What if I . . .

. . . decided to make something with the shirts I have been cutting up and the scrap strips I have been putting into plastic bins?

I have been busy hand sewing the binding on the commission pieces, and am almost done.  Today, while I was stitching away, I thought about the reclaimed shirts and scraps I have building up on my shelves.  I have had several ideas about what to do with them, but never actually started anything.  I decided to do something about it.  I started small to see if I was going to like what I thought about doing.  These nine squares are the results.  They are six inch squares right now.  I have lots of blueish shirt fabric that I can continue to cut to make more squares.  I only got into the yellow/gold/orange strip box today.  I think I am going to continue to make these blocks using as many colors of the strips as I can to whittle down that part of my scrap stash.  I think this will make a great scrap quilt when all is said and done.  Then, I can figure out what to do with the other bins of scraps and the ever growing pile of 2 1/2 " squares.

I am always envious of those of you who are really good about cutting and organizing your scraps as you go along.  I am so far behind in even the sorting, I feel overwhelmed at times.  I was hoping this summer would be the time I would get it done.  Given how fast the days are going, I am not sure this is going to happen, but I will have fun playing with all of it for a while.  I don't know how quickly this quilt will grow, but it will.  Before I know it, I will be looking for backing for yet another quilt.  Oh well.  As long as the local Goodwill doesn't run out of nice used sheets, I will be fine.

Joyful quilting, everyone. 



A little commission

My neighbor asked me, a while ago, if I could make a few small quilts for gifts for relatives she is visiting later this summer.  At first, I was pretty excited, so I got to work to make a sample of something I thought would be fun.  She didn't like it, at all.  She wanted something more traditional, and more puffy, like the old quilts with high loft poly batting.  She pulled a piece she had purchased years before and asked if I could make something smaller, but with a similar design and loft.  Reluctantly, I agreed.  Then I put it off, until this week.

After looking at the sample for quite a while, I pulled some fabrics that I felt were representative of what she liked.  I simplified the design, and created six little quilts (13" x 15").  I have the backings all cut, as well as the bindings.  I have finished one, including the binding.  Now I have five left to finish. 

I have done a couple of commissions before, and each time I have learned that I have trouble getting past the "customer is always right."  In each case, however, I have done exactly what the customer has asked for.  I guess that builds character and stretches my personal growth.  All good things.

Joyful quilting, everyone, and Happy 4th!  



Back in the studio at last

I finally made it back into the studio to work on quilts.  It has been way too long.  The place was such a mess, I couldn't find a table top or anything that I was working on.  After spending some time straightening things out, I decided to work on some small projects.  I have posted the red and white part of this one before.  Here it is with the border.  I just need to quilt it and add a red binding and it will be done and ready to send to Germany as part of the Doll Quilt Monthly swap for July.  The theme is Patriotic.  I am hoping red, white, and blue fulfills the theme.

This is the June quilt for the doll quilt swap.  This theme is Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue.  The lighter border is old fabric I had in my stash.  The darker fabric is new from my trip back East.  The borrowed is the idea for the pattern from an antique quilt pattern I saw in a book.  The blue should be obvious.  This one was really fun to make. I really like the dark fabric.  I wish I had purchased more of it.  This one is on its way to Florida.

This last piece was made for a new friend who had us over for dinner the other night.  I knew she liked purple, so that was where I started.  It is a 12" square with fast finish triangles for hanging, if so desired.  It is always tricky to make anything for someone you don't know well.  The colors are a bit tame compared to what I have been working with lately, but it was very calming and peaceful to work on.  Maybe a larger calm quilt is in my future.  We will see.

For those who are interested, we did get the chickens.  We have four beautiful Americauna chickens:  Veronica Lake (the blondest and most difficult to get into the coop at night), Janis Joplin (the one with the darkest coloring who dares to be different), Katherine Hepburn (the classiest looking and the one who behaves the best), and Lady Bug (the one with the dark cheeks who Bella named).  I will try and get photos posted soon.  So far, we have enjoyed getting to know them.  They are pretty quiet, making only soft murmuring sounds unless they are upset at us.  They love the weeds from our flower beds and oatmeal.  By the end of the summer, we are hoping for fresh eggs with beautiful blue shells and creamy yolks.  As we go along, I will add snippets of our life as backyard chicken farmers to this blog, along with more quilting adventures.

Until later, joyful quilting, everyone.

Some doll clothes - just a preview

Three down, and six to go.  Don't you just love them?

Improvirobin Quilt comes home

Back in early January, I started two things I hadn't done before.  I started on my healthy weight management program, and I joined the Improvirobin hosted by Stephanie at Venus de Hilo.  In both cases, what started out looking like one thing in January ended up looking like something very different by June.  Someday, I will tell you all the story of my weight loss journey, but today is about the quilt.

