Pattern development and distracted sewing

I spent a large part of the last month lost down the EQ8 rabbit hole, playing with new designs.  For every design that becomes an actual quilt, there are dozens of discarded ones, and a few that have potential but need to sit and simmer until I figure out what I need to tweak to make it work.

Sometimes, I tweak and tweak and tweak and finally decide the original design was right to begin with.  That's how this placemat set worked out!

Brochettes placemats ready for binding

Last week's guild retreat was just the little push I needed to step away from the computer and start sewing.  If all had gone according to plan, I could have pieced these on the first day and quilted them the next day.  All did not go according to plan.

Pro tip:  When you add stitch-and-flip corners, be absolutely certain you have added them where they're supposed to be.  Do not cut away the excess fabric under the triangle until you are absolutely sure that the triangles are in the right place.  Once you've trimmed, the seam ripper cannot help you!  Just saying...

While chatting with fellow quilters at the retreat I made four of these, stopping a few times to rip seams when I sewed things in the wrong place.  Apparently, I don't multitask well.  I should chat, or sew, but not try both at the same time.  In any case, I finally succeeded in making four of these:

I paused before adding the top strip.  There was a little niggling thought that something wasn't quite right, but I silenced it.  I kept sewing. I added the strip and the second corner triangle, then I trimmed. Then I finally clued in that I should have listened to that niggling thought.  I added that first triangle one step too early.

Pro tip #2: Refer to the pattern at each step.  At an even more basic level, remember to actually bring the pattern with you to retreat.

Yup.  I neglected to do that.  This is a new pattern I'm working on.  The only part I had printed was the cutting chart.  I was running late that morning and just grabbed the chart and thought these exact words:  "It's a simple design, I'll remember it, no problem.  Just go!"  

Obviously, it is a simple design.  Also obviously, I didn't quite remember it on the fly.  What followed was some scrambling to squeeze additional pieces from the leftover fabric.  There wasn't quite enough of the lighter green, so I pieced scraps together to make the last piece I needed.  Thanks to the busy spatter/dot print, you can barely see the seam. 

There wasn't enough extra dark green print to cut what I needed, but I was able to cut some of the smaller pieces from larger pieces in the mistakes. 

Happily, I had enough of the tan to recut the eight pieces I needed.

I started over, paying attention this time, and finished the placemats before heading home at the end of the day.  The runner followed the next day, much more successfully as I brought a diagram AND paid attention.

I quilted these on Sunday with very basic straight line outline quilting with the walking foot.  Binding will follow soon, then I can take pictures for the pattern cover.  The pattern itself is almost ready. I just need to lay out the diagrams on the pages. 

I'm rather pleased with this design.  I think it would work in different color schemes of with themed prints.  Some leafy fall prints, or Christmas poinsettias would be perfect this time of year.  It's too bad I have four more quilts to make in the next month or two.  I don't think I'll be squeezing in new Thanksgiving or Christmas placemats!

How is your sewing going?  Hopefully it has involved less seam ripping and recutting than my placemats!

Happy qulting,

Joanne

Rescuing another quilt UFO

Salvaging  my Sparks test quilt has built my enthusiasm for moving a few more stalled projects to at least the completed quilt top stage.  The one that was closest to being finished was Weathered Squares, which I never got around to sharing here.  I pieced the blocks at about the same time last fall as I pieced the Sparks test, but I wasn't happy with how it looked.  Here's where I left it last October.

I moved blocks around after this photo, but I just couldn't get to something I liked.  I loved the blocks individually, but as a whole, something wasn't right.  Two of those greens don't do it for me.  The blocks seem faded compared to the rest.  So does the yellow.  Maybe the dark blues are too dark and stark.

It all looked just fine as a fabric pull.  Look at these squares all together! 

Fabrics from Fig Tree and Company's Fruit Cocktail
collection from Moda, over grey Dimple fabric from Andover

To get the proper effect I guess I should have left space for the background fabric to peek through between the fabrics, as it does in the quilt. 

An excursion to the quilt shop to pick out new fabric to replace a few blocks should have moved this along, but new projects claimed priority.  The blocks and the new fabric languished on my shelf until this week, when I spent an evening cutting out fabric for three replacement blocks.  The next evening I sewed, then everything screeched to a halt just before I added the last of the sashing in the blocks.  Suddenly, I wasn't sure I liked the sashing in the block.

I wrote this pattern for Connecting Threads last fall for their new Shimmer Tonals fabrics, released in their current October 2024 catalog.  Here's what their sample quilt looks like, followed by the mockup so you can see the entire layout.

Wreathed Squares as kitted by Connecting Threads.  Find the kit and pattern here.
Photo by Connecting Threads.

Do you notice that the sashing that bisects each block through the center and middle is wider than the rest of the sashing in the block?  I did this intentionally for more movement and interest in the layout.  I like the way it looks with these more solid fabrics. 

