Sewing till I drop - En Provence Part 6 & more

I'm in the midst of my yearly holiday break from work, which is a combination of holiday and vacation days.  Now that the Christmas festivities are out of the way, I've had a good 3 days of non-stop sewing!  I have accomplished a LOT.  I made the paper piecing project below, put the binding on two quilts and a table runner, and finished the top of the Arcadia Avenue BOM.  I also finished another row of quilting on my Circle Squares quilt.

I'm teaching a paper piecing class in February and am looking for a good pattern, so I got this one and made it to see if it would be appropriate for my students.  I used only batik scraps (well, I cut into one piece of yardage for the sun) and I love how the colors came out together.  I'm not sure its the best project for my beginner students, so I'm going to think on it for a little while.  This is now basted and ready to go.  I used some fabric I already had for the backing, which makes me feel pretty good!  Using up the stash!

Fabrics for En Provence, Step 6

By Friday morning I was pretty tired from the past 3 days and decided I might not even sew today as I needed some rest.  BUT...then I realized it was FRIDAY and the next step of the En Provence mystery would be out.  I decided I wasn't that tired of sewing after all.  This week's step finally involves the green fabrics.  I have a large bag of green and was able to easily pull out a wide variety I felt would look good in the quilt.  Some are a little bright, but I'm hoping it will all come together in the end.

I'm struggling on the lavender though.  I have enough, but am trying to get more variety in there. I pulled in two colors I previously thought were too bright.  I also added in a really nice batik from a quilt I just finished.  I didn't want to cut up many of those scraps because I have plans for the remainder, but hey, nothing is sacred...cut cut cut!  Here are my 64 finished blocks, all trimmed and pretty.  I moved my needle one step to the right so that I could trim these up. I knew they'd be just a tad too small otherwise.  My container is filling up and I'm getting excited to see what these blocks are going to look like!

As I mentioned, I've got a TON going on in my sewing room right now.  My kitties are loving it. Here are some pictures of Freddie (orange tabby) and Raha snuggling up while I'm trying to quilt my Circle Squares quilt.



As I was trying to lay out and finish the top on the Arcadia Avenue BOM, Daisy & Tahnoon had a BLAST with part of the quilt top.  After chasing them off I was able to finish it...FINALLY!!!!!  Now ready to baste and quilt.

Voila! Arcadia Avenue BOM top complete!

A Very Dirty Girl - En Provence Mystery Part 5 & More

Jumping right into the subject of my post....In August I returned to the US after a year long work assignment in UAE.  I've been sewing almost non-stop since.  Since I'm trying to make up for a year of not working on my projects, it doesn't really seem like I've done that much sewing.  I figured it had been enough and decided to clean out under my throat plate.  Yikes!!!  that's a lot of lint!!  How was my machine even sewing properly???  I guess 3.5 months is too long to go between cleanings.  Maybe I'll put a reminder on my 2017 calendar to clean it every month.  I can't be the only one that waits too long, am I?  With my machine nice and clean I could continue sewing and get caught up with the En Provence Mystery.  

More purple (yay!) and only 64 HST to make. This one was a piece of cake.  I don't have the Bonnie Hunter ruler, but after looking it up on-line I realized the Easy Angle ruler is almost the same thing (there are benefits to being a gadget hoarder).  I'm running out of variety in my dark purples, especially since these pieces needed to be larger (3.5" strips).  My neutrals are getting a little repetitive as well, though, I did recently add in this awesome cream and metallic gold cat fabric.  This was one of my estate sale finds and I have YARDS of it.  I just love it!  I also found another piece of light tan blender on my shelf which I've just now added in to the neutrals mix. I'm sure it will all come out fine in the end.  I'm caught up and really enjoying this mystery (probably because of the purple!).

While I wait I need some other stuff to work on.  I have a total of 22 days off from work during this holiday season and I'm making every effort to make the most of it!

A large, complicated paper piecing project is a great way to suck up huge amounts of sewing time.  Luckily I have such a project at hand.  I finally completed the last two blocks in the Sassafras Lane, Arcadia Avenue BOM.  Block 11 wasn't so bad, but Block 12 was a bit of a time suck with 16 pieces per section and little tiny ones at that.

Block 11 - Arcadia Avenue BOM

Ready to go, Block 12 - Arcadia Avenue BOM

Block 12, the last seam! - Arcadia Avenue BOM

Block 12 - FINISHED AT LAST!

I love how the blocks look together!  LOVE!  After finishing the blocks I was dying to get a preview of what the finished quilt is going to look like. I immediately started working on the background.  I finished the top and bottom borders and all the setting triangles last night and  had to lay it out.  It was a challenge to keep the kitties off it long enough to get it laid out and snap a photo.  They finally got their chance to get their paws on it...too cute.  The quilt is ready to be sewn together, then I can begin phase two of the time suck that is this quilt when I start to quilt this.  I plan to finish this by April so it can go in my local guild quilt show.  Wish me luck!! To link up to Bonnie Hunter's En Provence Mystery, click here.

