Lucky Stars BOM- February block

Here is my February block for the Lucky Stars BOM going on thru Don't Call me Betsy.

No excuses on the piecing, you have already heard my sewing machine woes. I like it anyway.
Love the colors.

happy quilting,
kate

p.s. on a side note, I am so amused by the name of her blog- Don't call me Betsy. Reminds me of my family where there are a lot of people we don't call by their real name. My mom's name was Mary and she was called Bitsy (at 5'7" that was pretty funny) and her sister is called Sue but her name is Martha. Go figure!

Dyeing with Marcia

Fabric dyeing!

Orange gradient: light to dark adding black

Over the last few weeks, we have dyed a bunch
of fabric!

We have been busy!

Moss green

Cobalt blue- pretty!

This one was dyed in a large yogurt cup.



And of course, who comes to visit if there is fabric on the floor?

This next one was ice dyed... lovely.










Can't wait to play with all this great fabric we made!

happy quilting,
Kate

p.s. new website coming soon... with goodies... keep checking back!

Project Quilting Challenge 4

Project Quilting- another challenge and another quilt done!


This time I did not procrastinate quite as much, but almost! Hubby and I were scheduled to take a screen printing class on Sat (more on that another time) so I had to get the quilt done before that.


One of the things I am trying to do during these challenges is only use what I have. No shopping for extra fabric, no shopping for embellishments etc... I should have enough stuff!






This week's challenge was "Wish upon a Star".

I love stars. Pieced stars, appliquéd stars, quilted stars, star buttons.... so this should be fun! I pondered the quilt design all week- pieced stars? Appliqué? what to do?

I even printed out the words to the Disney song, Wish upon a Star for inspiration. Finally on Friday, I just started to go for it with a partial plan in place. Good thing I was not totally set on one idea as things did not go as planned.

First- no blue! My first three Project quilting quilts all had blue in them, so no blue!

Second- no sawtooth stars. They are my go to star so I needed to do something else.

Third, I decided to put words on my quilt and luckily I found some great fabric pens to use in my stash.

Fourth- the theme: Hedge Your Bets, Wish upon a Galaxy!

I did a cross between the Big Bang and a galaxy of stars. I made wonky log cabin blocks and then cut them on an angle.

The center of the log cabin is traditionally red to signify the hearth of the home- for me, it is the center of the big bang where all the stars were "born".

Then a ring of appliquéd stars. Then the words.





A little stitching around the stars, circular quilting, binding, more words and the quilt was born!



Side note- the challenges this week were not only the one issued by Project Quilting. My machine truly is not working well and so I could not embellish the stars with machine stitched blanket stitch. I was down to a straight stitch only machine.

 

Second, fabric pens do not last forever. I probably got the pens 6 years ago and they only lasted through a few words. I was going to put the words of the entire song along the border of the quilt, but the pen barely made the first two lines!










That's OK- I am learning to be flexible. The quilt is still adorable!

happy quilting,

kate

Confession

I was just going to post my February block for the Aurifil BOM and be done with it.

But I must confess. This block is a mess.

I may have mentioned that I have been having trouble with my sewing machine. She is fighting with me over the 1/4" seam allowance- I really think something is wrong as I have not had this problem before. The feed dogs look crooked!

So, this week I was making the block, fighting with Vicky to get a nice 1/4" seam allowance, spending way too much time with my seam ripper and finally, ta done! Finished! I had a block.

I felt beat up.

I took a picture of my block at the end of the battle. Victory was mine. Then, as I was looking at the picture, I noticed that something seemed off. OMG. Are you kidding me?

I had sewed it together wrong.

Darn! So I got out my seam ripper (again!) and got to work.

Soon my block looked like this:

I managed to resew the sections, finish dismantling the block and sew it back together. But it does not quite fit in all areas. Too many mishaps with the seam allowance, too many interactions with the seam ripper!

So,while some points don't match, I like the color scheme and I am trying to be OK with, "It is what it is."

In the meantime, Vicky needs to go to the sewing machine hospital. Not sure if what she has is fatal or not. I feel a little like I did when my beloved VW bug started to go- after a while you are just pouring good money after bad. But I loved my bug- and I love Vicky.  

I will keep you posted.

happy quilting,

Kate

p.s. I am thinking I should name my seam ripper- the sewing machines have names and I seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time with the seam ripper...

any suggestions? 

Snow Day

Day.

Project.

happy quilting,
Kate

Gifts

Don't you love to get gifts in the mail?

Recently I received this-

I won $$ at Superior Threads from Project Quilting. 

