A mock up, a question, and what's happening outside......................

I wanted to be sure I liked this idea before I cut up 2 1/2 yards of "spot" fabric into triangles.  I think it is a go!

A question: I'm still going through everything for more offerings in a destash sale or 2 or 3.  Laurel Burch fabric is one of the categories which I have lots more than I need.  I'm stumped as to how to offer it.  I realize it will only appeal to a smaller group of people.

Your answer to my question in no way obligates you to buy any.  If I were offering a designer line (think any designer, not just Laurel Burch) would you be more inclined to buy 6 half yards, 12 quarter yards, or for more variety 24 fat 8ths.  That would be a total of 3 yards for any of those categories.  As far as Laurel Burch fabric is concerned, her basics filler fabrics are still available to add to her unique designs. 

A side note: I have been a Laurel Burch admirer for many years.  Here is a post where I show some other items I have that were designed by her.  Missing in those photos is the pill box and coffee mugs. 

Outside, my petite Flare Hydrangea bush has another bloom opening.

This is a top view.  I have no idea if the rest of those little balls will open into flowers.  From the photo on the hangtag I thought the blooms would be fuller and cone shaped.

My porch pots have started blooming again.  I didn't keep up with the watering in the end of July-beginning of August heat spell and there were a few weeks of just leaves.  I wasn't sure if all of the plants would recover.

I was especially happy that the variety in this pot has come back nicely.  There are signs of Autumn throughout the flower beds.  The many varieties of Sedum are all beginning their blooming and lots of bees are buzzing around them.

When the house across the street (east) looks like it has been painted pink I know there is a pretty sky in the west.  This was a lot more intense, a nice streaky sky of many colors.  The cool front from Canada is supposed to arrive very early today with a big drop in humidity.

Finish #4 for August 2024

This quilt is tricky to photograph.  If I use auto adjust in my editing program, it gives the pinks a blue cast so I didn't use it.

I don't feel the necessity to name every quilt but I have to have something to call it when I refer to it.  This one has just been Hearts and 4 Patches so far.  It has Hobbs 80/20 batting in it and it is 59" x 76".

I bought a couple big yardage pieces of pink prints for backings at a good sale price and this butterfly print is one of them.  The binding is an Alexander Henry deep pink stripe.

After I finished the binding and photography on that quilt I looked through some project boxes for inspiration.  I overcut...a lot of 6" triangles of Kaffe collective fabrics when I made my pink/green and pink/blue quilt tops.

I looked through the Kaffe "spot" fabrics and pulled this gray and white dots. It isn't as dark as it looks here.  This reminded me of the big pink/gray fad of 1956 when I was in high school.  I could make a zig zag quilt with these, or just an all triangle squares quilt.  It could be named 1956.

The next box has over three hundred 4.5" finished 9 patch blocks, 3 of each combination.  They were made this spring when I made this quilt top.  I closed this box quickly and put it back on the shelf.

The third box has die cut pieces that I paid someone to cut for me because I didn't have a die cutter yet.  There are enough pieces for 16 blocks.  Here is the post the last time I opened this box and the quilt top that I made with 30 sets of pieces.  I still haven't decided if I want to sew more of these blocks so this box went back on the shelf too.

I have done really well so far this year emptying project boxes and making/finishing quilt tops.  In fact probably half of the tops made were from started projects.  I might have to make a collage photo of them for my own reference.

Binding time..........

I have gotten into the habit of getting the quilts trimmed and bound shortly after they are quilted.  I looked for binding choices for this pink quilt and found 4 stripes as well as the leftover backing with butterflies.  The one on the right is too pale, second from right is used in the piecing and is at the edge of the quilt in a couple places so they are both out of contention.

I finally decided I liked the dark pink stripe because it echoes the darker pinks in the quilt so it doesn't look so pastel.

Then I had to make the decision, hand or machine finish.  I almost went with hand finished and then changed my mind and went to my earlier decision that this would probably end up with a child and the binding should be extra sturdy.

I wasn't sure I would get this far on it but I did get 2 sides stitched down by machine.  Two to go today for another finish.

I wasn't sure if any part of the storm late Tuesday night was going to hit us but there was 2.25" of rain in the gauge on the west side of the house.  It had been a dry week so we needed the rain. 

