Rainbow Vortex Quilt

Viola! Just in time for Spring! 

Back in September, I had to decide what to send my bee-mates for my month in the Quilting Under the Rainbow bee.  I chose Aneela Hoey's crazy scrappy blocks, which I think look like a swirling vortex! The only problem was that I didn't have enough true "scraps." So I made some by cutting strips and squares from my stash, sorted them by color, and packaged them up for mailing. 

Each person got two bundles: scraps + one white center piece.  Over the next couple months, finished blocks came back to me from my fellow bees, and I also made up a bunch myself from the leftover scrap packs, each measuring 10 inches unfinished. 

Then the blocks sat for a while, until I was seized with the urge to sash, and spent a lazy Saturday with strip upon strip of white.  

Once the top was completed, I admit, it sat for a bit longer.  

 

But then, on yet another Saturday, I sandwiched, basted, and quilted it up in randomly spaced horizontal lines. Washed and dried for crinkles!

 It's backed in a sweet aqua ikat, 

and bound with fun watermelon dots (Lipstick Ta Dot)!

I really love how each block bears the imprint of its maker-- I hope my bee-mates can spot their blocks! A HUGE thanks to them all for their amazing work!

(Meow-approved.)

Edit: I linked up to the Festival of Scrapiness over at Stitched in Color-- what amazing scrappy quilts people are making!! 

And I won a whole roll of batting!  a WHOLE ROLL! O_o

Quilting Bee Spotlight: Quilting Under the Rainbow

I've professed my love for the 3x6 and 4x5 quilting bees before, and I've also been participating in a few other virtual quilting bees on flickr.

At first, I was pretty hesitant to join any.  Too shy.

One day, though, I took the plunge and joined Quilting Under the Rainbow, organized by Shawn.

How it works:
12 members, 12 months.  Each month, one member sends out fabric and instructions for a block or blocks they'd like to get back.  All the other members (worker bees!) make the blocks, take pictures and post on flickr for the group to see, and send them back.  Kind of like quilty penpals! You can find a lot of information about flickr's virtual bees here.

I've always loved sending and receiving mail!  These kinds of bees really enhance my perception of the variety of quilting styles and tastes, and I've learned so much from them.  I get to work with fabrics and designs that I wouldn't think of myself.  Paper-piecing.  Dresdens.  Improv.  You name it!

Quilting Under the Rainbow has a loose theme of bright, rainbow colors, either arranged in a color wheel or otherwise. Ultimately, though, it's totally up to the person whose month it is.

I'm sad that this bee is more than half over.  Here's a roundup of what we've worked on so far.

July 2011:

Moni started us off with a lovely rainbow pinwheel.  It was my first time paper-piecing! I'm a big fan of the traditional "fold along all the lines, be generous with fabric, hold up to the light, hope you get it right" method.

August 2011:

Susan assigned some deceivingly simple squares (with this tutorial) that tested my piecing accuracy! We all received different colors, so it was really fun to see everyone complete the blocks.

September 2011:

Sam sent out another paper-pieced challenge: a traditional pineapple block. I really love how precise traditional blocks can be when you paper-piece them (as opposed to my usual questionable seam allowances...)

October 2011: My month!

I sent out these little beauties, with different colors to different people...

and asked for Aneela Hoey's improv "vortex" blocks.  I made a bunch more blocks to go along with the ones from the bee, and I'm almost finished done with the quilt! It's amazing!

November 2011:

For Christine, we made a beautiful modern version of the Friendship Scrap Block, in all different colors. This block is a real test of half-square triangle skills.

Then we took a holiday break!

January 2012:

Shawn sent out some solid, white, and corner printed fabrics for evening star blocks.  Then we each filled in the points of the star with coordinating fabrics from our stashes-- this will be a truly unique quilt!!

February and March aren't quite finished yet!

Take a Rest

Whew.

I'm a sucker for certain animal textiles.

This Echino Chelsea by Etsuko Furuya lion in the garden print stole my heart.

"Look at me!" it called, "I've got your kind of colors, admit it.

Check out these flowers.  Is that a bird? Orange bushes? Pink bugs!"

As I tried to walk away, it asked, "How handsome is my Lion?"

Done deal.

Had to make some pillows! These big ones are 18x18 inches.

I balanced out the Echino's bright bright brightness with some Kona Stone, and some ecru machine and hand-stitching. They've all got a layer of cotton batting underneath for structure and extra cushion.

I also learned how to put an invisible zipper in a pillow! Not that hard!

Using Elizabeth Hartman's mod mosaic method, I switched up typical values to make a smaller 12x16 inch companion pillow for those lions.  Instead of using colorful scraps with white "tile grout" sashing, I used pieces of Kona Snow with turquoise sashing (I think it's Aqua from Connecting Threads and totally on sale right now).

They're all backed in the same: some kind of linen/cotton/miscellaneous natural fiber  upholstery-weight fabric. Quite sturdy and earthy.

