Clamshells Revisited

One look at Mayleen's bright and beautiful clamshell quilt was all it took and now I'm back working on mine.  My evening routine of a little hand quilting before bed begins after I stop by my sewing room to stitch down a clamshell or two. 

I was on a roll before spring arrived last year when my evenings suddenly turned into gardening time and quilting time was only found in stolen moments.  Will I finish my clamshell quilt before spring arrives this year?  Probably not, but that's okay, all in good time.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

March Clamshell Report

Great progress has been made this month as I stitched down 63 clamshells.  In other words, 201 of 720 are now pieced together.  With almost 10 rows completed, it is beginning to look like a quilt top, once all pieced together the clamshells will measure approximately a 65 inch square.  

The question is To Border or not to Border?  Without a border the focus would remain on the clamshells. With a border, I think it would have to have something special about it, so as not to be boring, but at the same time not to take away from the clamshells. 

I have plenty of time to think about it, but your suggestions are always welcome.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

February Clamshell Report









February turned out to be a very good clamshell month. Not only did I stitch down 35 clamshells, I also basted 135 more.  All the paper templates, except for around the edges, I removed as I stitched down the new shells.  I was nervous about doing this, but it worked out just fine and makes it so much easier to handle.  The clamshells also look much nicer with the basting thread gone.  I now have 138 clamshells pieced together.

Just out of interest, I started counting the minutes of the various stages of the clamshell process and concluded that I spend approximately 30 minutes with each clamshell.  Now, times that by 720 clamshells, I think I'm going to be busy for a very long time! 

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

A Little Bit of Orange

Road Trip

We covered miles and miles of road and enjoyed the fall foliage along the way.  Twelve quilt shops and 23 yards of fabric later, I had a very good time indeed.   Just one photo to show you, I seem to have taken a fancy to the colour orange.  Not everything was orange; I bought lots of other colours too!

Ring in the New!  BOM

I fell behind on my Ring in the New! BOM, but now I am caught up.  If you remember, I added an accent colour to the January and February block and thought I would do the same on the October block, but I do not like it, so the moon with be changed to black.

October

Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen,

Voices whisper in the trees, "Tonight is Halloween!"

D. Kozen

September

Mighty oaks from tiny acorns grow.

August

Whilst August yet wears her golden crown,

Ripening fields lush - bright with promise...

Michelle L. Thieme

Lucy

Left all alone in a very big world, how do things like this come to be?  Looking out my window exactly when I did, I guess it was meant to be.

Say cheese for the camera Lucy!

October Clamshell Report

October was not as productive a month as September when I started fresh and stitched 67 clamshells together, but I did squeeze in a little time and added 18 new clamshells to my quilt, for a total of 85.  Just 635 to go!

149 Klosjes Completed

4 made this week

I'm seeing more and more finished and near finished klosjes quilts and they are all so beautiful!  My background fabric will soon run out, but I have found a couple other fabrics that will match nicely.  My goal is to make 500 klosjes, and then I will start piecing them together.

Patchwork of the Crosses (POTC)

Shades of Autumn

Back to working on my POTC quilt, I did a rough count and believe I need 504 elongated hexagons for sashing and the border.  The thought of tracing and cutting out that many pieces from a plastic template is delightful! 

When witches go riding,

and black cats are seen,

the moon laughs and whispers,

‘tis near Halloween.

~Author Unknown

Well, it is time for some milk and cookies, and then back to my sewing machine.  Soon I will be finished Louisa and another one crossed off my list.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

September Clamshell Report

 

After reading Belinda's August report about a template/grid she made for placing her clamshells, I thought I would give it a try.  My grid is much more simplistic and on a smaller scale, as I am only adding one clamshell at a time, but how delighted I was with the results.  So delighted I decided to start my clamshells over again! 

Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over.  ~F. Scott Fitzgerald

As not to waste any clamshells, I will be taking apart the original 64 and can you imagine the fun I'm going to have doing that, and then I will recycle them back into my quilt.  My goal for September was to get back to the point I ended in August, which was 64 pieced clamshells.  I am happy to say 67 clamshells have been pieced together. 

If you asked me last month if I would make another clamshell quilt, the answer most likely would have been no, but if you ask me now, the answer most likely would be yes.  I never thought I would use the words, clamshell, easy and almost perfect in the same sentence.  What a difference a few lines on a piece of paper can make.   

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.

