WIP Wednesday - March 27th, 2013

It's been quite a while since I participated in WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced, and while I have a few moments this morning I figured I would join in on the fun.

So, what have I been working on, well.................. 

I finished a smallish quilt that I named Tipsy Triangles and wrote an accompanying block tutorial. 

Just click on the image below to be taken there in a flash.

 

 

Finally started on my next quilt pattern; which I've named U-TURN.  If all goes well, it should be ready at the end of April.  I'm using some of the Eclipse line from Timeless Treasures. 

 



And I also started this...

While it might look like I'm doing cross stitch, I'm actually in the beginning stages of a large scale Pixel Quilt.  Thanks to my good friend, Lynne, who introduced me to Pic2Pat.com, I'm on my way.  I uploaded my image, got the DMC floss equivilents and figured at 39cents a piece it was worth getting the floss so I could better compare it to my Kona Color Card. 

I bought several 1/4 yd cuts of solds at SewMamaSew, and once all of my color decisions are made I'll be purchasing my yardage from them too.

What's coming up, well I'm definately looking forward to this weekend, as it's our guild's first Sew-In Saturday for 2013, twelve solid hours of quilting, fun and friends.  There's even going to be a Free-Motion Quilting Class taught by the amazingly talented Cindy.  I haven't a clue what I'm going to work on; but I'll leave that decision for later in the week.

Happy Wednesday!

A whole "Lotta" Tipsy Triangles, Tutorial

 

Q:   What do you do when someone gives you 2 Charm Packs of Lotta Jansdotter's

new collection, GLIMMA?

 

A:    Make a cute little quilt, write a block tutorial and share the wealth...of course.

 

 

Some time ago, Windham Fabrics sent me some of Lotta Jansdotter's GLIMMA.  Unfortunately, the fabric sat there on my studio table, taunting me, waiting for inspiration to hit.  Well, hit me it finally did and before I knew it, this cute little quilt was born.  I'm calling it Tipsy Triangles. 

 

 

 

 

I had fun making these Tipsy Triangle blocks and figured that maybe some of you would too.  I wrote up some directions and made a few diagrams; which you can find below.

 

Now, I wanted to make sure that I shared the wealth, so I held back one of the Charm Packs to use as a giveaway; but more on that after the tutorial.  ----Giveaway Now Over----

 

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May I introduce you to the Tipsy Triangle Block Tutorial.

 

 

Step 1::  Start with a 5" x 5" square; which I'm calling a "focus fabric".  I choose a print; but you can certainly use a solid.  Sew a 3" x 5" rectangle of your background fabric to both sides of your center square.  I prefer to press my seams open; but do what works for you.

 

Step 2::   Now, sew a 3" x 10" rectangle of your background fabric to both the top and bottom of the unit you made in Step 1.  You should now have a very simple block which measures 10" x 10". 

Step 3::  You are now going to crop your 10" x 10" block into a smaller 8" x 8" square; but before you cut, please continue reading.  In order to start making your block Tipsy, you need to change up the placement of the center "focus fabric".  The red box shows just two of the many ways you can crop your block.  There are two important things to keep in mind.  First, your "focus fabric" should be located in different quandrants. Second, your "focus fabric" should never be tilted. 

Step 4::  This shows you what the blocks look like after they were cropped to 8" x 8".

Step 5::  Now don't put away your rotary cutter and ruler just yet.  You will now cut (see red dotted line) each of your 8" x 8" blocks into 2 triangles.  Be sure that you cut diagonally, from one corner to the other.

Step 6::  You should now have Triangles that look something like this.  Don't worry that your "focus fabric" is more prominent on some triangles and smaller in others.  This is the key to the Tipsy Triangle block.

Step 7::  The final step is to pair up all of those triangles you cut in Step 6.  As you can see in the diagram below, those "focus fabric" points don't match...it's okay, take a deep breath, they aren't supposed to.

