Radiate: “emit (energy, especially light or heat) in the form of rays or waves” (from the Oxford Dictionary) — OR — “(of a feeling or quality) emanate clearly from, as in “leadership and confidence radiate from her” — OR — “(of an animal or plant group) evolve into a variety of forms adapted to new situations or ways of life” (apparently so rare of a definition, I can’t find any examples). And with the movie Oppenheimer earning an Oscar award for Best Picture, I suppose we can also think about radioactivity radiating out from the fusion bomb, set off in New Mexico years ago. But I really think of the sun on a hot summery day, warming you as the cool ocean breezes surround you on a beach. Pick your beach.
Cut out, ready to go. But first! a tip on getting the alignment on that B1/B2 piece:
Left Photo: Using a gridded cutting mat, tape the tip of the B1 piece, using a line on the mat to keep it horizontally straight. Then sort of lining up the center “seam,” align the B2 piece as well with a line on your mat, keeping that edge vertical. Tape. Right Photo: Trying not to shift the pieces, tape the center seam, extending the tape. Carefully remove from the cutting board and fold the center-seam tape to the back. Cut off, remove, or fold back the edge pieces of tape (Big Decisions).
I lay out my colors and then get going. For this set of rays, I again wanted a gradation of color, but chose to do two stronger rays in the middle background, fading to the sides. You’ll see.
For pieces like this Inner Arc, I don’t iron it down, but instead treat it like a paper pattern piece. Again, your choice. Do try to align the outer edges on either grain (crosswise or straight-of-grain), letting the curve be on the bias. Having that bias makes for easier seaming when you sew the parts together.
First two sections of rays sewn up.
Trimmed, and papers removed. I find it easier to not pop seams, if I peel back the papers from the top edge (smaller curvature) of the rays. Now you can see the two center background rays in the middle are the same, fading to the sides. That’s also why I wrote 3s and 2s and 1s on the freezer paper — just to keep straight which fabric I was using.
Road Trip Rest Stop: admire your work.
I fold the arc in half, and with the tip of my iron, press in a 1/4″ mark, showing me the centers. You could also just put a pin there, or a small pencil mark.
Sewing the units together in steps.
Happy Dancing Number Bears are still here, but here’s our fifth block, finished! It’s really beginning to add up, isn’t it?
Status Report: five blocks finished. When I made this, I was amused to see that the right-hand side of this digital quilt was sort of empty. Of course, that will change, and I may re-arrange the blocks as I want to, when I get them all finished.
A wordparagraph paragraphs about fabrics and colors and quilting: While I use Painters Palette solids by Paintbrush Studio, and that’s what my color numbers are on my Preview Page on the pattern (Preview Page is a free download), you may have a wide range of colors in other solids from other manufacturers. Use what you have and what you like. Change up my colors completely. Make them in prints or whatever. Enjoy making, and seeing your little bits of sunshine grow on your design wall, or design floor, or design bed.
We have to bend quilting to our will, to our situations and circumstances, in order to enjoy what we do.
Yes, I do use Trim-an-Quarter/Eighth rulers, but I also use a regular see-through ruler. Yes, I like freezer paper currently, but if you like the regular way of FPP (foundation paper-piecing), do that. Mary, of Zippy Quilts, sent me a link to another quilter who combines the two in this video. I’m so grateful for all you quilters and your interests and your worlds. You fly through rainbows and bring back jewels for me to think about and to use. If you are sewing along and making New York Beauties, tag me on Instagram (@occasionalpiecequilt or #newyorkbeautiesquilt) or send me a photo to my email (opquilt@gmail.com).
Radiate as you go, in order to freak out any one nearby–
After leaping around the line-up, we return to Block #2, but instead of the more traditional sew-it-in-rip-it-out, it’s made with freezer paper. Apparently this method is the hot new tutorial/class/method, and you could do a search to find a class if you want, but I still think that first block I did with freezer paper will help you get started. And more tips are on the second block I tried, too.
The Bizness: Since I’ve had this quilt in mind for a few whiles, the whole gamut is grouped together under the New York Beauties tab, above, and that’s where I’ll put most things. The pattern, however, resides at my pattern shop, as does the free handout that lists all the colors of Painters Palette that I used (it’s called the “Preview” on my pattern).
