Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Only a Few Pinwheels - AHIQ 32

Over the past two weeks I've made ten of these small pinwheels. Even that tiny amount was difficult both to carve the time out for and to find the creativity to select combinations.

Pinwheel baby quilt it progress

LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color, who recently moved halfway across the country, has written several posts about the experience: the excitement of discoveries along the drive, the struggles of house-hunting, the challenges of finding her feet, her supplies and her mojo. She's creating again and contacting nearby quilters. Hooray.

There are parallels with my life. Fortunately we are a large clan so most items have found a home where they will be a memento of happy childhoods without becoming a mausoleum. But we've now reached the paperwork. Oh, my stars and garters. Everything was well arranged but still must be read before deciding to keep or shred. The shredder is very small and overheats regularly. I'd get a new one but... it's helpful to be forced to slow down this process. Surely we will reach the end soon. Then we can donate the shredder.

I haven't read anyone's posts, haven't responded to comments, haven't sew any borders or made any quilting plans. I did take a lunch break and wander through a quilt store but even that didn't inspire me.

QS is coming to help again so I cleared these blocks off the spare bed. Instead of putting them away immediately, I laid them on the floor and snapped this photo.

Pinwheel baby quilt with space for an inner border

I think a quiet inner border might be the solution. The colorful pinwheels might actually work although I'm going to try to make a few more with black and white... and purple and green.

What have you been up to? Reading about your creative decisions will be a blessed hour of tranquility.

Enjoy the day, Ann

InLinkz removed because it was hacked.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Making a Border or Another Quilt

My creative abilities drop off dramatically under stress. After making the center with large triangles all I could think of was small pinwheels and/or Chinese Coins. So I cut squares off the ends of some strips for pinwheels.

Generally the triangles were randomly matched. But sometimes the prints were just too busy. I like the pair on the left much better.

Potential pinwheel blocks

And then the comments came in. What wonderful ideas: scientific and mathematical equations, math symbols, purchasing a bit more of the Scientific Method fabric. How I wish I'd read these before cutting the triangles.

Sewing pinwheels

Sewing them together became slower and slower. As the pile of pinwheels grew, the border became less and less interesting. I laid them out as a single border...

Single pinwheel border on two sides

and as a double border

Double pinwheel border beginning

It looks like I need more whites and a few more black fabrics, too. And perhaps another stopper border.

But I'm still intrigued by Nann's idea of math symbols. So I'll set these aside and make addition and multiplication signs. And what about division and subtraction? Could they blend into a Coin border? Something to ponder.

I need to finish this quilt soon but am finding many paths to follow. Perhaps I'll buy some more fabric and make a small series. After all, these beautiful babies keep coming.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Saturday, April 7, 2018

When a Scientist Needs a Baby Quilt

DH came home last week with a request. Another co-worker is expecting a baby boy. Just what I need to work on in the evenings.

While at the Dallas Quilt show I purchased a fat quarter of this amusing print - perfect for a budding scientist.

Here's the center, four hourglass blocks that finish about 19-inches. Working with scale. Finally.

Science baby quilt center

The next border will probably be some Chinese Coins. What else?

Enjoy the day, Ann

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Medallion Chinese Coins IV is a Wrap

I can't settle in for long quilting sessions. It's up and down all day - short spurts of quilting with long breaks to complete other tasks. Consequently this little top took weeks to finish. It should have taken about half a day. But it's done. Quilted, bound, signed, washed, and dried.

Say it with Flowers:
Medallion Chinese Coins IV quilt

The first quilting idea was a single squared-off spiral. The sketches looked good on the borders but didn't work in the center. Then I saw Barb's post of Baptist Fans on a variety of quilts and knew that was the solution... again. The examples with seven curves were particularly attractive so I determined to try them. The result?

Not quite as good as I wanted. The final curves are much larger than the available area under my needle so I had to stop in the middle of each, reposition, and start again. Almost every one has a jog or curve change there. Perhaps not as noticeable to you as it is to me.

Baptist fan quilting with seven arcs

This reinforces a post by Amy. Among other tips she mentions the "range of motion that keeps the top under control and flat at the needle." In my case, five curves is the maximum for my machine. Lesson learned and hopefully will be remembered.

Binding detail on
Medallion Chinese Coins IV quilt

There were a number of blue bindings in the leftover bin. All sewed together, they make a good finish. And the fans look better than I first thought. What a relief.

Quilt Details
Size: 45" x 52"
Design: Chinese Coins
Batting: Hobbs Premium 100% bleached cotton
Thread: tan Superior cotton thread, YLI nylon monofilament
Quilting: walking foot spiral and free motion quilting

Enjoy the day, Ann