Processing my Ice Road Quilt

After 10 months of thinking about it, my Ice Road quilt finally happened. There was a show deadline looming, so I decided to get a move on and finally create a quilt to commemorate my amazing teaching trip to Canada's arctic town of Inuvik last March.  If you check that post, you'll see the pillow top that I created over that weekend to illustrate another design option for my Improv Under the Influence piecing technique.  That pillow top was the spark for this quilt.

Last year I purchased a FQ box of DS Modern Solids. I've been savouring that box on my shelf but decided to go ahead and create my quilt entirely from those gorgeous fabrics.  I initially thought that I would make 9 blocks similar to that X pillow top, sew them together with skinny white sashing and border the whole works with a 10" or 12" border of white.

As I created the triangle units other ideas popped into my head, so I held off on piecing them together until I could play on my design wall a bit. These are average night time cell phone photos, but you get the idea.

Working the the idea of "road", I tried a linear layout.  This wasn't dynamic enough. All of the joining seams are vertical so there's a lack of movement and interest. I wasn't happy with the lack of oomph (highly technical quilting term, aka "visual dynamics").

What about diagonal? I like the fun angles created at the mitred (45 degree) corners of these improv-pieced units. I played with this in my Light of May quilt.  Unfortunately B and I agreed this had a rocket-ship appearance that wasn't what I was going for.

I returned to the vertical layout, but starting filling in space with solid coloured triangles. Now we're getting somewhere, but for my eye, things were still a little haphazard.

I spent quite some time over a few days daydreaming about what I like and where my work tends to go. I think I can safely say that I enjoy the improv construction a great deal. I also seem to enjoy taming the wonkiness of improv and fitting pieces into structural layouts. Perhaps this comes from my scientific background, or my traditional quilting beginning? I don't really know, but I can say that I'm very pleased with the final outcome. Not to mention, happy that all of those triangles fit together without any math works! They were all cut from chunks of pieced border units using my giant 20 1/2" square ruler on point.

Getting closer!

I know some people thrive on the haphazard (and I thoroughly enjoy so many of those quilts!). Perhaps I am slowly working my way there, but in the mean time, this is my process and this is my quilt.

Ice Road, 2016

I quilted it on my new Juki 2010. Some of it was done with the walking foot, but when the noise got to be too much, I took it off and went with the regular sewing foot. I cannot really tell the difference in quilting quality - there was some pulling and puckering with both feet (spray and pin basted!). I stabilized the straight white sashings first with stitch in the ditch and I purposely did not cross the sashing with any quilting in order to maintain as straight lines as possible and avoid any pulling.  All of the quilting is unmarked, improv straight lines. I follow seams and make turns where I feel like it!

There are more close ups of the quilting, if you click on any of the photos you'll end up on my Flickr stream where you can see more.

I'll let you know if it makes it into the show!

Just (mass)Dropping In With Some Incredible Deals!

It is a bumper week on Massdrop. I'm going to share a few of the drops of notions I use and love myself and fabric I wish I had!  First up is a Clover pin set. You can choose two packages from three options: flower head (I use these for heavier construction like pouches, bags, hemming and for pinning rows of blocks together for transfer from design wall to machine), Patchwork glass head pins (my all time best pins for piecing) or Quilting glass head pins (also fine and excellent, but extra long). I've never met a Clover notion I didn't like and these pins are the best. Whenever I teach, I encourage people to use the fine glass head patchwork pins for accuracy when matching points or locking seams.

The drop is 1/2 way to the lowest price of $12.99 US for two packages. That's a smokin' deal even with our exchange rate (thankfully, our Canadian dollar is on the rise!).

The next awesome drop is for two pair of Karen K. Buckley scissors. If you are like me, you likely have more than enough pairs of scissors, but honestly, the large purple-handled scissors have been a game changer for me since I bought a pair last spring. They have micro-serrations that grip your fabric as they cut and cushy handles perfect if you have arthritic thumbs like me. AMAZING for cutting through multiple layers of batting as well as lightweight slippery fabric like lawn or the pre-washed chambray I just cut out.  All of my current embroidery scissors have dulled at the tip, so I'm going to join this drop for the two small pairs now that the cheapest price has been unlocked and they are 40% off MSRP (this drop is open for 6 more days). Check out the video of Karen introducing her scissors on the drop page.

