Clearing up

  From under the table  in the "to do someday" box I found these four log cabins from four fat quarters (dark, light and 2 mediums) made in a Marti Michell workshop using her rulers. I thought it was strange to have special rulers for log cabins but in fact they made the cutting and sewing very orderly and very logical.

Stack of folded fabric: the "weight" helps to
hold the ruler firmly in place.

Strips ready to add to the units I've started

 

I folded and layered two more sets of 4 FQs and laid out the resulting strips in size order including a bright pink in all the blocks. 

Last night I arranged them on the spare room floor in an odd arrangement but having done a few conventional log cabins in the past I wanted a change.

Photo does not do justice to the vibrancy of the prints

I've located some Fassett yardage with which to border it probably with an intervening woven stripe.

Locating border fabric

Virtuous sewing

 I have joined the Jelly Roll Jazz blocks and and a right hodge podge they are too. I now realise they are really called Jelly Roll Jive but Jazz seems more appropriate given their clashing nature. I now understand (too late) the process a bit more. The bocks are made by joining 4 WOF strips lengthwise and the cutting the into squares and the squares crosswise into HSTs. If you cut eight 8 1/2" squares and four diagonally in one direction and four in the other direction you can make blocks like the centre two. If you just do four cut half one way and half the other I think you will end up with half the blocks turning one way and half the other so that  lights will meet up with lights and darks with dark from block to block - good to try out with paper first.

Alternative version

I also unearthed some blocks from a Marti Michell class whereby 4 fat quarters were folded and then cut to yield the exact sizes for four log cabin blocks. To add more will be quite a lot of work but it seems a pity to waste them and I now have masses of Kaffe Fassett/Jacobs etc FQ's thanks to the Mary Ann Corp bequest and a Fat Quarter shop fabric club.

The apple fabric was my starting point

There was a lot of the border fabric for the interlocked "rings" quilt and tucked in the folds was a magazine pattern I have long intended to use it for. I assembled some fabrics and got to work only enlarging the border to 6" instead of 4" to make it 49.5 by 59.5. It's a simple straightforward quilt but very likeable. I've pieced the backing and will prepare the binding so it is ready to quilt when I finally have an outlet.

Completed quilt top

In the evenings I am big stitch quilting the strippy from Carolyn's class and enjoying it so much it will be quite densely covered in the end.

Marking central lines with soap.

And those masses of "Kaffes" - I am aiming to convert this 

into this 

Sewing Day

 There was a good turnout for our sewing day on the 15th and lots of lovely items to view. It was so lovely to see all the different combinations of people chatting and to enjoy a few conversations myself.

Wonderful EPP from Stephanie against a background of 
Marigold's quilt

EPP from Jenny this time again with lots of fussy quilting.
Background is the backing for my tablecloth quilt checks around a cheater cloth.

Detail

Beautiful  hand (?) work from Sandra, a lovely quilt sandwiched together.

This week

 This week I have cut out the Drunkards Path units for the border of of my giant nested nested circles and stacked the rest in a pile between sheets of kitchen paper as a compact project to take on our cottage retreat at the beginning of March. The first focus of that time will be working on the piecing elements of our Usual Suspects group quilt with Maggie while Tracy and Belinda make the applique centre. 

The front

The back still unfinished

Meanwhile under my table is a basket of stuff I have put in to do "sometime" but somehow sometime never comes. Recently I have bitten the bullet beginning with two sided log cabin blocks "someone" gave me. The fabrics are old fashioned but I still have such things too and it seems a shame they should go unfinished. At Belsey last year I joined them using strips on one side to cover the seams and have done a bit of handsewing down the strips since I got home. It will get done as and when.

Next up was an unprepossessing  set of blocks rolled round a cardboard tube. To my surprise when unfurled these turned out to be a complete quilt top and in a old fashioned way rather nice. Adding a border to bring it up to a more usable size was short work and very satisfying. There was a lot of the border fabric and it had a suitable pattern pushed inside the folds. I plan to kit it up after the jelly roll jazz blocks are done.

Next up are some jelly roll jazz blocks from a Houston workshop some years ago. I bought two Fassett jelly rolls while out there, one for this workshop and one for Marti Michell's log cabin workshop which I think is buried lower down. I want to make 12 blocks of the jazz quilt so plan to raid the other stash. I obviously lost my way with this doing various variations and none so it will be a hotch potch, but a colourful one.

Jelly Roll Jazz blocks

Oast Quilters UFO Day

 Oast Quilters hold a UFO day twice a year. Slowly people are plucking up courage to meet together and socialise. I think there were 10 of us yesterday and there was quite a lot of conversation  between all of us. And there there was cake and cheesecake too.

Anyway here's what we did though I've missed a couple as one went early and my table companion had packed up.

I assembled my giant nested circles from the Daisy Aschehoug workshop. I plan to add to the sides.

Marcia with lots of tiny
Batik units.

Heather working on a 
complicated bee block

Jenny's Tula Pink blocks

Ingrid's strip units

Deborah blanket stitching applique blocks

Yvonne is holding a quilt sandwich. Fabrics are 
from her daughter's baby clothes and the quilt is for
her granddaughter: three generations.

Sylvie was making disappearing nine patches. I expected one of the usual arrangements but I really like the jumbled effect of this layout - an idea for the back burner. Being all blues is helpful.

 The Anchors Aweigh quilt is finished and labelled too and after completing Sunny and using my transatlantic swap blocks from long ago I set about a quick new project.

37" Square

Fabric detail

Backing same as binding

I watch Jordan Fabrics YouTube videos most weekday mornings while I have my breakfast and have purchased  or downloaded a few patterns from them including this one, "Big & Bold" by Daniela Stout for Cozy Quilt Designs. 

I used a group of very ugly fabrics with a 40s kitchen feel to them or reminding me of French plastic tablecloths, hence the name for this "Tablecloth Quilt"..

The blocks are big finishing at 17" square and I made twelve in double quick time, 3 by 4 to finish 51" by 68", 57" by 74" with borders. Despite unpromising beginnings of an ultra simple pattern and fabrics most would hate I like the finished result except for the same fabric kitty corner, an unpicking and resewing job at the Oast UFO day on Saturday.