Starting new quilt tops

Today, I decided to cut into the made Kaffe fabric and start working on the 15 Minute BOM quilt.  I love the intensity of the jade with the made fabric.  The only thing I don't like about the whole process is working with the Kaffe fabrics.  Shocking, I know, but it is true. 

When I purchased my first 1/2 yard of Kaffe fabric, I was so excited.  It was so bright and so soft.  It was the stuff quilty dreams are made of.  Then, I bought more pieces as I found them on sale.  Slowly, the pile grew.  Then came the day to start cutting and sewing.  That also became the day of my frustration in sewing.  This beautiful fabric has absolutely no body.  If I just look at it too long, it distorts and takes on a totally new shape.  This would only be a good thing if it was growing, but it is not.    Use spray starch, you say?  That would probably work, but I have far too many allergies to airborne things to try that indoors.  My only solution is to just take my time and summon all my sewing patience.  Fortunately for me, I just love the way this collection of fabrics looks, so I will continue using it, even if I do get frustrated.

All of the blocks I am building for this sampler quilt are from tutorials over at 15 Minutes Play.  If you are interested in creating your own, using made fabric, head on over there and look in the right column for the BOM tutorials.  I am not going to use all the blocks in my sampler.  I have selected nine I want to use.  I will use the star at the top in the four corners, plus eight others.  I am going to have to make much more fabric, but I have enough right now for three or four more.







The other project I started today was the Jacob's Ladder Quiltalong.  I have joined The Adventures of the Empress of the Universe in this quiltalong.  She has set up a Flickr page so you can see what others are doing.  I am using this pattern from Quiltville's Quips and Snips (Bonnie Hunter) for my JL.  Here is what I have so far.

I am using floras of the old fashioned sort along with the Kona Aloe.  I am going to make two squares of each floral I can find.  I think I can get two squares out of one fat quarter.  I had this print in a 1/4 cut.  Most of the others I have are largish scraps I am hoping will yield enough.  I am still collecting, but I wanted to get this one started.  In the end, this will be a very scrappy looking quilt.  My florals are all over the place colorwise.  This will be a longer term project than the BOM sampler quilt.
Tomorrow morning, Tom and I are going on a photo safari, so I hope to be able to post some cool animal photos tomorrow afternoon. 
Joyful quilting, everyone.

A finished top and playing with my Kaffes

(Please excuse the crooked photo.  The quilt is straight)

It is amazing what a difference a border can make.  I heard recently that adding a border to a quilt automatically makes it old fashioned looking.  Since I really don't care about that, I ignored the comments, but I am in amazement about what personality changes a quilt can take on with the right border.  When I started this quilt, the mystery quilt for our guild, I decided to use some fat quarters I had on hand.  I really liked the color combination, so didn't mind that the pattern got lost in some areas.  After a while, however, I decided it was just too bland.  As I finished piecing it together today, I thought about a piece of fabric somewhere in my stash that had fall leaves in bright colors.  When I found it, I thought it might be too bright to use.  I decided to try it anyway.  Unfortunately, it is hard to show how bright, fresh, and sparkly it is now with its new border. The new border makes this quilt 49" x 61".  It is now in the pile with the other two quilts I need to quilt for BASICs.  Please read Victoria's post today about the BASICs program.

What in the world?  How could anyone in their right mind purposely cut up some very beautiful Kaffe fabric just to sew it back together again in random patterns?  Good questions.  I love all these fabrics separately, but I really wanted to combine them to make new fabric for my 15 Minute Play BOM quilt project.  I started this project with very different colors before I discovered these.  Now, I am redoing it all to make a really bright and fun quilt to cuddle under this winter.  As I was making all this fabric (so far it is 24" x 32"), I was thinking about what color background fabric I could use.  I have a nice piece of KF shot cotton in persimmon, but that was just too much red.  I then started looking at Kona solids.  I finally narrowed it down to two - Aloe and Jade.  They came today.  The Aloe is beautiful, but not strong enough to stand up to the reds, so  . . . . .

. . . . Jade it is.  Tomorrow, I will start cutting into both to start making the BOM blocks.  I need to have this quilt finished by December 1.  Think I can do it?  I am going to give it my best shot.

I am going to use the Aloe for the Jacobs Ladder Quiltalong.  I am still gathering florals for that, but I have enough to get started now.  That is a longer term project.

It was very nice to be back in my studio today.  I oiled Betty before we started, and she ran like a dream.  I need a new blade for my rotary cutter, so I need to find my JoAnn coupons.  I think I have one blade left in the case.  I will have to check that out tomorrow.

Until then, have a joy filled day, everyone.

A visit from Carol the Great

This weekend was the wedding of my sister's son, Zach.  For the occasion, my aunt on my mother's side came up from California with her husband.  Bella was quite enchanted with her very own Carol the Great.  We took the occasion of the wedding, we took a photo of the descendants of Elizabeth Davenport, nee Reese.  From the left are my sister, my daughter, Bella in front, me, and Carol the Great.  It has been delightful to visit with our last remaining female relative on that side of the family. 
I have had very little time in the studio, and don't expect to for the next several days.  Then, I will be back to a more normal studio time.  Thanks for hanging in there with me.

A mystery solved

I have been working on this mystery quilt like a good little quilter, doing each step as it was given to us.  Today, I started putting it all together.  I started out using a bunch of fat quarters in fall colors.  I tried to sort the fabrics into lights and darks, but found that I had to kind of wiggle a bit with the "light."  I do love the colors.  I still have some sewing to do, then a border to add.  I am going to donate this one to BASICs.  To find out more about this, head over here.  This current drive is the brainchild of Victoria Findlay Wolfe and Pat Sloan.  If you have any undesignated quilts, this is a great place to consider donating one.

I also made fabric blocks for the Christmas quilt.  If I can make a few every time I am in the studio, I will grow this quilt before I know it.   Right now, I need to go work on hand stitching binding down on the wedding present quilt.  Black to black with black thread.  Remind me not to do this again.  It is much too hard on my old tired eyes. 
Did you see the new button on the right side?  The first block for the Blogger's BOM is up and ready to make.  Just click on the button to head over to Canton Village Quiltworks to find out all about the project and find the link for the first block.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

I am back

Since summer ended and I started spending three days a week with my wonderful granddaughter, I have had trouble getting into a regular studio routine.  Once I think I have it, other things seem to interfere like work that pays, visiting family, and whatever pops up.  Now, I am trying to establish a regular block of studio time.  Today, I was happily working in my studio, and got quite a bit done.

I am making progress on my small quilt for my Quilters, Books, and Bindings group.  I have added the stems, leaves, and started adding the flowers.  I decided to put a border on it so I could bring a couple of flowers out further.  At this point, it is all hand work waiting.  I will do that in the evenings or while Bella is napping.

I also worked on my Christmas quilt.  I couldn't resist adding the red and white as a border around the Virgin.  I started making several more blocks to help this quilt grow.  I am not sure how big I want it.  I guess I will keep making fabric until I run out of the fabric I am using.

Speaking of making fabric - I made the flowers for the top quilt out of some of my favorite Kaffe fabrics in my stash.  I decided to make some fabric using the left over pieces from the flowers.  I liked it so much, I have decided to make enough to make all the BOMs at the 15 Minute Play site so I will have a sampler quilt done by December 1.  I think I will pick up one of the blues for the background fabric in the blocks.  I am pretty excited about it.  I love the colors in these fabrics and I think they will make a fantastic quilt.  I just have to make lots of fabric.
My new schedule will have me in my studio Friday through Monday most weeks.  Those will be the days I post on the blog, as well.  Next weekend will be another exception, however.  I have my nephew's wedding and out of town family to spend time with.  In the mean time, I plan on posting tomorrow and Monday. 
Have a joy filled Sunday, everyone.

Making more fabric

The first thing I worked on this morning was my challenge from Modern 8 Create.  I had to build another block like the second one I did.  As I was putting together the quadrants, I had a brainstorm about adding the inner border pieces as I went.  When I had all the quadrants together, I started playing with them and found at least four ways to put the block together.  Instead of choosing just one of them, I am going to make them all using different shades of the blues, purples, and greens.  I can even see more ways to change these blocks.  When they are all done, they will make an interesting quilt.

The second project was to finish Tom's birthday present.  I will post it here on Wednesday, after he opens it.  I sure hope he likes it.

After that, I started making fabric for the background for a small quilt.  Over at Quilters, Books, and Bindings, we all just finished The Lover's Knot by Clare O'Donohue.  Each of us is creating our own quilt that interprets the book, or some aspect of the story, in our own way.  My quilt will have flowers growing out of the red area.  Cathy did a wonderful AAQI quilt representing a place in the story.  This group is new, but I think it will grow as we read and post more.



As I started looking at the red, green, and gold made fabric blocks for my Christmas quilt, I had an idea about putting the Virgin of Guadalupe in the center.  I think I really like it.  I will leave it there as I continue to build fabric blocks.  I think she will add quite a bit to the quilt.

All in all, it has been a good day in the studio.  I have another studio day tomorrow.  Who knows what will happen then.  In the mean time, joyful quilting, everyone.



Modern Quilting and Me

I have been thinking about writing this post for a long time.  Ever since I read the first "dumbing down of quilting" post on someones blog.  Since I have only returned to quilting in the last couple of years, I discovered a whole new world out there.  Moda fabrics, rotary cutting tools, healing cutting mats, and very easy HSTs.  It seemed to me that all the new possibilities were fantastic.  Then came all this discussion about modern quilting.

When I first started back, I was certain I would be a very traditional quilter.  I just didn't know another way.  I liked all the old stars and flying geese, and Baltimore appliques.  I still like them.  I love the traditional look of designers like Kansas Troubles.  Then I discovered Sandy Gervais and made my first quilt after 30 years.  Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of it, and it just moved to France.  Shortly after that, I discovered Victoria at 15 Minutes Play, and a new world opened up to me.

I could make fabric out of scraps and just watch it grow with no preset plan.  I love playing with fabric this way.  Giving myself permission to play was just what I needed.  From then on, I wasn't afraid to tackle anything.  I even decided to try a little art quilting.

I have designed and created what I think is defined as a modern quilt.  I only say this because other people have told me it is modern.

Right now, I am working on an art piece, a couple of traditional pieces, a couple of samplers, a block from the Rose of Sharon book (well, I have taken some elements from a couple of different blocks to create a new one), a couple of modern quilts, some challenges, a 15 Minute quilt, and another intuition quilt, just to name a few things.  So, what kind of quilter does this make me?  Oddly enough, I think it makes me a modern quilter.
I guess I see modern quilting as having choices to do it all if we want to.  If you want to make several quick and easy quilts to donate to charity or give as gifts, I think that is just a valid as wanting to take several months or years to make one quilt to enter into one of the big shows.  It is all part of the connection with quilters throughout time who have taken what they had to create warmth, beauty, and sometimes camaraderie.  I like being part of that continuum.  If you want to read more writings by quilters on what their definition of modern quilting is, drop by the NYC Mod blog and scroll through the articles written to accompany pieces for their travelling show about modern quilting.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

A Beautiful Day at Mt. Rainier in photos

Mt. Rainier from Sunrise on the NE side of the mountain

Alpine meadows were full of wildflowers.

The White River originates at the base of Emmons Glacier.

Have a joy filled day.

A star for a hero, and building more fabric

Yesterday, I got a small package from Victoria that included small small pieces of camouflage fabric.  She invited 24 of us to use camo scraps to build a 12.5" square that she will include in a Quilt of Valor.  This is my block.  I love the idea stars for hero quilts, so I designed this star so I could use as much of the camo I got as possible.  That is how I started my day today.

Then, I decided to tackle a new challenge Victoria put up on 15 minutes Play.  The goal is to find an inspiration shirt with colors I don't use that often.  Then find scraps in those colors and build 6.5" squares of made fabric. I picked this thrift shop shirt that I just love.  It was well loved and has a very soft feel, but it is still strong.  I started pulling reds and greens, and decided to make a Christmas quilt without actually using any Christmas fabric.  I am going to try and use the inspiration fabric in every block.  Here are my first six blocks. 97 more to go. This is going to take me a while.

Before I left the studio, I pulled the fabrics I am using for a quilt for our son and daughter-in-law.  Aren't these yummy?

I printed out a couple of copies of my Bella's Star quilt pattern and started coloring in the blocks.  It got very confusing, so I cut the little pieces up and had Hugh, Cyrielle, and Tom put them the way they thought the quilt would look best.  Amazingly enough, they were all very different, and different from all the ones I did.  I took photos of each of their designs and will post them later. 
Hugh and Cyrielle are staying with us for a few days before the move to France, Cyrielle's home.  Tomorrow, we are going to drive up to Sunrise on Mt. Rainier.  It is always beautiful up there.  Hopefully, the predicted fog will lift by the time we get there.  That means I won't be in the studio for a few days.  Maybe, I will post some photos of our trek.
Have a joyfilled day, everyone.

Friendship stars and card tricks

As part of the October challenge over at Modern 8 Create, I had to create a card trick block.  This is the first time I have been really successful with this block.  I actually made two of them, cut apart the second one and created this.

If you want to see more interesting things people are doing with this block, head on over to Modern 8 Create.
I also spent some time working on Hokule'a.  I built a stack of friendship stars out of old shirts, a muumuu, and some bright gold batik. This is where she is now,

I have decided to keep the star in the lower right corner as I build the quilt.  I am actually listening to what the quilt wants on this one.  I have quite a bit of Hawaiian fabric left to use from yardage I bought when I lived there as from clothes we no longer wear.  I have another quilt in progress using some of this fabric.  I will show it later when I get more done.
The last thing I did today was make my September quilt for AAQI.  I am calling it Calm.  Be sure and check out the other mini art quilts for sale over at the AAQI site.

We are having company for the next three days, then I am back with Bella on Tuesday, so I may not be posting much for the next week or so.  I will do what I can.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

Back finished and a fun quiltalong

I finished the back for the wedding quilt.  I think it looks very modern.  As I was sewing on it, and the black was picking up every piece of stray thread around, I thought I was very silly for making a black back for a couple who have two long haired kitties.  It is a good thing it is washable, in the machine.  These are the colors they are decorating with, and I hope they like the quilt.  The wedding is only three weeks away, so I need to go get thread today and start quilting.
I also pulled some fabrics for a quilt for Bella.  A girl can never have too many quilts.  This one will be very simple.  Her Grandma Diane is the spectacular quilter who creates beautiful works of art in a traditional style, and Bella is lucky to have three of them.  I will stick to a plain nine patch to add to the mix.

Bella loves pink and purple and polka dots.  She picked out the fairy fabric.  It will be the center square in each block.
I have also decided to join a Jacob's Ladder quiltalong at Adventures of the Empress of the Universe.  She is using a pattern by Bonnie Hunter that I fell in love with, except for the yellow.  I decided to use older style florals and pulled these beauties from my stash.

I will have to find more for the entire quilt, but these are enough to get me started.  Now, I have to decided on a solid for the ladder part.  I think I will check out some kona colors and see what strikes my fancy.  This will be added to my stack of ongoing long term projects to be squeezed in between quilts to make for others.  I do love to have many projects going at once.  I have read others call this quilter's ADD.  This, added to my quilter's dyslexia, keeps quilting interesting and challenging.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

Studio day

The first thing I did this morning was to make the back for the corduroy pillow.  It is about 17" x 17".  I think I am going to make red piping to go around the edge.  But that is for another day.
After finishing this, I ran across the street to a garage sale.  I have been scouting garage sales lately looking for 100% cotton shirts.  I have noticed that the thrift store prices are going up, and I am still searching for the $1-$2 dollar shirts.  I scored three this morning for a total of seven for the week.  When I got home, I decided to deconstruct some of them.  I am building a nice stash of blue plaids, checks, and stripes, and a nice jar filling with buttons.  I have darks and lights.  I haven't found the perfect pattern yet, but these are going to make a very cool quilt or two.  I have also found some wonderful patterns in other colors that I have been using in scrappy things.  I love to quilt, but can't afford LQS prices all the time, so I am glad to have found this other source.

My last project of the day this sample of the raffle quilt I am proposing to my guild for next year.  At least, that is what I started out to do.  I was following a pattern that had stars in it.  I kept reversing the HSTs, so decided to go with it to see what happened.  Now, instead of stars, I have crosses.  I think the guild group will want to go with the blue and white, but I threw in some tan just to see what it would look like.  These blocks will be more scrappy than the ones I did, but I went with what I had.  I think I like the crosses better than the stars in the pattern.  Sometimes, I do reverse HSTs without realizing I am doing it.  It seems I have a form of quilter's dyslexia.  I don't mind when it turns out this way.
Have a wonderful Labor Day if you are in the US.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

The corduroy challenge

Remember this piece of wide waled corduroy I got at the last Rebels meeting?

Well, I have been looking at it for over a week now, wondering what I would do with it.  During the week, I pulled random fabrics to set around it looking for something wonderful to go with it.  I found an old thrift shop red chambray shirt and some bright golden batik in my stash that looked pretty good.  Yesterday, I went to a neighbors yard sale and found a couple pairs of corduroy pants I thought might work.  Today, I started laying out, cutting, moving around, and finally stitching.  Finally, I came up with this pillow top.

The biggest challenge turned out to be an unpleasant experience with melting fabric.  Originally, I wanted to use a piece of teal narrow wale corduroy where the light blue is.  It was such a beautiful color.  It was pretty heavy, and I suspected it was upholstery fabric.  I sewed a seam between it and a piece of the red and when I went to press it, the teal melted.  It was a very nasty mess.  I have never seen anything like it before.  Fortunately, I got the iron cleaned.  The board cover is in trouble, though, and I may have to replace it, finally.  Good thing I have a Joann coupon.
I also made another whirling hexagon.  I used the opposite triangles as the spacing pieces to see what it would look like.  They give it an interesting look, I think.

I am really liking this pattern.  It is so quick and easy.  Each block is 13" by 12" finished.  I think I will make Tomorrow is another quilty day.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

Texas Trellis or Whirling Hexagon

I saw this block on Barbara Brackman's Material Culture blog the other day, and fell in love with it.  It was new to me, so I left her a comment asking her what it was called.  She wrote back telling me it was called Texas Trellis or Whirling Hexagon.  I knew I had to make one of my own using my paisley collection.

I have never worked with hexagons before, and I am very intrigued by this one.  I found a paper pieced pattern at Quilter' Cache under Whirling Hexagon, but it was small and I didn't want to deal with paper piecing for something that looked much easier to do without it.  I did print out the pattern so I could do some measurements.  The one in the photo at Brackman's blog had wider spokes, but I wanted to try narrower ones.  I sewed a strip of 2.5" paisley to 4.5" background.  I discovered that to make all six triangles I needed, I had to have 45.5".  I cut them using a 30 degree angle.  I have several extra triangles witch are reversed, but I will figure out how to use them somehow.  I can't wait to make these up with all my paisleys.  I think they will make a wonderful quilt.

While I was watching Bella earlier in the week, she and Tom made this.  They both have good eyes for color.  I really like this one.  Bella or Tom and Bella have made many of these designs on the small design board I made for her.  This one is my favorite.  I really wish I was skilled enough to figure out how to turn this into a small quilt for Bella's stuffed animal friends.  I know there must be a way.  Bella also helped me sew a few squares together on the machine.  She didn't think it was as much fun as designing.  I think I feel that way sometimes, too.
I really did get quite a bit done in the studio today, but I can't show it because it is a surprise for my husband.  His birthday is coming up and I want to make him something special.  I will show it to you all after the 21st.
I will leave you all with this ribbon.  It is one of the ribbons I made for the winners of our guild quilt show.  I won people's choice for Hokule'a which I entered as a challenge block.

Joyful quilting, everyone!