THE GRAND SCHEME

After so much good advice I was in an even bigger quandary. My last post showed two colors that I was contemplating for the alternate strips on my quilt. Personally, I was so torn on which fabric was best. I liked them both! You know how you sometimes ask for help from a higher power? So here I am asking God what my best choice would be. In my head I heard a voice say, "I am forwarding you to my Artistic Angel". Well, I have been on hold ever since. I guess that shows you where this priority lies in the grand scheme of things!

So after much deliberation, and pretty much by popular vote, I decided to go with the brown fabric and the name Fudge Factor. No thanks to my Artistic Angel, who may be off trying to decide what color to paint the sky today. I admit they do a fabulous job with that.

So, I decided I better look up the definition of Fudge Factor before I name my quilt. The online dictionary gives this definition:
an arbitrary mathematical term inserted into a calculation in order to arrive at an expected solution or to allow for errors especially of underestimation

OK, that fits. I just wanted to make sure it didn't say something like, "too much sugar in your system can make you stoopid".

So Fudge Factor it is! The photo shows the progress I made yesterday. It may not look like much progress, but I always end up at the computer for far too long. I have to admit, I am feeling better about this quilt. Thanks for your input, and I will have more to show later, after I get a haircut, run to Target, stop at Home Depot, shop for groceries, fix dinner, do laundry, vacuum.... Or maybe I won't have more to show for days.

FUDGE FACTOR

Mmmmm, sounds like a good name for a quilt! But what I really was getting at is how much finagling do you do to solve a problem? When I first began making quilts I fudged quite a bit. I was quite good at it in fact. Fabric got stretched or eased into place as needed. Between that and the steam iron, everything seemed to work out fine. Granted, I really didn't know what I was doing, and I wasn't a very good judge of quality, but dang it, I could get those seams to match! I have to admit, that was back in the day of cheap fabric too. Obviously that was a good thing. If you are going to learn the process, you may as well do it on cheap fabric! Now I am paying for the good stuff and I want a good quality product.

The beauty of rotary cutting equipment is that your cutting can be very precise. You must make sure that you don't let that ruler slip around. In the past I would put a piece of rubber mesh shelf liner under the ruler to hold it in place. Seriously! Now there is a filmy product you can stick to the back of your rulers that I really like. I especially like it on small rulers. For some reason they seem to be more slippery. Better yet, the Omnigrip rulers have the non-slip surface on them. Also you need to learn where to place your fingers to hold the ruler in place...and that is out of the path of the cutter!

I was thinking about all this yesterday as I sewed blocks together. I love to make scrap quilts, and so I can't help but make a mess as I drag out fabrics from various boxes in my sewing room. I love to mix up the fabrics into several different configurations. If there are three or four fabrics in a block, I try and dream up three of four possible scenarios. I cut up all the pieces and make nice little piles for each block. I have discovered of late that it is best to do the fabric coordinating in the daylight. So that is when I do my cutting. The light is good, and I am better able to focus on the process.

Blocks are finally completed and scattered over the surface of the quilt to the best of my ability, according to fabric and "heaviness" of the block. In other words, a block with darker colors appears heavier to me. I aim for balance. Next step: Figure the size of the setting triangles. You always want the vertical line of the setting triangles to be on the straight of grain. I always make one tester piece to make sure it is the right size. In this case I make 11-1/4" squares and cut them twice diagonally like an X. Perfect! One of my favorite words! Sew the setting triangles on each block and sew the strips together in long rows. Here is another situation to monitor: Make sure the rows don't curve. This can happen easily because the seams are all diagonal. I pin like crazy to avoid this. As you smooth the strip over the design wall you may see a row that curves a little. Here is where we go back to the Fudge Factor! It is necessary to adjust a seam just a tiny bit to take it up or let it out. All the rows need to measure the same also, which may bring the Fudge Factor back into play once again. Hopefully my quilt won't require too much of this!

I am now at the point where I need to make a final decision on the alternate strip fabric. In a perfect world I would have had this figured out first and then played the block fabrics off of the main fabric. I started out thinking I would use the narrow blue strip. It has been in my stash for years and I want to use it. I had quite a few blocks done when I held up the brown fabric. I love this nice rich brown with red accents. Back to the blue, maybe I would like it better if it is wider? These are the dilemmas I now face. Maybe if I use the brown I will call the quilt Fudge Factor!

I LOVE BROWN QUILTS

Look at this darling picture of my mother! And to surprise you further, this is not my work, it is Susan's quilt in progress! Susan has so many blogs going that I never know where to find her. You may know her as Susan from Desert Sky Quilting. She began this quilt a while back and requested a photo of my mother when she was in her early 20's. Susan reads my Dad's blog and got a kick out of some of his stories. She particularly liked the one about a piano, and The Girl Next Door. Those are posted on Dad's old blog, which we are no longer able to access, so he has a new blog, The AZ Penguin 2, which he has been posting on more recently. Lots of good stuff on his old blog though, in case anyone cares to read it. If it happens to be a rainy day where you are, this can keep you busy for a while! For sure check out Susan's blog, Crazy Quilting for Fun, and see this cool project she has going. Really nice work Susan!

Recently I mentioned that my little brown quilts look nice with fall decor, so I took a couple pics to give you a glimpse. I actually placed the wrong photo in here, because I stuck some fall leaves (ala Michael's) behind the birds nest in the churndash picture, so it has more of a fall flavor now. Those cool pears on the penny rug are not real, but they sure look it. I love brown quilts.

I am really enjoying the fall season around here in Virginia. We don't get the brilliant colors, like you get in the north, but is isn't freezing and snowing here either! So I buy my fall color at Michael's. They have awesome stuff there and often it is half off, or you can get a coupon.

That said, let me ask if any of you are interested in a small Christmas quilt pattern again this year? I don't mean to rush the season, but it doesn't hurt to start preparing little gifts that you like to make. I have a small quilt finished, and will be sharing the pattern soon! Come back and check it out!

Addendum: Joan at Keeping You in Stitches liked that hexagon taple topper so well that she whipped one up last night! Can you believe it? She has been showing lots of fall decor on her blog. go take a look if you haven't been there.