This, That, and the Other

Aren't these guys the cutest?   They are about half an inch high and were sitting on a shelf at a local store.

Toys a child left behind?  Part of a display or advertisement, though there wasn't anything around that seemed to be associated with little ducks.  I wanted to bring them home but there was no price tag.  I have a collection of little things and these would fit right in.

June has flown by.  For me it might as well be over since a total knee replacement surgery is scheduled for this coming Tuesday.  Preparation for surgery (making food, getting the house ready for a walker, making sure I have all the equipment I'll need, etc.) has taken a lot of time.  Hence, little progress on the quilting front.  Sadly Bramble Blooms I and II are both on hold indefinitely, at least as far as physical progress goes.  I haven't written them off or decided not to participate, though.  I plan to come back to them when I'm more mobile and my mind isn't focused on other things.  Maybe a spark of creativity during this surgery and recovery process will push me toward some decisions?  Or not.

What I have been sewing are several simple, lightweight cotton, summer dresses, similar to these.  I can cut and sew a pattern well enough but adjusting and fitting a pattern are the problem, and patterns nearly always need adjusting.  I'm not a standard size.  I'm on pins and needles cutting and sewing until I know the garment will fit.  The first of the two dresses fits and is comfortable; I hope the second one will be, too.  

You may remember this post from almost exactly a year ago about my rose-print fabrics and the challenge I set for myself to use them in a quilt.
The fabrics sat around for nearly a year.  I finally decided to cut squares and make a one-patch.  My reasoning was that I have enough fabric to make several quilts, so why not start with a one-patch.  The squares are 4½", placed in no particular order.  I'm imagining a calm, quiet quilt.

Maybe the criteria of roses isn't enough to unify a quilt?  I may edit out some of the darker prints or place them carefully.  I may also add some applique to the finished top, or add some pieced blocks, either 4" or 8" finished.  I have 200 of the needed 300 squares cut.  I've never made a one-patch quilt before and am wondering how one chooses a layout.  Do you know?

I finished this quilt I call Center Light in 2013 and have slept under it every winter night for 11 years as well as some spring and autumn nights.

I felt a spot near the top of the quilt getting thin and recently noticed this casualty of use.

I'll repair it, of course, but how?  It's a  utility quilt and part of me says to just make a patch that covers the hole, the binding, and the back, and stitch it down.  The perfectionist in me says to unstitch the binding, unquilt the section that needs repair, add new batting and fabric, then requilt and sew on new binding.  There's another colored block that is torn, also.  Huh!  I never expected it to be an heirloom quilt but I did think it would last longer than 11 years!  Except for this spot and the binding along almost all of this edge, the rest of the quilt is in good shape.  How would you repair it?

This is happening along the country roads not far from us. I believe it's winter wheat.  It was sprouting green in March so I guessed it was planted last fall.

We saw many fields, some that were acres and acres larger than this one.  It brought to mind the phrase "Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain" from the song "America."

The weather has been hot and humid, from the high 80s to the high 90s, with "feels like" temperatures in the low 100s some days.  Heat warnings or advisories and air quality alerts have been in effect all week and are still in effect now.  I went to the store yesterday and when I stepped onto the pavement I wanted to move the heat away as if it were a curtain brushing against me, it was so dense and heavy.  I'm grateful for air conditioning.  Even inside it feels oppressive but at least it's cool enough to breathe.  I feel sorry for people and animals who have to be outside.  Whatever did my farming ancestors do?!

