I have just a small finish to share this morning. For RSC16, I am making two projects. The first is the pattern, Pretty Gemstones, created by Cynthia Brunz and recently published in the McCall’s Quilting magazine. The second project is still a bit undefined. However, I know that it will be based on “made fabric” as taught by Victoria Findlay Wolfe in her book, “Fifteen Minutes of Play”.
At this point, I am making four squares of each color for the Pretty Gemstones quilt. I completed the Icy Blue color for January.
On each corner you’ll notice a very pale green rectangle. That green is a Kaffe Fassett cotton, called Ecru. I totally don’t get the name because Ecru makes me think of an off white color. At any rate, it will be the background fabric. I bought the end of the bolt at my local LQS, which always gives me a sense of satisfaction. She gets rid of a small amount and I get 15% off. Win Win! I defintely have enough to complete the project throughout the year and not be in fear of being unable to match it. These blocks take no time at all to stitch up and the effect will be fun at the end of the year.
With the exception of the one darker blue block, I tried for pale blues with gray and light purple tones to them. I want this quilt to have a cool tone to it which means I may skip some of the colors during the year. Definitely orange and brown, as they are such a warm color. I will make four of each and then may have to go back and augment certain colors to complete the quilt.
The next project, using made fabric, needs a bit more definition. I have really enjoyed reading the Fifteen Minutes book. So much so that I have been through it twice already. I have done almost no improv work but she makes it so simple. I have been sewing scraps together like crazy.
The biggest hurdle for me is to make everything lay flat. She talks about this in the book and basically says to chop of the parts that ripple and reattach them elsewhere. I am getting better at it though.
I want this quilt to be really bold. I am thinking of creating fabric in the color of the month and then squaring it to about 13 or 14″. Maybe I will make HST’s with the improv pieces, using the same color for the other side of each one. I think using big, blocky HST’s might make a fun quilt, and there are endless ways to lay it out. I am still not quite sure though. So, I made two pieces of scrappy, icy blue fabric and will leave them be until I have a few more colors created.
In the next picture you can see a bit of rippling. I will slice it up a bit and reattach it so the piece calms down a bit.
Both of these RSC quilts are great fill in projects. I can pull out the bin and sew for a while without having to think too hard. Neither take lots of time and the results from both will be a lot of fun, with the added bonus of using up scrap.
One more thing – remember the baby bird quilt I made using orphan blocks that I had thrifted? I linked that post over to Muv’s Freemotion Mavericks linky party and this week she featured my project.I am flattered! Thanks Muv! I brought the quilt over to a local organization in our town, called Kare Crisis. Kare Crisis is a house that is open 24/7 and they will take care of any child ages 0-5 years if the parent is in need. They do not define the crises, rather it is up to the parent to decide. Sometimes it is just a matter of having a sick baby and the mom needs to go to work. Sometimes it is something far more serious. They also provide a safe place for supervised visitations. It is an awesome resource and the director, Lynne, was thrilled to have the quilt for babies to use.
Happy weekend everyone. It is raining hard this morning. After I run Julia over to school, I will spend some time in the sewing room. Hope you are doing the same, wherever you are. 🙂
Linking with Angela at So Scrappy and Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts.
I love end of bolts! The icy blues are beautiful and I really like that splash of pale green (I agree with you about “Ecru”). I want to start on a Pretty Gemstones quilt at some point. I have so many saved McCall’s magazines and can’t bear to part with any of them. Yay on the feature on Muv’s blog! I took her advice to “nip over now” to look at it and enjoyed all over again those darling birdies and bright fabrics. Glad you are getting some rain (quilter’s delight!)
Isn’t it great to hear all of these phrases from bloggers across the ocean? ‘Nip over’ is great and I love the phrase ‘chuffed’ when someone is excited about something. ake
Ecru?? I don’t think so – ha ha. 🙂
Best,
B.
I was going to suggest that you could just cut the made fabric into squares and use those to make a quilt. They don’t even have to be the same size! I especially love those brights. Star centers, maybe? And bless you for donating that bird quilt. I’m sure they will love it!
Stay warm and dry, and remember that at least you don’t have to shovel the rain! I’ll think of you when I’m digging my car out! 🙂
Crazy winter weather you are getting. Hope you don’t lose power – then you can still sew!
Crossing my fingers that you will find the perfect house in PA this spring. It will happen soon. 🙂
Very nice. I am especially intrigued by the “made fabric” idea, and am excited to see both of these projects grow for you over the year. I hope that the rain is gentle and useful in our much needed drought, and I hope you have a wonderful day of sewing.
Today’s rain was just perfect. It rained off and on all day long. Awesome!
I am really excited about the improv blocks. I love the idea of large-ish HST’s but I also like the idea of trimming the blocks, framing them in black and going for a sort of “stained glass” effect. What do you think?? If I do the stained glass idea, do I make all sorts of sizes or blocks that are more uniform? Choices, choices, choices. It will be fun, any which way. (I am quite sure that is sentence would make any English teacher pale.)
It will be fun to watch the progress on these two and how nice that the baby bird quilt was featured, and how sweet that it went to a wonderful cause! 🙂 Glad that you are still getting your much needed rain!
Thank you Deb. How much snow do you have? I have one son who is stuck in DC and my DIL has a huge amount of snow at their home in Delaware. Crazy storm. Be safe.
There’s DEFINITELY something to be said for having a project or two that require little to no thinking!! You’ve made good progress on using those BLUE scraps.
Absolutely- most of the time, I have to focus so that the blocks come out square and points match up, etc. not so with these two projects. Very relaxing!
I really like those gemstones blocks! It will be fun to see that quilt develop! I’m interested in your “made” fabric, too. Looks like a great way to use odd shaped scraps!
Thank you! I am sort of excited to work on February’s color so both projects can take shape a bit more. Thanks for stopping over!
Green Ecru? Weird. But it does look kind of ecruish on my screen.
Made fabric or crumbs have lots of uses and is always great for using up those odd crumbs. Have fun!
I thought the Ecru name for this color was way off as well. I even looked up the actual definition of the word to see if I was wrong, but no- it says creamy off-white. Funny for a light green fabric.
I haven’t braved the improv scene yet. I’m a bit orderly, and the idea of just sewing anything and everything willy nilly together scares me witless. Good on you for having a go.
Dasha, if you only knew how far this is from my normal way of doing things. I have resisted it for a while but finally am forcing myself to give it a try. At least I am only using scraps! I think it is a good thing for me to make something without following a specific guideline. We will see how it goes!
Both projects are easy to work up and yet give you a chance to be creative. The icy blue should be great. I saw the quilt on Cynthia’s blog and its on my someday list. Keep up the good work!
Thank you Paula. There are soooo many projects on my someday list. It is endless. Enjoy your day and hope you get some time to sew a bit. 🙂
Your improv pieces are beautiful. Ironing a lot seems to help, and you definitely have the right idea about chopping of the bits that don’t like flat.
Thanks Angela. I’m looking forward to changing colors in February!
I love creating made fabric from scraps – so much to look at and consider. I press mine using steam and haven’t had much trouble with rippling (I do trim uneven edges as I work – before attaching the next scrap).
Hi Julie: I didn’t use steam and will give that a try. I once took a class by a great teacher and she used to say that we just need to “iron it into submission”. It still makes me laugh to remember that. 🙂