This is a photograph of the finished “quilt top”. But I quilted to batting first, as I constructed each part….as you can see in the photographs of the back of the quilt top. (The next blog entry will show how to add the backing fabric and other details…stay tuned!)

1. I quilted each pieced landscape background to the batting.

2. Then I added the applique frog with machine stain stitching and free motion accents.

3. I squared-up the frog block and framed with the solid color batik fabric, using a 3/8″ seam allowance.

4. I quilted a 31″ square piece of the leaf print to batting to make “new” fabric. I used the same roughly parallel lines about  1/4″ to 1/2″ apart that I used in the frog blocks.

5. I assembled the quilt top by cutting rectangles from the “new” (pre-quilted) fabric and sewing everything together with the 3/8″ seam allowance.

By pressing the seam allowance towards the solid color sashing, the batting in the seam allowances fills up the empty space of the sashing. I pressed all other seams open.

Why quilt to batting first?

A. When working with appliques on top of a background, quilt first so you don’t have to stitch around the appliques. I hate pesky ‘stops and starts’ with machine quilting- so I avoid them when possible!

(The late Larraine Scouler from Australia quilted through all three layers first then added the appliques, as shown in her book Back to Front, 1996, published by Creative House).

B. Quilting blocks or units to batting first usually means working with smaller pieces. Even a 31″ square is easy to handle.

C. It’s a good way to avoid warping. In this case, satin stitching the frogs to the pre-quilted backgrounds gave me great stitch quality. Also, there is uneven density in the quilting- the solid sashing bits are not quilted- but because the seam allowance fills in, it’s all very flat.

For more details, check it my article in a 2009 issue of Quilters Newsletter, August/September, #411, “Quilt-As-You-Sew Three Ways by Wendy Hill and Crys Kyle.

My sister-in-law Sylvia Stevens (married to my brother) asked me to make a quilt for her nephew’s first baby. With indecision about whether it should be a crib quilt or a wall quilt, literal frogs or fun kid frogs, I volunteered to make both.(Somebody has to stop me!)

I found this snowball variation pattern, “Birdbath”, in Elizabeth Hartman’s book “The Practical Guide to Patchwork” (C&T Publishing, 2010). I chose a print by Bernatex called “Gone Fishing”, with 20 different polka dots and one graphic black/white fabric. (Look for Elizabeth’s new book in May 2012 with C&T!)

By the way, you can take a class with Elizabeth Hartman during Quilters Affair in Sisters in July 2012.

I found the pattern “Leap Frogs” by Debora Konchinsky for the wall quilt. I love her patterns, but they are not step-by-step projects. She provides the animal drawings, tips for satin stitching, ideas to do your own thing- then the rest is up to you. I intended to make a small wall hanging with a few frogs. But the quilt grew to 28 1/2″ high by 42 1/4″ wide.

When I rustled up an assortment of froggy fabrics, including the last of the Hoffman batik stripey batiks, I couldn’t stop making these little abstract landscapes for the frogs. Add a little thread, some satin stitching, a bit of free motion quilting- you have a recipe for a LOT of fun.

I quilted each frog block unit to batting only…. stay tuned for more photos of how to do this, along with the finished catwalk for Cooper & Izzy.

It’s been a busy Fall Season here in beautiful but cold Central Oregon. The new additions to the family (aka “The Monsters”) are cute when asleep. In the tent, Izzy, the sweet little girl, is on the left, and Cooper, the all boy cat, is on the right. Although they get bigger everyday, they still love to be stuffed inside a vest or a jacket (Cooper-left, Izzy-right) to sleep.

A new book from C&T Publishing has hit the shops- “Modern Blocks, 99 Blocks From Your Favorite Designers”. I’d recommend it even if my original triangle block was not included…but it is, on page 18. The blocks are fun, fresh, original or modern adaptations of blocks in the public domain. Check out the Modern Quilt Guild online (themodernquiltguild.com), or check out Elizabeth Hartman’s blog (www.ohfransson.com), or look for a “modern quilt guild” group in your area. Yes, I love modern blocks.

