Musings on quilting, sewing, fabric and dyeing by Janet Smith ( www.textileart.com )

Here’s another color wheel using Cerulean, Light Red and Tangerine.  This wheel has a lot more oomph!  The steps are more balanced than Color Wheel 1, but could use some tweaking.
 
I used the same procedures as Color Wheel 1, just different color dyes.

Posted under Dye Class, Dyeing, Quilting, Uncategorized

Well, I scrapped the Jewel and Rainbow Over dyes for the large sections:

I’ve been playing with the layout of the sections:

I like this SO MUCH better. The over dyes are fine, but not for this project. The background of the blocks needs to flow when assembled. My original/revised fabric choices created too much ‘choppiness’.

It helps to have SO MUCH fabric and the ability to DYE more! This project reminds me of that ‘Plan Ahead’ sign . . .

Posted under Quilting

I’m pumping out units for Total Eclipse - 20 small ones and 14 large ones - just chugging along and decide to lay out these pieces to see how the blocks will look.

MID QUILT CRISIS !

Did you ever carefully select fabric for a project and then start it and then go YUCK ? Well, that’s where I’m at. Of course, the problem is with the large units (14 of the 19 completed).

I pondered this for a while and came up with a solution or so I thought. I made some more large units with a different fabric (I’m glad Judy Niemeyer lets you make more photocopies so I’m not in trouble with the copyright police.) I laid these out and said: “This is better, but . . .” I’m still not satisfied. I need to change more of the large units.

The light was bad here today (it’s snowing now) so I wasn’t able to take good pictures. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to illustrate my dilemma.

Update: Here’s the before and after -

Posted under Quilting

My ‘Total Eclipse’ project keeps getting interrupted by fabric and thread orders - I am NOT complaining!

I was concerned about the curved seams, so I just had to try one out and voilà!  Almost perfect!

No, I didn’t use ‘That Purple Thang’.  I fell back on my dress making skills and BASTED it!  Yeah, I know it takes more time, but I was able to whip this piece under that 1/4″ presser foot and be successful without batting an eye.

From talking to my customers and reading about techniques, there are many ways to reach the same goal. So, I’ll baste if I need to.  I’m comfortable with basting.  Comfortable makes me happy and happy will get this quilt done!  LOL!

There is one thing I learned about constructing this block - keep the sides aligned so the block comes out square.  It’s probably the most annoying thing about getting it right, but you will be happy with the result.

Posted under Quilting

Ta Da! Only 66 sections to go!

Once you get the hang of the section construction, it’s not bad. I am getting a work out! Way too much moving around which is not very efficient. I need to organize my space better to ‘work smarter, not harder’. :

Posted under Quilting

Yikes! Whose idea was this?!?! Oh, yeah. It was mine. I cut all of the pieces except the corner and side border blocks. Ended up using several ‘baggies’ so my work of cutting art wouldn’t get smooshed. Actually it was good for me that I had lines to follow and short distances to cut. It’s trying to keep a 24″ span straight without going wobbly that’s an issue.

Instead of pinning the template to the top piece of fabric, I used my pattern weights. Just pick them up and move around to cut.

I would add the following to the instructions to make cutting the correct fabric easier:

Posted under Quilting

Oh, boy.  I read through this pattern a while back.  It’s complicated, but sounded reasonable.  Now that I am actually doing it, it’s a different story.

What the instructions lack are a summary of the fabrics needed for each section.  An overview/table of which fabrics for which section would be helpful.  I will add them to my narrative.  Stay tuned, I’m getting ready to CUT and bag!

Posted under Quilting

I’ve made a wedding dress and a Christening gown

and even replaced broken zippers in jeans.

So why I am so inept at piecing?  Don’t answer that.  It’s a rhetorical question.  I think I know the answer.

I love dyeing fabric and I love quilts.  I am always blown away by my customers’ projects.  It never fails when I see one that it takes a while to realize, hey, that’s my fabric!  Such a joy!

Now it’s my turn to try and make a ‘real’ quilt.

Being one to welcome a challenge, I chose the following:

I have my fabric dyed and ready to cut:

I’ll be back in about a week with my ‘baggies’ of pieces.  This will be a hoot!

Posted under Quilting