James River Blues Update . . . .

So I'm plugging away on James River Blues by Paula Barnes for Bonnie Blue Quilts. I'm enjoying the drama free fabric decisions and the fact that I can just sit and sew, no thinking, no planning, no math. It's very relaxing.

Although I do have to admit, most of you know me better than I know myself.

The first thing I did when I started my project was to make my test/inspiration block. I always make one block to double check my math and get a feel for assembling the pieces before cutting out all the fabric.

Well, when I got that block together it was a shade too big for my liking, so I shrunk it down an inch. I know, I know, I told you I wasn't going to make any changes, but you were right and I just couldn't help myself.

So here are some strips, waiting to be cut and pieced to make around 300 four patch blocks.

And here's my stacks of pieces for my hst units. I'm using the Easy Angle by EZ Quilting to cut the units, I don't think I'll ever go back to drawing that line down the middle of a square and sewing on each side of it. I do however still make the units bigger and square them up, even though they come out fairly perfect using that tool every time, I don't think I'll ever give up on that.

Now that summer's over and I'm done traveling for awhile, I'm hoping to make some serious progress and complete 3 more projects this year. Each year I have a goal of making 12 quilts, one per month. I don't know why, there's nothing special about the number 12, but that's a goal I set each year and last year I missed it by one, I think I'm going to make it this year, James River Blues will be my tenth finish for this year, it's looking good!

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That Quilt Holder . . . . . .

Every time the stand I use to photograph my quilts makes it into a picture on my blog I always get a few questions, like "what's that quilt holder"and "where did you get that quilt holder" . . .

Here's the picture that generated the last group of questions.

Well that quilt holder is one of the most handy things to have around for photographing my quilts. It sure has been nice to take pictures whenever I want and not when my last quilt holder, Mr Cupcake, was available. Plus, he could never get them perfectly level, and then after only maybe 20 shots would start complaining about the quilts getting heavy. Our lives sure have improved since I got that stand.

It's really not even a quilt holder, it is a backdrop support used for photography. I bought mine here. Mine's by EOS Lighting but lots of folks make them. I've had mine for probably 5 years, it was a birthday present from my father-in-law. I noticed they've gone up in price since I got mine.

Here's everything you get, two stands, a pole to hold the quilt, some clips and a bag to store and carry it all. It stretches out and up to accommodate all sizes of quilts, even kingsize, and it's very sturdy. I've used it outside and so far, it's never blown over.

The clips do a great job. I think the thing I like best about this holder is that it's very easy to assemble and hang a quilt all by myself, anytime I want.

So the next time my quilt stand makes it into a shot, I can just point folks back to this post instead of looking it up and finding that website every time..... sometimes it takes me awhile, but I do eventually come up with a good idea.

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Last Blast of Summer . . . .

A quilting friend of mine, who doesn't have a blog, shared these pictures of this amazing summer quilt with me. I've been intending to share it with you all summer long. Since today is the last day of August, I thought I better get to it.

This quilt was made by Gloria for her granddaughter.

The pattern was designed by Carol Burniston and was in the May/June 2008 issue of Fons & Porters Love of Quilting magazine. The pattern name is Summer Flip-Flops. I fell in love with this quilt way back then and saved the pattern.

I think Gloria did an amazing job with the whole project but I really like her selection of flip-flop fabric. I would like to have a pair of each one of them in my closet.

It won't be long until I'll be putting my summer flip-flops up for the winter, but if you had a quilt like this, you could leave your flip-flops out all the time!

Gloria and I both have a love for red and white quilts. As a matter of fact, Gloria's very first quilt was a red and white sampler quilt. She puts red fabric in almost every quilt she makes and is always looking for red fabric in any quilt shop she visits. She took her first quilt class over 20 years ago.

I've been cleaning out my pattern binder and this pattern is looking for a new home, if you would like to have the pattern for this quilt leave a comment asking to be included in the drawing I'll have over the weekend.

If you don't want the pattern but love that flip-flop quilt as much as I do, please leave a comment for Gloria. I get comments and emails from quilters who don't have blogs all the time, I'm so happy to showcase one of them on my blog, I hope you'll make Gloria feel as good about her quilt as you always make me feel about mine!

Thanks so much!

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Next Up . . . . .

So here's a project that's not red and I don't have to design . . .

Last fall I picked up a kit for this quilt at Pieceful Heart Fabrics in Lisle, Illinois. It's what I would call a "good old quilt". Not a company quilt, not a show quilt, not a put on the guest room bed quilt, just a good old throw on the back of the couch, let the dog lay on it quilt.

The pattern is by Paula Barnes for Bonnie Blue Quilts and is called James River Blues. I've seen this pattern kitted in other shops, but always with scrappy blue fabrics, I really like the looks of this pattern with some browns thrown in.

I'm normally not a kit person, but when I do buy a kit I usually end up adding and subtracting so much fabric that my project doesn't end up looking much like the original. After a summer of red and white math, red and white mini quilts, and red and white fabric, this is just what I need, no changes, no thinking, just easy piecing.

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Red and White Tribute Quilt - The Final Chapter . . . .

Or, "How I spent my summer vacation"!!

After torturing you with 10 Red and White Tribute Quilt posts I won't make you wait any longer, here it is . . .

The idea of this quilt is to make you feel like you're walking into the Infinite Variety Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts Show and all that you see is red and white quilts.

This quilt has no border for one reason, I wanted my mind's eye to continue with each quilt that was on the edge and to the other quilts in the show. Having a border made this project have a stopping point, and it doesn't, not to me, after all, the show wasn't called Infinite for nothing!

I was also a maniac about the layering of each quilt, the center tree quilt is the only piece where you can view the entire quilt, the other quilts show at most two borders, because the quilts "hang" in front of or behind the other quilts.

This is the picture that gave me the idea to create my quilt in this manner.

My first plan, assembling the quilt using graph paper, was a good starting point but when it got down to the final few filler quilts I went with a different approach.

I placed painters tape on the floor the size I was shooting for, I also ran tape down the center and side to side to keep the tree quilt in the middle.

This approach made playing around with the final placement of each piece much easier. I guess easier is a relative term, as I mentioned in my last post, it took me 22 hours to get all the pieces to fit together perfectly .

This shot gives you a better feel for the size. I don't think there is anything I would change. I enjoyed the challenge, the process, and the quilt has the look I was going for.

This is Lifetime Quilt #72, it finished at 67 1/2" x 83" and has approximately 4,054 pieces. (900 less than my personal high of 4950, Oh Christmas Tree has that honor)

If you would like to review my process, start to finish, just select "Red and White Tribute Quilt" in the "Categories" section to the right.

Thanks so much for your support, enthusiasm, and bewilderment as I worked on this project. I loved working on my tribute quilt but sharing it with you was just as much fun and a real motivator to see this project through.

So what's up next? I'm not sure, but it won't be red and I'm NOT designing it!

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