Thursday, February 28, 2013

February Finishes - March goal setting

Wow. I totally missed WIP Wednesday yesterday -- too busy doing other stuff this week.  Not much progress was made on my list, so I'll just catch up with you next week.

Today is a great day to go through some of my finishes for February, and set my goals for March.  Rather than have several posts, I just combined all of them into this short one.

February UFO's

For February, I was hoping to complete my One Block Wonder quilt and work on my Beginner QAL quilt.  Well, the OBW got done, so yeah!

Blue OBW w/seagull

The Discontinuity quilt was a NewFO in January, and I also really wanted to finish it up in February, and yeah, it is also done!  Never mind that I started another one :)

Discontinuity 1


February New FO's

I really wanted to FINISH the Les Amis quilt for February as my New FO, but I only got as far as finishing the top, basting and quilting a few lines of SID.  I had to put it aside to complete my bee obligations.

Les Amis top


March UFO's

Ooh, tough call here.  There are a few UFO's that have been calling out to me in the middle of the night.  No, really!  But, I fear March is going to be a pretty hectic month around here, so I am just going to go easy on myself and keep the Beginner QAL quilt on the list.   I MUST also finish up the Les Amis quilt and get it sent off.

Beginner's QAL Blocks

March New FO's

I am actually going to put off the Baby Boy quilt I need to make (my friend isn't due until July), and just focus on projects from my Curves Class.  I didn't finish a single project while the class was actually going on, and Rachel is only available until March 30th to answer any questions for me.  There are several quilts and a bunch of small projects I really want to try out, so that will be my New FO focus this month.  Hopefully, I will have a handful of things to share in the end.

clamshells WIP



Well, I think that is plenty, don't you?


Thanks for reading today,

Jen

Linking up with:
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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Doing the math - Building Blocks Tuesday


Feb. Make it Modern bee block for Kelleigh

This is another block for the Make it Modern Bee.  Kelleigh requested bright solids with white background, any block design we like.  It took me a while to decide on the pattern, and I guess I just wasn't done with Emily Cier after all.  This is a block she contributed to the book, "Modern Blocks: 99 Quilt Blocks from Your Favorite Designers". 

This is the second quilt block I've tried from that book, and I really like how diverse all the blocks are.  As for these little strips and pieces, I think I am done for a while.

Next week, I hope to show you blocks for my Star of Africa bee.

So what have you been working on this week?

Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open for a whole week.  And spread the word!


Quilter in the Closet

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!


Thanks for reading,

Jen



Sunday, February 24, 2013

Inspirational Sunday (2) - via the 2013 Road to California Quilt Show

Last Sunday, I shared the "Best in Show" quilt.  This Sunday I want to share the quilt I was most intrigued with.

"Silver Madonna - 1" by Laurie Tigner of Rapid City, SD


This is called "Silver Madonna 1" by Laurie Tigner of Rapid City, SD.  She describes this piece, "Traditional icons were often covered in worked silver for protection.  I painted then applied silver spandex and quilted to achieve this effect.  Fabric was stretchy in four directions, but worked beautifully."  Laurie Tigner also has photos of some of her other work on her website; it is really remarkable.

I have often wondered why I don't see more quilts inspired by religion.  It seems strange to me because so much of the art from previous centuries depicted religious themes.  Today's world is supposed to be more tolerant of differences in religion, but is it at the expense of keeping our beliefs more guarded and private perhaps from fear of being considered offensive of those who believe differently?

Just food for thought.  Regardless of your religious beliefs, I hope we can agree that this quilt is amazing.

Thanks for reading today,

Jen

Saturday, February 23, 2013

If it's not broke, don't fix it! One Block Wonder - lessons learned


Blue OBW angle

Where to begin?

I guess, we should start with the piecing.  The One Block Wonder pattern is 6 triangles pieced together to form those hexagon shapes.  Actually, you piece 3 together, form long, long, long rows then sew the rows together.  The result is that you have some bias edges, but more problematic is that you have very bulky seams in places.

I pieced this one together a really long time ago, but I pressed my seams open.  Perhaps I could have clipped them a little differently to reduce some of the bulk, but I am not sure it would make a huge difference.  I didn't even notice the bulkiness until I started quilting.

Before I get ahead of myself, let me stop and also talk about basting.

