seamingly sewcialist in 2022 - lesmel - 2

I did start on the binding for my niece's quilt. I need 11.5 yards of 2.5" binding strips. This quilt is huge. Pray for me. lol

>1 lesmel: Yipes! I will call the Quilting Gods to support you in this binding effort!

I've stopped making huge quilts; it's just more difficult to manage something of that size and my joints don't like it (and there really isn't a good reason for me to do so, 'everyone' has a quilt if they wanted one).

Hugs to you on the loss of your cat.

I think I have enough binding sewn together. I am pausing long enough to drink a cup of coffee and be just a bit lazy since it's Saturday. While marking and sewing the binding this morning, I was listen to my Monday bookclub read: Of Women and Salt which is turning out to be an excellent book.

This quilt may be the death of me. If you hear about a woman crushed by the weight of a king sized quilt...that was me.

Also, I twisted the binding & swore a blue streak while ripping stitches & pressing bias edges & resewing everything.

>5 lesmel: Oh no! Having to rip out and redo is always so frustrating. I hope it goes smoother from here.

>2 avaland: I have one more big quilt to make and then I think I'm retiring from the big quilt field. I want to make a quilt for my Mom and Stepdad. Another king size quilt. I am hoping it's not a California king. I can't remember. Mom wants a beach themed bedroom. I want to make a quilt for them that will work with the beach theme. She's been hunting bedspreads; but can't find anything. I finally reminded her that I want to make this quilt for them. She agreed to at least look at fabrics. If we can agree on fabrics and design, it may be next year's big project.

Good luck with that resolution ;-) Beach like: slow walk in early morning when the tide is coming in and the seagulls are fighting over a few clams OR beach chair half buried in sand, a beach towel slung over the back it. Nearby footprints in the wet sand leading to an eager surf...? :-)

I made an ocean-themed lap quilt for my mother when she was in a home. She didn't remember me, but she loved that quilt.

>8 avaland: We looked at dozens of fabrics online last weekend and there's a split between beach scene (sand and surf with sunrise/set) and beach life (words/sayings on driftwood, beachy things, etc). Although, we both fell in love with this one wall hanging that was a red jellyfish in turquoise water. They have a piece of glass wall art that is a jellyfish.

Ok. I just learned something new...maybe. The collective noun for jellyfish is....a smack. A smack of jellyfish. My Pocket Ref, Glover has failed me. Professor Google wins again.

A beach-themed quilt sounds interesting- I look forward to seeing it in due time.
Sorry to hear your niece’s quilt is giving you a hard time.

OOOOoooooooh, I have not shared that Niece's quilt is DONE!!!

Here's how it sat for a couple days while I recovered from clipping the binding with 200+ wonder clips:



And here is the end product! About 10 minutes before it started to pour.

>11 lesmel: Fab! Great job.

>11 lesmel: Gorgeous work!

>11 lesmel: - That's great!

How are you making out with all the rain that Texas has been getting? We're in a drought here so if you could send a little rain this way, I'd thank you.

Lovely quilt and your binding sets it off beautifully. Lovely job by the long arm quilter too.

>15 dudes22: Most of the state is still in drought conditions. I was telling a cousin today that that TPTB are saying it would take 10+ inches across the state to break the current level of drought. It should be interesting if we get any sort of tropical disturbance in the next couple weeks. The whole state could use a weak tropical storm or strong tropical wave.

I attempted craftiness over the US Labor Day weekend. Attempt fail. About all I did was try out some designs in EQ8. I have a set of fat quarters in shades of purple, plus one charcoal and one gold. I'm trying to settle on a big-block quilt that finishes at 48 x 48.

Here are my EQ doodles:









The designs with the black, greys, and white are my take on Charisma Horton's Live Boldly design. I plan on buying her pattern; but I wanted to see it in all purples.

I have been contemplating doing the Live Boldly design using the Hey Y'all fabrics I have; but I need two greys, black, and white to get the 3D effect. The Hey Y'all I bought is all one shade or grey prints.

I'm also waiting really impatiently for my birthday fabrics to show up. My dad asked for fabric ideas. I have gave two 10" layer cakes I wanted. This is probably the last time I/we order from MSQC. Their shipping is atrocious. I'd rather find fabrics at Texas shops and have a chance of getting my packages sooner than 2-3 weeks.

