"Puss in the Corner" Quilt Top

This is the quilt I made with the fabrics I pulled for my last post. The pattern is a classic—”Puss in the Corner.”

The puss in the corner patches (the ladybugs here) look like an open chain. And depending on the fabrics used, the rest of the block can create a stair-step effect. You can see that best with the 2 yellow-orange fabrics in this quilt. I really like how those two yellow-orange fabrics are out of step with each other. It catches the eye in a way that a continuous series would not.

The basic quilt is only 36 x 48 inches. I liked the length but not the width. So for the first time ever, I added a “piano key” border. Not only does it widen the quilt by about 4 inches, it also allowed me to add a few pops of green. The cool greens are a really welcome relief in a quilt that is really HOT!

In my next post I’ll give a short tutorial on making a piano key border. It looks like a it would be a lot of work but it really isn’t!

My 2022 Quilters Playcation Adventure Sewalong Quilt Top

Cheryl Arkison created and hosted a year-long sew along for 2022. Each week she designed a new improv quilt block and demonstrated making it in an Instagram live on Tuesday.

At the beginning of the year she sketched out a number of blocks that she might use. We definitely made some of those designs. But just as often, something in her life or something that happened during the week would be the inspiration for that week’s block.

There is a Ukrainian tryzub which she designed when war broke out and another block showing solidarity for folks affected by flooding from monsoons. There are fireworks for a Canadian holiday (and the US Independence Day). There is a Strong Woman like the statue on Wall Street—though mine is a grandmother welcoming all with open arms. There are lakes and hills, leaves and a glacier and ripples on the water. There is sunshine and a smile. A winter cap called a toque, a fireplace and a cozy looking home. There is a spiderweb, and a section of the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. A heart and a gnome and an arrow. The last block was an American Sign Language
Thank You” sign (the bottom left corner block), her thanks to us for playing along all year, but really it is we who should be thanking her for all her hard work!

I managed to get all 52 blocks into this quilt top. I organized the blocks in columns by their widths and added strips of fabric to the smaller blocks as needed. There was one very large block comprised of a set of 4 log cabin blocks that just didn’t fit anywhere. I cut that block down to fill a gap in a row. Two of the log cabin sections are intact, while only a fraction of the other two remain.

This photo is a bit blurry in places because I took the picture with the quilt lying on the floor. It looks fine on Instagram but not great here. Once it’s been quilted I’ll post another photo of it hanging up properly.

If you want to see what other folks have made, check out the hashtags #qpadventuresewalong and #quiltersplaycation on Instagram. My quilt is scrapy, but there are some truly spectacular quilts made from carefully curated color/fabric combinations. Check them out!

"Puss in the Corner" Quilt in Progress

I’m working on a Puss in the Corner quilt as part of a guild project. I’ve had this set of red orange/hot peach/peach fabrics waiting for the right quilt. It grabbed my attention when I went to search my stash.

The prints are all Tula Pink fabrics, which makes it easy. She has a fairly consistent selection of colors which she uses over and over again in her fabric collections.

All I have is fat quarters in the peach fabrics. The ladybug fabric is a half yard, minus a doll dress which I cut from it. This limits the size of the quilt—it will be a small baby size.

I’m gradually working on it. I have the fabric cut for the blocks and have assembled the two halves of each block.

Here’s one of the half blocks. In my case, the Puss in the Corner is the Ladybugs!

This is going to be a very bright quilt! Perhaps even shockingly bright! But I think it’s going to be great, especially since it’s going to be small.

Cut, Sew, Repeat with Curves Quilt Top

A quilting friend gave me a stack of cat motif fabrics curated by Gather Here in Cambridge, MA. Wanting to cut right into them, I decided to use the Cut, Sew, Repeat I learned in the on-line class with Cheryl Arkison in December. (See my December 22, 2022 post).

For this quilt I decided to use the improv curves we learned to do in Cheryl’s 2022 year-long weekly Quilters Playcation Adventure Sew Along #qpadventuresewalong on Instagram.

In my mind I wanted the narrow middle strip to be very narrow—maybe 1/4 inch wide. But I chickened out when I started cutting. Those curves are all on the bias and I was worried such a narrow strip would stretch too much and I didn’t have any extra fabric to use. I added some solid blue and solid pink fabric to make the quilt a tad larger.

