Sunday, December 16, 2012

Give-away Winner and Low Volume Inspiration

Congratulations to #117 Rhonda D.! And thanks everyone for all your comments. It was a fun week. I enjoyed reading everyone's comments and checking out so many new blogs in the hop! I am always inspired by how many talented quilters there are out there!

I was really fun to introduce Low Volume Quilting to so many of you. So many of you commented that you had never heard of it before or that you wanted to try it that I thought it would be fun to host a Low Volume Swap on Flickr. What do you think? Would you want to participate in a swap? Let me know in the comments - it takes 32 to do the swap (including me!)

For fun I set up a Pinterest board with a few images I found of Low Volume fabrics and quilts. Here is the link:

Design Camp Low Volume Pinterest Board

I just finished two low volume quilts this week. There are for my cousin's new born twins. There were inspired from one of the projects in Elizabeth Hartman's Inspired Modern Quilts Craftsy Class. I reviewed her class a while back -- here is a link to that post:

Inspired Modern Quilts by Elizabeth Hartman

If you want to take her class (I highly recommend it!) you will get $10 off by using the link from my review post. It is a fun and inspiring class!

Did you think I'd forget to post pictures of my quilts? Of course not! I snapped these real quick last night at my mom's house, because I thought, I'm going to forget to do this before I send them off. So with out further ado: "Same but Different" for Lilana and Julian!
Same but different Pink
Same but Different Blue

Happy Holidays & Happy Camping!
Michelle

Sunday, December 9, 2012

5th Birthday Quilting Gallery Blog Hop Give-Away!

The Quilting Gallery is hosting another gigantic blog hop and give-away with over 150 blogs participating! The party is in celebration of the Quilting Gallery's 5th Birthday on December 10th. Happy Birthday Quilting Gallery! The party starts on December 9th and goes until the 15th. Good luck everyone!
I am giving away a set of 12 "low-volume" 10" x 10" quilting cotton print fabrics and a copy of 'Quilt Your Stash!' All you have to do to win is to leave me a comment so I know how to find you if you are the lucky winner! Of course you are welcome to follow me - I am always happy to meet new campers!
If you haven't tried a low volume quilting project yet this is a great little starter set. There are several projects in the 'Quilt Your Stash' issue that would work well as low volume projects. If you want more inspiration check out the flickr group Low Volume QAL or read more about low volume quilting on Quilting Daily.

I will draw a name using the Random Number Generator on December 15th after 9pm PST and announce the winner on Sunday the 16th. I won't be able to ship internationally (sorry folks) but I'll ship anywhere in the US.
Good luck and happy camping!
Michelle

PS - just for fun I will add 5 extra entries for the person who is my 100th follower in honor of the QGs 5th birthday. May the fifth be with you (I know, that doesn't really work, but hey, why not!)
PSS - you don't have to follow to win.

12/12/12*PSPS - This just in - we have passed 100 campers! Yipee! So to celebrate I am going to give all my new followers who joined for this hop an extra chance to win. I will go back through your comments and make sure to mark down who joined up and I will add a second chance for any new followers. AND if you have read this far, the 112th follower will get an extra five chances to win. Happy 12/12/12 day!

