End of July

It's time to tally-up fabric used during July, and review and recommend audio books. 

Fabric came in this month: 3 yards of Painter's Palette Banana for the background of Ignite, my yellow Pick a Color Challenge Quilt, along with FIFA World Cup soccer fabric.

I bought a packpack panel and one yard of fabric for lining that I plan to sew for a teen grandson who loves soccer, plays on two soccer teams, and attended a World Cup soccer game (Algeria and Austria) in Kansas City. 

Still, outgoing fabric was higher than fabric than incoming. 

Besides counting yardage used to piece the front and back of Ignite which is approximately 66" X 66", and includes 432 linear inches of 1"-wide bias tape, I helped out two friends by giving them several fabric pieces for their projects, and sewed two headbands for a friend in my Iowa bible study group. These Twist Front Headbands were made using this YouTube video. 

I've haven't yet counted this as outgoing yardage, but I've started a scrap project - Leftovers. How to piece such tiny scraps was taught to members of Central Florida MQG in July 2017 by Debra Jalbert. I knew it was time to start a project like this when I couldn't get the lid on my shoebox of aqua-colored solids. 

Though I cut and pieced for several hours during last Saturday's Sew-In with Central Florida MQG, I've made only these little blocks that are 3" and 4" square-ish. See how our class went on the blog post link above. 

Book Recommendations

It was a good month for audiobook listening with nine titles keeping me entertained as I knitted, crocheted, and made a quilt.

According to my scores with 5.0 being the highest, I recommend:

• 4.8 - The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough
• 4.7 - Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance
• 4.6 - The Atlas of Untold Stories, Sara Brunsvold
• 4.4 - The Final Act of Juliet Willoughby, Ellery Lloyd
• 4.4 - Hissy Fit, Mary Kay Andrews
• 4.3 - Winter's Secret, book #6 in the Winter Black series, Mary Stone 
• 4.3 - Winter's Web, book #7 (last) in the Winter Black series, Mary Stone 
• 4.2 - Autumn's Game, book #1 in the Autumn Trent series, Mary Stone
• 3.8 - The Shippers, Katherine Center

I ended the month with 26+ hours of listening to The Thorn Birds, a 1977 publication by Colleen McCullough. Though I'd read the print book in the late 70s, and in 1983 watched the TV mini series with Richard Chamberlain, I had forgotten the story. Making the book even more enjoyable is the fact that since reading it, I traveled to Australia four times! I could better relate to the locale of the story, including a bit about a boat trip through Sydney. The book is so good!

Even better, for those of you who are Outlander fans (Diana Gabaldon) and have listened to that series of books, you will appreciate that the narrator of The Thorn Birds is the same person - Davina Porter! I am a huge fan of her lovely, perfectly narrated voice. Listening to the book was extra special. 

After completing the book, I looked up other Colleen McCullough titles that I've saved/favorited. Interestingly, Wikipedia says that Ms. McCullough thought The Thorn Birds mini series was "instant vomit," saying that it didn't portray the nuances of her book and that the acting was poor. I think us book-readers would all agree that the book is always better than the movie.

Put The Thorn Birds on your reading list, or reread list. 

J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy, published in 2016, has been on my reading list for a years - not because it was written by our vice president (he wasn't at the time), nor because he's Republican (he was a Democrat at the time), but it was recommended to me. The book is about his life - a difficult upbringing (he IS a self-professed Hillbilly), overcoming odds, facing the demons he was given, and appreciating his observations about Appalachians living in poverty, and overcoming it or not. His second novel, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith was release in June. 

The Atlas of Untold Stories by Sara Brunsvold, is the second book I've read by this author. Ms. Brunsvold tells this story about two sisters, as different as night and day, who take their elegant stay-at-home mother on a road trip. Over the course of ten days, they visit numerous places in the Midwest (Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa) where famous authors have lived or made their mark. Among other places, I was delighted to (re)visit Hannibal, Missouri; Madison County Bridges (Iowa); and Field of Dreams with these three women who were at odds with one another through most of the book. I appreciated the author's honest look into difficult mother/daughter relationships, and the love that underpins the most trying situations. 

