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

Leaders, Enders and Log Cabins

Using scraps to sew off the end of a "regular" project keeps the thread from tangling and knotting when starting a new seam. Originally I sewed onto a scrap (and threw it away) but eventually realized that a scrap block seam serves the same function AND finishes an extra top before you know it!

In the past I made little nine-patches but about two years ago I returned to log cabin blocks as my leader/ender project. And not just log cabins, but half-inch logs. Crazy.

I haven't paid much attention to them; simply set them in a bin. During a bout of cleaning last week, I pulled them out. What a huge collection - so many that I considered making a bed quilt. Finally decided they worked better for baby quilts. That's helpful; several are needed soon.

Every different corner a block has increases the setting variations that can be made. Part of the reason log cabin is a perennial favorite is that it has four different corners. Here are some of the variations I laid out on the design wall.

These Streak of Lightning variations use some "all light" blocks to create more open space.

Streak of Lightning variation, log cabin blocks.

By rotating every other row of the layout above, I created this triangular setting. (Definitely making this one!)

Triangular rows variation, Log Cabin blocks

More Streak of Lightning variations.

Large asymmetrical streak of lightning log cabin variation.

Streak of lightning log cabin variation 2.

Chevron log cabin variation.

 Medallion variations:
An inner border of "light only" log cabin blocks surrounds the center star.

Medallion log cabin with lone star center.

The star is rotated into a Sunshine and Shadows variation.

Medallion log cabin 3.

A bit of zig zag on this outer border differs slightly from the previous one. 

Medallion log cabin 2.

A log cabin heart.

Log cabin heart set on a background of "light only" blocks.

There are enough blocks to make five baby quilts.

I finished a Sunshine and Shadows log cabin and a Barn Raising log cabin a while ago. It's time for a different leader/ender.

Another trip to San Francisco, another tour. This time, we walked around Telegraph Hill. These 1937 apartments are decorated with raised plaster called sgraffito (yes, same root word as graffiti) by Alfred Du Pont. An outline of California appears behind the image of Califia, the mythical queen of the island of California in a Spanish novel from 1500. It was so popular that when the first explorers mistook Baja California for an island, they could think of no better name for the land.

Sgraffito of Califia on the Malloch Apartments

Lauren Bacall's character lived in one of these apartments in the 1947 film, Dark Passage, with Humphrey Bogart.

Around the corner are these gorgeous Carpenter Gothic homes. The middle is a former grocery store. The lavender one (then painted dark brown) starred in The Streets of San Francisco with Michael Douglas. The lower floors of all the homes were added when the city paved the streets. Can you believe how much paving lowered the street? And it's still so steep, it's scary.

Carpenter Gothic houses near
Union and Montgomery streets, San Francisco.

Of course, loads of blooming plants wherever you turn.

Hydrangeas on the Filbert Stairs.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Log Cabin Has Left the Building

Thanks for the input on the binding. Red is my favorite but I finally decided to use something different (for me, at least.) The green shows up, sets off the blocks and was fun to use. I particularly like this shade of green; it seems friendly. The sawtooth border really finishes the quilt... and it used up a bunch of extra triangles from Ocean Waves. How wonderful is that!

With such narrow logs, the seam allowances are half the width of the logs. Consequently the quilt is fairly thick. I used a light batt (Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon Cotton again) and quilted each log. It should take a lot of (ab)use and frequent washing - and it will need to. It's a Grandmother Quilt, a special quilt for a friend to use when her new grand-baby visits.

Signed & dated in half-inch high zig-zag

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

Progress on Scrap Log Cabin

The border is finished - little triangles left from Ocean Waves and this project. I love to run out of fabric and keep the scrap bag small!

With so many logs (and seams) straight line quilting seemed the best choice. Originally I'd planned to stitch diagonally but then remembered an antique log cabin with spiral quilting. Each block is quilted in a squared off spiral to the center. I started with the outer (longest) log and worked in until each log was quilted once. If I'd started on the inside of the outer log I would have caught the seam allowances better. This way may be more dimensional.

Next is binding. Here are my choices.

Binding choices: Green1, yellow, green2

Binding choices: Red, green3, brown

Red is a perennial favorite but I'm leaning towards green3. The bits of red, yellow and white in the print look good with this quilt; it's dark enough to wear better with a toddler too. What do you think?

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann

Scrap Log Cabin

Scraps are such a mystery. How do so many accumulate? Why do we save them? What can we do with them? Occasionally I think it would be fun to have one way to handle scraps. Always cut squares... or rectangles... or triangles. Truthfully though, I'm too fickle.

My newest crush is cutting one inch strips for log cabins. The finished logs are one half inch wide. Wanting a scrappier look, I have them in various stages so identical fabric is placed in different rows from block to block.  I also try to avoid the same fabric progression from one block to the next.

Log Cabin block, Sunshine and Shadow set

The Value Finder helped sort fabrics. Lights are very light (8-10) but the darks range well into medium (1-5). Working with some of my strongly patterned fabrics was challenging. Sometimes I had to wait until a quiet scrap appeared before adding the next row. Some busy fabric never worked well. Some worked in shorter logs where I could fussy-cut around a big value change. Some fit in surprisingly well just as they were.

For example, in the lights at the top is a beige print with a cowboy on horseback. If I'd placed it closer to the darks, i.e., on a smaller inside log, the darks would have "crept" into the lights and the block would have lost its diagonal. On this long strip near the outer edge of a block, it adds some color (that is technically too dark) but the overall area still reads as light.

The lights also contain a variety of pastels - blue, purple, green and bright yellow. I worried they might overpower the lights in some way Finally I made most of the outer light logs from prints with beige or white backgrounds. Halting the pastels logs before they touch the next block seems to make them twinkle.

I'm still pondering the quilting design but leaning towards diagonal lines. And I need a small border.

Fret not; enjoy the day.

Ann