Kaleidoscope Krosswalk

Well, my Kaleidoscope Krosswalk Quilt (KKQ) previously referred as the Tinkering Quilt is a Finally Finish and it seemed like it took forever involving some mishaps from start to finish. I started this quilt around the middle of October after deciding rather than participating in a QAL involving HSTs, I would  challenge myself with My Quilt Infatuation’s Tinkering pattern which involves making a seven patch block instead of just two patches. Sometimes I feel a little guilty making quick and easy quilts so every once in awhile I will make a project to give myself a challenge and that is just what my KKQ did. I should be good for guilt-free quilting for awhile now.

I already pulled approximately 75+ fat quarters and yardage from my stash of original and current Cotton+Steel and Ruby Star Society fabrics which I forgot to take the usual group photo but  I do have one of some of the selvages which are so worth saving. They were such a glorious group of fabrics, most of which were accumulated from my participation in Fat Quarter Shop’s fabric clubs. I have been wanting to make a quilt with these fabrics for a long time and looking at the wonderful prints I decided they would be better showcased with the Tinkering pattern I just purchased rather than four-inch HSTs. I should mention that this year I seemed to be having an “infatuation” with My Quilt Infatuation patterns as this is the fourth quilt I made (two Unruly quilts and Flutter).

I set up a nice assembly line to die-cut almost 300 patches using both of my Accuquilt die-cutters for the two sizes of HSTs and strip cutting with my Stripology ruler (not shown). BTW, I am not affiliated with any of the products I mentioned in this post.

Once the patches were cut, they were grouped in threes, making sure there was a good variety and contrast with the prints in shades of black, blues, gray, reds, oranges, golds, yellows, pinks, teals, browns, etc. I love this palette even though there is almost an absence of green and definitely no Citronickle which was because I didn’t have the right amount or enough prints to include my favorite color. 

Here is an example of one of the groups which there were more than twenty-five and not all of the groups made the same number of blocks since some of the fabrics I had more than a fat quarter.

After I made less than half of the blocks I needed or wanted, I re-injured my left knee which I fractured three years ago, almost to the date. After three days of standing on the concrete floor in my basement studio to press and die cut fabrics and then time sewing and more standing to press and trim blocks, at first four blocks at a time, then twenty blocks at a time, did my left knee swelled to the same size as when it was fractured and I could barely stand nor walk. Unfortunately, Hubby was already in bed at 1am in the morning so I barely managed to climb up the two flight of stairs by myself. Sleeping was pretty miserable that night but by morning I was icing my knee while elevating my leg, taking OTC and wearing a knee brace which I remembered doing from my fracture knee days. And yes, the walking cane was brought out for old times sake. After a week and a couple of Pajamazon Days, my knee felt a whole lot better as long as I wore a knee sleeve and I was able to go back downstairs to the studio to resume working on the remaining 140+ blocks and this time I stood on a padded floor mat and only worked on no more than eight blocks at a time which was what my knee could handle.

And here are all 232 of  the blocks, at first way more than needed since I only had plan to make a 60”x72” lap quilt but decided to make an 84” square quilt since I had enough plus I thought the quilt needed to be square even though this was a size I’m not comfortable quilting but then again it added to the challenge. Another challenge was how the many blocks in this diverse color palette were going to be laid out evenly and preventing globs as much as possible. I decided to separate the blocks into four color groups depending on the center patch: 1) Black and Blues, 2) Reds, Oranges, Gold/Yellow and Brown, 3) Fuchsias, Pinks and Corals, and 4) Grays and Teals.

When the patches were assembled into larger blocks, they were always laid out with the blue group in the upper left corner, the fuchsia group in the upper right corner, the red group in the bottom left and the gray group in the bottom left. Once the blocks were sewn together, the horizontal seam was pressed up. Also, two types of blocks were made, a bolder block (left side) with the deeper colors which had the reds and oranges and quieter blocks (right side) which had no reds or oranges which were alternated in the layout.

This system really helped in the quilt layout and spreading out the brighter colors/prints. The flimsie was finished right before Thanksgiving and the plan was to quilt it right after our return from the GP house and I would have ten days to quilt it before we left again.

But I procrastinated which shouldn’t be a surprise. Besides the machine quilting, I wasn’t really looking forward to the task of basting and ironing the wide backing of a wonderful text print found in the vault. I waited a week or three days before leaving for the GP House during which time I worked on Holiday decorating and playing and reorganizing some fabric stash did I finally decided to start the final leg of this Challenge. Of course, it had to coincide with the day I received my Booster shot and  just added to the challenge of doing this with a very sore left arm.

