(I know, two posts in one day? Like what's with that? This was the planned one; the Q1FAL list had to get whipped up and posted in time for the deadline.)
There were 32 designs in the challenge on Instagram as of 7 pm Friday night, January 13. That is fantastic!
Thank you so much everyone who has joined Lisa and me in this design adventure. Here are the ones I have entered so far:
The challenge continues until March 15 remember, so there is lots of time to hop in the pool with the rest of us. Bi-weekly prizes of $15 gift cards are ongoing and Lisa and I will add a prize too here and there.
Guess what arrived today in my mail?!
EEEEP!! I am both excited and a tad nervous at having this (again) in my hands. I had EQ4 years ago when we had our first computer, a PC Seanix. Have we come a long way baby! However, think: exhilarating, time-eating, and frustrating all in one? Now I played a bit over the past few days with Quiltography, an app for iPad which is pretty darn cool and at $13 a bargain for your dollars. EQ7 I bought with some money my mum gave me for Christmas. She is influencing my life a fair bit at the moment: I brought down with me a few of the books she has given me over the years, have read two, The Camel Bookmobile and Beatrice and Virgil, and am currently reading and thoroughly enjoying, A Walk Across France. Thank you Mum!! There also just may be some fabric bits 'n bobs working their way into a quilt in celebration (belated, sigh) of your auspicious 80th birthday... Anyhow, onwards and upwards to the designing end of quilting.
Scraps Upon Scraps : 150 Canadian Women project
May I just say I am in LOVE with this ongoing (for a year!) project? I am in LOVE with what I am learning about my country's kick-ass, bold, and quietly brave women. Why is this not taught more in our school curriculum? Right...we learn about Louis Riel, but not about his mother or his grandmother and their contributions and brave accomplishments. That's wrong! Anyhow, thank you Next Step Quilt Design, specifically Kat, for this project.
Sidenote: heard that Hayley Wickenheiser has just announced her retirement as of yesterday, Jan. 13. Five-time Olympic gold medalist, she has done INCREDIBLE things for women's hockey. And, at age 38, she said she doesn't want to put off going to medical school any longer! Love her, hope there's a block for her, but if not, remind me to make on as a tribute to her, okay?
Here are this week's three blocks:
#25 Madeleine Parent - she studied sociology at McGill University and fought for the underdog, fighting against horrific working conditions, a 55-hour work week and child labour in Quebec's cotton and woolen mills; #26 Thérèse Casgrain - she is the epitome of the Japanese proverb "Fall 7 times get up 8" because she ran in politics 9 times unsuccessfully, BUT she ended up being elected as the first woman leader of the NDP, a national party; #27 Dame Emma Albani - first Canadian woman to become an international celebrity; performed at Covent Garden for 24 years running; a favourite of Queen Victoria, she sang at her funeral.
Just wow. Again. I used French text in the background for Thérèse, and for Emma, red fabric with crowns because of Queen Victoria, and stars because of her global stardom. Here is the collection of 27 so far. Love!
I have a plan for the sashing pieces that is pretty exciting! Once I have my hands on my fabric, I will reveal my plan. I think the additions of pinks here and there is brilliant, and I am using low volume backgrounds from whites to creams to a bit of greys. At this point I am just loving the way all these scraps play together.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
I am not loving so much the way my scrap vomit vortex fabric scraps are playing ...uh, together? Please help:
These were just thrown up willy-nilly on the design wall. I kind of like the diagonal line happening from the lower left...
I am at pretty big and medium slabs now. These are about half of the lot. Put 'em together as is or try to make them into a standard
size, say 12X18" and contain some of the chaos by sashing the blocks? Right now it's uncontrolled chaos which is kind of compelling but kind of
nauseating to me. Having never done this sort of thing I need opinions
and suggestions please. It's going to be a good size, or perhaps even
two medium sized quilts? and the scraps have not gone down a whit, but
seem to have increased...wabbits....
