Author: agilejack

I stayed up way too late last night putting the large rectangles up on the design wall with the stars for this quilt. Then after our walk this evening I sewed them to the stars. That went so fast that I sewed all the small rectangles together in pairs, got them pressed, and they’re all up on the design wall too.

This picture really doesn’t do these fabrics justice. But it gives you an idea of what this quilt will look like when it’s done. I still need to change a few things around, but it’s close to being ready to sew together.

Here’s a picture of all the large rectangles sewn to the star blocks.

By not sewing these into complete blocks first, I can add the smaller rectangle sets and then easily fix things I don’t like by moving the sets around, or even just flipping them over. Plus, I can flip the star block sets over as well. It gives me a lot of flexibility in making this look right to my eye.

This is really going to be a pretty quilt. I just love the way the fabrics all work together.

As I look at these photos I’m making mental notes of what needs to be tweaked. I hope I remember tomorrow night!

I got all my star blocks trimmed and squared up this evening and spaced out on the design wall. After a little bit of tweaking tomorrow night I’ll start adding the KFC fabric rectangles to the design wall.

I just love squaring up quilt blocks. It can really take blocks from looking a little messy and wonky to amazing. These blocks are pretty generous, so it was really easy to trim them.

You can see how crooked some of those trimmed edges are in the above photo. You can also see really clearly in the above photo how there is much more than a 1/4 inch seam allowance outside the points. This means the points will “float”… there will be white fabric between the point of the star and the outside seam. Floating points lessen the need for precision in piecing these blocks… I don’t have to worry about taking too big of a seam allowance and chopping off the point of a star.

All those crisp and clean blocks and that pile of trimmings… so satisfying!

I finished the final five stars for this Kaffe Fassett Collective Lucky Stars quilt this evening. I had thought I’d get more done today, but decided instead to go and visit a friend and her litter of puppies.

I’m pretty happy that I made all 20 blocks and only made one mistake.

Oops. Luckily, I just picked out the stitches and sewed the piece on correctly.

Tomorrow I’ll trim all these blocks to 9.5 inches square and then will get them arranged and all spaced out on the design wall. Once I have an arrangement I like I’ll start adding the rectangles. That’s when it will really get fun!

I had planned to spend most of my day working on this quilt, but decided this morning that I wanted to go visit a friend that I haven’t seen since the pandemic started. She bought a new property and started a new job south of Salem around the first of the year and I hadn’t even seen her new home. The bonus is that she has a litter of 7 week old border collie puppies that will go to their homes next weekend and I hadn’t seen them yet. You might not know this, but I really love puppies! I’m kind of known for it.

So I headed down there at around 1:00 and got to her house around 2:00.

It was really what I needed. Her place is wonderful, located on a beautiful hillside with amazing views. I spent over three hours visiting with her, walking around her property, I ate a gorgeous apple right off the tree, Rico got to do a little herding work with her three crazy sheep, and of course, I got to play with puppies. I even had one fall asleep on my lap while two others slept at my feet! Squee!

I’m so glad I went down for a badly needed visit. I spent three hours and got home around 6:30.

Back to work tomorrow. Another busy week with our fall radio membership drive going on right now. It’s a lot of work, a lot of stress and a lot of pressure.

I’ve been working on more stars, but feel like I’ve been pretty relaxed about it. I haven’t been attacking them feverishly.

And yet, I have 15 of 20 done. And I’m really happy with them! I just love the variation in color and those big prints are so much fun when they’re cut down!

Five more stars to make, then I need to square them all up, and then I’ll start getting it all on the design wall. I can’t wait to see all those rectangles up with the stars. It’s really going to come alive.

I just love making these stars because each one is so individual. Each star point differs from the other star points on that block. And I love the combos of the blocks and points… really some gorgeous stuff going on here.

And, or course, that background fabric is pretty magical. So many people have asked me what it is and where they can get it. I wish I was more help. I do know that if I ever see it in a store again I will buy all of it!!! I have another three yards of it and will save it for something really special.

Holy cow! Look at all the color!

More eye candy.

I just love the pops of lighter blue, the oranges with contrasting blue, the pops of green in the Antwerp flowers…

I was a little ambivalent about the yellow geodes, but I think it’s brilliant in this quilt! It’s really a stand out. It gives a pop of yellow and big pops of green, yellow and purple. Love it!

Rico had his weekly sheep herding lesson yesterday and he was so amazing. We worked on turning the sheep around the post and then we did a lot of getting them into a pen. He was so good… so relaxed… so responsive! I just love watching a dog do what they’re bred to do!

After our lesson we went for a nice walk on the trails on the Washington State University campus. It’s been a few weeks since we did that. It was nice to be out in the trees and off the pavement.

Today, I’m hoping to go and visit a friend’s litter of seven week old border collie puppies. Sounds like a great Sunday activity!