I used my 12 1/2 inch square ruler to cut the blocks from the fat quarter. That left me with a good sized 18 inch strip at the bottom of the fat quarter and a section of fabric next remaining on the side of the block cut.

You do lose fabric sewing improv curve blocks. From the 12 1/2 inch starting block, I ended up with 9 1/2 x 10 1/2 finished blocks. I chose to keep them as rectangles, maximizing the size of the trimmed blocks.

I used the bottom strip left on the fat quarter to cut fabric for a binding. The side pieces I cut in vertical strips to make the checkerboard blocks at the bottom and left side of the quilt. That essentially used all the the fabric in each fat quarter.

This went together so quickly. I sewed the curved blocks in an afternoon. The borders took me longer as it wasn’t the puppy’s nap time!

And speaking of that puppy, it’s really hard to get any sewing done, even when he is napping. There is no way I can keep my by previous pace of a post a week. I just don’t have enough free time to sew, never mind actually quilting. My posts this year are going to be erratic…that’s just how life is right now! It’s all good!

While I was ironing today, it got just too quiet…this is what I found when I went to investigate! It’s January, a bit early to turn over the garden. At least in my opinion!!

Springer Spaniel Felt Embroidered Brooch From a Hawthorn Handmade Kit

This felt brooch is a lovely project I made from a kit from the British company, Hawthorn Homemade.

The kit has everything you need to make the brooch (except scissors), along with very clear instructions. It even includes a booklet that shows how to sew all the embroidery stitches used in this project. It took me two afternoons to complete the project and I really enjoyed sewing it.

I really think that Stephanie, the owner of the company who created the kit, has really captured the character of a Springer Spaniel. I wonder if she has one!

Hawthorn Homemade has a number of kits. You can order them from the UK but they can also be found in shops here in the US if you search the name of the company.

Wishing you a happy and healthy 2023!

Cut, Sew, Repeat with Cheryl Arkison

The first week in December, Cheryl Arkison offered a Party Class on Zoom called “Cut, Sew, Repeat” as part of her Quilters Playcation series.

You could choose any size blocks you wanted to work with, as long as they weren’t really small. I had a set of fat quarters and some matching solids so I went with large format blocks. I was going to cut the fat quarters down to a smaller size, which I really prefer working with, but realized I was going to be adding a lot more fabric to my bin of scraps if I did that. So, large it was.

I used two of the fat quarters and ended up looking in my stash for another fabric—the orange dots. That made a total of 7 fabrics, repeating the solids in the block sets. I also varied how I cut the fabrics in the block sets.

In the end, the blocks finished at 14 inches square. The top and bottom borders are trimmings from squaring up the blocks. That made the quilt a little rectangular and was a good way to use the leftover off-cut strips of fabric.

This class was a lot of fun and I really like the quilt. It was also super fast to sew. Cheryl said she’d definitely repeat this class in the future. Check out her future offerings at QuiltersPlaycation.com in the Parties box.

Purely Improv Blocks from 52 weeks of Improv Blocks with Cheryl Arkison

The past two posts, I’ve been sharing representational improv blocks from the Quilters Playcation Adventure Sew Along, a free year long improv block project hosted by Cheryl Arkison on Instagram. #qpadventuresewalong

This week I’ll show some blocks which are pure improv…not intending to look like anything specific, just experiments in sewing improv.

The block above is 39/52. Some of the strips have slightly curved seams. Cheryl does love a good curve! She used lots of them in the blocks this year.

24/52 Improv quarter square triangles

Block 24/52 was an improv quarter square triangle block. There are some serious curves going on here. You have to look closely at each of the 4 blocks comprising this finished block to see any triangluar. It really is there!

Block 19/52: Use a triangle from your scraps

Some weeks Cheryl incorporates scraps from previous blocks. On week 19 she asked us to make a block using a triangle in our scraps. I used 4. The challenge in my block was getting to sheep to all be standing up! Unfortunately, the sheep dog is mostly out of view.

Block 12/52

Finally here is a “Fractured” block for week 12/52. It sure does look like the block was in an earthquake!

It’ll be interesting to see how all 52 blocks come together. A few of the block early blocks are quite small, but as the year progressed, I settled on a block size around 11 inches, give or take. Also early on, I decided that this might also be an I Spy quilt. Not every week has something to search for, but many of the blocks do.

