Posted on by agilejack

More Scrappy Sewing and Some Planning

I didn’t do a ton of sewing tonight. I played pickleball after work then hightailed it home to get dinner for me and my boys. I had planned on spending some time in my sewing room but spent way too much time on the phone with my brother, my friend, and my pickleball coach.

My brother and his wife were supposed to come for a visit this weekend, but we have snow in the forecast so we decided to cancel that visit and plan a visit in the next month or so.

My friend who is coming to visit in February called to make sure her plan for flight arrivals and departures will work with my schedule. So it looks like we’re good to go. More on this visit later in this blog post.

You would laugh if you knew how much time I spend messaging back and forth with my pickleball coach about pickleball. He is every bit as obsessed as I am! There are evenings when we message each other over the span of an hour or more. That’s not unusual at all. We don’t typically speak outside of our lessons, but occasionally, when there is something too complicated or involved to explain via text that requires a call we do actually talk.

So I didn’t end up with much time to spend sewing tonight.

I did get all the sashing pieces sewn to the 17 blocks I started making last night and I got them pressed and trimmed.

I just love looking at all the details of these blocks as I handle them. That red circular fabric in the center of this one is so good!

Then I cut the additional black and white squares I’ll need to finish these blocks.

I felt too tired to sew all those triangles onto those strips but felt like I wanted to do a little sewing. So I pulled out a small pile of scraps and sewed up some crumb pieces.

I really should spend an hour every week on crumb piecing. I have piles and piles of smaller scraps that are perfect for crumb piecing. Letting them pile up makes them all a little overwhelming. I can always find a use for crumb blocks!

So, about my friend’s visit next month. When she visits we usually make a quilt top so we’ve been planning what we’re going to make. We might be nuts but we think we can actually get two quilts done while she’s here for ten days.

My friend wants to make an Aboriginal quilt like the one I gifted to my brother and his wife.

She will make this from fabrics in her stash and she’ll get all the squares cut before she arrives. We’ll make the sashing and cornerstones after she arrives because I want to show her how I make them in a really efficient way. We should be able to crack this one out pretty quickly.

And the quilt we’ll make for me is from Kaffe Fassett’s new book, Quilts by the Sea. There are a LOT of quilts in this book that I love. It’s my favorite of Kaffe’s last few books. This quilt is called Flower Boxes.

I loved this quilt the minute I saw it. The dark tones. The bright flowers. And that plaid sashing just kills me!

I’ve purchased a few fabrics for this quilt over the last few months when I saw them but still didn’t have everything I need. So I got online last week and ordered what I don’t have. This pattern is for a queen size quilt, but I’ll make it a throw size. In addition to that change I’ll also forgo the cornerstones. Um, yes… there ARE cornerstones in that quilt. And if I can’t see them, there’ s not much reason to add them!

It’s basically the Jewel Frames quilt pattern set on point. This is my Jewel Frames quilt top.

Amazing how setting blocks on point completely changes a design!

Oh, and above my bed in that photo is the portrait of Forrest that my bother has built a wooden frame for. It really needs a frame.

While I was ordering fabric and paying for shipping, I took a look at the KFC sale fabrics and found one I like for the backing for the quilt I’m working on right now. So I ordered a few yards of this one while I was at it.

I like that it has all the bright colors, but what I really like is that is has the black and white bits throughout the design. That made it really work for me with all the colors an graphic black and white fabrics in my new quilt top.

I’ll close tonight with this… several people have asked me what the gizmo on the from of my sewing machine is.

This is a little rechargeable LED light that I bought a few months ago. The seller where I bought it doesn’t carry this any more. But you can find lots of little LED lights like this online. It has a very bendable arm with the LED light on the end of it and you can adjust the light to just about any position and place you need light. I always need more light when I’m sewing! The unit slips into a little sleeve that is stuck to the front of my machine with velcro.

It’s really raining hard here tonight. We’ve got a very wet few days coming and the threats of snow later this week. They really aren’t sure yet how bad the storm will be. We need the water but I’m hoping things stay calm. Portland doesn’t handle snow well! Three inches can shut us down for days!

People are already starting to panic!