The Final Act of Juliet Willoughby by Ellery Lloyd is a story that takes you into the world of art. Though Juliet is a fictional character, real artists are included in the tale that involves fraudulent artwork, a club of university schoolmates, and two instances of intentional misdirection (death and murder). Money and fame can wreak havoc and hide unexpected revelations. 

Hissy Fit by Mary Kay Andrews begins with an almost-wedding. It's rehearsal night when the bride finds her finance, A.J., in flagrante delicto with her best friend/maid of honor. With that introduction to Keelie and her first hissy fit, readers continue to follow Keelie in her role as an interior decorator. Handsome Will Mahoney has given her the task of restoring a decayed Madison, Georgia antebellum mansion to its former majestic beauty in just a few months. Impossible, but what a challenge, especially working for Will. This was a pleasant, enjoyable romance - a good palette-cleanser. 

About the next three books on the list, all by Mary Stone...

I completed the Winter Black series with book #7, and immediately started the Autumn Trent series because one series flows into the other.

Early in the Winter Black books, Autumn is introduced and becomes Winter's best friend. The Autumn series focuses on Autumn and her work for the FBI, but Winter continues to be part of each story.

As much as I enjoy these books, when read one after the other, the predictable topic about at least one serial killer who often preys on young women, or couples, or in one case teens becomes heavy. While I appreciate well-written, who-done-it stories, for my mental well-being I need a break between them. 

Interesting Tidbit

I'll leave you with a very interesting and perhaps helpful tidbit of information that I learned just this week. It was shared with me by a friend who learned it from her doctor.

Did you know... 

If you have an urgent need to use the bathroom to urinate, you should start thinking about math! 

Do math calculations in your head, or say them aloud to yourself. 

Your urgency will go away and you'll make it to the loo in time. 

Have you ever heard this? I've already learned it works for me! Linda

Whiz By

Days are whizzing past and taking time to write a blog post has fallen by the wayside. But I've been busy with something worthwhile, my QuiltCon Pick a Color Challenge quilt, Ignite.

I did something completely different with the quilt sandwich. Though there's batting between the top and back, I layered it in a different way.

I first put down Quilter's Dream Request (lowest loft) Cotton batt to cover the backing. Then, using a leftover piece of Quilter's Dream Puff (it wasn't large enough to cover the entire surface) I cut out the starry "ignite" part of the design. I did so by pinning the original full sized design I'd drawn on a huge sheet of paper to cut the starry/ignite portion from Puff. Then I carefully positioned the Puff star directly behind the design of the quilt top. It wasn't easy to get the batting positioned to match the design on the front. But I did it, deliberately pin-basting the long ray shapes of Puff batting under each ray. 

I pinned it a lot!

Those bright dashes are where sunshine shone through the cord holes of the wood blinds.

Now I've been quilting! It's been an age since I set up my Bernina for dedicated domestic machine quilting. It feels good to tackle quilting again. 

The design for the inside (ignite part) of the quilt is meant to mimic the piecing design. This is all done with ruler quilting (feed dogs down). 

Indeed, don't the jagged, variable-sizes look similar to the piecing? 

It's exactly the look I wanted in this puffy space. 

Now I'm walking foot quilting the background, intending to keep that portion to simple straight lines that emphasize the angularity of the ignite portion. 

Lastly, I am hand quilting with two different colors of size eight perle cotton, adding bursts of flash (more "ignite") in strategically placed spots. I will add the same shape to the ends of each ray.

I am making progess, but I won't meet my self-imposed July 31 deadline. Truth be told, I sideswiped myself with a "squirrel" moment. On Instagram I saw a crocheted top made by my friend Debbie of @bluebellridgehandworks. It's so cute on her!

I had to make a run to Hobby Lobby for a couple skeins of Sugarwheel (variegated) yarn, and two skeins of "I Love This Cotton" so I could make a similar summer top for myself. (When I got home, I used my Stanwood yarn ball winder to make cakes.)

A week later, and I have a new summer top.

