Homeward Bound BOM Continues on Off the Wall Friday

One down - 3 more to go

 It's always hard to get back into the swing of things after a vacation, isn't it?  At least that is what I found this week.  I did manage to get my studio unpacked and finally looked at my Block of the Month, Homeward Bound.

Sighhhhhhh

I had a few rules  parameters when I started this journey last January.

• Stick to the pattern
• Stick to the technique the designer was teaching
• Finish each month on time

I was doing so well......then came July and it all got shot to hell.

Here it is, the first week of August and I only got about 1/4 of July done.  Of course, I did spend 2 weeks of July traveling, but still, I should have planned better.  

Not to mention, I finally called uncle, and used a few different techniques that weren't what Sarah

Fielke suggested.  Last month we were suppose to applique  24 ... yes you read that right ....24..3/8" circles.  The last time I did some that small, they all came out kinda wonky.  That was using the cardboard tin foil method.  So this time, I pulled out my new applipops to see if I could get better results.  The answer was yes!  After watching this helpful video, I did manage to get them to come out mostly circular.  The prep time of the circles might take a bit longer but the applique time was quick.

I did do a visual test on what color the circles should be  - sticking to the adage to make visual decisions visually.  

The dotted teal won out!

Sarah has given us three months to get these borders hand appliqued, so I figure I have time to catch up.  Not to mention, I'm slowly working my way through 7 seasons of West Wing...again.

Under  Things I Like...

I finally gave in and bought a pair of Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Scissors.  Timna Tarr said she

liked them and the 6" size was something I really have needed for a while.  Plus they have one blade that is straight (that can be sharpened) and one blade that was micro serrated (that will grip the fabric better for more accurate cutting).  Of course, I've heard quilters from all walks of life swear by them.  

After using them for a few weeks, I can say I really like the size and the narrow little point they come to.  I'm not sold though on the serrated blade since I'm used to a smooth cut of the straight blade of my Kai's.   BUT I do love the size and find myself reaching for them just as much as my Kai's,

I still love my Kai Professional Series Scissors though - I have the 7170 and just love, love, love them. I mean you can't beat the action of the scissors plus they really do cut through fabric like butter.   I might ask for the Kai's 6" 7150's for Christmas and see if I like those.  

I mean really...can a girl have too many scissors?

So what do you think about your scissors?

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BOM - Month 5 on Off the Wall Friday

Helen's EQ8 mock-up

Under the wire, I finished up May's section of the Quilt Show's Block of the Month quilt.  I won't lie, it was a struggle.  This month's section was the flying geese that surround the elaborate medallion center.  I spent a good 10 days hmmmmming.....hawwwwwwing on exactly how I was going to handle the color placement of the geese.  When I spoke up about these concerns on the quilts forum, Helen W used her EQ8 to come up with a quick mock-up (Cool right?).  Several quilters were going with solid flying geese and they really seem to anchor the piece.  With a little more thought though, I decided that I would use prints and value changes to give a bit of movement.  I decided the corner sprigs would anchor the borders.  Problem #1 solved.

Next, I spent 2 - yes 2 - weeks struggling with getting the half square triangles right.  After 30 years you'd think I would have the skill down pat, but no.  I had to remind myself more than once that the reason why I was doing this piece was to hone my traditional skills.  Apparently, this was going to be one of them.  I did stick to my rules and used the designer's method which I actually found pretty user-friendly.  About 70% of them turned out right.  The first set, no lie, I probably did 3 times.  By the last set, I flew through them.  So the old adage is true...practice makes perfect.  As Rebecca Grace says, "Getting them just right is SO SATISFYING!"  She's right too.  It gave me a Victory Rush!  Problem #2 solved.

It's now the last week of the month and only the little applique sprigs to finish.  Easy right?  Ya

< know, I want to preface this with I have an engineering degree with many, many years of math behind me.  Somehow, I missed the fact that 4 borders have 2 sprigs each that had 4 leaves each and that would add up to 32 leaves.  Let me repeat that 32 leaves to hand applique.   At about 15 minutes each that is 480 minutes or 8 hrs of hand applique.  Oh and lest I forget the 8 little circles that went on the end of the sprig.

