Dark and warm at the same time.

Halloweeny & fally and warm looking.

I have been sacrificing all other projects, swishing away at all other quilt desires to gain a little more time in working on this quilt.

So I’ve been making progress.   Feeling like finally, I can see the top completion in sight in the (somewhat) near future.

I haven’t started much on the corner squares except for cutting out the templates.

I’ve gotten a good system and a good start on the side blocks being completed. Which makes me happier with the progress from this weekend than last.  But last weekend was a little bit different than the norm.

This weekend I didn’t have Saturday and Sunday to work fully (due to work schedules), and so I barreled on my progress on quilting rather than podcasting. Have topic, will record soon – need more time to work on details than I had.

This quilt has come up much darker than I thought, but at the same time, retained the same feeling.  The dark black and orange is repeated in the alternate & side blocks, while the fun bright blocks are scrappy and changing.

I really like the contrast this pulls out even though it’s dark.

But it’s also light because of all those bright yellows and such.

And the quilt has points, and curves and all sorts of lines to look at.

Here are some more progress pictures that I have been working on the past two weeks or so.

First I subcut my strips into strip segments using templates created from EQ7.

Then as I was cutting the subcuts into the pieces I needed, the template kept slipping away from my ruler.  On New Years, I cut INTO my templates accidentally occasionally, and I didn’t want to repeat that, so I used masking tape.

The edge of the ruler is at the edge of the template. This way I could see what I had already cut and line everything up clearly.

And I just had to move the ruler, this made the strips SO MUCH easier to cut without thinking too much (necessary after this week).

And you know those little corners, also necessary to cut, the tiny little pieces at the corners of the triangles, helped immensely in lining up my blocks later & keeping them without too many puckers.

This is all the discarded pieces making a pie shape on my cutting mat.

I don’t know for sure what I’m doing with these, but an idea is here regardless.  It’s a 10 sided figure it looks like. One of the ‘-agons’

This is a stack of pieces that I haven’t sewn together yet, but it seems like the best solution in the ‘semi paper piecing’ that I’ve been doing.

These become the side blocks. There is a little fudging that happens at the change of direction on the seam, but not a ton. Of course the tucking is minimized by the fact that my pieces are actually cut down to the exact size of the template. Go figure that’s how it works best. LOL.

But the work and thought to the non distracting alternate blocks is paying off.  My initial draw to the black fabric is the best choice, and three of the 4 initial fabrics I purchased for this quilt after making some of the blocks, they have found a presence in this quilt as well.

I am not incredibly fond of orange, and actually after working on this quilt, I want to dive into blues and purples a lot, but I KNOW it expanded my color pallete AND my stash.

I started the pieces of this quilt a year ago or so, and it’s only been hard driven to finish when I noticed my comforter is falling to pieces rapidly.

It’s definitely not one of those ‘quilt in a weekend’ type of designs, and has so many parts to it that of course it’s a slower, longer project than I normally finish.

But, it’s making me feel good to complete. And will be worth my time in the end. I am trying to figure out what kind of quilting designs will work best for this quilt or even if I want to go light or dark with the quilting on it. Or both. We’ll see, I have a long way to go until it’s quilted, but starting to see the end is closer than I think!

I have found a few more favorites for you. I haven’t made a ton of progress on my quilting in the last week (sad trombone) so I thought I’d show you quilting of some of my favorite photos on flickr. Most are quilts, but some are not. Use the colors, shapes, lines to inspire you.

I had some extra time off of work today, so I was able to work a little bit more on my side blocks for my exothermic quilt.

I had 14 sets of paper foundations to cut out for this quilt, now down to 2 sets left to cut.

I took Valerie’s suggestion about a glue stick to join the pieces, so I joined about 10 of these sets together, traced around some other pieces for templates, taping paper to my windows.

Don’t ask why I didn’t think of glue stick on my own. I love using glue stick for quilting & applique.  Anyway …

In helping with some of the paper piecing of my design I decided to make graduated strip sets of orange since I had bought all this orange for the right color for my quilt.  And I really like the effect of these oranges next to each other.

This would make a pretty start to a bargello quilt, don’t you think? (i’m not joining the quilt along necessarily – but something to keep in mind for later).

And I haven’t calculated it exactly, but I think I only need 3-4 strip sets, and this gives some complex colors to a simple(ish) block.

Here is an overlay of some of the paper templates from EQ7.

I found it a little bit hard with the paper templates, so I created some plastic templates for cutting these strips, which meant I got to use my open door with the natural light for my light box. Ahh good times.

Tomorrow is back to work and then after work I may be busy with things other than sewing.

Oh, and last night was our guild meeting, and I got to see the new opportunity quilt that will be auctioned off in July. Wanna see?