If you are near or driving through Medford, Oregon, stop at the Rogue Gallery & Art Center (40 South Bartlett, downtown)  to see their wonderful Holiday Boutique selection. While there, browse the last of my Limited Edition 2011 Skinny Scarfs- once they’re gone, they are gone-baby-gone.

Happy Birthday to my favorite people, Bob and April!

If you haven’t checked out The Quilt Life with Ricky Tims & Alex Anderson, It’s more than making quilts! (published by the American Quilter’s Society) you should! (I’m never sure where the official title of the magazine begins and ends, so just google The Quilt Life to find out where to buy it.)

As the name implies, this magazine reaches out to all aspects of our life of making quilts. There are six issues per year. Right now, the April 2011 issue is in stores…

Check out my article, Skinny Scarfs. You’ll find out how to make them and how to use them as a turban, a necklace, a scarf or a belt. Invent your own new way to use the Skinny Scarf!

P.S. My “logo”, a “W” and an “H” in a Circle: Wendy Hill Original.

What happened to Just Say No? A ‘gracious plenty’ of opportunities came my way and I said yes to most of the them. When anxiety hits, I make lists. I make lists of lists. I add subcategories to my lists. Then I start crossing off things from the list as they get done. When I told another busy person that I was trying to stay sane, she said that in her life, sanity is not a high priority.

Aha- the secret to staying sane is not trying to stay sane! Another paradox of life on earth as a human.

The Lime Green- Tomato Red quilt is coming along. The quilt will be about 80″ by 80″. I decided to quilt it in columns, making it a reversible quilt. The back is black, white and pink polka dots all over. Stay tuned. (The Pattern: Bamboo & Pinwheels by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes. You get two quilts from one block. This is the “bamboo” quilt.)

For now, my stack of Echino fabrics (designed by Etsuko Furuya for Kokka Fabrics) will have to be admired from afar. They are wonderfully beautiful and fun to work with.

Patagonia Addie Boots: To boot or not to boot, that is the question. They have fun details, fit, are comfortable, but on the down side, are wide and a little higher than ankle boots. We’ll see…

Okay, back to The List.

Janie McCart contacted me some time ago after seeing my quilt, “Daisy Doodle”. She asked for permission to use my pattern to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Of course, I immediately emailed “yes, yes, yes”. I love supporting a good cause.

Here is the finished quilt- it could be yours (see below). Janie had help from her friends- Vickie Olsen, Debby Buckley, Debbie Yamokoski, Deanna Blechner, Diane Lord with the quilting by Winnie Miale. The network of quilters around the world (mostly women) make the world a better place!

Janie’s daughter is in charge of the Relay for Life fundraiser for which “opportunity” (raffle) tickets for this quilt are sold. All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. For just $1 each, you too can hope to win this quilt. Just contact Janie at “ejmccart{at}tampabay{dot}rr{dot}com” and she’ll direct you to the link for ticket purchases. Let’s help her raise a lot of money!

She didn’t really need to ask for permission- this quilt appears as a project article in the Fons & Porter’s For the Love of Quilting, May/June 2009 and Fons & Porter’s Best of Love of Quilting Special Issue 2011 (and she wasn’t putting it up for sale). But by asking, she warmed this author’s heart and received extra help and tips as she made this quilt. If you are in a similar situation, contact the author- I think you’ll be rewarded.

February 20: What Goes Around, Comes Around

I’m so giddy that I’m afraid I’ll jinx the whole thing with my excitement. One: my shoulder is SO much better (thank you Dr. Wigle, Bend, Oregon). Two: I love the threads I’m using: King Tut variegated on top, Auriful 50 wt in the bobbin). Three: yesterday afternoon I quilted 18 daisies with no problems.

I had to stir my Hungarian goulash every thirty minutes- the perfect interval for getting up and walking around while quilting daisies.  I will set my kitchen timer today for 30 minutes while quilting. (And today, I won’t have to heave my 1973 Le Creuset pot out of the oven, even better for my back.)

I can quilt all day- we have leftovers for tonight! (And David gets a break from cooking!!)

I press my seams open most of the time. Back in 1971, as a self-taught quilter, it made sense to press seams open to reduce bulk. Most of the time, it still makes sense to me. Whether you press seams open or over, as the quilt grows, it’s easy to unpress old seams while pressing new seams. The final pressing before layering the quilt top with batting and backing fabric is often more than bulky and tedious- it can lead to more unpressing.

