Quiltus Interrupted - Finished!
In the Atlanta Modern Quilters Guild, we do a swap called the Brown Bag Swap. Participants put five fat quarters in a brown bag and swap anonymously so you don’t know who you’re sewing for. For the five FQs you get, you can add up to two fabrics of any amount to create a final project, and you have to use all five FQs in some way in the final project. You’re free to create anything you want, from a quilt top to a totebag, to potholders or fabric baskets. Everyone had two months to finish their project and bring it back to our meeting last Sunday.
The five FQs I got were all big prints from different designers that sort of went together from a color perspective. Lots of pinks, purples, blues, and some green. Last time we did this swap I made a Sew Together bag, but I wanted to do something different.
I had the leftovers from a Bella Silver Honeycomb pack that had been burning a hole in my stash, so I thought they’d be a perfect complement to the various colors. As it turned out, the hexies were perfect for the recipient, Melinda, who teaches the Hexie Club at Tiny Stitches.
Mine aren’t paper pieced, though, but rather call back to the Attack of the Hexies technique Jaye and I did together a few years ago.
Now, five FQs seem like a lot, but when you cut them up, you get some random cuts and half hexies and whatnot. I had enough to make a full hexie flower from each of the 5 FQs with a blue fabric added in for the centers. I made 3 partial hexies flowers for the edge (some of those hexies on the edge are pieced together from scraps!).
The weird triangle cuts that were leftover got pieced together for a partial border on two sides, making it look like I just chopped off the quilt top.
There are four different quilting techniques - hand-quilting with Perle cotton in the flower centers, swirl flowers in the petals, a meander in the gray background, and straight line on the partial border. Gray and FQ scraps went in the binding.
For the back, I used more of the blue with a couple of the leftover pieces from the hexie cutting, since a modern quilt needs a modern back!
I named it “Quiltus Interrupted” for the chopped off look on the front, and had my fingers crossed that the recipient got the joke (and wasn’t offended!). I think she liked it since I’m pretty sure she said, “I got a Pam quilt!” when I gave it to her. I’m just glad she recognized her fabrics- part of the fun of the swap is the people who question whether the fabric is theirs or not!
WIP Wednesday - The Brown Bag Edition
Rather than show what I’m sewing right now (HINT: not a durn thing, thanks to a lot of activity at work!), I thought I’d show a thing I recently finished that got swapped at my guild meeting on Sunday.
Our guild did a Brown Bag challenge where we swapped 5 fat quarters anonymously and could add up to two fabrics of our to make anything we’d like for the owners of the 5 FQs. I received these five on the right to work with.
They are waaaaay more modern than what I usually work with, so after an initial panic, I turned them into these two 18″ blocks using a tutorial from Double Nickel Quilts (it’s a slightly smaller version of the Swoon block that relies on charm squares instead of FQs). I added some Kona Snow to make the blocks, and then turned them a big old totebag with a interior zipper pocket with the addition of another linen-y teal fabric.
I, being a big old enthusiastic nerd, got mine done a couple weeks after we received the fabric, which was several months ahead of the due date of the May 4th meeting. I’ve had to sit on it (and keep the cats from sitting in it) for that long. I was mostly successful in that after I figured out I need to keep it in a cabinet (until Nina figured out how to open said cabinet).
And I got my thingy back from the Kit, who made me a ticker tape wallhanging! My favorite part is how all the little pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, which really speaks to the part of my soul that loves puzzles and fitting things in the spot where they belong. Thank you, Kit!
Sunday Stash - Seekrits
I think it’s a bad sign when steam starts coming out of the hole where the cord goes in on one’s iron, so I suspect a new iron is in store shortly. Fortunately, that purchase won’t count against yardage!
I did bring in 2 yards of a navy solid for commission baby quilt, as well as two charm packs just because I liked them. On the outflow, I have a Seekrit Project I can’t show yet since it’s part of a Brown Bag challenge for my guild, which won’t be revealed until MAY. Sheesh. But, in keeping with the tradition of finishing my high school term papers early, I’m about done with mine, although I have one little part to finish next week to complement the main project
- Used this Week: 1.75 yards
- 1.75 yd for Seekrit Project
- Used year to Date: 70.75yards
- Added this Week: 3.75 yards
- 2 yd navy solid for commission project
- 1.75 for 2 charm packs
- Net Used for 2014: 17.5 yards
- YTD Used for Charity: 32 yards (45% of total used)
See more stash reports at Patchwork Times!
My Mini-Quilt from Cindy
When we got back from our trip last week, a little package was waiting for me, all the way from Ireland. As part of the Atlanta/Irish Modern Quilt Guild swap, we exchanged mini-quilts, and I may have rigged it so Cindy at Fluffy Sheep Quilting and I were partners.
Somehow Cindy figured out that I maybe-sort-of like Star Wars, and based on a class she took at the Fat Quarterly retreat, she decided to make me a porthole view from the Millennium Falcon. Alderaan! Tatooine! Those other planets I can’t remember the names of!
| A long time ago in a galaxy far away in my sewing room… |
Cindy posted a lot of detail shots of the quilt on her blog before she sent it over, so you can go there for some more photos, but I told her I would present it in proper context:
| So what if I have 3 different Han Solo action figures? I can quit any time I want. |
For the full effect, you have to put on the 3-D glasses to view the planet fabric (thanks, Rhonda, for helping Cindy out!) and yell “That’s no moon!” or “I made the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs!” I love the swirly batiks for the planets.
Thank you, Cindy! I love it. And thanks for the extra goodies for all the kids (human and feline).
Bonus semi-related Helper Cat photos:
| Zapper takes to the fainting couch in the face of so many Han Solos. |
| The Force is strong with this one. Apparently presence of a high level of midichlorians makes one take a lot of naps. |
Meet Moxie, the Irish-bound Mini Quilt!
Well, at long last I can finally reveal my mini quilt that I did for Cindy at Fluffy Sheep Quilting as part of the Atlanta-Irish MQG swap! Despite the lack of numbers anywhere in her address (which was a common occurrence amongst all the Irish swap partners - we Atlantans were a bit dubious!), she told me today the package got there safe and sound.
Meet Moxie:
Cindy said she liked “clear, bright colors” and of course all I could think of in my stash was the collection of mottled burgundies and browns. Fortunately, I also have a pantload of oranges and lime greens!
Moxie originally started off as an applique pattern but there were issues with the stitching. So I went with embroidery instead.
It’s sort of a risk to use the chevron print (from Riley Blake, which I got from my friend Andi’s shop) for embroidery, but I think it mostly paid off. It makes it interesting, to say the least.
I used a couple different quilting techniques to finish it:
Zapper approves.
I’m excited to say that I will soon be selling the center design as both an embroidery and applique design! I’m still working out some details with a partner and we’ll have some exciting launch news soon!
HtbaS - Episode 18
Mug Rug!
The Atlanta Modern Quilt Guild did a mug rug swap for our December meeting, and I was lucky enough to get the one from Melinda in our guild. Melinda is a wonderfully talented long-arm quilter and all-around knowledgeable quilter. We are so lucky to have her in our guild! She also thinks lime green is a neutral, which is something I can get behind.
This the mug rug she made, that I now have in my sweaty little paws (okay, not sweaty so much as chilly, because it’s 22F overnight here in Georgia):
(Pictures courtesy of Melinda, too - told you she was awesome)
Here are all the mug rugs from the group:
(The one I made is the brown and blue on at the bottom, 2nd from the left. I like to call it the Charlie Brown Mug Rug because it seems a bit paltry compared to the other wonderful ones that were done).