Big Sis--Added Up Quilt

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Boy does time fly.  Just a simple guess, but I figuring that my first blog post came somewhere between May and June of this year. Now that I am 10 "Sunday Stashes" deep into this process, I step back and realize just how far I have come. 

I am not sure that I have said it, and if I have forgive me, my age is upon me....and I really don't care to remember or go on about myself. However, to put it out there I am a Trainer....that is to say I am a teacher....And I guess more proudly I can say I am the Lead Trainer in our agency for our Academy.

As of Nov. 1 I have been doing the training thing for 5 years.  The Lead Trainer gig has been going on for 3+ of that.  Feel free to hop on over and find me on LinkedIn  under David Stemple. As I type, I am mentally preparing myself for an interview that I will be going to in the morning for the Director of Training position. My original supervisor, Randy Perdue, whom I mentioned in another blog resigned from his position. I have to take a second to recognize him and his contributions to my life.  He will be SORELY missed.

This year, after completing approximately 3 projects, including a full sized quilt for my mom  known as Looking Glass by Cheryl Brickey (shameless plug), I decided it was time to tackle a quilt for my sister. I contacted her and let her know that I was wanting to make her a quilt and that I would request she pick a design and give me some color ideas. I told her to go to Pintrest and do some researching and let me know what she came up with.

Here was her first choice

This plays/wreaks havoc with my OCD.

Needless to say, I had been talking with Tish earlier in the year about why the "plus" quilts seemed to be so popular.  One thing you must know about me.  Very few things do I "bandwagon" over. I was late to Breaking Bad, The Office, and The Walking Dead TV shows.  And I really wasn't feeling the plus quilts. Especially not this one.  I have grown much more fond of improptu type pieces like this, but it has taken tempering of who I am and my OCD to get to that point.

I told my sister that I felt this was a little more complex than what I felt comfortable with taking on, being a new quilter.  So, I told her to keep looking.  In the mean time I began looking also.

I found this one that caught my eye.

I really like the color combos used in the first pic I saw.  It really "popped" for a lack of better words. So, I began my wait to hear back from her.  I think it was about 2 weeks....low and behold she came up with the same picture and the magic "sort of" began.  I asked her if she wanted it done like the picture and she said "no". She wanted all reds  maybe a little black and mostly off-white/creams/naturals.

She had an affinity for a "french style" red fabric and she sent me a couple of pics that I no longer have.  But, like a good little brother I researched and found some....Guess what, that $%*! is EXPENSIVE!!!!!

Here is a Moda brand sample picture, needless to say I couldn't find any cheap Moda.  I assume it was discontinued ....average price of what I did find $50-$75 per yard, and much of it is furniture/drape heavy duty material.....3rd row 3rd print from the left is the particular pattern.

I love my sister.....let me repeat, I love my sister, but I won't even spend that much money on myself for fabric....so that was a big NO GO!

She told me she trusted me.  I told her I would do my best and would also try and have it done by Christmas.  A tall order considering I am still new to quilting.

I began talking to Tish about the pattern....low and behold she had a copy of it in a quilting magazine, Quilty I think.... FREE!!!! SCORE!!!!!!

Libs Elliott  is the pattern designer and she has some other fantastic patterns on her site.

I then began researching Reds.....reds, reds, reds...never shop for reds on line!!!! You can't tell the real color because reds just don't translate well in pictures, that is unless you already know what you want and are familiar with the color. Nothing was really working....but to understand this, you have to understand my sister....she DOESN'T like floral patterns....This through a proverbial wrench in the works as a whole.

Along come QBIR with Julie at PinkDoxies. I won't go back and re-discuss that, but if you want to know a little about a quilting retreat that is MALE friendly, you can read about it at "QBIR" link or check out Julie....Please check out Julie regardless, she is a wonderful person. The important part to the "Big Sis" story is that Julie prepared a day of shopping/travel which would provide me with most of what I needed to get this project going. Thanks also to Sandra  (at mmmquilts) and MacGyver for chauffeuring us around that day. Please give Sandra some traffic too...another truly wonderful and delightful person.

Back to fabrics... At the QBIR in Ohio we ended up in  Amish County and at several locations in which I bought a bunch of fabric.

My sister really fell in love with the taupe color to the extreme right. I have to admit that I liked it well also...but alas I discovered it was polyester. So on the hunt I went, locally trying to find an exact replacement in cotton. Once I got that fabric outside and compared it to other fabrics...it was a no go...and OUTSIDE it turned a pinkish/purple in the sun.  It would later be replaced by Moda Grunge, and the reds would be supplemented by a few picks from Tish's stash. All of what you see here was purchased in Ohio at a fraction of the cost of what it would cost local.