I’ve been waiting and waiting for one final piece of fabric to arrive so I could get started on my next quilt. Finally, it arrived yesterday and I started cutting. And tonight I sewed the beginnings of the first blocks together.

These stars will all be made from an eclectic mix of Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics and a spotted batik background that I bought several years ago and have been hoarding ever since. I just LOVE the way these first four stars are looking and I love all that riot of color with the simple but powerful background. I think this is going to be a really fun quilt.

The quilt will be made with 20 large blocks. I’m using ten different KFC fabrics for the stars. Here’s the star centers divided out with the points for each.

Each of the star blocks will be bordered by large rectangles of the same selection of KFC fabrics. It should have a somewhat scrappy and random feel when it’s all done.

As I had a few days to think about this quilt before the last needed fabric arrived I thought about doing each star entirely from the same fabric. After I tried out some different combos, I decided that a mixed approach was more visually interesting.

I was talking to a friend earlier tonight as I finished up all the fabric cutting and I told her how much I love the process of preparing fabrics for a quilt. I find the pressing, trimming and cutting all very relaxing and satisfying. it’s the first time I really have my hands all over the fabrics and see them in all their glory.

This is all the fabric for this quilt top cut and ready to start sewing.

As of now I have no fabric orders that I’m expecting to arrive in the mail. It feels a little odd.

I feel like I’m not quite ready to start my second Ruffled Feathers quilt, and want something bright and colorful and less chaotic that the last two quilts I’ve made. So I’ve decided that I’m going to remake the Lucky Stars quilt that I made out of batik scraps earlier this year.

Here’s the pattern.

So I went in and made a mess of my sewing room and dug through my Kaffe Fassett Collective stash to find some fabrics that will be bright and colorful and saturated. This selection isn’t final, but I like the color combo.

The background is a batik that I’ve had for several years. I saw it used for a background on a batik quilt that I saw in a shop in Salt Lake City many years ago. The store sold out of the fabric immediately and it took a long time for me to see it again. So when I finally saw it in a shop in Haley, Idaho, I bought five yards because I knew I’d use it eventually and would probably never see it again. I need two yards for a lap size quilt on this pattern.

The black dots are a very free form spatter type thing. I think a light fabric like this is much more interesting than a solid white or off white background. Plus, I do love a graphic black and white with all these bright prints.

Tomorrow I’m going to finish two quilt backs so I can get four holiday gift quilts off to my long arm quilter. I have to get them done if I want them back in time! So I probably won’t start this quilt for a few days.

My friend who bought my Contrast Ruffled Feathers quilt sent me some photos today with the quilting done. It looks so good all quilted. She added borders to make it fit a bed.

I know a lot of people have a lot of trouble with seeing dogs on a new quilt, but it actually makes me really happy! I love to see that someone has incorporated the quilt into their life! No higher compliment to me!

I started cutting the fabric for this quilt on Monday night and just finished sewing the final seam at 11 pm on Friday. Might be one of the quickest makes ever.

I love these fabrics. These close ups of the blocks are so yummy!

The fabric for the backing arrived today. It’s Phillip Jacob’s Spiral Shells in Red. It’s so crazy amazing!!!

I’m putting a full fabric list here so I have a record of it.

Philip Jacobs Glory – Dark

Philip Jacobs Bearded Iris – Dark

Brandon Mably Pomegranate – Black

Kaffe Fasset Guinea Flower – Black

Kaffe Fassett Lake Blossoms – Black

Philip Jacobs Wisteria – Black

Philip Jacobs Spiral Shells – Red

Kaffe Fassett Shirt Stripes – Cobalt

Philip Jacobs Mable Stream – Cobalt

Kaffe Fassett Trefoil – Dark

Philip Jacobs Big Leaf – Purple

Philip Jacobs Shaggy __ Black

Kaffe Fassett Row Flowers – Dark

Kaffe Fassett Persian Garden – Black

Tomorrow I’m going to finish the back for my most recent Aboriginal quilt and the batik wedge quilt I made a month or so ago. They are both for holiday gifts. I have four quilts to get off to my quilter so I can get them back by the holidays.

I may start my new Ruffled Feathers Quilt on Sunday, unless I decide to do something different. I do have another idea brewing.

I had a stressful day at work that ended late, so dinner was late, and so was our evening walk. But I put on my rain coat, reflective gloves, a cap and my head lamp, leashed up the dogs with their lighted collars and off we went.

That meant we didn’t get home until after 9 pm. And then I had a phone conversation with my friend who is also making this quilt pattern with similar fabrics.

By the time I sat down at the sewing machine it was 11 pm. I was able to sew the blocks on row three and four, but didn’t have the drive to assemble the rows. I’ll do that tomorrow night after our dog agility lesson.

