Christmas Chandelier
60" x 60"
307 pieces

​Pattern from the book Charm School by Vanessa Goertzen

I began in March 2017, and now twenty months later...
​it feels amazing to have three scrappy style Ocean Waves quilts completed. These may be the quilts on which I have spent the most time ever cutting, sewing, and squaring up half square triangle blocks. 
 I used greens, blues, and neutral low volume fabrics...some from my scrap box, some from precut fat quarters, and some from a few small pieces of yardage purchased at quilt shops along the way.

I chose this pattern to make three quilts for three reasons.

1. It may be my favorite traditional pattern. (Or at least tied with Irish Chain.)
2. I did not need a pattern. I could look at a picture to see how it was constructed, and I could imagine how the simplicity of half square triangle blocks made of green, blue, and low volume printed scraps could transform  traditional into more contemporary.
3. I have three grandsons that needed quilts. (Okay, they may already have a few.)

As usual after a quilt finish, it was time for photos.

This time I also researched the history behind the design.

​Early American New England coastal living inspired the original Ocean Waves quilt pattern. Through the years the pattern gained in popularity.  Many midwestern quilters made Ocean Waves quilts, pioneers took them along on their westward journeys, and the pattern eventually reached the Pacific coast.
​If you search for images of Ocean Waves quilts, you will find a gazillion  variations, colors, and sizes.
​
It seems to be an authentic American traditional quilt pattern.

Each of these quilts has a different color for the back, and I used the leftover backing fabric to make the bindings. 

My grandsons sleep, cuddle, stay warm, make houses, drag around, camp with, and play on the quilts I have already given them.
​(What more could a Nana want?)
For Christmas they will each receive one more. 

Such. Limited. Sewing. Time.
Seriously. With grandsons in town and traveling...

At least I have had some time to shop.
And in the state of Washington!

​I first visited Quilted Strait in Port Gamble.

I purchased Oh, Scrap! by Lissa Alexander...most likely for this quilt...
Indian Blanket.

Next I visited Dry Goods Design in Seattle.

Often my process of piecing a quilt top follows the same pattern.
​Love it.
Hate it.
Love it.

Isn't this a great quilt?

Love it.

I looked at the fabric requirements and matched them with the possibilities already existing in my fabric boxes.
Layer cake? Check. Background fabric? Almost enough.

Does almost enough stop me? NO.

If I switch the layer cake requirement to the background, I can cut color scraps to make almost enough substitution layer cake blocks.
​
Does closer-to-being-enough stop me? NO.

I started sewing, cutting, and trimming half square triangles.
I drew up a sort-of maybe plan.
Notice the edges and corners are not complete. That is where I'll need to get even more creative and find more scraps. I can do this.

The grid is 19 by 23 squares. Only 12 by 17 fit on my design wall (bed).

Hate it. 

Along the way my long suffering sister puts up with some ridiculous pictures and texts.
​
Why did I start this?
These colors are so bizarre.
This confuses me.
It's ruined.

Do I love it?
​
I love the fabric combinations and how they play with each other.
I love the motif.
​
Do I love the quilt?

I almost hate to admit it, but yes.

And perhaps when it's quilted it will be a picnic blanket with bread, cheese, and wine...or a quilt to snuggle under on a snowy evening with a glass of wine...you get the idea.

Arabesque
86"  x 71"

I am over the moon with a new idea, a new book, and new fabric.
​My idea for this quilt is mostly white. None of the blocks in the book include white. I plan to make only some of the blocks, maybe some of them twice. I plan to make them in random order.
Here is a sampling of what is in my head.

June.
The month my son, his wife, and my three grandsons moved 1,424 miles to live 1.9 miles from my house. 
In spite of that sweet distraction, I have been sewing.
A little.

As I walked this week at Oxbow Park I noticed tiger lilies blooming.
Orange.
Orange reminded me of the two quilt tops I completed this month that I had not blogged about.
So I traveled back to the park and took quick mediocre pictures of them.
​Wrinkles and all.

This is Home Again inspired by Vanessa Goertzen of Lella Boutique.
​Quilting will help immensely I hope. And it is not nearly as washed out as this picture makes it seem.

This is Contrasting by one of my favorite designers Brigette Heitland of Zen Chic. (I just may be one of her biggest fans.)

Again, quilting will help.
​And better photography too of course.

This is some of the fabric I am using for an online quilt along called Blockheads 2. Every Wednesday a free quilt block pattern is posted on the Moda Fabrics website.  I may or may not make every block, yet I have made two of every one posted since it began four weeks ago.
For one set of blocks I am using black, white, and gray fabrics;
the other set will be oranges, corals, yellows, and pinks.
I am not the biggest fan of sampler quilts, (which this exactly is!),
​but I am going to make an effort.
I can imagine two very distinctly different quilts, not only in color but in block setting and size as well.

Incidentally, the pineapple block you see is not part of Blockheads.
One "oh-I-have-an-inspiration-from-a-picture-I-just-saw" day,
it just happened. 

One more quilty thing happened this month.
My sister donated the quilting and finished the binding on French Quarter Christmas, a quilt I finished oh, about three years ago, or so.
This one will eventually be donated, where and when to be determined.
​It turned out great!!

From a distance this looks like a classic red and white quilt.
​It's not.

There are also ivory, cream, ecru, and gray.
And if you look very closely, you will see a smidgeon of blue.

