star light, star bright, which thread to use tonight?

Okay, so by "a few more days" clearly I meant one night :)  Which is fitting considering what I've been working on...

What can I say, the garbage cans really bring out the blues, no? ;)

Enter another Encyclopedia find ;)  If anyone's interested in the block pattern, I'll be updating the INDEX with it (and a few other items) as soon as I've finished (1) fancying it up and (2) writing tutorial instructions for Lynne of Lily's Quilts.

But in the meantime, my dearest thread aficionado-consultants... the quilting question remains:  match twinkle twinkle with "iron grey" Gutermann, or stick with an off-white Aurifil?

I suppose now's as good a time as any to mention I'm thinking parallel straight lines on a diagonal (you know, in a tasteful sort of way).  So once again, any and all thoughts are welcome (and much appreciated!)

Linking up with Lee of Freshly Pieced.  For real this time. :)

twinkle twinkle, little star

First off, thank you so much to everyone for your beautiful words about project 1x1.  I'm pretty excited about that one.

...This one too. ;)  In fact, this {mystery} block has been on my wishlist for ages.  So far it has not disappointed.  Of course you'll have to take my word on that, as I want to hold off on showing the block design until the top is fully assembled.  Not because I'm sworn to secrecy {I think we all know I'm not that cool} but because I've been tweaking little details here and there and and figure y'know, what's a few more days?

So in the meantime, here are some sneaks of earlier stages...

Hint:  The stars in the top row are leftovers... bonus!

Now for the big question... quilt with black thread* or an off-white?(!)

*Up until recently I've been sewing exclusively with Aurifil, but I never thought to order any grays/blacks (truth be told, this is my first time using such dark fabric as a background).  So let's just say I had to dust off my good ol' Gutermann stash for this one.  Of course if you all think lighter thread is the way to go, I have a lifetime supply plenty of Aurifil to turn to ;)

Thoughts?

Edited to clarify:  Linking up {this post over here} with Lee of freshly pieced.

once upon a time... {in a forest}

How hard to realize that every camp of men or beast has this glorious starry firmament for a roof! In such places standing alone on the mountaintop, it is easy to realize that whatever special nests we make — leaves and moss like the marmots and the birds, or tents or piled stone — we all dwell in a house of one room — the world with the firmament for its roof -- and are sailing the celestial spaces without leaving any track. 

John Muir,  John of the Mountains:  The Unpublished Journals of John Muir (1938)

...And wilderness week is finally winding down ;)  {Not a moment too soon!}

Short story short, I stumbled across this quote by self-proclaimed "poetico-trampo-geologist-botanist and ornithologist-naturalist etc. etc. !!!!" John Muir while perusing outdoors-inspired prose the other week.  And fell in love.  And decided to incorporate it into this quilt.

Short story long, I always wanted my muted forest to feel like a storytime quilt, but otherwise I had absolutely no idea how to go about assembly or quilting (and that was assuming my machine could manage the wicked thick seams to begin with!).  Once I abandoned the original Ringle/Kerr "Once upon a time" layout concept, I decided to preserve the narrative spirit of that design by using some sort of "text quilting."  

I quilted the letters (helvetica neue black condensed) using Aurifil 2000 (blocks+borders were pieced using 2024).

Alas, how quickly it occurred to me that I had no idea what that text should say.  I suppose I could've composed an original tale, but {fortunately} I first consulted google and found someone (read:  a legend) who captured my sentiments better than I ever could have hoped to.  

Those black+white striped stamen (I think that's what they are?) might be my favorite detail.

To me, Mr. Muir's words deeply resonate with my philosopher-environmentalist soul.

But I know they're not for everyone.

(When I read this to my dad, he paused for a moment before responding, "Well what the heck is that about?"  ...We're alike in too many ways to count, he and I, but really, sometimes I'm more like the orange that fell from an apple tree.)

I cut 12" triangles from some leftover strip-pieced sections used to "frame" each block, and paired them with my go-to organic bamboo goodness.
...Then I realized I had omitted the final border from my calculations and added some opal owl grain in violet ;)

So if you, too, are less than moved by the message, I hope you'll still enjoy the imagery:  a camp of forest creatures surrounded by one glorious {stitched} starry sky for a roof:

The end. ;)

Edited to note:  I've moved the pre-quilting close-ups here and have updated the remainder of this post with new photographs.

bloom. boom. bordered. bound.

Have you heard of freshly pieced's Bloom Bloom Pow QA?  It was such a joy to make.  I sped through the bleaching (optional) + piecing back in May, then came to a pretty serious halt until a few weeks (months?) back.

