Sedona Block 2 - Stepping Stones

 Block 2 of Sedona is a cinch! Cutting strips. Sewing strip sets. Cutting strip sets into 2 inch pieces. Sewing 2 inch pieces into blocks. Done!

As usual, though, I have some tips. 

First - it you are doing Sedona Sky, you'll need to either get 1 inch more than the half yard called for, or you'll have to use some of the left over strip set fabric. Its doable, but if you don't want to worry about it, just get an additional inch or so.

Second - use your favorite starch product on either the strips or strip sets before you subcut them.

Third - reduce your stitch length when you sew your strips together. Since you'll be subcutting these into 2 inch units, your stitches may unravel a bit, so its best to use a tighter stitch. I almost always do this for strip sets that will be subcut.

Forth - if you are making the Sedona Medallion, it uses the same amount of fabric as Sedona Sky. 

Two down!

Woven Wanderings

 Many of my quilt designs and patterns are quite complicated, with many peices and involved techniques. So I thought I should design a quilt that is simple to make, has just one block, and is perfcect for beginning quilters. Woven Wanderings fits the bill!

The block that makes up this quilt is one that I've made many times for block exchanges. It looked very cool on its own. I started wonderibng how it would look repeated over and over again.  So I made several of them and really liked how the pattern took shape. The problem was that there were too many seams to match. I wouldn't want to attempt matching that many, and it certinaly wasn't appropriate for a beginning quilter.

So, ever curious, I began playing with the block to see if I could achieve the same look without the matching. And of course there was another way.  However, this block required one additional simple technique - partial seams.

I've made the quilt in two colorways and I think the results are pretty darn cute! This pattern is a great way to feature a pretty fabric - either in the woven strips or in the background. I've done this in each of the samples I've done.

I am so excited to share this pattern with you. I hope to use it to teach beginning quilting, and I think it will make a really cute lap quilt. Woven Wanderings is available on my Etsy Shop and at the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival in Overland Park in June of 2023. If you make it, let me know and send some pictures.

Cheers!

Sedona - A Very Cool Quilt Pattern

SewKindofWonderful has lots of very cool patterns and books. I've made 5 and have several in progress. The one I'm starting soon and will be hosting a Quilt Along for is Sedona.

I am so excited about this quilt - there are 2 layout options available in the pattern and one more on the SKW website. I haven't yet decided which layout I want to do - its either going to be the sky or the medallion. I love the colors in both these layouts. A trip to the LQS next week may be on the agenda.

The 11 motifs are fresh and use a combination of curve and straight piecing and have cool names such as slide rock, stepping stones, desert bloom, arches, chicken points, cool beans, reflection, ribbon, pole star, horizon, and trading box. What's not to love???

For the QAL I'll be providing tips on each motif. Check back here for the videos and info. If you want to join in, comment here or send me an email at djps1957@gmail.com. You can get this pattern at my Etsy shop, SewKindofWonderful, your local quilt shop, or Amazon. 

Curiousness Rules!

A Top is Born - Finally

Due to the way I sew - multiple projects at a time, I don't finish tops very often. They are spread out over time. But this summer I have been concentrating on finishing a few quilts. The first finish is Spring Meadow.

I started this one at Quiltworx University in Tucson in 2019.  The process for Quiltworx University goes like this - everyone (about 50 quilters) does the same mixer. That means a pattern is broken down into 4 sections - center, first border, outer section and outer border. Then, for each section there are anywhere from 4 to 7 different options to choose from. So, even before fabric choices are applied, everyone's quilts will look different. The add fabric and you really have a terrific line up of wildly different quilts. The mixer for QU 2019 in Tucson was Prairie Star Mixer. 

I chose my layout options and fabrics on Quiltster, submitted it and like magic it was there, in a box waiting for me when I arrived.

Saul was a good sport and agreed to go with me to Tucson. It was held at Tanque Verde Ranch outside of Tucson, a beautiful desert property with Southwestern buildings and stately Saguaro cacti and colorful scrubs.  Oh, and did I mention, the food was delicious - Saul's favorite part.

In addition to lovely hours of sewing, we were treated to a trunkshow by Judy. We got to see a bunch of new projects coming out. I always look forward to this and I make a list of what I want to make next.

Fast forward 3 plus years: sweet Saul's passing, COVID, some more travels, and several quilts. In July of this year (2022) I went to Quilt Camp at the Quiltworx retreat and training center, spending 10 days working on Quiltworx quilts with other Quiltworx fans. 

