Improv Robots - say what now?

The 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:

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!


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:

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!

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!

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!).

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!

WIP Wednesday: Keep Calm and Press on!

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!


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!


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!


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!).


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!

...and the winner is

Butternutlake!

and she wrote:
I'm a hot orange person! Thanks for the chance.
ButternutlakeMay 22, 2012 8:06 AM

Congrats!

And thank you everyone for commenting and participating in such a fun event. I am overwhelmed by how many comments and new followers have appeared over the past few days. And I am grateful to Sew Mama Sew for connecting all of us. I have learned about so many new fun blogs and been introduced to such interesting new folks from all around. I am looking forward to following many of your blog adventures.

Did I mention that you guys rock!!! If any of you are interested in participating in a modern monochromatic print fabric swap leave me a comment and if there is enough interest -- 32 peeps -- I will start it up!

XO
Have machine, will travel.
Michelle

PS I won a giveaway too over at More Like Home! I am looking forward to wearing this lovely three-strand green necklace with a red flower and black button accent and scarf made from a vintage sheet. Thank you More like Home!

TTFN
M

Sew Mama Sew "Giveaway Day" Goodness!

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness -- so many giveaways on Sew Mama Sew! So much fun! This annual giveaway is not to be missed! Throw your name into the hat for a ton of fab giveaways! This event is open from May 21- May 25th. Just click on the link, enter a comment and you might win!

Now for the first official ever Design Camp Giveaway: drum roll please:



One packet of thirty-two different
Modern Monochromatic Prints
5" x 10" cuts
in the Modern Quilt Guild's Quiltcon logo colors!

I will make an official spot in the Design Camp [color outside the lines] fabric swap for this giveaway and it will go to the lucky winner of this random drawing. That is 32 5" x 10" slices of 32 different monochromatic prints to inspire you to create a block for Quiltcon block challenge! The fabrics in this giveaway will be posted in the flickr group pool, so click on Design Camp [color outside the lines] fabric swap to see what you will win. Don't miss out! This is crazy fun!!!

Leave a comment and tell me which color group you most want to be 'sorted' into: Hot Orange, Lemon Lime, Sea and Sky or Cool Neutrals. I will draw a winner at random on May 25th at 8 PM EST. The winner will get eight fabrics from each color group: a total of thirty-two different prints - the survey is just for fun.
(US shipping only)

Bonus entry - follow my blog and leave me a second comment telling me you are a happy camper you will get two chances to win!

Good luck and thanks for visiting Design Camp!
Have machine, will travel.
Michelle

ps - more information about the swap in this post

pss - the fabrics will be ready by mid July, so there will be a little wait to get your prize. It will be worth the wait though, I promise!

Design Camp [color outside the lines] Monochromatic Print Swap

I have stash-envy. Or I should say, I have no stash and I dream of having a perfectly organized closet of carefully folded fabrics sorted by color and print scale. A girl can dream, can't she? I have yet to perfect the art of 'oh I must have that so I'll just buy a yard and save it for later,' as some of my fellow quilting friends do so effortlessly. I've been thinking alot about my lack-o'stash lately because I want to make a block for the Quiltcon Block challenge and I don't have any fabrics to use for that. So what's a stash-less girl to do? Why host a fabric swap, of course!

Here are the deets:
Design Camp [color outside the lines] Fabric Swap
Round 1: Monochromatic Prints
This is the first (of many, I hope!) color-inspired fabric swaps. This swap is open to 31 campers (32 including me).

Round 1 colors are inspired by the Quiltcon Block Challenge, which is based on the colors of the Quiltcon logo. Elizabeth Hartman, who is leading the Quiltcon Block Challenge, categorizes the colors into 4 groups: Hot Orange, Lemon Lime, Sea & Sky, and Cool Neutrals.

For this swap you be assigned to one of these four groups: that means there will be 8 campers in each group. Each camper will buy and cut up 1 1/8 yards of fabric into thirty-two 5" x 10" strips (A kinda half-slice of a layer cake...). They will mail that fabric to me with a SASE and will get back 32 slices of fabrics: 8 from each of the four color groups. Pretty cool deal, don't you think?

Here is a cutting guide I made (I like visuals!)


I should add a little disclaimer here: part of the challenge is to pick your own fabrics. This swap is intended to be fun and inspirational and is not meant to dictate that these are the fabrics that should be used in your block. Please consider including, excluding and adding other fabrics if you are making a block for the challenge.

You can see the logo and read more about the colors here:
themodernquiltguild.com/2012/03/05/quiltcon-block-challen...

Read the Quiltcon Block Challenge entry rules here:
www.quiltcon.com/get-involved/quiltcon-block-challenge/

Visit the Quiltcon Block Challenge Flickr group here
www.flickr.com/groups/quiltconblockchallenge/

I made a board for inspiration over at pintest here.

Pop on over to the Design Camp [color outside the lines] Fabric Swap and request to join if you want to participate.

I also want to give credit to Made with Moxie.

I recently joined her Made with Moxie Denyse Schmidt Charm Swap Round 2 and she had a link to a Ellison Lane Quilts fantastic tutorial for how to run a happy swap on her blog. I am excited to participate in this swap too and indulge my inner stash-collector. I have no idea what I am going to do with these charm squares and I'm okay with that!
PS I bought the Denyse Schmidt turquoise Posies from Sew Mama Sew.

Fashion Illustration Studio at daVinci

I met famed fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez when I was 18 years old. My cousin Stacy was attending Art Center College of Design and invited me to a lecture and workshop he was hosting there. I was studying fashion design at what was then Otis Parsons and jumped at the chance to meet the illustrator whose dynamic compositions donned the pages of Interview and Vanity Fair.

He gave a presentation about his work as a fashion illustrator and then hosted a two day drawing workshop in a large open studio with about 100 students, 10 high fashion models, his assistant Juan Ramos and a bengal tiger. Yes, I did say bengal tiger... While he taught us to draw he also painted a ten foot tall by forty foot foot wide mural that was to hang in the windows of Bloomingdales. I will never forget watching him work - his sweeping black brush strokes brought the white canvases alive in front of my eyes with such elegance and high fashion I was star struck. At the end of the workshop he signed posters for the students. I waited in line thinking of something clever to say when it was my turn. I hadn't done much drawing in class (I was a beginner and not confident in my work) and had shied away from starting conversations with him or asking for critiques. He signed my poster with his name and a series of numbers. I asked him if those were his lucky lottery numbers and he replied, "it's my phone number, call me when you are in New York!"

Jump ahead into the twenty-first century and I now have the pleasure of imparting some of his wisdom to a group of eight middle school students at da Vinci Arts Middle School in Portland, OR. Yesterday we had a lesson on illustrating hands and feet (in shoes.) These kids are fearless and already understand gesture, line weight and composition. I am so inspired by their energy! I wish I could bring them all back to 1985 to that room at Art Center so they could draw in the presence of Antonio and his entouragé. I would love to see what they would have created! For the record I did meet up with Antonio in NYC. I followed him to a class he taught at Altos de Chavon in the Domincan Republic and cried when he died of aids in 1987. He was a generous and wonderful person who taught me how to see with my hands.