Step 8::  Hopefully you have a handful of Tipsy Triangle blocks done and are now ready to sew them together into something Awesome.  I made a baby-sized quilt with a big border; but you can make a quilt filled with nothing but Tipsy Triangles.  It's all up to you. 

 

As always, if you make something using this or anyone of my tutorials, please be sure

to share a photo with me...I love seeing them.

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It's Giveaway Time. 
Giveaway is Closed

 

 

As I mentioned above, I have 1 charm pack of Lotta Lansdotter's GLIMMA collection

(Thanks Windham Fabrics!!) to give away.  The rules are super simple. 

 

--- Leave 1 comment below telling me what project you are working on.  That's it!!

 

--- Giveaway will close Tuesday, March 26th at 8pm CST
Giveaway is Closed

 

--- Random Generator will chose one lucky person, and they'll be contacted by email,

so make sure that I have a way to contact you, if you are a No-Reply Blogger.

 

** Your comments will appear throughout the day, as I have a Spam-Block on**

 

Good Luck!!!

=============Updated 3/26/13 8:27pm===============

The GLIMMA Charm Pack winner is #22

 

Who is #22 you ask, well none other then Erica.  YAY!!!

Thanks Again to everyone who played along.  I hope you like the tutorial that I wrote and if you make anything using it, be sure to drop me a line.

 



Bloglovin'

By now you've likely heard that Google is discontinuing Google Reader as of July 1st.  That leaves all of us Blog Readers without an easy way of finding our beloved blogs...or does it.

I've been doing some research and came across Bloglovin and am psyched.  It's clean, pretty easy to use as far as I can tell and better yet, with one click of a button, it transferred all of my blogs from Google Reader instantly.  Plus, if you have an iPhone, there is an app too.

Now, there are several other resources out there and I encourage you to check them out to see which one you like best. 

In the meantime, if you are on Bloglovin already and want to find me...it's easy.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Additionally, for those of you who are on instagram...I've finally joined in all the fun as well.

You can find me @LoveOldHouses, or click the little instagram (camera) icon in the social media bar to the right.

Giveaway Time :: Casey York

I first met Casey at the MQG Meet-Up back in Kansas City, Spring 2012.  We chatted for a good long while about the St. Louis MQG, fabric design, her time in New York and various other topics.  I helped her test one of her quilt patterns last Fall, and while we were both at QuiltCon a few weeks ago she asked if I would want to host a giveaway on my blog...that answer was easy.

Those of us in the STLMQG have seen Casey's applique and intricate handwork for some time.  Recently her quilt ONWARDS was selected by Violet Craft as one of two winners in the Madrona Road Challenge that was hosted by the Modern Quilt Guild.

While we are on the subject of ONWARDS, you'll definately be drawn into this quilt as it features a series of fusible applique tree-shapes that creates some fun perspective.

 

You can see lots of great photos on Casey's blog, here. 

 

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Next up is SAKURA; which is named for the famed cherry blossoms of Japan.  For those of you who like using pre-cuts, this quilt is charm-pack friendly.

 

You can see more photos on Casey's blog, here.

 



Both ONWARDS and SAKURA include helpful embroidery stitch guidelines, illustrations showing her two most-used stitches and full-size printable applique templates. 

I'm picking two winners this week, and each will have an opportunity to choose which pattern they would like a PDF copy of.  Check out the rules below to get in on the fun.

If you want to start your quilt today, both PDF patterns are available for download either on Craftsy or at her Storenvy shop.  You'll also be able to find them at Fat Quarter Shop and Pink Chalk Fabrics soon.

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**Giveaway is over, Thanks for playing along**
**Random Generator chose Barbara and Nancy as the Winners**

Giveaway starts Monday, March 11th and closes Friday, March 15th (8pm CST).

 

:: To enter, please leave one comment below telling me what you are most

looking forward to this Spring season.

 

:: Random Generator will choose 2 winners and they'll be contacted by email.

 

Your comment will appear throughout the day, so don't worry if it doesn't show up right away.

