Bars 4 Quilt Finished

Cathy's 20 minute method is working well for me. Forty minutes total is about all I can do in a day. I like moving two or three projects along, especially when I can only work for short times anyway.

Bars 4 quilt

The back used up larger remnants and some extra strips. Always a win in my book.

Back of Bars 4 quilt

With so many bright colors in the top the only binding that looked right was a dull tannish brown chambray. Ok, several of the darker brights looked good but there wasn't enough yardage. As usual with the size quilts I make it took over half a yard. Note to self: occasionally purchase more than half a yard in order to have binding choices.

Binding and quilting detail, Bars 4 quilt

Basic straight-line quilting with the walking foot is still my preferred design. These strong graphics don't need competition. This time, the stitching runs across the quilt. Perhaps that will keep certain gentlemen from breaking the threads as they pull the quilt up. {Naming no names.}

Quilt Details

Size: 78" x 65"

Design: Bars variation of Chinese Coins

Batting: Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon100% cotton

Thread: grey Gutermann cotton thread

Quilting: Straight lines with walking foot

Previous posts:
1. Piecing the top
2. Quilting Bars 4

Enjoy the day, Ann

Using Little Bits of Time

This time I'm hand turning the applique leaves before attaching them. I haven't used this technique in years but it's going faster than I recalled.  As they are turned, more "space" opened up so I cut more leaves until the fabric ran out. This is it. Must work it out somehow.

Adding leaves to
Chinese Coins VIII: Strewing Roses

The photos were shot after dark making the fabrics darker than reality. But I like the way the leaves are backlit and/or they fill in the lightest area of the quilt.

Recovering my full energy has taken a long time. I'm not there yet but am better every day. In the meanwhile, I was inspired by Cathy's post last month detailing 20 minute work segments. While I can't work on as many projects as she does {How do you keep them all straight, Cathy?} this seemed a good way to push some older projects forward. As I learned from my Thirty-Year Sampler, consistent work is the only way to complete it. And besides, 20 minutes is about all the strength I have these days.

The Bars 4 quilt needs to be finished for a future gift. Again I'm using very simple straight lines with the  walking foot. Twenty minutes uses part of a spool and keeps it moving along.

Machine quilting Bars 4

After a nap I switch to these old paper-pieced sawtooth borders planned for the New York Beauty. The papers were drafted and strips were cut. It's been languishing under my sewing table for a couple three years and the blocks are even older than that. How time flies and styles change. I'd like to finish it before I'm completely disenchanted. BTW, I chose an alternate (and older) name for this quilt: Rocky Mountain Road.

Paper-pieced sawtooth borders
for Rocky Mountain Road

Several triangles can be added before I have to change the bobbin. And then it's time for another nap.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Bars 4 Quilt by Mistake

There are some days I just out-smart myself and this was one of them. Does that happen to you, too? Way back in November I pre-cut strips for Tara Faughnan's workshop. It was a brilliant idea. Really. You see, I had another quilt in mind that used squares the same size as her starting strips. Cutting for both gave me all the fabric choices but less weight to carry into and out of the workshop, and would let me be ahead for my own idea.

But with all the family travails, I forgot this plan. While cleaning and culling the sewing room I found the stack of strips. You may remember I frequently cut too much fabric. And here were all these solid WOFs. I was so annoyed with myself {When will I ever learn to cut approximately the right amount?} but thought I could quickly make one more Bars quilt just to use these up. They all look very similar since only the color choices seem to change so this time I cut the bars much narrower. I did remember liking the dark version of Bars 1 and tried to create that.

Bars 4 quilt in progress

Here it is in progress. As I put the last set on the design wall I remembered what I intended to do with these fabrics. Now they are gone. Darn it.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Bars Quilt Finished

The Bars quilt came from a workshop with Tara Faughnan. While I classify it as a Chinese Coins {which I certainly already knew how to create} learning how Tara uses solids might push me into including more solids in my own work.

The top has been sewn for months but I finally had time to quilt it. {Funny how much easier Bars 2 and 3 were to quilt. Oh, the joys of baby quilts.} Just simple straight line quilting with the walking foot again. This is 50-weight thread is slightly heavier than the 60-weight I previously used. The difference is unnoticeable in straight line work but becomes more apparent when stitching over previous lines in free-motion work. I hope this thread will hold up better as single lines.

Bars quilt with solid fabrics

My biggest takeaway from Tara's class was pairing colors by theme - not necessarily value. I mentioned before that we each created a personal sheet with color snippets for each prompt. Many people cut out one-inch squares or more for each; I pared the narrowest sliver from the selvedge for each. Hey, I might need that fabric!

The sheet is such a wonderful tool I pinned it on my cork board for easy reference.

Continuing to use my stash, I pulled three different shades of yellow, gold, and chartreuse Metler thread for quilting. Unless your nose is right on the quilting line the slight difference are hardly visible.

Bars quilt binding 

The back uses three larger remnants.

Back of Bars quilt shows
parallel quilting lines

Previous posts:
1. Bars workshop
2. Sewing the top

Quilt Details

Size: 60" x 64.5"

Design: Chinese Coins

Batting: Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon100% cotton

Thread: yellow, gold, and chartreuse Metler cotton thread

Quilting: Straight lines with walking foot

Two years ago I stored my fabric in one small and two larger boxes. The large ones became too heavy for me so I purchased four smaller boxes and transferred the stash. {DH took the big boxes off my hands and yes, he increased his junkheap  collection of important artifacts and tools.} My verbal plan was to whittle my stash down; obviously that wasn't the real plan. The fabric drought ended; I bought a bunch of colors that weren't in the stash. Like me, my stash has fattened over the years. But I have a plan...

Enjoy the day, Ann

Bars 3 Quilt Off to a Forever Home

Technically I should have finished Bars 1 first but these small quilts are much easier to carry back and forth. They fit into my minuscule bits of free time. Because most of the tops were sewed {for the demo that didn't happen} I can sew a few quilting lines at a time without worrying where I was in the process. There is less fabric to wrangle under the machine arm.

Bars 3 uses the last of the pastel strips with whites, this time alternating with whites and very light tints.

Bars 3 quilt

A friend of my grandchildren will have a baby sister soon. Gifting each child with a quilt seems more welcoming and inclusive so I'm sending the two small Bars quilts to them.

Binding and quilting Bars 3 

They both have similar straight line walking foot quilting. After writing about "halving the quilting lines" several times, I finally remembered to snap some photos.

Quilting by "halving the space" with a walking foot

This one is bound with the same stripe as her sister's. It first appeared in Strippy Nine Patch, then became a binding on Spiderweb 3. It's a treat to use these beautiful fabrics and use them up. Pink was my mother's favorite color.

Quilt Details

Size: 39"" x 43"

Design: Chinese Coin

Batting: Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon 100% cotton

Thread: white Gutermann sewing weight cotton

Quilting: Straight lines with walking foot

Enjoy the day, Ann

Bars 2 Quilted

This quilt went together very quickly because many of the strips sets were already made (leftover from the Bars quilt top.) Quilting roughly parallel lines with a walking foot is a perfect utilitarian finish that only takes a couple of hours on a small quilt.

Bars 2 baby quilt in pastel solid fabrics

Although the quilt was small enough to fit on WOF, I used two pink fabrics to get enough length for the back. Most of the chevron was the back for this t-shirt quilt. Only a few narrow lengths remain.

The binding is a remnant of the pink and green stripe originally used in the ribbon border of my Strippy Nine Patch. What a lucky find. It segues nicely between the solid front and printed back. I also used it on the recent Spiderweb quilt... and there's still a bit more. Perhaps enough to go around another quilt or two. Into the binding bin it goes.

Back, binding, and quilting on Bars baby quilt

Again I quilted simple unmarked parallel lines like Fifth Chinese Coins but these run across the Coins/Bars and are about an inch apart. It should keep the seams from pulling and still keep the quilt flexible and soft for a baby.

Previous posts:

1. Designing Bars 2.
2. Bars 1 workshop.
3. Sewing Bars 1 top.

Quilt Details

Size: 38" x 38"

Design: Chinese Coin

Batting: Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon 100% cotton

Thread: pink Metler cotton 50/3 sewing weight

Quilting: Straight lines with walking foot

Enjoy the day, Ann

Bars 2 Quilt

My stack of baby quilts finally ran out at year's end. Good news that they all found homes but more will be needed soon. Plus, having reserves was one of my smarter moves. I decided to replenish the stack by using extras/leftovers from larger projects. {Yes, I have a bunch of Chinese Coin tops, too, that I'm holding on to in case I'm asked to demonstrate them again.} So here's the first baby quilt for the TBD pile.  These light sections came from the Bars workshop so this is Bars 2.

Since I didn't start numbering my quilts in the beginning, I've decided to number them within series. It's so much easier to name these quilts sequentially rather than coming up with original names. {I've never been good at that.} Frankly, many of my quilts begin with a traditional block idea.

Pastel bar sections for a baby quilt

As you can see, the photo above was taken at night so the lighting is off. It's another one taken before I got wrapped up in making class samples for the Chinese Coin demo. Some more sets with white are waiting to become the Bars 3 baby quilt but I don't have a photo of them yet.

Once the sections are sewn, they easily move around until the final arrangement takes form. The simplicity and speed of construction are advantages of small quilts that I must remember.

Bars  2 quilt top

Pinwheels have been my leader/ender project since the end of the year. Wow, these fabrics are dark. They were made from squarish remnants. I'm not sure why I didn't cut them into Coins but found this a nice change. No idea what they will become but again, it's good to have a small stash ready for an occasion.

Leader/Ender project 

Tuesday will be the next AHIQ linkup. Kaja invited us to work on scale changes but we're interested in all utility or improvisational work. I'm wrapped up in family issues but found something to share. What about you? Please join in; your posts are my late night relaxation for now and serious food for thought when we are scared to make a leap into creativity.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Bars Quilt Sewn: AHIQ 28

Happy Boxing Day to readers in the UK and Commonwealth countries. In the US it's just the day to exchange unwanted Christmas gifts. My gifts are delightful. No store hubbub for me.

I'm not sewing this week but had a busy time this month finishing several gifts. In between, I worked on this class project. Since there are actually photos of the process (whoo-hoo) let's walk through my final changes to this quilt.

At this point it seemed ready to sew the rows. You can see I'd sewn the first two rows but wandering through on my way to bed... {Remember the circuitous route our kids took on their way to bed? Mine is now similar as I check everything one last time.} it was simply too dark. The only color combination seemed to be pink and orange. All the others are "a color and a neutral." Not exactly pushing the color combination boundary. Where are the sample combinations I'd made in class?

Dark Bars quilt ready to sew

First I covered seven bright or dark sections with lighter sets of two colors.

Exchanging some of the orange sets in this Bars quilt

Next I moved two rows to the top so my favorite section is nearer the middle.  A couple of the bright sections were uncovered.

Moving rows in the Bars quilt

Finally added a chambray and white section back on the right and swapped some dark and light sections to balance the top.

Bars quilt top sewn

For comparison, here's the final top  with the starting layout.

Comparing finished Bars quilt with dark Bars quilt

These photos almost seem like a filter was added to brighten the colors rather than all that work. I guess my strips have their own rhythm of size and spacing.

I want the lighter one today but the dark version intrigues me with it's foray into cheddar. When I looked at it in daylight, it was very attractive. Funny how different the colors appeared at night. Note to self: don't make changes after dark.

This has been a exciting year for me and AHIQ has been part of that excitement. I've learned so much from Kaja and all of you who have linked projects and shared opinions. I've grown so much over the year and look forward to future work in this community.

Enjoy the day, Ann

InLinkz removed because it was hacked.

Bars Quilt Class

Tara Faughnan spoke to our guild the end of November. Several of us joined her at the San Jose Museum of Textiles and Quilts for the latest exhibit highlighting some of their collection.

Tara Faughnan admires Koi Diptych by Tim Harding

With it's long narrow columns, Tim Harding's Koi Diptych has aspects of Chinese Coins but despite looking at the details for quite a while, I'm still unsure how he constructed this masterpiece. Parts I would have sewn on at the end were some of the first things sewn. A lovely puzzle.

Detail of Koi Diptych by Tim Harding at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles

The next day, Tara taught a color class using her Bars quilt. She's a textile designer who works with Michael Miller and other clients. In fact, her Fireworks quilt was translated to fabric. Perhaps you've seen it?

She started class with a short lesson pairing fabrics. After a quick mention of the color wheel we selected two fabrics based on her word prompts and created a page of samples. Then we spent the rest of that wonderful day playing with all the colors.

And I forgot to take any photos.

I put my sewn strips on the wall at home but they aren't in the same arrangement.

Strip sets from #Barsquilt class.

Then I noticed I'd set them as horizontal coins. Tara had us work with vertical bars. I might have continued horizontally and then rotated it but I decided to try her style. It was surprisingly difficult to work with rotated strips. Obviously a good challenge for me.

At this point these are arranged like the original photo although I've sewn a few more.

End of second day making Bars quilt

Almost done.

End of third day making Bars quilt

I started sewing the rows. Then went to make dinner and didn't return till bedtime. When I looked at it at night, I didn't like it that much. A good night's sleep helped me determine why.

Bars quilt ready to sew

Time to make some adjustments.

AHIQ linkup is this coming Tuesday. I love Kaja's idea to link work, reviews of this past year, or plans for next year. This is certainly a good time to pause, reflect, and plan ahead. What have you been doing this holiday season?

Enjoy the day, Ann