Quilt Reveal: Rey and BB8 (and Death Star) from Star Wars

 I have finished binding the Droid quilt. Yes I labeled it Rey and BB8 (and Death Star) from Star Wars, because sometimes people need help figuring out what the quilt is about.

 Since you have seen the front so many times, let's take the time to admire the back, shall we?  The two shades of orange add a nice contrast and interest to the expanse of blue.  Did you notice that it is in a straight line and in a vertical position? That little flap of beige quilted down nicely without getting tangled and lets me add the labeling without any hand stitching.

Random picture of the day from the archives: Birds

linked to:
Off the Wall Friday

Day 6: 31 Day Blog Challenge

Random photo of the day: The snow on the branches look like a chicken foot. It is also not from this winter.

In quilting news, I've been ironing the blues, but I don't have the ironing blues.  I pressed the backing for the drunkard path quilt and the binding for the Droid quilt.  I also pressed the Drunkard's path quilt top for good measure.  I need to come up with a better name for that quilt. The picture is from 2008, back when the walls weren't lime green. I've moved the ironing table farther to the left, away from the window now. I made new curtains for all the windows. And those longstanding WIPS have been put away and been replaced by new WIPs.

This picture is from before I pressed the fabric. No post-pressing pictures will be shown because then you will judge my ironing skills, and lack thereof.

I know I just showed you this picture, but it reminds me of a story.  Back around the time I was making this quilt, I was shopping at Joann's and this old lady and her husband were gathering bolts of fabric to take to the cutting counter. The store was having a sale, and I wanted to be helpful and run after this old lady to tell her that ALL of the fabric was on sale, and not just the ugly, older fabrics. She could buy pretty, modern fabric for the same price. The fabrics she was choosing looked like the purple fabric at the top of this picture. I only used it in my quilt because I was trying to use it up the stash.

Now, of course, I am probably the same age as the "old lady" and I just bought this backing fabric this year that looks like it fits perfectly with the blue and red fabric in the quilt. It's a good thing I didn't run after her because then it would be irony or something.

Linked to:
Let's Bee Social

70273 Project

I heard about the 70273 project a long time ago. I tried to search for it on my blog to see when I talked about it, but I can't find it. In short, it is a quilt project to commemorate the  70,273 physically and mentally disabled people – men, women, teens, boys, and girls – were killed by the Nazis between January 1940 and August 1941. It takes two X's to make one block and each XX block represents one person, since it took two doctor's marks to carry through the execution. The goal is to have 70,273 blocks made and put into quilts to commemorate each of the individuals.

I have been meaning to make some blocks for this project for a long time.

Since all of my fabric has been put away for the Thanksgiving gathering, and I had just bought some basic fabric which included red and white, I decided to make some blocks. I am making them improv style. I just cut a strip of white and two strips of red to see how many blocks it would make. I need to trim and press these X's and then put them together into blocks before sending them to be put into quilts. Because it is a big project, my initial goal was to make a large number of blocks, maybe even a small quilt, but I think that is what made me take so long to make the blocks. Now I figure I will make whatever contribution I can make now, since I can always make more in the future.

The Droid quilt is still not bound, but I put it up on the wall anyway for the gathering, and nobody noticed that it wasn't bound until I told them. It will get done once I am finished with the XX blocks.

Droid Quilting Continued

I am quilting the background of the Droid quilt, and had sketched out the quilt plan to build some muscle memory and see if I could execute the design easily. I liked the sketch, but it didn't look the same on the fabric.

So I showed the sketch to the sewing machine and explained the plan. I put the sketch front and center so the sewing machine could see it while it was sewing.  Things are working much better now. I think having a wider space helps, because then the lines look more meandering when they can come from both directions. When there is only one column (between the characters), that one column doesn't look as good by itself.

I'm not really happy with my choice of background design, but I am sticking with it. You really can't see it from a distance and it doesn't affect the integrity of the quilt, so I am not ripping it out.

I ran out of bobbin so I took it out to  do a quality inspection.  I was happy to see that I had just passed being halfway done through the background quilting.  Then I realized that meant there is half left to do.

All right, enough procrastination. Back to bobbin winding and quilting.

Linked to:
Em's Moving it Forward - I don't have time to write a new post, but I did want to say that the quilting is finished. I had a hard time trimming it to a rectangular shape - since there was so much space that didn't have a border or line to follow. But that's done now too and I am moving on to binding it.

Quilting Droid Quilt

I spent this week quilting the Droid quilt again.  I have now finished the characters - Rey and BB8 and the Death Star, so all that's left is the background and I've done some of that too. Most of these pictures were taken before the background was quilted.

