simple Analogy

Book Fair: Day One

The other day I was talking with one of my favorite kindergarteners about school, and she told me that they had had book fair.  Oh, I remember the excitement of book fair:  looking through all those luscious books and choosing a few to buy.  I remember one of my favorite fifth grade finds was about a girl with leukemia.  She went to a cancer camp and had fun like a normal kid and even met a boy just like her.  I laughed.  I cried.  I read it a gillion times.  And the next year I bought the sequel.  So fifth/sixth grader-ish!

I thought it'd be fun to have a book fair here on the blog!  The only difference is that I did not purchase any of the books I'll be talking about (I checked them out at the library), and I promise none of them will be in the fifth grade drama genre.  So get out your library card!  You have endless book fair privileges!

Sometimes I know what I'm looking for when I go to the library, but many times I'm surprised by what I find.  This is one of my surprises...

Gee's Bend:  The Architecture of the Quilt

This was sitting on the shelf, so I picked it up, thumbed through a few pages, and put it in my take home stack.  Just looking at the quilts will inspire you, but reading about the lives of the quilters is also very interesting.

My favorite things about the book:

1.  The quilts of course!  Click any picture to see it larger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Each quilt pictured has the name of the quilter, the pattern used (if any), the fabric used, and the dimensions.  Many of the quilts (like the one following) were made out of corduroy - can you imagine what your shoulders would feel like after working with that heavy stuff?

3.  They also include some pictures of the architecture around Gee's Bend that inspired some of the quilt designs.  I'm really taken with the bus picture.  Love that red circle!

 

  

Take some time with this one.  The more you look, the more inspired you'll be. 

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Welcome to those who are popping over from Blogger's Quilt Festival!  For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, bloggers from all over are posting their favorite quilts and their stories.  Because every quilt has a story...

This story began when my sister announced that I was going to have a new nephew.  I wanted to make him a quilt using Red Letter Day by Lizzy House.  I'm just crazy for those little ducks!  I also wanted to improv this one.  My sister and her husband are both architects therefore very design conscious and modern.  I wanted to make a modern quilt but still babyish.

Malka Dubrawsky's Twinkle design was the main inspiration for this.  I had never done pieced curves before and used this method.  After the circles were made, I added varying bands of white to the outside of them to give it a little more of an organic feel.  The rest was just adding a lot more white and some blocks of color here and there.  This was also my first time using a quilting foot.  I used the backing strips as my guide for quilting this one, and the foot and guide made quilting this a cinch.  I also added a personal note to my nephew using my mom's fancy Bernina... "Love, Aunt Heather" - like the ending of a endearing letter.  Or it could be read as a subliminal message, "Love Aunt Heather." 

Modern, babyish, fun colors, clean... perfect for the new baby, who now is about 6 months and is the chubbiest, cutest, happiest guy around.

Check out the list for more inspiring stories.   Click on any picture to see it bigger. 

P.S.  Check out my current giveaway!  This giveaway has ended.

You Gotta See This

 

 

 

This!  This is what  Megan made me for my birthday.  Boy do I feel loved!!!!  Don'tcha think my hair blends in perfectly with these colors?

Ducky Day Baby Quilt

I finished just in the nick of time.  Just!

I was going to follow the same general pattern as my last quilt top, but the patterns of the fabrics were larger and the little ducks wouldn't have been able to be appreciated.  That is the most important thing about this fabric, you know - the ducks.  They are adorable!!!  So I had to change up my plan.

This one worked out perfectly.  Actually, I like it better!  I used the backing strips to dictate my lines for quilting and used my walking foot and quilting guide for the very first time.

 

I also added a personal note to my nephew using my mom's fancy Bernina... "Love, Aunt Heather".  Like the ending of a endearing letter.  Or it could be read as a subliminal message, "Love Aunt Heather."  Imperative!!!

Click on any picture to see it bigger!  And now I'm gonna go take a much needed nap.  ZZZZzzzzzzzzz.

Urban Babies Quilt Top

When my niece was really small, one of her favorite books was Urban Babies Wear Black.  If they can wear it, they can sleep with it. 

All of those improv blocks I've done really helped me figure out how to piece this one.  I used graph paper to sketch the design, which makes it easier for me to mathmatically cut and piece the quilt.  I used two of the circles for the starting point of some improv blocks.  The other two were sewn together with a strip added for the size needed for piecing.  I also made a few rectangular blocks with the scraps.

It's hard to tell, but there is a big chunk of soft pink on the right side and the background is white with little black dots.  Very modern - just what those urban babies need.

I usually like to finish one project before I start another, but the quilting of this one will have to wait.  I've got a more pressing project to get going on.  It's gonna kill me to see this one waiting in the wings.

In Circles

These are my practice curves.  Megan recommended this tutorial and it is just what I needed.  I have an upcoming project that I want to use some circles in, so I needed to practice up.  My first one turned out very well.  The second was totally mutilated - probably because I needed to be humbled from my first success.  That and I didn't read the directions.  I made sure to consult the directions for three and four and ta da!  Second one not show for obvious reasons.   

But then I got to thinking, what am I going to do with these practice circles?  I mean after all they look great and shouldn't be thrown away!  I tiptoed back to my fabrics and pulled more reds and blacks.  I almost have enough to do a baby quilt!  Get your shoes on, Noah!  We're going to the fabric store!

Y'all have a good weekend and hopefully I'll have a quilt top to show you on Monday!

My Favorite Quilt

My quilt for the Bloggers Quilt Festival.  I just realized, I never took a picture of the completed quilt, but this will give you an idea of what the finished top looked like.

This quilt was made using Amy Karol's pattern in Simple Contemporary Quilts.  I cut it down to make a baby quilt.  It was so fun, and I learned several new techniques:

applique, free motion stitching, and hand stitching for embellishment

 

 

free motion quilting

 

hand stitched binding

 

Looking back at this again makes me want to do another one!

Improv Quilt Blocks

My improv quilt blocks are done and ready to be sent off - ahead of schedule.  As Noah lay on the couch watching yet another Abbott and Costello yesterday, I got out my blue/green scraps and started laying them out for the project improv charity quilt block due April 1st.  There's only so much "AAAAABBOTTTTTTTT!" and "Who's On First?" a girl can take, so I stealthily crept into the other room to start my block.  Log cabin-ish is what was called for.  I read through this tutorial and got down to business.  SO FUN!  I made one block, checked on Noah, and then promptly made a second.

My first block was slow, very calculated, and not quite as wonky as I thought it would be.  Still, it is my favorite of the two.  I just like how the scraps came together in the final design.

My second was much more wonky; I made the cuts more drastic this time.

Starry Eyed

  

These were really fun to make!  Different - each in their own scrappy, wonky way.

 

Joining In

Sorry for the lapse in posting.  What with trying to finish all the doors and trim at the house and internet problems at Mema and Pop's, finding a snippet of time to blog has been challenging.  So obviously there has been even less time to take pics - no visuals today.

I did manage to find time to join Project Improv.  This is my first time to participate in an online project.  This one seemed do-able, not too stressful, and a lot of fun experimentation at the same time.  I'm excited about doing this and hope it will help me get more comfortable with the whole idea of improvisation.  I chose to do the blue/green colorway for my donated block, seeing as I have a plethora of those colors in my stash.  Wish me luck!

Oh, and today is craft day for "the syndicate" as Meg calls us.  I get to take the morning off painting to craft.  Yippeeeee!