About that knee replacement surgery on Tuesday.  (Well, first, did you know that the knee is the biggest joint in the body and one of the most complex?  That was news to me.)  I'm good with the surgery itself but I'm not looking forward to the days and weeks after.  The more I learn, the more grueling it sounds.  Infection and blood clots are the biggest post-surgery concerns for the doctor and nurses but they're also concerned about exercise, since that's what will give me my mobility.  My biggest concerns are whether I'll actually be able to do all that they expect and require, and whether I can prevent constipation.  (TMI?  Sorry.)  The expectations post-surgery are to

• use ice on top and behind my knee to keep the swelling down, because swelling can cause blood clots
• wear TED stockings:  very tight compression stockings which can be really hard to get on and are uncomfortable to wear (so I'm told)
  
• keep my knee elevated above the level of my heart
  
• use a CPM (or continual passive motion) machine for 6 hours/day to keep my knee moving which, I guess, is part of the exercise, and possibly also for swelling
• exercise hourly; the exercises take about 20 minutes; also walk for about 15 minutes every hour
  
• eat high protein and lots of fiber
• take medications, watch diet, prevent constipation (if that's possible with narcotic pain killers)
  

Just when you feel your worst after a major surgery and most want to rest, the doctors want you to keep moving.  I'll get through this and, hopefully, will be more mobile.  

That's it from me for at least a week, maybe more.  I hope you stay cool and comfortable or, if you're from the southern hemisphere, I hope you stay warm and toasty.

--Nancy.

It's Festival Time for Center Light

Amy of Amy's Creative Side is hosting the fall Blogger's Quilt Festival to coincide with fall Quilt Market.  You still have time to enter.  Choose a category (one of 15!) at the festival link (above), write a post about your quilt, then link it to the category you chose.  What a fun way to see lots of quilts.

I'm entering Center Light into the scrappy quilt category.

This quilt came about because I had an over-abundance of light, plain scraps.  It was either throw them out or make them into something.  I chose the latter.  I did not have a layout in mind when I began sewing the blocks.  It's the result of pure play.  I finished stitching the top a few years ago and finished hand quilting it last month.  It measures 61½" x 80".  Individual blocks measured 5" before quilting and shrinkage in the washer.

You can see how scrappy some of the light blocks are from the two below.  I was just trying to use up the little pieces.

Here are two more views.

You can join the fun by viewing the quilts and/or by entering one of your quilts in whatever category seems right.   

Doesn't everyone love a festival, especially when we can miss the hustle and bustle of people packed elbow to elbow and just enjoy the sights?!  I know I do.  Now that I've finished this post I'm headed over to see the other entries in the festival.

Enjoy!

--Nancy.

P.S.  Here are links to all the categories:  baby quilt, throw quilt, scrappy quilt, group/bee quilt, two color quilt, ROYGBIV quilt, applique quilt, hand quilted quilt, home machine quilted quilt, professionally quilted quilt, quilt photographer, art quilt, doll/mini quilt, wall hanging, bed quilt.
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Center Light Bound and Finished

Every time I finish a quilt, after I put the last stitch in the binding and after it comes out of the washer and dryer, I feel like celebrating.  Some quilts are "ugly ducklings" and some are exquisite from beginning to end, but the completion of every quilt is cause for celebration.  I finished Center Light last Saturday and have been celebrating all week!  Thanks for joining me for a minute or two.

I stitched the top of this quilt 5 or 6 years ago then laid it aside while working on other projects.  I had forgotten how much I like it until it called to me when I had to choose the next top for quilting.  It was created because of all the small scraps of whites, off-whites, creams, and light tans I had lying around begging to be used.  Six-inch blocks seemed to be the perfect size for the scraps I had to use.

These blocks show the piecing of some of the whites/off-whites.  Some are very scrappy.

The back:

Particulars
Measurements:

67" x 87 1/2" unquilted
64 1/2" x 83 7/8" after quilting
61 1/2" x 80" after washing and drying (warm wash, regular dry)

Batting:
Mountain Mist Cream Rose 100% cotton

Time schedule:
5/28/13:  on the floor for measuring and choosing backing
6/3/13:  layered
6/3/2013:  quilting begun
9/11/2013:  quilting finished
9/12/2013:  binding sewn
9/14/2013:  washed and dried
This timeline doesn't show that during June and early July I quilted an hour or so a day and during the end of July until it was finished in September, I quilted closer to 4 hours/day.