Arcadia Avenue BOM - Setting Complete, ready to sew together.

Kitties ALWAYS need to sit on the quilt blocks...ALWAYS.

Lucifer 2 loves quilts!

My UFO Log - What's currently in my Sewing & Quilting Que

I haven't done this since 2014 and was inspired by one of my quilting friends.  Not so surprisingly, I've only finished 3 of he 9 projects which I wrote about back in 2014.   I've got a lot going on (as always).  I won't talk about ALL the projects I have in process, just the ones which are actively being worked.

I'm still plugging away at the Arcadia Avenue BOM.  Here is the completed Block 8. Only 4 more to go and I can start putting the quilt together.  I plan to quilt this myself, so that's going to be quite the endeavor I'm sure.  I'm envisioning a nightmare with all those bulky seams coming together.

I have several items to bind, including my Smudgy Cat panel quilt.  I love this adorable little cat.  I'm  not sure what I'm going to do with the quilt yet.  I used wool batting for the first time in this quilt and it was interesting.  Its much different to work with than cotton or polyester.  It is stiffer in some way, so moving the quilt around was trickier.  It was a good quilt to learn on though.  I didn't get too fancy with the quilting as I was struggling a little with my machine tension and the batting. This was a project I just wanted to be finished.

I also have to add the binding and a hanging sleeve to the quilt shown on my quilting machine below.  This is the Sew-Together Quilt Shop block of the month for 2014/2015.  I fully custom quilted it and plan to put it in the Tewksbury Piecemaker's quilt show this April.  That deadline gives me "plenty" of time to get the binding and sleeve on it!

 

I also have a table runner to complete the binding on.  I made this from scraps from the quilt I gave to my house sitter.  After the struggle with the Smudgy Cat quilt, I needed something to quilt that I could claim an easy victory on.  I did continuous curve and a ton of ribbon candy on this.  I also did a nice motif in the center of each square.  I was able to dial in my tension and this came out great.  I'm not sure who its going to, but it will be good to have it around for when I need a housewarming gift or something.  I used King Tut, Sands of Time color, thread with tan deco bob for the bobbin.  I'll probably do all the binding at one time, so when I get ready to do it, I'll just go to town.

In addition to the Bonnie Hunter En Provence Mystery, which I've posted about several times, I'm working on the Mystery quilt for my guild.  I was able to use fabric from my stash to build the throw size version of the mystery.  I'm super happy to be using my stash.  I've had this fabric 5 or 6 years.

The final project I'm actively working on is my Circle Squares quilt.  I bought this kit is CA while on a business trip and think its the most happy, adorable quilt.  This quilt was screaming at me to custom quilt it, so that's what I'm doing. I put wool batting in this as well because I really wanted to see that puff factor.  I'm having much less trouble manipulating this quilt than I did the Smudgy Cat one.  I'm using Fabulux, Springtime color, thread on this with white deco bob for the bobbin.  The thread has green, purple and yellow.  I love how the thread looks on this.  Its happy and bright and really goes with the colors in the quilt without taking away from it.  I was considering switching thread for every diagonal row, but have since decided just to stick with the Springtime thread.



In the areas between the circle blocks I'm quilting this continuous curve shape with a set of circles in the middle.  I wanted the circle blocks to really stand out as a circle, so after a little trial and error I came up with the design below.  I started with a straight line, 8 pointed star on the outside and connected the points with a double set of arcs.  In the center I put pumpkin seeds and filled in the extra spaces with swirls. I really think the center fills in the space and give it a great sense of being a circle.  This doesn't take too long to quilt either.  Now that I'm several deep, I'm getting faster, I've also got all my ruler sizes down and the trial and error phase is hopefully over.

I've completed one full row, only 8 more to go!!  I'll be finished in no time....ha!  I love how this thread seems so bold up close but when you look at the whole quilt its not overwhelming at all.  

 

Arcadia Avenue BOM - Now known as Marius' Rainbow Bridge BOM - Piecing Block Two

The past 48+ hours have been some of the worst of my entire life.  Early Friday morning we had to rush my cat Marius to the ER.  He had gone septic after a lifelong struggle with GI issues and we made the agonizing decision to put him down.  There is a gaping hole in our hearts and our lives right now.  The pain is almost unbearable.  In the wake of my tragedy, I forced myself to my sewing room to distract myself from my runaway, grief stricken mind.

I decided to sew my scraps together to "make" some fabric from the remnants of this project.  Here is the result after the first two blocks.

  I had gotten my triangle segments completed and trimmed and they were ready for assembly.  It was rough.  I was going through the motions like a zombie.  What is normally so relaxing and enjoyable for me was torture.  The minutes seemed like hours.  I pushed myself on because I knew doing nothing would be even more painful for me.  I was forcing myself to use quilting to help ease my pain.  Part way through completing the block I realized that I was making a rainbow quilt as my beloved little guy was waiting for me at the Rainbow Bridge.  I broke down a little, but now this quilt is for him and his memory.  I will make it to help myself process my grief and dedicate it to his memory.  By the time I got closer to finishing the block I was feeling a little better and my mind wasn't as filled with my terrible doubts.

