Latest Goodies

It seems all I’ve been doing lately is collecting fabric!

These first two TOTALLY ADORABLE owl fabrics are both by Timeless Treasures. The larger owl print (pictured bottom) is called “Foxy Owls”. I’ve seen a lot of owl fabric come through the shop but the colors and style of these owls are so unique and different, I just love them! I already have a pattern in mind that will showcase the fabric perfectly. – It’s also a SUPER easy pattern that I can whip out in no time. This might just be the next thing on my list of quilts to make!

The smaller, more colorful owl print is a flanel fabric and is called “Bright Owls”. That’s right – it’s a flanel and I’m super excited about it. It is soooo cozy and the little owls are totally funky and cute with their striped and polka dotted features. I think picking fabric to coordinate is going to be a lot of fun.

Next up are these lovely batik fat quarter bundles. I received these super STUNNING bundles probably a month or so ago and have just been drooling over them since. They were actually a gift from my parents for no reason at all besides the fact that they were up near a quilt store I love and thought to go in and buy me something. SPOILED, I KNOW! And also super grateful and totally appreciative. :)

I have no plans at the moment right now for these two lovely bundles but I actually really like how they work together. They’re complimentary colors on the color wheel after all. I think I may just use them in the same quilt. Hmm..hmm! We shall see…

Lastly, this isn’t fabric but I had to share as I’ve been going totally insane lately looking for one…

It’s a quilting hoop – specifically, a lap version! Just what I’ve been searching for! Ever since I saw this pin on Pinterest I got it in my head that I had to make a whole cloth quilt and hand quilt it myself. And now thanks to my friend and coworker Sandy at the shop who graciously gave me her old one, I can do just that! Woo hoo! I’m very excited about all my latest goodies.

Now…to start some new projects!!

May Block of the Month – 2013

Another month is upon us and with it…this cute little guy!! My latest block for my on-going block of the month program at the shop is this lucky duck! :)

As with all of the blocks in this pattern, it’s the little details that really make these characters so cute. I love his little hairs on top of his head! And the indigo colored background just makes his yellow “feathered” fabric pop too!

After I finished up with my block of the month block, my next assignment for the shop was to get my Happy Hour quilt done. If you’re not familiar with our program you can check out more info here. Basically, at the beginning of each month we give customers a preview of the fabrics we’ll be using in the sample. They are not informed of the quilt pattern – it’s kept a secret until the quilt is revealed in a demo class at the end of the month. Customers who have decided to participate in the month’s program will get to pick up their fabric bundle and quilt pattern, participate in a show and tell of their latest projects (optional), see what’s new in the shop, as well as listen to a demonstration on how the Happy Hour quilt was put together. We also provide some great little snacks..and don’t forget the wine! It just wouldn’t be Happy Hour without it!

We try to switch up our Happy Hour projects between precut fabric bundles like jellyrolls, layer cakes, and fat quarter bundles each month too. This month’s collection I got to choose and we decided to cut our own jellyrolls.

I chose the awesomely graphic and funky collection above as well as a variation of tonal fabrics to coordinate, found a pattern I wanted to use with my jellyroll, and got sewing. And sewing, and sewing, and sewing…along with some help of the kid. (Who was not very helpful in fact…)

Then, the last Friday of the month I revealed this lovely quilt to the class!

Ta-da! The quilt pattern I chose was Pom Pom Parade by The Quilt Room. I’d never done a quilt with triangles before and thought it was a good chance to learn the technique with this pattern. It was super straight-forward which was great because I was really nervous to teach a new technique that I’d never done before. I’d say most of the work for this quilt top was choosing color placement. And even that part wasn’t very hard to do because how could you go wrong with this super saturated color palette of fun/funky colors like acid green, fuchsia, and teal from this collection?

I think it turned out pretty cool if I do say so myself. :) And one of the coolest things about this quilt too is how it almost looks like a kaleidoscope quilt! In reality though, it wasn’t. It was just the repeat on the strip that made some of these really great graphic centers. Customers were really impressed but it was totally unintentional which is even cooler to share with them! I’m really glad I had the opportunity to try a new technique. I keep seeing a bunch of other triangle quilt patterns on Pinterest that I’ve wanted to try, but always been too scared to attempt. This was a great jump-off point and I can’t wait to try another triangle quilt very soon!

To Boston With Love

As usual, I’ve been super busy around these parts but I’ve made time this past weekend to fit in this special project. It’s called, “To Boston With Love”.

If you haven’t already heard about this project, it’s a really great creative effort being put together by the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild. They describe the project as “a collaborative effort of makers to bring peace and love from far and wide”. The idea is to get all sewers, quilters and crafters to come together and create flags that will help give light to those affected in Boston after the tragedies that happen a couple of weeks ago. These flags will be hung at a public exhibition in Boston in early June 2013. There is more information on the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild website that spell out other rules and guidelines for the project as well as a step-by-step flag-making tutorial. There’s a very strict deadline for the project also, so if you’re interested in contributing it’ll need to be soon.

One guideline they’ve created is a “recommended color palette” of the following colors that will help keep the look of the flags bright and uplifting. (Color palette image borrowed directly from VMQG website.)

Here’s the collection of fabrics I pulled from my scrap stash to represent the above color palette.

Choosing fabrics for this project was particularly special for me in a couple of ways. First, it was an opportunity to go through all my old scraps and use up some of my small leftover pieces from other projects that I’ve had sitting around for a while. Second, the choosing of fabrics from my scrap stash was representative a something greater. All of the scraps shown above have been put into a range of projects over the years. So much of my heart goes into the making each and every quilt that I create so it was important to me that each of these fabrics, all touched with love over the years, needed to be used in the creation of these flags. I’m sending my love to Boston in more than one way.

Another guideline of the project was to create the flags with themes of peace and love. So I took out my notebook and started sketching a few ideas…

First the idea of the peace sign was an obvious one for me. I decided to make it a “pieced peace sign” – the colors within the peace sign representing different people coming together to find peace.

Then I kept hearing the phrase “Boston Strong”. After doing some research it seems these two words have come to be something much greater than a simple phrase sports fans of the city use to support their teams. It’s a lifestyle the people of Boston seem to live by. I thought it was important to represent in a flag.

Lastly, I wanted to do a heart and within it an outline of the city of Boston, representing Boston being in our hearts.

I had one more idea for a flag that I hope to get done tonight. It will use a couple of techniques I’ve wanted to try for a while – both of which I found on Pinterest. I’m going to see if I can finish it up quickly and mail them all out early this week.

I can only hope my few little flags will help bring a little love, peace, and hope to the people of Boston.

If you are interested in joining the efforts of this project I encourage you to visit the VMQG website for more info.