Midnight Crossing - Checkered Sashing Posts

The next step in my Midnight crossings quilt is to make 25 checkered post for the intersection of the horizontal and vertical sashings. I'd already covered the sixteen blocks in three previous posts: 
8/18/22 post for block pairs 1,2,3, 8/23/22 post for block pairs 4,5 and 8/27/22 post for block pairs 6,7,8. The sashing posts start out with strips of the black and the cream sewed into two black/cream/black bands and one cream/black/cream band. I stack these three bands, nesting where possible, and slice them into twenty-five narrow, three layer, three-square segments.

I divided these three-square segments into stacks of five and began chain stitching them together. The goal was for them to be 3½ squares and they came pretty close, close enough I am going to punt trimming them.

I have a thing for the prints to all line up the same way, and they did. Here are my five stacks of five corner posts each waiting for sashing.

Before cutting my sashing I thought it would be wise to check my block size. Each block is supposed to be 11¾" and this sample one comes a small bit under by about ⅛ ". I am going to give them a good press and see how consistent the sixteen of them are before considering adjusting my sashing lengths. An ⅛" is fudgeable (i.e., able to be fudged) in my opinion.

Midnight Crossing - Blocks Completed

My Midnight Crossing quilt kit has sixteen blocks made from eight fat quarters. The previous ten blocks (five block pairs) were presented for block pairs 1,2,3 in the post for 8/18/22  and for block pairs 4,5 in the post for 8/23/22. This post is about the completion of the block pairs 6,7,8. 

I sewed the sixth pair of blocks from an orange zig-zag fabric that I bought as a replacement for the orange dot fat quarter that I mistakenly cut into squares instead of rectangles. Since I needed to buy a half-yard instead of a fat quarter, I had spare yardage to recover if I goofed; so I attempted to cut the horizontal posts so the  fabric ran in the same direction as the rest of the block. To do so would orient them at 90° degrees from default cutting diagram and it was possible they would not fit. I was pleased I figured out how to squeak everything out of a fat quarter all in the same direction. Here is that block out of the directional orange zigzag. 

My favorite time to sew is in the morning as soon as I get out of bed and am still in my nightgown. My sewing room is cool and I can still have the window and blinds open to let in light but not heat. I was "in the zone" when I whipped out that first block.

My husband poked his head in the door and said, "Your cell phone has been ringing off the hook. Shall I bring it to you?" (Ringing off the hook... there is an anachronism that dates us!) I accepted the cell phone, answered a few texts and went back to sewing. I was confident and cocky, having made this block pattern eleven times before, but the pause in my sewing had disrupted my momentum. Here is the first resulting goof in making that twelfth block.

Now that my cell is in the sewing room with me, I answered a few calls and sent another text. Bad move. There were consequences to the distraction. Luckily there was nothing too dire or difficult to fix in that second goof. The second orange zig-zag block turned out OK eventually, without any major mess ups that I can detect. 

Time to switch to the seventh fat quarter. Gray would be a welcome change. I also challenged myself to unify the orientation as I did on the orange zig-zag. On my block pairs from the first two fat quarters, I was focused on learning the block and did not want to tempt deviating to orient fabric. I was able to orient everything except two central posts the same way; but on such mini-prints that was not very obvious. I was going to attempt to do better on the gray mini-dot which does have a up-down and side-to-side aspect. I succeeded. All the dots are oriented in rows rather than columns.

Once I had the cutting configuration figured out both for the orange zigzag and the gray dots, I was able to orient the black zigzags consistently as well.

My progress since the last post was completing two each of the following three blocks – the final six. To get consistent orientation, each fabric required a bit more thought and deviation from the recommended cutting layout, but the result was worth it.

Here are the blocks from all eight fat quarters. I've made two of each for a total of sixteen. I am pleased that I substituted the orange zigzag fabric or the orange mini-dot fat quarter I cut in error. The orange mini-dot still appears in half of the X centers. My next step is to cut the sashings and make twenty-five checker board posts for the intersections of the vertical and horizontal sashings.

