Busting Out!

It is finally finished!  The quilt was made using the great Mod Mood quilt along instructions at Daintytime.  The original title was "Busting Out" (as in the scraps busting out of my bag), but I am also thinking of calling it "Willy Wonka's Music Factory".

This is something that I would have never thought myself capable of making, but 2012 is the year that I declared I would learn new things and stretch my quilting skills.  So, I thought I would just go for it.

I always thought of myself as someone who doesn't use solids.  But after pulling from my stash and scrap piles, I realized that I had enough varied scraps for the quilt.

It is machine pieced with some hand piecing.  The quilting is done by hand in a free form pattern using random colored thread.  I will admit that finishing off the design was a real bugaboo.  I spent a week trying different options and just staring at it hoping that an answer would pop in my mind.  Even after it was finished, for several days I told my mom I wanted to take scissors and cut it.  She promptly kept the quilt for a bit.

Color Palette Challenge - March

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

I honestly do not know where the month of March has gone.  With the exception of this challenge, I promised myself that I would not start a new project until I completed some UFO's (and I cant believe that I actually stuck to this resolve!)

I was happy with the colors because I have been wanting to work with black in a quilt.  I pulled out my scraps and had an idea that was a bit ambitious.  My inspiration was my hand made matryoshka doll with chimes inside which I believe is also called a "nevalaska".  I got this in Sitka, Alaska on a cruise several years ago.  Its really pretty with a nice chime, kinda like a super fancy weeble wobble.

Soon though, time ran out and I had to lay this project aside.  I decided to create a mini that incorporated the curves of the black fabric in the design.  I tried creating some wonky flying geese and I liked the look, but I did not leave enough seam allowance on the sides.  When I sewed the geese together, the side points of the geese were cut off.

So, I took some scraps and started sewing them randomly and I came up with this mini for the AAQI.  It is machine pieced and hand quilted and measures just a hair under 9 X 12.  It currently does not have a title.

Stop by Patchwork Times to check out the other entries in this month's challenge and view the color palette for April's challenge.

Also, its the first of the month so I am linking up to the Small Blog Meet  at Lily's Quilts. I always enjoy this meet up because I get a chance to discover new blogs.

Festival of Scrappiness

Just a quick blog tonight.  I know that I am cutting it close, but I wanted to make sure that I had an entry into the Festival of Scrappiness at Stitched In Color.   My favorite quilts are scrap quilts and I love to see what everyone else has created from scraps.

I knew when the festival was announced, that I wanted to enter my Georgia Quilt's Tulip.  I had thought about entering the Mod Mood quilt, but its very dark tonight and I cant seem to get a good photo.  So, I present my string tulip quilt.  This was my first attempt at hand applique and the quilt is hand quilted.  It is so bright and cheery that every time I see it, I can't believe that I made something so bright.

Happy National Quilting Day!

Woo Hoo!! Its been a great day.

I was starting to resign myself to the fact that I may not find any Flea Market Fancy.  Every time I tried to purchase some, it was sold out.  So when I received an email notification that FMF was in stock at Hawthorne Threads, I knew I had to try and get some. I ordered it on Wednesday and it came today!  Its exactly what I ordered too. 

I did not want to blog about a rant, but several months ago I had big problems with an Internet shop about 2 fabric purchases.  Both orders that I received were totally different than what I purchased and what was on my receipt.  Getting it resolved put a downer on Internet purchasing.  But I am so over that!!

I also got this cute dalmatian print from Robert Kaufman's line "Menagerie".  I have plans for the dalmatian print, but I am still looking for a project to use the FMF.

Work In Progress Wednesday - Mod Mood (Still)

Linking up today with Work in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

I am still working on the hand quilting of the Mod Mood quilt and am about 90% complete.  I am beginning to lose my focus somewhat on this quilt.  Don't get me wrong, I am totally lovin it, but there are so many other projects floating around in my mind right now.

I think it started when I ran some errands last Saturday.  I dropped books off at the library and I stopped to check out one of the books on the "New Books" shelf - "Fresh Quilting" by Malka Dubrawsky.  I later stopped by my LQS and they had just received "a stitch in color" by Malka Dubrawsky for Moda.  So I picked up a couple charm packs (since they did not have a fat quarter bundle).  I really do love the bright colors and simple lines of this fabric line.

I started playing around with quilt ideas and did a web search and found that Malka would be speaking at the Tri-county Quilt Guild on Tuesday.  Yesterday, I took off work a bit early, picked up my mom, and we went to the guild's meeting. 

The presentation was about the fabric dying process using stamps and wax resist.  It was quite interesting and my mom and I both enjoyed it.  I think I will be going back to the LQS this weekend to buy my mom some of this fabric for her projects.

Modern Mini Quilt Challenge

When I saw the prizes for the Modern Mini Quilt Challenge at Ellison Lane Quilts, I knew I had to create an entry even though I am new to making mini quilts. 

My mini is called the "Wheel" and is 20 x 20 inches. It is machine pieced and hand quilted.  With this piece, I challenged myself to work with curves, hand applique, and the leftover scraps from my Neapolitan Star.  I had envisioned making a mini Dresden plate, but once I started to sew the wedges I noticed that the piece kept getting larger and larger.  I realize now that the wedges were not cut with enough of an angle.  I had just enough scraps to finish the wheel. 

My dad has a fancy camera, so I went to my parents house to take the photo.  Its been kinda dark and dreary weather lately so when the sun came out, I knew I wanted to get a photo taken outside.  Ahhhh, good times this weekend as I got to spend alot of "quality" time with my dad trying to get the perfect shot in the best location.  There was plenty of sun, and also plenty of wind.

Not shown are:

• the action shots of me chasing the mini when it blew away with my backside in view
• the shots of me trying to move the dog off the mini when she chased it down before me and planted herself on it
• the nosey neighbor that had to check her mail, then she walked her dog, then she raked leaves all the while checking us out

Color Palette Challenge - February

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

When I first saw all of the colors for February, I thought of making a landscape using a design where I could practice working with curves.  I didn't stray too far from my first thoughts to the final design.  

This is a mini quilt created for the AAQI titled "Empty Path".  The piece measures just under 9 x 12 and is machine pieced and hand quilted.  I have added small black beads randomly to the shadowed tree.  I could not easily determine how to incorporate the red and orange colors.  I finally decided to include these colors as mini half square triangles which represent flowers. 

I am happy with my curves and the hand stitching, but I have a feeling that this piece just doesn't seem done to me.

I have enjoyed working with these challenges and having the deadline of one month to complete the project.  This time restriction has really caused me stretch in many ways.  Not only do I need to determine a project that I can complete in a month, but I also need to plan out the project.  (Usually I am a person that takes a long time to complete a project because I work on many projects at once!) 

Stop by Patchwork Times to check out the other entries in this month's challenge. 

Also, its the first of the month so I am linking up to the Small Blog Meet at Lily's Quilts. I always enjoy this meet up because I get a chance to discover new blogs.