QAL, 30 Days of Improv

Continuing to work on my "Summer Camp Modern Mystery Quiltalong," led by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr, the husband and wife team of @modernquiltstudio, I put my completed quilt top on-point (the layout I chose), trimmed the sides and did a "victory lap" (so-called by Christa Watson) of straight stay-stitching around the perimeter because the edges are all bias. Ugh. I'm not particularly pleased with the way I trimmed it because the top is not on-the-square. After quilting, I'll have some pretty challenging squaring-up to do.

A couple days ago, Weeks and Bill posted this to Instagram and I found it thought-provoking. It lists six steps in the emotional process of a creator. For me, this pretty-much spells out my typical responses to creating improvisationally. Does this resonate with you too? 

What it comes down to is perseverance. Keep going, even when you hit a roadblock.

Speaking of improv... I've completed my first week of #30daysofimprovqal with Shannon and Amanda.

Though this week's prompt was "stripes," I haven't neglected the overarching theme: scraps. Not surprisingly, I made larger and more blocks than their suggested guidelines.

Prompts are:

• Week 1 - Stripes/Rectangles
• Week 2 - L shapes
• Week 3 - Triangles
• Week 4 - Curves
• Week 5 - putting it all together

Tuesday evening was the monthly meetings of our local, mostly traditional, quilt guild. I seldom attend but I did this time because our guest speaker was Christa Watson of Las Vegas, Nevada. Christa and I have known one another for about nine years. In 2015, I helped promote her book Machine Quilting With Style by making the "Candy Pop" quilt in the book, and offering a book giveaway on my blog. 

It was nice to see Christa, and again hear about her domestic machine quilting process, much of which is similar to what I teach in my own domestic machine quilting workshops. The event was well-attended by about 250 quilters.

Book Recommendation

It's been decades since I read a Stephen King book, so I thought, "Why not?"

Billy Summers is about Billy Summers whose career has been as a hit man. However, Billy isn't your typical bad guy because he only kills people who are bad - they deserve to be killed.

Billy's career path began when he was a kid, and developed when he became a sharp-shooter during deployments to Afghanistan. Now he has decided that the hit next job will be his last. With a $500,000K down payment, and the promise of $1.5M when the job's done, what does he have to lose? The reader follows Billy through his fake identity as a writer living in a lower middle-class neighborhood where he revives the lawn at his house, and makes friends. After months of planning, including a post-killing escape to yet another fabricated life, his plans are interrupted by a 21 year-old woman whose life he saves. 

While I enjoyed the book, and marvel at Mr. King's thought processes to develop such an intricate chain of events, I did not care for the insertion of his negative presidential jabs that he must assume are held by all his readers. Those ruined the book for me.

Linda's score: 3.5/5.0. 

Quordle and my first-guess word "trial"

Like many of you, ever since Wordle hit cyberspace and achieved instant popularity, I've been playing daily word games on my iPhone.

In addition to Wordle, for the past year I've been also playing Quordle. It's Wordle times four... you simultaneously try to guess four words.

This week I was shocked when the first word I typed, "trial," was correct! On the first guess! It's unlikely this will ever happen to me again, so I had to document it.

I'll add that I don't use the same starting word every day. Though when I can't come up with a word, I fall back on "aisle." 

Linda

July, a "Flourishing" Month

Whoo-hoo! There's happy dancing going on here. In July I hit my fifth consecutive month of more fabric used-up than taken in.

And what great output, right? (Back-patting going on here.) Fabrics were used to:

1) face my improv quilt - Alternate Route.

2) complete piecing my Summer Camp Modern Mystery Quiltalong quilt top. Though we're not supposed to share pictures until September 1, here's my sneaky peek. 

3) make my maximalist quilt top. At this point, those small circles are only pinned to the quilt top. 

I made 58 circles in three sizes using Applipops. A few years ago, I purchased Applipops from The Craft Table in Orlando. I use them a lot!

The medicine bottle contains liquid starch that I "paint" on the raw edges of the circle before pressing. 