In January, I took Cindy Needham's Craftsy class AND her Ready Set Go Quilt! class at the Road to California quilt show.  In both classes, she teaches her basting method.  So of course, I wanted to try it out!  She teaches you how to "tension" the backing of your quilt and hold it in place (clips) while you spread your batting and top out on top, then you pin baste.

Normally, I spread out by backing, smooth it nicely, clip it to the table, add the batting, smooth it, clip it to the table too, lay out my top, smooth it, clip it to the table too.  I make sure all the layers are smooth, but I don't "tension" or stretch any of them.  But, I view Cindy as a guru of sorts, and I noticed in Leah Day's (another person of guru status around here) Craftsy class that she really tensions her backings tightly onto the table too.

I followed Cindy's instructions, and I am confident that I did it correctly.  I didn't stretch the backing TOO much, but it was nice and tight.  I laid my batting down, smoothed it and then the top and went about pinning and smoothing as I went, just as Cindy teaches.  When I took it off the table, it looked fine.  No creases, no pleats, nothing out of the ordinary.  BUT, when I started quilting it there was a noticeable difference in the amount of fabric that I was dealing with on the top of the quilt.  Meaning, my top was not smooth any longer but had slightly more fabric.  Hard to explain.  It wasn't wrinkled, it was just "loose".

Luckily, I choose to just do a simple all over stipple for the middle of my quilt.  That quilting pattern is pretty forgiving if you have some extra fabric that you are moving around because your quilting lines don't touch.  Usually by "tensioning" your hands (spreading the fabric out with your hands) and wiggling around with the stipple, the excess fabric just gets rationed out into the quilting design and you don't notice it.  Where that extra fabric really began to give me trouble was in the borders.

border pleats OBW

Pleat city!  Yes, small pleats, but pleats!  That rope quilting design was much less forgiving than the stipple,  because the lines intersect.  I really had a lot of extra fabric to deal with.  When I say "a lot", I guess I am exaggerating a bit, I didn't have a ball of fabric or anything, but the top and batting were just so much looser than the backing that yeah, it squished it up a bit.  I tensioned my hands like crazy, but it was going to help me when my quilting lines started to connect with one another.  There just wasn't enough room to ration out that excess fabric as the lines started to near each other.  Result = small pleats.  Hopefully, these will blend in after washing.

Now back to those bulky seams...they are hard to quilt around and through.  But that is what I tried to do.  Where possible, I tried to make my stipple line go directly down through the bulky seam in order to flatten it out.

OBW bulky seam

I don't know if this is right or wrong, but it did seem to help wrestle those bulky parts into submission.  HOWEVER, where it wasn't possible for me to go directly through the seam -- perhaps it was so bulky my foot wouldn't fit over it -- I got as close as possible, but with a poor result.  Because the center of the bulk wasn't nailed down by quilting stitches, the result is a "nipple" in the quilt.  Well, that's what if feels like!  Get your heads out of the gutter for just a second.

OBW nippling

You see how it has puffed up that intersection of seams, and since there are bulky seams underneath, it is hard.  It feels like a nipple under a shirt.

What could I have done to avoid these areas?  Well, it just so happens that Cindy advocates stitching in the ditch EVERY seam before you do any other quilting design.  She calls it ESS - "Every Stinking Seam".  When she said this in class that Friday, I remember thinking, "that's easy for you to say lady, you didn't just take a class with a baby quilt with 723 pieces!!!".  But, she is right.  I would have had to use my walking foot  because of the bulkiness.  But, just looking at the intersection above, I would have sewn over that area 3 times instead of once.  That would have really nailed down that seam.

Honestly, I was lazy.   All I was thinking was how an easy all over stipple would spread out that excess fabric I was dealing with.  I gave little thought to the bulky seams.

In case you are wondering, Cindy recommends ESS for every quilt, or "ESQ" if I may.  She showed us several examples of how it really improves the look of your piecing skills and makes your quilting designs better because they are stabilized and don't warp during the quilting process.  Both her "in class" lecture and the one on Craftsy shows these samples, but obviously seeing them in person you can really see the difference better than on camera.  Did I head such advice?  Uh, not this time obviously.

