Squirrely Trish

 

Created for Project Quilting This or That Bonus Challenge. Orphan blocks is one of my favorite quilt types. So I decided to go with that here. However, as I went through my orphan blocks, I realized I'd already used alot of them this year. Orphans in Pink and Warm Orphan Ombre were both created for Project Quilting this year. So, I decided to make some blocks. My first mistake was trying to plan them so some were light and some were dark because I saw light coming across the quilt. Wrong idea. Make some blocks, then decide how they fit. Better idea. Also take some of those too boring blocks and cut them up and make them into new blocks. Definitely better. 

I added a textural tree because I love them and it adds an extra dimension to the quilt. And also some little squirrels cut from the bundle fabric and fused on.

Created by Diane Lapacek in rural Poynette, WI.

31" x 35"

 

Squirrely Kim

 

 

Created for the Project Quilting This or That bonus challenge. Full disclosure here. Kim is my daughter-in-law. When she was dating my son, they would come for dinner at our house once a week. Then the guys would clean up the kitchen and I taught Kim to quilt. I helped her learn the basics and then she inspired me to be more creative. The ideas flying through her head always amazed me. They still do. So I got her bundle. Actually, I got Trish's, too, and Kim bought them both for me for my birthday in January. I decided to make both of them in the style of me. I love super scrappy. And Squarey has been a favorite of mine ever since Kim made a Squarey quilt for her bed many years ago. So Squarey it is for the Kim bundle. 

Then, because I could and I love textural add-ons, I added a tree. I used multiple fibers and twisted them together and stitched them down to a foundation, cut it out and sewed it on.

And I thought it should have a squirrel (or three), so I cut some out from the squirrel fabric in the bundle and fused them on.

In the interest of full disclosure, here's the rest of the story. I originally hung this quilt the other say so it had a branch coming across from the right instead of a tree. I took photos and was playing with them when I decided that I liked it turned this way better. It meant removing a couple of smaller branches that would have been too low on the tree when turned this way. I also had to cut away the hanging sleeve and add a new one to a different side. And I had already fused down the squirrels. I heated them up with the iron and pulled them off. I wasn't sure how it would work, but it was fine. There was only one spot that I ironed with a paper towel over it to remove the excess stickiness. A quilt is never finished until it's finished, after all. 

Created by Diane Lapacek in rural Poynette, WI.

35" x 27"

Button Blooms

 Created for Project Quilting 16.6 Button it Up challenge.

What a fun challenge! This is why I love Project Quilting. A new challenge comes out and you create something you had never imagined before. And, before you know it, your walls are filled with amazing quilts.

I was immediately excited about this challenge because I have a dishpan full of buttons that I've collected over the years. And using something that has been on a shelf for a long time always makes me happy. Of course, I started with a crazily pieced background. After all, why would anyone use one piece of fabric when 50 will do. I layered it and quilted it with wavy lines going top to bottom, then pulled out my buttons. Some were handmade, many had been recycled from things headed for the rag bag and many had come from who knows where. I chose a few to get started, then found some fibers to make stems, adding knots to them to make them a little more interesting.

Created by Diane Lapacek in rural Poynette, WI.
12" x 24"

Which Way???

 Created for Project Quilting 16.5 Follow Your Arrow challenge.

For this challenge I created string blocks with arrows in assorted sizes, then put them together pointing every which way. Then I quilted it with lines that went every which to add to the confusion. Of course. it needed to be named Which Way??? And, although it's not my favorite, I like it way better than I thought I would. 

Created by Diane Lapacek in rural Poynette, WI.

14" x 27"

Garnet Coasters

 Created for Project Quilting 16.4 Birthstone Challenge.

Interesting week around here. Suddenly it's Thursday and I have not made a start on this challenge. So, time to do something totally not me. No orphan blocks, no string quilting, no crazy scrappiness. Just some cute little coasters.  I've seen these around and decided to go for it. A couple hours later, I was done. 

Created by Diane Lapacek in rural Poynette, WI.

Each is 4" x 4".

Orphans in Purple and Pink

 Created for Project Quilting 16.3 Common Blocks Challenge.

