Blogger's Quilt Festival - Spring 2015

Hi Everyone!

It's that time of year to celebrate what I love most: Quilting! I love participating in the Blogger's Quilt Festival and seeing all of the creativity.

This is my third time entering a quilt in the show and this Spring, I decided to share one of my favorite quilts created in the winter.

"I Love My Hair"
10"x 11"
December 2014

My mini quilt is made with shot cottons, black cotton and is quilted with Aurifil thread.

This quilt represents me and makes me smile each time I walk into my sewing room. I so rarely get to see myself in art, fabric, or quilts that I wanted to capture the Afro that I currently have. I've since started a series of profiles that will be added to my wall art over the next year.

Be sure to visit the festival and see all of the amazing talent for yourself!

Spring Time

It's spring time in Florida and we went from warm to cool to hot in less than a week. I don't know that I am ready for 90 degree weather any time soon. On the plus side, I did find  insulated curtains for my craft room that keeps it really cool during the day. That makes idea of the upcoming summer heat more tolerable.

I've been working on a few projects at the same time trying to put a dent in my UFO list. The crazy thing is that somehow the list keeps getting longer. I just keep getting new ideas and will start it right away before finishing up what I was doing before the idea hit me. Do you have that same problem?

I think my resolution for next year will be to finish a project to completion before starting a new one. (Giving up new fabric purchases for a year is so hard! There are so many pretties that I want in my collection but will have to hope that I can find them in 2016.)

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In no particular order, here are some photos of things that are keeping me busy:

I am pretty addicted to Instagram swaps this year and signed up for way too many. This bag was for an Easter swap that uses the open-wide pouch pattern. It was so easy to make that I will definitely do a few more as gifts.

My partner likes nerdy things so I was happy to oblige.

This bag is for my Charley Harper swap. I used unconventional to me fabrics including wool and velvet to give my fox a cool texture.

My partner loves the foxes and I used
E. Hartman's Fancy Fox pattern to make her a tote bag.
I only had to modify it slightly.

So tempted to keep this tote bag for myself.

The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild is sponsoring a postcard swap with other guilds in the area. Here's mine:

Of course I had to make a rainbow!
(Sorry about the bad lighting...gave it away before taking a better photo.)

The guild also made and distributed quilts to our local veteran's hospital in April. I made the Giant Vintage Star in shades of green, gray, brown and black. The back was a fun eggplant color. The gentleman who was given my quilt loved it because brown is his favorite color. I also used a "new-to-me" technique for the binding and used the backing fabric folded over instead of attaching strips.

I will definitely make another one like this to keep.

My Stash Bee Hive #2 block for April. I really love how easy this pattern comes together and looks like you spent hours making it. (It seriously took longer to select fabric than it took to assemble it.)
I can already imagine making one with rainbows of color all over.

Blues and Greens for my hive mama.

That pretty much wraps it up around here. I have a few more things on the horizon including some minis, completing some UFOs and planning some bigger projects. I'll keep you posted.

What's keeping you busy?

Down But NOT Out!

Where have I been? That question has been asked a lot lately because I took a big step back from a lot of things: quilting, technology, my friends and family. I am a pretty private person and over the years the friends I've chosen to keep close know how important that is to me. I do want to share something that is not often discussed: my battle with depression.

I do my best to keep it at bay most of the time because I have learned lots of coping skills since the age of 12. (My father passed away that year and needless to say my life was never the same.) The recent passing of a loved one took me to that dark place and I struggled to get back to the light. The one thing I have a hard time remembering when I travel down that rabbit hole is that I need to stop isolating myself from the world. I do tend to hide my sadness because I don't want others to see my weakness. I also prefer being alone when I'm not in a happy place because I think it might bring others down with me.

The reality is that my friends and family are always the ones who bring me back out of my depressed state and I need to ask for help more. When you haven't seen me for a while or notice that I've withdrawn from activities, remind me that I need to get out of my own head. I need to get out of the house, spend time with family/friends, get crafty and sew/quilt again. It's the little things that bring me back to reality and remind me that my life is quite wonderful.

My blog was started as a place to share the sewing and quilty things I like working on each week but I needed to share this with you. There is a catharsis in releasing this "secret" with the world and I want to be held accountable for my inaction.

I finally feel like sewing again and being creative so I'll post images and notes soon. Thank you to those who have put up with me over the last few weeks and for those of you who have reached out to check on me.

16 different shot cottons and
1 landscape fabric I think looked like
wood grain.

