Delectable Baskets: Quilt Finish

Posted on June 26, 2019 by Elizabeth E.

Food Basket Quilt_1

Delectable Baskets • Quilt #220
Approximately 70″ wide by 90″ high

Basket_7

Delectable Baskets gets its name because each basket is filled with food — well — food fabrics. I’d been collecting for over twenty years, so I had a few to choose from. In February 2018 I was Queen Bee for the Gridsters, and put up a post about making basket blocks, deciding that I wanted to use my collection of fabrics with food motifs. I sent each of my beemates a couple of squares. (There is a free basket tutorial on that post, if you are interested in making some baskets.)

Baskets of Food quilt top

Not only did my Gridster Beemates send me blocks, but a few other long-time friends sent them also; I had so many blocks that my quilt grew and grew, and then it was overflowing, a lovely dilemma to have. So I pruned it a bit, as I was aiming for twin-size, and still have enough baskets for an upcoming wall-hanging.

Cathy of CJ Designs did an expanded Baptist Fan on it, leaving it nice and soft, which is a good thing, as I intend it for use in the guest bedroom, which is currently the quilting-and-thread-storage bedroom. I promise that maybe I can share.

Food Basket Quilt_4

The back, using some Phillip Jacobs (on the right) and some Marimekko (from Crate and Barrel’s outlet sale some years ago). The signature blocks (the white Xs) are pieced into the Phillip Jacobs, or at least I think that’s who designed that fabric. At any rate, the print is a lovely-as-can-be radishes. Food Basket Quilt_5

Thank you to everyone who sent me blocks. Delectable Baskets has been on my radar for a couple of decades or more, beginning with visits to Fabric Patch quilt shop, the vendor mall in the early years of Road to California, a couple of Southern California Shop Hops, and an occasional trip to Utah. There were no mail-order shops then, as there was no internet then. We bought fabric from JoAnns which it wasn’t then (maybe Cloth World?). I accrued fabrics a yard at a time, a piece at a time, a slow compilation.

This quilt was finished in an era where everything is on hyperdrive. The internet runs, assists and invades our lives, helping and hindering us in our quilting. Sometimes we are in a quilt bubble, making the same quilt (see my Flag Quilt from last post), using the same colors, same fabric lines. Other times it brings us news of friends in Australia, in Japan, Canada, Germany and certainly from around the United States, and allows us to meet and be friends with people all over the world.

Our gathering of Gridsters would not be possible without the internet, and all members, past or present, contribute to my life is a positive and beneficial way.

I am happy to know you all, Gridster Bee member or not. Thank you for enriching my life, making it a veritable feast. I dedicate Delectable Baskets to you.

Christmas Criss-Cross Finished

Posted on June 6, 2019 by Elizabeth E.

Christmas Criss-Cross_1

Christmas Criss-Cross, June 2019
Quilt #219 • 60″ wide by 66″ tall

Christmas Criss-Cross_2 Christmas Criss-Cross_3 Christmas Criss-Cross_4 Christmas Criss-Cross_5

I started this for the 20th anniversary of a small quilters group I’d participated in, as we were given mini-charm packs of this print. Of course, that only got my toes wet, as I soon ordered a Layer Cake. Then yardage. Then backing.

My quilter, Cathy Kreter, finished this up quickly and I put the binding on this past month (so, while I finished 12″ of the binding in June, technically it was finished in May, when I sewed the label on).

Christmas Criss-Cross_6

It will be hanging out in my closet, waiting for the holiday season to arrive, a nice lap-sized quilt to use when watching all those holiday seasonal specials. It doesn’t require a Quilt Ph.D to make this. I walk you through the steps on an earlier post. There are many variations of the block in my reference book, but I can’t give you a name for the block outright, as there are two basic blocks in this, both four-patch variations: one is cut on the diagonal and one on the straight.

Christmas Criss-Cross_7

Get to Work Book 2019

In other news, my Get to Work Planner arrived and this time I ordered the elastic band to put on my old one, as I tape in all sort of things and the book has kind of expanded.

ESE Utlity Quilt_1

Recently I had an interesting letter in my emailbox. A young professor asked if he could use the image of this quilt in a project he was working on for his English class. Since I’d taken it in to my class when I taught the short story Everyday Use, I quickly acquiesced. ESE Utlity Quilt_2

Yep, it’s pretty wonky. It was designed that way in a class I took with Roberta Horton in Houston, eons ago. I treasure the quilt for that reason alone. It’s #37 on my Lifelong Quilts lists. ESE Utlity Quilt_3

I think at one point I wanted to put an epigram on every quilt label, but in a quick survey, this is the only one.

Lastly, such happy news arrived with the announcement of Affinity Publisher‘s public release on June 19th. I’ve been a Beta tester in my own weasley and squirrely fashion for the last several months, sending in comments and notes on using the software. While not a difficult software, there is a learning curve which is when I searched their tutorials and forums for help. I use this to write my patterns, and I’m currently working backwards through the MSWord versions, and converting them one by one to a more professional look.

The introductory discount is 20% off the price, and there are NO SUBSCRIPTIONS to deal with (you know which company I’m referring to). So mark your calendars, if you’ve needed software that can help publish documents at a higher level than a word processing program.

Bee Blocks, Etc. * March and April *

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Elizabeth E.

Bee Blocks, yes. But first:

Dream Big Bag_2

I recently asked Lisa to make me a tote bag out of a Dream Big panel by Hoffman. I ordered everything, and the bag turned out to be a good size, one that could hold a queen sized quilt, perfect for taking along binding projects. Dream Big Bag_1

I chose a summery floral for the inside (I like bright colors inside my purses/bags, so I can find things).

Dream Big Bag

Beauty shot in the flowers by the front door. Thank you Lisa, I love it!

March_2019 Gridsters

Now, here are my bee blocks for the Gridster Bee. Here are March’s blocks, requested by Marsha @quilterinmotion on Instagram. We used this pattern, and it worked up quickly.

March_2019a Gridsters

If you decide to make these, I’d suggest switching up the order–put #9 on first, then #8. It’s a sturdier constuction that way.

March_2019b Gridsters.png

But here’s the cool thing: her center will be four “straight” Flying Geese blocks, with our curvy ones being added to it, for lots of motion in her quilt.

April 2019_Gridsters Bee

Nancy who blogs at Patchwork Breeze, and is on Instagram @patchworkbreeze, asked for a patriotic block for a summer quilt. I guess it’s not too early to get started on the red, white, and blue, a good reminder to work ahead of the seasons and celebrations (anyone for Halloween quilts? Christmas?).

Finally, I decided to tally up what I accomplished last year, in terms of completed quilts. If you remember (or are hoping to forget), it was the Year of Frivols. So here’s the totals:

• Twelve Frivols
• Three Mini-quilts
• One Baby quilt
• One Small quilt
• Two large quilts
• One large quilt that will show up in Fall 2019 Simpy Moderne

Number Twenty

And for 2019? It’s hard right now because while I can sew the tops, I can’t quilt them myself. Quilts are only being finished when I can send them out. But here’s the list of projects so far:

• Plitvice (finished)
• Chuck Nohara quilt (binding being sewn on as we speak)
• Nameless other large quilt, being kept under wraps/headed for publication
• Home-keeping Hearts (top only at this point)
• Merrion Square–there are three of these small quilt tops in circulation, and are samples at guilds where I’ll be speaking
• Basket quilt is still on the design wall, as I audition borders.

When I finish them, I’ll catalogue them, above, on the 300 Quilts list.

Speaking Teaching Events
• Meet the Teacher for the Southern California Council of Quilt Guilds
• Utah Valley Quilt Guild, Utah–Trunk Show and Day-long workshop
• Valley of the Mist Quilt Guild, Temecula, CA–Trunk Show and Day-long workshop

If you are in Utah, they still have a couple of openings for the workshop on April 16th. If you are new to this blog (welcome!), you can meet me digitally in my Happy New Year post.

I leave you with a few shots of our California Superbloom. Happy Spring!

Plitvice • Quilt Finish

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Elizabeth E.

Plitvice Quilt_6 with poppies

Plitvice
Quilt #218 • 76 1/2″ square

Plitvice Quilt_1 full

After four years, I finally finished up the quilt of multiple pieced hexagons. Yes, every seam on that top is hand-stitched. I’ve had many posts about this, but here’s its final and complete post: it is done!

Plitvice Quilt_2 back

Back of the quilt, using an Andover Fabrics wideback fabric. No piecing, no fussing around. This was so slick–just buy the three yards and send it off to the quilter, Darby of Quilted Squid, who did a great job.