So now you know, why I only managed to finish June 1.  But why am I stressing you ask?  Because the minute you fall behind on a BOM it's HELL to catch up.  I've learned the hard way, that the best way to get a big project done is a chunk at a time on a strict schedule.  

And it's done.

On to Month 6.

Enough about me....

So What Have You Been Up to Creatively?

(I'm linking this week up to Kathy's SlowStitch Sunday)

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A Quick Update! BOM Month 4 on Off the Wall Friday

 

Attempt 1 - I just thought the petals were too BUSY!

Wow!  Spring is crazy around here.  It's like all the ladies across the country woke up and thought, "Gosh, it's spring.  I need some new clothes!"  So you'll forgive me if this is a short  I did manage to get in a bit of applique this week and when I say a bit....I actually mean a bit!  

I am working on the fourth month of the Homeward Bound Quilt from the Quilt Show website.  It's the month when we finally get to put all the months together and applique the top of the flowers on.  Doing it hand applique just takes longer but I'm enjoying the process,

Well, I was enjoying the process right up till I did one cornflower.  I made the fatal mistake of not following the directions (video AND written) about tracing the pattern out onto the fabric.  As they would say in Pretty Woman, Big mistake, HUGE!  Apparently, you can't just "eye it in".   By the time I got to the end of all 6 petals, I realized the top center piece would not fit on properly.  sighhhhh THEN when I was taking a picture of  it ('cause all mistakes need to be immortalized, right?) I was thinking the prints didn't work.    The color was working but the prints, not so much!  The prints were just too busy even though they are a tone-on-tone, those prints have a LOT of movement in them.  The cornflowers were meant to anchor the blocks since all those circles (hollyhocks) are so darn busy!

See I think this works better!

So I bit the bullet, took an hour to pull it all out, and pulled out some hand dyes.  I also pulled out my light box to trace the pattern on tracing inside the line so it wouldn't show and sat down to do it all over again.  By the time I was done, I was all happy!

So really it was actually a fortunate mistake, 'cause I don't know if I would have had the discipline to re-do the whole fabric just because the fabric was a bit off!  I know other people do, but when you're looking at re-doing 3-4 hrs of work, it's just hard!

I have one and a half done and it's the  21st!  I better get after it!

(Linking to Kathy's Slow Stitch Sunday Linkup)

So What Have You Been Up to Creatively?

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Quilting Trends for 2023 on Off the Wall Friday

Me stitching in my studio watching the Mentalist...again

Okay, let's face it.  I'm not one for following trends.  I'm the type that decides what is good for me and mine and then goes in that direction.  I do, however, keep track of trends, just because it's good to stay informed.  I recently got Timna Tarr's latest newsletter and it mentioned that handwork is becoming more of a trend on the national scene.  That I can see.  You hear of handwork everywhere these days.  First English paper piecing made a resurgence with the Millefiori Quilts and Grandma Garden quilts leading the way.  The Daily Stitching Groups online have gotten quilters from all over stitching a little every day.  Plus every where you look you'll see quilters trying Big Stitch hand quilting.  On top of that, Sarah Fielke's Homeward Bound (the BOM designed for the Quilt Show) is bringing hand applique back in a big way.  I've read so many times on the BOM forum that there is a whole group of quilters that this is their first attempt at hand applique.  (For that matter there is an article on needle turned applique in the current issue of American Quilter).  

Personally, I think it was inevitable.  Normally trends are cylindrical right?  Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry broke the quilt world into machine quilting by winning Best in Show at Paducah for Corona 2: Solar Eclipse.  back in 1989 (Click on that link to see how she designed it - wow super fascinating)  It just went from there.  The internet really helped with youtube videos showing everyone how much they could push their domestic machines.  THEN came the advent of long-arm quilting which gave quilters an easy way to get all those quilt tops finally quilted.  BUT thirty years later, there is still a segment of quilters that love the slow methodical feeling of handwork.  It's cheap, it's portable, and it's soothing.  Plus there is a whole generation of quilters who haven't tried it.  So now it's back.  

This brings me back to the point that apparently I am officially "In". Who knew?  I do want to mention that when I started quilting in 1992, it was basically mandatory that you learn hand skills including hand quilting and applique. But I really loved it since I came from a cross-stitching background.

