Slopes Binding

 

Time to make some time for some binding making. I didn't have enough of any of the fabrics used in the Slopes quilt, so this blue will have to do. It's very very close to the other blues, so hopefully it will blend in well enough. Or at least be not too different or remarkable to be noticeable.

My Binding Betty is all ready to sew on the binding for Slopes!

Slopes Quilted

 

I finally got to sit down at the sewing machine late yesterday, and I finished the diagonal quilting on Slopes. But first I sat in the rainbow-ness of the sun setting in the window.

It was really quite bright but it made for good light on the quilting left to be done.

Well-illuminated indeed.

I turned on some music (X-Wild Gift and The Blasters-Live 1986) and finished off the diagonals going in one direction. And then flipped it around and did the other direction too.

I think I like it. 

And now I'm done quilting it. Now for the finishing! But what color of binding? I do have small-ish pieces of all the colors left over, but that might be too much variety for a binding. I think one of the darker blues might be nice. I'll have to see if I have enough of one of them to make the binding or not.

Partial Slopes Back

 

Another thing I worked on at the retreat was using the scraps from making the Slopes top to start on a back. I had to arrange the badly trimmed blocks in such a way that it wouldn't matter at all that they wouldn't be matching up. The blue frame is made of a different fabric from the rest of the scraps. It was one of the grunge prints that I brought along with me. I'm think that I may add big pieces of various prints around this to make it big enough to use as a quilt back

The squares and rectangles around the outer edge are very random, but I'm very pleased with how the colors still work together.

April Tooo-Doooo

 

Here's how the ol' design wall is looking. A lot different from last month's picture. Several things are done and off the wall, like the SJSA blocks and the Fussy Cut Rock Candy piece. It's mostly about the Slopes for now until I decide on a final design and sew all those blocks together.

Now on to the Illustrated To-Do list for the month.

Sew-A-Long-Thingies

Trinket SAL - Begin making the weekly blocks and post them on Instagram

Pantone Project - keep making blocks, sending cards, etc.

Color Collective - get the Slopes top pieced together, make a back for the Clover pillow.

Stitch Happens - decide on borders, make backing, layer, quilt, bind, label.

Temperature Quilt - keep making blocks and start posting about it.

Secret Lives of Color - finish blocks and post about it.

Finish It Up

Checkerboard-ish - Finish quilting, bind, label. Due for SBAMQG 4/4

Climate Change Challenge Quilt - sketch, make quilt, due for BAM 5/10

Sightlines Triptych - sew down facings, sleeves, labels.

Y.E.S. Coat- make more blocks and pieces

Japanese Houses - sandwich quilt bind label

Orange Bullseye-sandwich quilt bind label

Quilt Photography - fingers crossed the power stays on and the stars align.

That is obviously puh-lenty to choose from this month. Now I have to think about what to bring to the BAM retreat in a few weeks...

Trimming the Slopes

It’s taken me a while to get down to trimming my blocks for the Color Collective quilt, Slopes. 

I was having trouble figuring out the instructions at first and had to watch the video several times as it wasn’t making sense to me in the written directions. I guess I really am a visual learner.

Now that I get it, it’s going much more smoothly and much closer to accurate.

I’m leaving notes for myself on the two stacks that I have left to trim.

All of these are so badly mis-trimmed that they’ll likely end up on the back of the quilt. I kind of like the diagonal stripes in this arrangement.

Here’s my two stacks of trimmed blocks, both lefties and righties.

I found that the new Latifah Safir HuRty ruler works very well for this. Having the quarter inch grid really is essential.

Some in use/action shots of the ruler. 

The blue painter's tape is there so that it’s easier to choose the right lines

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I don’t know if I’m using the ruler exactly as directed, but it’s working for me.

This post is courtesy of the blazing fast internet connection at the Felton library. Our internet finally went out yesterday afternoon and the cell service is reminding me of the dial-up 90’s internet connection we had. We had to drive out to get giant tarps to cover the crumbling hillside before the next storm arrives on Tuesday. We’re thrilled to see the mobs of PG&E trucks and workers. 

 

Slopes to Top

 

I sewed all of the Slopes rows together yesterday. I pinned at each and every intersection to help the seams to nest and match up.

I didn't press the rows as I sew them together. The pressing that I did 

as I assembled the rows worked out really well.

Definitely needs some pressing!

All done, but not pressed. As you can see!

There we go, much better.

Some of the intersections are better than others.

Really pointy points.

Woohoo! I'm glad this finally together.

Slopes Rows Quilted

 

Here's how Slopes is looking now that I've done the columns and the rows, in-the-ditch style. This is plenty of quilting for this one, at least I think it is for now.

But maybe, I should do the diagonals as well. I think I'll quilt a few and see how it looks to me.

Rows of Slopes

It's time to sew this Slopes quilt together, I need the design wall back! The first row went together quickly.

So far so good,  but I did find that one block was trimmed to the wrong size, sigh. I'm pressing alternating rows to the right or left so that it'll nest well when I sew the rows together.

Once again, I'm amazed at how the row shrinks up so much when all the blocks are sewn together. Every single time it surprises me, what's that about? It's so hard for me to conceive of all those 1/4" seam allowances over the width of a quilt.

Four done already!I'm liking the sides where the pattern breaks down, the chaos on the edge is very delicious somehow.The secondary patterns are workin well to my eye too, so I'm happy with it.

May To Do Do Do

 

The ol' design wall has been getting a workout lately, here's how it looks right now. The back for the Slopes quilt is up there, and the Climate Change Challenge is right on top of it.

Sew-A-Long Thingies

Trinket - keep paper piecing the weekly blocks and posting them.

Color Collective - Sandwich the Slopes Quilt, make another side for the Clover Pillow with Swerves?

Stitch Happens - sandwich, quilt, bind, label.

Pantone Project - keep making blocks and sending postcards.

Temperature Quilt - keep making blocks and post about it.

Secret Lives of Colors- finish making blocks and post about it.

New Work

Mini-Quilt for SBAMQG using a word(s) in some manner.

A Hot One for Color of the Year Challenge

Stitch Punk and Fierce Planets - SAQA exhibits

Finish It Up

Due first, so do first! The Climate Change Challenge quilt for BAM, due on Saturday, gulp.

Sightlines Triptych - make and hand sew on hanging sleeves and labels.

Y.E.S. Coat - make more blocks and pieces.

Orange Bullseye - sandwich, quilt, bind, label

Japanese Houses - sandwich, quilt bind, label

Quilt Photography - I hope to be feeling well enough to get it done, I definitely need the space back. I have made the list, gathered the quilts together that need photographing, so that's part of it.

The two days last month where I was up to spray basting quilts outside, it was very windy, which makes it pretty pointless. At least the table I use is mostly cleaned off and ready to use. Hopefully this month it'll work out so I can get out there and spray 'em.