There are two fabric drops on as well; Lizzy House Butterflies and Denyse Schmidt Franklin + coordinating solids. Both are gorgeous lines that work out to about $2/FQ before shipping.

40 FQ of Denyse Schmidt Franklin + coordinating solids

Massdrop is really working hard to source great deals for our community - they really do listen. Since this giveaway I hosted, they've already offered many of the items that you suggested in the comments! Click through to their site and you'll see many other active drops including thread, a cordless iron, rulers and more.

Disclosure - if you click through from this post, Massdrop will know that I sent you. I am an affiliate and from time to time they send me products to review and host giveaways. I have not received any of the products in this post - I truly do love them and use them myself.  I'm sharing here so you don't miss out.

A Massive Massdrop & More Massive Giveaway!

Last week I received the most incredible box of fabric from the fine folks at Massdrop and I can now tell you about the latest drop going on there. A most massive drop, indeed. It started today at 6:00 a.m. and I am sure it will sell out quickly, so if you're in the market for top quality solid fabric, don't delay!   EDITED: The drop has now sold out but you can still win this box...read on!

I've tried working with solids from many manufacturers, but this is the first time I've had the pleasure of seeing and touching the DS Modern Solids from FreeSpirit Fabrics in person. The colour saturation is incredible and the hand absolutely lovely. While other solids may lack softness, colour depth and/or opacity, this fabric hits a home run in each of those categories.  Admittedly, I have not yet washed it, but I have high hopes for success with this cloth.  Take a look:

The box contains 75 fat quarters, all folded so prettily it will be almost heartbreaking to take them out and start cutting. I mean, couldn't you just turn this baby on it's side and display it in a book case? I have big plans. Huge plans, in fact, for this fabric. I'm issuing a personal challenge to myself to create a quilt using every last colour in this box and piecing it with my Improv Under the Influence technique. I've got my inspiration photo, taken recently on a trip to the Vancouver Art Gallery, and I will set to work just as soon as some other obligated sewing is off the (rather long) list.  To see some beautiful quilts created exclusively with these solids, take a look here.

So head on over to Massdrop and check out the deal...rumour has it if the number of orders climb  high enough, the lowest price will drop to an astonishing $119.95 US!!!!   [Even if you're shopping in Canadian currency, that is a ridonculous deal of about a toonie per FQ.]

What would you say if I told you that you could WIN this entire box? That's right, Massdrop will ship one of these boxes anywhere in the world to one lucky reader of Poppyprint. You are most welcome!! There are two simple ways to enter:

1. Sign up for a Massdrop account by clicking this link and you'll automatically be entered. 

OR (please note that there is one entry per person, so just enter with option 1 or option 2)

2. If you already have a Massdrop account, leave one comment here letting us know what quilting item you would like to see offered on their site. YOUR EMAIL MUST BE LINKED TO YOUR COMMENT, OR YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS LEFT IN YOUR COMMENT! Sorry, but there's no way for us to contact "no reply bloggers", and we'll have to draw another name.

It's an incredible giveaway that will just take seconds to enter. Having a Massdrop account gives you access to super deals, but there is no obligation to buy anything, so I think it's worth a sign up. I've made 3 previous purchases (Liberty tana lawn bundle, Cotton & Steel remix bundles and a non-quilting item as well) and been very happy with them all, as I've been with their top-notch customer service.

Massdrop will randomly select a winner in 5 days' time. GOOD LUCK!!!

