A Modern Quilt Guild Fabric Challenge

Wow.

I can't believe how much time has passed since I last posted!  I've been so busy with work, school starting up again, and of course, sewing and quilting!  I've finished the Breezes pinwheel quilt and just got it back from the superb (and kind of famous) long-arm quilter, Tia Curtis!  This is my first quilt that I haven't quilted myself.  It's also the most complex and intricate quilt I've made, so I wanted to make sure the quilting was perfect, so I sent it to Tia!  I will post pictures of the quilt soon....I need to bind it yet.

I met Tia through the KC Modern Quilt Guild.  I've been a member of the guild for the past several months and I've really enjoyed it even though I haven't been able to participate in any of the retreats or sew ins offered.  That is soon to change, however!  My work schedule is changing and I will soon have Saturdays off which is when most of the sewing events are planned.  That all said, I was able to sign up for a fabric challenge sponsored by Riley Blake and the Modern Quilt Guild.   Each participant was given six fat eighths from their Basics category and told to create anything quilted!  I decided to make a poncho for my littlest daughter, Charlotte.  Drumroll please.....

I created the poncho using the slice and insert technique I learned in the Improvisational Piecing Craftsy course I took a few months ago.  I experimented with different quilting styles after it was pieced.  I think it turned out pretty cute and Charlotte is super excited to model the poncho next month at the guild meeting!

Besides binding my pinwheel quilt, I have a lot of projects in the works...mostly Christmas gifts and I've promised to actually make a tree skirt for our Christmas tree this year.  What are you all working on?  

By for now!

Angela

Fields of Opportunities...

Iowa is full of "fields of opportunities"

Well, I'm back from my trip to Iowa.  It was a great, albeit short, mini vacation.  I attended my sister's graduation from nursing school.  The ceremony was nice and her speech (she was selected as the student speaker) was very inspirational.  It was also funny.  She used humor in her speech as she was probably the oldest of the graduates!

Nursing will be my sister's third career.  About ten years ago, she got her Master's in education and has been teaching English to middle school kids since.  Now, she's a nurse!  I'm thinking she is actually a career student!  

We look like complete opposites; she is blonde and blue and I'm brown and brown.  She'd be mortified if I told you she is older than me...but, she is 10 months older!   Seriously, I'm super proud of her and I know she's going to be a great nurse!  

She loved the quilted wall hanging I gave her except she thought the back was the front.  I assured her she could hang it either way she wanted.  She really loved that it matched the quilt I gave her for her ahem 39th birthday... 

One last tidbit...I'm super excited about the vintage quilt I found a few weeks ago at Good JuJu KC.  I think the pattern is called, Around the World.  It is so awesome.  It was hand quilted!  I've put on my daughter's bed just for the photo.  I'm actually working on the Breezes quilt I started for her last February....this will the subject of a future post!   

Have a great week everyone!  Chat with you again soon!

Angela

A Night at the Fair

...just wanted to share a few pictures of my recent evening at our local county fair.  I entered my Do Over Quilt in the "Wall Hanging" quilt class and I won a red ribbon!  That means my little quilt placed second in this category!  

It was fun looking at all the quilts as well as the other exhibits.  It was even fun looking and learning about different farm animals!  Who knew so many different kinds of chickens existed?  My daughter, Charlotte, especially liked getting to feed cookies to this little gal, also named, Charlotte:

We also had fun looking through the NASA exhibit.  We even got to touch a "moon rock!"  Guess who now wants to be an astronaut?

Did I mention the plentiful fair food?  Yes, I had to go there...carrot cake funnel cake with cream cheese icing AND powdered sugar!

We had a great time at the fair.  It really brought back memories of when I was a kid growing up in Northern Iowa.  I was a 4H kid and I can remember entering blueberry bars at the fair, doing a place setting (they still do that by the way), and even showing my miniature schnauzer.  It's neat that even in the city, there is still a small corner of "ruralness" that still gets to shine via the fair every year!

Speaking of Iowa, I am going to be heading there soon to celebrate with my sister.  She is graduating from nursing school!  I made her a quilted wall hanging to match the Birthday Quilt I made for her last year.  I hope she likes it...

I made the heart using the Stitch and Flip method I learned from Jacquie Gering's Improvisational Piecing-Modern Design Craftsy Course.  I used scraps of the same fabric I used for the Birthday Quilt.  I used larger pieces for the back:

I hope you all are having a great summer!  It's going by super fast, so be sure to enjoy every minute of it!

Angela

Balancing Acts

In my last post I wrote about my daughter's early complaints of summer boredom.  She has had to eat those words.  Since this last post, she's performed at an end of season gymnastics exhibition, spent a week at a Parks and Rec camp, and spent five days (and nights) in the Mark Twain National Forest camping and canoeing!  I'm pretty sure she has had a blast with all these activities, even tipping the canoe in the cold, clear waters of the North Fork River!  I must say, I enjoyed camping and canoeing, too...even though I had no cell phone service, no access to the internet, and had to drive to the "restroom" and "showers."  Anyone who knows me, knows I'm not much of an "outside" kind of person!  And, by the way, camping is A LOT of work!  That said, I did have fun, but I'm glad to be home and I'm anxious to get back into my sewing room in order to finish up the last few of my Improvisational Piecing  Craftsy course.  I've had such an awesome time working on these projects.  I finished my Do Over Quilt the night before we left for our camping trip.  I'm super happy with the results:

Do Over Quilt (Back)

I decided to use a decorative stitch for the quilting.  I would have never even thought about trying that had it not been for the course instructor, Jacquie Gering.  I love the result! I'm excited to bring this little quilt to the next Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild .  Oh, did I mention I joined this Guild?  Well, I finally did it!  I went to my first meeting in May and joined a few days later.  I'm thrilled to be a part of the Guild and I can't wait to get involved! 