I have also not been disciplined enough to always do something on a certain day, or really rigorous in my quilting experiments that I have set up and then long forgotten to get ahead on quilting projects.

But, I am considering having a Marching Along in March where the challenge is similar to Kelley’s May Mayhem and all you have to do is sew for 15 minutes a day in march.

If I want to set up something like that, I have to start somewhere, and what better way than posting a 15 minute challenge results from the last week, and then linking it to Life in Pieces Blog – at least once anyway.

And to spice up the information, it usually goes out with a graphic, so I am trying that too.

This whole week has been taken up by progress on my Exothermic quilt blocks.

Some other rules about the 15 minute challenge that I have set up for myself:

No where do I actually say I definitively have worked for 15 minutes, AND this list for me can include things that make sewing easier that are either necessary prep items or something more than just twittering & blogging.  Also when not journaled correctly, I reserve the right to fudge a little bits on the dates this all happened.

I have the right to change the rules at any time.

More details?

Tuesday, I was finishing up the alternate blocks (dark blocks in exothermic design) by figuring out the corners that I would need to cut off & sew down. I sewed one complete block with corners that day. or was this monday??

Wednesday, I repeated the process of flipping & cutting down the pieces that go on the corners on the remaining 11 blocks to complete.

Thursday, I got a little farther in sewing the corners that I prepped on Wednesday, sewed 8 of 11 on.

Friday, I finished up sewing all the corners on the blocks.

Saturday was figuring out how to best piece the side block, I had to cut out the templates, tape together the paper pieced portion (oh why didn’t I use washable glue?), sew strip sets for the graduated look of the block, cut down the strips for paper piecing the block.

Sunday, I had less time to sew than I had planned, I got all the pieces together and had my puckers on the side block, but I did measure, and it is staying w/in the 45 degress of an isoceles right triangle.

Monday, back at work, I started cutting the paper piece templates for the rest of my 13 side blocks I need to make. Cutting these at lunch did eventually lead to 15 minutes of work, no sewing, but sewing prep and that counts.

That’s my first 15 minute challenge post.

I pretty much know the basics, usually only have to rip out the first stitch. Today I ripped out one that didn’t fit, and a 2nd that I had folded underneath.

Another thing that I did that I do not recommend:

If your paper piecing is too long to print out on EQ on one full page, do NOT, I repeat – do not, use clear packaging tape to tape the pieces together and stick the tape right dab in the middle of the sewing line.

No my needle didn’t feel gummy or have trouble, but when ripping out the paper, boy it was a problem. Some of the tape is still there, but only a very very little, so I’ll let it be.

But I am considering the best way to put the paper pieces together.

You can see I saved myself some problems by doing a few things.

1. I sewed a strip set of the four graduating fabrics and cut all three pieces from that piece.  The bottom red/brown I originally intended to piece separately, but in the strip set it went, made it faster & uniform.
2. By sewing strip sets and boxes, my cross wise grain (or lengthwise grain) ends up on the long diagonal side of this block, which is where a lot of stretch happens.
3. I actually paper pieced the corners of this block, the black and orange middle points separately onto paper – which is where the tape problem is.

Now I had two options (or more) on how to piece this together.

First option is to sew the bottom pieces, then sew on the top orange piece, then using y seams, sew the middle orange pieces (the short legs of the triangle).  This was my first instinct, but not the one I took.

Nay, nay (says a funny comic)

The second option seemed so much better, so much more inspired by the brilliant quilting decision I made over NYSI to piece the middle of my curved block separately from the two outer pieces (here’s a bad picture beware)

So I decided today on my paper pieced block, that I would sew the top 3 sections together, then sew the bottom 3 sections together, and then sew both pieces together. Which was an … interesting choice to say the least.

This lead to some ‘interesting stitching around the corners.  And some bunching of the seams near the center piece.

But the piece is squared up all perfectly nice even along the diagonal. And I swear I did not cut it down.

So I do want to try again with option 1 on piecing this together and see if it’s any easier.  Essentially I’ll be doing the same thing with different lengths of stitches, but it’ll be good to try another way. Experimenting and all that.

And that’s all I did today — too much time taken up with other things.

Twitter followers may be rejoicing now because my camera is finally home again (tired of my grumbling about it) – just in time for Tuesday’s quilt guild meeting.

Leaving my camera at my relatives meant no pictures during christmas, BDSI, or NYSI or the last week as I was making progress on my exothermic quilt.

Yesterday I spent time straightening up my living room & preparing the 3M hooks to hang on my wall for my quilts.

So now I have two quilts on the wall.

At this rate, I may brighten up my house by the time I am 55, I’ll have … uh lets not exactly say how many … let’s just say “more” quilts on the wall. Maybe then I’ll take down my first quilt. Maybe.

