Hexagons & triangles on the walls

After all that fmq obsession, I was itching to get back to designing and piecing. I decided to start BIG with a queen size bed quilt I've procrastinated about for a long time.

Making something for a friend can be tough - especially when it's a surprise.  Add a restrictive palette in prints and I'm stressing. But this year I intend to buckle down and not put off until tomorrow.

I've nearly decimated my stash of blue prints to make this stack of triangles.

360 equilateral triangles

Doubts and repetitious cutting almost did me in. Then hexagons morphed into triangles on this not-big-enough design wall:

an oblique view due to light fixture & worktable

Nothing like a project to get motivated with the next phase of the studio move. Picking up from half a year ago, I used velcro Command Strips based on this tutorial from Marianne of The Quilting Edge to put up an 8 foot square design wall from two 4x8 sheets of 1" thick foam insulation:

new design wall in new studio

The top and bottom seams mark the middle five-foot height within which I don't have to get on a step stool nor get on down on the floor. Here're the hexagons and triangles on the new wall:

 no obstructed view (yet) on the new design wall

It's not queen sized but with only one triangle left, I must've miscalculated.

That's okay. Instead of buying more fabric and cutting more triangles (ugh!), I'll go modern and add solid negative spaces. Wonder if there'd be enough leftovers for a baby quilt for the first grand nephew due in May.

Sequel to dyeing

How two days turned into two weeks - the final stretch of the dyeing saga. The dyeing part is easy compared to what happens after batching.

Wednesday, day six: final rinses. I slaved between the sink, the hot stove, and the washer and dryer. I filled, heated, stirred and empty the stock pot at least eight times.

taking the water temperature

stirring the pot

For simpler time keeping, I allowed half an hour for each final rinse. I really must get a small top loader. At least I got all 21 cloths into the dryer.

Thursday: other plans so no dyeing. But I contemplated the mottled cloths and the missing half of the first set. Then made plans for more dyeing.

Friday: dyed the missing five of the first set and overdyed the highly mottled four of the second set. Lesson learned: measuring smaller quantities of dye solution is very persnickety!

Saturday: washout and final rinse of Friday's dyeing. I was physically tired and moving more slowly. Lesson learned: dyeing is very physical! Be less ambitious. Dye less cloth with more time!

Sunday: To redo another nine, I had to make more dye solution and used up all the dye. No more dyeing! Yay!

Monday: washout and final rinse of Sunday's dyeing. Last rinse! Yay!

Tuesday: r&r! A hike in Tennessee Valley and an exploration of downtown Mill Valley.

a foggy day in Tennessee Valley 

Wednesday: boring stuff like ironing & record keeping.

new hand dyes fan deck

Thursday: laundry room cleanup.

gloves washed and drying

The end result: solids stash before and after.

before

after

detail of most affected hues

Due to the yellow and red I used, most ended up between magenta and green. I'll try for yellow to red neutrals in the next dyeing session.

Final crazy eight

I restored some organization in the studio. All the solids are back on the shelves. Gee, what a BIG stash!


shelves of solids

If I'd only known before I got another crazy eight collection. I could've stopped at the six yards of black for the next workshop. But you know how one thing leads to another. Since I was at it, got some other colors, too. Might as well.

final crazy eight

The latest stack of Moda Bella Solids: Baby Yellow (good light), Buttercup, Willow (good neutral), Betty Red, Purple, Peacoat (very inky dark) and Black. The last crazy eight collection.

Until I use up a lot of fabrics. Unless I have a yen for a particular color. Unless I find a new cool color . . . You know how exceptions do crop up.

Crazy Eight 2

Are you missing the old Monthly Solids Club as much as I am? 

Pink Chalk Fabrics now has a Charming Solids Club - a combo of charm packs of prints with coordinating fat eighths of solids. This variation doesn't work for me.

For my December withdrawal I selected my own eight solids - previously posted here. So this month I'm self-medicating again.

From top to bottom, these Moda Bella Solids (I love the hand of this line): (1) Fig Tree Olive, (2) Hay, (3) Paper Bag, (4) Dark Teal, (5) Weathered Teak, (6) Earth, (7) Golden Wheat and (8) Fig Tree Wheat.

They weren't stacked in packing list order, so I'm not sure I matched the colors - except for the olive and teal - to the fabrics correctly. The Weathered Teak especially doesn't live up to its name nor to its online image.

