Yellow and Grey Improv Complete

This little lovely is the 2016 Seattle Modern Quilt Guild Block of the Month! Yep, 2016. It took me four years to finish it for some reason… No idea why… It wasn’t hard.

Each month there was a different block or ‘slab’ as the designer, Matt, described it. Each month he’d give us a type of block. Since it’s improv, there weren’t many directions rather a type of block.

One reason it probably took me longer was that I did it as QAYG (quilt as you go). Which in theory, should make it go faster, but it didn’t seem to be that way for me. When I do these as QAYG, I do it slightly differently than a traditional QAYG. I start the blocks with quilting the middle blocks on the batting. Then I combine the blocks with a 3/4″ seam allowance. then once two blocks are combined, I continue to quilt the blocks, sewing over the seam allowance. At the end I add the quilt back and sew it on by adding more quilting, including some stitch in the ditch.

I even took my friend, Debbie’s improv class to get some blocks done. And this was back in July of 2017. I got to hang out with her, learn some improv tricks and also get some more blocks done!

I think that center block is my favorite block in the whole quilt! I could make a couple of quilts from that layout! Right now I’m thinking Christmas placemat and a whole quilt.

Second favorites are probably all the triangle blocks!

And the back is made up of all the scraps, extra blocks and extra fabric left over from the front.

One thing I’ve done this year is finish my stack of SMQG BOM quilts! I need to share the others soon!

I Really Do Care, Do U?- Vote!

The US election is in less than a week. Have you voted? I have. And you probably know how I voted. I’m lucky enough to live in WA and I have voted by mail in ballot and my voted has been counted.

Do you recognize this? It is definitely not an original graphic image. What’s that word the MQG likes to use?? Derivative? Yep, it’s derivative alright…. But I did make a little change, from Don’t to DO!

I was recently watching a show that mentioned how fast the news changes. One day you are on the front page, the next day, the public has moved on and won’t remember. I’ve shown this to a couple of friends who had forgotten the inspiration behind it.

Image via CNN

This image of this coat on a very important person (to some people) on her way to a very emotionally and politically heated location was seared into my memory. I will never forget this. I will never forget the statement she was making as a part of and for this administration, as it is clearly a feeling the administration has for about half of our country. This is not an administration for all.

I have never made a politically motivated quilt. My quilting usually doesn’t make a statement. Quilting to me is a way to disconnect from the world and the heaviness that I can’t control. It’s my therapy per se! Kinda like that shirt that I love, ‘I quilt so I won’t kill people.’ That’s totally me!

Making the letters was a little harder than I imagined it was going to be! For each one I did a version of the inset circle tutorial I have on the blog. Just not always circles! Not all of them look exactly like the jacket I was trying to recreate, but I think I got pretty close.

Another technique I used was just curved piecing.

If you look closely, check out the quilting. It’s actually hard to see, but it does say VOTE. Our way as Americans to make change is to VOTE for those who we feel will represent us and our ideals in the law making. There seemed to be a lot of apathy in the last election, but I’m hopefully that this election year has brought out the power of the VOTE for the upcoming younger generations.

And the back… A little play on our flag… I had this red and white striped fabric sitting on my shelf for about 10 years now, so I was so excited to use it. I took it down and it had these stains on it. I was so bummed!

Sitting next to the striped fabric all these years was also this red and white gingham that is very Americana to me. An upcycled sheet waiting for it’s new life! It was big enough to use as a whole piece. But as I was standing there, looking at it, I looked up and saw this bright blue fabric (Cotton and Steel Freckles) with the little ‘stars’ on it, I had to throw it in there!

I always throw in a label photo….

A little behind the scenes, ‘Are you done yet?’ Ha!

I had so many Halloween makes planned, but this got in the way…

I really do care, do u?

The Daily Improv

I’ve said it other years, but this is my year of cleaning out my WIPS! I’m doing a good job of it, now to get them photographed and blogged about!

This is my first quilt I finished this year! It’s not one of my oldest WIPs, but it was sitting there just waiting! All the blocks were done, they just weren’t put together…

Amy Ellis of Amy’s Creative Side had a one week Improv Challenge last year.  The intent was to get you started in improv. I love improv and am not new to it, but I couldn’t resist her one week challenge. Who knew it would actually over a year for it to all come together though… (well, I should have known based on my track record!)

Each day you get a prompt and make one block from that prompt.

And actually, it looks like anyone can still do it any time. Just sign up here!  Each day sends you a new prompt and it’s a great way to try something new or different with out the commitment of a long term sew along!

I really love how it turned out!

