The March installment of Improvirobin

 

As you know, if you follow my blog, I have decided to join the Improvirobin round robin again this year.  This month was a big challenge for me.  I wish I could post the original photo here, but you will have to go over to the flickr site to see the start for this one.

This is the block as it arrived at my house.  As you can see, Abby changed the placement of the second half of Chatelaine's name.  She also added the fantastic foundation pieced daffodils, daffodil fabric and the green fabric.  That gave me some direction, but I still had a great deal of trouble deciding what to do with that direction.

 

I knew I wanted to add a bird.  In particular, I wanted to add this foundation pieced frigate bird designed by Linda Hibbert.  First, I had to find it.  Then, I had to make it.  This is 4" x 6", and the bird is very small.  Once it was done, I had some ideas.  This is what I ended up with.

I hope it is easier for the next person to find her direction than it was for me.  Even with all my problems, I am happy with my addition.

 

 



Two more finishes

About a year and a half ago, I started this piece as a project for Modern 8 Create.  I decided to hand quilt it.  It had very irregular edges, and I wanted to keep them but wasn't sure how. I took the quilted piece to a Rebels meeting and facing was suggested.  That is what I ended up doing.  I finished it yesterday while trying to keep my cold germs away from Bella.  When I got home, I hung it in the hall next to the door to my studio.  I am very pleased with how it looks there.  Tom thinks I hung it too low, but he is much taller than I am, so it looks that way to him. Always something to consider when hanging wall quilts.

The other finish this week is this small AAQI quilt.  I have been a member of the quilt-a-month group since it started.  Each month, they send out an optional theme for color, design, and fabric.  I don't usually follow them, mostly because I am obstinate, but this month I decided I liked two of the themes: rainbow trout and plaid fabric.  I also decided to embellish this one with ribbon and beads.

You can see the beads better in this detail shot.  I really love piecing plaid scraps together, so this was great fun.  I am going to register it this morning.  Most of my mini-art quilts have sold, but there are a few still on sale. (numbers at the bottom of this post)  AAQI will close its site at the end of this year, having reached its goal of raising a million dollars toward Alzheimer's research.  There are still some great pieces for sale at the site, and it is for such a worthwhile cause.  To take a look - AAQI Quilts for Sale.

I am going to work on getting well this weekend, and I hope that includes some quilting time.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

 

 

Numbers of my AAQI quilts still for sale:  8832, 10897, 11132, 12030, 12326, 13101

 

 

 

Three Finishes

 

This is a UFO from over a year ago.  It was a mystery quilt.  This is the second piece I have finished for the fund raising auction. I am very happy to have one more UFO finished.

 

 

This is the finished quilt for Bella's baby sister to be.  We are expecting Hayden's arrival any time now.  I backed this one with flannel.

 

 

The last finished quilt is for our grandson who is due in May.  He and his parents live in France, so this one will be boxed with some other baby gifts and put in the mail in a few weeks.

 

I am very happy to have these done and checked off the to-do list.  Now, on to finishing up Criss Cross, the string quilt, the March AAQI quilt, and Bella's big sister quilt.  What fun!

Joyful quilting, everyone.

 

 

Some Progress

 

This is the finished top I made for Bella.  It is on the frame now waiting to be quilted.  It will be her big sister gift when the new baby comes in a few weeks.

 

 

February's AAQI mini was great fun to make.  I had great fun pulling spring solids from my very small stash of solids.  I need to get more since I have decided I like working with them.

 

 

I belong to the Business and Professional Women's Organization and we are having our scholarship fund raising gala next month.  Instead of a silent auction, we have been asked to donate a wrapped gift or two for each table that people may bid on.  I decided to make a set of six place mats.  Once again, I pulled from my small solids stash and some scraps from another recent quilt top.  I hope whoever wins the bid enjoys them.

 

Each one is a little unique, which makes it a fun set.

I have a couple of finished quilts I will post photos of tomorrow.  I am sorry to have been away so much, but I picked up a bug that laid me low for a while.  I am feeling better now, but Tom has been struck now. Hopefully, full health will return to our house soon.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

 

 

 

Starting a week in the studio

Each year, I make a new heart for Tom for Valentine's Day.  This is the newest addition.  The technique is new to me.  I have wanted to try this for a while.  It is layers of fabric that are sewn together then cut through to expose other layers.  I am pleased with this heart, but I don't think I would use this technique again.  Here is a peak at the last three.

My favorite is the one on the bottom right.  That is last year's.  Each of these is small enough to be considered a mug rug.

This is the tea towel challenge so far.  If you want to see some very cool challenge entries, hop over to 15 Minutes Play. My Bella has had quite a bit of input into this one.  It is for her.  

