A REALLY virtual Twinkle quilt
I can’t tell if you all don’t like the block, don’t like the color palette, think it’s too difficult … or something else. So, while I am blissfully ignorant, suspending disbelief and thinking some of you will make blocks this month … I put together a quilt layout in EQ that shows the secondary pattern you can create with black sashing and non-black cornerstones.
I used black and white prints for the cornerstones and border, but you could really use any color for the same effect.
note: Eagle-eye Julie caught an error in the colorization of the blocks … which has been corrected.
Batik Flowers Flimsy
Thought I should show you that I am using some of the blocks I have won recently. I am really loving the cheerfulness of this top. I still have 12 blocks left over to use in another project or perhaps put on the back.
Many Triangles mailed
Just letting Karen know that her blocks went in the mail this morning. Expected delivery date is Saturday, Sept. 5. Congrats and have fun with your blocks.
I am seeing (mini) Triangles everywhere …
Yesterday on the Block Lotto Facebook page, I shared a post I found where someone made a Kindle cover from a tiny version of triangles like ours in the same colors as this month’s block.
This morning, I saw Cath Hall’s Mini-triangles on her Wombat Quilts blog.
These triangle blocks are 2 1/2-inches square. She paper pieced them and has a link for the paper foundation pattern. I love all the fussy cut triangles in her little quilt.
You can read more (and find the pattern) by clicking the photo or following this link:
Some More Mini Fun for Paper Piecing Monday
If you like paper foundation piecing, there are lots of interesting ideas and block patterns on Wombat Quilts. (Obviously, I am a fan).
Speaking of Triangles
Yesterday I received the mini-triangle template from The Modern Quilt Guild for their QuiltCon West 2015 Challenge. I thought it was a nice bit of synchronicity with our triangle blocks this month.
For the challenge, you must use triangles cut from on of their mini Triangles–either 60 degrees or 45 degrees. Our blocks this month contain (larger) 60º equilateral triangles, but could be a start on a challenge quilt made from triangles of different sizes.
I received a mini 45º triangle which will also work for my wild idea (which will likely have triangles of different sizes) … now to actually unpack the sewing room (which I have been avoiding because I simply have too much stuff and a much smaller space) and get busy working out the design.
If you are inspired by triangles, as I am lately, you might want to check it out.
If nothing else, they are small enough to make an interesting key fob 🙂
More red and white inspiration
Just as I was reading about this month’s red and white theme, I was pointed to a gallery of quilts from this year’s New South Wales quilters guild exhibition featuring: you guessed it, red and white quilts. If you’d like to be inspired, check them out here.
Remember to wash your red!
I know that Sophie already mentioned it. But I thought it was worth a reminder since I was one of the people who had a problem with red and white blocks in the past. I won what I think is called a Disappearing 4 Patch in red and white back in 2011. It made a beautiful quilt! But a couple of blocks bled pretty significantly after I washed the quilt. I can’t tell you how disappointing that was! I spent a lot of time and effort getting the red out of the white and did eventually have an acceptable quilt.
Anyway, my advice now on red fabric is to wash it like you normally would. But I always then soak it in the sink just to check that it isn’t still bleeding a lot. Most new fabrics will tint the water in the sink, even after washing, regardless of their color. But if my red fabric turns the water more than a pale pink I rinse it and soak it again. I know this sounds like a lot of work, but it isn’t nearly as much work as trying to get red dye out of white fabric.
I do love a red and white quilt though! So I hope I have time to participate this month. Good Luck!
My finished quilt!
Why Red and Santa Fe’s Summer of Color
The short answer is because:
- Red was #2 in our colors in your stash poll in June, tied with green.
- Red and white blocks have always been popular Block Lotto colors, if somewhat problematic when colors run … so be sure to PREWASH YOUR REDS!
The Summer of Color is the theme for many of the museums and galleries in Santa Fe right now. Here’s a glimpse of two of the shows that feature red that I have enjoyed this summer.
At the International Museum of Folk Art, there is a really interesting exhibit that follows the history of cochineal red: The Red that Colored the World.
Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed in this well-curated exhibit that traced that path of cochineal red first used in Latin America and discovered by Spanish Explorers and brought back to Europe. Cochineal is an insect (and a color) that produced a rusher, longer lasting red that previously existed and became a precious export–second only to silver–from colonial Spain. During that period of history when Spain and England weren’t friendly, Spanish ships filled with cochineal were often the targets of English pirates. And in England, where the famous redcoats of the military had traditional been colored by madder dyes, cochineal was now used to dye the wool for officer’s uniforms.
If you are curious, you can read about the history of cochineal dyes here.
In the gallery at the Roundhouse (the state of New Mexico’s capitol), there is a SAQA exhibit of art quilts with the theme, Cultural Red. I thought this quilt, Romancing Red by Michelle Jackson, was a great red inspiration.
If you look closely at the woman’s hair and the background, you’ll see 40 different color names for shades of red. You can read what Michelle had to say about her quilt here: Romancing Red. If you’re more of a blue person, also check out her quilt Oh So Blue. Both are fantastic in person.
I have taken some detail photos of the red words; you can see them in my Flickr photo album Cultural Red. The incandescent lighting in the gallery was a little challenging (it turned a lot of things yellow/orange). I haven’t yet uploaded the rest of my photos from the show (but hope to do so, soon) … there were many interesting interpretations of “cultural red.”
Thinking About … Samplers
I still haven’t discovered the critical sewing room box (with scissors, needles, rulers …) so, at the moment, I can only think about quilting. When I noticed the bundle of fabric I put aside to make a row quilt from this year’s lotto blocks in one of the boxes that wasn’t the critical box I was looking for, I started telling myself, it’s not too late to start a sampler quilt … now I am telling you. If you have been making extra blocks or think you might like to start, here’s another sampler layout idea – for a 63-inch throw.
For this quilt, you’d need two each of the square blocks and one each of the long ones. The dark blocks represent the five future, not-yet-revealed lotto blocks. The sashing and inner border are 2 1/4-inch wide. The outer border is 4 1/2-inches wide (and could be made from more of the long blocks if you happened to like one of them).
My plan is to start working on (and blogging about) my sampler quilt in August … anyone want to join me?
Good News … Bad News
The good news is that I am moved and my internet works. So, as I am unpacking and trying to find a place for everything in this (much) smaller house, I can start catching up with all the great cats and fish and dogs everyone has been making.
The bad news is that mover was a disaster … so bad that I called the police when he became physically threatening and, because he took off with all three of my TVs (I know, I know, I probably watch too much TV and no one person should *need* three, but I had them) and I will now have to take him to court to get them back and get reimbursed for the things damaged or destroyed. I am more than stressed out and so I may continue to be distracted for a while.
This weekend I have been thinking about all the pets in my life and how I might interpret them in a quilt block pattern. As I was packing up my books, I saw a couple of possibilities–a redwork cat and another cat from Margaret Rolfe’s Animal Kingdom … of course none of the books are unpacked yet, so before I can make them, I have to unpack them and get my sewing room in order–it currently is the holding place for the empty boxes …
In any event, if you have questions or need me for anything, I should be around.