Sunday, August 26, 2018

August DrEAMis

DrEAMi
When Squirrels Scream
Make Me Now!

With August almost another month gone for the year and my To Do List magically transformed to a TaDa List, I finished two tops which I am saying are DrEAMis since they definitely weren't planned this month.  The Squirrels are alive and running around the studio, some happily hibernating in the project bins and some just lurking and prodding around me while I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Two Squirrels screamed at me during the past two weeks, my Slinky Quilt and my DS Strip Quilt, both flimsies and finished in time for this month's link-up hosted by Sandra, mmm Quilts.
First up is the Slinky quilt, originally referred to as the Firehouse Quilt since my oldest son, the Apprentice Quilt Holder, asked me earlier this summer if I would make him a new quilt for the Fire House and besides the usual requests of no pink or purples and appropriate prints, he wanted it warm and long.  I finished this top last night and let me say for such a simple quilt, I never used my seam ripper so much. This quilt measures 64"x92" and uses the one charm pack and yardage of Amy Ellis' Chic Neutral fabrics which were leftovers from another quilt made last year and my stash of gray Aged Muslin.  I had originally set side this these fabrics for another QAL and thought it would be perfect for the Slinky Quilt.  I didn't come up with the name for this quilt until after the rows were assembled and I thought the quilt looked like a caterpillar. I'll spare the details on the making this quilt for another post after the quilt is a finally finished which should be soon since Fall is in the air.
And finally, my last DrEAMi top which is truly a Squirrel and I named it Gee Whiz since this was totally an unexpected make and it also reminds me of a Gee Bend quilt.  This is quilt is made up of a charm pack of Denyse Schmidt's New Bedford fabrics and yardage of her Chicopee fabrics with some added black from my stash.  These fabrics have been on my mind for awhile and back in May when I came across them I decided I would finally cut them up into 2.5" strips and make another Ernie quilt. I changed my mind and made two types of strips blocks and couldn't decide on a layout even after ripping apart several times these blocks and decided to put them away. While finishing my quilt for this weeks's Fabulous Freebies Blog Hop, which involved only sewing down two sides of the binding, I happened to walk past my cart which holds my projects and saw the Gee Whiz blocks and immediately saw how these blocks should be laid out. Wouldn't you know it, I stopped what I was doing and put the blocks on my design board and sewed up this  top.  This top measures 48"x72" and again will provide more details on another post once this top is a finally finish.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to throw this top, meaning I'll going to back it with gray Minkee which I already have.  I was going to do this but then Slinky came along. 

I hope but am pretty sure I was not the only one for whom the Squirrels screamed at this month.  I'm looking forward to a Screaming Squirrel September.

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Fabulous Freebies Blog Hop: The Staggered Strips and Squares Tutorial

Are We Hoppy? Today is Day 4 of the Fabulous Freebies Blog Hop hosted by Calico Joan of MooseStash Quilting where bloggers are sharing their favorite freebie project found online--either their own or another bloggers. This is really a fun and great blog hop and I am loving the projects posted so far. Here is the list of the participants:
Monday August 20

Tuesday August 21

Wednesday August 22

something rosemade   You Are Here

Friday August 24
I am happy to be sharing my Staggered Strips and Squares Tutorial which I originally posted back in January.  I love making quilts with lots and lots of fabrics and joining the Fabulous Freebies Blog Hop was a wonderful reason for making another Staggered Strips and Squares quilt. The name of my quilt may be a bit of a misnomer because there are rectangles in this quilt but I originally had planned to use just squares but realized the focal print needed to be more than a 4.5" square.  My latest quilt, Smiling Sloths, which is made entirely of Cotton + Steel prints, old and new and you can see the Sloth print needed to be showcased.
The tutorial was based on a baby quilt I made, The Hinto Minto Baby Quilt and both of these posts will give you an idea as to how I came up with this idea for this quilt and the tutorial.  Since I've made this baby quilt, I have made two lap-size version and in the process of making another one.  What I love about this pattern is that the 2.5" strips were cut from my stash using my die cutter and it's a wonderful way to use up some of the wonderful focal prints I have; also this quilt sews up quickly. 
Over thirty Cotton + Steel prints were used for the The Smiling Sloths quilt; some of the prints are from the first C+S collection by the original five designers who are sadly no longer a part of Cotton + Steel so making this quilt was a little bittersweet.  If you've read any of my previous posts, you will know that I am a big fan of Cotton + Steel fabrics and sometimes have to challenge myself to use the other fabrics in my stash.  
I originally intended to make a baby quilt but because I love the Smiling Sloths with the neon Iguanas so much, I decided to make it a lap size, 56"x72" (approx.).  The Staggered Strips and Squares pattern is very flexible and can be adjusted to any size depending on the amount of fabric you have.  The quilt is based on the pattern I drew up once again on graph paper and my patches and strip blocks are based on increments of 4".  Here are some details of the number of cuts which are in parentheses and the sizes:
  • around 100 strips, 2.5" x 20" were used and then half of these strips were subcut approximately 10" (you may not need all of these and I like to have extra)  Once the strips were sewn together in one long strip and then sewn together, as detailed in the tutorial, the strip sets were then cut as follow: (25) 8-1/2", (12) 12-1/2" and (17)16-1/2".  You can always cut more if needed.
  • the Sloth patches were cut (13) 4.5" x 12.5" 
  • the Accent patches (the navy, gold and coral plaid) were cut (14) 4.5" square
Here's a photo of the patches and blocks laid out on my big design board. As mentioned in my tutorial, the pattern drawn on graph paper is just a guideline and you can always change it around, just make sure the patches and strip sets measure the width of the quilt you decide.  Adjusting the rows is easier when it is made wider than if it's made an inch or two narrower. Also, as you can see by the red arrows, it's okay to have strips sets with the same fabrics next or above each other to create "globs" like I call them to add to the improv look of this pattern.

