50 Days: The Countdown Begins ... What was I thinking?

I have been gone a while, I know, but I am back now.  I wish I could say it was for some super overseas adventure, can you say Italy, but no; or some fabulous cross country quilt shop hop, but no; or even some wonderfully productive creative hiatus, but no.  No to all of the above.

What is happening in 50 days you might ask and what is this countdown thing?  

Well, our local quilt guild, Washington State Quilters, hosts a fabulous quilt show every year with over 500 member quilts on display and around 5,000 visitors with a great Vendor Mall, demonstrations and speakers.  This is happening this October for three days, October 16 through 18.

Why the countdown you ask?  Well, as I was thinking about what I have finished this year to enter for display in the show, I had a couple of class projects that I managed to finish and then it occurred to me that there was this free Quilt Along pattern on Craftsy, here, Hillside Houses by Pretty Little Quilts, that had been calling to me since we were first introduced.  I couldn't get is out of my mind.

I love the colors, I love the simplicity, I love the graphic nature of this quilt.

I thought, I know, why don't I make this for the Quilt Show this year, how great would that be.  I would be making something that really spoke to me, something for myself, something that I loved.  At the time, it made so much sense.  WHAT WAS I THINKING!!

I still think this will be great and I still love this quilt pattern but I have 50 days to get this thing together, quilted and bound before it needs to be delivered to the quilt show set up crew to be hung for the show.  I have made quilts for magazines in this amount of time before so I know it's possible but I am going to countdown here to try to keep myself on track so here goes...

Progress to this point:

Blocks 1 and 2 in the colorway of the original design.  These are 20" blocks.

Then, I woke up the next day and felt that I needed to change the colors a bit, of course I did.  I still love the original colors but thought maybe something a little less bright.  You have to see the size of these things to fully get the impact.  So, pull some different fabrics:

Yep, loving these.  Proceed with Blocks 1 and 2 again in new colorway.  So far so good.

Proceed with Block 3, not fully pieced but about half way at this point.

OK, only 10 more to do once Block 3 is complete.  I think I am going to love these colors as much as the originals.

I am going to make a wall hanging size in the original colors as well, just not in time for the quilt show.

I will keep you posted as I progress and welcome any support offered.

50 Days and Counting.

For now, keep stitching,

Exciting mail today

My mail delivery today was more than exciting. I received a package which contained one of my quilts being returned from the publishers as well as a copy of the book in which the quilt pattern has been included.

I was thrilled to see that my quilt was one of the quilts chosen for the book cover.  The book is available on my Shop page here .  Please stop in and check it out.  I only have two items in my store but I got it up and running OK I think.  Here are a couple of pictures.

Picture courtesy of Annie's Crafts

It is really something to see your work in print like that.  It's hard to explain.  Please check out the book if you are in the market for some fun and quick baby quilts for yourself or as a gift.  Several talented designers contributed to the content.

Until next time,

April Block Swap Done

I am participating in a web block swap from Simply Solids.  It is a 12 month commitment.  Each of us takes a month to determine what block everyone in the group will make and send back to us.  We can predetermine the fabrics and send them to the other members or we can chose to go scrap/whatever and each of the group members will make the selected block from their stash.

This has been really fun so far and I have enjoyed making blocks that are new to me and interacting with new quilters.  My month is June and I have been trying out a couple of block choices.  I haven't made a decision yet but have a couple of finalists in the wings.

Our group is running a little ahead of schedule and we just received the pattern and fabrics from our April member this week.  Since I have some time commitments coming up I started right in and completed the block today.  It is complete and packaged to mail off on Monday.  

The pattern is available on Sarah's blog Stitching and Bacon if you want to make one for yourself.  She calls is Wonky Diamonds and it was really fun to make.  Here is a picture of the final block.

Wonky Diamonds, Sarah Lowry

I like this block and had fun putting the color strips she sent anywhere I wanted.  It went together fast as well.  Go to her website and check out some of her other creations.

Really fun stuff.

Play Day - New Toys are Fun

I received a new ruler that I ordered "Quick Curve" from Sew Kind of Wonderful here in Washington state and spent a little time watching the great instruction video and practicing with the ruler.

It is really easy to use and makes curve piecing a breeze.  I was able to make the table runner here in just a day with fabric that I had left over from other projects.

If you have wanted to do some bold curve piecing you should check this out, it really works great.  Jenny Pedigo at her website and blog:

http://sewkindofwonderful.blogspot.com/ 

Here are a couple of pictures:

Sorry this picture is so dark but the lighting in my dining area isn't the best.

I really love the colors though.  It is bright and fresh.  Just what is needed while waiting for Spring which must be right around the corner.

These curves are truly a breeze, no pinning.

You should at least watch the video on the site.  I have several possibilities in my head for this technique now.

Fun stuff.