Fabrics and patterns and giveaways, oh my!

Cathy, of one of my favorite blogs, Cabbage Quilts, mentioned in an email today that she was going to stop by my blog and see what I had been up to.  Not much, I'm afraid, other than recovering from the flu, which started a week ago Sunday. I've been back at work since Monday, but today is the first day I've felt halfway human.  However, I did manage to drag myself to my conference in Bend Thursday afternoon, passing through Sisters, Oregon and making a visit to the Stitchin' Post.  There I treated myself to 13 FQs of Kaffe Fassett fabric (buy 12, get 1 free -- a quilter's dozen?) for my HST value quilt and this cool pattern of diamond shapes.

After returning home, I fell in love with this quilt on Flickr, which is also by the same company, Aardvark Quilts.

The only quilting/sewing work I've accomplished lately has been to prep my Kaffe fabric for the value quilt. I cut the fabrics into 6" squares (some were purchased on Etsy precut) and have paired one light or medium with one medium or dark fabric.  I'm looking forward to playing around with them after they are sewn, cut, and up on my makeshift design wall.

Yesterday was a great day because my Sue Ross BOM block 3 arrived from Australia, and my Amy Butler Love fabrics arrived!!!

I purchased the Love fabrics from Material Gal on Etsy.  I got a great price by preordering, and I love these fabrics more every time I look at them!  Sorry, but I just have to show you every single one:

Sunspots

Paradise Garden

Tumble Roses

Bliss Bouquet

Arabesque

Memento

Bali Gate

Sandlewood

Cypress Paisley

Water Bouquet

So now, if you love LOVE even half as much as I do, you must immediately go to Amy's blog -- Mrs. Schmenkman Quilts -- and enter her giveaway for eight -- yes EIGHT -- fat quarters of Love. And while you're at it, also pop over to Sarah's blog, The Last Piece, for a chance to win six, yes SIX, honey buns of the Rouenneries line, along with the newly released, beautiful Down Under Quilts 2010 calendar.  Oh, and there will be six winners!  By the way, be sure to spend a little time at both of these blogs.  They are two of my favorites!!!

And speaking of favorite/inspiring blogs, I also recently received this fabric designed by Aneela of comfortstitching, which she designed herself and had  custom printed by Spoonflower.  

Aneela has also created a second Christmas fabric and another one with adorable little girls skipping rope.  It will make you smile.

Now, there's nothing left for me to do, but get back to that sewing machine!

With wishes, true and kind -- and packages tied up with string -- Joan

2009 Blogger's Quilt Festival

Having come back to quilting in June after a break of several years, I find myself with only one completed quilt and a rapidly growing pile of quilt tops.  So my entry for the quilt festival is the half hexagon quilt I made as part of comfortstitching's half hexagon quiltalong on flickr. Please click on any of the images below for a closer look, and my apologies to my regular followers for re-posting this quilt so soon.

The quilt has a bit of a story.  I decided it would be a “make do” quilt, using only fabrics I had on hand.  I started by gathering primarily scraps leftover from the making of this quilt top for my daughter a few years ago. 

I cut my strips and half hexies and started playing with them on a makeshift design wall (flannel sheet) hanging over the French doors separating the family room from the living room.

My daughter walked into the house, expressed interest, and we agreed that the quilt would be for her college dorm room when she moved back to school in the fall.  However, although she had picked out most of the fabrics from the earlier quilt, her tastes have changed a little, and she wanted to use more Amy Butler fabrics and take out some of the stronger, brighter colors.  I agreed and started cutting more fabric.  As I played around with this new direction, I found myself changing more and more of the fabrics and using more and more from my long cherished Amy Butler stash.  If I didn’t have enough fabrics to complete a row in the layout, I just added other similar fabric, which was a look that both my daughter and I agreed upon.  If you look closely at the picture of the finished quilt above, you will notice that in several "rows" there are actually two or three different fabrics.

The half hexies were then sewn into strips...

...with a little "help" from Bonnie and Samantha.

We did purchase new fabric for the borders and the back.  We both quickly agreed upon this fabulous Kaffe Fassett for the backing that seemed to tie in all the fabrics.  It was quilted on a long arm by my friend, Karen Walker.

 I used leftover fabric and strips to make two pillowcases and four pillows…

…to create Dorm Room Chic.

Sweet Dreams, Molly!

Be sure to click on the badge to see other quilts in the festival.

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan

Three WIPs

I have been sick since Sunday (sniffle, cough), and tomorrow I’m supposed to leave for a conference in Bend (in Central Oregon) till Saturday night. Bend is near the quaint little town of Sisters, home to Jean Wells and The Stitchin' Post.  I have decided that if I survive the drive (about 3-1/2 hours) and a board meeting Thursday night, I will live. And maybe, just maybe, I'll have time to run over to Sisters.  In the meantime, here are three WIPs in various stages:

Block 1 of the Sue Ross BOM

So far, so good.  Feeling pretty clever.