Thinking shipping, I need to fill out the quilting form and ship the cats quilt.

I still have no clue what quilting pattern to use for my double star. I think I may email another long-arm quilter. See what she thinks and if she's taking orders still for the year.

If anyone has suggestions, I'm open.

These are the purples I am trying to work with:



If I remember correctly, I actually pulled them in these groupings:

Here's what I got for my birthday!



The jelly roll is Midnight in the Garden from Moda. The first stacker is Coffee Connoisseur. The second stack is She Who Sews. I think I can pair the She Who Sews with one of my solids stackers. I can probably pull some layer cakes/stacker apart for both of these stackers.

I like those purples - great groups. You have a good eye for color - something I feel I lack.

I've been thinking of doing a pattern called "algorithm" which is done with a layer cake (or maybe more than one).

And a Happy Birthday!

Love the fabric!

In a sharp 90* turn, I started a different project all together.



A friend let me borrow her templates -- nearly a year ago.

I'm using up all that grey I had my niece buy (and if you remember, I turned around and had to buy a bolt of grey when the dye lots didn't match/the seller listed the wrong fabric). I'm also using up either one or two of my layer cakes/stackers/ten squares (Kona Cotton Solids in Library Coordinates from Elizabeth Hartman for Robert Kaufman -- link to Fat Quarter Shop because they actually still have a single layer cake in stock). I don't know about the layer cake because I'm flying by the seat of my pants (again) and attempting (maybe...probably) two quilt tops at once.

I'll have to sew some blocks together before I can explain it, I think. Basically, I want to create a block with three colored pieces and two grey pieces. Then, the other quilt, I want three grey pieces and two colored pieces. I'm going to look for a coloring sheet (or make one in EQ8) so I can see it before I commit to all this sewing.

My shoulders are killing me today after cutting almost all day yesterday. I was cutting in sets of 5-6 fabric layers (my fingers keep trying to type lawyers...maybe my fingers are telling me something??). I'm going to need a fresh rotary blade at the end of this project. Oh WAIT! I can sharpen my blade with my fancy-dancy sharpener! Ok. It isn't fancy-dancy. It's manual; but it's lovely. Maybe I should sharpen the blade now and at the end of the project. Hmmm.

Has anyone used Creative Grids rulers or templates? I really like them. They have gripers to keep from sliding everywhere. I may buy a single ruler and see how much I really like it. I've got a lot invested in rulers. One ruler is never enough!

Then again, I guess I could buy the little stick-on gripers for the rulers I have. Does anyone use those?

I've never used those rulers (or if I have one, I've never used it). Nor have I used those grippers. I have lots of rulers too - some specialty ones that I have no idea why I bought. I limit myself to 3 layers of fabric, but I've never tried a ruler using those gripers - maybe that would make a difference. Those templates look like the patterns from a book called "Stack the Deck". You make blocks then cut them similar to your pattern. Then you take one pile and move the top fabric to the bottom, then the next stack is two from the top to the bottom, etc. Then you sew them back together in reverse order and square them up. Probably what you're going to do although I'm not sure you'd end up with number of colors in each square that you want.

>24 dudes22: It's very similar to that book! I had to watch a YouTube video to understand the moving the fabrics part of the process. My brain was not grasping the whole count the pieces, move 1 from the top the bottom the first stack, move 2 from the top to the bottom of the second stack, etc. until you shuffle all the stacks.

I recently made some smaller blocks that way to go around a panel of fabric to make a baby quilt but it got put aside before I quilted it.

Here's the first four blocks pieced. I think I'm going to piece all the blocks and then decide what colors groupings work best. I think I've shuffled the first set of fabrics enough to not get two colors either in the same block or next to each other. In the photo, it looks like the greens are the same; but they aren't. In looking at the photo again, I was looking at the mustard-y color...and the are the same fabric. Ha.

neat!

This was last night. 25 blocks done.



I swear I am losing my mind. The ten-square has 42 squares of fabric. There are 21 colors. Each color is duplicated. I split the ten-square into two stacks of 21. Then, I cut two 10" squares from six more colors. I added those to the two stacks. That should give me two stacks of 27 colors, right? Why do I have 25 blocks? And 25 more to sew?