 

I am hoping to get much done this week in the studio  I want to finish the tea towel challenge.  I also need to get my February AAQI quilt done and registered tomorrow.  It is started, but I need to quilt it.  I will work in the Criss Cross string quilt, and some other fun things I haven't thought of yet. 

Joyful quilting, everyone.

 

 

Catching up

This is where I am so far with the D9P quiltalong hosted by Freda at Adventures of the Empress of the Universe. Take a look at what is being done at the Flickr site.  I still have a few units to add and some rearrangements to make before I start sewing this top together.

In the meantime, I have finished sewing Bella's baby sister's quilt top together.  I have the backing for it and I think I am going to use that satiny feeling blanket binding just for the texture.  This is very different from the extra bright one for the grandson due in May.  Now I need to quilt them both.

In a completely different direction, I finished the mini spider web top.  I did a few new things for this quilt.  The spider web, the Dresden plates, and the piano keys are all new for me.  The top and bottom borders are from a cotton linen jacket that was a size 18.  Now that I am a size 8, I thought it would be nicer to use it in a quilt rather than keep it around to grow back into.  It was too nice to throw away, and I liked the colors so I kept it.

Lastly, I finished my addition to the first round of the 2013 Improvi-Robin.  Take a look and see what is going on this year.  Most of us from last year joined again, and we added a couple of new people.  You can see below that block I received.  The rules for this Robin encourage improvisation.  I really enjoyed playing with this start.  All the rest of them are going to be just as much fun.

I am still working on the Criss Cross string quilt.  I spent some time cutting strips to measure today for another couple or rows. I figure if I have units cut and ready to sew, I can sew a unit or two when I have a few free minutes. It won't be fast, but it will get done.

Tomorrow, I will be working in the studio while Tom watches the Super Bowl. I will post what I get done.  Until then, joyful quilting everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

Some old and some new

Remember my Improvi-Robin quilt from last summer?  I have finally decided to get it finished.  I found some Alexander Henry fabric when I was out with my sister.  Actually, she found it and I bought it.  I also found some of the fabric Stephanie used on the left and bottom so I could add more to the top.  I cut out the three ladies and put them near the top.  I have fabric for the back so now all I need is the thread.

Here are the three ladies a little closer.

I am also working on a couple of baby quilts.  Bella is going to have a little sister in April and our oldest son and his wife who live in France are having a boy in May.  The baby girl quilt is not as far along as the baby boy quilt.  I still need fabric for the sashing.  

This one is for the baby boy.  I know his parents like bright colors.  I hope he does as well.

Lastly, I think I have finally figured out how to make a quilt similar to this one.

The antique is hand sewn and the strips are much narrower, but I am not one for such fussy sewing on a large scale.  This strip is 6" wide.  The strips are cut 1 1/4" wide and the base triangles are from a 2 1/2" square.  I made the first one on a piece of paper just to get the measurements, then I chain pieced the next four.  Now, I only have 75 units to go. I am making this from goodwill shirts and scraps.  It will take a while, but I think it is going to be very cool when done.

Back to the spiderweb quilt another day.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

Spider Web Part 2 and 3

You know that place in a quilt where it can look like a hot mess?  This quilt got to that place after several hours.  I kept at it though until I got to this place.

Everything was sewn together, pressed, and trimmed, ready to sew together.

I decided early on that I wasn't going to try to make every seam match.  I was hoping that the centers would match a little better, but am not too unhappy with the results.

I decided to use some of my favorite orange fabric for the next part, but it was too plain.

Dresden plates!  Yes.  Just the thing.  So what next?  I found three fabrics to audition.  First, I used some of my favorite Alexander Henry fabric for a border.

  

I liked them all, but decided to go with the top one.  Hopefully, I will get time to get back to this over the weekend.  In the meantime, I have a few other pieces I am working on. I will post them a little later.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

Building a spider quilt in miniature

After being inspired by fellow Rebels, I decided I wanted to make a spider quilt.  Unfortunately, I didn't ask enough questions to figure out how to build a big one like the ones Patty and LeeAnn made. One thing I knew for sure was I didn't have the right tool and the Joanne sale isn't until next week.  So, I decided to have a go at a mini.  At first, I was going to make it into an AAQI quilt, but figured out that I didn't want to work that small.  I decided to start with 3" squares cut on the diagonal.  After some playing around, I decided on 3/4" strings that finish at 1/4".  This is how far I have progressed after about ten hours.  This will probably finish a bit less than 15" square.  It will be the center medallion for a larger quilt done intuition style.  What was I thinking!

Happy New Year and joyful quilting in 2013.

 

Finally, some Christmas quilt tops!

