Liberated Medallion Quilts, Cotton & Steel's Jubilee Collection, A Walk in the Park

A walk in the park, Averill Park in San Pedro, CA.

Ducks, frogs, turtles and fish fry of some sort live in this pond.

The promenade and gazebo, looks like a good place for wedding photos.

A thing of beauty, an old gnarly tree residing along a path.

This week I pieced more borders around the center medallion.

The prints are by Cotton & Steel, many of them from their 'Jubilee' collection.

It measures 54" x 45" here. Is it done? I've changed my mind before.

Lots of great inspiration packed into this book by Gwen Marston.

Hello from Rancho Palos Verdes, where we have clouds and light rain, refreshing!

This week we walked in the park, while the sun was still shining. The squirrels and park wildlife were entertaining. A little dog, on a leash of course, nearly lost its mind over the ducks.

Being inspired by Gwen Marston's book, Liberated Medallion Quilts, I cut and pieced borders onto the medallion of Yankee Puzzle blocks that I had declared 'done.' Sometimes in designing and piecing a quilt I get to a road block and declaring it done helps me put it away for a while until the creative juices get replenished/renewed. 

That Quilt Friends is the news from the rancho where pumpkin patches around town are beginning to take shape. What was it that Linus from Peanuts and the Gang used to get excited about this time of the year? I think it was keeping vigil for the coming of the Great Pumpkin , yes, that was it. 

Fall is a wonderful time.

What are your favorite fall past times you look forward to?

Remembering to be thankful.

I'll be by to visit.

Color and Design Progress Geometric Modern style Quilt with Borders and Fall!

Arrangement decisions begin.

More units added to the mix.

Possibilities....

Border candidates, yes, they're Kona Cotton solids!

Happy Friday!

Tomorrow is the first day of fall.

Quilt news this week; more arranging/design and color fun. 

I've been piecing units and cutting borders, etc. very busy. I'm working on several projects at the same time, for some reason I don't feel as pressured. I notice several of my blog quilt friends work the same way with good results.

If you're looking for inspiring color and process, I suggest visiting; Audrey, Donna , and Gwen Marston Quilts on Bing/Images. I like variety, it's the mix that makes an interesting recipe.

September weather on the coast has been fabulous. Coast breezes come up and clear the humidity, lovely.  

And that is the quilt news from the rancho where progress is being enjoyed and I'm getting into the fall mindset. The temperatures will start to cool down and then it's time to think of stews and roasted butternut squash. What's your favorite fall menus?  

I'll be by to visit.

Lovely Florals, Borders and Piecing Process All About Process.

Sweet floral and friends.

Four Patch and Sixteen Patch units for a new project.

Alice in Blue #1, big floral and black and white stripe contrasting borders.

I love this big floral by Cotton & Steel.

My Yankee Puzzle blocks pieced with prints and florals gets border pinned on.

Yankee Puzzle blocks, in previous post, ready for piecing.

Hello Quilt Friends!

From Rancho Palos Verdes where ocean breezes are keeping it relatively cool here.

Leah Day  always begins her YouTube videos with 'Hello My Quilting Friends'. I like watching her videos she's so calm and has good tips.

This week I thought Florals would be a good topic. In several of my projects I'm using florals, big and small. I like to contrast them with a solid, print or stripe fabric. Contrast shakes things up, adding interest, giving your eyes places to explore and places to rest.

First is my newest project with a sweet little floral contrasting nice with shirting plaid fabric, solids and a bird print. Four and Sixteen Patch units are in the piecing process, more on this later.

Then I got out my 'Alice in Blue 1' block because I love the big blue floral and the way it contrasts with the black and white stripe. Soon I'll get the 2nd Alice in Blue pieced then the fun will begin, stay tuned! They will be similar like sisters, not twins.

Also I'm piecing the borders onto my Yankee Puzzle blocks. I used florals and prints and the first border is a Kona Cotton navy, talk about contrast, we'll see how it all works out.

That is the buzz on the rancho where progress is being made and florals are being appreciated.

And I'm enjoying working slow, why do we always have to be in such a hurry to finish?

I want to be comfortable with the process. 

Comfortable enough to appreciate florals and experiment with contrast.

Remembering to be thankful.

I'll be by to visit!

Minimalist Modern Quilt, Geometric Design #2 Finish, Roots of Modern Art and What is it? Bright Modern Quilt Progress

New units Sixteen Patch blocks, arranging for contrast.

Finish, 16" x 29" Modern Quilt, Minimalist Geometric design, #2, machine quilted.

#2 MMG, Washed and dried for optimum texture.

The weather has been warm and mostly clear, Santa Monica Bay.

My Bright Modern Sampler Quilt, hand quilting in progress.

Hello, from Rancho Palos Verdes! Where summer's not over yet!

I know in a lot of areas the kids have gone back to school and be that as it may, here along the coast the weather has warmed up and the skies are mostly clear so it finally seems like summer. 

Sunglasses, flipflops and sun hats are still in use.

Last week I finished my small Modern Quilt experiment, Minimalist Geometric Design #2 or MMG#2. I know I have lots of fun naming my projects, I love words, some can relate, some can't.

