Quick ADK visit

     Last weekend, we took a short break to drive to the Adirondacks, Old Forge, NY, (4 1/2 hrs.) because my daughter wanted to visit one last time before she starts back to teaching after her leave. The weather was fine (isn't always in September) and I also caught a guild show in the Old Forge Library- the first time this guild ever did a display. It was just 2 nights, but I sure love to visit there. We did a short hike to Lock and Dam, and I walked the stroller while my husband and daughter kayaked. The baby, Sidney, was so much fun.

My favorite coffee place

Small art quilt with experiments with rust on fabric

Blurry, but I just loved the composition and colors

 

Sometimes you don't get what you think

     Last April, I went to a quilt show and saw a quilt that inspired me. I took a photo and when I got home, I drafted out what I wanted. I was looking for floating floral squares anchored by a diamond. I never use black, but because the quilt I saw used it successfully, I used black, but made it scrappy blacks so it would not look all solid.  I made a sample block to see if I liked it. I made 4 samples to see how it looked together. Fine. The 30 blocks had lots of pieces with precision. I used the Accuquilt to cut the squares and triangles which works wonderfully- no trimmng, preciseness. I used the fork pins to hold the intersections and was satisfied with that. 
    Today, I put 25 of the done blocks on the wall to motivate me to finish the last row of five. When I stepped back, I was not happy. I seemed to have lost the floating quality. All I see is black diamonds, not the florals which I wanted to be the focus. I do not where I went wrong. Now, sadly, I am sewing the last five blocks to put on the wall. This was going to be a quilt for me, but now I am not liking it.

Diamond rainbow strips a wrap

     Months back, I cut and sewed the blocks for a Missouri Star Quilt pattern, called Cutting Corners. When I put it on the wall, I did not like the look. The strips go in different directions and it was annoying. I moved it and moved it around, and came up with this design, sewed it together. Quilted it last week, finally. Another striped binding, and it is done. The back is donated fabric. This will be a larger comfort quilt, I think bed size. It was fun.

Mixed results

     We tried round three of ice dyeing. My daughter-in-law and granddaughter wanted to do more shirts and some onesies for my daughter's new baby. I wanted some fabric for quilts- some watery blue greens. We all soaked them the same, put them on the same bins, covered with the same ice, sprinkled with the same dye.

     However, the results were mixed. The shirts, a long piece my daughter-in-law did, and the onesies came out fine. My pieces came out like bad lime headaches. We did not use green, but the blue and yellow mixed awful sickly. I did all the set up, wash out, etc and was left very disappointed.

     Katie's big yardage piece that she wants to use on the wall came out fine despite that the right side had white printing on it. The backside looked fine.

See the white print that resisted the dye? Back side worked great

     My two half yards and fat quarters are a real disappointment. I don't know if I should re-dye or just forget.

The flower shape is more sickly green than it is here, not really so yellow.

My blogging universe

     Greetings from Buffalo, NY and my little space in the blog world. I am a retired art teacher and totally immersed in quilting- for art, for comfort quilts, and learning to be a better quilter. Not so much a writer.
     In the years I have followed and read blogs and then made my own, I have made great friends (met some personally), advanced my quilting/design abilities, and have had my life enriched by the lives of others. 
     I read a set list every morning, and it gets me energized and thoughtful from the start. I hope this blog has helped some people become better quilters or quilt thinkers. It is important to me to chronicle and communicate my artwork. I will never be famous or make money from my art. That is ok, I have readers and I follow some of the most excellent people on this quilt journey. 
    So when I received an invitation from Victoriana Designs to participate in a Quilters Meet and Greet on September 4th, I decided to try. I have no idea how it will go, and maybe I can gain a couple of readers and find some other quilters that I can relate to. I wish quilters had a site like Ravelry that knitters have.

https://benitaskinner.blogspot.com/2018/09/2018-online-quilters-meet-greet.html

https://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/fabric/

     Yesterday, reading Film in the Fridge, I saw a quilt that will help me with my scraps. I always cut 3 1/2" strips as per Bonnie Hunter's system, but they don't get used  much. I have tables in my garage filled with scraps that need to be processed as soon as it cools off so I tried her pattern with 3 1/2" strips instead of her 3" and it worked. No waste, easy pattern. I pulled a lot more strips from my 3 1/2" bin and figured it would take 18 sets WOF to make a decent lap size quilt. The blocks should finish at 9 3/4" x 12" with this size. Great for the comfort quilts. Set of 6 sample blocks below.

    

An unusual floral piece

     I adore floral fabric and yearn to find good pieces. Love making floral quilts. However, I was asked by a dear friend to particpate in decorating a plasic bust for a Breast Cancer Auction at the end of September. The show opens on Sept. 7 at the Artspace Gallery, Buffalo, NY and the auction is Sept. 28th. I don't like decorating. I stink at it. So, being a scrap queen, I looked up how to make flowers from fabric and made a boatload of them.  The machine  gathered or pleated them, but hot glue rolled them together. I ended up with 5 finger blisters from the glue. 
     I used Krylon spraypaint for plastics to change the white to a green. I called the piece "Bloom where you are planted".  I am relieved to have the piece made and delivered and on the wall. I have no idea why 3D or decorative things are so hard for me. I grit my teeth doing the whole thing, which speaks poorly of me. A big flaw. I would rather sew quilts. All the time.

Front view

Side view

Side view

Top

Bottom

Middle

Out for delivery

     Once again, I got a call for a comfortquilt that had to go out of town with someone who was flying out Labor Day. I have a lot of tops to choose from, but not quilted. I pushed myself to quilt on the longarm, get the bag put together, the card, the book and the pocket quilts. After washing and sewing the label on, I delivered it to the person who will ferry it along. I don't know where it is going, but it is to a woman who does not have a very good cancer diagnosis. I hope the exploding squares and quilting take her mind off it for a bit and let her gather her thoughts.

I just love striped bindings. Hard to find stripes, buy them when I see them.