Rail Fence Layout Options

Here is the layout that is similar to the cover of Cultural Fusion. All of these are trying to figure out the orientation of the blocks.  Once I decide on the orientation, I will work on block placement - I will decide which blocks go where later.

When I went to test the layout of my rail fence quilt, I realized that I did not have enough blocks.  I had read a couple of blogs where people said they did not have enough contrast in their quilt because it was missing a contrasting color - a blue or a green in my case.  I thought adding a whole block in one of those colors would be glaring, but I found this fabric that is mostly warm colors and has green in it. I wasn't sure it would work, but I made the blocks to see how they would look.

Here's the same layout, pictured from a different angle.  I would prefer my steps to go up instead of down. I don't know why - maybe it is because of my accounting background and I am thinking of graphs, and they are usually better when they go up. Higher profits! higher revenue! higher productivity!

Here's Zeus's suggestion for a layout. On top in the middle are the new blocks. I think they blend in okay.

Here's a random pattern. Just seeing if random is good.

This is the zigzag layout in the book. I'm not sure how helpful this one is to see, since I made several mistakes in orientation in this one. Actually, I'm sure I made mistakes on all of them.  I found it pretty difficult to work out which way the blocks were supposed to be oriented.

This is the square steps layout in the book.  Generally, when I saw other people show their layouts, I liked this one the best, because it looks like the multiple trip around the world quilt that is on my to-do list, but I'm not so sure it works well for these blocks.

I know I need to keep trying different layouts. I'll try again tomorrow.

So what do you think? Do all these blocks work well together? Is the red and black one too dark? What layout do you like?

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  Hope you are having a great day with family and friends.  I wanted to make a quick post to show you my circles and rails progress. I had been running behind the circles already - making yesterday's circle today for several days, and since I caught up yesterday, I wanted to post today and make sure that I didn't get behind in posting too!

Yesterday, I looked out the window all day long waiting for a package to come.  I have ordered a special quilt book from Amazon and was expecting it to come.  It was hard to work on quilting when my thoughts were distracted with this book. 

Eventually, I figured out that the quilt police must have gotten to the UPS / USPS team, and  told them not to deliver the book to me until my rail fences were done. They didn't want me to get ideas to start new quilts until this one was finished.

Improv rail fence progress by Shasta Matova

This picture shows where I was when I started. I tried to put them in color order, but I don't really know how to do that with different tints, shades and values, etc., but it is a good rough idea. I think my issue before was I was trying to get an even number of fabrics for each color, and I decided that I did not need to do that.  I did add more orange and red, but I also added more pink and purple. The orange and red will be accents to the pink and purple.

I decided to appease the quilt police and worked on the rail fence blocks.  I had chosen the fabrics the day before and made most of the rails, so it was simply a matter of putting the blocks together.

Shasta Matova is running out of thread

I noticed that the thread was running low and that began the race. Which would happen first, the finishing of the rails, the thread running out, or the book delivery? Being the competitive person I am, faster and faster I sewed to get finished before the door bell rang.

Quilting progress by Shasta Matova

The finished pile is getting bigger and bigger. My stomach is complaining of hunger. Just wait tummy, there are only a few more to do. Faster and faster.  Oh no, is that a selvage?  We're going to have to fix that.  This is a controlled improv quilt and quality does matter. This delay is making me late. Hurry faster.

Quilting mistake by Shasta Matova

Oh no, this block is going the wrong way. Should I leave it in? It is an improv quilt.  No, if it was a design choice that would be okay, but this is a mistake, and you have to fix it.  Otherwise, you will have to forever explain that you were racing against the mail carrier, and everyone will say you took a shortcut.

Quilt progress by Shasta Matova

Whew done.  Wait, what is that pile underneath the finished blocks. No wonder the package hasn't come yet. The dog is tired of my stomach growling and wants me to eat too. I wouldn't be too disappointed if the bell rang before I finished.

