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Showing posts from 2017

MIA - and a bit of Joy and Happiness

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Here I am!! This has been a crazy fall and winter. Still working on the kitchen and dining room remodel. Slow going but almost there.  Some hold-ups along the way like a swollen pinkie finger that is impeding all that I do. Who knew that finger was such a big deal?  Besides that I really have not felt the best but on good days I have been working on a few things.  I made a single ornament block for a holiday mini from the free patterns  HERE at Sew Kind of Wonderful  using the Quick Curve Ruler. I taught a class in Nov for a lqg on helpful tips in using the ruler.  On this sample I used metallic thread that gave me fits! I am not sure what I was doing wrong but eventually I finished the organic lines. whew... For the class I created a simple block using only a few curves. The focus was on tips to achieving easy curves. I used some holiday fabric in this one and when finished gave as a door prize.  My friend Kath won the door prize! 15 x 15 This is a 4

...a finish

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Just in time for my lqg meeting challenge....I have a little finish! Our guild challenge was called "That's MODern" and we had to draw a Modern element or aesthetic out of a bag and make a 16" square black and white quilt with a pop of color.  I drew "Texture"..........say what??  The first thing I thought of was all the wonderful quilting I have been seeing lately. But I am not a talent for quilting and my sewing room is a big heaping pile since the remodel project started months ago.   Recently the MQG had a webinar by Rebecca Bryan from  Bryan House Quilts  and bits from her book Modern Triangle Quilts.  She talked about modern aesthetic and graphic design. So that got me excited. Here is what I came up with.  "Text-ure" 16" square Modern element = Texture black white and pop of color  I wanted to make sure everyone knew what my element was so I wrote out an improv word. :) Emphasis on 'text' since I love tex

Working my way to a small finish

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So....not much has been new in my neck of the woods lately. I have been working on remodeling our kitchen and dining room. The work has been fun and will be great in the end but also exhausting. I have little time or energy for sewing or reading.  Now some deadlines are looming and I am having to switch gears and get to some things that are important.  A few months ago Debbie @ A Quilters Table  hosted a Improv Stripes QAL and I so wanted to join in. I had some leftover scraps from my local guild and decided to work with them and make a pillow size.  I was limited to the scraps so had to add and arrange accordingly.  I think it turned out pretty great and more importantly I finished something for the first time in months.  This pillow is getting donated to Friends of the International Quilt Study Center and Museum ART Market coming in November.  So yep....a finish... yay baby!! Linking up with  Let's Bee Social  @Sew Fresh Quilts and  Needle and Thread Thursday @ My

Woven for Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2017

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Here is my second entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy of  Amy's Creative Side . Please click on the link to the Festival to see all the lovely entries from around the blogging world.  This wall quilt is currently touring the state of NE because it was my entry in the Ne 150th Celebration of our statehood. There were 3 top places and then 6 of us had honorable mention quilts that got to tour with the winners. I have not seen this quilt since earlier this year and it has a few more stops before it makes it back home to me. It is a favorite of mine.  "Woven"  24 x 24  Improv pieced wall quilt depicting Ne diversity (More details on my quilt are in the link above)  Very fun scrappy improv representing many aspects of Ne life and landmarks Matchstick quilting is one of my favorite things to do.  The piecing up-close represents the land and terrain in an  aerial way but when you look at the quilt from far away you see the city-scape

Triumphal Arches for Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2017

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It is time for Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy at  Amy's Creative Side . There are lots and lots of yummy beauties to behold already up on the page so I hope you go check them out!  I have been busy with a house remodel for the last several months and have not hardly looked at my sewing machine much less worked on anything...... BUT I can share a quilt or two that I did earlier this year so I feel like I am still part of the quilting world.  One of my all time favorite pieces I made and photographed is my all scrap " Triumphal Arches " quilt.   46 x 40 Improv pieced with solid scraps Memories of the beautiful arches from a trip to Italy.  back is one fabric not pieces but the colors work so great with the front and I really dig that arch I found to take my quilt on. 

Every little bit.....

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Urbanologie Quilt Along with SomeKindOfWonderful is underway and I have been doing my best to keep doing the weekly blocks. Dealing with the mess of a remodel in my home it has been challenging but I am now only one week behind.  Slow and steady wins the race right?    I love using the Quick Curve Ruler to create these blocks. Linking my meager progress up with Crazy Mom Quilts  HERE

The Geode test

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  Geode Test  Pattern by  Blossom Heart Quilts 48" x 48"  This pattern is FQ friendly. I chose to use 3 colors because that is what I had in grunge. The background fabric has wonderful facet lines in it to go with. It is a super easy pattern to make and you can find it on FB above or  HERE .   It was so sunny today and hard to grab a pic.    I used all fabrics from my stash for this including this chevron backing.  My husband was at a tool place and bought me this little laser guide. I used it to quilt across the blocks in several directions without marking. It takes a bit to get it in the right position but after that it was fun to sew. I will say that one of the batteries that came with it died after this quilt and the cost of replacement ones were a little over the price of a new laser.  I will see how long the new one lasts in there before I give my verdict.  I tried to quilt more on my piece after going to the KC regional Quilt festival last wee

"Triumphal Arches" a Curvy Challenge

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Triumphal Arches 46 w x 40 h LMQG Curves Ahead Challenge scrappy arch curves I love arches. Many years ago when I went to Italy I just loved seeing arches, looking through arches at other things but most of all I loved the free standing triumphal arches.   My local guild had a challenge that I led called Curves Ahead. The idea was to inspire trying curved piecing though we accepted curved applique and curved quilting also.  I have been making quite a few circle quilts using various techniques and decided now was the time to try the arch shape. All of the quilt was made up of just pieces in my scrap bins. I grabbed random colors and sewed the arches and then pieced and puzzled them in between my scrap strips. Very little trimming was involved.  I placed the pieces from dark to light giving the illusion of sun and shadow on the arches, just like my photo shoot below!! I love the idea of Triumphal Arches and who knew I would actually find one near my neighborhood