Quilt Reveal: Color It Red

Welcome to the Color It Red blog hop!

 I really like red and white quilts so for my Blog Hop day, I was originally going to finish an old project that had red in it, but decided to make a brand new red and white quilt. Starting new quilts are so much fun, and since I have an excuse, I may as well take advantage of it!

My quilt started with some red yo-yos I made for my yo-yo coverlet. I decided that the red yo-yos were too bright for my coverlet.

If you are new to my blog, as way of background, I am making a yo-yo coverlet to replicate an antique one I saw when I was in New Orleans. Welcome, and feel free to look around once you are finished with this post. I make lots of different types of quilting and other craft projects. If you are a regular visitor, I am sorry for bringing up the coverlet yet again. Consider this post to be a vacation from that coverlet. I promise I won't mention it again in this post.
 

Instead of sewing the the yo-yos together to form a rectangle, I decided to use them to surround a red and white quilt. I thought a silhouette would make for a simple applique, and a profile portrait would make for a more interesting portrait. I looked up some silhouettes on the internet and found a silhouette profile with flowers in the hair. I thought that was a great concept for my quilt.

I used dots fabric to resemble the dots portraits in old newspaper articles and books before photography. It's a little reference to my genealogy addiction.

I traced it, but made lots of changes in it to make it my own. I put fusible on the back of the fabric and cut out the shape and fused it to the background. I then free motion quilted and bound the quilt. I threw away the rest of the fusible so I don't ever accidentally use it again.  It gummed up the needle and made it very difficult to quilt.

I think it looks great as it is without the yo-yos. Some of the dark splotches in the photo above are due to my lazy job washing the washable marker out. Some of it is winter lighting.  I am sure it will be fine after a second wash.

When I quilted it, the face received dimension on its own so her jaw line is pronounced and her eyes are set in.  I really like that. I added a layer of batting behind the hair so it would also stand out. It made a small difference. I used permanent fabric markers to make the eyes, nostril and lips. The  shadow under the eye is a mistake but I think it makes the face more interesting.

Since the point of the quilt is to use the yo-yos, I added them around the quilt as planned. I think it is good practice for future use. You know, in case I ever need to know how to join yo-yos.

The inside quilt is about 6" x 8" and with the 2 inch yo-yos, it is about 10" x 12".  By the way, did you notice that the portrait uses a different fabric than the yo-yos? I was happy to find that I had two different dot fabrics in the same shade of red.

Thanks for visiting me. I hope you enjoyed your stay. You're welcome back anytime. Feel free to look around and see what else I've been up to over the last couple decades. There are links in the sidebar to help guide you to whatever interests you. When you are done here, visit the other participants on the blog hop.

February 17^th

Creatin' in the Sticks

Websterquilt

Vroomans Quilts

Hill Valley Quilter

Selina Quilts

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Samelia's Mum

February 18^th

Ms P Designs USA

Podunk Pretties

DayBrook Designs

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Bumbleberry Stitches

Sew Many Yarns

Karen's Korner

Stitchin At Home

February 19^th

MooseStash Quilting

Quilted Delights

Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Storied Quilts

Just Sew Quilter

Kathy’s Quilts

Just Because Quilts

Words & Stitches

Scrapdash

February 20^th

Life in the Scrapatch

Songbird Designs

High Road Quilter (you are here!)

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Patchwork Breeze

Lynn's Blog

DesertSky Quilting

Seams To Be Sew

February 21^st

Just Let Me Quilt (our hostess)

Quilt Fabrication

Beaquilter

All Thingz Sewn

Karrin’s Crazy World

Den syende himmel

Daughters of Dorinda

Quilt to the Edge

Becky’s Adventures in Quilting and Travel

Also linked with: Beauties Pageant

Week-long Variety Show

02/02/02. It's the 33rd day of the year and there are 333 days left. Superbowl Sunday and Groundhog Day. It feels like spring. What more can you ask for?

I wanted to take a break from the yo-yo quilt, but wasn't done with handwork, so I took out an old unfinished quilt. This quilt is made with blocks from a block swap. I have some embroidery on it already, but there is plenty of room for more.

I am not good at embroidery but anytime I do improv or folkart work, I feel the need to say that I wasn't aiming for perfection, so this looks perfectly imperfect to me.

I had chosen a different UFO to work on for this quarter, but this one called to me last night when I saw a Deborah Boschert project.  She uses a lot of ladders in her work. I don't know if mine looks like a ladder or a sidewalk, but either one works!