So to recap my lessons learned from this quilt:

1) If it's not broke, don't fix it!  I personally like my basting method better.  There have only been a few times where I have had any issues of pleating or gathering on my backing and I could probably point the finger at the quilt bunching up while in the machine rather than the basting method.  I also like having the top and batting tensioned the same.  Also, my hands are also a lot less sore because I don't have to tension them while quilting as much (even with gloves).

Finally, I want to share something that I had forgotten that another teacher told me - I believe it was Dawn Cavanaugh who was teaching us how to load our quilts into the long arm frames in the long arm class I took.  None of the layers were tight.  Smooth yes, but not tight.  She sited how hand quilters put their quilts into their frames with some slack.  Yes, some of that has to do with the fact that you need a little room to rock the needle, but she said the same applied to machine quilting.  You don't need anything super tight.  Excess fabric is a problem, but introducing any stretch to your quilt is just going to make it shrink up and cause distortion in the stitches.  Personally I think as long as everything is done evenly, at least your quilt will be consistent.  That is why I think Cindy's technique is unbalanced.  My bottom layer is tensioned differently than the other layers, so of course it is going to behave differently and influence my other layers.

The OBW isn't the only quilt I tried Cindy's method on.  I also basted the Discontinuity baby quilt with the 723 pieces (I really need to come up with a better name for it that "Demon Quilt") using her method.  I didn't have exactly the same problem.  BUT, I think it is because there are different things going on with the baby quilt than with the OBW.  First of all, I have all those rows of horizontal seams that I am stitching in the ditch with my walking foot.  Quilting straight lines is different because I only need to spread out 3 inches of fabric at a time and I'm only travelling in one direction, not wiggling all over the place.  I've also double batted that quilt, so it puffed up nicely in those rows and filled any excess fabric there.  There was some excess fabric around the edges of the quilt, which makes a little sense as the center of the quilt had the benefit of the weight of the rest of the quilt to smooth it out.  That excess around the edges made my perfectly square quilt a little less square at the end of the quilting process.  Luckily, it wasn't too off and I could trim the offensive corners a little.

Just like teachers say, "Every child is different", well every quilt is different too.  For now, I'm going back to my old way of basting.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

2)   Stitching in the ditch for ESS might be worth it.  Yes, it is going to take longer.  But I think it would have given me less headaches in the long run on the OBW quilt.  I did ESS on the Discontinuity quilt and while it took forever, it did nail everything down nicely.  Unfortunately, I didn't attempt to free motion quilt over all that ESS to see if it really made a difference.  I plan on doing that for my next quilt, the Les Amis quilt, so I can report back on that when completed.

There are always more lessons to be learned!

Thanks for reading today,

Jen


Friday, February 22, 2013

Discontinuity review - Friday finish


Discontinuity 1

So there it is, in all it's 723 piece glory.

According to Dictionary.com, "Discontinuity" means irregularity.  Well, I had a little irregularity of a different kind while finishing this one.  I was downright cross while making it.  I promised a review on this one, so here it goes.

First, I would like to say that I don't like writing negative reviews, especially when people I like are involved (and I really liked the designer, Emily Cier).  But, I know as a new-ish quilter, I make a lot of my decisions based on the thoughts and opinions of others and it is important to me to hear what they really think. I assume that goes for my readers.  I sat down to start this review several times in the past month and opted to do housework instead, that is how much I was conflicted.  I don't want to be thought of as someone who fires off a bunch of remarks, and then hides behind the computer.  In delaying this review, I hope I can say what I want to say, but balance it with some good in addition to the not so good.

