millefiore – OccasionalPiece

Millefiore mood board

It all began here, with my Millefiore mood board, drawing on colors from the National Park in Croatia, Plitvice Lakes. I had decided to jump in and go with all of Quilting America that year and join the The New Hexagon Millefiore Quiltalong. I was pretty much nuts to do this. This was photographed on January 19, 2015.

Millefiore first sewing

First glued-up paper pieces: January 19, 2015.

First Rosette.png

First public appearance for Rosette #1: March 14, 2015.

All Rosettes_OPQuilt

Last public appearance for quilt, mocked up in Photoshop: July 15, 2018. That’s over three years, if you are doing the math.

As you know, I hated the crenellated edges on this particular quilt. So the quilt sat in the corner until this week. Then suddenly it was do or die time, and I picked up making little sections to fit into the cut-outs.

Millefiore Center_2

And here it is today, all edges filled in.

Millefiore Working Mess

I pretty much used all the papers I’d taken out of the rosettes — once they were sewn together — and categorized these pieces into bags, using paper clips and rubber bands to keep them organized.

Millefiore numbering cutouts

To keep track, I took a photo, and numbered the half–hexies I was making. I ended up not needing to do this for every corner, as I used long triangles that fit into the zig-zaggy sides (#5-12) in a variety of darker fabrics (taking cues from the adjacent blocks).

Millefiore place tryout

I kept one half-hexie out on my cutting mat and tried different “puzzles” of what could go in that shape. I had pretty much determined that I was not going to use a full half-hexie; I’d seen others and to me they looked bland, like they didn’t add anything to the quilt. I did end up using one, but the fabric had a print that just worked.

Millefiore pinning

I used triangles and a variety of other shapes to fill in, always letting the adjacent fabrics dictate what I’d use for the fill-in fabrics.

Because I like to keep records, and because I’m hoping this will help others when they try this technique, here are all the filled-in shapes and the marked spaces (scroll past fast, if it doesn’t interest you):

Millefiore Fillins_1 Millefiore Fillins_1A

I did my own thing on this rosette.

Millefiore Fillins_3 Millefiore Fillins_3A

I liked how I was able to complete the “bird points.”

Millefiore Fillins_5 Millefiore Fillins_5A Millefiore Fillins_6 Millefiore Fillins_6A

The half-hexie on the lower left is the only one cut from one piece of fabric, but I think it reads as more complex.

Millefiore Fillins_7 Millefiore Fillins_7A Millefiore Fillins_8 Millefiore Fillins_8A

I used a floral Kaffe fabric from deep in the interior (just barely out of sight on the middle left).

Millefiore Fillins_9 Millefiore Fillins_9A

Millefiore Center_3 — *Stained Glass View*

Millefiore Center_4

This is the rosette that started it all, and I still like it.

Quilt Stand

More info on my new quilt stand, coming in a couple of weeks. But now I have my final Frivols to attend to!

This very cute quilt arrived yesterday from Jana, my (secret) Simply Mini Quilt Swap partner. Boy, was I bowled over–I love it! I had to take it outside to my back fence photo studio today to get a good shot of it and I love the pinwheels and the colors and that perfect binding. Thank you so much, Jana!

This too-light, too-washed-out, picture doesn’t do the blocks from the Traveling Threads Bee justice. They are a collection for Marci, who is making a sampler quilt. As always, I tried to look at the quilt to see what it needs, not like I’m some quilt-whisperer or something, but just every once in a while, it can just pop into your mind.

And since she specified she wanted a sampler quilt, I decided it needed some curves, as in a basket block and a Dresden plate block. I cleared the Dresden with her, and just threw in the basket with that curvy handle. I set it on some of Marci’s favorite fabric: the clothespins. I think I only have one more to go until I’ve finished making for my bee-mates. The regular delivery of these treasures seems to have bunched up somewhere; hopefully it will arrive before Christmas!Some more sewing. . .I had fun sewing on the various badges and rank achievements for four Scouts: my eldest son and his three boys. It was like deja vu to an earlier time.
I clipped this out of the New York Times style magazine this past Sunday, as I loved all the texture shown, both in architecture/design and in fashion. We who are doing the Millefiore quilts are right on trend! Which reminds me that I need to get back to that. . .

. . . right after I finish up my Four-in-Art quilt, which is posting this coming Sunday, November 1st. This is the last post of our literature theme, and I look forward to seeing all the creations of those in my group.

I did finish up my Quilt Abecedary project: a way to teach myself how to make quilt letters, in preparation for the 2016 Spelling Bee, a group who will make quilty words for each other. I hope I’ll improve in my lowercase k skills in the future. That one was tricky.

We think we are finally turning the corner on summer and finding our way to fall, which means get our fall garden planted: spinach, cabbage, lettuce (2 kinds), a Glacier tomato plant (trying it for the first time), oregano, chard, cauliflower and broccoli. Some of these are new to me; we’ll see what survives.

Another sign of fall is the scheduling of my Fall Frolic trip to Orange County with my former colleague/now friend, Judy. We hit the usual: Roger’s Gardens, ‘lette Macaron Shop, Wafu’s Sushi, South Coast Plaza, Din Tai Fung Dumpling House, Crystal Court, and IKEA. This year we found something new and whimsical: a pocket park of sculpture next to the Newport Beach Civic Center and Fashion Island Mall, from where these bunnies — almost waist-high — were photographed. They’ve been nicknamed Bunnyhenge by the locals. I loved them.

Lastly, I have actually filled in some plans on my calendaring book. This is revolutionary. I often would rather write down what I did, then cross it off, than make plans that will never be achieved. You can call me a goal-setting wimp.