Summer's Here!

I hope you are well and having a great start to your summer.

I have been kept busy and I am so grateful for any chance to sneak in some sewing. There are a few projects waiting, taunting me to work on them. I have put a tiny dent in my UFO list and have a long way to go.

Here's a quick look at a few things I've been up to since my last post.

Guild Holiday Quilt

We are making a quilt for the Festival of Trees fundraiser here in Orlando. We set out to design a quilt that all members of the guild can help complete and I thought of making a tree shape out of random blocks. This way, each member can make their own favorite block for the final quilt that will be donated. I made a crude and quick design on EQ7 and put it with the other chosen designs from the committee. The group selected my design and I am excited to see it come to life. (I might have to bid on it at the auction.)

B is the winner!

 SEA Quilt Complete

I was so excited to see the final quilt made by the 5th graders this year. I can't believe how fast the year flew by with them and the wonderful result of our hard work. In my previous post, I shared the final background after it was sewn.

They used a giant t-square to mark the space needed for the binding and set to adding all of the leaves they've embroidered.

 I left after I taught a parent how to attach the binding but didn't see the completed quilt until their graduation at the end of May. I was really moved when I saw the finished piece.
Here is their Ancestry Tree which includes their names and the country where their families are from. Many of them included the year which their family came to America under the country's name and outline.

(Wishing I had a real camera so you
could see all of the great colors and
details on this quilt.)

It took 20 minutes for the crowd to clear so
I could take the picture above.
They were all so sweet!

This is one of my favorite quilts now and I am so glad they asked our guild to be a part of their project next year. We are starting earlier in the year so it can be quilted on their field trip. 

(I arranged a field trip with Wandering Stitches, a fantastic quilt shop in Orlando, where the students learned about sewing machines and long-arm quilting with Lisa. They were even allowed to practice on a machine that was set up for them to play. I am so grateful she let them come to her shop and have lunch in her lesson space.)

So worth the wait

Remember the Halloween blocks I won last October? I finally finished my godson's Christmas present in May. I was getting ready to ship it to North Carolina when I his mom called to say they would be in town in June. I did my happy dance, put it aside and counted the days until they would be here.

He started squealing in delight as he
noticed something new in a block.

After he was buckled in, he really
examined each square. Marge's Day of the Dead
fabric was his FAVORITE!

He giggled and played in the back seat with his
 "favorite quilt" for the rest of the day.
(It was over 90 degrees in FL and he didn't care.)

Front of Quilt

He really loved that the spider web quilting design was completed with glow-in-the-dark thread. My thanks to Marge again for trading BOM wins with me to make this fun quilt. I even have a few blocks left over for some October birthday pillowcases.

Back of Quilt

I'm so glad I waited to ship this quilt because I would not have had the pleasure of seeing his priceless reaction in person. This is my first official completed UFO on my long list, too!

BOM/Works in Progress

I am making my way through the rest of my Bee blocks. I'm with the paper piecing group and have had some fun making them. Here's a look:

I really liked this one for Alejandrina.
I see a lot of possibilities with this simple design.

Love asked us to make our favorite block in blacks, whites,
and a solid color so I chose to make this design again.

Marge's Tulips

I made one for Leslie but really disliked the scrappy fabrics used. So, I have two more to go and then I'll be ready to swap. The OMQG blocks are due in July and I need to get busy.

My second favorite part of making these block is the tearing of the paper from the back. It's a great stress reliever. 

To the compost bin!

I'm almost done with this baby quilt for our OMQG charity project. I made it with lots of colors so it can be gender neutral. (I'm almost done with my vintage gingham, too. I think I'll donate the rest of the unused fabric because this is my 3rd and most likely final gingham quilt.)

Thanks for reading my post. Let me know your summer quilting plans in the comments below.

Happy Quilting.

Birthday Month's Almost Over

January is almost over and I feel like I just celebrated New Years yesterday! It's been a spectacular birthday month and I am now able to sit down and start sharing some of my swag since my last posts.

My friends and family know exactly how to spoil me. The fun fabrics and Angela Walters books are already being put to good use. I am pretty excited about future projects that I can dream of making.

Here's part of my haul:

Place mats from Judy!
I love how well they match my table runner.

Pressing mat with pockets and a trash holder.
Love!

Fabrics from my love.

The little scissors make me smile.

This love letter fabric is amazing.
J'adore the center where is says,
"Holding your hand over the rainbow".

The following came in a goodie box from my in-laws in PA:

Precuts - too many to spread out.
I'll just share the finished projects later.)

This photo does not show the awesomeness of these batiks and
hand-dyed fabrics she found online.

My favorite way to have sweets!