I gave Rey some eyelashes, a chin divot, and a nose.  There are parts that are not quilted which makes her face wrinkled, so I am considering more quilting.   Sam had quilted strands of hair across her face, and it looked good when she did it.

Her torso follows quilting that Sam used, but more organic. I also outlined the whole shape, which helps distinguish her arms from her torso.



I gave her plaid pants. And fingers. Just don't count them!

Knobby knees. You can see the diamonds on the sword on this picture.



These are the thread colors I used.  The bobbin thread ran out as soon as I was finished with the variegated orange. I found the pretty blue but it looked like it was running out after I filled the bobbin so I had to use a different blue for the quilting. The background quilting looked much better in my drawn sample. They are just supposed to be straight lines and smooth curves to go to the next row, but alternated so they don't switch at the same place. I plan to practice drawing some more and quilt it using that design, and see how much this background bothers me when I am done with that. Right  now, it does bother me enough to want to rip out.

That lumpy space besides BB8 doesn't look that bad in real life. It just looks like that because there is unquilted space besides quilted space and I think it can be quilted down.

15 Minutes to Stitch Progress

This week, all of my sewing time was spent filling bobbins and quilting this quilt. I didn't quilt every single day. Daylight savings time requires adjusting time, but I made up the lost time on the weekend.


My progress as of Sunday was:

15 Minute sessions of stitching this week:  7 out of 7
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year:  262 out of 315 sessions
Success rate: 83%

Linked with:
15 Minutes to Stitch 
WIP Linky Party

We Now Resume Regular Programming

I didn't take this picture, but on the way to the library with my sister, I stopped in front of this stack of cars and told her I wouldn't take her any further until she took a picture for me. I thought about using the analogy of crushing my squirrels*, but something doesn't sound quite right with that analogy so let's just drop it, shall we?

We'll just say the stack of cars is here to lure readers in and distract them from the dark and fuzzy pictures on the rest of the post.

Now that my three little quilts are out of the way, and all the doors and windows have been locked tight to keep any other wayward squirrels* out, I have returned to the projects that are spread out all over my living room.

I decided to start first with the quilt that is closest to completion. The end of the year is fast approaching and I have to make a good showing for the end of the year post.  The Droid quilt is already a top. It just needed to be quilted, but things came crashing to a halt because the back needed to be pieced.  The backing fabric was a quarter of an inch shorter (width wise) than the top.

A reasonable person would think adding a strip to the side of a piece of fabric wouldn't be any big deal, especially for someone who has pieced the front of the quilt, but for some reason, this back added just enough hesitation to let all those squirrels* in the house.
 

This week, I pieced the back. I added more than a quarter inch because you need to have excess fabric when quilting to avoid crying later.  It was no big deal as you probably figured, and I thought of an idea to add a little flap for the label when piecing the two oranges together, which took the drudgery out of piecing the back. I won't have to worry about the label now!

I finished piecing the back and basted the sandwich on Friday, and I was really surprised at how excited I am now to quilt this.  You know how when you are getting ready to go on a big trip, or have a first day of school or work, you have a hard time going to sleep the night before?  That mixture of excitement and dread of things to come.  I felt that on Friday night.  I quilted the Death Star and parts of Rey on Saturday, but I had trouble sleeping Saturday night too, because I was just excited to quilt more!

You will have to trust me that the basting is done right and smooth and not as lumpy as these pictures show.

I am pretty much copying how Sam Hunter, the pattern designer, quilted the characters - why reinvent the wheel? - but my lines are a lot more organic.

15 Minutes to Stitch

The days are getting shorter, and colder and darker, and rainy so the outdoor chores have been set aside for the week.

My stitching week was all about the Droid quilt - mostly cutting long strips, and cutting away selvages, and sewing long strips, and pressing the back and top all over again.  I then basted the quilt and started the quilting.

My progress as of Sunday was:

15 Minute sessions of stitching this week:  7 out of 7
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year:  253 out of 301 sessions
Success rate: 84%

*squirrels are those projects that distract you from your current works in process, and are especially pesky if you actually drop your WIPs to start work on them.

Linked to:
15 Minutes to Stitch

Death Star

In my last post, I discussed the Droid quilt without explanation.  It is made from a pattern called This Droid is Not for Sale by Hunters Design Studio. It was a free pattern then, but now there is a fee which is donated to charity.

This is a project I made last year - the top is made and I am now working on finishing it up.  See all that open space in the upper right hand corner?  It would be wonderful for a great quilting pattern if I could think of one.