Here are some close-ups of the horizontal, wavy and straight quilting I did using Coral thread, nice and easy.
The backing is the Alexa Abegg, C+S Hatbox print which I fortunately had yardage along with the gold print for the binding which is a newer print.  I really wanted to use the Navy Add-It-Up print which sadly did not have enough of and couldn't buy more since I am observing an August fabric fast.
The Smiling Sloth Quilt is now the third Staggered Strips and Squares I've made; you can see my second one, Big Cat Crossing here.  I have the fourth one ready to sew now, the patches and strip sets have all been cut. I'm looking forward to making this one because I love the combination of the teal and peach prints which is one of my favorite color combinations this year thanks to Susan of PatchworknPlay who used it for her beautiful Delilah quilt.
If you like making Jelly Roll Race Quilts or making quilts with 2.5" strips, I think you would like making the Staggered Strips and Squares quilt.  It is a great stash buster.  Just like challenging myself to use other fabrics besides my Cotton+Steel stash, I'm doing another challenge to make other quilt patterns besides the Staggered Strips and Squares, of course, after I finish my fourth one.  You can't always make easy quilts, can we now.  

If you haven't already, please visit the other Bloggers' posts; they're fun, inspiring and filled with great resources.  Good Blog Host, Calico Joan has created a Pinterest Board where you can find all of the Fabulous Freebies posts there.  It's nice to be able to have one spot to find all of the Fabulous Freebies posts. 

Thank You Joan for hosting the Fabulous Freebies Blog Hop!


Thursday, August 16, 2018

The August Gotta Do List is Almost Done

I've been laying low in Blogland for the past few weeks with the continuation of cleaning up and reorganizing my studio.  I can now say that this phase is over because I have finally handled the elephant in the studio--the batting scraps which have been accumulating in several areas in my once tidy and organized studio of years past. They are now contained and organized and it involved a purchase of a brand new 45 gallon waste container with a lid and wheels and a huge sign taped on the outside stating this was not garbage to prevent my hubby from committing a crime in my book.  It is safely ensconced in the utility room and good vibes are back in the studio just in time to finish most of the "gotta dos" for August:

Cubbie Baby Quilt #2
This is purely coincidental, but I had to make another baby quilt for my Fitness Center friend, Andrew, who recently had a baby boy.  I already made a Cubbie Quilt for one of my best peep's son who is expecting his first baby and his name is also Andrew.   For the #2 quilt, I changed the pattern from having checkerboard sashing to a four patch layout.  I'm still not sure if I like this pattern as much as the original one because this one involved having to pin my blocks since all of the seams needed to be pressed open and for me it's hard to sew accurately without nesting seams.  Unlike Andrew #1, Andrew #2 is not a Chicago Cubs fan but instead a Chicago White Sox fan; fortunately for the baby, his mother is a Chicago Cubs fan so I was more than happy to welcome another new Chicago Cubs fan with a quilt.

Classic Meets Modern QAL hosted by My Quilt Infatuation
My August Blocks, Dutch Pinwheel and Chevron Diamonds, both 10" are done and have been added to the layout.  It's nice to be able to see how nicely this quilt is coming.  I've only been using Zen Chic's Figures fabric line by Moda and my stash is slowly dwindling.  Thank goodness the filler blocks and  sashings of flying geese and square in the squares are scrappy because I may just have scraps left after the remaining  four blocks are made.

Fireburst Mystery hosted by Tish Adventure in Wonderland
The four 10 inch August blocks are done and there is nothing more maddening than to sew is a mystery quilt  for the inpatient quilter, moi.  This is the first month we actually sewed blocks and with the other units already sewn, I still have no idea what the final quilt will look.  It's a good thing I have other projects to distract me until next month's blocks.

Flags for Sue Block Drive hosted by Alycia Quilts
I've made eight flag blocks and now ready to mail them off to Alycia who is collecting them in memory and in honor of Sue, a fellow quilter and volunteer who recently passed away.  You can read about this block drive by clicking on the link above.  Blocks are due by September 1st so there is still time to make some if you would like to contribute to this very worthy cause. These blocks are easy and sew up quickly and it's now one of my favorite flag blocks.  Thank you Alycia for hosting this wonderful block drive.

Last but not least, next week is the Fabulous Freebie Blog Hop, August 20-24 hosted by Calico Joan of MooseStash Quilting.  Bloggers will be posting their favorite free patterns either their own or one from another blogger. Here is the schedule of the featured bloggers and I am sure there is going to be a lot of quilt inspirations:
Monday August 20

Tuesday August 21

Wednesday August 22

Thursday August 23

Friday August 24
I will be participating on Thursday, August 23rd with my latest Scattered Squares and Strip quilt which I have just started quilting this week.  Binding has been chosen from my Cotton+Steel stash even though I was tempted to buy another print but I had to stick to my August fabric fast. Part of the reason for my studio reorganization was the fabric binge buying I did in June and July and so far during the first half of August, I have not bought any new fabric.  Hopefully, I can stick to my resolve and have plenty of projects which already have the needed fabric, I think.  See you next week with my Fabulous Freebie post.

Linking up with: My Quilt Infatuation, Needle and Thread Thursday and Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop Friday