Cleaning up, designs from the past, nature............................

Do you remember the Reader's Digest Condensed novels, 4 to a book?  I always intended to read them.

I have another use for them though.  I am starting to clean off the workbench at the far end of my basement.  It has been several years since I have gone through everything there.  I made it all the way to 3' in from the left end.  Back to my use of the books.  I don't like this window uncovered at night.

I use the books to prop up a 30" x 40" foam core board to cover the window.  Now the part where I got sidetracked and didn't make it past the first 3'.  There were several notebooks piled there (which I removed so I could clean the top of the table) and I decided to look through them.  2 hours later I decided I was done down there, but what did I find?

There were about 15 page protectors with all kinds of photos and notes about Kaleidoscope quilts and blocks.  Some of it was pages of colored in designs that use the blocks.  These are each made with 9 blocks.

I used to sit for hours and color in designs.  Now I want to cut more pieces and make something.

I tried to not get a glare on the plastic sleeves but wasn't totally successful.

Have you fallen asleep yet?  You probably won't want to see what else I find as I work myself down this workbench that is about 14' long.  I'm going to be spending about 3 hours a day down there trying to organize, clean, and move some things to recycling or trash.  I need to organize more than I need to be making another quilt right now.

I have another color of Gloriosa Daisy blooming 3' away from the others; nice Coral Bell flowers as a backdrop to it.

Here is the group of orange blooms.  These plants are growing in the crack between 2 pavers.

One of the tomatoes on the half price plant (that had 10 tomatoes already growing on it) is starting to change color.  Since it is nestled down in the plant I think it is safe from the squirrels, but I'll probably pick it in a few days.

We had another beautiful day yesterday with a nice breeze coming in the windows.  It sounds like possible rain today and very likely rain tomorrow.

 

Wandering around...............

First I wandered around the basement.  While attempting to clean off the die cutting table, I found this big stack of 2" x 3.5" (1.5" x 3" finished size) batik rectangles.  They need to be sorted and placed on trays with the previously cut pieces.  I left them on the ironing table.

I have had this top and backing on the cutting table many times and yesterday I finally sewed the 2 pieces of backing together.  Now I just have to find a piece of batting the right size.  It will likely be 2 pieces joined to make the right size.  In fact I have a stack of pieces that need to be joined.  Not yesterday though.

I looked through several project boxes to familiarize myself with what was in them.  I can get  back to fussy cutting the flower blocks now too.  I think I will add 4.5"  finished blocks (5" cut) to the mix because I have a lot of 6" strips of Kaffe fabric.  The largest blocks are 9" so 2 of this new size will work with the 9".  The other sizes ae 3" and 6".

I checked out more growing things.  The buds are forming on the Zinfin Doll Hydrangea.

Next to that was more of the Gloriosa Daisy blooms.  This all started with a free plant from the garden center, one that she said might survive over the winter, maybe not.  I had it in a pot the first year and planted it in the ground in the fall of 2023.  I'm sure the new plants are coming up from seed, not the original plant.  There are several this year.

The Wild Strawberry plants are taking over in another section.  They send out runners, just like real strawberries and root wherever they touch the ground.

In the back more lilies are blooming, along with the Evening Primrose.

The two hanging plants in the back garden are doing well.  This pot has one weak section where the hanging thing hooks on.  I'll have to keep an eye on it.  If a squirrel jumps up on it, it will start tipping again.

I was out talking to my tomato plants again and tucking leaves into the cages that surround them.  I'm trying to keep up with them this year and not let so many leaf stems jump out of the their barrier.  They are all taller than the round cages now.  The ones with the 5' square cages around them are about 3' tall now.  I'm looking forward to today being a cooler day, maybe high 60s.  It got humid again yesterday and rain was predicted overnight, but most storms on radar were breaking up and dissipating before they reached us.

Lots of progress..............................

I took the three sections to the basement and gave all of them a final pressing.  There are different lights down there so the color looks a little different from previous photos.

Then I started working on the Kaleidoscope blocks using the same triangles of Marcia Derse fabrics.