I debated on signing up this quarter, as there are more than a couple irons in the fire, but here I am and let's see where this goes. My success rate for Q4 was 60%. Once again this year, there are multiple hosts. There are hundreds of quilt bloggers who participate, and each entry is verified as having been on the Quarter List and then a finished usable product, so this makes for a ton of work.
I will be linking up on Abigail's blog this year, at Cut & Alter. She is in England. The first year I participated, I linked up to Adrianne at On the Windy Side in New Zealand, the second year, to Leanne at She Can Quilt in Canada, and now this year to Abigail. It is a global event. Seems to me to be a trend, no? Global community. We're all in this together. Because we are. So let's have fun, be amazed at others' talents, and celebrate more beautiful quilts on our planet!
Interesting to note another trend, one that's been around since quilting itself I venture to say, the majority of the quilts on the quilters' lists, my own included, are being given to others. Mmm, I like that! 💖
1. Radiance
This is coming back from Q4 of last year, so you've seen it uh, more than once...and is a flimsy I made almost a year ago. It needs a top and bottom border, which I already have planned, and then quilting. It is for my nephew Aidan.
2. Cuh'Boss!
This is going to an aunt. I just finished it in December and now need to get it quilted and mailed off to give to her.
3. A secret project #1
4. Another secret project
The fourth colour is white. There are two others, but they are not as dominant. How's that for mysterious?
5. A cushion cover, part of the Windfall upcoming Quilt Along I am hosting on my blog.
6. Whirling Stars
I would really like to just get this quilted already. I've sewed the backing, applied the label, cut the batting, and now it just needs basting and then I can get to work.
7. A wallhanging size of Windfall for a Quilt Along sponsored by Paint Brush Studio (pinch me! 😊) in the near future on my blog. I haven't got the fabric yet, but here is the large version. The wallhanging will be done in Spring colours, and I will post the photo of the fabrics once they arrive.
Paint Brush Studio Fabrics for the wallhanging size, called Free Fall!
8. Jolly Christmas Trees
Get this quilted up and ready for donating.
Oh, there will be more projects that creep in, rest assured. Those darn squirrels get me time and time again. If you are like me, you may want to click the DrEAMi! button on my sidebar to find a place for you to celebrate your QADD. Quilter Attention Deficit Disorder. I confess that I am quite badly afflicted with it. 😬
Here are my blocks for January's step for the Meadow Mystery at Meadow Mist Designs. Cheryl has me mystified, as I played around a bit with all 25 blocks, but can't seem to get a design that says, yup! She's a great mystery quilt writer!!
This is SUCH a pretty block!
We had to make 4 of those and 8 of the others. I am loving the fabrics and colours I chose.
A few of the 25 blocks arranged...so many possibilities!
Twirling Seams
I like to press my seams to one side. I like to stitch in the ditch to stabilize a quilt before doing FMQ or ruler work on it, whether I am on my Bernina or my Avanté. With seams pressed open, there is no ditch, and the stabilizing stitches sink between the seams. I guess one could say you are stitching the batting to the backing then, but the point of ditching is to stabilize all three layers of the quilt.
Problems arise when there are multiple intersecting seams. A needle can get broken when hitting a lump like this. You can get a nice a flat intersection, just as you would had you pressed seams open, by doing this cool little trick. I first saw it on Alex Anderson's "Simply Quilts" show on HGTV, and then later in Carrie Nelson's Another Bite of Schnibbles book.
Here is what it looks like on the back, and on the front, nice and flat. All you do is gently push the seams in opposite directions right at the intersection. Sometimes I push them in both opposite directions, one way and then the other. This will make a stitch or two loosen and open and you can then lie the opposing seams flat. You will get a little 4-patch if you have just sewn straight seams, little pinwheels if you have sewn any HSTs together at the intersection. Too cute!
Here's a great YouTube video by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts that shows you how to do this. I didn't spin the 4-patches in this block, but easily could have. Something Edyta says in this video was a lightbulb moment for me: "Whatever direction your first two seams are pressed in, twirl the just-sewn seams that same direction." Like a pinwheel! Snap!