Can’t wait to see what the completed quilt top will look like. It’s going to be a big quilt. Stay turned for a reveal sometime early in 2023!

More Blocks from 52 Weeks of Improv Blocks with Cheryl Arkison

Here are some more of my improv block from Cheryl Arkison’s year long Quilters Playcation Adventure Sew Along on Instagram. #qpadventuresewalong

These are all blocks with water themes.

The block above is 31/52. The inspiration for this block was a glacier in a mountain pass. Initially I sewed patterned strips all the way to the top of the block. But when I saw someone else’s block which clearly had a sky over the glacier I realized that made a much better glacier block. So, I took my block apart and added a bit of sky.

Here is Block 35/52. The inspiration Cheryl Arkison had for this block was Ripples on Water.

Block 35/52, Ripples on Water

Block 17/52. The inspiration was a segment of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.

Block 17/52, Segment of the Golden Gate Bridge

And finally, here’s a link to a post about one of my favorite blocks, Sailing at Sunset.

So far I’ve shown blocks which are mostly representational. Next time I’ll share some blocks which are pure improv without a specific theme.

52 Weeks of Improv Blocks with Cheryl Arkison, Plus 1

All year I have been participating in Cheryl Arkison’s free 52 week Quilters Playcation Adventure Sew Along on Instagram #qpadventuresewalong. Some weeks there is a theme and some weeks it’s just an improv block. We are nearing the end of the sew along so I thought I’d share some of my favorite improv blocks.

Above is my improv Tomte (gnome) block. It is actually a bonus block from the Scandi Village workshop that Cheryl teaches. I took that class last year but she’s added the tomte this fall and did a free reel on Instagram showing how to sew the block. So this is my Plus 1 block!

Block 45/52 Toque (knit hat with a pom pom)

Here’s another representational block. Cheryl lives in Manitoba, Canada, and they had just had their first snow and their winter hats and mittens were out of storage and ready in use that week. (Meanwhile, I think it was in the 70’s here in New England!)

Block 38/52 improv Log Cabin Variation

This block is an improv version of the classic quilting block Log Cabin. It was fun using some special fabrics in this block.

And finally Block 48/52. This is a variation on the classic 4 patch block. There are Plus Blocks in each of the four quadrants in the block, separated by a large Plus sign running between them. I think it might have been better if I had used another color fabric, maybe a royal blue, for the large Plus. But it’s still a fun grid.

Oh, and that’s my young helper…Where DID I put that next strip! (Just grateful he was holding it and didn’t eat it)! The fabric was a little damp, but hey, that’s life with a puppy! And now you know why my blog is called SleepingDogQuilts…sewing while a puppy is awake and not crated is just not wise!

I’ll share a few more of the blocks before the end of the year. Because I didn’t use a fabric collection to make these blocks, the quilt is going to be busy. So it’s fun to see the blocks by themselves.

"To the Point" Pink/Lavender/Green Brown Bag Mystery Quilt Completed

My official “To the Point” Brown Bag Mystery Quilt is finally complete! This is quilt was made with fabrics chosen by the staff at O’Sewpersonal Sewing Center in O’Fallon, Missouri. The pattern was created by Karen Montgomery. I knew what the color way would be for the quilt, but didn’t know what fabric I’d receive nor what the mystery pattern would look like! It really takes a leap of faith to invest in the supplies when you have no idea what you’re really making!

Fortunately fabric choices I got are great and the pattern is a stunning constellation of stars which even extend out into the first border around the quilt.

I did the quilting on the other “To The Point” quilt I made using dog themed fabric from my stash. But there is so much white fabric between the stars in this version that I decided to have it quilted professionally. The beautiful pantogram longarm quilting was done at the shop, All About Quilts, in Walpole, MA. I chose the pantogram pattern. They picked a very pale pink thread for the quilting on the top of the quilt and a seafoam green to match the backing fabric, both perfect choices!

Here are the stars I used for the cornerstones in the quilt’s outer border. I made this star with the same quilting ruler used to make the stars in the quilt. (See my post on March 17, 2022 for information about the rulers). You can see the striped binding and the backing in this photo as well.

