OK, Crackpots, here’s my entry in the Mystery Quilt Event. First a look at my “palette.”
Actually it is only the part of my palette that I actually purchased for this project at Joann’s. I have lots of brown, beiges, and greens in my stash that will be called on as needed. Now here’s my first block.
I like it. Note how different it is from Cathy’s. That is what I think will be the fun part of this project – to see how the two of us come up with quite different final results, despite starting with the same pattern and similar palettes. Cathy, you are quite right about the corner 4-patches, and I actually went to the trouble of making 16 half-blocks to get it to come out as published in Quiltmaker, which I hated to do because I’m a terrible fabric miser. I can only hope that I will be able to use the leftover units in another part of the project. I really can’t imagine that you will have a problem with your version in the final quilt. I did it the way I did because I couldn’t find a way to get the blocks to be proper 4 patches, rather than being a triangle square block. I can’t imagine why I had that problem, possibly because I already had 1 quarter block unit assembled when I realized the problem and started trying to correct it. Or maybe my brain was just out to lunch that day. Anyway, I am looking forward to the next Quiltmaker with more than usual anticipation.
Archive for January, 2007
Ann’s mystery quilt
Friday, January 12th, 2007Placemats
Friday, January 12th, 2007 
Here’s another post of a project that many of you have already seen, at least in some stage of near completion. (Except for Rebecca. It’s a bummer that we see you so seldom.) These are the placemats I made for Cathy and Chris for Christmas. They are the same pattern as placemats that I made for a wedding present for friends a couple of years ago. I made a trial mat at that time with a miscellaneous collection of blue fabrics that I had in my stash to make sure the whole idea would work (and that I could piece curved seams). I liked the result and kept it. Later I realized that the blues would be good for Cathy and Chris and resolved to make 3 more as a set for them. Just before Thanksgiving, something clicked and I hauled out my stash of blues and started to play. That was the really fun part! I expected to present them with a work-in-progress gift (it has been done before!), and was amazed to discover that several days at the Cute Little House at Thanksgiving time were all that were needed to get the job well on the way to completion. By the way, the placemats are backed with a lovely (I think) dark blue batik, and they are fully reversible, so Cathy and Chris can set a more formal table if they so desire.
Meet Franklin
Friday, January 12th, 2007Here he is – my new and totally wonderful bike, Franklin!!!
I know that a photo of a bicycle may not seem especially Crackpotty to non-Crackpots, but I am sure our most loyal readership will understand. Besides, please take careful note of what Franklin is hauling on his rear rack. It is none other than Nancy’s Christmas present of a new fabric cutting board. The picture was taken just after Franklin and I returned from our first real shopping expedition – to Joann Fabrics, of course – and he and I were both quite please with his ability to haul large collections of miscellaneous stuff. Obviously the picture was taken before Christmas, but I could not post it at the time because of secrecy constraints. Just a note – the large red bow in the photo is on the bush behind Franklin, not on him.
A few technical notes about Franklin’s accoutrements. He has 24 speeds, grip shifters, and shock absorbers on the seat post and front fork. Also, I can lift him with one arm. For those of you concerned about dear, faithful Esmeralda, she has been transferred to MI and seems quite happy exploring the new territory there.
Christina Grace’s quilt
Friday, January 12th, 2007
Although I think most Crackpots have seen this quilt, or at least the top, in progress, and I’m pretty sure I e-mailed everyone with photos when I had finished the top, it has not yet shown up on the blog, so here it is. It was lots of fun to make, since I really only had a pattern for the center section. After I got that much made, I decided that it wasn’t big enough, and tried lots of options for enlarging it before hitting on this one. I had hissy fits getting the large pink triangles in the 4-patch border the right size and eventually just cut them *really* big, sewed them on, and then trimmed them. Yes, Cathy, topology is hard. And of course I didn’t have quite enough of the outer border print in the right lengths, so I had to get creative with the top and bottom.
Here’s a photo of the signature Crackpot back.
As you can see, there is a label, but it is too small to read. I was about to post an enlargement of the label but then remembered our Web Mistress’s cautionery words about internet privacy, so I will e-mail the photo to you all instead.
Crackpot Christmas Project
Saturday, January 6th, 2007Merry Belated Christmas, fellow Crackpots!
I’m sorry to say that it didn’t occur to me until very late in the process (like, the day before we were going to head down for our post-Christmas visit) that all five Crackpots wouldn’t be together in the same place at the same time this year. So the cumulative impact of my Crackpot Christmas Gift/Project was somewhat diluted, I’m afraid. I’m hoping this post will help the situation.
If you’re reading this, you know that I made notebook covers for Mead “composition notebooks” for each of you. This was partly because I thought it was a cool idea, and partly because I was looking for an excuse to play and experiment with some small-scale piecing ideas. Here are the four notebooks:
Rebecca’s notebook should have been titled “It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time.” It’s a three-strip Fence Rail block, pieced with some striped fabrics I had that I didn’t know what to do with. The idea is that the stripes would blend into one another, looking like one striped fabric. It kind of worked:
Marty’s notebook is a pretty standard Log Cabin block, which used a set of fat sixteenths (!) I got from somewhere. I think they’re reproduction fabrics, but I had a heck of a time thinking of what I could do with sixteenths. The gradual shading of the fabrics seemed to lend themselves to a Log Cabin:
Ann’s notebook is a crazy quilt, using various bright scraps I had lying around, mostly from various kids’ quilts, but also from a few other projects, including a pillow I made for her, and the famous Top Secret Round Robin Crackpot Project. The center patches are from a Laurel Burch fabric I bought at Field’s a while ago and haven’t figured out what to do with:
And finally, Nancy’s notebook uses string piecing with scraps from the four baby quilts I’ve been involved with. This was the first one I did (after the muslin mock-up to make sure I had the measurements right), and I had to tear out and re-piece the lining and the pocket for the notebook covers three times to get it right. Topology is hard:
I had a great time doing these – I hope you enjoy them!
P.S. once you’ve read this, could you leave a comment? Once I know everyone’s read it, I’ll take the password off the post so that The Whole World can see it.