Cutting Backwards
I've talked about this on the blog before, but it's worth mentioning again, another cool trick I saw years ago on "Simply Quilts". Actually, this is two tips in one.
First of all you can cut two segments at a time for 4-patches by simply laying two strips sets atop each other with the centre seams opposing.
Here I've cut two 10" segments off my strip, destined to become 2.5" segments for 4-patches.
Lay the two on top of each other with seams snugged up against each other. You can feel the ridges. I've offset the ends slightly just so you see they are on top of each other, but seams are going in opposite directions.
Place your ruler on the double layer strip set. We have 10" here and I am cutting 2.5" segments, so the first cut you will slide your ruler backwards, i.e. towards the left, 10 - 2.5 = 7.5, so to the 7.5" mark:
Cut
Move the ruler backwards (to the left) again, this time to the 5" mark.
Cut once more.
Make the final cut on the 2.5" mark.
Voilà! Four pairs ready to sew into 4-patches. If you do not separate them as I have here for photo purposes, you can take them directly to your machine and piece since the seams are nicely abutted.
I am finished the January Honey Pot Bee blocks. This is a bee hosted by Molli Sparkles, where certain quilters give instructions for a block, and you as the little maker bee, decide to make the block or not. Remember my modern tree blocks that yielded an entire quilt top? That was a wild card he threw at us.
One of my goals for 2017 is to make a quilt of entirely solids. I made all solids placemats for practising FMQ in a class with Angela Walters a while back, but never an entire quilt top. So this bee is a great place to challenge myself to do that. Unfortunately, I did not bring very many solids with me, just a few for working on The City Sampler 6" blocks, not a stitch done there yet, so my first fabric pull of a mere 5 solids did not lend themselves very well to the January blocks, drat! After yoga one day I had to make a pit stop at a big JoAnn's in Sarasota, where I found two more greens (might've got a third because I wanted to be sure they would work with my pale green), and a pale pink. I am pretty sure I have Baby Pink at home, but alas, I didn't bring it with me. So I picked up a half yard of these four and well, four others kind of jumped onto the pile. So I now have some Kona black, Primrose, Buttercup Yellow and Turquoise joined Baby Pink, Chartreuse, Grass Green and Basil Green.
Did I mention these were 40% off?
And then...
In the remnants, which I always check (thank you Preeti, for this terrific tip!) I found this:
Remember remnants are half price so this was $9.44
I nearly left it when I saw the price and what? 108" wide? I don't need a wideback in this colour. But then I thought, wait, I do need grey. Outside of Kona Silver, I have no grey Kona. But it seemed expensive. However, with the help of the calculator on my iPhone, because my menopausal melon is not so reliable these days for math in a hurry, I determined that the price per yard, when converted to 43" wide fabric, worked out to be $3.71!! Score! Sold! Three quick reminders:
1. If you are thinking about taking a Craftsy class, or like me, put them on your Wishlist, now might be a good time to buy it as they are BOGO. Buy one, get one free! With all that's going on, I still haven't finished watching Natalia Bonner's "Free Motion Motifs for Classic Blocks" but as soon as I do I will write a review. So far it's very good. (affiliate links)
2. If you are part of our 30 Quilt Designs Challenge 2017 or #30quiltdesignschallenge2017 on Instagram, be sure to get a design in today for another chance at three prizes. I will be drawing this evening for the first bi-weekly winner in our Challenge! There is a $15 gift certificate to The Red Hen Shop, and two prizes, one each from me and from Lisa. If you aren't on Instagram, consider joining us! It's a great and quick way (unless you get sucked into the vortex) of seeing what people are up to throughout the day. Also you do not have to be on Instagram to look at stuff there; that's a clickable link with some very cool designs. 😉
3. You might want to hop on over to Sew Fresh Quilts to check out her newest free QAL! Lorna is getting a jumpstart on helping everyone have a lovely Christmas quilt for this year's Christmas! 🎄
I am introducing my very first linky party, a monthly one, to be held the last Saturday of each month. It will be in celebration of being sidetracked, aka swept off your sewing chair, aka snagged by a squirrel kind of mayhem.
