A Cure for the Blues

Our guild's 2007-08 block of the month project involved nine 12" blocks. In spite of the fact that I don't like large blocks, I made three sets of them:

• blue and brown
• rust and green
• assorted shades of blues

Why did I make three sets? Maybe because I get excited about things when our quilting year begins in September. Maybe because I believe block of the month is a good guild activity. Maybe because I like Marie, Nancy, and Monica. Maybe because Ada, Sherrie, and I have been talking about contrast. The first two colorways did not really have enough contrast.

In early January, I got the first two sets assembled into tops. The all blue set was the best of the three. I decided to see if I could make myself like them by combining them with smaller blocks of varying sizes. I could even include some appliqued blocks. I tried to work it out in my head and on paper how I might do that and it was too difficult. I finally threw caution to the wind and started making other blocks and assembling them into rows. The first row was 18" by 47". That meant all other rows would be 47" wide. The second row was 24" deep. The third row was 12" deep. The final row will be at least 12" deep, possibly 18".

I absolutely love it! It was the cure for the blue blocks, thus the name of the quilt - A Cure for the Blues.

Lightbulb Moment - Quilting Straight Lines Free Motion

It's all about the placement of the hands and the role each hand plays. Both change depending on the direction being quilted. I've been doing this intuitively sometimes, but not always. It explains why some of my efforts are better than others. It is really very simple.

Assume that you are quilting a sawtooth star in the ditch to outline the center square and the points. You are going to do this free motion and you will keep the star in the same orientation the entire time. You will not turn the fabric. There are 3 kinds of lines - vertical, horizontal, and diagonal. I have always found the vertical lines to be easiest and struggled most with the other two, but especially the horizontal lines.

I mentioned the "role each hand plays." There are two roles and the hands must play one, the other, or both depending on the direction of the quilting. The hand is moving the fabric, guiding the fabric, or both.

This is what is needed to maintain the proper control:

• When quilting vertical lines, both hands play both roles equally. If one hand scratches the nose, the line will not be straight. If one hand moves the fabric with more force, the line will not be straight. This is true whether you are quilting forward or backward. It is probably easiest to do if both hands are positioned equally to the left and right of the sewing surface.
• When quilting horizontal lines, one hand moves the fabric and the other guides it. If you are quilting in a right direction, the left hand moves the fabric and should be positioned even with the line being quilted. The right hand keeps the fabric square and guides it. The right hand should also be positioned even with the line being quilted. The right hand should not attempt to move the fabric or push it in the intended direction. The right hand needs to apply lighter pressure on the fabric so that the left hand can do its work. When quilting to the left, the opposite is true.
• When quilting diagonal lines, both hands play both roles, but not equally. If you are quilting in an upper right direction, the left hand is primarily responsible for moving the fabric, but does some guiding. The right hand is primarily responsible for guiding the fabric, but may do some moving from time to time. Both hands should be positioned along the quilting line, which means the right hand will be farther away.

I am least sure about the mechanics of diagonal lines, but I believe the other two are 100% true. This technique requires a lot of stopping and starting as hands and the quilt are repositioned.

Quilting Acorns

Sometimes the quilt's name is so long that it also has a nickname. That is the case with this quilt. Acorns is the nickname for Where Did the Acorns Come From? I started pinning it today so quilting should start this weekend.

There was a challenge for Acorns. Could I make a large quilt and limit myself to only 3 fabrics? The number was 3 because the block used in the center required 3 shades - light, medium, dark. To complicate matters I only had 1/2 yd of the medium fabric. Instead of searching worldwide for more, I decided to make 1/2 yd do. I was successful in meeting the challenge, but I don't think I could have done it without the use of applique. The quilt top is approximately 62x72, which I believe qualifies as a large enough quilt.

So now I need a new challenge. (I'm not sure why this quilt requires another challenge. It just does. For the record, not EVERY future quilt will involve a challenge. We're not going there.) I decided the top will be quilted without benefit of a walking foot. That is, the walking foot shall not touch Acorns. It will be done with 100% free motion quilting.

Saturday, 11/24, a.m. Quilting is underway. Quilting a medallion quilt is a different thought process. I'm not sure a walking foot would have helped all that much. The center block is 16". I thought it would be best to quilt the center block in the ditch first and work my way around the borders instead of the strip approach. Because of the width, there was a lot of unrolling/rolling required. Also much repositioning of the quilt as I changed directions. I reminded myself how important it is to keep the quilt in a squared position. Failure to do that could be one cause for quilts hanging poorly when finished. After quilting the center block in the ditch, I removed the quilt from the machine and rolled it again before proceeding to the next step. With this quilt I am trying Bev's method of tieing knots and burying threads instead of doing short stitches. It takes more time, but avoids little knots of thread on the back. May be more secure too since a later step will involve stippling over the places where the threads are buried.