Wait. I know what I did. I pulled the four squares of grey -- two light, two medium. Okay. I no longer feel like I'm gaslighting myself. Or that a malicious ring of fabric thieves snuck into my house to abscond with four squares of rare and precious Kona cotton solids.

The blocks have made it to my design wall.



I need to move some blocks around so I don't get two of the same color in a single star...if I can avoid it. I need 11 more blocks for this top.

Thank goodness there were no fabric thieves. I've had that dilemma of trying to make sure no colors repeat in blocks. It usually drives me nuts.

I really really like those blocks. I'm also glad to hear there are no actual fabric thieves. 😊

It isn't a project until the seam ripper comes out! I had to rip apart three blocks to fix two blocks. In >29 lesmel: on the design wall, R1C3 and R4C4 are the EXACT SAME COLORS. What. The. Hell. Whatevs! I fixed it. It wasn't terrible.

I also spent some time last night shuffling the second set of colors:





At lunch today, I did a second shuffle. I'll do my third (and final?) shuffle on the design wall this evening. I need 11 blocks to finish the top for a 48 x 48. That will leave me with 14 blocks. Those will probably be the party in the back for this quilt. Which reminds me...I have no idea what I'm going to use for the backing. I could use more grey fabric. I still have four yards (I think) from the replacement bolt.

I was talking to my mom earlier about these templates and how there's so many things you could do with the blocks. So many colorways, too. Ombre. ROYGBIV. Tint, tone, shade. Primary only. Secondary only. Tertiary only. Any variation of the color wheel, really. The photos I saw in Instagram were really neat. One was made with black background and ROYGBIV jewel tones. It looked like stained glass. Other examples are really chaotic with prints and make my eyes bug out of my head.

>29 lesmel: >32 lesmel: Lovely!

Here's the third shuffle!

Here's where I am after early morning sewing:



I like the spacing for sashing. I just need to decide if I should make the sashing really narrow (1") or sort of standard (2").

>35 lesmel: Re sashing width: I think it might depend on how much you want the bold pattern of the blocks (which I love) to predominate - a wide sashing might take away from the punch, a narrower one would frame it, but too narrow would be lost. Tricky decision!

>35 lesmel: - If it were me, I'd go with narrower so the blocks are more prominent.

The narrower sashing was definitely the way to go!



Mom is already angling for this to be her quilt. She also wants a copy of every photo I've taken of every quilt I've made. Very mysterious.

I actually have a document of every quilted thing I've made and who it went to. I also have photos of everything except one quilt.

Tomorrow, I'll start on the swapped version of the next quilt top. I'm wondering how mostly grey blocks will look. Dang it. I meant to ask my librarian friend about the Grace Quilt Frame the library bought. I was there yesterday for bookclub. Grr!

I like the narrow sashing also. I like how those two "points" are slightly offset at the sashing.

Your library bought a quilt frame?

>39 dudes22: They did! It is one of the frames to use with a domestic machine; but it is available for borrowing. The library has a collection of things - baking pans, power washer, 3D printer...

Forgot I had the remaining 14 blocks to make before moving to the next top. Did some chain sewing this morning and got the bottom half of the blocks and pieced and 2/3 of the top half pieced. I'll do some more chain sewing at lunch in a bit and probably get the blocks at least pieced and ready for pressing. Also need to decide if the remaining 14 blocks will be part of the backing or something else entirely.

I got the 14 blocks sewn and pressed. I was thinking about making backing; but I like this as a top...



It's a little small (and missing two blocks) for a second top. I'm not sure I have enough grey to make this into a top. I'll have to think about it over the next day or so while it hangs on my wall.

Too bad the colors were from Layer Cakes. If it was yardage you might have made some borders of various colors in graduating widths.

>44 dudes22: I have solids from a fat quarter bundle that might work for borders; but I think I might have a solution to my conundrum.

I can put thin (1") solid black sashing around the center block, create a triple sashing for the wider spots, add a 2" border. This will take a lot more math than I'm ready to tackle without coffee. That will make the top 36 x 36.