2020:  Week 5 of 15 Minutes to Stitch

 

My sewing machine which I got cleaned last fall needs repair.  The part that holds the needle seems to have moved so the walking foot doesn't fit and when I tried to replace the needle, I can't get a new needle to stay.

I have a backup which works wonderfully, but I was out of sorts this week, so I spent this week on a bunch of random projects.

• I finished the yo-yos for the  yo-yo coverlet and played with them to do a photo shoot.  That brown paper is what I used to wrap the shirts quilt in for gifting. Since I had it out, I sloppily put it up to create a backdrop for the yo-yos. I like the crinkliness of it, but I didn't put it up high enough. There will be more, better, photo shoots before they are put together for sure.  
• I made a small quilt for the Color It Red blog hop. I couldn't wait until February to make it.  I will give you a hint as a bonus for reading this far. It is made with red yo-yos! 
• I made the face index card I showed you last time.
• I added the ladder and sun to the quotation crazy quilt as shown at the top of this post.
• I also cut another uniform shirt to make the last row of the blue shirts quilt.

15 minute days this week -- 7 out of 7 days
15 minute days this year -- 7 out of 33 days
Success rate  = 100%


Linked with:

 Life in Pieces: 15 Minutes to Stitch Week 5

Yo-Yo Progress

The little princess was tucked neatly into the bed.

This is how I found her in the morning. She must have found the pea. Or maybe Zeus decided he wanted to sleep on the bed.

Where we left off in making the yo-yos:

I used up all of the reproduction fabric Wendy gave me to make yo-yos (pillows) and mattresses. Or maybe they are coins and billion dollar bills.

I used up all of the English Garden fat quarter pack.

I used up the parts of the other fat quarter pack I had bought for this. It was designed to give the feel of the 1930s although I don't think it was reproduction fabrics.  I didn't add the whole pack because there were some fabrics I put in a scrap quilt. At the time I had a different idea of what colorway I was using for this coverlet.

This is where we are now:

 

This is what 700 yo-yos look like together, minus a few that were too shy to get in the group shot. Only a few left to go.

I also went through my stash to find other fabric to use. Mostly micro-floral, dots and checks. A lot of these are calicos from the 80s and 90s so I am happy to finally give them a place to shine.

This coverlet uses a lot of fabric because the front and the back of the coverlet is being made at the same time.  And there is more fabric waste in cutting circles instead of squares. I don't understand how yo-yos were a depression era pattern because it is wasteful.


The additional fabrics were more saturated colors and darker that were added that changed the direction of the colorway I was using. In my defense, it is winter. And let's face it, I wouldn't have been able to make a pastel quilt in the spring either, unless I chose all the fabric at once and stuck with them throughout the making. I love the look of it, but like a minimal quilt, it is hard for me to do.

The last few (56) yo-yos have mostly pinks in them.

While the resulting yo-yo pile looks like a mishmash of everything, I was very selective in what I was adding.  I let intuition be my guide and can't really tell you why a particular fabric was selected or rejected. Hopefully they all play together nicely. What do you think? Do you see any fabric that doesn't belong?

2020:  Week 4 of 15 Minutes to Stitch

 

I spent this week making  yo-yos and mattresses for a yo-yo coverlet I am making to reproduce the one I saw in New Orleans. That one was all one color (cream).

15 minute days this week -- 7 out of 7 days
15 minute days this year -- 7 out of 26 days
Success rate  = 100%

Linked with:
Life in Pieces: 15 Minutes to Stitch 
Put Your Foot Down - Linky Party Thursday 
Peacock Party 
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop

A Bed for a Princess

 

I took a break from making multiple yo-yos to make a bed for a princess. Hopefully she won't feel any peas under there. 

These are some of the squares that the yo-yos will encircle when they are finished.

Weekly Recap

All of my stitching time this week has been spent making yo-yos and more yo-yos. This is one of those projects that because I need so many, I could easily divide it into chunks and maybe make a few a month until I get them done.

But I found that they are quite addictive and lots of fun to make. So addictive in fact that I spent more than the allotted 15 minutes. I might even be sad when I get to the end, but I know I still need to put them together.

Throughout the yo-yo making experience, I have enjoyed watching historical documentaries about the Crusades, the Mogul empire, the Black Death, and syphilis, as well as the usual crafty ones.

2020:  Week 3 of 15 Minutes to Stitch

I spent this week making  yo-yos for a yo-yo coverlet I am making to reproduce the one I saw in New Orleans. That one was all one color (cream).

