Biggs Test Block

 

My progress on the test block was slowed this weekend by needing to be an assistant plumber for a sink faucet replacement project.  And a motorcycle lunch ride.  I am happy with the junction squares.  I tried a couple variations of fill direction and thread color on the hand stitching.  Will decide on the final after it's washed. 

I've finished the 4 secondary centers with the Shashiko pattern.  I had originally planned on these being stitched in red, but in the end, the contrast of the dark green thread is my favorite. 

Only thing left is the grid fill between the squares.  Again, trying several variations to see if the complicated ones are worth the effort.    Meanwhile, I did an auction with my Facebook Friends and the winner has to make a donation to my local women's shelter to get her prize.  

More Biggs Planning

I was up at 4 am yesterday because my brain was so full of ideas for quilting the Biggs quilt.  After getting all those ideas out of my head and into yesterday's blog post, I set about making a test block. 

I replicated a typical intersection of the real quilt and made this with fusible.  I was wondering if it was worth the bother as by the time it was done, I had pretty well decided what I was going to do. However, during this process, I noticed a secondary "circles" pattern in the center of each block I decided to focus on as well, so it was worth the effort. 

 I decided on this Shashiko pattern as a background in dark green thread.  

The previous time I did Shashiko in contrasting thread I was very pleased with the outcome.  By making the lines further away (this one was 1/4"), I hope it will have more dimension, as well as taking less time. 

This time, I  had trouble finding the right scale to do this.  And I couldn't get my head wrapped around the repeat when I drew it out with a ruler. After 3 failed attempts, I settled on a 1/2" wide scale (little squares are 1" and the cross lines 1/2 " apart).  I was able to trace that on this section.  But the more densely patterned white on white's I couldn't see through.  So I set about to make a stencil out of plastic.  There was a failed Dremmel experiment.  Today I'll be attacking the plastic with an Exacto knife. 

Meanwhile, I sorted out my greens for the border swags.   The 51 fabrics that made the cut fell into 5 groupings based on the undertone:.  light/grey  dark/blue light/yellow  medium/olive  dark/black.  After auditioning them under 3 different light conditions I decided that the olives looked best with the quilt squares, but I really liked the dark ones best.   So I pulled some from each that I thought would play well together. 

I made a stencil out of template plastic and drew the 44 swags and bows on the 4 side panels for back basting.  Got about 12 of them basted before I lost energy and went to bed early. 

Today's goals are the template and possibly the MFQ on the test block.  Hand quilting and swags the rest of the day while I watch football. 

Biggs Quilt Planning

 I got the Biggs squares trimmed to size and sewn together.  I'll be moving on to the borders next, but I've been trying to decide on how I'm going to quilt this.  Lin from the FaceBook group for this quilt had posted what her longarmer (Joy Voltenburg of Custom Quilts of Joy) had done which featured these annoying corner flowers which I have hated since the beginning.  She used a square on point to connect these and create a secondary squares pattern that I thought was perfect for blending the mixed squares on alternate background fabrics. 

I traced several of the intersections to get an average size that would work, since the buds don't all fall perfectly symmetrical in each of those 16 intersections. (Which is another reason I hated those buds)

I had already decided to do a combination of machine and hand quilting. 

While I've been successful getting nice texture, as shown in this picture from my quilt "Loud", I felt the quilting would be too dense on the small scale needed for this applique. 

I have always been happy with the outcome of this style of flower and plan to use a variation of it for the center of the joining squares. 

To add more texture, I either need some micro quilting, like I did on the following 2 pillows.

Or play with the texture that comes with hand quilting and varying the line width like I did on the shells. 

This of course made me think about how much I liked the sashiko inspired background diamonds that I did on Hearts Infatuation using fuchsia thread. 

And while I was considering past successes in microquilting, I thought about this dragonfly.  So now I am considering adding butterflies, dragonflies and bumble bees into some of the "blank spots" linked together with the shashiko fill. 

Clearly, I have created an extra project for myself.  I'm feeling the need to do a test "block" to see which of the variations that I've considered that I like best. 

Princess

The topic of dress-up clothes came up as a Christmas gift for my 3 year old granddaughter.  A picture was sent of a fur cape.  After a rummage of my stash, and a raid of a friend's, I was able to pull together this set with purchase of very little.  

The photo sent was a bit more "Frozen" inspired.  But I had tons of this pin-tuck satin.  So Little Red Riding Hood it is.   