This challenge said you must incorporate 3 common quilt blocks into your challenge. As I considered which common blocks to use, it occurred to me that I probably had many common blocks in my orphan block baskets. The pink and purple basket called my name and, not surprisingly, it had common blocks in it.
Flying geese in multiple styles, log cabin, shoo fly, pinwheel and even some pieces from New York Beauty blocks. Back in 2020, I was obsessed with New York Beauty blocks. When I had had enough of them, I ended up with some that were not completed. Not sure why. Anyhow, they were in with my orphan blocks along with anything else that had been sewn together and not used for whatever reason.

I made Warm Orphan Ombre for PQ 16.2 and decided I would make another for 16.3. So I puzzled them together on my design wall and started stitching it together, using strips and smaller pieces to make it all fit.

By late Wednesday, I had it sandwiched and started with some fancy quilting in the white areas where it would really show. Thursday morning I looked at the rest of my week and decided I needed an unconventional approach to get it all done on time. So I added some simple quilting that held all parts of the quilt stable, then added the binding. I started the hand sewing in the car while heading to a basketball game.

Friday I added more quilting, working the areas that looked like they needed it most first. After lunch we headed to pick up our grandson who was coming to Poynette to go to a Badger hockey game and spend the night with his cousins. I finished the binding and trimmed as many threads as I could find during the drive. Saturday morning I added some more quilting before leaving to go to my mother-in-laws 100th birthday party. Amazing lady! Amazing day! 

So this morning I just had to photo and post this. My quilt is done. (It might be a little more done next week if I decide to add some more quilting, but for now it's done.)

Created by Diane Lapacek in rural Poynette, WI.
39" x  47"

Warm Orphan Ombre

Created for Project Quilting 16.2 – Ombre – Challenge 2 of Project Quilting season 16.

I have never used a true ombre fabric, but I have made many quilts that use this effect. Often it's a rainbow theme floating across the quilt. That was my first thought here.  I actually started on a few blocks, but it didn't feel right. Too boring. Looks like I made a few new orphan blocks...

AHA!!! Orphan blocks! I have a couple of baskets of them. You know, all those blocks or parts of blocks or any pieces that got sewn together and not used. I had been messing with them a couple of months ago and stuck some up on my design wall, but was uninspired. I ended up sorting them by warm and cool, then putting them away because I wasn't feeling it. Maybe I could make something from them that would work here. Now, the rules for Project Quilting do say your project must be started and finished during this week. Yes, I know. I consider my orphan blocks to be pieces of fabric I previously made for myself. They have been sitting in a basket waiting to be used in something special. Much as my ONE ROOM of uncut fabric is waiting to be used. The biggest goal of Project Quilting has always been to inspire creativity. So, I think this is legal. If not, oh, well. There are no prizes and if there were I wouldn't be eligible because Kim, our brilliant Project Quilting creator, is my daughter-in-law. :)

On to my process. I started by placing blocks on my design wall starting with lights in the top left and going darker diagonally across and down. I had a few blocks that were half dark and half light. Didn't really fit anywhere in the layout. Some I cut and used only part or used both parts in separate areas of the quilt. I got close to the dimensions I wanted and started sewing together in sections. I added fabric or cut pieces from the remaining orphans to make things fit, squaring up each section. I didn't hesitate to just trim away a quarter or half inch or whatever of anything that was a little long. I love this process. It's kind of like putting a puzzle together, only, in the case, I can just cut something to fit.

In the end, I now have a small lap quilt that used half the orphans in the warm basket. I consider that a win and am inspired to go at the cool basket next. 

Created by Diane Lapacek in rural Poynette, WI.
40" x 58"

1. 
   

New Life on the Outside

 Created for Project Quilting 15.3 Inside Out challenge.

When I saw this challenge my first thought was a simple rag quilt. After all, I had a stack of flannel squares already cut and I'm trying to use up all that random stuff.  And it fit the challenge. I even started it, but after a couple of hours I was bored. I reminded myself that Project Quilting was created to inspire all of us to do something special we wouldn't have done. So I dumped the rag quilt and decided to honor the challenge.

