2020 Fabric Moratorium
05-29-2020, 09:28 AM
#611
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Greater Peoria, IL -- just moved!
Posts: 6,056
Ok, they say the paper piecing project is too big for the round robin, which is fine. Still going to do it, but now have to think of something for a different center for that. I'll go ahead and make the medallion more as designed than my smaller version. I've been playing with the bag of hand dyes, I have less of the purple type fabrics than I thought, but a huge range of green! Yesterday when I was running my errands I made the paper piecing copies, this is so easy I don't think I really need to paper piece it or can do it the folded method, but part of the reason I chose this was for paper piecing practice (say or type that 3 times fast!).
I don't typically do medallions or samplers or other multi-block concepts but I have a couple ideas in mind for the round robin... I'm thinking more of my traditional type of blocks and fabrics...
I washed my Made in America brand black fabric. I was happier with the white. This had quite a bit of discharge and less opaque than the Kona I am used to. But I do rather like the feel, so I'll have to see how I feel about a finished project.
I don't typically do medallions or samplers or other multi-block concepts but I have a couple ideas in mind for the round robin... I'm thinking more of my traditional type of blocks and fabrics...
I washed my Made in America brand black fabric. I was happier with the white. This had quite a bit of discharge and less opaque than the Kona I am used to. But I do rather like the feel, so I'll have to see how I feel about a finished project.
05-30-2020, 08:46 AM
#612
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Greater Peoria, IL -- just moved!
Posts: 6,056
I'm pretty pleased with my project work yesterday. Everyone has agreed that an 18" center is reasonable and my new concept is going well for me.
A couple of years ago (before I joined the Moratorium!) I bought 50 pounds of "smaller pieces" (under 3 yards, most were traditional 1/3 - 1/2 yd cuts but some fat quarters or large leftover pieces) for $2 a pound from Craig's List. It was a crazy amount of fabric! I never knew Mary in real life but I got to know her through her stash. She had a decided style and sense that although we were both buying fabrics in the early 1980s and I have many of the same pieces, her stash held together with an identity better than my "humane society of fabric". Among the many larger treasures was a bag of tiny little strips that I took to be fan blades, it is a quart? heavy duty ziplock bag larger than a sandwich bag and it was stuffed full and has been in my mind to use ever since... Getting them out and looking at them, I see they were her way of cutting sets of tiny little triangles and that they were meant to go with some basket blocks also in the box. Those blocks finish at 6" and is a stand stacked with 1" finished HST. Mary's hand drawn triangles are there and that's why the pieces aren't necessarily consistent.
Eventually I will end up with an 18" block that should look like woven ribbons based on 3" background squares, and 1.5" ribbons. (We have agreed that we will share what our medallions look like but this will be the only shot of the project I post in this thread until the conclusion).
When I first joined the board, this thread had gotten bumped up and gave me the other part of the idea.
I don't get what the 'reciept' is for when making string quilts
Yesterday's trial went well, had to get used to positioning the points correctly. I was alternating brown/color. The adding machine tape is 2.25" and I will be trimming down to 2" so those bits I missed will be ok, I should just make sure if I'm going to err on one side or the other. Today I'm going to try making some all one color strips... I have plenty of the little blades.
I think with a light spritz of water and a popsicle stick that paper is going to come right off. I might want to tighten my stitches a bit more today as well after I try that.
A couple of years ago (before I joined the Moratorium!) I bought 50 pounds of "smaller pieces" (under 3 yards, most were traditional 1/3 - 1/2 yd cuts but some fat quarters or large leftover pieces) for $2 a pound from Craig's List. It was a crazy amount of fabric! I never knew Mary in real life but I got to know her through her stash. She had a decided style and sense that although we were both buying fabrics in the early 1980s and I have many of the same pieces, her stash held together with an identity better than my "humane society of fabric". Among the many larger treasures was a bag of tiny little strips that I took to be fan blades, it is a quart? heavy duty ziplock bag larger than a sandwich bag and it was stuffed full and has been in my mind to use ever since... Getting them out and looking at them, I see they were her way of cutting sets of tiny little triangles and that they were meant to go with some basket blocks also in the box. Those blocks finish at 6" and is a stand stacked with 1" finished HST. Mary's hand drawn triangles are there and that's why the pieces aren't necessarily consistent.
Eventually I will end up with an 18" block that should look like woven ribbons based on 3" background squares, and 1.5" ribbons. (We have agreed that we will share what our medallions look like but this will be the only shot of the project I post in this thread until the conclusion).
When I first joined the board, this thread had gotten bumped up and gave me the other part of the idea.