I originally planned to quilt with just straight grid lines, horizontally and vertically along the seam lines and diagonally along the strips. After the horizontal and vertical lines were quilted, I decided to quilt wavey diagonal lines instead for more variety and to add some softness to the lines. But really, it was easier since if I had quilted straight diagonal lines, I would then had to mark all of the lines with either a Hera marker or chalk since I couldn’t use my walking foot as a guide for the 1/2” line needed. BTW, when I first started quilting, my stitches were skipping and I thought the problem would be resolved after I changed needles, rethreaded and installed the new walking foot but stitches were still skipping and I then realized this was caused by the stitch length dial not being clicked in place but was caught between two settings. Once it was clicked in place, the stitching was nice and even.

And wouldn’t you know it, another mishap — after quilting almost the final diagonal line, I discovered a block boo-boo — one of  smaller blocks were sewn the wrong way and there was no way I could take the quilt apart to correct it, so what I did was quilt it the way it would have if the block was laid right. It’s a good thing that this block is on the edge and not in the center where it would have been way, way too noticeable. I didn’t do a good of a job checking to make sure all of the blocks were sewn right after I thought I caught the one lone block with a boo-boo since apparently there were two. Thank goodness for the busyness of all the colors and prints.

And the mishaps continued with this Binding Blunder in which I had just enough of the black Netorious print. After telling myself I had to be careful when cutting, I realized after cutting four strips, the print was laying lengthwise and not selvage to selvage. Not wanting to use another fabric because the black Netorious print was perfect and no longer available to buy more and I really want to finally finish it before leaving for the GP house, I decided to finish cutting the strips the right way and alternate the strips by sewing them together with straight lines rather on the diagonal like I usually do. There were around twelve strips to sew together and if they weren’t sewn together with a straight line, I would not have had enough. Thankfully, this isn’t too noticeable and if you’re inclined to follow the binding along a quilt, this will definitely make your eyes crossed.

And finally, to add one more final challenge to the KKQ I decided to sew the binding down by hand which is something I have not done for awhile and only added to the “forever” in the finishing. One nice thing about this is the many TV shows you can watch while hand sewing for almost eight hours and thankful my hands were free from cramps.

After experiencing some days of wind and rain, today was the perfect day to take a photo of the Kaleidoscope Krosswalk Quilt hanging outside of the screen room and I must say it is one lovely finally finish. I was planning on having the Master and Apprentice Quilt Holders hold up the quilt but decided it would be best photographed with less noise coming from the Demando, the Apprentice Quilt Holder.

I thought I include some close-up photos of some of the blocks since I just love the fabric combos and one more of the backing. I came up with the Kaleidoscope Krosswalk name almost when the final stitch was sewn and I may have been influenced by the many colors and shapes created by the fabrics and by watching too many YouTube videos of James Corden Crosswalk Musical with BTS my fav group at the moment.  I will mention that the thought of naming it Stinkering came to mind with all of the mishaps I had but thought this quilt deserved a nicer name. Boo-Boo would have been cute though.

I didn’t think my KKQ would take as long as I did but the hours it took allow me to listen to several books and podcasts about subjects I normally wouldn’t have listen to like the making of the movies “All About Eve” and “The Bonfire of the Vanities”. Unfortunately, some of the things I listened to I may associate it knee pain which I don’t think I’ll do when looking at my quilt which I am looking forward to it hanging from the second floor bannister with the wrong block not showing, of course. Would I make another Tinkering Quilt? Oh yeah, plans are underway since I found the leftover patches from my Spunky Americana quilt which just happens to be the right size and hopefully will be less stressful on my knee. The plan is to just make it a 48” square quilt. I do have one more Finally Finish for 2021 which I will start working on right after this post, it’s my #6 of the Country Threads Dirty Dozen Challenge and thankfully it’s only a wall size quilt. I hope the mishaps have left the studio.

Lastly, I had to include a photo of the Master Quilt Holder who even though he had MOHs surgery on his ear this morning, still was able to hang the quilt outside for me. He would like for me to say that the bandage was due to my chewing off his ear while giving him instructions on how to hang the quilt but we know this couldn’t be true. But, if the bandage was on Demando’s ear, then that would be a different story.

