Back to Backing II

 Here is the final choice for the backing for the darting fish quilt. And luckily, my "it is what it is" version of myself showed up and decided that the color shift between the border and the quilt top didn't matter. 

And I searched my blog to see that I had decided that I wouldn't make any more of these fish. A blog can be very handy for checking back and seeing what some random past version of yourself decided to do. Because I was still in "it is what it is" mode,  I added a simple border and called it done.

And because these fish are so mellow, I figured that they could handle a back of screaming seagulls.

Finally, I should admit that I now have three cats although I am desperately trying to get rid of one of them.

The three cats are : Molly, Buddy and Buddy's Annex. As you can see, Buddy and Buddy's Annex are inseparable. Buddy figured out how to get up on Molly's dining table and doubled down on his policy of diverting her food to Buddy's Annex. Oddly enough, we have now developed a routine where I give him an adoring rubdown while she eats. He knows that if I'm there, he doesn't get to eat her food, so he now plops down in front of her table for his spa treatment.

Apologies to the Spool Quilt

 I made a backing for the darting fish quilt yesterday. It has been hanging on the design wall for a long time waiting for its backing. To get to it, I had to take the spool quilt off the display stand. I may have have said some strong words due to the combination of a light display stand and a heavy quilt. Buddy told me its inappropriate to weight-shame quilts, so I weighed it and discovered it only weighs 8 pounds. Apparently, I'm a weakling.

Here's the backing I made for the quilt. Who doesn't love swimming rats and girls named Alice in distress. What I don't love is the green hue next to the blue.  What was I thinking?

Then I noticed the color shift between the quilt top and the border? Had the quilt top faded before I put on the border...or is the outer border from a different dye lot? Do I need a different border.

Next, I got out the fat fish quilt top hoping it might be a better match for the Tula and Alice quilt back. But it looks like its missing half of the quilt. It's so tiny. Did I run out of backing fabric or is their another half of the quilt somewhere.

Clearly, I am living too much in the past. Finishing quilts is over-rated and I am inclined to go back to less stressful activities like starting new quilts.

Back to Clark County Quilt Show

This quilt was made by Christy Hoffman and she named it Kaffe and Tula Meet Escher Cubed. I thought it was a traditional pattern but it is described as a pattern from Krista Moser using a 60 degree ruler. This quilt called to me first thing when I entered the hall. It also won a viewer's choice award. One of these days I'm going to make an unabashedly Kaffe quilt (not counting the Seed Packet quilt on my to do list). (No, I don't really have a to do list. Only random brain surges).

This cat quilt was made by Su Holmes from blocks she received for being the guild President for 2017-2018. This was part of an exhibit showing past Presidents' quilts made from blocks made by members.

I was totally drawn to this quilt and it took me a ridiculously long time to recognize it as based on a Sarah Fielke pattern I recently purchased. I'm especially blown away by the very subtle striping used in the center background. This quilt (called Growing Wild, Gone Wildly Red & White) was made by Cheryl Little and was part of a guest exhibit.

This is Sarah Fielke's version of the quilt which she presented as a Block of the Month. This is also on my to-do list for the time in my life when I fall in love with sewing appliqué.

And this Sarah Fielke's book featuring the quilt Growing Wild. And yes, I really liked this for using the striped background for the appliqué.

Back to Spooling Around

Here is a quilt that was not in the Clark County Quilt Show. If it had been, the description would have noted that this is a charm quilt and each spool is made from a different fabric. Seeing it finished and hanging gives a strong sense of a spirit who has lost her way...and a bit of wondering what it would look like if the spool backgrounds were white instead of cream...

For Molly, the quilt fills her with existential dread because she is too old to climb it and knock it down. Molly has renamed the quilt "Kittens Neglected."

And here is Buddy with both play mode and eating mode turned off.

Back to Backing

 After so much manic machine quilting last month, I thought maybe I should try having some machine quilting on tap that I do a bit every day or something boring like that. I pulled out a couple of quilts that  I considered too large for my purposes. I have gotten lazier and prefer to back with a wide backing when the quilts get larger. 

