WIP Wednesday

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for a Works-in-Progress Wednesday post!

In Progress:

Spring
What started as a sampler to use up scraps quickly morphed into a an all-out study in green and yellow. I've now got 13-18 blocks, depending on how they're grouped, and I'm trying to figure out a way to put them into one cohesive unit. More on that here. (Warning: this post is a bit melodramatic. The soap opera that is my quilting life...)

Well, I'm happy to say I've made some major progress. First, I ditched the white background. It was a sheet I found at Goodwill. It's possibly the softest, weighty-est, coolest-to-the-touch sheet in the world...but it's a bitch to cut and sew, let me tell you. Lesson learned: stick to 100% cotton for piecing and save the crazy-cool finds for backing.

Lucky I just happened to have a bit of Kona Coal lying around...

Yes!! Much more like the rainy spring day I had envisioned when I was inspired to start the project. Which called for a new title: 'Lemons and Limes' becomes 'Spring.' (Whew, that's out of the way. I find titling quilts awkward. But I can't keep calling it 'that yellow and green one.')

I've been adding borders to my improv blocks to make them all 18" square. I can't decide if I'll add sashing as well, or if a few gray borders will be enough.

Brother Quilt
Obviously, this is for my brother (to commemorate high school graduation). As for titles, my husband suggested...wait for it.... 'Quilt-ageddan' or 'S'ain't Nothin' Like a Quilt' (the school's teams are the Saints). While I'm mulling those over...

I have all the blocks done, but I'm still playing around with the layout. So much yellow and purple intermingling is sort of a puzzle since it's outside my normal palette. I played around with these tradition layouts first:

What do you think? Does it work? I'm a little...bored by them. But maybe I should fight my tendency to eschew simplicity? There is something nice about big, bold, and simple.

Hmm. Next I tried out some modern layouts. I like them much better, but I'm not yet ready to commit to one.

So far this one is my favorite. Don't mind the living room furniture! :o)

Do you have a favorite?

Paisley Sunrise
I'm still plugging away at these liberated Amish cables. I like having a little hand-quilting around to drag into my lap on winter evenings, so I don't mind if this one takes a good long while.

Finishes
Nope!

New Projects
Since I only have three projects in the queue, I'm planning and plotting what I want to make next. Here's the short list:

Wonky Crosses
Liberated Churn Dash
Wonky Stars (probably my favorite block ever...why haven't I done this yet?)
HST Cross (aka Criss Cross)
Liberated/Wonky Nine-Patch

Probably the hardest part is choosing a color scheme for each one. I like a lot of things I've seen on Flickr, but I don't want to copy! Hmm hmm...

Oh Yeah, That Quilt

My brother started his senior year in high school last week, which reminded me...I sort of promised a quilt for his graduation. Hmm. Time to get back on it. Here's the grand plan (in it's latest incarnation):

Only 80 blocks. And as of today, 61 of them are done!! Yay! Granted, this includes some 12.5" solid squares. That I just had to cut out. And then they were done. But still! This is victory, because I'm simultaneously managing to ignore the pressing responsibilities of my day job(s) and the chores that need doing and and and. And.

So let's just gaze at the pretty pictures and appreciate that while I may or may not have clean pants to wear tomorrow, all the purple blocks for this massive quilt are good and done and I like them.

Meanwhile, only 4 more gold blocks to piece. I hope I can show you those next week!

More Samplin'

Don't get used to these everyday posts, guys. I'm going back to work soon, and I'll be way less productive (at least in sewing)...which is why I'm trying to soak up all possible creative goodness over the next few days. And this sampler is doing the trick to keep me motivated. It's fun to make just one of each block. They become more unique and special.

I tackled the HSTs first (I'm not sure what the name of this block is?). I'm seeing these everywhere on Flickr and had to have my very own! But wow, it's been a while since I did any precision piecing, and let me assure I did not achieve the perfect accurate points I was going for.

I'm trying to banish "perfect" from my vocabulary. Perfection is a myth, anyway...why should I put so much stock in something that doesn't exist? This project has been going on for several years now...still a WIP :o) On the bright side, I did something with those HST that I think looks really beautiful.

Next I wanted to do some freestyling. This lovely quilt captured my imagination a while ago. So simple, yet it really gave me pause. There is just something peaceful about it. So I grabbed this guy and gave it a gray frame...

...stepped back, and realized I was re-creating a rainy day-- the gray clouds, the raindrops and puddles, the way that everything growing becomes greener. True to the scene, I cooked up a little sun that may or may not look much more like a rose:

But even so, I love it! These pentagon improv blocks are rocking my world. So satisfying to make and very delicious eye candy. And now for the big reveal...my fabric version of a cloudy, rainy day:

 

Eeekk!! Why does this make me so happy?!!

Up next: these little orphans. Looking forward to sewing them into something tomorrow...

Scrap Bustin' Sampler

Today, my overflowing jars of yellow and green scraps were calling my name. This (entirely candid!) shot captures the mood-- gray and windy, a typical San Francisco summer day. At least my fabrics could be warm and sunny!

But what to make? A little rooting in the ol' quilt cupboard yielded these forgotten finds:

A log cabin made from scraps sometime last year, with no purpose in mind other than to get that sunlight-through-the-forest-canopy type feeling...
















...and three little trees left over from these potholders I made my sister-in-law last Christmas. They have been patiently waiting to participate in a quilt ever since.


Since my attention span for repetitive block-making is at zero lately, this is the perfect opportunity to try my hand at a sampler. Some new blocks, a few old favorites, bustin' scraps...yay!

It's a challenge to stick to the scraps. I want to leap into yardage! But so far I've been pretty good. The trees got some roots from Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow (which I horde):

I don't love how it looks right now, but I have some ideas on how to improve it. Like maybe adding a lil sun:

I'm reflecting that I may be a bit obsessed with sunshine. I'm a native of San Diego, and while I love the Bay Area (and the fog that comes with it), I often miss the desert and the big open sky. Especially in the summertime.

I also found some 3" HST. (How am I just "finding" this stuff? Who cut these?!)

Endless possibilities! Yet I had nothing big enough to put them together with, so I made some green "fabric" from the thin strips I had on hand.

 

I find myself doing this increasingly. It's a pretty effective base for any and all wonky projects (not that I've done that many), but I'm getting kind of bored with it. You see why I was so excited by those HST...I've been living in line-land.

I haven't committed to these pinwheels yet. They seem a little...pukey? Sorry, pinwheels. Just calling 'em like I see 'em. I need a sharper contrast. It may be back to the cutting board on this one...