Feeling like a genius!  Super quilter!  

Now, to combine the inner ring with the outer ring.  Pin, pin, pin.....

  Sew, sew, sew....

Feeling in awe of my own brilliance, and the fact that it actually works!

Inner and outer rings together at last!

Yes, the light colored triangles are a little puckery, but the block lies flat and I think it will "quilt out."  It's not perfect, but I'm glowing with happiness over it.

And there's nothing like a little self-congratulatory margarita on the rocks with salt to help you live with the imperfections.  I still need to appliqué a circle into the center and then appliqué the whole block onto the background.  It's really an incredible looking block!

So, while I was still basking in the glow of my success, I decided to start block 2, and immediately got into GREAT difficulty!  From the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat (anyone remember that phrase -- it dates me).  

I have set block 2 aside for now.  I can whine about that later.

The next WIP is this Kaffe Fassett Red Columns Quilt from Westminster Patchwork and Quilting Book Number 2 (Westminster, 2000).  I really wish that I was a better photographer, because the stunning thing about this quilt is the rich, vibrant colors that I just couldn't seem to capture.  The quilt top is completed, I just have to decide on a back and a binding.

The wonky long cabin top is ALMOST finished.  I want to add about two more inches of white all the way around (I ran out of Moda Bella), perhaps a back pieced with large pieces of some of the Amy Butler fabrics, and then a pieced binding.

I made two other blocks with the strings from this quilt, just to play around a bit.  I think I will incorporate them into the backing.  Although, they would also make nice pillows...

Wonky quarter log cabin block.

.

String block.  Sometime soon I am going to make a string quilt.

Oh, and Tobey (of recent improvisational block fame) admits that she is getting a big head from all the nice comments.  I, too, appreciate the lovely comments, both on the blog and those emailed to me.  I so enjoy hearing from everyone and love responding when I know your email address.  It’s so much more fun to have a conversation than write a monologue.

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan

The artist within

My friend and colleague, Tobey, is getting very interested in quilting. We talk about fabric and quilting all the time at work and bring books and blocks to show each other. Tobey has made a few quilts and patchwork mats/table runners, etc., but I would say that she is still fairly new to quilting. A short time ago she started talking about making a throw quilt for her cousin to match a favorite pillow. She showed me a picture of the pillow, and we talked about my wonky log cabin blocks and Gee’s Bend quilts that we have admired in books and in a gallery in Portland.Well, she totally blew me out of the water and almost left me speechless when she brought in her blocks to show me the other day!

Here are her inspirations: burnt orange, red, gray, blue, and white pillow (sorry, it’s a picture of a picture of the pillow) and pamphlet about Gee’s Bend quilts.

And here are her blocks:

I am not an athlete, but when I run or workout, I can feel like one. Well, I’m not an artist either, but when I create a quilt, my inner artist comes out to play. Tobey is now an artist in my book. And brave! She didn’t always know what she was doing, so she just made it up as she went. I love that!

I have been a little busy myself. This is as far as I’ve gotten on block one of the Sue Ross BOM. I’m still basking in my own success with the curved piecing! It may not be perfect, but that puppy lies flat as a pancake!

I finished all of my wonky log cabin blocks, and here they are – 25 blocks, 15” square each.

I’ve been playing with squares of Kaffe Fassett fabrics for a half square triangle value quilt. This should be lots of fun for my inner artist.

Today I checked out a fabric store that I had never been to before – Bolt Neighborhood Fabric Boutique! I love it! Imagine that someone picked out your favorite fabrics/designers and put them in a shop just for you! That is what Bolt is to me! There are only two drawbacks. I live west of Portland and Bolt is in Northeast Portland, and it is pretty small. However, afterwards I stopped at three other -- much larger -- fabric stores that I just ended up walking into, walking around once, and then walking right back out the door.

I bought these lovely Jennifer Paganelli fabrics (1/2 yard each) at Bolt and these vibrantly colored fat quarters. The selvage reads: "Global Gardens designed by Kathy Hall for Museum of International Folk Art, Museum of New Mexico under license to Andover Fabrics, Inc." My inner artist is extremely happy with these colors and designs to play with!

At the risk of being labeled a crazy cat lady, I managed to catch a quick picture of our other cat, Bonnie, on the cutting mat. She never jumps up there, but when Sammy and I left the room, I think she finally decided to see what all the fuss was about. She was not impressed. Please note that she is sitting on the cogwheel that I am oh so proud of!

Finally, the October mini needlepoint teapot on an orange and black quilt made for my son by my mother-in-law. It’s not for Halloween (as it may appear); these are the colors of his favorite college football team (Oregon State University).

What has your inner artist been up to lately?

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan