La Passacaglia - Another Large Rosette

I finished Big Rosette #3!

One more big one to go, plus a few smaller rosettes and LOTS of connecting stars.  I fussy cut the fabric for the inner star and also the green striped fabric I used in the center ring of white stars.  Fussy cutting adds a lot of impact but it takes so much longer, so I limit it to the parts where I have either five or ten pieces to cut, rather than 20 or 30.  

My next step is to work on the connecting stars so I join more rosettes together and get them attached to the main piece.  

Quilting Goals for 2016

My goals for 2016 are to accomplish the goals I set in 2015, that I promised I'd do in 2014, that seemed like a good idea in 2013, that I aspired to accomplish in 2012.  

(seen on Mandypegs Instagram)

Because I am a list sort of person, I like to have to-do lists.  For quilting, I especially like the visual list that making a board on Pinterest represents. so I renamed my board Quilts To Make in 2015 to Quilts To Make in 2016 (I know, so original) and edited it to more accurately represent what I want to accomplish this year.

So here's what's on my quilting to-do list for 2016:

• Laundry Baskets Little Butterflies quilt - I finished the top in early 2015. It has been sitting, all sandwiched and basted, ready to be quilted.  Must do it!

• Stars In A Time Warp - remember that sew-along?  I have a few made, need more, and will make them into a wall hanging for my kitchen.

• Something creative and modern with hexies, likely incorporating a rainbow of colors.
• Woven design quilt - I've been wanting to do this ever since Thelma of Cupcakes N Daisies made a quilt using a Moda Bakeshop pattern with a woven look.  I have a few jelly rolls in my stash earmarked for this project.  
• Orange Peel - another bucket list project, I have an image in my mind and need to execute it!
• Clam Shell - giant clam shell quilt, mini clam shell pillow - not sure which, but one or the other.
• La Passacaglia - Must finish the quilt that takes FOREVER!  My goal is to have the top done (not quilted) by Christmas, 2016.

That's probably as much as (or more than) I can accomplish in one year.  To get the visual impact of my quilting to-do list, visit my Pinterest board.

More Progress on La Passacaglia

I can't claim to have done a lot of quilting during December.  I prepped pieces for La Passacaglia and took them with me on my trip to France but worked on it four hours max over the course of the 10 days I was traveling.  Once home, I focused on the binding for Floating.  But then on New Year's Day, I returned to EPP and made a few more rosettes.  I

Three new small rosettes and I am at work on the third (out of four) large rosette.  I need to make many more connecting stars so I can get them all joined together.  Whipping together the connecting stars is the more mindless part of this project; I think I need some TV to keep me company.  Miss Main Street recommends Master of None, Strange Empire, and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries on Netflix.  So you watch TV while you sew?  If yes, any recommendations?

Red & White Quilts: Infinite Variety

Another Christmas gift, Red &White Quilts:  Infinite Variety covers the 653 quilts in the Infinite Variety show that was in New York in March, 2011.  You may recall it from photos of the stunning way the quilts were hung.

I've mentally kicked myself for not making the time to attend the show in person.  We live close enough to NYC and it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  The book is like a catalog of the 653 quilts that were in the show.  As the show was being developed, each quilt in the collection was photographed and cataloged.  (The owner, Joanna S. Rose, did not even know how many quilts she had until they finished the photography.)  The photos are presented in the book, organized so similar quilts are together, along with a few essays about putting on the show.  It is very inspirational for a quilt maker; I've already got a few designs mentally marked down for my next two-color quilt.

Thank you, Mr. Main Street, for adding Red &White to my quilting library.

3 Quilt Books

With the help of Amazon Wishlist, I received four quilt books this year for Christmas.  They are all books I had my eye on, without ever seeing them "for real," and I am very happy with all four.    Here's the first three:

A feathered star quilt has long been on my bucket list.  I saw a quilt made using the Star of Chamblie pattern by Marsh McCloskey at a quilt show last fall and thought it might actually be do-able for me.   This book (booklet really) has detailed instructions for the feathered star blocks with a variety of center designs, plus instructions for putting the blocks together as shown.  Finished as shown on the cover, the quilt is 67.5" square.  