This is another challenge from Victoria at 15 Minutes Play.  It is 22" x 24".  To read more about how I made it, head to this page. If you scroll through the site, you will see some other very wonderful pieces made in this challenge.

This is a start from another 15 Minute challenge from a year ago.  I pulled it out again and changed out the center.  I am loving the Santa.  He looks like he is thinking hard, so I may have to add some embroidered thoughts in the green space.  I will be adding more made fabric to the top and the bottom.  It will be a wall hanging when done.

This is my favorite piece.  I saw this wall hanging on a blog a long while ago.  I fell in love with it, so I asked about the pattern.  I was told it was an old pattern by Betty Alderman Designs called Old St. Nick.  I collect Santa's, so I went on a quest to find it.  I was able to purchase it on Ebay, and finally found the right fabrics for it this year.  In the original pattern, the bag is made of patchwork.  I had this paisley I just had to use. The original pattern also has stars in the borders and on the Santa.  I am not sure I will add those.  I haven't quilted it yet, or done the machine applique stitches, but I am so excited about getting it this far, I just had to share.

To all of you who celebrate holidays this season, I wish you all the best and joyous of days.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

 

 

My sister's quilt

 

The quilt on the left was made by my sister, and the one on the right by me.  I love the colors and fabrics my sister used, and putting ther stars over the mountains makes so much more sense.  I don't know what I was thinking.  Her trees turned out much better than mine because she actually paid attention to the directions.  Hmmm.  Great job, Kim!

First Sunday inDecember

I added the applique pieces to this piece and I like it a little better.  I am hoping that I will be inspired to do a great job quilting it.  It needs feathers or something.  It will be a great practice piece.  It is a good thing I have some of this challenge fabric left to try again.

As part of our Univera team, our group does charity stockings each December.  In addition to the fancy soaps and hand lotions I have collected this year, I decided to make some small pouches to be included.  I used fabric I had on hand.  These are fun and easy to make, just time consuming.  I do wish I would get faster at these things, but I guess I need more practice.

My most recent project is this Christmas small quilt.  I started with my scraps in my Christmas fabric bin and created these nine patches.

Then I cut them to create a disappearing nine patch, one of my favorite patterns.

Finally, I searched for and found this wonderful angel pattern by Erin Russek.  I changed it up a little, but not too much.  I am still deciding whether or not to add eyes.  I always worry that I will do it wrong and ruin the overall effect.  I am very happy with how this came out.  I really like the fabrics I found to use in the background, and I think the angel is so sweet.  I found this pattern a long time ago, and almost forgot about it.  If you love it, you can still find it at http://erinrussek.typepad.com/one-piece-at-a-time/2011/10/celebrate-christmas-quilt-a-long.html.

That is pretty much what I have been up to this week in the studio.  I hope you all have been enjoying your week.  Joyful quilting, everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

Playing with Piet Mondrian

It all started with this challenge fabric from Patty at Rebels.  I got quite a nice piece of it and have been looking at it for a while now.  I really like all the colors, but I didn't know what to create with it.

Then, I started thinking about rectangles, which reminded me of Piet Mondrian.  I drew a sketch and then started pulling fabric.

I found these in the solids bin and the one batik was on the table from another project.  I decided to use it as well.

The first thing I did was to cut some motifs from the challenge fabric, cut them up, and put them back together again with small strips, a la Mondrian.

Then I got busy cutting more pieces and sewing more blocks together.  I forgot to take more photos, so you will just have to imagine some of the steps in the process.

After moving things around quite a bit, I finally got it all put together.  I have a couple of small pieces I am going to applique on the top to make the colors work better and balance the design, but this is what I have so far.  Unfortunately, I cannot seem to get the colors right on the screen.  It is not as clashy as it looks here.  The green is darker and the orange is redder and duller.  This is about 24" x 30" right now.  I don't think I will do borders.  This is a bright wall hanging for a dark corner.

Another piece I worked on over the weekend was this Amish Bars mini for a doll quilt exchange.  I have never done the cable stitch before and it was interesting creating a pattern that fit my design.  I am very happy with how it turned out.

It even looks okay on the back.  As most of you know, I am not the world's greatest quilter, but I am practicing something other than an all over meander once in a while.

Tomorrow, we will have a small family gathering to share Indian food since all by my son-in-law are vegetarians, and we love dal and palak paneer.  On Friday, I am going to try my hand at glass blowing with my professional woman's group.  On Saturday, Rebels is hosting Victoria for a tea.  On Sunday, I am going to a home party for Parklane Jewelry.  I sincerely hope you are all going to have as much fun this holiday weekend as I am.

Happy Thanksgiving to my friends who celebrate, and joyful quilting.