Alternatively, I could skip the star like pattern and do stained glass look with very thin (3/4") solid black sashing between each block, turn each block, and use a 1" border. That would get me 36 x 36 which is a good size for throwing on a chair or hanging on a wall.

I opted for the second layout with 1/2" sashing. I'm going to do a black stop border. and probably a second grey border. I'm currently debating the sizing of the two borders. I can do a thin 1/2" stop border and then a 2" grey border. Or I could do a 1" stop border and a 2" grey border. The grey can't be any wider because that's all the width I have left.



I'm also trying to decide if I sew the first border on now, run an errand, and come back for the second border or run an errand and then sew both borders on. Mostly, I just want to nap. Heh.

Second top is finished!



You can see the difference in size between the two quilts here:

I really enjoyed following your creative process as you decided on how to finish that piece. It looks marvelous.

I'm with Laura - I loved following along on that journey, and I love the end result!

I'm starting on the third quilt from the crazier eight templates. I'm thinking ROYGBIV dark to light; but I'm not certain it will work. I got the bigger not-grey section up on the design wall. I've already moved the colors around since taking this photo.



Right now, the columns are left to right dark, medium, light, and random.

I was waaay behind on your thread! My apologies. I will not comment as you have already had the discussion. You have a wonderful ambition; and I love your process (seems more sane than the way I work).

I'm stuck. Now that I've got the pieces on the wall I'm not sure what to do. Meh. I think the problem I have is that I can't see the layout. All I see is disparate pieces. I think I have to pull the pieces off the wall and do some layouts.

I think I know what I'm doing on the new top. First, I need to match the colors of the skinny wedge and larger bottom. Then sew all the blocks together. I had an idea and I'm not sure it will work. I might sketch the idea or see if I can design it in EQ8.

Does anyone follow Pride and Joy Quilting (Veruschka Zarate) on social media? She is a FPP artist. Her patterns are almost all large scale. Her most recent released pattern is Joan of Arc. It has 1452 pieces in the quilt. She has a kit and class on FPP. I'm reaaaaaally tempted to take it.

>53 lesmel: - I'm not familiar with her but she does have some interesting patterns. I don't do a lot of FPP although I'm working on a block now that's FPP for the memory quilt I'm making.

I have the blocks made. Now to lay them out on the design wall. Ugh. Am stuck again.



This is going to take a few tries to find the layout I like. Also, I forgot I need more blocks for the bigger quilt. I'm out of sorts today. I'm forcing myself to listen to the bookclub book (Velvet Was the Night) for tomorrow. I resent having to spend time with it when I could be re-listening to Empire of Ivory.

Here's what I was thinking earlier:



I don't know if I have enough grey to cut 16 more pieces for the 8 grey & black blocks. Huh. I just found 4 missing blocks. They've been sitting on my sewing table all morning. Guess I should sew those and get them on the wall. lol

I think I'm going to abandon the book. I've disliked it from the beginning. It's not the writing or the style or the setting. It's the characters. I don't have to like the characters in a book; but I need some sort of connection or interest; and I don't have that at all in this book.

Okay. I think this is the layout.



I could make an effort to make a spiral of the color spectrum. I like the randomly feel of the current layout.

I like that layout a lot!

An interesting pattern, and I like both the layouts you tried. I had to look up FPP; hadn't a clue (I've been off the grid, so to speak, since I no longer volunteer at the quilt museum in Massachusetts, and I'm not part of a quilt group...)

>55 lesmel: Looking at the second photo, the idea of a colour wheel spiral popped into my head. Challenging, but they could all rotate into the next colour and value.

>50 lesmel: This would be a great inspiration for a sail boat quilt the way they are arranged!

I've been gone since Thursday. So, no progress on the current top or the design for the final in this series. Although, I did join the Modern Quilt Guild and register for the MQG Sessions that occurs this week.

Also, the cat face quilt should be here on Tuesday. I'm wildly excited about this. I need to figure out the binding for the quilt so I can finish it and ship it out.

The cat face quilt has returned!



I need to make binding and finish it. Then I'll ship it off to Chicago.

Here's detail of the quilting:



It's loops with TIE fighters and X-wings. What else would I order when she's a die hard Star Wars fan? lol

The cat quilt looks delightful!