Now is the time to think about and decide on my backing fabric. This fabric line is from 2019 but there are still fabric stores online that carry some of it in limited quantities. I think I will look and see if I can find the multi-color criss cross in the lower left, or the orange and cream floral in the center. The mini prints are too plain for my taste and the zigzag might make me dizzy in large expanses.

Midnight Crossing - Blocks Continued

Having completed six blocks as per my 8/18/22 post, I forged on ahead intending to sew up six more. I sewed four instead of six because of the time I needed to recover from two goofs. Can you spot the first mistake? For each block I carefully lay out all the pieces in the correct orientation yet all it takes is one slight flick of my wrist to rotate a unit the wrong way just before it slides under the pressure foot and the needle chomps it in place. I noticed this on the final seam of the block when the seam allowances were not facing the routine way I had come to expect with my consistent pressing direction. I ripped out three short seams, spun that black sheep unit 90°counterclockwise (middle of the left side), and stitched it back in place. 

For my second goof, I messed up and cut squares instead of rectangles out of one of the fat quarters in the kit. There was a time delay to go out and buy a replacement fat quarter from the same Hallow's Eve fabric line. I could not get the same exact orange print, but I got a half yard of something that I can substitute easily. The zigzag fabric will fill in for the mini-dots I cut wrong. There very well may be some orange mini-dot checkerboards in my future.

Here are the two block designs I completed for this post. There would have been one more design executed had it not been for the effort expended in correcting those two whoops. Next shown is these blocks with the one each of the previous six blocks completed thus far. They are on the design wall with the orange and black X centers alternating. Ten blocks down, six to go.

Delta Quilters Guild Quilt Show

Saturday, August 20th, my husband accompanied me to a quilt show in Brentwood, CA presented by the Delta Quilters Guild. The show was held at the Brentwood Community center. The quilts and vendors were on the main floor; the second floor housed a boutique. It is a moderate size show with 114 quilt entries this year – a reasonable quantity to enjoy without being overwhelmed. I like this show because the quilts are quite varied and the contributors very talented. At some of the international or national shows, I can get discouraged by seeing quilt after quilt of a complexity that is unattainable by only perhaps the top 1 out of 1000 quilters – quilts I could never, ever achieve, no matter how hard or long I tried. I can relate to this talented guild's quilts. They are real, not a fantasy, and yet still beautiful, fun, and inspirational. I am excited to take back and try some of the ideas in my own quilts. 

1st Floor Quilts
I took photos of some of the quilts that caught my eye. I also took a photo of the card that "tells its story" to give credit where credit is due. Maybe because I am now working on a black/orange themed quilt that Pumpkin Patch demanded my attention. The patchwork pumpkins are whimsical and the gray is a great addition along with the tiny spikes of green leaves. The background quilting is awesome. I personally prefer piecing to appliqué, so that was another plus for me with this quilt.

Way Up There! made me smile, especially when I noticed the details: the 3-D leaves along the bottom of the top inner border, the fluffy mane on the first giraffe, the leaf being nibbled by the third giraffe, the bird on the head of the fourth giraffe, those long curly sexy eyelashes, and those tails with tassels on the tips. Once again, the background quilting is awesome.

Not only did I enjoy this Meet the Clauses, but I also giggled at all the decor lined up at its base. The patchwork of fabric variations among the boy and girl figures of many skin tones, nationalities, and hair colors mirrors their uniqueness. No two figures are alike. I included a closeup of only one.

My husband really liked Christmas on the Farm with its looking through a window charm. I too liked the effect and my mind began racing though images of all the panels I already own that would work well with this attic window treatment. There was another similar quilt, later on in the show, with no card associated with it. I also liked that one and began to wonder if it was necessary to have an outdoor scene to be effective. Hmmm. Maybe not. One could be outdoors looking in.

