October 2014 – Chopin – A Passionate Quilter From Texas

October 21, 2014

Fat Quarter Stash and the Bean Pot Blocks

Greetings from South Texas – where the weather is TRYING to turn into Fall, but cannot quite make it. But it is so much better than the 100’s!

It looks like I have 10 more days before I really become OLD! Yup – Halloween will be flying on my broomstick at the age of 70! Great age if one can still enjoy retirement, quilting, and spending time with Hubby.

Last week, I decided to order some fat quarters and was still looking for Richmond Reds to be on sale! When I started working on Di Ford’s I purchased 2 and 3 yard pieces and then I started working on reproduction blocks. I could have used a lot of fat quarters instead of doing what I did. I was lucky and found some great bargains. Here are some of the bargains I found:

I finally found a good bargain for the Richmond Reds – I was so excited. I love this line and the Ladies Albums by Barbara Brackman.

Now for the real deal – 48 Jo Morton Fat Quarters – They are from some of the older lines – but who cares – I just love the fabrics.

In this bundle I found two border prints that I really liked and wish I could find them – they just might work with Di Ford Quilt. But I am sure that they are long gone, and I am not sure which line they are from. Need to do some Dick Tracy on these. Maybe I would be lucky and find a few yards in someone’s sale bin.

OK – Here we go – an update on my Alexander’s Bean Pot blocks! I have finished 16 blocks – I am thinking that 30 total will make a nice lap quilt for Darryl. I am hoping to get this one finished and quilted by Halloween. Wish me luck. I am really enjoying making this little quilt – not only that it is for Darryl, but the fact that it is fun selecting the fabrics and then making the block within an hour – Nice to see a finished block that did not take 6 hours because of issues!

Sylvester's Bean Pot Blocks -16 — Sylvester’s Bean Pot Blocks

The sashings will be fun to make too. They will be corner 9 patches measuring 2 3/4″ – OH BOY…. I was working on Block 17 when I realized that I had played too much with this one – I was intrigued with the light color fabric and messed up! I also loved the idea of “fussy cutting” the SnS corner blocks – Well YUP – I put the light where the dark should have been and the dark where the light should have been! But – hey – I rather like the look for another project.

Well, hope everyone has a great evening and keep on quilting!

October 14, 2014

On The Quilting Road Again – Alexander’s Bean Pot

What a difference a week makes – The weather has cooled off, and I have risen above the issue with Di Ford’s BOM. I have decided that I will probably make the quilt, but not until the right fabric comes along. So it is now considered “on the back burner”.

Understanding that I needed a project to work on that would be fun, fast, and stress free – LOL – what quilt project is ever stress free – I turned to Civil War Legacies Carol Hopkins, Handfuls of Scraps and Friendship Triangles by Edyta Sitar in hopes to find a pattern to work on.

My quilting buddy Jaydee gave me the Civil War Legacies as she “somehow” ended up with two copies of the book. Speaking of having more than one copy of a book or pattern – I have to admit that I have three (3) COPIES of Elly Sienkiewiczs’ Beloved Baltimore Album Quilts…. I kept thinking that I had not purchased it and kept buying them. Apparently it was one of those times – I call them the “Duh” Days. Jaydee also sent me an early birthday present – the Handfuls of Scraps. Thank you Jaydee!

When looking for my next project, I found Alexander’s Bean Pot Quilt in Carol’s book. So I decided to make a nice reproduction lap quilt that would be fun, yet a learning experience.

The blocks are 5 inch blocks (unfinished) with sashing cornerstones of 9 patches measuring 2 3/4 inches and strip pieced sashings. One of the things about this project is that Carol has provided the cutting instructions for one block because it is a scrappy quilt. That was what I had just been looking for – a project that would require little time spent in doing a test block to see if problems would arise. WHAT A RELIEF.

I am enjoying working on this quilt. I have not made a lot of quilts that have small blocks, and this is a great one to perfect that technique. The block consists of four each 2″ square in a square blocks…. I thought that this would be a challenge, but it has actually become fun making each little block. Selecting different fabrics for individual blocks and cutting them out has ended up being fun!

I have finished 3 and have 4 more that I am working on. For the quilt I will need to enlarge the size from 36 3/4″ x 43 1/2″ so rather than 30 blocks I will probably make 35 or 40.

For a closer view here are individual pictures of the blocks. I am improving with each block and MIGHT go back and correct the 2 blocks that have “little flaws”.

I am also working on my Happy Scrappy and have changed the border – AGAIN! But this time I am happy with the outcome. I will post that one in the next few days.

All in all, things are going well since I have changed projects. It is so difficult sometimes to put a project down to work on another time, especially for we Type A personalities. But I am glad that I did for the time being.

Have a blessed day and enjoy Fall.

