H2H 2013

 

These are my two H2H quilts for this year.

Project photos

I see it has been nearly a month since I last posted.  When I went back to work, I didn't realize it would cut so much into my quilting time.  Learning a new job can be quite time consuming.  I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and hope to have more quilting time in the near future.  In the meantime, I have done a few small projects and here are the photos.

 

First, I made a couple of hot pads for Tom to take with him to France as gifts.

I also made him a Kindle cover for his new toy.  I made it out of one of his old shirts.  Very cool.

I added my part to the Improvirobin for this month.  This one will end up with Willa, so I hope she likes what I added.  I had to borrow fabric from her African fabric stash.  I also added some of my own fabric, including a piece from a shirt from Africa that I wore before I lost all my weight. 

I made my May AAQI quilt top.  I just have to quilt and bind it before I register it.  I will do that tomorrow.

I also finished the second top for my H2H challenge for this year.  It is much brighter than I usually work.  It is a D9P.  That dark blue square in the top center sure does stand out.  Hmmmm.

Bella has been working on her own projects while I work with fabric.  We are enjoying our Wednesdays together in the studio.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

 

 

 

 

 



Studio weekend

Last weekend, Tom helped me switch my studio to a larger room, trading with a bedroom.  Now there is room for Bella and me.

Bella's corner of the new studio - or at least part of it.

My corner of the new studio.  The design wall stayed in the other room, but I am now in with all the fabric and there is much more room for both of us. That is very important on Wednesdays when we have our shared studio day.

The first thing I did this weekend was finish up my addition to the April Improvirobin block that came my way.  It started out like this.  I am the third person to add to the original.  As you can see, there have been big changes.  When I first saw the original, I fell in love with the rich reds, oranges, and golds in the center.  When it came to me, I decided to make some fabric of those same rich colors to add to two of the sides.  It will go to three more people before it goes back to the originator.  If you are interested to watch the progress of all seven quilts, take a few minutes to look through the Flickr site.  This year's group starts with this one.

I also worked on one of my H2H quilts for this year.  You can read more about that project over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  These blocks are going to make a D9P.  I do like that pattern.

Last, but really not least, I participated in a scrap swap over at 15 Minutes Play.  Margaret from New Jersey, and I decided to fill the small flat rate boxes from the post office.  I think she got more fabric stuffed in the box she sent me than I did for her.  These are just a few that I pulled to play with today.

This New York City scrap was my inspiration.  Don't you just love it!

After fun sewing, cutting, then sewing again, I came up with this 24" x 24" beauty.  The amazing thing about the box of scraps is that there was only one very small piece of fabric that I actually had in my stash.  Everything else was totally new to me.  What fun it is to improve together something from new scraps.

My new job is keeping me very busy, so I probably won't post again until next Sunday.  Have a great week, everyone, and joyful quilting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Color challenge, and a winner

This is the dusty blue color challenge piece for a few weeks ago on 15 Minutes Play.  As you can see, I am a little behind in the colors.  I still have rust and tomato red to catch up on.  I hope to get them done before the new color comes out on Wednesday.  I was not surprised to find very little dusty blue in my stash.  I am low in blues in general, unless they are aqua or turquoise.  Since I rarely use red, white, and blue together, I decided to go with that this time.  I call this piece Miss American Pie.  It is destined to become an AAQI quilt.

And now, Congratulations! to Ann Skelton from Renegade Quilter on winning the 16 fat quarter bundle of Flea Market Fancy.  Ann participated in Sarah Craig's (Confessions of a Fabric Addict) H2H charity drive this year by making two great quilts.  I will be mailing her the bundle later today. There were many generous quilters who participated in this charity quilt drive this year.  Congratulations to them all.

And now, back to the doll clothes.  Joyful quilting, everyone.

Something liberated, something traditional

As I looked at this traditional red and white center on the design wall, I could see where I turned two four patches the wrong way.  Since it doesn't affect the overall circular illusion, I decided to leave it.  At this point, this piece is 18" square. I am going to add at least one blue border to make this a red, white, and blue piece. 

After I played in the traditional world for a while, I decided to play with my liberated medallion some more.

My quilting friend, Sally, who has gifted me with wonderful fabric scraps in the Provencal color, gave me these wonderful roosters, and I had to add them to this piece.

