Friday's Photo Finish

I am so excited that it's Friday. I FINALLY finished my Michael Miller Fabric Challenge quilt for the Modern Quilt Guild.

It took a while to get here but I am so glad I finished it in time to enter the competition.

Here's a quick summary of how it's made:

I cut the fabric into squares that I made into 9-patch blocks.

(Trying to make random patches was harder than I expected.)

I used muslin on the corner of 13 of them since they were going to be cut off anyway.

I then used EQ7 to create a custom template for my Drunkard's path pattern that would create my letters. I needed the curves to end with 1/4 exactly that would make smooth curves for each letter.

Each template took two pages that were taped together and
cut out on freezer paper for the blocks.

I practiced a few times on muslin to be sure it would work first.

After sewing all of the 9-patches together, I tried to keep similar colors from touching. It wasn't perfect but it started to become fun.

I slowly made my way through all 13 blocks that needed to be cut and added gray to form curves to create the letters. (Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of this part since I was doing this at night after grading papers. Le sigh!)

To ensure the letters weren't touching too much, I added 2 in strips of gray in between each letter to give them a little space to show off. The shorter letters needed an extra gray block to make them as long as the "L" then I added gray on the top and bottom to make the finished piece.

This is my first quilt made entirely with Aurifil thread and I think I am hooked for life now. White and steel gray were used for all of the piecing and for quilting the many, many, many lines it took to make this dream a reality.

This beast is 68 in by 68 in and was bound using my favorite fabric from this collection called "Pegs a Plenty". (It's the only purchased yardage from this collection used to make this quilt.)

I love this quilt and am thrilled that it's finally finished.

It's been a while!

Hello out there!

Hope you had a fun-filled Fourth of July! We live off of Lake Monroe in Sanford and we can see one of the largest fireworks displays in Central Florida right from our front yard. (I don't know if our daughter-dog, Evie, would agree with that statement. She was actually ok last night and didn't bark or panic which is always our concern.)

I've been working crazy hours as usual but am making time to quilt at night. (My photos look terrible but that's the time I can sneak in some fun.) I'm making some progress on my UFO list for the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild challenge. I think many of the projects will just be on my list indefinitely. I am ok with that now.

I finished making the Paper Pieced Bee Hive Blocks for each of my guildies and love the ones I received in return. It was a blast to see the blocks everyone made in their group last Wednesday. I may opt out of the next round but I look forward to doing these hives again.

The Lone Starburst is one that I might do again because it turned out beautifully in rainbow colors. (You know I love a good rainbow!) I also really loved the pattern from A Squared W called Graph-ic. Math lovers would really appreciate her inspiration. The possibilities with this design are endless and I can't wait to try my hand at designing my own quilt from it.

The Scrappy Diamonds was also fun to make except I couldn't get my printer to scale it right. Thankfully, Leslie printed out copies for me and I was able to whip it together in less than an hour.

I liked making the tulips and butterfly but don't see myself making them again for a quilt unless someone asked for this specific design...and they were paying me. :) (Ok, I didn't really like making them but was happy with how well they turned out for the people who requested them.)

I can't wait to see everyone's quilts when done, including my own. I didn't get a good photo of all the fun paper planes my guildies made for me so I'll just wait to show the final quilt when it's all done.

My sample planes that my guildies were asked to make for me.

July was also my turn to be the hive queen in my online Stash Bee. I am getting help with my rainbow log cabin-ish idea I drew a few years ago but never made. I've asked them to make concentric squares using rainbow colors and I can't wait to see what they each will send me. I had a blast with the interview questions that you can read all about here if you wish.

"I Can Sing A Rainbow" is possibly what this quilt will be called.

I've been working on the Michael Miller fabric challenge for the MQG and am getting excited with how well it's turning out.

Sewing lots of blocks! (This photo does no justice to the great colors in this collection.)

I find it funny that I fall in love with my quilts as I am making them and they each become my new favorite quilt. Does that happen to you, too? This one I especially love because I designed it on paper and then recreated it in EQ7 so I can get the right size and make my block templates. I love that I can calculate fabrics needed and knew precisely how to cut my fat eights with no waste. I'm glad when I can cut all pieces given with nothing left over because my scrap bins are piling up and I have yet to really make an entirely scrappy project.

I will have a lot more to share at the end of this month when I've finished up this MM challenge quilt. (Plus, my work load will be a little less after August.)

I hope you've been able to quilt to your heart's content. Tell me all about it in the comments section when you get a chance.

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.

What to do?

So am off on a Monday for the first time in forever and I just don't know where to start. The list of UFOs loom and other non-quilt related projects seem to be everywhere. I wish I had a cloning machine so that I could make more things happen. (I don't want a Gremlin situation with too many multiples to handle though.)

I do want to share a few things since I last posted.

I delivered the Tetris quilt to my dear friends for their anniversary and they immediately put it on the bed:

It fit so perfectly in the room. They really loved it.



