Contessa pattern (again), in 30's repro prints

 Good day, and welcome to my quilting blog.

Today I am hemming corduroy slacks I just purchased, but I have been busy this last week, working on a new iteration of the Contessa pattern.  I used this pattern in making a top for my mom, shown in This Post.

I enjoyed the process, so started cutting into my 1930's to 1940's scraps and fat quarters, for another version.  This does not always happen to me.  I cut fabric with wild abandon, not counting.  So I now have enough strips to make two quilts!  And I bought more Kona Snow for the background fabric needed.  

Here are some blocks, laid out on the design floor:

The slight creaminess of the Kona Snow fabric makes a nice background.  Many of my reproduction fabrics have leaves, flowers, or geometric patterns.

But I made an effort to include novelty fabrics with dogs, cats, kids playing, children's toys, etc. for fun.

As soon as I am done with hemming, I will get back to this project.

Oh! but later this week (Sept. 20) it's National Sew a Jelly Roll Day!  Of course I have a new project lined up for this too.  I'll be using the Over and Down Under pattern and some bright batik fabric strips.

Linking up with Monday Musings, Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle and Thread Thursday, Put your Foot Down at the Quiltery, Nina-Marie, Finished or Not at Alycia Quilts, From Bolt to Beauty, Oh Scrap at Quilting is more Fun than Housework.

I have a page on Facebook: keep up with my infrequent quilt and stamp posts at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Viridian61/347674418583948?ref=hl

Viridian

A finish: Clean up quilt

 Good day, and welcome to my blog.

I have a UFO finish to report.  It is the pattern Clean Up by Quilted Twins.  It's a free pattern and can be found on their website.  Links to it in my previous posts:

Start of project is HERE.

Continuation of project is HERE.

Almost a top is HERE.

And now it quilted by a local long armer and bound.  The reveal:

Yes, many small squares, that finish at 1.5 inches.  It uses up a lot of scraps.  It's about 60 by 80 inches in size, maybe?  The Quilted Twins directions are for a larger quilt.

A close up of a corner:

and another close up, showing some really vintage fabrics, some from the 1980's.

No home for this one yet, but I hope to find a charity to accept it.

Linking up with Monday Musings, Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps, Wednesday Wait Loss (she featured my Contessa top - thank you!), Needle and Thread Thursday, Put your Foot Down at the Quiltery, Nina-Marie, Finished or Not at Alycia Quilts, From Bolt to Beauty, Oh Scrap at Quilting is more Fun than Housework.

I have a page on Facebook: keep up with my infrequent quilt and stamp posts at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Viridian61/347674418583948?ref=hl

Viridian

Contessa pattern: a quilt for Mom

Good day, and welcome to my blog. 

I have been busy in my sewing room!  I am making a quilt (now a top) for my mom, and have been consulting with her every step of the way.

She likes bright colors: yellow, orange, red, even to magenta.  I found a set of 2.5 inch strips in these colors, and bought other fabrics to match, as my initial pick of a pattern required extra fabric for background and borders.

The package of strips is from CinBarDesigns on Etsy, and the other matching fabric, including the eggplant batik, came from Creekside Quilts.  CinBar Designs doesn't have this fabric set any more, but she has lots of other pretty batiks.  And Creekside Quilts has a great selection of batiks, and great customer service!

The pattern I chose, with Mom's input, is the Contessa pattern, available for free from Moda.  

I used the eggplant-colored batik, not white, for the background.

The pattern as written makes a top finishing at 60 inches by 70 inches, but I added borders.  A thin eggplant-colored border, then a warm yellow, then a wider eggplant border.  Here is what the top looks like now.

And a close-up of a corner:

I also consulted with Mom as to backing fabric.  The back of this quilt will be as bright as the front.  Our pick, from Backside Fabrics:

This will be arriving this week or next, and then it's off to the Long arm quilter I use.  I have plenty of time to get this project done for Christmas.

Linking up with Monday Musings, Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle and Thread Thursday, Put your Foot Down at the Quiltery, Nina-Marie, Finished or Not at Alycia Quilts, From Bolt to Beauty, Oh Scrap at Quilting is more Fun than Housework.

I have a page on Facebook: keep up with my infrequent quilt and stamp posts at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Viridian61/347674418583948?ref=hl

Viridian

Voyager: I received my fabric and I have a top

 Good day and welcome to my blog.

In my last blog entry I was waiting on some fabric from the Sun Valley fabric line to get going on my Villa Rosa Voyager blocks.  I did receive my fabric and I have been sewing away.  Here is one block:

I was waiting on the center yellow-orange fabric.  Here is the quilt top laid out on the floor, with some keystoning in the pic:

The top is about 58 inches, by 70 inches in size.  And a close-up of one corner:

I am calling this the Autumn Gold quilt.  Autumn colors, yes, but also a lot of gold highlights on the fabric used.  Binding is made and stored, and this top is waiting its turn to go to the long arm quilter that I use.

