All Spruced Up

I have a new quilt finish to share. It is the modern Christmas tree quilt block tutorial from Diary of a Quilter.

All Spruced Up

I first came across this block when Molli Sparkles included it in the Honey Pot Bee.
It was such a fun block. It has the tiniest bit of improv, because how you make the two cuts are up to you. That is liberating. At the same time, since the overall block has a fixed dimension, the craziness (of improv) is completely controlled.

Honey Pot Bee blocks

Also, it is a simple block that is perfect for beginners. Therefore, I chose this quilt block as a Block of the Month for my Guild last year and it was met with enthusiasm.

More blocks = More fun

But I was still not done with it. So I decided to make a few more blocks and turn it into a quilt.
As I arranged the blocks on the design wall to make sure that there was contrast between adjacent trees, Paul stepped into the area.

On the Design Wall

Paul: These trees are crooked.
Me: That is what a nasty person will say
Paul: Well, what do YOU say?
Me: I'd say that they are gently swaying in the breeze
Paul: Aren't you trying to hide your incompetence with clever words?
Me: Aren't you missing the forest for the trees?
Paul: A whole forest? 
Me: Uh Huh!
Paul: What are you calling this one?
Me (flashing a big smile): All Spruced Up.
Paul: Gosh, you are so full of it.
Me: And you are so out it. Go away.

Speaking of the breeze, it was a challenge to get a good still shot of the flimsy due to the said breeze. Even a gentle breeze is detrimental to photo shoots. Sandra took the next three pictures as I battled the breeze, the flimsy all over me.

Hugged by the Flimsy

The struggle is real

On the banks of Lake Ontario, Canada

I did heed Paul's advice when it came to the backing. Instead of half and half, I made an additional cut and turned it into a quartered layout.

Quartered Layout for Pieced Backing

Even tried quilting it a little differently. Still using a walking foot, I echoed the tree outlines. I think it gives it a modern vibe to the quilt. What do you think?

Echo Quilting

I chose a purple binding to contrast with the reds and greens. The quilt finished at about 49" by 54". I am sure the right recipient will get it at the right time.

Purple Binding

I know that it is late for the "Christmas in July" shindig.
And it is too early for the actual Christmas this year.

Labelled

Which makes it just perfect for me.  After all I dance to my own beat.
I will be linking with all my favorite linky parties, see full list on the sidebar.


Before I leave to enjoy my long weekend, I have two more things to share

1. Connecting Threads is having a site-wide sale, ending on 9/3/18.

 I just bought wide backing fabrics because they were less than $9/yard. Expected next week.


2. Quilters Meet and Greet begins on Tuesday, September 4, 2018. Miss it at your own risk.

Hope you have a safe and enjoyable long weekend!

Icecream with Sprinkles

Sex is like food, but different.

Beauty and the Beach

You imagine it to be sweet and smooth like ice-cream.
In reality it is like barbeque ribs - sticky and messy.

Ice-cream with Sprinkles

You picture it will be a neat little cup with a small spoon.  You daintily take a bite, close your eyes and enjoy the gentle melting of the ice-cream on your tongue. You take a deep breath of extreme satisfaction as the coolness travels down your throat, while the sweetness lingers in your mouth. Pure bliss.

Barbecue Ribs

In reality, the barbeque ribs are rather large and unwieldy. You go to pick it up and it is hot and it slips out of your fingers and as you try to catch it, the sauce splatters all over you. You manage to catch it but you are up to your elbows in brown goopy mess. It is spicy and smoky. It is sweet and salty. It is juicy but also burns. Pure disaster, but worth it.

Finished!!!

Such is this quilt. It looks innocent - like a cup of ice-cream (with sprinkles) but making it has been a long drawn out process - like smoky ribs.

Kaffe Fassett

There were some scraps leftover from Clay's quilt other than the HSTs (that became Parikrama and the squares that went to the Little One).  Some were really skinny slivers.  I devised a simple plan to use up those skinny slivers.

Slivers - Composite and Simple

Make composite slivers!!!  Sew them along the length and cross cut into slivers, resulting in a mix of simple and composite slivers.
Are you still reading? Oh my goodness, thank you for your support and patience.

Cut and Insert

To give maximum focus to these slivers , I stitched background fabric on either sides to make a 6" square block.  Once I had 64 blocks, I would sew them in a layout of 8 by 8 and call it a flimsy.

Changed orientation to avoid bulky seams

Just when I got close to 60 blocks, I found a ziplock bag with slivers left over from Angel's Midnight Garden.  (Does that ever happen to you?)
Oh my goodness, more Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Was that a sign?
Of course it was a sign. More background fabric was cut, slivers were inserted and more 6" squares were churned out.

Contrast Borders

I was now up to 144 blocks.  Some slivers were still left over. What if I make the second cut/insert?
Some squares were inserted with sliver #2.

Flimsy

Light YellowBacking

Green Binding

144 blocks. Arranged 12 by 12 would yield a square lap size quilt of 66" sides.
I was already dreaming of snuggling with it, when I spoke aloud.

Sun shining through...

Me: Lap size goodness infused with magnificent slivers of Kaffe. So snuggly!!!
Paul: Lap size? Who is it for?
Me: Me, myself and I
Paul: What if someone else wants to snuggle with you?
Me: Who would that be (I asked innocently)
Paul: Brat, who else?
Me: Oh you?
Paul: Yes, me. Such a pretty quilt and none for me.
Me: So you really want to snuggle with the quilt, not me.
Paul: It can be both, you know.