Anyway, you may notice a few things.

1. I spray painted the dowels and 3M pieces black because I like that accent color better than white & wood colored.
2. I still have my church up (see episode 6 for the christmas memories episode I think — haven’t listened in over a year) in honor of people who are no longer with me in this life.
3. I have an applique quilt in a hand quilting hoop (haven’t touched it in over a year, still in the same hoop, may take out stitches & FMQ it instead??)
4. I have a few other quilts in progress on quilt racks. I love quilt racks in my house although I don’t really have space for them. A way to pretty up an area and to hold quilts in progress or (eventually) finished quilts that are not up on the wall.
5. I have no problems covering up my windows with quilts rather than shades. I don’t open up the windows anyway, much easier to be a vampire & leave the house dark.  Helps a lot with the weird sleeping when it’s light that I always do in the summer months.

I may try to put up pictures tomorrow of my exothermic quilt.

If you would like to see the progress made on my interesting camera phone and haven’t already, (yes I spammed the hashtag NYSI during new years and new years eve), then go over to my flickr set & see the references to panties & pope hats as I explored the curved seams.

One of the last pictures turned out so poor quality, it actually gives you a sense of value for the finished quilt.

There is a long way to get to this actual point, there are still sashing blocks and the side & corner blocks, which I’m working on now.

But here’s a goal. Maybe by the time winter is over??

I am so glad I switched to these trumpet blocks instead of doing the argyle ones. I liked the grey argyle blocks, and they would have looked very good as well, but each one would have taken way even more time to do with all the pieces.

Anyway, more later. Probably tomorrow.

Follow @scientificquilt

Maybe I didn’t get so much sewing done, but the friendship & the comments were priceless.

And that’s what I’ll remember the day giggling & commenting & feeling good about quilting.

So we asked each other, when do you want to do this again?

And New Years is just around the corner!

So let’s sew New Years on Twitter.

I was intending for me to sew on New Years Day, but there are several people who would rather sew on New Years Eve instead.

So let’s make this hashtag all inclusive for New Years Day & New Years Eve.

I personally won’t be sewing too much New Years Eve, due to work, but I will try to tweet out on New Years Day (early probably).

That and many parts of the world will already be celebrating the New Year by the time it gets to our part of the world.

I am totally not a giveaway person, so don’t expect any of that. But feel free to tweet away with the hashtag #NYSI

I found TweetChat to be very helpful for managing all the comments on Boxing day, and if you have that in the top & post from TweetChat it automatically adds the hashtag to all your tweets!

And I know there are several others who have said they will join me already. Pop in say hi, show off your stuff.

Start the new year off right or end the new year with a bang. A sewing bang.

See you then!

I have an image on flickr that you can download & use if you would like. Find it here. Click View all sizes, and use whatever size you want. Or try this link to view all sizes of NYSI.

Posting & recording this on Christmas Day.  Things have been … interesting in the last week to say the least.  Sorta rambly, let’s just go with it.

Podcasts I listen to that are not quilting related. Including links below, but I personally do not use links of sites to listen to. Best bet, highlight & paste into your favorite podcast catcher the following titles.

General Radio converted into Podcasts

• Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me (NPR)
• This American Life
• Freakonomics Radio
• Radio Lab
• The Splendid Table

Semi Professional General

• The Sporkful
• How Much Do We Love
• Manic Mommies

Science Based

• Star Talk
• Stuff to Blow Your Mind (How stuff works)
• Lab Out Loud
• 60 Second Science
• Dr. Karl’s Great Moments in Science
• The Naked Scientist Podcast
• Hmm…Krulwich on Science
• Skeptoid (not mentioned in the podcast – critical thinking podcast)

Educational & Fun

• Stuff you Should Know (How Stuff Works)
• Tech Stuff  (How Stuff Works)
• Grammar Girl (Quick & Dirty Tips)
• Get it Done Guy (Quick & Dirty Tips)
• Nutrition Diva (Quick & Dirty Tips)
• Public Speaker (Quick & Dirty Tips)
• Coffee Break Spanish
• Speech Smarts

How to Podcast Podcasts

• Audacity to Podcast
• School of Podcasting
• Podcaster’s Studio
• Podcast Quick Tips
• Podcast Answer Man
• Podcast Guy

Crafty Podcasts (non quilting)

• Seamed Up
• CaithnessCraftCollective
• Happy Crafter 207
• Cast On
• CraftLife
• Grandmas Sewing Cabinet
• Creative Mom Podcast
• Crafty Pod
• Craft Sanity
• Craft Cast
• Stitching N Junk (explicit)
• Artists Helping Artists
• Notes from the Voodoo Lounge
• Sew Forth Now (fashion sewing – failed to mention in podcast)

Books & Lit

• CraftLit
• Forgotten Classics

Are there more to add that are FANTASTIC podcasts? What do you listen to & why?

