Blocks for Margaret

These were so much fun to make. I really enjoyed making them and playing with
the various placement options.  Can't wait to see them all together!

FMQ Workshop

We had a really fun day today.

We played with 5 basic quilting shapes

- Straight line

- Arc

- Loop

- S shape

- Hook

 

How many patterns you can make by taking just one of these basic elements?

Rosanna immediately took down an all over flower motif made of arcs.

And Deborah made this most divine design with soft hooks - it is a motif from a zentangle design. 

I nagged poor Jackie until she tried something spikey - as you can see she has arcs and loops totally down. 

I see thread sketching in the future for Sandy.

Of course there were some over achievers in the class (not mentioning any names!!)

 
Look how happy 'hostess with the mostest' is - she isn't scared of FMQ anymore!

Andrea found a love for organic shapes dense pebbling!

Susie who had never FMQ'd before did these awesome minimalist straight line motifs in neon orange on soft blue - her straight lines were freehand!

 MayAnn showed what a graceful touch she has at FMQ - arcs, s-shapes, straight lines and loops!

We tried to consider scale, direction & spacing while also trying to remember to relax and try and have fun.

We ate chocolate. 

We stood, walked and sat on all of Rachael's samplers.

And Emily won the prize for bringing the most portable accessories possible to a class. (How did I not get a picture of that!!)

 

Best bit? We raised $500 for Quilting A Memory!!!

charity blcoks

Wont be able to be at meeting :(   but loved Lisa's choice for charity blocks and had to once again dig into my scraps and make the above blocks.  Wish I were there to play with all of them.

Margaret's Blocks

Computer is working... so here are Margaret's blocks.  She asked for four, but I couldn't stop (and didn't  know if she was serious about not using rulers so blocks are varied slightly in size)  Great way to dig into scraps pile...and loved making these.  Will get them to the next meeting, Margaret.

Charity block gather: Brights and Greys Strip Block

Here are the details for our current block gather.  It's a quick and easy one.  Can't wait to see your fun brights peeking out!

Block details:

• Color scheme:   Black, white and grey strip block with one bright, diagonal center stripe and other bright accents as desired. 
• Size:  9 1/2" unfinished

Supplies:

• Fabric strips in black, white, and grey in various lengths and widths (max length 15-16").  
• 1 or more fabric strips in bright colors in various lengths and widths, one at least 15"-16" in length.

Steps:

1.  Start with one bright colored, 15"-16" strip of fabric to be your center diagonal strip.  

2.  Add grey, white or black strips of fabric to both sides of the center diagonal strip.  As I used smaller  strips as I went, it was helpful to check the block against a 10" grid throughout.  

3.  Insert little bits of bright color among the greys, blacks and whites as desired.

4.  Square up to a 9 1/2" block.  Voila!  You're done.

5.  Bring it to our May meeting next week and we'll play.  

April Bee Block for Emily N

April 'tea' inspired applique bee block for Emily N.

Follow my process on my blog made by ChrissieD - Chris :)

Lucky Bee Blocks for Margaret

These were so much fun to make. I wound up making all six--A. because I found the coordinating fabric and B. With me there is always the screw up factor. I really like how these turned out. Hope you like them Margaret.

Bee Blocks For Brian And Ariana

Here's links to made by ChrissieD blog posts about

my January Bee Block for Brian

and my February Bee Block for Ariana.

Hope you both like them :D
Chris

April Lucky Bee Blocks for Margaret

After being away for a week and playing catch-up at work, I took time this weekend to get back to my machine and work on the bee blocks requested by Margaret -- four half log cabins with light neutral strips and solid corner squares that she provided.  Each row of colored strips have one that is two colors and a coordinating strip with more colors.  She requested that we refrain from using rulers to cut our strips and trimmimg the finished blocks. It was a fun challenge pulling the right fabrics.  I hope you like them, Margaret!

Done!

And my new travel sewing bag is done!

Thanks for the pattern, Jess- it worked out really well. 
Now, off to use it!

Travel Sewing Pouch

Hello Mods et al.,
I haven't been to a meeting in too long! But I've been making progress on the travel sewing pouch I started last November. It's made out of leftovers from my major work-in-progress (more on that soon, I hope!). I finished piecing it:

I'm planning to finish it after the pattern for a laptop bag in Jess's book. I just need to choose a lining, and decide how to quilt it... I'm so excited to replace the "temporary" bag I've been using for years! (Note: the new one won't close with a safety pin...)
Here's hoping to see all you Mods again in May! I'm so glad Jess's star count is still going...
-Christa

May Block Lotto

May Block Lotto

This quilt by Jane Adler hung at the Empire Guilds show a few weeks ago.

Kim, Margaret and I thought it would make a great 

block lotto for our next meeting.

It's a great scrappy I spy quilt!

You could just look at it for hours!

The pieces are 2.5" x 4.5"

Put two together for a patch.

Use some fun novelty fabrics.

Make 9 patches and put them together in a basket weave layout.  You only need 2 or 3 novelties per 9-patch.

                                                                                  

They should be 12.5" unfinished.

One lotto ticket for each 9 patch block you make!

Can't wait to see all the fun I Spy blocks you come up with!

See you May 2nd!

March 7 Meeting - Show & Tell Recap

Hello Mods! We had a fabulous Show & Tell at our March 7th meeting-- a lot was shared and discussed. A special thank you to Maria for taking and sharing notes!

To commemorate Daylight Savings Time beginning, Andrea M. suggested we all share a block with what we would do with an extra hour. The blocks were displayed on the design wall.

