Return of the Demented Garden Mosaic

Here's the Demented Garden Mosaic (a pattern from Free Spirit) after its been through the first step of machine quilting. Because of its size and the amount of seams, I layered and quilted it to the batting only.

I simply ran down the white squares using white thread. I'm trying not to interfere with the psychotic, I mean, psychedelic pattern.

Next, I will layer on the back and sew through the dark squares with a dark variegated thread. I am going with a garden print from Dear Stella for the back...it's a different garden mosaic. (And I guess growing fish in the garden makes it demented too.)

Demented Deconstructed

I have not had a chance to return to the sewing machine yet, so I thought I would look back and see what I was working on. And yikes! It was last February that I began the Demented Garden Mosaic (a pattern published online by Free Spirit.) And that is also where I found an old tutorial that I made for making this quilt. Because I think it is important to realize that this is not made up of half-square triangles. This is made from strips and the smallest piece I have to handle is 2X4.5 inches.

It starts with light and dark strips that are 2 inches wide, and light and dark strips that are 3 inches wide. Sew the light and dark strips together...a light 2 inch wide strip to a dark 3 inch strip; a dark 2 inch wide strip to a light 3 inch strip.

Next, cut each of the strip sets into 2 inch increments so you have stacks of 2 by 4.5 inch rectangle two-patches.

Take similar rectangles (that is, small dark squares) and sew them so the small squares are at either end. The example on the left shows two rectangles with dark squares sewn together.  The example on the right shows to do the same for the rectangles with light squares.

These are the two types of blocks that you end up with.

Next, slice these blocks into triangles lining up the ruler so that makes a right triangle with a quarter inch seam off of the square. You will do this to both squares so that you get two triangles from each block. You may also have a sliver of excess.

Then recombine the triangles along the diagonal using one triangle with a dark square and one triangle with a light square. If you have ironed to the dark you will benefit from nesting seams.

These are the units that make up most of the Demented Garden Mosaic except for the strips of flying geese that march between the sections.

Meanwhile, I found out that mixes of Tabbies and Siamese can lead to a "Lynx-point Siamese" like Buddy. And supposedly one of their key characteristics is that they tend to be more dog-like than cat-like. Unfortunately, I found no discussion of a tendency to grow to the size of a pony or a tiny house.

Warning: Dangerous Inspiration

The last thing I need to do is start a new quilt...but Gayle at Mangofeet provided a link to this fabulous quilt.  Gayle had already started on hers and was naming it Demented instead of Garden Mosaic.

However, I have a very strong allergy to HSTs (half-square triangles) and a first attempt at making the block for that quilt demonstrated many lopped off points. So that was the end of that...

Until this morning when I wondered if I could make the quilt from the mountain blocks like we used in Bonnie Hunter's Ringo Lake mystery. And yes, basic units can be made by sewing two mountain units together to form a block unit.  Here are the steps...

First you will need lots of two inch wide and three inch wide strips in both light and dark fabrics. Sew a light two inch wide strip to a dark three inch wide strip. And sew a dark two inch wide strip to a light three inch strip.

I suggest ironing all the seams toward the dark. 

From these strip sets, cut two inch strips. So some will have a dark square with a light rectangle and the others will have a light square with a dark rectangle.

Molly would like to intervene at this point and suggest that you do not start a new quilt. Your loved ones would prefer you play with them, snuggle with them, or meet their pointless demands to open the window.  In the lower right hand corner, you can see the demonstration pieces after Molly pulled the back drop down. She only has your best interests at heart.

Take similar blocks (dark squares with light rectangles or light squares with dark rectangles) and sew them together so the squares are at either end. There are no seams that meet together. So just sew together along the long end. Then iron them open.

You will now have blocks that look like this.

Slice the blocks to make the triangular mountain units. The key here is to make sure that you provide the quarter inch seam allowance that extends beyond the square unit. You can also use your special triangle rulers like the Easy Angle to cut these. One of the ends will already have the dog ear cut off.

There is wiggle room provided here so you will have a sliver of fabric left over after cutting the mountain units off of each side. You are getting two mountain units from each rectangular four patch.

And for the last step, you will be sewing a light topped mountain unit to a dark topped mountain unit...sewing them along the diagonal. If you have ironed toward the dark fabric, you can take advantage of the seams nestling somewhat to help you align the mountain units. You do have to be careful to make sure the points of the squares match and that you don't sew into the squares.

And these are the final units that you will arrange into the Demented Garden Mosaic quilt. I will have to make units for sashing to combine all of these units, but I'm not that far along. 

Also, there is another quilt I am eyeing over at Wonkyworld. I figured out that this quilt can also be made from mountain units.  In this case, they are sewn side by side to form vertical stripes. Then those stripes are sewn together to make the quilt. Yes, the internet is a dangerous place.

Demented Quilt Top Assembled

The Garden Mosaic/Demented/Dementor quilt top is finished. The squares and half square triangles are 1.5 inches finished. My version of the quilt is 92 inches across...I left off the last 3 square/triangles from each side.

