Millefiore assembly is starting....

I had the rosettes for my millefiori quilt stuck to my design wall. The problem was that every time I entered the room it's sucked me in and I would become engrossed by that project.

  I realized that I had to get this monster off of my wall. So a couple of nights ago I started to assemble the separate elements into one piece. This means I had to commit to a layout

after a little bit more tweaking, this is what I have finally settled upon.

I knew that it would take a long time for me to assemble this by hand stitching, so I used the machine. I had come across a wonderful tutorial by Carole Carr, which you can find here, and had practiced it a little bit, and had quite like the results. It is particularly useful on those long edges. It uses a teeny tiny zigzag stitch and monofilament thread on top with regular piecing thread in the Bobbin.  I had used this similar technique years ago to appliqué stems in a flower border. Very similar technique.  I tried assembling the smaller elements in the individual hexagons using this technique as well, and that worked okay too, except that I was more limited in how the seam allowances were directed on the back of the work.  so, I have settled upon hand stitching the hexies, and machine piecing the larger units.  

this shows the back as I was starting to piece together and take out the extra papers where the edges of the rosettes now are joined

I was quite surprised at how many papers I removed!  this photo doesn't really give a good indication, because I think by the time I had assembled the top section of the quilt, I had a few hundred papers that I had removed.  The only ones remaining are those in the outside perimeter.

so, there it is, the top section, all together.  It is now neatly folded up and tucked out of sight.

the part remaining on my wall is the bottom section, about a third of the quilt,

sorry about some of the photos being a bit blurry- I've been using my ipad to take all my photos lately and the lighting isn't that great in my room either.

I drew a red line on my plan to tell me what is already done, and what I have yet to do.

So, that is that for a while.  I have lots of stitching yet to do, but after making a concerted effort on this quilt for the past few weeks, I think I will now have a bit of time to work on some other projects as well.....  
By the way, Has anyone else who is doing this quilt thought about how to do the quilting on it later? 

Millefiore moving along...

for the past few weeks I have been mostly working away on my Millefiore Quilt, 

this is what I've got up on my design wall, 

I wandered away from the original plan, as set out by Katja, since I wanted to make the rosettes more fully round in places, 

then, I modified it again, making it more rectangular and filling in background spaces with a blue diamond pattern,

the rosettes are quite a lot of fun, and I've even designed a few of my own, which makes me even more impressed by all the wonderful designs Katja has done!

someone asked about the way I made the paper templates.  The advantage of making them yourself is that you can modify designs and make new shapes. Plus, you could make as many or as few as you need. 

so this is how I do it, it is actually very simple.

I just go to a site called incompetech.com which is a free graph paper generator. You can print off graph paper of equilateral triangles in any size.  Choose the .5 inch size. then, print off a stack of this paper on to 67 lb cover stock.  (. Some people may need to turn off the option in Adobe's Acrobat reader "shrink to fit" which may resize the grid slightly to fit your printer's printable area.). 

 then, it is easy to just cut the shapes you need, 

i keep all my previous shapes organized in a booklet that has clear plastic pockets, 

this is the start of the rosette for May!

(You can see earlier posts about his project by scrolling back)

Row by Row Experience

This year we will be participating in a very large shop hop activity!  We haven't done one one of these before, so it will be interesting to see how it works.  
I have heard from shop owners who have participated in it, that it is a lot of fun for all who participate. 
The organizers have a pretty clear set of rules for both the shop owners and for the participants, -(- all the info is below, ). I'll write more posts about it down the road, 

but, today my task is to figure out a pattern to give out at our shop!

I have been keeping this project in my mind for several weeks now, and thinking of various possibilities....  the theme is "water".   so, I got out my pencil crayons and graph paper, and a bunch of blue fabrics... maybe inspiration will strike!

this is the info for the participant copied right from their site, ....