Time for design modifications. At current layout, the quilt would be 66" square. I needed it to be 66" by 88". Meaning I needed a layout of 12 blocks by 16 blocks. That is a total of 192 blocks. I needed 48 more blocks. And all slivers were gone.
AAA...........RRRRR....................GHHHH.

Brightness = Happiness

Finished at 72" by 94"

I cannot possibly put into words the mental calisthenics, the scribblings and scrawls that led to the final design and layout.

Hello Beautiful!

In the end, I decided on a layout of 165 blocks, arranged 11 by 15. Plus 5.5" borders.

Labelled

I am calling this one Moonbeams. Because those colorful slivers - simple and composite - beam against the white/off-white/silvery moon-like background.
Slivers on Silver - say that five times fast :-D

Moonbeams

Celebrating Color

My love affair with Kaffe continues...

Ready to Snuggle

I will be linking with all my favorite linky parties, see full list on the sidebar.
How is your summer - like ice-cream or smoky ribs? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Motivated by Mari

Mari made a quilt - Misfit Toys.

Misfit Toys is now going to AQS Quilt Show in Virginia Beach!!!  Mari shared this fantastic news with me on Friday. I jumped with joy for her.

With Mari

She gushed, I listened.

And in that moment, I knew I had to drop everything and make a quilt using up my leftovers - bee blocks (Honey Pot Bee) and orphan blocks and audition blocks.

Sandra and Elizabeth

I met Elizabeth in Buffalo. She mentioned a quilty term that I had not hear before - Coping Strips.

When the blocks are of varying sizes, she adds strips to the smaller blocks to bring them to the requisite size. These strips are aptly named coping strips.

Now, some folks call them sashing but I believe sashing is used with uniformly sized blocks.
See you can use sashing strips after you have used coping strips to make all blocks uniform :-D

I needed coping something but I chose to use coping blocks (also used coping strips in two places). Or you could call them filler blocks. The Charlie Brown+Snoopy block is a coping block. The improv slab next to it was leftover from Fire Pit, used also as a coping block.

Coping Blocks - Charlie Brown, Cool Leftover Slab from Fire Pit, Warm QSTs

I made coping blocks from leftover triangles discarded from Curry Favor (picture above) and from those leftover from making Doggone Cute blocks for KaHolly. 

Yellow Gray QST is a coping block using leftovers from Doggone Cute blocks

The leftover blocks from Charmed Encore worked perfectly as coping blocks.

Coping Blocks - Framed Charm Squares, 4 HSTs, and a house

I also used a coping strip to bring the red tree block to size. See picture above.
Simple 4-patch blocks made perfect coping blocks, sometimes used singly sometimes in a series.

4-patch blocks, used in a series - left corner

There were some composite HSTs leftover from Animal House. They became houses with mix and match roofs. I tried the same pattern in a larger size. Did not work.  Kinda loses its appeal in that size.

Here they are - three modest houses and one Mac-mansion.

Three modest houses and one Mac-Mansion - UGH

I loved the Blended Scraps Block so much that I made a whole quilt - Shadow of Light. The first block from that endeavor is near the top left.

Finished Flimsy

My experiments with paper-piecing are all here - the black/red/yellow star that was a moderate success, the very pointy 1.5 star, the Tall Tales book block which was a huge success, the two mushroom blocks where I used freezer paper and the As-You-Wish block (envelope+letter) which I declined to paper piece.

Paper Piecing Adventures - Star Blocks and Mushroom Blocks

The lattice block next to the tree block also came from the Honey Pot Bee. As did the Pantry Jar block and the Star Kisses block.

Star Kisses block from the Honey Pot Bee

The BHQ Economy Square Block had me whining because it has 81 pieces in just one block.

The 81 piece Economy Square Block

Before I wrote my most popular tutorial, I made an audition block in purple and red. It finally found a place in here.

Audition Block - Purple Red and Cream

I enjoyed making the strawberry block. Made in three colors. You can see the red one below. Saving the pink and orange ones for the Quilt Guild BOM later this year.
Did not enjoy the Echo block. This was a perfect place to get rid of it, but if you love it here is the link to the tutorial.

The Strawberry (love) and Echo (hate) blocks

This flimsy also has one of the discarded blocks from The Queen's Necklace (top row), next to the leaf block, which I loved so much that I have made several. Yes, they will make a quilt - just not yet.

Leaf, Kaleidoscope and Tall Tales Blocks. Pantry Jar, As You Wish and Tree Blocks

In the picture above, there is a coping strip (with a snail) next to the leaf block. I recently got that sliver of a fabric in the scrap bag that Sandra brought for me when we met in Buffalo!!!

This is one quilt with so many stories!!!

Some posts are laden with pictures. This one is definitely laden with links. I am trying to give credit where credit is due. It is possible that I missed some. If so, please ask and I will supply the link/inspiration in the comments.

Thank you Mari - I started because of you.

Thank you Sandra - I completed it because of you. So that I could make it to this Dreami party.

Lots of color = One Happy Quilt

Who has inspired you lately? I'd love to hear from you. 

I will be liking with all my favorite linky parties, see sidebar for full list.

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OOPS!!!

I almost forgot. Here are the winners from the giveaway.

1. Solids Kona FQ Bundle to Dottie Bishaw (#30) and Gran Chris (#52)

2. Four warm prints FQs to Kristin (#74) and four cool prints FQs to Frederique (#5)

3. Pink/red scraps to Lisa Marie (#10) and Blue/green scraps to Clare M(#80)

Emails will be sent to the winners later today, unless you are a no-reply blogger, in which case please send me an email. If I do not hear from you in a week, you will forfeit your prize and I will pick someone else.

Thank you so much for celebrating with me. Big hugs to you!!!