DrEAMi Moments have happened to the best of us. I'm not talking that time in English class when you totally embarrassed yourself because you drifted off to Alpha-getti 9 because your were imagining some alone time with the boy upon whom you had an insane crush, and you totally missed the teacher's question, all heads turned and eyes bored into you, no. I'm talking about Drop Everything And Make it!
Whether the fabric you ordered (or won) arrived and spoke to you,
or a technique or effect in a quilt intrigued you to the point that you had to try it,
Rows in my second project for the RSC2016 - a quilt in Kim Schaefer's Cozy Modern Quilts made solely of rectangles, fascinated me
or someone started a fabulous Quilt Along and it pulled you in, hook, line and sinker,
First 12 blocks in 150 Canadian Women quilt along project
or you saw an amazing quilt on Pinterest or on Instagram, or on someone's blog, or in a magazine, and you HAD to make one,
The quilt on the left I saw on Pieced Brain; the one on the right on Fat Quarter Shop's Jolly Jabber both of which were donated to charity in Hands2Help last year
it's true that we probably all have experienced that feeling when a quilt project grips you, you get tunnel vision and laser focus, and your best laid plans get pushed to the side until you get this quilt out of your head and into fabric!
This is my new planner for 2017. I'm a list maker, a lover of checking off items on those lists, and I like to be organized. The saying on the cover of my planner is very true, but I do know that some of the best experiences I've had in quilting have been a result of DrEAMI moments. The examples above are just a few of the many. Heck, the one and only for sale pattern I have in my Craftsy shop is a result of a DrEAMi! moment!
So just what am I proposing for this party? It's pretty simple: on the last Saturday of every month, I will host a DrEAMi! linky where you can link up a post about your own DrEAMi! moment for the month. Wait, this seems like an encouragement to be sidetracked...😬 Well not exactly...but I do know that not being too regimented and allowing a little whimsy into your life can often lead to some amazing learning and growth. Plans are good, but they need to be somewhat fluid.
What counts as a DrEAMi! ?
Maybe it's a cool new-to-you technique for a quilt block that you made.
Maybe it's an entire quilt top.
A goal, whether monthly or quarterly, would not count. A DrEAMi is a diversion, unplanned.
Does my DrEAMi! project have to be a finished project?
Nope!
Are there prizes?
Nope! Unless you count discovering other squirrels or DrEAMi! possibilities!
That said, I may or may not have a few fat eighths left of the Henry Glass fabric I won for those who do link up for this first party...
What do I write in my blog post?
Tell us where you discovered your DrEAMi! because you never know, it may attract someone else; tell us why it snagged your attention so intensely; tell us if you learned something new, or grew as a quilter in some way; tell us where or for whom the DrEAMi is destined; tell us anything else about it that you'd like.
When do I have to write the post?
Anytime during the course of the month! So the January DrEAMi! linky will be for any DrEAMi moments that occurred in January 2017.
You know that I won a bundle of fabric from Henry Glass Fabrics in December which arrived right before Christmas. I petted it a lot, and its cheeriness kept beckoning me. Holly the Christmas Hound cushion was made using the white holly fabric and red reindeer fabric, and then I used the stocking fabric, reindeer fabric and holly fabric to make Jingle, a small ornament. However, the fabric still wriggled and giggled at me, and that, combined with seeing the Modern Christmas tree blocks in a quilt top on Amy Smart's blog that would not leave my head, led to this little quilt. I will most likely donate it once I finish the quilt top and quilt it up. During the past few days when I was obsessed with making these blocks, I should have been writing up my Q1 Goals post, should have been writing up the directions for Windfall, should have been testing the Parliament Buildings block for Cindy, should have been doing my Meadow Mystery and the Honey Pot Bee January blocks, should have been working on another design for the Designs Challenge, should have been working on oh, three more rather pressing quilt commitments, but nope, HAD to sew these happy little stack 'n slash (à la Karla Alexander) tree blocks.