One of the things I like about this liberated method is that I can use traditional pieces to create something really whimsical and fun.  I decided to make the quarter square triangle blocks scrappy instead of matchy matchy.  I wanted to keep the scrappy feel I started in the center.  I also used what Gwen Marston refers to as the Martha Washington corners.  If you don't have a long enough border, just add fabric strips at the end.  One of the skills I learned recently was how to measure properly for attaching borders so they don't get wavy.  I measured precisely across the middle both ways, up and across.  I created the borders to be exactly that measurement and made them fit.  It really worked well.  I think the next border will have some liberated triangles.  I also want to bring that red back as well as some of the bright blue.  But it will have to wait a bit.

Why?  Bella's birthday is at the end of the month and she has asked me to make clothes for a couple of her favorite dolls.  It is really fun to make doll clothes, but it is time consuming.  All that pinning and cutting, and making tiny seams.  Can't wait to get started.

Check back tomorrow to see who won the fat quarter bundle of Flea Market Fancy from the H2H drawing over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 

Until then, joyful quilting, everyone.

H2H 2012 Quilt finished

I got this years H2H quilt done in the nick of time.  I wanted to make a scrappy rainbow quilt this year, and when I was queen bee at Stash Bee Hive 2, I asked for these blocks with this design in mind.  It is so much fun to see all the different fabrics people used.  There are no repeats in the bunch, which I think is amazing. I used a purple batik to bind it. This quilt will be going to Em's Happy Chemo Quilts.  It is lap sized and just right for staying comfortable and cuddling.

I also had some time to play with a piece for my international robin.  I can't show you much, but I did play with making one border using Gwen Marston's method of setting in narrow lines.

Can you see them?  I wanted them to be subtle.  These are very addicting to do.

I also had a brilliant idea about using a piece of Kaffe Fassett fabric my table mate Karen shared with me last weekend.

If you look carefully, you can see that I cut out around the two red leaves past the seam line so I could pull them out and leave them over the top of the piece I was attaching it to.  I still have to stitch them down, thus the pins.  I was very pleased that my idea worked.  I just hope Willa is okay with my adding something on top of her center piece.  It doesn't cover much, and I really like the depth it adds to the whole piece.

Tomorrow, I need to figure out how to do the next step in the other international robin piece I am working on.  I am a little behind there.  I also need to finish my May doll quilt and get it ready for mailing.  Who knows what else will come up.  I am going to just enjoy the process.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

Finally, I am back

It took almost a full week, mostly in bed, but I am finally back and feeling well enough to get into the studio.  Thank you so much for all your warm get well wishes.  I am sorry I didn't answer each one personally.

Today, I made some bee blocks, but I am only going to share one of them here.

This is the March block for Hive 2 over at Stash Bee.  I love looking through my batiks for tree fabric.  This one is a deep blue ginkgo leaf pattern over the browns and tans.  When I drew the tree, I wanted to capture the gnarls and some darks and lights to make it more alive.  Then, I found some fern like patterns on another green/gray batik and used that as leaves.  The nest is yet another batik with heavy thread play.

I used a machine buttonhole stitch for the tree and leaves.  The background is Kona Azure.  The block is 12.5" x 12.5".  I have really enjoyed making the two trees I have made for Stash Bee Hives.

I have been trying to keep up with what is going on in the blog world.  One important thing to take note of is the upcoming sign-up for 2012 Hands 2 Help charity quilting event.  Sign-ups begin tomorrow over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  There are two charities to select from, or you can make one for each.  You can even ask for a partner to select a palette for you from Design Seeds if you like a challenge.  I would love to see all of you sign up for this great event.  There are loads of prizes.  I am even a sponsor this year, with a great prize from Intrepid Thread.

Speaking of Intrepid Thread.  If you have not shopped there, you should.  Julie has a new shop up online now, and she has some great sales.  I haven't been able to beat her prices anywhere on her regular priced fabric.  I also love the different lines she carries.  No, she is not a sponsor of mine.  No, she has not bribed me to say this.  In fact, I doubt she will even know I have been talking about her.  Her service is just that great, and so is her shop.

I guess that is all for now.  It is great to be back.  Joyful quilting, everyone.



Finished H2H quilt

I finished the binding on my H2H quilt and it is in a box and ready to mail to Green Fairy Quilts.  I really enjoyed making this quilt.  I am going to use the pattern on a couple more quilts I am making for family members, at their request.  One will be black, white, and green.  I am not sure of the other one yet.  It will be bold and have oranges in it.  That is as far as I have gotten.  Here is a detail of the quilting.

I received a wonderful 15" x 15" quilt yesterday as part of a solids challenge quilt exchange at 15 Minutes Play.  Isn't it incredible! Thank you Nancy B.

The deer just wandered through my back yard.  They don't eat weeds, you know.  My hostas are gone now.  I have to go protect my fuchsias.
Have a wonderful quilty day.