Monday, 11/26, p.m. Finished all the quilting in the ditch, which I am calling step 1. Proceeded to step 2, quilting the points of the center Bethlehem Star. I quilted parallelograms 1/4" in from the ditch. It is something often seen in hand quilting. Then I went on to step 3, quilting the zig zags at the top and bottom. This involved skills similar to the points of the Bethlehem Start. All of this took multiple days. Finished Friday evening, 11/30.

Sunday, 12/2, a.m. Acorns has 14 sawtooth star blocks. In the center of each, I quilted a heart design (step 4). I don't intend for it to be noticed as hearts. It just filled the space well. Most of that was done on Saturday. Today I started step 5, which will finish the quilting on the stars. (I have the need to use the word "finish" in some capacity.) I am quilting continuous curves on the points of the stars. Then I sneak back into the center and outline quilt the heart design 1/4" from the edge. I am really pleased with the stars. Back to work.

Wednesday, 12/12, p.m. Since 12/2 I have quilted continuous leaves with center veins in the flying geese and a single center vein in the appliqued oak leaves. I am almost finished with the veins in the leaves.

Sunday, 12/16, a.m. We had significant snow last night. This morning it looks like a REAL winter morning. It is so pretty. Unfortunately my driveway looks like a winter driveway and I struggle to see the beauty in it. The veins in the leaves are finished and I have also quilted 14 acorns into the star and squirrel applique sections of the quilt. Today I think stippling will be underway. This is a deciding moment. How small will the stippling be? Because whatever I do today dictates what I will need to do to finish this quilt.

Sunday, 12/16, p.m. The stippling on the background within the flying geese border is complete. It is 1/8-1/4" apart.

Monday, 12/31, p.m. I just completed the last of the stippling. All that remains is the label and the binding. It is indeed a Happy New Year!

Design Thoughts - Waking Up In Color

Quilt Name: Waking Up In Color

Quilt Story: I'm a murky person who loves my morning coffee. I was drawn to the coffee cups IN SPITE OF the bright colors. I shopped for the coordinating fabrics online one morning, mug in hand.

This has got the be a record. I know what I will put on the entry form before the quilt is started, before I even have all the fabrics!

The coffee cup fabric is a piece of the Spill the Beans (which I've done) collection by Barbara Tourtillotte for Clothworks. I liked it and opted to purchase it because it would give me an opportunity to work with Freddy/Gwen colors.

To be continued...

Quilt - How Do I Quilt Thee

This is the original poem.

How Do I Love Thee

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806-1861

This is my version of the poem.

How Do I Quilt Thee

How do I quilt thee? Let me count the ways.

I quilt thee to thy length and width
As far as thy borders shall reach.
I quilt thee to the level needed,

Every 4 inches, by sun and Ott light.

I quilt thee freely without marking.

I quilt thee surely without hesitation.

I quilt thee in the ditch, with feathers and stippling
I quilt thee in my nightgown throughout the night.

And, if God choose, I shall bind thee too.

How Do I Quilt Thee is the name of a pink and brown quilt I have been working on for some time. It has strips of on-point Ohio Star blocks separated by strips of vining appliqued flowers and leaves. The border also has similar applique. This is more applique than I have ever used. I've named the quilt this way because I have been wondering if the quilting strategy needs to be different for a quilt that is heavily appliqued. I don't have the answer yet...

Review: Collaborative Quilting

This is a design book by Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston. Freddy lives in California and Gwen lives on the remote Beaver Island in Michigan. They collaborate by phone and meet for periods of time to produce quilt tops.

I had seen this book before and dismissed it because I only looked at the pictures. The quilts are not the sort of thing that speak to me, however the book was loaned to me and I was encouraged to read it. (What a concept. Don't just look at the pictures. Read the words.) To my surprise the words gave me a greater appreciation for what Freddy and Gwen were doing, but more important, the book affirmed some things I've come to know. Affirmation is important to me because it tells me I'm on the right track as I muddle through quilt making. Some of the points are design-related and some are tips. The list follows in no particular order:

