Blush in Progress

I've disappeared from the blogging world a bit this fall. I'm taking classes to renew my teaching certificate and trying to keep up with the family comings and goings. Not a ton of sewing going on but with a retreat in September and sneaking in a few minutes here and there, I've made a little progress. 

I've been struggling with deciding on a plan for this Blush fabric for a looooong time. I finally came up with this and I love it. The background is my favorite shade of Basic Grey Grunge fabric. I'll piece some blocks for the back next.

The bird on the text print is a favorite. Actually there are several favorites in this quilt. I can't wait to get it quilted. This one is for me! Jumping back into another class tomorrow though. Perhaps I can make a little progress at the KCMQG retreat this weekend.

Spring 2012 Quilt Market

I've had a little time to process my visits to quilt market and I have to say the overwhelm is still coming in waves!

Let me tell you a little about my experience.

I attended market thanks to Camille Roskelley. I helped a bit with her and her mom's booths. I'm sure you've seen their Cotton Way and Thimble Blossoms patterns (Swoon, anyone??). They also design Bonnie and Camille fabric together for Moda. I've loved their fabric designs for quite some time and discovered Camille's Simplify blog through the Artful Blogging magazine a couple of years ago. It was no surprise that they are genuinely sweet and wonderful to visit with in person.

Their Vintage Modern line of fabric is beautiful and their newest line is Marmalade. It has many of the same colors but they've added some orange and yellow that really makes me think of spring. 

I've been in Bartle Hall several times before, so when I walked in on Wednesday by way of a loading dock, it appeared as I anticipated with piles of boxes and crates and all the pieces of booths being carried in bit by bit. When I walked in on Friday, it was magical. It reminded me of watching the Wizard of Oz in black and white and then suddenly you're in OZ with brilliant color everywhere.I only had about two hours to explore on Friday and just walked through quickly. Lots of smiles everywhere and an underlying sense of anticipation.

After I stopped by Bonnie and Camille's booth I was focused on finding my friend Shea's booth. She creates the amazing Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio patterns. And when I say amazing, I really mean it. Shea has really set the standard for patterns with the way she prints a little booklet with fabulous color photos of quilts in optional fabrics and sizes. I know I'm a little biased since I've tested a few of her patterns but as a visual learner I appreciate how clearly each of her steps are illustrated.

I zipped through the rest to get an overview of what was there. Notions, software, threads, quilting and sewing machines, embroidery patterns, quilt patterns, books, clothes patterns, batting, modern and traditional fabrics with everything in between.

I was completely awestruck in so many ways. I'm mostly amazed knowing how much passion and hard work goes into putting fabric, patterns and books into my hands.

I returned on Sunday morning with my friend Sarah and walked the entire floor again together. Everyone was much more relaxed. Even though I felt more comfortable taking pictures, I was just too absorbed in looking to snap many photos. There's so many images of things I loved that keep floating to the surface of my mind. Luckily, I picked up a few cards and brochures to jog my memory.

I'll share a few photos of things that caught my eye.

Kona's Modern Quilt fabric line.

Green Bee patterns...love that first quilt on the left.

I could have spent hours in Denyse Schmidt's booth looking at all the details on her inspiration wall.

I'm intrigued with the quilts from her new book. They have such a vintage, antique feel that seems so comfortable and stimulating at the same time.

I do have a few more things to share with you but I'd better stop for now. Everyone here went to bed long ago and I should follow!

Pips Napping Quilt

While it's been quiet here on the blog, I've been slowly but surely sewing away. This little quilt was finished at the beginning of the year. I'd started it in the fall for Jenna to use during her kindergarten napping time. However, not long after school started, the teacher decided to have the kids just put their heads on their desks at nap time. Without a deadline, I wasn't in a huge hurry but picked it back up again after the holidays.

Even though this was a simple quilt I wanted to try a few new things. I knew right off the bat I wanted to start with a Sherbet Pips charm pack and add other fabrics from my stash. I found a couple of other prints and some Kona solids to mix in. 

My favorite print from Sherbet Pips is the girl on the swing. I had a tree swing in my back yard when I was about that age and I remember swinging when my mom put laundry on the line or worked in the garden or the flower beds. It's Jenna's favorite print too and I just happened to buy more than enough yardage when my sister was visiting last Easter (miss you sis!). 

One of my other goals was to try finishing my binding with the sewing machine instead of by hand. I almost changed my mind when I started and then almost ripped it out after I did the first side. In the end, I went ahead and finished and while I don't love it I'm still glad I tried it. My mom and friend Darcy gave me a few tips I'll try next time. I can see where it would be handy for quilts that get washed a lot. I'm just impatient and want to be as good as my mom is at making it look so nice.

I made 2 1/2 inch binding instead of my usual 2 1/4 to give myself some extra wiggle room. In some places it was way too much but I still managed to miss the binding in a few other spots and had to go back and stitch it down. 

 

Jenna and I tried to chase the sun for several days back in January but kept missing it! So we gave up and took photos anyway and she we a great helper. 