What can I say?  The moment Lee mentioned incorporating those lovely zigzag scraps into the finished quilt, I thought to myself:  "Challenge accepted."  ...And then realized it really was a bit of a challenge!  I ended up adding three skinny borders to the top.  (The scrappy binding makes for a fourth.)

Just browsing through these shots makes me happy.  Okay, so maybe the location has something to do with it ;)  Either way, these warm and sunny colors are a welcome change from my cool color crutch.

I followed Lee's lead on the quilting, using the seams as a guide for straight lines (how predictable am I?) in Aurifil 2000.  I thought about something a little more dense (à la Lady Harvatine's Log Pyramid quilt) but I'm liking the more loosely quilted style.  It has a certain softness to it, don't you think?

Speaking of soft, I used an off-white, twin-sized linen sheet from Williams Sonoma outlet for the backing (thank you Tanger for amazing deals, all the time).  I think I paid $10 for it last summer.

It is delightfully silky, and (added bonus!) a perfect match to Aurifil 2021.  {Then again, what isn't? ;)}

...Now if you'll excuse me, that chair has my name on it!

finish it up friday {hallelujah!)

Edited to add:  You can check out other quilty friends' takes on Lee's design here!

skimpy strips do the trick ;)

What feels like forever ago, I posted this preview pic of my BBP scraps asking for some advice (thanks for all the suggestions!):

It took some time, but after trimming all those obtuse triangles into their more workable equilateral form, I was back in {blooming} business and on a mission...

to. border. this. quilt.

And whaddya know?  All that busywork {and those beautiful scraps!} didn't go to waste ;)

Now it's officially bordered, backed, and basted... and awaiting a spare moment to be quilted!

Happy Wednesday, friends ;)

Linking up with Lee!

sam's quilt

Forgive me for being forward, but I'm a little obsessed with this finish.

Maybe it's because my inaugural foray into scrap-tastic sewing didn't turn out half bad.  Or perhaps it's because this is the first full-sized quilt since my first quilt ever (circa 2005, also a gift for my husband) that will live happily into crinkledom under the {no} hats roof (!)

Not even kidding; I had to check my portfolio tab just to be sure I wasn't being overly dramatic, but each and every one of those larger quilts was made especially for someone out of {house}.  (How did I let that happen?!)

"Sam's Quilt" (BB #3725) started out as an entry in a²(w)'s Pantone Emerald Challenge back in March (background posts here, here and here).  But after glancing at the top on and off for months, I couldn't get motivated to quilt it because, well, it felt like it was missing something.  So, following my scrappy idol's lead, I decided to piece a double border from the same shape that made up the majority of the quilt:  equilateral triangles leftover from the top, plus some white and cream ones cut especially for this task.

How I ever turned into a border-free snob is beyond me, but to date the only other quilt I've finished with a border was that first one eight years ago.  ...Folks, that just might be about to change ;)  The finished quilt measures ~83" x 93".  It's bound in a scrappy combination of blue, green, and cream prints, and backed in the most luscious organic bamboo woven fabric (bonus:  it's 96" wide!).

I tried to get some better shots of the full top strewn across the front lawn, but someone decided a little nose-diving,

quilt-stomping,

and just plain crazy sneak attacking...

...would be more entertaining.

I'm with her when she's right ;)

Happy Sunday to all!

P.S.  Out of curiosity, what camp are you in border-wise?

+

finish it up friday

borders, borders everywhere.

Nope, still haven't delved into those oakshotts quite yet.  Instead I've decided to polish off two tops with some border details...

One warm palette:

The other cool:

Since each contains elements of equilateral triangles and skinny strips, I figured I'd try to tackle both at once.  Lots of chain piecing and ironing, but definitely no mixing up fabrics here!  And I have to say it makes for an extra colorful workroom ;)

In the interim, I have these friendly reminders lurking in the darkness hanging patiently nearby...

But what you can't see are all the other WIPs in my world (I may or may not have had to rearrange the racks just to snap that picture).  I started making a list; once I hit a dozen I decided I needed to adopt a new sewing philosophy.  From now on, I'm giving myself one month to quilt once I have a completed top.  (In my head I was thinking one month from start to finish for the whole project, but as soon as I saw it on paper I knew that would be overly ambitious... and dare I say contradictory to the tempo of quilting itself!?)

In any event, that means the clock's ticking on the tartan top I finished last week.  As for these two, it's a good thing they've reverted to incomplete tops; otherwise that timer would be bouncing off the shelf by now ;)

What about you?  Do you take it one quilt at a time or have you worked out a good system for balancing (and finishing) what you've started?  I'd love to hear how you make it work!