Oh well. Next time: a wider range of colors for easier identification. If there is a next time. I still have hope that Pink Chalk Fabrics will have another monthly solids option.

Crazy eight

The monthly solids club at Pink Chalk Fabrics will morph into a new version debuting in January  2012 (less than a week away!). They'd feature a charm pack of prints with coordinating solids. Don't despair yet fellow solids fans.

"A Solids Stack of the Month will be available for purchase each month in the shop similar to what is being offered now in the club - it just won't be an auto-ship."

Let's hope they'd offer the stack in 1-yard cuts.

With no shipment in December, and especially with the holidays, I needed my monthly fix. So I picked eight Moda Bella Solids. Here's what I got from top to bottom: Fig Tree Apricot, Lime, Betty's Orange, Tan, Rust, Horizon Blue, Stone and Kansas Troubles Red.

Hmm - not so pretty, eh?
What about this group?

Prettier restacked. Presentation does makes a difference, doesn't it?

Choices at a brick-and-mortar shop might've been different from these chosen online. I'm adding to my stash, not using them together. Otherwise I'd go crazy picking the perfect eight.

Birthday every month

I'm getting a stuffed Priority Mail envelope each month.

Just look at the luscious blues in this month's little package.

 

I'd joined the Monthly Solids Club at Pink Chalk Fabrics.

At the beginning of each month, soon after an email notification, the package arrives. I don't know what colors, but always eight one-yard pieces with a card identifying each one.

When I go to the fabric shop, I'd stand in front of the solids for a long while trying to figure out what other color to buy. Yes, I do need more solids. There I'd be tempted by eye-candy prints. Or by nifty notions. Or by new patterns. Or by luscious silks. You get the picture. I'm avoiding temptation and relinquishing color selection to Pink Chalk.  

I feel like a birthday girl each month. What a pleasant treat. 

Circling the studio

Truth be told, I haven't quilted since I came back from the Improvisations workshop at the Crow Timber Barn four weeks ago. Instead activities revolved around the studio.

Cleaned up. What a mess when I left for the workshop! By golly, the mess grew when I was away: my other half thought other stuff should be there too. Then I unpacked workshop supplies and projects. You can imagine. At least I can see the cutting mat now.

Reorganized. About time I made life easier for myself. Dragged one of my old (remember days when they were 3 for $99 - this was pre IKEA) bookcases into the studio. Stacked solids and shelved all crafting, quilting, sewing books. They're all together and not scattered in boxes and baskets anymore. Repurposed a vinylized poster to protect the fabrics from light. The shade is attached at the top with packaging tape. That won't last. Here it is with shade down. A bit of light leaks through the sides and bottom. I'll figure it out with a more permanent mounting system.

Inventoried. My fan deck is tagged! Blue tape marks colors less than 30" long.

I am ready to replenish for the next workshop.

Now back to quilting . . .

Cautionary plaid tale

Joann's is conveniently near my office and opened until 9pm. A coupon sale and the selection of woven plaids and stripes were extra enticements. Do you know how difficult it is to find woven plaids and stripes? They're mostly printed. Purist that I am - gimme a real plaid! A nice dark plaid.

But look what happened to my fabrics after they were laundered.

The plaid transferred color to the green. Arrgggh! After washing, drying and ironing, it still bled. I tested the plaid using Paula Burch's method.
But no time to fix this with more washing or Retayne. This baby is not going to Ohio. Neither is the green fabric. It will be salvaged for surface design.

I picked up another plaid by Dan River at Beverly's Fabrics. This is a long time well known national manufacturer - unlike the one at Joann's - but cost twice as much. It's worth it because it passed Paula Burch's test. I checked it before I launder. This time.

Shipping out

They're off! I've shipped my fabric and supplies to the Barn. Here're the stacks of fabrics before they went into the boxes.
There aren't enough fabrics. What? How can that be? Looks like a lot of fabric. Well yes, there are about 100 lengths of fabric. Not including black, white and grays and not including prints.

But look how many skinny folds as opposed to fat folds. For this two-week workshop Nancy calls for 1.5 to 2 yd. cuts. I'm bringing the one-yarders for more color choices and more fabric. But then I risk running out of a color.

Also need more darks. I think they went into my ribbons.

So I'm off for last minute shopping, washing and ironing.