October 8, 2014

Where or Where has my Di Ford Mystery Quilt Project Gone?

Welcome to South Texas where we only have tropical weather – YUP – back to the 90’s with high humidity – YEA –

Well, this should have set the mood for this Blog Posting. Saturday I started to work on my Di Ford Mountmellick 2014 Mystery Quilt project. This began 3 days of total frustration and here I am on Wednesday a little on the cynical side of life.

In 2004 I made my first pieced quilt called Cozy Christmas, a pattern from Fons and Porter Magazine. It took me 1 month to complete it and I learned from that project that I knew nothing about quilting. But when I finished that quilt it was perfectly square and all points were perfect.

It was a hard lesson to learn that when a pattern is provided free in a magazine that the magazine ‘assumes’ that the quilter knows everything there is to know about quilting. After the 3rd call to Fons and Porter, I so advised! Lesson learned on that one? No more quilts made from a magazine UNLESS it was a utility quilt, quick and easy for a give away!

OK – 10 years later! I was so excited about the Di Ford Mystery Quilt in the Quiltmania Magazine, I worked very hard trying to find the same fabric that she was using, but by the time I found out about the Di Ford, her 2014 quilt, Quiltmania, and Australian Quilters, I was out of luck for the first border fabric. I told myself – ‘that’s OK’ we will just do another colorway. Remember, this is the year that I am into Reproductions – so am a babe in the woods on selections of fabrics. I worked with a reproduction quilt shop and I chose to use the “Amelia” fabric line for this quilt. It was top dollar price – and I did not mind at the time because I was so excited to start on this quilt.

I selected a background fabric and started on the Medallion. Then in April Darryl got sick and all was put on hold. The only applique I had accomplished on this quilt included the stems, with the other pieces ready to applique but I never seemed to get in the mood, or have the time for to work on it. Since I have now caught up on other projects, I thought this would be the time to “get with it” and start my Di Ford Mystery quilt.

Well, it did not take long to realize that I was going to learn a very very very costly lesson………….Number 1. The background I had chosen did not match the cream in the Amelia line. I told myself, “well, not to worry Nanette – you have plenty of creams”! NEXT….I then sat down and began studying the first border fabric that I was planning on using versus what Di Ford had picked out…………YIKES! Must have been in LA LA Land when I first reviewed Part One! Judie Rothermel’s 25th Anniversary border fabric is ONLY 3 INCHES and my beautiful Amelia border fabric is 4 1/2″……….WOW am I ever having some fun here! It did not take a Rocket Scientist to realize that I had a SERIOUS problem here to correct (if at all possible).

I hit the panic button and started calling my quilting Buddies (like they really needed my problem) I was determined somehow I would make it work. I put in calls to Jaydee and Jan – two of my long distance quilting buddies. Jaydee was the lucky one (?) as she called me back first and calmed me down long enough to realize I needed to make a decision – I could move forward or put it away! Being the Type A Scorpio idiot, I decided I would forge ahead, use this as a challenge and make it work. She spent time with me discussing medallion quilts with borders and how they work. (Jaydee is a little smarter than me – she was going to wait until the entire quilt was published – REAL SMART LADY!)

By Tuesday morning I had decided to re-size the pattern and cut out a small piece of my Amelia border fabric. Tuesday afternoon I spoke with Jan who had already ordered the kit in January and had all the suggested fabric line to make the entire quilt – especially that first border! I told her I realized that this quilt had to have a 3″ border fabric and mine was NOT 3″, but 4 1/2″. We discussed different ways to make it work, but when I tried one of the ways it BOMBED! End of that story.

Jaydee, Jan and I have all agreed that in order to make this quilt come out like it should, the quilt had to have the exact border fabric or forget it!.

OK – so here I am on Wednesday at 2:22 – Nothing more to report – the fabric is back in the drawer for another project and Di Ford’s 2014 Mystery Quilt is gone forever!

To top it off – I was looking at my Happy Scrappy Medallion with the 3 borders completed and getting ready to sew the hexie flowers on when I realized that the last border was sewn on wrong…………………..

I have a date with Mr Ripper ……. Fun Fun Fun

I think I may go get my knitting, sit in my rocking chair and wait for winter! One thing I will not do the rest of the day is to Quilt! Maybe there will be a good segment of Gunsmoke to watch!

Have a Blessed Day and hope you received a chuckle today!

October 3, 2014October 3, 2014

Catching up with Threads of Memory

WOW! I am now caught up with Threads of Memory, finished my Globetrotting, and slowly getting the Hexie Flowers finished for the last border on Happy Scrappy – AND IT IS FRIDAY! Yea!

Based on my Blog on the “Jacksonville” Star and the fact that I was not really happy with the colors, I made one change on the block. I removed the original center and replaced it with a green center square. Here are pictures of the block before and after. I think I can live with it now.