Now that I am not working on my Etsy shop and making project bags, I am catching up on projects stuff I put aside. One of them is the Tula Pink 100 Modern Quilt Blocks/City Sampler quilt made from my fabric scrap collection (I think I last posted on this quilt in this post – Quilt Top Assembled!) which came back from the long-arm quilter in September.
A couple days ago I decided it was time finally put the binding on the quilt and finish it off. It was so relaxing to sit and meditatively sew down the binding:
After I got the binding on, I laundered the quilt and now it sits on my chair on the upstairs landing.
I also recently finished the “diamond painting” bookmark that started working on with a friend a couple weeks ago (see blog post Making a “Mark”):
Whew, I fell seriously behind in blogging again. Let’s just say I’ve been distracted by curious things going on in the country I live in (and somedays I am thinking of moving to a different country, I might be over the United States…).
I know you might be tired of reading about this quilt, but I have this one more post on it before I send it off to the longarm quilter for professional quilting.
This is a follow up to the post – And then there were 100 (yay)!– I’ve sewing together all 100 blocks for the Tula Pink’s City Sampler 100 Modern Quilt Blocks quilt:
I had looked at those blocks on my design wall so much my eyes were crossing, so I asked my partner John to come out with an initial design/layout. He likes symmetry and order and he created an initial layout and then I refined it a little.
He did it in “color rings”, where the outer ring (well square ring, ha!) is teals/blue-greens and greens with gray blocks as corner anchors. Then the next set of rings are yellows, browns and reds. The inner ring is purple with then blues in the center.
I know to some it looks like a “hot mess” but I love it!
Sewing together 100 blocks can be daunting so I sewed it together by breaking it into 4 – 25 block sections. I sewed 5 rows of 5 blocks together to make each section twice and sewed those two sections together. I repeated the process for the other side and then sewed the two halves together.
As there is so much piecing of small pieces to make each block, I stitched the entire edge of the quilt with a 1/8 inch seam to prevent unraveling during travel:
In case you are curious – the actual measurement of the quilt top came out to be 60.5 inches x 60.5 inches.
Currently I am piecing together the backing with a collection of teal/blue-green yardages I have:
And then off to the longarm quilter. You won’t see another post about this quilt (whew) until it returns to me quilted and I have put the binding on. Then I will show you the finished quilt!
We are continuing to experiment with meal prep and making meals out of the cookbook Damn Delicious Meal Prep by Chungah Rhee.
Recently I made Skinny Gumbo (a lower fat version of Louisiana Creole gumbo) and I was able to have enough for dinner that night and 3 additional servings. John’s father is in his 80s and lives alone since his wife passed in late December 2021, so we bring him meals (he lives less than a mile away) and this new meal prep process is great to make up meals for him also!
Also, strawberries were on sale, and I made homemade vanilla sugar scones and we had strawberry shortcake with fresh whipped cream for dessert!
I’ve decided to sew the blocks together without any lattice or other design to separate the blocks; and to not add a border. As a result this will only be a lap size quilt (100 – 6.5 inch x 6.5 inch blocks, minus 1/4 inch seams to join the blocks…no sorry I do not want to do that math* but will let you know the final measurements when I sew the blocks together!).
Next time I post about this quilt, I will share the quilt blocks sewn together in their final layout – I still need to decide how I want to organize the 100 blocks…
Oh if you are just joining us and want to see the evolution of this quilt, I put all the posts on this quilt under a new category I created for my blog:Sampler Quilts. I am hoping to do more sampler quilts in the future to go under this category. Note if you click on the link for Sampler Quilts you will see this current post again also.
*Okay I did sort of do the math and I am guessing around 60 inches x 60 inches will be the final quilt size. But let me know if you disagree (I took 10 x 6.5 inches = 65 inches, minus 20 x .25 seam allowances which = 5 inches – for 65 inches – 5 inches = 60 inches…)
Recently I’ve been hiding away in my sewing room to escape the world. I’ve been productive during my escape, and I’ve now completed 88 of the 100 blocks for Tula Pink’s City Sampler 100 Modern Quilt Blocks quilt I’ve been working on.
This is not the final layout for the quilt, I’ll decide that after I finish the 12 remaining blocks. It seems a little overwhelming to decide the perfect layout for 100 blocks, but I am going to just try to make them look as random as possible (and try not to let the same color touch…we’ll see…).
If you are just joining us and are interested in the progression of this quilt, check out the previous post about it which also has links to the other blog posts on it – And then there were 70….
