California, USA Road Trip #2 - Quilt Shop Hops

Before we headed off to the USA, I did a little research on Quilt Shops beforehand, which focussed on a few key resources

1. Quilt Shop Heaven - an internet Resource which lists Quilt Shops by State, as well as information on Shop Hops
2. Quilt Shops of the Central Coast , California (Shop Hop, May-June 2013), including quilt shops north of Los Angeles (Ventura, Carpinteria, Orcutt, Grover Beach, Pismo Beach, Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo)
3. Shop Hop By the Bay, California (Shop Hop 19th-23rd June 2013) includes quilt shops south of San Francisco (Pacific Grove, Cupertino, Morgan Hill, San Mateo, Scotts Valley), Yes, it's this weekend!
4. Central Kansas Quilt Shop Hop, Kansas (Shop Hop 4th-6th October 2013) includes Hutchinson, Wichita, Yoder, Severy

My timing was such that I didn't actually manage to do any of the official Shop Hops, but along with my loyal friend - the Tom Tom (GPS), the local quilt shop information was invaluable.  I think we visited about 20 shops in all, and I thought I would share with you some of my favourites.

I found that it is really hard to focus on what you want to buy unless you have a project in mind, in fact it can be overwhelming - let's face it, you would buy the whole shop if your could! At first, I did not have a plan, but then I bought a few Quilt Magazines and found inspiration from some of the quilts and colour schemes, which gave me some purposeful direction and excuse to buy more fabric!  I guess it is the same as any other Quilt Shop Hop.

Cotton and Chocolate Quilt Company, Thousand Oaks, California

Cotton and Chocolate Quilt Company, Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
As a taster, this was the first shop we visited as we drove out of Los Angeles. A really great, varied selection and really friendly assistants.  They had lots of cute kits, which is nice to see, especially if you just want a small project, as well as a great book selection.  At this stage I just added some Red and cream fabrics for my Nearly Insane Quilt, as they stocked the Somerset Shirtings range, from Wyndham Fabrics, which I had only seen on the Internet. This shop set the bar high, for the rest of the journey!

Hand Quilting Progress - Red and White Pinwheel Quilt

Marking cross-hatching for hand quilting
on Red and White Pinwheel Quilt

My Nearly Insane quilt activity seems to have been put on the back burner for the time being.  Instead, I am currently trying to catch up with my hand quilting back log, which as you can see is STILL the Red and White Pinwheel Quilt.  As you can also see, I am still using the Wipe Off Fabric Marker, which I am finding works well.  What I have found is that you need to remove it with a wet cloth rather than a damp cloth - it is the water that removes the blue mark. So far, so good.
To get this one moving, I needed a deadline, so I have entered the quilt in a show, and now I am frantically quilting to get it done.  Mind you, the pace I am going could not be mistaken for 'frantic', as there is a lot of stitching for what seems like meagre progress.  The overall plan is not fully worked out, and the more I do, the more I feel I need to do, as well as the binding, plus the hanging tab, and the quilt label.  I can see myself stitching, just minutes before I hand it over!

Book: "Quilt It!" by Barbara Chainey

I would not say I am an expert at hand quilting, and don't feel that I have quite mastered how to choose a quilt patterns for particular quilts, but one book I find really useful is Barbara Chainey's 'Quilt It', as it gives loads of suggestions, especially for pieced work, rather than patterns for whole cloths.  I have designed some motifs of my own for this quilt, plus a lot of outline quilting, and at the moment I am working on some cross-hatching. 
It will get done.

Joining Up with Design Wall Monday! and Slow Stitching Sunday.
 

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 48, Hand Stitching on the Move

Block 48, Nearly Insane Quilt

I stitched this Nearly Insane quilt block waiting in airports and on the flight back from my holiday in the USA to London, UK.  People are often amazed when I say I hand stitch most of my quilts, such as my Butterfly Quilt, my Pies and Tarts Quilt, and my Single Irish Chain Quilt, but with a project like this, I actually look forward to time waiting for planes, trains and appointments, as I know I am going to get a whole load of stitching done.  Yes, with my stitching nearby I am even happy for a flight delay! On the other hand, if I needed to find a chunk of time to sit at the sewing machine at home, I would find it more difficult.


Travel Stitching Projects - English Paper Piecing

If you don't have a portable hand stitching project on the go, I would recommend that you get a project together.  Don't have any expectations of how long it is going to take you, just enjoy the process, you will be amazed at how much you can achieve.  Hexagons are a really popular starting point, and over at Sarah Did It! on the 17th of each month there is a Hexi -aholics Link Up, if you are looking for some company.