Thoughts/Lessons/Observations (in no particular order)

• Next time, if I'm using a large print for the back, I will take care to align the pattern along the seam.  I thought of doing that for this quilt but I was in a hurry (for a self-imposed deadline), tired, found it difficult, and just gave up and stitched the seam without regard for the pattern.
• If I'm too tired to do a good job, don't do the job until I'm not tired.
• This is the second quilt I've made with Cream Rose batting in the middle.  I like stitching on it but I'm beginning to wonder if it's just a tad too thin.
• This quilt is not a cuddly quilt.  I don't know if it's because it's new, because of the fabrics, or because of the batting.  I need to pay attention to how this quilt changes over time with use and washing to see if it becomes softer.
• This quilt is not a warm quilt.  Again, I don't know if it's the fabrics or the batting.
• If I'm going to continue to use this batting and want a particular size finished quilt, I need to make the quilt top larger to allow for so much shrinkage.  When I wash and dry a quilt I assume it will not be treated gently in whatever home it resides, so I don't treat it gently to begin with:  warm water wash, standard heat in the dryer.  Of course, shrinkage is not minimal in that case.  This quilt lost 5 1/2" in width and 7 1/2" in length.

Thanks for visiting!

I'm linking this post to
● Leanne's Third quarter finish for 2013 Finish-A-Long at She Can Quilt.  I initially posted my "declaration" to finish at Slow Progress:  Center Light, Red & Green
● Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
● finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts 
● Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday at Missy Mac Creations

--Nancy.
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Cutting Binding, Squaring Corners

I cut the binding before I finished the quilting, but I had just one corner block left and knew I would finish it today.

I deliberated about using colored binding but finally decided that white/cream/off-white would be best, especially because the quilt doesn't have a border.  But if I did use a color, what color would it be?  One color, scrappy colors?  If scrappy colors, what arrangement?  I thought about medium/dark colors around the corners and light colors toward the center edges but didn't think I could make it work.  Too many choices!

I squared the quilt and tomorrow I hope to pin and stitch the binding.  And be done!

I like this quilt a lot but sometimes when I get near the end of quilting, I can hardly wait to just be done with it.  I hope it will be finished by Friday.  We'll see.

I'm linking to
WOW at Esther's Blog
W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced


--Nancy.
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Two Corners, Plaid Churn Dashes in Waiting

I'm so excited to be nearly finished hand quilting this quilt.  I have just two corners to go -- 14 blocks -- and the binding.  I'm to the point where I can just hardly wait to get it done.  It's my Q2 Finish-A-Long:  I hope there's little doubt that it will be done by then!

In the excitement of being nearly finished I've started looking at my quilt tops in waiting to see which I'll quilt next.  This one! 

As with most of my quilts, I've had a love/unlove relationship with it.  I loved it while I was working on it 5 or 6 years ago but I folded it away because I couldn't quilt it at the time.  As the years passed I decided it probably wasn't as great as I remembered and that I probably didn't like it as much as I thought.  When I pulled it out a few weeks ago I realized once again that I love it.

I think it will be a bear to hand-quilt though (at least for me) because the layout is on point, which means that the blocks seem very stretchy.  We'll see how I can manage.  I still have to choose a back for it.  I had something in mind before but I'm reconsidering.

I'll work on this as I can but a grandbaby girl will be joining us in early January (or the end of December if she decides (or needs) to come early).  So I'll be interrupting everything soon to begin a quilt for her and, of course, getting it stitched and quilted will take priority over any other quilts.

I'm linking this post to
WOW (-WiPs on Wednesday) at Esther's Blog
W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

--Nancy.
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At Loose Ends

How could I possibly be at loose ends with two quilts in the works?  It's because I don't have a steady, quick-to-stitch, in-progress quilt to cut and stitch.  When I'm in the middle of cutting and sewing a quilt, I have plenty of ideas for the next quilt.  I jot them down, make drawings, etc.  Now that it's time to choose and begin, I'm hemming and hawing.  Colors, block size, etc.  But then maybe I really shouldn't be starting a new quilt anyway because I have 4 or 5 tops waiting to be quilted and at least one waiting for a decision about whether it's a finished top or not. 

This red/green is in progress.  I'm not completely committed to it yet. 

