MAY 2012

I have a love/hate relationship with the month of May.  It has rewarded California with the most beautiful weather!  It feels like summer on a tropical island.  Of course, intense wanderlust has set in and unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I have no money to hop on a plane.  Mothers' Day is in May and I miss my mom.  It's my birthday month and I love/hate getting older! 

Been working on many sewing and quilty projects but a strange thing has happened... I haven't completed some of my earlier projects.  Usually I complete a project before starting a new one, or I work on 2 projects and complete them together, but I have 3 incomplete quilts!  Trying not to over analyze my behavior but I'm a bit uncomfortable with too many works in progress (WIPs):

1. Hexie quilt to be quilted.
2. Rainy day quilt to be quilted.
3. Paper pieced star quilt to be quilted.

The common denominator is "...to be quilted."  Hmmm.  Will have to work that out, get over it, and get them done!  They are all way too beautiful to sit in boxes. 

Here is what I'm working on now:

My scrap box was overflowing so I made a few log cabin and cross blocks.  Added squares of some of my favorites and sashed them all together with some incredible Confucius fabric.  Used wool batting for the first time and I'm hand quilting it with perle cotton.  There is a lot of chaos going on but the Confucius sayings add calm and focus.  I am going to complete it so that I have a completed project for the month of May!

Enjoy the remainder of this beautiful month,
p
 

The IT Tote

I've been busy designing and constructing a new tote.  I was tired of (and sometimes embarrassed) carting my quilts around in plastic bags, grocery bags, and anything else that I could find large enough to hold them.  I wanted a tote that reflected my creativity and here it is.  It is 25"x18"x8" and there are 8 quilts in it in the above photo.

It started with the Japanese x and + block.  I was attracted to the complexity of the block so I pulled out my scrap bins and made a few of them.  They were tedious - 7 different fabrics per block!  After putting them on my design wall I realized that there was way too much chaos to make them into a quilt, but a tote - YES! 

 

                                                                     

For the back, I used various floral scraps from my stash.  To break it up, I added a Kaffe Fassett stripe left over from a old designer roll.  The zippered pocket is from a linen fat quarter purchased from Momen+ a fantastic local fabric shop specializing in Japanese fabrics.  I love ballet, flowers and stripes so it works for me!  When it's not full, I can use the inside ties to make it smaller.  Perfect!

Sometimes members of my quilting guild share fabric with me.  I love it because it stretches my imagination by giving me the opportunity to use fabrics I wouldn't normally buy.  It also reminds me of my amazing, generous community.  That tote carries sooooo many memories!!!  Last Monday at our monthly LAMQG meeting one of the members gave me a handful of batik strips.  They were beautiful!  This is what I made with them:



Don't cha love it!!!  The animal print was my sister Roz's idea.  Sassy, just like her.  The side and bottom panels are made with the brown and tan animal print used in the front.  Not only did I make another amazing tote, but I also solved my dilemma with the Japanese x and + block!  The blocks are still complex and vibrant - but calmer.  This could work as a quilt. 

I'm off to work on a quilt that has been challenging me for quite some time.  I trying to combine traditional with modern, neutral tones with lots of color, large with ...   I dunno - I'll blog about it later. 

Thanks for stopping by,

p

Color Magic

I love color - the bolder the better!  This a one of my earlier quilts made with Westminster scraps and a hodge podge of solids.  It is a free form log cabin design inspired by the Gees Bend quilters.  This kind of color really inspires me and I actually lost track of time when I put this top together.  I made the top in one day (and night) because I couldn't sleep until it was "done".  It took about a week to hand quilt.    

I had a similar experience when I saw this fabric line.  It is Malka Dubrawksy's line "A Stitch in Dye" through Moda.  I had planned to order a fat quarter kit containing every print in the line, but by the time I got around to placing an order it was sold out (I blinked and it was gone)!  I really wanted to see this line, so I scrambled around online and located charm packs.  I ordered two and when they arrived I opened the package and gasped!  This fabric is unbelievable.  I immediately opened the package and lined up all of the squares on my design wall (forgot to take photos).  Wow - color magic!

At the time I was working on two other projects but I couldn't focus with all of this color going on behind me on the wall.  Since there wasn't enough fabric to do anything intricate, I put this simple pattern together.  Four-patched the 5" squares and the center stripes were made from the remaining squares cut into strips and mixed with solid scraps.  I made this quilt top in one day.  I just couldn't stop until it was "done".  The black background and sashing expanded it to approximately 70"x 60 and the backing is bright yellow.  Originally I hand quilted it with black perle cotton but halfway through I changed my mind and ripped it all out.  All it needed was light channel machine quilting.  I like it!



