Yellow

Yellow is a color I don't use very much, in quilts, in clothing or in decorating.  But when I do use it, I really like it:

Forsythia!  One of those easy-to-grow plants that reminds me of my childhood, we had a couple large bushes in my backyard in Philadelphia.  In 1981 we received a bush from our babysitter as a gift for the baptism of our youngest son, Andy.  I have moved pots of it with us to every house since then and this is the grove we have of it now.  My husband did a major cut-back of it last Spring and this is the result this past week.  Our son has two plants of it at his home in St. Louis--it is a gift that keeps on giving.

I am eager to get back to this quilt:

Parts

Center

Ruffled Roses by Sue Garman for The Quilt Show BOM 2011

The quilt was the 2011 BOM for www.thequiltshow.com and the pattern is still available at Sue Garman's website.  I have more parts for baskets and the border sections ready to be sewn together, it just needs to become a priority.  Soon, very soon.

Another work-in-progress that has slipped to the very back burner is this round robin piece I started in 2014:

My friends, Ellen and Sharon, and I often do a round-robin project, usually to commemorate a trip we've taken.  This was begun in Paducah 2013.  It's currently 35" square and I don't think this will become significantly bigger, not bed-size.  I just have to study it a bit to figure out what it needs next--so I'm letting it stay up on the design wall so I can ponder the next step.

As I look at these, one reminds me of Spring and one of Fall, so they need to get done so I can have seasonal quilts to hang.  I have a Christmas quilt that goes up December 1.   And for summer I will have this one, when it's done:

This is basted and ready for quilting, a task I will complete this week.

A few years ago we repainted the living room from a plain light beige to this golden yellow:

I still don't know why, since yellow isn't one of my usual colors, but it is the perfect color for this room. Bright in the morning, warm and inviting at night.  A-Round with My Friends looks like it was made for this space, though it wasn't. It has a soft, buttery yellow for the applique' background and an inner border.  Circle Play, above the mantel, was a piece from one of my artsy phases. It has a gold/yellow flange inserted in the black binding, a great pop of color.  I still have a large stash of Oriental prints that haven't seen the light of day in quite a while, guess I need to get back to those too.  So many quilts, so little time...

Do you have a favorite color you use a lot, and one you rarely use?  Do you even think about color?  Of course you do, if you're a quilter.

Let's Quilt!

The Latest Projects

I've been having a great time working on these hand-pieced Antique Rose blocks:

I've written about these before here.  Each block has 72 kite-shaped pieces and I typically hand-piece 3 of them to form a unit, because they have a bit of a Y seam, then use the "hybrid" method:  I machine piece those units into the complete block.  It's fast and fun and I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel--4 more blocks to go.  The complete row on the right is just stuck up on the design wall but the 3 rows on the left are completely sewn together, and there's one block waiting for the last 4 to join it and become the final row.  I'll be teaching this in July for our guild quilt-in and the  top will be done before that. This is another project that makes me glad I paid attention in Geometry class!  The template comes from Material Obsession in Australia. 

Here's what I'm itching to get to work on:  my Paducah Round Robin.  This was begun last year, 2013, at Paducah when my two friends and I continued our challenge to each other to make quilts together.  I've written about that here.  I made the Feathered Star, Ellen added the first purple/green border and Sharon added the pinwheel border.  I love it!  Sharon was shopping in Paducah for a great black and more cheddars.  She found perfect fabrics and came home and jumped on this.  Now it's my turn and I don't know what I'll do but it will be bigger because I really like it.

This week I head off to Pittsburgh to work for Quilts Inc. at Spring Market.  I love Market and this will be especially fun for me as the excitement about Red and White--By the Numbers being used for Houston 2014 advertising is just beginning to build.  I'll let you know what is new and exciting when I get back.

And when I get back I have a commission piece to get made.  It's a "Modern Quilt", unlike my usual work, but planning it has been fun and I'm eager to get it completed and off to it's new home.

Check out what is new on Judy L's Design Wall Monday blog. 

