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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Another Amazing Mini from Cut to Pieces

We featured Angela from Cut to Pieces last week...and if you haven't been by her blog yet...WHY!!?  She is sooo talented and inspirational!!  I just love her creative talent, she is unique and amazing!  She made this quilt for a swap (I need to join that swap now!) and also entered it into a fun modern mini quilt challenge at Ellison Lane Quilts.


I'm finished with my most recent mini that I've decided should be entitled "Dream a Little Dream". It all started with an inspirational sketch and post by designer Sarah Jane. This mini is part of a swap over at flickr and my partner doesn't know this is for her yet. So I can't tell you a heck of a lot about her. But I will say that I identified with my partner (and also Sarah Jane) on the need to de-stress this year. Life gets in the way quickly and it is easy to become overwhelmed by our own particular circumstances. So I thought my partner would appreciate the simplicity yet emotional nature of this quilt. And so Dream a Little Dream was begun.

Dream a Little Dream - Complete

The girl in my mini is completely inspired by Sarah Jane's illustration...but I'm quite pleased with how she turned into fabric and thread. I did this all with raw edge applique, a steady hand, and a lot of thread changes.

Dream a Little Dream - Dreamer

Her dreams are made up of all things lovely, sweet, and fantastic. Which just so happens to coincide with my love for Heather Ross fabrics. There's definitely a reason I'm drawn to her designs. You will see that they appear often. And don't mind me when I start waxing poetic and pulling out my love of Disney when I say " A Dream is a wish your Heart makes".

Dream a Little Dream - heart


I also did a little stamping on this quilt. My very first time stamping on fabric! I did just a subtle (read: I didn't want to mess up) stamping along the quilt with the title. The free motion quilting is also supposed to be dream like... flowing, relaxing, and wavy.


Dream a Little Dream

The details are big in this mini, but I think the overall effect is Simplicity. I worked to keep things a little less overworked and I hope that it "works". 

Dream a Little Dream - Detail

So, dear partner, I hope that you love this mini as much as I do. She's been peaceful and joyful for me...just what I think you will enjoy about her. I've loved having her finished for a while and getting to her enjoy her on my design wall. I don't always get to spend much time with the items I make for a swap and I feel lucky to have had her for a bit.

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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Fabric Tuesday and WINNER!

First let me start with the winner of $25 to our newest advertiser, Contemporary Cloth:

hueisei said...
Follow them on twitter.

Congrats!!!!

What have you been crafting this past week?  I finally got a binding on a quilt (YAY) now I can feel less lazy sitting in front of the TV if I have a quilt on my lap :) I have another quilt waiting to be quilted, and then today on a whim Heather and I picked up another project...what is wrong with us?? My craft list is impossibly long.  We'll share our project with you all on Thursday...

Let's check out some projects that caught my eye last week:

Paper Pieced Heart (and tutorial!) from Craft Couture by T.C.

Quilt block from Krista Stitched

Stacked Books Quilt from s.o.t.a.k handmade

Bubble Trail from Quilty Habit

Birdie Stitches Quilt Top from Fluffy Sheep Quilting

So inspiring!!  You don't have to link quilts but finished quilts are so eye catching so I tend to feature them!!

Fabric Tuesday #75
If you need a reminder or it's your first time linking up see HERE.


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Monday, February 27, 2012

Val from Pink Please! String Quilt


Val from Pink Please! is quite the talented quilter and has been showcasing her talents on Moda Bake Shop with her darling Floor Pillows and Play Mat.  So cute!   Today she's sharing a quilt with a lot more meaning and purpose, and it was a collaborative effort.  I so admire Val (and all of you) who take your talents and do so much good with them.  It is something I am striving to do more of myself.  Anyway I will let Val tell you about the quilt and Heroes Foundation.  Also, she posted HERE how well the quilt did (!!!!!) so check that out when you're done!! Also make sure to stop by Pink Please! and her shop with darling custom tooth fairy pillows.