For the remaining 12 blocks, I decided to stop trying to find pieces long enough to make each block (a lot of the remaining blocks need fabrics of at least 6.5 inches) from this pile:
Instead I cleaned up my cutting table, putting fabric scraps away by color in my fabric scrap storage system:
And I am going to be very deliberate about color choices (based on what I have too much or too little of in my quilt so far) and shop for fabric scraps from my collection of fabric scraps organized by color in my wine crate storage unit:
I am going to try and use these remaining fabrics, from the initial pile, that I did not put away with the rest:
I want to try and repeat those fabrics.
I’ve decided on how to finish the quilt – I am going to sew the blocks all together in a 10 by 10 row with no lattice, and no borders. Just plain and simple, allowing the blocks to just shine through without any clutter.
I realize this will make it only a lap size quilt instead of a Queen or King size which you could get by using some of the layouts in the back of the book Tula Pink’s City Sampler 100 Modern Quilt Blocks. Lap size works for me as I might actually just hang it on a wall and display it. I’ll decide after I get it back from the long-arm quilter.
Well back to hiding out in my sewing room and finishing up the 12 remaining blocks to get to 100 blocks, which at one point seemed so far away!
Postscript
I developed a sort of production system to sew so many blocks.
I would pre-cut a large amount (15 or more) of blocks; and then sit down and sew them, trying to use chain piecing as much as possible, even working on two or more blocks at the same time.
Well my partner John took an old folding table and put a wooden table top on it for me to add to my existing work table to act as a “return” and give me space for ironing while piecing and any trimming needed.
This really added to my efficiency in block making!
And here is Mike the Miniature Schnauzer hanging out under my sewing table while I am at work:
Here is an update on the Tula Pink’s City Sampler 100 Modern Quilt Blocks I’ve been working on since February.
I now have 70 blocks done, 15 more blocks since my previous post What’s On The Design Wall: Over 50% Done! . So I am 70% done (well if you do not count sewing all the blocks together, making the backing, and putting on the binding after I have it professionally long-arm quilted, ha!).
I am getting some use out of the Ring Light I bought last year and figured out (sort of) how to use it photograph these blocks on my design wall late at night when I didn’t have any natural light available.
I continue to enjoy “shopping” for fabrics in my pile-o-fabric-scraps, now sorted by color, to make each block:
If you are just joining us (and you are really bored and need posts to read, ha!) here are the previous posts on the evolution of this quilt:
I’ve been thinking about the layout of the final quilt top. There are many ideas in the back of the book – Tula Pink’s City Sampler 100 Modern Quilt Blocks, but I am thinking perhaps of a Dear Jane Quilt setting and looking at ideas such as those I found on this link – Dear Jane Quilt Inspiration. Another thought is just sewing all the blocks together without any type of sashing/setting. But I’ll revisit these ideas once I’ve finished all 100 blocks!
I am now cutting the next batch of 15 blocks and looking forward to getting to 85!
I discovered while working on these 12 blocks that my current system of organization for the fabric scrap collection selected for this quilt did not work. My system was a haphazard pile:
So I spent the time organizing all the scraps selected for this project into piles of color. Now that I have a bigger studio now (see my post A “New” Studio ), I can leave these piles out on the table in my studio until I complete the quilt:
It might still look like a hot mess to you, but for me I can now “shop” by color and pattern easier.
Plus by organizing these piles I got to refresh my memory of what I have to work with; and got some ideas on how to use some of the multicolored fabrics at the top of the photo in future blocks I’ll be making for this sampler quilt.
48 more to go!
Postscript
I actually cut fabric for 15 blocks but I was only up to completing 12 blocks by last night (the deadline I gave myself so I could write this post):
But then this morning I had some renewed energy and completed the 3 additional blocks to bring my total to 15 completed since my previous post on this quilt:
So here are 55 blocks now completed! (Only 45 to go now…)
My sewing “mojo” was hiding somewhere for a while and I had little desire to sew. I had a “sewing-block“. Turns out the best way to resolve it was to sew a block!
I’ve been distracted from time in my sewing studio by some recent travel, visits from out of town friends, and a couple challenging recent life events. A couple days ago I knew I needed to get my back to sewing (as there is just so much fun stuff to be made) and decided returning to working on my Tula Pink City Sampler (100 Modern Quilt Blocks)would be a good place to start.
Once you get started up sewing again, things get rolling, and I was able to make also blocks 32 – 40 over the next several days (my sewing was “un-blocked”!):
10 block recently completed
Today while taking photos for this post, I discovered I did not like the gray “frame” in one of the blocks (too overpowering):
see block with red arrow
So I redid it this morning with a red “frame”:
New block frame
Now I have 40 blocks out of 100 now complete!
Only 60 more to go (oh my…)
Not sure why my photos came out so dark from my design wall, I guess it was the lighting in my sewing studio this morning.
I am enjoying working from my piles of scraps selected for the 100 block sampler, and I’ve decided to just keep the piles out until I finish all 100 blocks.
