Block Week 8

I could have pieced the 4-point star in the middle, if I wanted to take the time to figure it out. But instead I fused it. I'm not sure how to do a Y-seam. I need to take a class or have someone show me. Y-seams scare me.

POSTCARD #3

I love the blue fabrics. It didn't turn out quite like I planned. The sketch had the girl facing to the left, but I was too lazy to reverse the image before transferring the pieces onto fusible web. And I would like the hat to be higher up to allow white space between the hat and the back of the dress (more visually pleasing). I decided to add a little zing of pink on the hat brim. Lovely. Also, this was the first time I've experimented with invisible thread. I used it to quilt around the girl. The thread was hard to work with.

Postcard #2

Still using the color combo brown, cream and turquoise, and the shape 'scallops.' I got this great dupioni silk awhile ago (I think that's what it's called). Its fun to whip something out as a little sketch of an idea from my head to the finished 'product.'

Block Week 7

This was really easy to make: cut two 3" strips (one black, one yellow), sew together and press the seam. Then cut on the 45degree angle, four triangles, then sew together. I did miscalculate somehow and the finished block is only 10" instead of 10.5".

Pink and Brown Baby Quilt

Here are all the blocks on the design wall. I'll arrange them tomorrow then sew them together. Then I'll work on the border. I like how this is turning out.

Block Week 6

Clouds

Pink/Brown BBQ Update

Here are some of the finished blocks so far, up on the design wall. The quilt will be 6 blocks x6 blocks so here you can see a little bit how it's going to look. I actually like how it is turning out a lot.

BBQ Update

I was thinking it would be fun to make the PB BBQ have a value gradient across the quilt. I like doing that in quilts. This is a rough EQ6 sketch. Obviously the 'threshold' between light and dark is where my problem might arise. I don't want it to look muddied. I want it to flow evenly from one region to the other. Also, I was trying to figure out what to do with all my beautiful medium value fabrics that I had selected, that didn't really fit in with the previously posted design of strictly lights/darks.

Surely there must exist an algorithm to tell me the proper value for each piece given a desired outcome. I could scan all the fabrics I want to use in the quilt and the algorithm software could rank the values of the fabrics, assigning a number, and I could choose from the values and place them in the design accordingly (like paint by number). Then again, I guess with practice and experience, my brain is like one big algorithm.

More PB BBQ

Here is a sample square for the PB (pink and brown) BQ (baby quilt). At first I was going to try and cut squares and triangles but I couldn't find a reasonable explanation on the internet and I don't feel like figuring it out RIGHT NOW (maybe NEXT month). So I decided to do PAPER-piecing. So much easier! And so accurate. Here is the diagram:

Week 5 Block

I have several comments about this finished product. Number 1: it's too busy. I LOVE all these fabrics, and especially the red fabrics. The darker red fabric is this great musical note print but it needs to be showcased in a larger format - 1" strips (down to 0.5" after seams are sewn) just does NOT do that print justice. Also, my seams aren't perfect 1/4" yet, so I'm working on that.

Week 5 Block PROGRESS

I'm working on this week's block. The diagram in the photo shows the basic block pattern, and I was going to do black/white and white/black, but then I decided to do red-on-black/white-on-black and black-on-white/white-on-red JUST FOR FUN. I'll have the result posted soon.

Pink&Brown BBQ

Here is the design for the pink and brown baby quilt for Amy and Dave. Remember my palette here in this sketch was limited to the few pink and brown magic markers I had on hand. And below is the EQ6 version, using the various fabric samples in the coloring section. Basically, the quilt will be made of 6x6 (36 squares) square-in-a-square, with the lightest fabrics being the inner squares, and the darkest fabrics being the outer squares. Light browns will have dark pinks for the outer square and vice versa. (Suddenly the word 'outer' looks very weird to me.)