Hello!

In my last post I mentioned going through photos on my phone to see what I had done creatively the last 6 months or so. I usually snap a photo of something I’ve made because I’m proud of the work I’ve done or I want to document it in some way.

At the beginning of November I went on a quilt retreat with one of the quilt guilds I’m in. On that retreat my goal was to work on an improv project of what I’m calling Chevrons. The basic idea is to free hand cut a triangle and then build off the triangle on the two sides, alternating strips.

This project was started at the same retreat last year. I made several blocks and then didn’t do anything with them until I was getting ready for the retreat. I made a couple more at home to refresh myself on the technique and to see if I liked how it was coming out. In total, I made 9 blocks. You can see 6 of them here on the wall at the retreat and my fish purse.

I did varying widths of strips and varying sizes of beginning triangles, ranging from wide to long and thin. After I had 6 of them up on the wall, I finished 3 more chevron rectangles, and assembled them together in a 9 patch. Then came the rumination. I didn’t love it and it was very busy. After a week or two and a consult with a twice monthly Zoom quilting group, I took them all apart to add something. I’m probably going to add sashing but I’m still unsure on the width and color of the sashing. It’ll have to go back up on the design wall and I’ll audition colors and widths of strips. It could make an interesting bed quilt but I didn’t end up loving it as much as I thought I would.

There were a couple other projects I made on the retreat. Pictured in the photo above is my fish purse. A bag in the shape of a fish with ruffle fins and a drawstring mouth. I have yet to put buttons on for the eyes.

And last but not least, I whipped up a quick but small tote bag and matching keychain wallet. I had most of the pieces already cut out so it went together pretty quickly and it was nice to have something that I could say I completed. I believe the exterior and lining fabrics for these bags were from Ruby Star Society as part of their woven line but I’d have to double check. They could also be woven fabrics from Fableism. Either way, both companies make lovely fabrics and I have a little stash of them.

Happy making!

Camille