Playing with stripes

Using a printout of my computer aided layout, I scrambled around on the floor until I had this.

 

 

ICK!!!  Some of the darks are mediums and some of the mediums are light and the oranges are really strong even in their light blocks so now what??

I picked everything up off the floor, sat back, took a deep breath and tried to figure all this out, by making a pro/con list.

 

What I didn't like was easy: Not enough true darks and lights. Too many mediums in this.  I was going for scrappy and this is more crappy. The list goes on and on.

 

For the harder part - what I liked.  I liked the interplay within a given color. HMMMM.... Maybe I was going about this all wrong. Maybe the small blocks needed to be bigger blocks of the same color and then I could figure out a layout of the bigger blocks of color - more like the original inspiration quilt., which I decided I could do 'better'.  Apparently not.  So, I started playing within the colors, laying out 9 patches.

 

 

 

 

I'm liking these better.  Let's see where this leads.  It better lead somewhere quick cause I'm ready to see this come together.  Maybe a narrow black sashing between the blocks to pop the color.  Time to sit down and sew and stop thinking so much and let the fabric lead me.

 

On another front, I have the silk color matched to color pencils so I can start sketching. Not sure if I want traditional or contemporary on this one.  We'll have to ponder that a bit.  

 

 

 

It's BAAAACCCKKK - well kinda, sorta, maybe, we'll see...

I'm a bit stuck and it's all because of the Summer Strip quilt. 

 

I had to pull he blocks off the design wall and move the wall cause I was feeling creatively blocked and claustrophobic in the sewing area.  The design wall is portable and helpful and black - which cuts into the natural light in the room. Which has been next to nothing lately as the weather is grey, grey,  and more grey. YUCK!!  But they're still just blocks and they need to be a quilt top and soon.  I refuse to put them away. I have a good amount of time invested in them and before the blocks get wonky, the project needs to move forward. And hopefully, unblock the creative flow.

 

Since the design wall was too small to lay out all 224 blocks, I moved to the living room floor. Here are the IN blocks laid out.

Amazingly, the animals could tell this was NOT the time to bother the Mom and her fabric bits.

As of today,  I have not sewn two blocks together nor decided on a layout, I have identified the roadblocks as I see them.
1. The general layout I have on paper is for 221 blocks. I have 224 blocks made so that shouldn't be an issue right? WRONG.  There are 2 types of blocks - ins and outs.  I need 121 of one kind and 100 of the other.  I have 112 of each type. So...
2. I either need to make 9 more of one kind or
3. I need to figure out a layout using 112 ins and 112 outs. And...
4. I need to get over the 'total control' issue I seem to have manufactured over the color progression and think scrappy, using value as my guide.

It's back to the drawing board, or more accurately, the graph paper for me. I gathered up all the blocks and sorted my type (in or out), by color and by value and noted the quantity of each.  This will enable me to plan the new layout.  I'm thinking of doing it on the computer so I can move the blocks around without crawling on my hands and knees.

I'm hoping the time spent on Summer Stripes will allow the quilting for the DWR to magically plan itself in my subconscious.  I have high hopes...we'll see.

 

 

 

Back to the Design Wall

 

 

Summer Stripes block are back on the design wall. 

 

 It's coming along but I have reached the following conclusions:
1. I need more Rainbow blocks cause I messed up on the original cutting
2. I want more Caribbean blocks so I can blend to Waves (blue), since I removed the Sunset blocks & may be removing the Twilight blocks from the quilt.

Tomorrow is a day away- to the barn I go...

Progress at the Design Wall - slow and bumpy

"Summer Stripes" blocks are on the design wall and off the design wall and back on the design wall. Rinse and Repeat!

 

I started with a random light / dark layout

NOPE!
Can't handle randomness - big surprise there - NOT!

I tried a light / dark color rows layout

 

NOPE!!

So not working for me.

 



I tried a color wash layout

 

Better - getting there - but needs work. And my design wall needs to be 4 times bigger to do the whole color wash properly.  I didn't want to stop and address that issue today so I removed half of the blocks, moved everything else over and continued.  I am having a hard time getting the Sunset blocks to blend in.  It took awhile for me to figure it out but this is the color I miss cut the blocks for & then tried to salvage them by cutting them down, which resulted in not enough dark blocks.  Since the Sunset color is just so far from the other colors in intensity, I may end up removing them entirely.

 

 

Looks like I need to resolve the design wall issue before I get this laid out to suit me.  There should be a large hunk of flannel somewhere around here...

 

 

 

"Summer Stripes" blocks ready to go

 

 

The "Summer Stripes" blocks are ready for layout on the design wall! 



 

 

The inspiration quilt used 36 - 8 1/2 inch (cut size) blocks on a straight setting, an 1 1/2 inch inner solid color border and a 6 inch straight stripe border. 

 

"Summer Stripes" will have 221 - 4 1/4 inch (cut size) blocks, with 40 side setting triangles and 4 corner setting triangle because I am setting the blocks on point. Haven't made any decisions on the triangles or borders yet. There are blocks of different values within each color, as well as an

 'In' block

 and an 'Out' block.

 

Time to start playing!

Friday, August 23rd

DUH  Moment Ahead!!

You know how you know something but yet forget about it nonetheless?  Yep – happened to me just this morning.  A few weeks back, while cleaning out the sewing area, I ran across an unopened package of rotary cutter blades.  It got me thinking about my cutters, trying to remember when I had last changed the blades.  Given the package hadn’t been opened it was a more than fair bet, I hadn’t EVER changed the blades.  Really??!!  That’s just crazy.  I mean I am forever changing the needles in my sewing machine, fishing lint out of its nooks and crannies, cleaning scissor blades, sharpening pencil points, etc.  And the rotary blades hadn’t been changed since I bought them. WOW.  So I changed them out, carefully discarding the old nasty blades. And promptly forgot about them.