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Quilting the Map of Oz

Emerald City: greens -- check. Winkie Country: yellows -- check. Munchkin Country, Quadling Country, Gillikin Country: blues, reds, purples -- check, check, check. One gigantic quilt for the backdrop for the play - Check it out!
This summer I adapted the book The Lost Princess of Oz into a play for daVinci Arts Middle School. The Lost Princess is one of my favorite Oz books; Patchwork Girl of Oz is a close second. I worked with a friend of mine, who is the school's costume designer and show director, to help shape the play into a fun performance piece for the students. During our working coffees she talked about making a Map of Oz quilt for the backdrop of the play. I loved the idea and offered to quilt it for her when she got the top put together.
For you Ozites out there, the map of Oz first appeared on a glass slide for L. Frank Baum's traveling show, Fairylogue and Radio Play. When it landed on the pages of the Oz books, it was illustrated in reverse: West to the right and East to the left. There is speculation that the glass slide was reversed, which led to the switch.
When the quilt top was finished it was 170" long and 118" wide. I called up a friend of mine, Jolene who just opened her long arm business, Good Knight Quilts this summer. She wasn't sure it would fit on her set-up, but she was willing to try and also willing to let me drive her Gammill! I was so excited to get to work on a long arm machine and Jolene was super generous to give up an afternoon (six hours, to be exact!) to help with the quilt.
The show opened last night and it was a blast! The kids were brilliant and the quilt looked amazing. Such a fun and rewarding project. My daughter Lili was cast as Scraps and I got to make her funny bloomers. She loves being the crazy Patchwork Girl and I am super proud of her. (Mushy mommy moment, but that's the way I roll!)
I also hand lettered this sign for the Truth Pond. I went to see Faythe Levine talk about her new book and documentary, Sign Painters, and was inspired to paint the sign by hand. Not too shabby for 'winging it!'
If you are in Portland and have young kids come and see the show! It runs this weekend and next, Shows at 7pm Friday and Saturday and a 2pm matinee on Saturday. Let me know if you are going to be there so I can be sure to say 'hi!'

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Stitch Gifts + Travel Trio = Yay!

Happy Happy Joy joy! I have a new project to share in the new Stitch Gifts magazine! Can you tell I'm excited? This is my second project for Stitch (my Go-Retro Wool Quilt was in the Winter Wool Issue). I love this magazine and I am still pinching myself that my project is in it!
I didn't even take the time to take a nice photo of the cover -- the issue was sitting on Julie's desk at the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store. She could barely get the words 'I got the Stitch Gifts Mag ---' out before I grabbed it and turned to the page she had marked with a yellow sticky note! The best surprise? My project shares the spotlight with a darling embellished cardigan sweater project designed by Susan Beal!
Susan has two projects in this issue. I'm tempted to post the other one, but I think I'll wait because I don't want to completely steal her thunder. I will say that I have to make it because it is super pretty and will be great for the holidays!
So, my Travel Trio, an easy drawstring bag, tissue case and portfolio, were inspired by wanting something useful and fun to take with me when I travel. I go to Washington DC a few times a year and I have been thinking about a way to organize my travel swag for a while now. I wanted something that I could slip into my purse or computer case that would be easy to find, stylish and have room for everything I tend to collect when I'm on the road. Since my last project for Stitch was vintage-inspired I thought I'd stick with that theme.

I created a tea towels Pinterest board when I was searching for the perfect Vintage towels for this project. This made it easy to communicate with the editor and it was easy to see what would work together as a collection. Don't worry, I didn't buy them all so you can hop over there and shop away!
There are some amazing projects in this issue. I can't wait to make some of them. If any of you do make the travel trio please let me know and tell me where I can see photos of them! I think everyone in my family now knows what I will be making them for their holiday gifts... I can't wait to pick out special tea towels for all of them!

PS I did all the illustrations for the instructions too. I am just as excited to see those in print. Most of my illustrations usually go to factories. But mums the word - I will have some in a book coming out this spring. Stay tuned!

Monday, October 15, 2012

Tear-able News!

I am so excited! I get to share a new free quilt pattern with you today! I designed this project for the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store. They put together fat quarter sets with some gorgeous new menswear plaids and gave me a bundle to play with.
Pendleton Quilt
Working with these fabrics was so much fun and inspired the name for this quilt - tear-able - because, well the fabric rips perfectly on grain! I tore all the strips and then sub-cut them to the sizes I used for the blocks. I like the pun on the word terrible/tearable so I decided to use that for the project name.
Here are the project instructions: I can email them to you as well. Just send me a note that you'd like me to do that.
Tear-able Quilt
This is my fourth free project I've designed for the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store. You might remember the Tree Poncho that I designed for them last November. That was featured on Craft Gossip and the Woolen Mill Store blog!
Holiday Tree Poncho
There are so many ways to layout this quilt. The fat quarter sets are 8 different plaids and are larger than a regular fat quarter because the width of the fabrics are sixty four inches. The set I used is called the Alberta Set. And all the fabrics are sold by the yard so you can get any of them for the back. I can't wait to see what you make!