Still quilting

I have spent the last few days making sure I had everything ready for my guild's upcoming show.  The show is July 22 - 24 at the downtwon Renton branch of the King County Library, if anyone is interested.  I am entering five pieces.  At this time last week, only two were finished.  I have shown you the finished Tanzanian Tango, Rhumba, and the Iris.  I am also showing a vest I made, but haven't figured out how to photograph it well because it is pretty dark.  On Friday, I quilted Farmer's Market and attached the binding by machine.  I put the last hand stitches in it this morning.  It is pretty bright, but I do love it.

While I was quilting away, my husband came in with a surprise for me - a new shelf for fabric!  Here you can see how my stash has been stored, and the new shelf after the first five minutes of cleaning off one table surface.

It is a bit fuller now, since I cleaned off another table.  I don't think it will hold everything that is in the bins, but I have another shelving unit coming at the end of the month that I hope will hold most of it.  My stash consists mostly of smaller pieces of fabric - fat quarter size to half yard size.  I haven't done much stash building.  Most of the time, I only buy fabrics I need for a specific project.  Every once in a while, however, I do buy small amounts of something just because I love it. 

My last project with a deadline is the H2H quilt.  It is on the frame as of this morning.



You might have noticed in the first photo and in this one that my batting and top are just hanging and not on pick-up rollers.  I started doing this about six months ago, and I am much happier with the results I am getting.  I have much more control of the top while I am quilting using this method.  I know it probably breaks a few rules, but it works very well for me.  This quilt needs to be done and in the mail Tuesday. 

My list of new projects is growing daily.  For one of them, I need to find Kelly green fabric.  For two of them, I have some ideas for color, but have to earn some money to buy it.  These three are gift quilts.  Then there are the three I want to make for us, and more to make for charity.  I have also embarked on a Matisse QAL with Victoria at BumbleBeans.  Such fun!

H2H top finished

I try not to show the same quilt very many times here, but I got this top finished today and wanted to share it.  I am really pleased with the overall look.  Rhonda sent some fantastic fabrics.  These are colors I would not have selected on my own, so it was really fun to expand my horizons.  I used up just about every last piece she sent me.  I was able to use a large piece I had been saving for the back, the small inner border, and the short bars on the squares block.  The only thing I had to buy was the black and white for the star background and the outer 4" border.  Here is a close-up of a corner so you can see the fabric better.

The quilt is 60" x 60".  It is now hanging on the quilt rack with its backing waiting for me to have a quilting day.

Amongst the other things I did today was to design a foundation piece for a circle of flying geese to go around Hokule'a.  As soon as I decide on colors for the geese and background, I will get that started.  I finished stitching the compass to the background using a double blanket stitch (number 79 on my Bernina 350).  I used variegated King Tut in blues, golds and greens.  I am not sure I am thrilled with it yet, but I am hoping I come around.  I would hate to rip that all out.  It is raw edge stitched, so if I feel so compelled, I could rip it out.  Maybe the ring of geese will make a difference. 
Today, I finished two quilt tops, made a foundation piece pattern, made a star block with made fabric and took photos to write a tutorial for another blog, and generally had a great time in the studio.  The rain is back in our neck of the woods.  One day of sun was nice, but I am ready for at least three in a row any time now.  I hope all is going well with all of you.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

Hands to Help quilt

I finished the blocks for the H2H quilt this afternoon.  They are on the design wall.  Tomorrow, I will try and sew these together.  I am going to add two borders.  I already have the back ready, so this should be ready by the end of the week to go on the quilt frame.
I also added borders to another quilt and put the back together.  Next weekend I am going to have to do some quilting.  First, I would like to put together a back for my intuition quilt.  I think I finally know what I am going to do.  That will make three ready to go.
The sun is out here and it is a very pleasant temperature.  Could it be that spring is finally here?  That would be very nice.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

I was so excited when I opened the package from Rhonda over at Quilter in the Gap!  Look at these yummy red, white, and black fabrics in the top row.  I had the bottom fabric just waiting for them. This H2H quilt is going to be such fun.  It is one of two pieces of fabric I have in my stash that is big enough for a quilt back, and it is perfect.  I am also going to use it for borders, I think.  I am going to use alternating stars and square in square 12 inch blocks.  Tomorrow, I will buy more white and get everything cut.  Hopefully, I will get some blocks made.  I would like to get this finished and on its way soon.  I really wish I could do more of these kind of charity quilts, but I simply cannot afford fabric in large enough pieces to use for backing.  I know there are sale fabrics out there that are more affordable, but I haven't found a good source yet.  I will keep looking.  I could use 50% off coupons at JAF, but I want to use better quality.  Picky, aren't I .

I finished the hand quilting on this one last night and did the binding today.  This is my 12" x 12" Something from Nothing quilt for the exchange over at 15 Minutes Play.  I really had fun doing the hand work on this.  I started it on the ferry going over to Bremerton, then on the way back.  I really like to do hand sewing on the ferry. 
Tomorrow, I have a full day to spend in the studio.  Once again, I have a long list of things I want to do.  I want to finish my mariner's compass, get my H2H quilt started, put the borders on Robin's quilt, and whatever else I have time for.  It is going to be a fun day in the studio.
Have a wonderful evening.  I am heading to voice class.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

Back to the studio

There are some really beautiful sunrises from my sister's condo.  Since they shine directly into the room where I have been sleeping, I am up to get photos of them.  I returned to Bremerton on Wednesday night.  Yesterday, I played bridge with three wonderful women.  This is my sister's bridge group, and I am fortunate enough to be invited to play whenever I can get over here.  It is always great fun.
After bridge, I walked into town in search of the post office.  I wanted to mail my package of fabric to Rhonda at Quilter in the Gap.  She is my partner for the Hands 2 Help quilting project.  I sent her a small stack of batiks in cuts from fat eights to fat quarters.  We were supposed to send 2 yards total.  I hope she likes what I sent.  She posted a photo of the fabrics she is sending me.  They are reds, whites, and blues.  I will have fun designing a quilt to use these fun fabrics as soon as I get them.

After eating breakfast and watching some Fons and Porter on QNN, I went into my sister's studio to start sewing the units I need for the ribbon quilt.  My working name for this quilt is En Vino Veritas, which means "in wine there is truth" in Latin.  This came from the Zinfandel name of this Bali pop pack.  We will see if this name sticks.  Anyway, I am still amazed at how long things take in quilting.  I always go into the studio with grandiose ideas about how much I will accomplish.   Today, I imagined I would get at least half of the blocks finished.  Instead, I only got 96  A units completed.  I still have 96 B units to do before I can start making the blocks.  And this was with already cut and marked pieces.

It seems like such a small stack to have taken five hours.  I don't know what I am doing wrong.  I sewed 192 of the green half squares on with the flip and fold method, and chain piecing.  Of course, I had to sew two seams on each piece because I am too intimidated by sewing small triangles together and I don't want to waste.  I guess that means I actually got 192 2 1/2" block units and 192 HST units. I then paired and sewed these units to make 96 A units. Each of the A units is 4 1/2" square.  Of course, there was a lot of pressing.  I even saved the small HSTs for later. Tomorrow, I will try and get all the B units made.  On Sunday morning, I head back home and will start sewing the blocks together and putting them on the design wall. 
I am trying to keep track of all the time I spend on this quilt, as well as the money.  I am going to put up a display at our quilt show in July to show how much time and money it takes to make a twin sized quilt.  Hopefully, it will help those who have a hard time understanding why quilters charge what they do for their quilts.  If any of you have insights or ideas on what I might include in this display, please feel free to share.  I would also love to hear any of your stories about people gasping in disbelief at your quilt prices.  My display will be up for the full month of July in the front display case of our downtown library.  I would like it to be educational.
Thanks, everyone, for stopping by.  I would love to hear from you.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

And now for something completely different

I have sewn together all the blocks for the Nature Rhythms quilt and they are on the design wall.  This quilt is turning out just like the one we first saw, and we like it just as well.  It is a very distinct departure from my normal style.  I would never have thought to do anything like this had I not seen one made up.  I am glad I bought this kit.  The kit had just enough fabric to cut what I needed.  There were a few small bits left of some of the fabrics, and I have been using them in other projects.  To get the pattern for this quilt, go to Clothworks Textiles.

I also decided to try and make a small (8" square) Dresden plate with some of the scraps from the fruits and veggies fabrics.  This was my first attempt at this.  I drew a circle, then marked lines for 12 equal petals.  I ironed three pieces of freezer paper together to make a sturdy template, traced one of the petals, and used it to cut all twelve pieces.  I did the circle by folding and cutting freehand.  I still have to attach this to a background fabric, but I think it is fun so far.

I would like to encourage all of you to stop by Confessions of a Fabric Addict and read about the Hands to Help challenge.  I will be participating in this challenge and I hope some of you will consider it.  I also have a button on the side panel that will take you to the post about this program. 

Joyful quilting, everyone.