1. With scrap quilting, the eye needs places to rest. Freddy accomplishes this with black and white. I think it is also accomplished when you use concentrations of color in some areas, low contrast areas in conjunction with higher contrast areas, the addition of sashing to separate areas of the quilt, and more.
2. Black and white make bright, clear colors work. I have been making what I think of as formula baby quilts. The blocks are assorted black and white print floating sawtooth stars with bright sashing, cornerstones, and borders. Quite often the border is a black background with bright colors on it. Freddy and Gwen use large areas of bright, clear colors and smaller areas of black and white. Since I am a murky person, I need for the black and white to be a larger percentage of the quilt top.
3. Find your own neutral. Freddy's is red. One time I wanted to use up some scraps from a perky project without going shopping for background fabric which I initially thought had to be white. I scavenged in my stash and found bright yellows to use as the background for floating sawtooth stars. The borders and the center of the stars were a predominantly black Laurel Burch jungle print. The star points and sashing were bright, clear colors. I really liked the quilt and vowed to try other colors as backgrounds. That hasn't happened yet. I can't say yellow is my neutral until I try this with more colors. I would need a neutral for use with brights. I think the off-white/tan shades would remain my neutral with murky fabrics.
4. Pressing blocks well is "absolutely crucial" before assembling the top. They use steam or a light mist. They press on the right side first. Then they press on the back. They do not argue with seams, but let them go the way they naturally want to go. Hooray! I am always dismayed when we have a speaker who says to finger press as you go along and just press at the end. I also don't like the rule of always pressing the seam towards the darker fabric. I press the same way they do, except I don't usually press from the back as the final step. Must try that.
5. They recommend careful measuring and then pinning borders on a flat surface prior to sewing them to the quilt - first at midpoint, then quarter point, etc. - so there is not fullness in one area. This helps avoid the ruffled border.
6. They don't stress over points that do not meet at the seam because they are liberated ladies. I try to piece carefully, but I don't stress over points - especially if making the points meet the seam would distort the block/quilt. I am not particularly liberated. I just feel it is more important for the blocks and the quilt to be square and hang well.

There are some points I don't quite agree with at this point in my quilting life:

1. I don't thoroughly understand the parts department. It initially reminded me a little bit about advice like cut your stash into nickels or 2 1/2" strips so it will be ready for you to use. But what if I need a 6" square? Or a 3" strip? What then? Anyway...Freddy and Gwen build conventional and liberated parts. (Of course, I find the conventional parts to be more acceptable.) It does help to understand that most of the block sizes are divisible by 2" or are blocks they consider easy to cut smaller if needed. I could not envision how it would all work out perfectly so I was glad to hear that some things did not work out right, which led to a rule. If something is too small, add more, and if something is too large, cut some off. Perhaps I need to engage in some collaborative quilting with someone.
2. Quite often the comments about a quilt in the book say that the quilt works for some reason or other. Many of the quilts do not work for me. They are too out there for my organized, murky mind. I find that Gwen's quilts appeal to me the most because they tend to be more organized. Some of Freddy's more organized quilts appealed to me - Sister's Dots (pg 90), Whirly Birds (pg 97), and Black and White Tiles (pg 100) are a few examples. Beaver Island (pg 191), African Trails (pg 197), and Liberated Baskets (pg 223) are examples of collaborative quilts with more appeal.

Ideas I want to take away:

1. Gwenny's Little Bitsy Nine Patch (pg 35) is a quilt with very interesting borders - one on the left and another on the bottom. Nothing on the top and right. The tiny nine-patch blocks were trimmed to size if they were too large. I've made a copy of this page.
2. God's Dogs (pg 52) by Gwen is another quilt with interesting border treatment. It solves the problem of getting the applique design to go around the corner. I've made a copy of this page too.
3. Pierson (pg 53) by Gwen shows a good technique for adding interest and length to a quilt.
4. Gwen offers these design guidelines. "1) Be adventuresome and open to taking chances. 2) Think of design as play. Yes, play! Trust your intuition. 3) Many well-sewn quilts that don't quite succeed in the design department stumble because they are over-coordinated and over-designed. Very often, over-thinking produces stagnant, hollow work. When work appears too studied, it often resembles 'color-by-number' paintings." Perhaps, just perhaps, I need to be a little more adventurous at least part of the time. Go on a traditional quilting adventure.
5. Gwen gets inspiration from traditional quilting techniques and old quilts. I will pay more attention to old quilts. Maybe visit a museum that has some and take notes.

Collaborative Quilting is a good book.

Gwen's Tips for Studying Quilts

Courtesy of Gwen Marston, from the book Collaborative Quilts:

1. Is there anything unusual about this quilt?
2. What colors are used? How are they used?
3. What surprises are hidden in the quilt?
4. How are the blocks set together?
5. What techniques were used?
6. How do the borders work?
7. How are the edges finished?
8. What is going on with the quilt?

I will make a concerted effort to study quilts in more detail instead of just giving them the thumbs up/down.