I don't get what the 'reciept' is for when making string quilts
Yesterday's trial went well, had to get used to positioning the points correctly. I was alternating brown/color. The adding machine tape is 2.25" and I will be trimming down to 2" so those bits I missed will be ok, I should just make sure if I'm going to err on one side or the other. Today I'm going to try making some all one color strips... I have plenty of the little blades.
I think with a light spritz of water and a popsicle stick that paper is going to come right off. I might want to tighten my stitches a bit more today as well after I try that.
Last edited by Iceblossom; 05-30-2020 at 08:49 AM. Reason: argh! forgot the upload button again!!
06-01-2020, 01:15 PM
#614
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Ontario
Posts: 309
It’s time for my birthday exemption.....but I don’t anticipate going crazy. There are a few pieces I need to complete ongoing projects and if I don’t find anything that really grabs me I will likely just pick up what I need. Brick and mortar stores are open here but from what I understand their inventories have been depleted during the shut down so here’s hoping my trip will be successful.
Over the past couple of weeks decent weather has finally arrived and not much sewing has been accomplished but last night I finally put together this Oklahoma Backroads I have been working on. I had hoped that by keeping the neutrals only moderately scrappy that the stars would pop but that didn’t really happen. It measures 80x80 and I was going to add a border but now don’t think I will bother.
Over the past couple of weeks decent weather has finally arrived and not much sewing has been accomplished but last night I finally put together this Oklahoma Backroads I have been working on. I had hoped that by keeping the neutrals only moderately scrappy that the stars would pop but that didn’t really happen. It measures 80x80 and I was going to add a border but now don’t think I will bother.
06-01-2020, 03:11 PM
#615
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Greater Peoria, IL -- just moved!
Posts: 6,056
It's still a wonderful scrappy top, Cattitude, even if the fabrics didn't behave the way you wanted them.
I've been having a surprising amount of fun sewing on this adding machine tape. I think having the automatic thread cutter on the Bernina is key, I'd have gone through three spools of thread with my vintage machine doing one width of paper at a time, then pulling back and cutting off.
The paper comes off super easy. I did a light mist of water, slid in the popsicle stick and the pieces came out nicely without a lot of fluff or chads stuck in the seam.
When I think I'm getting slanted on my pieces, I just fold the tape to give me a straight line. Part of me does have some problems with the idea that these are deliberately imperfect and not all identically exactly 1" wide or whatever. Wish being loose didn't make me so tense but it does! You can sure see my skills improving from my first test -- but the worst of those were simply fixed by just tearing out the paper and sewing a new seam. That's an advantage to pressing to the side I hadn't fully appreciated which is what this fold over foundation method does.
Some of the fabric likes having a single pin to hold it flush, some is fine with none. I have a tray set up with my pieces to the side, a hunk of tape to work on (I could do it continuously on the spool but 2 feet or so an easier size and time commitment, and then you just add on another hunk if you want. Then it's just zipping along until coffee break time like now.
I've made the "ribbons" for my block, and still have a bunch of these little pieces to use so it's a good thing I'm having fun.
I've been having a surprising amount of fun sewing on this adding machine tape. I think having the automatic thread cutter on the Bernina is key, I'd have gone through three spools of thread with my vintage machine doing one width of paper at a time, then pulling back and cutting off.
The paper comes off super easy. I did a light mist of water, slid in the popsicle stick and the pieces came out nicely without a lot of fluff or chads stuck in the seam.
When I think I'm getting slanted on my pieces, I just fold the tape to give me a straight line. Part of me does have some problems with the idea that these are deliberately imperfect and not all identically exactly 1" wide or whatever. Wish being loose didn't make me so tense but it does! You can sure see my skills improving from my first test -- but the worst of those were simply fixed by just tearing out the paper and sewing a new seam. That's an advantage to pressing to the side I hadn't fully appreciated which is what this fold over foundation method does.
Some of the fabric likes having a single pin to hold it flush, some is fine with none. I have a tray set up with my pieces to the side, a hunk of tape to work on (I could do it continuously on the spool but 2 feet or so an easier size and time commitment, and then you just add on another hunk if you want. Then it's just zipping along until coffee break time like now.
I've made the "ribbons" for my block, and still have a bunch of these little pieces to use so it's a good thing I'm having fun.
06-01-2020, 04:15 PM
#616
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Portage, Michigan
Posts: 7,365
Cattitude, I still like the over all scrappiness of your effort. If you are like the rest of us, you have plenty more scraps to try it again with a consistent neutral. You could go black or cream or purple or green or yellow or .... well you get the idea. Still a lovely piece. 