The spiral log cabin is a bit on the smaller side...something like 60 in by 72 in.

I started with the orange butterfly print and then pulled fabric that seemed to go together...but this conglomeration definitely does not go with the spiral quilt.

Then I remembered the butterfly quilt...also on the smaller side, so this will be my next machine quilting project.

And here is a completely different conception of machine quilting from the Clark County quilt show. This quilt is called Laurel Leaf and was made by Cathy Erickson.

Here is the quilt description.

And here is a closeup of the quilting.

Back to Boring

 I've moved beyond basting shapes and have begun sewing the TulaNova pieces together. It took a while for my fingers to figure out what they should be doing, but I have now advanced from exasperated to "okay, I can do this."

I began sewing components together because the pieces became smaller and harder to keep track of. And yes, the instructions do suggest sewing all the components first. However, I am making my decisions as I build the quilt outward and this is as far as my commitment takes me.

I did make it to the last day of the Clark County Quilt show and was greeted by this La Passacaglia by Marla Monson (who won first place for large quilts and another viewer's choice ribbon). I hope to make one of these someday, although I definitely have a better idea of what this entails. So maybe I should aim to have a La Passacaglia project box instead of a finished quilt.

And this month I remembered to take a picture of the giveaway fabric before I packed it up and sent it away. Well, almost. I had to unpack it a bit first. But this month was "Buddy's random pick"...and of course, Buddy had nothing to do with it because he was off being Buddy...a full time job. And this was only slightly random. I reached into each bin (scrap and quarter/half cuts) and pulled out a fabric sight unseen.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

 And the winner of the chicken dinner is Buddy.

The winner of the April fabric giveaway is: Amy Kollasch, who wrote

Random is my choice this month. Buddy can choose for me 🥰 

Not that I ever overthink anything, but this could mean picking a category at random. Or giving Buddy a pile of fabric and picking the fabrics he puts gashes in. Or picking a random fabric from each of my various bins (scrap and hunks). Or randomly picking one of the three choosing strategies.

Here are the two quilts ready for intake to the Clark County quilt show after "April 1 me" rushed through a sewing marathon to finish sleeves and labels and remove cat hair. Unfortunately, "April 2 me" had to make a rare call to "Executive Function me." Apparently "March me" had just wrapped up physical therapy for a back energy and "April 1 me" foolishly undid the mobility gains leaving me unable to drive, or for that matter willingly move.

If I had a PR department, they would dispense with the time labels and distinguish between a Careful me and a Carefree me. Without that PR department, we will go with Molly's designation of Boring and Stupid. Given Stupid was responsible for the back injury in the first place, Boring is in charge again. And yes, while the quilts didn't make it to the show, I am moving and able to drive. Oh...and able to fondle fabric.

April Fabric Giveaway

The binding had a bit of a surprise for me: miter tricks. In the top layer shown above, you can see how the check pattern took advantage of the miter. This bit of luck brightened my mood while facing the mounds of sewing "March me" left for "April me" to finish. And I wondered, what did "March me" do all last month. I went to find out from her blog posts and there were only six of them! What's up with that? And yes, she also left an overgrown lawn for me to mow.

In any case, let's have the monthly fabric giveaway. To participate in the giveaway, just leave a comment (and email address if you are a no-reply blogger) telling me what fabric you would like. Buddy suggests blue or black depending on whether or not you will get to see the solar eclipse. Or pick a theme or request a rainbow.

On April 4, at 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time, Molly will be causing her usual ruckus and will also use some kind of nonsense to pick the winner randomly. I will notify the winner by email the next day. I will also ask for your address and get more clarification about your fabric preferences.

Unfortunately, due to the high cost of international shipping, the giveaway is limited to the USA.

Previous winners may enter again and if you win again, you will know that either Molly or the universe likes you.

Some Progress

 I finished the machine quilting on the spool quilt and added the binding. While I still like how the crazy design in the binding matches the energy of the spools, that cat fabric is a nightmare. It frays like crazy. Turns out its some off brand (but I don't remember from where). And I don't mean it frays a bit...it throws off bird nests. I definitely will not use it for the quilt sleeve.

