Bee challenge

Three things to be happy about:
(1) new school supplies
(2) a bentwood rocker
(3) a favorite recipe

I forgot to show you the quilt I made for this year's bee challenge.  I wasn't here for the unveiling in June, so I didn't get to see or photograph all the other quilts!

We were given a half yard of the light green batik; the challenge was to make a modern quilt within a certain size range.  Quite frankly, I think "modern" is in the eye and mind of the maker!

My idea was to make a two-color quilt from batiks in my stash.  I love when you can shop your stash!

I used these fabrics - purples, blues, and greens closely related in color but different patterns:

gotta have a zinger in there to add interest!

From 1-1/2", 2-1/2" and 3-1/2" strips I cut these pieces (for ease of reading I'll drop the 1/2"):

1 x 3,
1 x 4,
3 x 3,
3 x 4,
2 x 2, and
2 x 4.

Combining pieces to make 4-1/2" blocks:

sew a 1x3 to a 3x3, add a 1x4 on the side...

sew two 2x2's together, add a 2x4 on the side...

Lots of math but easy breezy to do!

I wanted texture, lots of texture -  I wasn't afraid to throw in some pale purple with the green!

Can I pull it off??   Only 1/2 yard of the challenge fabric, not much room for mistakes!

All the green blocks made and previewed on the design wall - looking good!

I made the dark blocks the same way as the others, creating 4-1/2" blocks and mixing mixing mixing the blues and purples together to add texture and interest!

The quilt finished at 40 x 40.

By combining fabrics from the same general family but with different surface designs, I definitely did what I set out to do!

Notice the gently curved line quilting, keeping it simple!




That's it for now, guild meeting today.  Have a great Saturday, sew forth and sew on til later!

It's in the bag

Three things to be happy about:
(1) springwater
(2) homemade fudge
(3) toddlers just learning to talk

My neighbors across the street have an 17 month old that's cute as a button!  It used to be when saw Isaiah and said "hi Isaiah!" he'd go "Blib bub oomp".  Lately when I say "hey Isaiah!" he goes "Blib bub oomp dap blup blop fwoop mlyap muuwp bliff maap fwip" while pointing his finger.  Coming right along... that boy will be a high school grad before you know it!



This one's mine!

 At guild meeting Saturday Nadine showed us a pretty fat quarter bag that Debbra made, to hold quilts.  When Nadine said how many quilts she was able to get in there, I was intrigued - there's nothing like a guild meeting to get your juices going!  I found the pattern online at AllFreeSewing.com and thought I'd give it a whirl.


All I can say is - Easy!



From my batik stash yesterday I cut six pieces for the outside, and one large piece for the inside and straps.  I didn't think to take pictures while I was working on it, but it would have just been filler anyway  ;o)

The bag is humongous all put together, the lining is cut at a generous 38-1/2 x 51-1/2 so it's a pretty roomy bag.  I put a few quilts in it to see what I see....

I was able to get five (5) quilts in my bag, and there was room for more!  The largest one was a full size measuring something like 82 x 95 ... for some strange reason I never put a label on that big ole quilt???  I definitely remember writing "A Star is Borne" someplace, I thought it was on an entry form... but I digress.

These were all in the bag!

The instructions call for 40" straps which are okay, but when I do it again I'll make the straps a bit longer. I'd tell you the most difficult part about making this bag, but there really is no difficult part - unless you want to consider turning those straps difficult... a 2 x 40" tube is bit fiddly to turn!  (I've always wanted to use that word! I know a lady from England who says fiddly and pest:  "That beltway is a bit of a pest at rush hour!"  She also makes delicious scones with some kind of lemon curd sauce!)

Anyway, I like the bag and will probably make another one... but do I need two of em???  Of course I do!!

Well, today I'm having lunch with Josie, my neighbor 4 doors down; then its back home for some serious sewing.  She's never been to Wegman's and I could use a quick run by Costco, so it's all good ... they're in the same shopping center.  Have a great Tuesday!

Sew forth and sew on

another top done

I felt like a little instant gratification, so I made a small cobblestone quilt like the ones Wanda at Exuberant Color does.

I dove into my batik stash and pulled a dozen fabrics that looked okay together as a group, then sorted them into pairs that I cut at 7-1/2".

