Bad Blogger, bad blogger!

I haven't posted in months - I've spent more time on facebook than on my blog. I did realize that I ought to be doing both, because I like my blog for use as an online journal. I like being able to go back and read about when I was working on a quilt, when I finished it, etc.

So a little catchup is in order.

Here's the EQ design of the Quiltmaker quilt I did at our retreat in June. I couldn't show it to anyone until the magazine came out, which is why there were no posts about it.

For more information on the design process, visit Quiltmaker Linkin' Logs page And here's a picture of the finished top. It's still unquilted, but it's nicely folded, with backing, in a Kroger bag, like all my other unfinished tops.  And since I did something different with the border so my quilt would have those curls at the corners, I made a web page on my personal website telling people how I did it: 

http://www.forestjane.com/linkin.htm

And let's see, what else haven't I shown here? Oh, the guild I belong to makes blocks for our president. The last president selected a simple tulip block. This is easy and would be great for a spring border. She should have enough for a whole quilt, and with all the tulips in different colors, it should be lovely:

And that takes me up to August, I think.  More later!

Quilt Class

I took a quilting class today from Anne Lullie on making mosaic quilts. She also gave us some pointers on using the color wheel to help choose fabric. The wallhanging I made in the class is rather brighter than most of my quilts to date:

To be very honest, I don't really like this. Maybe when I get a couple of borders on, I'll like it better. The technique is okay (if you have something in mind for it that'll never be washed)and selecting and trimming and arranging all those little color-squares wasn't all that bad. I also understand how we used the color wheel to select lights and darks and mediums and complimentaries of all these colors, but . . . this is too bright and abstract for me. I don't like that dark curl even though I 'get' the fact that without the darks, it'd just be a confetti of mediums-to-lights. It's too stark.

Guess I'm just stuck in my ways. I do prefer piecing and making a quilt the traditional way using repeated blocks. I can't say I don't like abstracts at all, because most of my quilts have been geometric designs, not picture quilts. I just don't like these colors together one bit. If Anne had led us to the table full of her beautiful hand dyed fabrics and said, "Pick 20 tones and shades you like." I probably wouldn't have selected ANY lime green, neon yellows, no oranges, or mustards. It was probably good to force myself to use these—but I'm not going to hang the finished quilt on my walls!

The quilts I've done for Quiltmaker Magazine are challenging me to expand my color choices, but I'm happier with those fabrics. The carnival themed one in batiks, I like that even though it has oranges and brights, and this latest one I can't show you yet, it's in shades of green, blue, purple on a faintly minty green background. Here's two of the fabrics I've used:

Stay tuned for the reveal on the whole quilt top! I've found I love working in batiks for the whole quilt, and I like the 'hand' of the batik and the color variations you get in one piece of fabric. But I also like tone-on-tones. I'll even admit to liking some calicoes.

Do you find yourself stuck in certain colorways and fabric types? I love scrappy, but tend to grab from a color family to make controlled scrappy. For example, I don't often mix Thimbleberries muted colors with brights or character prints. I've never made a two-color quilt, but would like to some day. Would you? Or is that too bland a quilt?

Pineapple Blossom and Raspberry Variation

Remember, you've got until the 4th of April to post a comment on my blog for a chance to win the free pattern from Julie Herman. Plus, don't forget to go over to the Quilty Pleasures Blog to post for a chance at some free fabric. ;)

Here's an indoor shot of my Raspberry Dessert variation - the library shelves make excellent quilt hangers:

And here's the current state of that pineapple blossom quilt I started at Bonnie Hunter's class in Jackson TN. I decided to make it 3x3 (or six by six, depending on how you count the blocks) before I added the border, so this last week, I've made and added on 12 more twelve inch blocks.

Tomorrow after work, I'm going to head to Home Depot and Walmart to check out their seeds and seedlings. It's almost April, and time to start thinking Garden! Tomatoes! Banana Peppers! SnowPeas! Hey, have any of you ever grown cantaloupe in a container garden?