I'm a quilter, how can I participate in the Row by Row Experience?
It's easy! Simply visit any participating quilt shop during the summer and ask for their free pattern for a row in a quilt. The 2015 theme is Row by Row H20, and each shop is working with the water theme in their row. The shops are happy to give you the pattern at no cost, limit one per person, walk-in customers only.
The shops are all over the U. S. and into Canada. How can I get the row patterns from quilt shops that are far away from me?
You can't. The shops are offering the pattern only to customers who walk in the door. Please don't ask them to email or mail their row patterns.
Can I make copies of the patterns I collect?
Absolutely not!! That's a big no-no! The patterns are copyright property of the designers.
So, is this a shop hop?
Kinda. But there are no fees and no passports.
Are there prizes? Can I win something?
Yes! With the Row by Row Experience you win a prize for sewing! Complete a quilt using at least 8 different rows from 8 different 2015 participating shops. Be the first to bring it into a shop and you win a stash of 25 fat quarters. (That's 6-1/4 yards of fabric!) Win a bonus prize for using that store's row in your quilt.
What do you consider "complete" when it comes to my quilt.
Quilted, bound, labeled.
What pattern do I use for my quilt?
You decide. Stack your rows, arrange around a center medallion, make them horizontal, vertical, upside down, on the front, on the back, whatever! You are the designer. Be creative and have fun, but be sure to use 8 different 2015 rows from 8 different 2015 shops.
Can I win in more than one shop?
Sorry, Charlie. One prize per quilter. You can make several quilts and show them off in several shops, but you may only claim one prize. Your quilt will be photographed for Facebook and everyone will see it, so play fair!
How do I know which shops are participating?
Check the website: www.rowbyrowexperience.com. Click the state you are traveling in to see the listing of shops. A Google map and a downloadable list will be available before summer.
Are all of the shops open for the same hours?
No. It would be too difficult to organize this for the whole summer. Be sure to check the shops' websites or call ahead when planning your route to verify their hours.
Can I see pictures of the rows?
Yes! Each area has a Facebook page and the shops will post photos of their rows when they are ready to show. You can "like" your area's page and any you plan to visit, but you don't have to be a member of Facebook to see the photos. The Facebook page links are on the website.
What are the exact dates of the event?
You have from June 21 through September 8, 2015 to collect the free patterns. You have until October 31, 2015 to submit a quilt for a prize.
Anything else I should know?
Lots! Each shop is participating in the Row by Row Experience in their own way. You will be able to buy kits for the rows you love and see demos for new quilting products when you visit many of the shops. Many others are carrying the FabricPlates from Zebra Patterns and the coordinating Row by Row H20 fabrics from Timeless Treasures.

and for the shops, their resposibilities are ....

1. exist as an independent brick and mortar quilt shop and be open for regular summer hours.
2. Design a quilt row following the Row by Row Experience design guidelines and produce a pattern 
for the row.*
3. Email photo of completed row to your area coordinator or post it on your area Facebook page.
4. Provide one copy of the pattern for free to anyone who enters your store and requests it from June 21 through Sept. 8, 2015. Patterns and kits may not be distributed online, by mail, or at venues outside the store during this time period, such as shows or events.
5. Not distribute patterns and kits in any way during quilting challenge period Sept. 9 through Oct. 31, 2015. Patterns and kits may be sold in any way after Oct. 31, 2015.
6. Advertise the Row by Row Experience in your newsletter and other media outlets.
7. Award a bundle of 25 fat quarters to the first customer who brings in a completed (quilted, bound, labeled) row quilt using patterns from at least 8 different shops. Award a bonus prize of your 
choice if the finished quilt includes your row. Challenge expires October 31, 2015.

Stashbuster strips quilt

In the spirit of sewing from my stash, I started a stshbuster quilt, 

i went through my stack of turquoise and greys, and cut a lot of the fabrics into 1-1/2" strips,... 140 of turquoise, and 180 of grey.  They ranged in length from as small as 4 inches up to a full width of fabric, about 43".  A lot of them were about a fat quarter width, about 20 inches.   

then, I proceeded as one would with a "jellyroll race".... that means that I started by sewing all the strips end to end to end to make one long strip...

then you cut the long strip in half lengthwise and sew those two lengths together along the long side and press the seam, then repeat that process over and over...

so now I have two slabs, 

the grey one is of course a bit bigger.   I think that now I will do an off white section, and figure out how to combine the three different colors.   

Its sort of like constructing a new cloth out of scraps.   I really do enjoy this sort of project! 

Millefiore Progress

I have been chipping away at Rosette 2 of the New Hexagon Millefiori Quilt along, and I have only to sew on some more of the outer round,

If you are doing the project as well, you will probably notice that I have wandered away from the pattern in a couple of details...

At some point I decided to add another row of hexagons to the top and bottom of the design to make it rectangular instead of square,

This is the plan I made to keep things sort of organized.

Also, I changed the configuration of a couple of the rosettes.  This happened when I was doing Rosette 2 and I decided that I wanted to see more of the pattern that was forming in the outer ring.  You know how one thing leads to another...

The other thing that happened was that i decided to sub-piece some of the larger diamonds.  

My rosette needed a bit of an accent so i changed a plain diamond to contain a smaller diamond of adeep  color accent,

 Also, when I chose gold for those diamonds that make up Block 6, the print became too busy, and the solid was too boring, so I decided to use them both,

Now it is March, and the instructions for Rosette 3 are available!   So of course I have started to get things moving on it,  .... 

getting all my paper pieces ready for it..... I just photocopy a halfinch equilateral triangle graph paper on to cardstock and cut out the needed shapes,  which is quite a relaxing activity in itself.  

These are my first two rosettes!