 Cotton double gauze + pillows = softest place to rest.

Modern Mini Challenge Quilt: Spider Legs

When I saw that Jennifer at Ellison Lane Quilts was organizing a mini quilt challenge, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to work out an idea I had to make an improv chevron ring.  This is a really fun challenge, and there is a TON of inspiring work over there!

I'm all about a scrappy and bright look these days (fighting the late winter gray)!  It's made with some favorite scraps, Kona Snow, and Free Spirit Nugray. I bound it with my favorite DS Quilts print, and love what the variation adds.  I also snuck the DS Quilts dots in there :)

I'm not sure that this turned out like a real "chevron" ring.  It looks more like spider legs to me! It's ok, sometimes creepy works.

I did some random machine quilting in the ring, like a crazy star, and added some hand-stitched pink circles, too.  The mini is only 12x12 inches, so it's the perfect canvas for this kind of detailed work.

I'm going to hang it in my sewing space!  While I've made plenty of pillows and other small quilted projects, this is my first official mini quilt, and I think this challenge was the perfect thing to get me started.

It won't be my last.

A Sure Win for Dreary Days

In about 6 weeks in NYC, people will be outside at cafe tables, sipping iced lattes and grinning, happy to feel the sun on their toes. We will have just taken the flip flops out of storage, and will wear them, even though it might not quite be warm enough.  

Right now, though, we're mostly trudging through 40-degree drizzly weather, on the verge of clobbering everyone with our umbrellas, all passive-aggressive elbows and frowns.  It's a tough time of year.  

So I needed a win.  

I'm happy to report that I used my Leap Day well and finished up a new ironing board cover that I made along with February's sew-along at I have to say....  It was fun and easy, and such a nice thing to do for yourself.  My ironing board is a little wider than normal, so I just added a few inches according to the instructions.  

Why not pretty-up something you use all the time?


Instant win!

Bright, please!

Pillows are one of my favorite wonderful and relatively quick projects.  And it has been a dreary week here.

They're also comfy and useful!

I whipped these up with squares of bright floral Treasures and Tidbits in the center, along with plenty of one of my favorite fabric lines, LouLouThi by Anna Maria Horner. I love how the Treasures and Tidbits ones look almost like woodblock prints.  

They aren't quilted, just simply lined with some muslin for feather-poking protection.  

The backs are made of upholstery-weight cotton canvas, and I edged the envelope closures with more LouLouThi.

I can't get enough. I'm nowhere near done with this collection--watch out.

These are both 18x18 inches. 

I love using feather inserts because they make the pillows look and feel so puffy and smooshy. 

I also made a little friend to go with them!  This one has LouLouThi in the center and some Innocent Crush (Also Anna Maria Horner) on the outsides, and measures about 12x16 inches.  

This one IS quilted on the front, with a layer of batting along with the lining.  Smoosh. It's just perfect for putting behind your head when slouching reclining.  Another little friend is interested, too.  

I used this amazing home dec fabric for the back, Prairie Gothic.  Who knew bugs could be so pretty?! It's a little weird and I love it. 

Result, the glowing trio. ♥ 

A Lucky Shot

This past summer, I finished up binding a quilt up in Maine.  The perfect spot to take some photos!  My quilt photos were (and still are) a bit hit or miss.  I was never really interested in photography until I wanted to document my sewing.  It seemed too fiddly: too much setup, too much technical info, too much hassle. I've been working on it, bit by bit.

Like people's lives on Facebook, my quilt photos are selected and edited to only show the best. (Um, of course they are.)

With this quilt, I somehow struck photo gold.  Beautiful day, beautiful setting, interesting rusty chair, and the blessed "auto" setting on my camera.

I made this simple patchwork quilt from a stack of bright prints cut into 5-inch squares.  Sometimes you just have to go patchwork.

I like how it's bright and soft at the same time. At one point, I decided it needed more red for contrast.

I had some "creative assistance" along the way.

I stright-line quilted this one in a double-line grid, with quilting lines about 1/4 inch away from the seams.  Simple, but pretty dense.  This is a nice, heavy quilt.

And there was intensive "product testing."

I had added quite a few squares of white (Kona Snow, I think) into the mix.  Once the quilt was completely pieced and quilted, they looked too empty to me.

I decided to embellish each one with a bit of hand-stitching and embroidery.  I wish I had taken more photos, but each square had its own stitch combo.  It was really fun to think up new designs for each one.

Measuring about 60x70 inches, the quilt is backed in a bold Jennifer Paganelli bright blue damask stripe, with a line of leftover patchwork scraps pieced in on one edge.

I bound it in a pretty spring green solid.   (Sprout from Connecting Threads)

Of course, not all of the photos were gems. Over time, I've become much more conscious of what makes me like/dislike photos, and how to pick out the good and the bad. Here are a few "misses":

ugh, feet! shadow!

Want to see the quilt, or shrubbery? Certainly not my pedicure.

all washed out!

*sigh* missing summer!