I opened the tote with my Meadow Star project and my first thought was "What was I thinking when I used these colors? It looks like the Easter Bunny yacked up on the wall." But as I got all the pieces up on the design wall and began assembling it - especially when I added the Kaffe Collective Cabbage Rose fabric, it all came together.  Granted it wasn't my usual color palette, but I liked it.

Its 100 inches square and will cost a pretty penny to have it quilted. I've started saving! It feels so good to get one of the beautiful Judy Niemeyer quilts finished. Judy designs them  so they are not difficult, but they do take perseverance. Oh, and I started a new one while I was there, so my net Quiltworx project numbers didn't change.

 If you're interested in learning more about Judy and Quiltworx, let me know. I have an entire trunkshow dedicated to the beautiful Quiltworx quilts.

  

Color and Form Converge in Convergence

 As many of you know, Ricky Tims is one of my favorite humans and quilt makers. One of my favorite Ricky quilt designs is Convergence. I made my first Convergence quilt back probably about 8 years ago (I really need to be better about my quilt documentation). It was so fun to see the magic happen when those strips came together. That magic happens every time! 

Last weekend I taught Convergence at Quilting Bits and Pieces in Eudora. The class was really fun and all the students made magic with their fabric choices.

Of course I made another Convergence for class sample. Totally difference fabric vibes. Different magic.

During class, I used a third set of fabrics as a demonstration. These were Kaffe fabrics I found in my stash. Since you only need a FQ of each fabric, it was easy to find 4 Kaffe Collective fabrics that worked well together.

The Convergence Quilt is really simple to make. Without giving away all of Ricky's secrets (You really should get this book!), Convergence is made by slicing, converging,  and resewing. Twice. The process is simple and what gives each one a unique look is: 1. fabric choices, and 2. border creativity.

My first Convergence featured simple stripes in the borders. Number 3 (with the blue, green, and purple) is going to have some of the blue butterfly print cut on the diagonal with a complementing (maybe the blue) fabric. Sort of like this one I found on Pinterest.

I could make a million of these. And I just might!

Curious about Convergence? Check out Ricky's Convergence book. You'll love it.

 

50 Quilts from 50 States - Oklahoma

 I didn't finish as many of my 50/50 quilts as I had planned - life really took a turn in 2020. But I did finish OKIE DOKIE my Oklahoma quilt.

In the past, Oklahoma has been a state I drove through to get somewhere else, or the place I met my kids' Dad for a handoff so that they could visit him in Texas. But as I started to explore different parts of the state I learned there's so much more. I really love the red dirt peaking through the rolling hills. 

Route 66 runs right through the state, so that was the inspiration for the quilt. It was established in 1926 and was one of the original highways in the US Highway system.  I like to imagine a young family driving Route 66 in the 1930's on a little adventure from Chicago to Los Angeles. 

The centerpiece of the quilt is a colorful tea towel I got at an Oklahoma rest stop and information center on Interstate 40 on my way to Arizona a couple of years ago. It lent itself perfectly to a quilt with 30s reproduction fabric. OK, an idea was starting to coalesce.

Traditional quilt blocks, a Route 66 sign, and a sillouette of the End of the Trail statute found in the National Cowboy museum, combined with the Oklahoma tea towel  - this is going to be a cute quilt. 

My friend Patti Pearce makes a lot of quilts with vintage linens, so she was the perfect person to quilt this. She did a fantastic job.

I've written a pattern for OKIE DOKIE and its available in my Etsy Shop. I love that my adventure is continuing state by state. 

Curious about Oklahoma? Check it Out!

My Favorite Designers - Chapter 6 Jacqueline DeJonge

You probably know by now that I'm in love with intricate, sophisticated, and technically difficult quilts. One of my favorite designers designs quilts that totally fit this description - Jacqueline DeJonge of BeCorlourful Quilts.

Jacqueline lives in Delft in the Netherlands. When I first met her, she was still working a day job as an office manager in a medical practice. Now she is a full time designer, teacher, and quilter. She is very soft spoken, but don't let that fool you - she's got lots to say!

So far I have taken 3 workshops from Jacqueline and hope to take many more. Even before I took workshops, I bought my first BeColourful Pattern - The Colourful Quilt. It was waaaay over my head (6 star difficulty). I still have the pattern and fabric that I started collecting to do it. One day . . . 



So I started a little more realistically - I took a workshop down in Dallas about 5 years ago. I bought the Circle of Life kit (only 4 star difficulty) so I wouldn't have to obsess about getting just the right fabric to achieve the rainbow effect. Unfortunately my hubby had a health incident and I had to rush home on the first day. Obviously I didn't get far on the quilt but I was hooked. 