I have lots of things INSIDE baskets and boxes and drawers that I thought I might take OUT someday to be part of a quilt that would make me happy. Things that were too cool to just throw out, because, hey, I've made some pretty special quilts in the past using things any normal person would have thrown away long ago.

I decided to start with this one. It's an old picnic basket with selvages and shreds, which are strips of  fabric too skinny to be sewn in with a seam. Basically, anything less than 1 inch wide. I thought I could make a background. I cut squares to use as foundations, then took selvages and shreds that were "white" from INSIDE the basket and brought them OUT to live forever in my quilt. I made a decision to not iron or clip the loose threads from anything that came out of the basket. After all, I was looking for a very casual, raggedy look.  I laid them on one at a time and used one line of stitching down the middle of each, then sewed the squares together rail fence style.

I chose more pieces form the same basket, but decided I needed a little more pizzazz, so I went to my dresser full of treasures.

 

Yes, It's a dresser. But only the top 2 drawers are full of cool things. Fibers and ribbons and miscellaneous trims. Anything I thought was interesting enough to possibly use in the future.

That shiny red thing on the right is the foil bag from the Smithfield ham we ate last week. Don't judge. It might be something really cool in a future PQ quilt. I took miscellaneous stuff from INSIDE here and brought them OUT along with more selvages and shreds and created the vine running down my quilt, then wound pieces around my fingers and stitched them down to create the flowers. It's starting to make me happy! Now for some leaves.

  

I chose a collection of greens from INSIDE both the basket and the dresser and brought them OUT, then cut them into shorter pieces and sprinkled them on a piece of a damaged vintage tablecloth that I had previously dyed green. I laid a piece of solvy (water soluble stabilizer) on the top and used lots of free motion stitching to hold the pieces in place, wet it down to dissolve to solvy, and cut out leaves.

After stitching the leaves to the quilt, I figured I was getting close. Maybe some viny things. Pieces of fibers and ribbons curved around and scouched down. Almost there. 

I found another box with lots of flowers and yoyos and whatever that I had previously made. I usually have an idea and just start making parts. I preview them on the quilt and decide what stays and what does not. Often pieces are left over. 

I found a few little flowers INSIDE this box that wanted to come OUT and be added as the final touches on my quilt. Kind of like little flower buds .For some reason this closeup is upside down and for some reason I can't turn it right side up and it's my bedtime. :)

So, in the end, I have a quilt that makes me happy. I used some of the things that have been languishing INSIDE my sewing studio and brought them OUT where they can be enjoyed. 

Created by Diane Lapacek in rural Poynette, WI

16" x 32"

Sky Colors

 Created for Project Quilting 15.2 Sky Color challenge.

I started with a quick pull of fabrics I thought fit the Sky Color theme.

I simply cut a 5 inch square from each, then stacked them in 3 separate piles. One pile was cut at 1.5 inches, one at 2 inches and the last at 2.5 inches. I worked with one pile at a time putting the top piece from one stack on the bottom and sewing them all back together. 

After all were done, I mixed them all together and made them into 3 new piles. Each pile was cut  perpendicular to the first cut, again using 1.5, 2 and 2.5 cuts. then sewed them back together working on one pile at a time and moving one piece from the top of one stack to the bottom.

Created by Diane Lapacek in rural Poynette, Wi.

11" x 33"

Easter Egg

 Created for PQ 13.6 Flying Geese challenge. 

Of course, I did flying geese for 13.5. So my challenge this week was to find something new to do that would work for the remaining space on my hallway wall. It needed to fit next to that 8.5 x 11 piece I did for the last challenge. And since I never want to make pieces that will hang side by side the same size, it needed to be smaller. Why not the same size? Because if they're not hung perfectly, it's really obvious. Precision hanging is not my superpower. Why invite frustration if you can avoid it?

I thought of geese in the round, but didn't want a square. Not the right fit for the space. Maybe an oval with geese in spiral. After sketching, I decided on 2 spirals going outward with lights and colors reversed on the second spiral. 

Not the most fun paper piecing I ever did. Some of those pieces are really small. Also, I will confess, this is not one of my favorite pieces. In retrospect, I think only 2 colors, or 4 with 2 on each spiral would have been more dramatic. No, I am not going to make another.  And, note to self, when you sketch something kind of complicated, always make a copy of it before you cut it apart to paper piece.