Cat quilt in the mail!

3rd top done:



4th top on the design wall:



This is just me getting the colors paired up. More than likely, I'll pull one of the blocks to put on the back. Then I will have a 5 X 5 grid.

Last week, I attended (virtually) the MQG Sessions Vol 1. 20 classes on a variety of quilty topics. The sessions are available until the end of the month. I missed a couple that I want to watch. I also want to re-watch a few.

I'm thinking about replacing my very old iMac. I have a Macbook Pro and love it; but I like having a second computer. Especially when I'm working with quilts and genealogy. I don't know that I would buy another iMac. I'm thinking a Mac Mini (or the newest, biggest iPad) with a large monitor. Replacing my iMac with a iPad would kill two birds with one stone. I could replace my old iMac and my older iPad with a single new purchase. I'm mulling it over. If I were going to design quilts or fabric for profit (I'm not even the slightest interested), I would invest in an iMac and some design software. Especially since that can be written off as business expense.

ETA: the rest of my thought that floated off into the ether apparently.

>64 lesmel: I think either the Mac mini with a large monitor or the newest iMac would be a good choice. If I hadn't bought an iMac at the start of the pandemic when I began working remotely, I would have been all over the iMac released last year, which is super-thin and comes in some pretty colors.

>65 rosalita: Purple. I looooooooooove the purple iMac.

>66 lesmel: Yes!

>67 rosalita: Interestingly, the new iPad Pro (with all the memory, storage, & wifi/cellular and an Apple Pencil) costs about $100 more than the purple iMac (all the memory & storage and basic accessories). The Mac Mini (fully loaded) is about $800 less than the iMac.

>68 lesmel: The Mac Mini is the best value if you already have a large monitor, for sure. But if you have to also buy a monitor, I would go with the iMac (in fact, I did in 2020). And the new iMac is so thin and light that it's basically a 24-inch iPad on a stand.

Dang it, now I want a new iMac!

Well, I've mostly talked myself out of the iPad replacement idea. Still undecided on the iMac replacement. This is not surprising. I hem and haw over a purchase like this unless I'm under pressure (e.g. my fridge went out and guess what! I can make a fast decision!).

In sewing news, the fourth top ready for layout. That is all the blocks are pieced and pressed.

I'm going to try a randomized layout. There's a really interesting segment in The Quilter's Negative Space Handbook that discusses randomness. Also, one of the lectures in the MQG Sessions was about randomness.

Oddly, people don't really "do" real randomness. We do "distributed randomness" or simulated randomness.

To do real randomness, I created a spreadsheet with a random number formula between 1 and 4 to pick the orientation of the blocks. Then I went to a random number generator to pick a unique string of numbers 1 to 25 to pick the blocks. Now, I need to label the blocks so I can pull them and lay them out.

If I don't like it at all, it's easy enough to decide on something else entirely!

>71 lesmel: You're right about our efforts to create "random". We always seem to want to correct some detail to make it look pleasing to our eyes. That makes those random number generators really excellent.

There is one for stripes: Let's say you are knitting, but sewing would work too, as you can measure. You select the number of colours, the desired length and plug it in. The generator then gives you a series of stripes in those colours done randomly with random widths. Sure enough, after carefully entering her information, a friend then changed it all to work another way. I think we sometimes need to be more adventurous!

>72 SassyLassy: I’m using one of the random stripe generators for my current project! Although I did have to click many, many times to get a random pattern that also worked with the amount of yarn I had (you could only choose number of colours and the different widths of the stripes, not the total amount of each colour).

Here are the blocks in the first step -- labeling:


Here are my two tables for randomness:



The top table is the orientation of the block. I used the original top left corner as 1, and travelled clockwise to the other corners. The bottom table is the order of the blocks. I labeled them based on how I pulled them off the design wall.

Here are the blocks turned and laid out:



If I had thought about it, I could have based the position on where I'd clipped the number to the top edge. So, turn the block 0, 1, 2, or 3; but by then, I didn't want to reset the blocks and see if there was any difference in the design.

