What to do when an UFO (unfinished object) menace strikes?
Summon the Men in Black :-D
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| Men in Black |
It began in 2014. The basic premise was layer fabrics, cut, shuffle, stitch and repeat.
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| Blocks from 2014 |
Once the blocks were made, I struggled with the layout.
I made a flimsy (no pictures of Flimsy #1) and then had second thoughts.
Some blocks were removed to arrive at a better layout. And then it was put away.
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| Thank you Sandra |
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| On the banks of Lake Ontario |
I took the flimsy with me on my
trip to Niagara/Buffalo.
These pictures were taken by
Sandra in July of 2018, on the banks of Lake Ontario in Canada.
Fast Forward to December 2019. It was time to just finish it. I pulled it out and Paul saw it.
Paul: This looks interesting.
Me: It has been interesting since 2014.
Paul: Why not finish it?
Me: I cannot decide on a quilting approach.
Paul: Wavy lines, I guess. You are such a one-trick pony!!!
Me: Ouch.
Paul is the only person who can say that and get away without a scratch.
But he was right. It was time to do something different.
I marked the quilt, painstakingly and quilted it with my walking foot using a variegated blue/turquoise thread.
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| Marking |
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| Slowly |
My new reading glasses prevented blindness as I stitched the charcoal binding with a dark grey thread.
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| Thank you reading glasses!!! |
Finishing at 45" by 53", it qualifies as a crib size quilt.
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| Finished at 45" by 53" |
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| Pieced Backing |
It is labelled and will go to one of the charity causes supported by my guild.
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| Labelled |
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| Manly |
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| Finished Yay!!! |
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| UFO Conquered |
In essence, this was a UFO and had been bothering me. So when I completed it, I chose the name - Men in Black. Thanks to Paul's needling, I put more thought and effort into my quilting.
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| Quilting Detail |
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| Thank you walking foot |
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| Not a one-trick-pony!!! |
What do you think? Too much? Not enough? Tell me already.
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After I completed my big RSC block, I had some smaller green scraps left over.
When I saw
Mell's design on Instagram I had a lightbulb moment.
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| January is Green |
3.5" square color blocks framed with 2.5" strips (low volume fabrics) will result in 7" finished blocks. Yippee!!!
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| Blocks in the works |
Here is the result of that. Thank you, Mell!!! I will be making these along with the big blocks :-)
Sharing at
Angela's linky party.
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| RSC2020 - Project #2 Blocks |
I think I need to increase the volume of my low-volume fabrics by about 17%. What do you think?
If you are interested in Melanie's design, you are in luck. Mell has a
very detailed tutorial on her blog.
Angela has already announced Orange as the RSC2020 color for February and I can barely wait to finish this blogspot to dive into my orange scraps.
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| February is Orange!!! |
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Australia is burning and the
Wollongong Modern Quilt Guild is leading the effort of making quilts for those affected by these bushfires.
Four designers have provided tutorials for making 12.5" square (3 trees and 1 new shoots) blocks. The links are on the WMQG page, link above.
Although some trees are short and more rounded, when I think of a tree, I picture
a rectangular block. But two trees next to each other, or better still overlapping may end up in a square block.
The idea crystallized while I doodled during a boring meeting at work.
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| Doodling or Designing |
This is not the first brilliant idea resulting from a dull meeting. I am sure it isn't the last. So here is the block I designed :-)
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| Twin Tree Quilt Block |
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| Designed by Me!!! |
Yes, I am supremely happy with it. I am making more of them.
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| My Twin Trees Workshop :-) |
If you can and wish to contribute to this effort, please please read the FAQ document on the
Wollongong Modern Quilt Guild website. They are rather particular about what they will accept.
Use
#BushFireBlocks on Instagram.
I will be sharing with all my favorite linky parties. See full list on the sidebar.
As usual, I'd love to know your thoughts and deeds :-)
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And one last thing - I am going to Quiltcon in Austin. I will be there all day Sunday enjoying the quilt show and exchanging hugs :-D
Are you coming?
There is a lot here... I love your trees. I seem to be making a lot of trees here myself lately, but now there are new trees wanting my attention. Men In Black is wonderful. I love how you turned some bright, fun blocks into something even better. (You always do...you could tell your hubby you may be a one trick pony, but there are categories of tricks and the trick of making amazing tops from blocks that are just "meh" far outweighs the quilting aspect!) And or course your stash needs enhancing. But I would estimate at least 25%. You know, wiggle room!
ReplyDeleteLove your twin trees. Your Men in Black quilt is very modern and inspires me to try something similar with made fabric. Thanks for sharing and inspiring.
ReplyDeleteMore great saves! The quilting on Men in Black is very interesting, and now I will have double tree blocks to add to my tree quilt (not yet made!).
ReplyDeletelove the quilting you did on that quilt. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteI like the quilting on MIB. (Paul certainly likes to live dangerously, doesn't he? Must've been post-birthday feistiness :-) ) You have some fun blocks in the works, especially those trees!
ReplyDeleteGood job on the walking foot quilting - MIB deserved the special treatment.
