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!

 

Possibilities

I recently won a giveaway for my participation in the Hand 2 Help charity quiltalong.  It took me a while to realize I hadn't sent Caroline at Wondrous Woven Fabrics my address.  Once I did, she got this jelly roll to me quickly.  It is Warm Memories by Kansas Troubles for Moda.  As I have said before, I do love anything designed by Kansas Troubles.  I am a sucker for their palette.  These will work perfectly with Perennials on that quilt I have started.  Now, I can make it even bigger.  I may actually get a bed sized quilt out of this.  That would be a first.  I love lap quilts, so that is what I make for bigger quilts, usually. I am very excited about winning this.
I am also working on my Lautrec block.  I strip pieced all the yellow pieces together.

I am very excited that they all work so well.  I think I am going to cut into this and sew it back together in to make still newer fabric.  The netting in the yellow/gold tutu in the photo is quite rumpled and I want to get more of that effect without going three dimensional.  The next thing I worked on was the top of the dress and the torso, which we see from the back.  Her arm is bent at the elbow.  It is hard to really tell what it is in this photo.

In the painting, the skin tone is very mottled with greys, yellows, pinks, and greens.  I found this batik that works perfectly.  My next step is to put the head on the torso.  I think I am going to have to applique the hair because it is just too complicated for me to figure out how to piece.  Maybe someday I will be that good, but for now I will settle on the easy way.  I also need to piece the yellow tutu to the blue skirt.  It is coming along, but it is slow.
I have many projects going right now, and my studio time is about to be cut in half.  Beginning tomorrow, I will be with Bella three days a week again.  My daughter is a drama teacher, and her school year begins tomorrow.  I am looking forward spending quality time with just the two of us again.  It is wonderful being a grandmother, and I am very blessed that I am able to be so close to Bella.  I am also blessed that she loves fabric and creating small quilts on her own design board.  I am going to teach her to use the machine after Christmas, when she is 3 1/2.  Maybe sooner if she shows more interest.  I know she wants to make quilts for her dolls.
I will be cutting down on my blogging posts as well, probably.  Hopefully, I will get things done and have more to share soon.  In the meantime -
Joyfull quilting, everyone.

A circle, a gift, and a new challenge

This is a detail of the newest circle piece I am working on.  With the method I learned recently, you can make it so there is a piping effect around the circle.  I love the way this purple piping sets the circle off.   Here is the whole piece so far.

I chose the oranges and greens to mimic sunset over a bayou.  The sticks remind me of wooden posts you might see at the end of a pier or at a fishing camp.  I thought the orange and green batik at the bottom of the orange/purple pieces (third strip down) worked well as a transition piece.  When I think of a bayou, I think of rich deep greens, and heavy air.  I think of the sounds of frogs, fish jumping, and gently movement of the water.  I think of the deep south.  I don't know if this is a finished piece, or just the beginning of something larger.  Time will tell.

This is a piece of wide waled corduroy.  The colors are pretty true to the piece.  Did you know that November 11, 2011 is National Corduroy Day (NCD)?  One of the members of a wonderful quilting group called the Rebels brought this piece of fabric to the meeting yesterday and challenged us each to make a block for NCD.  I have looked at it all day today, and have no idea what to do with it yet.  I am thinking of adding some bright colors, maybe reds and purples.  I may even add some purple corduroy I have.  I have a while to come up with something.  As I always say, I do love a challenge.  This one is a doozy.

I also was given a very wonderful small piece of fabric to play with at the same meeting.

This is one of several Virgins of Guadalupe on a panel.  There were four up for grabs, and I was lucky to get this one.  I am going to have fun building a quilt around this lovely lady.
Have a joy filled quilting weekend.