In all its random glory....quilt top #4:

>74 lesmel: I know it is a planning layout, but I really like this design. It reminds me of roof tops, each with a little attic window to watch the light breaking though clouds.

I really like the finished design too -hurray for random!

That's an interesting pattern, but it looks like it would take a long time to get the pieces "just so."

>76 thornton37814: It really didn’t take long. It took longer to get the fabric on my wall, decide on a plan, & move everything from one room to the other for sewing. The sewing was pretty darn fast.

This week was a struggle. I had to take my laptop in for repair (the shop still has it). I had mandatory, participatory training two days, and I had an in-person all-division meeting. This left me no time to do more than look at some quilting books & plan my next top. Fun, but not sewing. Oh, and I haven’t been sleeping well, again.

Having said all that, my plan tomorrow is to cut and sew all day! And put together my new cutting table…whenever it arrives. That may be a Sunday chore, instead.

Next week is Quiltfest. I am going with some friends. My goal is backing fabric, I hope. I need to figure out what I have vs what I need.

Maybe I will luck out & the MSQC booth will have a pre-cut I want. It is exclusive to their shop which annoys me to no end. I refuse to shop online with them again. Their shipping is stupid slow. The last package I got from them took almost three weeks to show up. Most of that was waiting for them to actually ship. Previous packages have taken 9-14 days. I can buy from Texas shops and have my packages is 3-4 days.

Laptop is back with a brand new display! I'm sooooooooo happy about this.

I have another top on my sewing table(s). OHHHHH, I bought a cutting table (finally)! It's a Sew Ready from Studio Designs. It has two 24 x 36 wings, two baskets, a shelf, locking casters for moving, and adjustable height from 30.25 – 39.25". Company site with photos here: https://studiodesigns.com/catalog/sewready/expanding_fabric_cutting_tables/hobby...

Last night I finally went to the library to play with the Grace Cutie quilt frame. That thing is soooooo smooth. I'm not a fan of the machine the library purchased; but that could be because it's unfamiliar to me. Also, trying to thread a machine needle from the side is nearly impossible. I think I may keep a needle threader with me when I go to use the frame. Then I can avoid the hassle of the threader function on the machine. Huh. I think I got a threader in my MSQC box last year. Must go find it.

Things I already see as problematic:
* There are no instructions for loading the quilt sandwich (yet)
* There are no instructions for threading the needle (yet)
* The Elna they purchased unthreads itself VERY EASILY
* If you break a needle, then what?
* What happens when the needles get dull?
* Should the needles be replaced every time there's a new booking?
* No instructions for replacing needles

>64 lesmel: Congrats for finishing the cat quilt!

>74 lesmel: Ooo, I like that!

You remind me I have to take my Macbook Pro to the genius bar! Yay for new stuff!

The current project is slow going. There are three blocks. For some reason (probably the pressing) the blocks are verrrrry slooooooow sewing.





Also, it didn't help that I got Blocks A and C sewn right and nearly all of the B Blocks sewn wrong. I have no effing clue how I managed to sew 10 (not 12 like the photo shows) blocks with swapped colors and didn't see it until I was pressing the blocks open:



I haven't decided on layout; but I'm thinking about trying true randomness again. I have three sets of 14 blocks -- seven "light" and seven "dark" in each set. Also, each block can be turned three or four ways to change the look of the block.

Obviously, if I wanted to just throw all structure to the wind, the best way to do this is toss the blocks in the dryer, whirl it around with no heat for a couple minutes, dump everything into a basket and start sewing. That gives me heart palpitations. I think I'm gonna do it.

Here's my table from >79 lesmel:



2022 International Quilt Festival: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bloglass/tags/2022internationalquiltfestival/

2021 photos are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bloglass/tags/2021internationalquiltfestival/

>81 lesmel: - It's always frustrating when you're sure you've done it right and then you figure out that it's not.

Those are some great quilts from the show. I need to go back and visit my husband's cousin and go again.

Argh, how frustrating to have to re-do them! But better now than at a later stage.
Your idea of throwing them in the dryer and just letting it up to chance sounds terrifying! I’m too controlling to be able to do something like that. Even when I was using a random stripe generator for my knitting I didn’t just accept the first suggestion and kept going through dozens of random patterns until I found one I settled for. Partly because I had a limited amount of each yarn, but mostly because I wanted it to look good.

