Fall Flavor

Fall is in the air ~ everywhere!  Along with the leaves changing to brilliant orange, red and yellow, the weather is rapidly changing as well.  Crisp mornings and chilly evenings.  Around here it has been one big rain-fest for days!  One big soggy mushy mess! 

That being said, I wanted to take a photo of this quilt among the quickly changing trees.  I can picture it nestled over a branch and surrounded my fall foliage, but mother nature is not going to allow that anytime soon!

I'm back to my Kaffe Fassett woven stripes!  This time I will finally use the newest of new colors.

With the older woven stripes I seemed to always go with Kona Khaki or a Chocolate brown. These new colors screamed for something more.  Something different.

I thought about it for a second and knew that Kona Storm would be the chosen one.  It's a beautiful deep, dark and rich color and it paired well with the autumn colors of the stripes.

Some of you may recognize this pattern, 'My Guy', which I've used it in several quilts before. I saw it years ago in an issue of American Patchwork & Quilting (June 2009) and it immediately drew me in.  It makes a wonderful masculine quilt and is perfect with woven stripes.  I use the pattern for reference only.  I like to make the blocks bigger or mix sizes.

Plus...it goes together fast!  Who doesn't love a quick quilt?!  

For the quilting I went with straight lines and waves.  Nothing fancy, but it works for this quilt and for me!

I tried to get a good picture of the entire quilt with not much success!  I'm telling you...the weather is not helping at all!

45" x 64 1/2"
Kaffe Fassett Woven Stripes
Kona Storm

Because I had the stripes out...I decided to delve into the 'COOL' side of things!  This one will be much larger.  I'm using Kona Shadow for the background, I've changed the size of the blocks (again) and I'm using two different widths.

When a design/pattern works for me I seem to go back to it time and again.  And, if I'm looking for a 'quicky'...you can bet this one is at the top of the list!  

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this kind of thinking!  Do you have a 'Go To' design?  The perfect 'Quick Quilt' you like to make?

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Blogger's Fall Quilt Festival ~ 2015 ~ Illusion

It's all an Illusion!  Warning:  Staring too long at this quilt may make you dizzy!

My second entry in the Blogger's Quilt Festival, will be in the LARGE QUILT CATEGORY. Presenting:  The Optical Illusion Quilt.  

A black & white quilt had always been on my bucket list, along with making an optical illusion quilt. The logical choice was to marry both together!    

This is the second time I made this quilt design.  The first, Black + White = Illusion was quite an adventure!  When I decided to make it again (Illusion Number Two), it became quite the misadventure!  I misplaced my original notes and directions.  When I finally found them...I could barely make heads or tails out of it!  

Not letting that stop me, I eventually figured out what I needed to do!  Lot's of black and white, strip piecing, tiny squares...all pieced to perfection!
  

51" x 75"
Kona Cotton

I machine quilted this one using Aurifil White thread in an organic (very) vortex design.  It turned out much better than I thought or hoped it would.  Perfect for this illusion! 

I love how the white shows up on the back.  Black & white...keeping with the theme!

When it came to laying out the blocks on the design wall, it was harder than it looked!  One wrong block and there goes the illusion!  Which in fact was exactly what I did!  It was an easy fix and all ended well!

I'm sure this design will be revisited again one day.  I might even change it up a bit!  For someone who thrives on color, this was totally the opposite of that!  Which is a good thing!  Change it up, step outside the box and push yourself...that is the wonderful thing about designing and quilting!

Stats:
Kona Black & White Fabric
51" x 75"
Aurifil White Thread
Warm & Natural Batting
Machine Quilted

Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall ~ 2015  

Entered in the LARGE QUILT CATEGORY 

Fall Festival Schedule!

October 23-29, 2015 – Linky’s Open & Nominate for Viewer’s Choice

October 29-November 5, 2015 – Vote for favorites in each of the categories

November 6, 2015 – Winners announced

Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ 2015 ~ Threads

It's that time of year again!  Blogger's Quilt Festival where you can browse, be inspired and fill your head with all kinds of ideas!

My first entry in the MODERN QUILT CATEGORY is 'THREADS'.  

47 1/2" x 62"

When my grey scraps began to over take everything, I decided it was time to do something about it!  Finding inspiration wasn't hard, this quilt by Debbie @ A Quilter's Table was mine. 

Getting inspiration from others and making it your own is always a fun process for me.  So, my added touch was to add color.  Just a little, just enough to satisfy my 'gotta use color' itch!

