Nough Said HST's

Hello again!

Today one of my favorite quilts is on display over at Moda Bake Shop.  Directions to make it are too.

I've made it twice. 

and I still can't figure out how to piece the red corners without wasting a bunch of fabric.  However, in the hopes of making lemon-aide out of lemons....here are some ideas for what can be done with the 128 "wasted" hsts.

The following designs are each made from 64 hsts.  That means, if you made the 128 hsts suggested in the pattern, you can also make two minis or two pillows, or make the front and the back of one quilt....although please add some fabric around the edges of the back to make quilting easier.

I'm liking the pillow idea.  What layout should I use?

Barn Raising

 

 



 

Broken Chevron

 

 

Broken Dishes

 

 

Butterfly Boxes

 

 

Chevrons

 

 

Dispersal

 

Fenced Pin Wheels

 



 

Fenced Pinwheels - negative

 

 

Flock of Geese

 

 

Harlequin

 

 

In and Out

 

 

One Way

 

 

Plus 

 

Quartet on Point

 

 

Radiant

 

 

Spin

 

 

Spiral

 

 

Tire Tracks

 

 

Zig to My Zag

Are your eyes bugging out yet?  Mine are.  I think I will make two pillows that are inverse of each other....how cool would that be?!  I like Dispersal and Radiant the best....but I think I will let my eyes rest a bit before I attempt them.

Play with those pieces and see what else you can make.



When I made these I added a 2 1/2" border around each block before I quilted it to match the quilt.  It made them perfect for a 20" pillow form.

I'd love to see your projects made from my patterns.  Please feel free to join my Flickr group, Tops to Treasures!

Rainy Wednesday

I wasn't going to play along. I thought it would use up all of the scraps I was saving for other projects. But, I am inbetween projects at the moment, waiting for fabric to arrive, and thought what the heck, I'll try a block or two...

13 blocks later, there isn't a significant dent in the scrap bins, AND it was a very pleasent way to while away a cloudy afternoon. Perhaps I should keep going. 17 more and I can join the give away over at Ellison Lane.

On another note.....I finally sewed together a pile of tiny hsts I'd been hording.

They were left over from my "'nough Said" quilt. Each square is about 15" x 15". What do you think...matching pillows for the quilt, or a mini and a pillow, or two minis,....what should I do with them?

 

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Ta- done!

I've been vacationing this week.  But...we had company (my son's room mate)...and while he was here my dh and I made him this....



Gotta love those half square triangles!

My new favorite place to photograph quilts....the tree in my front yard.  The low branch is just right.

"Papi chulo" is the nickname Christian was given by the other trainers.  We are told it means "handsome".

A closer look at the quilting.  This is "Deb's Feathers" by Deb Geisler.
  I love how it looks on western quilts....like leather tooling.

Now back to my regularly scheduled vacation........



STUDly Mail!

Tis the season for stacks and stacks of mail order catalogues.  It is like baseball or football season.  It has a definite beginning and a definite end.  It commands your attention weather you want to give it or not.  And, it can be a very expensive couple of months.  The only difference.....the catalogue people never go on strike and delay the start of the season.

Yesterday, my plethora of catalogues was spiced with a parcel from Scotland!  Want to see what was inside?

I was so excited that I took pictures without letting the dear little quilt freshen up.  It was beautifully sunny.  The colors in this photo are fairly accurate.  Stunning.

Michelle, a.k.a. LochsideQuilter, included a passel of goodies too.  A charm pack of sari fabric....Sari's are made of  the most beautiful fabric I have ever seen.  This little bundle is a treat.  A card of embroidery thread in Christmas colors dyed in Africa.  A window cling with an intricate Celtic design on it.  And a nice note with a picture of the town she lives in.   I want to live there!

Thank you Michelle for being such an awesome, and internationally minded partner.  It is wonderful to receive a package that has a little bit of the world stuffed into it.

Oak Leaves and Reel

Isn't this cool fabric?  Yup, it's fabric...printed to look like appliqué and half square triangles.  This is my current work in progress.  Formerly a resident in the UFO box, this project was purchased in December of 2007 with the thought that it would be a quick gift.  I do not measure time as some would measure time...lol.

"Oak Leaves & Reel" by Terry Clothier Thompson is a "convenience" quilt produced by Moda.  When finished it will measure 86x86.   

First off let me say that "convenience" might be the wrong word for this project.  Yes, countless hours of hand work were avoided.  The center and outer border are giant faux appliqué.   With another twenty years I might be able to produce a replica of it, ....maybe.  However, the notion that this quilt is somehow easier is probably wrong.  There is a whole other set of skills required here.  Have you every fussy cut something?  You need an engineering degree and nerves of steel.