PS Got a great shout out over at Craft Gossip for this project! Thanks guys!!!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

McCalls Quick Quilts + Fast Fun Flannel

Autumn has arrived in Portland, Oregon! The leaves are starting to turn, it is cold in the morning and it is getting dark earlier. This is my favorite time of the year. I love the light, the colors and the transition. What is your favorite season?

I am also happy to celebrate fall with the publication of my quilt design, Fast Fun Flannel, for McCall's Quick Quilts October/November 2012 issue.

And guess who quilted it? The fab Nancy Stoval of Just Quilting! When I asked her to work with me on the project with a super tight deadline she rose to the occasion. McCall's is offering this as a kit, which is so awesome!


This opportunity came about last January when I met Judy Livingston at a PMQG meeting. She told me they were always looking for folks to create designs using their fabrics and I jumped at the chance to give it a try. I worked with several collections, the first project I designed for them was a winter themed quilt called Snowball Frost. They have this as a free download on their website. After that they gave me a challenge of working with a new Maywood Studio flannel collection called Flowers of The Forest. The colors felt very early-fallish to me, and I started to play around with some compositions. I liked the idea of playing with a traditional basket weave block and thought the heavier weight of the flannel would lend itself nicely to this technique. I added my twist, using shades of light and dark and a black floral to create depth. As I started to sew it I realized it reminded me of the green cherry tomato baskets from my childhood that I used to collect from my grandmother and take home and weave ribbons through!

I am super proud of this design, and am happy that it is going to live with my sister-in-law Kim. Let me know if you make this quilt. I'd love to see your version!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Modern Quilting, Bright and Early

"It's 4:00 in the morning. Do you know where your Quilt is?"
Why yes, I do! Hanging out with 500 other quilts at the NW Quilting Expo in Portland, Oregon! There and well, there was the one covering me up until my alarm scared me into getting out from under it at 3:45am... But it was worth it! I got to be on KGW morning show with Heather and Jolene and talk about the Portland Modern Quilt Guild, Modern Quilting and joke with host Drew Carney for his Out and About show this morning.
TV spot!
That is me (left) and Jolene Knight (Good Knight Quilts) standing with Drew in front of Petra's (Sew Paint Create) lovely quilt. PMQG VP Heather (Joy of All Crafts) was taking the photo (Thanks Heather!) We were on for about thirty seconds, but it was fun to get to talk about Modern Quilting and promote our guild. One of our guild members, Cherri Langley won a ribbon for her 'How Many Stars?' quilt, quilted by the talented Nancy Stovall.
Cherri's Ribbon!
Her quilt was inspired by Elizabeth Hartman's Sparkle Punch Quilt and is just wonderful. Speaking of Elizabeth Hartman, you can still get a 25% discount on her Inspired Modern Online Quilting Class by clicking on the link. I had the opportunity to review her awesome class and am working on finishing my second project based on her Low Volume Tiles quilt.
I have a quilt in the show this year. 'Doll Quilt Revisited'. It was a super fun summer-long project that I look forward to writing about soon! Here is a photo of me standing in front of it.
Doll Quilt Revisited
And now for that second cup of coffee...

Saturday, September 15, 2012

More Craftsy Goodness and Good news

This just in! I just saw a facebook post for Craftsy's Endless Summer Sale All classes are on sale for $19.99! Did I say ALL CLASSES? Wow! The sale ends Monday, September 17th at midnight so don't wait! I think I might have to take Wendy Butler Burns Machine Quilting: Free Motion and More class. Which one do you want to take?