Many times with these challenges a name for the quilt has popped into my head early in the process. Not so this time. Not a clue. As I finished it, I thought it looked like an Easter egg. So Easter Egg it is.

I have been staging the PQ 13 quilts together on a spare bed. I forgot to account for the light switch, so my planned arrangement went out the window. Finally I ended up with this. A great memory of this season of Project Quilting. 

Created by Diane Lapacek in rural Poynette, WI.

7" x 10"

Yoyos and Geese in Rhythm

Created for Project Quilting 13.5 Rhythm and Repetition challenge.

When I saw this challenge, I thought it was perfect for this busy week.  Trish has done a really great job with the challenges year. Of course, she always does, but this year she pretty much hit what I needed to meet my goal of a really great display at the end of my hall. And, as you know, it's all about me.

I had some time Monday and Tuesday, but needed to be ready to leave town early Wednesday morning. Rhythm and Repetition! Easy! I grabbed a sheet of paper and sketched some geese flying across it. Paper pieced them in rainbow on black, then looked for a great background fabric. 

OK. So I'm not into one background fabric. Or one of anything. I'm the, "Why would anyone use 5 fabrics when 50 will do?" type of girl. Or, at this point, old lady. And it's only noon on Monday. I need to make this more interesting.  After all, it's for MY wall. So, I took another piece of paper and drew some lines on it and paper pieced a background. 

OK. I'm not out of time yet. I thought some black circles would add some extra interest. I would make them from black fabric and fuse them on. Of course, my iron picked this moment to die. Wouldn't heat. Thought about giving it up, but then I realized I could make yoyos and they wouldn't require heat. Printed some circle templates and threw some black fabrics and bright buttons in a travel sewing bag. 

Today we drove from Wisconsin to Cincinnati. Cloudy most of the day. Perfect for some hand sewing. I made yoyos in graduated sizes. (You know, rhythm and repetition.) 

I attached them with bright buttons for centers. The criteria here was size and variety because enough is enough and all this structure is getting to me. I really needed something random, so I added that one little car I found in my button collection. 

Obviously, my sewing machine was not available in my car, so I had to attach everything by hand. I don't object to some hand work, but if you put these on by machine, you can hold the yoyo in place, add a few stitches, then put the button on top, hold it straight and stitch it on. By hand, the first stich doesn't hold anything straight and you have to fight with every stitch to keep the button the way you want it. Good thing I had lots of free time in the passenger seat today. By the way, it's really fun to sew these things on in your lap. I only sewed the quilt to my pant leg once, after all. I used my phone as a tray to hold the buttons and yoyos and only had to remake a couple that got lost. When I find them eventually and I'll have a head start on another project. Or the next owner of our car (which is being traded in for one that's supposed to manufactured next week) will get a bonus. Maybe they will inspire the new owner to become a quilter. You never know.

I made one row and decided I needed another on the other side. Kind of wanted to put all the bigger ones on the same end, but they didn't fit right there, so I reversed them. Great rhythm. Very happy with the end result and it's only Wednesday night. I'm here in my hotel room texting with 3 sisters, a brother, and my daughter and finishing this up. (And my oldest granddaughter just chimed in, too.) Life is good. Off for sibling time for a few days. Never enough of that.

So, after all of this, I'm looking at my piece and thinking maybe I should hang it the other way. You know, vertical instead of horizontal. For some reason I think I like that better. Sometimes quilts have a mind of their own. Hmmmm. 

I'm not home and can't check out what this does to the arrangement that is now 5 quilts big to go on the wall in my hall. I had thought this would be the last one and PQ 13.6 would be a stand alone project. When I get home, I'll check that out. Some buttons would need to be shifted, but I think I could just turn them a quarter turn, hold them in place and stitch by machine. And 13.6 would probably need to be added to the wall. We'll see. For now, I'm good.

Created by Diane Lapacek in rural Poynette, Wisconsin, and on the road between Poynette and Cincinnati.

I don't have a tape measure here, but I'm guessing the size is pretty close to 8.5" x 11" since that's the size of the paper I started with.

