Friendship 360 Quilt Completely Finished

It's hard to believe I started this quilt during the 2016 election year.  That was when a group of us were making Quilty 365 appliqued circle quilts.  Four years and another presidential election cycle later, I am happy to say that my Friendship 360 quilt is finally completely done!

I got the top done in August 2018 (blogged HERE) and in the fall of 2019 sent it off to my local longarm quilter, along with a couple other quilts.

One by one, the quilts were returned to me and I trimmed and bound them.  My circle quilt was the last to come back home in early October.

It's so nice to see a quilt again after it's been away for awhile.  Absence really does make the heart grow fonder.  Sandy did a nice job with the overall quilting design.

I put the binding on it right away and got it on my bed just in time for the first real cold snap this fall.  Waking up in the early morning light to appreciate the colorful variations of individual circles...well, it's just a great way to start the day!

You can read more about the process of making this quilt by clicking the Quilty 365 tag in the sidebar on the right (or HERE).  It's a fun trip down memory lane to skim through those posts.

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The sandhill cranes are migrating, and great flocks of them can be seen and heard as they gather together to prepare for their trip south.  What a wonderful sight and sound!

I snapped a picture of this pair preening, during a walk near the marsh in October, around the time I was finishing the Friendship 360 quilt. 

Circle Quilt Finish

I finished the Circle of Friends quilt top—or was it Friendship Circle?  Hang on, un momento, while I check Facebook for the name I was going to give this quilt...

Okay, I checked.  Its name will be Friendship 360.

My brain is like a sieve some days, I swear.

(Spotted on a recent visit to the antique mall.)

In my defense (albeit a weak one), I finished this quilt top three weeks ago.  I can barely remember what I had for lunch, much less what I thought to name a quilt way back in mid-July.

(Friendship 360 Quilt Top)

ANYway, here it is!  

This quilt combines the circles I made during the Quilty 365 quilt-along during 2016 with the Friendship Star Wreath that I also made during that time.  

The Friendship Star Wreath was just a little bunny trail I took with the scraps I had left from the Quilt for Pulse.  The tutorial for it can be found here.  Since I was using leftover HSTs from the Pulse quilt, my dimensions were different than what was given in the tutorial (mine used 4.5-inch strips and HST blocks versus 3-inch).

The end result was a 36.5-inch square, which I was going to make into a wall hanging.  You know, some day.  It got put aside, is what I'm saying.  Literally moved to the far corner of the playground (i.e. design wall) and ignored while I did other stuff in 2016, including the Quilty 365 circles.

At the end of 2016, I really had no idea how to arrange all those circles together in a quilt.  I watched my fellow 365-ers finish lovely quilts in various ways.  Meanwhile, I had no real plan.  The circle blocks sat in colorful piles in the sewing room.  I'd pick up a few and riffle through them now and then or move them from one surface to another.

Then one day as I was milling around the laundry room, looking absently at the Friendship Star Wreath on the far end of the design wall, it dawned on me that it might work as a center medallion with the Quilty 365 circles.

Why it took so long to put the two together is...well, irrelevant.  The point is I finally did, and it worked.  Hooray!  Also, Ta-Da!

Now, full disclosure:  I only made 338 circles in 2016.  A detail I forgot until I was putting the circles together and ran short.  So I had to make a few more on the fly.  No big whoop, and kinda fun, actually, to be making these again.  Thankfully, I still had enough of the same or similar background fabrics and even my little cardboard circle template made from a Kleenex box.

I assembled the circle blocks into panels.  First the sides, at 9 blocks high x 6 blocks wide. These were sewn to the right and left of the center medallion.  Then the top and bottom panels, at 9 blocks high x 21 blocks wide.

And I still didn't get all the way to 365, because I only needed 360 circle blocks for the quilt top.  Hence, Friendship 360, and also because a circle is, of course, 360 degrees.  See what I did there?

You'd think its name would have been easier to remember!  But no matter, I'm pretty sure the quilt itself—with its I-spy, whimsical, colorful circles—will be unforgettable.

Last Call for Quilty 365 Circles

It's been a year of making the Quilty 365 circles, and December's batch has brought my grand total to...not 365, but 338.

Close enough for rock 'n' roll, as they say.  Enough to make a quilt, anyway, and memorialize the whole shootin' match in quilt form.