I got 6 blocks completed before I ran out of corner pieces but got 2 more blocks partially made before I also ran out of variety of the tall triangles.

This is all that was left when I finished sewing last night.  Today I'll be cutting more pieces of both shaped triangles.

I pressed the 5 blocks I made a few days ago and added them to the 12 that were on the design wall.  I brought them all up to the main floor studio and when starting to put them on the design wall, I found another layout for the blocks.  With this arrangement I could have an uneven number of blocks in both directions.

Here are the 2 layouts.  Now I'm thinking I need to make one quilt of each layout.  Maybe the second quilt will be with a different group of fabrics.

6 more blocks.................

I had to cut some more triangle corners before I could make any more blocks.  That is 60 triangles in the stack, one pass through the Studio die cutter with a Studio die, 10 layers at a time.  That is enough triangles for 15 blocks.  There is very little waste when cutting with the triangle dies.

After that I cut 30 tall triangles in one pass through the cutter, enough for 15 blocks.

I also cut 6 of each of these Marcia Derse prints so I would have some more variety to choose from for both quilts.

While I was in the basement I pressed the first 6 blocks.

I added some more pieces to the quilt at the top and the layout is subject to change as I keep working on it.  The 6 new Kaleidoscope blocks are at the bottom and they will get their final pressing today.  The blocks will be 10" finished so I need a minimum of 35 for a quilt 50" x 70".  That means I'm 1/3 of the way there.

It was 48 degrees for a high yesterday and may get up to the 60s today.  I need to trim my Zinfin Doll Hydrangea.  It says to do it in late March before it has buds.  My Annabelle Hydrangeas can be trimmed in the fall or spring.  I'll check both of them and see if they need any more cut off.

Playing with triangles....................

I should have been working on the finishing of the Marcia Derse fabric table runner.  Instead I did my grocery shopping and then went back out to get birdseed that was on sale for a couple more days.

Last night I didn't want to go down to the basement where the table runner parts are waiting for me so I made a few more of the Kaleidoscope blocks.  I need to cut some more corner triangles before I can finish any more blocks.  I'll take these down to the ironing table today and press them and while I'm down there, cut the triangles.

Here is the whole design wall.  I started designing the part at the top on a design wall in the basement but I decided I would rather work on it in the main floor studio.  My friend and I both wanted to remake a quilt that we both had made and both had gifted to someone.  Here is the post with its finish in late 2016.  I made the first one with a tall triangle template but I'm making this one with die cut pieces, a little shorter than the triangles in the original quilt.  This quilt will be much smaller than the original.

When I brought the triangles upstairs they weren't sorted so I took time to do that yesterday.  I have gotten a couple new MD fabrics since I was working on this last year so maybe I'll cut a few triangles from them too.

 

The other Winding Ways quilt top.............

 The friend who cut the hand dyed fabrics for me with her die cutter also cut batik fabrics.  There were enough pieces to do 2 quilt tops but I just made one and a friend took the others.   I made this top in 2011 and a friend bought it from me to finish for her daughter.

This is my preferred pattern to get the circular look.  I have made more than these 3 but the others were before digital cameras and I don't think I have a photo of them.  These are all strip pieced Kaleidoscope quilts made before 2010.  Click on the photo for a closer look.  The one in the center is all floral fabrics.

My Sedums have turned a really deep rosy red.  They don't always get to that stage before the first frost.

Leftovers.............

I made another attempt to clean off my cutting table and found a few wedges leftover from a Kaleidoscope quilt top I made many years ago.  I knew where my other Kaleidoscope leftovers were in the basement so I headed down there.  I found some more of the same batch plus this piece of leftover strata.  I have enough pieces to make 4 blocks before cutting the strata.

In the basement spot I also found all of the leftovers from the floral Kaleidoscope quilt I made.  I haven't figured out how many blocks I can make from all of this strata.  I'm sure there will be enough for a good size table topper.

I also worked on the black, gray and white TAW and got another 15 long strips sewn together.  I unpicked the last 15 loops and I just have 12 long strips to sew together as well as sewing the 3 sections together.
 