The free YouTube tutorial is here to make "Confetti Top" by Leonela Cevallos.

It's really quite comfortable, as I can feel the breeze through the "holes" of the crocheted design. I wore the top yesterday to Big Cypress Quilters followed by my weekly visit to Twistee Treat for ice cream - my seventh visit there, but who's counting? I'm collecting lots of reward points in the Sprinkles Club!

Last Friday at Diamond Dotties Club (diamond art painting) group leader Sandy offered a little project to make for $1. I selected this 3"-across seashell, a napkin with flamingos, and used Modge Podge to make myself a ring dish. I used a silver-colored pen to highlight the edge and added a little button for cuteness.

It's fun to make something different, especially when I didn't need to invest in all the supplies.

It's been a good week! Linda

Ignite, and Beyond

The Ignite quilt top is done. Tuesday evening I finished hand appliquéing bias tape to the edges of the pieced center.

The back is pieced too. In the center is the FPPed message and darker values of yellow prints. The lighter values of yellow solids are intentionally along the sides to prevent the backing from shadowing through to the front.

Sandwiching and basting happen tomorrow so as to begin machine quilting yet this week. Then there's big stitch hand quilting. My self-imposed goal is to complete the quilt by July 31. 

Over the weekend I went through scrap bins to cut pieces for the Modern Maze quilt that Big Cypress Quilters are making as an Along. Blocks are to be made in two different sizes, but we're free to arrange the design however we wish. To use as many of my small scraps as possible, I'm making only the smaller blocks that finish at 5½" X 12".

If my math is correct, 40 blocks pieced with 1"-wide black and white striped sashing will result in a 51" X 58" quilt to donate.

I'll be piecing with Big Cypress Quilters today using my little Janome Derby. (Mine is "Turbo Teal.") I'm so glad I bought the machine in June 2015 (I know this because I blogged about it) for only $55.

Continuing to play with yarn, I've finished a few items. I've memorized the Tiny Dolls round loom knitting pattern, so I work on dolls during occasional evening TV-watching. My goal is to making 20 dolls to give again to the local police department.

Thinking ahead to Christmas, I've begun making Santa hats for my grandchildren. Two of the boys have birthdays before Christmas, so that will be an appropriate occasion to gift them.

I made the Santa hat on the left on a 41-peg round loom. Free pattern here.

This knitted hat is also a free pattern. 

As for knitting for myself... oh my gosh. I've not caught onto it! I'm still working on the Summer Soul Top and twice, because of dropped stitches that I can't figure out how to pick up in spite of watching numberous YouTube videos about it, I've had to remove all the knitted and purled rows (called garter stitching) back to the "lifeline" - a row where a piece of yarn or an extension cord has been inserted, to prevent unstitching beyond that point. 

Gray yarn lifeline is about three rows below the needles.

Following directions, I paused in my knitting to try on the top, to see how it fits. I inserted an extension cord to remove the circular needles, then removed the lifeline. Ergh! See the distinct row of wrong stitching? Good grief. I accidentally knitted (or purled) two rows the same (rather than alternating). 

I'll re-insert a lifeline, unravel to that point, and give it another go.

On Saturday I helped the 4-H Club. Four girls made patriotic Sawtooth Star blocks. Since I don't have permission to share all the pictures I took, here's one of the girls with her finished block. 

Four younger children sewed strips together. This is the club leader with the quilt design laid out on tables. When finished, the quilt will be raffled as a fundraiser. 

Things have been hoppin' at Twistee Treat! I've been there four times now, and each time I count at least eight employees working. Apparently it's a popular place in the evenings too. (I didn't take this picture.)

Sunday was National Ice Cream Da, and the official grand opening. Prizes, games, and cheerleaders made the day special, but I opted to stay home and avoid the crowds. Give me a rainy day and I'll happily stand outside to be at the head of the line!

Oh! And let me share that my Australian friend, Ilka White, is again offering her virtual Braided Rag Rug workshop in two sessions the evenings of Saturday, July 25 and Sunday, July 26, for Canadians and Americans. I learned from Ilka and made my first rug in 2020. See my last big rug on our enclosed lanai.

