Mother's Day - Boston comes home, and flags to Boston

To Boston with Love - these flags were made in response to a blog post I saw - the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild started this project, because of the Boston Marathon bombings.  The flags will be all sent to Boston, and joined together for a massive display of healing.  My older daughter, Emily, lives in Boston (Cambridge, actually), so I felt I must participate in this project, which you can read about here.

I made all of these flags from the fabrics donated by my 15 Minutes Play scrap swap partner, Nathalie - thanks, Nathalie!  I made this, plus another project, and I've hardly made a dent in her generous package of scraps!
Shown above are the flag backs, which include our names and cities - I've made flags for all our family members, and their significant others. (darling daughter, Genevieve, above)

Finished shot out front - I love the American flags in the background.  

Best of all - I have ALL THREE daughters home for Mother's Day this year:  Hannah, me, Emily, and Genevieve.  How lucky am I?!!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Ready for quilt talk tomorrow, met a star today!

I'll be giving a quilt talk tomorrow afternoon to a group at my church - wish me luck!  I've got my notes all ready, a power point presentation of photos...

...and a pile of quilts to show too!

And, today I got to meet one of the rising stars in the quilt world - 

Victoria Findlay Wolfe!  I have followed Victoria's blog, 15 Minutes to Play, for a few years now.  I've learned a lot, and am always inspired, by her gorgeous work, to learn more.
Thanks, Victoria, for all of the inspiration!

Back in the (Quilting) Saddle

Isn't it funny - how playing with little scraps of fabric can make you so happy?
I have been on vacation for the past week...I usually work TWO jobs, so being off from both of them has been...delicious!
And all of the uninterrupted sewing time has allowed me the chance to get going on a long-neglected project. 

This past summer, I made 16 Color Study blocks over at 15 Minutes Fun.  Each 12" block was a different color, many of them  considered by some to be "uglies", or at least, difficult to work with - like mauve, ochre, or bubblegum pink.
I have been trying to think of a suitable setting---did I want to use sashing? Set it straight, or on point?
Then I decided to use 4 blocks, edge to edge, as a center medallion on point, surrounded by the remaining 12 blocks.
I started by adding a scrappy HST (half square triangle) border.

Here is the quilt so far - I went to the fabric store today, to get some inspiration (and fabric) to use in the open triangles, and the open corner blocks.
Let's see if I can name all of the color studies:  center medallion, top and clockwise:   grass green, grape, ochre, and dusty blue.  The surrounding blocks, starting top left, and clockwise:  mint green, burgundy, bubblegum pink, avocado, bright orange, aqua, rust, lemon yellow, mauve, tomato red, peach, and - my favorite color - lime green.
More later!

Color Challenge #16 - Kelly Green

Kelly green fabrics from my stash - quite a few, more than I thought I had!

This is the final Color Challenge week - given by Victoria at 15 Minutes Play.

Besides kelly greens, I added some bright pink and orange, bugs, sky blue, and a cute little dog!

After assembling the block, I square it up with my 12-1/2" ruler. One block a week, for 16 weeks - slow and steady, a great way to make enough for a quilt! Especially if the blocks are 12" finished size.

The Sweet Sixteen Blocks!

Color Challenge #15 - Lime Green!

My favorite color! (just ask my family...) As a result, I had plenty of lime scraps - didn't have to cut any strips from my stash, nor did I have to purchase any fabric for this challenge.

Perfect evening: 15 Minutes lime green scrap play + Big Bang ( + white wine - out of picture!) = happy me!

Lime green "made" fabric - who could pick a favorite from these lovelies? Certainly not I! I love them all!

Lime block - love the aqua/lime print for the "X", don't you? I've shown the block on one of my favorite sewing tools - my rolly chair! I sew some seams, roll over to press, then roll back for more sewing. Better watch out when I'm "on a roll"!

Lime green block - last color challenge coming up this week!

Color Challenge #13 Aqua & #14 Maroon

Two more color challenges finished -here is #13 Aqua! I love this block! Aqua is an old favorite color of mine - I had several cute aqua fabrics, including that fun daisy print (don't know the maker, but I found it at JoAnn). Add a pinch of lime green, some deeper green and blue - ta da!

Color Challenge #14, Maroon - and also a closeup of our new garden gate! This block was the most difficult yet. Maroon is NOT a favorite of mine, I am not drawn to it in the quilt store at all. I found exactly one piece in my stash, the batik print with red, pink, and lavender on a maroon ground. I mixed in a red print, some pink, lavender, aqua, and yellowy gold. And now I really like this block!

Color Challenge #10 Grape, #11 Bubble Gum Pink, #12 Mint Green

Three more color challenge blocks - inspired by Victoria's challenge over at 15 Minutes Play.