For Cool Rays, I decided to do a gradation of color (popularly called “ombré” these days) in the background behind the rays, so I picked out a range of greens, trying to keep the color changes smooth and in the same color family (a more yellowy-green than a bluey-green).
I used the method of trimming a sheet of freezer paper (off the roll) to about 8 1/4″ by 10 3/4″ and taping it to a piece of cardstick, or equivalent heavier paper. Then I sent it through my color printer, using the rear feeder for a glide path that doesn’t ask the paper to double-back on itself. Cut the pieces out, and you are ready to go. I can get five uses out of one pattern-printed-on-freezer paper, but for this block you only make four.
Hand-crease on all the lines, working from the printed side, then re-crease them from the back.
Keep trimming those seam allowances to slightly less than 1/4-inch. Again, refer to the blog posts linked above for a more detailed step-by-step version of how to use freezer paper.
Trim around the completed section, around the freezer-paper pattern. You’ll be left with four stacks of rays. Seam them together, matching up the red dashed lines. It helps me to line them up in the way they’ll go (on the right).
After using the tip of my iron to press in the marks of where to line up my pieces, I lay them out.
Pinned and ready to sew.
I pressed away from the light center quarter-circle on this one. On other blocks, I’ve pressed the seam allowances toward the circle, for more definition from the front. Experiment with what you like.
And By The Way Department: I’m so tired of that argument about pressing seams open or pressing seams closed — I just saw it again on another website, and I’m like Leave.It.Alone. There is no right or wrong, but only personal preference. Unless you are making for a group, or in a Bee and the Queen Bee wants it a certain way. Then do it her way.
All four blocks done! Now that I look at them like this, I wish I had swapped two of the greens. Sigh. I can’t even imagine remaking it just for that. The quilt will be fine.
All four blocks with my line of Number Bears, made for when toddlers lived here and I had to keep them quiet in church. The bears all snap together. The guys on the left have “casts” made out of more felt, as one of my kids ripped their hands off with too vigorous effort on the unsnapping of the colorful conga line. (This was in the those old days of mending and repairing.) This hangs around my sewing room, because I can’t bear to get rid of it. My youngest is old now, but I still keep it.
Progress so far. We’ve been making a block about every other week, so far, but the upcoming Eclipse may throw us off.
This website has an interactive link that really zooms in to show granular detail of how many minutes it will show totality in your location. After having done the Annular Eclipse in Utah last year, I know how quickly 4 minutes can pass while you are looking at this marvel. Maybe that’s why I’m doing this quilt? Because it looks like the sun in some ways? I do know that’s why I named the blocks the way I did.
And here’s what I like seeing the best: Status Report, with four blocks finished. The list is on the main New York Beauties page.
It first started as “Dazzle” and I liked it, but then I was playing around one night and came up with that bias-stripey-trim on the outer ring, and liked it a lot more. So Dazzle went back in the Possibles File, and Shimmer came out.
I clumped the cut-out freezer paper pieces with their chosen colors and got to work. First up is folding on all those lines, something I learned from my last attempt at this. The really flat edge of the Add-an-Eighth-Plus ruler is lovely for this. (I just picked the first link that came up; there is no kick-back.)
I still use that backwards-fold-it-over method I learned from Verushka, as it allows me to see how big of a piece I need for the next segment. A somewhat confusing (apparently) discussion of all this is on my first freezer paper post. But if you follow along on the steps, you’ll get it.
This is a small ring, the first one, so there is only one section, and the piecing goes quickly. I’ve trimmed it all up. Peel off the freezer paper gently, so you don’t open up any seams.
I always keep the concave side on top, with the convex side on the bottom. In other words, the quarter-circle E piece is toward the feed dogs. I explain it in the pattern.
Two parts finished. It’s late at night, but I was determined to get the block done. Mistake.
Whoops. It’s not supposed to be two blues together.