28 Replies to “More Scrappy Sewing and Some Planning”

  1. Great progress! And I agree that setting blocks on point not only changes the quilt completely, I think it elevates the design as well. It has more spark! I was not a Kaffe fan when I began quilting, but now I can’t get enough KFC fabrics…on my to-do list is picking a few of his quilts across his books and making a Kaffe series (I am doing Autumn Postcard this winter). BTW I have been going through your old blog posts and your quilts just get better and better. Well done, you!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I came here to say the same thing! Last night I went through the Agilejack blogs to about 2019, and the quilts are getting brighter, better, and more unique. I think I could pick out an Agilejack quilt from a pile of 100 quilts. Thanks for your quilting and for sharing it on your blog!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Wow! Thanks! Now I’m going to have to go through all my old blog posts to see if I can see what you see!

        I definitely have my own style. Definitely not traditional!

        thanks for reading!

        Anne

        Like

    2. I’ve heard Autumn Postcards is a bear! I hope you enjoy the process! I’ve been toying with the idea of making some kind of leaf quilt but it won’t be that one!!!

      I’ve wanted to go through my old blog posts to be reminded of old projects, but there are so many!!! Maybe I can do that on one of my upcoming snowy days! Curled up in a quilt, on the sofa with a delicious cup of hot coffee… and scrolling, scrolling, scrolling! I’d have to set a timer or I could be there all day!

      I’m so happy to hear that you are a KFC convert!

      Anne

      Like

      Reply

  3. Your quilt is looking great.
    Portland’s problems with snow sounds like the U.K’s, only we panic if get 1.5 inches! Currently dealing with flooding everywhere which I hope you won’t get but willing to send water stocks if you’d like 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. My house is on a bit of a hill so I would never have to deal with a big flood. But there are areas close to me that do flood.

      Our snow tends to turn to ice quickly. Add that to the fact that we don’t treat the roads and rely mostly on melting to clear the roads. So when it’s going to snow, you definitely don’t want to be on the roads. the freeways often completely shut down with people abandoning their cars in the middle of a snow storm!

      It’s good that we’re getting this moisture because our snowpack is way below normal. So we need water!

      Anne

      Like

      Reply

    1. I don’t think I’d be very good at running a quilt along! I tend to go either way too fast or can put a project away for a year! I’ve never even participated in a quilt along, for the same reasons!

      Anne

      Like

      Reply

  6. I think the cornerstones in the plaid of the Flower box quilt are there because where the plaid comes together would look odd. You won’t know until you try it. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. > So I didn’t end up with much time to spend sewing tonight.

    > I did get all the sashing pieces sewn to the 17 blocks I started making last night and I got them pressed and trimmed.

    My 2024 New Year resolution is to emulate you in this: set myself up for next steps and use small increments of time to keep progressing! I have projects, both started and planned, and I need to get and keep my rear in gear.

    As for cornerstones, I generally like ‘em. I “presash” my blocks by putting the sashing and cornerstones on each black (rather than making long strips). I’ll be interested to see the technique you teach to your friend.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. A big part of my productivity is efficiency! I love building efficient ways of doing things. Like chain piecing… it makes the sewing go faster. Basically, cut, cut, cut… pin, pin, pin… sew, sew, sew… press, press, press. Voila!

      I also pre sash my blocks. It makes the final construction so much easier. Here’s a blog post from a few years ago showing how I do it.https://agilejack1.com/2020/03/15/finally-cutting-into-my-aboriginal-fabrics/

      I did use long sashing strips on one quilt but that was because I was using a wavy black and white fabric and I wanted the waves to be continuous.

      Anne

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. I am enjoying your blogs and share your love of Australian and KF fabrics. I live in the Interlake area of Manitoba, Canada and have a railway boxcar on my property for a sewing place. I am so fortunate! We had several inches of snow yesterday and woke up to -23 degrees. After I go snowshoeing I will spend the rest of the day sewing. Blog on!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  11. i am so inspired by your works and am in love with the quilt on the bed – ooooH! breathless I am! thank you thank you thank you for sharing all you do 🤗🤩🌟

    Like

    Reply

    1. I use several shops:

      I have a great local shop that has a good selection of Kaffe Fassett Collective and Australian Aboriginal fabrics and also has an online store: Pioneer quilts in Milwaukie, Oregon.

      Here’s the online stores I use most often for Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics:

      Island quilter
      Glorious Color
      Sew Colorful
      All About Color Quilting
      Fenwick Fabrics

      I also occasionally use for Kaffe fabrics:

      Tennessee quilts
      Hancocks of Paducah
      Missouri Star

      Anne

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment