Inside and outside photos:

What a fun quilt this was to make. And how incredibly satisfying to use up so many odds and ends: long strips leftover from cutting down a quilt after getting it back from a long-armer; orphan blocks; precious pieces I didn’t want to throw away; patchwork experiments and discards …

It was quick to put together and mostly easy to construct. The only challenge is that the quilt does not lay flat — which is a common problem when doing a log cabin type of construction. I’m not sure why that is: something about how different fabrics behave differently, I think.

I took some photos of the special little pieces I’d been hanging onto, including this one tiny psychedelic daisy from a Kaffe Fassett print. It’s literally all I had left from a shopping bag I made for a friend.

My last scrap of spelling bees:

There’s a little of this music print left … Perhaps for a Daylesford, 2.0? I have a bunch of purples (not my favorite color) that are languishing, begging for some attention and care.

This small segment of Seminole patchwork was one of those “Never again!” experiments. But I couldn’t ever bring myself to just throw it away so I pinned to my bulletin board where it has hung forlornly. How lovely to finally find a home for it in this quilt.

I’m looking forward to getting my new quilt layered and basted for the next bit of fun: hand-quilting.

But first to clear the messes off the tables, put my supplies away, sweep the floor, and finish up 8 placemats someone in Canada is waiting for.

I’m dusting off my blog again after a longer than usual funk in both my quilting and writing. The details — the why’s and wherefore’s — aren’t worth writing about. I’m just happy to be here again sharing my new project and thanking the heavens for this latest inspiration from Australian quilt maker, Jen Kingwell. It’s one from her newest book, Quilt Recipes, and quite a number of quilters I follow are creating their own versions of it.

Jen Kingwell describes it as a “Choose Your Own Adventure” quilt where just about anything goes. But it assembles quickly because the little patchwork elements placed here and there in the concentric borders take minimal time to create, since the quilt is made up of mostly larger pieces of fabric.

This one is great for stash-busting — something I love to be able to do — and the improvisational aspect is super fun. So, too, the Gees Bend vibe.

I started with a wonky Hollow Star in the center which I wasn’t very happy with but didn’t want to throw out. (If I ever make more of those I promise to use the proper technique!) And I am trying to discipline myself to use strips and pieces I’ve already got cut, (in other words, my leftovers) rather than slicing into new pretty new yardage I’ve purchased recently. We’ll see how far I get with that idea …

A couple months ago I sorted and put away all my fabric scraps and cleaned up my sewing room before we went on vacation. Now I have not one but two big tables piled up again. Pure chaos! Help!! But I’ve learned from experience not to succumb to feeling guilty (for creating yet another mess; oh, how my father hated a mess!) or overwhelmed, accepting instead that it is part of the process. I am learning to just relax and trust.

Even Jada seemed eager to participate. “It’s been a long time since you’ve laid out a quilt on the floor for me to walk across,” I could hear her saying.

So far, Jada and I are pleased.

Onward!

Or shall I say, “Around and around I will go!”, wiith thanks to Jen Kingwell.

Here’s to banishing all our funks.

Here’s to fun, new adventures.

Here’s to joy and light in this often dark and troubled world. Let’s do what we can.

It’s a woman’s privilege, they say.

I decided to just make placemats with my four Bear Paw blocks in bright solids. I would have needed to go shopping for more pink for the background and I wasn’t happy with my color choices. In other words, another case of typical self-doubt.

Anyhow, I do like the way they look with the pale pink and white dishes I purchased on a whim a couple years ago. I’m not usually a pink person but the dishes– and now their matching placemats — do have a way of pushing back the darkness, and brightening grey skies.

I ran out of pink for the binding so settled on yellow for two. “Making do,” is my new theme.

(Looks like it’s time for a new table!)

I’m also learning to use the rotary cutter with my left hand. It’s just so quick and easy to get a good straight accurate cut with a rotary cutter and ruler. Especially when dealing with 1/8’s of an inch. Since it took me about 15 years to ruin my right shoulder I figure my left shoulder should hold me until my old age. Haha. Assuming I’m still in the business. I’ll be 83 by then. Crazy thought.

Until then, anyone want to join me for tea?