These ethnic prints are so fun.
My favorite is the wax print elephants, of course.

Rainbows, butterflies, colorful elephants,
yes please and thank you!

Great colors to use for piecing and borders!

I am open to suggestions on this one!
A yard of pink, gray and black animal print has me stumped.

I hope you get lots of fabric from those you love this year!

--------------------------------------------------
Works in Progress:

Switching gears now for a bit, I wanted to share something fun I worked on today.

A very generous Beth let me have some time on her long arm to work on some quilting. Here's the Halloween quilt and am finishing for my godson. I am forming a giant spider web using free motion quilting with glow-in-the-dark thread. I get a little giddy when I turn off the lights as I am pretty excited about how it's turning out. I can't wait to see his smile in person instead of on Skype since they are coming down in a few months for a visit.

I'll try to get a good picture of the glow-in-the-dark thread work
when it's all finished and bound later this week.

(He's now very into Wonder Woman which has my brain already thinking of another project for him. Perhaps I'll make a pillow? You may not know I feel about Linda Carter but I love her! Can't wait to start sketches for that!)

I also worked on my friends' baby quilt that is coming along nicely. I didn't get any good pics of it yet but I'll be sure to post those when the sun decides to come out.

I'll stop here for now and share my other projects in another post this week.

Thanks for reading to the end of this one! Enjoy your last few days of January.

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted...

My first full day of vacation was AWESOME! I woke early to wait in the eternal line at the post office, I had a gorgeous drive over to my friend Beth's house. I was able to use her long arm machine again and finally finished the quilt I started ages ago it seems.

Although I still have binding to do and need to take good pictures outside, I can show you some of the fun I had while finishing my first ever quilt on a long arm. (I've done practice work and a weird sampler I gave to my little furbaby so this one is quite special.)

I used 10 different color threads for this thing which is part of why it took so long. It was worth it!

What a great book with step by step directions for quilting.
(I hope Santa can get it for me this Christmas.
If not, the birthday fairy can bring it in Jan.)
I attempted many of her designs and ended up with
some quirky variations.

I had the idea of making her "square flower" design.

It's looks more like bricks,
but I like it!

I was so excited when I came to the last green set,
I forgot to take more pictures.

I can't wait to bind, wash and photograph this quilt to share with you. I also can't wait to see the looks on my friends' faces when I give it to them for their 10 year wedding anniversary this March.

How was your Saturday? Make anything fun?

Christmas Party

On Friday the 13th, the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild celebrated the holidays with our last Friday Sew Day. (They return to our normal Saturdays in January! Thank Heavens because Friday traffic was no joke.)

I laughed a lot and had such a great time with everyone. I love to see the creativity of this group. Everyone was working on something fun and it always inspiring to see a new idea. I wish my phone didn't die so soon or I would have more pictures to share.

Here are some highlights:

We exchanged mug rugs!

The one I made went home with Judy!

This fancy one from Michelle came home with me.
I love the smiling faces on the houses.
It also brightens up my sewing room!

I spent a good portion of my time making these gift card holders.
It can be used as a mini wallet or
business card holder once the card is spent.

I modified the pattern from Watermelon Wishes because I could not get a card to fit using her measurements. I found that cutting the rectangles and batting to 6.5 by 4.5 was just the right size.

I also used her clever idea for making a template from my morning coffee cup holder to create a cozy that closes with Velcro.

Both photos are from of Michelle's iPhone!

I also started making a really expensive and lengthy Christmas/Birthday wishlist based on a few different projects. I saw the Juki sewing machine I've been researching and heard great comments about it's durability. I also want a Thermofax machine to start printing my own graphics for pieces I've sketched out. Don't even get me started on fabrics. Everyone always has such yummy collections that I want to run out and buy.

I've decided to make 2014 the year of making just art quilts, designing fabrics and sewing things for myself. This is the first time I've ever been selfish with my sewing/quilting but I have to start sometime, right? (Of course, I will make the charity quilts and projects with my guild but the rest of the work I create will be for me.) I want to expand my knowledge of textiles and explore designing my own patterns on EQ7. I might even venture into making clothes and bags more, too.

What are your plans for the New Year?

Get Ready Cocoa 'Cause Here I Come!

I've spent most of the morning getting ready for my quilting retreat this weekend. I am so excited!
I started packing things and realized that my quilting supplies and fabric are going in a bag 3 times larger than the suitcase I'm using for clothes that I'll be wearing. (Standard PJs and lounge wear take up so little space that I can fit in more fabric to quilt!)