Finish #3 for August 2024......................

My interpretation of the Kaffe Fassett Fonthill quilt is finished.  I like my quilts more rectangular than the original in "Passionate Patchwork" so I made the center panel narrower and taller.  I followed the color scheme loosely since I was using lots of batik scraps to cut my triangles.  I also used lots of triangle squares that were already sewn with a miscellaneous group of prints, some Kaffe, some other fabrics.  It is approximately 62.5" x 75".

The backing is one of Kaffe's older prints that he reissued a couple years ago.  

This quilt has Warm and Natural batting because I wanted a flatter look than I get with my usual Hobbs batting.  It was quilted by my longarm friend Robin Diaz.

A variety of things..............

 I sewed a few samples of the other block on the die I showed recently.  It is similar to the Fractured series of quilts I made several years ago.  There is a Label for Fractured in the label list on my right sidebar.  The difference being the angle is the same on every block with the die and the angles varied with the 2 methods I used on the other quilts.

I emptied another project box. I think these are the leftovers from this quilt top. I'm pretty sure I have another location where I have 1.5" strips that I can move these strips to.  The 2 blocks can go in the orphan quilt block box.

I had 3 sessions of hand sewing yesterday and have only 25" left to stitch.

It was hot and steamy outside so other than picking a few tomatoes I was inside all day yesterday.

Binding started.....................

Yesterday felt like a binding day so I sewed the strips together and got it sewn onto the quilt.  I have hand stitched one long side and half of a short side so far.  I'm sure a print wouldn't have been the choice of a lot of people but it just felt right to me.  Click on the photo for a closer look at how it is looking with both front and back of the quilt.

I showed a new die a few days ago and I cut up some batik scraps and sewed some of one of the blocks shown on the die.  It obviously isn't working well with light, medium and dark used randomly.  All of these blocks are made of 2 fabrics each.  The blocks are 3" finished.

I made a few more blocks with 4 colors per block and very light fabrics for 2 of them.  It looks like this is the way to go, 2 values with fairly high contrast.  I will sew some of the other block on the die today.  

 

A quilt top for August 2024.............

I have made 4 quilt tops with these neutral color 16 patch blocks.  I sold the first two, the third one is a finished quilt now and I think this is the largest one.  For some reason I don't have a photo of the first one I made and sold and I think it was larger than numbers 2 and 3.

This one is about 72" x 96".  It is a good size for a twin size bed.

I trimmed the Fonthill quilt and cut the binding strips.

When I was going through my light batiks for my June destash sale I grouped these for myself.  No project planned yet but I need to move them off of my work table.

The hot steamy weather is here.  After our beautiful week of cool and less humid weather it is hard to take.  The hottest day is supposed to be Tuesday, and possibly it will be the hottest day we have had this summer.

Binding choices...................

I first pulled several blue Kaffe collective fabrics for the Fonthill quilt's binding choices.  The majority of the triangles are batik but the rest are Kaffe collective fabrics.  Since I'm going to hand finish this one I didn't want a batik binding.

This was the only one of the choices that had a more consistent value all through the print.  Some of the others had other colors and values through the prints.

This one looks good with the backing fabric too.

The easiest choice for the pink heart quilt would be the leftover backing fabric.  I'm pretty sure I will machine finish this one.  I will check to see if I have a pink stripe which could be an alternate choice.

The house south of me is for sale.   We already have a new neighbor across the street and one house north.  It seems like the neighborhood gets a lot of new owners/renters all at the same time.  I also have a new neighbor back to back with me.  I was talking to another neighbor across the street a few days ago and he was saying he wished the neighborhood could stay the same.  He and his wife moved in 10 years ago and the neighbors north and south of me moved in about 6 1/2 years ago.  I'm the only one left from the original block (1972) with 52 years in the same house.

More binding in my future................

Two quilts are back from my longarm friend Robin and I sent 2 more home with her.  I should have every large quilt quilted by the end of this year.  I know I want to hand finish the binding on the Kaffe Fonthill quilt but I haven't decided about the pink heart quilt yet.

I finished sewing the last seams of the neutral color 16 patch top and the staystitching around the perimeter at 10 last night.  I'll get it pressed and photographed today.

Now I need to get back to cutting pieces for future quilts, long range intense cutting.  Meanwhile I'll probably do some sewing on a quick quilt.

 

Four of eight long seams.....................

A lot was accomplished yesterday but only one photo.  I sewed the long seams in 2 backings for quilts to send to my longarm friend Robin.  

I got the last 2 columns sewn on the first direction on this 16 patch quilt and then turned the quilt and got 4 of the last 8 seams sewn.  I'm hoping to get the last 4 seams sewn today and then do the staystitching around the edge.  

I'm so happy to have the box of 174 neutral color 16 patches emptied out.  I made one top with 63 blocks earlier this year and this top has 108 blocks.  There were 3 blocks left over to go into the batik orphan block box.

A quilt top in progress.................

I started early yesterday and had the layout finalized for the last neutral batik 16 patch quilt.  I took down the columns and clipped them with numbers.

Next I cut a batting and backing for another quilt.  Then it was time to start sewing this quilt.  I have 9 of 12 columns webbed, 3 to go and then the cross seams.

Beautiful weather, cool with low humidity continues here.  90s return over the weekend though, at last 4 days of it.

 

What's next.............

There is one more batch of neutral batik 16 patch blocks made in 2018.  (photo taken in daylight in the studio) I have one top ready to be quilted that is throw size and this one will be 72" x 96".  I might start the layout on the design wall today.  I have been working on fabrics for a friend's quilt and should have that done by tomorrow.

These are most intense of the tiny blooms of mini Sedum.

The third kind of mini Sedum is just sending up some flower stalks.

The tall Sedums are starting to show a little color in their blooms.  There is one plant this color and 2 plants of the color behind it.  When they all change color the difference between the plants isn't as noticeable.

There are more plumes on the green Coral Bell.  

The blooms on the Zinfin Doll hydrangea are getting deeper pink as we approach autumn.

My Flare Compact Hydrangea bush has some flower buds on it but I'm not sure if they are ever going to completely open.  The tag says it will get 2-3 feet tall at maturity.  I will keep watering it and hoping to see more from it.

 

Sorting.................

I did a lot of sorting of batik scraps yesterday.  I pulled everything large enough to cut a 6.5" square for a friend's quilt and then sorted smaller pieces to cover both areas on this die.  That left a pile of mostly strips up to 3.5" wide.  They will go into a bag for a future destash sale.

I have this same die for 12" blocks so I can make both 12" and 6" blocks for the same quilt.  I have one more box of batik scraps to go through today.

The tomato plants are in a lull right now with lots of green tomatoes but not much ripening. The little Sun Gold cherry tomatoes are just starting to have more than 3 tomatoes a day.  The plant has gone wild again this year, sending out branches that cover both of the other tomato cages in the raised bed.  I tried to keep up with tucking the branches into the 5' tall cage as they grew but I missed a few and they are 3' long already.

Second finish for August 2024

I wasn't sure I would finish the binding on this one last night but it was done by 9:30 so I had plenty of time to photograph it too.  Since it is small I could do the photography in my main floor studio.  I don't like to go down to the basement late at night.

This neutral color batik quilt is 49" x 65" and has Hobbs 80/20 batting in it.  Most of the gray fabrics in it lean toward blue so in some light they look gray, in other light they look blue.  My longarm friend Robin quilted it with a gray-blue thread.

I'm really happy with the striped binding.  It is very subtle but adds a little excitement to this quilt.

Two fabrics on the back.................

Still hand stitching the binding.  Here are the 2 fabrics on the back of the quilt.  I have most of one long side left to stitch.

I did planning yesterday, sizes of backings and battings.  I need to clear off a couple piles on the table and then I can start cutting the battings.  I'll be looking for backing fabrics for 5 quilts too.

We got more rain last night around 8.  The Chicago news mentioned our town on the weather segment and said there was tree damage and maybe a microburst.  The wind was really strong as the storm approached.  It was dark when the storm was over so maybe I'll hear more on the local FM station this morning.

Binding progress.................

Two sides and 3 corners are done on this binding.  The batik fabric takes a little longer to hand stitch through.

We finally got some rain yesterday morning, two rain gauges with different amounts, 1/2" in one and 8 tenths in another.  I still haven't decided which one is the accurate one.  More rain predicted overnight last night.