Pincushion Swap

My guild, the KCMQG, frequently hosts fun swaps.  This time, we're swapping pincushions with several other MQG chapters.  I pulled some favorite materials and printed off a paper pieced template.  This block is called Economy, and you can find it here.

I had fun with the directional newsprint and fussy cutting the center.

My first attempt finished at three inches (tiny!), so I'm including it is a mini extra.  Four and half inches seems like a more useful size.

I'm looking forward to seeing all the other great pincushions at our meeting tonight.

Talented Friends

I am so blessed to have many super talented friends, many of whom I met through the KCMQG.  What can I say?  We're stumbling over talented quilters here in the Midwest.  I've mentioned Angela, Lauren, Jacquie, Shea, Vicki, and more, but let me also say that my guild is brimming with a crazy number of amazing quilters whose work isn't shared on the internet.  So, join a guild if you can, people!

Today I am so excited to share big news from two of my talented friends.  Lauren of Aunt June fame has signed with Andover Fabrics to print her fabric lines!  I may have had a sneak peek or two, and let me tell you this stuff is incredible.  I can't wait to see it in stores.  This fabric will be the product of not only talent but sweat, tears, moneys and of course her unique sense of humor.

And I have been lucky enough to hear Angela teach on free motion quilting, but now anyone can take a class from her online at Craftsy!  Do you see the quilt she's working on in this picture?  That's right; it's the one I pieced for her a while back.  Check out her blog for a behind the scenes look at the video shoot.  Very cool.

I'm so proud to know these ladies, and I can tell you personally that they deserve every piece of success that is coming their way.

Yellow and Gray Pinwheel

 

I finished up the quilting on my yellow and gray pinwheel quilt just in time to take it my guild's picnic.  It looks right at home in Shea's living room.  Thanks to Lisa and Tracy for holding it up for me!  The quilt is 60 x 80.  It's such a simple pattern.  In my version, each rectangle finishes at 5 x 10 inches. The Omnigrip 6-Inch-by-24-Inch Non-Slip Quilter's Ruler is my go to tool and makes cutting these blocks a cinch.

I used three leftover blocks on the back along with all my solid gray scraps.  It is pretty scrappy, but it did feel really good not to buy any fabric for backing.

I wanted to further differentiate the gray and yellow pinwheel shapes, so I used a different design to quilt each: the chains squares and paisley from Angela's book.

I machine stitched the binding using this method I described a while back.  So quick!  I used all of my favorite gray dot for the binding and had to finish using Kona coal.

This quilt is a gift for a really terrific pediatric audiologist.  I can't wait to give it to her!

Quilts on the Quad

We had a gorgeous day for the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild's first quilt show.  The organizers did a fantastic job, and the show was full of stunning quilts.  Here are just a few.

I have to show some closeups so you can appreciate the quilting, in particular. This is a quilt by Carla of Lolly Quiltz, quilted by Angela Walters.  Amazing!

 Mary Anne's quilting on her Kona challenge quilt adds so much.

 And wait until Shea does a full reveal on this one on her blog soon.  I adore the quilting!

Sheryl's quilting is always staggering.  This quilt was draped over a water feature. 

I've said it before - best guild ever.

Winner and a Show

The winner of the Paper Pieces templates is #15, Hannah!  I'll send you an email.  Thanks to everyone for their comments.  I will say, as someone who has printed and cut out paper templates before, the ones you can buy are obviously easier (no cutting out) and made from thicker paper. You can use them several times.  Totally worth it for me.

The show is the first quilt show by the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild.  If you are in the area, we hope you'll stop by UMKC's quad this coming Saturday, October 1st.  There are going to be tons of great quilts to see, and we're hoping our lovely fall weather continues.  Hope to see you there!

Curvy Improv

The "no prints allowed" challenge for the KCMQG has really had me stumped. I used to advise my writing students to use free writing when they felt blocked, so I took my own advice, in quilting form: improv piecing. (And yes, the challenge is due in five days, but who's counting.)
I've seen a new improv technique popping up all over that I've been wanting to try. Jacquie's done it, and it shows up in Jean Well's and Malka Dubrawsky's new books. Using a rotary cutter with no ruler builds subtle waves into your piecing. Then the edges of the strips are joined without pinning. See a fun tutorial on this technique here. Piecing these blocks was the quilting equivalent of stream of consciousness writing. Those strips look nice together. There we go. Now let's piece a little orange bit in there. Too short; guess I'll add another strip.

Not sure where this is going, but it's been fun so far.

Best Guild Ever

Last night was another fabulous meeting of the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild. We had a fun guest speaker, Alissa. She is one of the founders of the first Modern Quilt Guild in LA. She showed us some of her quilts and talked about the new minimal style she's pursuing. Hop on over to her blog to see some of her fabulous quilts.

We decided to start a new charity project as a guild too. Our quilts for the NICU was a huge success, and I hope this new project will be too. We're going to be making, excuse the cold clinical term, fetal demise pouches. These are for babies who don't survive and are so tiny there is nothing small enough to put them in.
Andrea, a nursing student, saw the pouches the hospital currently has and thought we could make something nicer. After all, babies are photographed, presented to their parents, and sometimes even buried in these pouches. Nothing is really special enough for that, but I tried to create what I would want to have, when I designed this pouch. I used the softest material (Anna Maria Horner voile and flannel) and a wrap style to cradle the little body.

