Alameda County Fair Entries

For the 2023 Alameda County Fair I entered two quilts. Details on sewing the two quilts are in my 9/18/22 post for X Marks the Spot  and in my 5/12/22 post for Quilt by Number. When the fair ended and I retrieved the two quilts earlier this week, I remembered I had not published a post about their display. I'll admit I was a tiny bit bummed that I did not get any ribbons this year, not even an honorable mention, but it was still a source of some pride to see them hanging from the ceiling. I was curious to read the judges' comments when I picked them up. Entries are judged using the American System of Judging where exhibits are judged against each other. Judges may choose to omit a placing if it is believed to be without merit.

I enjoyed reading the positive ego-boosting comments from the judges. I re-typed them after the scanned labels since the minuscule font size may render them illegible.

XMARKS THE SPOT, ENTRY#4444

- Very effective design and color/fabric choices. The customized quilting is creative and upgrades the complexity of the piece.

- Piecing skills are beautifully showcased on this piece. The curves of the orange peel quilting soften the block design and fill the sashing space well. Some tension issues noted.

QUILT BY NUMBER, ENTRY#4445

- Strong quilt design complements the piecing to create a captivating piece.

- Very effective design and color/fabric choices. Quilting is exceptional and the customized quilting design enhances the overall pattern greatly.

I also take to heart the constructive criticisms from the hand-written slips attached to each quilt. Several comments pertained to the quilting. I do know that my quilting is still in its growth stage and has room for improvement, so there were no surprises there. I also scanned the judging slips and include them in this post.

Of course I prowled around to see what quilts did win ribbons. These two got 2nd place (tiny red dot in lower right corner of each).

These two got 1st place (tiny blue dot in lower right corner of each).

This 1st place quilt was awarded Best of Show.

Viewing the quilt entries at the fair is an annual tradition of mine. Seeing the variety is a source of wonder and inspiration, encouraging me to try new designs and ideas. Constructive criticism strengthens my resolve to work on improving skills in my weak areas to become a better quilter.

Quilt by the Numbers - Finishing

All that is left on my Quilt by the Numbers quilt is the labeling and binding. I made my binding during breaks of circle FMQing and diamond FMQing. The binding is calculated to be ⅜" wide and made of the same fabric as the backing.

Typically before I sew on my binding, I make and attach my labels stating my name, the year, and the title of the quilt. I have been referring in this blog to this quilt as Quilt by the Numbers, mainly because the Moda fabric line is called Figures by Zen Chic. The boldest, largest scale, of the numeral themed prints are shown in the next photo in six colorways. I got the idea for this naming from typical paint-by-number kits from my childhood. 

I have gotten so used to that phrase, however, that I think it will stick with it. By default the quilt's title will remain the same concept but shortened slightly to Quilt by Number. Here are the labels stitched diagonally to the two bottom corners. I thought magic binding with the inserted faux piping would not suit the busyness of this quilt and might truncate the corner points along the edges. A simple ⅜" fold-over binding would be better, placed so as to not clip those corners where blocks meet. I sewed the binding on by hand... all 272" of it. The attached binding complements both the front and the back.

Here is the finished quilt. First is an indoor photo with Quilt by Number clamped to the second floor railing. This view best displays the pattern, piecing, and color placement but tends to obscure the FMQ.

The next two photos were taken outdoors on a sunny but windy day. My 6'4" husband had a hard time holding that 68" span up 68" high so I snapped a couple shots as quickly as I could. The key feature shown by these side-illuminated views is the FMQ that I struggled with and obsessed over, only to have it barely show up due to the prints.

The back of the quilt shows more texture in the far-away and close-up views both. The distinction between the diamond FMQ areas and the circle FMQ areas is detectable.

Quilt By Number has been in process for over a year. I purchased the layer cakes in 2015, but did not started a quilt from it until six years later in 2021. Once started, I then set it aside until a final push for completion in 2022. I loved the colors every step of the way. I learned a lot from the FMQ and use of rulers. I think I am hooked on the convenience of layer cakes. This is its sixth and final post. Here are all the posts gathered in one list.

