"Slim Pickin's" - from that box of scraps

These blocks were started about 2 months ago, and are from Bonnie Hunter's latest book, she calls hers "Daybreak".  They went fast, and yes, I pulled much of the fabric from that never-ending gift box of scraps I keep mentioning.  This is 1 project of 6 from that gift box.  (3 others in process)  

Yesterday I spent hours struggling with "the perfect" border, rummaging thru books, Youtube and my brain, all to no avail.  In the end, best solution was, "Keep it simple Stupid"!  The supply of scraps was nearly totally picked over so that's why I named this quilt "Slim Pickin's".  Off to the LQS to match some of the border fabrics!    These border squares are 1 inch finished and I strip pieced them with 4 strips at a time, sometimes piecing the strips to get the needed lengths.  Important - press to the dark on each strata and they go together fast.  

The blocks are set 6 x 7 , and are 9 in. finished.  Here it's folded up on itself - too large for my Design Floor!

"Hidden Wells" Technique in Borders

Mary Ellen Hopkins seems to be one of the originators of this clever design - many of us remember her quirky style.  I remembered her cleverness, but not her instructions.  Her book on Hidden Wells is seldom seen now but there are many others on the Internet displaying this technique but I could not find what I needed for a small border.  With determination and excitement, and a LOT of leftover strips, I jumped in and was practically in a frenzy (just ask DH!) trying to calculate what was required.  By the time I finished, being totally mentally exhausted, and after a LOT of remeasuring, I DID remember "starch", "staystitching" and "trim to correct size."  Voila! - a decent and interesting border, using much of my leftovers.  The border changed direction to repeat what was happening in the quilt. 

The border is not yet sewn to the quilt, but the light dotted strip is now providing stability - live and learn.   I think I like it.  3 more sides to go.

Dogteeth Border

I LOVE making borders - even if the border overwhelms the center, I LIKE when viewers look at the border and make comments, "Look what she did!" - whether it be positive or negative, that's the reaction I'm hoping for.  My quilty friend's husband has frequently commented on my borders, so now, I have to carry on!  Here's my plan for recent Kaleidoscope Quilt (laying on beigey carpeting).

These dogteeth are not as difficult as I had imagined, but require accuracy with cutting and sewing - there is little room for easing.  Another border option was a quarter square,  but I chose dogteeth, ---  even that name, "dogteeth", adds to the fun, and repeats the shape in the kaleidoscope blocks!

 

Award, & Pineapple Quilt is DONE

First, I have been given an award from Elsie Montgomery at http://www.elsiequilts.blogspot.com/. Thank you Elsie, along with your kind words. Don't we all just have the best time, playing and coloring and cutting? I think we may all have become 'stuck' in Kindergarten (which I never got to attend!), only now we have grown up girly toys! Now, the rules say I must pick 3 of you to give it back .. oh my, I must give a few days thought to that ... you ALL have given ME so much in the way of ideas, support, inspiration entertainment and more! I'm thinking I know who it will be, but ... wait a few days.
For the longest time I've had nothing to say -- at the moment, my mind is bursting! (When it rains it pours!)

Here is my final decision for the corner treatment on this Pineapple Quilt. (edge is straight, photo is crooked!)

And here's the whole, DONE, and a closeup of some of the quilting.

Two thousand three hundred fifty-seven (2357) to the best of my counting ability! Including the backing and scrappy binding. It finishes at about 62 x 74.

I definitely wanted the center to blend into the border. Those boxes are actually HSTs, inserted into the border between the quilt center and the border strips. They were faced with fusible interfacing, and then pressed and appliqued down. That was easier than cutting all those separate parts, but still was time consuming. This is the second time I've used that technique - easy peasy! That particular box of strips is empty. And for those of you who get 'stuck' on matchy-matchy, I used all lights and all darks in this quilt, no mediums, and I was NOt PARTICULAR in my choices. And the pieces that I thought would not 'do', were the pieces that gave it life -- a bright blue, and some light yellow! The blocks are about 6 inches finished. I also did a scrappy binding.

Paper piecing is the way to go with small logs. My machine has knee lift and auto-thread-cutter, both amazingly efficient tools for this project. I just pressed the button to cut, and start again, with no thread snarls. Sweeeeet!