Craftsy's Endless Summer Sale

The other good news is that I just got my quilt back that I designed for the McCalls Quick Quilts October-November issue. I am planning to blog (as in brag!) about it next week. You don't mind, do you? I am really proud of this design and a little nervous to share it with you. It is what I like to call 'traditional with a twist.' It is not what I would consider modern or post modern for that matter, but I am excited to talk about my design process and get feedback.

For now I am going to enjoy this gorgeous day, pick some figs and apples from my trees and sneak in some sewing.
Michelle

Monday, September 10, 2012

Inspired Modern Quilts with Elizabeth Hartman and Craftsy

Online Modern Quilts Class
What a treat to get up this morning, take my daughter to school. take my dog for a walk and then take Elizabeth Harman's Inspired Modern Quilts class on Craftsy! The best part? I got to take this class on my computer at home with a latte and some fresh chocolate zucchini bread (courtesy of my good friend Tanya.) Life is good!

Many of my fellow PDX quilters have taken classes from Elizabeth but I never have. I have followed her blog, Oh, Fransson! for a few years now and have been in several presentations she has given for the Portland Modern Quilt Guild. I always learn something new from Elizabeth and this class proved to be no exception!

The length of the video is around three hours. During each 20- 30 minute class I found myself thinking (more than once,) "but wait, there's more?" There is so much packed into those three hours! The ten lessons, including how to create a design wall and pressing board, great information on how to select fabrics for your projects and the seven patchwork projects are worth every penny (I seriously think this class should cost more!)

My favorite project by far was the Low Volume Tiles Quilt. Two friends of mine are having twins this winter and I thought this would be a great project to make for the four babies. With this clever design I could highlight a different color solid for each child. I also just got a package of low volume fabrics from the Big Ten Inch Swap run by Monica Nauart who blogs at Button Counter. The only challenge was that these fabrics were all 10" x 10" cuts. I decided I could change the measurements from Elizabeth's original pattern which used a larger size to start with. There were a few math problems to solve before I cut into my stack, but I made some quick design decisions and went for it. Here is the layout I decided on.
low vol layout

If you take this class you will notice I also eliminated a row. I didn't want to make the strips smaller than 1 1/2". This was a tip from Elizabeth from a different project and I thought it was sound advice. I also planned to work with a few less fabrics than Elizabeth's original design which would yield three less blocks in my finished version. It didn't take long to cut the pieces -- Elizabeth gives very thorough instructions in her class and it was fresh in my mind from just having watched it. Also, once you take any class on Craftsy it is yours forever. This is really cool - it never expires! I could watch it again as many times as I needed to. The written instructions are clear and easy to follow as well. They are in a downloadable pdf format and I had them up on my desktop to refer to as I worked.

low volume tiles quilt wip

I got as far as cutting all the pieces and laying them out on my design wall. I am really excited to finish this project and make it's 'twin'. I love how the low volume green and blue fabrics do their job and make the solid blue really vibrate in the composition. I was worried that they weren't neutral enough to get the same effect as Elizabeth had in her grey and yellow sample, but the beauty of Elizabeth's designs is that there are so many ways to create variations! She does a great job of showing this concept in her class, which is something I enjoy about her books as well.

Low Volume Tiles Quilt Layout

One thing I will add about the Inspired Modern Quilts class is that it is somewhat cumulative. Elizabeth shares so many useful tips and techniques through out the class but if you start in the middle you might miss some really great stuff. One of my favorite things I learned today was a technique she showed for cutting matching angles during her Wonky Log Cabin Quilt. And she introduced a product in the Clementine Applique lesson that I had no idea even existed. I won't spoil it too much, but she does get points for saying the word 'lubrication' in a quilting video (sorry, had to go there!)

Well, if you have made it to the end of my super long post (seriously I could write another thousand words on this class!) I am happy to remind you that you get 25% off this class if you sign up from the link at the beginning of this post. This will be available until the end of next month, so I hope treat yourself to this class. You will be happy that you did!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Back to School Craftsy Style!