Did I learn anything making these blocks? Well, one, I am less hesitant to slash fabric that I didn't pay for, ha, and two, a panel can be used in ways other than the shapes on the panel. By this I mean that there is a 6 stockings rectangle on the top and bottom of the huge Santa in the panel, and rather than keep it a rectangle, I cut the 6 stockings into an 8.5" square, which meant only four of the stockings would be in a block. Using that part of the panel did help to add a little variety to the quilt.
I take no responsibility for missed deadlines by hosting this party! 😉 The first one will take place Saturday, January 28. Hope to see you there! I wish you at least one DrEAMi! moment this month!
So did you know that Henry Glass + Kate Spain = baby! Of the ornament kind that is. 😉
Guess I'm still not quite done with Christmas. This is due in part to procrastination as well as to the win from Henry Glass Fabrics right before Christmas. You can see the fabrics here. Funny, one of the little Kleenex pack covers I made and showed in that post is going to the same person as this ornament is!
This is a paper-pieced little pattern from Lori's Country Cottage I got, oh about a century ago. Ha! Maybe about 1/5 of a century ago? Yee-ikes! How it ended up in with my stuff to take to Florida i have NO clue, but it did, and it grew up from paper to finished quilted ornament. Magic!
Here is the flimsy. At 3.5" square with 3 sections, it gave me a full-quilt-size of trouble. Trying to line up the angles of the green and the side seams...let's just say I did a whole lotta rippin'. I settled for this in the end. Along with Kate Spain's 'Jingle' fabric scraps, I used a scrap of lime from Paintbrush Studio's 2015 new block bloghop fabric. My block is in the very first Quilter's Planner, Nov. 21 week. The stocking cuff is a scrap from a little pillow, Bundle Up!, I made with fabric from a quilt shop I visited while at the Sisters Quilt Show in Oregon!
I quilted it with Sulky Holoshimmer in gold. Wonderful thread for wonderful fabrics. The back is another print in the Shelly Comiskey "Kringle Krossing" line.
Couldn't get much more perfect a backing!
Here is a closeup, trying to catch the elusive shimmer and sparkle.
Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Paper pieced single block freebie from Lori's Country Cottage
Size: 3.5" square
Fabric: scraps and leftovers, except for the stockings Henry Glass Fabrics "Kringle Krossing"
Batting: Pellon Nature's Touch 100% cotton scrap
Quilted: on my Bernina
Threads: pieced with Gütermann; quilted with Essential from Connecting Threads and Sulky Holoshimmer in gold 145-6003
From top left, #22 Kate Rice, pioneering prospector, miner and a most notable woman geologist, this gal was not afraid to be alone in the wilderness for extended periods of time, think entire northern Canadian winter?? She ended up living on an island named after her, out in a lake, which is why I used a red with bits of blue in it; #23 Marie-Anne (née Gaboury) Lagemodière - so cool because the Faculté St-Jean, U of Alberta, where I did a major chunk of my schooling is on the Rue Marie-Anne Gaboury in Edmonton. She was the mother of the first legitimate white child, a daughter, born in the Canadian West, she was also the grandmother of Louis Riel; #24 Elsie Knott, another 'kickass' Canadian woman, she drove a school bus along with several other menial jobs including sewing quilts, to support her family. At age 30, she became Chief Elsie Knott of the Ojibway, a respected leader.
I chose that coral pink for Chief Elsie Knott because upon spying it, I thought of Indian beads and dreamcatchers. For Marie-Anne, grandmother of the famous and infamous Louis Riel, I had to use the maple leaves fabric scraps in the Windfall line. Can you tell I am enjoying this quilt along?!
One last very exciting announcement!!! Drum ROLLLL! I have a sponsor for
(and I made a button!) Next I have to remember how to turn it into one for my sidebar...
Presenting...