Luckily, with freezer paper, it’s easier to unpick that if you were using paper in the traditional foundation paper-pieced gig. Got the blue replaced with lavender, but then couldn’t get the two sections lined up. Unpicked that one, re-stitched and kept going. (Don’t you love the dull light at night, even with the best lamps? No wonder I can’t see colors!)
And then went to bed bummed out because I hated it. Moral: don’t sew when you are tired. Duh.
The next afternoon, after the sun had come out from our cloudy/drizzley morning, I decided I liked the light pink and green combo. The outside sections were also working fine, but that it was the middle large rays that were the bust.
So I auditioned new colors for the rays. I also ended up changing out the A piece–the outer corner.
I decided not to take apart the block I didn’t like, but start again, making it over and using the new colors.
I also decided to press the seams toward the colorful wedges, although truly, this fabric is so good it doesn’t much matter, as there is little see-through.
Remember how I showed you I have five points of pinning on those larger curves? One in the middle…then fold the edges in, and mark those where the folds are. That makes five, with the two outer edges.
And here’s the new one. Will I throw away the first attempt? No. Look below.
If you are aiming towards a quilt, make five of the new one. Those, along the first and second blocks we made are on this Progress Chart. It doesn’t much matter that the first attempt is different. These blocks may not stay in this arrangement, but it gives you an idea of where we’re headed.
The new color chart (and the first version of Shimmer block colors) are up on the free Preview at my pattern shop. And everything is organized on the tab above: New York Beauties. I’m thinking that the pace of about every other week suits me. Hope it suits you, too. And no worries if making this is not in the cards at this time. The pattern, and these tutorials will be around for a long while. I’m still getting notes from quilters using my FPP circle patterns, and that first one was from a decade ago.
Okay, there’s another block for you in this New York Beauties Quilt (for Barbara). The pattern coupon from the last post has expired but getting twelve fascinating — but not complicated — blocks in one pattern that costs just a little more than a pastry and a beverage drink is a real deal. Grab yours here and come sew with me!
Yeah, I promised I’d do these blocks every two weeks, but it was a day I wasn’t weeping over Dad and stuff, and I could breathe and the sun was out and the white snow atop the mountain in the distance was so beautiful, and it was time to sew. It’s good to have days like this every once in a while. Plus I still had some awesome Valentine Candy for snacks (Trader Joe’s Xs and Os anyone?), so that must have been an omen to get out the fabric.
I skipped way ahead in the line-up and went for Aurora, the eleventh block in my New York Beauties quilt. Maybe I just wasn’t up to some fancy piecing, or I loved the blues, or what, but again, I used freezer-paper piecing and still liked it.
Rhonda wrote to say that the older freezer paper seems better than the newer stuff, and in her case, it can sometimes shrink slightly, so press it once down onto your ironing board, just to be safe. Carol wrote to say she was able to get five uses from her freezer paper: love to get comments giving me tips. I realize the last post was sort of intense, so this one will be lighter.
I use Painter’s Palette Solids from Paintbrush Studio (you can buy them here). Good goods. Full stop.
I’m starting to make a color card for this project, adding in the colors I use, in case you want to duplicate this. I am going the full color range for this quilt, but not full-strength. Some colors are muted (with gray added to them) and some colors are lightened (white added to them). The muted colors will keep this from looking less like a paintbox exploded (no laughing out there, yes I know it’s still pretty colorful). Here’s the card, so far. I will keep the card updated on online, where the pattern lives (not here).
To get your free download, go to the pattern, and click on the word Preview (in the pink circle). It’s also a way for you to get the color numbers of colors that work together.
This is where I started. My printer was having fits, so I cut the freezer paper slightly smaller than a page of card stock I had and taped it to the card to send it through. Then I arranged colors of my fabrics, trying out what I wanted to combine.
Then I folded the creases in from the front, then from the back (another tip from Rhonda).
I use two sizes of rotary cutters for those curves (little for the inside, larger for the lower curve).
Peel back the center papers to join the B1 piece to the B2 piece (same on all the blocks).
This has a narrow inner ring, unlike Block One, Wild Sunflower. You can sew the ring either to the rays or to the Inner Center Piece. I make marks in the center for this short distance, so there are three pinning points.
For the lower curve of the rays to the Outside Corner, I do three different marks, so there are five pinning points.