Linking up with: My Quilt Infatuation/NTT

A Finally Finish and a Big Flimsy Finish for November

 

It’s been almost six weeks since my last Post which also means it’s been that long since I’ve finished a quilt. It’s not that I haven’t been quilting when we weren’t traveling to the Grandparent House but was rather involved with a new quilt project which is the Big Flimsy Finish and will be seen later in the post. While working on this quilt, I somehow re-injured my left knee which I fractured three years ago and resulted being laid up for around a week and interrupted my sewjo. Once I was able to move around a bit, I needed to work on my #11 of  Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge which is a quilt inspired by GE Design’s Locus Pattern.  Over five years ago, I had cut over fifty 8” squares from my Kansas Trouble stash for a pattern I decided I didn’t want to make so I’ve been looking for another pattern to make with these squares.

Last year while looking through Gudrun Erla’s Stripology Squared Quilt Book for 10” squares, I saw her Locus pattern and thought if I changed up the size of the cuts, I would be able to use the 8” squares. To make a lapsize quilt, I needed to cut an additional 50 squares and while I was at it and had the stash, I decided to cut an additional 100 squares. I started this quilt last year and wanted to finish it sooner than later so I added this quilt to my UFO Challenge and was happy that this was pulled for November since I thought this was a perfect Fall quilt. I’ve named this quilt Hocus as in Pocus since it’s almost a Locus quilt and there was something magical about making this rail-style quilt which starts out as squares. 

This block pattern reminds me of the Ernie Express Quilt except it’s made in a way I would never have imagined and that is what is neat about Gudrun Erla’s designs. It’s a great pattern for both traditional and modern fabrics and already have one planned for the Thimbleberries stash but will use strips instead of squares and will also use the same measurements as the Hocus quilt. It’s a flexible pattern if you want larger or smaller strips.

Even though I only had a few blocks made, this was a quick make since the squares were already sewn and just need to be cut.

Quilting was a combination of straight wavey lines with a Cornsilk thread from Connecting Threads which went well with both the top and the backing. The binding was the bright blue Splatter print from one of the Kansas Trouble fabric lines. My Hocus Quilt measures 58” x 78”. I love that I finally have another quilt made with the Kansas Trouble fabrics and thinking since I have a lot of it remaining in my stash and the extra squares I already cut that I would make a king size version of this quilt.

After the Hocus Quilt was a Finally Finish this past weekend, I was able to resume working on my Tinkering Quilt which is the latest My Quilt Infatuation pattern (not an affiliate link) and my Big Flimsy Finish. This quilt measures 84” square and is made with just Cotton+Steel and Ruby Star Society fabrics. Once this is a Finally Finish which I hope it will be once we return from spending Thanksgiving at the Grandparent House I will write more about this quilt and what could have caused my knee mishap.  Any ideas?

I hope you are blessed with a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation/NTT, OhScrap, Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

The Gypsy King Quilt

The Gypsy King is my #4 of the Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge for October and is a Finally Finish. Big sign of relief here because I seriously thought this would be the first time since participating in this yearly challenge that I would not finish on time.  Even before I started this quilt, I was in QAL Escape Artist mode by asking myself do I really need to make this quilt and do I still like these fabrics and I had to say Yes. This was reluctantly decided after much procrastination by viewing too many BTS and Fiona the Hippo photo/videos. I thought when I decided to participate in another year of the UFO Challenge, I would step it up by committing to finishing projects which were in the block stage rather than just needing to be quilted like I mostly did last year. This wasn’t a bad idea except the UFO was a king size quilt with more than half of the blocks still needed to be made. It’s challenge enough to make a king size quilt let alone making it a double challenge by finishing it during a certain time frame. I wanted to QAYG, even though it was only going to be my third time using this technique, because it’s the only way I could quilt a king size quilt. Normally this would be something I would send to my long arm quilter but because of the pattern and scrappiness, I thought the quilting would be somewhat lost plus I rather save my money for a quilt more deserving of fine longarm machine quilting.

I mentioned in my Flying Geese Frenzy Quilt post which was my July finish for the UFO Challenge that the fabrics used in that quilt would be seen again for this project. The blocks are a modified version of the Unruly Pattern by My Quilt Infatuation (not an affiliate link) and were made while at the Grandparent House. The fabrics used were mostly Basic Grey’s PB&J line and Felicity Miller’s Charleston line, both of which came out around 2012/2013. I’ve used these fabrics in other quilts and mainly one which I will show later in this post. I needed thirty blocks to made a 90” x 108” quilt which I thought at first would make a King, but then I was briefly disappointed when I thought I made a mistake in  the measurement  and that this would only made a Queen. It was only after I was halfway through the quilting that I realized that I was confusing the measurement with that of a Queen size batting and yes I was making a King size quilt which is really what I wanted. I needed to sew 17 more blocks and thankfully the patches were already cut and ready to be sewn into bocks.