What started out as one quilt block made from scraps and a plea to have some friends help make a few more, has turned into one incredible quilt, full of stories, that is ready to be auctioned off at The Night Under the Stars Gala benefiting the Heroes Foundation on Feb. 25th.


I dragged my Dad (and his camera) over to the railroad tracks by his house to take some fun shots.
(Thanks, Big John!)


Ok, the quilting on this is just amazing!!!!  Tammy Lawson, of Indianapolis, Indiana, home of the Super Bowl, what what, offered to donate her time (4 hours!), her batting, her thread, her long arm quilting machine, and her skills to put this quilt together. Watching her free motion quilt this was mesmerizing!  I can not comprehend how she quilts this without drawing the pattern on the fabric.  If anyone in the Indy area needs long arm quilting services, contact me to get Tammy's info. You will not be disappointed!  She even let me sew on her machine while I waited.  We called it a Sewing Play Date!



Check out this video I took of Tammy in action....



I LOVE the little ribbon block that Charlotte of Lawson and Lotti made. 
It makes a statement without saying a word!




If you made a block(s) on this quilt will head over to Flickr and tag it here?  It should be fun to see everyone on there.



My friends in charge of the auction thought a throw pillow would be a nice addition to the quilt.  I chose 4  blocks that were extras sent in that I thought went nicely together and made this pillow.  I put pink pom poms around the edges and now I don't think I'll ever be able to make another pillow without them.


The silent auction committee thought it would be nice if I would write up a little somethin' somethin' about this quilt to put in the brochure that everyone will receive the night of the Gala.  Here is what is submitted:

When I first became involved with the Heroes Foundation Silent Auction Committee, I knew I wanted to make something special to donate to such a wonderful cause.  Modern Quilting is a passion of mine and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to use my art to raise money for others.  I posted a request on my blog asking my sewing bloggie friends if anyone would be interested in helping me make this quilt. Each person could make one quilt block using their scrap fabric and send it to me with a note telling who their block was in honor of.  I was very nervous that no one would want to help me.  To my surprise, within 48 hours, 45 women had responded that they would like to contribute.  Not only did these women send one block each, but many sent two!  Coming from as far as Australia, the stories behind each block will tug at your heart strings!  Some blocks are in honor of lost parents and spouses, some are in honor of those currently fighting, and one is even in honor of herself, a woman currently going through chemo and radiation.  This quilt has helped me see that cancer does not discriminate.  Everyone all over the world is fighting this ugly disease and the 46 of us hope that we can use this disease as an opportunity to make something beautiful, that will hopefully raise money for those who need it.

~Val Campbell

Blocks have come from: England, Australia, and The United States (Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Kansas, California, Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Utah, Florida, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.)


***Thank you all that contributed.  I am honored to have put this together. The quilt earned $1000 at the auction!***

xoxoxo
~Val~


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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Spontaneous Threads quilt finish..

This quilt comes from Stephanie of Spontaneous threads. Pretty amazing huh? Love the orange and gray. The more I see orange around makes me like it more and more! I love the scrappness and wonkiness of this quilt. Quilt finish gorgeousness here... Be sure to check out Spontaneous threads blog for more inspiration!


The Perfect Storm- for me that is…..
"Tail Wind" original design and quilting by- Stephanie Zacharer Ruyle
(photo: Marta Strzeszewski, photo editing by Amy Gibson- she photoshopped out the hands!)

It doesn't happen very often-that unique combination of circumstances and ideas (old and new), but it happened just recently to me and if I can get all the stars and planets to align (ya, right) I might be on to something.

Let me begin at the beginning, I have had this quilt for as long as I can remember.

It's faded in some areas, and the binding is frayed but it still retains it's beauty and it's simplicity
It's very old, very soft and very fragile. I don't know who made it, but it's totally made by hand. Cut, pieced and quilted without any electricity what-so-ever.
These small orange squares are 1" in size. Look at that tiny, uniform hand stitching.