               3/5/21   QuiltByNumbers - Solution Pending
               4/3/22   QuiltByNumbers - Assembly and FMQ
               4/5/22   QuiltByNumbers - FMQ Decided
               4/9/22   QuiltByNumbers - Circle FMQ begun
               5/2/22   QuiltByNumbers - Diamond FMQ Begun
               5/12/22 QuiltByNumbers - Finishing (this post)

The completion of this quilt was not listed in either my 2021 nor 2022 goals. It was not even on my radar since it was not a "kit" and my focus was on reducing the number of kits lingering in my stash. There will be no 2021 or 2022 checkboxes for me on this one. But I still deserve kudos for finishing it. Even though it is large at 68" x 68", it does not quite cover either of our 72" x 84" California King beds but it can still be a topper.  As an alternative, I may display it on our full bed that measures 54" x 75". It feels good to be finished! I will not merely keep it folded up in a closet. I want it out where I can enjoy the victory... at least for a while.

Quilt by the Numbers - Diamond FMQ begun

After a few days away, I am back to the FMQ on my Quilt by the Numbers quilt. I have officially exited the honeymoon phase of this quilt. Five blog posts later about this quilt, I only want to be finished. Having completed the circle FMQ on my quilt from the Zen Chic Figures fabric and Kira pattern from my FMQ planning post (4/5/22), I now moved on to the diamond FMQ on the other half of a block. What follows might not make sense if you have not read my FMQ post about the circular FMQ (4/9/22), so let me at least repeat my terminology and the quilting pattern for a diamond portion of a quadrant. After all, it has been four weeks since I posted about this quilt, although I have been plugging away at it, in sporadic sewing sessions. 

I reasoned that the diamond half of the block would be easier since the circles would be corralled between straight lines, not arcs. This time I used 1.25" diameter circles (20 in the outer diamond) and 1.0" diameter circles (8 in the inner diamond), fewer than in the circle quartets. The diamond quartets are not much speedier to FMQ, though. I learned one still takes me close to an hour to FMQ. With 16 diamonds total – 9 diamonds center + 12 x ½-diamonds edges + 4 x ¼-diamonds corners –  I could optimistically expect to be finished in 16 hours. It did take me longer, especially adding in some time for picking out serious goofs. When the FMQ completion was in sight, I was relieved. Closeups are intended to show the details at different stages of the work in progress.

I did get better as I pushed on and here is a closeup of two full diamonds in turquoise thread against a backdrop of two different color ways.

Now I have to pick out my goofs, if I can relocate them. Most are slips of the ruler where lines were crooked if you looked closely enough and can be ignored. In the following photo is an error that definitely needed to be repaired. I stitched a diagonal line in the wrong place not spaced far enough away from the previously line above it; then I mistakenly inserted 1" circles instead of a 1.25" circles. The straight lines on four sides were a breeze to pick out, but those circles where stitches overlay stitches are a real bear to pick out. As you can imagine, it takes much longer to remove them than it did to put them in. Fortunately I did not make many of those type errors.

Finally, as I tackled the remainder of the 12 half-diamonds along the edges and 4 quarter-diamonds in the corners, I made one more unique goof. Whoops! My paper guidance template for the circular FMQ was on the surface of the quilting table beneath the quilt and I accidentally sewed the paper sheet on to backside of one corner of the quilt. Fortunately I did not need to pick out any stitches; the paper tore away easily.

The FMQ of the edge  diamonds was easier since I did not have a bulky portion of the quilt in my lap and because access was easier than those in the center. I was, however, bored of diamonds by this time. To amuse myself I kept playing the tune in my head from the classic 1953 movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, in which Marilyn Monroe sings Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend. It helped me forge on with FMQ of partial edge diamonds with a renewed positive attitude. If you do not want to watch the YouTube video, here are the lyrics to the song. They are quite amusing.