Hand quilting progress on my Bright Modern Quilt has been made, slow but sure.

Last week I took time to research Mid Century Modern Abstract artists and found exciting examples of color and design. 

Ellsworth Kelly, John Mclaughlin, Ann Truitt and Karl Benjamin  are known for pioneering 'Hard Edge' design. 'Hard Edge' is 'a style that includes geometric shapes with clearly defined edges', opposite of Impressionism where color and line are blurred.

Their work 'emphasized line, color and form often using bright color.'

The 'big four' Los Angeles based classic artists of Geometric Abstraction, mid century were Karl Benjamin, Lorser Feitelson, John McLaughlin and Frederick Hammersley, 'they produced vibrant geometric abstractions.'

If you want some fun take time to research these artists and their amazing work.

There's a lot more to mid century art than Mondrian or Atomic.

That my quilt friends is the news from the rancho. 

Where I'm remembering to be thankful and getting to the roots of what 'Modern' art is really all about, it's still summer after all.

What have you worked on this week?

I'll be by to visit.

Quilt and Craft Fair at Piecemakers Country Store in Costa Mesa, CA

Craft fair in the parking lot of Piecemakers Country Store 8/17/2019.

Sign out front, Costa Mesa, CA.

View from right inside the front door! Evelyn Penfield teaches bear making classes.

Crazy quilt with lots of embroidery, pattern available.

This is a sampling of Evelyn's bear and animal patterns/classes available.

Classes in session.

Vintage quilt for sale.

Entrance to Piecemakers Country Store, it's huge.

Gorgeous home decor display room.

Embroidery threads/yarn display.

Vintage/antiques for sale.

Cozy display, vintage kitchenware for sale.

Hello from Rancho Palos Verdes where the summer weather is mostly cool and sunny.

Saturday the 17th was Craft Fair at Piecemakers Country Store  in Costa Mesa, CA. That's about a 45 min. drive south from where we are. I'd never been there before so a trip was in order. The craft fair, held in the parking lot, was full of beautiful things, from herbs to jewelry to ribbons, laces and much more.

Then the store itself was huge with two floors. The bottom floor had quilt fabric, yarn and embroidery threads, buttons, embellishments, patterns, books etc! and classrooms.

The top floor had vintage quilts and antiques for sale.

I had an exciting time, in fact everyone there was having a great time. The inspiration was thick!

That is one well run store.

I might have to move to Costa Mesa to be near that store! In fact, I'd love to teach there, now how to talk DH into that, hmmmm.

That, my quilt friends, is the news from the rancho, where summer adventures are happening.

What have you been up to?

I'll be by to visit.

Medallion Quilt Block 'Alice 2' with Final Border in Cotton & Steel's Wonderland Fabric, Improv Piecing and Today's Color Mix

'2nd Alice in Red' has her final border.

'Wonderland' red floral by Cotton & Steel.

Fun with borders, corner close up.

Improv piecing process, using scraps. This will be table runner size.

Here I've machine basted in orange thread, ready for machine quilting.

This is a color mix that excites me right now.

My improv table topper, 'Accounted 4', was an idea I wanted to work out, here it is with new binding color.

New binding in Snow, a Kona cotton solid, this is what I was looking for.

Here is my improv table topper, 'Accounted 4', with binding in Kona Cotton Ochre, it was okay but not what I wanted.

Happy Friday, Quilt Friends!

The summer weather has been mild and cool, no complaints here.

This week I added more to a newer improv table topper and got it ready to machine quilt. I wanted to use scraps and the same improv style I used on my 'Accounted 4' small quilt.

My small table topper 'Accounted 4' is just how I want it now with new binding. I had first sewed on its binding in 'Ochre' but I wasn't happy with the look and I kept putting off the inevitable. I knew I had to replace that binding. Diving in, I picked off the old binding and got the 'Snow' binding sewed on! Yes, just right!

Also, I was inspired by the summer sunset colors here and found an exciting color mix in my stash, just for fun. I know it's there when I'm ready.
What colors are getting your attention this week?

And that's the news from the rancho, where summer is being enjoyed and things are getting done, a little here and a little there.

And I'm remembering to be thankful for big things and small things.

I'll be by to visit!

Alice in Red Gets Final Borders,Yankee Puzzle Blocks Layout for Second Quilt, Quilt News Friday

'Alice in Red' medallion gets final border, top border not yet sewed on here.

I like this.

Yep!

Tagging rows before piecing.

Yankee Puzzle blocks in fun fabric by Cotton & Steel.

Happy Weekend!

Lots of busyness around here. I've managed to begin piecing rows for another Yankee Puzzle block quilt for another girl baby on the way! Lots of HSTs and fun fabric to look at.

Alice in Red #1 now has her final borders pieced on. I'm happy with how it turned out.

Borders can be tricky. I had to watch the final pressing and not stretch the border width wise.

Donna of Jordan Fabrics  has many good tutorials where she talks about being careful of just that.

This post is short, it's late and I need to relax after a long day.

That my quilt friends is the news from the rancho. 

Hope you're enjoying your summer and finding time for projects.

I'm remembering to be thankful,

and I'll be by to visit.