 

It's been put to good use in the mornings before school and as small as it is, I've seen her and Roy cuddled under it together watching television and I've even read a little with my feet tucked under it. This is our Valentine tea after school in February. I surprised Jenna with her little friends waiting for her when she came home from school. She was so tickled!

Bloom Strong

I did finish binding this quilt as promised! The next weekend, Roy and I actually had a babysitter and went out to dinner together. He was nice enough go up to the University of Kansas campus with me to get photos. It's always funny watching people watch you while taking quilt photos!

This is Strong Hall at KU. KU has some beautiful architecture but this building was never one that interested me much. Perhaps memories of the hot, frustrating math classes on the top floor? I happened to catch a show on the local tv station this fall that highlighted the architecture of several buildings in Lawrence and for some reason I grabbed my sketchbook and got busy making quilting designs.

When I was in college, I loved spring on campus. The flowers and trees were in bloom everywhere and I was so happy to be outside more. Tulips were always some of the first flowers at the base of the Jayhawk statue in front of Strong Hall. I thought the tulips and other prints in Kate Spain's Verna fabric would add the perfect softness to a quilt with such strong lines.

I used 10 fat quarters and added some solid white. It measures about 47"x45". It's actually a bit wider than it is long. I quilted it simply with straight lines to give it a soft drape. I'm glad I experimented with wider spacing but in the end I think I do prefer a little heavier quilting.

I intentionally kept the back very busy in case my friend wanted to take the quilt into the yard for her baby while she watched her older children play.

I used a print with a soft, blue background for the hand stitched binding.

I started the quilt in the fall last year and had it all pieced before the New Year. I'm not sure how all this time passed so quickly before I finished it. I suppose other projects jumped ahead in line. It was the first quilt that I designed myself and completed on my own.

I'm excited to take it to my friend's little girl tomorrow. I hope she will get a lot of enjoyment from it over the next few years.

Do you have any gifts in progress?

Finally a Finish!

I think this may have been the first quilt I cut out on my own. I used a Turning Twenty pattern. It spent a lot of time on a shelf in between stages of cutting, piecing, quilting, and binding and spanned a bunch of different life stages when I just didn't make a lot of time for sewing. I'm so excited that it's finished because I think it will get lots of use during the summer time. I picture using it on the table for celebrations, for a picnic with friends or an evening concert in the park. The fabric on the back seems particularly sturdy. It has a finish on it that is a bit stiffer than your typical quilting cotton. I'm curious to see what it feels like after I wash it.

A little bit of a blue rectangle faded a bit before I knew to be careful about closing the blinds in my sewing room so I gave it the name Faded Glory. It's not very easy to see and will get lot's of love in spite of it's imperfections.

My mom quilted it with red thread on her long arm. It's nice to have connections! Thanks Mom!

We are home now from Tennessee, and I'm missing everybody so much. If only I could be in two places at one time. My sister Viv, her friend Samantha, Jenna and I went to Knoxville to the AQS Quilt Show and had lunch at a Creperie near the big Farmer's Market.

I've dreamed of these gigantic blackberries since last year. Viv is an amazing cook and made an incredible blackberry crisp that night.

{If you are curious about those tobacco baskets in my last post, I've updated it with some more information.}

Stain Removal

My little family headed out to western Kansas this week for the funeral of a dear friend's father. I took along my hexagon doll quilt so I could work on the hand applique. 

Somehow, either hot cocoa or coffee came in contact with the quilt top. The cup holders are right beside me so I'm sure the top fell that way and soaked up a little drip. Panic! Luckily I remembered that I'd been carrying around a Tide2Go pen in my purse and whipped it out to see what could be done.

I found these at Target and picked them up because my daughter and I usually end up with something on us when we are out. It alleviates a lot of stress and I was hoping it would come to my rescue again.

I tried to just dot a bit of the solution on the fabric but quite a lot came out on the first try. I used the tip for some scrubbing action then blotted with bottled water to make a less definite water line. I was worried the stain remover would leave a stain (Yes, I can find something to worry about at all times!). It dried nicely and you'd never know it happened. I might have to keep one of these in my sewing kit for emergencies like this.

I'm getting a chance to work on this quilt again today since the stomach bug hit our house about 2:00 this morning. Thank goodness I've been okay and can care for everyone and stay on top of the laundry! I'm spending some time sitting beside Jenna watching movies with this quilt top in my hand. We are disappointed to miss a visit with friends who flew in this morning but thankful it hit before they arrived so they weren't exposed.


Hope all is well with you and that you've enjoyed this first day of the year!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - 2010

 

I am so excited to share this wall hanging for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

This all started when I received a couple packages of scraps from two Etsy shops. These darling little gnomes were tucked inside and the second I saw them I knew I had to do something special with them. Right away I decided I'd experiment and create some type of wonky project since I'd never made anything wonky (on purpose :).