Stephanie and I had both been excited by a round robin quilt that Victoria made with a friend that was very non-traditional.  We both liked the idea and Stephanie got us started.  She invited her sister Abby (Quiltiverse), and Jackie from Canton Village Quilt Works.  I invited my sister-in-law Willa, and off we went.

I had been playing with warm colors at the time and built this center from a block a friend had made me and some of my favorite scraps.  I really liked it and thought it had wonderful possibilities.  I never imagined it would go where it did.  One of the rules for this robin was that you could do anything you wanted to what you were sent.  (Another important rule, since this was one of the rules, was that you couldn't complain about what was done.)  I sent this block to Willa.  She slashed it beyond recognition and added some incredibly wonderful African fabrics that I just love. Unfortunately, I cannot cut and paste photos from Flickr, but you can see it here.

Next, it went to Abby.  She created some beautiful liberated log cabins and added them to look like, as Stephanie put it,"a gathering of tribal huts in an African village." Here is Abby's addition. From Abby, the growing piece went to Stephanie.  Stephanie lives in Hilo, HI, one of my favorite places to visit.  She added a touch of the island to the quilt with beautiful tropical leaf appliques, and a couple of borders of stunningly beautiful fabric in the warm colors I love.  Here is Stephanie's addition.  While I was watching these transitions, I was wondering what Jackie would do.  She found just the right fabrics and added a pieced border on two sides that really spoke to me when I saw the photos.  When it arrived in the mail yesterday, I liked what she added even more.

So, without further ado, I give you Metaphor

Metaphor

40" x 40"

Improvirobin 2012

Why Metaphor?  It struck me that this quilt can be a metaphor for life.  At least my life.  If I cling to one way of doing things, stay in control of everything, I can pretty much predict the outcome.  If, on the other hand, I stay open to the possibilities, immerse myself in the process instead of focusing on the outcome, wonderful and exciting things may happen.  I am not sure I would do another robin with the same rule about being able to completely alter what was sent to you, but I am glad I joined this one.  It was a wonderful adventure, and I had great fun working on the other quilts and being part of a talented group of quilters.

And as a bonus for reading this far, I will share the beginning and current photos of the other journey I started in January. (Aren't you excited!)

Stay tuned for more exciting news in the next few days.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

Quick note

I am elbow deep in cutting out doll clothes, and really have nothing to show yet.  I will be back when I have the wardrobe finished for Bella's three favorite dolls.  Bella even got into her own stash to select fabric for some of the outfits.  So cute.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

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.

Progress on the International Robin

Meet Gaea. I posted the faces for this piece here.  I made the background a couple of weeks ago, and posted it here.  Since then, I have scratched my head about how to marry the parts.  Sharon is a wonderful quilt artist and I didn't want to mess up her great pieces.  After playing around with the different parts, I settled on this layout. I wanted to use all three faces, but I just couldn't figure out how to in a small piece. Then, I had to figure out how I wanted to attach them.  I decided to use really small stitches and attach the lighter green leaves first.  Then, I put the face with her already attached leaves down.  I only sewed around some of the leaves, leaving parts three dimensional.  Lastly, I attached the leaf garland so it hung down over her forehead.  I really like the way it all works together.  It is very earthy.  Maybe one of the other members of the international robin group will be able to brighten it up while still keeping the earthiness.  It will be fun to watch this grow.  I am just happy I finally caught up on this.  All I have left for this month is the doll quilt, and that is layered and ready to quilt.

Tomorrow starts my three days this week with Bella.  I will be back in the studio on Friday.  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.

Fun with quilting

It is amazing that this got quilted today!  It all started out so well.  I got the backing, batting, and top on the frame without a hitch.  I had no problem winding the bobbins, which sometimes give me fits.  Then, things started to go downhill.  At the end of the first pass of the basting line at the top, the extension cord didn't stretch far enough and the carriage that holds Priscilla (the Juki) went off the tracks.  Frustration number one.  Tom was kind enough to help me put it all back on.  All systems go.  Then, the thread broke about six inches into the quilting.  After I figured out where I had threaded the machine wrong, I started out again.  Then, the needle broke.  I had to go in search of a new needle.  By now, I was thinking I needed to stop and walk away.  This quilt is going to a cancer patient, and I only wanted good vibes to go into it, after all.  I pulled myself together, threaded the new needle, and off I went, until that needle fell out.  I hadn't tightened it well enough.  Are you laughing yet? It had reached a point where I just had to laugh.  After I put in the needle again, and made sure it was tight, I started out again.  This all happened on the first pass across the quilt, by the way.  After I got that first pass under my belt, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way.  Now, all I have to do is make and attach the binding, and it is good to go.  I will post a photo of the finished quilt tomorrow as part of the H2H finish posting.

I hope the rest of you had a much smoother day today doing whatever you chose to do.  Enjoy your evening and the rest of your weekend.  Joyful quilting, everyone.