I’ve been making a bunch of small scraps while cutting the fabrics for the 6.5 inch by 6.5 inch blocks and I plan to stuff pincushions like I did in this post – Stuffing it the Eco-conscious Way!
I plan to continue working on the blocks for the sampler and maybe whipping out a pincushion or two between sets of blocks if my tiny pile of scraps gets larger than my little basket for tiny scraps.
As I mentioned in the introduction in the past severals posts, I recently returned from a nearly week long quilting retreat with my long time quilting friends at the Missouri Star Quilt Companyin Hamilton Missouri. My next series of posts will be about that retreat. It was one of those “bucket list” experiences.
For this first post about the retreat, I thought I would do a follow up to my February 8, 2022 post Preparing for Quilt Retreatand show you what I actually worked on during the retreat – one thing – the first 20 blocks for the Tula Pink’s City Sampler 100 Modern Quilt Blocks quilt:
image from amazon.com
As I shared in the 02/08/2022 post Preparing for Quilt Retreat , I cut out the fabric from my scrap collection for the first 20 blocks and made them into little packets to take to the retreat:
I had so much fun at the retreat opening up each packet and working on it. Each packet was like a surprise as I forgot what specific fabrics and colors I cut for each one.
Here are the blocks in progress on the design wall I sat next to at the quilt retreat:
And here are the completed 20 blocks which took me a couple days to complete (because there was a lot of shopping and wandering around “Quilt Town USA“, but that is another post), and it was all that I worked on despite the other projects I had prepared and brought:
Now I have the blocks home and up on my design wall at home (each block measures 6.5 inches by 6.5 inches), and it will be time to try to make another 20 to get me closer to the 100 I need to complete for the quilt!
I am daydreaming about the day I complete all 100 blocks and then have to decide on my block setting options – the end of the book has so many awesome setting options!
Why do quilters go to quilt retreats? Yes of course to spend time with quilting friends or meeting new quilting friends. Quilters also attend retreat to relax; to see what others are working on and get new ideas; and to work on our BACKLOG of projects!
At a quilt retreat you have the opportunity to focus on getting those quilting projects D-O-N-E! (While not having to cook, clean, or even get dressed out of your PJs.)
Here is what some of the “busy bees” were working on during this year’s annual Sew N Go Retreat:
Tula Pink Would be Proud
Tula Pink is a very talented fabric designer and I had the opportunity to meet her at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 40th Anniversary celebration last summer (she is absolutely lovely in person). She has several publications but one of her most popular publication is Tula Pink’s City Sampler: 100 Modern Quilt Blocks.
Photo credit: amazon.com
One of my Quilt Sisters at the retreat has been working (for many months) on a sampler of all 100 blocks! Below is a photo of initial block layout on the design wall at the quilt retreat (she is still deciding the final layout):
Here are a couple of my favorite blocks on the design wall:
What patience to complete 100 blocks for a sampler! I own this book, but I have not completed one block to date from this book (but I am now inspired to consider completing a block – ha!).
Study in Black and Gray
Another amazing quilt different Quilt Sister worked on quilt retreat weekend was a star block in black and gray flannels that had a 3-D effect due to the placement of the colors.
Here it is in progress:
Completed with the borders added (she is going to put beautiful special gray and black Minky fabric on back!):
The Mother of All Embroidery Machines
One quilter and her daughter worked on a major embroidery project with their fancy embroidery machine – an embroidered doll house for their great granddaughter/granddaughter! They had to make each panel separately and then assemble it into a house. They got 3 – 4 panels finished but unfortunately I only took a photo of one of the panels, darn!
The Machine!
One of the doll house sections (the courtyard):
Pretty amazing!
Other Wonderful Projects
I did not capture a photo of all the projects, but here are some of the other wonderful projects in progress or completed by other Quilt Sisters during quilt retreat weekend:
Tierney, Where are Your Projects?
Well…
I had good intentions. I brought 5 – 6 projects to quilt retreat including some vintage style beer label fabric coasters to work on for my tierneycreates Etsy shop. My stock of offerings in the tierneycreates Etsy shop is dwindling due to sales (which is good); due to being busy and stressed at my pay-the-bills healthcare job (and not wanting to face a sewing machine after a long day of work); and due to focusing my extra time on art quilting projects.
So I brought several projects related to items I wanted to make for the tierneycreates Etsy shop. I ended up making nine (9) sets of vintage style fabric beer coasters during the quilt retreat weekend.
What happened to those coasters? Well they never made it to the Etsy shop, all 9 sets were purchased by quilt retreat attendees and the quilt retreat owner to give as gifts or keep for their own home. I cannot complain – I made stuff and sold it at the retreat.
I call it “fleecing my friends”!
Here is a photo taken by a Quilt Sister’s husband after he got his coasters she brought back from the retreat:
tierneycreates 