The FMQ is not be perfect, but the saying "aim for excellence, not perfection" comforts me. I may not be ecstatically happy, but I will at least be content; aiming for "excellence" got me to "very good". Once I wash this quilt and it puffs up, camouflaging where the glitches are, my sense of accomplishment will grow. In retrospect, I believe my FMQ plan on this project was a bit more ambitious than my present skill level but I am proud that I stuck with it and learned some lessons and some skills.

These diamonds were NOT a girl's best friend!

Quilt by the Numbers - Circle FMQ begun

I have worked finally up the courage and emerged from my analysis paralysis to begin the FMQ on my quilt from the Zen Chic Figures fabric and Kira pattern from my previous post (4/5/22). What follows might not make sense if you have not read my previous post so let me at least repeat my terminology and the quilting pattern for a circular half of a quadrant.

After having completed one concentric circles quartet and partially muddling through a second concentric circles quartet, I have already learned a lot. Fabric does not have the precision of lines on paper. My brain knows this, but in my heart of hearts, I guess I acted as if this were not true. As I suspected, it is difficult to hold the arc rulers in place, especially the larger ones, even though I covered them with loads of sandpaper grips. What I did not anticipate is that a little bit of slippage changes the gap between concentric circles enough that the smaller chain of circles sandwiched in between sometimes extends beyond the boundaries. The 12" diameter outermost circle and the next smaller 9" diameter circle, even though they enclose a 1.5" channel are not aligned well enough, to contain the chain of spheres more fully. As I get better at holding the large arcs more securely, I am hoping they will be more aligned. Fortunately, the problem of the circles overhanging the channel edges gets less severe toward the center of the quartet. The smaller arc rulers are easier to hold and there is less distance for the fabric to stretch. I was still, however, successful in fitting in 5½" circles per ¼ quadrant, 22 circles per quartet. Following are closeups of the top half and the bottom half of the outer ring of one quartet in process.

My second lesson learned is that I need to pay more attention and follow my diagrams. In the following photo the seam ripper points to a circle that is at 3" diameter when it should have been 4". Then I wrongly proceeded to place the 1" dimeter circles inward of the line instead of outward. They should be in the ring formed between the 6" diameter and a 4" diameter circle. I caught my error when I realized that sixteen 1" circles would not fit where I was putting them. As usual, it takes a lot more time and effort to pick out a stitching error than it does to create it. I goofed this way twice! But I persevered more carefully. I did have to spend time and effort picking out this goof since there was no way to recover from it and it was so obvious. I keep saying to my husband,  "I'm learning... I'm learning..." He replies, "Are you learning not to do this design again?" 

I want to capture what I have been learning. In stitching the large concentric circles I found that although the template is for half a circle, it is easier to just concentrate on a quarter of a circle at one time, in particular the center 90°. I concentrated on holding only half of the arc steady at a time, 90°,  and adjusting at four points on the completed circle. In the next two photos, I line up the registration scribe lines on the template (marked with orange tabs), with the central vertical and central  horizontal seams of the quarter. The unused section on either side provide good handles for holding the template in place, necessary even with all the radial strips of sandpaper grips I have added.  The first picture is for the 12" diameter, but even with the 6" diameter of the second photo I found this to be true. I could adjust the angle at four points and achieve a smooth transition at those junctures instead of trying to place a half where one size fits all perfectly. It doesn't. I've learned adjusting is not a crime nor an admission of failure; it is a sensible source of flexibility. 

One thing I have learned about that chain of twenty-two 1.5" circles sandwiched between the 12" and 10" diameter circles and that chain of sixteen 1.0" circles sandwiched between the 6" and 4" circles is that they do not always turn out to be exactly 22 or 16. Realistically, when I think about it, even if my spacing is off by only 1/16" per circle on that inner channel, with 16 circles that adds up to an inch or an entire circle! I have learned that fudging is my friend. At each seam line I adjust to enclose four 1" circles or five-and-a-half 1.5" circles per my diagram. If the circles within each channel overlap a tiny bit or space out a tiny bit, I keep telling myself it looks "organic" and that I like that look. I have complete all sixteen circle quartets and I did improve. Here are the tenth and eleventh quartets I sewed. I chose to photograph these particular two since the turquoise thread color contrasts enough to show the stitching. Also the blue quartet shows off the figures that I so like printed on the fabric. I succeeded in enclosing 22 circles in the outer ring and 16 circles in the inner ring on fifteen of the sixteen quartets. I am not revealing which of the sixteen quartets is amiss and I am not picking it out either. I'd rather spend my time learning get better at quilting and not better at picking out. It can remain a challenge for those looking at the quilt to find the anomaly.