Linking up with Monday Musings, Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle and Thread Thursday, Put your Foot Down at the Quiltery, Nina-Marie, Finished or Not at Alycia Quilts, From Bolt to Beauty, Oh Scrap at Quilting is more Fun than Housework.

I have a page on Facebook: keep up with my infrequent quilt and stamp posts at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Viridian61/347674418583948?ref=hl

Viridian

Villa Rosa Voyager: A start but waiting on fabric

 Good day and welcome to my blog.

A jelly roll/rollup of fabric (Sun Valley) surfaced in my sewing room.  I think I purchased it 2 years ago.

Beautiful shades of brown and gold, with gold highlights, perhaps more highlights than I normally like.  The fabric strips definitely look better released from the packaging, rather then rolled up.  And I have a pattern from Villa Rosa called Voyager, that would use the 40 strips in a full roll:

But a center fabric is needed for each block.  I ordered a yellow-gold fabric from this fabric line, and I am waiting for it to arrive.  However, I have started sewing strips of fabric together.  I sorted the strips into dark-dark, dark-medium, medium-light, and light-light groupings.  There needs to be some contrast between the two strips, but not much.  I paired the dark-dark strips with the light-medium strips, and the medium-dark strips with the light-light strips.

And cut them to the length specified.

And now I wait.  If the fabric doesn't come today, I will set this aside and start on another project, so that I have something to blog about next week.

Linking up with Monday Musings, Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle and Thread Thursday, Put your Foot Down at the Quiltery, Nina-Marie, Finished or Not at Alycia Quilts, From Bolt to Beauty, Oh Scrap at Quilting is more Fun than Housework.

I have a page on Facebook: keep up with my infrequent quilt and stamp posts at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Viridian61/347674418583948?ref=hl

Viridian

Pinwheel #8 project advances

 Good day, and welcome to my blog.  Today I am reporting some progress on my current project, a pinwheel pattern.

Beginning of this project, and link to the pattern source on Quilter's Cache, is HERE.

Careful pressing is needed for these blocks, with the last seam pressed open:

My blocks came out a little larger than 10.5 inches unfinished.  Better than too small, I suppose.  I trimmed blocks but this led to some chopped off points, as in the brown triangle at the bottom:

Well, probably no one will notice in the final quilt.  I set the blocks with white sashing and blue repro fabric cornerstones, and sewed the blocks into pairs.  Here is where we are today:

Laid out on my floor, in a 6 by 5 setting.  I still need to sew these together.  Then, think about borders.  I have leftover fabric from other quilt projects that I can use for this project.  The pieces are 2+ yards long, of varying widths.

The true green fabric in the middle is the narrowest of the 4 fabrics.  I'll have to unfold and measure these remnants carefully.  Maybe an inner narrow border, and a wider outer border?  We shall see.

Linking up with Monday Musings, Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle and Thread Thursday, Put your Foot Down at the Quiltery, Nina-Marie, Finished or Not at Alycia Quilts, From Bolt to Beauty, Oh Scrap at Quilting is more Fun than Housework.

I have a page on Facebook: keep up with my infrequent quilt and stamp posts at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Viridian61/347674418583948?ref=hl

Viridian

A restart on a really old UFO

 Good day, and welcome to my blog.

My last project is now a top, and is folded up, awaiting its turn to go to the long arm quilter.  A look on the shelf near my sewing machine resulted in the excavation of a gallon plastic bag full of triangles, and a pattern:

That is the Pinwheel #8 pattern, from the Quilters Cache.  The date at the bottom of the printout was 2008, and a search of my blog indicated that I had worked on a pinwheel pattern in 2009.  This traditional pattern makes a 10 inch block (finished) and looks great in 30's reproduction fabrics.  A really old UFO (Unfinished object)!

As I counted the triangles, I mentally counted how much white background I would have to buy.  But a look in my messy sewing area uncovered about 4 yards of Kona Snow solid that works perfectly.   

And four blocks together:

I have about 24 blocks done now, and I still have cut triangles left.  I am aiming for 30 or 35 blocks and a 5 by 6 or a 5 by 7 block setting.  I will also have sashing in between the blocks.  I must consider a border too.  I am sure I have something in the sewing area!

Linking up with Monday Musings, Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps, Wednesday Wait Loss, (she featured my Tidepools top - thank you!) Needle and Thread Thursday, Put your Foot Down at the Quiltery, Nina-Marie, Finished or Not at Alycia Quilts, From Bolt to Beauty, Oh Scrap at Quilting is more Fun than Housework.