I'm putting a link here to the tutorial pdf. If you have a desire to make these to donate to your local hospital, you are more than welcome to use this pattern. Different hospitals will have different preferences and regulations, so you'll want to get an example approved before making more. I'll warn you that making a pouch can be hard, emotionally, but imagine what it will mean to parents.

FD Wrap Pouch Tutorial

Inspiration Overload

I'm feeling very inspired. In fact, it's kind of a problem, given how little time I seem to have to devote to sewing. I'd certainly rather have too much than too little to inspire me though, right? These books were on my wish list for the holidays, and they do not disappoint! Malka's book in particular suits my improv leanings, and I'm excited to try some of the art quilt techniques in the book by Jean Wells (very soon, in fact, but more on that later). As you know I've already made two quilts from patterns by Elizabeth Hartman, and the instructions in the book seem just as impeccable as those I've encountered on her blog. I found a quilter's candy land last weekend at Sarah's in Lawrence. I've been trying to find a time to visit for over 6 months and was afraid it couldn't live up to my built up anticipation. But it did - fabulous store with so many fabrics. It is so fun to see fabrics I've admired online in person. When I asked if they had any shot cottons, they said "yes, we have all of them." Oh my! I came away with these three lovelies. If you haven't seen shot cottons, they are unique. The warp and weft threads are different colors, which creates a shimmery depth to the colored fabric. So pretty.
I'm planning to put all my inspiration to good use to tackle the latest KCMQG challenge. It' s called No Prints Allowed. We're each to use a charm pack of Kona cotton solids (thank you to Robert Kaufman for donating them to the Guild!) and make something quilty. We can add other solids, but no printed fabrics and we must use a little bit of every fabric in the charm pack. I chose the dusty colorway, and I'm excited about my idea!
Aren't those colors pretty!

If you need a little inspiration this morning check out a quilt Jacquie shared with us last night at Guild meeting. It is amazing!!

Handmade Christmas Continues

23 days until Christmas, and I've marked a couple more handmade gifts off my list. The first is a request from my grandmother who loves her tea, like me. I made her a quilted tea cozy.
This is my own design, and it allows the cozy to stay on while you pour. I think a redesign may be in order when I have time. I originally made it to be reversible, and while I like that there are no exposed seams, it was a real pain to put together! This is first time I quilted a tea cozy and used Insul-brite. Both give it a nice body. The outer fabric is Love by Amy Butler.

The next gift is a laundry bag. Many of my family members travel frequently, and I thought laundry bags would be useful to keep clean and dirty clothes separate in their suitcases. I used a new to me fabric - osnaberg. It is a utility fabric that is loosely woven and breathable, perfect for this application. I learned about this fabric when Jacquie did a presentation on solids for the KCMQG. They are simple drawstring bags with french seams. Just throw them in the wash along with the clothes, when you get home from your trip.

I used a new embellishment technique (ala Comfort Stitching and Rosaechocolat). Basically, it is fusible applique, but instead of stitching around the edges with a zigzag or blanket stitch, you "sketch" with black thread. It is a fun effect. I'll definitely be using it again. As you can see I've got a few more - for the whole family - to finish up.

Score!

Last night was the KCMQG November meeting, and we had a holiday gift swap. Boy, did I score on two counts! But first, here is what I made for the swap - a potholder and dishcloth. I used this chance to try out gray and yellow, a combo I've been interested in for a while. I like it! Also, love this yellow fabric I found at Joanns - sort of reminscent of lemons, without being literal.

And here is what I received from Sheryl. I was last to pick in my group, and I couldn't believe no one else snapped this up. The quilting on this wine bag is lovely. What a great way to give wine as a gift too.

And look what she included!

To top it off, I was passed a note during the meeting. I don't think I've gotten a note since about 8th grade, and it was just as exciting as I remember. Jenny managed to procure a Neptune Honeybun (impossible to find!), and she let me buy it from her. Score!

Guild Charity Project

My quilt guild, the KCMQG, is working on a charity project - 15-20 quilts for the NICU at a local hospital. I have two friends who are NICU nurses, and they have both said that there is always a need for handmade items for the tiny people they serve. In fact, there are never enough special things to go around. That, along with the fact that my younger son was in the NICU for two months after birth, makes me very excited to contribute to this project.

The assignments were color specific, and we were told to make square in a square or improvised log cabin blocks. I made two pink and green blocks using some great Hushabye and Full Moon Forest I was able to find (at Tula Pink's mom's store no less!!).

And here are the orange and blue blocks. I used up some of my Heather Ross scraps from past projects :).

Redbud Blossoms Quilt Top

The New Wave pattern by Oh Fransson is very simple and easy to follow, if you read the directions. Do read the directions, or you, like me, may sew the sashing on the wrong edge of half of the blocks and have to rip them all out again. I persevered nonetheless, and here's the finished top. That makes three completed tops in my closet now though, so I'm determined to get at least one completely quilted and bound before moving on to the three new projects I'm already collecting fabric for. It's like a sickness!
I also made another potholder for the swap tomorrow. It is inspired by these by Amy. Super modern and fun to make. The grommet went in much more smoothly this time, although, alas, it is backwards. Maybe on my third attempt I'll get it right.

Mystery Project Revealed

Potholders.

Anticlimactic? Well, they are mini quilts according to the KCMQG which is hosting a swap at our next meeting. We have free rein to make whatever we like in the way of hotpads. These are my first attempt. I may be making different ones if I have time, as these are slightly wonky and the grommet gave me trouble (I hate those plier thingies for grommets and snaps - they never line up right!).

Amy hosted a fab swap on her blog, and I love the two she made. I may need to to try my hand at those designs.