A Garden of Diamonds

 Created for Project Quilting 13.4 Mining for Diamonds challenge.

When this challenge came out, I thought, "Trish has been in my brain." I'd been seeing a diamond quilt in my head for days. Of course, the quilt in my head was bed size and this one needs to fit in the arrangement I’m making for the end of my hall and one week of time. So, maybe a diamond background with something on top to make it worthy of my wall.

I started making background diamonds while working it out I my mind. Flowers lodged in my brain and refused to leave. Not “In Silhouette”. I’ve already done that twice. 3D Flowers are one of my things. Haven’t done any in a while and they’ll look great in my hall. But they cannot go on a background of brightly colored diamonds. 

New plan. Diamond flowers. I started with strips of fabric cut with a wavy rotary cutter blade. I ran them through the ruffler attachment on my sewing machine to gather them, and sewed them in layers around diamond shaped bases. Add some beads for flower centers. Pretty fun.  

By now, I’m running out of time, so the background is one piece of fabric quilted in diagonal lines to create a diamond effect. Stems were made of assorted green fibers twisted together. I fused green fabrics together and cut them into diamond shapes for leaves. Finished the binding just as time ran out on my Friday. 

We were on the road at 8am this (Saturday) morning and I got some pictures just before we left.  Our 10 year old granddaughter, Pip, did us proud today in her biggest basketball tournament of the year and I’m so glad we were there. We should be home by about 9 pm and I’ll add in the links and pictures and get this posted. (I’m working on my iPad and need my laptop to do that tricky stuff and, of course, it picked this week to refuse to work unless plugged in.) Tomorrow it’s back to the tournament. Life is good. I’ll get to that other diamond quilt one of these days.

Created by Diane Lapacek in rural Poynette, Wisconsin.

14" x 33"

Good Morning, Capri!

 

Created for Project Quilting 13.2 In Silhouette challenge.

I saw this challenge and thought I'd made the perfect quilt a couple of weeks ago. A Tree for Me  would have fit perfectly for this challenge. I walked into my kitchen and told my husband he could take the quilt down from above the sink and I'd photo it and be done. He was willing, but I knew that was cheating. The quilt was On the Road Again which I had created for the Season 7 I need a Vacation challenge. 

Time to quit whining and come up with something new. I thought maybe a tall flower on a long skinny quilt would look good in the grouping I'm planning for the wall at the end of the hallway. I scouted lots of flower pictures and clip art, but nothing felt right. Maybe I could find a picture to use. Looking through my photos I found some pretty cool pics I took as we crossed the Mackinac Bridge. Maybe. Then I came across this one. 

It features my granddaughter, Capri, and Freedom and Froto, the bottle babies Capri and her sister Pip raised. Capri is our crazy animal girl and this picture is really her.  I would name the quilt Good Morning, Capri! 

The photo needed some work. The goat on top was jumping onto her back from the tree stump, but I thought having the goat standing on her back would make a better silhouette. The goat on the ground needed to move over so he looked like he was going to give Capri a kiss. And Capri is faced toward the camera, so she had no face in silhouette. I tried drawing her one, but I have finally learned that I am an artist, but that doesn't mean I can draw. Capri was playing basketball out of state, so I sent her Dad a message and asked him to get me a straight on profile shot of her. 

Perfect! I cropped out her head, made it the right size and it was just what I wanted. A piece of hand dyed fabric became the sunrise. I thought a tree would be a nice add, because I'm into trees and there are pretty good tree silhouettes in the original picture, but anything I tried just took away from the main focus, so I stopped there.

Created by Diane Lapacek in rural Poynette, Wisconsin.

12" x 16"

A Tree for Me

 Created for Project Quilting 13.1 All The Colors challenge.

This is the greatest challenge ever! All the colors! That’s my favorite combination! I decided on a pretty simple squarey quilt. Also one of my favorites. Random sized blocks and free form using fabric from my strips and strings basket. 

Made kind of a cute little quilt, but I challenged myself to make quilts that could go together on the wall at the end of my hallway. I had a pretty cool autumn tree quilt hanging there, but sold it last fall. The quilt was called Confetti Fall and was made for a project quilting confetti challenge back in Season 7. 