St. Louis Leftovers

During a short house-sitting gig in Victoria last month, I wanted to have a quickie project for the evenings.  I grabbed my gorgeous fat 1/8th stack of Shelburne Falls purchased from Westwood Acres, some coordinating Kona solids, a Sketch and Pearl Bracelet or two. I also threw in a couple of Chicopee prints since they go perfectly with Shelburne Falls.  Pre-cutting 4" strips before we left home meant I could just set up Lise-Lotte's sweet Featherweight and piece to my heart's content as soon as we arrived!

The plan was a St. Louis 16-Patch using Steffani's great tutorial.  The 16-patch blocks are huge, so the quilt top goes together very quickly. Depending on your choice of big print, small print or solid, the blocks can look quite different. It was a perfect holiday project that didn't require much thought.

Because I had long F8's instead of Fat Quarter's that the tute calls for (my strips were about 21" long), there were leftover pieced sections after cross-cutting the initial strip sets. They were so pretty I couldn't chuck them, so this table runner was born (thanks to Leanne's encouragement on IG). Like so many modern things I make, this runner doesn't really go with my house - at least until we update the living/dining room, so I think I will gift it to a friend turning 50. Her home is much more modern and I know she likes these colours.

The quilting is simple organic lines, all in Aurifil of various weights. I just chose the colours that coordinated. I'm not fussed about thread weights for quilting, but usually aim for the 28 or 30 wt.  The binding is Kona Grass Green and the backing is 3 different shades of Kona aquas from a FQ stack I have.

Front: 28 wt #5006, Back L-R: 28 wt variegated #4653 2ED, 40wt #2730, 28wt #5003 and 50 wt #4668. The two grey spools are from the V & Co. Simply Color collection and the orange spool is from the Tula Pink box set, both generously sent to me by Aurifil for the Patchwork Please Zakka 2.0-along.

As soon as the 16-patch quilt is actually quilted, I'll share that too. If you've got a bunch of fat quarters to use up, I highly recommend this fun patchwork quilt. You can go crazy with colour, or keep it subdued with a constant solid colour paired with large prints. It would be a great charity quilt pattern for guild sew-ins, or a fun block to swap at retreats.

One Weekend, Three Weekenders

Sigh. Another Mayne Island Retreat has come and gone. Last weekend I spent four days with five lovely women in the comfort of Rebecca's gorgeous home (and sunlit sewing room). Before retreat there was a flurry of emailing, pattern prepping, cookie & lasagne baking and just a little bit of running around gathering supplies for the Weekender Bag.

At first I resisted. My plan was always to make one for my trip to the Fat Quarterly Retreat in London in July. I mean, that's months away! I've got heaps of time! Fat quarters of Denyse Schmidt homedec-weight fabric had been purchased on de-stash long ago and sat piled for this project. Eventually I caved and started THE CUTTING.  You know that I narrowly survived making Amy's Blossom Bag a couple of years ago....you may also recall I said it was unlikely I'd ever make one of her bag patterns again. I'm glad I sucked it up and gave it a whirl. It is a stunning piece of luggage. Yes, I made luggage! Bonus: it's ready four months in advance of my trip!

Side 1

Side 2

Because it was made from fat quarters, there are different prints all over the place and a few unexpected seams (in top and bottom panels), but I really like the combination of prints. The lining is a voile I picked up super cheap at JoAnn Fabrics and an interior zip pocket is lined with Aviary II woodgrain in yellow.  I was so thankful for Diana's recent Pink Chalk Fabric post that showed straps made with hardware. It solved my problem of finding enough length in a fat quarter to make all of the strap required without 10 seams! 

Much has been written about this bag and between the 3 of us that made it, we'd read many blog posts and gathered great advice. Like using 6 bag feet to protect the bottom.

Many people on Instagram asked me if this "was worth it". Absolutely, of course it is! Any gorgeous project takes lots of time and effort. I may not ever make another Weekender (that piping was a major effort), but I am very happy with this one.  As you can see by my label on the inside, it's no "quickie"...

My lining is a bit floppy - I still have to do some handstitching to secure the corners

Here are our fabulous bags together!

Dianne's gorgeous poppies in the middle, Jo Ann's on the right (check her fussy cutting!)

