Blue So Blue [block for Boston] Tutorial

I have been thinking of making this block for a few years now. Back in 2011 I had the good fortune to be in NYC while there was a Sonia Delaunay exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum. The show, Color Moves: Art and Fashion by Sonia Delaunay, was immensely inspiring. I thought they might have ask me to leave the museum for drooling on the exhibits. Fortunately that didn't happen -- but this did!

Blue So Blue Block

The original artwork that inspired this block was this  Pochoir print from the 1930s. I thought the best way to approach this design was to paper piece the smaller blocks. I don't have much experience with paper piecing, so it was a fun challenge!

Sonia Delaunay Pochoir print

When I saw the call for blocks for the Boston MQG Quilts for Boston project, I thought of this block and knew I had the perfect reason to make it! Here is the template and a quick tutorial for the block. Enjoy!

Print four for each finished block

Steps 1-4 (from left to right)

 1. Place the center blue [a] strip right side out on the back of your paper template. Place a white [b] strip over one side of the center blue strip. Stitch on the paper side (this takes some getting used to and feels a bit backwards at first). Trim off excess seam allowance. Flip your template over and press the white [b] strips out so the right side is facing up. Add the blue [a] strips to each side of the white strip the same way, stitch together, trim and press.
2. Add the second set of white [b] strips and the last blue [b] strips in the same manner.
3-4. Trim the unit to 6.5" square.

Steps 5-7 (from left to right)

5-7 Carefully tear off the paper in each section.
Voila! Now make three more and sew them together to form the block!

For a more detailed tutorial on how to paper piece check out this:
Paper Piecing Tutorial - Fresh Lemons Quilts

Originally I had added in the extra white sashing between the 6" blocks but then took it out so it would work for the 12" finished measurement for Quilts for Boston.

I am going to make a a whole quilt eventually using this block. It will be fun to collect blue fabrics and throw in a few prints here and there. I would love to finish it by summer for our PMQG NW meet up. Wish me luck!
--Michelle

and the winner is...

Congratulations Stephanie at Quarter Incher! You won my giveaway! I will be sending you the Stitch with Style magazine and the three quarter yard cuts of the three Kaffe Fassett stripes that I used in my High-Low Chevron Skirt pattern featured in this issue. Thank you EVERYONE for your fun comments and for participating in this giveaway. I loved reading about your favorite era of retro fashion - hands down the 1950s win!

Next week Quilt Market is in Portland and I will be posting lots of good stuff about that! I will be there working with Pendleton, and representing the Portland Modern Quilt Guild, and I will have another exciting announcement to share by next Wednesday.

Happy Mother's Day!

Thank Sew, Mama, Sew! for the fun giveaway!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Michelle

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

Happy happy joy joy -- it's giveaway day on Sew, Mama, Sew! There are so many fantastic blogs and giveaways that I have no idea how I will get any work done today!

In honor of worthwhile distractions, I am giving away one copy of the latest Stitch with Style magazine and three quarter yard cuts from the Kaffe Fassett Wovens collection by Westminster Fabrics from the fabrics I used to make the High-Low Chevron Skirt (in this issue!).

Stitch with Style 2013

To enter, please leave one comment telling me what era is your favorite for retro style. I think I would have been happiest in the 1920's as a performer in a Wild West show. I dig those long split skirts, satin western blouses and gigantic brim hats!

Best hem powder ever!

One winner will be chosen on May 10th, 2013 at 5pm PST. The winner will be contacted by email, so please make sure to leave your name and email address in your comment if you are  'no reply' or anonymous. The winner will be chosen using Random.org.

High-Low Chevron Skirt

I will ship internationally. Good luck! Thank you for stopping by!

Have machine, will travel

Michelle

WIP Wednesday: Boston on my Mind (and Machine)

Sometimes It is always important to put aside time to do the projects that really matter to you. When I started to see the posts about making flags and quilt blocks for Boston, my second thought was, I have no idea when I am going to fit that in. My first thought, of course, was I can't wait to do that! Guess which thought wins today!

Top of my WIP list was to make a pair of flags for The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild's To Boston with Love project. I was hoping for company and was so excited when my friend Tanya said she would love to help out. Did I mention that Tanya has this cool Phaff embroidery machine and lots of great embroidery designs? (Don't worry T - I adore you for more than your machines!)

First we stitched out a Bee ('B' for Boston, get it?) on a piece of off-white cotton. It was from a red work design she had and she isolated the bee from the design and enlarged it quite a bit.

I brought over some fabrics that I wanted to work with. I took a little liberty with the color palette because I was really feeling the red, orange and grey thing for some reason. Oh well, gotta go with the inspiration when it strikes, right?

Then we embroidered this Scandinavian-esque heart. Tanya has that Danish-design flair and this heart was just was so her that I insisted we use it. We played a bit with the layout of the piecing: I sewed the flags together and Tanya did all the pressing (she has a magic touch with an iron, I swear!)

Here are our finished flags! I am going to work on my quilt block next for the Quilts for Boston project. I think I am going to use a paper piecing pattern I designed a while back based on a blue Sonia Delaunay painting.

I'll end on this note today: I was franticly trying to finish a quilt at the beginning of the week. My sewing machine was was acting like my dog when he doesn't want to come in from outside (are sewing machines like dogs? who knew...) It seemed like the feed dogs (aha! you knew that pun was gonna happen!) were not working quite right, so I opened it up and took a look inside. About twenty minutes later, every machine part was on the table as well as a gigantic pile of lint (Monica from Happy Zombie acurately called it a 'lint harvest')

I think I am also going to take my machine in for a full spa treatment. After WIP wednesday, though. I have a few things to sew first...

#98 on WIP Wed today :-)

Quilting for Boston

I wanted to share two projects for quilters who would like to do something for Boston. Click on the links of these projects for more details and information.

To Boston with Love
The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild is hosting a bunting project with the theme of 'love, hearts and peace.' There is a full tutorial on their blog for how to make the flags. The deadline to have these in Boston is May 31st.
#tobostonwithlove

Send bunting for To Boston with Love to:

Amy Friend

PO Box 774

West Newbury, MA 01985

Quilts for Boston
The Boston Modern Quilt Guild is asking for quilters to send quilt blocks that they will turn into quilts. They are also accepting donations for quilt backs and binding. They would like the blocks to measure 12 1/2" tall by the width of your choice and made in the colors Blue, Yellow, Grey and White. Deadline is May 24th.
#quiltsforboston

Send blocks for Quilts for Boston to:
Quilts for Boston
P. O. Box 79225
Belmont, MA 02479

You can also make donations to The One Fund Boston, an organization that is accepting monetary donations for the victims.

If you are in the Portland, Oregon area you can bring flags and quilt squares to the next Portland Modern Quilt Guild meeting on May 16th.

Peace be with you,
Michelle

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!