Sunday 28 October 2012

Creative Conundrums

Another Sunday,

Another creative moment.


This week I managed to get another large block completed (4x 20" squares), sewed them all together and then stalled.  I am not sure what direction I want to go from here, do I keep going with the larger blocks or do I sash and add a few more blocks in a pattern around the central square?
I think this is fantastic just like this and I am afraid if I add more strip blocks it will become too much because of all the varying colors, I am thinking that I should break it up with some solid fabric but that means more math (boooo!).
My other concern is because these are pieced on a foundation they are going to be very thick once I sandwich the whole thing plus there are alot of seams which pretty much leaves FMQ'ing out (boooooo!) and I will have to rely on my walking foot (YAY!) to quilt these squares. Do I want to just quilt on my walking foot?  Not particularly, I would love to work in some FMQ'ing. (Math... boooooo)

While I am allowing my brain to munch on this conundrum of what to do with the big square, I've done a couple of things, made a new pressing board which can be found in my last blog post: Re-Purposing Rocks! (Have a read, I need input! ;D)
 One thing I immediately noticed when I first started using the pressing board was the fact that I had to constantly keep twisting and reaching to get to things like pins and scissors and I did not want my big hexie caddie to constantly migrate over to the pressing table. I didn't realize how big that thing is until I started using it on a smaller surface, the base measurement is 8" wide. Ummm... I think I made a mistake when printing out the pattern lol!



To prevent my caddie from traveling I decided to create a hanging caddie with just some basic slots for pens and scissors and a pin cushion.

I worked out the pattern based on strength since I like to use beads instead of stuffing or batting for filler.
I used some found scraps that I had for another project that I just never seem to get around too, I didn't have interfacing so I used some stabilizer and thin batt in the back for a bit of a stiffer body, you could definitely use something much more firm if you wanted a stiff back, I just prefer having a softer back. I feel there is less for the fabric to rub on so it won't wear out as quickly.

The crystal flower clip is a gem of a find, it's a curtain ring clip so it has a nice circular shape plus the teeth for traction, it cost me a whole buck at Dollarama. This thing works so much better than I had thought it would, when I hang the caddy on it the weight causes the clip to actually grip better. (YAY!)

That's all I've accomplished this weekend, I was hoping to have gotten further but gosh darn it life just keeps getting in the way of my sewing time!
Till next time :)

Passionately create something... (yes.. right now :P)
Chris.


Note: Quick edit- I had written at the beginning 4 x 10" block sewn together, that is incorrect, it's 4 x 20" blocks sewn together. (4 x10" block = 1-20" block; 4 x 20" block = 1-40")


13 comments:

  1. beautiful squares - and I like it as a table topper too!

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    1. Fantastic idea Sharron! I'll have to make one now lol!

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  2. I think this looks great as is. Why not add a plain border and then a scrappy border, bind it and be done?

    Something interesting I learned early on from a Jenny Doan quilting class is that the solid border color will make that same color seem to be dominant in the quilt. So if you want it more red, choose red, and if you want the quilt to look blue, pick blue. Gray would be more neutral and not tend to favor any particular color.

    Have fun with it!

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    1. Thanks for the idea Karen :) I love Jenny Doan! I am planning on making on of her quilts for my daughter. She has loads of hints, tips and tricks not to mention just good common sense knowledge :D

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  3. Hi Christina...this looks great. I used bamboo batting for my string quilt purely for the fact that I was worried about the weight, as I also left my foundation in the piece. That made it a bit more bearable. Like you are now thinking, I also quilted in the ditch which was (even with the bamboo batting) a heavy load on the good old shoulders. If I was to do this again I would FMQ the whole thing, seams or not. I did trial that on a little practice piece after and that turned out fine.

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  4. Thanks for the heads up Karin! I will try out FMQ on the block that I messed up and see how my machine likes it.

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  5. That's ALL you did?! You sure are productive! :). I love the mesmeizing effect of your blocks. I will have to go back farther in your blog to see this project and what you mean by it being foundation pieced. I am drawn to it. Thanks for the table clip idea!

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    1. In case you haven't found it, the title of that post is "Celebration", I've included a picture of the back of the blocks I was making so you can see the fabric underneath.

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  6. I learned a lot about myself from quilting. Who knew strips and strings could be sew beautiful!!!

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  7. My hexie caddy is a giant too. My daughter says it looks like a spaceship. When I quilt a string quilt made on a foundation, I use a lightweight batting and I fmq it with a large meander.

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  8. This quilt would look equally great with borders, or simply more blocks. I've fmq similar ones with Hobbs polydown batting. What I do before layering though, is pressing the top really, really flat with lots of steam.

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  9. Hi Christina,
    I'm writing from Sew Sisters Quilt Shop. We are celebrating quilting/crafting bloggers in Canada with Blogathon Canada this month. Would love it if we could add you to the list. Please see our blog for more details: http://sewsisters.blogspot.ca/p/blogathon-canada.html
    Thanks
    Carol

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