The inspiration for this quilt comes from Garden Mosaic, a pattern from Free Spirit.  I did not follow the instructions, however. I made this using strips to make bat wings. You can find out more here.

And here is the quilt with Molly. She thought she was going on a climbing expedition. Happily, she is taking a nap instead.

Demented Layering Day Two

With the backing pieced, it was time to layer the Demented Garden Mosaic. I was not thrilled to find that my supervisor had brought along an assistant.

Molly thought that I should consider some three dimensional configurations.

So helpful.

I suggested Molly learn how to pin the layers...

Eventually Molly left to take her beauty nap, and I finished layering.  It weighs a ton!

Warming Up

I made more progress on machine quilting the Demented Garden Mosaic. I have sewn through the squares and now I'm going down the diagonals, hiding in the ditch between the dark and light.

And I even made another handful of micro spools. I only have a few more thousand to make.

And look at the delightful fabric that came in the mail. Okay, I also got a rainbow spiral too.

Meanwhile, I've been a bit disappointed that Molly hasn't used her heated bed as much as I thought she would. Then I noticed that it was on the same surge protector as the iron...and I had the unit turned off. No heat for Molly. I turned her bed on and by this afternoon Molly was quite happy and quite heat drunk. (And in case you wondered...the heat only comes on if there is weight placed on it, so it is off when unoccupied.)

Turning a corner

I finally turned the corner on the Demented Garden Mosaic quilt. I mean that literally.

And its back to the scraps to cut more micro spools. They require one 1 by 2 inch rectangle and four 1 inch squares. I've already cut a massive pile of background bits.

And I took the seahorses off the design wall and found this. I'm thinking the final layout for this quilt might be cow towers.

And if you were wondering about Molly, this is her new favorite hobby.

Return to Sanity and Home Again

Here's the Demented Garden Mosaic quilt on display at the Northwest Quilters' Festival of Quilts. The show was set up on Thursday and the show was open on Friday and Saturday. Tear down was Saturday night.

And who was the most neglected and abused during this time: this blog, sad forlorn kittens or my feet. Since my feet are still throbbing and the kittens are all ready ignoring me, the feet win. That is, lose. A concrete floor is merciless.

Here is the bounding bunny quilt.

I also had three other quilts in the exhibit but I didn't get a chance to take their picture. Or any of the other quilts in the show.

Okay, I may have found some time to buy some fabric...but given I was the vendor liaison, we could call it part of my volunteer duties.

Kitten Categories

Today we are going to have a seminar on kittens. The kitten on the right is a kitten in a rainbow quilt I made as part of the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge. The kitten in the middle is modified to participate in SoScrappy's Tiny Tuesday so its called a Tiny Kitten. The kitten on the far left is a Micro Kitten. It is based on a one inch grid.

This is a Molly Kitten.

Meanwhile, I have finished quilting the Demented Garden Mosaic and next I will be sewing on the binding.

Finally Demented

Okay, this Garden Mosaic quilt from Formerly Free Spirit finally earned its Demented Title. The machine quilting was easier than I thought it would be. I essentially went along all the diagonals...first through the white squares and the dark squares then along the split diagonals. (I may still have more to do, but nothing that extends past the binding.) So it wasn't the quilting that sent me over the edge.

The binding took a rather long time since this quilt is roughly 96 inches square. I left off a few rows, but not enough. Because I now have a humongous quilt.

 Instead I lost my mind trying to set up a way to get a full picture of the quilt.

I had planned to use PVC piping to set up a photography stand, but went with telescoping poles and a drapery rod so that I can adjust its size. I also needed a opening at the top so Buddy could peer over the top of the design wall. So yes, I had many constraints and not enough solutions.

It didn't help that as an earlier version began to capsize from the weight of the quilt and then Molly came running to climb up the quilt, ensuring a spectacular collapse.

So as I am writing this I am whimpering quietly, finally done in by a needlessly humongous quilt...because as you might suspect, I now realize that if I had made a micro-sized version I would be a lot happier. The quilt would look more demented, but I would be less so. I guess I have a new goal for next month...

But first I need to take out some pins I missed, bury and clip thread, use a lint brush to remove ten pounds of cat hair and go look for areas that I missed quilting.

Productivity

I have come to the conclusion that the whole idea of "Santa's helper" is a myth.

I suspect that if Santa didn't have "help" then toy delivery would be once a month instead of once a year.  I had so much help today that all I have to show for it is the back for the Demented Garden Mosaic and many frayed nerves for which I received many hours of "pet therapy."

Lay(er)ing Chickens

Today I layered the chickens. I would make sure everything was smooth and neat, and then two wrestling beasts would zoom out or under or on top. Buddy is now the size of a tiny house and he is determined to squash Molly like the wicked witch.

I would machine quilt the Demented Garden Mosaic, take pins out and then use those to layer the chickens. A good strategy for someone whose attention span has diminished to three minutes.

Buddy, the tiny house, says hello. He is looking forward to becoming a McMansion.