Tag Archives: sewing

‘Finish it’ February

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After years of focusing on the same quilt, I’m happy to say that there are already 8 projects on my WIP list for 2015, including a sampler. Hmm… It’s a good thing that the annual Spring retreat is this month. I could use some time to focus on sewing.
Saturday morning, N and I made progress on our Improv Charity Blocks from Cheryl Arkison’s workshops. 2015FinishImprovCharityPiecing

There are now twelve 15″ blocks total: her 3, my 3, Cheryl’s 3 and the 3 we just made. I sewed the top together and next we will look for red backing fabrics.
2015FinishImprovCharityTopTop finished. Check!

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Happiness Rocks

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My weekends have been a blur this year and I’ve spent much of my time being wonderfully creative: One retreat spent figuring out whether digital photo album design is my direction, another, helping friends bottle a barrel of wine. 2015HappyBottling
However, last weekend, I created stuff!

My client requested colorful cards for her annual birthday set. I designed them with a thoughtful stamp and silk flowers. My process was to cut the paper and stamp, then coordinate flowers and assemble, finishing with a blingy brad for sparkle. By the time I’d finished 50, I had a vibrant garden on my desk!
2015HappyBdayCard 2015HappyBdayCards

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Just a small project…

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It’s not really a surprise. I’ve known about her pregnancy for the past six months. I just wasn’t thinking that I would make anything…and then I had second thoughts. It might be nice to make a baby blanket. You know, it’s a small project and I seem to be able to finish smallish projects these days. So, why not! It’s only a couple weeks before Christmas. I’m not busy! Heh.

Here’s my starting fabric:2014BabyQuiltFabric

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My Amish Muse

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A call for entries to the local Modern quilt guilds went out earlier this summer. It seems an Ohio Amish Quilt Exhibition is coming to the SJ Quilt & Textile Museum in November and the idea for a juried Modern show, Amish: The Modern Muse, is planned.

Hmm, where to start? Perhaps a loose definition of the typical characteristics of an Amish quilt might help. Besides being made by someone who is Amish/Menonite, these quilts tend to have a strong geometric design in either muted (browns, greys, olive, rust) or single color, often black, with vivid color combinations.

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Did Somebody Say Sampler?

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Oftentimes, I admire those amazing sampler quilts filled with precise paper piecing techniques or applique work, but am not sure how I’d ever manage to make anything so elaborate. All that fussy piecing! Not that I don’t do that already. Heh. That changed when members of my Modern Quilt Guild started a small group working on Tula Pink’s City Sampler 100 Modern Quilt Blocks. These designs seemed fairly straightforward, so I jumped in this Spring. Even before I had the book, my friend texted me a couple blocks, so I could make them for the first meeting.

During the year, I struck upon the idea to use all the extra Hoffman fabrics and happily restarted my Tula project this October. Hoffman Tula blocks! What fun!2014TulaCity0012014TulaCity002

Carpenter’s Wheel: Indigo Mandala

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With furious sewing and quilting over the past few months and weeks, I finished the 2014 Hoffman Challenge. True to form, I ran into some strange issues I didn’t experience previously.

Unlike the Magenta version, the Indigo fabric has colorful orange/pink filigree in the background, instead of subtle purple or blue. Thus, I spent much more time fussy-cutting:

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My BAMalot Block: A New Direction

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The County Fair is just around the corner and I’ve been working to finish this project to enter as part of a group exhibit.

Back in July, I began a Round Robin journey with the Mod Quilt Guild I’d recently joined. Thus, I’ve posted the other blocks I’ve worked on in Aug, Oct and December. It was much fun and now, my own block has returned and it’s taken on a New Direction!

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Rocking Good Time!

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Wow!

Have you ever taken a creative workshop and felt overwhelmed and out of your comfort zone not always understanding what the next step is…? You should! It’s liberating and amazing things happen.

Well, I mean, I took Joe the Quilter’s Rock the Block workshop and made some nifty things happen. With a late start, I had to jump in & catch up right away… did I mention that I still needed to choose fabric? Ah, indecisive am I?

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