As I had planned, this summer has been busy with a lot of traveling and down time because of school break, but it's been a good one so far. My whole intention of of my Summer Garden Chuck Nohara blocks was to have a slow sewing project that can be taken almost anywhere, (well maybe except the beach) and even though sixteen blocks is no where near a quilt top finish, I'm still happy with "only" sixteen blocks. Just look how my garden has grown...
It's been somewhat surprising to me that a couple of the blocks have taken so much time, but it's the detailed blocks that give the most bang for the buck. This block is becoming one of my favorites... hmm, could have something to do with the notion fabrics, not to mention the other favorite snippits.
I've always been a sucker for a clamshell design, and this block is no exception. Even though I've never done an entire clamshell quilt, I can see myself revisiting this block for another small and fun project.
This fun yellow text print has been in my stack of background fabrics for a while, and I knew that it would need just the right fabrics to make it stand out, but also needed to not overpower the applique design. Doesn't this look like a fresh and juicy basket of summer oranges?
I think that the blocks are playing well with each other and it's fun to see how each block changes the feel of the quilt. I've glue based the majority of the blocks, but there are still several that still need to be stitched down. I've been using invisible thread and a straight line stitch to finish them.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary... how does your garden grow?
Linking up this week to Let's Bee Social
My quilting bee really is quite a diverse group, and I really appreciate the many facets of the group... there's a German married to an Irish guy, a Swiss in Germany, a Polish girl in Denmark, two German girls who speak English just as fast as I do (if not faster) and then of course there's me... an American in Germany.
The
personal stories of each bee member are just about as diverse as our
tastes in quilting... which is fun to work with combinations that are different than mine. Melanie was the the last quilter who was up, so I'll start with the most recent blocks and work my way back.
Mell's vision for her quilt is a "Good Wishes" quilt... text or symbols in black on a white background. Holy smokes, if you know me then you know that there's hardly a stitch of black in my stash, which is why I had to steal borrow a Kona solid the last time we met for our HH Patchwork Treffen.
She left the method open, and I just HAD to use the starch method for these. She wanted encouraging words/good wishes that one might find in a birthday card, etc. We could use words in another language, but it had to be a language that was relevant to us. "Segen" means "Blessings" in English.
Since
Melanie actually knows both of my boys personally, I thought that she
would enjoy seeing my little assistant hard at work holding her blocks.
Magda is a color genius with a soft palette... quiet and understated, yet a certain unexpected subtle interest. She had requested shades of soft peach and carmel colors, mixed with light colored low volumes... again two colors that stretched me, but a fun color combination nonetheless. I love how her quilt is coming along so far.
Daniela wanted to make a baby quilt for a friend and requested blue's and mustard's and picked a free wonky improv log cabin pattern from Debbie of A Quilter's Table (instruction link here) She has the top together already, and it looks like so much fun... you can see it here.
I usually try impov with a fresh outlook again convincing myself that if I try it again that I might like it again, only to come to the same conclusion as before... improv is just not my thing no matter which way I slice it.
But inspite my total dislike of improv, I do love a good fussy cut block.
So...it's my turn to be queen bee for the months of July/August and I can't wait to see what my fellow bee members come up with for my blocks... here's my start.
Linking up with Let's Bee Social.
With two boys that are fairly close in age, I find that if I do something for one kid, that I have to do it for both kids... so this past Christmas I really wanted to give the boys something that I had made for them. I love paper piecing, and my oldest guy loves pirates... so why not combine the two? For the last three years his birthday parties have been about eye patches, treasure maps, and of course treasure hunts. Ahoy, Matie!
Pirates don't exactly fit to his tractor/automobile themed room, so it was a bit of a stretch, but I knew that this guy would flip over the dangerous pirate ship that was sailing the seven seas, (free pattern found here) and I would simply be happy that it somewhat matches his room.
I'm finding more and more that I actually enjoy spiral quilting, and have used it in some recent projects. I'm still working on feeling comfortable doing it, and practicing on smaller projects really helps.