Well, I’ve succeeded in ruining my shoulder. Too many years of using a rotary cutter to cut fabric. I’ve been wondering, in fact, if my ol’ bod is telling me it’s time to finally retire from quilt-making — not a very fun thought. So while my shoulder has been demanding that I let it rest, I’ve tried to entertain myself (and pass the long days) playing the piano more (learning 4 lovely waltzes by Spanish composer Enrique Granados) and getting some books read. Both activities are enjoyable but I can’t do either of them for hours like I’ve been accustomed to do with quilting.

But reality has to be faced… And cortisone shots to be utilized. Thank you, Dr. S!

Then I remembered: “Oh yeah, there are scissors! In fact people having been using scissors to cut fabrics for hundreds of years. Rotary cutters are only a recent invention. Duh!” Not to mention that both the tradition as well as the art of quilt-making is often about the art of “making do.”

I also have an Accuquilt cutter with 4 different dies (shapes), two of which are perfect for the latest Bear Paw craze with modern or very scrappy vibes. Bear Paw is an old block and I fell in love with the very first one I made, using the pattern (and the same antique scrappy style) from one of Kathleen Tracy’s books. This is my first one:

Last year I decided to make three to add to this Orphan Block quilt. Can you spot them?

Now “Then Came June” has reinterpreted the pattern with bright solids and she has half a dozen or so iterations of it — each one more gorgeous than the last. Truly breathtaking, in fact.

Since I can use my Accuquilt to cut the necessary squares and triangles I became inspired to dig into my bin of solids and try a couple blocks of my own. I’m pleased enough that I’ll definitely keep going. It’s fun to be sewing with the bright modern colors again after spending most of last year creating quilts with the more serious (dignified?) 1800’s reproductions.

Here’s what I’ve got so far, “making do” with my Accuquilt dies and scissors. My Bear Paws are much simpler than Then Came June’s — fairly quick to make.

I don’t care for the colors in the second one but once it’s placed with other brighter blocks I think it will play well. In fact some “quieter” blocks in a quilt help with balance.

If you’d like to see what others are doing with this block for some truly fabulous interpretations check out Then Came June’s “Goldie” block. You’ll be blown away. (My version won’t be anywhere near as beautiful as hers, but I don’t want that to stop me.)

https://thencamejune.com

Another quilter with the Bear Paw fever is Jolene of Blue Elephant Stitches. She has just finished her version and it’s very scrappy with lots of prints. I love it as well. I may have to give that one a go, too. I have some really saturated Kaffe Fassett prints that I think will be wonderful. Here’s Jolene’s version. I just love her aesthetic.

https://blueelephantstitches.com/scrappy-bearpaw-quilt/

So! Onward and upward … with scissors! And good books. Here are some I’ve finished recently. All recommended. I’m looking forward to a 4th one by Emily St. John Mandel and a 2nd one by Miriam Toews.
I’d love to know what you’re reading these days. Or what music you’re listening to.

These days — or in this time of my life — my favorite way to make a quilt is to make one of out Orphan Blocks, as I’ve written about before. They are a bit like putting a jigsaw puzzle together without an image available beforehand and using mismatched pieces. Sometimes I run into big trouble and when I’m done with one for a few days I’ve feel like my brain has melted.

A good friend of mine recently suggested that maybe this method of quilt-making was actually my attempt to put together and make sense of the various pieces of my life: childhood in India, boarding school, serious illnesses, a stint in Nepal which ended in failure, marriage, motherhood, cross-country as well as trans-global moves and so on. An insight that is worth considering.

In the meantime, here are a few pics of the latest one, quilted, bound, and ready to be used, with thanks to Kevin for holding it high in a couple images.

The professional long-armer suggested the circle motif for the quilting and I think she chose well.

I finally got this quilt finished. I wish my mother, Eleanore, were here to see it. She wasn’t one to hand out compliments very much but I think she’d be happy.

I constructed it the way I do a lot of my quilts: start with something in the middle (in this instance it was simply a Fat Quarter that was too pretty to cut up) and then add different patchwork patterns around as I feel inspired. Or as I find something in my stash that I’ve, ahem, forgotten about or discarded.

For the back I found a beautiful piece of red and white floral fabric, one of French General’s designs. Like the center of the quilt top, it looks very Indian to me — something else I think my mother would have loved.

I am listing this quilt for sale in my Etsy shop. Just click on the BUY button at the top of my blog for a link to the shop: rkravenquilts.

I tried my hand at an Orphan Block quilt last year and absolutely loved the challenge of using up leftover or random patchwork to create something whole. (I wrote about it in the post: “There’s an Angel In There Somewhere.”)

Since then I’ve made at least three more. There’s not much to say about the process of making these quilts except they take a lot of math and require a very open mind, neither of which are my strong suits.

Here are photos of three more. The third one I had planned to hand quilt like I’ve done on the other Orphan Block quilts but I think I’ll pay to have it long-armed (professionally machine quilted) as I am eager to get it finished and my hands hurt too much to hand-quilt large projects anymore.

This next quilt began with a gorgeous small piece of a black Liberty of London print, gifted to me by a friend, which I thought was too pretty to cut so it sat in a bin for a long time. I finally decided to create some Sawtooth Stars with it, and by skimping a little on the seams I was able to get 6 stars. Then I put them away for awhile to ponder how to use them.

This last quilt was probably the most challenging one and I will have to do a bit of “trimming” once it is back from the quilter. Otherwise I am happy with the way it turned out and happy that the cat liked it, too.

I can’t wait to start another. There are still some orphans needing a home.

If you’re a quilter and you have some leftover blocks lying around, give the Orphan Block quilt a whirl. You might surprise yourself. Just keep a calculator handy and an open heart.

It took me awhile to come up with an idea for the 2nd go at the FQ bundle, Elinore’s Endeavors. And then, true to my nature, I got bored pretty quickly with my decision which was going to be all HSTs.

So, after some fits and starts, I got something going that I am excited about. Or at least interested enough to stick with. (One of my worst faults, I admit.) Hopefully it will serve these lovely prints well.

But in this quilt I chose for the middle portion to use the back side of the light prints because I didn’t want them to distract from the colored ones and I wanted them to match the plain ivory background of the center print. But boy, I could sure feel my mother’s disproval! “Why are you wasting such beautiful fabric?” I could just hear her tut-tutting me.

You can see that on the backs I cut close enough to save some of the printing on the selvedge, which has the names of the line and the designer: Elinore and Betsy.

Though I do love the way lights in the center triangles hint at an image — like something misty and mysterious! — to assuage my guilt, I decided to be a good girl and use the front sides as I continued around the center with the Nine Patch blocks.

The center piece, a large floral design, is one of the FQ’s that was simply too gorgeous to cut up. I love it because it reminds me of Indian artwork, specifically the beautiful chipped-stone inlays on marble. Then I remembered that quilt makers of old started a quilt with a small center piece of fabric (often expensive; often chintz) or a panel of embroidery, and then built the quilt out from that center by adding various rounds of patchwork. These “medallion” quilts are my absolute favorite way to make a quilt now. (I’ve written about them elsewhere on this blog.) There’s absolutely no way to get bored making a quilt this way. And your math skills get a good workout, too.

This is what I’ve got going so far. And hopefully my mother will be pleased that I abandoned the shockingly unorthodox use of the back of some prints. Tut-tut!!

Just for kicks, here are some photos of the Scrappy Trip Around the World (STAW) quilts I’ve made using Bonnie Hunter’s technique which she freely shares on https://quiltville.com/index.html

Including the one in browns which I named “Eleanore’s Inspiration”, I made 3 other STAWs last summer and fall. If you want something fast and fun — not to mention it being a great way to bust through your stash and even use up some of the old, “ugly” stuff you’ve grown tired of and/or still have “too much” leftover; or if you have a jelly roll you don’t know what to do with — give this pattern a try.

I spent quite a bit of time rearranging the blocks in two of the quilts — one in solids, the other in reds and pastels — but really there’s no right or wrong way; no “better” or “worse” layout. The main thing to decide is which direction you want the diagonal lines of color to go and then keep that element consistent.

The green version I had professionally quilted which added a lovely texture. The quilter suggested a leaf pattern in light green thread. She did a beautiful job and I think it worked perfectly for both theme and color. (Excuse the stray threads.)

I can’t commend this quilt design enough. Give it go. You’ll soon be smiling, I bet.