#10 - Grape! This one was easy and fun for me. I love all purples, and have a good assortment. Good mixers with grape were lime green and aqua.

Challenge #11 - Bubble Gum Pink! This one was also fairly easy, as I did a large (bed size) pink quilt fairly recently, so I had tons of pink scraps. I added some orange, and that was about it.

#12 - Mint Green. This one was a toughie! I did own some mint fabric (quite a bit, actually) that was OLD. The reason it was old? Because it is not my favorite, I guess. I added some orange, pink, and lime green. Three more finished!

NEW'BEE Fun 9-Patches for Cathy

This month is the last in my online bee block exchange over at 15 Minutes Play. Cathy has requested a wonky 9-patch. Here's how to make it:

Create "made" fabric in any color of your choice, approx. 10" square. I used lime greens. Cut a 9-1/2" square; set aside.

Create "made" fabric of neutrals - whites, off-whites, beiges - same as above, approx. 10" square. Cut a 9-1/2" square. Layer the two squares, one on top of the other, both right sides up. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!

Cut through both layers, twice up and down, and twice across, creating 9 sections. Separate the pieces, so you end up with two blocks, a positive and a negative.

The seams won't match, but that is not important. Assemble the blocks; press.

Ta-da! Two finished blocks! I hope Cathy likes them!

Color Challenge #3 - Avocado

Time to catch up on my color challenge posting - and on posting in general!

Our home laptop is a little old, and a little slow, and - well - that's about my only excuses. So here we go:

To review - Victoria, over at 15 Minutes Play, has been issuing a weekly color challenge. We assemble scraps of the assigned color, plus other colors to match and/or contrast . It has been interesting to see how different colors work together (play together?), which I would not have usually chosen to "match". I had lots of green prints - from my deep stash - including this spashy Alexander Henry print, which is gorgeous! I ended up adding hot pinks, oranges, and golds with the avocado.

I used a red batik for the "X" of the block.

First three finished color challenge blocks: mauve, ochre, and avocado.

Stay tuned for more colors!

NEW'BEE Block for April

I enjoyed creating the lime green made fabric, and the hot pink made fabric - this is my bee block for April (over at 15 Minutes Play). The resulting block is on its way to my bee buddy, Janet, in Yukon Territory, Canada!

Mad about Mauve?

My friend, Victoria, over at 15 Minutes Play, gave us all a challenge - to create a block using mauve - probably not a favorite among today's quilters!

I used to have plenty of mauve - I've been quilting quite a while! But all I could find were these:

The center piece is actually mauve, while the batiks on the left and right have some mauve in them.

Then I chose fabrics which were lighter and darker tones of mauve, pinks down to deeper purples, and then added some blue and orange, colors in one of the prints.

Finished product! I made a Scrappy X block, seen previously on the 15 Minutes blog - made fabric for the main piece, sliced into 4 triangles, and X'd with deep purple, and a dot of mauve in the center. Victoria plans to issue one color challenge a week for 12 weeks. I wasn't going to "play" - but it looked like too much fun not to!

My New BFF!

We (Scott and I) have discovered a wonderful new friend in our kitchen -

non-stick foil! Works great for most everything - no messy cleanups - easy to remove sticky desserts from the pan - you can wrap burger patties individually for the freezer and it just peels right off - terrific stuff!

Its place of honor on the kitchen counter. :)

Had to show you - I just had to plant pansies, it's so gorgeous out (we have had multiple days of 80 degrees here in the Chicago suburbs in March, unheard of!)!

And my latest creation just had to "pose" out by the "posies"! I made these two blocks for my NEW'BEE buddy over at 15 Minutes Play. She (Lauren) asked for blocks with an outer space theme, for her two young boys (2 and 4, adorable). The one block has a planet, starring a great (old) hand-dyed scrap; the other block is just made fabric, in the background request of blues and blacks - which Lauren requested. Hope she likes them!

NEW'BEE Block for January

This is the January block for my online bee at 15 Minute Play, called NEW'BEE. This block was designed/requested by Katherine. We were to create made fabric in whites, black with white prints, and two contrasting bright colors. Her instructions were very clear and easy - you can see them here.

I'm enjoying a wonderful, three-day weekend of sewing sewing sewing!

Happy New Year to all!

Red, Camo, and Blue

Victoria, over at 15 Minutes Play, invited members to complete a 12" block using camo fabric for part of the block. Victoria had been commissioned to make a quilt from a soldier's old uniforms, and was then making a Quilt of Valor (to be presented to another soldier) from the remaining camo fabric.