I have a page on Facebook: keep up with my infrequent quilt and stamp posts at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Viridian61/347674418583948?ref=hl

Viridian

Tidepools project is now a top

 Good day, and welcome to my blog.  I am writing with current updates on my Tidepools project.

This is a pattern by Scott Flanagan called Plateau from one of this books, Charming Jelly Roll Quilts.  The start of this project is described in this blog post.  I have been sewing away and I now have a top:

The blue-green colors - I love them.

The blue and green fabric strips are from an Island batiks pack I purchased at Karen's Quilting Corner in Williamstown MA - she still has some for sale on her website.  The border fabrics I purchased online at Creekside Quilts.  Creekside Quilts has a great selection of batik fabrics - check them out.

A corner of the top, showing the border:

Linking up with Monday Musings, Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps, Wednesday Wait Loss (she featured my Snowball quilt finish - thank you), Needle and Thread Thursday, Put your Foot Down at the Quiltery, Nina-Marie, Finished or Not at Alycia Quilts, From Bolt to Beauty, Oh Scrap at Quilting is more Fun than Housework.

I have a page on Facebook: keep up with my infrequent quilt and stamp posts at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Viridian61/347674418583948?ref=hl

Viridian

UFO finish: Snowball quilt

 Good day, and welcome to my blog.

I am on a roll.  I took time out from my Tidepools project to finish a UFO.  I am part of the Stashbusters group on groups.io, and my name was ascending on the queen's list.  Although you get to wear the (pretend) tiara and ermine furs, I really don't want to become queen.  Therefore the finish.  It's just a game some of us in the group play.  See stashbusters@groups.io | Home  if you would like to join us - no politics, no religion, just quilty chat.

My finish:  A quilt in a snowball pattern, in late 19th century fabrics: blues, shirtings, blacks, double pinks, reds, and cranberry:

Each snowball block finishes at 4 inches.  I started this in 2023.  I sent the quilt top and backing to a local long arm quilter and she quilted it with a pantograph called Ocean Froth.  You can see some of the quilting in the closeup picture below:

Overall size?  I forgot to measure before writing this blog post but maybe 60 by 68 inches?  64 by 72 inches?  Something like that.

Linking up with Monday Musings, Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle and Thread Thursday, Put your Foot Down at the Quiltery, Nina-Marie, Finished or Not at Alycia Quilts, From Bolt to Beauty, Oh Scrap at Quilting is more Fun than Housework.

I have a page on Facebook: keep up with my infrequent quilt and stamp posts at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Viridian61/347674418583948?ref=hl

Viridian

A pretty new start (Tidepools) and Shadowpoint is a top

Good day, and welcome to my blog.

I've been busy in the past two weeks: a. buying jellyrolls of pretty fabrics; b. looking for patterns for jellyroll quilts on the internet; c. getting books about jellyroll quilts from the library; and d. finding a good pattern and starting a pretty top. 

I am using this book by Scott Flanagan:

It's from 2021 and I am following the directions for "Plateau" but I am calling it Tidepools.

I started with two sets of 2.5 inch strips:

Island Batiks "The Grove" and "Naturally Neutral".  The pattern in the book will take every last bit of the blue/green fabrics, and about 2/3 of the neutral fabrics (or a suitable amount of background fabric).

Here are some of my initial blocks, laid out on the floor:

Although there are tree and leaf patterns on the batiks, I am thinking sand and tidepools.  The blocks work up rather quickly but you must study the quilt diagrams and set them carefully to get the overall pattern.

In other news:

I have been working on my Shadowpoint project since coming home from my visit to my mom.  I bought 5 yards of gray background fabric and this is all that is left after cutting sashing and setting triangles:

But I have a top, part of which is shown below:

Now that it is sewn together, the optical illusion of floating blocks casting shadows is more obvious.  The original plan was to set the blocks of 25 patches together using white sashing.  This is a more interesting pattern, for sure.  The pattern can be found on the Quilted Twins website, under free patterns.  The top is about 84 inches by 101 inches and will go the long arm quilter.

Linking up with Monday Musings, Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle and Thread Thursday, Put your Foot Down at the Quiltery, Nina-Marie, Finished or Not at Alycia Quilts, From Bolt to Beauty, Oh Scrap at Quilting is more Fun than Housework.

I have a page on Facebook: keep up with my infrequent quilt and stamp posts at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Viridian61/347674418583948?ref=hl

Viridian

New project: Shadowpoint pattern

 Good day, and welcome to my blog.  I am visiting my Mom, and she has beautiful iris in her front flower beds.

My project this week:  I have a set of 50+ 25 patch blocks, made when I was sewing down my pile of 2 inch strips of fabric.

I looked at the Quilted Twins website, and found the pattern for Shadowpoint - a setting for 25 patch blocks - just what I had!

