Missing Baskets

One of my "design wall" areas (using masking tape to hold blocks in place!) is in a room at the end of a long hall.  The door opens to a view of this wall above my computer where my Baskets of Plenty have been hanging, a new one added each month through August.  I've grown accustomed to seeing those baskets with their big flowers hanging there.  They were an invitation to come in as I walked down the hall.  They brightened my mornings when I walked into the room.  They entertained me as I pressed fabric and blocks.  They had a benevolent cheerfulness about them.  And now they're gone.

There is a blank wall opposite the door and above the computer.  I didn't realize how much I enjoyed the baskets till they weren't there and I saw an empty wall as I walked down the hall.

Now they lie on the floor with possible sashings around them, patiently awaiting play time.

Before I can move forward I want to consider and then decide on several things, listed below in no particular order.  I think most of these considerations will resolve themselves as I play and try out ideas.

• Layout.  Tall ones in a row, short ones in a row, or some other arrangement?
• Sashing colors/fabrics.  Which colors/tints/shades will look best with these blocks?  I think black is too strong but perhaps the others are too bland.
• Will I make them look more "primitive" by adding walnut dye (similar to but more permanent than Cheri Payne's tea/coffee dye)?  I think most of the backgrounds are very light, maybe too light.  And if I turn them "primitive,"  will the black still be too dark or just right?
• Do I need to make another basket block or can I fill in with pieced blocks?  I don't really want to make another basket but it's more about what the quilt needs than whether I want to make another basket.
• Width of sashing.  I want a quilt that's large enough to nap under.  Seven of these blocks are 10½" x 13½" (with one horizontal), and one is 7½" x 10½".  That's a lot of sashing to make the quilt larger.  Of course, the other option is to make more blocks.  Or add a border or two....
• And does that horizontal block with the dark background and the coral/peach/salmon blocks look too out of place?

There are so many considerations when creating a scrappy quilt.  These baskets and fabrics have only been on the floor since Saturday and I gave them no attention until late last night.  I'm just beginning to play with layout, sashing, etc.

That large white section at the very top is a paper angel I think I will use.  Cheri created it to go with a different sew-along but I really like her and think she could be perfect at the top of this quilt.  I enlarged the original pattern 200% which makes her about 20" wide.

My family will be coming into town next Wednesday so I either need to hurry and decide or take lots of photographs and keep the fabrics together.  I think this happened last year when I had to take up the medallion quilt.  Sometimes I bemoan my slowness.... 

I'm linking this post to
> Moving it Forward at Em's Scrapbag
> Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
> Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
> Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River
> Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
Thanks for hosting, ladies!

--Nancy.
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Flower Play and a Mess of a Work Space

This is one of my first ideas for this basket block.  Well, maybe my second or third idea.  The bird's moved several times.  And so have the flowers in the photo plus several others that aren't in the photo.  I'm still deciding what to do about leaves and other elements -- deciding what to do about all of it except the basket, which is already sewn.

I cut out a bunch of flowers, just to see how they might look.  Only three of these will make the final cut.  I tend toward realism but not this time with these flowers.

This is a rare look (well, rare for you; I see it every day) into the mess of my work space when making an applique block.  As you scroll through the photos imagine looking at an ironing board from left to right.

When this block is finished I'll pick up everything and put it all away, only to pull out the cigar box (on the left in the first ironing board photo) with some already cut pieces and begin again when I start the next block.

When you're in the midst of work on a block or quilt, does your work space stay neat and tidy or do you spread out as you play with fabric and make decisions?

I'm linking this quilt to
> Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework
> Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times
> WOW at Esther's Blog
> Let's Bee Social #170 at Sew Fresh Quilts
> Midweek Makers #65 at Quilt Fabrication
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.
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It's About Value

When placed together the pattern of these Buckeye Beauty blocks is beginning to emerge:  diagonal rows of light centers and dark centers with a checkerboard where the corners meet.

My usual process for making a quilt like this is to pull a bunch of fabrics, cut shapes, sew them into blocks, then lay them out.  After a good many are made, I decide which ones work and which don't and whether I need to make more and what colors.  With 13 made I have 29 more to go.  I expect these will change places as new ones are added.  Because this quilt is about value, I'm thinking of unstitching the one third row down, third from the left.  I think those two fabrics are the same value!

The idea for this quilt came directly from Lynn Roddy Brown's book, Patchwork-play Quilts:  Make the Most of Scraps, Spare Parts, and Leftovers.  Early in the book she discusses value, something I haven't paid much attention to when choosing fabrics.  Her strategy is to pair fabrics in light and medium; light and dark; or medium and dark.  I'm all about color, but after reading her thoughts, I began noticing.  Her explanation was so clear and the photos helped clarify what she was saying.  Then when I saw her "Buckeye Beauty" quilt I decided it might (or might not) work for a little boy's quilt.

Buckeye Beauty blocks are usually sewn all the same which creates a strong one direction diagonal.  Lynn has rearranged the blocks so some have light centers and some dark.  The four-patches on the corners alternate, too, depending on the centers.  The layout then creates diagonal rows of lights and darks and a checkerboard in the corners where the blocks meet. 

Lynn's blocks are 8" but I like baby quilts with smaller blocks so I changed the size.  These blocks will finish at 6" so they are a little smaller.  Using a 6 by 7 layout the quilt will be 36" x 42", without borders.  I love the fact that I can use small scraps for this quilt, and I can imagine it becoming really scrappy with several different fabrics of the same color and value per block.

I'm making progress on my star quilt.  I finished cutting the colored strips for the next border today.  They're laying alongside the quilt and tomorrow I'll play with color placement.


