Teacher Gail's quilt, Julie's quilt, and more

 

Well, I finally have something more to share.  This having a real job is really cutting into my quilting time!  Anyway, about a year ago, I donated a coupon for a quilt for the auction at Bella's pre-school.  On the day it was to expire, the person who purchased it got in touch and we finally got together to talk about what she might want.  After looking at my blog, she decided on something bright and 15 Min play style.  We met at a local fabric store, and she selected some of my favorite colors in batiks.  I told her it would be a while, but I didn't realize just how much time it was going to take.  I have managed to make the first five of the 20 blocks I want for the top.  I promised to post the progress, so Julie, here is what I have so far.  I hope you like it. 

It being the end of another school year, and Bella's last year in pre-school, I wanted to make a quilt for her teacher, Gail.  Gail is one of the best pre-school teachers I have met.  She teaches the little ones and at the same time, the high school students who are learning about teaching little ones.  Bella has had a great year.  She did a little sleuthing and learned that Gail loves green, so I had fun gathering green fabrics.  Have you tried the virtual quilt wall at The Old Country Store?  I love this store.  Fabric is beautiful, and most reasonably priced.  Shipping is fast and also very reasonable.  And now, they have a place where you can put all the fabrics you want to see together before you add them to your shopping cart.  Can't beat it.

Gail was very surprised by her quilt, and Bella was proud to be able to give it to her.  I love it when people like the quilts I make.  Bella did a great job choosing the color.

In a completely different direction is this months Improvirobin piece that came my way.  I absolutely love it!  So far, this is the work of five very talented people.  I hope my addition, whatever it will be, will add to the wonderfulness of this piece.  I may have to try and recreate something similar so I can have it on my wall.

I leave you with this inspiration.  I just know it is a quilt waiting to be born. This is the first year since we moved in that the clematis bloomed fully.  It is a real beauty.  Many of our neighbors have very full vines, so I am very happy to see ours has come back to life.

I have a little bit of work to do tomorrow, but I hope to have time in the studio again.  Oh!  I almost forgot to tell you about the new quilt shop I found today.  Gossypium opened in Issaquah four months ago, but I just heard about it today.  It is fabulous!  I know I will be spending more time there, and probably more money.  I am so happy to have a new quilt store in the area that carries fabrics that I like.  If you live in the area, and haven't stopped by yet, it is in Gilman Village on the back side of the building with the clock tower.  Enjoy!

Have a great weekend everyone.  Joyful quilting.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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.

 

 



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.

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.

Working on a new challenge

The first thing I did today was to finish my part on this round of the Improvirobin.  I really wanted to bring back more of the orange and dark blue, so I found this wonderful border fabric in Willa's scrap stash and created a piece of blue coral to applique on top.  This will go on to Willa for the last round before it gets returned to the original designer.  If you want to see the progress of all five of the pieces in this robin, go to our flickr page.

In March, we were given another piece of "ugly" fabric at Rebels for another challenge.  Of course, I thought the fabric was quite wonderful.  I thought I posted a photo of it in the blog, but I can't find it, and of course I have cut it up now.  In the photo, it is the fabric with the gray background and the colorful flowers and birds.

When I was in Virginia, I took it with me to quilt shops to see what I could find to go with it.  I knew I wanted to cut it into blocks showing off the different motifs.  At the Jinny Beyer Studio, I found the wonderful red paisley-like fabric that I thought was perfect with it.  In the Old Country Store, I found three colors of Kona solids that I knew I wanted to use.  I decided not to use any purple solid because I thought there was enough in the print.  This is what I have so far.  The long gold and red pieces are just there for audition sake.  I wanted to make sure the colors worked as well as I thought they would.  I still have some layout decisions to make, but I think this is the general direction I am headed with this piece.  Each of the blocks will be bordered with the gold, the red, or the green.  I haven't done a quilt like this before, so I am enjoying the challenge.  Maybe I will even get this one finished by the last week in May when the challenge is due.  That would sure surprise everyone, including me.

Did I tell you all that Tom has decided we are going to go into raising chickens so we can have fresh eggs?  We have purchased four Americana (?) chicks that are being raised by someone who knows how to take care of teeny tiny chicks and today we are going to meet them.  I will try and post photos tomorrow.

Until then, joyful quilting everyone.

Playing catch-up

Bet that got your attention!  This block, and the next two, were created by an extremely talented quilter I know, Sharon M.  She is one of the very talented people who are in my International Robin group.  I get to play with Sharon's faces first in the robin.

This is the smallest one, but I love the way she peaks from behind the leaves.  She looks as though she is just about to smile at something she sees.