Thanks to Superior Threads and Kim! I needed some piecing thread.

and this!

The bag is from Casa Crafty- I won it in a giveaway in January on  imagine gnats blog! 

Isn't it great? It is laminate. 

Thanks Kelley. And thanks to Rachael at imagine gnats!

Now that I have this cute shopping bag, it must be time to go shopping!

happy quilting,
kate

Aurifil BOM

I decided to start today on my Aurifil BOM for February. It is called the Heavy Cross Block and was designed by Marie-Claude Picon-Iperti. You can read more about her here.












I was having trouble deciding where to place different colors in the block, so I made a few copies of the block and got our my colored pencils. Fun!

After a few tries, I think I have a color scheme. Yea!

How do you like to plan it out? Do you just lay the fabrics next to each other, do you use a computer program or do you make little color sketches?

For me, it depends on the number of patches in the block and the project- I use all three methods, sometimes for the same project!

Pieces are cut...

(1 9/16"??? that took a minute to process!)

laid out in sections...

and one section is done! Woo Hoo!

Off to do other things- can't wait to get back to this later to finish!

Hope you are having a relaxing holiday!

Happy President's Day!

oh- and happy quilting!

Kate

Dreaming of Summer

We (finally!) got a little snow here last night. Just a dusting really. But it looks pretty.

So, did you buy some of Tula Pink's line Salt Water? Really fun fabric! What are you doing with it?

Elizabeth and I got a little stack and we are making some new banners using our pattern, Summertime Blues.

We only recently realized that our pattern, Summertime Blues,  never made it onto our website!

Yikes! How did that happen?

So before it goes on our new site- OH! Did we tell you were are getting a new website??? Soon! So exciting! And we will have a great giveaway to celebrate.... but I digress!

Back to Summertime Blues. So we thinking about updating our cover photo and are trying out Salt Water. We were supposed to do some embellishment on the original banner, ran out of time and never updated it!

I love the little quilt and the runner on the pattern front- that fabric with the seahorse is adorable!

I'll keep you posted on how it turns out with the Salt Water... looking good so far!







happy quilting,
Kate

Happy Valentines Day!

 Happy Valentines Day!

happy quilting,
Kate

Project Wednesday

happy quilting,
kate

Project Quilting

Good Monday!

Yesterday was the day to submit your latest creation for Project Quilting, Week 3. The theme for challenge #3 was Annie's Vision. Your project was to be inspired by the art of Annie Young.

I thought it was a great challenge and I was really excited to create something. But for some reason, I struggled with it.

Right away, I knew I wanted to create something with bold color and lots of texture, I wanted it to have flowers and there was a quote on her blog that I loved. So I had my inspiration.

And that was all I had. I pulled some fabric from my stash, pulled some more and just couldn't seem to get out of my own way. Does that ever happen to you?

Sat morning arrived and I had yet to start the quilt. And the picture of the finished product had to be posted by 12noon on Sunday. And, since I was not sure which time zone that meant, I thought I better post by 10am my time, just in case!

The only fabrics I had out at that point were two potential pieces for the background. I wasn't sure I liked them, but I decided that they were it and I just had to push forward. So I pulled some colors for flowers and decided on a general plan and then left.

Left? Yes, hubby and I had planned to go to the Denver Art Museum to the members only preview of the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit. A great exhibit on her called Georgia O'Keeffe in new Mexico: Architecture, Katsinam and the Land.
Great show. Go if you can.

I came home and made this.

It has floppy grass, a heart yo-yo flower with buttons, a dimensional star flower and woven stems.


And yes, I used some of the flowers from my pattern, Stars in my Garden. Hey, I was in a time crunch!

But it has the texture and vivid colors I wanted. And I was able to post it well before my time limit on Sunday am! Done.






There are some amazing quilts that people created from this challenge. And I learned that sometimes you just have to go with what you have and where you are. And to push ahead and see what happens.

happy quilting,
kate

I made the stems using the Diva Cord Maker from Fibergoddess. I had to do something on the car ride to the museum!

What's New?

So, what's new with you?

What have you created/played with/ enjoyed this week?

Are you in the Northeast watching the snow, all hunkered down for a long weekend of sewing/quilting/crafting?

Would I sound weird if I said I miss that?








As much as I love being outside, there is something so comforting about being inside on a snowy day, watching the snow fall, sitting by a fire, bundling up kids in snowsuits and hats and boots and mittens and watching them sled down the hill, shrieking with laughter.

