Links to Enjoy #30

I haven't been getting around the internet much so I have only a few links to share today.   I hope you find one or two to enjoy.

 A late addition:  See beautiful photographs of beautiful antique quilts for sale at Flying Geese.  Thanks for the reminder, Lizzy.

There are some interesting tie-dye fabrics from 425-1100 A.D. here.  So much detail for tie dye.
These slices take the cake!  (Pun intended.)  Though inedible, I think they impressive.

I'm not an avid traveler (I love sleeping in my own bed) nor a world traveler but I found Kevin Kelly's 50 Years of Travel Tips interesting, insightful, helpful, thrifty, fun, or just plain wise.  Maybe I would enjoy travel more if I used some of his tips?  Kelly uses a tiny font on this blog which is hard on my old eyes.  I follow his blog on Feedly and have no problem reading it.

Lizzy sent me a link to Gary Bunt's paintings and poems (where there are links to more of his paintings).  I found their somewhat primitive style enchanting and delightful.  Maybe you will, too.   Look at the paintings at the link and, if you enjoy them, watch the short video below. 



I hope all is well with you in your world!

--Nancy.

Taking a Look at Little Nine-Patches

Thank you to all you dear readers who left comments on my last post about the little plaid baskets and sashing possibilities for them.  Using light sashing, as suggested by several quilters, would never have come into my mind, but the idea is growing on me.  One of the reasons I love blogging is the collective knowledge and ideas that you/we share.  I ask questions here that are often sharing my thoughts in words--thinking out loud, so to speak--and I'm grateful to readers who answer the questions with ideas of their own.  I especially liked part of Janet's comment in which she wrote,

when I "think out loud" on my blog about things I'm not yet sure I've settled, I sometimes get input from someone that I had never considered.  And sometimes I like it better than what I had in mind.

I find that to be true, too.  So thank you, dear readers, for sharing, always!

I guess "Taking a Look at" may become a short series about in-progress quilts that are almost ready to become tops as I try to make decisions about layout, setting, colors, etc.  This week I'm looking at the little 3" 9-patch blocks I have been making over the past year or so.  My intent with these was to use autumn-ish colors, and I have, but I'm not sure how autumn-like they seem.  I have 114 finished with a few more in progress and pieces already cut to make more.  I'm guessing they may become a child-size quilt. 

In the photo above I'm considering fabric for the alternate blocks as well as whether to place them straight set or on point.  Below are individual photos, going from lightest background to darkest.

What I notice most is that the straight set blocks draw my eye diagonally across the quilt, and the on-point blocks draw my eyes horizontally and vertically.  The other thing I notice is that the colors stand out more on the light and medium backgrounds and the lights stand out more on the darker background.  I'm leaning toward straight set in which the diagonals to stand out but I'm undecided about color of the alternate blocks.  The squares will finish at 1", so they won't be very big.  More of the background will show than any of the little squares.

The other thing I notice about these blocks is how very scrappy they are.  Some of the blocks have a different color/fabric for every square!  Too scrappy?

If you have thoughts about these blocks, layouts, colors, or anything else, I would be pleased to read them.

That's it from me today.  Oh, just one more thing.  Have you seen Gladi Porsche's Maple Leaf Rag?  She really knows how to do autumn colors!  It's gorgeous and positively glows!

I'm linking to
  > To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt
  > Finished (or not ) Friday at Alycia's Quilts
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.

Taking a Look at Little Plaid Baskets with Zinnias

I laid out these basket blocks to see how they look, just to refresh my memory.  Where was I going with these?  What did I have in mind?  I know they'll need to be rearranged....

My notes are pretty sketchy.  I remember I was originally going to have them around the sides and bottom of the quilt with some other blocks in the center, then decided on just baskets.  Did I have a different configuration in mind than this, because there's one more basket that didn't fit this layout?  Was I going to stagger them?  I can't think how or why I would have thought that might work.  (Reminder to self:  keep better notes!)

The baskets will finish at 10" x 12".  As they are now, the layout would measure 40" x 60" but with sashing and a border the measurements will increase.

I wonder if these baskets will drive someone nuts. There are at least three or four different basket shapes and the plaids are cut in several different directions:  on the diagonal and on the straight grain with some plaids horizontal and some vertical.

My thought at this point is that these baskets need some space between them.  Shall I sew two 1" borders around each using different fabrics, or the same fabrics/color, or....?   I remember my Cheri Payne Baskets of Plenty (here and here) around which I sewed the same fabric.  The result was a very static quilt which I thought looked awful.  (I still have those borders to unstitch.)  Anyway, I was thinking perhaps dark greens, different shades of browns, greys, maybe reds, maybe even blacks around these baskets.  Maybe.

This is the basket I'm currently stitching.  The colors in the photo are a little brighter than in the actual block.