Pros:
  • Cutting instructions are easy - you only cut one width of strips and then cut them down to smaller pieces
  • NO Y-seams!  The dreaded Y-seams are not a factor here.
  • You learn a little about the "pixel-ated" approach that Emily applies to some of her designs.  I can see the benefit of using this approach with other patterns.
  • It is very easy to do all your cutting at once, all your piecing at once, then she recommends that you even press all seams at the very end
  • Diagrams are wonderful, and easy to follow.
Cons:
  • Lots of tiny pieces
  • TIME - we spent about 2 hours in class cutting, then another 4 hours or so sewing our strips together.  At the end of class I had 1/2 my crib top complete, it took me about another 4 hours to complete the 2nd half to have a completed crib top.  I am a little slower than the average sewer.
  • Lots of seams - I ended up just stitching in the ditch for the quilting.  I kept thinking. "now what?"  If I didn't have all those seams to deal with, I might have tried some fun FMQ designs.  After all that SID, I was a little tired. 
  • wasted fabric - with each seam you lose 1/2 inch of fabric, right?  There are 50 rows in this crib quilt.  Granted you can't get rid of them all, but I would guess-timate about 1/4 yard of waste in the baby quilt size.  That seems like a lot.  And if I had made a bigger quilt...
I thought I was going to go out of my mind making this quilt.  It is put together using thin strips, and lots of them.  Doing so, allows you to get those squares without any Y-seams.  The cutting is pretty easy since you are only dealing with one width of strips.  But, those strips are pretty thin, and then you are cutting them into rather tiny pieces.  When I first showed my WIP picture of this quilt, many of asked, "Why?? (do it this way)".  Well, you don't have to (keep reading).

I asked Emily the same question.  I don't remember her exact words, but basically she had to make a choice.  Either the cutting instructions where going to be really difficult to follow or there was going to be more sewing.  Plus, I get it.  She created this pixel-ated technique.  It is only natural that she would want to incorporate it into her designs.  She has an impressive pattern for the Mona Lisa using this technique.  Well, I had a bunch of squares at the end of the day, not the Mona Lisa.

I really like Emily's patterns.  I love the look of this one, and I really enjoyed making her "Groove" pattern during the Totally Groovy QAL.  I was excited when I signed up for this class at the 2013 Road to California quilt show.  I signed up for this class long before I actually made my Totally Groovy quilt.  During the QAL, one of the other participants mentioned doing that pattern using a log cabin approach, which I used and was very happy to do so because it really let me get creative with the quilting.  With all the seams in this one, I don't think I would have enjoyed the FMQ process much.

I had a hard time understanding what "a log cabin approach" was at the time, because I hadn't made many log cabin blocks.  But after I saw some WIP pictures of other Totally Groovy participants work, I could picture it better.  Turns out, I am making a second Discontinuity because Lizzy wants one too.  So, I took a few pictures of the "log cabin approach" to give you an idea of what it means.

Emily's patterns have excellent diagrams for the piecing, complete with measurements.  So she has done nearly all the work for you.  You just need a tiny bit of additional math (even my mommy brain could do it) and make decisions of where you want to break up the pattern.

log cabin approach 1

Instead of cutting one size strip, I cut 3 different widths of strips.  Then I chopped them down to size using my diagram in the pattern.  The picture above only shows 2 different widths, but you get the idea.

log cabin approach 2

Then you start sewing them together just like you are making partial log cabins - you start at the "center block" and add strips around it.

I like to work on 2 sections at time so I can do a bit of chain piecing.  With this approach, I also pressed as I went along instead of all at the end.  I like it this way because I have started pressing my seams open and it is easier to do as you go along.

Log cabin approach 3

Any way, you start building these partial log cabin sections, and then figure out a way that they will fit together best (a little planning ahead helps).  See how the 4 pieces on the left will fit together nicely?

I like to cut as I go, just take one width of fabric strip at a time.  I can already tell I am using a lot less fabric than the original pattern process, and any leftover pieces are going to be in sizes that are easier to use.  Also, I set a timer while working and in 2.5 hours, I have just shy of half the crib top made already.

With the "Discontinuity" pattern, this approach is not completely perfect - although it did work wonderfully for the "Groove" pattern.  Because of the rows, there are plenty of breaks in one direction of this pattern, but no one seam to split up the quilt in the other direction.  Looking at the picture of my finished quilt above, I can see that I am going to have 3 areas where I am either going to have to do a y-seam or will have to split up one of my wider strips with an extra seam.  I will probably opt for the later.

I hope by showing you this log cabin approach, it might make Emily's patterns more approachable.  I think if this class/pattern had been advertised, "Make a baby quilt with 723 pieces", I probably wouldn't have signed up.  However, I don't think this is the last of her patterns that I will try out now that I am comfortable enough to not follow the directions.

One last tip!  Regardless of the method used, staying organized is just as important with this patterns as any other.  I labeled each of the 9 colors of fabric I used, both by pinning a sticky to it, and by marking the selvage of the color with the corresponding letter.

staying organized 2

I also found these little accordion file organizers in the dollar section of Target.

