Christmas in July

This past weekend, Quilted Memories -- the shop I'm newly affiliated with -- held a Christmas in July event. There were lots of specials and treats, and the shop was decorated with holiday quilts done by customers. Even though the temperatures were well into the 100s outside, all the Christmas eye candy put me in the mood to get going on those holiday projects. There are only five months!

Shoppers got to vote on their favorite quilts, and this lovely by Rita Hale won the Viewer's Choice award.

Rita is also a member of my machine quilters guild. I told her I would be glad to give it a good home, but she wasn't having any of it! I have seen quilts like this done in red and also chocolate brown, but the navy was really pretty. Nice job Rita!

I guess if Rita won't share, I'll just have to make my own! Pardon me while I go find the end of my future projects list...

Here's the acorn wreath scoop

I have had several inquiries about where I found the pattern for this little acorn wreath table runner. It is from a book called Pumpkin Patch Threads by Need'l Love. I picked it up at Quilter's Station in Lee's Summit, Missouri where they also had a fabric kit for this table runner featuring Jo Morton fabrics.

This top finishes at 22 inches square with the cute little log cabins finishing at two inches each! I paper pieced these and have a nifty paper piecing graphic I designed to print these out in bulk instead of having to trace each of the 48 blocks. Contact me if you would like more information about this. I hand-appliqued the acorns and leaves using the freezer paper and spray starch method. Along the way, I discovered a sweet method for applique piece placement that can be found here.

Now I need to get serious so I can have this little guy quilted by fall. I am so looking forward to that and the milder weather that comes with it. Bring on the cool breezes and rustling leaves!

A scientific experiment & the acorn wreath top is complete!

Last month I went to a trunk show for longarm quilter Sheryl Schleicher. When she was speaking about where she begins the quilting on a quilt, she shared a bit of scientific information: most people, when viewing anything -- art, a building, a photograph, or a quilt -- scan it in a specific pattern. So I am conducting an official scientific poll of my own to test this theory. The photo below is of the little acorn wreath quilt I have been working on lately. It is comprised of four main blocks. When you view the photo, be conscious of which block your eye moves to first and which you go to last. Leave a comment and let me know your findings.

I'm going

to leave

a little

space here

so you

are not

tempted to

look at

the photo

quite yet.

Now, view.

Sheryl gave us a little diagram showing that most people scan from the center to the upper right, to upper left, to lower left, back to center and on the upper right, to lower right, then back to center. Is this what you did?

In Sheryl's talk, she said she would start quilting in the lower right near the center because that is the last place most people look. This gives her a little time to get in the groove of the motif she is using and if there are any less than perfect elements, they are not as readily noticed.

When I set my four acorn blocks together, there was method to my madness. The first block I did ended up being slightly different than the other three. I struggled with appliqueing those deep valleys on the leaves, as you might remember here. And my placement of the applique pieces on the background fabric was a little too free-style. I sent out a cry for help and got some terrific advice, shown here. One of the tidbits that really came in handy was an easy method for accurately placing the pieces on the background fabric. You can check that our here.

I toyed with the idea of remaking that first block. Then my sister reminded me of the Amish rule of quilting: only God can create perfection, so mistakes are okay. This was just the advice this recovering perfectionist needed to hear! So I set these four blocks together with Sheryl's diagram in mind and put that "slightly different" block in the lower right corner where hopefully its uniqueness didn't scream out so loud. I know it is there, so it is the first thing I see. Let me know if you noticed it, or if you had to go back and look at it again.

Big pain leaves to go with the cute log cabins

I've started on the applique blocks that go with the cute little log cabin blocks I posted about last time. The acorns went rather smoothly, but those little oak leaves were/are a big pain in the tushy. Only three more to go on this block. Thank goodness there are only four of these blocks!

I've tried tracing them then appliqueing, freezer paper on the back, freezer paper on the front, spray starch, and even gave reverse applique serious consideration. The problem is, they are so small that when you clip the valleys, there isn't much fabric to get turned under. Then I'm left with fraying threads. I have not tried Fray Check, but I wonder if it would leave the fabric with a wet look even when its dry.

I think the freezer paper on the back with the edges ironed to the wax is working the best. On the first leaf I stitched down, I put lots of little stitches in the valleys to hopefully keep the fraying at bay. I'm hoping the Applique Fairy will visit me in my sleep and give me a simple solution.

Cute always gets me in trouble

One of my local quilt stores has had a little table runner on display for probably the past year. They keep it out because they know about my battle with cute. They are mean that way. Every time I am there I have to drool over it, pet it, and admire its cute little log cabin blocks. And while log cabin blocks are generally not associated with cute, if you make them teeny tiny, they have the same effect as fuzzy kittens or squishy babies: I just can't resist.

Well, cute finally won. The little pattern and little fabric bundle recently came home with me. About a week ago I dove in, thinking this would be a quick little project. I don't know why my mind equates small with quick, but it never seems to work out that way. These little log cabin blocks finish at two inches square. YIKES! That means quarter-inch logs. YIKES, again! I paper pieced these little guys. I timed it. It took me approximately one minute to pick fabric, sew each log, trim, and press. Not bad. Until you consider there are 15 logs per little block and 48 little blocks. You do the math. That's right, that equals FOREVER!

But I was determined to not let cute take me down. I kept at it, and now I have all 48 of these little guys done. Now I only have four applique blocks to go. Hopefully they will not be as cute, and can get them done a little quicker.