Last year I tried stitching my seams in place with water-soluble thread. A little time invested doing this ahead of time led to big rewards farther along into the project (see above). I’m hooked on it- at least for the grandiose-what-was-I-thinking-huge-size-quilts. I stitched along a continuous line of seams by traveling down one side of diagonal (block #1) and cross seams, then working my way back up (from block #10) the other side of the seams, to end where I started. (I’m not doing those little short seams.) I use Superior Vanish water- soluble thread; it comes on cones, which makes it a great deal.

So now there are three finished columns of blocks. Only 140 more triangles to sew into blocks and 7 more columns…did I mention ‘what was I thinking?’

P.S. You can see little pieces of masking tape in the fourth column. I number the blocks with cheap-not-very-sticky-masking-tape so I can take down all ten blocks, work on them at the sewing machine and ironing board, and when they get hopelessly mixed up, I can quickly put them back in order.

It always seems like a good idea at the time- to work on three different things at once- in order to keep from getting stiff doing the same thing over and over. But will it prove to be a good thing? Hey, this could be a new reality show: When Good Ideas Go Bad….

I’ve started piecing the triangle blocks and sewing them together into columns. Pinning, sewing, pressing, repeat.

The Krista Quilt is ready to start quilting. While I waited for my shoulder to improve* I rolled up the four sections. There ain’t no creases on these guys! (No flies either. Remember that song?)

And I’ve returned to the Underwater Coral Reef Zipper Quilt. Ages ago, and I mean an eon or two, I started free motion stitching sea critters on a prepared quilted background. The image on the left shows my first jellyfish and fish side by side. The image on the right are the jellyfish and eel I stitched today. I’ve been trying to imagine the water flowing through the unquilted channels, just like my friend Pat said, and so far, so good. I’m not convinced the finished quilt will be what I imagined, but…the only way to find out is to finish the darn thing.

* After recovering from the injection, my shoulder really IS better. I realized today it had not hurt once all day. Wow, thank you Dr. Wigle of Bend, Oregon. The Krista Quilt panels are big, so I’m making sure my shoulder is up to it before I start stitching daisies.

On Tuesday, an MRI revealed a list of all things wrong with my shoulder. If things continue, surgery may be in my future, but for now, a deep joint injection should buy some time and relief from the painful symptoms. After surviving the injection, the doctor said “Oh, by the way, you won’t be able to use your arm for a few days.” HUH? Something he might have mentioned first, not that it would have made a difference. Just when is it convenient not to use your arm?

With one arm immobilized, I took some time between ice pack sessions to layout my finished ‘lime green/tomato red’ triangle units for the “bamboo” quilt top layout. I made enough blocks for two quilt tops, each with 10 blocks across and 10 blocks down.  I love it already, even without the vertical sashing strips.

I love this pattern: “Bamboo and Pinwheels, Two Quilts in One Pattern” by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes (on sale everywhere). This amazing block goes together lickety-split-fast. But wait, there’s more! Make one block, get two quilt tops- cut each block on the diagonal and separate into two piles. Half the blocks make the bamboo layout (see photo) while the other half make the pinwheel layout (stay tuned). Note: for 100 blocks each, you’ll need to make 200 original blocks.

The pattern recommends strict value placement- all very light in the narrow strips and all medium and dark in the wider strips. But I’ve disregarded any value placement at all. In 2008, I contrasted color (and nothing else) with my strips. This time around, I contrasted print size and color. The narrow strips use smaller and more repeat type prints, while the wider strips use big and more randomly spaced print patterns. Both strips have an equal number of reds, greens, and go-next-door & across-the-street colors. Most of my values fall around the medium range, but there are a few extremes in both directions. P.S. I used about 150 different fabrics for this quilt.

Traditional quilt patterns rely on value placement to make the pattern itself clear, but also to create strong secondary patterns. When there is no value placement, or when the values hover around the medium range, the pattern and secondary patterns blur. This is one way to play with a traditional block pattern- blur the value placements, and use a LOT of fabrics. Who could argue with that?