Tributes and Treasures is by Paula Barnes and Mary Ellen Robison of Red Crinoline Quilts.  I think most, if not all, of the quilts in the book were previously published as individual patterns.  For example, in 2012, I made Boughs of Holly from a pattern called Crossroads that is in this book.

However, the other designs are new to me and first on my list will be this quilt below, called Plantation Road.  I just need to find a toile print that coordinates with fabric in my stash.  All the designs in Tributes and Treasures are consistent with the designers' Civil War reproduction aesthetic, though they can look very different when made in non-reproduction fabrics.

The third book, Simply Color Green, is closer to the modern end of the quilt design spectrum.  The author, Vanessa Christenson, has authored a series of six with each book focused on a different color. Each book covers color theory, with a few projects.  

 I'll be back in a few days with a post on the fourth book I received.

Floating - A Final Finish for 2015

I did not get many quilts finished this year.  The ongoing saga that is making a La Passacaglia quilt took up much of my time, with finishes being confined to Modern Herringbone (currently on Miss Main Street's bed) and a couple of baby quilts.  But I have one to add to the list, having finished sewing the binding the day after Christmas.

Floating is finished!  Not the best photo - it has been rainy and overcast for days here in NJ so the lighting was poor, my quilt holders (my mom and Miss Main Street) are short so the top sags, and Dillie insisted on being in the picture.  The design is by Cindy Lammon.  The pattern (called Peppermint Float) was included in last year's calendar from That Patchwork Place and Cindy made the variation and provided the instructions on her blog, Hyacinth Quilt Designs.
 

I liked the diagonal line quilting Cindy used on her quilt so asked my long arm quilter, Karen Thompson, to do the same.  

The blocks are large and went together quickly early this year, and the top was quilted by early summer.  But by then I was heavily into La Passacaglia and did not get around to binding this quilt until last week.

I used a gray on white doodle print for the backing.  The gray color matches the gray in the polka dot sashing and binding.

Floating is 81" square, so a good size but not quite bed size.  In an earlier post, a reader asked if lining up the narrow sashing was difficult.  It isn't really, you just need to pin well and not rush it.

I plan to make another of Cindy Lammon's designs in 2016.  She designs many quilts with the sort of updated traditional look that I am favoring right now.

Sewing and Fabric Shops in France

If you follow me on Instagram (cathyquiltingonmainstreet), you will have seen travel photos from my recent trip to Paris and Strasbourg, France.  I had a wonderful time!  I won't cover all the travel details, just leave you with some images.  Instead, I'll focus on some discoveries of special interest to quilters.

I made this collage on PicMonkey.

In Strasbourg, I discovered this delightful little store, La Mercerie du Bain aux Plantes (15 rue du Bain aux Plantes in La Petite France area).  The store carried a great assortment of ribbon, the kind I never find here, and if I could have thought up some projects on the spur of the moment, I would have purchased more.

But I'm ready for some Christmas 2016 projects.  Each little snowman card holds two meters of ribbon and I bought 2 meters of the embroidered ric rac.  I plan to use it all in some sort of wall hanging or pillows.

The fabric shops of Paris are concentrated in a few blocks in the Montmartre section, near Sacre Coeur (church with a white dome).  I didn't buy any fabric but had a fun browse.  There were three stores I particularly liked:

1. Dreyfus, also known as Marche Saint Pierre - had a huge selection of different kinds of fabric, especially for clothing and interior design use.
2. La Reine - stocks primarily very high quality fabric for clothing.  They had a huge selection of Liberty lawns at 26 euros per meter, as well as nice wools and silks.  
3. Frou Frou - a more contemporary store with cotton fabric similar to Liberty prints.  What makes the place special is the huge selection of buttons and trims that match the fabric.  It would be great for little projects like bags but a bit pricey for quilting.  There is a second Frou Frou store in the 6th arrondisement at 31 rue Saint Placide.

I also saw quilting fabrics from the usual American firms like Moda and Hoffman, but at prices that make me appreciate my LQS and online sources so much more.  I'm not sure I could afford to quilt if I lived in France!  But wow, the pastries are sure good!