So I wanted to add something extra to this one. Trees are also a frequent theme for me, so a tree it is. I built it on a piece of dark fabric. I love texture, so I pulled out brown things from my embellishment collection, which is just a drawer (or 2 or 3) full of things like ribbon and yarn and hand dyed fibers and found items like a plastic mesh bag from a ham or something. 

I cut out the tree and stitched it down on the quilt. Made the time for completing the piece twice as long, but I think it’s wall worthy. 

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI.

25”x21”

Fussy Flowers

 Created for Project Quilting 12.2 - Fussy Cut challenge.

Fussy cut is so not my thing. I guess that's why you do a challenge. To inspire you to do something that you wouldn't otherwise. 

I searched my stash to find anything that was worthy of fussy cutting. Not much. Then, at the bottom of a pile I found a small piece left from some Spoonflower fabric that my daughter-in-law, Kim, had given to me a few years ago.  It was made by manipulating a picture of one of my quilts. 

There were pictures of a shredded flower, so I fussy cut them, then made string pieced triangles to fill in the background.

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI.
11" x 28"

Illuminated Argyle

 Created for the Project Quilting 12.1 – Illuminating + Ultimate Gray challenge.

Illuminating and Ultimate Gray.  So not my thing. That's only 2 colors and one of them is gray, which is not really a color at all! 

The next day as I passed through my living room, I saw the Argyle Answer hanging on the wall. Hmmmm. I made this one for the PQ9.2 Triangulation challenge.

This could work. So I went looking for grays.  In spite of them not being my thing, but I did have quite a few in my collection. Lots of equilateral triangles in gray and one row of illuminating yellows giving it some life.

Quilted with randomly spaced diagonal lines in various shades of yellows and grays.

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI

18"x41"

Fly Away

Created for Project Quilting 11.4 Birds in the Air Challenge.

I knew I was short of time for this challenge, so a table topper seemed to be the thing.  I made three birds in the air blocks, then added some extra half square triangles and called it a day.

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, Wisconsin.

Go Team Granddaughters!

Created for Project Quilting 11.2 Team Colors challenge.

It's the middle of basketball season and there's nothing I would rather do for entertainment than to see my beautiful granddaughters play basketball this time of year.  And this is the weekend of the marathon basketball tournaments!  Five tournaments in 2 days! Three tournaments today! 9 total games, and we got to see at least part of 8 of them.  I was so proud of all of my girls.  Tomorrow 2 tournaments with 2 girls and we have it figured so we can see at least 4 games.What a great weekend!  All our girls (at least the ones who play basketball (The littlest one will be 2 months old real soon. Whatever she wants to do is fine with me. :) were awesome. They are learning so fast.)

Anyhow, back to Project Quilting. When I saw team colors, I knew it had to be black and orange. In Poynette, all our teams wear black and orange, and I grew up in Belmont, WI, where the colors were also black and orange. I created free form log cabin blocks in black and white using strips and strings from my stash. I added strip pieced circles from my stash in honor of the basketball players in my life.

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI.

31" x 31"

Triangle Sequence

Created for Project Quilting 11.1 Notably Numeric challenge.

I decided on a triangle sequence as the inspiration for this challenge. A triangle sequence is pretty simple.  1, 1+2, 1+2+3, 1+2+3+4, etc.  I created a triangle with this sequence, then decided to multiply it by 4 to make this little quilt.  

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, Wisconsin.
23" x 23"

Threads in a Row 2.0

I created this quilt for the 2nd Annual Project Quilting Mystery Quilt Along created by Kim Lapacek of Persimon Dreams. I have always loved a good mystery quilt and couldn't resist getting involved with this one. And Project Quilting is super fun, so I was ready to get started!

When I got to clue 6, I was quite surprised that this quilt was spools of thread. I have to admit, I never saw that coming.  It reminded me of the quilt below that I made for the Project Quilting 9.5 A Stitch in Time challenge.  I called that one Threads in a Row (Ready to Sew), so this one is called Threads in a Row 2.0. It is going to Kim (who also happens to be my daughter-in-law) to become part of a lap quilt. After all, she does have a wall in her house that is filled with pictures of spools of thread...

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI.
27" x 64"