Quilty Sunday

A few years ago I made this curvy quilt, Central Park, and  taught several classes on it. Its gentle curves make teaching this technique pretty easy. I've decided to teach the class again, but I wanted to quilt it first. (it's been aging, ok?)

 I had sewn the back together, so it was just waiting for a chance to be quilted! I loaded it and quilted a few rows today. I hope to get it finished by the end of the week. I don't get much quilting done at night, so we'll see how that works out.

I like the gentleness of the curves and the idea of blending the colors in a colorwash effect. I used mostly batiks, though I threw a few blenders in too. I'm quilting it with Signature TyeDye,  a variegated thread with bright colors.

I am getting excited about traveling to Des Moines on Saturday for the AQS quilt show...I can't wait to see my quilt there! If you travel to the show and see it, please let me know!

Off to start my Monday!

T-shirt class

 I had a great time yesterday helping people get started on their T-shirt quilts. It's always fun to see the different shirts and figuring out the challenges to using what people have. Sometimes the shirts are smaller, or  they have pockets that the quilters want to leave on. A few holes here and there, since everyone wants their favorite shirts to be included in the quilt!

 I didn't get many pictures, but it was a busy day and the time flew by. We added to shirts that were too small, we pieced smaller emblems together to make one block...we did lots of creative things with t-shirts!

There are lots of ways to incorporate tshirts in a quilt, but I always teach using this design. It's versatile, and I like the way the sashings accentuate the different quilt blocks. 

After class my daughter and  I went to my hometown for a birthday party for a friend...had a great visit with family and friends! 

Lettering...

A few years ago I joined in on a free pieced letter quiltalong with Lynne of Patchery Managerie fame. She has done many quilts using this method from the book Word Play Quilts by Tonya Ricucci, and I had wanted to try it. The quiltalong was fun and I made all the letters of the alphabet, then made some cutesy things to go with and fill in blank spaces. I love it! It's fun and challenging and I like the uneven look of the letters not always being the same size or "font". 

I made this sign for my quilt room, but right now it's hanging at one of the shops I teach at. Don't want anyone to forget where I am!

I made this baby quilt for my great-nephew's birth....you can make any name or word for a baby quilt...or just use the ABCs!

I have taught several classes teaching the techniques to students using Tonya's book and plan on teaching it again in November.  I made a mounted name sign for a child's room. Mounting on canvas is an option if you don't want to quilt it and it's very light and easy to hang.

Finally I made this sign for my friends at Cut Up and Quilt, where I will be teaching the class in Nov. I wanted to keep it simple, but every time I look at it, I wish I would've added scissors, or a spool of thread or maybe both. Do you keep critiquing your work even after it's finished? I guess it's part of the creative process!

Happy Friday!

Baby quilt finish...

 Quilting the baby quilt went pretty quickly. I used the Drift panto and a bright variegated thread...it looks like fluffy leaves to me, so thought it went with the jungle animal theme.

The lighting coming in the windows was good on Sunday when I quilted this, so you can really see the quilting in the pictures.

You knew I was going to get those zigzags in the quilt somewhere, right?

I took some pictures outside last night, and the color looks more blue....it's crazy how different it looks in these pictures. but you can see the zigzags in the binding!

I am teaching one of the Sampler classes tonight, so it will be a busy day!

UFO Saturday

I hosted a UFO Saturday class Saturday and it was great fun! I used to schedule these days to work on unfinished projects every month or so, but got so busy last year that I hadn't had one in awhile. It's a great chance for people to bring something unfinished from a previous class, or start a new project with some help.

They worked on an assortment of projects, from quilt blocks....

to baby quilts....

to a Halloween costume for a grandbaby.

I missed taking pictures of some Halloween pillows that one gal made for her family...they were so cute! It was a fun day with everyone chatting, laughing and giving advice! Just what group quilting is all about!

Baby (quilt) steps...getting closer to finished!

I spent some time last night sewing the borders on the baby quilt and prepping it for quilting. I think the teal border looks a bit darker here than it really is, but it definitely works with the green/teal polka dots for the border.

I pieced the backing fabric together, too...I love this playful plaid fabric and best of all it's on point so I don't have to worry about the stripes being straight! It's ready to go! I hope to get it loaded later and start the quilting.

Still thinking about the border....

 I decided  I needed a darker border between the quilt and the green/teal dotted fabric. There are too many places that the green border would touch other greens in the quilt and I was worried that it would blend too much.  I would've liked to  have the teal that is around the block in the top row, 2nd position...but it was a fat quarter, so knew I wouldn't be able to find it. That color is hard to find....or at least it was for me. I ended up with this solid teal, and I think it does a good job of separating the green dotted border from the other greens that touch the outside edge of the quilt top. What do you think?

I wanted to get the borders cut out last night, but after doing some cleaning and a huge pile of dishes (I was waiting for the dish fairy, but she never showed up), I just wasn't in the mood anymore. Another day....

Play time!

A few weeks ago I started working on some blocks for a baby quilt. I had purchased the tan polka dot fabric because I had an idea in my head that it would look great as the background.I wanted to frame the cute animal print, so I tried several prints for that. I didn't end up liking so much of the tan, so I went back to the drawing board.....

I thought some zigzags would look cute, so I made some using the tan polka dots and a darker teal/blue dot fabric. They turned out cute, but still don't look good with the other blocks. Here I'm trying some of the backing fabric as filler blocks.

I made some blocks to fit with the others, Peas in a Pod style...

Then started playing with an arrangement. All along, I really wanted the bigger animal blocks to stack across the quilt like in the original picture. So I started there and filled in with the rest.

After lots of playing with arrangements yesterday, it's sew together! Now I'm auditioning borders. I really love the zigzag but think it might be too light.

The green/teal dot looks good, but does it blend too much where it touches the green on the large blocks? I could put a small darker teal border on before adding either one, but will have to get something as I don't have anything big enough left. I love the darker teal in the blocks, but it was only a fq and I used  it up!

What do you think?

Tangled in the Kite Strings....no kidding!

 Saturday's Tangled in the Kite Strings class was so much fun! As you can see, they really were tangled in the strings...the piles grew all day long!

 It never seems like you use any of the strings, they just keep multiplying?

 Pat was working on her blocks 4 at a time.

 You can see my version in the background in the pic below.

The piles of blocks grew as the day went one...everyone liked the ease of this project and the versatility of the block. It's also fun to pick out characters and other things that wouldn't normally go together, but look great in string piecing. 

 Does her pile of strings look smaller?

This project has a central kite that makes a design on its own, which keeps the project grounded too. It gives a focus to each block and the quilt as a whole. 

I have so many strings and selvages, I could make blocks forever! Happy Sunday!