Fan deck

These are views of my fan deck described here previously.

Building a deck

When I started this tack, I didn't think I'd be so verbose. I went to the Barn without much notion of what I was getting into. May your experience be less mysterious and more fruitful. Here's part 3: buying and tracking colors for Nancy Crow's Strip Piecing I & II workshop.

I don't dye fabrics. I buy commercially made fabrics from the local stores. Where I live there are a number of quilt shops and fabric stores within 25 miles. A few have a good selection of solids, most don't. So I get a smattering of colors from various places.

For online shopping a friend suggested equilter . They offer 189 Kona solids. With your order, they'd send a color printout – similar to their web page. I'm more bricks and mortar.

Shopping for solids can be daunting at the fabric store. Would this color look different in other light? Can I find one a little lighter, darker, brighter, duller, red-er, blue-r, yellow-er? And do they even make it? How does it compare to what I already have? How can I keep track of it all?

The human mind is capable of remembering about seven things. Darn impossible to remember a hundred colors. Even with good color memory. Try visual aids.

Mine is a deck of 3x4 index cards. If you build this, you could cut the card size in half. There's still plenty of room for information.

On one side of each card glue an actual 1/2" wide strip of the fabric along the edge for a visual match or comparison. The other side has information: when, where, what (manufacturer, color), and width and length. This helps when you want more.

I'm not good about noting the manufacturer and color when I'm buying the fabric. At least I can visually match it. If I bought it within the last year, there's a chance it's still available. In reality though, store stock changes.

Stack the cards by color group and in value order. Imagine dropping the deck and scattering them to kingdom come. That would be so embarrassing. Make it secure: punch a hole at one end and put it on a 2" ring. Watch for a photo post of my deck later.

At the store, I compare the bolt against my fan deck. I don't like to be conspicuous but this is not so easy, yet better than nothing. Since colors change on a continuum finding where it may fall in your deck takes time. Is this gold yellow or yellow-orange? Is this periwinkle blue-violet or purple?

If you see someone doing that - that might be me. Say hello. I now whip out a smaller (fewer cards) deck with colors to replenish.

Build your deck. Throw it into a Ziplock or your tote bag. Enjoy your color adventure.

Another installment tomorrow: preparing and packing your fabrics.

52

Addendum and correction to the last post regarding colors.

Yesterday I'd said I had cut into about 25 pieces of my solids collection. That was a very crude estimate. Way off.

In preparation for the next workshop, I'd pulled out all the fabrics that I'd used at the last workshop. Didn't want to pack them in case I'd still be working on my ribbon quilt. Make that will be still working. Already enough color variety - no new colors please.

That pile looked like a half box full. 100 fabrics, 2 boxes. 50 fabrics a box. Half a box must be 25. Right? Big oops! Didn't take into consideration that some of the fabric has already gone into the ribbons and stripped-pieced fabrics. Smaller pieces make a more compact pile.

This morning I counted - 52 different colors! Not including black, white and grays. I could have used fewer.

I feel you can have a very satisfactory experience and put together a beautiful quilt with a more limited selection.

But can you see how you can easily go beyond that with the myriad variations in colors, values, and saturations? Look at how many yellow paint chips can you collect at the paint store. Albeit fabric is more limiting, but color nuances can be nearly infinite. That's part of the fun and challenge.

Culling all colors

Continuation of yesterday's post about the Nancy Crow workshop.

Nancy Crow asks for lots of fabric for the Strip Piecing I & II workshop. 60 to 100 different solids. More if you count neutrals and non-solids. If you are considering her workshop, you'd say Holy Moly! do I really need that much?

Out of more than 100 solids, including the neutrals, I actually cut into maybe 25. So did I really need them all? I could have gotten by with fewer blues and reds. Hardly used. Mostly yellows, oranges, greens, purples and black. A sprinkling of other colors. I used five out of the six yards of black. I didn't decide in advance what my palette would be. That's just what turned out.

Some got by with a more restrictive selection. If that were so, then that's what I would've worked with. Some chose a more restrictive palette. If that were so, then that's what I would've brought. Maybe either would've been easier and quicker – meaning less thought required. Because while you're there, you are busy doing. Mulling over choices is a luxury.