When it's finished, there will be one more basket to applique and flowers to choose and stitch for two baskets.  This is has been a slow quilt to stitch.  I began collecting photos of zinnias in September, 2021, so it's been 3½ years!  I guess I've had some quilts in progress longer than that, though. 

There's no great hurry to decide because I have more applique to do for these, but I think it's good to start thinking in advance.

I'm linking this post to
  > Finished (or not) Friday at Alycia Quilts
  > Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuations
  > Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts
  > Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

On a health note.
I've had one, long, ongoing headache since the middle of November when I first had vertigo.  The vertigo is still gone, but the headache persists, with varying intensity.  I went to a neurologist on Friday who diagnosed the headache as New Daily Persistent Headache.  What a name!  He thought that when they put tubes down my throat for surgery in October they may have hit a nerve or two.  He offered two options for treatment, either of which he said should break the cycle:  an oral, 2-week round of the steroid prednisone or an injection on either side of the base of my skull.  Ouch!  I chose the oral route, but there hasn't been much change yet.  He said it may take a week or so.  I hope it works because I'm mightily tired of having a constant headache.

I hope you're healthy and happy and doing well!

--Nancy.

Nearly Three More Rows on Everyday Patchwork

My One Monthly Goal for February was to hand quilt two rows of Baptist Fans on Everyday Patchwork.  I'm pleased to have finished nearly three rows.  I think I have three fans left to get to the end of the third row.  Maybe I can quilt them tonight and tomorrow before the end of the month.

In the photo above, you can see that I have a little more than two more rows of blocks plus the top border before the quilting will be done.  So I'm already setting my One Monthly Goal for March:  to hand quilt three rows of Baptist Fans.

I'm marking the fans with Prismacolor colored pencils, using a yellow/cream color on the darks,

and a dark green on the lights. (In the photo above you can see that my new phone's camera creates garish colors!)

I've used these colored pencils to mark quilts before and the colors have washed out. The green seems to be lightening as I quilt but I'm feeling a little concerned that it won't wash out completely.  I'll have to use cold water for the first wash.

In case you missed it in the paragraphs above, my One Monthly Goal for March is to hand quilt three more rows on Everyday Patchwork.

I'm linking this post to
> February One Monthly Goal Finish Link Up for my finish and March One Monthly Goal for March's goal.  Both at Stories from the Sewing Room. 
> Finished (or not) Friday at Alycia Quilts
Thank you for hosting, Anne-Marie and Alycia.

--Nancy.

Scrappy Stars is a Finished Top

Hooray for a finish! If you came here three days ago you saw these same blocks laid out as a quilt but they were not yet sewn together.  Now they are.  It measures 35" x 43½".

Choosing the fabric for the alternate blocks was a quick decision.  Cutting and sewing those blocks went quickly, too--started and finished in three days.  (Don't bother to enlarge the photo because it will not have the clarity you hope for.)

This may not be the scrappiest quilt with the most different fabrics or small pieces I've made, but it is the scrappiest quilt with the most different pieces in a single block.  I counted 15 different fabrics in one block and others have more.  Just to be clear, I made this quilt but I followed the lead of an antique quilt when I chose and placed fabrics.  I participated in Repro QuiltLover Taryn's Scrappy StitchAlong a year or so ago.  I raided my fabrics to find ones as close to the fabrics in her original antique quilt as I could.  And boy, are these 6" blocks scrappy!

If I had been the original creator of this quilt I think I might have placed triangles a little differently.  So many of the stars seem out of balance.

These two are my favorite blocks. I think that's because of the clarity and simplicity.

I'm thinking this quilt should be a donation quilt.  Do you think any mom would want this for her baby?

I'd like to find someone who could layer and quilt it (by machine would be fine), then donate it.  Any readers who would be interested?  One of the reasons I'm not finishing it myself is that the fabric in the alternate squares is a little denser than regular cotton and makes hand quilting too hard for my hands.  The other reason for finding someone to take it is that I already have too many quilts that need quilted, and I'm a slow hand quilter.  So, if you might be interested please let me know in the comments.

I'm linking this post to Finished (or not!) Friday at Alycia Quilts.  Thank you for hosting, Alycia.

And remember those photos I thought I lost last weekend?  I found them, thanks to Katie.  This photo doesn't show the detail of snow on branches but still, isn't it a beautiful winter wonderland?

We are having frigid temperatures here in central Ohio, but spring will nudge out winter one of these days!  Next week looks like it will be in the 40s and 50s.  It will seem spring-like!

--Nancy.

Those Oh-So-Scrappy Stars

I've been feeling unsettled today and I'm not sure why.  Does that ever happen to you?  Something's not quite right but you're not sure what?  Today, for me, it could have something to do with the fact that my daughter, who's been so present in my life over the last several years, moved to South Dakota this weekend and I don't know when I'll see her again.  She has been such a support through last year's surgeries and vertigo, not to mention how much I enjoy her energy and bright spirit.