The piecing of this mystery quilt was really easy the the steps were all completed quickly. It was the assembly of the final blocks that was the real challenge. It required total concentration and lots of checking back at the instructions. But well worth it for the final outcome!

From Panel to Placemats

I picked up a panel from one of the online live sales I follow though I no longer remember which shop nor who printed the panel.

I’m getting ready to free motion quilt a several quilts and these were perfect for getting some practice and checking to be sure the machine settings were all good. Curves in free motion are often tricky (they tend to “eyelash” if the tension isn’t perfect, but things this time look really good.

I hunted through my stash to come up with backing fabrics for these mats and found this great cupcake birthday fabric. So these place mats are reversible and are double duty. That’s a win-win!

Birthday Cupcake fabric on the back!!

Australian Aboriginal Sampler Quilt Completed

My 2022 twenty week long Monday Block Project is all done! In January I set myself the task of sewing a weekly quilt block that incorporated at least one Australian Aboriginal Print fabric. It turned out that Tula Pink’s Dragon’s Breath* and Unicorn Poop solids* coordinated beautifully with the Australian Aboriginal Print fabrics. Who would have expected that?? I also added some batiks and other fabrics from my stash.

I chose blocks that incorporated crosses (or plus signs if you prefer that nomenclature) and blocks that seemed to rotate or spin in some way. Many of the blocks came from the Electric Quilt 8 (EQ8) Block Library. I needed to put all the blocks into the Block Worktable of EQ8 to draw redraw them to be 12.5 inches square.

I really enjoyed both redrawing/resizing the blocks and sewing them each Monday for the first 20 weeks of 2022. I might have kept going, but I didn’t want this quilt to be huge.

The completed tops sat around all summer while I pondered how to quilt it. I finally settled on straight line quilting the blocks and doing free-motion quilting inside the blocks. I used one of my favorite free-motion quilting patterns—a loopy daisy. You’ll find them in many of my quilts. But it seemed particularly appropriate in this quilt because so many of the Aboriginal designs incorporate flowers and other plants.

There is some circular quilting in a few of the blocks, some arcs, and one block which has 2 segmented quarters of a sun with rays. Here are four of the block enlarged.

Here’s a closeup of the segmented sun. It’s hiding in the block’s design, but you should see it if you look hard!

Quarter sun with rays. (Up close, not the best free-motion quilting. Looks like I just wasn’t sewing at a consistent speed).

I am super please with everything about this Monday block project!

*These two Tula Pink solid collections are getting difficult to find so I didn’t add links. However, you can find her True Color Solids which will be similar.

Designing an Improv block from a Traditional Quilt Block

On and off I’ve posted about my participation in Cheryl Arkison’s Tuesday at 12 noon EDT Instagram Quilters Playcation Adventure Sew Along. #qpadventuresewalong. One the the things Cheryl has done with these weekly blocks is to take a favorite traditional quilt block and design a modern improv block from it. Sometimes it is just a component of the block and not a take on the entire block.

I decided to try my hand at my own improv Block from the traditional “Flock of Geese” block. (This block is actually a variation of the more familiar “Old Maid’s Puzzle'“ block). I needed a couple crate mats so decided to make a mat with my improv block.

This block is a 4 square pattern. I simplified the left upper quadrant and made an improv half square triangle (HST) in the right upper quadrant. For the left lower quadrant I swapped the HST for a quarter circle and left the lower right quadrant empty.

I knew that adding that quarter circle block would create some fun designs. And it did! Here is the completed dog mat. I positioned 4 of the quarter circle blocks to create an wonky circle and turned the last two to create a wavy path.

The quilting is essentially a stitch just out of the ditch but i couldn’t resist circling around that one wonky improv circle! Just for fun.

This was a really fun exercise. And if the puppy chews it up (once he arrives next month), no problem! He’ll out grown this the little puppy crate in no time!!

Dog Crate Mat, 15 x 21 inches (Hint: The puppy will look like one of the dogs in the dog fabric! But which???)

"To the Point" Brown Bag Mystery Quilt 2022: Dog Theme

This quilt is all done…and already in use! This is my “unofficial” “To the Point” Brown Bag 2022 Mystery Quilt. This pattern is from Karen Montgomery. (See my posts from March and June for more information about this year’s Brown Bag Mystery Quilt). The fabric for this quilt came out of my stash and wasn’t purchased as a Brown Bag fabric collection, which is the reason for my saying this is an “unofficial” BBM quilt!