And April me is going to be very angry with March me tomorrow. The sleeve is made for the seahorse quilt but it still has to be sewn on. Plus the binding for the spool quilt. And don't forget making a sleeve for the spools and sewing it on. I'm leaving the labels to Molly and Buddy...can't see how that could turn out badly.

Meanwhile the garden enjoyed a warm sunny day and dressed up for Easter.

Deadlines

FInished quilts (with labels and hanging sleeves) are due on Tuesday for the Clark County Quilt Show (April 4-6). The first week of March, I had a stern talk with myself reminding myself that I am usually a colossal disappointment to future me. In particular, I noted that future me really does not like to crash through bindings, sleeves and labels in the last hours before the deadline.

This time, future me (now current me) is mostly disappointed that I didn't enter the spools quilt as a sculpture. Curviture, folds, wrinkles etc with some flat spots are all acceptable in sculpture and reflect artistic choices. But for some reason, in the traditional quilt category, those same characteristics are considered "poor workmanship." So current me is now trying to reduce future me's mortification seeing the spools quilt "hanging" at the quilt show.

On a positive note, I do think the spools quilt will receive a blue ribbon at the Oregon State Fair for being the heaviest quilt. 

On another positive note, I did find the perfect fabric for the spool quilt's binding.

And while I am finalizing the two quilts this weekend, I'm missing two quilter estate sales. One of the sales even as a very curious bin with strips of Nancy Crow millennial fabric (cats peering out of the year 2000.)

And speaking of too much fabric and deadlines, I will have a post on April 1 (no joke!) for the April giveaway and the end date for entering will be April 4. 

Bureaucracy

 I will try and not let this post melt down into a tirade, but I may not have been very welcoming when my machine quilting of the seahorse quilt was interrupted by Buddy announcing he is my new supervisor.  Since when does the cat who puts gashes in quilts gets to supervise and inspect the quilting process?

And why so I need two supervisors? Admittedly, this inspector has her paws carefully tucked in...pretending that "The Destroyer" isn't her middle name.

And given all these inspectors and supervisors, why am I just now seeing that two of the seahorses are made from the same fabric (see top left corner and bottom right corner in photo)?

Orange You Happy to See Signs of Spring?

 And the winner of the March fabric giveaway is Sue Swank who said: Kitty is pointing to the orange.

Criminal Investigation

Hopefully yesterday's photo display of Buddy proved conclusively that Buddy is the "gash in quilt" perpetrator.

And now you know who looks for the evidence. Unfortunately, Molly waits until I'm machine quilting to conduct her investigation.

March 1: Fabric Giveaway

 It's the first of the month and time for a fabric giveaway. Buddy, who would never put a gash in fabric or a quilt top, will be the eye candy while I explain the blah, blah, blah...

To participate in the giveaway, just leave a comment (and email address if you are a no-reply blogger) telling me what fabric you would like. Buddy suggests pink for those who feel between Valentine's and spring.

Or maybe you would like some naughty fabric that just needs a couple of swift kicks.

Or maybe you're ready for summer and want some bright hot colors. 

We reserve the right to disqualify anyone who requests brown. And unfortunately, due to the high cost of international shipping we are limiting the giveaway to the USA.

Next Round

 Progress on the Tula Nova quilt has slowed to a crawl. The next shape is a compound star, five triangles around a pentagon. I couldn't resist making two of the stars using a different circus animal fabric (although they may just be animals at a birthday party where they were forced to wear jaunty hats). 

Bad Buddy

I am spending most of my time quilting the spools quilt...I used to call them microspools until I saw the work of folks who really do micro piecing. These finish at a relatively large 1.5 inches. And as I was quilting it I found a spool that had a Buddy gash. 

Happily, I found a hunk of the original fabric in the bin of brown scraps.

I extracted the gashed piece.

Then I stitched in the replacement piece by hand. Although it's fixed, Buddy is still in the dog house...where he will stay until his next bout of bad behavior. Then I will take him out of the dog house so I can put him in again.

And here's an early warning that the March fabric giveaway will be posted on March 1...where you can have a chance to win fabric without Buddy gashes.