This month my work has been all dominated by handwork, so much so that my hand ached after a 10 hr day of it.  

I finished up my foray into appliqueing circles by completing this month's section of the Homeward Bound Quilt.  I want to say that none of the circles came perfectly circular but all the stitches were definitely invisible.  That 100-wt Invisafil thread is The Bomb!  I do think that if I ever do more applique circles, I will invest in the Applipops 'cause I want my circles to be perfectly circular.  

One thing Sarah clued me in on was how handy a sandpaper board is for tracing on fabric.  I did save the $20 and had Paul make me one with fine grit sandpaper.  It really does smooth out your lines when you are writing on fabric!

You can see how my circle templates came in handy...again.  If you don't have a set of drafting circle templates ... BUY some!  I can't tell you how many times I used them over the years for all sorts of things.  

Plus I'm still quilting on my Rain Rain quilt.  I have switched to a Size 5 crewel needle and it works fine.  Not only is it MUCH EASIER to thread but it's much stronger than the size 8 or 9.  I also pulled out some of my #12 pearl cotton to get a bigger color range.  I love the added line the quilting adds.  Normally with hand quilting, it's all about adding texture.  But with Pearl cotton, it actually adds an element of line that wasn't there before.   If you haven't tried big-stitch quilting, try it!!  Haven't you heard?  It's in!  (grin)

see, the pearl cotton makes it look like it's raining!

The News of the Day

After much hmmming and hawwwing, I picked out my annual creating vacation.  I'm going back to Marc Adams School of Woodworking to take Timna Tarr's Stitch Mosiac Class again.  It was so much fun last year, that once I really started thinking about it there wasn't anything else I'd rather do. 

You can read all about how much fun we had last year ... here .   It was so much fun two of my classmates are joining me to repeat the class.  If you haven't heard, Timna has a new book out on her very approachable technique of creating a mosaic pictorial quilt.  

If you are looking for a fun way to spend a week, please consider joining us in the class.  It runs July 17-21st of this year.  Also, there is affordable housing offered by the school OR hotel rooms are close by that are pretty inexpensive too.  Indiana as a whole is an affordable friendly place to visit.  I mean, gosh, this is what I made last year....

So is anybody else getting back to handwork?

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Woodcut Art & Quilting on Off the Wall Friday

Houses, Mabel Hewit, 1936

 

This week I went down the rabbit hole they call Pinterest,  only to rediscover my love of woodcut art. Woodcut is a relief printing process in which knives and other tools are used to carve a design into the surface of a wooden block. The raised areas that remain after the block has been cut are inked and printed, while the recessed areas that are cut away do not retain ink, and will remain blank in the final print.  It is a very positive/negative area kind of printing!  I always thought woodcut printing was interesting, but what really caught my eye was the depression-era artist, Mabel Hewit.    Her subject matter of the city and small-town life really resonated with me.

This week, I started studying it again.  What I noticed this time was the strong use of line.  Those lines could also be the inspiration for quilting or seams lines in piecing.   For instance, look at this piece...

Notice how much movement is achieved by changing the direction of lines.  As a quilter, you could do that with string piecing of different fabrics.  OR You can do it with the quilting line afterward.

Here is another example,

The radiating lines set up the composition easily.  I can see this being the inspiration for a series of quilts!

I especially love this one called Sun Bathers, by Leonard Beaumont, 1932.

The abstraction of bathers creates movement while they are actually standing still.  

Like I said, it becomes a study of negative and positive space!!  After looking at them this week, it's gotten me in the mood to start a piece inspired by them!

and I cannnnnnn since....wait for it.... I finished the second month of the Homeward Bound BOM!  The circles are hand appliqued with 100 wt Wonderfil Invsafil thread (mostly grey) and I use a Richard Hemming #10 sharp (mostly 'cause that is what I started with over 30 years ago and all other needles feel weird in my hands!)  The rest of the circles are part of next month's work!!

So What Have You Been Up to Creatively?

