Off the Beaten Path....baby style

 

About a month ago, I took part in the Desire to Inspire Challenge at Henry Glass and Co blog. The premise is that you agree to design something using their fabrics...and they send you some really cool fabrics. What could be better than that?  I was sent fabrics from the #LaughLoveQuilt collection by Amy Hamberlin.

You can read my blog post here or follow the link above to see the post on the Henry Glass and Co. blog.

Aren't these elephants adorable?

 I really like the pattern I came up with, Off the Beaten Path, and wanted to try it out using brighter fabrics. I needed to make a baby quilt, so decided to make it a bit smaller, but still child size. I don't know about you, but I always make my baby quilts at least 50" x 50". Then they can use them as they grow. I finished the top yesterday, so it is ready to be quilted. I purchases some cute orange and white polka dotted fabric for the backing, so as soon as I get that pieced, I'll be ready to quilt it.

Fabrics I used in the baby Off the Beaten Path quilt.

I finished the new sampler yesterday too, so as soon as I get some good pictures of it I will post them. I am really excited about this sampler design, and I hope others will be too. Here's a sneak peek....

One block used in Sampler 23, Doing the Splits.

Partial Off the Beaten Path  blocks chillin' in the shade.

Off The Beaten Path with Henry Glass and Co

I accepted the Desire to Inspire Challenge for May on the Henry Glass & Co blog recently and was sent a gorgeous pack of fabrics from Amy Hamberlin's #Laugh Love Quilt collection. It is a pretty blend of modern and floral prints. I knew right away that I would need to design something scrappy in order to use all of these prints to their advantage. Since the navy stood out from the rest, I wanted to use it where it would make a splash.

#laughlovequilt collection by Amy Hamberlin

My cats always manage to wake up and come running when I start cutting a new project. Smokey and Conrad like to keep an eye on how the project is progressing.

I knew that I wanted to make several different, but similiar blocks for this scrappy quilt, so figured out a design that was simple but intriquingto look at. I like quilts that have interesting design elements incorporated into the design...it keeps you searching for more. I quickly made some pieced sections for the center of most of the blocks and pieced the rest of the quilt. 

Since I had used the navy for the star points, I decided to cut a smallish border out of it to bring it out in the quilt. I added it to 2 sides and hated it. It took over, or was too much...something wasn't right. So I tore it off and made a pieced border with scrappy rectangles and squares instead. I realize as I'm writing this that I didn't take a picture that shows the border well, but it's a combination of pieced strips strategically placed and rectangles. I liked it much better!

Unsewing the border...

I quilted it using a pastel variegated thread and the Starburst panto. It was fun to see it come to life with the quilting!

I always take pictures of the quilt, front and back, as I take it off of the frame. I like to have a record of each quilt and this way if I forget to take a pic later, I have these.

When the navy didn't work as a border, I decided to use it for the binding. It didn't take long to trim it down to the right width. 

I think it's just the right amount of navy for this scrappy quilt.

It was fun taking it out for a photo shoot....though I don't think my camera caught the beauty of the fabrics like I'd hoped it would. They are always prettier in person!

Off the Beaten Path

I feel like I grow as a designer and quilter when I take part in a challenge like this with parameters and a deadline. You don't have the luxury of weeks of planning, or designing, so you have to know just what the fabric is trying to say, or what it's saying to you. I think you learn a bit about the fabric designer as well, using her fabrics. There was a large print fabric with this collection that I got, but couldn't use as I couldn't cut it up. I didn't have time to incorporate it into a pieced backing, so now I need a plan for it. Still thinking about that one!

Thanks to Vanessa and the folks at Henry Glass & Co for the chance to participate in this engaging challenge. Visit their blog today to see the post about my challenge quilt, Off the Beaten Path. Go back tomorrow to see which collection will be used for the June Desire to Inspire Challenge and get a chance to participate yourself!

