Can you ever see enough red? It is so rich and warm.
Crazy piecing is time consuming but so much fun to do. I would say it takes easily three times as long to make a crazy pieced quilt as a more traditional pieced block quilt since there are so many pieces in a block.
Photographing red is a real challenge. The photos above are probably more accurate of the color than this photo.
The back is a rich red batik, a favorite one. I bought it knowing that some day I was going to make a red batik quilt that needed a red batik backing. I used the same fabric for the binding.
The quilting is a medium size meander with red variegated thread.
My Pop-up shop closes tomorrow at noon EST so you still have a chance to purchase it. I won't be offering it at any future sales.
My 2 friends came over to sew yesterday and while they were here I unearthed some "treasures" from boxes and shelves. I did a workshop with this pattern probably between 15 and 20 years ago. I decided after making 2 blocks that I wasn't excited enough about it to make a big quilt.
Here are all of the rest of the pieces and a purse/bag that I made out of the other big square. It is a Japanese bag pattern that was in some magazine back then.
This is the inside.....
And here is a look at the pocket under the flap. You can also turn it inside out and have the pockets on the inside and just patchwork on the outside.
It is black raspberry season! This is the first large group of berries. The first picking was only about 8 berries two days ago. The season is short, about 5 days. For your convenience here is a shortcut to my pop-up shop. Two and a half more days and then it is gone.
Every time I run across this little quilt top I remember the June of 1991. A friend called and said let's go to the Quilt Surface Design Symposium in Columbus OH. A friend of ours lived there and offered a place for us to stay. If you are unfamiliar with QSDS you can look it up online. The teachers were all famous quilters in one way or another and the classes are based on art and design. I chose a teacher whose work I admired. We were to draw many original blocks and then choose our best one and repeat it in our art piece. On the 5th day of class all I had left to do was to fill in the 4 rectangles that go across the center. I tried many combinations and the teacher kept saying no that isn't quite right try something else. After trying 6 or 7 things the teacher left the building for something and the whole class ganged up on me and said everything that I tried worked well and they couldn't see what the teacher's problem with it was. I went ahead and sewed in the last pieces I tried. This is a case of trying to please someone else instead of going with my gut feeling and finishing it as mine, not hers. I have never been able to finish it because of the memory of it "not being quite right". I have enough of the top and bottom border fabric to use it for side borders too and I think narrow ones would look good. Maybe I'll finish it, maybe I won't. My pop-up shop is open until noon EST Monday. I always take more detail photos of the quilts and tops for the shop so if you are interested in seeing more close-ups, check it out. After Monday noon it is gone forever.
I'm always cutting scraps for my colorwash quilts but I don't take time to sort them by color and get them to the trays right away. I was tired yesterday afternoon and decided it would be a good day to do some sorting. These are the batik rectangles.
I didn't have as many print cotton fabrics but they are sorted now too. Now I will get them on their trays and be ready for the next piece.
My lonely surviving Coreopsis is the 2 color variety. I planted about 8 plants 2 years ago but I haven't seen any other survivors.
I wonder if this Hosta is a Gold Standard variety. It is one of my very favorites. My roof didn't get done yesterday. I have 3 crank out roof windows and there has been confusion all along whether there are any parts to repair them. This has delayed the job until they can sort out whether the windows need replacing and whether insurance will cover it. Meanwhile all of my pots of flowers are in my garage and they may stay there because it is going to be in the 90s for several days. My pop-up shop will be open to everyone at 12 noon EST. Just go to https://exuberantcolor.com/shop . It is a 5 day shop ending at noon EDT Monday July 1.
This is the only fabric therapy I got yesterday, 3 blocks cut. I got everything covered in the attic, brought into the garage all of my pots of flowers. I went with my granddaughter to her wedding dress fitting.
The roofing materials were delivered yesterday afternoon. This is the second load of them. Added at noon, no roof today.....more details tomorrow.
Then the fork lift drives back onto a pad and the guy hits the elevator button and he rises up and then drives onto the truck. Pretty neat. I watched this same process when the house across from me had their shingles delivered for their new garage a week ago.
My Coleus plants are getting big. They are safe in the garage for a day.
I didn't think my Dwarf Beebalm had survived the winter, but surprise, there are 3 stems with flowers. Pop up shop is now open to people on the mailing list - an email should have gotten to you with a password. Everyone else can get into the shop noon tomorrow (Thursday) by going to exuberantcolor.com and clicking on POP-UP SHOP.
I sewed 3 more zipper blocks last night. While cutting for them I also cut the squares for the framed 9 patch quilts from the same strip of solid color fabric. Go back to this post for my inspiration for all of the print and solid quilts. I will start cutting the print fabrics for the framed 9 patch blocks soon.
There are several of the print and solids quilts that I want to make. I decided to cut one of the blocks with a one way print. I'll just keep cutting these and piling them in a box for some sewing in the fall when the TV fall season starts.
Here is another Lynn calls Window that I want to make. It is the start of another box of pieces for night time sewing.
My Veronica has more blooms now. I noticed I have a Coreopsis blooming too and haven't gotten out there to take a photo of it. To prepare for my new roof I have to cover everything in the attic because I have a tongue and groove board roof instead of plywood (1953 construction). There is space between the boards and a lot of grit will sift through into the attic. I have a one story house but there is a stairway to the attic so I can get up there easily. I need to have everything done by Wed. morning. All of my plants in pots will get moved later today. I'm almost done working on descriptions and photos of items for my pop-up shop which will open at noon EST on Wednesday June 26 for subscribers of my mailing list and on Thursday for non-subscribers. (sign up form on my right side bar) It will be a 5 day pop-up shop.
I was so happy to be able to bring home one of the centerpiece bouquets from my granddaughter's bridal shower yesterday. A friend of the family is very talented in the gardening department.