I backed each fabric circle with a piece of batting. My plan is to hand-appliqué these to the quilt top when the machine quilting is finished. 

4) piece a backing using four-yards of 42"-wide Andover print (2015) called "Wound Up," by Libs Elliott. It seems "made just for" backing my maximalist quilt. 

I always put new fabric into my stash shelves only after it's been washed, so this piece was pretty wrinkled when I pulled it out. I grabbed the can of Quilting & Crafting Fabric Fresh (manufactured by Faultless) that I'd won in an Instagram giveaway in March (National Quilting Month) from Missouri Star Quilt Co. (The spray was sent to me with a wool pressing mat and that Oliso iron, which I love!)

Anyway, that Fabric Fresh spray is pretty amazing! I sprayed the whole four yards, started pressing, and the wrinkles practically melted away. I'm impressed, and want to recommend it. (No sponsorship; just my opinion.) I think it removes wrinkles better than Flatter.

I looked for Quilting & Crafting Fabric Fresh on both the Hobby Lobby website (we're getting a retail store here soon - hooray!) and JoAnn's. No dice.

Back to yippee-ing... 

In July I used 15.34 yards of fabric! And I didn't buy any! Though it was a close call!

In July we drove to Kansas City to visit family, and as always we spent an overnight getting there. This time we stayed in Paducah! Y'all know what's there, right? Hancock's of Paducah. Guess it was fortuitous that we arrived at our hotel at 4:45, and the store closed at 5 pm.

😌

August looks hopeful for using-up more fabric as I am again participating in the 30 Days of Improv QAL (quilt along). 

Shannon @shannonfraserdesigns and Amanda @broadclothstudio are the hosts, and have led this month-long activity for a few years.

In 2022 I participated for the first time. That's when I pieced Harborage, the first quilt I had accepted in the improv category at QuiltCon (2023). It was purchased at QC by a woman named Shannon (not Shannon Fraser). 

Below are the fabrics I'm using for this year's QAL Except for three Painter's Palette solids, all the fabrics came from QuiltCon in Atlanta. The polka-dot fat quarter was in my QC swag bag, and prompted my vendor purchases of Kantha charm squares, linens, and Oakshott cotton.

Shannon and Amanda send an email each Sunday with the follow week's prompt(s). This week we're to make improv blocks that are "stripes, and rectangles." I can't wait to start cutting! I'll use a rotary cutter only (no rulers). 

It's not too late to join-in! Go here to get on the email list. Then Google "30 days of improv qal 2023" to read posts about getting started. 

Book Recommendation

Demon Copperhead, written by Barbara Kingsolver, was published in 2022, and I still had to wait for my turn to check it out from our public library. It was worth the wait.

Demon (neé Damian) was born in Lee County - Appalachia - Virginia to a teenaged, druggie mom. Raised in a mobile home, he shared his childhood with his neighbor and friend, Mackie, until his mom's death from an overdose. Though in the care of the DSS, each of Demon's foster families used him. The kid just couldn't get any breaks. Yet when he was taken in by the high school football coach, it seemed his talents on the field, and future looked bright, until he was injured. 

This book makes a statement about our culture, social services, and growing up in poverty. Though it took 21 hours to listen to this book, it's the most captivating and insightful listening I've experienced this year.

Linda's score: 4.7/5.0

I listened to nine books this month! That's indicative of how much time I have spent in my sewing room. Lots! Linda

Travel Embroidery, Big Stitch Progress

We've just returned home from a long car trip to Kansas City and back. During car-riding time, hand embroidery occupied my time. I opted to work on embroidery rather than wrestle my Prudence EPP project that I'm joining in jig-jaggy rows.

So far, I've mostly backstitched all the outlines of this piece, enlarged and traced from a Sariditty (Sarah Thomas) "sketch quilting" coloring book. Only the top right candy ribbon is chain-stitched. 

I plan to add other stitches - X's, running stitch, lazy daisy, French knot, and stem - to embellish it further. 

