Thursday, September 22, 2016

quilt guild challenge

Well hello friends! I honestly didn't mean to take a blogging break. To be truthful, I've kind of been jumping from project to project lately, not really finishing anything. Until today! Whew. I finally have something to share with you.

At our last meeting of the McKinney Modern Quilt Guild, we were issued a new challenge. First off, we all brought a one yard piece of fabric that was one of the two Pantone colors of the year. (let me just say, WHY ARE THERE TWO? pick one, silly people! Also, seriously? I feel like I'm back in the 80s with mauves and blues. Ok. I'm done ranting.) So, anyways, everyone brought a yard of fabric in either rose quartz or serenity. Then we had a "one yard rip off". Has your guild ever done this? I know I've told you about them before, but seriously, so much fun!  And you go home with a fun stack of fabrics to make a challenge item out of. Awesome, right?

Until Alice comes out with the dreaded bag of paint chips & adds a twist to the challenge. UGH! I pulled out a bright yellow paint chip that I had to incorporate into my challenge item. Oh joy!

I wanted to do something modern and learn something new. I had been eyeing this tutorial  for a modern wonky churn dash block, so I started cranking them out. Combined with lots of negative space, some simple straight line grid work quilting and some matched binding and this is where I ended up....
Not horrible, right? I mean, in better  colors, it might actually be a cool baby quilt. I especially love my tone-on-tone churn dashes that kind of disappear into the background fabrics. 

Something I learned..... although Jennifer at 42 quilts (the blogger who wrote the block tutorial) says it's ok if you lose your points off the edge of your block, the blocks I like the best have all of their points in tact. If I were to do this again, I'd be more deliberate in my cutting. Personal preference, that's all.

So there you have it. The challenge isn't due until November, but mine is done! Now I can move on to other fun things (and hopefully check back in here sooner rather than later). 

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Triad meets McKinney swap... received!

A couple of weeks ago I shared the quilt I sent to Kim in the Triad Modern Quilt guild for our swap. Well Tuesday night, it was finally our turn to receive quilts! I couldn't believe Alice, our swap queen, kept that box from NC taped up tight and opened it in front of all of us. Seriously, if that box had arrived at my house I would have peeked! No kidding.
Look how happy we all are with what we received! Those Triad gals pulled out all the stops.

Of course I was incredibly happy with the fabulous quilt I received from Katie! She took my favorite Squirrel pattern (found here, by Quiet Play), shrank it down and made not one... but FOUR squirrels!

Katie said the way the colors popped reminded her of an Andy Warhol painting, and I totally agree! such fun. 

The colors and fabrics she used are so great. This is going to make me smile every time I look at it.
There was some talk at our meeting about making this swap an annual event. I sure hope we do! It was great to connect with a sister guild. Thanks Katie! You rock!

Monday, September 5, 2016

My Small World - a finish!

Last year, the quilting world was in a tizzy. Everyone was searching for the special issue of Quiltmania that had Jen Kingwell's My Small World quilt pattern in it. Add me to that list. I searched every Barnes & Noble I had access to. Had friends looking. I couldn't find it anywhere. I was bummed. Then I heard that Jen Kingwell was going to release it as a stand alone pattern in the fall! Hooray! I bought it the day it became available. I thought "someday I'll make this" and I tucked it away. That was that. Or so I thought.....

Toward the end of the year, Nicole announced on Instagram that she'd be hosting a quilt along after the first of the year. I only hesitated a minute. The pattern is daunting.... but maybe, with the encouragement of other quilters. I could do it! Yes! Yes I could. I started digging in my fabric stash. Bought a few novelty prints that I knew I'd love to add and off I went!

Yesterday I put the final stitches in my binding. I'm so excited to share it with you!
My friend Sandy quilted it for me. I love how the swirls look like wind blowing through the sky...

I'm so happy I added that little rainstorm! And a smattering of yellow sunshine.
Those arched triangles were daunting! But I used @sewwhatsherlock's paper piece pattern for them and it worked like a charm!
I just love how you can add little fussy cut details to make this quilt your own. Some of my favorite details are my ballet studio and the Happiness Hotel in section one.
I used almost all fabric from my scrappy stash. Thought it would make a huge dent in my scrap bins but, no. There's still plenty in there.

This is my final finish in the third quarter of the 2016 Finish Along. A whole month early!  I'm so glad I tackled this project. It was great fun!