I think the first day was stripes. In this picture you can see my stripes block and one of the triangle blocks to the right. The top one was the paper pieced improv block challenge. I still struggle with the idea of paper piecing and improv in the same sentence. To me they don’t go together! Other people would totally disagree with me and that’s ok! So I made a couple of paper piecing patterns and went with it. We’re trying new things, right?

This is my favorite one! The Log Cabin block! I love improv log cabin blocks. love love love! I actually made two of these!

And curves. Another of the prompts was curves. I think I ended up with two curve blocks, too. There’s even more curves bceuase as I was squaring up the blocks, I would use those cut off pieces in other blocks areas to make the blocks ‘fit’ with each other. I love the little bits of curves here and there.

And then the back was a big improv block in itself! As I mentioned before, I used a lot of my ‘cut off’ pieces to piece the front. I also incorporated smaller scraps to fill in the background space. I had a few smaller pieces left over for the back, but I mostly used the bigger scraps. When I was done with the back, I had just enough of this fabric pull left for the binding!

I’m usually a straight line, one pattern all over kind of quilter. Trying new things with piecing doesn’t scare me. trying new thing with quilting does! In this one, I tried to change the quilting in different areas to reflect the improv shapes of the blocks. You can see it here on the back pretty well.

What do you think? Are you up to the challenge? Give it a try!

The Daily Improv

41×44

Design by me, with prompts from Amy’s Creative Side

Quilted my me

Completed in  March 2020

 

Flamingo Pouch

My mom recently had a flamingo themed birthday party, so when I saw the flamingo pattern by Quiet Play, I knew I had to make her something using the flamingo pattern! And I’m totally in love with these 3D Flamingos! ha! I also used them on her party invites.

The pattern is for a 12″ paper pieced block, but I reduced it in half to get a 6″ block for the pouch.

I added a little back pocket to the pouch.

I had this coral fabric that I bought because my flamingo loving mom is also totally in love with coral. I’ve had it for ages knowing I’d have a good reason to use it for her. And this worked perfect with the pink flamingo on the front. You can also see the outside pocket was lined with this fabric as well.

I also love the pink zipper!

What else would you use this pattern for?? I love it and want to use it again!

Improv Mini Quilts for Curated Quilts Issue 5

I used to post 2 to 3 times a week, every week… Life has gotten in the way of that. Now with my haphazardly posting routine, I just realized I never posted my mini quilts for the Improv Issue of Curated Quilts!

 

Yes, Issue 5 was released by in 2018… But I still love these mini quilts!

I made and submitted three mini quilts for this challenge, but only one was chosen to be featured in the Mini Gallery. Down the Rabbit Hole is the one that made it in. I called it Down the Rabbit Hole because I had only intended to make one mini quilt, but once I got started making, I went down the rabbit hole of mini quilts and made 3!

My original design idea was to make one of my Quilt Design a Day quilts into a mini.

And I started it, but my first block was too big to combine three of them into a mini. So I went with this block and made a mini with it.

I kinda ‘framed’ the circle piece inside an improv log cabin. And this is the one that was selected to be in the magazine.

I love a pieced back, but for these mini quilts, I almost never piece the backs! At what size do you decide to make a pieced back versus a single piece of fabric back? My first mini submission for Curated Quilts, I do have a pieced back, but that might be the only mini with a pieced back I have done.

Then I went back to my original project idea and made three smaller circular pieces to match the original QDAD design.

The funny thing is, I made this one, and was so excited about it. But once these first two were done, I knew my favorite was the Down the Rabbit Hole!

So then I still had a pile of scraps from both of these quilts and what was I do to with them, but make a third mini quilt!

Keeping in line with the improv curves, I decided to try out one of my office doodle designs!

If you follow me on IG, you know that I have a habit of doodling during office meetings and lectures. It does actually keep me focused on what is being discussed! I had this one in my sketch book and decided to try it out!

And this is what became of it! and this started me on a course of many more quarter improv circle quilts. I’d say in the last two years, it’s probably my favorite design! You’ll see it more once I start blogging my more recent finishes…

And now I want to turn them all into pillows! What do you think?

What do you do with your mini quilts?

A Little Elephant Pouch Gift

For the holidays I really enjoyed making handmade gifts for family. I do enjoy a nice quick ‘er’ project than a full quilt every now and then!

This project was a bunch of new! A new pattern, times two, altering a paper pieced pattern, sewing with cork and new quilting pattern.

The pattern is by Olesya Lebedenko Design and I got it from her etsy shop. She has a lot of cute patterns.  This came in a set of other ‘Jungle Flat Face Animals’. The paper piecing pattern set up is different than I am used to. It’s not set up with the 1/4″ seams shown, so there are more copies required to get the pattern pieces you need. But it still worked. I loved the elephant face, but I didn’t like that the trunk just ended. So I added that on myself. The corners didn’t come together perfectly, but close enough for me. And if you look at at the right angle, you don’t notice it as much! ha!