ReplyDeleteHi Preeti! QuiltCon time already?! I wish I was going but alas no. I hope you find lots of friends to exchange {{hugs}} with. I'm surprised that Sandra did offer some quilting suggestions or let you get away with waiting a year to finish Men in Black. I would never call you a one-trick-pony . . . or live to tell about it. JK!! Seriously, that never came into my mind even after Paul said it. Aren't you just pleased as punch with the finish?! I just adore the lime green on the backing - it really makes the whole project all the more fun. Great job! ~smile~ Roseanne
ReplyDeleteI like Men in Black - It is a great idea to use up some orphan blocks!! you have inspired me!!! and your trees are lovely - I understand needing some creativity in boring meetings - ha ha!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I love the your Men in Black quilt. I think the quilting really made it. I'm also liking your trees. I look forward to seeing how they all turn out.
ReplyDeleteGreat MIB quilt and very good photos so I could see the quilting lines. Lots of food for thought in the other blocks. Thanks for the links to other ideas.
ReplyDeleteYou always have so much going on! Great quilting on MIB. I love the thread color and everything about it. Isn't a walking foot great? Jealous that you're going to Austin. It's a wonderful city. Be sure to have some great barbecue and think of me!
ReplyDeleteMen in Black is a great finish, Preeti! I'm glad you were inspired to pull it out and decided on a quilting design - that is a good one! I like your new RSC block idea, too. Plus, thanks for the tree inspiration - time for me to make some trees to send.
ReplyDeleteI love your Men in Black, and actually all the rest of what you show us in this post.
ReplyDeleteI love your design layout of MEN IN BLACK. You did a great job with the quilting too.
ReplyDeleteGood job! Thanks for sharing the pics and the process.
ReplyDeleteLove your twin trees and thank you for thinking of the people affected by the fires here. Your Men in Black is spectacular, great quilting, you are by no means a one trick pony, you are extremely talented!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome quilting!!! Great backing, too! Of course, I love the quilt!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat quilting! I struggle with fmq, so straight line stuff is all I can manage... thanx for sharing the close up pics of your quilting. Your 'twin tree' blocks are looking good too!
ReplyDeleteLove your trees! The men in black quilt looks amazing with the quilting.
ReplyDeleteI really like the quilting pattern you designed for Men in Black. I always struggle with quilting designs that can be added simply but with some graphic appeal. Well done. See you at a meeting soon?? Barbara
ReplyDeleteYour MIB sewing lines look very precise! And that green on the back is a delight. Way to laser down that UFO, sister! I very much like your trees - is it a Preeti theme? I was a fan of your Tree of Life quilt, and as I recall those woods also grew during some dark times. How lovely that you can send these seedlings out into the world to help reforest.
ReplyDeleteYour quilting lines are so impressive. I absolutely hate marking because I can never see the lines anyway. Good luck with your tree blocks for Australia.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on the MIB quilting! And I really like the trees :).
ReplyDeleteYou have a beautiful finish, Preeti, and I adore those trees! I plan to make some trees for a Christmas row quilt soon.
ReplyDeleteI love those blues and greens together. Crazy enough, I just love the back too!
I so looove that quilting! Definitely no one trick pony. It is gorgeous and will go into my idea pool. I love geometric straight line ideas :) And thanks for the shout out. I love your version and am looking forward to seeing more of them over the next months. PS: Only about 22 more days till you know what :) Big squishy hugs xo Mell
ReplyDeleteLove the quilt and the name! Congrats on getting one UFO off your list. The quilting looks great, definitely just enough. The tree block is pretty cool too. Looks like you'll be playing with both green and orange scraps this month.
ReplyDeleteYour Men in Black finish is amazing. I think the quilting you did really added a lot of great detail.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on all kinds of things! Men in black is terrific. The flimsy was striking, but the quilting takes it to the next level. It is fabulous. And your pairs of trees in a blocks are perfect. It's like they are keeping each other company. Now as for those little blocks, I'd say the low volume needs to increase 19%. Actually, I think the low volume needs to incorporate a few specks of colour, but then, everything needs a bit of colour in my world. I think maybe yours is the same.
ReplyDeleteMen in Black is perfect! Love your (new!)quilting, and it's a so great use of old blocks. Pretty by the way, and this green backing... yummy!!
ReplyDeleteYour Men in Black quilt is gorgeous...& the quilting is perfect for it. Well done...
ReplyDeleteAll your other projects & colours look great too...xox
So much to comment on today! Your trees look super. I’ve seen some pretty sweet tree blocks come out of this effort. Love your Men in Black quilt! Enjoyed the quilting and it will make some little one very happy! Dark colors are so hard to sew! Personally, I think your low volume blocks look fine!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I clicked on the thumbnail (from Beth's Monday Making) -- your Men in Black quilt turned out so well -- and thanks for sharing the details of the quilting. The RSC leftovers are cute and a great scrapbuster.
ReplyDeleteLOVE your self-designed Twin Tree blocks for Australia!! I've offered my readers to mail their blocks for me to send to Australia. You are welcome to do that, too. (Especially, since your Men in Black quilt just solved an age old problem for me and I now know EXACTLY what to make for Parrish - who loved his sister's quilt made of those very same blocks!)
ReplyDeleteThe quilting on Men in Black is perfect! I love the geometric lines in the turquoise thread. Your tree blocks are so nice, too. Great design. And, as always, I love your commentary!
ReplyDeleteLove it.
ReplyDelete