Or going outside yourself, all bundled up, playing in the snow until your cheeks are red and stinging with the cold and then coming inside to heat up hot chocolate and make popcorn, snuggle up by the fire with a good book. Yumm. 
I think it just may be that my 8 year old self has never completely left the building and just wants to be able to say "Snow Day!"

What to do today? I have piles of unfinished projects- some involve sewing and some involve typing. Which shall I do????

Sewing? Sounds way more fun to me! 












I still have to figure out my Project Quilting quilt for this week. The inspiration for this week's challenge is the art of Annie Young, a blind artist who creates amazing pieces. You can go check out her blog here.

She has wonderful color and texture in her work. There is a video of her on CBS Minnesota using her hands to paint with so that she can create the texture. And she has these vibrant backgrounds but still, her images stand out.


She has this quote on her blog: 

if we make our goal to live a life of 

compassion and unconditional love, 

then the world will indeed 
become a garden where 
all kinds of flowers 
can bloom and grow. 
~elisabeth kubler-ross  

Off to create my vision of a garden where all kinds of flowers bloom and grow.
Wish me luck!

Have a great day!

happy quilting,
kate

Yoga Mat

Back in the fall I went to a fair across the street at the park. And I won a yoga mat and 2 weeks free of yoga classes.

Have I gone? Nope.

Lily eyeing the latest quilt!

Actually I have a good excuse. The day after the fair, Jim and I went hiking and I fell. And, to make the long story short, I hurt my knee. The one that has already gone thru a lot including two surgeries. It has taken a long time for it to feel better.


So, the knee is better and I am almost over my respiratory flu so it is time to try out the yoga. I have the free mat; but I need the yoga bag!



I actually bought fabric a few years ago to make a yoga bag and then... nothing. So yesterday was the day. I looked online for patterns and finally decided to come up with my own version.

And ta-da- here it is!

Isn't the fabric pretty? It is a line from Art Gallery called "Revive".

I made a pleated pocket on the outside to hold my water bottle.

And instead of a drawstring top, I added a zipper.




















I made a two color handle- nice and long to throw over my shoulder or across my chest.

There is even an inside pocket.

And it is roomy- so there is space for a towel, and
any extra stuff I want to cart along.









That was a great adventure!

I have some other fabric that would make a great bag- I could make one with a drawstring top.
Maybe do a tutorial.

Hmmm....

happy quilting,
kate

Project Quilting

I have a guest post here from Kim over at Project Quilting:


Hello everyone! This is Kim from Persimon Dreams, www.PersimonDreams.com, and I’m so happy to be here sharing some exciting Project QUILTING news with you. We are currently in the midst of Season 4. The first two challenges inspired over 100 quilts to be created – so amazing! The third challenge went up on Sunday, February 3^rd and I can’t wait to see what comes from it (still time for you to join in!)

I personally love Project QUILTING because it has been extremely inspirational to me in my quilting journey. I know I only have a week for the projects but it’s a great opportunity to give ideas in my mind a try – see what happens, try new techniques. If it works…maybe I’ll do a bigger project that takes more time.


For instance – I tried out free form quilting for the first time in Season 3 of Project QUILTING to create ‘Barn Bones’.  I LOVED it…so later when I undertook a Scrap Challenge I created this…




The Amazing Technicolor Dream Quilt

Project QUILTING has me creating pieces I never imagined before and the Project QUILTING community has been such an inspiration and support.

I have heard from many that they love watching along with Project QUILTING and the projects created from the challenges but they just can’t fit making a quilt in just one week. That’s what my exciting news is all about today – a new *Bonus* Project QUILTING Challenge. I’ve teamed up with a fabulous online fabric store – The Fat Quarter Shop to bring you all the ‘Fat Quarter Shop Bundle Challenge – Tradition Times Three’.

Diane outlines what is required for this particular challenge. You must go to the Fat Quarter Shop to by the fabric bundle in order to participate in the challenge BUT the twist is – you have until May 30^th, 2013 to submit your challenge! At that point, one of my girls will randomly draw a winner of $75 to use at the Fat Quarter Shop.

I also wanted to share with you a few ways you can save on your fabric bundle. First – head over to my blog and enter in the giveaway I posted today: Bundle Giveaway!






OR if you want to save 20$ off your entire purchase of fabric from the Fat Quarter Shop check out this blog post to find the special code – good through February 10^th.

Thanks for having me and I hope to see you all with a quilt in one or more Project QUILTING Challenges. Have a great rest of your week!



~Kim Lapacek



So go ahead, and check this out! Looks like fun to me! And I have been having a great time trying to meet the Project Quilting challenges. Still thinking about this weeks challenge.

happy quilting, 
Kate