I thought an ottoman cover was a unique and clever addition to a quilt show and to home decor. This was made in lovely shades of teal. Gorgeous. I question if the lounger would be showing an appropriate amount of respect if he were to put his feet up on it.

I learn something new at every quilt show. Today I was introduced to Kimberbell, a company specializing in machine embroidery. This bench pillow with its twinkling lights first caught my eye. Then I noticed the detailed quilt Red, White, and Bloom hanging above it. Look at a detail to see the innovation and creativity using a clear vinyl overlay to represent a glass lightning bug jar or lucite lemonade pitcher. I do not have an embroidery machine – sigh – but I am kept busy enough with my Pfaff domestic and my Sweet Sixteen Handi-Quilter machines. I did google Kimberbell, however, and there is lots of extremely intricate and whimsical eye candy to drool over. 

The quilts are in two rooms. When I entered the second room I was struck by this Marvel "The Shield" round quilt which my seven-year old grandson would love.

I was quite proud of myself that I held firm to my 2022 goal of little to no fabric purchases. From the vendors on the quilt floor I bought only one fat quarter because it called to me and cost only $1.25. It is a rather large scale print for a fat quarter but I am sure I can find a place for at Christmastime. The photo below shows the full ½ yard height of the fabric. At the least, it can be a pillow front or table topper or I can use it to wrap a gift.

From the same vendor, I bought a small paper pieced pattern that makes four 15 ½ x 18 ½ snowman quilts. A fat quarter is all that is needed for the backing.

Hanging high among the rafters above the entry tables was the winner for best of show from a previous year, 2021 I think. That is quite a colorful and eclectic neighborhood.

2nd Floor Boutique
Here I was less restrained with my purchases. Upon walking into the room I immediately spied a tote bag made from the same fabric line I had used for the quilt for my youngest granddaughter. Following are the 14" x 11" x 4" bag I bought at the boutique compared with my granddaughter's quilt from my 2/19/21 post. How could I pass up such a coincidence? It was meant to be.

My younger son is a huge M&Ms fan. I bought this zippered pouch for him. It is made from an actual candy bag and lined with M&M themed fabric.

These fat quarter lollipops will make nice gifts. Surely I did not buy these for me and tempt breaking my 2022 fabric diet.

Then there was my bargain that I am most proud of... an AnglePlay book (©2008) and four booklets (©2006) by Margaret J. Miller complete with the entire set of all thirteen accompanying templates. These acrylic templates are replicas of the paper ones on the pages of the books and will sure save time and effort from having to make some of my own. The opening page of each booklet reads

Much of traditional patchwork is based on two shapes: squares and half-square triangles. These shapes are formed by only two angles: the 90 degrees of a square, and the 45 degree point of a half-square triangle. But if you add half-rectangle triangles to this mix, a vast new world of patchwork design opens up! Quilts designed from blocks with this new shape have a lyrical quality to them; curves and nearly circular shapes are possible over the pieced surface.

This technique may be over a decade old, but somehow it passed me by. Perhaps paper piecing took off as an alternative to the same look? I am curious to try out this angled template method. The template have the corners angled off appropriately to make alignment a cinch. The book contains
 " 6 PROJECTS  •  42 EXCITING BLOCKS  •  EASY, NO-MATH PIECING". I included a photo of some of the 42 sample blocks from the book.

Each of the booklets uses a subset of the templates: Angles Aweigh A, B, C; Angles Up H, I, J, K; Anglin' Along E, F, G; Angles on the Edge L, M. I bought the entire set for less than one third what they originally cost.  Perhaps I will start out with a sample block first.

Oh, and just as I was leaving, I picked this up from the "Free" table. It makes a 39 ¾" square quilt with four bears, but even one block would be a fun, but not necessarily quick, project. Look at the number of pieces to make one bear.

I thoroughly enjoyed this day trip. My husband and I spent about three hours at the show and it was so refreshing to be out and to be inspired.