The same week as I discovered the Droid quilt, or maybe it was the same month or quarter, I don't know since I made myself hold off on starting this project as long as I could, I discovered a pattern for a Death Star by Quirky Granola Girl. I thought it would fit perfectly in that vast open space.   It is supposed to be English paper pieced but I just fused the pieces down onto a background fabric. I didn't do as good a job with the shading as I could have, since all of the fabrics had light and dark sections and I didn't want to poke holes throughout all these fabrics. I think it will be okay.

Is it too small? I can make another, bigger one. I was originally picturing it bigger but maybe smaller one looks farther away? The current plan is to turn under the edges so you don't see the background piece.

Here are some layout options. Which one looks more like it is way up in the sky? Which one looks better balanced in the quilt?

Close to head level.

Close to head level closeup.

Torso level.

Above head level.

Above head level closeup.

Here is a current picture of the stitchery I am working on.

Linked to:
Let's Bee Social 
Silly Mama Quilts - Works In Progress 
Nina Marie Sayre - Off the Wall Friday
Needle and Thread Thursday

Stitchery Progress

I've picked up the Droid quilt to finish up before I can start a new project. This involved me my choosing some new fabrics to finish it up.

I thought I should clean up a little bit while I was in there in the Cave of Wonders, and immediately noticed that I had TWO boxes of plaids. Why do I have two boxes? I made a plaid flannel quilt and flannel takes up more room than normal fabric, but still, I hardly ever use plaid in my sewing.  One of those boxes have to go!  So in an effort to clean up one of the boxes, I just have to start the Sweet Land of Liberty quilt, you know, just to clean up the sewing room. I know it is technically not a scrap box, and the boxes were properly sitting on the shelf, but I am sure I will be able to find fabrics in the scrap box to use in this quilt.

Those two projects are now bubbling up to be worked on first, but even before that, the stitchery is still sitting here, while I am lazily watching internet videos resting and regrouping.  As a result, I managed to get at least 15 minutes of sewing done every day. The picture was taken earlier this week. I decided to read the directions for this stitchery.The directions are copyrighted MCMLXXIII, which translates to 1973.  It's practically an antique!

 I see that I did not follow the directions for the dress.  It is supposed to be weaving and couching stitches instead of cross stitches. I wonder if that is why this project was abandoned. The weaving stitches were easier, and the second half of the cross stitches, therefore became the harder way to make this.

Also the directions said to use one strand of yarn, which as you can see, does not work very well. I worried about running out of yarn, but figured that I could make do with something else.  That changed my perspective on this project, and instead of trying to make it perfect, I decided to just enjoy the process and trust that all will work out in the end. This is my rule for the year, but it is amazing how many times I have to relearn it.

With the new and improved attitude, I am more than 80% done on this.

15 Minute sessions of stitching this week:  7 out of 7
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year:  191 out of 231 sessions
Success rate: 83%

Linked to:
15 Minutes to Stitch

“Sometimes I think that maybe we are just stories. Like we may as well just be words on a page, because we're only what we've done and what we are going to do.” Jodi Lynn Anderson, Tiger Lily

Mission Accomplished!

I have finished piecing this top. The background pieces were somewhat difficult because they are larger pieces than I am used to handling.  There is also some wrinkling, probably due to the fact that I did not press the seams before each intersecting seams (I fingerpressed), and the inconsistent weights of the fabric. The blue is heavier and stiffer than the shirt fabric. I am sure these issues can be fixed with a little nip and tuck here and there.

I do plan to add some applique in the space above BB8, but want to work on quilting another top that has been pieced and is ready for quilting. In between piecing the final pieces of this quilt, I have bought the backing fabric and washed, ironed and pressed it.  Some piecing is necessary to get it ready before I start to quilt it.

This is a lap size quilt, and the pattern is free from Hunter's Design Studio.

Linked to:
Oh Scrap!

Eye Surgery

Poor Rey had to have some eye surgery. One of her eyes looked up and down while the other eye looked side to side.   It may look cosmetic, and she is not so vain to require cosmetic surgery,  but it was affecting her depth perception. She needs that to properly use her weapons.

Unfortunately, since she was not willing to sell the droid, she could not afford to go to the top of the class specialist.

She had to make do with the village quack and take her chances.

Linked to:
Moving It Forward Monday 
Sew Mama Quilts

Butterfly Collage

I know I already showed you pictures recently, but I don't want to wait all month to show you.  Today when I let Zeus out I saw a beautiful butterfly on the zinnias by the back door.  I didn't think it would still be there when I got the camera but I thought I would try.  It turns out that this butterfly loves to get its picture taken. It went from flower to flower, giving me different poses and angles. It stayed on the same plant so the flowers are all the same colors.

In fact, when I thought I was finished, it flew around my head as if to say it still wanted my company!  Wait! I can give you more poses!  I made a collage out of my favorites.