I began adding gold/yellow squares in the center of the 4-patch blocks.  Maybe they all need gold in the center?  Maybe the light blocks are too light but maybe the light crosses are okay?  Maybe all the circles should be the same size?  Maybe the 4-patch blocks should have green squares and red bars?  There are so many variables to consider.  It helps to look at a photo of the blocks.  Creates objectivity, I think.  I probably just need to keep making blocks and then play.

Center Light is exactly half quilted:  I counted the blocks today. 

I had hoped I was further along because I claimed this as my goal for a September finish for the 2013 Finish-A-Long.  I should probably find a few good movies to watch and settle in for at least a few hours every day.

Can you recommend some good (non-R-rated) movies?

I'm linking this to W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and
WOW (WIPs on Wednesdays) at Esther's Blog.  Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.
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Quilting Lines

In an earlier post about this quilt, Center Light, I wrote that I wasn't sure how/where else to quilt after I finished the lines connecting the colored squares.

In a comment on that post Frances of Fabadashery said,

I tend to quilt a stage at a time, so once I had finished the lines as you are, I take another look and see if any further quilting is needed. After the hours of stitching the solution usually presents itself. It's a delicate balance. You don't want too little, but you don't want too much, but it is looking lovely so far.

Frances's approach seemed wise so I just kept quilting, block by block, all the while considering possibilities for additional quilting.

I'm not finished with all the lines between colored blocks but I knew the quilt needed more.  I finally decided to add stitching at the inside corners of the larger white/off-white blocks.  Not too much extra quilting but enough so there are no large areas left without quilting.

Do you go through a cycle of love, hate, love as you work on a quilt?  (Maybe hate is a little too strong.  Maybe it's more uncertainty or dislike.)  It seems like it happens with every quilt. 

I'm at the not-so-sure-I'm-going-to-like-this-quilt stage.  It was so smooth to begin with -- and now it's crinkly.  Which makes me wonder if I should have quilted around the edges of each block and left it at that....  I think I underestimated the effect quilting lines have on a quilt.  I'm sure -- well, almost sure -- I'll like the quilt again when it's finished.

--Nancy.
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Slow Progress: Center Light, Red & Green

I've been hand quilting Center Light this week.  I deliberated for a while what to do about the corners of the blocks.  I'll show a close-up later.

My  intention is to finish this quilt by the end of September, my goal for the 3rd quarter 2013 Finish-A-Long with Leanne at She Can Quilt.  I think I'll have to work furiously to finish it, but it's just the impetus I need.  Only the center is quilted now.  Earlier today I thought I should keep a tally of how many squares are finished and how many are yet to be quilted.  I might feel like I was making more progress.

I've also been making blocks for Red & Green.  I'm still playing....  I may decide there's too much variety or too great a color variation -- or not.  We'll see.

I seem to be stuck in the 5" square mode.  These are not very large blocks and it will take me forever to finish this quilt.  One of my intentions was that I would be able to stitch the circles in the car or away from home when I couldn't be sewing on the machine.  But the circles keep drawing me to them and I have to push myself to sit at the sewing machine to stitch the 4-patches.  The circles and 4-patches are just about even in number right now.

I'm linking this post to
Q3 Finish-A-Long, hosted by at She Can Quilt
WOW (WIPs on Wednesdays), hosted by Esther at Esther's Blog
W.i.P. Wednesday guest hosted by Stacey of The Tilted Quilt at Lee's blog, Freshly Pieced

Thanks so much, ladies!

--Nancy.
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Hand Quilting Center Light

I always envisioned this quilt with several lines of stitches connecting the center squares.  (I thought about using colored thread but decided I didn't want to show off my unskilled quilting.)  The lines are unevenly spaced and not exactly straight but as straight as I could make them without marking them.  I like how they're turning out.

What I didn't think about was what to do with the corners of the larger, off white/cream/tan squares.  Hmmm.

I'm considering these possibilities:

• stitching all the way around the inside of each light square several times
• stitching inside the corners of each square several times

Does any of that make sense?  Probably not....

I used to think that the quilting was just stitches to hold the layers together.  I'm seeing it differently now.