Raspberry Desserts and Giveaways!

Well, here it is, the reveal date for the second Quiltmaker Scrap Squad project. I'm glad I was picked to be on this team, it's been lots of fun so far. For the last two months, we've been working on a pattern by Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts. This one is called Raspberry Desserts (she did it in pinks and creams) but if you'll click around the other scrap squad blogs, you can see that it looks great both color controlled and scrappy! She also has some wonderful patterns on her site that look great in scrappy, look around while you're there.

I decided to do mine with a dark background, rows of blocks with jewel tone colors bordering scrappy insides. Then I used the same fabrics in the scrappy braided border:

Mine's not quilted yet - and before I send it off to my longarmer, I may add another braided border all the way around. I used my Accuquilt GO! to cut the chisel shapes that became the braid, and it was SO easy to cut the right and left shapes. And addictive, almost hypnotic, to keep sewing the braid, chaining them through the machine.

I also changed the setting of the Julie's blocks - instead of putting them on point with setting triangles, I set them square. I think it would have been neat to do them with smaller strips too, really scrappy against white, maybe I'll try that someday.

Now for the Giveaways!

Julie has given the eight of us on the scrap squad each a pattern to give away FREE. So comment on my blog between now and April 4 (that gives you a week to comment) then I'll use a random number generator to pick one of you to receive the pattern. Make sure your response is set so I can reply to your comment if you win! Then go hop around the scrap squad blogs and comment on theirs too (links on my sidebar) for MORE chances to win a free pattern.

AND it doesn't stop there!

Quilty Pleasures blog, over at quiltmaker.com, is having a fabric giveaway. Yup, FABRIC! Run over there and follow the instructions to be entered for that too!

Scrap Squad Teaser and Block of the Month

Still can't show you the Quiltmaker magazine pattern I'm working on, but just to tease you, here's some MORE of the fabrics I'm using.

These past two nights, I've also been working on the website for my guild. I put up a block almost every month, and the next series of blocks is starting TODAY. Here's block one. First the EQ drawing of what I designed:

And then here's the actual block, made out of fabric:

If you want to play around with us, it's all free, online at the Uncommon Threads guild website, just scroll down to see the block of the month links. The January page has some sample layouts and color options, and the March page starts you with cutting directions and instructions on the first block. Wouldn't you like to join us?

Braid-Making

I've been braid making tonight! I think I'm about half done with the lengths I'll need.

This is the kind of project I'd never have done without the Accuquilt. Cutting all those right and left tilting wedges by hand? eww. But the cutter makes it so fast to cut hundreds of them. And sewing them together goes fast and accurate too, since all the little dogear corners are already cut off for you.

I can't show you the quilt these are going to border yet, we have to keep it a secret until the day before Quiltmaker magazine subscriptions are supposed to come out. But I'll have a dark navy skinny border between this and the quilt center, then more dark final border on the outside. So even though this looks like a really scrappy hodgepodge of fabrics, surrounding it with navy will tame it down some. And even though you see some fabrics directly across from each other in the pic, they won't be on the final quilt. I'm planning to have the top braid pointing right, the side braid pointing south, the bottom braid pointing left, and the other side braid pointing up. Does that make sense?

Books and Potholders and Quilting

Been busy! Have you?
First, I got a PACKAGE today - a book from one of my favorite authors, Sharon Sala. Doesn't Toby look like he's telling Libby, "Another book? Where's Jane going to put all these?" Anyway, Sharon sent me that pink one on the end, and it's autographed, too!

I've been adding some of my favorite authors to my facebook friends because it's cool to see updates from them and learn about the day to day lives of these famous folks. I told Sharon I was looking to order Blown Away because I couldn't find it in the stores. I'd already bought Torn Apart and Swept Aside (the aqua and the yellow books, second and third in the series) and told her I didn't want to read them until I'd read the first. She very kindly offered to mail me the pink one, Blown Away. I'm already 150+ pages into it, until I made myself stop so I wouldn't gulp it all down in a day.