With all the excitement about going back to school I decided to enroll in a few classes too. We recently had a presentation at the Portland Modern Quilt Guild about the on line classes at Craftsy and I got inspired! I am going to take Elizabeth Hartman's Modern Quilting class on Monday. You might know Elizabeth from her popular quilting books The Practical Guild to Patchwork and Modern Patchwork. She is also a founding member of our quild.
I'd love for you to join me so we can have a fun chat about it! Here is the link to sign up.
Online Modern Quilts Class
I also am happy to tell you that anyone who signs up from this post gets a 25% discount on the class. How cool is that! Craftsy has a ton of really great online classes and it is free to join. Hope some of you will join me over there!
I am planning to take the class first thing on Monday morning and I will write about it and post my thoughts and blocks I make on Tuesday. I pulled all my fabrics and am looking forward to going to class in the morning!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

And the winner is...

Comment 10, Connie!

Congratulations Connie who writes the blog Freemotion by the River and thank you to everyone who commented and participated in this giveaway. It was super fun to read all your comments over the last week. It took a while to delete all my replies so I could get an accurate count to put in the random number generator (oops! I'll know for next time!) and the final count was 104!
I will be sending Connie this collection of Pendleton Eco-wool scraps from my Go-Retro quilt that is in the Winter Woolen Issue of Stitch Magazine. And she gets a copy of that magazine too!

And this is exciting -- the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store has generously put together a few kits with all the fabrics you need for this project for -- wait for it -- $55! That is less than a yard of Eco Wool! And if that wasn't good enough, they are putting it on sale TODAY for their annual Fall fabric sale, so it will actually be 40% off and only cost $35. Thats really affordable! Whoot Whoot! They ship anywhere too, and they also carry Stitch Magazine there!
I am looking forward to chatting with all the new happy campers who joined my site. I have hopped over to many of your blogs and have had fun exploring them. Well, off to finish sewing a project for the spring issue of Stitch! After I go get something I forgot to pick up last trip to the fabric store. Typical me!
Have Machine, Will Travel,
Michelle

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Go-Retro Scraps + Stitch Magazine Give-away!

Blog Hop Party with Give-Aways

I've been looking for a fun way to do a little give-away to celebrate my Stitch Magazine Go-Retro quilt project and came across this Blog Hop Party on the Quilting Gallery today. So without further ado, here is the skinny:

Leave a comment below to enter a chance to:
1. win a bag of Pendleton Eco-Wise scraps from my Go Retro Quilt
2. and a copy of the Winter 2012 Stitch Magazine with the instructions to the project (and a ton of other amazing projects and articles!).
*For a second chance to win, follow my blog and mention in your comments that you are now a "Happy Camper!"

The give-away will be open until September 3rd and I'll pick the winner using the Random Number Generator on September 4th. The scraps are indeed my scraps from the project. You will get a small piece of each of the colors I used, but it won't be enough to make the entire project. I know the winner will make something wonderful with these scraps and I can't wait to see what they create! I won't be able to ship internationally for this give-away.

Make sure to check out all the other amazing give-aways on the Quilting Gallery website from quilt bloggers from around the world. It is quite the extensive community over there with directories for quilt guilds, blogs, shops and tutorials.

Good luck!
Thanks for visiting :-)
Michelle

PS
For fun I checked out who else from Oregon had blogs linked to the Quilting Gallery and there are 89 of you there! I hope to be the 90th! Here is the link to check out my fellow Oregonians' blogs.

PSS
This is my 25th post! I won't mention the numerous other blogs I experimented with before I landed on this format. Happy to be here. I plan to stay for awhile!


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Go-Retro Wool Quilt in Stitch!