Melody has had The Red Hen Shop on Etsy since 2013. She stocks a wide variety of fabric, which includes some older ones you might not find anywhere else. Click the link or the image to check out her shop! We are doing four bi-weekly draws for prizes, and besides Lisa and my offerings, there will be a $15 gift certificate for a lucky winner. And then there is the grand prize for all who complete 30 designs by March 15, a $50 gift certificate!
Although I won't be posting every one of my 30 designs here on the blog, here is #2. Had a little issues with colouring order...made good use of my eraser! All good.
Push 'n Pull or Aurora
I've been fascinated with 60° triangles, since my first Stack 'n Whack quilts. When I first played with this idea, I saw it as either scrappy strings or improv slabs cut into 60° triangles. When I played with shading, I thought I could try to bring out the hexagons formed by 6 triangles... I included a third colourway of blues, and then realized I needed to separate them so coloured in the solid greys. Still not sure it works; maybe need the white strip across the bottom side of each triangle? When I saw the thumbnail of that photo, I was struck by a similarity to the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, something I dearly miss from when we lived just outside of Edmonton, Alberta. I do feel very privileged to have seen them so many many times, dancing across the northerly heavens with their spiderwebs of greenish/goldish/blueish effervescence.
Announcing! Last year Rachel at Stitched in Color started a 30 Days of Quilt Design Challenge which ran from August 5 to Oct. 31. Sadly, I missed out on it, but thought it such a great idea. With 2017 shaping up to be more of a year of design, I thought well, why not just do this on my own? And The Universe said, "Uh, no..." Shortly thereafter, in conversation with Lisa at Sunlight in Winter Quilts, I brought this up and she said she'd love to do it with me, because she, too, just hadn't been able to join in last year.
So here we go! If anyone would like to join in, feel free! I don't have a sponsor (yet...but you never know) but I do have a couple of prizes for certain milestones, for example, 10th design. I've been saving selvages for a while now since I saw some people like to make things with them! So this is one prize:
Another is these two fat quarters:
Of course, the best prize is the designs that are yours and yours alone, and that you've challenged yourself, and realized growth. 💖
Here's what I envision:
Who: Anyone!
What:
Design a quilt block or an entire quilt. If you draw a quilt block, maybe put a few together to see what an overall pattern might look like. Add some colour. Just as Rachel said in her challenge, you can use non-original blocks, but re-invent them by changing up colour or value, or put two non-original different ones together and see what magic can occur!
You may submit hand-drawn designs or digital designs. Personally I find there is something relaxing and Zen-like in getting out the old Crayola pencil crayons and notebook...
No construction directions needed.
The goal is to create 30 quilt designs by March 15.
Where:
Take a photo of your design, number it, and post it on Instagram using the following hashtag:
#30quiltdesignschallenge2017
Please tag each photo @mmmquilts and @sunlightinwinterquilts so we can see your designs!
Be sure to number each design.
To be eligible for prizes, be sure to follow both @mmmquilts and @sunlightinwinterquilts
When: Today, January 2 - March 15, 2017
Why: Because...as Henri Matisse said, "Creativity takes courage." And, as Helen Keller said, "Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all."
Here is my Design #1
What a surprise when I thought, 'What if I put sashing between the blocks?' and then saw half-blocks, and then thought, 'Hmm, need to add a third colour...I wonder...' I like!
Note: If you have any questions, or I've not thought of something, don't hesitate to shoot me an email, (click View my Complete Profile or use: ephdra at gmail dot com) or ask in the comments below. Be sure to leave your email address if you are a no-reply so I can respond!
One of the fabrics I snagged when I was shopping with Julie last week was a rich purple, my aunt's favourite colour, "Mementos" by Gudrun Erla for Red Rooster Fabrics. I thought with the multi-coloured daisies all over it, it might work as the border for the cows quilt. I'm so happy to say it DID!!
Finishing this flimsy was on my 'sidenote' to my Q4 list and with a couple of hours until midnight, I got it done! The above photo was taken first thing Sunday morning, January 1, but Instagram peeps saw it New Year's Eve.