I hope you are enjoying your summer so far!  It's been crazy busy for me already....what happened to "the lazy days of summer?"  Nothing lazy about it so far for me...Wallace, however, may have it figured out!

Until next time!

Angela

freestatequiltstudio's photostream

freestatequiltstudio's photostream on Flickr.

Summer Start

So, it's day three of summer vacation and my kid is already B-O-R-E-D!  Sad huh?  I wish I had 100 days off for the summer!  I'd love to be bored for a few days!  I bet you'd love just a few boring days, too!    

Call me boring, but since my last posting, I've finished up a couple sewing projects and started a few more.  First, I finished my Love Knots quilt.  I haven't quilted yet, however.  I'm not sure I will, actually.  I'm not that happy with it.

Don't get me wrong...I love the concept of this quilt top.  I'm not sure I executed it that nicely, however.  I will definitely try again, but this time I will make sure the fabric triangles I use to flip and stitch are bigger.  That way, I think the end shapes will be more distinct.  Have a look at some of the quilts my Craftsy classmates' quilts completed for the Stitch and Flip class.

I skipped ahead in the class and finished another quilt using Jacqie Gering's Slice and Insert Technique.  I actually signed up the the Craftsy Course because of Gering's Crosscut Quilt.  This is one of my all time favorite quilts ever!

Isn't is AWESOME?!  I love the colors, the architecture of it, and the quilting is amazing!  Now, here is my version:

Not so awesome, but, still, I liked it.  I used browns, rust, and mustard yellow.  These colors, as well as the architectural lines, remind me of the Brady house in The Brady Bunch.  I liked this quilt...until I quilted it.

YUK.  Not happy.

So, ever heard of a mulligan?  It's a "do over" if you flub up a golf stroke.  Here is my Do Over Quilt (top):

I used leftover batiks from my Ocean Waves quilt.  I also scaled back this top.  Each block is half the size of the original.  I also put a little rectangle in the top corner.  Fingers crossed I don't mess up on the quilting!   

So, I've messed up on a few things, but I've learned a lot, too!  I'm having a great time learning these new techniques and I feel like a have a few more weapons in my creative quilt arsenal now.  There are two more quilts to do for the class:  To The Point and Swirling Stars.  I can't wait to get started!  I've also learned that my sewing machine has one of the automatic thread cutter thingies on it!  I've been using my machine since 2007 and never knew it before this past weekend!  

I hope you all are enjoying your summer so far!  It's just the beginning!

Until next time!

Angela

P.S. The top photo is of a gorgeous peony in my back garden.

One Quilt Done; One in Progress

Just a quick post to show my finished Strings Attached quilt.  I decided to free motion meandering quilting on the solid parts of the quilt and I did straight line quilting along the "strings."

I attached purchased binding my machine.  It was pretty easy and quick!  I like that!  I'm giving this quilt to my aunt this weekend for a Mother's Day present.  I hope she likes it!

Here is a quick look at my current Craftsy project for Improvisational Piecing, Modern Design.  It's called, Love Knots.  I've used deconstructed neckties for the top knot (for my hubby) and some of my favorite fabrics for the bottom knot (for me).  I can't wait to get this finished!  It's been a lot of fun and I'm excited to move on to the next lesson!  

Have a great weekend!  Until next time!

Angela

Happy Sewing Day

Happy Mother's Day

I hope all you moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I spent my day sewing and it was great!

It's been such a cool Spring here in the heart of America, but I finally got to see, and smell, the beautiful lilacs growing in the back garden.  They are my absolute favorite!  The bushes are still a little sparse, but I managed to capture this little sprig with my cell phone camera.  I wish you could smell it!

I'm trudging along in the Craftsy Block of the Month class.  Since my last post, I've finished March and May. I've skipped April for now, but will tackle the fan block soon.  The March block is called "Economy."  For May, I needed to make 8 "spool" blocks.  These were pretty fun.  I had never really used the 45 degree angle on my rulers before!  I like the fabric combinations, too.

May BOM

March BOM

I'm super excited about another Craftsy class I'm taking!  I've signed up for Improvisational Piecing, Modern  Design with Jacquie Gering.  I started with Jacquie's stitch and flip triangle technique.  It's been so much fun!  I can't wait to start a new quilt using this technique!  But, I need to finish my current works in progress first!  That means, I need to get my Strings Attached quilt finished ASAP!  

Until next time!

Angela

Strings Attached

Have you ever made a string quilt?  I just finished my first!  I've seen and PINNED, hundreds of string quilts online and have always thought the unique "patterns" made when string blocks are put together are always so cool....they are always different, too.  I decided to make a string block using some fabric scraps a few days ago.  I used a 6" piece of muslin as my foundation and began sewing my strips together.  I loved the technique and how my block finished so much, I kept going!  I used up all my scraps and made up fourteen 5" blocks.  I attached the blocks together and added some very light green solid fabric to make up this 36" X 42" quilt top.

I think what I really like about these string blocks, is that they don't have to start out perfect. Because the strips are sewn to foundation pieces and then cut down, you have a little wiggle room to not be so precise.  I like that!

Now, I need some suggestions on how to quilt this top.  Straight lines?  Meandering free motion?  Let me know what you think!

Until next time!

Angela