You'll note I went with a holiday theme in December.  It was interesting to explore my box of seasonal fabrics for the month's worth of circle sewing.  I also fussy-cut a few pieces of repurposed scrubs as well (see Rudolph and assorted snowmen, etc.).

As far as how it's going to look when it's put together, I still don't know.  I do know that if I set it simply 18 blocks across x 19 blocks down, that'd be 342 blocks and make a quilt about 72 x 76, which seems a decent size.  I only have 338 made, but it'd be simple to add another four...or not.  Maybe leaving four "empty" blocks would add a little something quirky to the design.  I like a little quirky.  Thinking out loud here.

So we'll see.  I do have some other ideas pinned on a Pinterest board or two, if I can find them (that's a whole 'nother area needing organization).  But now that the making of blocks is done, I will enjoy taking my time to explore options for stitching them together.  Starting with seeing how my fellow Quilty 365-ers have been doing.  Off to hit the links!

Linking to:  Quilty Folk

Sunday Sundry 12-4-16

I don't know if you know this, but just thinking about a blog post doesn't get it done.  Funny how that works!

I bet I'm not alone, though, in composing something in my head that never makes it to the page.  Most of the time it's while I'm in the middle of work or another task.  The moment passes, several hours or days, maybe, and then it seems like old news.  If I can even remember what it was, that is. 

Anyway, I want to do a Quilty 365 update before the link-up expires. Nothing like a deadline to get something done!

I got on a roll and actually had most of my November circles made before the second week of the month.  That turned out to be a good thing, because then the wind went out of my sails for a little while and there was minimal-to-no sewing.

Deviating from a color of the month theme, I had more or less decided that November would be a free-for-all.  As it turned out, sifting through the scrap boxes, I was drawn to the fabrics that had faces, so I ran with that.  People, animals, and a few other random things that caught my eye.

In the end, 30 circles.  My total tally so far for the project is 307.  I'm feeling good about that, and hanging in there for the rest of December.  I may not get to 365 before I hit the one-year mark, since I started last January, but it'll be enough to put together a quilt.

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In reorganizing the basement, we did a pretty major purge.  Sold a big wrought iron aquarium stand on Craigslist.  Drove three carloads of stuff to Goodwill.  The circle of life:  Quite a bit had come from the thrift store, and to the thrift store it was returned.  Now someone else can enjoy those eclectic acquisitions from past years.  Meanwhile, I'll be enjoying a wonderful sense of spaciousness and lightness.

There's still more stuff to sort through and send away, for sure.  It's an ongoing process.

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Now I'm doing some Christmas sewing.  The first gift-giving gatherings of the season are taking place this coming week, so I've got to keep my nose to the grindstone if I want to get done what I'd like.

I was gifted a big box of scrubs recently, from the place where I worked part-time for 10 years.  I'm turning some of them into zipper pouches.

So cute!  I'm using THIS tutorial.  They're going together pretty fast.  It's been a few days since I took this picture, and now there are 11 done. 

Have you seen Kevin's latest post?  He has a tutorial for the cutest little mini-quilt!  I had to try it right away.  I've got one ready to sew together, but no pictures yet.

Are you doing any "secret sewing" for the holidays, or have you gotten it all done already? 

Sunday Sundry 11-20-16

It's been a rough couple of weeks, folks. I am continuing to process.

I read a beautiful thing this past week on the blog The Irish Aesthete. Click the link to read the short post in its entirety (and enjoy the accompanying photos of gorgeous garden paths), but the essence of it was this: 

"...For all its failings and foibles, the human spirit is resilient. So too is the urge, the need to create beauty, even in the midst of turmoil and disorder. The determination of previous generations to overcome adversity, and to find the beautiful in the midst of ugliness can serve as our own inspiration."

Yes.  Let's continue creating in our own unique, expressive, beautiful ways. Finding inspiration, starting conversation.

* * * * *

In addition to the Quilty 365 daily circle project (which I admittedly do not do daily, but often 3, 5, or 10 at a time), I put together this little half-square triangle piece from the leftover cut-off corners of the Precious Gems quilt top.

This piece is only about 36 inches square, so I'm thinking of adding borders or some such thing to bring it to a size I can use as a backing for that quilt top.