Orange and purple rail fence blocks by Shasta Matova

Whew done!  When I auditioned the fabrics, I wound up with more colored pieces then I did black and white pieces.  I could have gone back through the black and white pieces, but that would have meant that I would have to reject colored fabrics that made the cut.  I like these together and decided to leave them in the quilt. It is an improv quilt, after all, and this was a planned choice. Maybe it will add more interest to the quilt. I really like these blocks. In truth, I like each and every single block.  Each one makes a difference in how the quilt presents overall.

Curved rail fence by Shasta Matova

It is after 8 and the package has not arrived.  I am going to eat.  Package still  not here. I am going to wash the dishes.  Still  not here. Okay, maybe I have to press the blocks.  Still not here.  There is one more block to make.  This one has quite the curve to it. I check online for the tracking information.  Apparently the quilt police gave up on me and I am not getting the package today after all. I win, but it is not a happy win. I wanted the book.

Days 9 and 10 of Quilty 365 by Shasta Matova

On to the circles.  I decided to use my fabric markers instead of fabric to make the circle on the left. When I got out the markers, I saw that they were not made for fabric so I had to switch my plan. I have these Shiva paintstiks and decided to use those instead.  They look thick crayons and I don't have a sharpener, and it was only my second time using them, so it was a very messy attempt.  I debated whether I should try again, but decided it was ugly enough to stay. It was already being made a day late and I wanted to catch up with my circles.

For the circle on the right, when I was going through old magazines, one of the things I saw was a quilt that looked like a place setting. A circle for the plate with food on it, and the knife, fork and spoon.  Since this is a square, it would be hard to get a utensils in there, and since it is a small square, it would be hard to get food on it.  Then I saw a blog - a recent trunk show, where someone had made an Omas Blues pattern by Esther Aliu.  I have that pattern. I've been smitten by circles for a long time.  I pulled it out, and used her fish. I did have fish sticks today. I am grateful for food.  Since I had to reduce the size, I used freezer paper.  I like how the white on the fish looks silvery in the photo. It is not as neat and tidy as what Esther intended, but I do like how it looks.

This block is made from scraps.  The background is used in other blocks, and also the Life of Plenty. The green fabric was used in the Islamic Tile Quilt and the Daisy quilt.  The blue is an old piece that is used in my dimensional quilts and the scraps have appeared in many other quilts, and the white is used with the red in the rail fence.

By the way, the quilt police didn't win. Even though I didn't get the book. I have lots of ideas for new quilts. One to use up the leftover rails for this quilt, one to use up the rest of the fabric, the Omas Blues quilt, a red and white quilt, a turkey quilt, an art quilt that uses the Shiva Paintstiks correctly, an organic utility quilt, and on and on and on.

Trash Circle and Blender Rails

That's a much better title than just circles and rails, isn't it, even though this is just another post showing another circle and more rail fence blocks.

First, I will show you my trash.  These are selvages and other trash that is made during the quilt making process. Everything is less than an inch.  I just hate throwing it away, but gosh, I won't have any room in my house if I save everything, including the last little snippet.  I have been forcing myself to throw away the snippets, but this time I decided to use these snippets to make my circle, and then I would be able to throw away the leftovers. 

At first, I was going to use the snippets in the shapes that they were, but I decided that I would be allowed to trim them to shapes that I wanted. I secured the pieces with a glue stick and then sewed it all down with straight lines instead of going around each piece individually. I see now I could have used white for the eyes instead of pink and given her some eyeballs. Except for the background square and circle, everything else is from the trash pile.  Instead of making it easier, this just made it more difficult to throw away the trash.

These two blocks are my latest additions to the rail fence quilt.  I really like these because they serve as a bridge between the fabrics that are already in the quilt.  The one on the left helps show that the pink and the purple do go together, and the one on the right show that the pink and the orange do go together.I really didn't want to reject the orange fabric.  It's like having a friend, and then discarding her because your new friends are prettier. And she really is pretty too.

Here they are all together. At this point, I think I have enough blocks, but I really like making these, so I am going to add some more. I will add some more orange, and there is some more purple fabric I would really like to add.  I think I should also add a red so it doesn't look like the odd ball.

