It's almost tomato avalanche season again. Here are my two Brandywine plants:
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Which?
OK, folks, it's voting time again! (Gee, what would I do without the collective brain power of the blogosphere?)
Here's the deal: I can't decide on the border design for this quilt. I started out enlarging the design I used for the previous gift quilt, using a Arnold's Attic Fat eighth bundle and a fat quarter bundle of Arnold's Attic wovens (gorgeous,BTW). I started out with this idea, but when I laid it out on the floor it looked too dark:
I know husband thinks so too, even though he said it was pretty, because he doesn't like the darker, muddier colors like I do. So I started to work on alternate designs to lighten up the look. I came up with this:
And this:
And this:
And finally this:
EQ and a hyper-active imagination are a deadly combination! Now I'm stuck with five possibilities and I can't decide. I like them all, you see. I'm most puzzled about using the light neutral on the outer border of the last design. Does that look like the quilt just "drifts off" or does it have a complete looking finish, if you get what I mean? The binding will be a brown mono print, if that helps. FYI, the piano key border pieces finish at 2 1/2" x 5", so some of the EQ representations show them too wide, but you get the idea.
I'm open to suggestions. Still making the blocks in the center so I have some contemplation time. What would you do?
Addendum: The more I look at them, the more I'm leaning toward number 4. Help!
Friday, July 8, 2011
One border shy of a full quilt
You'll have to imagine a green homespun plaid inner border in the gap - the fabric's on order. (Oh, and mentally press the quilt top while you're at it!) Otherwise, here is the plaid quilt. It's going to be a gift for a family member. 
I'm going to make myself a version of this one. Love it!
I'm going to make myself a version of this one. Love it!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Plaid facts
Working with all these plaid fabrics has been interesting. They fall into several categories and each has its drawbacks and peculiarities.
First, the thrift store dress shirts. I used a white and blue tattersall shirt for the background on all the blocks and that fabric is a dream to work with. Silky, finely woven, doesn't ravel, takes a press beautifully, and doesn't stretch. The only thing that I found was that the plaid was distorted and pulled out of square in some places in the making of the shirt and some of my pieces aren't completely square with the plaid lines, but it doesn't worry me. I wasn't in the mood to wet and block the fabric, so I just took at as it is. I don't have any more of these shirts but I need to hunt for them. This one was a designer brand (don't remember which one) and the quality shows in the fabric.
Then, my old homespuns which date from the mid nineties and came from a fat quarter bundle of plaids I bought from Keepsake Quilting. These are a very different animal from the homespuns I purchased recently. They are thinner and more finely woven, they don't stretch and they don't have that annoying (at least to me) brushed finish on one side. They are a pleasure to work with, which is more than I can say for the newer homespuns, which are too stretchy and loosely woven and have to be handled carefully. They are from good brands, too, so they aren't cheap stuff. Just a pain to work with. I like plaid bindings so I buy them sometimes but every time I regret it.
There are other recently purchased wovens, however, that are a breed apart. I refer to those yarn dyed plaids sold by French General. These are finely woven, silky and beautifully made and I wish I had more of them but they seem to be hard to find. I bought a Maison de Garance wovens fat quarter bundle last fall; half were these lovely plaids and half were more usual chunky homespun weaves in stripes. I like them too, but not as much.
And finally, the casual plaid shirts from the thrift store. These are a real mixed bag. Some of the shirts were well known brands and are made of quality stuff, and others less so. You have to be very careful when you're thrift store shopping. I found one plaid on my last Goodwill run that had beautiful colors but the fabric was too flimsy to seriously consider. A few that I bought are so tightly woven with such fine threads, however, that you can barely get a sharp pin through them. They are prime goods.
I recently ordered a yarn dyed wovens fat quarter bundle of "Arnold's Attic" from Moda that I will incorporate into the Civil War sampler blocks using that collection's prints, and I'm eager to see how they handle and sew because the plaid pickings locally are pretty slim. I looked for plaids at the Hancock's and Joann's in town and was disappointed with the plaid selection and fabric quality - too loosely woven and stretchy and the colors were awful. I've also ordered a yard of a pumpkin colored plaid from Buggy Barn to use as the binding on this quilt and am curious as to how it will work.
But for the backing of this quilt I decided to use one of the printed plaids from a recent Moda collection, Lilac Hill. Homespuns just seemed too stretchy and unstable in a large piece, and might be a pain for the longarm quilter to handle. I have to remember to ask her what her experience is with these.
How about you? How do you feel about using homespuns in your quilts? Do you mix them with other cottons? Any problems quilting them? I'd love to know.
First, the thrift store dress shirts. I used a white and blue tattersall shirt for the background on all the blocks and that fabric is a dream to work with. Silky, finely woven, doesn't ravel, takes a press beautifully, and doesn't stretch. The only thing that I found was that the plaid was distorted and pulled out of square in some places in the making of the shirt and some of my pieces aren't completely square with the plaid lines, but it doesn't worry me. I wasn't in the mood to wet and block the fabric, so I just took at as it is. I don't have any more of these shirts but I need to hunt for them. This one was a designer brand (don't remember which one) and the quality shows in the fabric.
Then, my old homespuns which date from the mid nineties and came from a fat quarter bundle of plaids I bought from Keepsake Quilting. These are a very different animal from the homespuns I purchased recently. They are thinner and more finely woven, they don't stretch and they don't have that annoying (at least to me) brushed finish on one side. They are a pleasure to work with, which is more than I can say for the newer homespuns, which are too stretchy and loosely woven and have to be handled carefully. They are from good brands, too, so they aren't cheap stuff. Just a pain to work with. I like plaid bindings so I buy them sometimes but every time I regret it.