* * * * *

Other things I've been doing:

—Rearranging some things in the sewing space.  I sew in the basement and share the space with the usual basement dwelling items of a non-sewing nature. I recently bought a few things at an office rummage sale, and I've swapped out an old desk and two old 2-drawer filing cabinets for a 4-drawer cabinet and a standing-height table for the computer.  There's really a mishmash of  stuff down there, and it's a constant work in process to organize, purge, and ponder use of the space.  It'll never look like something out of House Beautiful, not even close, but I'm happy enough with recent improvements.

—Scanning old photos and memorabilia.  A military historian within the family reached out to us recently regarding my late father-in-law, who served in the the 7th Armored Division during the Battle of the Bulge.  I needed to delve into the information I had, and since I was in the middle of reorganizing anyway, this has led down a new bunny trail, one I'm happy to take, but it is a bit overwhelming.

—Waking up at odd hours of the early morning and not being able to sleep...3:00 a.m., 4:30 a.m., 5:00 a.m.  On the plus side, I got a photo of the Supermoon a couple hours before sunrise. 

—Discovering new music.  Like the latest release from Dawes, and The Muddy Magnolias.  Whew, those girls can sing!

—Watching Versailles.  Because I'm still not over the fact they killed off Athelstan on Vikings, and Versailles is easing my George Blagden withdrawals.

—Generally, just being grateful.  For all of the above and more.  For the mild fall weather (up until this weekend), perfect for walking.  For homemade beef stew and apple crisp.  For friends and kind people.  For laughter and tears.

There is much to appreciate as we head into Thanksgiving, and every day.  What comes to mind for you?

Quilty 365 Progress

This month's Quilty 365 circles are brought to you by the color orange, or what may pass for orange, anyway.  I had to stretch the boundaries a bit to align with the stash, so we have everything from rusty brown to peach, with a twist of gold to boot.

What makes me smile in particular today is the one below, made with one skinny string's worth of skeletons on orange background fabric, plus a stripey narrow string of something else between.  Happy Halloween!

Here is the whole month's worth of orange October blocks.

I missed last month's link up because we were on vacation, but here, too, is the August/September lot of yellow and tan circles.  I made 33 blocks for those two months combined, plus 31 in October, making the total for this project 277 so far.

Now, I'm kind of stumped on November.  In the beginning of the year, I scribbled down color themes for each month, but November was "vintage fabrics?" and December was "holiday fabrics?".  Note the question marks.  I was moving away from the color theme of the month and into the realm of other possibilities when I jotted down those ideas.  

Right now, I'm thinking November may be a free-for-all.  I don't have 30 different vintage fabrics, I know that for sure (and besides, I've used a few vintage fabrics in blocks already; see the orange/teal/black scribble block in the October group above, for example).  So we'll see what happens.

I also finished the quilt top from the Aspen Frost layer cake. It's ready for pin basting and quilting one of these fine days when I feel like moving the kitchen furniture out of the way and mopping the floor.

And I don't think I've mentioned yet the Friendship Circle I had put together before we left on vacation a month ago.  I used the half-square triangles of made-fabric trimmed from the Quilt for Pulse.  When this is finished, it'll be wall hanging size.  (Also, you won't see the gingham check showing through.  That's my design wall covering, the fuzzy back side of a gingham check vinyl tablecloth fabric.)

Did you have many trick-or-treaters at your house?  We only had a handful this year.  Maybe the fact that trick-or-treat hours yesterday were during the Packer game had something to do with it.

Linking to:  Quilty Folk

Two for the Road...and a Bump

I took two small sewing projects with me on vacation, along with Everett, otherwise known as the "O' Brother" machine.

Didn't actually sew as much as I'd imagined.  Some hotel rooms were better laid out for that kind of thing, logistically, and some evenings I simply opted to use the hotel treadmill or pool or watch a movie instead.

Nevertheless, I did get a few Quilty 365 circles done.  My orange stash is pretty much exhausted, as far as variety, so I'm going to have to repeat some fabrics or...something/insert creative idea here...to finish out the month of October.

I also started piecing a quilt using an Aspen Frost layer cake won in the Hands2Help charity quilt project giveaway a few months back.

I finished up the piecing this week.  It was simple and straightforward, a free quilt pattern called Precious Gem, found HERE.  

