Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative

A while back my Design Camp [think outside the block] Bee mates and I made mini quilts for the Alzheimer's Quilt Initiative (AAQI). They are now all for sale on the AAQI site. There are hundreds of wonderful mini quilts on the site in addition to  the ones we made. All the titles on the photos are links to the quilts with descriptions by the artists and links to learn more about them. There is also an easy purchase button so you can buy them and make a donation to the AAQI!  All the proceeds go to fund research for Alzheimers.

Thanks to all the DCBee campers who contributed to this project. Combined the sales from our quilts will raise $235.

13,074 - Swimming With Thread by Michelle Freedman (me!)

13,083 - Improv Rays by Susan Beal

13,072 - Trying to Make the Pieces Fit by Suzy Boyle

13,073 - A Red Letter Day by Christine Horlbeck

13,070 - Around The Well by Dustin Cecil

13,071 - Crossroads by Deb Brown

Have machine, will travel
-- Michelle

Quilt Con vs. Godzilla

I didn't get to go to Quilt Con and I was pretty sad about that. My Cat's Game quilt was in the Modern Traditionalism category in the show. I was very humbled and a little nervous that my sweet little quilt I had made for my daughter would be hanging with some of the masters. This is exactly the kind of stuff that I can drive myself (and my family) nuts about: I've been told that I can turn into Larry David in a heart beat. Kidding aside, not going to Quilt Con actually did teach me an important lesson. For the first time I think I really understood how my husband feels every year that he misses South by South West. It was a good lesson in empathy for me. I won't judge him for brooding ever again.

My dear pal Susan came home with a million wonderful gifts for me. She texted me highlights of the show the whole weekend and I got to live vicariously through the shower of awesome photos on Instagram. The most amazing gift I got from QuiltCon was a peek at these comp pages from the next issue of Patchwork Quilt Tsushin (from Japan) that Susan brought back. I am over the moon that my Park Blocks quilt is featured (upper right)! Can I say I'm 'big in Japan now?' This makes me so happy. I love this quilt and treasure all the blocks my bee-mates from the Design Camp [think outside the block] Bee contributed to it. And look at the gorgeousness it is surrounded by: I feel loved!

And bonus props (again to myself) for my 'Bad Ass Tumbler' block in our PMQG guild quilt. It is front and center too (well, actually lower stage left). Ya me - us! And hello Nancy, Pétra, Ale and Susan! You gals are super stars! The photo shoot took place at Cool Cottons. There are a few other featured PDX places in this issue too: Bolt, Modern Domestic, Knitten Kitten. We are so lucky to live in this town!

And just as I was secretly wishing to see a photo of my Cat's Game quilt on intstagram, I did! Thank you a bazillion times jenni20designs for posting this photo. You made me so very happy! I made this quilt for my daughter inspired by a tied game of Tic-Tac-Toe we played. It was mistakenly judged at Quilt Con (some of the comments I could have lived with-out) but it was nice to get accolades for my sewing and binding techniques.

I recently came across a project on Quilts My Way that is similar to Cat's Game. It was one of those 'oh - wow! That is a cool version of my quilt - wait, that isn't my quilt -' moments but honestly I love this project: Tic Tac Toe coasters. This was published in Fat Quarterly magazine, as was my Cat's Game quilt. Great minds think alike, right? I may have to try a version of my quilt reversed, so the ground is white and the X and Os are in color. Thanks for the inspiration Gosia Pawlowska!

WIP Wednesday: I did it!

Oh yeah, I did it, uh-huh, uh-huh I did it! (Channeling Will Ferrell as my cheer partner here). Ten bee blocks in the mail and on their way around the world. Ironically I got a lovely little envelope in the mail the other day with, yep, a bee block for March! Note to self: Do it Now!

Now for the WIP Wednesday part. I am working on my quilt for the PMQG Special Exhibit at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show this July. I don't have any photos of it yet (it is a true WIP and I'm not quite ready to share) but the process has been really fun. I wanted to make something inspired by Hawaii, but not literally and not in a traditional Hawaiian style so I am working with shapes from palm trees. My goals are to keep this clean, graphic and modern -- something that I can put in my bedroom and feel really happy about every night before I go to sleep.

And here is a round-up of the Bee Blocks for my Design Camp [think outside the block] Bee that I finished last week. I am working on a new post about my Park Blocks quilt I made from the blocks I got from the month I hosted. It was featured in a magazine in Japan recently. I can't wait to share that with you!

House-inspired Improv Block 'Lassen St.'

Inspired by Yolanda Improv Block

Arizona-inspired Improv Block 'Summer of '76'

Folk Tale-inspired improv block 'Enchanted Tree House'

Wisconsin-inspired Improv Block 'View from the Plane'

Mt Hood-inspired Improv Block 'Chair Lift'

WIP Wednesday: Bee Finished Already

If there were an award for the slowest bee block sewer ever it would be given to me. I am finishing them all - I really am! I love making these blocks and learning new techniques and working with fabrics and colors that I might not naturally gravitate toward. I am just a slowly-slow poke. I think today will be WIP WIFF (Work is Finally Finished) Wednesday. 

That is my three-year old pup Ryder guarding my pile of envelopes and pretending he didn't just knock some on the ground. I know there are wonderful things waiting to be made in those lovely packages and I will give each and every one the attention they deserve today.

I will also mail the blocks I made on Saturday at our PMQG sew day. I had a rare opportunity to spend hours sewing among amazingly talented gals. It is such an inspiring way to work! These are my recent finishes:

If I have time when I finish I am going to start a new quilt. I can't wait to work on that, but I will wait because as my family would say, "no dessert until you finish your mashed potatoes!" Do you know that book? It both amused and terrified me as a young child. 

The fact of the matter is that I love mashed potatoes. It was the illustration of the bathtub with the eels that gave me nightmares. Okay, I'm getting side-tracked already. Focus, Michelle. Off to the cutting table I go. Thanks Lee aka Freshly Pieced for keeping the motivation real!