 Until this morning, that is.  Yes, I had been wondering why I had been struggling to cut fabric but I thought my mats were just getting too old and grooved up. NOPE!!  It was the tired old dull blades.  So when I started cutting the  strips for the ‘as of yet unnamed quilt made from Siren Song collection’ (going to have to come up with a simpler working title), I darn near sliced my way to the far reaches of the sewing table with a tiny fraction of effort.  Which means I have to relearn cutter control and speed and fast.  As it was, I miss cut a few of the strips as the new sharp blade seemed to have a mind of its own and wandered off course, away from the ruler, dang it! Note to Self – Write down the date of blade changes!!

And then there’s Math.

I love math.  I sat down to recalculate the block size and layout for the ‘as of yet unnamed quilt made from Siren Song collection’.  Hang on – digression from Math for a minute – let’s get a working title.  ‘Summer Stripes’. That will work for now.

Okay back to Math.  The stripe fabric has a half yard repeat and I have 5/8 yard pieces (more is on the way).  Cutting 9 ½ inch blocks yielded 4 blocks per cut strip, which works well since you need 4 quarter square cut from the same side of the strip for the pattern to work.   I started my calculations thinking I could cut 6 ½ inch blocks and everything would be hunky-dory. NOPE.  The usable WOF is 42 inches, yielding 6 blocks per strip. Since 6 is not evenly divided by 4, the 6 ½ inch block wouldn’t work.  Of course, I didn’t realize this until I had cut into the Sunset color.  Like I said, more fabric is on the way and I ordered more than just the Twilight I didn’t have.  Sometimes it’s good to have a fabric obsession and it’s always good to triple check your math – just in case.

So now, most of the blocks are cut to 5x5 and are ready to be sub-cut in groups of 4 to be reassembled with the matching strip pieces.

 

Road Trip Detours or How Long Does it Take to Drive 120 Miles

Since I drove up from Harbor Country, Michigan to Grand Rapids on Interstate 196, I decided that to take a different route home - Highway 131.

 I had to be back to my folk's place Thursday evening and it's only 120 miles taking the new route. My decision was based on a few things - I love exploring new routes, I had a bookmark/coupon from Dancing Dogs Quilt Shop, and I wanted to see the Gun Lake Casino. How much longer could that take?  The route up was 106 miles and took an hour and a half. So I figured the new route would be an hour and forty-five minutes plus shopping time, for a total of 2 and a half hours - putting me home around 3:30-ish - perfect!  Ah, optimism is a fun state of mind.

 

On the Road - I was able to finally drag myself out of the Quilt Show right around 1 pm - it was soooo hard to leave. I could have easily stayed until close on Saturday.  That would put me at my folks about 3:30 p.m. Traffic was minimal, road conditions clear and directions easy.  Off I went, heading south and made it about 20 minutes before I found the first distraction - a Western tack and saddle shop.

Off the Road - I saw Jackson's Western Store (Wayland, MI) billboard advertising boots, boots and more boots. The place was huge and well stock, including a great pair of RED cowboy boots that I almost drooled on. I'm always on the lookout for used saddles of many kinds.



On and Off the Road -  Back on the rode and just a few miles south, I stopped briefly at the Gun Lake Casino to check it out.

 

On the Road and Off Again - Just a bit further down the road, I pulled off the highway again to check out the Dancing Dogs Quilt Shop (Plainwell, MI). What a neat little quilt store!



The staff was friendly and they cut fat quarters.  A quilt hanging on the wall really caught my eye. They call it the Colored Pencil Stripe Quilt.  It made from the Michael Miller Siren Song Group, utilizing 8 inch finished blocks.  While the sample was cool looking, I didn't like the larger blocks so I decided to buy the kit anyway & just resize the blocks, recalculate the yardage and cuts, alter the layout, oh and I later found some yardage in two other colors (giving me a total of seven colors to work with) that I neglected to buy while I was there. I wonder why I can never just leave well enough alone...

I was told Plainwell has some awesome ice cream that I didn't stop & try but now have one more reason to head north :)  I did some research after the fact (insert head smack here) and discovered that the Plainwell Ice Cream Co. has been in business for 36 years, have over 30 flavors, was voted in the top 5 ice creams in all of Michigan and is located just blocks from Dancing Dogs Quilt Shop.  Now I really, really need to head back north.

 

 So back to fabric -

Here's the final selection I picked out of the collection (I added Twilight & Grass). I love how the colors actually run together from fabric to fabric.  I'm house sitting for friends this weekend and planning on getting started on this quilt. Just need to do some math...

 

 

On the Road - Back on the road, it was time to put some miles behind me. And then I realized, I really didn't have a schedule to keep (for once) and there was a sign for the Lemon Creek Winery (Berrien Springs, MI) and they didn't close until 6 p.m.

 

 

Off for an Adult Beverage Adventure  - I had always wanted to taste their wines & I wasn't disappointed! I focused on the sweet wines on this trip so I have a reason to stop back and taste the dry whites & reds.  They craft 28 different wines including 2 ice wines. Of the wines I tasted, I brought home the Cherry Wine and the Peach Spumante.



 

Okay, so how long does it take to drive 120 miles  - this time, about 5 hours! I think that may be a record for me.