Rapid City miniature

Between storms last night, I put together a miniature Rapid City from Modern Patchwork. I really like how this came out; the taupey grays are very warm and rich, and I think they give this a very elegant flair. It's not quilted yet. I'll probably end up using plain black thread, but if I can some dark variegated thread with a hint of this plummy red, I'll use that instead.

This would be a terrific scrap pattern, either controlled for a specific color way (I'm thinking autumn fabrics, with cream background & brown borders) or just random willy-nilly scraps. I think I'm going to make this my next scrap buster; it uses fabrics a variety of sizes, including some pretty small bits, and she gives very specific directions about how many of each to cut.

Finished Metropolis blocks

I have the blocks for my Metropolis quilt finished! I started on Friday night, and got seven of the nine pieces together that evening. Yesterday I put the eighth strip in, but upon waking up today I realized that the batik (which looked fairly good in the dimmed room we were futilely trying to keep cool) really stood out and ruined the whole bright effect. Not enough saturation to match the other fabrics:

I had my seam ripper out before I finished my first cup of coffee. I found just enough scrap pieces of a nice reddish brown that worked in the batik's place, then I finished off the blocks with a shimmery turquoise. I haven't decided whether to use plain white as the sashing and (wide) border; I could go with a pale turquoise or a warm cream color or something else entirely. I'll probably take a block to the solids row at a shop and slap it up to see what jumps off the shelf. That approach usually works for me.

Too hot to hoot

Despite this horrific weather, I managed to do a little sewing today, almost finishing the nine blocks for my full-size Metropolis quilt (from -- you guessed it -- Modern Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman). I gave up because I didn't want to plug in the iron to press the progress that I did make.

I haven't decided whether to go with turquoise or royal blue for the final strip. I'll have to look in the full light tomorrow morning to make up my mind. The blocks look good so far though, although I can't get my camera connection to work, so for all you know they could look absolutely terrible. Perhaps I am a compulsive liar. I'll monkey with the camera tomorrow -- the cords are probably melted.

Another iron-free job that I managed today was to measure all of the picture-frame pieces for my in-progress quilt based on Tula Pink's Grand Salon pattern. That one should go together pretty quickly now.

Table plans

My weekend plan is to get a new table for sewing, a little lower so my shoulders will stop hurting, and solid pine so I can cut a hole in the top to recess my monster machine. The taupe quilt is basted and waiting for quilting (I intend to use Elizabeth Hartman's technique for orange peel quilting), but the drag of lifting it up and over the bed makes it hard to smoothly make those shapes.

Here's my woodworking plan:

http://bluedinosaurs.com/diy-platform-sewing-table/

Glam Garlands miniature

While we were watching the Olympics today, I found a quilting design that I really liked for the third miniature from Elizabeth Hartman's Modern Patchwork book. Click here and take a look at the purple wall -- I liked the random-angled lines and I thought it would complement these bell-like shapes.

I used a FriXion heat-erase pen to mark a bunch of lines across the quilt. You kind of have to steel yourself to draw across your quilt with black ink! I stitched right across the lines with the walking foot (no free-motion on this one), took it to the ironing board and with one quick pass, the black lines disappeared. Those pens are AWESOME for marking!

I didn't want heavy quilting on this one -- I like the airy effect of these shapes on the white background; it reminds me of a tropical windchime (...hey, maybe that's a good name...) -- so the quilting only took a few minutes. I stitched the binding and the hanging sleeve on while we watched Casino Royale. I don't really get the whole 007 thing. Every single scene, all I could think of was Austin Powers. ("I'm Richie Cunningham, and this is my wife Oprah.") Perhaps THAT would be an even better name for this mini.

Unnamed (12 x 24"). From "Glam Garlands" pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.

August color challenge

The photo selected for the Color Palette Challenge in August reminds me of the "What Is It?" puzzle that used to be on the back cover of National Geographic World magazine. May, June, and July all had vibrantly colored photos, which were well represented in my Closet of  Cotton Delights. Totally different kettle of fish this time -- I might have to dig in a bit to unearth something in this palette. That's what makes it a challenge, though!

Vicki Welsh chose this serene photo for August's Color Palette Challenge.

More Craftsy catch-up

Now that I have some bona fide professional work, my early-in-the-day stitchery time has been curtailed significantly (probably a good thing, since I'd have to change my blog name), but I did manage to make one of the May blocks for the Craftsy block of the month. Fun - I can't believe I haven't done this before. I have a whole box of strips saved from other things, so I might spend a day or two stitching up a whole mess of these wonky log cabins for another nifty scrap project.