DQS11 Received

You might remember the post that I wrote last week about the Doll Quilt that I made for the DQS11 swap over on Flickr.  Well today I opened up my mailbox and inside was a package...what?  I ran down the quick list of swaps in my head to see what I could possibly be expecting. 

The only thing that I could think of was the Doll Quilt.  I got inside, put down my keys and grabbed the scissors.  I didn't even look to see who it was from, just ripped open the large envelope and seriously said "Noooooooo Way!"

Look what was inside...

The most intricate field of hexagons that I could ever imagine.  I found the card inside and opened it up to discover that it was from none other then Jessica (sewcraftyjess); whom is the Mama of the Simply Strings Bee that I'm a part of. 

Here's a closer look at the Doll Quilt that she made.

Isn't it wonderful?

Then to top it all off, she made a hexi-pincushion, included some pieces of Sunkissed fabric (because she did her homework and knew that I love word fabric).  Plus 2 notepads and 3 sets of cute buttons.

All for me :-)

I couldn't ask for a better Monday,  Thanks Jessica!!

Lots Going On ( Quilts, Swaps, New Bee)

Alot has happened these last few days and I'd like to recap some of that here.

First off, I did a little cleaning and came across these Bee Blocks that the Simply Strings bee members made for me back in November of 2010. 

After laying them out I discovered that I really only needed 3 more blocks to round out the quilt.  So, I got to work, pulling scraps and piecing the last 3 together.

Today, I sewed them all together, here's a sneakpeek.

It might be tomorrow, or it might be a few more weeks until I actually sandwich, baste, quilt and bind this; but at least I'm making some progress.

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Next on the list is the Make Mine Modern Swap (otherwise known as MMM swap).  This is my 2nd time participating in this swap and I do like it because you aren't locked into making anything in particular.  Plus, you are always guaranteed a surprise or two.

I received my package from Susan, all the way in Alberta Canada.  It was like she took a tour of my head, this package could NOT have been any more perfect. 

It all starts with this amazing "Paper Shredder" quilt, inspired by the one found in the newest Stitch Magazine.  I remember seeing that magazine and actually thought to myself...I LUV this.  I think Susan can read minds. 

Um, the quilt was more then enough; but when I opened the other tissue-wrapped goodies, I was blown away.  Inside was an adorable little pouch filled with sewing notions and thread, 2 Quilter's Home magazines and the cutest little pinnie I have ever seen. 

Yeah, it's a Voodoo Doll...it's awesome!!!

 

Each MMM swap package also includes 1 1/2 yds of fabric, she sent me 3 prints from Michael Miller's Citron Grey collection...yummy!!

Susan, if you are reading this...THANK YOU!!!!  It's all too much and I LOVE each and every bit.

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Finally, I received a wonderful email this afternoon from Rachel over at Stitched In Color.  I had signed up to participate in the do. Good Stitches bee some weeks/months ago; but at the time they were at capacity and didn't need any more Stitches, only Quilters.  Having not participated in this bee before I didn't want to take on a Quilter role right away.  If you haven't heard of the do. Good Stitches bee, it is a charity bee.  Within the bee itself there are 11 groups with names such as Cherish, Inspire, Peace, etc...all of which make quilts for a particular charity. 

Today, I got the call that a new group (#12) has been created called Trust.  All the quilts Trust makes will benefit My Very Own Blanket, a nonprofit group that distributes blankets to children in Foster Care.  Our bee starts up in September, I can't wait.

DQS11 Doll Quilt

I'm participating in DQS11; which is Doll Quilt Swap, Round 11 over on Flickr.  When I had heard that this round was going to be "Back To Our Roots", I knew that I had to toss my hat into the lottery.  For a few rounds now, the DQS had turned into more of an Art/Contemporary Quilting Swap and while I participated once before, I wasn't loving the result as much.  Hence my excitement for Round 11. 

You might remember me talking about the blocks that I was making, over here.  After making 2 of them I lost interest...clearly that's a sign that I wasn't inspired.  I had a few of the HST (Half Square Triangles) sitting around and started playing with them instead.  A light bulb went off.

So last night, I started cutting into my scraps; which had recently been organized in large Pickle Jars. 

Yep, we love our Pickles :-)

I started putting together color groups and what do you know,

something I was much more excited about.

After ALOT of paper piecing, here's the resulting pile.