Half sewn, more basting, and redbuds.....

I decided I needed to stick with it and sew the top half of this quilt.  The art quilters are coming Monday and I need the design walls cleared off.  I will have this photo for the layout of the bottom half so I can finish it later.  There is a lot of bias in this one but I kept it under control and it is going to finish a little under 35" square.  I would never be able to do a large one of this pattern but LeeAnn over at Nifty Quilts did make a large one and it is a beauty.  Be sure to click on the link and check it out.

The cross quilt is basted now.

I guess I don't need to worry about any freeze before the redbuds bloom.  We are still expecting a couple more days in the 80s and then the 60s over the weekend.  I think they will be fully in bloom by Sunday.

Progress.....

I finally made some more black and white wedges for this piece.  I'm half way there....none of this is sewn together, just pieces on the wall.

I sewed the border on #6 and I like it.  This piece wasn't dark enough on the edge to stand alone and needed the border.  I like most of the series without borders.  This one is about 22" square.

Spring is here!  I hadn't seen any robins until yesterday, 65 degrees with wind gusts over 50 mph in the area.  Today is supposed to be warm too and then back down to the 40s.

Layout trial......

I made a few more black and white wedges but I won't sew them onto the other pieces until I have them all made.  I can see I need the distribution of the black and white to change positions more in the wedges.  This will look a lot different when it is sewn because I don't have the pieces lined up nice and tight right now.  It is kind of boring with just red/orange/yellow in it but it is my trial piece using wedges that were already made and leftover from another project.

I just can't get enough of these beautiful blooms. 

Playing with a new idea..........

This is a pile of leftover Kaleidoscope wedges from a demo I did with the last class.  I dug them out because I wondered if they would work on a project I wanted to start.  One of the blogs I read is nifty quilts.  Click here and go see what she has on her design wall and then I'll explain where these wedges come into the picture.

I have the same book as she has so I could go to it to see the inspiration quilt.  I emailed her and asked if she was strip piecing and cutting wedges. I knew most people doing this pattern are piecing it one strip at a time on paper like she said she is doing.  I figured if you need 8 wedges alike why not strip piece it, cut it with a Kaleidoscope ruler and add it on all in one chunk.  She encouraged me to write a blog post about my idea.

I photocopied it in black and white so I could draw the seam lines with a red pen to see how the pattern evolves.  Then since my wedges were already made I had to work backwards for the measurement of the center piece between 2 wedges.  I cut a square I thought would be a finished size and and cut it corner to corner both directions (for 4 triangles) and then drew the center piece in and added the seam allowances and then cut it out.

I have it almost right.  I went to the basement and got my black and white leftover scraps from a Strips n Curves quilt and pieced onto them and then cut out the shape.  I need a tiny bit more seam allowance so that means it's a little too small.  I will probably just make a small quilt from the wedges I have and use a totally different group of fabrics if I make the real quilt.  The planning and figuring out is the fun (and sometimes frustrating) part.

Another finish, just under the wire.......

As usual a colorwash style quilt just isn't as pretty in a photo as it is in real life.  I have the binding finished but have not done any ditch quilting yet.  It doesn't 'need' any more quilting; I just want to find out if it works well to meander first and ditch quilt afterwards.  My shoulder is bothering me right now so I won't be doing it right away.

My hardware store amaryllis is blooming just in time to bring in the new year.

This bird feeder, a present from my BIL and SIL, is labeled squirrel resistant.  Well they should have made that little cover latch a little better.  It was opened twice yesterday and this little rascal just sticks his head in the top and eats.

I have had birds trying it out too.  They usually dart in and out so fast I can't get the camera focused on them in time.  This bird actually circled the whole center tube before it left.  It took 4 shots to get one with the bird in focus though.

It is time to retire my Charley Harper calendar so I was looking back through the pictures.  I like the way he simplified the black and white on the woodpecker.

I never thought about using dotted fabric for a calico cat but this painting in the calendar is good inspiration.  Every year I buy an engagement calendar with a different artist featured.