QuiltCon --- Bigger then the sum of it's parts

I still think that I'm in QuiltCon withdrawal and in order to properly "close out" my time in Austin, I need to recap it here although I know that I'm not going to do it proper justice.

Like many who attended this inaugural conference in Austin, Texas, I was unsure what to expect.  I have attended my fair share of conventions, although for a different industry, and while I attended Quilt Market last Spring in Kansas City...QuiltCon was the big unknown. 

This conference created by the leadership of the MQG was a big risk.  Would people attend?  Would they have fun?  Would they learn something? and bigger yet...would they want to come back?

If you've read any of the recaps that popped up in the blogosphere this past week, you know that the answer to all of the questions above is a big resounding YES!!! and I could not agree more.

While I do have a few photos to share with you, it's nearly impossible to capture the experience in a photo, even it they are supposedly worth a 1000 words.

PLAN
My time was jam packed, as anyone who saw my nerdy spreadsheet could attest to.  Not only did I sign up to be a Super Volunteer (someone who is volunteering over 16 hours).  I was taking 2 classes, circled lecture after lecture that I wanted to hear, plus I had some demos and discussions to do myself...and let's not forget wanting to see all of the quilts in the Quilt Show and check out the vendors in the Vendor Hall.  My 5 days in Austin were jammed. 


VOLUNTEERING
I think the best thing I did was start off by volunteering, as it dropped me right into the action.  For 8 solid hours after arriving in Austin, I tried my best to help out where I could.

• Unloaded pallets of ridiciously-jammed goodie bags
• Organized and helped hang half of the 30-something Charity quilts that MQG's around the country lovingly made and donated
• Helped several vendors unpack, organize and stage their merchandise in preparation for the morning rush

 

• Worked at the MQG Info Booth, helping to sell MQG merchandise and answering questions about the organization
• Put on some white gloves and walked the Quilt Show aisles helping attendees get up close and personal with the quilts
 

CLASSES
I signed up for two classes and it was my intention to not only improve my skills; but also learn from some amazing teachers, so I chose the following:

Free-Motioning Quilting on your Home Machine

by Elizabeth Hartman

 

:: This class was well worth the $$, because lightbulbs were going off in my head with every new stitch we learned.  I had seen and appreciated all of these FMQing designs from afar; but it's hard to learn how to do them from a book.  So seeing Elizabeth work her magic, learning that she quilts all of her quilts herself and then seeing her work up close made all the difference.  I was able to not only make a 40" x 40" sampler of stitches; but also put together a catalog of the stitches that I hope to use again. 

 

 

 

Piecing Hexagons by Machine

by Jacquie Gering

 

:: I was pleased to not only learn a shortcut to cutting hexagons without a hexagon template...WooHoo, one less ruler to have to buy; but also how to piece them together by machine.  I was equally excited to learn from Jacquie Gering and see her work up close.  I can't wait to finish the quilt top that I started as it will be a welcoming reminder of my experience.

 

 

 

EXPERIENCE

It is hard to put into words everything I did and everyone that I saw.  If I did nothing but meet people for 5 days, I still would have called it a success.  I was finally able to meet in person many Bloggers who I have followed for years, reconnect with people that I had met at Quilt Market last Spring, and meet so many modern quilting icons that are seriously the most sincere, nice and approachable people ever. 

 

While there are too many highlights to count, I would like to recount two experience that I will always treasure.  The first one was quite humbling as I learned that one of the two quilts that I had hanging in the Quilt Show had won a ribbon.

 

My "Confetti Amongst Friends" quilt; which you can read all about here in this blog post, was juried into the Group/Bee category and WON 3rd place.

The second experience took place after sitting in on 3 back to back lectures.  The first was by Heather Grant, the second by Jacquie Gering and the final by Denyse Schmidt.  Each of these women in their own way, shared their history, their connection to this community and hopes for the future.  There was a point in each presentation when I too felt a real connection to something that was "bigger then myself" and at least for me, that's what I was searching for in QuiltCon...and that's what I found.