Happy Leap Day!

Once every four years we get a day like today!  When I was in sixth grade our teacher celebrated his 12th birthday - we all thought it was funny that he only had as many birthdays as the students in his class.

Here is a sneak peak at Dear Jane!  I started sewing sashing strips on one side of each block on Saturday.  I pinned them all up on my design wall (not the triangles yet) in the order they appear in the Jane's quilt.  You can kind of see the Trip Around the World design going on with the colors.  Maybe it will show up better when all the sashing is sewn in.  You can definitely see the pinks - they stand out even more than the red.  Two of the blocks I had sewn the "wrong" color so they had to be moved to a different place.  That was planned for, but after pinning them all up, there were two that I just didn't like next to each other so I moved one - can you see which one??

Quilter in Training

OK, you talked me into it.... More grand baby photos!

Megan says she loves fabric!  Yeah!  Besides looking at it and touching it she also like to eat it!  We'll work on that :)

She is learning quilt appreciation at an early age!  You're never too young to learn to love quilts....

She also loves books!  A girl after my own heart.

And she's just downright adorable, like her mother :)

She really concentrates on sleeping - sometimes I feel like that!

And she loves to watch American Idol and sing along.  She definitely gets her singing abilities from her Mom and Dad and her other grandparents.  She has lots and lots of people who love her!!

Modi Block Shuffle Party at Hi Fashion!

Today was the wrap up party at Hi Fashion for the Moda Block Shuffle that has been going on since October.  Each week we could download or pick up three patterns and make three blocks, there were 30 in all.  28 were pieced and 2 were appliqué.  I chose not to do the two appliqué blocks because they just didn't seem to fit in.  I knew it would be fun today to see how everyone set theirs together and I wasn't disappointed!

This one is Lorraine's - made with batiks that she had in her stash.  She set hers on point.  Bright and beautiful!

This is mine.  I chose to half-size my blocks so they finish at 3 inches instead of 6 inches.  I made 28 in all and set them in a table runner.
The fabrics I used were from Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle (Modern Quilt Studio) - a fat quarter bundle of small print fabrics in a lot of different colors.  I tried several different backgrounds but the dark brown seemed to work the best with all the different colors.
You can kind of see the leaves I quilted in the border - the backing fabric has leaves all over it.

This is Angela's - made with Kansas Troubles fabric.  She used a straight setting and hers looks beautiful and rather old-fashioned.  I love it.

This is Julie's.  By spreading the blocks out with alternating plain squares, the blocks really stand out and it leaves lots of space for beautiful quilting.  She did some fussy cutting on some of the blocks too!  She is going to add one more border to make it a little bigger.  Lovely.

 
Here is Shirley's - set on point and with alternating plain squares!  Also beautiful colors AND she took the appliqué out into the borders which makes it "fit in"!  Great idea!

Isn't it amazing how different they all look?

Janet set hers straight with sashing and cornerstones.  I love her bright colors and the tan background really sets them off.  She said these blocks tested her patience somewhat, but I think we all honed our skills by making them.




I even won a door prize - a layer cake and a charm pack!  Lucky me!

A fun quilting day :)

Grand Baby!!

A friend told me that while she was enjoying pictures of my quilts she really wanted to see pictures of our grand baby!  You don't have to ask me twice!  The main problem is that I haven't seen her for a month!  We are going going to remedy that next week :)

Isn't she adorable??  In the bottom picture she was attending her first college basketball game, with ear protection.  What a cutie.  I want to kiss those sweet cheeks :)

Close Ups

I noticed that in the picture I posted yesterday of my little signature quilt, you can't read the words very well, so I decided to post some close ups today.  You can match the fabrics to see what words inspire who :)

Little Bits

I found this little quilt top in a drawer when we were doing some furniture rearranging a couple of months ago and I decided it was time to finish it.  It is a little signature quilt with blocks made by the members of my miniature quilt group - The Little Bits.  Each member made two 2 inch signature blocks - on one block they signed their name, and on the other they wrote an inspiring word or two.  I hand appliquéd the center and inked on the words.  It was fun as I was quilting it to read the words everyone wrote and match it up with who wrote it.  Sadly, two of the members have since passed away and one moved away, but we've also add a couple of new members who have also become dear friends.  I treasure the friendships I have made through my love of quilting :)

Brazilian Embroidery

I finished another small Brazilian Embroidery block.  I have twelve of these all together and this is number six.  I want to put the 12 together in a small wall hanging.  I'm not sure how I'm going to do that yet....

Catching Up

I cleaned up my Dear Jane mess and caught up on this month's Plain and Fancy block.

I always work better if I clean up in between working on projects.  If I still have the mess out from one project, it's hard for me to be motivated to work on another.  So my sewing room stays clean briefly, sometimes very briefly, until I start on the next project.

This month I had to make six of these three-star sashing strips.  They took a LONG time to make!  It looks like I will be making six a month for the next three months!  Looking at them, you wouldn't think they would take that long to make, but there are a lot of half square triangles to make and square up, then putting it all together.  It took some time!

I hope you have a happy and productive week!

Here are the Rest!