I present to you...true randomness by way of the dryer, a plastic tote bin, and not looking while picking:



This was fun. The fabric is all from the Elizabeth Hartman "Library" layer cake. It's guaranteed to look good no matter how the blocks land. This is the second (and last) layer cake in the collection I bought. You may remember I made a double slice quilt from the same collection of fabric.

I want to fiddle with this because the balance feels off. A lot of the darker blocks ended up at the bottom of this layout. I won't fiddle though. This is about teaching myself that random is okay.

>83 PawsforThought: It wasn't too terrible. I was uncomfortable with the whole process because who doesn't like tidy little stacks of blocks to pick from? I also false started a couple times because I wasn't sticking to my plan for achieving true randomness. So, in the long run, there are still some boundaries with true randomness (in this case) and that felt good.

For posterity's sake, here's what I did:

1. Built the blocks in three sets based on the block pattern
2. Each set was layered light-dark-light or dark-light-dark
3. When all blocks were complete, I shook them out into a large pile
4. Tossed the pile a couple times
5. Tossed the entire pile into the dryer for a 1 minute tumble on air dry
6. Grabbed the pile in three handfuls into a plastic bin
7. Shook the bin twice (I was hoping to keep the blocks from sticking to each other)
8. Keeping my eyes closed, covered, or averted, I picked a block

A. My hand placement determined what was "up"
B. I could repick one time if the blocks stuck together
C. I could "fish" for the pick
D. The blocks had to go on the wall the way they came out; no adjustments.

>84 lesmel: Well done you! I'm impressed.

>84 lesmel: It's beautiful!

>84 lesmel: Congratulations on conquering random!

My thought when you mentioned the darker layers on the bottom was that layer cakes with fruit and/or nuts thrown in often have those ingredients sink to the bottom, so if this was made from a "layer cake" of fabrics, you've achieved not only randomness, but also a finished cake with the heavier ingredients at the base!

I commend you for not fiddling:)

I love watching your quilts come together. It's really fascinating to me, a non-quilter.

Top done!



I'm trying to decide if I want to add a border. If I do, I'm probably going to use a 3" border. Also, I need to figure out fabric. I have lots of options; but does any of it match enough? Hrmmm.

Opinions? Border or no border?

Nice sewing job!

How about a thin border of the assorted reds, maybe the width of those little rectangles? There aren't many reds on the outside to interfere - maybe three that I count, five if you include the oranges, and it would define them those further in.

----
Edited to clarify and expand the idea (for me at least)!

I like Sassy's idea too.

>90 lesmel: This is still on my wall because I'm not in town. I do think I found a border fabric, though. I'll be excited to get the project completed.

>81 lesmel: That does look like a very fresh cutting board!

>85 lesmel:, >90 lesmel:: What an intriguing project!

Craftmas is not over just yet. I have a set of fabric coasters (not mug rugs) to finish. I didn't bring any of my supplies (clips, rotary cutter, etc) assuming Mom would have everything. I am going to be irritated to be sewing with pins again. I haven't used pins exclusively in probably 3 years.

The coasters are part of a hot chocolate box I am putting together for my brother and SIL.

Hope you got everything finished; sounds like a great gift!

>96 avaland: I got them done by the skin of my teeth. I can't remember if I took a photo of the finished coasters or the box.

I need to post bomb the group to make the magic 150 to continue my thread. Fun times ahead! I'll have to look to see if I've reviewed all the craft books from 2022.

I have no idea how I didn't record any of my quilty reading in either part of 2022 here. Post bombing shall commence....

Sew4Home Bags and Totes
Nothing that sparks my creativity; but the projects are interesting.

Sew What! Bags
Interesting projects are designed to be 100% customizable in fabrics and sizes.

Sew & Stow
The intro chapters are very detailed.

Cute & Clever Totes
Cute but overly fussy projects I wouldn't ever make.

Quilting from Every Angle
Packed full of ideas and projects. I like the book more for the inspiration than the projects.

Sew a Backyard Adventure
Cute projects if you have kids.

Crafting the Resistance
I like this far more for the short commentary and the references than the projects.

