019.Mary Maceachran Solves It - aka E-13, Moth in a Web

Started this one at the Dear Jane Bee yesterday and finished it up tonight watching Gosford Park for the 987th time. Another blue diamond.

017.Arietty's Got a Case of the Cabin Fever - aka A-9, Cabin Fever

Arietty's Got a Case of the Cabin Fever

So anyway, I was in my happy tree working on another blue diamond late last night. It's hard to explain just how motivating it is to have a blog to come to with updates on the project (not that anyone's really listening) - but there's some illusion of accountability. Hard to describe - but since it's working maybe I shouldn't pay it too much attention. Avert my eyes. Just keep on keepin on. dododododooo.

Recap:  - so happy with the results. 45 pieces?? wow. I am trying to remember to add extra fabric to the outside edges so there's enough to trim down to 5" but I shorted the sides on this one a bit. Still within the seam allowance though. The other technical note is that I've tried to use the "pin trick" where you locate where the intersections need to meet in order to have the corners meet. I have not been having great luck with it. Seemed like when I inserted the pin all the way in it shifted the fabric and when I left the ends of the pin loose it still didn't really hold it in place. This time, I put the pin in and then holding the fabric very tightly, inserted the end in perpendicular to the seam, positioned the fabric under the needle about .25" from the intersection, took a stitch or two with the hand wheel (not the foot pedal) then eased the pin out a bit. Then sewed through the intersection to about .25 beyond and then picked up and did the opposite side, then the middle, then the whole thing from end to end. And whoo hoo - as you can see it worked (this time). But obviously that's very labor-intensive ... I guess I just got lucky with the diamond's intersections - kind of forgot to check for those.

I wonder if anyone else making this quilt has set a limit for themselves - a tolerance for imperfection - like if it's less than a 1/16" off let it go - or whatever... Seems like an eighth is too much for such a small block but I do have a few of those anyway. Sometimes 1/32" seems too large. Just depends on the block I guess. This one exceeded my expectations (even thought it's still not perfect) so I'll just focus on that. 45 pieces! Go, self!

almost done - just needs the outer edges...

Stumbled on the 1997 movie "The Borrowers" with Jim Broadbent and John Goodman. After thoroughly haaaating the recent anime inspired "Arietty," this was a genuine treat. Now, I was not much of a reader when I was a kid, but the Borrowers - with their miniature, ingeniously improvised tools and red blotter carpeting - always captured my imagination. The production design (Gemma Jackson) was a-mayyyyy-zing! Eye candy from end to end. Delightful bonus tidbit: she was also the production designer for Bridget Jones' Diary. So, who's the one who really makes every detail so brilliant and perfect? Art director? Production designer? the uncredited slave-team under her? Anyway, it was great.

Since Arietty's got so much spunk, and loves pretty little things, I dedicate this block to her. Arietty: here's to you, little sister. May you always find a way to escape your cabin fever and enjoy the finer things in life and high-speed adventures 'til the end of your days.

Arietty has a bad case of cabin fever!

interesting cloud formations the last few days. pretty.

Lighter blue fabric: #5686 from "Alexandria," Jo Morton/Andover.
Darker fabric: #1037-0120 from "Paula Barnes Basics," (Bonnie Blue), Paula Barnes, Marcus Brothers.
Background fabric: #24381-1 or -2 from "Vintage Muslins," Windham.

015.Miss Minnie Fay - aka B-4, Chris's Soccer Field

Reworked the colors with two lights and a blue being the central piece so it would read as a "light diamond." A little confusing, but i think it works... Was watching "Hello, Dolly" when I sewed this and as a tribute to Minnie Fay's light blue dress, I named it after her.

many many many edges to trim...

Pine Tree Lodge (#4028) by Judie Rothermel - love this line.

More Blue Diamonds

013.Lakota Sioux

Marcus Brothers Textiles, Inc. presents The Regency Collection by Judie Rothermel for The New England Quilt Museum for the Organization for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Society to Protect the Status Quo.. good gravy that's a long title. and no id number anyway.

 

Take Two on Blue

To review: making the Jane Stickle quilt. check. Rearranging the furniture. check. Adding more blue. check. So, about that diamond made of diamonds, all in blue. Decided to double back and pick out my fabrics for these - both so I can make sure I have enough in the right range and so that I can prep 'ready to go' blocks.

So with my blues picked out I thought the next step would be to sit down and work out which 24 blocks would be in the diamond wave... About 17 of them are clear-cut diamonds - the others could be modified to look like diamonds or could just as easily fall into other motif categories. So I still have to figure out a few things but I'm rolling on with my new plan.

Unrelated to the blue diamonds, but on my mind this week... thinking of (maybe) using the same background fabric on all - or at least no shirtings. I love the shirtings with individual blocks - just not sure how it will look when I get the sashing in there. Will the sashing be the thing that stands out cause it will be lightest? Or maybe the plain sashing is what will set the blocks off and tie it all together. Hmmm. I wish I could find some DJs with shirtings as background to reassure myself... It's possible that because I'm organizing the color values and block motifs, if I don't have the added scrappiness of the bkgd/shirtings, it will be cleaner than I'd like...

Thoughts, anyone?

These are the darker mid-range blues...

These are the lighter of the mid-range blues... the variation in hue shows up
so much more in this photo - the gray-blues vs. the greenish-blues, etc.