Here is my finished Block 2.  My first block for Marius.  My love, my little star.  I miss you so much and you'll be in my heart forever.  Please wait for your brothers, your Sir and me at the Rainbow Bridge until we can join you again.  I love you baby.

Arcadia Avenue BOM - Piecing Block 1

...and we're off!  I finally had a day to myself where I could just focus on Block #1.

I grabbed my bag of pieces, a coffee my book and papers and I was ready to start!  Everything was going well with the first few segments....

...then disaster struck.  My first catastrophic error.  I forgot to use my add a quarter ruler and just cut right next to my plastic template and cut right through my fabric and paper :(.  Luckily, I was only 3 seams in, so I cut myself some new pieces and remade this segment to catch up with the other 11 blocks and get back on track.  Oopsie!  The good thing about doing this early on is that I'll remember it and take my time from now on, hopefully preventing it from happening again.

There were no other snafus and I completed the 12 segments.

Here are a couple pictures of my pile of scraps.  Some of the colored ones are quite large.  It seems like a shame to throw them away.  I should sew them together to make crazy fabric (you have no idea how many times I've said I'm going to do this).  Alas, should I separate out the larger ones and set them aside, or just resign to the fact that I'll never get to doing this and throw them away now?

When I sewed my first two segments together, I didn't match up each point.  I wanted to see how it would come out without using that method.  Ultimately I wasn't happy with the points on that seam, so I pinned up the rest of them as I went.

I did a combination of leaving the paper on and removing the paper.  I removed the paper in the picture below in order to press the seam open.  Once I sewed the adjacent segment, I would remove the paper from the middle segment.  I waited till the end of a quilt once to remove all the paper and will never forgive myself.  I have to remove as I go.  Removing as I go seems to work fine for me.  I starch each segment before I trim the final outline, so I haven't had any issues with stretching yet.  Leaving the paper on while sewing the individual segments together was really nice because the paper being there kept the fabric edges from catching under the machine and flipping under.

Here she is!  It took me around 8 hours to complete the sewing on this block.  Not too shabby for a full day's work.  This was by far the most time consuming block I've ever made and I kept thinking I'd be done in "just a little while" and another few hours would go by and I still wasn't done.  I do love it though, I had a blast making the block and seeing it come together.  

Obviously this quilt is going to be for me and me alone as I won't want to part with this amount of hard work any time soon.  Making a block like this is one of the reasons I always struggle when someone asks me "How long does it take to make a quilt?".

Arcadia Avenue BOM - Cutting, Phase 2

The cutting continues...From my little pile of white scraps I was able to cut all these pieces.  Not too shabby. After all the cutting was complete my white scrap pile was greatly reduced and I didn't have to use that much yardage.

This is a picture of all my medium and light fabric for all of the blocks and the mathy-math used to cut the white fabric.  Next it was time to cut the colors!!!! Sew much fun to dig into my beautiful rainbow of fabrics!  Since I had recently installed a new blade in my rotary cutter I had been cutting 6 pieces at a time of the white fabric and decided to do the same with the rainbow.  I cut strips in the widths I needed (which was the most time consuming part) and made two stacks of six colors.  By doing this I could even cut all twelve colors at once by laying the strips next to each other! What a bonus time saver that was!  Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of that.  In the end I had a good 4" piece left from each of the colors.  I see another great rainbow quilt in the future!  I'm leaving the numbered pins in these in case I get any of the similar colors messed up while making the blocks.

The leftovers of my rainbow fabrics

 Next it was time to cut out the dark fabric.  It was getting later in the evening, but I was on a roll.  It was getting so late that my kitty Freddie just wanted to snuggle up on top of all my nicely cut and labeled pieces.  I had to keep checking underneath him to see what I had cut and make sure to keep my blade far away from him as he relaxed.  My cats each have their own baskets on one of the tables in my sewing room, but he was being so cute, I didn't move him over to his basket this time.

Freddie loves to lay on little pieces of fabric.

To cut the dark strips, I decided to use the same method of stacking six strips at a time.  I mentioned this before, but the fact that this whole quilt goes into multiples of 3, 6, 12, etc is AWESOME.  I made a cheat sheet of what I needed and cut six strips in the widths I needed.  It actually came out really great and I had very little scrap left.  I ended up using about 1.6 yards of the recommended 2 3/4, so I have quite a bit left (I see the potential for a pieced backing in my future).  I made a late push and  powered through cutting it till around 11:00 pm (on a Tuesday night, ugh), which made for a tired day at work the next day.  It was worth it though to end up with these 12 beautifully organized bags for each block.  I'm bagged and tagged and ready to start block 1!  Let the adventure continue!

12 Arcadia Avenue Block Cut, Bagged and Tagged!