Liberated Medallions with Gwen Marston

On Sunday and Monday, I enjoyed the Liberated Medallion quilts workshop with Gwen Marston.  It was a smaller class, and only one other person from the Saturday class was there.  Gwen started the workshop by gathering all of us in a circle and sharing some of her medallion quilts.  As she spread them on the floor in the middle of the circle, she talked about her inspirations and choices for each piece.  After her very inspirational discussion, we all went to our machines and started our creations.

From time to time, Gwen would demonstrate techniques and tricks she uses to create her wonderful works of art.  She was available to help and guide us throughout the workshop. I found it a great environment for growth and learning.

I shared a table with two very talented women from Northwest Washington, Ruth and Karen.  Ruth chose to work with beautiful batiks.  This is her piece.

I love the colors she selected to go with her focus fabric in the center.  The placement of the liberated triangles really help the eye travel throughout the quilt.  I also like the inset lines on the left.  This is quite a stunning piece and I had a great time watching it grow.

My other table mate, Karen, worked with fantastic Kaffe Fassett fabrics,  some from older collections and all really beautiful.

Karen also used liberated triangles in her first border.  I love the way the colors of the triangles bring out the colors in the focus fabric.  The curved insets in the top and bottom of the first border are mimicked in the KF target print on the outside border, which I think is a great touch.  I love the little strip of target in the top border and the piece of purple in the bottom one.  This is another really beautiful work of art.  It was great fun watching the growth of this piece, as well.

I would like to thank Ruth and Karen for their generosity of spirit, sharing of fabric, and wonderful humor that all added to the great experience I had in the workshop.

This is the piece I started.  I have the next border cut out and partially pieced.  I can't wait to get back to working on it.

Meanwhile, back in my studio, I finished up a couple of small projects today, and finished piecing my H2H quilt project.  Tomorrow, I need to get that one quilted so I can put it in the mail next week.

Until tomorrow, joyful quilting, everyone.

Gwen Marston Workshop fun

I just returned from three fabulous days in Bellingham, WA, attending my first quilting workshops.  The workshops were put on by Two Thimbles Quilt Shop in Bellingham, and I want to say how impressed I was by the organization and planning put into this event.  Kudos to Lee and her staff for doing such a fantastic job.  Of course, Gwen Marston was the perfect person for me to take my first quilt workshops with.  What a wonderful person she is! She shared so much knowledge and wisdom with us.  She was kind, inspiring, patient, and just plain fun to be around.

The first workshop was on Saturday and it was on Small Quilts.

The emphasis on Saturday was on more traditional style small quilts.  Gwen shared quite a few of her own quilts, and talked about her inspiration for each one.

After her initial talk, the quilts were put out on tables for people to study before they began their own.  I fully expected I would go the traditional route, but as usual, my fabric spoke otherwise.

I took a box of solids and three bags of scraps.  As I started putting scraps together, one of my tablemates pulled out a piece of fabric she didn't like and gave it to me because it looked like it would fit in.  It is the piece on the left just above the red.  You can see more of it along the bottom.  I also used it in the piece I started in the next workshop. 

This is the piece as it finished on Saturday.  The photo is a bit distorted.  The side borders are really the same size as the top and bottom.  Traditional?  Not so much.  Fun?  Very much.

This workshop was such an eye opener for me.  The room was filled with incredibly talented and creative women who enjoyed sharing ideas, and even precious pieces from their stashes.  I have been in classes with creative people before when I was painting, but this was so different.  In this space, there was no hiding work when someone looked over your shoulder. Instead, there was lively discussion about what was working and what might me tried in that corner.  There was no hoarding of materials as if the world would come to an end if someone touched your supplies.  There was quite a bit of, "I have just the right piece of fabric for that border strip.  Wait 'til I find it in my box for you."  Since I became a part of the greater quilting community, I have been very impressed by the generosity and kindness of others.  It was magnified in this classroom.  I was assured this was the way it always is in a quilting class or retreat.  I had to emerge from my hermit shell to attend this class, but because of the wonderful experience, I feel comfortable that I will emerge to do it again.

I will share photos and thoughts about the two day workshop on Liberated Medallion quilts in my next post.  Until then, joyful quilting, everyone.

Making fabric backgrounds

I am intrigued with the idea of making fabric for backgrounds using different techniques.  Gloria Loughman has been very successful using diamonds to create wonderful backgrounds. She makes much better diamonds than I do.  I wasn't thinking, and used the 30 degree angle instead of the 45.  It is still interesting, and will work for what I need.

 I needed something in very earthy tones, so I went through my batiks and found just the right ones.  I will applique the focal pieces on by hand, I think.  This one is for the International Robin.  I like using these earth tones, even though they are a huge departure from the colors I have been using.  It is good to try different things.

I will be with Bella the next couple of days, then I head north for my Gwen Marston workshops.  I am not sure there is an internet connection where I am staying, so I may not be online until I get back.  I will take plenty of photos, and give you all a full report on the workshop when I am able.  Until then, joyful quilting, everyone.