Over the weekend, in a turkey induced euphoria, Gilbert and I decided it would be a fun project to do for the dogs.  Yup, you read it right.  We thought we would whip it together in an afternoon, free motion quilt it on the Gammell the next day, and have it on the couch by Monday.  (Have I told you that we are not engineers?)

The dogs like the couch in the library.  It is their room, a.k.a. formal dinning room turned book depository.  We got a new couch and moved the old one in there thinking that it would be a nice place to curl up and read.  

Gilbert doesn't like the dogs on the couch.  He boobie traps the room, placing obstacles between the dogs and the precious leather cushions.  He says their claws will ruin it.  I do wonder how a 80 pound dog is going to ruin the hide of a bull, but I respect my fella so I'm not going to argue about it.  I leave the obstacles in place even though it makes the cozy reading room uninhabitable.

Enter me with a bright idea.....not so very as it turns out.  If we covered the couch the dogs wouldn't hurt the leather.  Look, we could make this convenient quilt just for them.  I could practice free motion quilting it.  The dogs won't care how it looks.

The center of the quit is a giant nine patch of faux appliqué. The were ten blocks in the pannel.  While my engineer was busy fussy cutting I played with some free motion quilting. 

Oak leaf before...

Oak leaf after...

I thought that twitch had gone away.  

There is no way I can do this with the grace and efficiency that Waldorff does.  Even if I frog it and start over the quilting won't follow the lines exactly and I know the dogs don't care.  I think in this case we need some more quiltng to destract the eyes, create some faux appliqué puffiness, and secure the quilt from dog claw damage.

This is where I left my sample.   In it's next life it is going to be a big pillow.

Note to self: Base you expectations on an achievable goal.  Accept the limitations of the tool you are using and use it to your advantage.  Human tool = imperfection in repeted patterns, tallent for adhoc fly by the seat of your pants measured chaos.  Computerized tool = stunning symetry. 

Ta-da! & My HST Love Affair Continues

I love it when I finally feel like I'm making progress. This weekend got two tops off of my gift making list...

This quilt, Chevron Star Rising, was made start to finish this weekend. I went to Happiness is Quilting on Saturday morning, after sleeping in. Sewed all of the blocks and half of the rows Saturday afternoon. Finished the rows, border, quilting and binding on Sunday.

I made it as a gift for my son's best friend. Today is his 16th birthday and I wanted to do something special for this boy who has been such a big part of our family for the past 14 years. The quilt has further cemented my love affair with big half square triangles.

I also got this top finished for our youth pastor's new baby boy. I adore the fabrics in this Michael Miller line....Retro. It is perfect for an energetic little boy and his rugby crazed Daddy.  I still have to quilt this one. I'm torn between lightning bolts and stars. What do you think?

I found this little guy on Urban Threads. I think he needs to go on the label.

And, before I sign off for the day, a shout out to another awesome fellow...my sweet husband who cut and pressed fabric for me all weekend while watching football, and cooking. You are amazing Mr. Sharp.

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HSTs, I love you!

Have you seen Cosmo Cricket's new line for Moda?! Circa 1934 is a vintage looking collection of typographic designs. Perfect for the nerds and geeks in your life.

It is rich with color without being over powering and uber-girly. Again, perfect for guys....especially the nerdy and geeky.

I started with a layer cake....just one, because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. I just knew that I had to have it.

My plan was to make a quilt for one of the boys that has been a part of my son's life for the past 14 years. He has been blessed to be friends with two godly young men, and their families, since they were all 2. I love that. This year they all turn 16.

As it has been my habit in the past, I did the same for his older brothers best buddy, I want to make quilts for each of them. (hmmm, have I implied that my son's friends are nerds and geeks......) I do not want to spend a ton of money or time making these quilts. Enter the half square triangle.

First off, they have a really dumb name. HSTs are not triangles at all. They are squares. Imagine, a square bisected on the diagonal. You have two right triangles of equal size, stuck together along the hypotenuse. (We should really call them "half triangle squares", and I would, but then no one would know what I am talking about.) When one triangle is consistently colored darker than the other the design possibilities are endless.

Check out these photos, all made with the same hst blocks by "IamSusie"

When I went to my lqs on friday this is what I was planning to do. I went to purchase a solid that I could blend with Circa 1934. I found the fabric and went to check out. Got out my customer appreciation card....they record your purchase, after 6 purchases they add up the totals and give you 10% back in shop credit. I had $48 and some odd cents. Holy layer cake Batman! Shout out to the gang at Happiness is....Quilting in McKinney Texas - I love you guys! I got a second layer cake of Circa 1934.

I made my hsts on Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday afternoon I sewed them in this arrangement. It looks awesome on a bed.

I used the solid that I purchased to add a border.

Adding leftover blocks, don't ask me how I managed to have extra blocks, I was able to extend the barn raising pattern into the border.

One top down. One to go. Do you think hsts could come to my rescue again?