I finished assembling the quilt top in June, but it was just too hot over the summer to quilt a twin sized quilt on my domestic sewing machine. So, the weather started to cool down last month. i did free motion quilting on the body of the quilt. There is walking foot stitching on the borders and big stitch hand quilting using sashiko thread around the focus fabric in the center of each star.

The Quilt Inspector is a new addition to the family! Not the first quilt he has cuddled up to, but definitely his first formal inspection. He found it quite interesting…but actually had no idea about what he was looking for!

I’m really happy with the quilting on this quilt. I looked at my official BBM quilt, which has a white background, and got cold feet about quilting that one myself. There is just no hiding wobbly stitching on white fabric! So it’s currently in queue at the long arm quilter’s. I’ll definitely do a post on that quilt when I get it back in November.

Meanwhile, I have a puppy who is keeping me rather busy. And speaking of which, I expect I won’t be very productive for the next couple months. So don’t be alarmed if I don’t post regularly. It’s just because I don’t have any handwork to blog about!

Monoprints with Watercolor

Years ago I learned how to make monoprints and made a number of prints. It’s essentially tracing from a photograph, drawing with a nib pen and ink.

I made one of my long-gone Black Labrador done using photos taken when she was two different ages, scanned the print and and printed it on fabric at spoonflower.com. You can see 2 different photos of my labrador print by clicking the shop tab at the top of the page or clicking this link to my spoonflower shop.

Creativebug.com has a Daily Practice using monoprints this month, being taught by Courtney Ceruti, called Artober: 31 Days of Inky Monoprints. Her class inspired me to take out my pen, ink and acetate sheets and make some more prints. (FYI: Creativebug offers free trials so you can check out this great class and platform before you commit to a monthly fee).

My old ink was totally dried out, so I followed Courtney’s suggestion and purchased some FW Acrylic Ink. This ink dries very quickly so it’s possible to color the print with watercolors almost immediately. But it always means you need draw quickly or the ink may dry before it’s printed.

Here’s my set up. A photograph, a cut-down piece of clear acetate (great because it works well and is made from wood chips and is compostable) and a sheet of mixed media paper for the print. In one photo the acetate is overlying the photo, with the sheet of paper to be printed flipped up and in the second, I’ve lifted the sheet of acetate. Everything is taped down with Frogtape Painters tape to keep the registration.

The prints always are the mirror image of the picture being used. If you need to keep the item facing the same way as the original, scan the image and flip it 180 degrees digitally.

For detailed instructions on making monoprints, and a supply list, check out Courtney’s class on Creativebug.com. I do recommend a nib pen with a very fine tip…I tried several nibs and everything except the fine tip left a trail of thick inky blobs, and unusable prints. The nib I like has the number 003 on it.

As you can see from the 3 prints at the top of this post, each monoprint is unique. I love them all for different reasons. The one with the printing, got rather a blobby duck, but I kept the print because the puppy looks great and the duck is still cute!

I think I’ve made monoprints of things other than Labrador puppies. I just don’t remember any of those! That probably says something!

Australian Aboriginal Sampler Quilt Top

I finally got the blocks from my Australian Aboriginal Sampler Quilt sewn together. It took me the longest time to decide just how I was going to unite them. They really didn’t look good when placed side by side, so I knew I needed to add sashing.

It thought about solids but no particular color appealed to me with all this disparately colored blocks. I actually purchased a turquoise fabric with a swirly, marbled appearance. A lovely fabric and a great color, but I decided I could do better.

So I went off to the local quilt shop. Much to my surprise they have added a couple shelves of Australian Aboriginal print fabrics. Several were good options, but I decided on this soft sea-foam colored fabric which incorporates many of the colors in the blocks.

Then I cut solids I used in the blocks to make the cornerstones in the sashing.

Was planning to add a border but was amazed to find that fabric I used for the sashing just dulled down the entire quilt when used as a border. Nobody says quilts have to have borders, so this is where I’m stopping with this one!

I have a really busy pastel butterfly wideback fabric to use for the backing, so I expect this quilt will be done in the not too distant future…..

