Decision process.............

 

When I compared the design wall photos from the last 2 days I was surprised that I liked the mix of red and yellow as alternate blocks between the LeMoyne stars.

Some options that raced through my mind yesterday:

1. Lotus Leaf print as the alternate blocks.

2. Yellow Dream as the alternate blocks.

3. Red spools as alternate blocks.

4. Both red and yellow squares for fill in.

This proves to me that I could make this quilt 4 times with each of the options and they all would look good.

The three fabrics still in place are the ones mentioned above in 1 - 3.

I added 3 more star blocks to the bottom.  They are rejects because the star is spinning in the opposite direction as the other 15 stars. (Cutting error.)  I'm not sure if that will be noticeable when the filler blocks are in place and I like the balance better with the top and bottom rows both starting with stars.

As I write this blog post I'm leaning toward the Lotus Leaf print.  The red blocks and yellow blocks stand out as alternate blocks where the Lotus Leaf blends in.  It has been my favorite choice from the beginning (but I still needed to try lots of options just in case) so I think I need to follow my gut feeling about it.

Thanks to everyone who commented with their opinion.  It gave me a lot to think about as I read them.

In my quest to clean up all of the loose ends in my studio, I made 2 placemat tops and 1 mug rug top with 22 of the remaining 24 Crooked Cobblestones.

The 2 blocks left over will go into the batik orphan block box.

More auditions..............

I filled in all of the spots with a couple more reds and lots of yellow/gold choices.  Some of those pieces were at least 2 yards so it was a challenge to get the pins to hold them up.  I found one more piece of the Lotus Leaf print so I put that one up in the top row.  (click to enlarge the photo)

I had tried the maple leaf with the LeMoyne star blocks before when I was trying to decide what I was going to do.  The cabbage print is interesting.

I only have a half yard of this Philip Jacobs Scallops and when I searched online I only found one Etsy seller with a fat quarter for $12...no thanks.  If I used a variety of the yellow prints I could use some of it.

This Kaffe Dream print is a strong contender.  It is the yellow in the block below it too.

Thanks to everyone who told me their favorite with the red fabrics yesterday.

Now I need to hear from some of you again with the yellow fabrics. 

Auditioning................

There were a couple fabrics I knew I wanted to try for the alternate blocks.  Top left is one, Enchanted.  Another was Dorothy, right end of 4th row.  At that point I could see I wanted to try some more choices.  I even wondered if it should be a variety of prints to fill the spaces instead of just one fabric.  I just kept pulling fabrics and pinned them all to the wall.

I don't have enough of this Enchanted if I choose it but it's still available to purchase.

When I added this one I really liked it.  I think I would have to put it in several of the spots to see if a lot of it would work.  

I also like the spools, in the 5th row.

I could also try yellow prints instead of red.

What do you think?

So, the rest of the day was deciding which quilt is next to send to my longarm quilter, and after that, finding a fabric with enough yardage, measuring, cutting, ironing, sewing the seam, trimming off the edge of the selvages in the seam, pressing the seam open.....and then finally trimming off the excess width of the back. Then I cut the batting.  And then I did it all over again for a second quilt.  4 hours........so when someone asks "how long did it take to make that?" I'm sure they are imagining all of the pieces of the top already cut and laying in order on my sewing cabinet and the backing and batting magically appearing next to the pieced top and no decisions involved.  

View from the computer chair...............

I removed the batik orphan blocks from my design wall and took them to the basement.  I will work on a double design wall down there with a vertical column layout.

I took the pile of 9" LeMoyne stars made a couple years ago and put them up on the wall.  I think I will look for a large floral fabric for the blank spaces.  The blocks might end up back in a pile....

My 2 youngest great-grandsons came to visit yesterday morning and they brought me a beautiful bouquet. 

Today I need to prepare a couple backings and cut one batting.  Not my favorite job.

We have had some sunshine lately and they are predicting mid 50s for a few days this week.  The famous groundhogs said we will have an early spring but that might mean a cold May.  I would like to see a normal spring for a change.

 

View from the sewing chair.............

I opened the box of batik orphan blocks again.  I do this a couple times a year and end up just putting the blocks back in the box again.

In October last year I sorted all of the blocks by size and clipped them together.

Here is the design wall the last time I played with them.  Very underwhelming.

This time I decided to try a row quilt since they were already sorted by size.  A column quilt with long batik strips between columns might be nice too.

Not up on the design wall is a stack of 16 patch blocks, enough for another row.  There are more Hunter Stars in there too (top row on this layout).

There also was a stack of Double 4 patch blocks.  I will leave the blocks on the design wall for a couple days until I decide if I want to proceed.

This is the first batik orphan quilt that I made in 2019.  I gifted it to a great-niece.

 

January 2024 monthly recap................

 Two quilts were finished in January from tops made a few years ago, both large ones.  Mosaic made of Kaffe collective prints is 76.5" x 97.5" and is in my top 5 favorite large quilts.  Batik Pineapple Log Cabin is 69.5" x 89".  Lots of hand stitching in those bindings.  (Longarm quilting by Robin Diaz).

Six quilt tops were completed.  

Shoo Fly (top left) was 17 blocks in a project box with all of the solid colors cut for another 13 blocks.  I created the rest of the blocks, sewed the top together, and this quilt top is 37.5" x 57".

Crooked Cobblestone 13 was designed from blocks already made and in 11 small plastic bags, sorted by width.  All sewn together it is 37" x 58".

Kaffe fabric Double 4 patch project box had 9 blocks sewn and pieces cut for 13 more blocks so I assembled the rest of the blocks for a 20 block quilt top.  This one is 40" x 60".

On the bottom row the 2 baby quilt tops were made from the contents of another box.  The triangles were already sewn into squares so all I had to do was design and sew the 2 tops.  The zigzag on the left is 34.5" x 40" and the Donuts and 9 Patches on the right is 37" square.

The final top on the right is made from 6.5" flannel squares. Most were cut in the last 3 years and the rest cut in January to get the number I needed for a 53" x 72" quilt.

In January I emptied two 12" square project boxes, one small plastic box, 11 small plastic bags, and used squares from a pile on a shelf.  It was a "clean it up" month for started projects.

The red is deeper than the camera likes to show you.

This bloom is on the same Amaryllis but it has white streaks in some of the petals.

The white Amaryllis with the tiny red edging on the petals is still blooming too.

We got up to 49 degrees yesterday and more days of 40s ahead.  The snow is almost all melted.  The 4' piles from driveway plowing are down but not gone yet.

One last quilt top made in January 2024

It took several hours yesterday but I got this flannel quilt top sewn together by 10 p.m.  I had errands in the middle of the day so I still had 6 cross seams to sew in the evening.

It is 53" x 72", a nice throw quilt size or an extra cover on a twin bed.

I mentioned yesterday that I thought I had enough of a Laurel Burch flannel for a backing and I found it.  I think there are 6 yards in the piece so I'll have enough left over for a backing on a baby quilt plus a strip to cut up for piecing in another flannel quilt.

I didn't have time to make the collages for the monthly recap so I'll do that today and post it tomorrow.