Staying organized

I place my strips in one of their labeled sections, that way I don't have to have them all laid out on the table.  Also makes for easy clean up when I have to put everything away for the day because the kids are coming home.

They come in 3 different sizes.  I like to use the big ones for my printouts of various patterns and templates, etc.  The two smaller ones are great for storing fabric you have cut for blocks.

I hope this review helps someone out there.  Stay tuned for the 2nd version.

Thanks for reading,

Jen

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Clam-ing it up - WIP Wednesday


clamshells WIP

I am almost done with this clam shell goody from my Curves Class at Stitched in Color.  I love this project because it is small.  I mean I love the look of clam shells, but I can't imagine doing a whole quilt, appliqueing each one.  Of course, never say never, right?

I had a layer cake of Sew Stitchy that seemed perfect for this project.  I even have some left over for another day, yeah.

I've also been a bit busy doing other stuff - a touch of spring cleaning, purchasing running shoes so I can make good on one of my resolutions for the year, and shopping for dresses for the girls for an upcoming wedding (still not purchased yet and the wedding is, uh, this Saturday).

This Wednesday...

Completed Projects:
  • Star of Africa for December is finished
  • Valentine's day wall hanging - see it here.

On-going Projects:

AKA - "stuff I plan to touch this week or next".
  • Bee Blocks & BOM blocks - Skill Builder BOM blocks (now 2 months), Make it Modern block need to be done
  • Star of Africa Bee - catch up continues, I only have January and February left to do.
  • Curves Class goodies - I think I might have to designate one week as curves week and complete my projects.  I jumped ahead in the lessons to complete my Valentine wall hanging, but my curves were not completely successful.  I think it is because I didn't do the lessons from the beginning.
  • Les Amis Baby quilt - quilting in progress
  • Baby quilt in blue - so those 2 baby girl quilts I thought I needed?? Les Amis is one, Discontinuity was another.  Well, it turns out one of my friends is actually having a boy!  So I need to make a not so pink baby quilt.
  • Discontinuity Quilt - I am sewing on the binding by hand, but it should be done to share as a finish on Friday

Back Burner:

These will likely be touched in a couple of weeks - I know I've been saying that for more than a couple of weeks.
This week's stats:
Completed projects - 1 quilt, 1 block
New projects - 1
Currently in Progress - 5

Don't forget to link up any blocks you have been working on to the Building Blocks Tuesday post!

And as always, thanks for reading,

Jen

Quilter in the Closet

Linking up with
 WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

More Improv - Building Blocks Tuesday


Make it Modern for Renae

I've been making more improv blocks!  This one is for Renae in the Make it Modern Bee.  She asked for improv blocks in aquas, purples, and lime greens, based on Elizabeth Hartman's tutorials.  These really come together quickly and are a great way to use up scraps -- I didn't this time, but I will in the future.

I still need to make another block for the Make it Modern group for February.  This time the pattern is my choice, and as usual, I haven't made up my mind.

So what have you been working on this week?

Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open for a whole week.  And spread the word!


Quilter in the Closet

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!


Thanks for reading,

Jen


Sunday, February 17, 2013

Inspirational Sunday (1) - via the Road To California Quilt Show 2013

It's been a while, I know!  I finally uploaded my pictures from the 2013 Road to California Show and am ready to share!  I didn't take as many photos as I should have, but I figure we will have some fun for a month or so, at least.

"Red Feathers" by Claudia Clark Myers of St. George, UT

I might as well start with the "Best in Show".  This one is called "Red Feathers" by Claudia Clark Myers of St. George, UT.  It was quilted by Marilyn Badger.  It was paper-pieced and machine appliqued.  The design came about by asking, "Why can't you have feathers on a Mariner's Compass".

There were always throngs of people around this quilt.  I can't believe I didn't get a detail shot.  All those gold swirls in the border are actually machine quilted there using the fabric's design as a guide.  Some of the freehand feathers in the quilting extend into the border too, which was kind of neat to see.

What questions do you ask yourself that spark ideas for your quilts?

Thanks for stopping by,

Jen

Saturday, February 16, 2013

I just wanted to share - Ecolux lighting

I just wanted to share....

Patti at "A Yankee in Queen Liz's Court" is having a giveaway until Monday for a Ecolux light.