Lest you think we were chained to the machines all weekend, here's a look at some of my favourite  tree bark in the whole wide world, taken from an oceanview train near the house.

Arbutus

In addition to the bag, I also had plenty of time to work on some more scrap blocks for my second "Scrap Vomit" quilt (the first one is a top awaiting basting). All in all, an amazing weekend retreat of friends, food and sewing!

Proverbial Quiltalong (3) - Selecting Fabric

This is post #3 in the Proverbial Quiltalong. If you'd like to see what we're up to, have a look here. Feel free to join anytime. This is a no-schedule, no voting, no judging quiltalong featuring random giveaway prizes just for participating! Here's the latest in the prize line up, direct from Denyse Schmidt Quilts!

A signed hardcover copy of Denyse's amazing new book and a jelly roll

 of her sublime new collection Chicopee hitting stores now!!

Most people have their patterns now, so before we get too far ahead of ourselves (helloooo, people who have already started piecing - you can skip this post!) I thought I'd share the process I went through when selecting fabric for my Blackbird Fly quilt.

Everyone approaches colour and fabric selection from a different place or motivation. I don't have an arts background, nor am I a colour expert. I am often inspired by a single print, as I was for Blackbird Fly.  Folk art-inspired prints are favourites of mine and when I saw this collection by Alexander Henry I was smitten!

I knew right away that I would use the dotty print for a binding (the strip across the top right of the photo). Our bedroom is painted a gentle harvest gold colour, so the buttery and mustard  yellows in the print were perfect. The background is not green, gray, slate or beige. I don't know what to call it, but I liked it!  Using the colour dots on the selvage edge as a guide, I made colour groups of coordinating fabrics, making sure to have a range of hues and print sizes that would ultimately have a scrappy appeal.

The pinks

At first I think B was taken aback when he saw the stacks of pink and he wondered out loud how it was that we were ending up with a pink quilt. I didn't really plan for that to happen; they are all just so pretty!  When you look at the finished project, I don't think it screams Pink Quilt.  That is likely due to the fact that no single strip of fabric in the quilt is wider than about 2" and most are actually less than that. I also chose pink prints ranging from baby pink to bubble gum to fuschia and many that also included other colours.

The yellows

Some solids for a saturated ka-pow here and there

Then I had to work on the background. In Denyse's cover quilt, she defined her letters and background by colour. Her letters are orange and pink, her background is blue and grey. What look do you want? Do you want those letters and words to really stand out and make a statement? Then you need to go for contrast in colour or value.  In my case, I was going for a more restful, blended look, without a stark contrast between the letters and the background.

Keeping that in mind, I chose to focus on tans that were of a similar tone to the French General linen look 'solid' (bottom of the stack).  I had several metres of the French General purchased on super sale and was really excited to finally use it.  I love the look of prints and linen together, even if this is sort of faking it. There is some essex linen/cotton blend in putty (second from the bottom) thrown into some of the background as well. When looking through a ruby beholder, I can see that there is not a huge value difference between the fabrics of my letters and the background. Result: blended appearance.

When all of my rows were pieced together and I had them out on the floor, I made the decision to sash them close together with the French General fabric, rather than separate them with a stark background as in the pattern sample. It made more sense to me that the words of the song were together, not apart. To fill out the queen size, I used Kona Bone along the top and bottom of the word section. That's what I love about this pattern, you can really take Denyse's fabulous templates and make the quilt your own not only with proverb/word choice, but with layout as well. I'll talk more about layout a bit later in the quiltalong once we've started working.  Up next week in post #4: preparing your freezer paper templates and piecing your letters!

If you are participating in the quiltalong and have any questions about fabric selection, or would like to share your choices with the us, please add your photos to the flickr group. It's so much fun to see what others plan to do.

Thanks Sponsors! (use buttons in the right sidebar to link directly!)

    

The Proverbial Quiltalong

 "Let's start at the very beginning , a very good place to start"

-Oscar Hammerstein II, from the Sound of Music

The lyrics to the first dance at your wedding? A cherished poem? Movie quotes? Family names? What text would you like to stitch into a quilt? The possibilities are endless, but I chose my favourite song.