I’m getting ambidextrous, but I still prefer the pieced rays on top when I sew.
Home stretch.
And although this is a wonky photo, I did evenly trim them to 9 1/2.” Two are done in no time at all.
My chart for keeping track. They are all in their places, with colorful faces!
Reminder: the coupon is good until Leap Day, February 29th, if you want to make some, too.
PS: I carted home several journals and photo albums from the clean-out of my parents’ apartment, which made me realize that the little photo, above — a composite of my monthly markers on Instagram — is like a type of journal for 2023. Good memories!
This phrase intrigued me. It came from a podcast I listened to while out walking, so I’ve been thinking about what happens when we try to learn something new. Or lean away from “what we’ve always done.” Or have to hang out in the middle of a decision, not knowing the best way forward (the temptation is always to force it to a conclusion, apparently, limiting new possibilities). These ideas on uncertainty are from Maggie Jackson:
“Neuroscientists are beginning to unpack what happens in the brain at the uncertainty of the moment, when the realization that you don’t know that you’ve reached the limits of your knowledge instigate a number of neural changes. Your focus broadens and your brain becomes more receptive to new data and your working memory is bolstered. So this kind of rings a bell: you’re on your toes and that’s why uncertainty at that moment is a kind of wakefulness. In fact, Joseph Cable of the University of Pennsylvania said ‘that’s the moment when your brain is telling itself there’s something to be learned here.’ So by squandering that opportunity or retreating from that discomfort, we’re actually losing an opportunity to learn. Your old knowledge is no longer sufficient.” –Maggie Jackson on the podcast The Grey Area, with Sean Illing
So what does this have to do with quilting?
I recently finished up my pattern of the New York Beauties (more on that in a minute) and decided I wanted to make each block in the quilt in regular intervals, but many of those above are multiples of the same block. So I thought I’d test out using freezer paper, instead of my usual parchment paper, and see how I liked it. (Besides that, my regular 17 lb. parchment wasn’t being made anymore–only the 28 lb. Time for an update!)
And the verdict? I like it!
First, start with this: ChicWrap’s 18″ aluminum foil dispenser. It comes with foil, but I put that back in the kitchen, and slipped in my 18″ roll of freezer paper.
You don’t thread it through that slit, but instead, lift the lid, to set up the paper for cutting.
Pull it out so you have at least 11″ of length. Fold it in half (it will measure about 9″ in width), then take it to your cutting mat to trim it up to 8 1/2″ x 11.” Now you are ready to feed it through the printer. If you don’t have a printer that will allow you to feed it one sheet at a time, you can tape the freezer paper to a piece of heavier paper or cardstock (trim the freezer paper down to 8″ x 10 1/2″) and send that through.
I read about buying sheets of freezer paper already cut, but most of the commenters said it was no sturdier than the stuff we use from our rolls, so I just cut it from the roll, and went with it. After printing, I cut it out around the outlines of the piece I was using. You can experiment with this technique by downloading my free New York Beauties single pattern from PayHip:
Even though I’d already printed out all the regular parchment papers, my brain was saying “there’s something to be learned here.” So here we go:
After cutting out your shape from the printed freezer paper, fold on the first line, and press just this section (Ray 1) to your first piece of fabric (picture 1: muted lavender). Then lay that on top of your second color (picture 2: orange).
Later on, I figured that I should make a crease on all the lines of my section, but for now, I digitally outlined the rays in orange dashes to help you see the shapes.
Make sure there is enough of your second fabric underneath your first fabric. Pin, or clip. Head to the sewing machine, and sew next to that folded edge.
Now to the ironing board. Press, smoothing the fabric away from the seam. Iron only on the next section (Ray 2). Fold back along the line between rays 2 and 3.
At the cutting board, align your ruler for a scant quarter-inch seam, and cut off the excess. If you need to trim at the end of the piece, open up your paper, so you know you aren’t going to cut off something you’ll need later on. Use the edge of the paper as a guide, but rough-cut off the extra. (See picture 12, below.)
