Tuesday, February 23, 2016

100 Circles for 100 Days

Yesterday, I showed you some circles up to 87. Today is Day 100, and it was my hope to catch up and have 100 circles made to commemorate the milestone of 100 days. Let's see if I was successful.

The photos turned out to load out of order so some of my explanation will make more sense as you see the other circles in this batch.

Circle 88 

This circle came much later in the batch, when I realized that most of the colors I had used were not primary colors, and since I started with them, I wanted to make sure I maintained continuity with using red.  I had also realized earlier that I had not been including other shapes besides circles very much so I used triangles and squares here as well.


Circle 89 

This simple block breaks a lot of rules. I used a selvage here. I usually don't use selvages so this breaks that rule.  I also had the circle be the same fabric as the background, and I don't think I've done that in this quilt.  I also didn't sew down the square and left the ends loose.  When I sew this square to the others, the ends will extend into other blocks. Since all the other blocks are self contained, this breaks that rule.


Circle 90 

I pieced the X on this one so all the circles in this batch wouldn't be applique circles. The background fabric is also right side down because I wanted a lighter yellow.


Circle 91 

This one uses leftovers of Circle 95 which was made first. The circles made a square!


Circle 92 

This is a leftover of circle 96. It uses an embroidery stitch. The others are too neat and I wanted a messy one in the bunch.


Circle 93

I've been wanting to make a bulls eye block, and I know this one isn't one exactly, but I didn't feel like making four blocks and only being able to use one quarter of all of them, at least not  now when I am working under a deadline. This is the first one in the batch where I only sewed down the center and left the edges free.


Circle 94 

I saw a circle in a corner on another blog, and realized that all of my circles are relatively centered, so I had to break a rule I didn't know I had!


Circle 95 

The circles are cut out of a square. One of the 1857 blocks uses this idea.


Circle 96 

I wanted to use a whole circle, and got this fabric from my stash. I want to use mostly scraps for this quilt, but this is a rule breaking quilt after all. The fabric does all the work here.  I just cut out a circle and slapped it on the background.


Circle 97 

This is another attempt to use primary colors. I haven't used blue and green for a while.


Circle 98 

This uses scraps from Circle 99.  I wanted another messy one and really like the asterisk circle.


Circle 99 

 I've been using brown a lot as my dark background and wanted to use something different.  The plain circle looked boring so I decided to add the purple scrap.


Circle 100 

Woo hoo! I did it! I made 100 circles in 100 days.  This one uses other shapes in addition to the circle, and uses green.

Scenic Route

As a present for you for sticking with me for 100 days, I also want to show you the finished rail fence quilt.  When I pieced it, I was thinking of roads, since I pieced the dark strips together. When I was making it, I thought about adding pieces on the side so the road would be continuous but decided against it.


I quilted a small circle around that drop that showed up on its own, and using other circular things from around the house to add more circles randomly in the quilt. I used a washable marker to mark the lines and then when I was done, became worried that it might not wash out.



You can see that the marker was able to wash out.  I rinsed it in cold water, following Allie's suggestion to avoid detergent.  There was one fabric that didn't want to let go of the dye, but it washed out also.I did get a chuckle out of the thought that I could have circles in my circle quilt that weren't actually in the quilt.


This little doggie wanted to model the quilt.


The back uses a cute dog fabric playing in the yard.  I appliqued a square on the left as a label.


In retrospect, I do think that this quilt could represent road trips and getting lost and going around in circles.  The key is to just relax and take the time to enjoy the scenery.  I am going to call it Scenic Route.



It was a beautiful sunny day outside again, and even though the doggie wants a nap, I thoroughly enjoyed making circles today and showing you Scenic Route.

Linked to:
TGIFF
Let's Bee Social #113
Scrap Quilt Challenge

14 comments:

Allie-oops Designs said...

How in the world do you get so many different circles - they're great! I love Scenic Route, perfect name for it, and the little pup, so cute - glad the marker washed out ok!

KathyE said...

I love what you've done with the circles. I think you have just scratched the surface. The possibilities are endless. Great job!

Kate @ Smiles From Kate said...

Great imaginative circles, and your scenic route quilt is lovely, so colourful.

Cut&Alter said...

What a wide range of 'circles' - well done on your 100!

June D said...

Well, what a wonderful journey! The circle project is very creative and so interesting. And your little quilt finished up so nicely! Thank you for sharing!

Janie said...

Beautiful quilt your doggie is sitting on, color and design, great work!

Unknown said...

I think your effort to make 100 circles is a grand one. You are really pushing your creativity! GREAT job!

Lisa J. said...

You made it to 100! Awesome accomplishment. I love the little quilt as well.

Mary Marcotte said...

I'm such a goofy person that I was reading the explanation and looking a the wrong picture. It made sense for a few minutes. Do you think I was confused? I am, however, a teacher, so I had to start over and get it right. Guess what? Reading it twice gave me a second chance to enjoy those interesting blocks. You seem to have a fun sense of humor and sewing. I'm enjoying my circles but obviously I'm boring. (My students would agree.) I chose to be calm and quiet since I get plenty of excitement for six hours every day from those teen students. My boring circles are probably keeping me sane.

audrey said...

Congrats on making to 100! And so creative too.:)

Ann said...

You've been busy! What wonderful circle variations and love your finished rail quilt. I've been thinking about backs this month. Love the way you started with a large square and "bordered" two sides only. Great way to incorporate the label, too.
Thanks for linking up with AHIQ.

Cathy said...

Congrats on another batch of unique "circles" and the 100 milestone. What fun!

Tanya said...

You are getting so much done, and congratulations for getting you 100 circle blocks done! Now to put them all together into a quilt? That will be fun to look forward to also.

Kaja said...

Wow, well done for catching up with your circles: they look so great and I love how you keep breaking rules. The finished rail fence is very successful too.