Here are the thirty blocks arranged on my design board. Initially the plan was to QAYG each block but then I realized that I could instead QAYG vertical rows of 5 blocks each which would be a lot simpler. The blocks were laid out with the seams of the blocks in each row either pressed going up or down so once the rows were sewn together, the seams would nest.  Otherwise not too much attention was paid where each block went and if it was too close to the same fabric which usually matters to me but since there is so much scrappening going on I didn’t care.

I thought I show a before and after shot of the batting pulled from the scrap stash and it doesn’t look like it made a big dent but nevertheless I was happy I was able to culled some large enough pieces to use for this quilt. I need six pieces measuring at least 22” x 96” and had four but was able to piece the other two using a pieced batting method found on A Quilter’s Table Tutorial. It really was very simple and know I plan on piecing more batting for future projects. I originally pulled the batting thinking I was going to QAYG blocks rather than rows so this also saved batting. I think the scrap pile on the right would have been a lot bigger. Before this gets tossed out, I first will cut up the useable pieces to make squares to use for dusting which comes in very handy around the house.

I sewed and QAYG one row/panel at a time. Once the row was sewn together, then all of the loose threads were removed and then pressed before placing it on the batting. Because the rows were only around 25” wide, I pin basted using the long arm straight pins. When you do this, you definitely need to be  sure your arms and legs are covered, armor around the torso would have been nice.  Each row/panel was straight-line quilted 1” apart with #2610 Blue Gray Aurifil thread. Since these were going to be sewn together, the quilting started and ended l” away from each side since this would also be the area where additional anchoring quilting would be done once the backing is added.

Once the batting was trimmed, two rows/panels were sewn together, one pair at a time and the 1/4” seams were pressed opened.

Here is a photo of four rows/panels sewn together. I had to say despite having to sew the rows together with the batting, the seams nested together very nicely. And even when they didn’t, it isn’t very noticeable.

After machine quilting four rows/panels rather cautiously and suffering some pricks, I remembered that I had made some pin point protectors and boy did that make a difference in how fast the last two rows/panels were quilted. I was rather annoyed about forgetting that I had these, so to avoid this happening again the future, I packed the long arm straight pins with the pin protectors. I just hope I remember that I did this when I’m looking for the pins.

Once the six rows/panels were sewn together which I might say it was a little cumbersome, I discovered a new absolute “hate”; pressing a 108” x 124” wide backing. For me, this is one of  the good reasons why king size quilts should be sent to a longarmer. I have to mention that the dusty blue Moda Marble wide backing has been sitting in the backing vault for awhile and that it was the right color. You don’t want to use a light backing when you QAYG, because the seams of the top and batting will show through the backing.

Also, a little cumbersome and time consuming was placing the top/batting on top of the backing. I still pin basted 4” apart.

Once the quilt was layered, I originally only planned to anchor quilt around the seam lines of the rows, but then decided to also quilt it approximately a 1/2” away from the sixth line of quilting just for added anchoring.

I thought the final machine quilting went well until I saw this which happened at one of the corners as a result of bad basting but was an easy fix. I am hopeful the QAYG technique will be stable enough for the Gypsy King quilt which will be used for our bed and will be subject to numerous washings. If not,  then I know five or six people/dogs who might want a yoga mat.

I was going to machine bind the quilt with a yellow print in the quilt which I had yardage of but I remembered I had this Basic Grey text print on grunge which I think is from their Merkai line. I thought it would be perfect although I can’t read some of the verbiage; I just love using text prints for binding especially when you can read all of it.

I mentioned earlier in this post where the fabric for the Gypsy King quilt came from and would show the quilt where it was used mainly for; my often mentioned but seldom shown, but still gives me the willies, Gypsy Wife Quilt which I put to great use my QAL Escape Artist skill by finishing it sampler style and not with the strips. If you’ve made a Gypsy Wife Quilt and have since recovered, you know what I am talking about.  A funny tidbit here, the yellow binding I was going to use for Gypsy King, I used it for Gypsy Wife which I didn’t realize until I pulled it out from her sitting spot.