Maria kicked off Show & Tell with this beauty of a quilt top she started during her first year as a quilter. It took a few years but she finally assembled all the blocks and is hoping the quilting won’t take as long to be done.

Chris shared a lovely baby quilt she made.

Victoria showed the members her newest book, Double Wedding Ring Quilts, and shared with us also some of the quilts from the book not included in the exhibition. The first one is all about New York, an homage to the Garment District where she lives and its history. The second quilt is a variation of the class Victoria taught at Quiltcon. In her class, she teaches many tips and tricks to make the DWR blocks easy “piecey”.

Margaret showed us a quilt top she put together when experimenting with several brown striped fabrics. The outside border was done and redone, as the first attempt did not give her the expected result.

Margaret also shared her additions to one of the round robin quilts circulating around the guild!

Ivete showed us the bag she made, right on the eleventh hour, to bring to Quiltcon. It is made using the Noodlehead Poolside Tote pattern and the lining is pure Tula Pink gorgeousness.

Besides sporting her bag at Quiltcon, Ivete took four quilting technique classes and she showed us the samples she made during them. An interesting piece of info she shared with the members was Krista Withers’ technique of quilting straight lines all around the borders of a quilt to ensure it lays flat.

Nellie took Lee Heinrich’s advanced piecing class at Quiltcon. The students had to precut everything at home and spend the full day class precisely piecing 12 inch blocks from Lee's book, Vintage Quilt Revival. 

The round robin quilts keep going! Kim worked on Karen’s other quilt, and Andrea M is next.

Caroline, the very talented daughter of our President, Lisa, came to visit and showed us a quilt she made and which is soon being shipped to England. Her friend called for flowers in any color and that is what she will get in this beautifully scrappy trip around the world.

Lisa took Sherri Lynn Wood’s challenge to make a quilt using one of her scores for her new book and showed us the product of this process. Lisa found it difficult to work with an improv mandate when at the same time there were many constrains and rules. She chose the rhythmic score and her favorite part is the jagged edge she created. In fact, she prefers the backing! Lisa also shared a lovely tote bag she made for her daughter, Caroline.

Andrea brought her mother’s birthday quilt to show us how Rachael quilted it. She worked around the pictures and even though it is densely quilted, it is still wonderfully soft for her mom to snuggle under. She now needs to trim it and bind it.

We took a quick break to discuss Victoria's Sizzix Challenge! All are encouraged to participate!

Karen shared the latest Round Robin madness. This one was just returned from Cynthia.

Karen made a quilt for her friend Emily’s baby. The back is personalized with the baby’s name, Eleanor.

Debbie took a running stitch quilting class at The City Quilter and has been working on this beautiful quilt for one year. It is quilted with Pearl Cotton. Like Lisa, she likes her backing side better!

One of the classes she took at Quiltcon was a mono printing technique class, led by Lizzy House. Andrea shared with us the basics of this simple technique and showed us her designs.

Last Summer, Stephanie started this stunning hexagon quilt, for which she used many brown repurposed fabrics (there are former curtains, laundry bags and sheets in the mix). The backing was made out of an old duvet cover. Stephanie is very happy with this impressive quilt, but shared the fact that it will be a while before she does another EPP quilt.

Greer shared with the members a baby quilt she made for her cousin newest baby, the fifth! Even though it is a tall order to make each baby his own quilt, Grier is satisfied by the thought that there are no hand-me-downs and that all the other moms are jealous!

She chose a beautiful under the sea pattern, with all the fabrics sourced from Gotham Quilts! Greer free motion quilted the quilt and stuffed some of the bubbles for added texture.

Returning from a quilting class with Angela Walters at Quiltcon, she followed the teacher’s advice and took all her unquilted work and started practicing on it. This quilt was pieced two summers ago, during a quilting retreat in Maryland. The pattern, from the 1990s, called for an unusual technique that left sizable holes at the center of each block. Allison went to town quilting over the holes and the result is amazing.

Jean, an avid tea drinker, designed this quilt in which each tea cup has a different kind of tea tag. Charming!

Double show and tell from Sara! She shared this beautiful quilt, quilted on her home machine and also the fact that her daughter has just been accepted to the prestigious La Guardia High School for the Arts. Proud mother!

To celebrate her mom’s 87th birthday this April, Kathy made a quilt loosely inspired by the works of Georgia O’Keefe. She worked several layers to make the petals, using tulle and fraying the edge of the fabrics. She used for the center of the flower the leftover frayed threads and now has only some beading to do. Kathy shared how she solved a puckering problem she had on the outside borders: she filled the sections with leftover batting and created a frame of sorts for the flower.

Kathy also showed us a quilt her grandmother made. This beautiful piece is entirely hand pieced and hand quilted.

We know now of Tina’s self mandate of using what she has on her shelves for her quilting. This time, she showed us a quilt made with an abandoned Union Jack project. She super sliced it and then matchstick quilted it. Transformed!

Our fellow member Helen had made a mini Amish quilt that set Bernadette designing wheels in motion. Inspired by Helen’s quilt she made this one, and discovered that she doesn’t do mini… or Amish. She has titled it Rumspringa, an Amish rite of passage to decide if you want to remain within the community.

Ruby, Brian’s new granddaughter born in December, inspired this beautiful quilt.

Judy shared with us a sampler block quilt…

Jennifer showed us two samples of freezer paper reverse appliqué that she made in Rossie Hutchinson’s class. Members were intrigued about the process, which Jennifer insisted was very simple, yet difficult to describe. Once you see somebody doing it, it becomes easy.


Andrea shared a family heirloom quilt that she inherited from her great grandmother. The quilt is stunning, but has a few stains, so Andrea would like some suggestions on how to clean it.