Design Wall Monday

Linking up with Judy L over at the Patchwork Times!

I'm thrilled to have a NEW project up on the design wall today!  I took a class on Saturday.  The pattern is "Crazy Cats" by the Buggy Barn, which is in the book "Undeniably Crazy."  I finished one entire cat, and the "bodies" of two others.  (the nose does show up better "in real life")

Yesterday afternoon, I finished the faces (whiskers included) of the other two cats and am happy to say that I remembered the proper technique!  Yes - I learned in class that reading directions really helps - a LOT!  :)

I really love these cats, and I love the Buggy Barn technique even more!  It would be similar to paper piecing (the final results, anyway), if I had to give an explanation.  However, there is no paper to sew through!  You do use wax paper to copy the master design, then iron that onto the top of a stack of fat quarters.  But, after that, no more paper.  PHEW, because I don't think I am particularly great at paper piecing.  I sew the "sections" nicely, but when it's time to sew the sections together, they come out warped.  Ok, not always, but sometimes.  In my opinion, "sometimes" is not OK.  So I've been avoiding that process altogether!  So, with this process, the block sections turn out "wonky," as you can see in the photo above.  Each time you sew on a new piece, you straighten ONLY the edge you're sewing.  So, when I go to add the kitty ears, the top of the faces will be straightened out.  Simple as that.  And when the entire block is complete, you then square it up to a certain size.  It's not really close, either - there is plenty to cut off & not much chance you'll mess it up!  

I would recommend this pattern to a very comfortable beginner or experienced quilter.  You'll have a lot of fun!

Design Wall Monday

I finally finished all of my Buck-a-Block blocks (actually Buck-for-TWO-Blocks) this past week.  Now I need to do the frames for all of the blocks, sashing & corner squares, and borders.  I hope to do much or all of that this next week.  All of the half-square triangles were done with Thangles, which I absolutely LOVE!  

I really love the colors in this quilt.  The pink is a pomegranate color, which I think is actually part of the name of some of the batiks.  It's pretty girly, so I will just "have" to claim it as my own when it's done.  Poor me!  ;)

I am guessing that I will be using a form of beige thread for quilting, but I haven't decided on the quilting pattern yet.  Probably something simple for this one.  I'm totally OK with simple & this isn't a quilt that demands something complicated.

I did the 2011-2012 BOM through The Quilting Loft in Seattle and I will be linking up with Judy L's Design Wall Monday blog post at the Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday

I'm currently working on finishing the blocks to a "Buck-A-Block" BOM done by Thangles. I did mine through a super-fantastic shop in Seattle, called The Quilting Loft. I love them! They've got tons of batiks, which are my favorite. What are YOU working on?

 What's on your design wall today?

Linking up to the Patchwork Times!

Design Wall Monday - January 14, 2013

Happy Birthday to me! I am finally sewing again AND posting on my blog again. YAY! Here is what is up on my design wall. It is 25% of a quilt I'm making to fit our king-size bed. It's going to be a monster! I love the fabrics - they remind me of fall. They're not too feminine, and not to masculine - just perfect. The design is a Disappearing 9-Patch. I've never made one before, and I saw one on the Longarm at my favorite local quilt shop (Fiddlesticks, in Vancouver, Washington) and just knew I had to make one! Turns out that I LOVE making this pattern! There are so many ways to put it together - I look forward to making several more, including baby quilts. Perfect way to showcase certain fabrics, or go completely scrappy.

The top photo is a better color depiction for most colors, but the bottom photo shows how it looks when 25% of the quilt is complete (I'm loving the results so far!). I have a total of nine fabrics for my quilt, with the center block the same for all blocks. Then, the rest of the fabrics are pulled randomly from a basket. My only rule is that I'm not putting the same fabric side-by-side. So, if I pull the same twice in a row, it goes back and I pull again. Hope you like it! Comments/Feedback are welcome. :) Linking up with The Patchwork Times, by the one & only Judy Laquidara!

Design Wall Monday ~ February 6, 2012

So, with as many blocks as I have to make, I've come to realize that my "Design Wall Monday" posts may come to be a little boring after a couple weeks...

I decided to make this quilt to fit our king bed. Each block is 14" x 14" (unfinished, which means 13.5" finished) and the quilt with be 8 blocks x 8 blocks. The dimensions will 108" x 108". I was going to pay to have it quilted, since it won't fit on my longarm, but my friend said I could quilt it on her longarm. That'll be nice - we can spend some time together while the LA is running. Can't argue with that!

So, back to the design wall. First of all, it's only as wide as the photo you see here - about 56" wide, so I'm going to be laying this quilt out and putting it together in sections. The colors aren't great in this photo - they're vibrant green, orange, and pink. They're all from the same fabric line as the inside square, so they look really nice together. I don't think I've ever made a quilt using mainly 1 fabric line, so this is a new fabric experience for me. I like it so far.