She asked us to use Red, Blue, and the camo fabric. She gave me two types of camo, a lighter, more tan print, and a darker, green print. Victoria asked us to also use made fabric for at least part of the block. I made red fabric, dark blue fabric, and light blue fabric, all from my scraps.

I used a paper piecing pattern by Carol Doak, which I found for free online. The pattern is called Cross My Heart Block, and you can find it here.

Finished block - ta da! This took way longer than anticipated! Does that ever happen to you?

I'm a NEW'BEE Player!

Isn't the quilt below just lovely??? I spied this picture out in blogland, after the Sisters, Oregon, quilt show (where this pic was taken). NOTE TO SELF: MUST attend this show someday! I LOVE the combination of piecing and applique, in combination with my favorite colors! Plus, the use of grays in the background gives it a fresh look. Sort of a new twist on a traditional idea.

So - an idea was born! I am a member of an online bee block exchange group, the NEW'BEE Players, over at 15 minutes play (see the icon on my side bar). We get to ask for a block from our 11 fellow bee players, and I got to be first! We describe what type block we want, and how to make it, then wait for lovely packages to arrive in the mail. See my post here.

My inspiration quilt: Growing Up, by Wendy Williams. You can see her website here. I asked her permission to use the photo (always the right thing to do), and she graciously agreed.

To make my requested 9-patch block: Using scraps of all one color group (I used oranges), "make fabric" (a la Victoria over at 15 minutes play) to measure around 12" square. See the quilt photo above for color choices: I will be using pinks, fuscias, blues, greens, purples, and oranges. No tomato reds, yellows, blacks, or whites. From the piece of made fabric, cut 5 squares at 3" x 3".

Then, from a different color, cut 4 squares at 3" x 3". This fabric should contrast with the first, and also from the color choices listed above. It may be a print, or something like the batik shown, preferably not a solid.

Arrange the squares to form a 9-patch block. Sew the horizontal rows together, pressing seams to the darker fabric. Sew the 3 rows together, and press to finish.


Finished 9-patch block, ta da! I can't wait to see the blocks that arrive in my mailbox! And I am also looking forward to a year with these bee ladies, making a new block for one of them each month. Fun stuff!

What inspires me?

The amazing and talented Victoria, over at 15 Minutes Play has dubbed this as Inspiration Week. All week long, fellow quilters have been posting what it is that inspires them to create!

As a matter of fact, I posted about one of my projects yesterday!

A big source of inspiration for me is people - people that I know and love. This is about our friend, John.

John calls himself Gypsy John when he is performing at open mics around the area. Word has it that he might even be thinking about making a cd soon - cool!

Well, over a year ago, John had a terrible motorcycle accident. He was in the hospital a long time, and his road to recovery was looking difficult.

John did recover - fully! He has been at home for over a year, he is back at work, and performing too!

We were given these t-shirts at his recent backyard music festival/birthday party. As soon as I felt the shirt in my hands, I knew I wanted to make a quilt out of it.

I went to pull fabrics that said "John" to me, something like shirting plaids and the like. I was surprised to have quite a few in my stash! But then, what to do with them?


Enter another wonderful quilter who I have met in blogland - Mary over at fiberliscious.
She was posting about one of her projects, and I just LOVED all of her stripped fabric rectangles. I knew instantly I wanted to use this techique for my Gypsy John quilt.

Stay tuned for the outcome!

Recipe for a Challenge Block

Recently, I participated in a block challenge over at 15 Minutes Play. We were to first "make fabric" (way fun, try it sometime!). I started with my bin of scraps in an appetizing mix! (leftover from another project actually!) Stir well.

Then I just started putting stuff together, any old way.

Do you love all of my notes stashed under my clear sewing maching table? I am the QUEEN of making lists!

Then, so things weren't too "orderly", I slashed stuff apart, and then sewed back together. I love this color combo!

Here is the end of "Step 1" - we were to create fabric, and trim to 8" square. Ta - da!

Then, we are to somehow use this fabric to design a quilt block that will measure 12" square.

Let idea cook for a bit.

Here's an idea - cut in half each way, 4 times, ta-da x 2!!! I actually like this fractured block. Not done yet, needs more cooking time.

Then I added triangles of this absolutely gorgeous Alexander Henry fabric. It is an OLDIE (from the 80s I think!), but it is yummy. Delicious, even! I should have stopped here - as I really like this block! But...wanted to add some plaid, and some dots...

...I added the purple plaid (also an old "vintage" fabric from the 80s), and a new (last month!) lime green dotty fabric. Oven timer went off, block is done!

Winners were announced today, not I, but that's ok! It was an honor to be nominated! and I did get a few votes from my fellow quilters. Life is good!

Yield: 1 block. Enjoy! No calories!