Several Improvs in One

It's been a while but I finally pieced the border of the Square Deal. After swearing I wasn't going to make more blocks... I did. The top needed a few more strong reds and light blues.

The Square Deal quilt top

What's different? Compare the upper right corner of the final version above with the previous {partially sewn} version below. Five blocks were changed out on the top and right. They were lovely blocks but "pushed the envelope" a bit too far in value. The borders were getting muddled. That's always an issue with printed fabrics where several colors coexist. It can add movement or simply cause designs to become lost. Now there are still diffuse areas but also more definition.

EDIT: I reshot and replaced the photo above. The colors were too acid. I still think the photo below has truer colors though.

Previous layout for The Square Deal quilt

Do you notice my crosses became much wider with each set of Xs? The last set is pretty wide indeed. The first ones were so narrow that the seams overlapped after pressing. Guess I loosened up as time went on.

Evaluating this quilt it meets criteria for:

1. Chinese Coins {because those were the original units for the striped triangles} 
2. Two Blocks
3. Red is a Neutral (because I played with several fabrics before deciding red looked best with those striped triangles}

However, this is not exactly what I envisioned as a Red quilt. Here red becomes the foreground while I wanted to use it as a background - more like Cathy's Confetti quilt. So another quilt idea goes on the {increasingly} long "to-be-made" list but it still feels good to combine several challenges into one quilt especially since life intervened several times keeping me from fully participating.

At some point I need to make a back and baste this top. That's a task for another time.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Tartan Diamond in a Square and AHIQ 22

Today is the third month of Kaja's #AHIQtwoblocks invitation. I'm on pins and needles to see what everyone has done even if, like me, you're not finished. CCII: Stacked Bricks is going to be my two block quilt; the second block forms a border. The background squares created by the Coins reminded me of a quilt I made years ago.

Tartan Diamond in a Square began with leftover Half Log Cabins/Housetop blocks. The bright, colorful ones quickly went into a simpler scrap quilt. These remaining blocks were so dull I almost donated them until... That plaid fell on those dull blocks and a perfect match was born.

About that plaid. I'd been on a business trip and wandered into WalMart one evening. This was before they standardized their offerings at every store so there was always the chance of finding something unusual. This fabric was on top of a station. From a distance it looked woolen and like the Sirens of old, it called to me across the store. I only bought 1.5 yards. {Why? There was certainly more and it was on sale.} Every scrap went into this quilt. In fact, that's why the inner section is not symmetrical.

Can you see the two block setting? It a bit of an illusion.

Tartan Diamond in a Square

The first block is composed of four Housetops.

Tartan Diamond in a Square detail
with Half Log Cabins/Housetop blocks

They alternate with a simple dark or light centered block sashed with a loud plaid. Because the Housetops had subtle color variations I didn't want a single fabric in the alternate block. Neither did I want an obvious pattern. So I sewed two fabrics together, cross cut, and spun the resulting squares into a simple whirligig.

Tartan Diamond in a Square detail of dark block

While it contains some of the same shapes as the Housetops, the larger rectangles add some needed scale/shape variation.

The colors and layout fool the eye into seeing a different layout. Although more subtle than CCII, the plaids and bright purple posts seem to float in front of a background of duller dark and light. This quilt taught me that blocks don't always have to be the focal point.

Tartan Diamond in a Square detail with light block

Of course I wanted a large quilt so I combined aspects of the Amish Diamond in a Square with Middle Eastern rugs to create the border. The two different bright blues on each section define crisp edges. Creating the checkerboard in tans tied it back to the golden browns in that crazy plaid.

Tartan Diamond in a Square border detail

The stems of the vines were the only guidelines drawn for all this free motion work. I'd been told quilting doesn't show on prints so I used 40-weight thread and fearlessly quilted across the narrow borders. The work only shows on the lights but it was a joy to sew.

Tartan Diamond in a Square border corner detail

Sharp eyes will notice the same Alexander Henry fabric from my Thirty Year Sampler in the border and binding.

Quilt Details

Size: 84" x 102"

Design: Two block quilt with Housetops and original block

Batting: Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon100% cotton

Thread: variegated cotton 40 wt. thread

Quilting: SID and freemotion quilting, various freehand designs

Many two-block quilts are alternate blocks but there are other ways to combine them. Chaos #5 by Erin Wilson and Sunday Best by Michelle Wilkie demonstrate unconventional ways to create quilts of two or more blocks.

Enjoy the day, Ann

InLinkz removed because it was hacked.

Inner Border Finished

The diamond shapes are four different darks: two purple, one black, and one navy. I like the variation although I was hesitant at the beginning. But what else can you do when there's not enough of any one fabric?

First border on CCII

Here's a close-up of the navy. It's hand-dyed fabric from India and colorfast. When the commercial fabric is this dark, it usually causes me problems so this is a welcome change. The fabric has a more textured feel and drapes well. That made me think about the mercerization and other finishing processes on many commercial fabrics.

Navy hand-dyed Indian fabric

Of course, now it  needs another border. I plan to try some of the ideas I posted last month... After a short vacation.

SFO had a new exhibit after we passed security: Games of Chance. I don't gamble {don't enjoy it} but found this exhibit of the development of coin operated machines quite interesting.