Hand stitching aside - I have found that I am really enjoying doing the Nearly Insane blocks with stars in them and in the back of my mind I have a few 'Star Quilt' projects I am thinking about doing.   You can see my ever growing 'ideas' collection by visiting my Pinterest page (the button is on my sidebar).

BTW: In many of my blocks I am using cream fabrics which have a white print on them - you can just about make out the swirls in the corner of this block.  There are loads of these on the market, but do they have a special name?

So that is Block 48.
Joining Up with Finish it off Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts (PS: Don't forget to visit That's Sew Julie, where she is sharing a lovely Bonnie and Camille quilt she has made and also has a Jelly Roll Giveaway!)

NUMBER OF PIECES: 29
DIFFICULTY: 2/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle 1 1/16" (27mm) x 3/4" (19mm)  x 3/4" (19mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Square, 1 3/4" (45mm) x 1 3/4" (45 mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
"Friendship" (Tonal Red) by Howard Marcus for MODA (Collections For a Cause) # 46130
"Days Gone By" Exclusively Quilters (Cherry Print)
"Days Gone By" Exclusively Quilters (Rose Print)
White of cream swirl print

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 53



Block 53, Nearly Insane Quilt, at Yosemite National Park, California

Another landmark, another quilt block.  Here is Block 53, showcased at Yosemite National Park in California, as part of our Road Trip.  We camped here for two nights, did a lot of walking, and managed to keep my stitching safe from the bears.


Block 53, Nearly Insane Quilt

This block features a heart fabric.  I have fussy cut it, only in that I have got all the hearts going towards the centre.  The hearts were too big to do anything clever with.  I am not big on heart / valentine fabric, but by choosing red and cream as my colour scheme, they were hard to avoid completely.  The other main fabric is from the Cabbages and Roses, Northcott Range which I used in Block 47.  Both of these fabrics have a bit of pink in them, which is slightly 'off piste', but with nobody watching, I think I can get away with it.
Linking with Freshly Pieced

NUMBER OF PIECES: 29
DIFFICULTY: 3/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square, 1/2" (13.5mm) x 1/2" (13.5mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle 3" (76mm) x 2 1/8" (54mm)  x 2 1/8" (54mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
Northcote Range, by Cabbages and Roses #35204 -21 by Moda
Red with White Pindot (Unidentified)
Heart Fabric (Unidentified)

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 36

Here is another Nearly Insane Quilt block which I completed whilst on holiday in the USA. And yes, I did stand out in the 100F heat of Death Valley to take this picture for you ...


Nearly Insane Block 36 - Death Valley, California, USA

I am not sure whether this is the most attractive block, but I really enjoyed doing it.  It went together nicely, and I enjoyed the challenge of choosing the fabrics.  The central square has a diagonal direction, so it was a bit tricky to find fabric combinations that would work with this pattern, but I think I got there in the end. In contrast to Death Valley, I took the picture below when we returned to the UK - yes, summer has arrived and the garden was verdant and blooming.


Nearly Insane Quilt Block 36

This block has 78 pieces, and that seems to be about the right number for a block to turn out nicely, with large enough, even size pieces to keep it interesting.  There are some to come which will have at least twice as many.  To be honest, when there are less than say, twenty five pieces, I find them a bit boring


NUMBER OF PIECES: 78
DIFFICULTY: 4/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle 1 1 1/16" (46mm) x 3/4" (19mm)  x3/4" (19mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle 2 1/8" (53mm) x 1 1/2" (38mm)  x 1 1/2" (38mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
"Christmas Past" (14547) by Polly Minick and Lauri Simpson for Moda
"Days Gone By" Exclusively Quilters
White on cream sprig print (unknown)
Red with white pindot (unknown)

Joining up with Design Wall Monday!

Nearly Insane Quilt - May 2013 Progress

Nearly Insane Quilt - English Paper Piecing

Because we are currently celebrating the Queen's 60th Anniversary of her Coronation, I thought it was a good excuse to show you the progress of my Nearly Insane Quilt (imagine doing the same job for 60 years). I am not sure when her pension kicks in. I hope it doesn't take 60 years for me to complete this quilt!

Nearly Insane Quilt - May 2013 Progress

I love doing these pictures.  I usually only do them once a month, which is the same as when you get to see it.  The more I do, the more excited I am to see what it will look like when it is complete.  There are a few blocks in this picture that are yet to be revealed, so if you compare it to the last update, you may be able to spot them.  See all those little cornerstones - they look great too.  I am so glad that I have kept up with them. 

Working out the statistics I have done about 21% of the quilt so far, over 4 months, so with that progress I guess I should finish the components of the quilt in October 2014. Progress so far is

22 Blocks

8 Side blocks

23 Cornerstones

56 Sashes

I think this is more a display quilt than a bed quilt.  It would be great to have it hanging on a wall to see all the different fabrics and block patterns.  When they laid the floor in our house they took a lot of time to keep the tiles in line - next time I must remember to line up my quilt along them.

