It Got Bigger?!

Last week my Mom asked me how I was doing with respect to my giant WIP/UFO list. I had to stop and think before I answered her. Rather, not answer her. I couldn't really recall if I'd finished much or at least moved on. Needless to say, I thought I better investigate and give an update. If not for you, Mom, then to keep me on track!

Before I delve into it, I want to go on record to say that I've been teaching and travelling A LOT lately. And my baby boy stopped napping in that special time while the girls are both in school. Honest, those aren't excuses. Just sayin'...

Quilt Tops Ready for Quilting

1. Cosmos Blocks - once I make a back for it I'm giving it to Andrea for quilting.
2. Improv Sampler - uh, nothing new to see here...
3. My version of Checkerboard from Sunday Morning Quilts - again, nothing to see here...
4. Slaveship Quilt - nope, nothing here either...
5. Old Amy Butler quilt top - still sitting there...

6. There is Peace in Pattern - top made, backing fabric purchased, waiting for basting.

Quilts, Basted and Ready for Quilting

7. Gum on Concrete - the quilting is almost done. Definitely my next finish, hopefully this week
8. Anniversary Quilt - It is the next one on the list for quilting.
9. Low Volume Circles - I'm plugging away on the hand quilting, slowly.

Works in Progress


10. Mid Mod Bee - Blocks to be assembled into a top
11. Giant Hexies from the Unscripted Bee - All blocks in, but I think I want to make more to size it up
12. Hand Pieced Diamonds - always ongoing
13. More Cosmic Burst blocks - I have a whole other set of blocks for a baby quilt
14. Voiles - Still cutting and piecing every now and then. And buying more voile...
15. Name quilt for my daughter - still haven't done anything since this post
16. Chandelier quilt - was so close, then discovered a big mistake and have never fixed it
17. Mountain Meadows - still have made no more blocks since
18. Liberty Circles - Almost done making the circles
19. Blue and green Christmas Tree quilt - I cut the pieces,then promptly put them away
20. The alternate pink/black/white blocks I started when working on the girlie quilt are finding a new home in an upcoming project...
21. Respite - a project started in a Bill Kerr design workshop
22. Pieced Stars - a BOM I started years ago when I wanted to do some precision piecing breaks when doing a lot of improv
23. Japanese Curves - Fell in love with a Japanese fabric and a curvy pattern, took a class, never finished it. I think this one has to be passed on to a more willing quilter...
24. The Water Quilt
25. My Denyse Schmidt Improv Workshop blocks - both mine and the extra class blocks
26. A travelling quilts project that just started. I've got the first round waiting for my input.


Class Samples (Pieces I work on while teaching, as examples)


27. A Shoeman's Puzzle/Slab quilt I started with some class samples

28. A values quilt in neutrals
29. Green/Yellow/Orange Improv blocks
30. Loads of circle blocks now that might turn into something...

Intentional Quilts

31. Sympatico and Organic solid stack
32. Lucky Penny Bike Path - I have a plan now and hope to start it next month
33. Some vintage feedsacks intended for Amanda's quilt from Fresh Fabric Treats
34. Turkey reds, blues, and whites for a striped project
35. A collection of screen printed and low-volume favourites that continues to grow
36. My other daughter's special Tiger Quilt has to be started now

And...

37. I know there is a box of 2000 2 1/2'' squares sitting in my garage somewhere. If the mice haven't got to it I'll have to tackle those when they are found.
38. and 39. I have two ongoing scrap/leader and ender projects. They aren't coming together as much yet, but I must admit to them.

Finished!!!!!

Wine Gums
Oh Canada
Girlie Quilt

Plus 1 more I can't share for another week or two and my daughter's quilt we made together (That's it waiting for binding up there.) Boy, and I was excited that I got two quilts finished this past week. Oy.

I think that's it. I think...

Improv and Intentions

One of the workshops at QuiltCon I was lucky to get into was Denyse Schmidt's Improv workshop. It was a hot commodity and I had just the right timing when doing my registration. To be honest, I took it out of curiosity more than anything. I'm quite comfortable with improv work, even teaching it myself! But I wanted to see how Denyse taught it and see how people responded.

Frankly, I really enjoyed the class. It may have been the opportunity of just free sewing/playtime after weeks of prep for my own classes at QuiltCon. But it was also a great environment. The other students ranged from improv virgins to the old hats at the technique like me. Denyse is a good teacher, clear on the approach, and extremely encouraging. For the students who'd never done improv it was a challenge at the beginning but they all seemed to really embrace things at the end.

Denyse's technique involves true randomness. Three bags of fabric bits in different sizes. Close your eyes and reach in! At home I do almost the same thing, but I keep my eyes open. Denyse's goal is to get the students to see the beauty in the randomness; beauty in seemingly clashing bits of fabric and blocks that don't lay flat. And it is most definitely there.

After each exercise we reviewed all the blocks and discussed our responses. I loved this part as too often in classes we don't get see what other people make or hear about what people experienced as they worked. The last part was a big eyeopener as a teacher. Well worth the class for me.