This line is organic and global.  It reminds me of Africa, India, Morocco, Greece - everywhere!  Who dyes and creates fabric like this?  Malka D you are a color genius!  Hopefully more stock will come in so that I can purchase some of my favorites.  This line is definitely stash worthy.

Sweet Sixteen

This cute little girl (and handsome little guy)...

Grew up (where does the time go!) and became this beauty...

Her generous parents gave her a swanky Sweet Sixteen party at a studio loft in West Hollywood where friends and family signed Kona squares with birthday wishes.  I took them home and made this...

Mailed the completed quilt to her and this was her response...

and

I think she likes it!!! 

Happy Sweet Sixteen (and Valentines Day!) Shannon from Auntie Pat! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

This is just a "little taste" of my latest project.  It's paper pieced.  I stare at it constantly on my design wall - so many possibilities...  The strip on the top right will be in the next layer.  I haven't blogged since Thanksgiving (thanks for the reminder Jeff) because I've been swamped making samples for a fabric company's catalog.  Everything should be completed this week and then back to quilting and blogging on a regular basis.  I have many exciting things planned for 2012. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!  Hope you got everything you truly wanted. 

Love and light,
p

Happy Thanksgiving

In spite of all of the commercialism, this is a great day to stop and count your blessings.  To open your heart and do something for someone else.   A small gesture (like a smile or a hello) can make someone happy.

Yesterday at the market the checkout line was long so I started a conversation with the person behind me.  We talked about how large the yams were this year and how good they are for you.  She said her grandmother used to bake them whole and put butter and sugar on them right out of the oven - which is how we used to eat them!  We shared a few more childhood food memories and it made me realize how much we all have in common.  The market requires that you bring your own bags (no more plastic bags) and she had forgotten hers.  They were giving away free bags with purchase so I gave her mine.  Pay it forward - booyah!

I follow Pat Bravo of Art Gallery's blog and she shared photos of her overflowing scrap bins.  She wanted to used them to make quilts to donate to Project Linus.  I make quilts for Quilts for Kids a few times a year so I offered to make one for her.  Here are the scraps I received:

So pretty all starched and ironed and sorted by size.  This was my first time working with her fabrics.  Thought I would have to add lots of solids to break up the scrapiness but only a few cream triangles were needed.  The collections are so well coordinated that it went together like magic!  This is the front.

This is the back.

So cute and so much fun!  I know that it will bring a smile to a child.  Well I have to wrap this up and do a little cooking.  My large and in charge family is gathering for a potluck at my oldest sister's house and I was assigned vegetables...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Love and light,
Patsy

I'm Back - Sort of...

Haven't posted in a while - just wasn't much in the sharing mood.  Our weather, along with the rest of the world, has been strange.  The photo above is a rose and some lavender that is starting to bloom in my garden today.  It's currently 73 degrees and they think it's spring - supposed to be 78 degrees tomorrow!  I'm wearing shorts, a tank top and flip flops in November for pete's sake!
 

This is a mess!  The president of our quilt guild is a wizard at making circles - not applique, inset!  She's an engineer and says it's easy.  She makes big ones, little ones, patchwork ones, ovals, etc.- she's amazing!  I sat down one Sunday morning and decided to teach myself.  Pulled some scraps leftover from our Habitat challenge and managed to inset 3 circles.  It ain't easy folks...  two snaps, a circle, and props to Latifah!!!  Can't let anything go to waste (waste not, want not), so I patched them together using the quilt as you go method (QAYG) so that I could squeeze in some free motion quilting (FMQ) practice.  The result in a small 18x24 quilt.  All of my practice pieces are quilted and bound and I use them around the house for my 2 cats to sleep on.  They keep them warm, catches the shedding, and adds an interesting artsy flavor to the room.

Speaking of Habitat - that Jay McCarroll is a hoot!  He skypped into our challenge meeting Monday night and we were able to share our items with him.  He must have enjoyed it because he kept cussing and telling each of us to bring our items "closer, closer" to the screen so that he could see the details.  Very funny, very talented guy.   Oh, I made pillows which I haven't photoed, so I'll have to post them another time.

This is one of the things I'm working on this week.  The fabric designer had barrels of scraps and wanted to make them into quilts to donate to charity.  I'm always up for making quilts for charity, so I volunteered.  This is my bag of scraps all ironed and sorted by size.  The top is almost complete and I'll share it with you later.   

Lastly, this is a quilt I made a few months ago.  Decided to start posting some of my earlier quilts to show my range.  This is my $.83 quilt.  YES, I SAID 83 CENTS.  The animal print was a remnant of just under a yard which I purchased for 83 cents.  The solids were from my stash.  The design is make with prarie points.  It is hand quilted with natural perle cotton.  My goal is to show that quilting is a craft that doesn't require a lot of money - just practice, practice.  I like it!  Take care and see ya later aligator!