Another fun cow and a short survey

I think I will call this one Freckles.  I just couldn't help myself today.  I found those two small orphan blocks that are in the body and figured they look sort of like cow's stomachs.  Of course, you have to squint your eyes and use a heavy dose of imagination.  Anyway, I pulled more of the fabrics in the blocks along with some purple and red and started cutting.  In my recent donated stash, I found several yards of grassy meadow looking fabric and decided to use some of it.  I had a small piece of batik that sort of looks like sky, so I decided to use it as background.  This was more fun to make because I had already worked out the measurements.  I am going to put more borders and embellishments on this one, I think.  Maybe a red hat?
Now for the survey.  If you belong now to a quilt guild, or have ever belonged to one, I would be so grateful if you could take the time to answer these few questions.
1.  How many dues paying members were in the group?
2.  How many of them were active?
3.  Did/does your guild have a quilt show?
4.  If yes, how often and do you charge admission?
5.  What kinds of activities does your guild do?  (ie: BOM, exchange blocks, presentation quilts, etc.)
6.  If your guild sponsors a quilt show, what percentage of the members enter quilts in the show?
7.  I would love some suggestions about how to motivate members who come regularly to meetings to become more active participants in all aspects of the guild.
Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy days to respond to my survey.
Quilters are the best.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

Playing in the studio today

Today, I wanted to get my guild's BOM done today.  I think I will make a few more of these and make a lap quilt using rainbow colors.  I have always liked this block, but have found it hard for some reason.  Getting all the pieces in the right place sometimes gets confusing for some reason.  I was pleased that this one came out pretty well.  Hopefully, they will be easier now.



I have been really wanting to make this cow from Mary Lou Weidman and Melanie McFarland's new book, Out of the Box with Easy Blocks.  I call this one Dreaming of Paisley.  I used some of my paisley collection and a piece of dark sky/cloud/moon fabric I was recently given.  The contrast between the cow pieces and the background is not as strong as I want, but this was a practice piece.  The pattern in the book is for a much larger quilt.  I wanted a small piece to hang on my bedroom wall.  I started out by using my math skills (LOL) to reduce the size of the pattern.  I adapted and adjusted as I went.  Now that I have good measurements, I plan on making more this size with brighter colors and more contrast.  I really love so many of the patterns and designs in this book.  So whimsical and fun.

The last thing I worked on today was pulling fabric together for the next block in my art masters quilt.  This time I have selected a piece by Henri Toulouse Lautrec called The Clowness.  I have always been a Lautrec fan, and I chose this painting for the colors.  I am using primarily batiks for this piece.  I have some process issues to work out before I proceed much further.  I am also expecting more yellow fabric from a very generous follower in the next day or two.  I will be posting more about this block as it progresses.

Until tomorrow, joyful quilting, everyone. 



Extreme to serene

The black, white and green quilt top is done.  I am really happy I decided to put in the black shashing/inner borders.  I am going to do a black binding to finish the design.  Now, I just have to make decisions about the backing and the quilting.  This is going to finish up at 52" x 52".

After working with all that exciting black and white, I decided I needed to work on something more serene.  Yesterday, I went on a quilt play date with a really gifted quilter, Sharon.  She taught me how to do an inset circle that is so easy, I just want to make tons of them.  They will go in my favorite list along with flying geese, churn dash and friendship stars.  This afternoon, I grabbed some batiks and built this small block.  It is about 8" x 11".  I am going to experiment more with blocks that convey the same mood and see what I can create.
Tomorrow, Tom and I are working a wedding event to see if we can pick up some new wedding clients.  I will miss being in my studio, but I always enjoy meeting excited brides to be.
Have a great Sunday, and joyful quilting, everyone.

Progress report

I decided to make four of these fun little 9" blocks for the guild presentation block for the month.  The presenter is expecting her first great grandson.  These were fun to make.  This is one of my favorite easy stars.

This is what I have on the design wall now.  I finished all the blocks for the wedding quilt.  It is very visually stimulating with nowhere to rest your eye.  I think I will put black sashing to help break up all the excitement in the squares.  The really light squares have a line drawing floral motif.  It is not so strikingly different as it looks in this photo.  Black and white and green.  Who knew?
Tomorrow, I have a play date with a quilting friend.  I am going to work on doing inset circles. 
Have a wonderful evening.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

Basics block and the start of a new quilt

Basics Promesa is a program in the Lower Eastside of Manhattan in New York City.  One of the wonderful things this organization does is to help families transition out of shelters and into more permanent housing.  Victoria Findlay Wolfe supports this program by providing quilts for as many families as she can.  She can't do it alone.  She is inviting all quilters to make and donate a quilt to this program.  Her goal is to gather 350 by Thanksgiving.  This is doable given the number of quilters there are.  Go to this website to learn more about this program and how you can help.  The above block is one for a group quilt for the 15 Minute Play folks to donate.