I finished this mini quilt last week for someone and it brought back that fire in my belly to get creative and make more art. I'm not religious but there was something soothing in the creative process of designing it and quilting it that I can't explain in words. I used 18 different color threads and put love into each line as I stitched. (I'll post a tutorial on how I designed it and put it together as soon as I am able.)

I plan to fan those flames and get to work on some projects I've put off. (First, I have to clean out my craft room a bit since it looks like a Tasmanian devil came through it recently.)

Thank you for reading this!

Home from Quilt Beach

I came home late last night from Quilt Beach in Vero Beach, FL. I am completely exhausted but in a good way. I did two things I didn't know would happen so soon: I helped set up/break down a quilt show and I had 5 quilts hanging in the show. Since this was not a judged show, I felt good about putting in some quilts just for fun. I am now inspired to make a quilt for another show and get feedback from judges.

I had a chance to take a class with Luke Haynes and see how his mind works a bit. His class on design gave me lots of ideas for how to approach quilting from an architectural perspective. I have some blocks that will be made into something fun, just not sure what yet.

Luke is just getting into his lecture. Love those blue shoes.

I asked for a sad face but it looked kind of angry.

(Love that Mindy photobombed this one!)

Helen was so sweet!

(She later became my partner in crime on Saturday.)

Ruth was plotting and scheming with her shades of gray.

Cal also used shades of gray...hmmm,
I sense a pattern with these TCMQG ladies.
I really love them!

These are my black and white blocks.
My style of drawing involved a lot of squares in squares.

I also enjoyed more time with Victoria Findlay Wolfe, the keynote speaker, and now have her second book autographed in my collection. I am very excited about the variety of double wedding ring patterns in the back and her permission to distort them to make your own designs. She even rode with me to dinner and we had a chance to chat about her time in Tokyo. She's so awesome.

I took two half day classes and learned so much! My first class on Saturday was on curved paper piecing with Anita Kelley. MIND BLOWN! Although we were using a pattern with traditional fabrics, I can now see how I would design my own block using the techniques I learned. I am so excited to play with this curved quilt idea in my head. I definitely plan to stop by her shop in Melbourne when I can.

That night, at the V.I.Q. party, I spent time with Shelagh Traill and some of the fabulous ladies from the Treasure Coast Modern Quilt Guild, as well as, some ladies from other Florida MQGs. Carole Lyles Shaw, our MQG area board member is hilarious and talented! So glad I had a chance to chat with her. Victoria was there signing copies of her book while hanging out while Luke was chatting at every table and having a nice time. I even met two quilting sisters from Jupiter, FL and we are Instagram buddies for life! I stayed later than I my tired body wanted me to, but was so glad I did. Chances like this don't come every day so you have to seize them while you can. (I am really sad that I didn't a get a single picture that night because I was too busy chatting.)

My second class was on free motion quilting, taught by the amazing Mindy Marik (*see photbomb above!). She is seriously one of the best quilting teachers I have ever had. She started with some basics that I needed to hear again and drilled in us her process of how she starts her quilting day. I felt like I was in kindergarten learning how to write my name and it worked. I will definitely practice more on my home machine and hope to develop a signature style of my own.

Can you see my horribly scribbled name?
(This was to check the tension so it doesn't count.)

I was truly impressed by the amazing quilts sent over from so many talented, modern quilters and the spirit of those ladies who put this all together. I feel most honored to be asked to join the board of Quilt Beach and be a voice in the process for 2016!

Here are some of my favorites:

(This RuPaul quilt is EVERYTHING!)

Now to unpack...boo! (I see a nap in my future!)

Enjoy your week!

Keeping It Real: My Sewing Space

I do have to say that I am pretty lucky to have a room of my own to create and play. I house lots of fabrics, art supplies and other creative toys. I am constantly changing things around to suit my needs.

Here's a clockwise view:

A portion of my fabric stash and books.

More fabric, art supplies and other toys.

My craft table: where the magic happens.

My design wall. So happy to have one!

Sewing machine, Accuquilt and
other supplies.

I also have stuff tucked under the table and in another closet in the house. I plan to sort through it all this year and purge what I know will never be used. Since my resolution was to not buy any fabric, I hope to use up a lot of my stash and make room for new things in 2016.

I have plans to change a few things around in the next few weeks that will allow me to display more art work so stay tuned. I can't wait to post pictures when it's done.


Since my last blog, I made more bags including this one for my brother-in-law:

Tuxedo print boxed bag

Mustaches inside the bag!

