Spotted Graffiti Improv - Part One

I bought 4 yards of the beautiful Spotted Graffiti fabric designed by Marcia Derse a little while ago.  I just loved the colors and texture of the browns and blues.  I was saving it for a background for one of my garden ladies, but didn't use it for that series.  So, I cut off 2 yards to save, and used the rest for an improv quilt.  Not having any idea where I was heading, I pulled fabrics that went with the colors of the fabric.

I recently made some improv quilts using solids and hand dyed fabric, and I wanted to see how the process would work with patterned fabric.  A Duckworth type of improv block seemed to be the best idea.  So, I cut strips out of the turquoise and light tans and light blues and sewed them together in log cabin style.  I made blocks that were about 9" (or so) square and sewed them together to end up with 15" square blocks of improv pieced fabric.

I layered those with the 15" squares of the background fabric and made initial curved improv cuts.  I knew that the improv pieced fabric needed to have a  strip of plain color between it and the patterned background, so I sewed either dark brown or medium blue to the inner piece.   Then, I made a second cut on the background and pieced it together. 

I ended up with 4 blocks that had predominately the pieced fabric on the larger outer section, and a few more of the ones with the pieced fabric on the inner, smaller section.  At some point, I needed to make more of the pieced fabric, and I knew that these didn't need to be too big, so I made four of those and just trimmed them off to make a corner area.  These were then pieced into the background fabric.  

I tried several layouts and ended up with the third one.  

The blocks are all different sizes, so I sewed them together into vertical rows and trimmed them to fit.  In the pictures below, you can see where I had to trim to get a nice vertical row.

It's definitely wonky!  I'm thinking about adding some of my signature applique circles.  We'll see!

I hope you like it so far!

Mocha mousse - FINAL

This is a continuation of 2 previous posts about the making of Mocha Mousse.  I decided that I liked the chevron layout the best and started making blocks.

Here are some antique trims that I used.  Take a look at the prices on some of these antique trims.  I'm sure that many of us have these in our sewing baskets too.  Aah, all the good intentions and sales that we can't pass up.  I am the lucky recipient on these discards from many ladies over the years. 

After making several blocks, I let it percolate for a week.  

And I decided that I DID NOT like this at all and stopped the idea of making this quilt.  It wasn't fun for me; it looked too old fashioned; and I didn't want to continue to slog through it.  So, I donated the blocks and will think of something different for mocha mousse.

I hope you don't continue to sew on something that doesn't float your boat, 

and that you give up reading books way before the end, when you know that you don't like them, 

and that you toss out the clothes that make you feel yucky,

and that you do many, many more things that bring you JOY.

Buzz and Bloom - Dual show at The Second Story Gallery in Camas, WA

The Buzz and Bloom show at the Second Story Gallery in Camas, WA was held in February 2025.  I had the 10 Garden Lady series of art quilts, 3 Bees on Flowers art quilts, and my co-artist, Cindy Wilson Geffel, had metal and wood pieces and paintings on glass.  We had a reception at the gallery on February 7th, and an artist talk on Feb 12th.  Here is the poster and a few pictures.

I was so humbled that so many people came out for both events.  It was like being enveloped in love for my art.

Mocha Mousse - part 2

This is a continuation of the making of the Mocha Mousse quilt. I made a few blocks and "bleh" is what I thought.  I am a little old lady, but even these blocks made me think of little old ladies that were a generation older than me.  So, I sketched up a few ideas and did some coloring in with a rainbow color range.  Here are the ideas.  Still kind of "bleh" - but I will plod forward and see if anything, something, lightening strike, bold idea or just plain defeat takes hold.

Stay tuned to see if I am still above water on this one.

Mocha Mousse quilt with antique trims - part One

Pantone picked their color for 2025.  It's called Mocha Mousse and is a little bit like a Kona cotton color called "Suede".  Here's what they say about it, "A warming, brown hue imbued with richness. It nurtures us with its suggestion of the delectable qualities of chocolate and coffee, answering our desire for comfort."

I purchased 3 yards of it at Modern Domestic in Portland and immediately thought about making a quilt very similar to my black and selvage quilt.  In that quilt, I cut 8" squares of black fabric and sewed selvage pieces to one half of the square.  This time, I'm going to start with 8" of the Kona "Suede" and add different colors of my huge collection of antique trims.   I think it may end up looking like warm brown and striped fabric, but we shall see.

Granddaughter's graduation quilt - part 2

This is a continuation of a previous post about the making of a high school graduation quilt for our 4th grandchild.  

Once I decided on the layout, the rest of the making of this quilt went pretty fast.  It was just a matter of sewing the blocks into rows and sewing the rows together.  

Here is the completed top.  It's 62" W x 73" H.  I'm going to have my favorite long-arm quilter finish this one for me.

I hope you like it; and I hope she is going to like it too!

Granddaughter's Graduation Quilt

I never think it is too early to start working on a quilt that is going to be a present.  Our 4th grandchild is a junior in high school this year, and when she graduates, I'll be presenting her with her graduation quilt.  I've asked her to look at a few quilt designs and tell me about her favorite colors, but so far, not many ideas are forthcoming.  I know that she likes pale sage green.  Other than that, I think I'm free to make any kid of design I'd like.

There were a few remnants of sage green fabric in my stash and a few others that played well with that color.  I also pulled out a pile of off-white to add to the mix.  Later, I pulled out the bright turquoise fabric because it was a bit too shocking.  Well, it wouldn't be shocking in most quilts that I would make, but I know that she likes the more pale look.

I decided to do a quilt using half square rectangles.  I made one a few years ago and liked using the Block-Loc rulers.  It was time for them to come out and play again.  I cut 4" x 8" rectangles out of the colors and stacked them up to cut the diagonal line.  All of the greens were paired with the off-white pieces and sewn together.  I knew that I needed to make 240 for the size of quilt I wanted to make.  Here are a bunch of them tossed up on the wall.

And, here are the rest of the blocks on the wall.  There were reorganized to make a few diamond shapes.  I could have played with them for a long time and come up with a ton of other layouts.  But, I do have to sleep at night and these kinds of things keep my brain running at full speed.  So, this was the layout that was going to be sewn together.

I hope you like it so far!