Virtual Retreat 2016

[JudithA]

Luann, I haven't checked in for a few days, so I just now read your post asking for help to find the Quilt of the Day. I hope you found it.
I always look at the Quilt of the Day by clicking the Home tab at the top left, and then scrolling down. It is always on the bottom left side of the Home page. The Quilts of the Day are always interesting.

Here in Virginia the weather outside is frightful. It hasn't snowed enough yet this winter for the snow to stick to the ground, but we are expecting a huge snow now. My son is calling it "Snowmagedon."

Judy Austin

[JudithA]

Luanne--I like your one block wonder but I doubt I would have the patience to even cut it out. Although--it would make a great leader/ender project. Guess I need to get back to sewing to even consider it.

Thank you ladies for your comments on our newest additions. I will sure be glad when they get enough hair to look like they have hair.

Ritzy,
I joined the Facebook group called One Block Wonder, and on the first post she gives you the name of a very talented lady that has made several you tube videos. One for each step. I saw pictures of these quilts, watched the videos, and went from there. She explained it very well and if we lived closer I'd have you come over and I'd cut it for you! If you want to mail it to me I'd cut it, pin the triangle sets together, and send it back. It really was that easy. Course I'd be chomping at the bit to see them sewn together,,, I'm serious, if you are willing to have them cut from 3 3/4" strips, I know what I'm doing, and I'd do it for you.
When you said you might use it as a leader/ender project I thought, oh I don't know if I could do it that way. If you are good at keeping your pieces always pointing correctly, yes, but I tend to have a hard time switching between two projects unless one is very simple. Just my thought. And besides once you get two half hexie units done, you start wanting to see what each one will look like. I chain piece a certain amount. The videos have her stopping after each seam, I was able to figure out just how to go between the two halves and then start the next one.

[JudithA]

Whew! Gone for a few days (well, home, but my mom & sister were here, as my husband was away on business....) and I've missed several pages! Will have to go catch up!

Luann, I've finally put your blog in my bookmarks and am checking it daily. Love seeing your progress photos! That One Block Wonder is lovely, though I agree with those who say they'd have a hard time cutting up that gorgeous fabric!

Popping in for some help -- I'm making a quilt for my son for graduation, and it will feature a large infinity sign. He asked for this to be done in green & purple (jewel tones) so I bought a "jewel tones" pack of Cherrywood to use for that part (the background is dark blue and light blue, water/sky making a horizon line).

I've laid out the infinity sign many times, and never end up happy with it. I thought this one was "it" until I looked at the photos on the computer; the contrast of the two end colors, meeting in the middle, is just too much I think (the bright green and bright pink/purple). I'm thinking if I make those 2 sections solid/single color instead of mixed, and put one mixed block in the center crossover (where the single blue block is currently standing in...), that will solve it.





Limitations -- the dark green/blue section can't be in the bottom half touching the dark blues of the water, or it gets lost.

I'm open to any suggestions for rearranging the colors, including if we need to scrap this fabric choice and get something different (although I'd prefer to make this work...). Anyone with ideas? I've tried it several ways, and other than the middle section, this is the one I like best so far.....help?!

[genevacarroll]

Hi Heather,
So, my idea is to make the "chain" of the infinity sign all the colors combined. More scrappy. Infinity goes on forever with no start, stop or center. Around and around. I understand the limitation of the background fabric..... Maybe you could outline the infinity sign with decorative stitching or fabric/yarn?

Love your idea and I can't wait to see what you come up with! Keep us posted.

geneva

[genevacarroll]

Really neat idea, Heather. Your problem with the green and blue (Although I really don't think it seems an issue - I like it that way) could be 'fixed' with a small sashing-type trim.binding around the sign. I'm thinking like outline it in black or other colour - kinda like in a colouring book. If that's not good for you, you could try to get the same effect with embroidery or some contrasting stitch-in-the-ditch later.

[genevacarroll]

Or - just leave it like it is. The more I think about it, I like the idea of the 'beginning and ending' - the blue into the green, the green into the blue etc. kinda of blending the infinity sign into the background. Just a thought. I think visually it could be interesting and 'modern' - like the sign 'grows out of the background.