I sewed black strips to two sides of my blocks, following directions:

Then added background fabric:

OK, maybe I see the optical illusion.  Maybe not.  More blocks, set in a straight set:

Imagine a light source coming from the upper right, shining on the 25 patches and casting shadows.  But the Quilted Twins pattern showed a diagonal set:

Now imagine the light source coming from the top, and casting shadows.  This I like, and this is how I will sew these together.  If you like this pattern, be sure to buy enough background fabric!  Follow the instructions.

Linking up with Monday Musings, Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle and Thread Thursday, Put your Foot Down at the Quiltery, Nina-Marie,  Finished or Not at Alycia Quilts, From Bolt to Beauty, Oh Scrap at Quilting is more Fun than Housework.

I have a page on Facebook: keep up with my infrequent quilt and stamp posts at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Viridian61/347674418583948?ref=hl

Viridian

Viridian's Chain quilt pattern: a tutorial

After asking a quilt list and my followers here about a pattern I came up with, no one seems to recognize it as a published pattern.  What follows is a tutorial for Viridian's Chain, a 10 inch block:

With sashing and cornerstones that connect the chains.  Here is what the quilt top looks like on my 'design floor', 5 by 6 blocks, without borders:

Here we go.

Pick two colors, color A and color B, to be your chain fabrics.  It can be scrappy, but the fabrics should be quite similar.  I used 1800's reproduction fabrics (a favorite) and red and navy blue as my color A and color B.  Different choices will make the chain 'pop' more.

For each block, you need: 2 3.5 inch squares of color A, 2 3.5 inch squares of color B, 2 2.5 inch squares of color A, 2 2.5 inch squares of color B, and 12 2.5 inch squares of coordinating scrap fabrics.

Sew the central 4 patch squares together.  Press to one side to help nest those central seams.  I pressed towards the blue fabrics.

Sew the coordinating scrap fabrics together in groups of three.  Press seams to either side or open, your choice.  Lay out your patches as in the photo below.

Important:  The direction of the chain of color A and color B fabrics is going to be the same in each block.  In my case, navy blue fabrics run from lower left to upper right in EACH block.

Sew a group of three scrap fabrics to the top and bottom of the block.  Sew color A and color B 2.5 inch squares to the ends of the other group of three 2.5 inch squares.

Sew the sides pieces onto the center piece.  Press the seams inward or outward.  I pressed out to the strip of 5 square pieces.

You now have one block.

Setting with sashing and cornerstones:

Cut sashing pieces 2.5 inches wide by 10.5 inches long.  For 5 by 6 blocks, I calculate 71 sashing pieces, and you will need at least a yard of sashing fabric, maybe 1.5 yards.

Cornerstones:  From color A and color B cut 1.5 inch strips of fabric, sew one of color A to one of color B.  Press to one side (in my case to the navy blue).  Cut off pairs at 1.5 inches wide.  Or you could cut individual squares at 1.5 inches square.

You need to have cornerstone blocks that finish at 2 inches square, and by my calculations, for a set of 5 by 6 blocks you will need 42 cornerstone blocks.

Set the sashing strips and the cornerstone blocks in the proper orientation.

Note the orientation of the cornerstone block, how it continues the chain of color A and color B.  I sewed a sashing strip to the right side of each block first. Press towards the sashing fabric. Then I sewed a cornerstone block to a sashing strip, and added it to the top of the block.  Press seams towards the sashing here too.  All cornerstone blocks are in the same orientation (no rotations!).  When you set the blocks together, keep the same orientation - that is, the same color runs from lower left to upper right.

When you set the blocks together in rows and columns all sashing will be in place, except for the bottom and left-hand side of the quilt.  You will have to add these - watching for the orientation of that cornerstone block.

Here are two blocks together:

And four blocks together:

This group of four blocks became the lower left corner of my quilt top. Note how the cornerstone blocks are all in the same orientation. And how the chains of color A and color B are oriented.

The whole quilt top, again:

The size of the top now is 62 inches by 74 inches.  I am adding borders of the red fabric first, 1.5 inches wide, finished.  Then borders of a blue fabric, 3 inches wide, finished.  I wish it could be a little wider but I am limited by what I have in my stash - I didn't want to buy any more fabric.

I will update this blog entry with a photo of the border, once I get there!

Edited Monday evening:  Here is a corner of the finished top. with red and blue borders:

Linking up with Monday Musings, Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle and Thread Thursday, Put your Foot Down at the Quiltery, Nina-Marie, Finished or Not at Alycia Quilts, From Bolt to Beauty, Oh Scrap at Quilting is more Fun than Housework.

I have a page on Facebook: keep up with my infrequent quilt and stamp posts at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Viridian61/347674418583948?ref=hl

Viridian