Quilting Bee Spotlight: Neutral and Not II

It feels like time for a bee block post!  In 2012, we wrapped up Neutral and Not, a 12-month bee that I created after being inspired by the red and white quilt show in NYC a few years ago. I profiled our first six assignments earlier, and here are the rest:

June 2012:

Wayyy back in June, Tiffany sent out black, white, and splashes of color, requesting that we make anything we wanted using half-square triangles.  Just the kind of "guided freedom" that makes bees so much fun! I made a modified version of the star block in this tutorial.

Triangles! Baby Quilt with Flannel

As I explained, I'm not done with these lovely fabrics yet. For this project, I chose four glowing lovelies and made a sweet little triangles quilt, measuring up at about 34x38 inches. 

For backing, I used some delightful AMH flannel from her Loulouthi line.

It is just.the.softest.

Use it or Lose it: Field Study Strip Quilt

After a (basically Fall-long) break from sewing, I gave myself a treat: permission to use my recent stash favorites: some prints from Anna Maria Horner's Field Study line. 

After all, I figured, I can put them to better use by creating with them than they'll get from sitting in the cupboard. In this quilt, they're helped out by some gray solid and a print from her Innocent Crush line, too.

I've always appreciated the simplicity of the strip quilts at Film in the Fridge, and love how they allow fabrics to shine.

And, if there were ever any fabrics that can stand alone and just SHINE, they're these!

July in January

My friends asked me to make this quilt in July.

And, well, now is the exact opposite of July. Until I get braver/it gets a little warmer, indoor shots may have to do. Or, next, you may see me trudging through the streets with a camera, a thermos, and a bunch of quilts slung over my shoulder.

This is Maine. There's snow. My car's thermometer said 1 degree the other morning.  BUT, the cheery colors and lighthearted design of this quilt were just the thing to warm up this winter! I've had some free time on an extended holiday break and have just been stitching away.

I decided to work with the concept of a mini version of this quilt, and went from there.

The palette is based off these Echino Lion pillows, but I wanted to focus more on the oranges, and used Kona orange, papaya, and tangerine.  There are also bits of aqua and periwinkle from Connecting Threads, and sneaky Echino scraps. Kona snow backs it all up.

A little bit of everything got thrown into the binding!

For me, making an improv quilt involves creating a bunch of little strips, and then playing around with them until I find a layout I like best. There's "no measuring" in the sense that I don't cut or trim as I go, or cut set widths of strips, but there's plenty of measuring and squaring when it comes to sashing and laying out the quilt top.

Since this is quilt is destined to be a wall hanging (measures about 45x58 inches), I included tangerine pockets on each corner of the back for a dowel.  

It is quilted in organic lines that sometimes cross intentionally. I feel like the organic lines go nicely with the feeling of the entire quilt, which is a little wonky, but still quite neat.

I had some help, as usual. Nothing beats a cold day, a cup of tea, a podcast, and sewing, so there's more to come!

Quilted Zipper Pouch Mania

Now that the holidays are over and these have been gifted (and hopefully filled with whatever useful things the recipients like!) I'm happy to present the bulk of my handmade holiday gifts: Quilted Zipper Pouch Mania 2012!

I must admit that I kept this one for myself. 

To make these, I used various zippers and printed linen scraps to make pouches of various sizes, just determined by how big my scrap was.  I quilted the linen onto batting scraps, and used just fabric for the lining.  

I perused a few tutorials and this one pretty much sums it up and is quite clear.  

One tough spot is sewing over the zipper and figuring out how to incorporate topstitching, especially since I used one continuous piece of fabric for the exteriors. Doing it like this and cutting the linen into two pieces might have solved my topstitching challenges.

As usual, one of my favorite parts was picking out coordinating fabrics for the lining. And, of course, sharing the products for the holidays.  Happy New Year!

Holiday Questions

Right now, it seems like I'm being bombarded.

On the radio, on tv, in the grocery store, everywhere, it's the same question right now: "Are you getting ready for the holidays at the last minute?"

My answer? Yes. Absolutely.

What's more, I've convinced myself it's more fun that way. Have I made cookies? Heck no, I'm "saving" them.  Have I wrapped presents?  Nope, why would I want to spoil the fun of staying up real late on Christmas eve? Did I make my own spray painted ornaments that I saw on Pinterest?  Don't ask.

Time is not on my side this year.

To scrape together some handmade presents, which seemed quicker than going shopping, I decided to make a few glasses cases.  They're a hybrid of a zip pouch (without a zipper...) and these journal covers. You could make them scrappy or fancy, but I was going for speed and fun with these.  My favorite part was picking out a contrasting lining fabric.

 All you need is some scraps of fabric, batting, hair ties, and buttons. I cut 2 rectangles of outer fabric, and two of inner, at about 4.5 x 9 inches to accomodate larger glasses. I stitched the outer pieces to some batting, and put them all together as you would a zip pouch.

Some other secret (ahem, not finished yet) gifts to come!

Quilting Bee Spotlight: Quilting Under the Rainbow II

Year-long quilting bees are a tough commitment! I don't think I've been in one that survives the year with all members intact, but this one, Quilting Under the Rainbow, came pretty close. Finishing up this fall was very satisfying, and I'm excited to share more about this group.  I always love reading bee block blog posts, since it's a perfect way to browse and store away ideas for future quilts.

I've written about the first six months here, and showed off my finished quilt, as well.

Here are the rest of the blocks I made.

In March, Leah sent us stained glass-inspired fabrics to make blocks for Elizabeth Hartman's Mod Sampler.

For April,  Jackie requested some fun inserted strip blocks.

May rolled in, and with it came bright fabrics from Ellie for these starflower blocks from Ellison Lane.

In June, we made up granny squares for Karen.

And, last but not least, we worked our creative muscles to make all different and unique leaves for Aud's trees. My first time with fusible webbing!

I've been busy lately with new, exciting, and totally non-quilty things in my life, but recently bestowed myself with a day off to sew.  Pictures and a finish to come soon!