Churn Dash Whimsy

Hedgehog to the Rescue

I was in a bit of a sewing funk today. I'm working on a secret project that I'll be able to share soon but not yet.  Great progress was made this weekend and I am loving how it's turning out - happy to have it all basted and ready to go - smooth sailing until I found myself too uptight to FMQ.  

The required state of mind to tackle FMQ is critical, wouldn't you agree? I just felt like if I started without having my head wrapped around the process I'd fail, so it was smarter to wait.  What do you do to gear up mentally for FMQ?  Tomorrow is a new day and fingers crossed that I'll relax enough to pull it off.   

Rather than let the evening escape entirely, I pulled out the bits of whimsy and solids that I had chosen to use in Dana's Row Robin for Around the Bend and Across the Pond! Her inspiration was a needlework sampler and I found the Farmer's Wife book the perfect resource settling on the classic Churn dash.  Just the ticket to cheer me up.    An adorable hedge hog, pink rooster, a pony and more did the trick. Dana and Mandy included scissor fabric in their rows so I added a pinking shear detail.

 

A love affair with Japan

Tonight at our Guild Meeting for PVQA

Tracey Brookshire was the guest speaker and shared slides of the amazing Tokyo International Great Quilt Show . This is a nine day festival and in 2007 she was invited to have her basket quilt in it. She also presented a small trunk show of her work and patterns.  

The Bento Box was the first quilt pattern that I ever purchased and still think it's great after all these years.  This one I made for our bed is 105x105 - huge for me - and this one was made as a gift for a very sweet young lady. I wonder if she ever expected that there would be crazy/wonky versions popping up all over flickr. I've been in two swaps myself. 

Shoji and Jigsaw are a couple of my other favorites that I have yet to try.  When youngest was on a little league team with her son many years ago I had no idea who she was which is a good thing I guess because I would've been way too intimated to have made the coach a quilt - which he loved.