I did improve my template wielding skill and my fudging capability. I decided to do all the circle quartets first before proceeding with the diamond quartets. I reasoned that the diamonds will be easier since they are straight lines rather than arcs. I am soon to learn if this is true.

Quilt by the Numbers - FMQ Decided

My current project is a quilt made from Zen Chic 10" fabric squares in the line Figures and a Kira pattern. Previous posts on it were 4/3/22 and 3/5/21 for piecing and FMQ planning respectively. Now I am ready to start quilting the assembled sandwich.

In my previous post where I was planning and working out the details of how I was to FMQ it, I used an Excel spreadsheet and did calculations ad nauseam. Then I got realistic. Once I understood the situation, I pretty much threw geometry and theory out the window to come up with a solution to get an integral number of small circles within two larger concentric circles. Certainly my Excel spreadsheet guided my guessing, but ultimately, I'd be restricted to using standard size templates and adjusting a bit. Now that I see my resulting diagram, it reminds me of a ball bearing with an inner race and an outer race, with ball bearings sandwiched in between. I am a retired mechanical engineer, so maybe that was my subconscious inspiration all along...? 

I had a set of Handi-Quilter templates for the 12", 9", 6", 4", and 2" diameter circles to use for the enclosing circles. All the even diameters use the outer edge of each template but the odd 9" diameter circle uses the inner edge of the 12" template. I used four out of the set of six for five diameters. I had to buy a Handi-Quilter mini-circles template for the 1.5" and 1.0" smaller circles for the inner chain of circles. I had other circle templates but not the exact diameters I needed. I was happy to purchase the mini-circles in other diameters to add to my repertoire.

So here are four blocks assembled in the circle quartet configuration and FMQ'd. I had to be careful and take it slow while stitching. The handling will surely be more difficult for a big quilt, but I think it will be manageable. I have a mid-arm Sweet-Sixteen so I need to move quilt and rulers in concert. Right now I plan to use turquoise thread although it does tend to blend into a few of the prints. Choosing a thread color is always difficult for me. As a relatively inexperienced FMQ'er, I fear a contrast will reveal my inadequacies; however, if it comes out good, I kick myself that the stitching does not show. It is true, though, that you cannot tell if you are improving, if you cannot see what you are doing while you are doing it, or how it came out once you've finished. This turquoise thread color choice remains an experiment and a challenge for me. Fingers crossed that my skilled performances show up in the contrasting regions (yellow below) and that my goofs get blended into the matching background (turquoise below). The design is clearly more visible on the white backing I used for my prototype. 

 

The straight lines in the diamond configuration quartets was easier to figure out. I did have to finagle to get half-circles to fall at the horizontal or vertical seams where the corners of the diamonds are formed. I was able use the HQ Swiss Cheese template for the 1.25 diameter circles. I got an additional use out of the HQ mini-circles template I had just bought for the circular quartets for the 1.0 diameter circles. I actually prefer the Angela Walters' straight rule Slim to the HQ equivalent straight ruler (which I own) because the lines are in black and white so they show up on light and dark fabrics both. HQ's registration marks are only printed in white.

The four blocks assembled with the central triangle pointing inward to form a diamond are FMQ'd below. I did manage to place the diagonal straight lines so that the small circles do fall in the corners. There are six per side on the larger diagonal and three per side on the smaller diamond. The stitching shows up better on the white backing. And so do my goofs!