Celtic Panel

If you are ever asked to join a cat-care co-op, just say yes! Years ago several of us with cats, lived near each other and we all took turns caring for each other’s felines (and now some of my dogs) when one of us was traveling or needed help. And with free cat care, comes great thank-you gifts. It’s a win-win all the way around!

So, recently one of these friends returned from Ireland with a Celtic fabric panel which had an assortment of knots and crosses. A real gem.

I couldn’t wait to cut it up and start making small projects.
The one at the top is a keeper. It’s hanging in my hallway, and is now be one of several little pieces which I change seasonally.

It’s a traditional, log cabin quilt block design, going around each knot counter-clockwise adding one strip at a time.

This is quilted by machine, using a walking foot.

I also made a small wall hanging using one of the Celtic crosses. For this one, I chose to use the Courthouse steps variation of a log cabin block. In this version, strips are added to each side, then to the top and bottom, adding strips until the desired size is achieved.

In this piece I used one set of strips from of coordinating fabric which was also part of the cat-sitting thank you present.

For this little piece, I quilted it by hand using fine # 12 perle cotton.

I’m thrilled to have been given this fabric gift!

O'Sewpersonal Color Wheel Summer Challenge Quilt Completed

And here it is! My 2022 O’Sewpersonal Fabric Shop Color Wheel Summer Challenge quilt. This was so much fun to make. (See my post on August 11, 2022 for details about this quilt challenge).

I especially like the diagonals created by the Road to Oklahoma blocks. They also make the cross blocks I designed appear to pop forward.

When I got the quilt blocks all sewn together, i decided I wanted it to be a little bit larger. So I looked in the stash and found this woodland Christmas fabric. Not only does it echo the colors in the quilt, it will also extend the time the quilt can be out on display! Now it’s a Autumn quilt and a Christmas quilt!

The backing is a beautiful fox fabric that I love but never quite got around to making into a quilt! This fabric is the Cotton and Steel “Magic Forest Foxes” designed by Sarah Watts. It’s so awesome!

"Brooklyn Preschool" Quilt

The Brooklyn quilt block is really 2 blocks for the price of one. If the X in the center of the block is a white or light color it looks like a block doing a careful balancing act with it’s pieces. if the central X is a dark color it reads an X, or a neighborhood with 4 houses!

Used together, these blocks create a really interesting quilt.

I made this quilt, which I call “Brooklyn Preschool” out of fabrics I had in my stash. The grey fabric with white dots was a bit stretchy so the blocks aren’t as true as they should be. (Starching the fabric before cutting it would have helped prevent much of the stretch). I had a stack fabrics in primary colors sitting out and it reminded me of crayons, which made me think of preschool/kindergarten. And the news has been full of talk about the price of school supplies this year. So a school quilt it became!

“Brooklyn Preschool” Lap (nap?) Quilt

I plan to use this quilt in a guild project this year so I chose to accent the block with all the white fabric, pairing it with the hot pink fabric to make it really pop, helping to really show the difference in the two blocks.

The binding was a collection of left-over binding pieces so that was a win! I purchased a tossed school supply fabric and added the alphabet/number fabric which was a long scrap strip left from a prior quilt.

Quilt backing

Once I’ve used this quilt as my example, I expect it will replace a battered quilt that is on the chair by the window that the dogs like to sit on!

Sailing at Sunrise/Sunset

This is block # 34/52 of the Quilters Playcation Adventure SewAlong #qpadventuresewalong being offered on Instagram, Tuesdays at 12 noon EDT by Cheryl Arkison. The theme for the week of August 23rd, 2022 was Sunlight. I decided to make a different block than the sun block Cheryl designed as I already have a sun with rays in my block #11.

I search images online of sunlight on water and sunlight through leaves. This free photo in pxhere.com stopped me in my searching tracks. I had a stack of solids just these colors near my sewing machine.

Image from pxhere.com

I initially just sewed strips of color together to make a block that looked just like the photo. But then decided that it would be a much better block if I added one white sail to the foreground. So I picked out the seam of the bottom blue strip and added the white triangle. Due to the additional seams around the sail, the block got smaller, but the blocks in this improv quilt are all different sizes, so this size of this block doesn’t really matter.

What does matter is that the block changed from a just OK block to a beautiful one! And that’s what matters.

It the perfect block to say Good-bye Summer!