Before leaving home, I was still adding big stitch hand quilting to my improv quilt, Alternate Route. I jumped ahead and finish the edges - a faced finish - because I was tired of using a sticky roller to remove all the batting fluff that seemed to be showing up only on the Patriot blue fabric!

I've stitched blue perle cotton onblue fabric; six-strand floss lavender on lavender fabric; blue perle cotton on lavender fabric; and lavender six-strand floss on blue fabric. 

I'm not sure how I'll know when I've added enough stitching, but at the rate I'm going, I'll probably use-up what little of each thread color remains - size 8 DMC perle cotton and Cosmos six-strand embroidery floss. I've been separating each strand of floss, putting it together again, and then waxing it with Sew Fine.

Book Recommendation

Lightening Strike by William Kent Krueger takes place along the Iron River, along the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota. Cork O'Connor, the new sheriff of Aurora, Minnesota, is reminiscing about the summer of 1963, when he was 12.

While on a hike through the woods, Cork and his friend Jorge, come across the body of their friend, Big John Manydeed. Though it looks like Big John  committed suicide, Cork's dad, Sheriff Liam O'Connor works out that it's not. 

Cork shouldn't be involved in the case, but he and his friends overhear conversations, have experiences, and learn things that help Liam in the search for a killer.

This is a story about a loving family, in spite of differences with Dilsey, Cork's Native American grandmother; a young boy coming of age; and resentments in a community of Native Americans and Whites.

Lightning Strike is the prequel to William Kent Brueger's "Cork O'Connor" series. I'm hooked! Iron Lake is the next title in the series. 

Linda's score: 4.3/5.0

Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose takes place in Ireland where three women and their children interact in ways that are seemingly pleasant, but with underlying animosity and distrust. It's about love and distrust.

Ciara is the beautiful mom with the perfect family and gorgeous home that are Instagram-worthy; Mishti is the quiet mother from Calcutta who adores her daughter, but has a not-so-perfect, arranged marriage; and Lauren is the unmarried, laid-back mom ("earth mom") with three children whose partner is a great dad.

Yet as nice as this all looks from the outside, every one of them has a reason to dislike and resent Ciara whose well-planned, picture book life is falling apart.

Linda's score: 3.9/5.0

Today's daily devotional and prayer is just what I need. Maybe you too? Linda

Max Quilt Using Rotary Cutting Rulers

I'm thrilled to call this a pieced top! What a juggle it was to put together! While the block arrangement seemed simple enough, and truthfully, it came together more quickly than I would have though, cobbling it was a challenge.

pieced quilt, 70" X 86'

How did I make it difficult for myself?

Well, though all the units are based on 4" squares... 

• 29 - 4" X 4" Drunkard's Path blocks, cut using a Classic Curves Ruler
• 91 - 4" X 4" triangle-in-a-square blocks, cut using a Bloc-Loc Ruler
• 84 - 4" X 8" and.
• 138 - 2" X 4" half-rectangle triangles, cut using a HuRTy rule

(Yes, this quilt was made with three different rotary cutter rulers!) 

... I multiplied several of the 2" X 4" square half-rectangle triangle into 6" triplet units instead - see units circled in red. Three 2"-wide half-rectangle triangles equal 6". Though mixing up the design like this looks good - more random - arranging and piecing the resulting misaligned units gave me angst.

Below is the photo of the quilt top before I pieced blocks together. I kept referring to this picture, again and again, because I chain pieced units together and kept forgetting which way and where the units belonged after piecing! Still, the sewn top has many changes compared to the original layout. 

Original layout on design wall

But gosh, I'm happy with it. And it's big, just the way I like my quilts: 70" X 86". 

I guess I've pretty-much come to the conclusion that this is a maximalist quilt design, though it could also be designated scrappy.. But to follow-through on the maximalism definition that states "more is more" I'm auditioning a couple of appliqué ideas to add to the surface. Maybe some hand-appliquéd circles in negative (blank) spaces, or narrow bias tape machine-appliquéd across the top in some yet-to-be-determined pattern. Or both! 

