joe'smom

happylab, that was so funny to be reading along about fabric and suddenly come to 'hamburger and fries.' LOL.

QuiltnLady1, good for you cleaning out all that fabric, and good for your grandson hustling you out!

I admire the famous quilters/instructors/designers who have developed a certain style, so all of their quilts have a signature look. For years I have been trying to figure out what sort of look, or genre of fabric I prefer, to no avail. The other day I remembered that there was a bunch of fabric in a container that was hard to get to. When I got it out, it seemed garishly bright to me, but by the end of the day I decided I loved it. This made me feel very fickle. Do you all have a type of look or genre you prefer in a quilt?

juliasb

Kris, there are 2 words that as an older adult we must live by, "don't fall!" But when you do, as you have, please take all the time necessary to heal. We just aren't so close to the ground anymore. I'm so sorry you have had to go through this. Mend quickly and next time let this fall be a fabric fall, at least that is a bit of fun and the pain is very different.

grann of 6

Joe's Mom, I tend to lean to the more traditional fabrics and colors. I love the 30's retro, and civil war fabrics. I find I have a lot of them in my stash that I want to use, but am trying to get rid of some of these other precuts that now say "what was I thinking" when I bought them. I also found a lot of Summer Breeze III, IV, and VI in the stash, so the III is getting used up as we speak. I love star blocks, and pretty much any of the traditional blocks that seem to be coming back into style now.

oksewglad

Like grann of 6, I tend toward the traditional colors. Not so much 30's, but CW and Kansas Troubles colors. I also love 3 Sisters and French General. Have 2 sets of 3 Sisters fabrics that I must put into quilts...a peach and coral grouping and a soft aqua blue (Sanctuary..been out for a while) This spring at a LQS closeout I bought a blue line of Fr General. I am trying to use stash so have avoided the more contemporary fabrics, but it's what my GD's like! I have collected some black on cream, gray on white fabrics to use as background fabrics to help alleviate the scrap bin..an endless task!

joe'smom

Here is that Jacob's Ladder I asked about the other day. I don't think it's worth making (don't like the peach and lavender together). I'll finish the 4-patches to use in something else and put aside the lavender and green strips.

On a positive note, I used my new Martelli strip ruler for the first time tonight. Holy cow, cutting the strips took a fraction of the time it normally does!

quiltmouse

'K, ya'll. I don't log in much, generally lurk, but just have to post this.

I haven't purchased fabric for 301 days. Whew. Fantastic accomplishment for me.

September fabric used up:

5.25 yards finished a baby flimsy, binding & backing ready.
1.5 yards baby gift, flannel receiving blanket & 3 burp cloths

2019 used up 95.25 yards (this includes 57.25 yards given away, so 38 yards sewn with)

oksewglad

You are inspiring, quiltmouse!

oksewglad

Oh this isn't bad at all, but if you aren't happy with and can find an alternative to the pieces it's a win win for you. I'm getting to the point that if I don't like doing it, why do it?

Iceblossom

I like the way you did that block, Joe's Mom, but if you aren't happy no one is going to make you work on something you don't want to do but you!

One of the ladies in my Tuesday quilt group is making a top for her grandson's steady gal (they don't live together but have been a couple for years) and had about half her blocks made and decided she just didn't like one of her fabrics. She bought a new piece she liked better, redid some pieces and some she recut and just finished all the blocks. Personally, one of the fabrics I thought was fine before I don't think works now -- but that doesn't matter because she is happy with the project. Ultimately, we are our own ultimate judges.

I'm glad I came to my senses and didn't search for the "perfect" fabrics for my current project. The ones I'm using are just fine and the goal wasn't to buy or even cut fabric, but to use those pre-cut squares and that is getting done. Today at small group I took out the part of the binding on the Here Kitty Kitty quilt that wasn't quite enough seam, that flannel slipped. Just have to resew about 3 inches and then re-hand sew about 6 inches I opened up to get to the seam.

My other project was the first round of attaching the sashing to the Confetti quilt. Feels good to be done counting and cutting and back to sewing. Yesterday I sewed together all the sashing rectangles into groups of two, connected at the narrow end. Putting the sashing on the left vertical side of each block to start, this round is over-sized and will need to be trimmed down. I made the decision to try and vary the placement of the seam instead of being dead-set in the middle of the block. I can see in my mind though how you could get a woven effect that would be better if you were precise, but I'm doing this because it is not precise. It's part of my attempts to loosen up that I make kicking and screaming and up-tight all the way.

I didn't have quite enough exactly right block connections to put the horizontal sashing to the blocks instead of block row to sashing row. I could have planned it that way... but I'm planning on off-setting the seams anyway so it will be fine. If I did it over again though, I'd be doing it with all 6.5" blocks, but most of my blocks I was given were actually 6".

Should be able to have some pictures to explain a thousand words in a day or two.

retiredteacher09

Way to go, quiltmouse!

I hope I have some sewing mojo this weekend. I haven’t sewn since last Friday although I played around with my current project earlier this evening.