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Design Wall Monday--My Feathered Star

Here is my Feathered Star, cut out to be a class demo:

15" Radiant Star with 1" burgundy borders

 

It now goes to one of my friends for our 3-person Round Robin.  We do these occasionally to commemorate quilt trips we've taken together.  This one was formed in Paducah, April 2013.  We each selected a focus fabric or theme, and each of us bought 2 fat quarters for each other, that went with the stash we were each buying for our own project.  This Round Robin has no rules--we each make a center block and pass it on.  We might pass it back around more than once, might not.  Anything goes.  This works when you trust your friends.

Here is the first one to make it to all three of us, it belongs to Ellen:

Ellen did the center applique' block, I added the Sawtooth and narrow dark borders and Sharon added the Four-Patch borders.  Now it goes back to Ellen to work her magic--I'm betting she adds more applique' next.

 

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what others are doing.

 

Let's quilt!

 

Barbara

Round Robin #1

Here is the first round of the Paducah Round Robin 2013 I am doing with 2 quilting friends.

The center applique' block was done by Ellen, who loves to applique', and I added this first set of pieced borders.  It is currently 24" square.  It now goes on to the 3rd friend who can do what she wishes to it. 

Lesson learned:  be sure to check the measurements AND quilt block carefully before proceeding.  I did all the math figuring to trim the applique' block to 18.5".  I actually did carefully trim the block to 18.5".  Then I made all the borders.  As I went to add the first burgundy inner border I discovered there was still .5" of selvedge showing on the block.  Oh, my, back to the drawing board! 

SO, I changed the block to 17" finished, trimmed it carefully again, to 17.5", recut the inner borders which now had to be wider, and put the smaller burgundy border on the outside.  It worked out fine and Sharon, the next person, can make units that finish at 2", 3", or 4" or add another floater border if she needs to. 

While working on this I decided what my own center block will be:  a Feathered Star!  Surprise!  I'm still in my "feathered star" phase, apparently.  And I need a sample for a class I am teaching in October so it's the perfect time to get the pieces cut and use my block for class demo. 

This kind of project is how the 3 of us celebrate/remember our road trips--we went to Paducah this spring and bought our fabrics on that trip.  Each of us bought 2 fat quarters for each other once we saw the colors/fabrics each wanted to use.  There are no rules beyond that--do what you want when it comes to you.  And we do have to use the fabrics that were purchased but can add to those if necessary.  I added one green this round.  Don't know if I'll get this one back for another go--we don't usually get them back.  We're pretty fluid about the rules...

Here is one of our earlier Round Robins--mine. 

I bought 3 different fabrics on a cruise/tour of Alaska in 2004 and gave 2 of them to these friends as a group "challenge".  I was thrilled with how it looked when I got it back and decided it needed to be larger so I added the large applique' border and put lots of hand quilting into it.  It took seven years to complete but it was worth it!  It won Best of Show at our guild show in 2011 and has been selected to appear in a new book, 500 Traditional Quilts, due out in 2014.  You never now what a little challenge might bring!

 

Be sure to check out Judy L's Blog, Design Wall Monday to see what others are doing.

 

Let's quilt!

 

Barbara

Might Be Done...

This Scrappy Trip might be done--it's 48" square and that just might be enough.

 

There are lots of groups working on these fun and fast Trip Around the World quilts.  There are Flickr Scrappy TripAlong groups with lots of photos and the pattern is a free one from Bonnie Hunter.  A fun way to use up scraps. 

My next project will be to add a few borders to this little gem: 

It's the latest round robin I am in with my 2 best quilting friends--this center was made by Ellen and I get it first to do with as I please.  We bought our fabrics at Paducah in April, all different and there aren't any rules--we can do what we want for the center and the other two can add whatever kind of borders they want.  Stay tuned to see what I do with this.  And, of course, my center block hasn't even been figured out yet--love my fabrics but no idea what I want to make for the center.  Here are my fabrics:

 

 

Check out Judy L's blog to see what others are doing.

 

Let's Quilt!

 

Barbara