kicks n’ giggles ~

MarveLes Art Studios Blogs, Sewing Loves 7 Comments

hi ~ 

these beautiful little splashes of color ~  pre-cut 5-inch squares are from my bernina thimble store here in great falls. the link above is to their facebook page, so perhaps you could give them a “Leslie sent me” and “like” their facebook page? {just for kicks}! 

they are the perfect {january} color pick-me-up!  and i kept it simple, don’tcha know when it came to stitching them up into rows of six squares each.  the finished piece will be similar to a small picnic table size, also great for a patio table, especially with these fabulous colors for spring or summer.

 i then stitched two borders onto the squares:

it’s time to make some decisions for that “quilt as desired” thing.  what i decided to do was to get out my square ruler, and mark squares on the diagonal in each of the four blocks, using my sewline chalk pens.  {love these pens}  depending on the color of the fabric, i chose an easy-to-see chalk color to mark the square. i have three pens, in yellow, white and green.  {and yes, i bought them at the bernina store here in great falls}.

 my chalked squares are set on the diagonal.  and they don’t coincide perfectly with the size of the squares.  and i realized that from the beginning, but i’m okay with it.  i wanted to deliberately have uneven, ‘left over space’ in between the squares to quilt. {just … to see what i could see…} 

and to keep me thinking about open spaces more creatively.

what i desire to quilt, and what i actually will end of with will be a bit of a surprise.  i don’t have anything pre-planned.  i just want to quilt a specific design that brings visual texture and pattern to these simply pieced blocks.  

i’m not sure that will be accomplished… but i do know that i have something “real” to practice on… and improve from.  that is my real goal.  i’m not much for always practicing on muslin, although i think that is a valuable tool as well.

next time, i’ll be showing a couple sketches/quilting ideas for putting what i hope will be an interesting pattern into these diagonal four-patch, “visual” blocks.  i’m talking about the style of quilting you can see here: the sew kind of wonderful blog and quilting is my therapy blog}. and yes… they are long-armers, but i think there is so much inspiration there!   

just for kicks and giggles.  

{let’s hope it’s more giggles, than kicks}

and that it will {still} be a fun and colorful picnic table cover. 

xo
leslie

Comments 7

  1. Hi Leslie,

    you have a wonderful blog…your works are so beautiful…but my english ist noch so good;-)

    Greatings from Germany

    Blumige Sonntagsgrüßle
    ♫•*(¯`v´¯)¸.•*✿ღ
    *◦.(¯`:✿!:´¯) ✿ღ
    *✿.(_.^._)*•.¸¸.•
    ______________
    Klaudia

  2. I spent a year sewing FMQ practice on muslin and now feel that I really need to slap together something simple to keep my skills up and keep learning, as you say. Your whole cloth table runners are a great idea for practice too.

  3. Oh what fun! The colors are sew beautiful and I love the border trim. I think I am ready to fly to MT to get in a class from you! I need a tutor for sure! I want to learn so darn bad and not sure what to start with. You are amazing Leslie, and I love how you blog and share. Thank you, thank you!

  4. I think you will find it easy once you have put those first few stitches in – they are the scary ones. Start with a favourite pattern right in the middle of the piece and let it grow from there.
    Have fun – looking forward to see what you decide
    Maga

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