Twist & Shout

I've had this quilt hanging on my design wall far too long!  It seems like a long time.  Back in I decided it was time to wrangle my hand dyed scraps.  It started here:  Scrap It Out.

I was playing around with Half Rectangles Triangles and came up this a block:  HRT With A Twist.  Because I was messing around...I ended up with two different sizes and didn't really have a plan for either.  This is a fun block for me to make, I really couldn't help myself. 

Before I knew it, there was a little stack of these!

They hung on the wall for weeks while I pondered their fate.  What can I do, what should I do, what will I do?!

I added a frame around the smaller blocks which paired with the larger blocks, gave me a stack to work with.

That worked!  A seemingly complicated and busy block became a little quilt after all!

HRT WITH A TWIST
31 1/2" x 38 1/2"

The addition of the border increased the size and neutralized the design.  

I machine quilted a geometric grid design.  I'm loving the little grids in each center square!

For the back, I used Kona Honeydew.  Honeydew has such a fresh clean look, I love it! There are still plenty of hand dyed scraps lingering in my bin.  Won't there always be?! Most have been cleaned up and cut into squares for future use.  You know, just in case a brilliant idea comes knocking at my door!

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In A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Oh, Technicolor Galaxy, you look so pretty nestled snugly on a shelf...far, far away! Remember this project?

TECHNICOLOR GALAXY
Pile O' Fabric

I kind of got behind.  Way behind.  The hardest part of this project for me is bringing out the kit, fabric, templates every month for one block.  I thought I would wait another month and have two to work on.  The next think I knew, four months had passed and I was light years behind!

I felt like I needed a big, swift kick in the butt!  The butt kicking came from Jenn at A Quarter Inch From The Edge!  She didn't exactly kick my butt!  She did however, encourage (ever so gently), motivate and nudge me along.  Thank you Jenn!!

This is where I ended back in March!  See how fast time gets away from you?!  

I began with Block #3, Piano Keys.  

Once the fabric was selected for the blocks, it was on!  As always, picking the fabric took the longest!

I enjoyed making these.  I went with solids on top and prints on the bottom.  This block is paper pieced and pretty simple.

Block # 4, Scattered Geese.

I did not enjoy this one very much.  I love geese, I love paper piecing.  I was overwhelmed with all the pieces!  Once all the pieces had their 'geese', the sections had to be sewn together.  My seam ripper was used on more than one occasion.  There ended up being a section or two that were upside down!

Block #5, Arrowheads.

After block 3 and 4, this less complicated block was a welcome relief!  Applique time!  You know the drill!  Choosing the fabric!  Tick, tock, tick, tock...finally got that figured out!  This involved cutting fabric squares, ironing the fusible web to the back, cutting the arrowheads out, peeling the backing off, arranging and then iron those suckers down.  Done!

Block #6, Orange Peel.

Fortunately for me, when I ordered supplies for this Block Of The Month, I bought the orange peel stabilizer templates.  Good and bad about this one.  Good: they are glued down.  Bad: a lot of scissor cutting and prep! I found it super hard to get perfect points and clean edges.

They are done.  They are not perfect.  But they are done, done, done!!  Except for the quilting, but that will be another story!

Some where along the line, I found a couple mistakes!  Can you figure out what they are? The entire time I kept reminding myself to make sure I placed the colors in the correct place. I didn't.  The violet and gold/green arrowheads ended reversed.  As of right now, they will have to do.  

I thought it was a good idea to save up four months worth of blocks and do them all at once. That was not a good plan.  It was exhausting.  Mentally, physically.  I was overwhelmed with 'gotta get this done' thoughts and it took away from the pleasure of learning new things and enjoying the process.  Plus, it led to rookie mistakes (color flow)!  

Do you think I should redo the two arrowheads?  Once you see the mistake, it stands out like a sore thumb! 

UPDATE:  
I decided it was worth the time and effort to make this right ~ I would have been disappointed in myself had I not done the right thing and fixed the arrowheads!  Thank you for the advice!

LINKING:

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Eye Candy ~ Shop Hop Procurement

Being a restrained fabric buyer has worked well for me.  That was until today!  You can't blame me, it was inevitable, something that could not and should be on a short leash today of all days!

Today was was the day many of the ladies from our guild threw caution to the wind and went on a Shop Hop!  My first ever...hopefully not my last, just not too often.  

It was so much fun, a lot of driving, tons of fabric to see and hotter than Haites!  The hottest day of the year so far.  Did we let that stop us?  Did it put a damper on the excitement?  Oh, hell no!

We hit five shops in and around the Nashville area.  Believe it or not, I have only ever been to one before.  

