Swans in Lemonade

Remember the story of the ugly duckling, or the saying about what to do when life gives you a lemon? Well the "Ugly Quilt Challenge" of the summer of '13 was a lot like that, as it turned out.

The night group of quilters decided to have an independent challenge over the summer break. The rules were:

1. Each participant must bring one yard of their ugliest fabric from their existing stash, cut into fat quarters to be placed in four "grab bags".
2. They must blindly draw four fat quarters of the garnered ugly fabrics. They are not allowed to draw their own, nor to draw a duplicate fabric.
3. Using the four fabrics drawn, five fabrics from their own stash as well as one neutral color (black, beige, white) can be used in combination with the "ugly four". [Maximum fabrics - 10].
4. A quilt top must be completed by the end of summer break, or before the scheduled "Big Reveal".
5. Size restrictions: no larger than 54" x 54".

Honored to be welcomed in to their big reveal on their reconvening the other evening, I snapped pictures of the lovely ladies' lovely creations. Two of the pictures show the four "ugly" fabrics one lady drew, and the five fabrics she used to combine with them from her own stash. The rest are sheer "Swans in Lemonade".

Enjoy the pageant with me:

Yes, indeed!  If anyone could make a silk purse from a sow's ear, it would be these gals!

This "or" That

One of the above blocks was foundation-pieced onto paper, the other patch pieced.Can you tell the difference?

              In the Volume 1 Summer 2013 issue of Quiltmaker Classics (magazine) on page 39 a quilt named "This and That" is featured. Liking the on point centered square for use with some fabric I had on hand, I thought I would give that pieced block a try. The magazine included both a foundation piecing pattern and the dimensions for patch piecing. I up-sized the dimensions so that I could use some fussy-cut Winnie the Pooh fabric for the center square to best effect. Having paper pieced two of the blocks, I decided to try patch piecing one.  Well, above you can see the two blocks side by side. Can you tell a difference?
     The sewing of the foundation pieced block, using paper as the foundation, made obtaining accurate placement much easier, even though it did use more fabric. Also, I can tell that when I begin to join the blocks, by leaving the paper in place for the join, I will know just where to place the 1/4 inch seam. So, yes, I do like paper-piecing, EXCEPT for the fact that I use up more fabric than would otherwise be needed. 

   Oh! Which was which? Below are the same blocks positioned the same way, only flipped. Did you guess correctly?
 

 

Monkeying A Round

Quiltmakers 100 Blocks magazines inspire and instruct. I had not really been very much inclined toward paper piecing due to the amount both of paper and fabric that seemed to become waste,  but a design called EZ Mariner's Compass in Volume 4 on page 39 brought me on board. I needed a center block from which to build a small quilt design, and this seemed to fit the bill. 

Clockwise from top left, tracing paper for fussy cut and the paper foundation; magazine page with inspirational block beside mine in progress; "light box" for tracing from a regular printed sheet; back side of the paper pieced and joined sections.

I decided to fussy cut two monkeys to flank each of the four quarter center triangles. Tracing paper, slightly wider than needed cuts, and sunlight plus glass window (improvised light box) helped with  placement. The "light box" served again when I decided to transfer a computer printout word circle for a feed-dog-dropped, free motion take on the center medallion.

Now I have the center block from which to build. This unfinished block measures 12.5 inches. Running along the outer edges will be 6 inch (finished) blocks. The finished quilt will probably be about 36 inches square. Still monkeying with the design.

My medallion clipping went a bit beyond what would render a smooth edge, so I may have to cover up with some machine decorative edging. But this is the unfinished feature block for my "Ten Little Monkeys" quilt still in progress. Oh! You may notice that there are only 9 monkeys on this, but you must remember that one little monkey may well be at the doctor's office with a broken head!

The monkey fabric was the inspiration for the theme of the quilt, which will be from the "Ten Little Monkeys" countdown story rhyme that goes:
Ten little monkeys jumping on the bed.
One fell off and broke his head.
Mama called the doctor,
The doctor said, 
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" 
.... etc. etc. until at the very end the doctor's warning is twice repeated, quite solemnly on the final time.

Epilogue: Click HERE to see what became of the monk, the monk, the monk the monk.