I have a long list of projects I want to start and will be happy if I make it through half of them. I just realized how fast Christmas is approaching and most of my gifts need to be mailed this year since most of my dear friends and family no longer live in this area. (I could ship them after the holidays and say they were late in transit? Hmmm...probably shouldn't post that part.)

For my grandma who loves birds, blues and red!

 

I'm also excited about the chance to get away with some really great folks. I look forward to seeing how everyone creates their amazing quilts.

I will be posting pics on Sun of all the fun we will have. Hope you have a marvelous weekend.

Getting It Done! - Day 19

Today, I decided to finish up some projects that are needed later this year. It felt so good to check things off of my "to do list".

Wedding Gift

I'm almost done quilting this table runner I started a while back for some dear friends in NC. They are getting married in November and this table runner will be part of our gift. I'll make the bias binding to attach it next weekend so I can have it in the mail soon.

A Dresden ruler was used to make this fun, curvy design.

Halloween Fun

I completed the front plate of my nephew's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume for Halloween. Since he already has a mask and turtle shell backpack, he just needed a few pieces to make his outfit complete. Here's the front that will be attached to a tank top to resemble the underside of the shell:

I just have to make the "leather" strap that holds his bo staff.

Anniversary Gift

I finally finished the Tetris quilt top for my friends' 10 year wedding anniversary. (I'll take a picture of the completed quilt when it's all done.)
My favorite part is the side where I made little mini Tetris pieces to resemble the upcoming pieces when you're playing. I embroidered the high score with their wedding anniversary date.

Since it's queen sized, I think I need a date with a long arm machine to have this thing quilted by March. I would love to have it done by Christmas but I don't want to rush it and ruin all the work that was put into it.

I look forward to a productive Sunday.

Did you get to finish something fun today?

My First Modern Quilt - Day 4

Flashback Friday 

My first modern quilt was made in 2004 before I knew there was even such a thing outside of traditional quilt making. I used red, black and white to make a baby quilt for friends who were researching the use of these high-contrast colors. (They later decided to do yellow and green instead so this has been in my personal collection a long time.)

I entered it into a local fair as a baby quilt in 2005 thinking it would stand out and be an avant garde design. I came in second place to a quilt that was literally pastel squares in a row because the judges said it did not look like a baby quilt. I saw that as a compliment because I didn't want to make something you would find in a store.

The Design

I was chopping up this red-striped fabric I love and started arranging them in lines. Then I would cut through them and rearrange them sew and cut again. I stopped when I came up with a panel that spoke to me. I took the red, black, and white dots fabric and made rectangles. I cut them in half and added the white. I placed them in a diamond pattern to help frame the center.  I also wanted to use black satin binding because I didn't want a light color that would show all of the baby stains it could potentially acquire. I thought it needed some color to break up some of the black before I started quilting it. The scraps from the red-striped fabric were sewn together to make a top and bottom strip to help break up all of the black that seemed to over power it. (After all, they were not Goth parents.)

Here's the front view:

I wanted to make an interesting pattern on the back and cut the stripes on a diagonal. I lined them up so they would make a diamond pattern when sewn together.  I quilted it in a spiral because it looked so hypnotic to me.

Back view:

My quilting has come a long way since this first venture into what I called an avante garde baby quilt at the time. This quilt started my love for making quilts that are not what you would typically find in books or stores.

The current modern quilting movement has given me a place to call home.

Thank you, OMQG! - Day 3

Gratitude

My New Year's resolution was to seek community. I've quilted in isolation for 12 years and wanted to meet others like me who were passionate about fabric and art.  

So I started searching for groups that met in the area. There were a few groups that seemed to follow a more traditional aesthetic which was not my style. I happened upon the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild's page and was lucky enough to be able to attend the first meeting in January. It felt like home. Everyone there was immediately welcoming and so appreciative of each other's craft. I found my people at last!

Over the last few months, I've attended monthly meetings and weekend sew days which inspire me to create more and challenge myself. I am so thankful for each of them. 

A Special Thanks to Marge!

Yesterday, the OMQG met and brought in our Halloween blocks. I really wanted to win them to make a special quilt for my godson this Christmas. He loves all things Halloween from vampires to witches to werewolves. At our table, just before the BOM lottery, Marge offered me the blocks if she won in exchange for another set of blocks I might win in the future. How generous is that?

When her name was called, we both cheered because her win meant I won, too. She gave me her blocks and I still can't stop smiling about it. 

Later, we were given a mystery bag filled with holiday fabric and patterns. We could choose to swap items and get to mingle more at the end of the meeting. At one point, they started giving me their Halloween fabric and orange fabric bags to help me complete my quilt. 

Halloween Good Bags

I have the best guildmates ever! Their friendship means more to me than they will ever know.

Thank you!