While I am looking in the September folder, I thought I would show you this poor squirrel that I saw on one of my walks.  It was going so fast, I wasn't even sure what kind of animal it was, so I kept taking pictures.  From this photo, it looks like there is a sad story to tell about the tail.

I also wanted to show you that Rey has a face now. I changed the pattern a little bit so that her hair is longer. It isn't as long as it is in the movie, but I didn't want to change the pattern too much. I just wanted to make sure it was clear that she is female. When there is a female hero in many movies and books, she winds up being very man-like. Rey can fight, but she still has a lot of female characteristics, and I wanted to make sure that my quilt showed that.

Linked to Wandering Camera September Linky Party.  Be sure to click on the link to see all the gorgeous photos there.

Also linked to Let's Bee Social 141.  Lorna is gearing up for another beautiful Sew Along, and I will be joining her for that. Check out her blog for free pattern of a beautiful Bear Paw Quilt.

Droid Progress

I've been making progress on the Droid quilt, but these parts and pieces didn't seem blog worthy.  It is hard to tell what I am making until I put it all together, but I didn't want you to forget about me, so I will show you my progress.

I knew I wanted to use fabric I already had at home, and found several great choices.  It was hard to choose which fabric to use and where.  In the end, I decided to not let indecision slow down the progress. I especially had a hard time deciding which fabric to use for the skin and which one to use for the undershirt. It is all shades of beige, everything works everywhere.

I chose a stripe for a tunic, and I love the way it looks like folds. I did have to unpick the top right and cut a new piece to make the stripe go the correct way.  Well worth cutting on the bias. There was also a burlap looking fabric that would have looked great for the tunic, but I could only choose one, and the pants also have that burlap pattern.

I was worried about using templates, but it went together without issue.

This is her belt and the bottom half of her tunic. I've been finger pressing since it is really hot.  I'm sure it will be fine when everything is pieced, and I press everything smooth.

This is her pants, legs and part of her boots. She is very slim in the pattern. The pants look more brown than green in real life.

I didn't notice that little fold until I took the picture. I'll fix that.  I also have one of her arms done and ready to add.

Parts of her face are ready to sew.  This is a fun project.

A Droid is Born

I was initially going to use a light pink as the background, but I was afraid there wouldn't be enough contrast, so I chose the blue. It's not light, but I like the swirls and the yellow dots. I think it looks outer-spacey.

I don't have a lot of large pieces, because as a scrap quilter, I generally buy fat quarters. And when I use the fabric, I put it back in the box.   I must have already used part of it, because I ran out of orange fabric, and instead of using a patterned orange, I went with the next closest color in the solids box, which was pink.  I think it is appropriate to subtly get pink in the quilt.

For Rey, since she is bigger, I will need to be careful with making sure I have enough fabric.

Another New Quilt is Started

Ever since the peak time for my work was over, I have been diligently working on making progress on my quilting projects. I thought that if I kept myself busy, I could delay or avoid starting a new project.  In the past, I would promise myself that I could start a new project after I finished an existing project, but the quilts I was working on were long term projects - BOMS which did not have all the months released - so that wouldn't work.

Until now, I was able to keep working on getting up to date on the Adrinka blocks, and making progress on the 1857 blocks.  I decided it would be a good time to work on putting together the blocks for the Elephant Parade.  That led me to think I could start this new project as a leader/ender. Or maybe the idea to work on the new project came, which led me to think I could put together Elephant Parade as a leader/ender.  These two projects became tied together because they are pieced in similar ways. They are also similar because I am using the solids box for the fabric.  They also share the white fabric.

I bought yards and yards of the white fabric when the modern movement first came out and I saw how a white background was  necessary for most of those quilts. Yes it is tone on tone. I thought solids were a fad. Why pay the same price for plain as you pay for fancy?

I saw this free pattern on a blog during peak, and knew that I had to set it aside for later, but recently I saw someone else made this quilt and that reminded me all over again that it took great strength for me to not start it in January.  I've held off starting this quilt since January!

It turns out that Elephant Parade does not work as a good leader/ender in its current state.  I need to trim and measure my improv blocks. Some of them were made the standard size, but some of them were made to go into the sashing.  What sounded like a clever idea when I was making them is going to be more work for me now. I also need to decide on the layout so I know which blocks need sashing.

Also, one part of the new quilt serves easily as the leader/ender for another part, which makes it easier to keep progress going at a steady pace.

I feel guilty for starting a new quilt.  I make quilts for the joy of making them, not for the completed projects, so I really shouldn't feel guilty for not finishing something before starting this one, but I do anyway.

Linked to Monday Making, MCM #34 and Moving It Forward.