"Two Cats In The Yard....Life"

 I found this picture today and was reminded of the times there were two cats in the yard and I thought life was hard...

.....our house is a very, very, very fine house!

August Summary~

 Whether I like it or not, August is usually hot with very little rain  here in North Louisiana .  What started out as the norm, with a very wet mid-point, is ending in it's sunny glory....not entirely for the birds:  in my back garden and down the road a bit. 

 

.....August flew by as did the birds.  Until next time~ 

August continued ~

 August adjective:  Distinguished

August noun:  8th month in Gregorian calendar.....introduced in 1582  by Pope Gregory XIII 

Whichever way you look at August, it's going my way.  

I took the time yesterday (or perhaps the day before) to flip through the pages of  Roderick Kiracofe's Unconventional & Unexpected,  American Quilts Below The Radar and the one on page 19 stopped me in my tracks.   It was all floral fabrics and  one could say it was an open window to the outside garden.

My inspiration ~

I'm enjoying the magenta floral mix created by Rashida Coleman Hale for Cotton + Steel and the seafoam floral colorway by Maureen Cracknell for AGF.  

Until next time,  I reman a totally satisfied quilt-maker enjoying my month of August and august quilt making.  

  

August Accompli ~

 What's been accomplished this month.....a lot of quilt-top-making in an improvisational patchwork style:

Oh What Fun making this improv patchwork with some Marcia Derse fabric pieces.  This one finished at 42" x 60".

and just from a few scraps....6" blocks surrounded by 1" strips, Oh! My! finished at 46" x 54".  Already sold and shipped.

The quickest sew up of all is this Baby Goose pattern by Running Doe Designs.  Features Lotta Jansdotter fabric Glimma for a 42" x 58" finish. I've made several from this simple pattern just because it's a fast use of fabric (1 1/4 yds) plus six 8" blocks for the geese with six  more 8" background blocks.

 

Whew.....August has been a hot one and it's not over yet.

Celebrate With Me ~

 It's Independence Day.....Let us celebrate.  I've been scrap busting again and that is making me feel very independent in making one-of-a-kind scrap quilts. 

 Scraps add up to yardage

 

and yardage equals a quit block finished....

then another.....with the only plan in my head -  alternating light and dark scraps for a finished 12" quilt block

for a complete quilt top finished in no time.  May you enjoy the freedom to pursue your dream. 

Haiku Poetry No. 13

 To my delight, this little bulb pushed up in my back garden yesterday: A pink Rain Lily aka Zephyranthes Minuta

and between its fragile beauty and a very desirable rain, out poured Haiku Poetry No. 13:

     "When will one ever be

          Summertime is hot and dry

      A flower so rare."  

                              Marty Mason

Geese gone wild ~

 It must be the heat! Or, is it that I obsess!  I prefer to think that I'm not obsessing, but rather, reinforcing the process of making four-at-a-time flying geese.  Two toddler size quilts later, I think I've got the hang of it.  My geese blocks measure 3" x 6" making a perfect 36" x 48" delight filled with my left-over fabric scraps.  

What I learned in making my second toddler quilt  was that directional fabric must be viewed with a jaundiced eye.  

 No, I didn't rip, but allowed each block to add interest and in the whole scheme of things, the mis-directed blocks are not noticeable,  unless one searches for the OOPS!  

I rather like these two with the directional background fabric allowing movement in each block.  And a big "thank you" Marcia Derse and Malka Dubrawsky, for allowing me the opportunity to purchase your fabric.  

Here's the whole picture.  Look for all the directional fabric....I count 9 obvious ones...and then you be the judge.

"piddlin' "

 Do you google words for a precise definition as I often do?  I was just piddlin' around this morning and wondered what exactly was I doing!  For curious minds, piddling is defined as "pathetically trivial" and piddling around:  "to waste time doing something that is not important or useful", oh, my and my stars! I have just wasted a precious amount of time on this piddlin' quilt ~

How this all started was I was curious and wanted to learn how to make flying geese in multiples.  Now that I know how, must make more...but that's for another time, another story, another blog post.  Once I got my flying geese units made, the thought came to mind that they are the beginning of the simple sawtooth star quilt block....

and one thing led  to another, still piddlin' around, 

until I had used several of my favorite fabrics to complete this 45" x 45" quilt top. Oh, and my favorite fabrics are the Marcia Derse gold stripe surrounding each star and then the 3" inner border in almost equal amounts of Anna Maria Horner and Denyse Schmidt fabrics followed by even more big and bold Marcia Derse....drooling.  Did you know that you can click on a photo for a larger, close-up-and-more-personal view.  

I'll be doing more piddlin' around and will keep you informed of my totally wasted efforts.  Until then, I remain a happy quilt maker  ~ Marty 

Foundation Pieced ~

 

What a delicious group of reds - 

the start of my foundation pieced red and white quilt inspired by a quilt top by an unknown quiltmaker in East Texas - one I saw in The Childress Collection on Instagram.  

I'm pretty much intrigued by anything red and white....my high school colors...And, anything improvisational always causes me to stay and study  a bit. What fun it was, each 10" block constructed without a care to come together in a finish that delights my heart.     

The Marjorie Childress collection includes 300 plus quilts and is growing.  Her collection emphasizes the quilts of the 20th century with a focus on improvisational piecing in a make-do attitude.  Some were shared in a special exhibit QuiltCon 2019, a summary found here in The Reading Room.  Enjoy as much as I enjoyed......Marty 

What I finished before breakfast ~

 

Because my sewing room fabric shelves are almost to the breaking point -  I've been selling fabric. Except that  some just don't move fast enough and between the sales post and an actual sale,

 I came up with a quilt idea for these fabrics.....starting with a yard of Jay McCarroll's  "Center City - Philadelphia".  Combined with Michael Miller's Glitz bars and Alison Glass, Deb Strain and Marcia Derse and even some of my hand dyes, they made up into a cluster of half square triangles

 

which finished a one-of-a-kind improvisational half-square triangle quilt top measuring 55" x 44".....not yet quilted.  I'll use the remaining yardage to piece together the backing.  

Until next time, I remain a happy quilter.  

Marty