WIP Wednesday

Welcome, visitors from Freshly Pieced! I'm linking up with Lee for another WIP Wednesday.









New Projects

I got a bit more than half the HSTs done for Mumu. Now just waiting on a few yards of Kona Snow to complete the rest til the end of this post is finish 'em up!








Spring Sampler had a big week. After scouring through many, many pictures, I finally figured out a plan to fit all those orphan unique and special blocks together. And...(magic cape sweeps before the screen)...REVEAL!

I was so excited about making the Plan that I completely lost steam when it came to actually implementing the thing. I only managed to add borders onto three blocks and make one:

And then there was this one. Of which there are actually two. That I equally dislike. I know they're not that bad. They just irk me.

Not jiving with the Plan.

So I hacked 'em up into bits, muahahhaahah...

First idea...

...second idea...

Meh, either way, I'm not ready to commit. Just having fun playing with the pieces. The second makes me think of sunlight dripping through the clouds. Sigh, I love you, Springtime.

Finally, Paisley Sunrise is still being hand-quilted, much to my enjoyment.

Hey whose toes are those?

Finishes
Huh?

No Progress
Despite the much-appreciated and very nice feedback on my brother's quilt, I'm still letting the options marinate. My mom/quilting guru/expert on my brother is visiting next weekend (YAY!), so I have a feeling we'll tackle it together. Of course I'll let you know what happens :o) She's also bringing a very special quilt-y surprise, so stay tuned!

In the Queue
Swoon! What could be a better pattern for this giant block kick I'm on? I bought the pattern, picked out fabrics, and then didn't start because I'm trying to find a way to not follow the directions. More fabrics? Different size blocks (since I just figured out how difficult that is)?

Yes. Yes, I'm crazy.

Let Block Party Bee Begin!

Friends, I live in San Francisco. Where everything is hip, modern, and progressive...except quilting. Since the amazing Peapod Fabrics closed, going to the fabric store means a) sifting through bins of fake fur, glitter spandex, pleather, and felt in search of material for a Halloween/Pride/Street Fair costume, b) paying $100/yard for designer silks and upholstery fabric to go in your fancy mansion, and/or c) finding the 2-3 bolts of outdated cotton stuffed into the back corner and wishing you were into something else, anything else-- since the materials for knitting, painting, decoupage, re-upholstery seem to be on hand at every turn. It makes Joann's look like Mecca.

How does such a beautiful city lack beautiful fabric choices? I don't know.

For example, I once made a t-shirt. After a 3-day, 4-store hunt for a piece of jersey. Not that I found some options and didn't like them, no, I mean I bought the first one I actually found (it wasn't ugly, but it was expensive).

It gets worse! I lived in the same building as a fabric store for a year and didn't buy anything there except elastic and ribbon. Yeah. It's like that.

I guess the best city in the world has to have at least one flaw.

Anyway, the point of this rant is to say that the virtual modern quilting community has become my water in the quilting desert. Which is why I was SO EXCITED when my first package of fabric arrived from Shelley, officially kicking off my FIRST BEE EVER, the Block Party Bee!

For our first month, Shelley picked the confetti block. Here's what she sent:

Don't know how she knew, but I'm glad I got a ton of green :o) So I added a bit from my stash:

Looks pretty good, if I do say so m'self. I'll be cutting into this one today.

Since I was laying out fabric, I pulled out this little square of Canyon Flutter by Alexander Henry (sent to me gratis with an order from Fresh Modern Fabrics!) and set up some pieces for another block in the yellow and green sampler I've been working on.

I've also been cuddling up with a little hand-quilting in the evenings. My liberated cables are progressing nicely, now that I've got the hang of it.

Much much better than trying to make them perfectly even! I love the organic flow of the curves.

It's hard to get a good pic of the white on white pattern, but I can assure you...it looks cool ;o) Time to go play with confetti.

Fresh Sunrise

The machine quilting is nearly done. I really like how it's turning out. The lines on the back don't perfectly match up to the piecing, but I decided to let that go. I'm making a blanket, not doing heart surgery, right?

As for the spray basting, I find myself having to reposition the top and backing pretty much as often as when I pin or baste with thread. So I'm accepting this as part of the process and saving my money next time!

Paisley Sunrise

After a week of little projects, it's back to the Big One-- or "Paisley Sunrise," as my friend named it. But it's time to baste. And guys, I hate basting. Hate. It. I've tried pins, I've tried stitching. Last time it took three days and I strained a back muscle (as well as the patience of the husband, who likes to use the floors too). But what I really hate (since you asked) is that it is impossible to ensure that the sandwich stays completely wrinkle-free and totally straight. Elusive perfection! [Shaking my fist at the quilting gods]

Since ol' Paisley is queen sized, I couldn't stomach the thought of traditional basting methods. Enter spray basting. All set to try 505, I bought Sulky KK 2000 at the last minute because it's more environmentally friendly.

And a good thing too. My grand plans to work on the patio were immediately foiled by the wind. Cursed wind!! (Setting myself up for some good quilt karma today, huh? Just wait.) Seconds after the above picture, my lovely quilt back was wrapped around a lawn chair, whimpering for mercy.

I dragged the whole mess beautiful pieces inside and took my time carefully laying out, spraying, and placing each layer. But, quilt friends, I flipped it over to check the backing smoothness and...well, see for yourself:

I surrender to the inevitable. It's probably wrinkly because I have to crawl over it to get at the center. But what else can you do? Okay, whining officially over! :o)

My quilting strategy is to do a machine/hand hybrid-- straight, machine quilted lines on the coin stacks, and Amish cables in the white "margins." Sort of a modern-meets-traditional type thing. I'm pretty excited about it.

I suppose I could have tried to fix the basting. But either I'm lazy or doubtful that it would do much good. Or I have a ton of faith in my walking foot and I'm really eager to overcome my perfectionism. Let's just forge ahead and keep our machingers crossed!