I'm not gonna lie, there might have been some cussing as I

was pressing the itty bitty seams flat.  The Diamonds measures an itty-bitty 2" x 2".

Once the hard part was done the rest was easy.  I added a colorful border,

then more white, quilted diagonally and finished it up with a deep purple binding. 

This entire quilt measures 10 3/4" x 10 3/4"...a Doll Quilt for sure.

STLMQG Habitat Challenge - Part 2

So last week, I introduced you to the STLMQG edition of the Habitat Challenge and showed you the fabrics that I received and the usually not me solids that I choose to go with it.

Well, I've been busy.

If you've looked closely at the Habitat collection by Jay McCarroll, you'll notice that the prints are bold and very unique.  I wanted to highlight them in larger pieces and when I came across this quilt as seen below (actually it's the quilt back; but no matter), I knew this was the inspiration I was looking for.

Design by Crystal of SonnetoftheMoon

I started by framing each of the 6 prints in solid black. 

Then started combining a few of them into groups.

Eventually, I found a layout that I liked and within one afternoon had nearly 60% of the top pieced.

I probably could have finished the whole top; but I underestimated how large I wanted the quilt to be and ran out of one of the solids.  This is pure improv at it's best and worst; because I didn't have a plan drawn out, I just bought some yardage and "thought" that it would be enough. 

Yet, once I began laying out the framed squares on the floor, I knew that this was going to be a LARGE quilt...it just had to be, I couldn't squish all those blocks together.  Keep in mind, the largest thing that I have ever really quilted was my PUZZLED quilt and that was just a few months back and only measured about 52" x 57".   This HABITAT quilt is going to be alot larger.

I should probably check and see if I have enough basting pins for this project. 

Until next time...

STLMQG Habitat Challenge - Part 1

First, a big Thanks to everyone who commented either here on my blog or on my Moda Bake Shop tutorial that was posted over the weekend.  If for some reason you missed it, here's the link and more information.

Now onto something new...

The STLMQG (St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild) of which I'm President is participating in the HABITAT Challenge, as sponsored by FreeSpirit Fabrics in cooperation with the MQG (Modern Quilt Guild).

You might have seen some press about this around blog-land, here and here.

In July, all participants in our guild received 6 Fat Eighths of a variety of Jay McCarroll's HABITAT collection.  It was a mystery as the fabrics were all placed in bags, as seen below.

Photo courtesy of Splendorfalls

As each of the bags were handed out, and then opened, you heard some excitement and phrases such as  "Yes, I got this one."...clearly some people had done their homework ahead of time and were hoping for a particular print.

Here's what was in my bag, a well-rounded mix.

The HABITAT Challenge rules for the STLMQG state that you must make a quilt larger then 36x36 inches using only HABITAT fabrics and any additional Solids. 

I spent a few weeks searching for inspiration and finally found it; which led me to purchase the following additional Solid fabrics.  They are Kona; but honestly I didn't remember to write down the name.

I don't consider myself a "pink-kind of girl"; but for some reason I am continually drawn to this color.  One look at my fabric stash will tell you that, as it's the 2nd largest represented color...so strange.

This quilt will be a big step outside of my comfort zone because most of the quilts that I make are filled with scrappy or pieced blocks, and rarely include large expanses of solid color.  This quilt will be the latter and I'm excited to get working on it...even if I am a little scared too.

Wish me luck, I'll have another update soon.

Moda Bake Shop & Me

I cannot be more excited to share with you my PUZZLED quilt.  It's featured on Moda Bake Shop today.

Inspiration struck back in April and while I played around with making a few blocks and wrote down some notes, things didn't really come together until the "Mystery Quilt" mayhem.  The quilt I made using Laura Gunn's Painter's Canvas line was well-received and my friends/family encouraged me to submit my design to Moda.  What do you know, the day after I submitted it, I was asked to be a "Chef".  WooHoo!

Moda/United Notions sent me Cosmo Cricket's brand new "Circa 1934" fabric collection, they must have known that I love text and number fabric :-)

Here's some of the yummy number fabric

Here's a cuddly closeup of PUZZLED right out of the dryer

I hope that you'll head on over to Moda Bake Shop some time this weekend and show some support for my very first quilt design.  I'd love to get your feedback too, so be sure to leave me some comments.

Thank You to everyone who encouraged me.