Be Creative Quilt Challenge Finalist

Shortcut

Last spring I read about the Be Creative Quilt Challenge on the McCalls Quilting Blog. I was intrigued as I like doing challenges, but with my class schedule, plus creating new quilts, I don't always have a lot of extra time. So I followed the link to the challenge guidelines to see what I needed to do to enter this challenge. It was actually a design challenge so I was really curious then! I saw right away that some of the fabrics from the Lotta Jansdotter collections were involved. I have to admit, I wasn't familiar with her fabrics before this, but fell in love with them when I saw them.

Challenge Lotta Jansdotter fabric bundle 

The 4.5 yd. fabric bundle included twelve prints of varying sizes, and was available to purchase from the Quilt and Sew Shop.  One of the requirements was to use 8 of the 12 prints. You could add 3 fabrics of your own choice. 

Shortcut after quilting, relaxing on the bars. I didn't want it to get wrinkled !

After much time debating the issue...should I or shouldn't I...I decided to order the fabric bundle. Meanwhile, I played with ideas I had for designs using EQ6. It was difficult to think about using so many fabrics in established amounts. ( I have no problem using lots of fabrics in a quilt, but having a pre-determined amount of fabric caused much planning and head scratching!) I finally figured out a design I thought would work, and planned the fabric placement. I ordered 2 other Jansdotter prints to coordinate with what I had and decided on a white background. Aren't they gorgeous?  

 

 Once the fabrics came, I plotted and planned some more. After seeing the actual fabrics, I changed my mind on which fabrics I would use where. Plus the size requirement of the finished quilts was fairly stringent, measuring 56” to 60” x 68” to 72". I think this was the hardest part to accomplish for me as I reworked my design many times as I tried to make a design I liked within those boundaries. I'm used to making quilts designed to fit twin or queen beds, but the sizes can be somewhat variable, so it's not that difficult.

I ordered backing fabric, also Jansdotter

 Finally I was ready to cut and sew! Since I didn't decide and order the fabric bundle until late summer, it was almost time to go back to school by the time I started working on it.  With a submission deadline of Nov. 1, 2015, I couldn't waste time either. Once it was finished, I ordered another Jansdotter fabric to use for the backing, though that wasn't a requirement. It was one of the fabrics that was in the original bundle. I had used it on the front and really like it! I thought about taking it to someone else to quilt, but ended up quilting it myself with an all over pattern.

Naming the quilt...sometimes that's the hardest part. To find a name that "fits" the quilt for whatever reason, is an interesting journey. Sometimes it's evident to others, sometimes it only has meaning for me. I decided on Shortcut as it described for me the path the diverse sets of fabrics were taking

Shortcut in the sand....beachy!

One sunny day,I took the finished quilt on a field trip and took some pictures of it in different locations and at different angles. The submission included an artist statement and a photo of the quilt. I sent the one at the top of this post to them. About a week later, I learned that I was a finalist and needed to send Shortcut to them. I knew from the guidelines that all of the finalist quilts would travel to the Original Sewing and Quilt Expos in 2016, so I was excited! I bundled it off to them quickly!

Shortcut

The judging commenced and in December I learned that my quilt was not one of the three winners, but would be traveling with all 12 finalist quilts to the OSQE shows plus the America Quilts Expo in Des Moines (which is about 2 hours from me), so I will get to go see the exhibit.

Shortcut

I have been waiting  for them to post pictures of all of the finalist quilts as I was curious to see what other designers had done with those same fabrics. They were posted online last week, so take a look for yourself! They are all interesting with many different techniques used. I'm really glad that I decided to take the challenge. I feel like I learned a lot about adapting to size and design elements that I don't always worry about. Plus using fabrics with so many interesting prints made things interesting as well. I would love to chat with the other challenge participants to see how they felt about the challenge.

Shortcut hanging out after the quilting.

If you go to any of the Original Sewing and Quilt Expos in 2016, please take a picture of yourself with my quilt! I'd love to see you with it! 

America Quilts Expo

 The America Quilts Expo opens today in Des Moines. It is part of the Original Sewing and Quilting Expos, so will feature the exhibit of quilts from the Be Creative! Quilt Challenge. Since my quilt, Shortcut, is part of this exhibit I am excited to be going to the show on Saturday with friends. If you are traveling to this show, and you see my quilt, let me know...better yet, take a picture of yourself with it. I'd love to see it.