I think she is the youngest looking.  Not showing in this photograph are the leaves as they extend past the edge of the background so they can lay on the next piece to be put on.  All of these blocks have this quality.  Each face is hand painted by Sharon.  The final name for her quilt will be Gaia, who was the primordial Earth-goddess in the ancient Greek religion.  It was from Gaia that all the other gods were born.  I don't remember reading anything about her in my ancient Greek history classes in public school.  I did some research about her the other night.  I am not sure how I will put these three blocks together yet, but my intention is to stay with the theme established by the name.

This is the piece I am working on for the ImproviRobin I am part of.  I am the second to last person to play with it before it goes back to the person who started it.  I have this much on my display wall.  I cut the blue coral piece to see what I thought, and Tom thinks I should add more in the various colors found in the other fabrics that are used.  I am going to fuse whatever pieces I do add and do some machine applique in buttonhole stitch.  The colors look really washed out in this photo, but I assure you they are much more vivid.  This is a very fun piece.  I raided Willa's stash to find the border fabric I am using.  Thanks, Willa.

Finally, I have been working on other Bee blocks that are due by the end of the month.  I still haven't figured out how to do a decent Bishop's Fan quilting on the doll quilt, but I will keep at it.  I am almost finished with the lilies quilt.  I have one Stash Bee block done and have another one to do.  I did finish the comfort bee blocks today.  They are really calming, so that was fun.

Fortunately, I have two days to play in the studio before my days with Bella start. 

Tomorrow, I have a guest post over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Hop on over there to see how to make the quilt I made last year for H2H.

I think that is it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  Joyful quilting, everyone.

Something new

Does your normal everyday life ever intrude seriously into your quilting time?  That is what happened to me this morning.  I had to spend far too much time dealing with state bureaucracy and a financial institution this morning.  Unfortunately, it was necessary.  Fortunately, it all worked out well.  After I got that taken care of, I got the Primitiva top put together and ready for borders.  The border fabric arrived this afternoon, so I will put it on tomorrow and post another photo.

Then, I had room to put this newly arrived work on the design wall and audition some fabric for my addition.  This is round three of the Improvirobin I am taking part in.  Willa, my wonderful sister in law, did a stunning and incredible piece of transformation on my round one piece.  You can see it here.  It has now traveled on to a new person for round three.  The piece on my design wall was started by Stephanie at Venus de Hilo, and added to by Jackie at Canton Village Quilt Works.  I have some ideas what I want to do, but I will let it gel for a few days before I jump in.  I will post what I do at the end of the month.

Tomorrow, I have a bunch of little projects that need my attention in the studio.  Until then, joyful quilting, everyone.

Getting closer

I took some good advice from yesterday's comments and used some scraps to work out the best way to sew the units onto the center block.

After getting the size and shape sorted out, I made four paper foundations for piecing.

I had first thought I would have the pointy part of the purple pointing toward the center, but changed my mind.  I decided that I wanted to continue having the energy from the center flowing outward.

This is what one completed corner looks like.  I got two sewn in place before I had to leave to go to a vision board creating party.  As you might imagine, my board has a quilting and fabric area. 

Tomorrow, I will finish up this project and get the last two wonky houses made.  Week after next is spring break for my daughter, so I will have an entire week to work in the studio.  I am going to dedicate one day to clean up my studio.  It is time. 

Until tomorrow, joyful quilting everyone.

It's about the process some days

I am participating in a round robin with four other quilters.  They are all extremely talented quilters.  They pay attention to things like points and seam allowances.  I try, but sometimes I fall a bit short.  This time, I am really working to be disciplined so none of them will be sorry I joined and they will want to work with me again.  My first center came from Jackie at Canton Village Quiltworks.  You can see it here.  After looking at it on my design wall for a while, I made some decisions and have started my addition.

First, I measured the center, and decided how wide the base of these triangles needed to be.  I decided how tall I wanted them to be, added a 1/4" seam allowance all around, and cut out the pieces I needed.

Since I have been playing with triangles lately, with varying degrees of success, I decided to mark the points in the corners where the seam allowances met.

I carefully pinned these points together, and sewed my strips.  This really worked well.  I got nice straight lines, and the strips are nice and even.  I am very happy with these results.

Amazingly enough, my measurements were correct and the strips were just the right length.  Then I got stumped.

These next few photos are without the strips sewn to the center. This is what the corners look like now.  Here is my dilemma.  I know how to achieve this:

But what I want to achieve is this:

I know how to build this corner piece, I just don't know how to sew it on.  It is a Y seam of sorts, but totally outside my comfort zone.  I will figure it out tomorrow, I am sure, but for now, I will just look at it for a while.  If you have any words of wisdom, I would be so grateful if you would share them.

What wonderful projects are you working on that have challenges to them?

Until tomorrow, joyful quilting, everyone.