Our first stop was The Quilting Squares.  We were greeted with smiling faces and donuts! Then of course, there was fabric to look at.

I warmed up with a couple Grunge Fat Quarters and a few Low Volume pieces.  Plans for these?  Umm...no!

The second stop was the highly anticipated visit to Craft South.  If you aren't familiar, it's Anna Maria Horner's new brick & mortar shop!  My eyes were popping out of my head with all the gorgeousness!  One day I would love to take a class there!  

The yellow is perhaps my favorite color ever, Honor Roll ~ Misguided Gingham, a beautiful ruby pink Fat Quarter bundle and two others that I couldn't say no to.

For the third stop we visited The Fabric Studio.  This small shop packed a punch!  While I only ended up with a couple pieces, I could have easily went wild instead!

Echo and polka dots!  I'm looking forward to cutting in to both of these!  I'm a sucker for polka dots and this color combination caught my attention!

The fourth stop, I actually didn't buy any fabric!  Instead I bought a quarter inch ruler and the ever handy Frixion pen.  Boring!  Quilters Attic had a wide range of fabric to make your eyes pop out!

Lastly... 

Our last stop of the day was the most anticipated.  I've been here before and have to admit it raises my anxiety level to the top!  Stitcher's Garden.  The infamous Stitcher's Garden! This place is packed to the rafters, I kid you not!  Every think imaginable is in this space, notions, feed sack, batiks, solids, civil war...Kaffe, Amy, Anna Maria, new stuff, old stuff, red stuff, blue stuff!  Not one piece of fabric is ever on sale, the fat quarters perhaps could be a Guinness World Record!  The owner knows where every bolt is, if she has it or not and one of the only shops that rips their fabric! 

I will say, this trip was my first in ages and I was pleasantly surprised!  It was the cleanest I have ever seen it!

What I ended up getting was a few shot cottons.  I couldn't remember if I had those colors or not.  And two fat quarters.  

These were not from the Shop Hop today, but I just received them last week!  Super gorgeous!

Four new Peppered Cottons for good measure!  They are so gorgeous in person, I could eat them up!

Long day today!  The best way to finish it off, is with an ice cold frosty beer!  Awww...the dog days of summer!

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Lip Smackin' Good! Baby Gears.

It wasn't that long ago (9 or 10 months actually), that we found out our neighbors were going to be having a baby.  I was so excited that I could actually make a quilt specifically for someone!  

The months passed and winter came and went.  The end of March little Sofia made her debut! Naturally, I didn't have a quilt made, but I thought about it...a lot, I just never quite got around to it. One day it just hit me like a ton of bricks what I wanted to make for Sofia.

BABY GEARS
34" x 50 1/2"

Every time I saw the baby she was in pink.  I figured it was a safe bet to stick with her trademark color!

I had a bundle of Riley Blake Cream on Cream fat quarters and thought they would a perfect background.  Just enough texture and interest, but not too much where the pink gears were lost.

My stacks were cut and ready to go.  I have to say, it was a nice change to work with plans! Even though I didn't use the exact design I made on EQ7, it was a wonderful guide to work from.

It's a good combination, don't you think?  I want to make this one again...really bad!  I have some charm squares that would be a cool variation!  

Each pink center is 3" finished.  Each block is 6" and when all nine magically go together you end up with one large 18" block.

The options for quilting were endless. You all know I'm a sucker for dense straight line quilting.  This time I'll still stick with being dense (the quilting, not me), but try some concentric circles.  I have always loved the look of concentric circles.  They are so gorgeous!  No time like the present to give it a whirl!

I picked my starting point, making it slightly off center and began the dizzying process.  I used my dual feed (like a walking foot), and slowly started from the center outward.  The first circles went pretty slow, you have to take your time, go slow and adjust the quilt a lot.  I was happy with the progress and even when I went a little 'wonky', I wasn't concerned.  I knew a good wash & dry would hide the inconsistencies.  

Eventually it was time to tackle that pesky center!  I ended up getting a few more circles in, but it got pretty tough!   Which left me one little area to conquer. 

I busted out the big guns!  Free motion quilting.  Let's not look too closely, just close enough to make out the 'S' in the center.  It'll work!

Sofia is nearly 4 month old now.  I don't think she will care one way or another if this is a little over due.  What I do know is this:  There really isn't a bad time to receive a quilt.  Ever! 

For the backing and binding I used a bright Kona Honeysuckle pink.  Because  I had a few extra blocks, why not add them to the back?!

She will be wrapped up, covered up and waking up with her pretty little pink quilt for years to come!  That's if I ever get it to her!

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