I also wanted to tell you about my new project. You probably don't remember my photo scanning project, but it is way back about when I started this blog.  Basically the rule was to scan at least one set of  pictures every day, but more is better.  I managed to get all of them scanned that way.  Well my new project has to do with quilt magazines.  I have a whole bunch of them going way back in time since I haven't ever thrown any away.  My plan is to get rid of all of them. It will make space and reduce clutter in my house, and give the dust mites fewer homes to live in.

The plan is that I will go through the quilt magazines and scan whatever patterns I want and give away the magazine. I am not allowed to keep any paper. This keeps me from taking the lazy out of just ripping out the patterns I want, and still keeping a mess. If you want any, let me know - they aren't in any particular order so it will be hard for me to find a particular issue, but they are all quilt magazines.  Right now my plan is to give them away to a local charity.

Linked to:
AdHoc Improv Quilters 
Let's Bee Social #100 (Yep it is her 100th)

Week 1 of Project 365

Hello again!  You have been seeing so much of me lately! Mostly because I'm making daily circles and showing them to you keeps me motivated.  Here's my output for Sunday.

A circle to represent the Cultural Fusion rail fence quilt I am making. This was made out of leftover rails.

Here's what my first week's worth of circles looks like. The rail fence looks like a chair with a steering wheel.  Or maybe someone sitting in front of a computer. I do lots of that.

And here's my progress on the rail fence quilt.  The red fabric on the left is from the Islamic Tile Quilt.  This block doesn't have much energy, but the fabric strip was already cut up the right size and it asked nicely. Maybe its calmness will make the other blocks look more energetic.  The one on the right has lots of energy and I really like that pretty pink color.

And here are my blocks all together.  I have started cutting one of my fabrics 1/8" inch bigger and trimming down to avoid having issues with seam allowances. Next up will be more blocks with more white in them.

More Circles and Rails

The block on the left is Friday's Quilty 365 project.  I took Zeus in for a bath. I bathe him outside in the summer but in the winter he gets to have spa treatments. He looks so cute  now, all trimmed and clean.  They gave him a yellow bandanna with ladybugs on it, which really brightened up his face. It's just a fabric triangle, which I absolutely love.  Too bad, there wasn't enough to put in the rail fence quilt.  It did make me rethink that the yellows I was planning on using are not bright enough.

The block on the right is Saturday's 365 circle.  It was a day of disappointments. Nothing horribly bad happened, but there were a lot of popped happiness bubbles. 

• The clouds were very pretty yesterday and the sun was shining bright when we were walking, but then I saw that the flag was flying at half staff and that reminded me of the ugliness in the world.
• My mother is disappointed in a project we worked on together, and there is nothing I can do to fix it now.  
• I had a gift card I wanted to use up, because they charge a monthly fee that was reducing my balance. Since I don't really need anything from the store, I decided to put together a care package for my daughter. After taking a long time to choose the things that would come up with at least the balance amount and be light enough to mail, I had to wait in line at the cashier (people paying with cash and checks, the nerve), and it turns out that the gift card I wanted to use was expired. I had even called ahead to find the balance on the card.  I wound up not buying anything there since the whole purpose was to use up the card.
• I went to another store, but my energy and motivation had petered out, and I couldn't think of anything to put in a gift basket. Why was I thinking of giving a care package for Thanksgiving anyway?
• It started to rain on the way home.
• I got too improv with my rail fence quilt, and my strips were not the right size.  I had to rip and resew, which is why there is only one of each of the blocks shown below.
• That circle fabric was in my black and white box, and I thought that gray would be an interesting thing to use instead of black and white, but when I brought it downstairs it looked more blue than gray.  Looking at it again today, it might still be gray and not blue, but whatever, it's not going in this quilt.  
• It seems appropriate that I ran out of bobbin thread when I was applying this circle on the background today. Hopefully the disappointments stay in Saturday and don't continue on Sunday.

Here's my progress on the Cultural Fusion rail fence quilt. I added two more blocks. It was hard for me to mix that red and that black pattern in one block because I wasn't so sure they go together, but I am trying to mix more patterns, like the Australian quilters (and Sujata) would.  I do like it.  The red fabric (which was used in the elephant circle) is made in Japan, which helps with the Cultural Fusion theme.  I also like the energy in the pattern in the black and white fabric on the bottom right.  All the light fabrics seemed pretty solid in the other blocks, so adding some pattern makes me happy.

