Sew Sunshine

                                                                                 I wanted to finish some UFO's for the fair this year. Deadline is motivation. I pulled out this piece that I made as a qal.. The pattern is by Southern Charm Quilts and the qal is  HERE It was such a fun quilt to make and I used tons of colors and scraps to make this. Since the quilt is made in alternate grid style it was fun to put together.  I did a simple diamond style quilting over the blocks. There is some applique, some paper piecing, curves  and regular piecing.  60" x 70"  I got a red on it. 

Lots of summer happenings that may or may not involve quilting. I had a great nephew get married, another great niece had twin girls.  My quilt buddies got together to experience bingo night! I picked mulberries on a trail. Cleaned up and rearranged sewing area at church. Took a load of sleeping bags to CCS. Went fishing at the pond. Walked 4.5 miles in the National Eucharist Pilgrimage walk across the country. Saw a cool plastic quilt art display at the IQM. Experienced a Zuchetta! (the long skinny one) Made two blocks for the LMQG community quilt Learned how to make "Splarn" Tried making cottage cheese flat bread. Super yummy but sadly still sensitive to dairy h ere. Went to Cloisters on the Plain to pray the Stations of the Cross. The coral T.O.M. (technique of the month) made a few years ago with the guild was given to a local area retreat center to raise money for them in their annual auction. So happy it found a home.  This is a few of my summer adventures.  Next up...

When I was Queen of the Bee I chose a theme based on notan. I was not sure how the group would interpret the idea but I also had a piece of fabric called "opposite" by Marsha Derse that I thought might help.  The fabrics I gave was various blacks and kona snow. There is a tiny bit of purple and some of the opposite fabric line. Each block was so different. I finally pieced them together with the background that I wanted to be opposite too. not working..... much better I think clear thread, straight line quilting

Our local guild had a maximalism challenge.  I wanted to play with one shape in multiple ways with bold contrast color with neutrals and bold prints. I wasn't sure one shape like the cross or plus made in a more ordered fashion could be maximalism or not but this is what I came up with. Whether it is or isn't it will be in a local art museum with other guild members entries starting next week. I love this pink color and am super happy with how it turned out. This part of that center fabric I saved just for this label and contributed to the name. 

The International Quilt Museum in Lincoln Ne. where our local guild meets joined our guild for a challenge.  They have an exhibition up based off of use of feedsack fabrics and other reused textiles.  They gave us 5 vintage quilt blocks to choose from to make something more modern but with recycled or other textiles.  I used a black and white tea towel some a shirt, a skirt and some silk lining. The block I chose was the star block. I decided to do it in a QAYG method. cutting batting to various sizes to make the star more improv.  Since it came together in a lantern shape that I love I felt it fit the bible quote from Matthew 5: 15-16 This is currently hanging with the guilds display at the IQM. 

This day was sort of a birthday wish I had that my sisters would help me sew some of my fabric up for outreach quilts. One sister thought it would be fun to give out scratch off tickets but she guessed they were duds...I won $25!! We finished 5 quilt tops that day and I went home and quilted them. One of my sisters took some blocks home too and has another top done for me. I still need to get that done but I have been dealing with a broken bone in my foot and now some realignment therapy for some toes. It sort of makes it hard to get a lot done as my sewing area is both upstairs and down.   A little bit every day.....