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Rules of Homeward Bound Month 1 on Off the Wall Friday

When I first started quilting, I thought art quilting was beyond my reach.  Through the years though I've taught myself how to make them.  Now, with the Homeward Bound Block of the Month quilt, I'm revisiting my roots.  When I decided to take on this project I gave myself some basic rules (yes, I'm a rules chick):

1.  Follow the Pattern, No Adjusting

2.  Use the techniques taught by the designer

3.  Use a new, controlled palette

4.  Finish each month on time

5.  Participate in the Quilt's Forum

So today I looked at the calendar and it has the 26th staring at me.  And yes, you guessed it, I hadn't started on this month's section.  Now I've laid the groundwork.  I read and printed the pattern.  I watched the 3 videos with the introduction and directions.  I even picked a palette.  Now all I had to do is sew!  

With this being basically a medallion quilt, this month focused on the center cabin.  The thing about the cabin is that it's little...I mean really little....4" finished little.  Which means you need to do some precise basic piecing.  Now normally with something so little, I would have drafted it out and done it using paper piecing but that would violate Rule #2.   So I first watched a Quilt Show segment with Sally Collins who shows tips on how to improve your straight-line piecing and pressing.  She suggested...

1.  Don't push your pieces through your machine, your fingers are a guide only

2.  Iron set seams, then finger press, THEN iron press

3.  Cool the seam after pressing using a weight

4.  Check every seam  for size before going on

5.  Set your stitch length to 1.5

Using these tips, miracle upon miracle, my cabin came out the right size the first time. Getting a scant quarter-inch seam has never been my strong suit. In fact, this isn't quite perfect, but as you noticed getting it perfect was NOT one of the rules of this quilt.   I'm of the mind that imperfections add a bit of character to the quilt anyways!

I did manage to stick to my original planned-out palette...

I also decided that I wasn't going to pre-plan the color layout.  I was going to use some of my art quilting rules:

1.  Make Visual decisions visually

2.  Make one design decision at a time

So that means the color placement will grow as the quilt grows and we'll all be surprised at the end!  Here are a couple of trials for the stars.

#1

#2

When I was first looking at this in the studio, I thought #2 for sure!  But seeing the images, the change in the value of #1 looks really good.  With a project this little, I probably will make two sets and see which one looks better done! 

With the cabin done, I've started making the bias stems for the adjacent blocks.  The quilt designer, Sarah Fielke teaches a technique of cutting her pieces 3/4" wide, scoring them with a Hera marker, then pressing them using the Hera marker to guide the fold.  (Finally a use for the Hera  Marker I bought 4 years ago.  Go Me!)  She made it look so easy.  I am here to say it's an acquired skill. I did manage to make the stems and am in the process of hand appliqueing them down.  I'm using a 100 wt grey thread which is sooo invisible to the eye and stitches up nicely.  I had forgotten how much I love to hand applique and the thread makes it that much nicer.

So since I had to stop to write this post.... this is where I am at...

I promise to finish up the little bit of it before the 31st!!

So What Have You Been Up to Creatively?

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Back to Work on Off the Wall Friday

 Yes!  I finally did it!  Got into my studio to finish up the piecing of Rain, Rain.  It's funny, once I was motivated it just took a good afternoon to put the finishing touches on the composition.  I swear, this quick little project has gotten so out of hand! The more I worked on it, the more I wanted to work on it.  Next thing you know it looked like this....

I'm not doing any borders because I personally hate borders (grin).

The only thing left to do is sew up the columns and layer the top for my quilting frame.  After watching a big stitch quilting tutorial by Susan Fielke on The Quilting Show, I'm all excited to try it.  I love hand quilting and it will be a new challenge to try it with a crew needle and perle cotton.  Finally, a reason to use up the Valdani balls I've been hoarding for years!  I promise myself that it would be on the frame by the end of January and my studio would finally be free of pink and grey little girl scraps!

Also completed this week...I finalized a palette for my BOM Homeward Bound.  I just want to say coming up with a unique palette for a quilt that thousands of people are making isn't the easiest thing.  Not to mention, it's a true commitment since I was watching a few videos on this thing and it's not a walk in the park.  But..really.. what is these days?!  I decided to do it with a background in Windham's Palette in Eggplant and combine it with colors of Gold, Copper, and Teal.  To give you an idea of what that will look like ....

Or at least that's the plan!  It will be interesting where it ends up!

Under Things I like...