15 minute days this week -- 7 out of 7 days
15 minute days this year -- 7 out of 19 days

 Success rate  = 100%

Linked with:
Kate's Life in Pieces 15 Minutes to Stitch 
What I Made on Monday

Can't Have Just One

Or one hundred. These yo-yos are so addictive! They are really fun to make.

This is the first batch of hundred. Most of these are from the English Garden fat quarter pack, and just a few of the 1930s reproductions. I am using pink, blue, green and yellow.

This is the second batch of 100. To be fair, the first and second batches were mixed together so I could see how they looked together.

For the third batch, I decided I didn't have enough green so I added green fabrics. These greens and pinks are darker than the original pastels, so I added lots of yellow and cream to add more lightness.

Close to the end of the fourth batch, I decided purple that were coordinating shades would also work.

For the fifth batch, I decided I needed more blues, so I got more from my stash. I also decided orange that were coordinating shades would also work with the purple.

Here they are all together - all five hundred of them. They are a lot of fun to play with.

It will take 12 of these to surround each 6 inch square if I add square cornerstone squares. This will make a 10 inch block (one six-inch square with a two-inch yo-yo on each side). If I use a 7 x 9 setting, I will need 63 x 12 = 756 yo-yos.

Linked with:
Off the Wall Fridays

Blog Hops and Fun Mail

I received some fun things in the mail I would like to show you.

I received a pretty notebook and a bunch of storage boxes from Prairie Moon Quilts
 for participating in an organizing challenge she was hosting. I love that the prize will help me be even more organized! Thank you so much!

When Judy from Small Quilts and Doll Quilts showed her holiday favorites, I noticed that she too had made a Vintage Holiday quilt - the red and white one with the kids sledding. She had used tiny buttons to represent the snow and offered me the leftovers. Thank you so much for sending them, Judy. Now I have to decide whether to use felt circles or buttons or both on my Vintage Holiday quilt.

I recently watched the Craft in America quilt special and they had a vintage quilt made out of buttons that was quite intriguing.  I couldn't make anything that big, but I am considering making a small quilt out of buttons and these would be perfect for that. It won't be soon though, because I already have plans for my February and March quilts.

Blog Hops

I am going to be participating in a couple of blog hops, and want to make sure you knew about them in case want to participate too.

 


Carol at Just Let Me Quilt is hosting a Color It Red Blog Hop in February. I think it will be a great theme for my monthly mini. Since I am done with my January mini, I am busy making plans for the February mini. I will be working on finishing a quilt I have already started, and am trying to figure out where I left off, what my plans were, and whether I want to continue with that plan or go a new way.

 

Last year, I participated in the Dust Off an Old Quilt Book hop and had a great time, so decided to join again. This year, Bea is offering a prize to the person who dusts off the oldest quilt book, so you should make sure you are fully loaded with your allergy medicine and dust mask. I found two really old books on my shelves without even trying. One of them is really old and bound to be the winner, but I've chosen a newer old book that has a quilt I want to make.

2020:  Week 2 of 15 Minutes to Stitch

I spent this week making more yo-yos. I had a box of fabric I bought a wile ago with fabrics that look like they might be 1930's reproductions, at least to my untrained eye, and have been adding them to the yo-yo bags. 100 yo-yos in each plastic bag. I have 3 bags full and have a good start to the 4th one.  The ones I have made previously are pastels and the new additions are a little brighter / darker. I think it is good to add value differences to make the quilt interesting, so I am dialing up the volume a bit but trying to keep it from getting too loud. It is interesting how each new fabric changes the overall look of the mixture.


I've also given up on the yo-yo maker which requires one stitch at a time and wastes a lot of thread. The folds aren't as consistent doing it this way because my stitch length isn't very consistent, but I think that is part of the charm of a yo-yo quilt.

15 minute days this week =  7/7 days
15 minute days this year =7/7 days
Success rate  = 100%

Linked with:
Life in Stitches 15 Minutes to Quilt

Another Year of 15 Minutes to Stitch

Kate is hosting 15 Minutes to Stitch again this year. The plan is to try to stitch for at least 15 minutes every day.  I am happy to do this again this year.

As usual, I had a strong start to this challenge. I spent the week with circles. I made a whole bunch of yo-yos, and now have 201 of them. I don't know about these types of quilts, but I would imagine they would need special care to keep them in shape.   I think yo-yos will look best on a flat surface and a bed in the guest bedroom will probably be the best place to put it where it has a chance of staying clean, so I have a bunch more of them to make.