In addition to the decorative pillow, both boys desperately needed a few pillowcases. I still had leftover fabrics from both rooms, and made a few "burrito pillowcases" This is a really nice way to add a few decorative pipings, but still end up with nice finished edges.
I'm pleased to say that both of pillows were a big hit and I'm looking forward to when I can make quilts for them... I'll wait until they get a little older.
Linking up this week to Let's Bee Social.
This the second round of the #30daysoffabricstacks challenge, and can I just say that I am truly in my element? If only actually quilting quilts would be this much fun too... hmmm.
#yellow is a pretty important color in my color stash, and I love to grab a little touch of sunshine for my projects. With that being said this good mood color can sometimes be tricky to mix and match because there are so many different shades... lime, gold, primary.
#handprinted. you may remember some time ago that I had shared those fabulous lampshades that I'd been drooling over for a long time... well, when I ordered them I threw a scrap pack into my cart with them. These treasured bits match my living room so well, but until I nail down the project, I'll have to be happy to pull them out every once in a while and stroke them.
#softlyagainstblack is a dig REALLY deep into the bottom of my stash fabric pull. I've only recently started adding the occasional grey to my projects, and black is pretty much a no-go for me. These almost blacks have made it into my stash through bundles, but I can only imagine them as very small accents to a project.
#fabriciwant the #30daysoffabricstacks challenge is being hosted by @stitchedincolor, and is being sponsored by @bobbieloufabric, and of course who doesn't love shopping for fabrics, right? any other "she who has the biggest fabric stash when she dies" folks out there? It actually looks like I might have purposefully matched my fabric wishes here, but I honestly threw in my folder what appealed to me, and this is what came out of it... ok, a little selection involved, but seriously, this was mostly by chance.
#complimentarycolors even though I have studied the color wheel enough to know what fits where, I've never been the biggest fan of complimentary colors schemes... they always looked more like football uniforms to me. But when you look at some of the secondary color combos, that's where my interest start to peak.
#green well, I suppose in light of things, perhaps it's only fitting to save the best for last, and that is my favorite color... green. I think I could pull about 30 different stack of just green if I wanted to! Seriously, this is the biggest and most dominant corner of my stash. There really aren't too many shades of natures color that I don't like. You might notice several Alison Glass fabrics that have showed up in stack after stack of mine, simply because Iove how such a subtle blender pulls out the other colors in the fabrics to add interest. FYI this AG sun print on the top will go down as my all time favorite green fabric. So sad that I don't have bolts and bolts of this for all eternity.
#30daysoffabricstacks runs until August 6th, so there's still plenty of time to join in on the fun!
It dawned on me recently that the Christmas holiday seasons were so full, that I finished two projects that I never had a chance to share. Just when the weather is starting to warm up and one is thinking about cook outs, shorts, and swimming pools, and I'm talking about Christmas... talk about a way to make your ice melt in that perfectly chilled beverage?!? So, how
about a little "where's waldo" search with me, then you might
stumble onto a few background decorations that don't exactly fit in the
hot weather months.
Last winter I had asked my youngest son what his favorite animal was? "A Bieber, Mama" (that's beaver in German) Well, I knew exactly where I needed to go for the perfect pattern... Lorna from Sew Fresh Quilts, of course. I've been linking up with her Let's Bee Social for quite a while now, but this is the first time that I've sewn any of her super cute, but equally well done patterns.
The orginal pattern, found here, is with a Canadian Leaf in the body area, but I adjusted the pattern without the leaf on the body. I picked colors to match his room, and made a couple matching pillowcases. If you've not tried the burrito method of making pillowcases, let me just say that I highly recommend it - super easy, and fully finished inside and out.
I decided on a simple wavy line quilting, and always love how easy it is, not to mention that it gives a little more interest than straight line quilting. I love my walking foot and I don't have to focus like I do with free motion quilting, so the fact that I don't have to abandon it is a big plus for me.
So, perhaps it goes without saying that I will be linking up this week for Let's Bee Social.
P.S. I've been having problems with my emails, and I have not been able to answer emails for the past week. I've not forgotten... I can recieve them, but just not answer them.