[genevacarroll]

Heather,
To save yourself a heap of checking in on me time, subscribe to my blog by clicking the link at the top right hand side. You'll get the entire post in your inbox when I post one.
As for making a decision about your quilt colors, take the background fabric and lay it out on the floor then arrange your pieces on top. Your flooring could be giving you an altered view. Then if you have a smart phone, or iPad take pictures in color, b&w, monotone, and grey scale. i have found that sometimes I'm focusing on a specific color and not seeing the whole interaction of lights, darks, mediums. Just an idea.

[genevacarroll]

okay, played around in EQ7 and going to lay this out to check, but I think I like it.

Started in the middle with the center star (though I am hoping it "pops" a little more in real life, and will play with that till I get something pleasing) and worked from there. Realized I need both brights on the far side and working inward, and then as I colored, counting the triangles as I went (as I have a set number cut already...), it ended up making this arrow design which enhances the movement of the infinity symbol. Nice! I like that. The star gives the criss cross/scrappy/mixed feeling, and the arrows merge into each other.

I *think* this is it this time, for real. The son likes it, the colors are more balanced, and no jarring contrasts. Hopefully the actual fabrics play well -- this is just approximations using the base fabric library in EQ, I never upload actual fabrics, just use this as a guideline....




Thoughts?

I may still also outline the symbol when I get to quilting, we shall see. In the photo earlier, the darkest blue/green isn't touching any of the darkest dark blues, but one of the first layouts I did, had it that way, and it got lost. When we resorted the triangles to make this layout, some of the "greens" got into the "blue" pile, they really are that close.

Anyway, current plan...going to test it now, and if I like it for real, I will sew it up before I change my mind again!

[genevacarroll]

looks good. I didn't realize the whole picture with the horizon. I guess I missed that in the original pic you shared.

[genevacarroll]

I didn't lay out all of it originally, just described it...somewhere? I think? Yes, it's a horizon (it will actually be 1/3rd sky, 2/3rd water, but when I recolored it in EQ7 that way, I messed up the infinity sign, and when I recolored the infinity sign, I couldn't get it to line up properly. So I'm using 2 different EQ drawings as my guidelines....

There's a long, rambling story, but basically it all started as my oldest is graduating and I saw on Pinterest a graduation themed cake in a Toy Story "to Infinity & Beyond" theme, which nearly made me cry, which gave me an idea for a quilt, which morphed into this.....Water/sky because he likes to scuba dive, and Psalm 139, "if I go into the depths, even then You are there..." Graduation, infinite horizons awaiting him....all of these random thoughts merged and morphed and are becoming this quilt. Ahem. Such is the way my design process works.....which is now way more than you wanted to know, LOL!

Off to sew.....

[genevacarroll]

It's no worries, Luann, I have a little bookmark tab I check daily It's my coffee drinking time in the morning, so I don't mind.

I did lay out the sign with the background fabric around it, but that's a good idea to swap the photo to grayscale/black & white too, to see value. Will do that with this next trial. The background fabric is already cut/sewed into triangle pairs (those are all the little blue squares around in the 1st picture). But I like that idea for future...maybe I'll lay out the extras this time, too....much faster than laying out all the squares.

Thanks!

[genevacarroll]

Thanks for sharing your process, Heather. I love the art of quilting because there is always a story behind every quilt. I guess that's why we have 'Show and Tell' and not just "Show".
love it!

[genevacarroll]

So, here's the final version laid out -- when I showed my son this version, he couldn't hold back the involuntary smile, and said "Whoa....nice!" First version of this part that has had such a response from him, so that is a win! He's not a very demonstrative guy with his feelings, at all, so any show of emotion means he is *really* happy, sad, etc.





After snapping this photo, I promptly sewed the pairs of triangles, so now ALL the triangles for the quilt are sewn into pairs, making a grand total of 306 HST squares, waiting to be pressed and assembled into sections, and then into a quilt top. Whew. As there will then still be borders, and then the quilting......and May is coming up fast......eek. Hopefully I finish in time.

[genevacarroll]

Heather, this is awesome!

Geneva

[genevacarroll]

Heather,
It's going to be beautiful, or should I say 'handsome'.