I have always loved this quilt and wish I knew more about the person who made it. Besides it's mysterious creator, one thing that always makes me smile is it's color. It's orange and white- sunny and bright. Someone once told me that they thought it was probably not orange but red and that it has faded with time and use. But I disagree, something tells me it's always been orange (faded red to me is pink) and that makes me smile all the more.  I'm guessing 100+ years ago, orange wasn't a popular color, let alone the color of the year, like Tangerine Tango is this year, but someone liked it enough to make a quilt with orange proudly displayed. Which got me thinking that in 2012, I NEEDED to make a quilt for myself. (I haven't yet you see). Then along came the Tangerine Tango challenge…….

Tangerine Tango Quilt Challenge
and the MQG challenge and a January FRMQG meeting and I got to thinking, perhaps these are just the push, my proverbial "Tail Wind".

So, here is MY story
Title: Tail Wind
Start: mid-January, 2012- completed: mid-February 2012

Tail Wind-the front
The back
Size: 95" x90" (Queen sized)
FMQ: (on my Bernina 180) using: a FMQ pattern of tailed-swirls and fillers to resemble "wind" currents originating from a centrally placed compass rose.



Thread: Coats and Clarks 100% quilting cotton in winter white, 40 weight.  I used well over 2000 yards of thread to quilt this project.
Batting: Hobbs Tuscany Collection, 100% wool batting which needs to be quilted every 3".
Material, 100% cotton- (front):
     1. Oranges:(mainly from stash and small yardage approximately FQ size and smaller) 5 Kona "orange family" solids (3 little pieces left over from the Robert Kaufman solids challenge charm pack in brights); Kona solids in school bus and coral; Kaffe Fassett- Rowan Line Dance; OZ by Sanae for Moda; Floralicious by Michael D'Amore for Benartex; Taza by Dena for free Spirit; Woodland Friends by Ellen Crimi-Trent for Clothworks, Half Moon by Moda; Grad Bazaar by Patty Young for Michael Miller; Metro Living Circles by Robert Kaufman; Fresh Flowers by Deb Strain for Moda; Garden Divas by Jane Sassaman for Free Spirit; A day in the Life by Mummysan for Robert Kaufman, Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit; Innocent Crush Maybe by Anna Maria Horner for Free Spirit; Treasures and Tidbits by Piece O' Cake Designs for Robert Kaufman; Tonal Kaleidoscope Gypsy Bandana by Pillow & Maxfield for Michael Miller;  Aldo fo Zippy by Jenn Ski/Lilla Rogers Studio for P&B Textiles; Kensington Studio for Quilting Treasures; Simon + Kabuki for Eandl Design, Inc.; Terrain by Kate Spain for Moda; Mingle by Monaluna for Robert Kaufman; and various wonderful orange scraps from Michelle L. (Flickr- I like Orange too) from the Goodie Bag swap (round 2).

     2. Grays:(mainly from stash and small yardage as above) Kona medium grey; "Quilters Linen" by Robert Kaufman,  Metro Living Circles by Robert Kaufman; Alexander Henry Fashion for Home; Little Apples by Aneela Hoey for Moda; Ta Dot by Michael Miller, and small scraps from Michelle L. (Flickr- I like Orange too).

 Material(back):
     1. Oranges: (mainly from stash and small yardage as above) Aldo fo Zippy by Jenn Ski/Lilla Rogers Studio for P&B Textiles; Heirloom by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit
     2. Turquoise: (small yardage from stash)Treetop Fancy by Tina Givens for Free Spirit; Night Sky by Tina Givens for Free Spirit

"Neutral", (front and back): Kona Snow approximately 12-13 yards

For this quilt, I used:
Front: small pieced squares (5 1/2") 85 total- (80 orange, 5 gray)
          medium pieced squares (10 1/2") 26 total- (19 orange, 7 gray)
          medium kona snow solid 10 1/2" squares- 7
          small kona snow solid 5 1/2" squares- 16
          rectangle kona snow solid 10 1/2 x 5 1/2"- 10
Back: large pieced squares 15" 3 total (2 turquoise, 1 orange)
          small pieced squares 5 1/2" total 3 (2 orange and 1 turquoise)
          pieced kona solid in Snow