So, about 3 years ago, I learn Jacqueline is coming to Kansas! WhaHoo! I talk my friend Bobbie into coming to visit from Seattle and take the workshop with me. Quilting on the Square in Holton Kansas is our host.  I decided to keep working on Circle of Life.  I got the center star and spikes done. I picked up a few more tips from Jacqueline. One of the best is her idea of a supplementary quarter inch seam allowance. Her technique is to do the piecing with an extra seam allowance and then when its all together, you trim the piece up to a quarter inch. And, guess what? I added several more patterns to my collection. 

In the last 3 years, my BeColourful Quilts sort of took a back burner. I knew I could do it, but I think I just had a bit of a crises of confidence. I was angsting about how to use the fabrics so that the colors flow. Ok, so no progress, but I did add a few more to my pattern collection (grin).

So, fast forward to June 2018. Jacqueline is back in Holton! My friend Kim and I signed up and this time I decided to do one of Jacqueline's new patterns. Infinity (another 6 star difficulty) is based on her award winning quilt from 2013 quilt called Celtic Fantasy. This one has lots of piecing techniques - matching marks, inset seams, supplementary seam allowance, inset circles and more. I tried a new fabric management system this time - instead of using ziplock bags, I put the 24 color wheel fabrics in hanging file folders in a portable file box. It worked really well for me.

Quilting on the Square in Holton was a great host and has a great classroom space. Of course, I added a few more patterns to my collection. I am hoping Jacqueline comes back to Holton next year. I highly recommend Jacqueline's patterns and workshops. You'll be challenged, but you'll learn a lot and enjoy getting to know Jacqueline. I'm looking forward to the next workshop.

My Favorite Designers - Chapter 3 Judy Niemeyer

I have just finished a terrific week in Bakersfield California at Quiltworx University with Judy Niemeyer, her daughter Judel and about 10 Certified Instructors. I’m writing about my project in separate posts. And boy, is there a lot to write about!

I’ve known about Judy Niemeyer for several years-most quilters have. I knew her designs were intricate, mostly paper pieced and I knew she had her own line of batik fabrics. WOW so little did I know! 

Judy designed and made quilts by hand for 20 years. Then she discovered foundation paper piecing and recognized the revolution that it could be to help quilters make complex looking quilts. Although I don’t know the exact history of how she got from then to now, I’m sure it’s been quite a journey.

Now she has 75 or so Certified Instructors that are trained in her methods that help quilters make intricate quilts in a very efficient manner, saving hours by using an assembly line approach. For those of you thinking that this might take the fun and tradition out of quilting, I would argue that the fun is still there, you just spend less time pinning and trimming. There are also hundreds of patterns, lines of batik fabrics, and a great on-line program called Quiltster that is absolutely going to revolutionize the design and fabric buying process. 

Both Judy and Judel are down to earth, easily approachable, smart

women. Quiltworx is a family company. Son Bradley does the computer based drawing and designing. The other employees and CIs are also like family. The family lives in Kalispell , Montana.  It’s not an easy place to get to, but WOW is the area gorgeous! Just outside the west side of Glacier National Park.

Every year or so Judy designs a technique of the month quilt that incorporated several techniques for quilters to learn and master. The last technique of the month was Vintage Rose and I fell for it in a big way. Vintage Rose was my introduction to Judy’s designs and techniques. The technique of the month patterns can only be done through a certified shop or a certified instructor. I made mine through a certified shop in Illinois - Peddlers Way. I went to a retreat center in Illinois, just over the Missouri border by Hannibal. It was a beautiful old farmhouse with a modern retreat center added in a separate building.

So here is why I like Quiltworx patterns:

• Quilts can be designed in Quiltster so that you can visualize what the quilt will look like in different color ways.

• Quilts can be designed with mix and match sections. Choice of 6 center stars, 9 borders, etc.

• Papers are newsprint so they are easy to tear off. 

• Papers can be stacked so they can be cut out in layers as opposed to one at a time.

• Pieces are drawn to take advantage of grain line, so that each piece is either on grain or on bias as appropriate.

• Fabric is stacked under template layout and cutting sheets so that it can be cut out in layers.

• Fabric pieces are of a generous size so that they will easily cover the section.

• Parts can be assembly pieced so you reduced thread, and needle up and down time.

• Parts are put together with smart corners and transition points so they easily match up.

• Appliqué piece templates are lazer cut on a sticky leave-in material that makes it so easy to prepare shapes.

They have thought of everything, and if someone thinks of something new, it can be easily incorporated into the next series of quilts and updated into older patterns.