The above photo gives you an idea of how I’ve laid out these pieces and assembled the blocks. I did it in a much more free form way than the pattern wanted me to. I just made sure that there was variation in how each block was laid out compared to the blocks next to it.

A friend today was asking how I went about starting a quilt and I explained to her the process I go through when I’ve selected my fabrics and am ready to start cutting.

I read the pattern to decide how much of it I want to follow or how I will alter it. And then I’ll calculate how many blocks I need and how many of each piece for a block. For this quilt, I need 30 blocks in two different layouts. One layout has five pieces, one has four pieces.

I don’t want to go into too much detail about what my notes mean because it will effectively give you the pattern. But I wanted to give you an idea of how I get prepared to start cutting. It’s a little peak into my brain.

This first sheet is my calculations on how many of each piece I need.

This next photo is the sheet that I used to keep track of pieces as I cut them. The number in the center with the square around it is how many of each piece I need. The hash marks are made as I cut those pieces.

Like I said at the top, we had our first evening walk in the rain and dark this evening. It really makes me sad to see the summer light leaving. It changes so fast this time of year. But I LOVE walking in the cooler weather.

I was surprised that we saw a coyote tonight on our first dark walk. You can see him in the middle of the street in this photo.

Rico smelled him before I saw him and that’s what made me look up the street. The coyote was very aware of us and paying a lot of attention. And we just kept on walking.

It’s not uncommon to see coyotes in my neighborhood. I live between two golf courses and there is lots of cover in the area for them to hide. I often hear them howling in chorus at night. I even had one in my back yard a few summers ago… inside a six foot fence. You see them all over Portland. I work with a woman who once tried to coax one into her car, thinking it was a stray dog.

We’ll be doing a lot of walking in the dark this winter, so we need the appropriate gear. And if you live in Portland, good rain gear is pretty much a necessity. I have many rain coats for different kinds of rain, several pair of rain pants, water proof hats with and without insulation, and a good selection of reflective or illuminated accessories. There are no sidewalks in my neighborhood so we have to walk on the street. It’s really important that people can see us! And you have to have really good water proof shoes.

I went on Amazon tonight and bought a new reflective vest for myself, a new red lighted collar for the dogs because this blue one on Bender isn’t bright enough, lots of AAA batteries for my head lamps, and a case of dog poop bags. We’re ready for a long season of dark and wet walks.

In the dead of winter here it’s totally dark at 4:00 in the afternoon. The rainy season typically starts in the first few weeks of October and continues through at least May. It often continues through June.

We’re ready for it logistically, but it makes me sad to see it coming. I just love the long summer evenings.

I decided to omit the blue jumble from this quilt and I think it was an excellent decision. I replaced all the pieces with a mix of other fabrics that already appear in the top. It all feels cohesive now and those Jumble blocks aren’t screaming at me.

I started sewing the blocks together tonight and completed two complete rows. I’m going to continue to finish the rows as the blocks are made so when I’m done, I’m done!

As of now, one-third of this quilt is done.

Here’s a view of it before I started sewing the blocks together. This was taken in daylight so the colors are different. The whole thing seems flat to me.

I really hope I can get a good photo of this when it’s done.

A friend of mine is getting her fabrics together to make her own version of this quilt and she asked me tonight if the blocks were coming out the size they’re supposed to be. Here’s one on my cutting table and it’s almost a perfect 12.5×12.5 block, which is what it’s supposed to be. This has not been squared up.

I’m really noticing that my accuracy in piecing has really improved over the last few months. It’s really nice to have nice square and accurate blocks as they go together so beautifully. Granted, these are not technical and difficult blocks to make. Improved piecing technique might be one of the benefits of this pandemic.

My friend has selected some of the same fabrics as in my quilt, but she’s using more fabrics than I am. It will be really interesting to see how different our quilts look when they’re done.

Here’s a photo of my beautiful blocks when they’re sewn together. They’re so pretty!

I had a very productive evening! I decided yesterday that I would make the black KFC fabrics top next. And tonight I got my fabrics all prepped and cut and this quilt is all up on the design wall.

I’m having a hard time calling this a “black” quilt. There’s just so much vibrant color in all those fabrics.

I still have some tweaking to do before I start sewing these blocks together. And, once again, I’m not sure I’m going to leave the large blue jumble blocks in the quilt. They really stand out to me. I have plenty of fabric left over to cut a couple more squares. I’ll give this a little thought, but looking at this photo… they will probably come out.

The pattern is by Sweet Jane and is called Flowers in the Garden. I purchased the pattern at a quilt store a few years ago, but it’s available on Etsy here.

Here’s a few more close up views of this gorgeous selection of fabrics.

There’s something very satisfying to me about the left over shreds of scraps from cutting out the pieces for a quilt.

Next step is to give it a really good look on the design wall, call it done and start sewing. The blocks are big — there are only 30 blocks in this quilt.