A Fourth Finished for July

I made my first QAYG back in March and abandoned it. I thought of it as homework to learn the technique. I called it my One Day Wonder, because it was made in one day, and never did get the binding sewn on it.  But Saturday while I was putting away fabric, I found the little darlin' on the shelf and thought...Why not add borders all around and make use of this good start?

Ms. Elly Pastelly, bound, signed and ready to use.

Here it is, my fourth finished quilt for July, finishing just under the wire at 4:30pm. All strips and scraps, mostly Kaffe Fassett. Woowoo!

Here's a view of the connector strips for the new borders. The quilt measures 62x81" and as you can see, fits my bed!


 The backing fabric is the perfect pink to coordinate with my room, so I guess I am going to keep this 'almost orphan'.
I learned a lot this month, trying out all the configurations and techniques of Quilt As You Go:
1. Flip and sew directly onto batting and backing. (Ms. Elly Pastelly)
2. Adding additional panels with batting added after the top and backing are sewn (Log Cabin Ninepatch)
3. Using narrow connector strips for an improvisational strip pieced quilt (Scrap Log Cabin)
4. Quilting blocks and connecting them with narrow connector strips, focusing on integrating the strips with the design (Mitered Square quilt)

There are so many possibilities with these techniques, and I think I can use them in making wall quilts too. But then I wonder if I need to when the quilt is smaller than say 45x60" which is pretty easy to quilt as a whole.
I know for sure I will never make a bed quilt in one single piece again, since QAYG is so much easier. And one little extra, if the borders happen to line up with the edge of the mattress, the drop is so crisp and nice, that lining up the quilt on the bed is super easy  and good looking too.

Finished Quilts July 2011

Mitered Stripes, Hand dyed and commercial cottons, machine pieced and machine quilted, 60x60"

Scrap Log Cabin, hand dyed and commercial cottons, machine pieced and machine quilted, 61x91"

Log Cabin Ninepatch, hand dyed and commercial cottons, machine pieced and machine quilted, 50x50"

My girls' day out was postponed, so I had all day to put on the bindings on the last two quilts I made. Now all three July quilts are finished.
I would never have guessed I would be making three large pieced quilts over the last four weeks, but I did.
And it got me thinking.
What am I going to do with these quilts? And since I want to make lots more, now that I LOVE this new method I will be asking this question over and over. Might as well make a decision sooner than later.
And my decision... is to offer them for sale.
I immediately was stumped about pricing. Haven't a clue. My next thought was to put them on Ebay, and let the market determine the value.


Ready for it's close-up, Mr. De Mille. I set this up in my upstairs bedroom to show the size since I added an additional nine inches

All three are signed, and are machine washable and dryable (I never say that about my fused quilts!).

So on Monday I will put them on Ebay, so if you are considering one of them, make an offer, and I will consider it seriously. Email me.

Mitered Stripes

Mitered Stripes
hand dyed and commercial cottons, machine pieced and machine quilted (QAYG) 60x60"

My intention with this quilt was to make the connector strips integrate with the design. Easy enough with each block but then connecting the 4 blocks to the next four blocks required piecing the connector strip fabrics.
I think it works pretty well. Nothing shouts "I am a connector strip".

I am considering adding borders, and definitely binding, but just not today. The quilting was so incredibly easy that I can't imagine what this would have meant if I had learned this technique 30 years ago when I first started quilting. Quilt as you go existed then but the hand work involved was like way unenticing. This new method requires no hand work at all.


Earlier today Beth from TN asked if larger quilted areas could be joined instead of block by block. You bet! See the x's and +'s on this quilt that are the connector strips. Big sections were quilted and joined this way. click to enlarge

And then a commenter asked about the new stripes from Fabric.com, without leaving me an email address. Luckily I saved the list. Here it is.

I really really like the Vallarta Stripes. Alexander Henry.
Friday I will be leaving early for Cleveland TN to visit my friend Mary, see her studio and meet her friend Margo. A girl's day out!

Good News and Bad News

My table top arrived! Yay. But it arrived damaged. Phooey. So I contacted the seller and await a resolution to this problem. I can wait for a new one since I have waited THIS LONG but I can't return this mess since the box was damaged when we opened it.
Update! Got this reply to my email:
I am sending out a new one ASAP, sorry for that. It looks like UPS had a good time with that one. Again, sorry and we will take care of it.
Tony
What a relief!!!



But on the other hand my stripes arrived from Fabric.com. I am IN LOVE. Doncha just love the splat fabric? hee hee. So ME.
So I guess I am committed to making LOTS more quilts.
And I will be sewing all of these blocks together...TODAY.
Not necessarily in this order.

I will be using narrow connector strips, as in this photo.
See Marianne's tutorials for more information.
http://www.thequiltingedge.com/p/tutorials.html

Taking turns on the Poang chair.

Embarrassed Before 7 AM

I spent the day out yesterday visiting with my sister and then stopping at the new location for Three Black Sheep, our super-dee-duper knitting shoppe, which has greatly expanded its inventory in its new digs.
When I got back home I was thrilled to see the box containing my new sewing table and could hardly wait to have Dave assemble it. At 6:45 AM today he opened the box and read the directions (they arrived on Monday) and separated the parts.








Here are the parts. Then he looked for the hardware, nuts and bolts etc. No Gots.
Hmm.
The assembly directions had the phone number, so I picked up the phone and left a pleading message to have my call returned, and an explanation about no hardware....

Sigh. Dissapointment.
But wait there's more.
Um...the hardware wasn't the only thing missing.
NO TABLE TOP EITHER. Duh!!!!

 Upon further inspection, I saw in teeny tiny print 1 of 2. The package with the rest of what we need has not yet arrived.

So I sheepishly called back and left a second message, aplogizing. How embarrassing. And stupid.

++++++

On another note, deep breath, I am soooo excited to see that my little magnolia which we planted in May is now about to BLOOM!!!
Not one but FIVE blooms are beginning to open. Sigh. That's one of the things I love about the South.
I first came to down to Dixie in 1970, to Keesler AFB in Biloxi MS (with the first husband).
The Spring was so lush that I swore one could toss out a baked potato and it would sprout by the next day.
Azaleas like monsters were in bloom and Spanish moss graced the live oak trees everywhere. It was quite a lovely shock for a Northern gal from Chicago. Ever since then I have had a romantic yearning for the beautiful South and all its flora and fauna.



And now my dreams have come true. Color me satisfied.

Zoom Zoom

The 16 blocks are made, sandwiched and the quilting has begun. The first three are up on the wall. This is not the final arrangement.
I can't believe how fast and easy this quilting will be.

Quilting is concentric squares, so fun. I don't usually quilt at night but I couldn't wait to start, and then after an hour I had to stop in order to pay attention to my fave show, The Closer.

Why I am not getting much sleep.

10 Done, 6 To Go

I am measuring and squaring up as I go and it feels like the good ol' days before wonkitude set in. Is there any rhyme or reason to my color choices? Hmm, I am choosing colors that are in the center mitered block, and hoping to arrange the finished 16 into some sort of cohesive design. That might take some doing, or unsewing. We'll have to see. Anyway, I am having fun and making lots of leftover strips which I know I can use in something more improvisational in the future.



Chum snores in accompaniment to the sound of the sewing machine. He is sleeping on the hand dyed backside of another quilt. As you walk through my house, there are quilts everywhere, and one even on the floor in front of the washer. Must get the washing done.