Linoleum Plus

Here is my first finish of 2020.  I am calling it Linoleum.

First Finish!!!

Try saying "a roll of linoleum" fast if you can :-D
How did it go?

Once upon time, a long time ago I wrote this tutorial.  Some of the resulting blocks became a part of Have a Minty Day quilt.  And yet others waited patiently to become something.

When I saw the Cross Plus Block, I had an idea. What if the colors are reversed?
Then my leftover tutorial blocks can be made into this!!!

All I had to do was find coordinating print fabrics.  Mystic Dawn from Lily and Loom was just perfect.

Block 1

Block 2

Finished Flimsy

Seams Pressed Open

Quilting in Process

Once again I added a skinny white border to protect my points from being eaten up by the invading binding.  A bright orange flannel backing with little rockets makes the perfect contrasting backing.
A striped black and white binding looks sharp with both the front and the back.

Can you see the skinny border?

Cool and Warm

Labelled

Linoleum finished at 41" square and I am very happy with it.  I hope it will make some baby squeal with joy.

Linoleum Front

Linoleum Back

I will squeal with joy when I read your sweet comments :-)

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I was about seven or eight years old when mom took me to an eye-doctor.  I don't remember why we were there. My eyes were fine and she didn't seem to need glasses either.  May be because she wanted to consult with the doctor about her father's appointment or surgery.
As we waited patiently in the waiting room, I saw a person emerge from the doctor's office with a green colored eye-patch over one of his eyes.

Why is his patch green, I had asked.
Because green is the most soothing color, mom answered.
Why is that, the non-stop questioning machine rattled.
Mom replied, because earth is covered with green. It is the most prevalent color in nature and is therefore most soothing to the eyes.

Although I do not know why this seemingly insignificant memory has stayed with me, it is abundantly clear why this memory comes flooding back today when earth is on fire.
Whether the world burns figuratively with war and strife or literally with bushfires, we cannot have enough green to counter that.

It may be just a coincidence that Angela chose Bright Green as the color for January in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for 2020, but the universe works in miraculous ways.

I started with this block.

Initial Block

Me: What do you think?
Paul: That is a big block.
Me: Yes, it will finish at 17"
Paul (attempted singing): I like Big Blocks and I cannot lie.
Me: Really? Do you like it?
Paul: It looks like a blob.  So solid in the center!
Me: I had the same feeling. I could snowball the inside corners.
Paul: Huh???

I showed him with folded squares. He approved.

Me: Snowballing is a pain.
But wait. I have a special tape, which can make the whole thing a breeze.
(By now I am talking to myself and Paul is no loner part of the conversation)

Diagonal Seam Tape - Gift from Mari

Thank you Mari.
Because of you my RSC blocks will be light and airy as a souffle and not dense like a fruit cake :-)


Here is my Refined Block, with internal snowball corners.

Refined

I made two more.

RSC Green Block 2

RSC Green Block 3

Although I only need 12 blocks to make a lap size quilt, 30 will make it queen size. 

Where do you think I am headed?

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I was engrossed in making and refining RSC blocks.  Meanwhile, my flannel scraps were up to a whole lot of mischief behind my back. 
I do not remember how many baby blankets I have made. You know the self-binding, flannel ones that Jenny (Missouri Star Quilt Company) taught.
Those blankets need two flannel squares - one 40" and one 30", resulting in some scrappy strips that are too small to use and too large to discard.

I had collected those flannel leftover strips in a fabric bag and while I was distracted they conspired to become a flimsy. It was a Christmas miracle.

Meanwhile

Flannel Strips

Soft and Cute

I used the same backing as Linoleum (Blast Off from Connecting Threads) fabric, combined with leftover strips from Paulitiks' flannel backing (that were suffocating in another bag somewhere).
An orange binding made perfect sense.

Orange Binding

Labelled

Happiness

Joyful

I am calling this one Meanwhile.  Meanwhile finished at 43" by 45" and it is so snuggly.
If you have been saving your flannel strips, take a look. They may have miraculously turned into a soft and soothing bundle of love.