On The Plus Side
pattern by Minick and Simpson
84" x 84"
approximately 3,219 pieces

Not long after I began putting blocks together I realized it would not be in the top ten of my favorite quilts.
​I grumped and complained to my sister all the way to the end.

Thank goodness I love the border. Whew!


Someday I will make a real classic red and white quilt.
There will not be plus signs.
​Enough of those already.

Line Dried is headed to the Michiana Mennonite Relief Sale Quilt Auction. It will be sold on September 22, 2018.
​
Teal and aqua prints and stripes combined with solid white and black and white stripes update this traditional Ohio Star quilt.
I added additional borders for a 84" x 88" finish.

The donated machine quilting by Three Sisters Quilting complete this quilt perfectly. I couldn't be happier with how it looks, and I'm glad for the donation opportunity.

It could be yours!

Each of my four sisters seem to have an appreciation for my quilts.
​However, one of the sisters I would say is the quiltiest because she makes as many quilts as I do.

I remember purchasing this pattern called Desert Rose by  Kate Spain at Glacier Quilts in Kalispell, Montana on a road trip to Seattle.

Isn't it ironic that I bought a quilt with desert in its title in the foothills of Glacier National Park?

At the time I had no idea what fabric I would use or where it might eventually end up.

​Well, take a look!
​Here is the finished quilt!

My quiltiest sister had this one machine pieced and used it to redecorate her guest bedroom.

​It looks amazing!

​Now I want to be a guest!

A few years ago I pieced Vanilla Cakes, a pattern  by Fig Tree.
​Strawberry Cakes and Orange Cakes would be more accurate I think.

I gave this quilt top to Three Sisters Quilting. They generously donated their machine quilting.
​Now that it is finished, it will be donated to a charity auction for a birthing center.
​Doesn't this seem like a perfect quilt for a baby girl?

Strawberries and Oranges
​73" x 87"

The more birthdays a woman has, the more fun she has celebrating.

We reserved tickets.
​We read the summary and the lyrics of the music.
​We packed the quilts.
​We donned our winter coats and gloves.
​We arrived in Chicago prepared.

We were greeted by a temperature of 34 degrees with wind at 19 mph;
​it felt like 24 degrees on this spring day in the city.
​These conditions did not deter my generous and steadfast husband.

"Wait a bit," he said.

Photography?
Success.
Hamilton?
Amazing!
Final birthday celebration for dinner?
​Comfort food at the Berghoff.

City Tiles
60" x 72"
1590 pieces

There are 10,963 explanations why I have no finished quilts yet in the year 2018.
​10,963 is the total number of pieces cut for the six quilts that I am currently making.

​Some quilters work on only one quilt at a time.
​That's not me.

This post reviews the progress of each of the six.

​Line Dried (2225 pieces) is a completed top and has been delivered it to Tammy at Three Sisters Quilting.
​This may be the first finish, unless I finish City Tiles (1590 pieces) before Tammy calls and says Line Dried​ is completed. All City Tiles needs is to have the rows sewn together.  I plan to quilt it myself.

Last March I began piecing two Irish Chain quilts out of my blues, greens, and neutrals stash, thinking that they would be for my two grandsons. Since that time I learned that there will be another grandson. And there is now! So this project has grown into three Irish Chain quilts. I have finished the 144 blocks needed for these three quilts. They are waiting to be sewn together into rows.

The last of the six quilts in progress is On the Plus Side ​(3620 pieces). Those 3620 pieces have been reduced to 2632.
​Hmmm...a ways to go on this one.

Obviously I  need to take a break from all those numbers.
What is the best way for a quilter to take a break?
​Start another project of course.
​Fortunately this bunny pillow (seven pieces) materialized quickly.

Emily Dennis is a Michigan quilt designer who created this City Tiles pattern. I wanted to make a quilt by a Michigan artist (so close to home), I liked the title of the pattern, and I knew in my head what I could do with the block design.
​So this is another quilt in progress.

Each block contains 53 pieces.
​Those 53 pieces are more easily seen from the back of the block.

The fabric is  collection of ten different blues. Five of the blues are from the True Blue collection by Zen Chic.
I chain pieced to make the sewing go faster...

and gradually the pile of blocks grew.

I am currently in the process of sewing thirty blocks and rows together. This quilt will measure 60" x 72."

This pattern called Line Dried by Coriander Quilts nestled in my brain the first time I saw it.
Maybe it was the Ohio Star blocks.
Maybe it was the name.
​Maybe it was the stripes.
More than likely it was the combination of all three.
​It didn't take long before stars, lines, and stripes organized themselves in my brain. 

The actual quilt did not materialize as quickly, but eventually 2,225 pieces successfully became one.​

I assembled zebra stripes for the binding.

This quilt top will be machine quilted at Three Sisters Quilting, and likely
​auctioned at the Michiana Mennonite Relief Sale this September.

I have laundry on my mind as I continue to sew blocks for Line Dried,
​a pattern by Coriander Quilts.

My laundry-clothesline quilt features lots of lines.
Using striped fabric may or may not have been the best decision.
​I love the look, but the stripes ensured that I maintained my close relationship with Ripley, my seam ripper.
​Ripley continued her workout for 43 of these wee Ohio Star blocks.

​During a needed break from Ripley, I found this poem online.

I do have a clothesline.
Yet because our recent January temperatures and snow are not conducive to any real line drying,
​I'll continue working on my Line Dried quilt.