So I sat down with my fabric and plotted it out using the pic in the magazine and a hand drawn sketch.

And a recipe card with abbreviations so I would know what was what. You can see on the fabric in the lower left corner I had my fabric marked to avoid messing anything up...guess what??!!! That didn't help, I still placed a few fabrics in the wrong position at the end of the day.

Cut to size....

If you pay attention in this last picture you see a hunter green and a gray.  I decided to incorporate a little splash of color. The gray is more grunge. The green is one I picked out that made me think of my dad. My sister was very fond of our dad so I thought it would be nice. I decided it still needed some more color so I asked Tish to pic a color, Jen (our daughter) to pick a color and I put my favorite in too.  In one of the last pictures you will see them. I myself am extremely fond of Yellow, but I have to say that my favorite color is Navy Blue. Tish picked a Turquoise, and Jen picked a Royal Blue.  So they incorporated nicely and gave the quilt a hint of Red, White and Blue (so-to-speak). As you can see the strips and pieces are labeled...OCD anyone?

Piecing and Strips....

This was the first "block". Tish and I decided it was time that we made a board so we got an insulation board and cut it in half then we pinned dollar store table cloths wrong side up so that it would stick to the back....it worked pretty well as you can see. The board was an 8 foot sheet. So when I got this block on there, I thought "What have I got myself into?" I knew right then that this was going to be a huge quilt.

The splashes of color were the right decision.  However, at this point I went with the "I trust you" line my sister stated and at this point she was unaware of it.

Strips became what I call sections like piecing a car frame, or on unibody cars replacing interior body frame/structure panels.

Once again "all must be in order"

You can also see an initial construction mistake as there is a section missing at the very bottom right.

So after being pieced and stripped and assembled with Aurifil 2021 (Natural White) it was time to get this baby basted.

EVERY and I mean every stinking time I go to take a Chassis/Flimsy pic the wind blows.  Tish and Jen helped with the pic.

Time to quilt! We took this bad boy to Tish's cousin's house and tied to baste it.  Being that it was for my sister, I wanted it to perfect. Tish and I wrangled this thing and it ended up causing me to (at best) be a horse's ass to her. She sent down her cousin and we did our best. It did get basted, but we ended up having a minor deviation which would translate to a small bunched place when the quilt was finished....Oh well, not like it will be entered into any shows to be judged. I think it is important to note also that quality fabric and consistent fabric is almost a must in this large of a quilt. It may not be noticeable in the pictures but some of my pluses got "out of line" or wonky as I sewed and especially as I made my strips and then putting the strips together because some fabrics were more pliable than others.

Aurifil GOODNESS!!!!!

 Sadly blue in thread does not translate real well in pictures, so I had a major issue finding the correct turquoise thread...Sadly after much searching my resident expert and I was forced to abandon hope of finding Aurifil and instead chose a Sulky Rayon 40WT thread (#942 1252). Though the picture will not do it justice here, it really worked well (actually excellent) with the fabric of Tish's on the quilt.  Tish and I have decided when we order our next batch of thread we will get the Aurifil chart as to avoid this problem again.

I decide to tackle the linen colors first. All linen colors would be quilted horizontal stripes an inch apart. Red would be quilted vertical an inch apart and all accent colors diagonal an inch apart. And so, I got busy. I got all the white done and started on the red. Knowing that my sister would be in, in less than a week, I wanted to knock this puppy out  and quick. (Maybe why I ended up with a pucker)
I got about a quarter of the way into the red and started feeling burnout/fatigue with the process. So I knocked out the diagonal accent colors.  It went fast and gave me a jump start. Little did I know, work was going to make me busy for a week and I had to put off working on it.

When I got back after it, I ended up having some help.

Junior figured he would help. His first appearance as a quilty kitty!

I have one pic of the actual line process

I started off with washable pen marks and realized I needed lines. Penning in the lines would burn us out of pens so I used chalk. It worked so-so. It served the purpose but took multiple washes to get it out and I think there is one small permanent blue spot in the linen areas. My sister did not notice.

Quilt Quilt Quilt.....and on a domestic machine.....Viola finished. Time to bind this baby! I had planned to just do a simple red binding with a print fabric.  However, once done, I knew that wouldn't work, a flange was going to be just what this project called for.  I opted to do the solid red that is in the big plus and use my favorite, a Navy Blue (with white polka dots) for the flange.

 Love that Tag!!!!! Thanks to Tish for helping me design it.

All on a domestic.....YEAH BABY! - Austin Powers

Tish offered to quilt this for me. She also offered to let me use the Sweet Sixteen....That is her machine.  I don't know that I will ever use it...It is something special for her...it is all hers and she deserves it.

Alas my sister wanted it completely and utterly done by me and me only. So, there it is...there you have it.

And a final snapshot from WV to end a perfect project for a wonderful sister

So to summarize. This was a tough project. The piecing of blocks took some thinking.  Because of the odd sizes to each block, it was not one you just threw together you had to look ahead and piece the rows in very particular way. It was a labor of love that I am pretty sure took me approximately a week...and I am thinking in total man hours less than a week. A true LABOR OF LOVE.  I love my sister.  We have shared many experiences together through life, even though separated by miles. I would do anything for her and am sure the feeling is mutual. I am glad that I was able to do this for her in the way and color-way that she wanted. Time shared with others or for the benefit of others is never wasted. For it is the time...not the things that we remember.

And knowing that she and I can still, years later, get on each others' nerves after just a few days together.

My former boss, Randy Perdue told me often (and it is in much of the success and leadership training, books, and processes) that the greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of your time.

I could not be more proud of my family! Terri (my BIG sis) is the person in the upper left corner. And as a side note this picture was taken by my Aunt Janet (paternal). She has also been instrumental in our lives and development.  I could not be more proud of a picture I have been in.

Blessings to you all and thanks for reading!

Today I'm linking up to Let's Bee Social.

Kaffe Fassett FTW! Sunday Stash #10

Secret Santa......(AKA) Yankee Swap......(AKA) White Elephant........

That is at least if you watch the TV series The Office.  And I would randomly say to Tish....mmmmm Yankee Swap, just like Steve Carell's character Michael Scott on the Office.

I went to the local Guild's Christmas Party.  Clearly there was a sort of secret santa thing going on. So funny.....Tish and I sat next to each other, naturally and we drew the number which indicated the number order for picking packages...She got 8 and I got 9. What are the chances of that happening????

Her turn came, and then came mine. I walked up to the table and picked a very small package...at least compared to the other bags (most of the gifts). I saw the one I was going to pick, and thought it might be a charm pack, but was not sure.  However, being new to the guild I figured I would pick something small.

Drum Roll.......opening the package and this is what I see first....

This was the first charm square I saw inside a plastic wrapper that had not been opened.  I re-looked at it and knew within seconds.....I HAD HIT THE MOTHERLOAD!!!!!

I leaned over to Tish and said "I got Kaffe"  She said what, I picked up the package and looked at it and sure enough it was marked "Kaffe Fassett". I leaned to her, repeated, and showed her the label. She said "Just put it down and don't make a big deal out of it".  Knowing that these were the exact words that were going through my mind, even before she said it, I just put the fabric down and waited.

I am a person that has the mindset of "what you think about you bring about"....or for the more religious minded, you reap what you sow.  I wanted these fabrics!!!!

As soon as it was over....and yes I did....I retained the fabrics. I verified who the secret santa was and she ended up with a big thank you hug.  I even had another guild member come up as I laid the fabrics for others to view.....they wanted to see it after I issued my hug.  This other guild member said that they had another charm pack of the exact same that they would give me. I advised I would purchase it, and they advised that was not needed they would just give it to me.

I can not say how excited I am.  The pictures I took DO NOT do the fabric color saturation justice. So without further ado......here is the quilt fabric porn.

To quote Veruca Salt...."don't care how, I want it now"!  I want all the Kaffe Fassett I can get.  I have no idea what I will do with this fabric, but I am excited. I also now want the Red/Orange set of the fabric that complements this set.

Now that you have heard the story of the little boy that got what he wanted for Christmas....he got one of the main things that he wanted related to quilting.....I need some help.  I need to know what year and what line this is from.  I need to be able to buy more and not knowing which line it is from will make it more difficult. Also, open to a suggested background color for when I start using this.

This marks my 10th Sunday Stash post.

I will soon be doing a blog on my sister's "Add it Up" quilt that I just finished week before last....she loved it, and it is my first true quilt/quilt (bed sized) that I completed by myself, from beginning to end.

This evening I am linking up with Mollie Sparkles Sunday Stash.