For Wendy

Here are my block(s) for Wendy...I made two since she sent so much fabric.

After I wrote about it on my blog, and looked at the links again, I think I should have gone a lot more wonky.

The fabrics were so fun to experiment with....I loved all the solids/different colors.

Hope they aren't too straight for you Wendy!

For Jacquie and Lynn

For Jacquie:
I hope it's simple and not too quilt-block-like for your son. Going simple is not as easy as it sounds. I showed my husband and he really liked, so at least I have one man's thumbs up on this.

For Lynn:
I recently got this book, Material Obsession, and was really inspired by it. This block pattern is from the quilt, Cowboy Baby. I took one set of the block and blew it up. There wasn't many big pieces of fabric in the bundle that I got, but I made it.It's 14 inches, so feel free to cut it down if you need it. I sent the rest of the fabric back, though I did keep 2 pieces because they were so pretty.

They both have been sent out, so hopefully both of you will receive it by the end of the week.

Lynn's block

Here's Lynn's block. I loved working with these fabrics! Lynn did a wonderful job coordinating everything and I don't think I even got to use half of the fabrics that she sent.

I made a mini quilt of Amanda's no-triangle Zig Zag quilt (tutorial here). The squares in this are 2.5" square and the pre-cut strips are 1.5" wide.



I can't wait to see how you put all of these together, Lynn!

wendy's turn

Your challenge this month is to help me fill this:

We moved to this house nearly 6 years ago and that expanse over the sofa is crying out for a quilt(not the best picture - the walls are a medium gold tone and the sofa's slipcover changes throughout the year - at other times it's brick red or gold striped). Sadly, the sort of quilt I want is out of my comfort zone. This is where all of you come in.

Improvisation is not my forte, not yet, but seeing all of your work over the past ten months or so tells me that it's something you all do very well. Think along of the lines of Gwen Marston's Liberated Log Cabin quilts or Denyse Schmidt's Drunk Love in a Log Cabin or What a Bunch of Squares quilts. (She even has one in this style called "Wendy's Quilt" that's probably my favorite.) Nancy Crow is also a quilter that comes to mind.

I started my search for images and found that nearly all have copyrights attached to them and I don't have time to request permission to post them. If you follow the links, I'm hoping that'll give you an idea of what appeals to me for this, though I imagine most of you are already inspired by all of those women. I love the wonky nature of their work, the pieced sections, the improvisation of it all.

I know I also want to stick with solids in colors that I love.

I've included several browns to creams, greens from olive to spruce, yellows from acid to gold, a few rust to reds, eggplants and grey(though they read as blue in the picture). In fact, the only color family not represented here is blue. I also realized that I forgot to photograph any black and that's an issue because I'd like all of the blocks to start with a black square. I use the term "square" loosely. It doesn't have to be a perfect square, it doesn't have to be in the center, it doesn't have to be a certain size and it doesn't even have to be level. I'm just hoping it will unify the blocks and tie them to the black sashing I've planned for piecing them together.

I'll be sending different color groupings to everyone. I'd prefer to stick with the Kona cottons that I've picked, but if what I've sent isn't enough or isn't working for you, just send me an e-mail.

The finished size of the blocks will be 10 inches square, so sending me one that's at least 10 1/2 square will give me the seam allowances I'll need to piece the top.

You should recieve your packages soon!

the car quilt in progress

i finally finished piecing my car quilt top!

the weather is getting nice enough that i can enjoy spending a lunch break in my car or sitting in the grass and now that i've gotten all of my quilt blocks, motivation has increased and the result is a finished top. now, just the back, the quilting and the binding. so close...

so i couldn't wait to show it to you. in all of it's thready, linty, cat-hair-covered glory. i have to say that i love it, love it, love it. i had a plan in my head when i sent out the fabric and instructions, but i wasn't sure how it would really turn out with so many different contributors, but i really love the way it's turning out. i can't wait to see it all done and in use! (p.s. in case you don't see your block in the photo above, don't worry-- i got so many blocks back that i'm having to save some to use on either the back of the quilt or the carrying bag that i'm sewing up for it to store it in in the car.) so exciting!!!

No, you're right, I am an...

Ok, I won't foul this place up with my dirty mouth. And yes, you can all feel free to call me what ever you deem fit, you'll be right. I am the worst quilter bee ever and I sincerely apologize for my tardiness.
But! There is good news. As some of you hopefully know by now I knocked out a huge chunk of blocks recently, most of which were sent a couple of weeks ago. So, roll call:
Carissa,
Amber,
Nadia,

Oiyi,Jenny,
and Jacquie.
And no Betty, I haven't forgotten about you but...MAN your block jams me up! I have a treehouse block block. But I am trying to push through it! I know it is unpardonably late and I am so so sorry for that. I hope I can make it super awesome to make up for it. And if not super awesome, at least finished and in the mail.

modern, minimal, masculine in progress

Thought you all might want to see Jon's quilt in progress. The original plan changed (imagine that!) when the blocks started arriving. They were like individual paintings, so I framed each one and put them in rows like paintings in a gallery. You might notice that the blocks have changed a bit. The large blocks didn't work for the design, so I made them smaller...they are now 13" blocks. I tried hard to preserve the essence of your designs in the trimming.
I have 2 more blocks here that are not yet in the quilt. There will be one more row of 5 blocks added and then the bottom will be more blue linen. The beige is a natural linen. I love the peaceful feeling of the quilt.
Jon didn't want to be involved after the blocks arrived. He wants the finished product to be a surprise. I don't want to be a pain, but if you haven't sent your block, if you have some time, I'd sure appreciate receiving it in the next little while. Jon graduates in a little over a month and I don't want to be that lame mom who wraps an unfinished quilt. (kind of like I did for my mom at Christmas). I always fuss over quilting a quilt for at least a month, so that puts me pretty much at deadline.
Thanks to everyone who put so much effort into these fabulous blocks. I'm loving it so far and I think Jon will too.

Dear Lynn

Have you been following Lynn's Dear Jane quilt progress? I'm in awe of every block she makes. When she mentioned that we could do anything this month, I knew that would be my inspiration.

I went with a small paper pieced block pattern that I had from Angry Chicken's Mailorder Club. I quickly realized that I wasn't going to be able to make every block from a different pattern AND get it sent off in time, but we had so many fabrics to work with that I think each one is unique.

This pattern was perfect for showcasing all the great motifs in two of the fabrics Lynn sent. I fussy cut my favorites. This little bird took center stage.

Once I'd figured out all the fabric combinations for the blocks, I sashed them with the neutral she'd included (thank you for the length in that one Lynn!). That column to the right didn't line up perfectly, but after all those little pieces, I was willing to live with it. Lynn, if you aren't, go right ahead and rip it out and resew it.

It'll be in the mail this week.