BTW - Did I mention the royalty that live at our house - introducing Princess Suzi. Joining up with Feline Friday over at Sarah Did It! and Crazy Mom Quilts!

Princess Suzi enjoying the sun

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 80

Since Block 12  I have wanted to make more of the Nearly Insane blocks scrappy.  As soon as I saw Block 80, I knew it was a perfect candidate.  The design has lots of small pieces in it and I have started to accumulate a jar of red and cream scraps which are so small that they are only going to find homes in certain blocks. 

Sweet jar scrap storage

Whilst my motives may be honourable, when it came to cutting the seventy two 'scrappy' pieces for this little 6" block, it took a lot longer than most, and on that day I did not get as much preparation done for my Nearly Insane blocks as I had hoped, so it feels as if it has been hanging around for a while.

Block 80, Nearly Insane Quilt, visiting California

I finally have had time to finish it during my Road Trip to the USA, and here it is on display our pitch at Turlock Lake Campsite, California.  This was fun, and quite easy to put together, and I think it is my latest favourite.  Remembering that these blocks are only 6" square, I think that this is a really cute block - imagine a whole quilt of these with some sashing in between - it would look great.


NUMBER OF PIECES: 72
DIFFICULTY: 4/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square, 3/8" (9.5mm) x 3/8" (9.5mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle 1 7/8" (46mm) x 1 1/4" (32mm)  x 1 1/4" (32mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
Scrap variety

USA Road Trip / USA Quilt Shop Hop

May 2013 Progress - Nearly Insane Quilt

You may have been wondering why I have been so quiet lately. As if my quilt adventure to the Dear Jane 150th Exhibition in Nantes, France, wasn't enough, for the past few weeks I have been on another Quilt Adventure.  We have been away from the UK, on a Road Trip in the USA.  The majority of the trip was in a hired RV (campervan) touring the West Coast in California, travelling up Highway 1, across to the Gold Country, visiting the National Parks (Yosemite, Death Valley), with an excursion to Las Vegas and Kansas thrown in. Our van at home is half the size of this, but this was the smallest we could find to hire!

The Quilt Road Trip stopping at Roxanne's Quilt Shop, Carpinteria, California

It works out like this. We enjoy driving and touring around.  We get to see new places, and I get to do my hand stitching - but how to decide where to stop on the route? Quilt shops naturally.  So over the past few weeks, as we have been doing our sightseeing, I have been busily stitching my Nearly Insane Quilt blocks, as well as keeping up with the cornerstones and sashing, with plenty of breaks at quilt shops, building up my stash along the way.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of quilt shops in the UK, but let's put things in perspective.  The current exchange rate between US dollars and GB Pounds means that in the UK you would normally pay between £9.99 - £13.99 for a metre of fabric, which is equivalent to $15.29 - $21.41.  In the US you pay between $8.99 - $12.99 (+ Sales Tax) for a yard of fabric (which is about 9cm / 3.5 inches shorter than a metre), which works out about £6.33 - £9.16.  Throw in a 30% Memorial Day Sale, and it works out about £4.43 - £6.41 a yard. Happy Days!

You can see above the Nearly Insane blocks I managed to complete on my journey, and in the next few posts I will keep you up to date with that progress, and some of the great shops I visited along the way.

Joining Up with Freshly Pieced

 

Nearly Insane Quilt - Draw 8

I am trying to get ahead of myself at the moment, so I have also made the next draw for my Nearly Insane Quilt.  Those blocks are

28 - 53 - 64 - 90

I have also updated the image of the overall progress I am making on the quilt, which is always sitting on the side bar of the blog.  I get this image from the Electric Quilt 5 software that I have.  It is easy to do, File - Export Snapshot, select the area you want to copy, and then I usually save it on the clipboard to open up in Photoshop.


Nearly Insane Quilt Progress
May 2013

Considering it is all hand pieced, and that I only started it in February, I am please with my progress.

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 87

Block 87 - Nearly Insane Quilt Corner Block

I drew another corner block for the Nearly Insane Quilt.  As you may remember I have mixed it up a bit and changed a few edge blocks around, changing the original corner Block 92, for Block 87.  With just eight pieces, I almost did it in my sleep. It uses the 'Christmas Past' fabric by Minick and Simpson - did I say I met them in Nantes? ;)

Sometimes I think I should have approached the quilt like I would a jigsaw puzzle - seek out the corner pieces, then the edge pieces, then fill up the middle - leaving the sky until the end!

FABRICS: 
Christmas Past (#14547) by Polly Minick and Lauri Simpson for Moda
Calico
Red and White Stripe (unidentified)