Monday, July 26, 2010

Jess and Sarah's blocks



First up is my block for Jess. I had intended on making a block similar to the one circled above. My width guestimation was way off, so the beginnings of that block turned into the center of my final block and a little strip in one of the outer edges.

block for Jess

Here's an unobstructed shot of the block.

Jess' block for Common Threads

For Sarah's block, I dug out my solid color scraps and stitched together this non-rainbow of rainbow colors. Halfway through creating the block I came up with the idea to add this flange of texture and I love how that little pop of color sticks out.


Textural w/ a pop of color block for Sarah

Here's the final block. I guess I was trying to create "texture" with my blurry photography!
Textural w/ a pop of color block for Sarah

Thanks so much for participating in the bee this round, everyone! I had a lot of fun working with you all.

The ideas are percolating for finally finishing up the quilt from my month, so I'll be back to ask for your input on things soon.

Star Blocks for Jessica

Maverick Star Blocks for Jessica

Sorry these are so late in coming, Jessica! There are 2 9.5" blocks and 1 6.5" block. I dropped them in the mail this morning.

Thanks for joining our group late this round, Jessica! It was great to have you join us.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Sad-colored quilt finished!

Hello, all. Just thought I would drop by Common Threads as a Round One dropout to show that I finally finished my Common Threads quilt!
common threads quilt

My
design plan asked people to make wonky or geometric blocks that combined a bunch of sad gray solids with a touch of coral red.

Everyone made terrific blocks - I loved them all. I added in a handful of others to have a throw-sized quilt with no sashing or borders.

common threads quilt

I've posted a few more pictures on my blog.

Thanks again to everyone for their blocks!

backlog!

I've been meaning to get to these for awhile... I blame a shortage of dog biscuits to keep my puppy occupied long enough for me to sew! First up: the wonky stars for Jessica. These were officially my second and third time making wonky stars... it took me a while to get back in the groove, but I enjoyed getting reacquainted! And I love the citrus colors - so cheery.


Second were Jess's blocks. What are these called, anyway? In my brain, I think I'm cataloging them as little hills... either way, I'm in love. This block took me longer than I care to admit, but I really like the look. I think I feel compelled to add lots of details to these type of blocks, especially if I'm only making one - hope that's okay. And I didn't really have a choice when it came to "pop of color" - I'm teal all the way! I can't wait to see the finished product!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

June for Jess

Finished up Jess' block today - such a cool concept and fun inspiration quilt.


I hope it's ok that I added the blue on the bottom too.....did we get July's fabric yet?

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

big star, little star

Phew, caught up again.
Here are Jessica's maverick stars.
One that's 12.5"-
And one that's 3.5"-
I thought they'd make for a fun I Spy game on the final quilt - find the mini me star. Or perhaps the mother/daughter pair...

This was another block that let me know how much more comfortable I've become with just cutting and sewing without overthinking it all. Granted, it helped that there was a clear cut idea to follow, but I've come along way since the first month nearly two years ago when I was so afraid of making a mistake for Rebekah's turn that I made paper templates for my "wonky" block. (And it still took me two days to actually cut the fabric!)
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Two in blue

One of the things that I've loved about this bee is working with colors that I find beautiful, but don't use much in my home. Amanda and Jess both sent packages of blue greens that were fun to play with.
Amanda's block was a geometric challenge too. I so wanted to have my "pluses" overlap in the background space. Does that make sense? In other words I couldn't make them in mini blocks and just set them diagonally from one another. Here's the end result.
Jess's block was one that I've grown so much more comfortable making in the past two years. I looked quickly at the inspiration photo and was drawn to the block that had a small triangle. From there, I just started cutting and sewing. No drawing or planning. I know this comes very naturally to most of the women in this bee, but it's one of the things that was way outside my comfort zone when this bee started two years ago.

See those inset pieces of solid color in the prints? How about different widths and angles that are a little off? That's your influence ladies. Thank you.
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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

block for Jess

I loved Jess's inspiration and that the amount of fabric she send suggested a lot of seams and switches in the blue background--truly her own twist on the inspiration piece.

 and a close up...

and the backside...
It's going out with tomorrow's mail!