In the morning we worked solely with Denyse's scraps. In the afternoon we got to add our own fabric and a randomly chosen solid (Confession: my solid may have been placed in my hand by my very awesome Aussie volunteer and friend). Having seen reports of this class before I chose my fabric to bring with great intention. The blocks from one of these classes can start to all look the same so I chose my fabric to stand out a bit. Plus, it is one of my all-time favourite fabrics.

I didn't expect to care much for my blocks, I prefer a bit more control in my colour schemes. But I LOVE my blocks. So much so that I've got plans for a lot more and a finished quilt. I think I lucked out  with the fabric I picked out of the bags and the colours that came up.  Or it was just all serendipity... In the end I took a handful of orphan blocks from the morning exercises and I have another plan for them too.

Again, I was totally reminded that we need to remain open to experiences. I went into the class all cocky about my improv ability and thinking I wouldn't learn anything. And I came out with a bit of a gut check, new ideas, and an appreciation for the approach of others. Plus some rather cool quilt blocks.

Friday Favourite: fast2clean Mini Microfiber Cleaners

*Giveaway is now closed*

The Missing U is one of my favourite quilts from Sunday Morning Quilts. It came together with Amanda Jean's contribution and really was the start of our collaboration on the book. Right now it is living on our bed, keeping me warm when I fall asleep and soaking up the almost spring sun's warmth during the day.

Because it is a favourite I was thrilled when C&T contacted me about using images of the quilt in a new product. The fast2clean Microfiber Cleaners are pretty cool. At first I thought it was kind of cheesy and pointless. But they arrived right around the time I started using a certain fruit based music device. Between my fingertips and the greasy fingers of my kidlets on the face of it, the thing was a mess. 

Then I pulled out my handy little microfiber cleaner. Through the wonders of static it sticks to the back of the device. Then I can pull it off and clean the face every time the grubby fingerprints get to be too much. It really works well for that. I've even used it for my computer monitor in a pinch!

And once I discovered that I can access Instagram through this device the whole thing gets used a lot more than for hard-core dance fests with the girls. The camera on this thing is only marginally better than my cell phone and I'm still trying to figure out even some of the potential, but feel free to follow me there for some snippets of daily life, and sneak peeks at projects that end up here.

The other quilt featured is by Kim Shaefer.

C&T very generously sent me extras of this product. So, if you can't find them in your LQS or don't want to order them on Amazon, try your hand at this little give-away!

Leave a comment on this post between now and Sunday 11:59 pm MST for your chance to win. Make sure I have a way to reach you by email through your profile or comment, I'm not going to chase down no-reply comments. Tell me your favourite colour to work with or live with. Or point me in the direction of some favourite photographs. Or just say hi.

I will pick 4 winners and and send out a pack of these little treats next week.

Big's Quilt - Part 1

A couple of months ago my little girl asked if we could make a quilt together. We usually have quiet mornings together a few times a week when her brother is napping and her sister is in school. Personally, I think it was more about playing on the design wall than the finished project. And that's just fine.

She spent a happy morning pulling every single bin of mine out of the closet to pick fabrics. The only thing I encouraged her to do was perhaps select a favourite fabric to start or a colour combination. Being the little girl that she is, the pinks and purples came out first. At the beginning it was going to be all pink, then purple was allowed in. Then yellow, then some green, and finally red. I'm pretty sure this fabric play took her a few mornings.

Once she'd settled on her fabrics I set to cutting them for her. She specifically requested squares all mixed up. I went with 6 1/2'' squares simply because it was an easy size to cut. As I cut she placed them on the design wall. And then she'd go harass her brother, come back, and change a square. This went on for a few weeks.

Her first layout was all the same fabrics grouped together, with a random interloper breaking things up. I let her sit on this, then encouraged her to play. She was hesitant at first, but I took a picture of what she had and promised to return to that layout if she hated it after we played. But we never went back.

She would come in every morning and rearrange a few blocks. I snapped this photo when I realized her  PJs matched her quilt. So maybe she did have an inspiration after all?!

Then the blocks sat. I got busy with other projects and she had more playdates than quiet with Mama. I kept asking her to sew with me but she wanted to play catch instead. No amount of urging from me and pleas from her sister (who wants the design wall for her own quilt) could get her motivated.

With it being spring break this week and my need for the design wall I simply told her we were going to start. She didn't have to help, but I did sew a good portion of the quilt with her on my lap.

One last rearrangement before I took all the columns down and set to sewing. I changed nothing in her layout. Of course, as we were sewing she changed her mind on some blocks. So it ended up with a little more improv. The only thing I did was make sure we had no two blocks the same next to each other.

This has been a glorious experience for me. I've watched her excitement over the fabric and layout. She got such a kick out of making HER quilt layout just the right way. It took a lot of my energy to stand back and let it all happen. A lot. Sure, I did the heavy lifting, but this will most certainly be her quilt.

(The top is together and she's picked the backing fabric, but she asks that we wait for a big reveal!)