Freefall Spring Quilt Along

Freefall Spring Quilt Along 2017

My dear friend, Sandra, at mmm! Quilts is in the midst of her Spring Quilt Along, and I'm finally getting to show you my progress. Details can be found HERE, and the second linky HERE. The pattern is being issued biweekly for free so be sure to download it as it comes out.

About that black leaf: First of all you're thinking, "That doesn't look very spring-y." And I would fully agree with you. But I would also say I thought this project through ahead of time--for once, and knew I would be more inclined to use this as a late summer/early fall wall hanging than spring. The first fabric I had to choose with that in mind was the background. Moda Grunge in a rusty orange was an obvious first pick. Then I raided all my Art Gallery Fabrics, and without regard to color or print, I combined them. It was like making Kitchen Sink Soup. They were all going in. The one factor that they would have in common was they had nothing in common. But these are really beautiful fabrics and gorgeous prints! I had faith. It would work.

Friendly Advice About Quilt Alongs

Isn't that just the cutest little block?

I'm beginning to think that sampler blocks are like children. Each one is so different, but they all belong to you, and there's not an ugly one in the bunch! 

From a critical point of view, some of the points got knocked off, and more will with additional seam allowances around it. Do I care? Nah, no way! I think it's adorable! Yup, me who only liked modern looking fabrics for how long. It's so, so different playing with subtle fabrics. It's like painting with a finer brush, in my opinion. It takes a lighter hand to create the same texture a modern quilter does with larger prints and brighter colors.

Tiki Beads Finish

Tiki Beads

This wall hanging laid in a pile with several others for many months. This is typical for me. The main design takes a lot of energy, and then I'm reluctant to put on the last touches. In my opinion, the binding can make or break the whole project. Sure, we can pick something that's just okay--middle-of-the-road choices happen to a lot of quilts, but a good one is harder to pick. Sometimes it is worth the wait. What do you think?

Train Ride from Tokyo Finish

A Hand Quilted Finish

At this very moment I am covered by this same quilt, feet up, and lap top engaged. My cup of coffee is within reach. I've worked a year to make it, and yet it gets used so casually. I wonder if I'd feel this way if I wasn't the maker. But I want to know how a quilt feels and wears with use. I like to record which batting I used, and there is a significant difference in the drape and warmth. There truly are battings better suited for different seasons, and may be too warm for summer so I'm enjoying now.

3 More One Patch Designs & Luminescence

Last Week's Layouts
 A First for Me: All Solids

Something that brings me great pleasure is working in the quilt room laying out comforters and quilts for charity. I've been very interested in different color schemes lately, and how colors interact with another. One color laid next to another will appear to change either lighter or darker. Maybe a dot or figure in it will be drawn out more. A good way to illustrate this is with the top and bottom layouts here.

Quilting Limbo:Finishes, Frolic & Free Thinking

It's been nearly one week since my last post. I've made 2 quilts from scratch, and finished 3 or more UFO's. 

Vintage Look Flying Geese Quilt Finish

A Friday Finish To Show On Sunday

Last week was very productive here. Keester up-- head down. Work hard, and try to keep from getting distracted. I had some long time WIP's, UFO's, etc., which I gritted my teeth and tackled. I'll show those later, but as a treat for cleaning off the shelf I also did some long arming.

Vintage Inspired Nine Patch Charity Quilt

Vintage Inspired Nine Patch

Laying out a one patch design such as this with 5" squares is greatly aided by knowing where the middle of the wall is, and working outward. (I will learn!) Instead, I tend to start with the left side working across through the middle. Don't laugh, but stooping down a lot is hard as we enter middle age, but so is climbing up and down the ladder this required. By the end, it filled the whole wall, and the top row had to lop over to stay put. I was up and down dozens of times before it was done.

This is a copy of a quilt I wrote about in "More One Patch Designs for Charity Quilts." I laid it out for a MCC comforter to be sewn by the many volunteers that work at the Connections Thrift Shop.

More One Patch Designs for Charity Quilts

Queen's Cross

I never board an airplane without my trusty composition books, and sharp pencils. While dear husband snoozes away, I dream up quilt patterns. Lately it's been all one patch designs, and this the most recent. 

*Yoohoo! And to alert you all how to find these designs, check out the new areas of Pink Doxies' header. I've been adding quilts and clickable links to each, and some new sections such as Charity Quilt Layouts and Links on the lower right end. 

Open Studio Day: Quilt Qwazy Queens Blog Hop & Giveaways

Welcome to another stop on the QQQ 2017 Blog Hop filled with lots of goodies and giveaways! Marian at Seams to Be Sew organized this hop to be timely with International Quilting Day, and to me that means community in quilting. Spreading the joy that quilting brings to you with others locally, nationally, and internationally. A long list of sponsors is sharing their love with fabulous giveaways, but first let me share how I've embraced the concept.

One Day a Month I Share My Studio Space

Looking at this picture really brings a smile to my face. This was Open Studio Day here, and we honestly have so much fun no matter who turns up! Today we had my mom (front right), and mother-in-law (middle front) join our group, too. We celebrated Mom's birthday with cupcakes, learned SLQ, pinned a charity quilt in the long arm with group effort, and drank a pot of coffee. The sun shone in through the windows, and the laughter was steady. It was the warmest, fuzziest feeling you could get!