I know, you are thinking, "What the heck is that?".  It is a little LED light that sticks onto the arm of your machine to enhance the lighting that comes from your machine.  It is particularly useful when doing FMQ, because you CAN SEE!!!!  My Janome has a pretty good lighting system, but even so, adding the Ecolux improved it even more.

I picked up my light in Cindy Needham's class at Road to California for $65.  Patti is giving away one of these lights on her blog this weekend!  I wouldn't pass this info along if I didn't think the product was totally worth it.  And her giveaway is open to anyone!  Just saying.

Thanks for stopping by today,

Jen

Thursday, February 14, 2013

More today than yesterday - finish

Finished in the nick of time.

For my Valentine

I did have to use a fabric marker instead of dotting all the "i's" with thread, but I doubt DH will notice.  This 22" square wall hanging is hanging where he can't miss it as he enters the house.

And I hope none of you were my 3rd grade teacher, because writing cursive with a sewing machine is even harder than with a pen.  Mrs. Baynard if you are reading, I will continue to practice.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jen

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

More today than yesterday - WIP Wednesday

V-day WIP


Still working on a last minute Valentine's Day WIP.  Little Olivia has been home sick the last few days and I haven't had time to do much sewing.  Luckily, my dear husband won't be home until tomorrow night, so I hope to be able to finish it up tomorrow when she finally goes back to preschool.

I used some of the scallop templates from my curves class to make the top of the heart, then tried some improv curves to make the bottom of the heart.  I actually ended up with excess pink fabric (it was puffy), so rather than try for the 6th time to get it right, I decided I would just do a little trapunto under the heart.  Hey, when life gives you lemons, right?

I plan on going back and adding some black thread to the message in the heart, "I love you more today than yesterday. But not as much as tomorrow", so you will be able to actually see it.  I am also considering adding the rest of the lyrics to the song around the heart in the white background.  We will see if I actually have time to finish all that.

This Wednesday...

Completed Projects:
  • Bee Blocks - Simply Solids blocks for Feb & March done.  
  • Star of Africa for October is also finally finished

On-going Projects:

AKA - "stuff I plan to touch this week or next".
  • Bee Blocks & BOM blocks - Skill Builder BOM blocks, Make it Modern blocks and Simply Solids blocks all need to be done.
  • Star of Africa Bee - catch up continues  
  • Curves Class goodies - Finally started working on a few things!  I have some clamshells all fused and ready to be put together.  I did some scallops too.
  • Discontinuity Quilt - Quilting in progress
  • Les Amis Baby quilt - top complete, batting arrived yesterday
  • Valentine's day wall hanging - in progress

Back Burner:

These will likely be touched in a couple of weeks.
This week's stats:
Completed projects - just blocks this week.
New projects - 1
Currently in Progress - 5

Don't forget to link up any blocks you have been working on to the Building Blocks Tuesday post!

And as always, thanks for reading,

Jen

Quilter in the Closet

Linking up with
 WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Simply Solids - Building Blocks Tuesday

Yippee!  Another Bee started in February - the Simply Solids Bee.  Yes, I know I got a little crazy signing up for stuff at the beginning of the year.  But, I love solids, and so far this bee has been a breeze.  I've even have 2 blocks to show you today!

For February, Sew Chick requested these fun Star Gazing Blocks from the book, Modern Blocks compiled by Susanne Woods.  This book is chock full of good blocks for bees, and I had a lot of fun making this one.

Simply Solids - February

Sew Chick sent me all the fabric I needed to make this beauty and it came together pretty quickly.

Surprisingly, the March Block was posted and Nicole got her fabrics out early, so I was able to finish her blocks up too.  What? Ahead of the game?  Yep!

Simply Solids March


This one is called Puzzle Box by Brigette at Zen Chic and the instructions are available at the Moda Bake Shop here.  Nicole asked us to make 4 blocks, but sent us all the fabric we needed, and the block was pretty darn simple.

I've also been working on catching up on my Star of Africa Blocks, but I would rather wait and show you all of them at once.  Maybe next week?

So what have you been working on this week?

Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open for a whole week.  And spread the word!


Quilter in the Closet

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!


Thanks for reading,

Jen

Friday, February 8, 2013

Surf's up - Finish Friday

Hooray!  It is done!