Hubs has several times come into the sewing room, seen this on the design wall, and commented: "The Des Moines Art Center would pay big bucks for a design like that" and "I sure wouldn't want to be drunk and see a quilt that looks like this! I'd be... <insert rolling eyes>."

Ha, ha! 😀

The 1,000 of us who are participating in the "Summer Camp Modern Mystery Quiltalong" with Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr, received Installment 6 last Friday. This is the last set of instructions we'll receive which include layout options for our quilts. I've chosen to make a "nap time" sized quilt that's 50" X 78".

For that quilt size, I need 125 blocks that are 5½" X 5½" (unfinished). These blocks, in Installment 6 should get me to that total. 

Now I'll begin cutting background fabric for the layout I've chosen. But no more picture-sharing! Weeks and Bill have asked campers not to share on social media until September 1. That's so late-comers to the along have a chance to catch-up, and not have their experience spoiled by knowing in advance what their quilt might look like. So, I'm aiming for a finish by September 1. 

Book Recommendations

The Three of Us by Ore Agbage-Williams is a relatively short story (4+ hours) about the dynamics of a threesome: two almost lifelong girlfriends, and one's spouse. None of the characters have names, and are referred to as "my best friend," and "my wife's friend," and "her husband."

The whole book takes place on one long afternoon when the best friend has returned from several weeks away, and shows up at her friend's house, ready to drink away the rest of the day as they catch up on each other's lives. When the husband comes home early on a bad day at work, and tries to work in his office, he begins having his usual resentments toward his wife's best friend. 

While the write-ups of this book are about its insightfulness - that it's funny, serious, and entertaining - i can't quite agree. In spite of a strong friendship, would any best friend ever manipulate and impose herself in the relationship of a married couple?

Linda's score: 3.3/5.0

In the book, Never Lie by Freida McFadden, the reader follows a newlywed couple, Trish and Ethan as they're on a winter-time drive to a remotely-located house that's for sale. Formerly, the house was the residence and office of renown author and psychologist, Dr. Adrienne Hale. She's been missing for several years. Intending to meet-up with the real estate agent, Trish and Ethan arrive during the height of a snowstorm. There's a light on in an upstairs window, but no real estate agent. 

Quickly deciding they need shelter, they get into the home. Ethan loves it, and is impressed with its size and bargain price. It gives Trish an ominous feeling. Dust and cobwebs cover everything, and there are no signs of life. But who put food in the frig? Who used the sleeping bag in the attic? 

They locate Dr. Hale's office, and later Trish comes upon a secret room containing thousands of tape recordings that she realizes are Dr. Hale's patient notes. Trish begins listening...  This is when the story begins going backward and forward between Dr. Hale and her patients, and Trish and Ethan. It seems everyone has a secret to keep.

I was swallowed-up by the intrigue, and didn't see the end coming. 

Linda's score: 4.3/5.0

Zero Days by Ruth Ware is her newest book that had me on a library waiting list for several weeks. 

Husband and wife, Gabe and Jacinta (Jack) are involved in an interesting aspect of technology. They're pen testers - people who intentionally try to "penetrate" companies to assess security, ease of access, and give suggestions for improvements. 

The story opens with a harrowing nighttime pen test that ends with Jack being questioned at the police station, facing a nemesis police officer. Returning home to Gabe after such a grueling night, Jack finds that home isn't as she left it. 

Now Jack is on the run, staying one step ahead of the police, while determinedly trying to figure out what really happened. Who can she trust? After she's injured, her situation is even more critical. Time is running out for her to work out the truth.

Though I'm glad to have read this book, as Ms. Ware's stories are entertaining, I was very disappointed that the story was a bit slow-going (repeating Jack's angst), and a somewhat predictable. (With so few characters in the story, who else could it be?).

But most disappointing was the excessive amount of swearing. I'm not exaggerating when I say that the "worst four-letter word" was used at least 100 times. Such profanity is not integral to the story, and made it all very disappointing. 

