrigues me.