Indigo Dye Party Quilt

I found another barn to photograph a quilt on.  I love taking photos of old barns and what better reason to get out and do so, than photographing a quilt completion.  This barn is SPECTACULAR!

Barns absolutely dwarf my quilts, but this is my favorite shot!  I always ask permission and sometimes I meet the nicest people.  This morning, I knew exactly which barn I wanted, and the farmer was very hospitable.  He said take all the pictures you want.  While I was doing so, he came out and chatted and opened a door for me, should I want to go inside.  I only took a half-step in, because it is very old, and no longer used except as a home by a flighty flock of pigeons.  His daughter-in-law also came and chatted, then the old guy came back and gave me some fresh picked tomatoes. 

 

Here is the close-up.  If you click on the photo, it will enlarge, so you can see more of the details.

Meanwhile, I took these photos on August 16, but I cannot "post" this until Elverta's birthday.  It is a gift for her 80th.  Her daughter arranged the "dye party' and she and Elverta's grandson each made a block for the quilt.  The rest of the blocks were made by the other five ladies in the Cloverdale Ladies Society.

Done and Done: Pentagon Quilt aka Crap Shoot

The challenge quilt from my Piecemakers of Idaho quilt group is completed.  The challenge was to bring instructions for one quilt block and pass them out to members, along with any fabric you wished to include, so they could make a block then bring it back at the next meeting.  I made twelve pentagon shapes (that is five sided, just in case) and pinned one to each of twelve sets of instructions.  When I passed them out to the group, I said that the five-sided piece of fabric, included, was to be the focus fabric, which means use strips of fabric that are the colors in the pentagon.  I got ten back at the next meeting.  I decided to wait to work on the quilt until I got the last two.  Four months later I got number 11, but I made another one for Jody, cause she wanted to make one and she turned that one in.  I got 12 altogether and I made 18 more.  I ran out of my focus fabric so I had to punt on the last block.

I had decided when I joined this challenge, that I would accept whatever people gave me.  Since more than one block had red or blue or orange or some of two of those NON-FOCUS FABRICS in them, it was okay because they balanced out.  It did turn out rather amazing looking for a quilt that has some blocks made by twelve different quilters, many who had difficulty with the construction concept.  I like it a lot and it makes me think of the quilters that contributed their blocks. 

Naturally, I photographed it on an old barn door.

Time Out to Make a Zippy Bag!

I had to do it!  It was so much fun.  I made a 12" X 9.5" zippy bag for Lou, the Glitter Girl Doll.  It is a gift that holds Lou's clothes.  I bought Lou at the thrift store for $4.99 and brought her home and cleaned her in accordance with a YouTube video I saved a couple years back.  The video says American Girl dolls, but it works for all these amazing dolls that have soft bodies and the kind of hair fibers that Mattel and other doll manufacturers use today.

The bag has pink scribble fabric on the inside.  It and Lou are a gift for my friend, A's granddaughter, who is turning six.

I admit Lou cleaned up really well and it was fun getting her some clothes, but I decided she needed a home with a real girl.  I do have a Welly Wisher and am happy having her.  What I did learn is Welly Wishers are just a tick bigger than Glitter Girls, so the Glitter Girl clothes are extremely tight on Welly Wishers.  However, they do wear the same size shoes.  That's it on the "Doll Front" for today.  For more doll talk/posts:  those amazing AG Doll bloggers/quilters

Back to serious quilt business!  It is a quilted bag!

Here is Lou helping a friend do chair yoga.

Quilt Top Resulting From Indigo Dye Party

Remember the Indigo Dye Party, in June?  Well, several participants made 9 1/2 inch square blocks for a quilt top.  It is coming along very well.  A and I decided it needs a couple borders; they will be added next week.

Near the end of July, this is what is on the design wall.  A came over on Wednesday and we got them sewed to each other.  Now for the borders.  It is going to be a quilt for a friend.

What is on the Design Wall in July?

July is just flying by.  I have two more quilt layouts that will be needing my design wall, so I have been hustling to finally get this pentagon project off the wall and to my long-arm quilter.  Initially, I thought I would just quilt it on my domestic machine, but what they hey!  I needed some more of that solid pink, and I was certain that I got it at Virginia's.  So, I was needing to go out there anyway.

These are the blocks from the 2024-2025 group challenge with the Piecemakers of Idaho.  I passed out a small pentagon with instructions to add strips of fabric going around the pentagon, in the colors that are present in the small pentagon.  I said it was the "focus fabric".  So, twelve people turned their blocks back in, and I had decided I would accept whatever they did and make the quilt top.  Twelve blocks were made by other people, in my quilt group, the rest were made by me.  The focus fabric was just a fat quarter, so I ran out of the central fabric and had to punt with the last three blocks.  I made it work since it is a free-for-all already.  I think "free-for-all" is a good name for this quilt.

I whipped up a couple of borders and got the back made and off to Virginia's!

Here Comes The Sun

While we were enjoying a leisurely week at Lake Walcott State Park, I pulled out the sewing machine and worked on my latest art quilt project.  I prepared the backing and batting before we left on our adventure, and I cut some chunks of fabrics I thought would work.  This way I kept the amount of fabric to a minimum.  I decided I would have to use whatever I took with me, so there would be no excuse to buy more fabric at my favorite quilt shop.  My favorite quilt shop is The Gathering Place in Rupert.

I was outside, under the huge Cottonwood tree, pressing my sun rays, when the gal from the next RV came over to visit.  She had noticed I was pressing fabric and came to chat about quilting.  She was from Twin Falls and also a quilter.  It is amazing how we can go here and there and not even know that some of the strangers around us are also quilters, birders, or what-have-you.  I did get my project about one-third quilted before we headed home, so there was not that much left after we got back.  This is not my first landscape, however, I have not done one in about twelve years.  I really like this one, because we sure need something cheery in our lives at this moment in U.S. History.

Indigo Dye Party!

My "Ladies Club" celebrated our long friendship, today, with an indigo dye party!  It was at E's house and the weather was perfect for the first day of summer.  Most of us were smart or lucky enough to have worn or brought a jacket or sweater.  It was sunny, but a tad breezy.  There are always a couple days like this in June, and we were lucky to have it fall on our dye party day, so it was not scorching hot for us gals.  C3 (E's grandson) showed off his knowledge of chickens and he introduced us to several, which we were fortunate to pet their heads and enjoy the vision of their lovely feathers. 

Of course, everyone brought white fabric except me.  I brought some of Virginia's detestable fabric and I shared with A and R, so mine is not the only ones without white.  If you click on the photo, it will enlarge so you can see the details, including but not limited to the amazing dye jobs on the not-white fabrics.

Here is some of the pieces sitting in the settle-down juice, before the final rinse.  (the terminology escapes me)

This is about my favorite one.  I pressed all my pieces after I got home, and I hung this one on my quilt studio wall.  Everyone made such lovely pieces!