~Earl Nightingale

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

August Clamshell Report

Not that I am wishing the days away, but I do look forward to the end of the month to see the progress of other Clamshell Club members.  This is definitely a challenging, but fun project.  I must admit that on a couple of occasions I was more then willing to toss my clamshells overboard.  It may not be smooth sailing just yet, but I am feeling pretty pumped about my next round of clamshells.

This month I have increased my basting even more, changed my template some and I no longer draw seam lines on the front bottoms of my clamshells.  I think my tweaking days may soon be over.

65 inches wide

21 clamshells per row

64 of 720 pieced together

It's looking good and I love it!

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

July Clamshell Report

July started off real well and I finished the last half of rows one and two, for a total of 42 clamshells pieced together.  Then I basted the 21 clamshells needed for row three.  Lots of time passed by before the next 6 clamshells were pieced, and then it was time for my July report.  I know. I'm disappointed in me too! I even have a work table set up just for my clamshells, so I can get down to business at a whim.

My Quilter's Cut'n Press board is handy for keeping the clamshells straight; just wish it had a little more padding to hold the pins better.  And, speaking of pins, instead of applique pins to hold my clamshells in place well appliqueing, I am using Dritz Super-Fine Sharp Pins #110, they are longer and hold so much better. When I pin, I am just going through the fabric and not the paper template as it causes too many lumps and bumps and makes it hard to applique a nice rounded edge.

One thing I did chance since my June report was increasing my basting stitches.  This has made a world of difference.  A little more work, but worth it.  Also, I've been having a little bit of trouble getting my needle through some of the Asian fabric and I think I now know why.  No, not a dull needle, but the gold painted on the fabric.

A real pain in the bum is how stiff the paper templates make my rows of clamshells and how they keep falling off the edge of the table as I work.  Then I remember Jossie (I think it was Jossie?) saying how she rolls up her pieced clamshells as she works.  Oh yes, sooooo much better!!

As you can see, I did not take a picture of my progress to date, this way it will look so much more impressive next month!

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

June Clamshell Report

I had envisioned many completed rows of clamshells for my first clamshell report, but that soon faded to the hopes of stitching together the first two rows by the end of June. 

Sadly, I didn't reach my goal and ended up with about half of rows one and two stitched together.  I will be glad when the first two rows are completed as keeping them straight is not easy.  Row three should be a breeze after that!

I did get a little carried away cutting out clamshells and have 720 to use in my quilt.  So, I'm thinking 21 shells per row and about 34 rows should give me an almost square quilt.

Behind each clamshell is a paper template cut from card stock.  I pinned the template to the fabric clamshell and with a running stitch through the fabric only, I drew up on the thread to pull the fabric around the paper template. 

One thing I found with this is that it is hard to keep it nice and firm (as I tied the knot) and so the fabric is a little too loose for my liking.  Though I am getting better at keeping it firmer, I'm still not 100% happy with this method. 

Though more time consuming and more work to remove the paper templates later, I may start basting through both the fabric and template to hold the curved tops under.  Just for curiosity, last night, I basted the top edge of a clamshell down without a paper template behind it.  The fabric feels really stretchy to me and I wonder if I risk distorting the clamshell as I applique it down.  I will give it a try and see what happens.  

I also drew on seam lines with a wash out marker on the front bottoms of each clamshell to use for lining up the top edges of the next rows clamshells.  See blue clamshell in photo above.

In this photo you can see that I did baste through the fabric and paper template on clamshells in the top row, the reason being to keep them from coming undone as I proceed with the quilt.

The second row has been appliqued down.  I was very surprised at how easy it was to applique the clamshells with the paper templates behind them.  What I don't like about the paper templates is as my first two rows are getting longer the paper holds the clamshells stiff and you can't move it freely as you work.  But, this problem should be eliminated as I add more rows because just like piecing hexagons, you can remove the paper template as each hexagon (or in this case clamshell) is surrounded with other clamshells. Just clamshells on the outside edge will keep their paper templates until the quilt top is completed.

This is what the back looks like.  Once the next row goes on, I can then remove the paper template from the clamshell with the pin in it. 

Another concern of using paper templates is pinning through them for appliquing.  Sometimes the clamshell will move and you don't notice it until you are finished appliqueing it down.  Maybe used regular weight paper or freezer paper instead of card stock would be easier.

I was thinking of adding a border around my clamshells, but then I realized how large my quilt would be and thought twice about it. 