This company has a great history, but more importantly, they are really pushing into the future with a vision. I can't wait to see what comes next. 
Check out Quiltworx and Quiltster! You won't be disappointed.

My Favorite Colors - Chapter 1

What is your favorite color? Answering that is like deciding which one of your kids is your favorite - IMPOSSIBLE.

Before quilting, I used to have favorites - in my clothing, my home decorating, my car. I loved green and mauve in the 80s, blue and burgundy in the 90s. I wore olive drab everyday from 1979 to 1995. Not my favorite, but it brought out my green eyes.


Now that I am quilting, they are all my favorites - each one like a special, well-loved child. I have this feeling that since its not paint, an expensive couch, an expensive car (all cars are expensive these days) or clothing I wear, I can use any color I want. In fact I am trying to experiment with different colors and color combinations. I even have an entire board on Pinterest dedicated to color schemes. 

I love rainbow, or I call them color-wheel quilts. I've got a couple of quilts going that include 24 colors of the color wheel. The first one I started about 3 years ago - Technicolor Galaxy. The other one I did with a small group from our guild and is called Eclipse.


Technicolor Galaxy by Alyssa Lichner at Pile O' Fabric is a absolute explosion of color and shape. I really enjoyed collecting FQ of lots of different colors. It was tough to find exactly the right shades to make that color wheel effect.  Yellow-green, red-violet, orange-yellow, turquoise-green. I even like saying the colors and imagining their deliciousness.  


I am almost done with this one - I just need to do 3 more outside corners, and then I am ready to quilt the sections. I quilted the center section a few weeks ago and I really like how it turned out.




Eclipse is a foundation pieced quilt by Kimberly of Main Street Designs. A small group of us in Kaw Valley Quilters Guild did this together and we are all showing ours at the upcoming quilt show. It is really cool to see how different they are in different colors. I used color wheel colors with a black background. It just came back from quilter Sandra Cockrum, and as usual she did an outstanding job. You can't see all the fabulous quilting in the pic, so come see it in person at the Kaw Valley Quilt Show on 7-8 April.

So, enough for now, but not nearly enough about color. I'll post later about the other colorful quilts in my studio. 



Keepin' it Curious!

3D Blocks Wallhanging

Update - Five and a half years later - I finished this wall hanging back in 2015 and thought you might like to see the finished product (I actually do finish things).
D


Original post from 2012:  
     I love taking classes. I always learn so much from the teacher as well as the other students. I get to see projects in colors that I wouldn't normally use and it inspires me to maybe try something different next time.

    Today I took a class at Stitching Traditions in Topeka. The teacher, Kathy Pflaum, was wonderful with all her tips and tricks for success. She will be teaching a year-long color and design class starting in October. I'm checking my calendar to see if I can swing it.

    These blocks are built up in layers  - there is no piecing and in fact, very little sewing. Each layer is folded into either a rectangle, square, triangle or other shape and attached by stitching around the outside of a base block.  A good hot iron and some sizing or pressing agent is useful to get nice crisp folds. I finished these 2 in class and hope to finish another one tonight.  This could get addicting!
    The book 3D Folded Blocks is by Geeseje Baron and Esther Vermeer - check out their website.   

Still Curious in Kansas!
D

Fair Isle Winter - A 2017 BOM by Reeze Hanson

I started this beauty last January. Every year, the talented Reeze Hanson of Morning Glory Designs offers us a free BOM. After seeing Fair Isle Winter, I jumped on that wagon and took off.  I love the blue and decided on a pale yellow for the background. I guess I'm channeling my inner Swede on this one. 



Most of the blocks are foundation pieced - one of my favorite techniques - with some cool applique shapes in the corners of the blocks.

I've loved collecting blue batiks - everything from true blue to blue-green, blue with lavender, teal, and turquoise. So many beautiful fabrics out there.

I have almost kept current on this one - well, better than other BOMs - I'm on month 8 and am catching up quickly. I made a boo-boo and used a dark blue where I was supposed to use a yellow background. I decided there were too many seams to take out so I would leave it the way it was - Sorry Reeze, I added a new design element to block 8.

There are 13 sashing blocks that I want to start on next. I've pinned the blocks on my design wall so that I can decide which blues to use for the sashing. At this point I'm thinking of a true blue - or an aqua?

The BOM ends in a month when Reeze sends out the last block. Each of the previous blocks is available on  her website for $5. Next month, they will all be gone, but the entire pattern will be available. If you want a foundation piecing challenge with a series of gorgeous blocks and an unusual setting, then Fair Isle Winter is for you.

Curious about Reeze Hanson? Check her out! You'll love her stuff.