Marcelle Medallion - borders 3,4 & 4.5

I had to spread the flying geese construction portion of this over a several day period to spare my sanity.  There's supposed to be 16 on each side but I had to cut it down to 15 so the borders weren't entirely too long.  I did some searches to see if anybody had said what their finished FG block size was, and although I saw some people ask the question, I didn't find an answer.


One thing I don't like about Liberty Love - it doesn't give finished sizes for each border/block as you go (or I missed it the dozen times I looked - not out of the realm of possibility), I don't know if my center square was too small, or it was some other border that led to the flying geese issue, or if I needed to trim all the blocks down to some beats the hell out of me size so 16 fit.  Nevertheless I am aiming for a queen+ size instead of a throw now so keeping track doesn't matter so much after this point, when I get to the crosses I will make it work.  Sigh, I can't say that without feeling like I'm quoting Tim Gunn.


With that in mind, I decided to add an extra solid border with Kate Spain's Plumage in indigo at this point, and started the change to a rectangular shaped finished product.  Things are starting to ripple without having the exact measurements each block is supposed to be, which I suppose is going to call for quilt blocking at some point, maybe today, I just don't have a good place to do it since I haven't picked up the foam insulation boards I meant to after our move.  I'm not sure how many people I keep an eye on in the blogging quilting world do this - I never really see people talk about it, so I assume they just don't suck at accurate cutting like I do so don't need to ;)

I've reached the maximum quilt size I can take a picture of without standing on chairs to get the entire thing in a picture, better get my butt around to putting up another quilt wall of some sort.

Marcelle Medallion - Borders 1-3

The second border for the Marcelle Medallion QAL came together yesterday pretty easily, luckily I had a 60 degree triangle ruler. DISLIKE all the teeny cutting, so much so that I'm taking a break from cutting the 3 1/8 squares for the flying geese to write this.

border tryouts - blurry cell ;)

I pondered four choices for border 3 - I think I made the right choice for me, although the whole quilt seems to be getting darker and darker as I go, since I'm incorporating a good amount of dark blue and black in border 4.

I am considering making this a king sized quilt - the one I was working on is pretty much at a dead halt until I can get my quilt friendly sewing machine in for repairs so I can finish the quilting it and bind it.  I know I'll need to do something more interesting than adding more solid borders, but I'm debating what.  Orange Peel? Giant 60 degree triangles? X+ squares?  Ha..srsly joking on that last one, I don't have the patience for that much work, especially as I'm considering hand quilting this.

Marcelle Medallion - Cause Everybody Is Doing It

Modern Medallion from Handstitched class

Well they really are - and I don't blame them. I was pretty conflicted about making the Marcelle Medallion - I've seen a few versions I love (and wanted to avoid to temptation to copy them exactly so I'd know I'd like my end product), and a lot that I like well enough but not enough to want to make something so complicated.  It gave me some horrible flashbacks to the Modern Medallion from the Handstitched class at Stitched in Color (not that it wasn't a fun quilt to make, but the hours of hand sewing almost did me in!)

This weekend I realized if I got busy I might be able to start and keep up with the quilt along happening at Penny Poppleton, and I figured what did I have to lose?  Besides, the other 20 projects I am in the middle of can wait.

Green/purple in progress

A few months ago I'd ordered Liberty Love in case I ever got around to making this, so luckily I was prepared.  Choosing color/print combinations however, isn't my strong suit - I put together a green/purple bundle for the medallion, and then a blue/green bundle.  The husband liked the latter (for some reason I insisted on getting his input).  He said something about how I could totally make him one if I used dragons though....

I put together a template to foundation piece the blue/green bundle, and decided to EPP the green/purple one, figuring I'd use whichever one I liked best.  I finished the first last night, and was going to keep working on the other but realized
1. I sewed a green square of dark green into where light green should go so have to unpick it.
2. Screw it - the blue is done so the blue will be made!

There were some problems with the foundation piecing, somehow a few of the squares ended up 1/8" over on one side (guess it wasn't a perfectly square template) and one of my points doesn't line up in the middle, and the same square doesn't match up in another place.  I had to baste some pieces into place too due to the way my template was laid out, but that will be just fine once I do some quilting on it.  I'm going to just call it quirky and move on.

I haven't done flying geese and only done 60 degree triangles once before, so I'm trying not to shudder at the next steps and get excited about it. I have most of the day free to sew, so I'd better start choosing borders!

Zakka Along - Vintage Pencil Case

Time to try my hand at another project from the Zakka Along at A Quilter's Table using the Patchwork Please book. Why?  I dont KNOW!  I don't need a pencil case, but it was adorable.

I found the little paper piecing bits to be easier than I thought it's be, but I managed to botch the purple pencil seam allowance and not catch it until it was too late. I used Essex Linen in chocolate for the body of the purse, and the back is Blue and Yellow Apples by Yuwa



Ok, yes I find it ironic that I can't fit a #2 pencil with eraser inside the case, perhaps they used nubbier pencils back in the day ;)

Amy did a beautiful version with solids, I might just make a second one and add an extra inch onto it so I can fit full sized pencils, I think this one is becoming my travel pouch for colored pencils that I take with me when I embroider, since I've been incorporating a lot more of that into my time.

Embroidery - Kaylee from Firefly

 
I love Firefly. And I really love Kaylee, she's my favorite character on the show.  If you haven't seen the show Firefly and the movie Serenity, there is probably something wrong with you.

Or maybe you just don't like Sci Fi and Fantasy, but you're really missing out (and something just might be wrong with you...)

I found this awesome art by Karen Hallion while browsing around..

She's a fantastic artist,  my husband and I like a lot of her art and we rarely agree on art.  I love her takes on Dr. Who.  She's at a lot of conventions and happens to be one of the artists I see pinned on pinterest most often, which says a lot about my life I guess... This one though - I almost just got the t-shirt, but I thought this one should be embroidered.  Cause if I didn't mention it, I love Kaylee.  Karen's combination of Kaylee and the Morton Salt Girl is just adorable.

I am pleased with how it turned out, with some colored pencil here and there... although I didn't realize until now I didn't replicate the tear in her parasol - fail, but ha!  6" hoop.

Karen Hallion on etsy

Zakka Along - Triangle Patchwork Box Pouch

Time to try my hand at another project from the Zakka Along at A Quilter's Table using the Patchwork Please book.  Ugh, this one had so many WORDS, words I just wasn't parsing.  I got stuck at one point but thanks to the write ups other people had done so far was able to get through that part. it's a bit uneven, and I feel like the lining could've been a bit more fitted, but it's done, and becoming a travel bag, since I've been *gasp* using one that I didn't make.

I decided to use blues, reds and pinks, three colors I never really use, but as I'm making a blue and red EPP pillow I thought I'd continue the theme. I think I'm hoping I'll learn to love some of my less favorite colors if I have them around more.

I cut out some fabric bits before remembering that it needed to be a mirror image for paper piecing, so I reversed the two panels on one side so the bits wouldn't go to waste.

Would I make this again?  Yes, and I will, but I'll probably do patchwork panels, and I think I'd make an more or less exact copy of the outer shell for the lining, so it would fit perfectly.  Uh... and I'll take more care to make sure my corners are all where they should be (best tips I found for assembly were from Alyce)