June asked about the size of these blocks.  They are less than half size of the pattern in the book, plus my improv sewing means they might need to be trimmed before they are put together, so the block will be 6" square finished. I don't know how many blocks I am going to make, but my minimum is 15 to have enough variety and choice in the layout.

These fat quarters are other fabrics I had considered for the quilt, but right now, I am thinking that I should just stick to the pink/  red/ purple. The strips at the bottom are WIP so that pink and red will go in the quilt. The orange blocks that are already made seem to be outliers that may get to be specially chosen for the orphan quilt, but I will wait until all the blocks are  made before I make that decision. I might make a border in the blue, depending on whether it will work with the quilt. It's been begging to be in the quilt since the very beginning.

This Quilty 365 project brings up the Project 365 I did in the past, which was a photography project. I have been taking my camera with me more often, and the clouds were so pretty yesterday.

10 Reasons I Love Quilting

Stephanie at IndieQuilter wrote a post about the reasons she loved quilting, and encouraged others to list their own reasons..  I've decided to follow along on my blog.

Here are my reasons, in no particular order.

1.  I love combining different fabrics and see different patterns emerge.  Just like mixing paint and seeing new colors emerge, but better because there is the pattern in the fabric too.

2.  I enjoy the mystery of it.  I choose fabrics and think they will go together, but until the block is actually made or the quilt is actually put together, I'm not really sure what the finished product will look like.

3. I like the creativity of it.  I can choose to add or not add certain fabrics or combinations. I can take a pattern and change up something, or I can design my own. I choose the style I want to make - modern, improv, traditional, art, etc.  Totally up to me.

4.  After all the time I spend doing it, I have something to show for it.  It's not like watching movies or playing video games.  If I did those things, nobody would really know I did that or care years from now, but with quilts, there is a bonus end product that I can use or share or display.

5.  I can customize a quilt that fits the person I am giving it to.  It is truly unique and one of a kind, because no one can make another one just like it, not even me!

6. I like the feel of fabrics and the feel of completed quilts.  And they provide warmth!

7.  It is something that waits patiently for me.  If I don't have time to work on something this week, month, year, it won't spoil or change in the meantime.  It will simply wait until I am ready.

8.  It calls me.  I am constantly drawn to the colors and shapes and designs and want to keep making more and more and more.

9.  The quilting community is awesome.  Everyone you meet is so sweet and generous and creative and helpful.

10. It helps me develop skills at a pace that is comfortable for me.  If I want to master a new skill, I can make a small project.  If I want to take it easy and practice a skill I already have, that is okay too.  I can make casual quilts that don't take much thought but take lots of energy (small pieces) or I can make complex quilts that take a lot of thought or skill to put together.  Totally up to me.

There are so many more reasons  It is difficult to limit myself to 10, but these are the first 10 I thought of, so they must be the most important. :)

You can read Melanie's list at Catbird Studio.  I found about this list from her.

Elephant and Rail Fence

Yesterday's circle was an elephant. I thought I should make sure there is at least one elephant in my quilt.  I like how the background fabric looks like the elephant has a tusk! I also like how the elephant fabric made a design on his forehead and has a circle for the eye.  I attached a separate fabric for the ear; it's subtle but it is there.

And I started yet another project.  I've had Sujata Shah's Cultural Fusion book for a while now and it has been calling and calling me.  I kept making it wait since I wanted to finish something, but I broke down to start it.  This quilt makes me happy.  I'm making two blocks with the same colors, which makes it go even faster, and makes it easier to chain piece and make sure I have something underneath the needle at all times without needing a leader/ender.These blocks (I'm making them half the size as in the book) are so quick to make.  A few seams and I appreciate the way I combined the fabrics, a few more seams and the block is done already.  And then it is time to choose two more fabrics to combine. Most of my brights seem to be tone on tone, but I want to add zippy, energetic fabrics as I go along.