The first automatic-payout, three-reel machine was invented in 1898 San Francisco by Charles Fey. Customers couldn't calculate the payout percentage because only three symbols of the Liberty Bell's 1000 combinations showed at a time. More advantage to the house.  Charles also added bell sounds to his machine, a move copied by almost every other manufacturer since.

Liberty Bells are permanently commemorated with a historic marker at Battery and Bush. I've seen the marker and laughed at what people memorialize.

Liberty Bell mechanical game

The exhibit continued with games involving dice under glass bells {which looked like something in a physics lab}, wheels made like bicycles,  and elaborate enameled machines.

War Eagle and Horn of Plenty
enameled slot machines
with a bicycle wheel of fortune machine

The exhibit culminated with life size one-armed bandits. Frank Polk carved the cowboy in the 1940s, possibly as a self portrait.

One-armed bandits from the 1940s-70s

Enjoy the day,  Ann

Chinese Coins II: Inner Border

One of the issues with waiting a while to take the next step is that you become accustomed to the {unfinished} look. It happens with houses as well as quilts. I've dawdled so long that I started to think this quilt needed dark on the outside. Not what I wanted.

So I finally started making an inner border for Chinese Coins II using hourglass instructions from Cultural Fusion Quilts by Sujata Shah. I cut my squares a bit smaller though. Even at this stage they lighten this quilt beautifully.

Adding an hourglass border
to Chinese Coins II

The next big surprise is how much fabric it takes. I rarely have large amounts of any fabric but cutting five or six-inch squares uses it up quickly. Consequently, almost every side is composed of different fabrics.

After trimming a few squares I realized only the height needs consistency. The width can be anything. So I started trimming one direction 4.5" but kept as much as possible in the other. Don't get excited; at most this is a quarter-inch. Every little bit helps.

Sujata recently posted photos from a class where many students used the same simple hourglass shape in their medallions. Take a look here.

Enjoy the day,  Ann

AHIQ 21 - Two Block Quilt Progress

I've been thinking about a second block for CCII. Oddly alternating choruses: Slow down versus move it along; try something new versus repeat something I can create with ease.

I thought this quilt would look more like Nettie's Stacked Bricks. Instead it's taking on a bright "Freddy Moran-vintage" feel. Like our children, we have many plans for their future but, to be truly successful, they make their own choices.

Stacked Bricks center

Whenever I go to a show or meeting, I think, "If a natural disaster strikes, which one will I save?" Not steal. But I could only carry one. There are so many quilts {and parts of quilts} I admire. Among my favorite quilts are ones with nuance and depth to their work that still appear handmade and touchable. These are the quilts I would save from natural disaster. A trivialization of Sophie's Choice if you will.

What does this have to do with anything? I don't want to copy but rather to let ideas percolate and metamorphose until I find a way to incorporate aspects I admire. Like the suns in Kaja's Little Bird which also remind me of my Cowboy Fireworks made using Sujata Shah's Cultural Fusion Quilts. Kaja's are rectangular and I think she individually cut her rays. How would it work with a stack of fabric instead?

Cowboy Fireworks quilt

What if I made star points instead of sun rays? I have some paper pieced New York Beauties in progress for years. Yes. I still think they're beautiful, still like the colors, and still plan to finish. I don't want to start a second one now. {I can't keep up with the papers already.}

Paper pieced New York Beauty
blocks, still in progress

Several years ago, Tim Latimer made a Suspension Bridge quilt. {His post also includes photos of a housetop quilt in progress and Kaja's been using that block. Hey. It's the circle of life, or at least the circle of coincidence.} What charming awkwardness of the points. He didn't paper piece. But he did write a post about his process: Tim's Suspension Bridge piecing.

So... How improvisational do I want to be? What method will work best for me?

How about you? I'm setting aside a couple of afternoons to read all the posts in detail. Be sure to check in with Kaja for more insight into two-block quilts.

Enjoy the day, Ann

InLinkz removed because it was hacked.

Spring Cleaning

Perhaps because of all the pollen this year, I've taken to spring cleaning with a vengeance. All the pillows have been washed; furniture moved, dusted, and polished; drawers are being emptied, sorted, and restocked. I've even reorganized my fabric boxes. And look what I found: a collection of squares cut for a class last year with Sujata Shah. That was when my family life went to pieces so I didn't take take the class and forgot about them. An easy project to sew this week and part of my plan to build a Parts Department a la Freddy and Gwen.

Fabric for Crossroads blocks

By the end of the day I had these completed.

Crossroads blocks

#AHIQtwoblocks continues Tuesday. CCII/Stacked Bricks needs a border. Might these work?

Possible Crossroads border on CCII

 

The Xs aren't beefy enough to suit; they look wimpy compared to the stars. But the lighter backgrounds give me some ideas. Although these blocks don't work here, more fabric choices have emerged.

I pulled out my stash and set each piece on the top. This is my go-to method to ensure every possibility is tried. Purple is a possibility or perhaps blue?

After a couple of hours, here are the best choices so far.

Fabric possibilities for the next round

Some fabrics might be good colors but are the wrong print. For example, that whale fabric is a wonderful color but the print doesn't work with this quilt. Well, perhaps I'm wrong. {Won't be the first time.} Think seastars rather than celestial stars. There are starfish on that print that could match the red stars.

Testing some light fabrics.

Lavender and white print choices

None of these makes my heart beat faster when placed against the center. I'm going to try more lights tomorrow. If nothing works, a shopping trip may be required.

Enjoy the day,
Ann