Isn't it funny ... the more fabric you have, the harder it is to go ahead and make a decision about pairing two up.  At least, that's the way it is for me!  I have batiks in lots of colors, but they all seemed to be either greens or browns.

I made cuts at both sides of the pair o' squares to give me three strips, then I cut the top and bottom of the middle strip...

next I moved the underneath portion of the middle strip to the top o' the set.  One pair o' squares gives me two blocks each!

After piecing a dozen blocks I put the top together, but then I decided to make four more to make it a 4x4 layout. 

I wish I'd chosen a different fabric for the border, though.  And the two blocks in the top right corner ... not the best of friends!  Whyyyyy can't.... whyyyyy can't we all just get along? 

Whatever.

Now, the block below should go to the "what was I thinking?" department...

... those colors just won't dance together!

So that's what I was up to yesterday, sweating all the while.  Sew forth and sew on til later...

When is a jelly roll not a jelly roll?

Three things to be happy about:
(1) the spire of a redwood
(2) colorful backdrops
(3) the artistry of sushi chefs

Someone asked about the small quilt I sent off to Australia in the Little Quilt Swap; it was the one I named Superstition.  I tried to pull a picture that I already loaded but blogger is so undeniably slow at loading those pictures!  You can see the quilt here, it's the one on the left.  Also, it's in my photo stream on the right side of the blog.


By now I'll have to go ahead and accept that fall is here!  Not only is it colder and the leaves are falling, but it gets dark earlier, even after the fall-back of the clock.  And speaking of that, when I went to change the time on my bathroom clock, I was shocked to see this:

Do you see how corroded that battery is!?  Lately I noticed that the batteries in my camera seemed to be expiring way too soon, but then I wondered if it was only in my mind.  Now this clock battery gets me wondering if I've been using from a bad batch?  Or could it be the steam in the bathroom caused this battery to corrode??  It's never happened before and I'd hate to ruin my camera.

I saw these pretty bushes yesterday when I was out and had to take a picture!

I like the play of the rusty-red against the green... quilt color option?  I don't know one shrub from another, but they're not the same kind or they'd be the same color, I reckon. 

So, back to my original question ... when is a jelly roll not  a jelly roll??   

When it's a sushi!

My bee is having a jelly roll race at our next meeting and we're to have our jelly rolls sewn end-to-end before the meeting, so we can start the race at a trot.  I bought this sushi roll back in April, but in my mind I was thinking I had a jelly roll.  But it isn't...

This sushi has 24 strips but a jelly roll has 40... sew I have to make it grow up into a jelly.  No way am I buying an "official" jelly roll, I have more than enough batik yardage to cut 16 more strips at 2-1/2 x 40! 

I pulled these to cut from, I'll have em cut and sewn before next Saturday!

Well today is my guild meeting, it will be good seeing people I haven't seen since the last meeting... I'm looking forward to a fun meeting!  Have a great day everyone.

Sew forth and sew on

Just poking along

Last night I basted a quilt I made for my great-niece, I should be able to get it quilted and mail it off in time for Christmas.  I'll post a picture after it's quilted.  Maybe  ;o)

Then I dug into my batik stash and pulled some fabrics to make a few camera/ipod holders from a tut I found at Sew Mama Sew.  The tutorial looks really easy, so it shouldn't take long to make the first one ... then we'll see how many I can make this weekend.  The fabrics below are for 3 different ones:

These are my latest fabrics from The Fabric Peddler in Capitol Heights, Maryland:

Nadine just got in that lovely batik that's on the top, it's sort of a mottled brown-gold-rust color ... well, it's hard to describe but you can see it!  The one beneath it has the alphabet, a thru z, written in script; it was on sale and I bought all that was left on the bolt because I'm a little piggy.  :o)   Here's a close up of the pattern:

Isn't that gold-y color really pretty? It's one of those pieces that has to look great no matter what I put it with, so in my book it's a sure winner! 

Thank you all for visiting and for your comments, I like getting feedback!  Carol, I would love to get to know you through your blog, aren't they a great invention (whose idea was it, anyway??). You can spend literally hours going from one blog to another one, to another and another!  Mama, I like your slow-poke "confessory," - even if I didn't work full-time, I doubt I'd be a quilt-a-week person, LOL.  Wanda I look forward to seeing your completed embroidery quilt!

Sew forth and sew on until later.

Linda