How cool is this?

Back in early May, I went on a bit of a fabric shopping spree.  After looking around my sewing room, I knew that I needed a re-org.  I actually felt kinda bummed when I realized that not only did I need to go on a fabric diet, but I may never in my lifetime finish all my projects and use up that stash.

I contacted Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and she responded right away saying that they accept in their quilt ministry:

Cotton fabric, yardage or usable scraps, orphan blocks, UFOs, quilt tops, finished quilts - we take just about anything!

So, I packed up a box of jelly rolls, tops, WIPs, and orphan blocks and put it in the mail.  Now, look what I saw on her June 20th post: 

Photo reposted with permission

This was a top that I donated.  The pattern is Tilt from Kaffe Fassett's "Simple Shapes, Spectacular Quilts".  I had purchased a large fat quarter bundle of Tina Given's Olivia's Holiday and sorted the colors in aqua/green and yellow/pink.  I made a quilt with the aquas and am currently quilting it.

The yellow and pink quilt was a little too bright at the time so I sent it on to a new home where I thought it would be used and loved.  I think the quilt looks great completed and re-sized!  Since the quilt is kind of long and narrow, several rows were removed and used on the back.

If you have any blocks or tops that need a good home and will bring comfort to those who are facing serious challenges, may I suggest that you support the quilters at her quilt ministry referred to as The Sweatshop.   

Linking up today to the Lets Get Acquainted Blog Hop linky party at Plum and June.

Design Wall Monday - Color Challenge

It seems like May and June have gone by in a whirl of activity.  Hoping that I will be able to get my Color Palette Challenge done in time for the July 1st posting date (less than a week).  Here is the snippet of the project that I just started today.

Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop

Hello & welcome.  Today is my stop on the Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop, so come on in and thanks for stopping by. 

My name is Mina and I'm 30 something living in Houston, Texas with my 2 quilt dogs.  I started quilting when I got my first job after college as a creative outlet and to combat insomnia.  I work long hours as an auditor/financial analyst/computer geek, then quilt at night (and sometimes into the wee hours of the morning when I get into a groove).  I started my blog 1 year ago to document my projects and to join in all the bloggy fun!

I am self taught and tend to just jump right into a project.  Hey, I'm a great starter!  When I see something, I wonder how was it made or think "I can do that".  Once I was watching an athlete pole vaulting at the summer Olympics and I said "I can do that".  In slow motion, my mom and I quietly looked at each other then bust out laughing.  OK, I seriously CANNOT do that! LOL!

I realized during the Fall 2011 Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side that I really did not have any quilts to show since I gave them away and did not make any for me.  I declared that 2012 would be my year to try all new techniques and new ideas.  My quilting has taken me in a new direction now and that's OK.  I can't wait to see what else I can do!

TIPS

My favorite quilting tip would be to not stay in your little box - with your quilting or with your life!  What I mean is, I used to think of myself as a hand quilter that worked with scraps to make quilts that I gave away.  The more that I read quilt blogs, I discovered that there is so much more to quilting and I wanted to try it!

My best blogging tip would be to accept that you are you.  I hope that these 2 bits of advice don't seem contradictory.  When I first started blogging, I was very discouraged because I could not get my blog and the photos to look so polished like other blogs.  Its been said before, but I'll echo that this is supposed to be fun.  If it isn't fun and you find yourself over-extended, step back for a bit and re-group.  Just know your workload limits so you can stay sane and keep it fun.

So here I am jumping into things with both feet, full steam ahead.  I had written a mini-tute, but now I think I want to show you the design process of my current project.

Earlier this year, many bloggers were writing about choosing a word for the year.  This really got me thinking because I knew that I needed to change since my quilting seemed stale.  With 2012 being my year to try all new things, I decided that my word for the year is STRETCH as in stretching my skills and my limits.

I have been working on several minis featuring my dogs.  Since one of the blog hop themes is color, I wondered what else I could make utilizing this mini quilt style of a focal piece within a patchwork frame.

 

Wow, this is a long post today.  Thank you for stopping by and please be sure to visit Suzanne at Suzclaas for her Let's Get Acquainted post today and her fun tutorial.  Also, check out last Tuesday's posts at Sewlandia and Mama Love Quilts.  The next blog stops will be Tuesday at Sotak Handmade and Plum and June.

A big, big thanks to Beth at Plum and June for all her hard work organizing this blog hop.

Now I am off to explore more new things, such as, conquering my fear of triangles, taking better photos of my work, and learning to machine quilt.  Any tips or suggestions regarding these would be very much appreciated!

Design Wall Monday - June Project

Today I thought that I would try creating a post with the Blogger app. The design options are pretty slim.

This weekend I returned home and was able to spend a good amount of time behind the sewing machine. I did manage to get a lot of work done on my June projects. I figure that with the burglary and the cruise, I haven't been able to sew for one month!

My date on the Let's Get Acquainted blog hop is June 21 and I got the main project done and started a second project that I may also feature. This is a sneak peek of a string hand. The colors are random, but I don't know how I managed to make one "candy corn" finger.

Hoping this Blogger app posts well.

Design Wall Monday - In the Bag Ugly Fabric Challenge

Today I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

I really do not have much on the design wall today yet, but I have several upcoming projects.

(1)  I received the ugly fabric from my swap partner Kristy from In Stitches on the Compound  before I went on vacation.  Look close, there is some chicken fabric! 

Uh.......there is nothing speaking to me right now so I think I will just stare at it for awhile and maybe an idea will come to me.

(2)  I am also participating in the Lets Get Acquainted blog hop.  This is my first blog hop and I am working on a project and mini-tut for my blog date June 21.

(3)  Also on my to-do list this month is June's Color Palette challenge at Patchwork Times.  In early May, Tuesday Morning had a sale on Westminster fabrics and I purchased a goo-gob (huge!) amount.  I am hoping that I will be able to find some new fabric that works with June's challenge colors.

Color Palette Challenge - May

The inspiration piece for May's challenge was created by Vicki Welsh at Field Trips in Fiber.

As discussed briefly in my last post, May really threw me for a loop.  The only project that I worked on was this challenge piece.  When I first saw these colors, I was surprised to find myself saying the exact same thing I say every month - "I don't know what I will do with these colors, these are not the colors I work with!"

But after searching through my stash, I found a small bag of leftover snippets from a quilt I had made and the colors matched nicely.  This month I decided to work on a design idea using a lot of white with small shots of color, something simple and geometric.  I also thought I would try machine quilting.

So those were the ideas I started with, and the finished piece is close to what I had imagined in my mind.  This mini quilt measures 16 x 17.  Now, I have no experience with machine quilting, but thought I would just try something.......well, it didn't quite work out.  Obviously I need more time to learn how to machine quilt.  I ripped out the machine stitches and started hand quilting the mini-quilt.  My mom was able to finish the piece just in time so I could post it for this month's challenge at Patchwork Times.  Check out the challenge colors for June, they are bright.  And yes, not my normal colors.

As you can tell from my photo, I am still working on one of my 2012 goals of learning to take better photos of my quilts.

Also, today is the 1st of the month so I am linking up to the Small Blog Meet at Lily's Quilts.  This is a good opportunity to discover smaller blogs as there is so much great inspiration out in the blogworld.