Then I had to decide what to do with my little elephant head! This person was already getting pot holders and I’d given them coasters another year… Then I found Sew Sweetness’ Persimmon Dumpling Pouch pattern. And that was that! It’s a free pattern on her blog and even comes with a video tutorial. It’s a really easy make.

Not too long ago, I was gifted an amazing pouch by a friend in my guild and she had done this awesome quilting on it. (Yes, I still need to share about that!) I was totally inspired by her to do the quilting on this little pouch! The quilting on the back is moreo detailed than in the front. I was planning on doing the back pattern on the front as well, but it seemed like it would be too busy and take away from the elephant.

The inside uses a contrasting grey fabric. I also love how well this zipper goes. When I saw the zipper I knew I’d be able to use it and this was the perfect project for it!

And the cork bottom! This wasn’t actually the first time I had used cork. But it is the first time I’ve used it in a pouch and really had to work with it. I’ve ben hoarding my cork fabric for way too long. I finally busted it out and made some wallets and was hooked! Ordered more and have a lot of plans for it now! I love it!

And that’s my elephant pouch! It’s my Persimmon Dumpling Flat Faced Elephant Pouch!

 

 

Bright Tide Pools

ok! I’m on a roll and loving getting quilts and projects finished! Not half finished in a pile! Now if I can only post them! 

This little one isn’t as old as some of my other WIPS. It’s only about a year in process. For my son’s school auction, I have been putting in a custom quilt. I give them some of my designs to choose from and whoever gets it, gets to pick the colors to make it their own. This is the second time I have done it. You can see the first one, Triangle Mountain, here. And probably the last as the auction was cancelled this year and I don’t think they do it at his middle school. And I honestly get kinda freaked out about whether or not the person is going to like it.

This design came from when I was active in the Quilt Design a Day FB group. I really miss it and need to pick it up again.

Each day there is a prompt picture, like the one above by Michelle Wilke of Factum of Arts Blog. This picture she took of tide pools in the Olympic National Park was te inspiration ‘spark’ where this quilt originated!

From the picture above came this design.

Which turned into this design after I got the color inspiration from the auction winner!

And this is what we ended up with! Not a single square in the mix. one of the things I like about quilting is the puzzle of putting it all together and this one was a real puzzle!

In hindsight, I probably would have made the blocks bigger so that sat closer together, but I like how it turned out.

I used all the scraps for the back. Starting with the little yellow green rectangle in the orange. That was the first block for the front when I realized it was WAY to small! The back started out as a log cabin, but ended up looking like an old TV with the ‘bunny ears’ antenna. the TV is all I can really see at this point. HA!

I think my favorite part of the back is this skinny purple line!

The auction winner wanted it to cover her induction cooktop. At first I was like, ‘No way! That’s a fire hazard, if I’ve ever heard of one!’ Then I googled it and apparently it’s a thing to cover these cooktops with quilts. Very odd to me and it makes me nervous. But It’s what she wanted, so I went with it. I also added inslu-bright so it can act as a huge potholder/hot pad/trivet.

Name : Bright Tide Pools
Design: Original Design
Dimensions: 32 x 21 in.
Quilted: Straight line quilting 

 

 

Winter Friend Pillows

I’m enjoying making other people’s projects these days! Like these Winter Friend Pillows!

I really love these little throw pillows. They were intended to be Christmas presents, but they were a little late. The green ones are staying at our house while the red ones found a new home. I’m calling them winter pillows, not holiday pillows. It’s still winter….

As you probably know, I love this book! Pretty In Patchwork, Holidays by John Q Adams. I’ve made a few projects from it, like these teachers gifts.

As much as I love this book, I did find a bit of an editing oversight. The project for these pillows in the book is called Greetings From Antarctica! I just want to clarify… There are no polar bears in the Antarctic. Penguins live in Antarctica, polar bears live in the Arctic. Things like this really bug me! Let’s be smart, people! Don’t dumb us down….

So I’m changing the name of the project to Winter Friends, as in they are all our friends. I don’t think polar bears and penguins would be friends.

The directions called for applique eyes and button eyeballs. As much as I don’t like applique, I did do the eyes! By putting a white circle over black, the black showed through, so I added some betting to my circles, so you couldn’t see the black through the white. But I didn’t want buttons for eyes. And I didn’t want to applique anything smaller than the eyes. I also have those eyeballs you use for stuffed animals, but I realized they wouldn’t work on the pillow. It was my son who said, ‘I saw you had some other round things in your cabinet.’ He was talking about my box of rivets! Perfect!