I also lucked out on some of the leftover food. Yum!!
Last night I sewed 7 zipper blocks while I watched TV. I'm using the 2" print strips I cut many years ago for these blocks and I will cut newer print fabrics for my framed 9 patch blocks which will use the same solid colors.
While the iron was on I pressed the newest dark 4" bow tie blocks and put them up on the design wall. They look much better than the light bow ties I showed a few days ago.
My porch pots are filling in nicely. I just love all of the colors.
These pots are by the garage doors. I will have to bring all of the pots into my garage when they start working on my roof. I'm still working on descriptions and photos of items for my pop-up shop which will open on Wednesday June 26 for subscribers of my mailing list and on Thursday for non-subscribers. (sign up form on my right side bar)
This is the 5th little dress that I needed to replace the elastic on. I made this for my oldest granddaughter (now 31) when she was 3. I have a 4 generation photo taken at a wedding reception where she is wearing it. I finally have all of the repairing done. Today is my youngest granddaughter's bridal shower so we will see a lot of family and friends.
I took a walk in the back yard and look what I found! This tomato plant had tomatoes on it when I bought it and now they are ripening. It is the 4th of July variety.
There were 3 on that plant and one on a plant along my driveway. I'm not giving the squirrels a chance to mess with them. They can finish ripening on the windowsill.
My Asian Lily is in bloom surrounded by Evening Primrose.
This Annabelle Hydrangea was right next to the area where the hail pile was and some of its branches got broken off. The one in front of my house looks good too. They say they are coming to do my roof on Wednesday....the weather is always in charge for roofing and so far it looks like it might be a hot dry day. I'm still working on descriptions and photos of items for my pop-up shop which will open on Wednesday June 26 for subscribers of my mailing list and on Thursday for non-subscribers. (sign up form on my right side bar)
I had fun yesterday with my 2 friends. We all had old fashioned chocolate ice cream sodas with our lunch. I hadn't had one for a long time. I did mostly pressing and cutting of solid color fabrics for my zipper and framed 9 patch quilts while they were here. After they left I mowed the back yard. It was still cool today even though they predicted warmer weather.
l bought this little dress for my oldest granddaughter 30 years ago. She is expecting her third child and it has been predicted it is a girl. I had the box of her childhood clothes at my house and she is going to take them now. I saw that the elastic needed to be replaced in the sleeves of this one.
You can see here the old elastic is dead and I happened to have the right 1/8" elastic on hand to fix it.
Then I decided to check the elastic on some of the little dresses I had made for her. Yes, this one needed replacing too and took the same size elastic.
I made this one for her when she was 1 year old. Both other granddaughters wore it too. This one had elastic run through a casing but I had a size elastic that would work so I got it done too. Then I checked the bloomers to go with this dress and they need the elastic replaced too but I need to go buy some for them. I'll do that today. I think this is all of the dresses that had elastic but I'll check through the box to be sure. I'm still working on descriptions and photos of items for my pop-up shop which will open on Wednesday June 26 for subscribers of my mailing list and on Thursday for non-subscribers. (sign up form on my right side bar)
I got some more 4" bow tie blocks cut in colors other than the red tones. I need to find some more fabrics so I'll have some variety. I'm make more of a mess than progress. Yesterday started out with my annual Medicare physical and then a friend came over to sew with me. I actually just did pressing and cutting. She worked on a confusing tote bag so we both deciphered the directions. Then I had to run an errand and when I got home I mowed the front and one side yard. It was quite humid but not too hot. After all of that I just got the 4 blocks sewn and shortened 2 blouses. Today my 2 friends are coming over to sew. One of them is having fun with One Block Wonder quilts and just got one cut out last time she was here.
All of the 4" bow ties that I had left were light ones with dark backgrounds so I tried them for the next rows. I don't like them as well as the dark ones above so I need to do a lot more cutting. Yesterday morning my oldest granddaughter came over with my 2 great-grandsons (almost 3 and 5 1/2) for the morning.
In the middle of the afternoon my youngest granddaughter came over and helped me make 15 dozen shortbread cookies- 2 double batches.
While the last batch was baking we started making the little gift bags. After that we all went out to eat....a fun family day.
I helped a friend with 2 sets of quilt blocks on my design walls yesterday morning and then we went to lunch. Late in the afternoon I worked on my digging project. I have mentioned my front garden with the invasive Vinca and another invasive plant a couple times. They both spread underground. It is my fault I didn't keep digging it out every year so this year I am tackling the monstrous project. I dig about 2 square feet a day exposing the roots of the plants and shaking off as much dirt as possible as I remove the plants. The area to the right that has darker dirt is where I was working yesterday. I dig out the plants that I want to keep and plant them in pots for the time being. I figure if I can get 90% of the roots out of there I have a fighting chance to be able to plant flowers here again.
And speaking of invasive plants, I have these everywhere. I let them go ahead and bloom and then pull them out right afterward.
This group of them is right next to the Lamium that I showed a couple days ago.
This was the next layout I tried and I didn't like the way the light parts lined up between the 2 sizes of blocks.
I got two 1 1/2" strips and put them between the 2 sizes but I'm not sure if like it or not. There would be more rows of course repeating the small bow ties at least one more time.
Then I just changed the direction of every other one of the larger bow tie blocks and have the sections slanted in different directions I kind of like this one. The large blocks are 6" and the smaller ones 4" so what is shown would finish at 48" wide. There would be at least one more section of small and one more section of large blocks in the length to end up 52" long or 2 more of each to end up 72". I'm still working on photos and descriptions for another pop-up shop with a tentative date of opening Wed. June 26. As usual subscribers on my mailing list will have 24 hours advance access.