A new challenge for May

The Henry Glass blog features a monthly Desire to Inspire Challenge for sewers and quilters to use fabric from a new line in a project or two. They are doing it a bit differently than they did in the past. At the beginning of the month, they announce what fabric line is featured. You (yes, anyone) can leave a comment on the blog post if you are interested in taking the challenge to make something original out of the fabric chosen. If they choose you, you have about 3 weeks to make it, which can be a bit daunting! I loved the fabric line for May, Laugh, Love, Quilt, so I was excited when I found out that I had been chosen to take the challenge.

I looked online to see pictures of all the fabrics in the line, wondering which ones they would send. I was excited Saturday when they came in the mail. So much prettier in person. Now to decide what to make. There has been a lot going on the past few months, plus I have been sick so I feel like I haven't done much creating/sewing for months. A challenge like this is just what I need to get going again!

What would you make? 

Turning Cartwheels with Henry Glass (dare I say giveaway?)

Turning Cartwheels

Last year I heard about the Desire to Inspire Challenge on the Henry Glass Co blog. It sounded interesting... you send them some pictures of some of your work and you might get a chance to design a quilt with their fabric. If chosen, they send you fabrics, give you a deadline for completion and you have to design something out of those fabrics. Sounded like fun to me...who doesn't like surprise packages of luscious fabrics coming in the mail? So I sent in my info and recently they contacted me to see if I was still interested in being a part of the challenge. Of course I said yes and anxiously waited to see what they would send me. 

It was exciting when the box arrived, I couldn't wait to open it. Inside were these gorgeous florals from the Flower Girl collection by Margot Languedoc.  

I loved the colors and the prints she incorporated in her collection. I started to think about designs that would showcase these fabrics as well as the Folio blenders that came with them.

I spent a lot of time working on a design, experimenting with several block combinations. The floral fabric seemed to be a modern version of the classic floral while the yellow had a really modern feel. I knew I could fit a few of the Folio blenders in somewhere. So I played with the design off and on for several weeks in EQ, trying to come up with something modern yet classic.

Flying Kite and Axel

One of the challenges in making this was designing something that used the amounts of fabric that I was given. I spent many hours figuring which fabrics could work where, as I was given more of some fabrics than others. I finally decided on the Flying Kite block and designed the Axel block to connect them.

I won't bore you with all the hours of cutting and sewing, so we'll fast forward to it on the design wall! Crooked, but there! I had chosen the small floral for the setting triangles and so I was very happy when I got them on the wall with the blocks to see how they looked. I could have used the yellow too, but the floral seemed to bring out the colors of the other fabrics better and had a fresher look.

Turning Cartwheels on design wall

As I worked on finishing the quilt top, I tried to figure out what to do for the back. I kept wondering how the blue paisley would look with the yellow print, so I decided to make a 27" block using it for the back. Here it is on my design wall with a 12" block for comparison.

Oh yea, loving this! I used more of the yellow print and then a white solid to surround this block and make it large enough to back the quilt.

Now to quilt it! I loaded it and used my favorite panto, Leafage by Keryn Emmerson.

As I was trimming the batting after quilting, I realized that I had a helper!

At 58" x 58", Turning Cartwheels will make a great table cover, throw or wallhanging.

It was fun to take part in this challenge. I feel like I have learned a lot as I worked my way through the process and I would encourage anyone who likes a challenge to go to the Henry Glass blog and inquire about the Desire to Inspire Challenge. Plus you can see Turning Cartwheels and the blog post about it.

Go visit and tell me what you think! I might be getting a little carried away with celebrating, but I don't care! You can't celebrate too much, right?  I'm going to do a special giveaway if you comment on this post about my challenge quilt. I have some untouched fat quarters that are just begging to be sewn into a project. Leave a comment on this post to win these gorgeous fabrics. No rafflecopter this time, just comment, but please please please leave an email if you want to be eligible to win. 

   You can still enter the other giveaways here and here until Friday night.