They were once curtains when a teenager in my house was in her goth stage.  A couple yards of furry black minky and a frog closure was the main expense of this project.

Part 2 was this simple reversible brocade skirt.  The fabric was bought by Kim at a Bridal Store clearance, but housed by Beve.  Beve also supplied the bias trim for the hem.  The elastic and the grosgrain ribbon to make the skirt adjustable sizing, was from my stash.  

Next up was the satin dress.  I hate sewing satin.  I designed this dress from 3 different patterns. I wanted something that a little person could put on/take off without assistance.  Also, it needed to be able to be layered with other pieces.  And need to be adjustable sizing, either to grow with the person, or to be able to play dress up with other people.  Satin from Kim.  Broach from Beve.  Only expense was the gold trim. 

I had magnetic snaps from a purse project in my stash.  There are 2 snaps, on the inner and outer side of the wrap. Because of that, the inner snap can be moved to the outer position, increasing the waist line by 7 inches !

Beve has been working on princess dresses to donate for a fund raiser, so I made an extra of the satin dress as a way to "pay it forward" for the fabric donations. 

I had one more piece planned out of sequin material.  But due to satin trauma, I'll save that project for a birthday gift. 

November Finishes

 My November goal was to finish 4 more of the Benjamin Biggs Blocks. 

The first went quickly with just a few large pieces. 

The second wasn't to bad...

But the third was super fussy with lots of little pieces.  And I lost a day of sewing to Christmas shopping.   Our Thanksgiving weekend plans also changed.  Because of Covid, we cancelled the gathering at our house, and instead we did a 2 day, 1000 mile road trip to drop off gifts and leftovers.

I had hoped to do a little applique during the drive, but the roads were too bumpy.  So my 4th block got finished the first weekend in December. 

I also got a good jump on the final 2 squares.   I was slowed down by the fact that I can't find the download for block #20.  In a way it's good, because I don't think the leaves on those flowers are very pretty, so I re-designed them.  

I will likely get stalled out again, as I need to make some Princess clothes.   I have a cloak nearly done, but have 3 other pieces of the planned ensemble to make. 

Moana

 

This Grandma Christmas Task was creating something for my favorite 3 year old.  I was given an assortment of inspirations, but started with Moana.  I had to rent and watch the movie.  

I was sufficiently inspired. 

I collect antique linens and have a sweet spot for pillow cases with crocheted or tatted edges.

When the pillow case fabric gets fragile and fails, the edging always looks great.  I've been saving them for years thinking that  it would make a great edging for little girl dresses. 

My BFF Beve opened her stash to me.  

I think the triangular crocheted bits were probably the ends of a table runner.   

There was some "fussing about" to make it work.  

Had a copy of Simplicity 8270 this size which I adapted.   

Because I was adjusting to the standard pillow case edge size, I ended up making a big dart from the  underarm seam to the hip.    I added the back section after the rest of the dress was constructed, thus the inconsistencies on the overlap. I put a few extra layers of top stitching to make this more solid.

I pieced the bodice with bits of my orange/ping batik stash. 

Then top-stitched in orange with some of the fancy stitches on my machine that I swore that I would never use.  SO HAPPY with this bit. 

My serger died.  So my arm solution on the knit fabric was some fancy elastic I bought when I thought that I might learn to sew panties.  The fancy stretch stitch in contrasting thread.  OMG.

While I am delighted with the outside finishes, the inside is a train wreck.  I'm so used to serged edges and had to go old school with some zig variations.  Gotta buy me a new serger. 

This probably needs a swag belt.  Both for looks and to make it more size adjustable.

Next project is a hooded cape.  Lined with furry black minki and showcasing a fabulous red/black pin tuck satin.  In it's previous life, curtains for my granddaughter's mother when she was in her Goth teen aged stage.   The Circle of Life.

October.

My goal for the month was to finish 3 Benjamin Biggs blocks.  A week out I didn't think it was going to happen, but I squeeked the last one in before the month ended.  

I have 4 prepped for November as one of them is very simple.  That leaves 2 or 3 yet to go.  Unfortunately, I can't find one of the blocks from the original download, so I will have to draft it myself.

I have 70 of the 100 of these blocks done, plus another 7 half finished.

And I did make a second big block of this leader/ender project. 

I hope to get back to the Boomer project. 

But it's at the point that it needs time and space for the next step. And I have a background glitch I haven't really worked out yet.