Go here for more info and to register for Ilka's workshop. Linda

Yellow Burst to "Ignite"

I appreciate comments from those of you who weighed-in about the challenges I've faced with my yellow burst quilt top.

Since my last post, I finished hand-appliquéing along one side of the bias tape, so it's affixed to the perimeter of the design. What do you think? 

As you can see, I still need to hand sewn down points of those rays. But I like the contrast between the bias edge and banana-colored background.

Better, yes? 

I also think the quilt top looks better in these pictures because I snapped them with my Canon SX620 point-and-shoot camera. The two-lense camera on my IPhone 14 doesn't capture color very well.

The quilt top is approximately 65" square. 

I've still gotta piece a backing and will used stashed yellow prints for that. Also, in my batting stash I found a piece of Quilter's Dream Puff that I plan to use in the quilt sandwich, perhaps only in the center part, depending on how much batting I have. 

Now I'm feeling re-energized about this project. "Ignited" so to speak. From boring and tedious "yellow burst" to Ignite. Does that sound good? Linda

Powering Through Yellow

If you've been reading my posts of late, you'll know that I've been struggling to design and make a quilt for the MQG's "Pick a Color Challenge" for QuiltCon 2027 (Atlanta). I started this project by looking through scraps to see which color I have the most of - yellow won. 

I asked AI to design something for me, and after looking through several possibilities, I picked one. I thought it looked simple enough to piece, including the pieced the background. Silly me. Perhaps if I'd redesigned this for foundation paper piecing, I might have accomplished it. But since I don't know how to do that, I plunged in "Linda's way." Ha!

I imported the design into EQ8, then: 

• I manipulated the design by drawing lines to define each triangle, and
• printed the design on gridded 8 ½" X 11" paper

Then, I: 

• manually drew a 3" grid on a huge sheet of paper
• manually (square by square) drew the same design onto the huge sheet of paper
• manually traced each triangle, adding a quarter-inch to each side

• individually cut out each triangle, and 
• machine-pieced triangles together. Yes, with nothing but Y-seams. 

Even after picking out and restitching several intersections, the center part does not lay flat. But I went ahead to prep the burst for appliquéing to a background of Banana Painter's Palette Solid. I cut 1"-wide strips of Heat 'n Bond Lite and affixed them to all the burst edges. 

After removing the Heat 'n Bond paper, I pressed the burst onto the 68" X 68" Banana background, and then used Bernine stitch #15 and an appliqué foot to raw edge stitch the burst.

The whole design turned to mush for lack of contrast between the burst and the background. 

A 68" X 68" blob of mush. 

I scrambled through possibilites to try to save this, first thinking to add contrasting thread color to the appliqué edges Perhaps big stitch quiltign? I pulled out my yellow thread possibilities. 

No go. Not enough contrast. Well, maybe the Auriful wool (red spool, center, second from top).

Instead I landed on adding me-made bias tape to the perimeter of the burst. (I've had bias tape on my mind a lot lately because I'm creating a presentation and workshop on the topic.)

Not wanting to add thickness, I first cut away what I could of the background fabric behind the burst. Then, I began hand-appliquéing the bias tape. (Sigh.) 

I'm using Scanfil 50-weight thread, Sew Fine beeswax on the thread going through the needle eye...

... and a Sewline glue stick to baste tape to the edge, covering up the machine appliqué. 

What a wreck, huh? Not only is this taking forever, but I've appliquéd only one side of the tape! My plan is to get it positioned correctly on one side of the tape, and then go around the perimeter again to appliqué the opposite side. (Sigh again.)

Sometimes I feel like such a doofus maker. 

Will Plan F work out? Or is this Plan G?

As for the not-so-flat pieced center, my thought is to use Quilter's Dream Puff batting to add thickness, and perhaps allow poof to ease out wrinkles, followed by strategic big stitch hand quilting. 

I think you'll agree I have quite a way to go yet to make this quilt viable. All criticisms and suggestions for making it better are welcomed. And as always, encouragement is gratefully accepted! Linda