Earth Day Block for The Splendid Sampler

Today is Earth Day! (And my nephew's birthday!)

You may recall that I used to work for an environmental non-profit. So every day was literally Earth Day for me. Now, with kids it is even more so. Just the other day The Monster started a discussion in the car about landfills. We talked about what garbage doesn't break down, methane gas, power generation from landfills, and composting. Just your standard conversation on the way home from swimming. We won't mention the irony of it as we drove around in our big, diesel burning car.

For The Splendid Sampler we've released a bonus block for this occasion - Earth Day, not my nephew's birthday - and I got the chance to design it. This block popped into my head in seconds and I went for it. Already I've seen variations where people embroider the outline of the continents on the circle. And already I see potential for this to be an entire quilt.

We know how I love a pinwheel! and the intersecting lines with the circle go so well. This is a pretty easy block, no super tiny piecing.

Secret little bonus! If you go to The Splendid Sampler site I've provided a special discount link for my Craftsy class - Inset and Applique Circles by Machine -  to help with all your circle construction.

(And if you want more than my Craftsy class, there is a sale this weekend.)

Grab your scraps - this is Earth Day after all - and give the block a whirl!

Northern Arizona

When Marianne Fons - the Marianne Fons - asks you to make a quilt for a charity auction it is pretty much impossible to say no. I almost did though because the theme was 'America the Beautiful'. Remember, I'm Canadian! Then the memories of our epic road trip last summer came back and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

Northern Arizona was, by far, my favourite part of the trip. I couldn't stop staring out the car window and was thrilled with our 4 days spent there exploring canyons, back roads, and lazy creeks. This little quilt top captures my memories of it so well. 

These were my inspiration images.

Got it pretty close, didn't I?

Now to finish this up and send it off. All quilts donated will be auctioned off as part of America Quilts EXPO at the Iowa Events Center May 26–28 in Des Moines, Iowa. 100% of funds raised via the auction benefits Quilts of Valor Foundation.

Antonio's Quilt

Antonio's Quilt

56'' by 56''

A few years back a friend of mine in the Calgary Modern Quilt Guild, Katrina Hertzer, posted a picture on Instagram of her son painting. Aside from the fact that her son is adorable I was completely smitten with his painting. So smitten that I went to the sewing room that afternoon and made a block inspired by his in progress painting.  Then I decided it needed friends. And a lot of improv pieced background.

This is a great example of Improv With Intent. I had a shape I wanted to recreate but I wanted the movement and hand like the original inspiration. It had to be improvised. I sketched out how the block might be constructed in terms of process and just went for it. Lucky for me it worked on the first one.

I had no clue what this would be - or even if it would be anything - when I started. I just wanted to play with the shapes and colours. As I went along I explored different ideas, some layout options, and sizing. That is the heart of improv - starting without knowing where you will end. Not to mention embracing the process as much, if not more, than the product.

It's just bonus when it turns into an awesome product.

One of my favourite things is the mix of gray and cream in the background. It isn't expected, people usually go with one or the other. Doing so also meant that I could use that floral scrap there - it is from my first ever quilt!

The quilting is simple. Using my walking foot I made wavy lines across the quilt. My aim was to mimic the lines a paintbrush gives. I did make my life a bit more challenging by not quilting over the red lines on the front. So there was a lot of stopping and starting and burying of threads. A lot. It was totally worth it. I also changed thread colour every 5-7 lines, between a light beige Aurifil and the ultimate dove gray Auriful 2600.

I started the quilt in May 2013, the top was finished in October of that year, and it sat partially quilted for about a year, or more. I'm not quite sure why I just never finished the quilting, but that's what happened. Then, a few weeks ago, I needed to take photographs of a quilt being blocked for an article. I put the call out and had some quilts volunteered, then realized that with just a few hours of work I would have this one ready. I buckled down and just did it. .

Also, three cheers for another awesome back alley trailer for photo ops.

Orange is for Nerds

ORANGE IS FOR NERDS

84'' BY 84''

As my son's 4th birthday approached in March I frantically tried to get his special orange quilt done in time to celebrate. For one, he'd been asking for it and was being remarkably patient for a maniac his age. Two, I really wanted to surprise him with this gift, especially because I hadn't made him his own quilt yet. Finally, a quilt is a not a toy to add to the clutter in the house.

Unfortunately, I never got it finished in time for his birthday. However, by not trying to keep it a secret I could pull it out when he was awake and actually get it done. Bonus, he helped me attach the binding to the quilt. Memories built right in.

The quilt started as samples for a Scrapper's Delight class. That is a pattern from Sunday Morning Quilts and was written by Amanda Jean. The same fabric then became a variety of log cabins and was used for more samples for my Improv Log Cabin class. I still have all the other samples, but stuck with the quarter log cabins in this quilt. 

To make this many blocks I cut up a whole bunch of strips in oranges, greens, yellows, and low volume prints with those colours plus blue and black. It was a bit of a hot mess on the days I sewed, with strips and trimmings flying everywhere. I would chain piece, often 7 blocks at a time. It took me 3-4 hours to get all seven blocks done - there is a lot of piecing in there. Each block was squared up at 12.5'' by 12.5''. There are 49 of them in the quilt. If there was a bit at least 1'' wide after squaring up I used those as a strip in another block. It provides great dimension and movement in an already busy quilt.

It's a bit large for my boy's double bed, but that just means there is plenty of overhang and snuggling room. And something tells me that there will come a time in his life where this quilt seems small.

I waited until Carkai from Carolyn Friedlander was released because I wanted the Bones print in this blue for the backing. Nothing else would do. The whole thing is simply quilted with an improvised grid (meaning: I didn't mark) in Aurifil 2235 - pretty much an impossibly perfect orange. The grid was easy with my walking foot. With such a scrappy design there was no point in doing detailed quilting that would only get lost in the fabrics. 

Orange is my son's favourite colour. We think we know why too. My husband has a great orange jacket (so does my daughter, actually). The first couple of times the kids commented on his jacket he always responded with, "Orange is for nerds!". Now it is a family joke. This all started as my boy was learning to speak so he got in on it from the get go. So now it is his favourite colour and the quilt has its name.

Not sure how often he'll be pulling his quilt off the bed for slides at the park, but it sure was fun to do this with a friend for a photo! As soon as we came home he had me spread it out on his bed, ready for nap time.