The Spoonflower Quick-Sew Project Book
Mostly a book to convince you to use Spoonflower the website.

Modern Scot Patchwork
Complicated, but interesting projects. Highly recommend a print copy rather than the ebook.

Just One Charm Pack Quilts
Nothing new; but fun to look through.

Moda Bake Shop, Did Someone Say Cake?
Nothing new; but fun to look through.

Charming Jelly Roll Quilts
Nothing new; but fun to look through.

Fast & Fun Quilts for Kids
Nothing new; but fun to look through.

Fat-Quarter Friendly Quilts
Nothing new; but fun to look through.

Big Block Quilts
Not really a review here; but more an observation. I love what I think of as big block patterns. I think though that I'm not using the right terminology. I like single, large blocks. So, maybe oversized block patterns?

Stack, Slash, & Sash Quilting
Nothing new; but fun to look through.

Quilted Coasters
Nothing new; but fun to look through.

Learn to Make Quilted Mug Rugs
Nothing new; but fun to look through.

Simply Solids
I really like this book; but I can't imagine making any of the projects. Definitely inspirational.

Put Some Charm in Quilts
Nothing new; but fun to look through.

Nine Patch Panache
Nothing new; but fun to look through.

Sew Adorkable
When I borrowed this, I think I was expecting something entirely different. However, I can't really say what it is I was expecting. The projects are...eclectic, I guess is the best word.

The Practical Guide to Patchwork
Nothing new; but fun to look through.

In Love with Squares & Rectangles
This is a fun book to look through. The projects are interesting and I really like how the authors offer variations in the colorways.

Simply Retro with Camille Roskelley
I like this book; but I'm not sure I'd ever make any of the projects. The longer I have spent with modern piecing, the more I love it. I find the more traditional piecing to be fussy and overly piece-y.

Denyse Schmidt Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration
I want to like this more. It's not the text. There's a lot crammed in there; but the quilts, frankly, are ugly and unappealing.

Ombre Quilts
Inspiration for me rather than seeking projects.

The Quilter's Negative Space Handbook
This is such a good book. It made me start to look at quilts and quilt design differently.

Urban Views
Loved everything in this book.

Quilts by Monday
Nothing new; but fun to look through.

Urban Quilting
Loved everything in this book.

Swatch This
This will probably end up on my shelf for reference.

Design, Make, Quilt Modern
Inspirational read with interesting projects.

Simple Quilts for the Modern Home
Inspirational read with interesting projects.

Design Art Deco Quilts
Inspirational read with interesting projects.

Beyond the Tee
Inspirational read with interesting projects.

Patchwork Essentials, The Half-Square Triangle
This will probably end up on my shelf for reference.

Freespirit Block Party
Inspirational read with interesting projects.

Purr-Fect Patchwork
Cute projects I'm never going to make.

I did not get a photo of the completed coasters; but I do have photos of the second unfinished set! Yay!





The finished coasters have a brown binding that has sparkly bits in it like the back fabric. The back fabric is from my brothers chevron quilt.

I wish I had thought to get a photo of their gift box. Mom actually packed the box. It had brown crinkle filler, two mugs, a can of peppermint hot chocolate, a jar of mini marshmallows, candy canes, and the four coasters.

Knowing my niece, she may have stolen the coasters already. 😂

The next few photos are my cousin's new Dream Box...which I totally love.

You can see how tall and deep it is from this angle. Also, she chose an upgraded front to the cabinet with the recessed panels.

There's lots of storage space. She scrapbooks.

More storage!

The table in the middle is too low for cutting; but would probably be the perfect height for placing my sewing machine. I think, if I were living if a smaller place that had to be shared, this cabinet is a great solution. Also, it's on casters which means it can be moved around fairly easily.

While I was home, my dad asked me about making a quilt for the church auction they do in October. He cracked me up. I mentioned it before -- at Thanksgiving. Just before NYE, he mentioned it. And then he went on talking about not controlling the design...but, this idea and that idea and he wasn't the artist BUT...

I do not design by committee. I also don't do commissioned work. I will do this quilt for the auction. It will probably be 36 x 36 or 40 x 40. I haven't a clue what design I'll go with yet.

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