I am just giddy! I have two quilt projects in magazines that just came out. This is so cool! And a bit terrifying... Okay, drum roll please: Here is my Go Retro Wool Quilt!
This was such a fun project to make. I was over at Susan Beal's house one day and was telling her about my idea for a retro-inspired quilt I was planning to submit to Stitch 2012 for their Winter Wool issue and noticed the vintage Cannonburg Temporama cup she had served me coffee in matched the colors of the Pendleton Eco-Wise wool that I was working with. I knew that was what I had to make, I also had that china at home and had always loved the pattern on it. I went home, drew out the pattern and planned the design.
Eco-Wise wool is amazing to sew with. I joke at work that it 'sews like butter' but it really does! The Pendleton Woolen Mill blog gave this a really nice shout-out as well. Susan has two terrific articles in it, one about the history of wool in America and another about pattern making with Portland designer Colette. There are tons of great project, one by another local Portland designer, Daniella Caine, that also uses Pendleton wool. I am so proud to have a project be in this issue among all the other terrific designs!
My Go-Retro Quilt is on p. 53 of the magazine, the project instructions (which I wrote and illustrated) start on p. 98 and you can download the template for the pattern pieces for free on the Sew Daily website. I will admit, I have butterflies in my stomach: it is one thing to be close to a project and feel really proud about it and another thing to put it out into the world and hope that other quilters like it too. Let me know what you think! And let me know if you make one - I'd love to see some creative versions of this project out there!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Modern Quilt Guild Meet-up Weekend

I find the ferry culture in and around Seattle so intriguing. I'm sure it must get old for those folks who depend on it for getting places everyday, but as a tourist it really is quite wonderful, especially on a day like it was last Saturday morning: crisp, bright, the fog layered on the water. The bonus was that I got to spend a whole day quilting on Vashon Island at Island Quilters for the first ever PNW MQG Quilt Meet-up!
PNW MQG Vashon Island Ferry
I hitched an early ride with Jen (aka bettycrockerass) and Amber, and even in my coffee-deprived state the buzz of the room when we arrived did wonders to motivate some serious sewing! It was fun to sew surrounded by quilts from the PMQG, which Island Quilters had displayed in their bright gallery space. It was also fun to hang out by 'Park Blocks' which hasn't been home since Sisters!
PNW MQG Island Quilters PMQG Quilt Show
I met so many new people from Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. and really enjoyed 'sew'cializing with them. All together we made six quilt tops for charity. I really enjoyed working with Katie Pederson, the president of the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild and the author of the blog Sew Katie Did. We made 'stitch and flip triangles' from her book Quilting Modern. (And seriously, I am so sorry for stepping on your bare feet in my clunker Danskos... I owe you a drink for sure next time!)
photo-21
Another group worked with Susan Beal the president of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild and author of the blog West Coast Crafty. They made four modern cross quilt tops from her book Modern Log Cabin Quilting. It was a treat to watch them go together on the design walls. (And I'll add that I also got to share a room with Susan, who is super kind and generous and I win the bad room mate award for waking her up at 6am. Sorry Susan!)
PNW MQG at Island Quilters
I also had the pleasure of hanging out with Holly from Holly's Red Bike. She is the president of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild. The good news was that I didn't step on her toe or wake her up too early!
A group of us went to dinner that night. I can't get facebook or twitter or instagram on my phone right now so I got to watch everyone posting around the table. It was funny to feel so old fashioned, but I ended up having fun talking with the folks I was sitting next to who also weren't hooked up to the internet.
The next day was a shop hop and as much as I tried, it was just impossible to go home empty handed. I bought a few goodies at Drygoods Design that I couldn't resist. I'm stealing this photo of me hugging my fabrics from Monica's (aka Happy Zombie) instagram.
On the ride back to PDX we stopped at Patricia Belyea's home. She collects and sells Japanese Yukata Fabrics. Susan, Petra, Heather and I were absolutely smitten with the beautiful prints and rich colors of these fabrics and I'm certain you will see us sneak them into a project or two soon!
There are lots more photos over on the PNW MQG Meet-up Flickr page. I can't wait to do this again!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Improv Robots - say what now?