Linda's score: 3.9/5.0

Linda

Quiltalong, and Scrappy or Maximalism?

While I continue to add big stitch hand quilting to my improv quilt, and should have a finish soon, I've spent most of my sewing room time cutting and piecing. 

Keeping up with Weeks and Bill's "Summer Camp Modern Mystery Quiltalong," I completed 24 blocks for Installment 5. Instructions called for making 23 blocks, but I've occasionally been making a few extra, thinking I will have more options for arranging the design - when we finally learn what it is! - and also for piecing a quilt back. 

As before, Installment 5 block choices were based on my preferences for: running through the sprinkler; sailboating; boogie boarding; swimming in a pool; and using sunscreen! Though the block designs have nothing to do with the activity and are just random names given by Weeks and Bill, sometimes a block looks like its name. For example, the fourth row of five block is "swimming pool." Am I not the only one who can see that? 

Most of my sewing efforts have been focused on making half-rectangle triangle (HRT) blocks with my new HuRTy ruler, and playing around with possible layouts.

Using a big pile of 4" Drunkard's Path blocks, and triangle-in-a-square blocks I made back in 2018, and never found a way to use in a quilt, I've been trying to incorporate them into a design with HRTs.

You might have noticed that my first decision was to make every HRT with a striped fabric and a solid. 

Initially, I was thinking to make a scrappy quilt. But as you do, playing around with designs and seeing different possibilities every day, I found myself heading another way.

Intentionally making "Side A" and "Side B" (reversed) HRTs blocks, so as to give more variety in shapes, one of my latest design iterations has me thinking the design looks more like what I think a maximalist quilt looks like. 

One aim of a maximalist quilt is to achieve "more is more." So I've dug further into stash to unearth more striped prints in every color and scale, and a bigger variety of solid colors. With a new intention of aiming for maximalism, I'm also aiming to make a quilt that's at least 60" X 72". 

You know what I'll be doing for a while! 😊 Then... I see appliqué.

Book Recommendation

I enjoy all books written by my favorite Iowa author - Heather Gudenkauf. Though These Hidden Things was published in 2011, Heather's writing style is consistently good. Her stories take place in Iowa, though most of the locations are in towns with made-up names, except for an occasional mentions of major cities like Iowa City or Des Moines.

In These Hidden Things, after serving five years in prison, Allison has just been released. She moves into a halfway house and anticipates beginning a new life, Neither her parents or her younger sister, Brynn, will talk to her, but Allison is determined to get a job and take care of herself.

She begins working at a nearby book store, and is almost-immediately confronted with past actions, and the crime for which she served time. Because of that, she's even more desperate to get Brynn to meet with her. 

Meanwhile, another young woman is regularly visiting the book store to keep tabs on the shop-owner's young son. She knows more about what Allison's did than anyone else, and she won't reveal any of it... until she's forced to.

Linda's score: 4.1/5.0

Last Christmas I gifted my friend Jody one of my homemade travel trays. This week she sent me a picture of her travel tray being used during a family get-away. Jody wrote "My grand-littles decided it was the perfect sleeping bed for Luigi!'

Too adorable. I love it! Linda

Doin's, and Legos

Here in Florida, we're into the heat of summer (though it's not a whole lot different than a summer in Iowa), with daily temperatures in the mid to upper 90s. I'm still making an effort to stick with my weekly exercise routine of one indoor cardio workout with weights, two line dance classes, and power-walking outdoors twice a week. Instead of afternoon walks, I'm trying to get out a little earlier - by 10:30 am, though I still sweat mightily. When exercise is out of the way, it's sewing room time and this is what's doin'.

Keeping up with weekly installments of the Summer Camp Modern Mystery Quiltalong with Weeks and Bill @modernquilt studio. I haven't tallied all the 5½" square blocks I've made, but it's an average of 20 a week. From installment 4, these are the 22 blocks based on my preferences for going to a: beach, state fair (None compares to the Iowa State Fair - a must-experience!), parade, water park, and an obligatory overnight campout. I'll give Weeks and Bill kudos for coming up with fun options for choosing blocks!

As I've continued to quilt my improv quilt - Alternate Route - it's been obvious that all the handling at the machine and in my lap, has made the batting along the edges shred and fluff, and be very apparent on the bright royal blue (Patriot) colored-fabric. So in the past few days, I really focused on finishing the machine quilting part so as to be able to square-up the quilt and add facing. 

During a lovely two-hour Facetime chat with my friend Maureen, in South Florida, I made good progress on hand-stitching down the facing. 

Now I can complete hand-stitching at leisure. Have you ever done that - bind or face a quilt and then add hand-quilting?

At our June Central Florida MQG meeting, we were presented with a "Choose Your Own Challenge" due at our November 11 meeting. We have four options from which to select - 1) Sustained and Repurposed Quilt; 2) Two-Color Quilt; 3) Half-Rectangle Quilt; or 4) Color of the Year Quilt using 2023 Kona and/or Pantone. 

Having already experimented with a two-color quilt, and determined not to buy more fabric, I decided to challenge myself to make a quilt from stash, with Half-Rectangle Triangles, or HRTs as most quilters refer to them. I invested in Latifah Safari's "HuRTy 1" ruler, with options for making 14 sizes of HRTs.

At first glance, the ruler seems very confusing because both sides are used, but after watching a series of Latifah's short YouTube videos to understand HuRTy terminology, the chart that comes with the ruler, and ruler markings, I started experimenting, making a few sizes of "A" blocks (left) and "B" blocks.

Thinking this HRT design might also fulfill my desire to make a quilt for the American Patchwork and Quilting Super Scrapy Quilting Challenge at QuiltCon 2024 (a minimum of 30 different fabrics must be used), I attempted to design an HRT quilt in EQ8.

While I've never made a quilt according to a design I've come up with, going through such a design exercise helps me visualize possibilities, and launches me into a project. I expect I'll start by making HRTs for a block or two, and begin arranging them on the design wall to see if an arrangement speaks to me.  

Book Recommendation

Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale takes place in London, where 31 year-old Cassandra's life is falling apart. Her four-months boyfriend, Will, has dumped her; the public relations agency where she works as just fired her; she's inadvertently found herself among animal rights protestors, - Is that blood that's been thrown in her face? - and her flatmates have mentioned it's time for her to leave. She and her life have crumpled, literally, into a heap.

When she finally gets to her feet and heads back to her one-room flat, and Will shows up to take her to dinner, she realizes that she's reliving the previous day. How is that possible? Can she change the awfulness of what's already transpired? Can she make Will love her?  Can she intentionally time-travel?

Cassandra is what I would call "an odd duck," with unusual quirks and behaviors. She's intolerant of untidiness; dislikes being touched; and doesn't understand human emotions, yet she has an envious ability to read people's feelings through the aura of colors they emote.

Linda's score: 3.9/4.0

Our Texas grandson Austin,is into Legos as much as his dad was. While Austin was here, he assembled this funky-looking Lego sewing machine for me, purchased as a kit from Sewtopia at QuiltCon 2023. I think it looks companionable with the other Lego sewing machine gifted to me by René of @renecreates. That luscious-looking ice cream sundae is a pin cushion made by my CFMQG and QGOTV quilter-friend Peggy. If only all our sundaes were that much larger than our sewing machines! Ha!

It seems that Lego has also designed a series of floral bouquets. Austin has assembled several of them for his mom who, after returning home, sent me this picture of their dining room table. 

The vase is full of a Flower Bouquet and a Wildflower Bouquet, and it's sitting on top of one of my Kawandi. This particular Kawandi, made in early 2022 mostly with my Grandma's vintage fabric, was one that was selected for publication in the "Utility Quilts" issue of Curated Quilts. I'm tickled that it has a new home and it part of such a pretty arrangement.

Linda