Gallery Expansion, Market Day SAL, and random stuff

 Between thrift stores, antique malls and contributions from family members, I rustled up a few more wooden yardsticks to expand the small quilt gallery. The photo above is of the hallway outside my sewing room door. Again, credit for this idea goes to Ann Hermes at Notes from the Quilt Lab blog (and as I read further back in her blog, she credits Sheryl at Temecula Quilt Co., for giving her the idea)!
Below is my small quilt corner, which has been updated. Now I can move these around without adding pinholes to the walls. I even added a couple of wooden rulers in the space between the corner and my design wall, where it is too narrow for a yardstick. The other side of my design wall has the same issue and I hope to find a couple more wooden rulers to fill that space.

I'd like to continue the gallery expansion to the wall above my HQ Sweet 16 (Gidget), so I will still be  scouting out yardsticks for a while.

Did you notice the little cottage in the bottom of the photo above? Someone recently found it at a thrift store and gave it to my Mom. She said she thought I would have a better place for it than she would. Isn't it sweet?

I have to tell you that it is entirely possible to catch up on Pam Buda's Market Day SAL in one day (begin here with the revised fabric requirements). I just did it Monday. Hadn't even chosen fabric before then. Now everything is cut and stitched, waiting for the big reveal Friday. I stuck with Pam's colors and chose mostly fabrics with a patriotic theme. Is anyone else wondering what we are going to do with the second gold fabric? 

I have had fun seeing what others have been guessing as to the layout. Gave it a whirl and I can say I have absolutely no clue where Pam is going with this one. I'm quite certain this is not it.

Recently I posted a little quilt I was making from the leftover HSTs of Terry's Goodnight Irene quilt. Well, I wasn't happy with the border, so I trimmed it down and added more. Maybe I went too far, but this is it now. The little broken dish blocks are 1"

 I had a few more HSTs to use, so I tried little pinwheels this time. This is about 7" square.

The black borders are all on my colored star blocks now. They need to be trimmed--the squares were not all exact, so the borders are acting as coping strips, besides being part of the sashing design. This gives you an idea of the Garden Maze setting that I will use when I can decide on a color for the sashing strips. I need about 2 yards of whatever I choose, and I was wanting to work from stash. I don't have many cuts that large, unless they are even larger than that, which I intended for backings. Most of those are busy prints that would be too much for this purpose. I played with the rainbow idea, but it didn't click for me. I may actually have to buy something (horror).

You sew star points that match the cornerstones onto the ends of the sashing, and it creates the effect of the Garden Maze design without having to make tiny X blocks for the cornerstones. The idea was found in one of Sharyn Craig's wonderful books on settings (Setting Solutions and Great Sets). Does it make more sense now to those of you who were "smiling and nodding" when I tried to describe it before? : )

I am enjoying seeing the red/white/blue posts popping up around blogland. Even if we've seen it before, it is fun to be reminded of all of the possibilities.

Which reminds me, each time I have posted about this quilt I have had people email asking about the pattern.

It is a Primitive Gatherings pattern called Primitive Picnic Quilt. I did add extra rows and I put the borders on it to make it larger. It is on the Primitive Gatherings website, but not if you search for it by name (why?). You must use the product code, which is PRI-197. Or, you can just use the link above, of course. : )

Until next time,
Janet O.

I'm doing big stuff, too!

Back in March, when I agreed to do the mini quilt trunk show in May, these stars were on my design wall. I didn't touch them for 2 1/2 months (other than to move them out of my way) while I frantically sewed up minis.

Last week I got the border strips cut (haven't sewn any on yet) and Monday night I cut the cornerstones. Major progress, huh? If you are familiar with Sharyn Craig's method of the Garden Maze setting, this will make sense. If not, just smile and nod. I need to choose a color for the sashing and then put black star points on the ends of those pieces, once they are cut. When it is all sewn together it creates the effect of the Garden Maze setting without the hassle of making "X" blocks for the cornerstones.

I"m curious to know what color you think would look good in the sashing, though I don't promise to take your advice. : )

While DD#1 was visiting she finished up the Primitive Gatherings stocking ornaments that she had started on her last visit. Here are all 8 of them and they aren't as bright as they appear. I think they turned out great, so maybe someday I will make them. Click to see them close up. Good job, Angie!

Recently my blog friend, Victoria (Park Hill Farm blog), posted about her great buys at the Keepsake Quilting tent sale. I was amazed to see the red fabric she had purchased (yes, Julie--THAT red!). It is a favorite of mine--older and hard to find. It wasn't on the shelf at Keepsake last October, or I would have finished the bolt, believe me. I expressed my dismay that she had found it there, and the next thing I know there was a chunk of it in my mailbox. Victoria, like so many quilters, is a very generous woman. I promised her another little ornament from some of the fabric. She already has one of my pineapples and a log cabin, so one of these baskets is for her. These are still (obviously) in the works.

Did any of you do Terry's "Goodnight Irene" SAL? I watched. : ) It is a lovely quilt. I've seen it on many blogs and haven't seen one I didn't like, but I especially loved Terry's cool blue and green batiks.
Well, she had all of these HSTs leftover and didn't want to play with them, so I volunteered. Now Irene's dolly can get a good night's sleep, too. The blocks in this little piece are 1" finished. It is approximately 6 1/2" x 8 1/2".
I have a few more HSTs left and am pondering other setting options.

Okay, finally (I didn't think I had that much to share, but this is getting lengthy--sorry), I'm sure many of you have seen Ann Hermes' (Notes From the Quilt Lab blog) yardstick gallery. I love it and have wanted to replicate it somewhere, somehow. A year or so ago I happened to find an old yardstick at a local thrift store from what is now a favorite local quilt shop (it used to be mostly clothing fabrics, but as times changed, so did they). Today I finally figured out where to put it and how to hang it without putting more holes in my walls.
As you enter my sewing room, this is what you now see.

To the right of the sewing room door is the bathroom door. Upon leaving the bathroom you get this happy view.

Rather than using felt pads behind the yardstick and putting holes through it all, I got a similar effect by using clear Command strips and hooks. It holds the yardstick far enough away from the wall that the hooks from Ackfeld Manufacturing fit nicely over it. I'm very happy with the results and hope to find another vintage yardstick at a thrift store when I am in town tomorrow. It is too much to hope that I will find another one from a fabric store. I may have to settle for one from a hardware store--if I can find one at all.

Until next time,
Janet O.