It occurred to me that with the prints and the busier background fabric I chose, the two different sashing widths might not have the same effect.  I picked sashing out in one block then reassembled the block with narrower sashing down the center and across the middle.  I should have taken a picture of the block before ripping to do a before-and-after comparison, but I didn't think that through in the moment.  I settled for comparing with another block in the same print and value even if not the same colour.

Huh! It did make a difference.  It tightened up the block just a little.  Bringing the print squares just a little closer together helped the prints hold their own against the background a bit more.

Much seam ripping followed, though it did not take as long as I had feared.  It took longer to press everything flat again and pick out all the little thread bits that stuck to the fabric after ripping.  I thought of using masking taped to lift the little thread bits off, but there were some fabric edges that really wanted to fray.  I thought the tape might indulge them in that, so I took a little longer and used my fingers.

Next came trimming.  I trimmed the sashing I had removed to make it narrower.  I was a able to leave some of the short sashing strips attached to some units and trim them on just one side.  That saved me a tiny bit of ripping and resewing.

I then reassembled the blocks with the narrower sashing.  One more evening of sewing and I had a stack of 15 blocks.  I only needed 12 for my layout, but I had three extra with the new fabrics I bought last fall.

After laying out 12 blocks, then switching some around, then replacing some, then moving those around too, I landed on this layout, called it good enough and added sashing and borders.

I also added cornerstones that I left out of the original pattern.  I was feeling lazy about lining up the vertical sashing across horizontal sashing.  Cornerstones make it easier so I added them in.  The pattern is only a suggestion, right?  As an added bonus, the cornerstones pull together that element where the block corners meet.

So, all that to say I finished another quilt top!  It's not dramatically different than where it was headed last fall, but I'm happier with it now.  It probably would have been fine if I'd left the blocks as they were, but in order not to feel like I wasted my time, I 'm going to say this is better!

Looking back though my photos, it looks like this could also have been fun without sashing between the blocks.

Actually, now I think I like it better without the sashing.  Ack!  So many options! 

The sashing is staying.  I'm calling this top done.

I'd love to hear about your adventures choosing a layout or tweaking a design.  Let me know I'm not the only one who waffles!

Happy quilting,

Joanne

Salvaging my original Sparks test

As I wrote about last December,  my fabric choices to test my Sparks pattern were not great.  The yellow fabric I chose did not have enough contrast against the background, and it was too weak compared to the other two colours.  The result was that the top third of the quilt faded away and the whole design looked unbalanced. 

Over the last couple of weeks I ripped seams to remove the sashing and reorder the blocks.  I ended up removing most of the yellow blocks to give them a smaller role in the design.  Removing two rows of blocks on point shortened the quilt and made it square, but I had enough background fabric leftover to add background to the top and bottom to lengthen the quit again.  It's not quite as long as the original design, but it will do.

Enough chatter.  Time for visuals!

You can see the design in the yellow blocks still fades away compared the red and orange elements, but having fewer blocks and sandwiching them between the stronger blocks make them more of a secondary element and the fade isn't so jarring.  

Original version on the left, redesigned version on the right

I had to make an extra orange block to make this work, but I goofed and ended up with the wrong combination of units. I made more units to fix that, then figured I might as well make a few more to use up  the extra goof bits.  I also had a few extra red units.  I'm not sure why I had extra red last fall, but I decided I might as well make a few more to finish an extra red block as well.

The eight yellow blocks I removed, as well the extra orange and red blocks, are going to end up in the backing.  Of curse the yellow on the background will be more subtle than in the EQ mockup below, but it's on the back so I can live with it.  I just want to use up the pieces.

The column of blocks on point is intentionally off center so there won't be a need to obsess about centering the backing.

Here's a fun and surprising fact: tossing these block in the backing is not going to  result in buying less yardage to finish the back.  I did the math, was sure I must be mistaken, checked the math again, talked it out with the hubby to see if he saw any errors in my math, and confirmed that I will buy the same amount as if I planned a plain backing.  

Why?  Well, I need fabric for the setting triangles to place the blocks on point.  Because of the size squares I need to cut those large triangles, I'm going to end up with large leftover chunks of fabric.  So, I'm not going to use as much of the fabric as if I made a plain back, but I'll have to buy as much.  There will be leftovers for the scrap bin.

In case you were wondering, setting the blocks straight instead of on point wouldn't help much on that front, because one width of fabric plus the width added by the blocks wouldn't be quite as wide as I need the back to be.  I'd have to buy extra yardage to make up the difference anyway so I decided to go ahead and make the back more interesting by setting the blocks on point. On point is wider than straight set, so the blocks plus one width of fabric cut into two smaller uneven widths A and B to make the side panels will give me the required backing width.

That was a mouthful.  It's simpler in fabric than in words!

This project has progressed as far as it can until I can go to the quilt shop for more backing fabric.  The blocks and some sashing will be waiting.

Would you find  a tutorial on pieced quilt backs useful?  Do you have any particular questions related to quilt backs, plain or pieced?

Happy quilting,

Joanne