And now you know why I named this quilt Gypsy King as a reference to the Gypsy Wife quilt and as to the size of it. Truth be told, I didn’t come up with this name until I put together these four quilts for this pic to show my new bedroom ensemble which almost was eight years in the making. I now have a quilt to hang on the wall which can only be Gypsy Wife, Gypsy King for the bed, Flying Geese Frenzy for the rocker and Fat Eighth Frenzy for the bench. I would love to put this in my bedroom now but sadly the Winter quilts were just hung or laid on the bed this week. I will have to wait until either next Spring or Fall for my new ensemble can make an appearance. Meanwhile the Gypsy Wife Quilt will be hanging around my studio to remove any bad woo-woo between us so I will be comfortable sleeping with it hanging above my head.

I thought I include some more pics of Gypsy King just to show how well I think it turned out and the size of it although it looks rather small hanging from outside the screen room. Also to show how wonderful the Master Quilt Holder/Hanger is for climbing up the ladder after recovering from whatever he had, wasn’t Covid, Strep Throat or telling me too often how much he loves helping me, etc. Because he was laying low this week and didn’t go to the Grandparent House, I was able to finish Gypsy King. Finally, I now know my limitations and don’t plan on ever quilting a King quilt ever again…but I do have plans for making another one.

Linking up with: My Quilt Infatuation/NTT

My Five Year Blog Anniversary

It was five years ago today that I closed my eyes and pressed the key to publish my first post which started with a whimper.  I thought I would observe this milestone by keeping it simple, no photos, but with some interesting stats. I’ve come along way now having posted 193 times mostly about my almost 200 Finally Finishes and, yes, my Blog was a good way to do some Show and Telling and keeping me accountable. What I didn’t mention or realize back then was this would be a good way to meet and connect with so many quilters all over the World. I appreciate all of the readers whom some have become dear Blog Buddies or Bee Sistas, for the inspiration and support provided and, of course, the laughs; may this always continue. I wanted my Blog to be about Quilting and Patchwork but somehow with the birth of my first and only Grandchild, family talk crept in plus sometimes I have to brag and thank the Master Quilt Holder who help hold up many of the quilts in all kinds of weather and surroundings. While the technical aspects of blogging is still a big annoyance, like Bloglovin’ no longer picking up my Blog and sometimes a mystery (creepy comments and questionable views)  which makes me want to stop, but then, there isn’t any other way to  share and keep a record of my activity, is there? I am thankful that I was able to use my Blog as a way to see how much I have grown as a quilter and also to use as a way for me to maintain a certain level of creativity and productivity. 

I thought I would share some interesting stats and/or observations I noticed while rereading some of my posts from years past;

• My top five posts are listed on the sidebar on my blog and I find it amusing that in this group is my 2017 post about being a Bee-ginner Blogger and participating in the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop where I met some of my dearest Blog Buddies.
• Around one-fourth of the quilts/patchwork I finally made were either gifts or donations and half of this total was for my most favorite recipient, my beloved granddaughter followed by donations to the blanket ministry at my Church and gifts for new babies.
• Before I started blogging, I did not have much confidence or experience as a machine quilter and I have since improved. Out of all the 191 quilts/patchwork which are Finally Finished, only fifteen were quilted by check. Also, I only have around ten quilts made during the last five years which are still waiting to be quilted, pretty good in my books, considering there are around twenty-five quilts made before Blogging which as we say are UFOs. I will say that straight-line quilting is a great way to quilt your worries away.
• I participated in 40 QALs, some being with only one other person but mostly with the rest of the country or the whole wide world. This is a wonderful way to be inspired and stay motivated and  also to be introduced to patterns you would never dream of making like anything Jen Kingwell or her family of which I have developed a “fond fright”.
• I imposed upon myself a new fabric purchase fast twice and yes I need to do it again. I should mention I see a correlation with purchasing new fabric and weight gain.

Just for the record and I wasn’t going to mention, but it’s good to have this info since I know I can refer to it later, is that less than a handful of the Finally Finished were bedside quilts, 92 were lapsize, (my favorite size), 50 were baby quilts and 40 were wall size or decorative. I don’t think I could have compiled these Stats if I haven’t set up Page sections where I listed all of my activities for each year.

Before I end my “simple “ post, I have to thank again, Susan of Patchwork and Play for being my first friend I made in Blogland (she lured me with of all things a Jen Kingwell quilt) for her encouragement and guidance in starting my Blog, always being an inspiration, assuming the position as the best torMENTOR and fabric coach down under and my most favorite person to throw under the bus. It would be the most wonderful surprise if she ever came knocking on my front door but hopefully she won’t bring Jen Kingwell (just joking) with her.

I hope Quilting will always stay being an adventure for me and worth sharing. Cheers and Happy Quilting!