Robot-guyThe challenge for the Design Camp [think outside the block] June Camp 2 is Improv Robots. Super cool idea, but a bit daunting. The idea of making a robot-anything is hard enough, but make one without a pattern or plan? Yikes! It took me a while to figure out my method, but here is a snapshot of what I did.
Step one: research images vintage robots. This was super fun and inspiring. I found this image, printed it out and hung it over my work space.

Step two: Cut out the basic shapes
I thought it would make it easier if I started with the main body pieces and filled in the details. Here is what I started with:
Robot-guy WIP
Step three: Details! I just went for it. I started to build out the sections bit by bit, adding sashing to fit the parts together. I think the face was the hardest part. The expression was going to give this guy his overall mood and I wanted him to be happy. A tall order and alot of tiny pieces later here is Robot-guy!
Robot-guy DC Camp 2

I want to give credit to Linda from Surrounded by Scraps for inspiring me to try this without over analyzing the project. She was the first in the group to post her robot and it is adorable! She shared her process on her blog which helped me to get started. Thanks Linda!

My 13 year-old daughter thought this was the 'coolest thing' I've ever made. She has requested I make her an improv dinosaur quilt. Sure - that should be easy (not!). The other challenges this month have also been fun: Camp three is 'frame it.' Melissa asked up to 'create a work of art' and then frame it with the Kona Snow sashing. Here is my block for that camp:
Frame it! Design Camp 3 June Block
And for Camp 1 we are doing 9" x 12" mini quilts for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. More to come on that project soon!



Friday, June 1, 2012

Park Blocks: Quilting Between the Vines

Okay, truth be told: I enjoy a good pun or play on words. Please indulge me, forgive my cheekiness, and let me share my first digitized quilting pattern with you: Vines!
Vines
I designed this for my Design Camp [think outside the block] Bee Park Blocks quilt. After I had pieced the top and the back I just kept thinking it needed vines. I thought about quilting it by hand, but wasn't sure this was the right project for that; mainly because I needed to finish it for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show PMQG exhibit in July. I decided to try a different approach. I had this image of vines in my head, so I drew it in an Illustrator file and sent it to my go-to longarm quilter Nancy Stovel.
Nancy gave me a call when she got the digitized file back. We played with it on her computer, creating the layout and scale of the repeat. I should add that Nancy is VERY patient and always spends way more time with me then I deserve (Thanks Nancy!).
Vines (up close)
I was super nervous and excited to pick up the quilt. I couldn't have been more pleased! Now I can't stop thinking of all the possibilities for new digital quilting designs! I also picked up a beautiful linen cotton at Cool Cottons for the binding. It matches the tea-dyed muslin color perfectly. I know what I will be doing this weekend!
Design Camp improv quilt top


Wednesday, May 30, 2012

WIP Wednesday: Keep Calm and Press on!

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Samples, Pouches and the Post Office, oh my!
I am joining the fun over at the Freshly Pieced Blog's WIP Wednesday. Here is my list of things to do today:

1. Mail fabric to the Made with Moxie Denyse Schmidt Fabric Swap. DONE!
Denyse Schmidt Charm Swap

2. Mail my bumper sticker block for Design Camp [think outside the block] Camp 1: my first attempt at letters. It was super fun (and hard) and I have a new catch phrase to laugh about. DONE!
Keep Calm and...

3. Finish my pouch for my swap partner over at the Vancouver BC Modern Quilt Guild. She wanted something for her passport and iphone so I made this cute little passport cover and bag with a pocket for a phone. DONE!
pouch swap

4. Make my samples for the Sleep Over Camp at Modern Domestic (I had a dream about this last night so I'd better get to this one right away!).
fabrics for class samples

and lastly, take the dog for a walk, get some coffee and write a new blog post: I get to check that last one off the list!

PS I'm thinking of starting my own link party: How about a once-a-month "keep calm and press on" party where you tackle those difficult projects! I am thinking the second Saturday of each month. I know I need a little confidence booster now and then. Let me know what you think!