Blue OBW w/seagull

I finished up my Blue One Block Wonder quilt earlier this week, and finally walked down to the pier to take some pictures of it.  I figured since I used some fabric that looked like waves, it was only appropriate to try to get some pictures of it near the ocean.

My teacher from the quilt photography class suggested that when it comes to outdoor shots, just go and try stuff out to see what you like.  Wow, profound!  So today, I did...

Blue OBW on lifeguard shack

I got this one.  Too far away, and the light seems a little bright.  I wanted to get down here as early as possible for better light, but alas, I am a taxi service in the morning and some days it takes longer than others to get to school.

Blue OBW at beach/pier

And this pic.  Closer to the quilt, light still a little bright but from a better direction.  Darn wind blew the quilt a little so I have a ripple.  Hey, that's the Redondo Pier in the background, if anyone is interested.

Blue OBW at park

And this pic, from the park looking down at the beach.  I think the lighting is much better, but all that dirty concrete isn't attractive.

Blue OBW angle

This one is taken on the pier itself.  Luckily, the guys had just gone around and power washed everything, so no bird poop anywhere!  I really wanted to get a seagull in one shot, but not their poop.  The lighting is all wrong for this picture.

Yep, this was the better side of the pier, looking out at the water.

Blue OBW at pier

Sun is still a little bright, but it does make the white pop, huh?

And just my luck, a gull decided to fly by on my last shot.

Blue OBW w/seagull

I will be posting another post about this quilt soon.  Turned out there were some "lessons learned" while quilting it up and I thought I would share.

Have a Super Sparkly Day!

Jen

Linking up with:





Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Les Amis cont. - WIP Wednesday


Les Amis top

80 HST's later and my Les Amis top is done!  It's not so much the making of that many HST's, it's the trimming that takes forever.  Normally, I would shy away from using this much white for a baby quilt, but I think making those depression blocks last month got this design stuck in my head.

Now to decide how I want to quilt it.  I keep thinking feathers, but we'll see what happens.  Who would have thought this time last year that I would even entertain doing feathers on anything?

This quilt is destined for a cold climate, so I ordered some wool batting.  It will be my first time using it, and I am considering layering it with my usual cotton blend batting.  Does anyone out there have any tips or things I really need to know before giving wool a go?

This Wednesday...

Completed Projects:
  • Bee Blocks - Lucky Stars BOM for February
  • Blue One Block Wonder quilt is DONE! I just need to photograph it so I can share. 

On-going Projects:

AKA - "stuff I plan to touch this week or next".
  • Bee Blocks & BOM blocks - Skill Builder BOM blocks, Make it Modern blocks and Simply Solids blocks all need to be done.
  • Star of Africa Bee - catch up continues  
  • Curves Class goodies - I finally got the printer working!  Now that I have some templates to work with, I think I should make something, yes?
  • Discontinuity Quilt - top is done, backed and basted.  Awaiting quilting.
  • Les Amis Baby quilt - top complete.

Back Burner:

These will likely be touched in a couple of weeks.
This week's stats:
Completed projects - 1 ish
New projects - 0
Currently in Progress - 5

Don't forget to link up any blocks you have been working on to the Building Blocks Tuesday post!

And as always, thanks for reading,

Jen

Quilter in the Closet

Linking up with
 WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Spinning Ninja Stars - Building Blocks Tuesday


February Lucky Star BOM

It is only February 5th and I already have the February Lucky Star BOM block done!  "What about January?" you say.

Oh yeah, I forgot to show you.

January Lucky Star BOM

Yes, I might need to redo that one thanks to a cutting error when I precut my background fabrics.  Those corners are atrocious.  Oh, and there's one more....

Lucky Stars BOM practice block

A practice block pattern was sent to us in January to get us going.  I love how it looks like a spinning ninja star.

I've been using the "Clouds and Sunshine" bundle from Connecting Threads.  They are not offering it at the moment, so I hope I have enough to finish!

My plan is to add some borders to these and use the Quilt as You Go method to put them together.  Perhaps that might allow me to finish the quilt in a more timely fashion at the end of the year??  I said, "perhaps".

Yes, I'm feeling a little sassy today.

So what have you been working on this week?

Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open for a whole week.  And spread the word!


Quilter in the Closet

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!


Thanks for reading,

Jen