My Quip – Quilts and Wall Hangings In Progress – Swai Mulligan Stew

Good Day,

Walking The Pack, there appears to be twice the number of squirrels and possums roaming the yards and trees. Of course, when I walk four canines; two Rat Terriers; a Manchester Terrier (+ or -), and a Labrador Retriever, all believe that each is the neighborhood’s resident rodent catcher. And spectacularly they decide to chase a rodent each in all directions of the compass.

As I am walking and managing myself as a human May pole, recipes for dinner are racing through my head. Squirrel Mulligan Stew, maybe? What about Grilled Possum Mulligan Stew?

Well I am not into trapping, catching, skinning, and cleaning ferocious wild critters. Guess I’m no Beverly Hillbilly. Nor am I an 1899 hobo squatting around an open fire… Check out Mulligan Stew on Wikipedia. Mulligan Stew appears to have roots, no pun intended, in Ireland.

But I did come across a 1978 Family Circle recipe for Cod Mulligan. And of course, we didn’t have any cod. Just Swai. Vietnamese catfish. Bacon, Vidalia onions, Red potatoes, Carrots, Lima beans, Chicken broth, Celery seed, Salt, and Cornstarch. Great Swai Mulligan… The food choice world is just getting smaller - Irish Vietnamese Stew.

We are in at a pause in our quilting work. Replacement tracks for our longarm machine are on order. The domestic machines and computers are being kept busy.

Here is our current Quilts SB quilts and wall hangings in progress.

• The Amulet – Reworking quilting
• Astro-Physics – Pieced and in design
• Blumish – Pieced and in design. Working with superimposition.
• Mauk II – In construction
• Blue Chambray – Top and embroidery completed
• I Really Love Lucy – In design. Quilting pattern developed
• Who Did Desi Adore? – 84 of 96 blocks completed
• Gunta Stölz – In design
• Rán – In design
• Joseph’s Coat – Top completed
• Joseph’s Ladder Pants – Pieced and in design
• Batique OM I - In construction
• Batique OM II – In construction
• Civil War Re-enactment II – In design
• Just Trees – Back completed. Painting in process
• Orange Peel Indian Summer – Top competed
• Hexi-Abuelita – Template chosen
• Pocket Full of Miracles – In design
• Gran’s Reminiscences – In design
• Eagle – Design completed and fabric colors chosen
• Test 40 – Design in process,Thread and 18 fabrics chosen
• EssbeeMod – Design in process, 10 fabrics chosen

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

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My Quip – Six Essbee Quilts Go To Delaware and Virginia

Good Day,

A number of Quilts SB quilts have made their ways to their new homes in Delaware and Virginia. It wasn't too long after their respective arrivals that the quilts were claimed and sequestered.

To Delaware, Noël Green Coins (Q19).

To Virginia, Pink, Sister Number 2 (Q31);

Rose, Sister Number 3 (Q37);

Blue, Sister Number 4 (Q38);

Green, Sister Number 5 (Q39); and

BTTC (Q28).

All six quilts were a part of our Evolution -1+2 display… and well received at our Trunk Show presentation at the Quilters’ Workshop of Tampa Bay.

And now back to quilting… and genealogy.

Enjoy,

Jim

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My Quip – I Really Love Lucy – The Construction Begins

Good Day,

The construction of the blocks for I Really Love Lucy is in progress. We did take a break to welcome CK’s remarkable and stupendous arrival. And he and parents are doing extremely fine and glowing. 12072012, a new number to remember.

The following is my draft design of the original configuration of the key block for our new I Really Love Lucy quilt.

The colors have been coordinated with our original piece and abstract mosaic, Who Did Desi Adore? All fabrics are of Robert Kaufman’s line of Kona Cotton solid colors. Each block is to be assembled using paper-pieced and segmented piecing.

Here is Andy’s completed 8 ½” square, unsewn.

The composition of I Really Love Lucy will be a configured design of 96 blocks.

Stay-tuned for our progress and updates.

Enjoy,

Andy and Jim

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Q103 – Aka Kumquat’s Lorax – A Quilt

Good Day,

Well our new quilt is forth-telling. Aka Kumquat’s Lorax is now complete… in preparation. And may we present to you, Aka Kumquat’s Lorax.