Got it laid out on the design wall, things looked good, and started to sew the first rectangular pieces together yesterday.

One seam in, I noticed something was not right.

What in the world?  Why was there a good half-inch gap between my corner triangles?  Had I cut my corner pieces too small?  Was I supposed to trim the rectangles from the layer cake to a different size first?

I went back and reread the instructions.  Nope, I had followed them exactly.

*...mumbling and grumbling...will it matter?...maybe not...maybe so...ugh...*

 

Well, the only way to fix the gap and make the points match was to trim a half inch from the length of each rectangle.  I didn't like the idea of losing several inches in the overall size of the quilt by having to do that, but there didn't seem to be another option.  Other than live with the gap, I suppose, but the way I'd planned the piecing, using two different gray fabrics in the corners, was done to play up the diagonal part of the design.  If there's a gap, then is there a continuous diagonal at all?

So I'm resolved now to giving each piece a haircut before I sew them together.  I'm thankful I didn't sew half the quilt together before I noticed anything amiss.  And I'm still wondering how did  I miss something so seemingly (or seamingly) obvious—if it looks easy, why is it not?

Image source and free printable

Anyway, questions aside, time to grab the seam ripper (or rotary cutter) and carry on.  

How about you?  Hit any bumps in the road this week? 

Round in Circles

Reader Mary B. hinted for a refresher on how I'm making my Quilty 365 circles.  I'm glad she asked, and here it is.

I had seen this method in a couple other places.  I think the first time I saw it, the quilter was demonstrating making shapes for an orange peel quilt in this way.  I tried it out with a little sample block and it worked slick as a whistle.  Ditto on the circles.

You need a very lightweight, NON-fusible interfacing.  I've bought it twice at the local JoAnn store, and it was a little different each time, but both kinds worked.  It's not a woven fabric interfacing but the usual synthetic type, and the sheerest one (basically no stiffness).  If I knew the exact name of it, I'd tell you, but mine unfortunately didn't come with that flimsy printed plastic sheet that often accompanies interfacing off the bolt, so I don't have the details.  I'm guessing it's a Pellon product. 

Anyway, I trace my handy-dandy, homemade cardboard circle template onto the interfacing with a Frixion pen (marks disappear with heat).  I put a piece of paper underneath the interfacing because the interfacing is so sheer, the ink will transfer through to whatever's underneath it.  Leave space between the circles and trace as many as you feel like, and then rough-cut them apart between.  You don't have to be super fussy about that, just leave a good margin around the traced circles.

The circle template I'm using is just over 3 inches in diameter.  The neutral background fabric squares are 4.5 inches.
 

Take your scrap that you want to make into a circle and lay one of your traced circle interfacing pieces on top.  I usually pin it once in the center just to hold it together until I start stitching.

Then stitch around the circle right on the line you traced on the interfacing.  You'll probably want to sew slowly here, and I also used a pretty short stitch length, 1.8 on my machine.

Trim around the stitched circle leaving somewhat less than a 1/4-inch seam allowance, probably like 3/16 inch, but I never really measured.  You don't want/need a lot of bulk when you turn it, is the point.

Then carefully pinch the interfacing only, and snip a little slit in it so you can turn the circle right side out through the slit.  The lightweight interfacing is, well, lightweight; you'll want to be gentle as you turn it so you don't rip a bigger slit, which might then warp the shape of your circle.

At this point, I take a blunt-but-pointy-thing...like a chopstick or my Kwik Clip...and stick it through the slit, shaping and finger-pressing the circle all the way around.

Then I give it a quick press with the iron—use a lower heat setting than you usually do with cotton.  That synthetic stuff the interfacing is made out of does melt with higher heat.  Only had to wreck one circle to find that out.

Pin your circle to your background square, pick your favorite applique stitch, and sew it down.

Now if you want to reduce bulk in your block, you can flip your appliqued square over and carefully pinch the background fabric only in the center, snip a hole so you can fit the point of your scissors through, and then trim both the background fabric and the interfacing, leaving a 1/4 inch margin.

I think the pictures make more sense here than words.

So there you have it, how I do my Quilty 365 circles.  Everybody's got their favorite method for appliqueing circles and other things.  What's yours?

Finally, I'm sharing the song that's been in my head as I've been typing this whole deal.  Will It Go Round in Circles?  You bet!