I Need Advice On Fabric Selection

I've been working on my version of Brand New Day, tentatively called Christmas Day, and I need your help on my final fabric selection for the unpieced blocks, setting triangles, and border. 

 

 

I am making my version out of my hoarded stash of Robyn Pandolph Folk Art and Aubrey Rose fabrics; purchased long ago and unlikely I could get more.  My original plan was to use the floral pirnt on off-white for the unpieced blocks and border, the floral print on green for the setting triangles, and deep red for the narrow inner border.  I tested that out:

 

 

The blocks look a bit lost on this print.  How about the green for the unpieced blocks?

 

 

I like that much better.  But then what do I do for the setting triangles?  And border?  And here's an alternative green floral print.

 

I've come up with several alternatives.  Please leave a comment letting me know what you think works best!

1. Use the green floral for the unpieced blocks, the setting triangles, and the border, with a red narrow inner border and binding.
2. Use the green floral for the unpieced blocks and border, the white floral for the setting triangles, and red narrow inner border and binding.
3. Use the green floral for the unpieced blocks and border, find a red that works for the setting triangles.
4. Put a narrow (1/2") red border around the star blocks, then use the white floral for the unpieced blocks, with green for setting triangles and border, with narrow red inner border.
5. Something else?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Software

I've been using Kodak Easyshare to edit and store my photographs.  I think I'm ready to upgrade.  Easyshare is easy to use but slow and the editing features are very limited. 

Besides the photographs I use in my blog, my pictures are from vacations and family events.  I don't do major editing; mostly cropping and a little color "fixing."  I'm not a scrapbooker but I like to make photo books to memorialize major vacations and events.  And I'm planning to scan lots of old (pre-digital) family photos for future use.

I've heard of Photoshop but if sounds like a lot more than I need.  Do you have any recommendations? What do you use? Please comment.

TGIF!

What a week!  100 degree heat, jungle-like humidity, internet outage that lasted three days because a piece of equipment "fried" (Comcast technician's technical term), and to top it all off, a flat tire this morning!  Thank goodness we have central air conditioning in our house; it is saving me from being cranky. 

I did get some of the Ohio star blocks finished for Christmas Day. 

I plan on finishing the star blocks and cutting the fabric for the plain blocks tomorrow. 

How about some Corgi cuteness?  Reggie thinks it might thunder so he wants to get in bed and cuddle.

The Tools Are Getting A Workout

I finished something over the long weekend, but it wasn't a quilt.  It was this book:

I highly recommend this series for those who like to read.  The books are not "great literature" but they are a thrilling read.  The plots are fantastic, really riveting, and the two main characters are interesting.  Unfortunately, the author, Stieg Larsson, died shortly after turning in the manuscripts, so the third book is the last.  I couldn't wait to finish in order to find out what happens, but am a bit sad now that there won't be any more for me to read.  If want to read them, start with the first book, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

I did work on my Christmas Day quilt.  This project is a good opportunity to use some of my specialty tools.  The Angler has been the perfect helper for making the quarter triangle squares.  The Angler is a clear sheet of plastic that attaches to your sewing machine or table (the photo shows it taped to my sew steady table and my Bernina arm).  It has lines that you use to guide your fabric pieces, allowing you to sew straight lines on the diagonal across squares, without having to mark the lines. 

If you are not familiar with this item, you can see (and buy) it here.  It saves a lot of the tedium of marking.  There is a similar tool called Clearly Perfect Angles that clings to acrylic sewing tables, so you don't need masking tape. 

Next up was trimming.   The quarter triangle squares are made a little large, then trimmed to size for greater accuracy.  I'm not fond of the trimming step but the accuracy is worth it.  My Fussy Cut ruler came in handy here, again.

I have all the component pieces of the star blocks made.  The next step is sewing the pieces into the star blocks; the pieces come together like a nine-patch block.  I've got the blocks laid out for fast piecing.  I figure this step will be easy to do in the evenings this week after work, even if I have only 20 or 30 minutes at a time to devote to it.

At the rate I'm going, I could actually finish the top and move on to Christmas Project #2 before the end of July!

Independence Day

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to celebrate another holiday, Independence Day, also know by the date, The Fourth of July.

Because the 4th fell on Sunday this year, my clients are taking Monday off work.  That means I get the day off too!  Perfect for working on my quilting projects. 

How about some thematic DVDs to view while sewing?  Here are some of my favorites.

1776 - a musical about the whole Declaration of Indepence set of events

John Adams, the miniseries from HBO about our 2nd President

Gettysburg - a movie about the Civil War battle (took place July 1-3, 1863)

Have a fun celebration with your family!

Brand New Day or Christmas Day?

Not sure what I'll be calling this quilt but I've made a good start.  I have the pieces cut for the star blocks.

Some of the larger floral prints I'm using are perfect for fussy cutting.  And I have just the tool - my Quilt in a Day Fussy Cut Trio Rulers.  You know, one of those tools I bought at a quilt show, seemed like a "must have" at the time, but has not seen the light of day since it went into the quilting paraphernalia drawer in the studio.  Well, I've discovered it is a very useful tool and am putting two sizes to to use on this project.

The set has three rulers:  3.5 inches square, 4.5 inches square, and 6.5 inches square.  Each is clear, heavy plastic, with the quarter inch seam allowances marked.  There are lines marked diagonally from corner to corner and they help you center any motif on your block.  If you look closely, you can just make out the diagonal lines in the photo below, which shows the ruler positioned on top of the fabric piece after cutting. 

I used the ruller here to center the flowers on what will be the center square of a star block. 

Now that I've cut out the star blocks, I need to get sewing.

Christmas In July Quilt-Along Begins

It is July 1 and the official start of my Christmas In July Quilt-Along.  I will spend the month working on Christmas and Winter quilting projects, with hopes of actually completing them before the holiday season is upon us.

Are you interested in joining me? Not a lot of rules or structure - you can make anything you want to, as long as it has a winter or Christmas theme. Bed quilt, throw, wall hanging, tree skirt - whatever you choose to do. All you have to do is work on it during the month of July and periodically post something on your blog showing your progress. No blog - not a problem - send me pictures and I'll post them here for you.

If you want to join me, let me know via comment here or email message and I'll post a link to your blog on my sidebar so readers can check out your progress.

For my first project, I'll be making Brand New Day, a Miss Rosie pattern, using Robyn Pandolph fabrics I've had in my stash for a long time.  The focus fabrics are below.  I think they are from Folk Art Christmas IV and Aubrey Rose.

And here are the fabrics I pulled from my stash for the star blocks.

Time to get started!