Shortcut

I met with two of the Sampler Clubs this week. Monday and Tuesday nights were both Larkspur groups, but they are working on different parts of the quilt. Both classes had some quilters missing (busy time of year) but here are some pics from Monday night. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pics on Tuesday night. 

I'm still working on my Henry Glass Desire to Inspire #LoveLaughQuilt project. I pieced a backing and loaded it and the quilt top on the longarm last night, so I will be ready to begin quilting it tonight. I have a panto that is a loose star shape bouncing around that I think will be perfect. I'm anxious to get started on it. 

A fun quilty day in Des Moines....

 Some friends and I went to Des Moines on Saturday for the America Quilts Expo. Not only did we get to see my quilt, Shortcut, as part of the Be Creative!quilt Challenge display, we saw many other beautiful quilts as well. I had seen pictures of the other finalist quilts, but it was fun to see them up close to see the design aspects better as well as the quilting.

 They are all beautiful and different in so many ways. That's what is fun about a design contest with specifications that need to be met. I wrote about that in more detail here, but probably one of the hardest was using 8 of the 12 fabrics in the fabric bundle in the quilt. They were mostly quarter yd. cuts with a couple being a bit larger, so coming up with a design that used that many, plus in those amounts was challenging for me. I thought about it and worked on design ideas for several months before committing by buying the needed fabric bundle. You could add up to 3 other fabrics as well, so more head scratching to figure out what else to use...what, more fabrics? In the end, I'm happy with it and it was fun to see it as part of the exhibit.

 The quilt above and to the right took the top prize and I thought it was too bad they didn't show the back as well as she made a patio and swimming pool on the back to go with her house on the front.

 I don't take as many photos at shows as I used to, as I found that I wasn't looking at them as closely when I did and they never look as good in a photo as in person. But I had to take pictures of this one as the techniques were so unusual.  It had to be taken from a photo, but then the shading was accomplished by using gauze. We got as close to it as we could to try to see exactly what was involved in this stunning quilt. Unfortunately, we only guessed at what we thought was done, and don't know for sure, but it doesn't matter as it truly was a work of art.

 I love this one as well...great illusion. They were both part of an exhibit by the Studio Art Quilts Association titled Celebrating Silver. It was interesting with many different aspects of silver.

 After the show, we stopped at Piece Work Quilt Shop in Winterset, Ia. It is sort of on the way home. It was a nice shop, and we managed to find a few things we needed!

I finished the quilting on the Henry Glass project on Friday night, so spent some time yesterday finishing it. You might remember the darker print border I had added and then taken off because it didn't look right with the scrappy quilt. I trimmed it down, and re-pieced it to use as the binding. I got my pop of color on the edge without overpowering it. I took it on a photo shoot and will post more about it tomorrow when it will be on the Henry Glass and Co. blog as part of the Desire to Inspire Challenge this month.

I got a few things planted in the garden yesterday, but need to mow today. What are you doing for the holiday?

Shortcut at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo

 My Be Creative! Quilt Challenge quilt, Shortcut, will be at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Atlanta, GA this weekend as part of the Challenge exhibit. If you see it there, please take a picture of yourself with it and send to me at quiltinjeanie@yahoo.com. I would love to see it. The exhibit will travel to OSQE shows in  Lakeland, FL on March 17, Cleveland, OH on March 31, and Worchester, MA on April 7 as well.

You can see all of the quilts here and they will be featured in the April/May issue of Quilters Newsletter Magazine, available on newstands soon.

This picture was taken from the other side of the quilt....I'm still not sure which end should be the top.

Poolside Tote demo...all ready to put together.

I'm off work today because of a built in snow day we didn't have to take, so have a few things I want to take care of...first on the list is picking up my new glasses. Even though my eyes hadn't changed much, the lens were getting pretty scratched, so it was less than ideal to look through. Then home to do some paperwork and maybe get a little sewing in. I'd like to get the class demo bag finished from last Saturday's class and work on the new Circle and Spin series quilt blocks a bit. We'll see how far I get!

It's All About the Kids! Day 5 and a giveaway!

Welcome to Day 5 of SewCalGal's  It's All About The Kids Blog Event!  Lots of inspiration for kids and a few giveaways too. Head over to SewCalGal's to see the full list of blogs participating.

Did you sew as a child? I did... my mom started teaching me to embroider and sew at a young age. She guided my sister and me as we embroidered pot holders as gifts for family and later on as we learned to make clothing for ourselves. She made most of our clothes, so we fell into it naturally. There has never been a time in my life that I haven't sewed.