So it's been hard to focus for longer than a few minutes on anything today.  I have scrappy stars and little nine-patch blocks to sew, but they didn't capture my interest; and I have slow stitching and hand quilting to do, but neither of those hit the spot.  Then I remembered the oh-so-scrappy stars I made with Repro Quilt Lover Taryn's stitch-along last year.  Yes, the perfect thing.

Unlike me, who usually takes hours, days, weeks to make decisions, I pulled out some fabric, laid out the blocks on a piece of it, and began cutting alternate squares.

The original quilt has fabric that leans a little toward gold/light orange, but I thought this was good enough.

This is old fabric that I sewed into a dress which, when it didn't fit, I cut apart so I could use the fabric.  This is what it looks like with the blocks.  I think it's satisfactory.  (Though a light blue might have worked, too....)

The blocks have to be sewn together yet.  Maybe a finished top by the end of the week?!!

When I made these blocks I tried to recreate them using colors/fabrics as close to the originals as I could, and the layout is like the original little quilt, too.  But as I look at it, I'm tempted to rearrange the blocks.  Part of me says to leave them because the arrangement is like the original.  The other part of me says to rearrange them to create a little more balance. 

And what mom would want this quilt for her child unless she loves scrappy?!  It's just the craziest quilt!

I found the lost photos from a few days ago on Google photos where, I guess, my phone moves photos, or at least copies them.  Now I have to figure out how to move them from Google photos to my computer.  There's always something new to learn with technology!

Wherever you are, I hope you are safe, warm (or cool), and comfortable.

--Nancy.

Still Slowly Stitching

These are the next two pages of my 100 Day Stitchbook hosted by Ann Wood Homemade. The strip across the center of the one above is a piece of bark cloth.  I had an uneven yard of it and after squaring it up for a tablecloth, I had a long, narrow strip.  The other fabrics are ones I love but had only small pieces.

The pointed strip on the right is from a Cheri Payne sew-along which I decided not to use it as I originally thought.  The flower in the center is from an apron my daughter used until it was mostly worn out. 

I remember taking a drawing class in college in which the professor told us over and over, "Fill the page!"  I guess that stuck with me even when it comes to cloth pages, especially the first two that I posted last week.  These two sort of have borders.

I'm finding making these pages fun but I think they're more staid than creative.  I'm using leftovers from applique projects and other small scraps.  Prints are a little harder for this use, I think.  Maybe I need to dig out some other fabrics--maybe solids?--to integrate into some of the upcoming pages.

Our local library has a small bookshop where the friends of the library organization sell donated books.  They have also started making magazines available for free.  This J. & P. Coats 100 Embroidery Stitches was included in the magazine bin.  It's from 1979. I thought perhaps embroidery might enliven my stitchbook pages.  Maybe....

We had the most beautiful snow today.  It rained all last night but this morning, as we were getting ready to leave for church, the snow began.  Big heavy flakes that coated the leaves and branches of trees, twigs, shrubs, everything.  The day was so grey yet beautiful, too.  On the way home I pulled out my new phone and took some photos.  Being new, the phone and I are not well-acquainted  yet.  Moving photos from it to my computer is more complicated that with my old phone.  Wouldn't you know, I lost all the photos!  Gone forever.  (I'm spoiled with the ease of taking digital photos but challenged by technology.)

I'm linking this post to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.  Thank you for hosting, Kathy.

--Nancy.

Tipping over the Edge of Halfway - One Monthly Goal

I'm so sorry for more photos of this quilt so soon.  When I'm working on only one or two quilts or projects it's hard to share something new with every post.

I finished hand quilting to the middle of this quilt today, or just above the middle.  In the photo below it's to the middle of the fourth row of blocks counting from the top of the quilt, the row with the pink and white skinny plus block. 

I considered quilting from the top down on the rest of the quilt so the fans would meet near the middle.  But when I quilt from an edge the fabric seems to shift forward ever so slightly, so I've decided I should probably keep going the direction I've been quilting.  Why risk a small mound of fabric in the center of the quilt?  I'm not sure why that happens.

My monthly goal for February is to hand quilt two rows of fans across this quilt.  I think I should be able to accomplish that.

On a health note, my vertigo seems to be gone--has been gone for longer than a week.  I can't tell you how happy that makes me.  The physical therapist recommended that I continue the eye and balance exercises the rest of my life!  Vertigo is one of the maladies that, once you've had it, can return unexpectedly at any time.  The exercises aren't so bad and they only take a few minutes.

I'm linking this post to
> February One Monthly Goal at Stories from the Sewing Room and
> Finished (or not) Friday at Alycia's Quilts.
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.