I'm linking this post to Let's Book It - May 2016, Oh Scrap!, WOW, Let's Bee Social, Moving it Forward Monday, Scraptastic Tuesday, and Design Wall Monday.  Thanks for hosting, ladies.

Thanks for visiting!
--Nancy.
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What Was I Thinking?

Do you ever start a quilt, set it aside for a while, and when you come back to it wonder what you were thinking when you started?  I can't set blocks aside for too long or I lose the thread of my idea/ inspiration for them.  That's what happened to this quilt.

I pulled out these 5" blocks, made enough more to lay them out in an 8 x 11 configuration, and then scratched my head.  How did I come up with the idea of red circles on green and green Xs on red?  And so scrappy?  I usually keep track in a notebook but I could find nothing about this quilt.

Then I tried to photograph the blocks.  I've been trying for days without much success.  (Note to self:  Never lay out blocks where there is not enough light for a good photograph.)

too light

You can see what I mean about the photographs being too light and too dark but these two show all of the blocks.

too dark

I don't know where this quilt is going -- maybe into the trash if I don't figure it out -- but I finally remembered what the inspiration was.  Last spring my husband and I were driving past a hardware store with flowers on display on long, high steps.  There was a section alive with the reds of dozens of varieties of roses.  Bright, cheerful roses against their lush green foliage.  A quilt popped into my mind and the photos above show the results.  Hmmm.

I'm at a loss for the next step in this quilt.  More blocks?  The blocks as they are with a border or two?   If borders, what colors?  These blocks have been laying out for a week or two.  If I don't make a decision in the next day or two I'll pick them up and put them away for another time (or, as I said, in the trash).

I'm thinking of starting a weekly link party (maybe Inspiration Sunday) to invite others to share their inspiration.  Would you participate?  I have such a small blog with a tiny following, maybe no one would want to link....  Or maybe quilters don't keep track of their inspiration?

Do you notice the sources of your inspiration for quilts, either before you start, during the process of making a top, or after you've finished a quilt?

I'm linking this post to
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Scraptastic Tuesday at She Can Quilt
Let's Bee Social #85 at Sew Fresh Quilts
WOW at Esther's Blog

Thank you, ladies.


--Nancy.
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Square and Triangles = Circle?

When I first saw this quilt block I couldn't get it out of my mind.  (For copyright reasons I'm not posting a photo but sending you to a pinterest image with the link to the blog post where the image appears.)  I'm not keen on appliqueing and kept thinking about how I could make a similar block using only squares, triangles, and rectangles.  I doodled some sketches.

Then I saw this block and wondered if little triangles around the center square would trick the eye into seeing circles, at least at first glance or from a distance.  I'm fascinated by angular shapes that sometimes give the impression of circles.

So I laid out some possibilities in fabric creating 12" squares.  Forget the colors and just look at the shapes.  I could go with one color in a range of fabrics, or more colors in a variety of fabrics.  So forget the colors.  Also look at the backgrounds.  From a distance do the center shapes look like circles?

With a center figure.

With a plain center.

With a second "circle" around the center and a printed background.

Those little rectangles would need triangles at the corners to truly give the impression of a circle.

With a muted background.

If I were to make blocks like these I ask myself if I would like all the "blank space" filling the four "corners."   Either the fabric would have to be interesting or the the quilting would need to fill and enhance the spaces.

Is this a real block, already created by someone else?  If so, does it have a name?  Anyone know?

So, that's what's on my design wall this week.  It's all play right now.

What are you playing with?

I'm linking this post to Design Wall at Patchwork Times.  Thanks, Judy.

--Nancy.
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Beginning to Play

These blocks have been sitting on a cupboard nearly always in view when I'm sewing, cutting, or quilting.  Since I have the strings quilt well underway, I thought I'd put these up and play with possibilities.

No sashing, no corner blocks:

No sashing, two red corner blocks:

Several different sashing possibilities, 1 medium corner block (and a bunch of tape!):

I think the color of the sashing on the left makes the quilt look very peaceful and calm.  But maybe it's boring, too.  Below is a red corner block which I like less than the tan, above.

Same sashing as above with red corner block:

Other possibilities I might try

• black, dark brown, dark green sashing with light stars in the corners
• dark sashing with solid light corner blocks
• medium sashing with white stars
• medium sashing with light corner blocks
• light sashing with red, medium, or dark corner blocks
• narrow, medium, or wide sashing

On the other hand, maybe no sashing would be perfect.  I just saw photographs here and here of all the blocks together.  Hmmm.  So many possibilities.

I love this part of quilting, the playing with fabrics, patterns, colors.  It takes me a while to make a decision about what I think works for the quilt but for me it's all part of the process.  It has to be since I never use a pattern for a quilt!

I have 41 of the blocks above.  They finish at 9½".  There are 15 with really light backgrounds and 26 with slightly darker backgrounds.  I don't know if I'll put them all together or make some more of the light or the dark ones.  It's all just "let's see what works" right now.

The string quilt looks like this right now:

All the corners are sewn.  They are in the process of being trimmed.  Then I'll lay them out, sew them, and decide about a border.  I was thinking a red inner border with an outer border of shorter string blocks, but maybe I'll use an inner border the same color as the corners.

My mind's eye is often fuzzy and inaccurate.  It's better if I actually see things with my real eyes than try to imagine them.

I'm linking this post to
Design Wall at Patchwork Times,
WOW at Esther's Blog, and
WiP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.
Thank you, ladies, for hosting.  I appreciate it.

Best wishes for a great day!
--Nancy.
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