For a few exercises Nancy would ask for a particular color. Blue for example. But she doesn't specify a particular blue – choose any blue that'll work. For most exercises, it was my choice. So I'd pull out a piece of fabric– because it's on top, because it was on the bottom, because it caught my eye, because I've used it before, because I haven't used it yet, because I wanted to use that color, because I wanted to use that value, because I wanted to use that saturation, because I have a particular combination in mind, because . . . just because.

Then I'd pull out other colors to work with it. Here's where thought and time comes in. Sometimes the combination comes together quickly. Sometimes I'd really have to work to make it come together. Sometimes I couldn't make it work quick enough and started again. Sometimes I'm not happy with the combination, but it would just have to do because I don't have time to fuss more.

I was glad I had so many choices because I love playing with color. I could have gotten more done if I didn't love the color play so much. Love can be a liability.

So did I really need them all? Probably not. That's easier to say now after I've gone through the workshop. So what do you really need?

A full spectrum of colors. By that I mean the color wheel with primary, secondary and tertiary hues: i.e. yellow, yellow-orange, orange, red-orange, red, red-violet, violet, blue-violet, blue, blue-green, green and yellow-green. If you bring a minimum of five in each of these six groups, that'd be 30. The minimum. Of these five in the group, it is important to cover the full range of values from light to dark and cover the full range of saturation from bright to dull (or Nancy calls it warm and cool).

Some exercises called for a wide value range of a color. Try to have at least seven values of gray and seven values of at least one color. These seven values should work as a pleasing progression of a color set. For example a blue-gray would stand out in a group of warm grays, even though its value may be correct. A red-orange may clash within a group of red-violets.

The off-whites, beiges and tans could be low saturation variations of a color family. They may be a very neutral yellow, orange or red. Just be sure you do have some.

Bring the non-solids but don't worry too much about them. Exercises using them are at the end. Unless you are speedy, you may not get to them.

If you find your choices lacking during the workshop, you may rely on the generosity of your fellow classmates for giving / trading / selling you a strip or two.

These last two posts got long! I'll continue tomorrow about shopping for fabrics.

Investment

I'm replenishing my solids stash. At the last workshop, I'd sold four pieces and used three yards of the black out of four. Of the colors, if I have at least a 30" - that's my cutting off point - length left, I'm not worrying about it. But I have less - the shortest 17.5" - than that for about a dozen colors. Out of a hundred colors, not bad.

Decisions. If I find the same color, how much do I buy? Only a half yard? Then I'll end up with two short pieces. Another full yard? If I go for more workshops next fall, I'll most certainly be going through this again. I decided on 1.5 yards. Same for any new colors. That should hold me through the 2-week spring workshop at least. And maybe more.

Recently I spent 5 hours to press, catalog, and organize 12 new solid fabrics. That works out to 25 minutes per fabric. Imagine doing 100 fabrics - 25 minutes x 100 = 2500 minutes or 41.67 hours. Not even including shopping and laundering. That's quite an investment! Good thing most of my prior investment is still intact.

Addendum: The updated supply list says at least 1.5 to 2 yards of each solid color. The one-yarders may not be enough.

Haves and have nots

Despite the economic doom and gloom, I sent my money in for the Strip Piecing I & II workshop at Nancy Crow's Barn in October. With that done, I am now stressing about plane tickets, lodging and supply. Yes, I am a worry-wart!

At least I have the fabrics - 100 solids, including off-whites, tans, black, white and grays. I would be in a total panic if I was trying to find, buy, wash, press and fold all these in one shot, let alone one or even two months! There are still some color gaps though.

It's harder to find more colors. At the stores, I pull out my handy dandy little fan deck. 'Cept it's not so handy and not so small - I am juggling a deck with a 3x4 index card for each solid. Like my baskets, my deck is divided into six color categories, then arranged by value. I feel a bit self-conscious but how else to separate the haves from have nots?

Growing stash

Growing my stash is sooo time consuming. Aim to get at least 60 different solid colors in one-yard pieces for Nancy Crow's workshop next fall.

I can't afford to buy it all at once, so I pick up 5 or 6 at a time. I wash and iron them, then catalog each on an index card. I gravitate toward the colors I like and would wear, so I am purposefully trying to select other colors. Most of them have been dark so my last selections were pastels or other light colors. Never mind all the wonderful eye-candy prints!

My stash now numbers 20. Can't remember what I have anymore, so I take my cards when shopping. No sense buying more yardage of the same colors.