See you tomorrow for Boxing Day Sew In BDSI #BDSI

See you on Twitter. Just put in hashtag BDSI. Use TweetChat to help you sort it out. I will.

Additional Music

A Podcast Christmas Theme (edited by me) by Tom Shad

Carol of the Bells by Doug Astrop

Still have 2 presents to buy, but I have most of the rest done, except for wrapping.

And I have not promised anything (*edited* crafty) for christmas to anyone in my family.

Granted I have a giveaway quilt that I started 2 months ago that eventually will go out, but that’s not christmas related. I don’t like the pieced back I made at all right now anyway.

And now there’s little time before a family party this afternoon an hour away.

And since I’m so sick of orange & orange fabric, I thought I’d share & harken back to a UFO I started in February.

I made a weave quilt top center (okay not pieced together, but I have it all laid out ready to piece – blocks are done).

And for a while I put it aside to think about the borders.

And in October I came up with the borders for this quilt.

Well don’t have the corners done, but I want this weaved design for the borders. “Chevron-esqe”

And here is a graphical picture of the block I created.

And I was wondering exactly how to do this.

So half square triangles of blue & red, with yellow 1/2 inch strip in between.

I have part of it figured out, but I need to do some calculating for the other part.

I have no problem with making bias tape for the part that travels over the red. And I have some made.

But the problem is going to be with the bias & the blue portions.

Here’s part of my blocks right now.

I will probably calculate the angle this is hitting & create a blue block that has a yellow stripe naturally in the middle, which is what I should have done first anyway,

but I think things backwards most of the time. Still have to create & recreate scenarios in my head & make the mistakes before settling in.

Anyway this is where I am at.  Well I have been starting more on the Journey Steps quilt too. Needed to remove myself from the orange.

I was reading an article about being ineffective & for sure that’s me. Don’t focus, don’t put things away, don’t stick w/ one project before moving to the next.

But that’s me.  And that was sewing today. & yesterday was shopping and later this week is wrapping & wrapping up shopping.

Good holidays if I don’t make it back in time.

Can’t wait to share progress on my hexagon periodic table quilt – coming soon!

Let me explain … no there is too much … lemme sum up.

• I need a quilt for my bed see
• I was in a defunct swap of hot flashes see  see
• I made some choices about the design to have darker alternate blocks see
• I threw away (for another project) the borders for this quilt see
• I decided the black was too black reworked the design again see
• I cut out tons of papers for paper piecing & made 1 block on retreat see
• Then friday, “well I don’t like the grey”
• Looking at new design
• Then saturday, made a different block with my currently purchased fabrics
• “that looks like poo”.
• “Make it look like the picture  [EQ drawing]“. “That’s what I want”
• Buying several orange fabrics that are now the right color.
• Prewash batiks before cutting

Wanting to throw the whole thing out now.

But I still need a quilt for the bed.

Have to get over a hump in creating & be all Nike “just do it”.

The picture evidence of my quilting frustration

Here’s a picture to the block that I finished per the original design.

And here’s how it looked in the middle of the brighter blocks.

Which this block I could live with, even if the ‘grey isn’t all that great’. BUT, it took FOREVER to do – LOTSA pieces.

So I switched to a different block.

I have to admit, due to the color value of the drawing in EQ & the value of the actual fabric, there IS a difference.

A “false advertising” of the block on EQ compared to real life due to the amount of flash I had on the fabric when transporting it into EQ.

Here’s the advertised colors in the quilt (due to the flash):

The quilt has a ‘bright orange’ center to the ‘trumpet block’ as the alternate block.

When I took my fabric pictures for the EQ7 quilt, I didn’t do a good job at managing the color value of the actual fabric.

Silly me.

The two ‘reds/orangereds’ are actually more of the same color.

So I really was advertising incorrectly.  So if I can now just find the “perfect orange” to get the correct orange.

I did some shopping on the weekend (took me way too many days to get all these pictures managed – this post is in the works for like 4 days – ugg) & bought way too many oranges

…. in addition to the oranges I bought on line ….

And perhaps I found the perfect one:

This is my replacement orange block:

My quilt picture shows the dark orange in the middle, but I just might go with even lighter orange to give it a little bit of pop.

I just have to make some “half 4 patch” blocks for the corners & I am almost there.

And I have to sew curved seams.

Shouldn’t be too bad, can’t take near as long as it does paper piecing the grey block.

If I had only gotten the correct value in EQ to begin with … this never woulda happened. Ugg.

Be careful with your flash if you’re going to show the EQ drawing to anyone & want to actually base your colors to what you see in EQ.  Otherwise you may be falsely advertising too.