 And I missed posting last week as I was busy celebrating my birthday!

Delicious Red Velvet Cupcake

My love splurged on lots of fabric for me. So much nerdy goodness with
Cotton+Steel and Tula Pink as a cherry on top!
How lucky can I be?

My friend Debbe had her fiance make this awesome ruler storage
for my craft desk. I saw hers and remarked that I would love one.
I was able to get two and they are almost filled.
Can you really have too many rulers?

My friend Leandra made this Tula Pink clock.
It brightens my design wall perfectly.

I also had great weekends before and after my birthday with my sister and friends that made me feel so special. I love my life and all those who are in it.

I feel ready to tackle a new year!

My Quilty Resolutions

I often wonder where does the time go? I feel like life has been moving at warp speed and I can barely keep up. (Not to mention ending 2014 and starting 2015 with a cold!)

Good things are on the horizon and I feel that despite how busy it may feel, it all leads to a productive year ahead.

I did make some quilt-related resolutions for the new year and hope you'll keep me accountable. (I'll do the same for you if you want me to do so.)

1. I will blog once per week. (I found Shruti on Instagram and love her ideas that led me to her blog. Her post 52 Post to Blog Every Week did all the hard work for me. I won't worry about topics and will follow along with her. I will even try to post on her linky party. Hope you will, too)

2. I will complete more of my UFOs before starting a new project. This will be hard since I tend to have 5 things going on my table at the same time, all the time. (I even read 4-5 books at a time so know I am a little crazy that way.) I have so many projects to keep me busy that I really should stop looking for new things anyway.

3. I will make and publish at least one pattern by year's end. I make so many things and would love to share them in case someone else would like to make one, too.

4.  I will start selling pieces that are specifically made for market. Maker Faire Orlando really inspired me last year and I've already started planning ahead for this year. Plus, I've had an Etsy shop that's been barren since I joined many years ago. I plan to wipe the dust off of that shelf and list a few things. (Some funding for my fabric addiction could be a good way to make this habit work in the long run.)

5. I will keep some projects for myself. Almost everything I've made including my very first quilt has been a gift to someone special. It was easy to forget that I am special, too. I've started making a few things for myself finally and that feels great. I would like to have a small collection that I can share in person instead of a photograph when people ask me what I like to quilt.

6. I will REALLY try hard this year not to buy more fabric. I said it last year and it didn't hold past February. *Exclusion will be made for purchases needed to complete UFOs and for a few of the new collections I know ship early this year. (C+S and Tula Pink are killing me with their beauties!) I also have guild field trips in Feb and Nov so those purchases don't count either, right?

7. I will start getting rid of more fabric in my stash that I know I won't use. I can give some to my guildmates and may try selling some online if I feel they may be an item someone is interested in buying. I've been holding on to some "one day I will make something fun with it" fabrics that are about 10 years old now. It's time to purge and make room for serious buying in 2016. (Hahahaha!)

8. I will design and start creating quilts that I will put in a juried show starting 2016. I hoped to have some done for this year but don't want to put something out if it's not ready. If the stars align and a project gets completed early, then I will not hesitate to put something out there for judging this year.

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Here are some photos of things, including Christmas presents, since my last post:

An AMAZING class with Victoria Findlay Wolfe in early December led to some creative quilting all month long.

Here's what I made after her class:

Tiny 1.5 in squares

Mini Heart Quilt

I love the quilting on this one!

Paper piecing!

Swirly Twirly Dresden Pattern

Mini Trajectory Pattern

Bags and pouches for everyone!

Found a use for this mini DC Comics panel

So happy to cut up my rainbow unicorns and use this bag.
It has my mini hexagons that I'm working to complete
when traveling or (im)patiently waiting places.

For my bestie who loves Hitchcock as much as I do!

Fabric and Technology Play

Played with my friend's Brother Scan N Cut machine to start making these profile pieces. I have about 3 more to finish up to complete this mini collection.

I like that I have positive and negatives of each image and
I can make various sizes once I like the final scan.

Using my shot cotton scraps, I made this improv piece.

More pouches!

Front panels with diamond quilting design

Back panels of diamond pouches

For my momma!

I made a few more things but somehow did not get photos before they were whisked away for the holidays. I'll have to scan my other camera to see if I snapped any photos there and post them later.

 I will check in with you about this list over the next few months so stay tuned for my progress along the way. My goal is to post on Sat or Sun each week!

Did you make any quilt related resolutions?