Fold back alone the line between sections 2 and 3, revealing the shape of the next ray (shown here in dashed orange lines). Place on your third fabric (picture 5: blue-green). Stitch along that folded edge. Iron Section 3 paper onto the blue-green fabric, smoothing out the fabric underneath.
Fold on the line between sections 3 & 4 (Ray 4 shown here in orange dashed lines). Place until on next fabric (picture 6: tomato red).
Close-up of stitching
Again, stitch along folded edge, shown in pictures 7 & 8. You can also see how I pin — just in that seam allowance. Did all my fabrics have a straight edge, making it easy for me to align (as in picture 6)? No, not always. If not, I would place, trim…and then pin and sew.
You know the drill now: press just that section (Ray 4), then trim at the cutting table, as shown in picture 11.
In picture 12, I show how I open up my paper, so I can cut off the excess at the base of the B1 section. Then I fold it back down and trim that scant quarter-inch at the crease of the paper (between Rays 4 and 5). In picture 13, I fold it back down, and lay it on the next fabric, using the shape of Ray 5 to check you have enough fabric. Those orange dashed lines are a visual guide: I do have enough. Stitch along the folded edge.
Yep–you know: press only the Ray 5 section of freezer paper onto your fabric. Back to the cutting mat to trim at a scant quarter-inch, then repeat with your final ray (picture 15: a happy orange for me). Press that freezer paper to your final ray. It should look sort of like the image in picture 16. Set aside, and start on B2.
Following the numbers, and using the same technique, stitch all the rays for B2. Trim carefully around the edges of both, neat and clean (picture 17). Peel back the papers for those edge-rays with wrong sides together and pin, aligning lower and upper edges of B1 and B2. Take to sewing machine. I found I had to peel back even a little more. Stitch, then carefully peel off the freezer paper. When you take it to your ironing board, press that last seam the same direction as all the rest (you’ll figure it out).
Charging right ahead, press a center mark in the A Outer Corner, the B1/B2 piece, and the C Center. Don’t press down through the whole piece — just the tip of your iron is all that’s needed. Pin the outer edges of the A Outer Corner and the center marks, and head to the sewing machine.
In picture 22, I sewed the A Outer Corner to my rays, PUTTING THE LARGER OUTER CORNER TO THE BOTTOM. This is different than you usually see. Please take it slowly, no rushing, keep aligning as you go from pin to pin to pin (there are only three).
In picture 23, after putting in my three pins, I sewed the C Center to the rays, WITH THE RAYS TO THE FEED DOGS. Again, take it slowly, and keeping aligning the fabric. You can pull it toward you a little as you stitch, because those curves are bias. By elongating them (by stretching them out), it may help them to line up a little easier. But not a big pull, not a big tug. Little adjustments. You are the tug boat, getting that steamship into port — little by little. (Okay, enough bad metaphors.)
Press. Usually you are pressing away from the rays.
Now to trim up. I gave you extra on the A Outer Corner so if your block went askew, it wouldn’t be a tragedy (just another way I show my love to you in my patterns — I make the mistakes so you won’t have to). Align the corner of your ruler so the 1/4″ line is right at the Outer Corner fold, as show in picture 24.
Then check the opposite corner, lining that 9 1/4″ mark at the folded edge. It’s not rocket science, meaning that it most likely won’t be exact. Get as close as you can. Trim, then turn the block, lining up the 9 1/2″ line with the trimmed edge, and slice off whatever is left (not much on this side).
Done! Wild Sunflower block is complete. Now, if you are going for the full quilt, the pattern says to make a total of three. So will the freezer paper keep sticking?
Ray Two is finished, and I’m plowing again into Ray Three, and yep — it’s still sticking. For one of the blocks you make it five times. I’ll be interested to see how that goes. And overall, I felt like using this method is faster, always a plus.
Just like I used a weekly goal to help pull me out of my sewing slump last summer, I’ll be using these New York Beauties to get me going for this year. If you want to follow along, I have a coupon for you to use, if you want to purchase the pattern. (I’ll probably do this every two weeks, so don’t panic.)
Just head to my quilt pattern shop, and when you check out, type in this code (note the three capital letters at the beginning). You’ll get 20% off the pattern. It expires on Leap Day! (February 29)
All of this can be found on the Master New York Beauties page, on the tab above. When the coupon expires, I’ll take it down, but a listing of the blog posts will be linked there, if you want to refer to them.