The quilt top pieces were laid out in a random pattern based mainly on what appealed to me.
One note of caution, and I should have foreseen this had I (been organized and) drawn this out in advance; was……... the piecing of the top became puzzle-like containing only one width of quilt straight seam line (yikes).
I lay my quilts out on the floor as I don't have a design "wall".  If you look closely at about 9 o'clock you can see a large grouping of quilt blocks with no obvious (to me) way to assemble them without some creative and non-linear piecing.

In the end I was left with about 7 medium sized sections and had quite the time fitting them all together in an orderly manner.

It required (quite) a bit of interesting seaming but it all eventually went together.
The completed top laying over the backing and the 100% wool batting, all taped to the living room floor and waiting to be pin-basted.
 I did lean my lesson when it came to the back! (minimal and straight piecing).

quilting in progress- Bernina 180 and a small Sew EZ portable sewing table
What I love about this quilt is that I used many, many oranges and some (but not as many) grays. If you look closely you can see birds, bees, flowers, dots, zig-zags, spiders, sinks, a bath tub, a whisk, a dress, eye glasses, a baby carriage, a toaster, a door, a piece of cake, utensils, lots of scissors, a toy car, stripes, checks, plaid, argyll, fish scales, words, leaves, rosebuds, ducks and hats. I'd say that's quite a collection of things to see and to look for, and all of that just makes me smile.
The quilting is really prominent on the back and I'm thrilled that I used so much neutral here.

Back, detail
                                             

Back- close-up of  FM quilting
In the end I have a beautiful and surprisingly light-weight queen sized quilt. Although the wool batting requires denser quilting, it's incredibly light, compressible and easy to maneuver under the space available on a regular table top sewing machine.
Many Thanks to my FRMQG members for helping me take full-length photos
The front (photo: Marta Strzeszewski)

The back
(photo Marta Strzeszewski)



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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Contemporary cloth giveaway...


Welcome or new Sponsor cONTEMPORARY CLOTH!  
tHEY ARE OFFERING A GREAT GIVEAWAY TO ONE OF OUR READERS!
a $25 DOLLAR GIFT CARD FOR THEIR SHOP.

hERE IS A LITTLE INFORMATION FrOM SONDRA ABOUT HER SHOP...
owning contemporary cloth inc. is actually my third career. initially i was a social worker, then a pediatric occupational therapist. i opened c.c, online in 2001. my goal was to provide a resource for interesting, contemporary/modern and retro-look textiles for home or office, at reasonable prices.
our fabrics are used in art quilts, wearable art, wall art, interior design projects, crafts, mixed media, book arts, etc. we have a worldwide customer base that has inspired us to continue on that path.  
Example of 3 remnant packs of Henry Road Textiles.
we have quilting + home dec fabrics, bold cottons, yuwa japanese fabrics, notions, magazines/books and more. you will also find unique artists, such as:
marjorie lee bevis (marbled fabrics),
els van baarles (batiks, tjaps + mixed media papers),
jane dunnewold (artcloth, canvases/dvds and cds),
janet lasher's (hand dyed fabrics) and
paula small’s henry road (original screen printed fabric).
modern marks is a space for my creations on paper and fabric, where i hope to add my own designs.
our mission is to provide and maintain customer satisfaction through reliable service, to support artists and to donate 1% of our net sales to dress for success, clevelandohio.

hERE ARE A FEW WAYS you can enter to win the giveaway FOR A $25 GIFT CARD...
SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY
Follow/Like us on Facebook – Contemporary Cloth
Sign-up for our weekly email Newsletter about our new arrivals + sales (left sidebar on our website)
Follow us on Twitter – @cclothFollow us on Pinterest

Contemporary cloth is offering a giveaway on their own blog and a 25% discount your order until February 25th. Join here.
This giveaway is now closed.

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