Here are the rest of my Dear Jane triangles.  I am catching up some other things, then I will begin putting these together!

This one is completely paper pieced with 25 pieces.

Paper pieced with a tiny bit of hand appliqué - 24 pieces.

Paper pieced - 27 pieces.

Paper pieced with hand appliqué - 22 pieces.



Today I fired up the quilting machine and worked on a couple of pieces.  Photos forthcoming!  Have a great weekend!

Quilt Lecture and Workshop in Grand Junction!

Hello Everyone!

Last Fall I attended Utah Quilt Guild’s Quilt Fest and went to a lecture called Off the Path by Sharon Wright.  I found it very inspiring and talked to Jerri Colorado West Quilt Guild’s program chair and they are bringing her here in March.  Her lecture which is at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, March 9th at the First Christian Church (by Sherwood Park).  The program is first and starts promptly at 7:00. If you’re not a member it would be a $3 guest fee.

Her workshop which is from 9-4 the following day March 10th is only $25 for a full day class and includes a potluck lunch.  I have taken multiple classes from Sharon and she’s an excellent teacher.  She’s very creative and I find her work very inspiring.  I would love it if any or all or you could or would take the class with me.  If you are interested, get ahold of me or Jerri to sign up for the class, or just come to the lecture.  You won't be disappointed!

Here is a description of the workshop:

The basic block for this Great Beginnings class is very simple. What makes this class so fun is that after you have mastered the basic block, the setting possibilities are endless. In the class, we will master the block and how it goes together to make a great design. Then, in the afternoon, we will discuss design possibilities for unique and beautiful settings and will practice designing our own beautiful appliqué strips for putting the blocks together. The morning will be learning the block. The afternoon will be design and technique. This is my go-to design whenever I need a great wedding, baby, thank-you, or sister gift because of the many levels and possibilities. If you aren't sure what fabrics to choose, bring a little stack of fat quarters and a neutral "cornerstone" fabric and we'll go from there.

Here is a description of the lecture:

Anyone can follow a pattern! This class is for those creative adventurers who want to take their quilts to a higher level by jumping off the beaten path. As Sharon Wright shows her award-winning quilts (and some that really weren't), she will describe her creative meandering and pull you out of the quilting doldrums. You will leave this lecture with dozens of techniques, tricks, ideas, examples, and the motivation to take your next quilt off the path. Bring your camera and one of your favorite quilts to show.   

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!

The Corner Blocks

I love how the four corner blocks turned out for my Dear Jane quilt.  The two at the bottom of the picture below required a LOT of paper piecing.  The one on the left has 62 pieces and the pink one on the right has 72 pieces.  This picture shows the teeny star in the center before I sewed it together.
The gold block was hand appliquéd and that is the block I will embroider my name, year completed and how many pieces are in the quilt, as Jane Stickle did.  I'm taking a DJ break to catch up on some other things and quilt a couple of quilts so my quilting machine doesn't feel neglected, then I will begin putting this quilt top together!

English Paper Piecing

I opted to English paper piece this corner block in my DJ quilt.  The Sarah K. Francis instructions called for piecing and appliquéing but I decided it looked like a good candidate for English paper piecing, even though that is not my favorite technique.
I found that copying the block on cardstock  gave me the EPP templates that I needed and it really went together well!

I had to release the edges on the brown pieces so I could sew it into the block.  I am very happy with the way it turned out and I will post a finished picture soon!






And for all you Survivor fans out there - the new season started tonight!  More Brains, Brawn and Beauty!  I used to think I could survive on this show but now I know I wouldn't last three days - especially if a bug crawled in my ear ..... Eww!!

I DID IT!!

Let it be known that on this day, 16 February 2016, Karen finished the last block for her Dear Jane quilt!  PHEW!  I am thrilled, and excited to begin putting it together.  I hope it looks good when I put all the blocks together!  Ah!! Kinda scary...

The last two paper pieced corner blocks were crazy!  The one I finished today was paper pieced in 18 sections, with 72 pieces.  I love how it turned out.

The next few days I will be sharing picture of these last few blocks I've made.

This one is paper pieced and hand appliquéd - 15 pieces.

Paper pieced and hand appliquéd - 17 pieces.  See those two teeny tiny triangles?  Those were hand appliquéd.

This one is all hand appliquéd.



One of my daughters asked what I am going to do with this quilt when I get it done.  Well, I am not giving it away!  I will keep it and enjoy it as long as I live, then hopefully one of my kids will take it and enjoy it.  I will see who oohs and ahhs over it the most :)

Two More Blocks!

I am two blocks away from finishing all of the Dear Jane blocks and being ready to assemble them into a quilt top.  After nearly ten years, this feels really good!

Here are some triangles recently completed:

This one is paper pieced and hand appliquéd with 20 pieces.

Completely paper pieced - 27 pieces

Paper pieced with hand appliqué - 25 pieces.


My goal is to finish the blocks up this week, then I have a couple of projects I'd like to quilt before I put the quilt top together and get it ready to quilt.  I also have an art quilt I'm itching to design.  Time to get out the sketch pad!

Happy Quilting!