What we ate for the Super Bowl (no, we did not watch it): Homemade Focaccia
Just before kick-off, Camryn and Landon (he, of Focaccia fame) stopped by to visit, then took off again to their Super Bowl party. Later that night, we blanked out by watching the movie Dune on Netflix, understanding about 60% of it. If you’ve seen it, what was your percentage?
Sometimes the title for these posts can nudge toward the trivial, but the first thing I want to talk about was anything but trivial.
My family.
Our four children do not live near us, for some, the far-away is very-far-away, and for others, it’s a bit closer. My husband proposed taking me out to dinner for my milestone birthday, but to “prepare for photos.” And “maybe don’t wear your sneakers.” We went to our local Fancy Dining Place, The Mission Inn, which was still decked out in holiday lights. When I rounded the corner to our table, the kids were all sitting there. Oh, My! I was quite touched that they would come to celebrate with me, and they spent the next day with us, too. Quite the loveliest of birthday surprises. By Sunday, they had all gone home, and the house was very quiet.
When an opening became available, I rejoined the Gridster Bee. It was one I’d started several years ago, but I’d bowed out last year. Patti, ever capable, took over and has been a steady hand in keeping it going, as many bees dissolve after a short time. We had our kick-off Zoom call at the beginning of the month (one positive from the 2020 pandemic is this technology):
I loved seeing Carol’s Christmas quilt, one done in an earlier iteration of this Bee.
I finished this. It’s a free pattern, here on the website (keep reading). I’d started writing it ages ago, but who knows where time flies? Inside is the color key for both this 2023 (softer) version of Painter’s Palette fabrics, as well as the (bolder) version used in 2019:
I haven’t yet finished the 2023 quilt; for one, I’m still embroidering the temperature range numbers onto the Circle of Geese block that I’ve used for a key.
And about this geese pattern. It was originally made by Kelly Liddle of JelliQuilts. If I could find her again, I’d link to it. She seems to have vanished without a trace, and it’s a pretty good pattern for this sort of thing. I’ve even written to the last email I have from her, when I paid for and downloaded the pattern: Zip. Nada.
Which brings me to the podcast I listened to this past week, where Ezra Klein and his guest, Kyle Chayka, talk about how the internet isn’t fun anymore. Boring, too. And part of it is what Chayka calls the SEO-ification of the algorithm. Everything resembles everything else, as we use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to get a wider reach. While this can have benefits, Chayka and Klein argue that we seem to be homogenizing our world, as every website looks like another as the robots send you to whatever you’ve liked before, and assume you will like again.
I’m fine with that, especially when I do a search on Temperature Quilts on Instagram. But I’m also not fine with it as it seems to have flattened out what we see. Like hashtags used to be an interesting way to get a range of images, from temperature quilts that began as crocheted blankets to the most recent version of houses, leaves, and birds. Now we just get the “TOP” images. Are they the top “eye-ball-getting” images? The most colorful? The most interesting? And how will we ever know what the robots, aka: algorithm, have come to choose what they are showing us.
Chayka says he misses the curated web, where various people wrote random things, like a writer went flying through a rainbow and put the colors up on a blog. A blog!?! Who writes those anymore? Well, I do. Maybe that is why I also write about quilting, but also more-than-quilting, trying to avoid being boring, and maybe to avoid having to clean up my sewing room:
(from 2020, but it still looks the same)
One more thing: this week is Road to California, a local, national quilt show. I’m signed up for two classes: one from Lori Kennedy (FMQ on Monday) and one from Annie Smith (Design Your Own Appliqué on Thursday). I’ll also go one more day, Saturday, so I can stay to get my quilt that is hanging in the show: Aerial Beacon.
I would take a closer photo of this, but it will have to wait until next week, when I get some pictures of it hanging in the show. If you are headed there, find me and say hi!
Here’s the Temperature Pattern download. It will stay here on my website for a bit, then move over to my Pattern Shop on PayHip. Enjoy!
OccasionalPiece--Quilt! 