Shine!

 Well, hello there. Sorry about the unplanned absence, I've had some health things going on the last couple of months but I'm back now, pretty much recovered from surgery in December. I've been creating all along, just haven't had the energy to keep things up to date. So, I have some catching up to do!

Back in May of 2025 it was my turn to provide a prompt to the Quilts Unscripted Bee.Here's a summary of what I sent them:

In 2024, my word of the year was Shine and I have found it so impactful for me that I decided to make it the theme of my year five Quilts Unscripted prompt. With all of the turmoil and uncertainty in our world these days, I find that committing to Shine and be my best self is the most impactful thing I can do to change my immediate environment.

I love this quote by Francis Bacon,

In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be

present.

So I encouraged my bee friends to Shine! I asked them to make 2 12 1/2” ish

blocks or the equivalent that represent the word shine. I was not looking for

literal Sunshines (you all know I love a good sunshine) but rather their improv

interpretation of Shine.

My preference, as usual was for clear, saturated colors. I provided a fat

eighth of Kona Lagoon and asked them to use it in moderation in each

block they made.

As always my beemates came through with amazing blocks! I added improv letters to spell out "shine" and started assembling. I admit there was a "messy middle" with this one, a time where I wasn't sure I loved the way it was coming together. Friends from my guild suggested framing it with a border. That did the trick! I didn't get it finished in time to enter in Quiltcon for this year (I'll try next year) but it is finished! My pal Martha quilted it beautifully for me with a groovy flower panto that suites the palette and the theme. I'm really happy with the finished quilt.

improv flower garden

 I'm not usually one who is inspired by nature. Strange, right? But lately I've been having fun playing with improv flowers. Earlier this year I finished this quilt, inspired by a quote from Anne of Green Gables...

Dear old world, you are very lovely and I am glad to be alive in you!

I love reading children's classic literature and have been immersed in the Anne of Green Gables series of books recently.

The other day I came across another improv flower I had made a while back. It was laying on my table next to some bonus HSTs I had and amazingly they belonged together!

I haven't decided if this is finished or not.... but I think it might be! I need to think about how to quilt it. There are some more improv flowers in my head..... I think you'll be seeing them again!

Quilts Unscripted

 I'm way behind on reporting on the doings of my awesome improv bee, Quilts Unscripted. Rather than try to catch up, I'm going to just move forward! Here are some recent blocks completed....

September blocks for Chris, rectangles and circle portions in a prescribed color palette. I didn't have very many colors in her requested palette so I was off and shopping and boy was I glad I did! I added so many new to me colors to my stash and I love them all....

For October, Sarah G asked us to make slabs in green and/or pink with the option of including a tiny bit of our favorite improv in one or two slabs. Of course I slipped in some super skinny lines and teeny tiny triangles.

Meanwhile, I collected all of my May blocks. My prompt was to make blocks inspired by the word SHINE using a palette of pinks, oranges and yellows and using a little bit of Kona Lagoon which I provided. I had fun piecing these happy, saturated blocks into a bit chaotic  improv quilt top. I also inserted the word SHINE because, why not? I do love words on quilts...

So now I need to figure out how to quilt this craziness! 

 

MQG Mini Swap

Tonight, Quiltcon Together begins with the awards ceremony and I'll be zooming with quilty friends during the webcast. It's the best we can do during these strange times. 

One of my favorite parts of Quiltcon each year is the mini quilt swap. Participants are assigned a partner and make and swap minis during quilt con. This is my fifth year participating and I have beautiful minis from all of my partners hanging in my house and have formed strong friendships with my former partners. Of course that looked different this year too!

My partner, Kathleen, and I have actually "known" each other for a while now on social media, which was a first for me! We decided to do our swap over zoom, saving our unopened packages to open together. What fun! Of course an in person meeting complete with hugs (will we ever be allowed to hug again?) would have been best but in a pinch, this was a good solution. Hoping we can meet up at Quiltcon in Phoenix next year.

 I just adore the beautiful mini Kathleen sent to me! It's all solids (my favorite!) and the colors she chose really sing....

It's already hanging in my studio and makes me smile every day!

And here is what I sent to Kathleen....

 Also solids,  a different version of my funky dresden which she seemed to like. 

So Quiltcon Together is off to a fabulous start for me! Will you be there? 

First Finish of the New Year

 

Last night I put the finishing stitches on the binding of my 2021 Word of the Year quilt.  You can read my thoughts on the word believe here.  I thought a magic wand was the perfect item to represent my word this year.

All of the fabrics are Moda Grunge and the finished quilt measures 18" x 20".  I used a bunch of different techniques in this one tiny quilt.... foundation paper piecing for the letters, my own funky dresden technique for the end of the wand, needle turn appliqué recently learned from my friend Martha for the stick, big stitch quilting on the yellow, and machine quilting for the rest.... and I'm really happy with how it all came together.

intention

I mentioned in an earlier post that my word for 2020 is Intention. One tradition I have is making a quilt with my word on it each year. Here is my quilt for this year...

This is my tenth word and quilt. All of my quilts are the same size (18x20") and I plan to hang them up near the ceiling around the walls of my studio. In fact, that is one thing I INTEND to do this year!

I'm happy with this quilt. I think it reflects who I am, or maybe who I am evolving into? I originally thought I would make it purple BUT I had this blue grunge in my stash and I INTENTIONALLY used what I had on hand rather than spending money on fabric. I'm working on a special project that involves improv log cabin blocks, so this is an extension of that. I have also recently experimented with inserting tiny strips of stripes into my blocks. I love the effect! You can see a tiny strip of black and white peeking out of this block.

I was able to be very intentional in January, with my time (lots of studio time!), my money and what I've been eating. So far so good! Let's hope I can keep it up.

McKinney Modern Quilt Guild QuiltCon charity quilt

Hi again! Leave it to me to disappear for 3 months and then post 2 days in a row. I just wanted to let you know I have a blog post up on the McKinney Modern Quilt Guild blog with the story behind our charity quilt for QuiltCon next month. I'm super proud of this quilt and the guild members who had a hand in creating it.

I encourage you to hop on over here and read the full story! Happy Tuesday friends.