I'm linking to W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Thanks, Lee.

--Nancy.

P.S.  You can see the whole quilt here.
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Center Light, Sunday Morning - W.i.P. Wednesday

I've started the quilting on Center Light, above.  The section where there are no pins is the only part I've quilted so far.  I had in mind how I wanted to quilt this but now I'm thinking of adding more quilting.  All straight lines and corners.  I plan to hand quilt this at a leisurely pace.  When it's done, it's done.

Below are the Sunday Morning blocks laid out, waiting to be rearranged and/or added to.  I can't seem to stick to really low volume fabrics.  I accepted white backgrounds with color, including red, pink, brown, green, and black.  I like it better now that most of those orange strings have been removed.

My goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes is to have this top sewn together by the end of June.  As it is now, it would finish at about 75" by 90", before hand quilting and washing.  I was thinking of making it queen size but with all the seams, I'm not sure about hand-quilting it....  Either way, the top will be stitched by the end of June.

I'm linking this post to
W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Thank you, Lee.
A Lovely Year of Finishes at Fiber of All Sorts.  Thanks, Shanna.

--Nancy.
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Quiet Expectation or Bright Surprise?

When you look at the front of a "quiet" quilt do you expect the back to match?  Or do you anticipate the possibility of a surprise?

I'm sometimes indecisive about quilt backs:  should they "match" the feeling of the front or should they be a surprise -- almost a second quilt?  Is it better to have two options with one quilt or better to have unity between front and back?   (High Five for Brenna is so bright and colorful that I suggested a calm fabric for the back.  I thought if she got tired of the bright front she could turn it over and have a calm quilt.)

The front of this quilt, below, (which I'm calling Center Light for now) is laid out behind the red-flowered and the creamy fabrics.  Are the fabrics in front too bright for a back to this quilt?  Too surprising?

The two fabrics on the left, below, are options for the back along with the fabric with red flowers.  The cream on the lower left almost matches the cream flowers in the fabric on the right except for its olive green leaves, which don't go with the 1940s green of the leaves on the fabric at the right.  If I ignore the olive green, the fabrics would work together.  Hmmm.  Can I ignore that olive green?

The cream fabric on the upper left is just a tad brighter than the cream in the red-flowered fabric.  I have enough of that to use with the red flowers -- about a third cream and two thirds flowers.

I thought about using just cream for the back but I don't have enough of any one fabric (and maybe not enough of several fabrics together) and I was hoping to be able to use fabric from my stash.

All of this brings me to a question:  does it do justice to a quilt to make do, possibly using less than the best (perfect?) choice of fabric in order to use up stash, in order not to spend more money on fabric?  (One of these days I'm going to die and there will be all this fabric left.  I'm trying to use it up!)

These are things I'm thinking about as I consider fabric for the back of this quilt.  I welcome any thoughts you have.

I hope you're having a great weekend.

--Nancy.
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Center Light - W.i.P. Wednesday

I made this quilt top about 6 or 7 years ago.  I had an abundance of white, off-white, and cream colored fabrics.  Too many, in fact.  This is what I did with them.  The whites are very scrappy.  Some blocks have as many as 10 pieces stitched together for the white border.  I was determined to use all those smallest bits, I guess.  The blocks are 5" square finished and the colored centers vary in size from just under 2" to 3".  The top measures 65" x 85".

The block arrangement came after playing around with more than a few layouts.  I liked this one best.  It wasn't until I photographed it today that I realized how very light the center looks.  I'm happy with this arrangement.

Now it's time to choose a backing fabric, layer it, and quilt it.  (I have to get something ready to quilt before my quilting callouses disappear!)  I'm uncertain about backing fabric, though.  Light, medium, dark?  Large print, small print, plain?  Pastel or bright?  I'm tending toward a small-printed light fabric I have but can't seem to commit to it.  Then I rethink it all and decide something with a large, bright print would be great.  What do you think?

I'm linking this post to W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Join in if you have a work in progress.  The more, the merrier!  Thanks to Lee for hosting.

--Nancy.
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