I will be sharing with all my favorite linky parties as well as with Angela's So Scrappy Linky Party.
As usual, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Snowmen Express

After Esmeralda, which was a herculean effort, I wanted to do as little as possible.
Time to reward myself :-D

Fabric Shopping!!! 

The Nursery Rhymes fabric will make the backing of my October OMG quilt.

Windham Fabrics Nursery Rhymes

I knew I had to have this orange striped fabric.

Balloon Stripe Michael Miller Fabrics

I will most probably use it as backing and will use the diagonal lines to quilt from the back.

Jumping and Munching Sheep

I also got these sheep and look at those plump farm animals.

Plump Animals

I fell for these snowmen and ordered immediately.

Instant Attraction

When I received the package, I realized that it was not quilting cotton but flannel. Could not use them for patchwork, but definitely backing.

Lovely Plaid Joann Fabrics

Also found this lovely plaid at my local Joann Fabrics.

Combine this plaid with that snowmen flannel and you have an instant quilt. Honestly, I have not made a quilt more rapidly than this one.

Finished!!!

Cuddly

I quilted it in the morning, before going to work.

Can you see the Quilting?

Finished the binding the same day, after returning from work.

Binding in process

Since it was so simple to put this together,  I decided to add faux piped binding (my first) to add a bit of pizzaz to it.

Faux Piped Binding

The turquoise blue of the binding matches the plaid. And goes well with he snowmen too :-)

Loving it

The finished quilt measures about 37" by 42".  I think Snowmen Express is a perfect name.

So cute!!!

Labelled and ready to go. Where is a baby when you need one?

Playing with Scraps

October OMG

Still working on my October OMG, using scraps from Esmeralda.

Border, Backing & Binding Scraps from Esmeralda

Remember me??? I heard the HSTs (left over from Clay's quilt) call out to me.

For Snowballing Corners

I had a few ideas.

Leftover HSTs

Looked at Pinterest. Too many ideas. Put these away for now. You little distracting things.

Another HST idea

Closed Pinterest.
Open Facebook.

Saw Janine's blocks for KaHolly. Oh no, time to get into action.

Making Doggone Cute Blocks for KaHolly
I chose Dog #5. This was the easiest block in my opinion.

Cutting/Piecing

I made two large blocks - one each in orange and turquoise.

Puppy Face

Moving one unit makes such a difference. And could be a mistake. See the puppy looks more like a lion when I moved that unit. 

No, no, no, get back to work.

Doesn't that look like a lion?

It is such a well-written pattern. Love the clear instructions, numbering of the pieces and all the little diagrams. Thank you, Lorna.

All done and ready to go!!!

Thank you, KaHolly, for this effort to bring some measure of comfort and healing to those affected by  the horrible storm.

I still have to complete my October OMG. How did a month of taking it easy turn into a month of frenzy? Does this ever happen to you?  I look forward to your thoughts.

Curry Favor

Have you ever dated someone who, you knew in your heart, was completely out of your league? 
I did.

Say hello to Curry Favor... 

When I saw this Fresh Connections quilt pattern, I knew that this would be a very challenging project for a newbie like me. But the design was so attractive, I was TEMPTED!!!

The pattern was FREE. It was DETAILED. And I was ready for the next challenge. ALMOST.

I was also nervous and therefore I proceeded with utmost caution. I agonized over the fabric choices. After mulling over several days, I decided to go with the following colors:

Fabric Strips, numbered!!!

1.    Carrot (CT)

2.    Maroon

3.    Apricot (CT)

4.    Brick (CT)

5.    Orangina (CT)

6.    Red (Kona)

7.    Curry (CT)

8.    Yellow

9.    Crimson (CT)

10.  Rosewood (CT)

Most of these solids, the white and the gorgeous autumn border fabric came from Connecting Threads (CT). 