There are other recently purchased wovens, however, that are a breed apart. I refer to those yarn dyed plaids sold by French General. These are finely woven, silky and beautifully made and I wish I had more of them but they seem to be hard to find. I bought a Maison de Garance wovens fat quarter bundle last fall; half were these lovely plaids and half were more usual chunky homespun weaves in stripes. I like them too, but not as much.
And finally, the casual plaid shirts from the thrift store. These are a real mixed bag. Some of the shirts were well known brands and are made of quality stuff, and others less so. You have to be very careful when you're thrift store shopping. I found one plaid on my last Goodwill run that had beautiful colors but the fabric was too flimsy to seriously consider. A few that I bought are so tightly woven with such fine threads, however, that you can barely get a sharp pin through them. They are prime goods.
I recently ordered a yarn dyed wovens fat quarter bundle of "Arnold's Attic" from Moda that I will incorporate into the Civil War sampler blocks using that collection's prints, and I'm eager to see how they handle and sew because the plaid pickings locally are pretty slim. I looked for plaids at the Hancock's and Joann's in town and was disappointed with the plaid selection and fabric quality - too loosely woven and stretchy and the colors were awful. I've also ordered a yard of a pumpkin colored plaid from Buggy Barn to use as the binding on this quilt and am curious as to how it will work.
But for the backing of this quilt I decided to use one of the printed plaids from a recent Moda collection, Lilac Hill. Homespuns just seemed too stretchy and unstable in a large piece, and might be a pain for the longarm quilter to handle. I have to remember to ask her what her experience is with these.
How about you? How do you feel about using homespuns in your quilts? Do you mix them with other cottons? Any problems quilting them? I'd love to know.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Mad for plaid
In my normal, monkey-mind way (to use a Buddhist expression), I seem to hop between projects, usually just before one is completed. If I have a quilt down to the borders, I will get distracted and cut out another project. No finishing what I have started first, not for me! Why have one project going when you can have four? I finish them all eventually.
Last night my attention was captured by an all-plaid quilt in the same book as "On Golden Pond" that I'm finishing now (only three sides of the border to go). It was set on point with alternating Shoo Fly and Hole in the Barn Door blocks surrounded by plaid triangles, with a pieced border, and it was completely made of plaids. It was adorable. And I have a storage box of shirts from the thrift store that hadn't been cut into yet. So what did I do?
Yup. I cut out a quilt this morning.
In my defense, I woke up feeling lousy, with aching knees and a sinus headache, and the thought of my planned morning (treadmill time, jump in the car and take it for state inspection, hit the grocery and the credit union on the way home) just wore me out thinking about it.
So I didn't do it.
It's one of the lovely perks of being retired. Having a bad morning? You don't HAVE to do anything you don't want to do (with some limits). So I didn't.
I was happy to find that my blue on white tattersall thrift store shirt was large enough to cut out all the backgrounds for the blocks, lending a bit of order to a scrappy design. That is something I use often - a single background fabric in all the blocks of an otherwise jumbled color quilt. And I had enough shirts and homespuns to include 28 different plaids in the quilt, which makes a nice variety. I also have enough left that I can piece the backing if I want.
So here are a couple of the little cuties:
Last night my attention was captured by an all-plaid quilt in the same book as "On Golden Pond" that I'm finishing now (only three sides of the border to go). It was set on point with alternating Shoo Fly and Hole in the Barn Door blocks surrounded by plaid triangles, with a pieced border, and it was completely made of plaids. It was adorable. And I have a storage box of shirts from the thrift store that hadn't been cut into yet. So what did I do?
Yup. I cut out a quilt this morning.
In my defense, I woke up feeling lousy, with aching knees and a sinus headache, and the thought of my planned morning (treadmill time, jump in the car and take it for state inspection, hit the grocery and the credit union on the way home) just wore me out thinking about it.
So I didn't do it.
It's one of the lovely perks of being retired. Having a bad morning? You don't HAVE to do anything you don't want to do (with some limits). So I didn't.
I was happy to find that my blue on white tattersall thrift store shirt was large enough to cut out all the backgrounds for the blocks, lending a bit of order to a scrappy design. That is something I use often - a single background fabric in all the blocks of an otherwise jumbled color quilt. And I had enough shirts and homespuns to include 28 different plaids in the quilt, which makes a nice variety. I also have enough left that I can piece the backing if I want.
So here are a couple of the little cuties:
Monday, July 4, 2011
Civil War Sampler
My Barbara Brackman 2011 Civil War Sampler blocks so far:
This is gonna be deeply cool! Thank you Barbara Brackman!
This is gonna be deeply cool! Thank you Barbara Brackman!
Friday, July 1, 2011
The perfect blue
So this is the paisley that was driving the search for an alternate setting fabric:
And this is what I finally decided on:
The rich dark blue I wanted, a few more cream colored flowers and not so much open space between them, the shape of the spriggy design to coordinate with the paisley. Perfect!
And this is what it's going to look like. It's big, as usual. When they get this large, I run out of floor space when they are laid out for assembling the rows and I almost can't scoot my sewing chair out.
And this is what I finally decided on:
The rich dark blue I wanted, a few more cream colored flowers and not so much open space between them, the shape of the spriggy design to coordinate with the paisley. Perfect!
And this is what it's going to look like. It's big, as usual. When they get this large, I run out of floor space when they are laid out for assembling the rows and I almost can't scoot my sewing chair out.And I think it's fabulous! Thanks to Carrie Nelson for another great design. It's called "On Golden Pond" and it's from her book "Miss Rosie's Autumn Quilts" which is unfortunately out of print. I had to get it on interlibrary loan. There's another design, an all plaid quilt, in it called "Flies in the Barn" I would love to do with some of my thrift store shirts when I have enough variety.
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