I just happened to be in the middle of working on a different project but I couldn't stop thinking about the gnomes. So one stormy night when I couldn't sleep I found a tutorial from Quilt Dad and started cutting. This is the first quilt I've been driven to make for fun that didn't really have a purpose except just to enjoy.

I did learn that a new sharp needle is your friend when you start a new project. My machine was skipping stitches when I first started but a new needle solved that problem.

 

It was so much fun to work on this! I pulled from my bag of scraps and my stash of fat quarters. There's even a circle print that I spotted in my Mom's home studio stash and she was gracious enough to send it home with me last year! I just love the first little gnome with the rake. He looks in charge and ready to go and I need him to bring his friends to my yard! I've named this wall hanging Garden Friends in their honor.

Besides the gnomes, my other favorite piece is the Black Eyed Susans on the hot pink fabric.

When I try one of these again, I think I'd like to throw in some solids just to give the eyes a place to rest.

I love pieced backs on quilts but I knew this will hang on my wall where I sew, so I used a fun fat quarter for the back. For the quilting, I just stitched in the ditch in a spiral pattern around the wonky logs.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy all of the inspiration at the Festival. I love reading all the  stories and of course seeing the beautiful quilts. I plan on having my laptop open today to check out entries in between the loads of laundry I'll be catching up on today. I appreciate Amy putting this together for us to enjoy!

She'll Be Back!

I just went to AmandaJean's blog Crazy Mom Quilts to see if she had any new Flicker photos and saw the surprising announcement that she'll be blogging again soon. Sooooo happy to hear that. She's the first quilt blogger that I followed and I was so sad to see her blogging come to an end.

To celebrate this wonderful news, I'm sharing the red and aqua quilt top that I finished at my retreat in March. AmandaJean provided the inspiration for this one.

I had so much fun working with these colors and I love the layout. Not loving the block with stripes. I wasn't about to try to match the stripes but it still bugs me a little.

This quilt top was my big accomplishment at the retreat. You can see one of the sewing rooms here. We had a snow storm while we were at the retreat and enjoyed the view all weekend. We even saw deer running across the dam.

My sewing station was just down the sidewalk in the next building. It was kind of nice to get some brisk fresh air on the way to and from "The Big House". I'm so lucky to have such a nice group of women to get together with while we quilt. Looking forward to the next one in the fall already!

Project Plume Update

The Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild met last week and the big reveal of everyone's Project Plume quilts was so exciting! I had a heck of a time getting mine quilted but finally figured out that my machine is preferring one type of thread at the moment. (Thank goodness my mom answers my frantic emails and is my connection for this thread!) I think my favorite part of this is the pink binding. It really pops off the brown. 

This is only the second quilt that I've quilted myself. I used spray basting and pins last time and this time I only used pins. I think I will probably try the spray again. I got a bit more puckering this time but perhaps you won't be able to notice after I wash and dry it. And I'm sure a little more practice would help. I used a wonderful tutorial that Jacquie put together at Tallgrass Prairie Studio where you use blue painters tape to guide your quilting lines. Worked like a charm!

Isn't the fabric on the back beautiful? I love that bird! I started this project with the idea that it would be a gift for someone special but I'm not sure I can part with it. At least not yet.

Shea over at The Empty Bobbin has a few pictures of the fabulous creations that some of the guild members came up with. I find it amazing that you can give a group of people a charm pack and have them pick out a 1/2 yard of fabric to go with it and get so many beautiful quilts. I swear I can't sleep at night when I get home from a guild meeting after seeing all of the talented quilters share their projects!

Many thanks to Tula Pink and Moda for making this challenge possible!

Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild

Last Wednesday evening, I attended the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild's second meeting and had a wonderful time! It was so exciting to visit with so many quilters who were absolutely as nice as could be. The show and tell was so inspiring. We saw quilts from beginning quilters, very experienced quilters and everything in between and they were all beautiful. In fact it was SO inspiring that I had a hard time sleeping that night because I was so excited.

Tula Pink was at the meeting and gave us all a challenge. She brought charm packs of her new Plume line of fabric that Moda donated to our group. The challenge is to use the charm pack and a half yard of fabric, along with any fabric for the backing and binding. I love so many of the designs in this line as well as the colors but it's really out of my comfort zone to use some of the colors in the charm pack together. It took me several days to finally figure out what I wanted to create.

I made three Disappearing Nine Patch blocks using Rachel Griffith's wonderful tutorial on p.s.i quilt. I then framed them with a chocolate brown solid from Moda. I'm considering an attempt at free motion quilting with this project. The challenge participants will share their creations at the April meeting. It'll be fun to see what everyone came up with.



The pink feathers on the pink background is a favorite.


And so is the large scale floral which is surprising since I usually don't care for large scale prints.

I have a thing for keys so I'm really in love with the keys dangling from the vines/trees. You can see the pink and green versions here.

Edited to add: See finished quilt here.




It was fun to branch out and try something new which is exactly why I was interested in joining a guild. The Modern Quilt Guild is popping up in many areas around the country so check to see if you have a guild near you.