Each block has circular FMQ on one half and straight FMQ on the other half. Below are two practice blocks. It was tricky fitting the circles evenly within an arc, as my multiple tries show in the left image. It also took a bit of measuring and a bit of fudging practice to get half circles on each end of a strait stretch so they would form full circles at the corners of the diamond. I did not succeed on the left. On the right is my second attempt: one circle and two half-circles in the smaller diagonal strip; four and two half-circles in the larger diagonal strip. In the circular quarter of the block, there are 5 ½ circles per larger quarter and four circles per smaller quarter.

Here is how the alternating circles and diamond quartets will nest. I am excited to try this on the real quilt. I will have sixteen times to get the concentric circles right and sixteen tries to get the concentric diamonds right. I think I will start with the circles.

 

Blocks: 64 = 8 x 8  = 16 quartets
Circles: 16
Diamonds: 16 = 9 diamonds (center) + 12 x ½-diamonds (edges) + 4 x ¼-diamonds (corners)

I am also pleased to have added to my growing circle template inventory. These are my rulers. Only the 1" and the ¾" have duplicates. I have used all but the 2 ½" circle; but I may use that on another project.

Quilt by the Numbers - Assembly and FMQ Planning

Last post on this quilt in progress was 3/5/21 – yes, about one year ago – where I left off trying to arrange the 48 blocks I'd made. The 8 rows of 6 had a few blocks that just did not go together; the blocks with the figure prints, my favorites, were not prominent enough. I tried grouping the figure print blocks all together and that arrangement was too busy. 

A few blocks did not have enough contrast and others, those predominantly navy with yellow details, just looked olive drab dark at a distance. Acknowledging that I do poorly at random arranging, I strove instead to make order out of chaos with a pattern. Throwing out some blocks, making more blocks, and ordering them on a diagonal by color seemed to do the trick for me. The blocks I'd thrown out were the olive drab ones. I needed more yellow blocks and something to pair with yellow. I invaded my stash for some fabrics not in the initial layer cake. Solid white stuck out like a sore thumb but white with tiny orangey-yellow dots came to the rescue. It was still two-toned like the other prints.

Since I last touched this project about a year ago, I have made additional blocks and re-arranged them into a square quilt of 64 blocks; 8 rows of 6 changed to 8 rows of 8.  A few blocks made up in multicolor fabric were cheerful but seemed to stick out oddly among the other two-toned blocks. I kept those somewhat distracting-but-happy multicolor blocks, relocating them toward edges so they would be a bit more subtle. I liked that fabric enough though, that I was able to locate and buy some on eBay for the backing. Most likely I will also use that fabric for the binding. I made my quilt sandwich and hung the assembly over my upstairs railing so I could stare at it, waiting for FMQ inspiration to come to me.

Now how to FMQ this? A basic block has three triangles on a diagonal. Standing back I noticed that quartets of four blocks either appeared to surround circles (with out-pointing middle triangles) or surround diamonds (with in-pointing middle triangles). Each quartet measures about 17" x 17". There are sixteen quartets in this quilt

Since this quilt has a contemporary feel, I wanted the FMQ to reflect the same tone so I auditioned concentric circles and concentric diamonds. I liked the effect but needed to play with the spacing and size. I do not want this quilt too densely quilted and get in the way of a gentle drape (or take me forever to quilt). I am toying with the idea of unequal spacing and perhaps some embellishment between concentric shapes.

I slid two extra blocks inside sheet protectors and sketched some possible fillers between concentric shapes. I tried diagonal lines inside the inward pointing triangles; four of these would form  concentric diamonds. I tried arcs inside the outward pointing triangles; four of these would form concentric circles.

I then spent an inordinate amount of time with an excel spreadsheet trying to calculate what specific circle diameters were needed to encase a integral number of small circles. Eventually I realized that even if a got compatible sizes, correct to three decimals places, I still needed to have rulers in that particular size. I went with the "eyeball and trial and error" method and finally came up with a configuration that could work with some minimal fudging at the stitching phase. I made a paper model and then tested the stitching out on some spare blocks to establish how difficult the actual execution would be. In my next post I show my testing and final design commitment.