I joined another Bee with my Orlando Modern Quilt Guild and am in the paper piecing hive.

Here's the block I am asking the group to make for me:

Paper-pieced paper planes
(Say that 5 times fast!)
They can use print or plain white fabric.

I even asked for various sizes so I can make a quilt with perspective instead of worrying that they were all able to print them to scale. I found this pattern on Craftsy a while back and always loved the idea of making a giant quilt with them. (It reminds me of the last day of school when I let students make planes with their portfolio work to see whose plane can fly the farthest.)


I've finished my next Stash Bee BOM which I need to drop in the mail today.

Scrappy Mountains

I really love that she had a simple tutorial and she did not want us to sew the four blocks together. I was able to whip these up in less than an hour. (I think I spent more time going through fabric than actual sewing.)
Here's another block I made for her because I read the wrong blog posting about her being Queen Bee for the month. (It didn't occur to me that some people are members of more than one hive online and since I subscribe to her blog, I just followed the email and didn't bother to check the details. Oh well! It was a challenge to make but will be fun to see it when she puts them together.)

Scrappy Sochi-inspired design
(I love this word search fabric and made it the center block.)

The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild and I have also been helping a sweet group of 5th graders make a modern quilt for their school as their graduation present. I taught them a little about the history of quilt making and the modern movement. They were really interested in the geometric designs I showed them. Using graph paper, they came up with a really cool idea to make an ancestry tree which shows their families backgrounds. It tied into their history project so it was pretty perfect. They found several quilts online they like and I wanted them to really make this quilt unique. (Plus, I reminded them about plagiarism and that those designs are property of the original artist.)

Here's a sneak peek:

Bare tree

They designed this shape and the final look of this project. I did offer suggestions for the colors and fabric to purchase. It was so great to see this creativity and the excitement of the next generation of potential quilters.

We were invited to attend graduation this Thursday evening where they will present the quilt to the school and share the finished piece. I can't wait to see it and share it with you.

What are you up to this week?

One down...

Today, I managed to sew something for the first time in forever! I forced myself to sew because I've not had many breaks recently. I needed to finish my Stash Bee block to have it in the mail this week so I carved out a little time to get this block done.

It was the second time ever making flying geese and it was interesting. I wanted to keep waste to a minimum so I did a few extra marks.

Chain piecing made it great!

Added another line .5 inches from center line.

As I was chain piecing them, I added another line that was 1/2 inches away from the center line. By sewing on that second line, you can cut between them and have 2 for 1. I made tiny bonus blocks from the corners.

So adorable and should be used for something.

 Here's how it all turned out:

Follow the Leader
Stash Bee: Hive #6 April BOM

I really like how it turned out. Hope Kim likes it, too.


____________________________________________________

Earlier this month, I created my UFO (unfinished objects) list for my OMQG challenge this year. I could not believe how many projects I have started and never completed. I know I ran out of time on some items I planned to give as gifts but the rest? I really can't explain it. I ended up with 39 items on my list and actually only submitted about 30 for the contest. We'll see how it goes when I make more time to sew.

What have you been up to this month?

Just Made the Deadline

I finally sorted my Sewing Room and am so thrilled. It only took most of March to do. I had to come the realization that I have a lot of fabric. When you're shuffling things around, it doesn't seem like it's out of control. When you have to box it up to add/remove furniture, it's another story.

I am reaffirming my pledge to not purchase any more fabric for the rest of the year. (Said after I placed an order today to use my expiring vouchers at Pink Castle fabrics. I couldn't let that deal go!) I am done with online fabric shopping. For real this time.

Now that I have my long desired design wall in place, it's on! I still have to figure out how to get more time to sew but that's another problem for another day. I'll share pics of my room later.

So, I also needed to make my BOM for my Stash Bee hive due in March. Since I didn't even have a place to sew for weeks, I was able to work on it last night and this morning. Finally.

I just made the deadline!

Here's my March BOM for hive #6:

Super Scrappy Sunny Day block

I love that I was able to chain piece each section as I went and whipped it together pretty quickly. This was a lot of fun to make for Melodee.

Hope you've been making a dent in your stash.
Enjoy your week!

City Sampler Blocks 9-24

Happy Sunday!

It's been a while since I've been able to post but I wanted to share more blocks that have been completed.

Tula Pink's City Sampler: 100 Modern Quilt Blocks

In my quest to make all 100 blocks, this book has kept me sane over the last few weeks. Since work and new responsibilities with the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild have taken up a lot of my waking hours, I cherish the times I've been able to take breaks to sew these 6.5 inch blocks.

I'm not giving titles to these blocks so I'll just list them by number.

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

#16

#17

#18

#19

#20

#21

#22

#23

#24

As I add these blocks to my complete pile, I'm pretty excited about how they will look together. You'll have to check back in December to see the finished set.

Hope you are well. Best wishes for the week ahead.