Sunday, November 6, 2016

Sunday Stash-Looking Glass 2.0 revisited...again, and the Muddy Mess that is Meadow Mystery Quilt Along.

Keep Moving....nothing new to see here. Well, not alot anyways. 

Here's the Rub!!!!

The new.....more batiks for my Looking Glass 2.0


I am not 100% sure I will incorporate this into LG 2.0.  I really liked the colors plus, it got Tish a discount on other stuff she was buying. The bottom color looks orange but in reality it is a copper color.

Next, my sister's add it up quilt.  So, here is the question.....basting 1.0? How do you baste your quilts? Do you baste your quilts?  If you don't have a long arm with a frame, how do you complete this process?  Tish and I have fought 3 different large quilts.  Hers and Mine Snowflake Shimmer and now my sister's quilt. The Snowflake Shimmers have been temporarily put away till we figure out an acceptable process that will lessen the chance of having bad lumps/wrinkles. We found on larger quilts (full size) and larger it is best to have no less than 4 people to complete the process. We have found carpeted floors to be less than optimal for the the process.  I have some ideas possibly using water/pvc pipe to roll it up on and do it a little at a time, but I have to give it some thought on how I am going to put together an "apparatus" that will allow allow this to be done with ease.  Maybe if I can come up with something, I can market the plans or process. Either way, tomorrow I will be starting the quilting process on her quilt (which we sandwiched yesterday) and hopefully I'll have it done by the time she comes in around Thanksgiving.


Up Next, Christmas Tree Skirts.  I am thinking I may try my hand at making one.  Any suggestions? Anyone out there with a pattern on Craftsy?  I am willing to buy one and have seen a few simple ones that I can to.  For that matter I could make a scrappy one and cut it to fit.  Tish has talked to me about WIPs and something she is doing in which she made a list of projects to finish/complete. Once I get my sister's quilt done, I am aiming to get LG 2.0, at a minimum, into completed chassis/flimsy.  I do want to make a skirt, I am looking at doing a class through our Quilt Guild Friday, but I have no fabric that I have picked out to do that one, and last but not least, I am thinking about doing the chihuahua quilt for my buddy. I have a few projects in mind, but don't know that there is enough time.  I will have approximately 2.5 wks off over the next month, but am not sure that is enough time for all the projects. What do you think?


Lastly for tonight, let us talk about the Meadow Mist Mystery Quilt...Quiltalong.  I was excited for this and picked out some...what I thought was some AWESOME 30's reproduction fabric.  I still love the fabric, but after the first process I found out that I am fairly certain my fabric is a Polyester/Cotton mix.  I was shocked to find this out too, because it was Robert Kaufman fabric. I am thinking that I mentioned this fact before.  Well, needless to say, I fell behind on the quiltalong, but tonight I caught up.  I am still having a bit of problem with the softness of the fabric and things not coming out exactly.  To be honest, I really wasn't looking forward to completing the quilt along once I found the discrepancy with the fabrics.  However, knowing that it needed to be done and having the "type A" personality that I have, I jumped back into it early this afternoon and started completing the hour glass and half hour glass pieces.  I was tired when I finished.  I think I had completed a few of these before on another quilt.  My first true hour glasses though on this one, were the last to be completed.

I have a really bad habit of forgetting to use the lines on the rulers to do my alignments and trimming so a few of these are a little off.  I guess that my ability to commit these processes to memory will come with more and more practice and more and more quilts.

Then I worked on my first ever Flying Geese pieces.  It was an interesting process, which I initially thought would waste alot of fabric. However, It really was an efficient use of the cut pieces, and I quickly became satisfied with the process.  I can assure you that the next time I go to do flying geese it will be a slow and re-learning (for a lack of better words) process. I really didn't mind these and I think they are a nifty design. I have recently seen several quilts that are basically all flying geese. I may give one of these a try, or maybe even design a quilt myself revolving around the block. So without further ado, here they are along with the Square in a Square blocks.  I didn't use the more technical process on the SiS blocks this time. I "eyeballed" them and they turned out pretty nice.


After I completed the two aforementioned processes, I pulled out my already completed blocks and looked at them.  I was initially very excited by my color choices, and now.....well it looks and feels like a muddy mess...hence the blog title. It may not look like it in the pictures, but the colors close together tend to blend and have a muddy look. Under artificial light it is much worse when you are further away from the fabric. Tish tells me not to get to bothered with it as it will likely look better when the process is completed.


I am a blue type of guy. Matter of fact, my favorite color is navy blue, but I think this pick of fabric really is too much blue.  There is not enough contrast...at least that is how I feel.

In Closing....I have pretty much caught up on what I need to.  However, this was a tough week for me. I found out my supervisor  Randy Perdue  is stepping down from his position. I can not....repeat CAN NOT say enough good things about this man.  He has been, by far the best supervisor, leader, mentor, friend, boss, and father figure (for a lack of better words) that I have ever had. He will be sorely missed and I feel like a piece of me is already missing. Though he is not gone, I will in-fact miss him deeply.  However, a man of his stature deserves to move on to bigger and better things. Please check out the link I shared. It is an honor to have worked with and learned from him.  I doubt that there are many finer individuals on the earth than this man. To him I say Semper Fi and Oorah.
When you are blessed with people like this in your life cherish and savor all the moments for you know not when they will come to an end.

Today I am linking up with Mollie Sparkles Sunday Stash.


5 comments:

  1. As an engineer can you work out the number of long triangles for the tree skirt, The maximum circumference, the diameter, and sew lots of different strips of varying widths, and the same length, together, the total length would need to be a little more than the circumference, to allow for seams and some wastage. Then cut wedges, one facing up, the next down, so NO fabric wastage. No seams to match, just bright and beautiful. Make it overlap at the open edges, then face or do a whole backing, turn inside out and do Velcro closures. I can visualise it, and hope this is a good improvised pattern!!! Not an engineer down here, son-in-law is a Civil one, and my Dad always wanted to be one .

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  2. The joys of basting a quilt. Here is a neat tutorial using two boards it works pretty good. http://www.right-sides-together.com/rst-guide-board-basting/

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  3. I use Sharon schamber's method for basting. It uses two boards that you roll your top and backing on. There are videos explaining the process online. Then, I baste using a thicker thread and the tailor tack stitch. It works really well. I can't baste on the floor, my knees won't take it. Good luck on finding a basting method that works for you!

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  4. Goodness me . You don't blog often dave but you pack a lot in . I baste with safety pins and occasionally a spray .
    I drape the fabric over a table and shunt it along hoping for the best . I find the floor too backbreaking and to be honest I don't have enough floor space . I have trained myself to embrace the lumps and bumps . I only make for myself or loved ones , imperfections are part of life I've decided . And after years i have mastered flying geese

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  5. Hi Dave: Somehow I've missed a lot of your posts...I find bloglovin doesn't show everything and I guess this fall I've missed checking a few days. I think your quilt will have a subtle look to it like an impressionist painting. It should be interesting.

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