After sharing my Blackbird Fly quilt I heard from several readers and friends that they have always wanted to make a word quilt.  Well, here's your chance!  I made a few calls (well, actually I sent a few emails, but making calls sounded rather pro, didn't it? Like I have Denyse Schmidt on speed dial, hehe), secured some awesome sponsored prizes and discounts, so we're ready to go!

I am so excited that Denyse Schmidt has not only given her permission to run a quiltalong using her Proverbial Quilt Pattern, her company is also sponsoring prizes! Text quilts are all the rage and there are several ways to create them including templates, patterns, free-piecing and applique, but for this quiltalong you'll need to purchase and use Denyse's pattern to be eligible for prizes, kay?

Here's some good news: quiltalong participants can take advantage of sponsor discounts both here in Canada as well as south of the border. Flare Fabrics  is offering a 15% discount on the pattern with checkout code Proverb15 until August 30th. As always, Marlene ships free within Canada. U.S. shoppers can check out Tammy's special price on the pattern at Marmalade Fabrics. Both sponsors have a limited number of patterns available so act fast to secure yours (international participants are absolutely welcome to order from either of these shops as well)!

It's summertime and the livin' is easy (hey, that could be a line on someone's quilt!) so I'm not going to be too formal with a planned out schedule or anything. I'll try and post weekly or thereabouts.  For now, if you would like to quilt-a-long here's what you need to do:

1. Order your pattern from Marmalade or Flare Fabrics or purchase at your local quilt shop
2. Join the quiltalong flickr group where we'll share our progress and discuss any issues that arise
3. Think about what size quilt you plan to make and what proverbs, lyrics, quotes, sayings, poem or collection of words or names you would like to piece. Don't forget, you are also welcome to emulate Denyse's own proverb quilt that you see on the pattern cover.

Let me know in the comments if you plan to play along. I realize there are many quiltalongs on the go in blogland at the moment and that's why we'll be taking it slow (so you have time for all of them!!). After all, it took me a year to complete my quilt. That was partly intentional though; don't let that scare you away. Not only am I slow, but I wanted this to be a mindful project that would be entirely pieced on my Featherweight while on retreats.

While we wait for everyone to get their patterns, I'll post about fabrics and layout ideas so you can start planning. Once everyone has their patterns, we'll have our first participant giveaway!  To be eligible for this first giveaway, a FQ set of Cloud 9 - Across the Pond organics from Flare Fabrics, I want to see a photo of you with your Proverbial Quilt pattern in the flickr pool. That way we all get to 'know' each other, too. I think we're going to have lots of fun and I'm imagining a small, friendly group working through our quilts together.

Thanks Sponsors!

    

Saturday plans and a winner!

The sun in shining in Vancouver, a rarity this winter. I really should head up the mountain for a ski or snowshoe and take advantage.  But it's COPS day! Not to be confused with a policeman's national holiday, this acronym stands for Creative Ongoing Process Session.  My guild felt it was a much more positive spin on the more well-known UnFinished Objects moniker.  So, instead of enjoying the sunshine and fresh air, I'll be sewing with my friends.  Equally enjoyable.  I'm working on a long-standing project for our bed that I hope will be ready for our bi-annual show in June. I haven't really talked about it here, because it's one of those projects that I am very excited about, but I knew it would take a long time to complete and to be honest, I didn't want any pressure or expectation put on it.  Here's a clue,in the form of a picture taken a year ago! Hopefully I'll have more to show you in the coming weeks.

Before I go, congratulations are in order for lucky comment #15.  Oh! It's double N Dianne, the very same who accompanied me on the road trip to acquire the Spring 2012 edition of Stitch for the giveaway!  She's got a copy, so you all get a second chance.  The random number generator was only so happy to try again and this time, #36 gets it. Congratulations to JoLynn at West Side of Straight! 

Have a wonderful weekend. I hope the sun is shining where you are, too!