Bargello Borders

I am so proud of myself -- in preparation for expected guests (who unfortunately could not come), I cleaned out a corner and resurrected this UFO(and a few others also). The corner is dusted and this project is back on "go".

Even though I knew how to do this technique, it was still enjoyable to take the class with my quilt-y sisters! A guild member, Judy Woodworth, gave the class. Judy is a quilt artist, and a long-arm professional machine quilter, and we're all happy when she's able to lead a class. DO look at her web page. She often teams up with another member, Mary Sue Suit, another guild member, artist and author of several quilt books. (I am name dropping today!)

The floral was my focus fabric, but as is often the case, after the quilt is together, my focus fabric is no longer appropriate. While the colors are right, it appears kinda light and air-y, while the quilt itself is bold and strong. So back to the quilt shop, where I decided to insert a narrow (1 inch) peachy strip, then that pale creamy polka dot with floral applique added? (seen on the bottom of the photo), and now, looking at my own photo, more possibilities are coming to mind. Dang it, these numerous artistic options require more work!!! Now, I'm thinking of rummaging for my scraps from the center and making a pieced border after the peach/creamy polka dot border. Maybe I'll use the floral for the back.

Suggestions from the peanut gallery would be just fine!

Turned out just fine!

Well, finally, all the corners are done, matched well, and mitered properly! Whew! I knew what I was doing all along, sort of. The diagonal borders met the inside border very well - I had to unsew enough seams to make up for about 1/2 inch. A small matter indeed. The dimensions are about 62 x 78 in. The outer border was added because my outer triangles are cut with bias on the outside. I know better but when you are strip piecing, that was the easiest to think about.

I LOVE it, and so does my DH! I was up and wide awake at 4:00 am Sunday, eager to start the hand quilting.

Funny thing - Taniwa has been working on her When-oh-When handquilted project for a long time. Months ago, she put on a border that I even remembered commenting about - it was so fresh and clever. She just recently finished the quilt and posted her lovely finished quilt and coincidentally, my border just made in the last 2-3 weeks is just like hers which she started a while ago. I'd like to say "Great Minds Think Alike." I don't think I gave it a thought when I made mine but that clever design must have implanted itself in my feeble brain. Or, it may be that we've both hit upon a generic beautiful design. Thanks Tanya! Love that Eye Candy and all the inspiration from ALL you quilters!

A great book - and talking a lot

A few of you have asked questions about how to do this border. First, remember that this border is on the diagonal - handle with care. I will stabilize the inner part along a straight-of-grain border and stabilize the outer edge with stay stitching. And note that matching the corners will be a teensy bit fiddly! No mitered corners, darn it!

I used 5 strips of WOF at 1.91 inches, sewed them together and then cut the strata in half. This makes them easier to handle. Half are pressed up, the other half pressed down, to help butt them neatly.

Then I cut them in 1.91 inch strips. If you lay them together, face to face, and off set them one step down (or up) they will already be together for sewing. One strata of WOF gave me about 40 inches of border.

Now, you are probably thinking this is taking a LOT of time -- NOT. I cut my 5 strips of each color, sewed all of them together, and recut one strata into 1.91 inch strips, sewed them together, and had 40 inches of border, in about 2 hours. Also, this is NOT difficult, nor tedious. Just cut carefully and each square fits neatly. I am a casual sewist - NOT a perfectionist, and this is EASY and accurate sewing.

This particular book is really EXCELLENT for border ideas - you can't read it all at one sitting, and Judy Martin and Marsha McCloskey are detailed technicians. The border illustrations go on for many pages, and include squares, rectangles, triangles, flying geese, etc. Your head will be spinning with new ideas. My favorite part are the illustrations, showing how the blocks travel gracefully around corners.

Below is just ONE page and you can see the plethora of just squares. I heartily recommend this book. And, even though she gives templates, there are also cutting instructions for strips. Reading through it all is an accomplishment in itself! The complexities for the triangles and dog-teeth are amazing! You can find something easy or difficult.

Now, on the subject of squares for borders -- A long time ago, when just starting my blog, I included this border idea. Note that these squares are NOT on the diagonal, although the design is. Sometimes the simplest of ideas can bring amazing results!

And just LOOK what you can do with squares for a border! I made this border after learning how to do Bonnie's scrappy bargello! My, my, ideas flow, don't they?