Monday, August 6, 2012

I'M SO OVER JULY!



Just wanted to start with a little eye candy.  Momen+ is a small patchwork shop in my neighborhood.  They specialize in Japanese fabric but you can find just about anything your little heart desires in there.  As you can probably tell, I'm attracted to Westminister Fabrics - they all play so well together.  Momen+  had a fat quarter sale a few weeks ago and I went a little crazy!  Picked up some Amy, Kaffe, Anna and some Japanese linen prints.  26 fat quarters for $26 - what a bargain!  Love a deal.





For our summer swap at the LAMQG, we were asked to bring in a item that meant something to us.  They were all placed in a bag and we randomly selected one.  I chose a photo of the rice paddies in Bali taken by one of the members during her honeymoon.  I forgot to get permission to share the photo, but it was a lush green labyinth.  The week before I had been working on curves and this gave me an opportunity to try them out on a mini quilt.  I cut freehand strips, somewhat on the bias, and ironed them into curves using a lot of stream.  The palm trees are a 2 1/2" strip that I found in my scrap box.  I quilted it like a crazy person and bound it in with the dark green Kona.  I forgot to take a photo of the completed quilt (of course!) but it finished at approximately 13" square.  I'm plotting an oceany curve project (in my head) but I want to practice this technique a bit more before taking it on.  More bias and not in the hot summer months...




My friend's mom turned 90 last month and she commissioned me to make a pillow using her parent's treasured wedding picture.  Used a Vintage Modern by Moda charm pack and RK Quilters Linen in steel grey.  I transfered the photo to pima cotton and bordered it with light grey Kona. The charm squares were cut into hsts and patched around the framed photo. 





For the back, I quilted a grid, adding 2 flowers, label and a zipper.  There were a lot of quilting stops and starts, but it was so worth it.  I love how it turned out and my friend and her mom were pleased.  Completed size approximately 24"square.






Love the idea of mixing vintage with modern.  I was given this very large piece of seersucker from a friend's mother's stash.  Seersucker always reminds me of summer, so I took it out and stared at it for a few weeks... that's hugh a part of my quilting process... staring - lol. 




Decided that a seersucker star would be interesting so I pulled out a box of solid scraps, made a plastic temple and went to work in the wee hours of the night. 




The last time I made a star, I nearly pulled my hair out trying to control the bias and match the points.  I remembered the advice from Kathy at MO - she told me that marking the corners would help and she was right - of course!  I marked every single corner and it went together smooth as "butta".  I enjoyed it so much. 




Bad photo (2am).  I really have to put a large piece of batting up on that wall - the table cloth served it's purpose, but I need a larger surface (sans flowers).  Anyway, I'm happy how it turned out.  Don't the colors remind you of QuiltCon - hmmm... 




I had a mini breakdown adding the floral insets.  I started them with another fabric choice, carefully measuring and stitching them in place.  The star wouldn't lay (lie) flat, so I ripped the insets out - twice!  I used a vintage sheet given to me by the same friend (aren't friends great!).  I washed and ironed it, plopped the star on top of it and machine appliqued that baby down.  Done!  I then cut my template in half and added triangle borders made from the remaining solid scraps.  The border has been attached and the backing is done.  The plan is to have it sandwiched and basted this afternoon.

What I love about this quilt is that it is old and new.  The design is not perfect, but it is well made.  My next challenge will be the quilting and it hasn't yet told me how it wants to be quilted (hand or machine?).  Do your quilts talk to you?

Thanks for stopping by,

p