When I was in Shipshewana for the Quilt Festival I found this beautiful Asian fabric (Robert Kaufman - Imperial Collection - Screen Print #9917) and my clamshells came to mind.  Wouldn't this make a wonderful border?  So, I will just have to wait until all my clamshells are pieced together to see if it will work.

That's my progress so far.  I may change the way I do things as I go along, kind of trial and error like.  Suggestions are always welcomed.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen

A Blooming Good Time

In the garden.....

Magellanica Anemone

Tree Peony blooms .....

and  hexagon flowers for the month of May.

So, here it is, the last Wednesday of the month and the day I have selected to report my One Flower Wednesday progress.  I must say how inspired I am with all the beautiful flowers being made.  So inspired, I see a 1930's flower garden and one with a rich green background, in my future.

For the month of May, I exceeded my one flower a week and made a total of 9 flowers.  I am using a mix of Withering Heights and Mistletoe Manor, or so I think they all are!  As you can see, in the photo, my lilac blooms overtook my hexagon blooms, but I thought it made for a pretty neat picture.   I plan to piece my garden together with no separation between the flowers, very busy and kind of Monet inspired.

Welcome to the following new members: Sue, Judie, Tineke, Angelika, Pauline, Gayly, Auntie Em, Anita, Gerda, Sam, Nancy, Bente, Jeannine, Marianne, Joke, Gerda, Corrie, Sarah, Marlise, Cheryll, Martina, Yvonne, Heike, Marieke, Marion and Steffi for a total of 78 members.  Dianne (D. Kellock) please e-mail me your blog link so I can add you to the Garden Party list.

Members, if you have not seen my previous post about the Sign In sheet, please read.  With so many blogs to visit and not enough hours in the day, I'm hoping this will make things easier for you.  With so many beautiful flowers to see, I would not want you to miss a one!

If you need more hexagons in your life, check out:

Hexagon Charm Quilt Piece-Along

Look Diane, I was able to cut 123 clamshells out of your leftover Kimono quilt scraps.  They are just beautiful and I thank you for your kindness!  The Clamshell Club is scheduled to begin June 1 and by the end of the week, I should have around 800 clamshells ready for piecing.

100 Klosjes Completed

19 made last week

Here are a few more klosjes made from Miss Jump's Scrapbag.  It doesn't seem that long ago when I pieced together my first klosjes and look how many I have made now!

I read an interesting post on Vivian's blog about Moose Muffins, and the first thing that came to mind was my Postage Stamp quilt.  I'm a recycler and have a hanger full of Quilters' Compost waiting to be turned into tiny squares.  My box of squares will soon be full and when piecing begins on this quilt, I will have myself a Moose Muffin.

Until next week.....happy quilting!

Karen

Clamshells

They say patience and accuracy is what you require to make a Clamshell quilt.  Well, when it comes to hand piecing I have the patience, but I will just have to wait and see if I have the accuracy to keep my clamshells in nice straight rows.  It was not easy finding instructions for piecing and what I did find was not very detailed, then I stumbled upon Jossie's blog and her Clamshell quilt.  Needless to say, I had questions for her and now feel comfortable enough to begin my journey.

73

Klosjes Completed

7 made last week and 0 made this week

A Garden Party Report

This week, I sure needed a pick me up and it happened well on a garden tour. Wednesday and Thursday evening I visited all the members of the Garden Party and was delighted to no end.  Such beautiful flowers, created so lovingly and so very inspiring. 

I have put together an information page for One Flower Wednesday and will be updating it on a regular basis.  Also, I have moved the list of members from my sidebar to this page.  And, speaking of members, I would like to welcome Sharmayne, Lynn, Sharon, Bobby Ashley, Bep, Miriam, Marianna, Melissa, Joan, Marieke, Carol, Saskia, Cindy, Martina, Anita, Kathleen, Rockgranny, Sarah, Gisele, Jossie, Danetta,  Sheila and Heather to One Flower Wednesday.  We are now up to 42 gardeners! 

I feel very badly, but I have has to say no to a couple of people interested in joining.  Hexagons can be stitched together in so many ways and create so many beautiful patterns, but it's One Flower Wednesday and you have to be making traditional hexagon flowers. 

I look forward to touring the gardens again next week.  Did you know that 34 members posted this past Wednesday/Thursday?  How great is that!  Well, that's it for the Garden Party Report and remember you must post at least once a month.  Now, have yourself a blooming good day!

May
See the blossoms blooming sweetly!

And, thank you my sweet little sister for this memory of the past. 

Now, to find the perfect spot in the garden.

Until next time.....happy quilting!

Karen