Improv never let's me down!  I enjoy the process of slicing and dicing.  Sometimes it's scary not knowing where you are going or even if it's going to work out in the end.  My advice is keep going, because you never know!

There was the million dollar question of how to quilt it.  Make it or break it, as they say.  This quilt screamed random, organic, funky and imperfection.  I used a variety of grays in the beginning and then went back and added a lines of color. 

If you would like to read more about this quilt, you can find the details here:   THREADS

This quilt is entered in the MODERN QUILT CATEGORY !  

Fall Festival Schedule!

October 23-29, 2015 – Linky’s Open & Nominate for Viewer’s Choice

October 29-November 5, 2015 – Vote for favorites in each of the categories

November 6, 2015 – Winners announced

A Stash For Seven Sundays!

How could I not?  When I saw this entire box full of a magical rainbow, my heart skipped a beat.  My mind said 'Don't Do It', then it said 'Do It'...over and over again.  

Good, Bad.  Yes, No.  

Modern Solid Fat Quarters.  Denyse Schmidt.  Yea, baby...I said yes!  

This was my first ever Mass Drop purchase.  I look every once in a while, but it has never gone any further than that.  I signed up to receive a notice if this particular box was going to be offered again. Eventually it was.  I still wasn't sure I was going to buy it, so after a couple days I went back to check on it.  Did you know you can commit to buy an item only if it hits the lowest price?!  I was happily surprised and decided to commit to it.  And yes, it hit the lowest price!  

Just what did I receive?  75, count 'em...75 Fat Quarters!  I do believe my solid stash is very well rounded now!

Break Down:
Cost:         $119.00
FQ Price:  $1.59
Per Yard:  $6.35
Yardage:  18 3/4

I'm sure there could be a better price per yard out there.  I thought it was very reasonable and did I tell you there are 75 Fat Quarters?!!

Naturally, I have to stare at the colors for a while.  Ooh and aww, touch and pet them.  What many of us do when we buy a collection and are to afraid to use it!  The obvious thing to do is make a rainbow quilt...way too obvious even for me!  We'll see.  I've only had it a couple days, barely enough time to take it all in!  

Quilters!!

On another note, I've been busy in the evenings making more EPP Plus blocks. (tutorial available @ Wild Olive Blog) 

  I used all the Loominous fabric!  Now what to do!  

I don't want to go much bigger, so I don't think I'll invest in more Loominous.  I'm playing with layout ideas and the more you play, the more I become unsure!

Solids on the outside, alternate solids or all mixed together?  I will have to make some partial blocks to fill in the gaps around the edges, and then maybe slap a border on it and call it done!  

I'm always open to suggestions!!  This is another episode of wanting to try something, but not having a plan!  Someone should smack me!

LINKING: 

Sunday Stash

Denyse Schmidt Quilt

This quilt has been sitting, staring and patiently waiting for me to have an epiphany of a quilting idea.  It took much longer than I expected, but maybe in reality...it didn't.  Quilting ideas don't usually flow freely in my mind, let alone on my machine! 

When I decided to get it done once and for all, ideas came and went.  Possibilities were there, my ability to execute those...well, not so much.  In the end, I went with simple. 

46 1/2" x 70"
Denyse Schmidt ~ Florence

I ended up marking lines vertically, horizontally and diagonally for quilting.  Making sure to focus the attention on the stars.  They are front and center after all!

With all the prints it's hard to see exactly how it was quilted.  That was one of the reasons I opted to keep it simple.  If you were able to get up close and personal with it, you would see the quilting created squares, rectangles and diamond shapes with all the intersecting of the lines.

In the end, I think it turned out pretty fine!  I find when I use prints (which is not very often), I tend to keep the quilting simple.  As opposed to solids, which I quilt the living hell out of!

The backing I ordered worked perfectly even though it was from a different line by Denyse Schmidt (Hadley).  

The mission when I started making this quilt:  Use my 'CASUAL LINK' block I designed to see if it would actually look good in a quilt.  And to use a fat quarter bundle of Denyse Schmidt ~ Florence I had for far too long.  Mission accomplished!

The back received every last usable piece I had left.  I wouldn't want any scraps hanging around!

With this one finally done, I can move on to other things!  Not that I haven't already!  I just won't have this one staring me down every day!

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TGIFF

Small Stash ~ EEP Plus

Back in July I bought a scrap pack of Loominus on my first trip to Craft South.  The bag has been pulled out, touched, and put back...many times!  I was never sure what I would do with this pile of gold, but knew one day something would happen.