I organized them (see picture above) and kept them organized like it was a religious thing. After they were cut to the specified sizes, I put them back on the design wall where they belonged. 
As I proceeded with the cutting instructions, I worried - What if I cut all the fabric and then the blocks don't come out correctly. Wait, may be I should make one block, first. Here is the first block.

First Block, untrimmed

Trimmed First Block

Wow! it looked so beautiful, I love this block. Completing this one block gave me the reassurance I was looking for. I cut up all the fabric and proceeded with gusto and caution (a lot of caution). 

Preparing the Corners

I cut several at a time

Assembly Line...

I did a little at a time. When I felt tired or sleepy, I stopped. I followed the instructions to a fault. 
According to the pattern, I pressed to the dark side. When it came to joining the blocks, the seams, pressed to one side was an obstacle. It would mean too much bulk towards the colored fabric and too little towards the white – causing the seam to slip resulting in offset seams.

I LOVE how this is coming together...

I had to fiddle with the seams, turning them this way and that as I tried to make them nest and gently coax the fabric to do my bidding. As a result there are a hundred turned seams in the back (good thing it is hidden). This is something I have accepted. 

Pinned...

Making seams match - By hook or by crook

Look at this picture above. I allowed the white fabric to fold a teensy bit to match the red seams. Yes, it is not an ideal situation. But it will be indistinguishable once it is quilted and washed.

If When I remake this pattern (in a different color way, most probably), I will press the seams open. Yes, I love how this pattern comes together. I am sure I will make it again. 

Piecing in Progress

In the end, it was totally worth it. I believe this experience gave me fresh appreciation for matching seams. I am sure I am now better (marginally at least) at following complex patterns and matching seams. 
Were my fears unfounded? 
No and yes. 
Because I was nervous, I paid attention to every step. And because of that added care things fell in place, almost. A little bit of apprehension is a good thing. 

Autumn Glow from Connecting Threads

 

The border fabric, Autumn Glow from Connecting Threads, is my absolute favorite.

The whole process of piecing the top seemed laborious as I held my breath while sewing and then heaved a sign of relief when I opened and pressed.

Spray Basting

It took a while to baste this beauty...

Quilting in process

Rolled sandwich to manage the bulk

I quilted with my favorite squiggly stitch on my JANOME, following (trying to follow) the lines of the pieced pattern and continuing to the end of the quilt sandwich. The backing is flannel and the quilting makes a zig-zag pattern on the solid brown.

Flannel Backing

I used a very bright orange to bind the quilt.

Bright Border, Eye-Popping Binding

Here are the good things about this pattern

1.    You have to make only one type of block - it is complicated, but it is only one. 

2.     There are only 12 blocks in the whole quilt (not 36, 48 or 92).

3.     Once you organize and cut the fabric (making sure it is organized), it goes together quickly.

4.     The directions are very good, with many helpful pictures.

Binding - Stitched to Back, Squiggly Stitched to the Front

There are two things that I would have added to the instructions.

1.     Press the seams open

2.     The size of each block is about 17”

If it included a way to make it larger, that would be priceless. Unlike most other quilts that are based on a square block, it is not just adding more blocks that would turn this into a queen size quilt. One would have to figure out exactly which four colors, the correct order and the placement to make the next block.

For the level of detailed instructions included, I am VERY surprised that it is a free pattern. Thank you Windham Fabrics and a very big thank you and hugs to you Jean Katherine Smith. Here are a few more pictures.

Border Makes it POP!!!

Interlocking Squares Design - Pure Genius

Love these warm colors!!!

Pattern Detail

This is my 16th finish of 2014. My dear friend Jake helped me pick the name, Curry Favor.

Labelled!!!

Curry Favor - My 16th Quilt of 2014

What started apprehensively and cautiously ended successfully and beautifully. Yes, Curry Favor is my best work so far. 

Is there a quilt pattern that you have been eyeing and wondering - Can I make this? Is it too hard? Please share your thoughts. I love hearing from you!!!