Plitvice Quilt_3 label Plitvice Quilt_4 OPquilt

About that edge binding: it was supposed to be a faced binding, tucked behind the quilt, but once I saw it on the edge, that was the missing piece that fell into place for me. I wasn’t quite sure I liked this pile of English paper-piecing, until I saw that. But I stab-stitched the facing in perle cotton all the way around, to get that nice tight, bound edge look. That’s why it’s so large on the back–I didn’t want to cut down the width of my facing, so I went with it.

Plitvice Quilt_5 detail Plitvice Quilt_5a Plitvice Quilt_7 on poppies

And if you’ve been reading my Instagram account, you know we are poppy-crazy out here with our California Superbloom, so we took the quilt on one of our poppy-hunting treks to get the two photos you see in this post.

Plitvice Words on Label

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

You can use the tags on this post (click on them) to search for other entries of this quilt, if more information is needed. Many thanks to Katja Marek for starting us on the Millefiore road.

Northern Lights Medallion

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Elizabeth E.

Northern Lights Medallion
Quilt No. 210 • 52″ square

I love these posts where I get to place a quilt front and center, quilting finished, bound and photographed, and even a label made AND sewn on. It’s like that Easter Sunday long ago, where your mother dressed you and your sisters up in fancy new dresses, new patent leather shoes and anklets with ruffles and you all posed for a picture. It’s like that wedding day, where your hair was behaving, and your wedding dress and veil were just how you wanted them, and oh–the love you had for your soon-to-be-yours was shining from your face.

Yeah, kind of like that. Some process photos:

I now pin my quilts on my kitchen counter–the floor is too far down these days.

I’m getting faster at quilting: the dates from start (August 8, 2018) to finish (August 25, 2018). Part of the challenge is figuring out what to quilt, and another part is not to physically wear myself out.

I love the texture that quilting creates.

Fun detail: I like to include my name and address on my quilts, but also like to hide that info. So I used the logo from the Mad for Solids Challenge and used it as a disguise.

This began as a challenge to create something using just eight colors of Painter’s Palette Solids, in the March Madness Challenge in 2018; you’ve read posts about this before.

But the other challenge I put for myself was to create a medallion quilt using my favorite quilt software, QuiltPro, which I’ve been using for years. I love it love it love it and their tech support person, Linda, is nothing short of a fairy godmother, always answering questions quickly and succintly. Like she taught me how to do this conversion:

from this

to this (no pen outlines)

This creates a more modern look, I think. Anyway. I’m a fan.

So I posted this design up on their Facebook page, and I was contacted and one thing led to another, and Northern Lights Medallion (its real name, in spite of other confusing malarky above) will hang in their booth at both Paducah and Houston this year. I’m honored, and I love working with these lovely people (and it may be the only way I get to be at either of those shows!). So if you go, snap a photo and email me (opquilt@gmail.com) or tag me on Instagram (occasionalpiecequilt). Thanks!

This is quilt number 210, and it’s going up on the 300 Quilts list.

You’re Not going to Run Out of Ideas

And I need to keep remembering this.

Northern Star Medallion Top Finished

Posted on August 9, 2018 by Elizabeth E.

It was a lot of mind over matter, but I finished the borders, worked out the measurements and sewed everything together. There seemingly was a big canyon between where I was last post and where I am now: getting it ready to quilt, but really, it wasn’t that hard once I settled down, stopped freaking out and followed Melanie’s advice.

I finished the Gridster Bee blocks for Linda for August. I like her idea of lots of churn dashes all the same size, but in a variety of fabrics. If you head to our hashtag on IG, you can see that Linda has already received some of the blocks.

The same night I finished the Northern Star Medallion top, I stepped outside to see this.

We drove up to the top of our neighborhood to see where the smoke was coming from–way over yonder in Orange County on the left bumpy mountain. California is burning up, and it’s only the beginning of August. When I first moved here 27 years ago, we only had fires in September, just like clockwork. Every year there would be one big one, and then it would be done.

Tonight the fire map looks like this and it’s not even September. Oh yes, we also have an earthquake map, a smog map, but we don’t generally have snow or flood or tornado maps, like some of you do.

This morning I had to have a couple of stitches taken out from a recent procedure, and the doctor was about to throw these into the sharps container. When I asked, he gave them to me. I washed them up and put them in my sewing supplies–those tweezers are great for grabbing the end of the seam of an HST to keep it from going wonky, and I’ll find a use for those scissors. Yes, I’m still sewing on my hexies. I think I’m halfway there.

Look at that yucky sky in the background–seems like it will be a good idea to stay inside and start quilting!

OccasionalPiece–Quilt!

Category Archives: 300 Quilts