Sharon writes really good romantic suspense. At least these three are, some of what she's written could be romantic comedy. Both Whippoorwill and Amen Trail by her made me laugh out loud. :) If you haven't ever read anything by her, give her a try.

In other news, I'm also making a couple of Valentine themed potholders for gifts. Super simple project. I'll put a couple thicknesses of terry or flannel inside, and some of that silver ironing-board cover for a backing so they'll be heat proof.

The eight of us on the Quiltmaker Magazine Scrap Squad already have our next pattern to make, and I'm busy cutting strips and squares from all my scraps. Here's a few of the fabrics I'm using. That navy blue is the only thing I purchased, for background. The rest will all be from stuff I already have. I really like the design we're making this time. Sorry I can't show you more of it, but it's a secret until the magazine comes out. Stay tuned!

Scrap Squad, Snow, and BOM

As I mentioned at the end of the last post, I've been selected as one of Quiltmaker Magazine's Scrap Squad. It's nice to make a little money with my quilting and not have to sell the quilt! We can't reveal the quilt designs we're given to make until after the issue of the magazine comes out, but we CAN give you a sneak preview teaser. Here's Toby to present it:

Toby agrees with keeping things quiet. Or maybe he just wants ME to be quiet so he can sleep on the nice, freshly ironed block segments. I'm doing this first quilt for Scrap Squad with leftover flannel bits from my Christmas flannel rag quilts, with the addition of some blue FQ's I won at a retreat auction.

And we had SNOW! In Memphis, that's amazing. Can you see the glowing red stop sign? It was pretty falling, but I'm glad it's all melted now:

The 3 inches we got were more than I wanted to drive to work through the next morning. But did the library close? No. It made for some slick and slushy travelling.

And speaking of travelling, my quilt-guild friend is touring Turkey this winter with her husband, and they're posting some fantastic pictures and a little Turkish history on the blog. Such vibrant blue skies! Such intricate tile work on the ceilings, floors, walls. For some real quilt inspiration, check this out:

Jeanie Goes Cold Turkey

I also finally got the new block of the month up for my quilt guild. We're doing twelve 16 inch blocks, and they'll all be tied together with a diagonal line of ... well, go see. Here's the address for the 2011 Sweet Sixteen Intro.

It's not just for my guild members, so feel free to join us if you want. :) Really, don't you have enough fabric where you could join something like this and not have to buy a thing? I sure do.

The work part for me was not drawing the quilt in EQ, or designing twelve blocks, but in taking last year's block of the month selection off of the website index page, making teeny thumbnails of the pix, and re-linking all the pages from within the BOM archives section. So I'll leave you with a couple of nail clippings from last year:

Christmas Gifts 2010

Now that the suspense is over, I can unveil some of what I made and gave for Christmas this year.

First, here's my big brother Bob holding up a rag quilt. Now that I have the Accuquilt rag quilt die for my cutter, it's so simple to cut and make these quilts. And since they're quilt as you go, I don't have to send them out.


Here's Fred playing like he's sleeping under the one I made him for his recliner:


My sister-in-law Paula also got gifts made with the Accuquilt cutter - the triangle-in-square die cutter made it simple to cut the bits for these three pillows:


Mom got a red and white table runner. These arrowhead blocks were from Quiltmaker's last issue (scroll down to see some of the blocks in progress, in a previous post.) The blocks went together very quickly. Here they are on her coffee table with some candles on top:


And here is the whole runner, on my design wall:



In other news, I'm now a member of Quiltmaker's Scrap Squad for 2011! I never thought when I sent in my application that they'd accept me. But now I have my first assignment from them, I've already picked fabric from my stash for it, and I plan to start cutting tomorrow. Can't tell you much about the project we're doing yet, but I hope to use up a lot of the blue and khaki flannel left over from my two rag quilts above.