The polar bear actually had applique eyes (or was it buttons), but I added the diamond shaped eyes in the paper piecing pattern. I love how they turned out, but wonder if I had used rivets, would the pillows blend together better??

I did also change the pattern of the hat to make the white band thinner. Then the poof was to be a button or applique as well. But I hand sewed on a little pompom!

I did the same thing for the little penguins! just used smaller rivets and a smaller pompom. Also, for these little guys, I just reduced the size of the pattern when I made the copies. Next time, I’d like them a little larger!

I chose a freehand wavy pattern to work with ‘sprinkles’ of white to look like the sprinkles were snow blowing in the wind. I think it works!

The backs are BORING! But I’m ok with it, because the fronts are adorable!

And the invisible zippers rock!

I love my winter friends pillows! They make a great gift for penguin loving friends!

 

An Angel Pillow

I have a whole stack of handmade Christmas presents piled up to share! I had a nice long list of handmade Christmas presents I wanted to make for family this year. It was a bit too long and I didn’t get it all done. But I did get a good bit done. At least one thing for each person on my list. And now I want to share them with you.

First up is this angel pillow! I actually pieced the angel in 2018, but didn’t make it for Christmas. It sat around for more months than I can to share until I got it quilted and made into a pillow in time to gift in 2019!

The pattern is by Quilt Art Designs. Have you seen her patterns? She has some of the most elaborate paper pieced patterns I’ve ever seen. They are so good! And she must have hundreds of patterns. I bet if you want a paper pieced pattern of something, she has it! You can find this one here.

For the dress I used an ombre pink fabric that I had in my stash. I believe it was by Cotton and Steel a few years back. I also debated on how to quilt it. I thought about starting with the halo and quilting a circular pattern radiating out from the halo. Now that I type this, I like that idea even more! But I went straight line quilting and I’m very happy with how it turned out.

I used all solids on the front, so I threw in some pattern on the back!

I know I’ve said it before, but I’m loving invisible zippers! This one is a little more invisible on one side than it is on the other! but it still works!

I’m pretty sure this one was well received by it’s new owner! I think it’s quite beautiful!

 

A New Christmas Tree Skirt

I finished with a day to spare!

I started this project in January. I started it but then put it away to work on other things. The thought was to start back up after the early in the year so that it would be ready in plenty of time for Christmas. Well, that didn’t happen! so of course, I was cramming to get it done for this Christmas. And I did!

It is so beautiful (if I do say so myself)! It would make a beautiful real skirt! My Christmas colors are white, bright pink, bright green and teal. And I’m excited to say, it’s all made from my stash! I saw the project in Issue 66 of Love Patchwork and Quilting and knew I wanted to make it. The pattern is by Evie of EVQuilts and is the Starburst Tree Skirt.

Then when I realized I had all the fabric I needed, I was even more excited! The pink raw silk was a scrap I had been given ages ago. I don’t know where the teal satin and bright green came from. I did use the bright green for our handmade Elf on the Shelf.

All the other fabrics were from my wedding! The white raw silk look alike (it’s not actually raw silk, but looks like it) was from my wedding. The beaded white raw silk was from the cake table at my wedding. And the green, but not bright green, was from extra fabric I bought to match the bridesmaids dresses. I ran out of that fabric and had some of the darker fabric from their dresses that I used to finish off the binding in the back. I didn’t make thier dresses, but we used a company that I picked the fabric, the bridesmaids picked the dress style. You can buy extra fabric to use on other projects for your wedding. Perfect use of stash, IMO! I also used the beaded white fabric from our Chirstmas stockings I made ages ago! Nine years ago, actually! (excuse the horrible pictures if you click back…) 

For years, we’ve been using these fleece tree skirt. It went better with the tree when we used to get a live, green tree. It’s literally a piece of fleece cut into a circle with a split in the back. Since we got the white tree I have not liked it anymore!

But man! Check out how much better the new skirt looks!! I’m actually gleeful with how this turned out!

The tree skirt is quilt as you go. You start with a really long piece of batting, like 60″ long, and sew the strips on at angle. Over and over and over! Then you do it again with the strips going in the opposite direction! So, needless to say it took me longer that I had anticpiated. I was planning on quilting just the white. But then decided, nope.

I did hand sew on the binding. You can see the two fabrics from the bridesmaids dresses here.

I’m just so excited about it! I almost hated to cover it in presents! But we did, of course! And now it’s empty again and I can enjoy the tree skirt again before it has to go away until next year.