Loominous Traffic
Grey
Pool Shot Cotton

The colors, design and feel of this fabric is amazing. Look at that sheen!!  

When an idea came to me, it was Loominus Traffic in the Forest colorway that grabbed hold of me.  I also knew I would need more.  Which I believe is the whole idea of scrap packs!! They can suck you in!  

While looking for something to do during the evening (again!), searching Pinterest for a good English Paper Piece Project, I came across these Plus Blocks.  And that was when the idea hit me that Loominous might be perfect.  The tutorial and printable templates are available here: Wild Iris Blog.  

I knew I would be able to fussy cut pieces for this block and make an interesting geometric design.  Just in case I wanted to add more, I grabbed the blue and grey.  To be honest, I haven't a clue what I'm making, why I'm making it or where it will lead!  

The hardest part of this template is making sure the fabric lines up correctly.  Otherwise, they are super fast!

Basting the four pieces of the plus blocks together is amazingly easy.  

  
Well, at least this part is!  We'll see how I I feel when it's time to put the pieces together!  I love how they have turned out so far.  Fussy cutting can be a challenge!  And the waste! That's the hard part!

Playing around with ideas.

Will I use the blue?  Maybe.  Or the grey?  Perhaps.  

For now I'll just keep my hands busy, my mind occupied and continue to make more.  It won't be big, that is a given!

English Paper Piecing wasn't something I thought I would enjoy as much as I do.  It's a technique that I am sure I will continue to explore, maybe even work up to something a little more complicated down the road!  

Do you EPP?  What is your favorite design?  Yea, I'm looking for ideas!!

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Sew Cute Tuesday

A Simple Solution : Something Had To Be Done!

Everything is under control!  My Mini Mini Quilt obsession has subsided, at least for now! However, it left me with a conundrum.  How do I display them?!

Naturally, I needed to take care of the problem instantly.  I have plenty of wall space, but randomly tacking little pieces to the wall was not going to cut it.  If I had a dedicate work space I know I would have a fancy schmancy bulletin board, or a wall dedicated to minis...but I don't. I needed a plan B.

Presenting...Plan B!  TA-DA!

20" x 16"

This idea started brewing in my head a couple days ago.  I found an old unused frame crammed tucked inside a closet.  I couldn't tell you what happened to the glass, years have passed and it has been out of sight, out of mind.  I hadn't planned on using the glass anyway! 

The frame is 20" x 16", a good size to hold my current and future mini's!  At the moment, my addiction is under control, but I can't say it ain't gonna happen again! They are that much fun!

It had a perfectly sized piece of card board inside and for a moment, just one little moment, I thought I would cut a piece of foam board to replace it.  Then I remembered the last time I used a utility knife and promptly thought better of that idea!

This frame has little hinges with screws (not really hinges...corner things!), when you loosen the screw the pieces come apart.  

Once I figured that out, I picked out some fabric, got a scrap of batting and a piece of backing.

I layered all the pieces in the usual quilt sandwich and went about quilting 1/2" lines. Nothing earth shattering, difficult or fancy!  Just getting some texture for the background.  It was looking good!!  But I thought it needed a little more.  Some visual interest.  Random lines. Artsy, abstract, modern...bam!

Realistically this could be double sided.  Depending on your mood, season or holiday.  I happened to grab a scrap of not such a great lime green cotton fabric.  Mind you, I love lime green, I just didn't want to use a good fabric for the back. 

After all the quilting was said and done, I cut my background fabric the exact size as the piece of card board.  Some frames have more of a lip or over hang on the front and the size wouldn't be a huge issue.  This frame had a slight overage, I had to be precise.  Or darn close to it!

A little off I'd say!  It was going to be fine.  I didn't want the panel to flop around or slide down and thought stapler!!  Right at the edge.  With the edges and corners secure, I knew it wasn't going to move.

A blank canvas!  Bring on the Mini Mini's!  The other question was how to attach the mini to the frame.  It certainly was velcro...and duct tape is out of the question!  

Solution!!

No, not my finger!!  That lovely and very sharp little pin!  I wasn't looking for anything permanent and this seemed like the perfect solution.  The pin is tucked behind the quilt, yet holds it perfectly.  And...I can rearrange until my hearts content!

There it is, a solution.  A picture worth a thousand words.  Art.  A mosaic featuring creations from some amazingly talented ladies!

After I finished this, I searched Pinterest.  I maybe should have done that to begin with for more ideas!  From cardboard, cork board, ribbon and burlap...Pinterest has it all! 

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WIP Wednesday