I asked my DH (Dear Husband) today "do you care if we have a totally girly quilt on the bed?" I loved his response: "no. When I'm in bed, I'm sleeping. But I like quilts. They're comfy." He said a few other things I don't remember, but this was the best and most memorable part. I love the way DH responds to my quilts. I think he'd love it if I made more - if I was more productive than I have been in the past. He just genuinely loves being wrapped in a quilt! I LOVE THAT!

I tried using EQ6 to design this quilt and got nowhere. I need an EQ6 book or cheat sheet! It's not that the design was difficult - at all. But I would have liked to make it so that a similar block never touched. In this layout, there will be some same blocks kitty-corner from each other. I may try to figure that out before I go much further so that it looks more random.

That's it for now. I hope to add more blocks later today!

(Update: 1:27pm - it helps when you add the photo... LOL)

Design Wall Monday - January 30, 2012

I woke up before 4am today & was unable to sleep (the story of the past 5 days...), so I finally got up and got to work on my new quilt top! I found the fabrics at Fabric Depot last week, with exception of the black that I found at Fiddlesticks. The center's are 6.5" finished and will all be the same fabric. Then, each block will be framed in either pink, orange, or green "dots," and they'll all have a black frame, too. The blocks will alternate whether the black frame is next to the white square, or on the outside edge. So, with the 3 colors and the alternating black, there will be 6 different blocks total. Was that clear as mud? :)

I went to work today and was asked if I can put in "a lot" of hours this week (up to 40). So, that's definitely going to crunch into my sewing time. But I feel needed, so I'm going to help out. This quilt isn't going anywhere & I should be able to spend short bits of time in the sewing room - enough to keep my heart happy! :)

I hope next weeks design wall photo is FULL of blocks!

Design Wall Monday

My gosh, where did the week GO?

I did stuff - Just can't remember what? I started "planning" my year out a little by making up my UFO list, starting to plan my job hunt, and whatever else. Craft-wise, I made a "crayon art" piece, and cut circles for a "fall wreath." This is what is highlighted on my design wall for the week. I plan to add some orange fabrics to the group. So, either the wreath will be larger, or some of the current circles will be removed. My bet is on the latter of the two. OR, maybe I'll make TWO, but try to make the colors pretty different... Hmmmm...

Unfortunately, I made these circles before January 1st, so I didn't get to add them to my Stash Report, posted on Sunday. Boo!
Oh, and for anyone interested, I made the circles using my GO! cutter. I LOVE that thing - it's the best creation since sliced bread... Ok, I admit I only said that so I could use the cliche'.

Ok, so the photo to the right is what is on a small section of my design wall (the other parts haven't changed from last week...). I hope to work on it more in the next day or so. :)

Design Wall Monday

Shhhh - don't tell anyone it's "technically" Tuesday!!!

"Design Wall Monday" is a new thing for me to blog about. However, Judy Laquidara from Patchwork Times (I do LOVE her blogs, so I'll probably end up mentioning her quite a bit from here on out) hosts a "Design Wall Monday" linky party on her blog, so I thought I'd chime in. This is her last DWM for the year. Makes sense, since it's the last Monday of the year. Wait - did we even have a February this year? I can't even remember...

Ok, getting back to business here... I just spent about 8 lovely hours at my sewing machine! This is what (part of) my design wall looks like now:



My goodness, is the lighting TERRIBLE in this photo!!! YIKES! (UPDATE: I fixed the photo - took a new one in "daylight" and replaced the old yucky one)

So, here is what is in the photo: The top 2 photos are a BOM I'm doing called "Lollypop Trees," designed by Kim McLean. I'm doing my BOM through The Quilt Studio, and they've been fabulous so far. The series started in August 2011, and goes for 16 months. The blocks are 18"x18"!! I'm going to love my ginormous quilt!!! So far, I have fused down the pieces for the August and September blocks. I will machine appliqué the pieces down. At least that's my plan as it stands now. It's going to be a BIG job!
The 10 blocks on the bottom are the "buck a block" blocks that I mentioned in a post from Christmas Day. I'm doing this through a lovely shop in Seattle - The Quilting Loft. I got 2 blocks done on the 25th, 4 done on the 26th, and another 4 done in the same sitting, but technically on the 27th since it was past midnight. SO glad to have started the blocks and to now be caught up - in less than 48 hours from starting them! Now I'll wait till the beginning of January to receive my next blocks - then staying caught-up will be my goal!
Lastly, on the right, is a block I made on the "quilter's cruise to Alaska." I started this block in a class taught by Sue Nichols, who is an AMAZING machine appliqué quilter! I have enough fabric to make 3 more of these, but I think I might add fabric of my own and make the quilt larger. We really don't have space for this type of wall hanging, so it needs to be a "usable" quilt! I do love the design, which Sue did specifically for our cruise group, so I definitely want to continue it on!!