Are there any Wordle players out there?  I'll admit it's my favorite way to start the day!  This week though I added to my morning routine the game, Artle. The puzzle is hosted by the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.  You get 4 tries to guess the artist's name.  Each wrong guess will bring up another piece from that artist.  They will use work from their collection as well as other big-name museums.

The way I play is that I look at the piece, try to figure out the period and style, and use google to give an educated guess.  I learn a ton by googling but I DON'T use reverse image because...well...what's the point.  I got 4 out of 5 days right missing a photographer.  It's a lot of fun and I'm actually surprised at how much I've learned over the years.  

Also, due to changes in the link-up host, I updated the Sewing Places, Creative Spaces Link Up...Remember anybody who wants to do a blog post (present or past) can link up the space!
We're coming up on its 10-year anniversary which is kind of crazy!   I'll try to keep the link up perpetually open.  I urge you to take a look since there are some good spaces in there!

So that's what's new with me....

What Have You Been Up to Creatively?

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My Next Big Idea on Off the Wall Friday

Homeward Bound, Sarah Fielke, The Quilt Show's BOM 2023

So did all of you in the northern states make it through last week's blizzard?  For once, my part of Lake Erie missed the worse of it.  I think hearing a week of the "Worst blizzard in 30 years" is going to hit on Christmas weekend was worst than the actual event. We stayed warm and safe and kept our traveling down to a minimum, but we still got to spend time with friends and family!  Blessed!

I was also blessed by my husband who gave me a year's subscription to the Quilt Show. Wow!  I had no idea what a wealth of information there is on that site!  The term Quilt Nirvana comes to mind!  Not only do I need to go back and watch many of my friends' segments, but there are also "how-to" segments I need to see.  There is a HUGE gallery of Quilt pictures and a whole section of mini-classes you can take.  Plus, with a year's subscription,  they send you a couple of free gifts, a 25% code to shop, and the annual BOM pattern.   All that for about 5 bucks a month.  Needless to say, I think I'll get my money's worth.

Looking through the site, I found myself on the forum.  Reading it through, it reminded me of when the internet was new in the mid-'90s.  I would stop at the library just so that I could sign into a computer and get onto the quilting forum.  I remember what a thrill it was to connect with quilters from all over the world.  Now 25 years later, we kind of take it for granted.  It's commonplace these days to face-time with someone or drop a quick message.  It's been forever since I've been part of a forum.

Which brought me to my next big idea....why don't I join this year's Block of the Month Club.  It's called Homeward Bound and designed by Sarah Fielke.  I like it because it's a medallion quilt and has enough different techniques to keep me interested. 

In the past, I've finished two BOM's and learned a ton.  I'm struggling to get through my last...the Craftsy BOM from 2016, which I started in 2017...and I think I left it here in 2020 here...

There it is on the wall!

shrug...I dunno...this seemed so interesting to begin with, but now I don't feel the need to finish...maybe someday!  It still hasn't made it to the "Never Again" pile!

So that's why I thought it might be a good idea to join The Quilt Show's BOM.  I mean not only do they release all the information monthly, butttttttt there is a whole forum of other quilters to help you get through.  One thing Weight Watchers taught me is that accountability and deadlines help to complete goals!

So looking at the pattern, the whole thing read a bit too cutesy to me.  Inspired by the work of Patricia Campbell (who died in 2013), I've always wanted to do quilt in jewel tones on a dark background.  Her line of fabrics Fossil Ferns and books have always been a love of mine.  

Jacobean Arbor, Patricia Campbell

My daughter's best friend Brittany used photoshop to manipulate the quilt so I could get a better idea of what it would look like... here is a couple she came up with...

See what a difference putting it on a dark background does?  It's always good to make Visual Decisions Visually!  (If you want a hint on what I finally picked for the background...aubergine!)

So the 3 goals for 2023..participate fully in the BOM forum....finish each section on time....use fabrics from my stash (although I bought the background because I wanted it to be uniform).  I think it's time to get back to the social side of quilting and this seems to fit the bill!

Ohhh and I promised myself, that I would finally finish the Rain, Rain quilt.  It's soooo close to getting done and on my frame!

So I guess that amounts to a bit of a New Year's Resolution!  Is anybody else doing the BOM over at the Quilt Show?

So What Are You Up to Creatively?

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