I realized that the size of my Quilty Circles 365 quilt has not grown in a long time, although I have made some blocks. I decided to make more circles so that I can sew some more rows together to add to the rows that have already been made.

Circle Block 269

 

 

A nice simple circle block to start a new batch.

Circle Block 270

 

These are leftovers cut out from the block 272.

Circle Block 271

 

A sweet candy to start off the new year.

 Circle Block 272

 

This one makes me think of The Little Mermaid Disney movie.

2020:  Week 1 of 15 Minutes to Stitch

I spent this week making circle blocks and yo-yos. To make the weeks end on a Sunday, I am recording 5 days for this week.

15 minute days/week =  5/5 days
15 minute days/2019 = 5/5 days
Success rate  = 100%

Linked with:
Kate's Life in Pieces 15 Minutes to Stitch

Yo-Yo Quilt Progress

Instead of picking a big project to work on to start off the year, I have decided to just move a few projects forward. Thanks again to Wendy from The Constant Quilter for the beautiful 30's fabric.

This week, I have been making more yo-yos. I laid them out to see if they were too busy and needed a constant fabric, either for the squares, or for the cornerstone yo-yos. Another option is to add a smaller squares to replace the four cornerstone yo-yos. What do you think?

Here's a blurry pictures without the flash so you can see the colors better. I am using pink, blue, green, yellow, and cream. The fabric in the squares have bigger patterns that look better in a large setting, and/or patterns I like better.

1930s fabric

Why am I showing you these yo-yos  made from an English rose cottage garden fabric when I have titled the post 1930s fabric? Well, first of all, I don't really know what 1930s fabric looks like. Then I had a fat quarter pack of fabric that looked like it might fit the 1930s theme, at least Shasta style.  I bought two fat quarter packs and this was the other one. I thought these fabrics would fit right in with them since they have a similar pink / blue / green color scheme. So when I started to make the yo-yos, I just grabbed this fat quarter pack and started cutting the circles. This was my on-the-go project that fits easily in the suitcase pocket.

The other project I have been working on is the Seiring genealogy scrapbook.  It is a long-term project, just adding a step at a time when I am in the mood.  I used my stitchery project on the cover. Might as well get some use out of it. As you recall, I got the kit from the thrift store and it is made out of yarn. I'm bad enough with floss, but I think this adds a sweet old fashioned look to the book, and it feels good too since there are two layers fluffy batting underneath the stitchery.

 I haven't added the genealogy material in them, but the pocket pages are sewn in.

I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me when I came back from my trip. There was a box sitting on the porch.  My house sitter hadn't been picking up my mail, so I am glad it was still there! Wendy from The Constant Quilter sent me a big box of fabric for my yo-yo project. This is a set of real 1930s fabrics.

She also sent a big set of reproduction fabrics.Thank you so much for this huge packet!  I will be sure to make good use of them.

As you can see, my yo-yo fabrics that look like fabrics that look like 1930s fabrics are a bit off the mark of 1930s theme.  I haven't decided yet whether to turn those English garden yo-yos to their own quilt or still incorporate them into a 1930s quilt.

15 Minutes to Stitch: Week 21

Looks like I am farther and farther behind in reporting my stitching progress.  I know that I have been cutting circles and sewing yoyos and the genealogy book also involved stitching.  Since it has been about a month since I reported, and I am not sure how much stitching I really got in, I will estimate low and say about 50%.


15 Minute sessions of stitching this month: 14 out of 28
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year: 114 out of 146 sessions

Success Rate: 78%

If I had been keeping better track, maybe I wouldn't see such a big drop from 85% to 78%, but hopefully I will be able to increase my numbers during the rest of the year.


Linked to:
Monday Making 
15 Minutes to Stitch 
Friday Foto Fun 
UFO Busting 63

Yo Yo's and Cards

I've been thinking about the yo-yo quilt I saw in New Orleans, and although I thought that recreating it in muslin would be striking, I figured I would get bored pretty quickly making a million yoyos out of the same fabric, so I have been practicing with some 30s-like fabric. I'll show you when I make more progress. So far I am just figuring out how to make a yo yo that looks good using the clover yoyo maker. I've watched a video and realized my mistake so I think I should be good to go now.

Instead of yo-yos, I figured I would show you some more cards I made this week.

Yo-yo Coverlet

Several people commented about the yo-yo coverlet I showed yesterday. I took a closeup shot of it too, and thought you would want to see it as well.

As you can see, it is made with squares with a row of yo-yos surrounding each square.

Here's the overall picture I showed you already.