Because I enjoy it so much, I think it's important to make sewing available for kids. I spend some time every summer holding Kids Camps in our local fabric store. I think I have as much fun as the kids, though I have to keep moving to keep up with them!

Over the past few years, the kids have made pillows, kleenex covers, pajama pants, quilts, and bags. Most of the time I design a pattern for the classes, so I have control over the difficulty of the project.

Kids are open to trying new things and really have fun. Even when they are having problems, they stay focused when they are really interested. As we all know, there is something very satisfying about making a project on your own and they feel it too. They don't fear making mistakes as much as adults and are very creative with their fabric choices.

These pictures are from last summer's camps. I taught two different sessions, the Topsy Turvy Pillow and the Carry-All Bag. The Kleenex covers were a bonus project for the Pillow girls, as they finished early.

When I use purchased patterns for the classes I try to stick with the Learn to Sew section of the pattern catalog....the kids used the Simplicity pattern 2164 last summer to make these cute bags. I chose it for its simple structure and purchased webbing for handles.

Here are some tips if you want to help your child begin to sew.

Pick out a project that is simple enough for a child. If they are overwhelmed, it won't be fun and they won't want to finish.

Take breaks. They have lots of energy, but it is hard to stay focused on most projects for more than a couple of hours.

Don't be too picky. If it holds together and there are no holes in the seams, it is ok, even if the seams aren't perfectly straight. You can guide them to try harder but don't discourage them by making them take out every seam. If it seems too hard they won't want to do it.

Help when needed. Even sewers with some experience need help occasionally, so don't worry that if you help with a tricky seam or  turn handles right side out that they aren't making it themselves.

You can see from these pictures that they were very happy to have a finished project that they could use after these classes. Were they all perfect? They were in their eyes!

To help in the celebration of kids and crafts/sewing, Fat Quarter Shop  has donated a $25 gift certificate! They really do know how to celebrate.  Enter using the Rafflecopter below. You have until Monday to enter and win this wonderful prize! What would you  buy? They have so many beautiful fabrics, it would be hard to choose, but it will be fun to try!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for joining me for this blogging event. I hope you are inspired to start a new project soon with your budding crafter/sewer.I'd love to hear about it when you do!

Cottage blocks and other exciting news

 In 2009 I thought it would be fun to host a seasonal cottage swap among friends and ladies who take quilting classes with me.  I swapped with a group of friends as well. We swapped every 2 months and kept it seasonal to the months.  It ended last December, so then we had a cottage workshop where I offered some tree patterns and people had a chance to work on setting their cottages together. We had a blast and I set a day in March to have a party and everyone brought what they had done. It was so much fun to see all the creative ideas! I put my blocks together with some trees set in here and there and hung it on display in the classroom. Well, it has been there ever since, so I decided it was time to take it down and finish it! I have had many comments from people who didn't participate so I am going to teach a workshop in January as well.

This morning I found out I was a winner in Michelle's Birthday Bash at Quilting Gallery. I won this Central Park fat eighth bundle! What a wonderful surprise! Michelle has taken a great idea (listing quilting blogs) and turned it into a wonderful haven for quilters. You can find quilting blogs listed by state, check out quilting shops, participate in swaps and weekly contests. She has been working on a cookbook as well. She is one busy lady with lots of great ideas. Thanks Michelle!

My sister, Nancy and husband Dale came in from Vancouver Island last night. We are going to spend the day shopping and chatting, then they will head up to Earling, our hometown. I will be going there for Christmas, then will stay over so my mom and sisters and I can have a sew-in on Sunday. I am going to help Nancy get started on her first quilt...should be fun. She picked out a pattern and fabric when I visited there last summer.

Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Fredericksburg

 Last year I entered the Be Creative! Quilt Challenge sponsored by McCalls magazines. It was a fun challenge using Lotta Jansdotter fabrics. I placed in the top ten, so my quilt has been traveling wtih the Original Sewing and Quilt Expos this year. I got to see it when the show was in Des Moines in May.

 The show is in Fredericksburg, VA this weekend, so if you happen to go to this show, please take a picture of yourself with Shortcut and send it to me...quiltinjeanie@yahoo.com ...I'd love to see it.

 The show will travel on to Schaumberg, IL in Oct. and Minneapolis, MN in Nov. Then Shortcut will come home.