These two blocks are for a quilt I am making for my nephew and his fiance who are getting married on October 1. Shh!  They don't know I am making it, but they don't look at my blog so it will still be a surprise.  It is the same pattern I used for the H2H quilt.  This time, the fabrics are black and white and emerald green.  Do you know how hard it is to find emerald green cotton quilt fabric?  I finally found this batik that works pretty well.  I am liking the bold look that these fabrics bring.  I can't decide which one is my favorite.  I hope they like it and that the green passes muster.

For another project, I find myself in need of yellow and gold scraps.  Does anyone out there have some they would be willing to part with?  I have two small pieces left.  If you are willing to share, please let me know and I will send you my address.  Maybe I have something in my scrap box that you are looking for.  Thanks for considering it.

I have guild meeting tonight, so I need to go type up the agenda.  Tonight, I present the awards from our quilt show.  I have it on good authority, since I have the prizes, ribbons, and award list, that Hokule'a won the People's Choice award for challenge block.  My first quilt award.  I am really pretty humbled by this because there were some fabulous quilts in this show.  And to think, I wasn't even going to enter it.

Have a great evening and joyful quilting, everyone.

A last look at the fish



This is officially fish #12, but I did another one so I could send one to Mary Lou, who hosted this exchange.

This is the last fish.  I created it from the fabric I made the other day.  I have enjoyed making all these fish.  This is what they all look like together (without the pink one who just didn't fit in).



I actually got to work on a couple of blocks for this months presentation block at the guild.  I really like this block pattern and think I may use it to create something for myself.

Tomorrow, I think I will take a blog break unless I make anything worth sharing.

Joyful quilting, everyone.



Two new fish and some made fabric

Only one more fish to go.

I spent time making fabric for the last fish, and another project.

Tomorrow. 

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

I have created nine fish now, and have three to go.  My design wall has a decidedly fishy flavor right now.  I had no idea these fish would take me so long to make.  I just couldn't make them plain, I guess.  I still want to sew some water around most of them, and some of them still need eyes.  My goal is to have them all done and ready to mail by Tuesday.

 Joyful quilting, everyone.



Guest posting at Victoria's and a giveaway winner.

I am so excited to be the guest blogger over at Victoria's Bumblebeans blog today.  Stop over there to read all about the process I followed in creating this Matisse block.

Thank you all for leaving comments and following my blog.  Now, for the moment you have been waiting for.

The random generator selected # 17

And the winner is

Missy said...

I'm now a follower of your blog. This sounds like a lot of fun. I haven't done this before and I think it might stretch my creativity some.

 I have sent Missy an email and will send her fabric as soon as I get her address.



Joyful quilting, everyone.

A new fish

This one makes six. 

 I think my mojo walked out the door this morning when Priscilla (my Juki) and I had some difficulty over a new kind of thread my client wants me to use on her quilt.  I am afraid, it is so bad that I am going to have to get Priscilla's bobbin case fixed or replaced.  I also had to rip out about 12" by 85" of quilting.  It looked fine on the top, but when I started to roll it up, it was a mess.  I am still new enough at this that I didn't automatically check to see if the back was alright before I got that far.  Priscilla didn't do her part in warning me, either.  Anyway, it has been on my mind all day and my studio work suffered.  Only one fish all day?  That is sad.  At least I like the fish.  I only have six more fish for the swap, unless I decided to send one directly to Mary Lou.  Then I would need seven more.  Decisions, Decisions.

If you are interested in the Soul Blossom giveaway, you still have until tomorrow morning around 9:00 AM PST to enter here.

I hope you are all having a better day than I am.