 

And Grandson is just about to make a grand entrance. What else can we say?

Inspired by Robert Kaufman’s recent fabric line, The Lorax by Dr. Suess Enterprises, and Denyse Schmidt's 1996 What a Bunch of Squares we have designed and constructed our Aka Kumquat’s Lorax quilt.

The dimensions of Aka Kumquat’s Lorax are: Width – 46 ¾ ” (112 cms) by Length – 58” (152 cms). (You’ll have to wait for Grandson’s.) We are using five of the fabrics from The Lorax line. And Mother and Father are doing just fine.

Check out the quilting; 278,055 stitches. We've attempted quilting in the negative space. Thanks, Angela Walters. From The Modern Quilt, "Negative space is the unoccupied area that surrounds the objects, shapes, or forms in a composition." And one of The Lorax fabrics, called "The Lorax Organic Thneed Factory", with the negative spaces quilted looks like The Lorax meets our Colored Windows. Oh and by the way, a "Thneed" is defined as "A multi-purpose object knitted from the tufts of the truffula tree." Thank you Dr. Suess.

Such a small quilt such a lot of thread... thneed.

And here are a number of other images and close-ups.

Enjoy,

Grampa and GrAndy

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My Quip – I Really Love Lucy – More Prep Work

Good Day,

1,632 pieces of cut fabrics… Take one down and sew all around…

Robert Kaufman’s line of Kona Cotton solid colors. 96 templates 8-inch blocks. Segmented and paper piecing. Squares, rectangles, irregular quadrilaterals, polygons, trapezoids, equilateral and obtuse triangles. I Really Love Lucy.

And yes, I do know that these fabric pieces all look like squares and rectangles. This is the before picture. Stay tuned for the after one.

Approximate top dimensions, without border or binding: Width – 64” (162.6 cms); Length – 96” (243.8 cms). Our I Really Love Lucy quilt size, at this Post equates to somewhere between a long twin and a double.

And now for the Quilts SB business part…

If you are interested, and would like some more information regarding commissioning your quilt and of our available quilts, regarding costs, shipping, and insurance, please check our Quilts SB Etsy shop.

Keep up-to-date of all Quilts SB news. I have added a “Follow By Email” capability at the bottom right of each posting under The Grid. You can also become a Follower of Quilts SB. Click on the “Join this site” to follow Quilts SB. I’ve added another means to follow the images of our quilt creations via Pinterest.

Check out my alternative format of Quilts SB, Quilts SB Test. Certainly would appreciate your feedback.

To see previously posted quilts, there is a visual Grid presentation at the bottom of the Quilts SB page. Move your cursor over any mini-picture found there and click to see an enlargement. Move your cursor to the "Q#" link to see the quilt's details. If the quilt’s title is highlighted in yellow or in red, it has found a home in a collection and is no longer available.

If you have any questions and/or comments please feel free to get in touch with me via email.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy

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My Quip – Happy Canada Day – I Really Love Lucy – Our New Quilt Project and Original Design

Good Day,

Happy Canada Day...


And of course we have begun a new quilt – I Really Love Lucy. This original design is sort of a companion quilt - piece to our wall hanging, Did Desi Love Lucy?

All the fabric has arrived, David Kaufman’s Kona line of solid colors. All our choices of fabric in Did Desi Love Lucy? will be a part of the construction of I Really Love Lucy. At last count there are 20 fabric colors and shades.

Whereas Did Desi Love Lucy? is an abstract mosaic wall hanging, I Really Love Lucy is a fractured geometric designed quilt. Our creation is a segmented paper pieced construction. It will be composed of 96 8” (20.32 cms) squares, and each square will be constructed with at least 17 fabric pieces. At this stage of the design that is approximately 1,632 pieces of fabric.

We have been working on and drawing the patterns for each individual block. And just to keep you in the dark a wee bit longer the above image is a configuration of eight individual block patterns superimposed on top of each other.

As with a good portion of our quilt creations, the final I Really Love Lucy quilt can be used as a wall hanging, a throw on a bed, or an accent piece in a home.

You will have to check Quilts SB for updates.

Enjoy,

Andy and Jim

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