FAL Q3 = 22%

I was so optimistic in July about the 3rd Quarter of Finish A Long at Quilter in the Gap when I created a list and bumped the goal to 9 items. Original post here.

Now it is linky time and I've got two finished and seven untouched to show for it - a whopping 22%.

FAL Q3 Goals

At least the ones that got done were quilts that I'm happy with:

Starred Swoon

Old Italian Block a wedding gift and Starred Swoon for my niece's 21st birthday.  I guess I do better with things for other people!

Old Italian Block

Congrats to those who scored a higher % than I did - I know it's not a contest but participating does push me to be accountable. Rhonda, our wonderful hostess didn't finish a single on her list so I guess I'm in good company with biting off more than I could chew!

She will also be starting a Guest Posters and their tutorials tomorrow on her blog - I've started pinning Tutorials so I'll be sure to check it out.

Join in the link up for FAL Q4 on Oct 8th. My choices just might get downscaled to a realistic number :)

August it was Swoon and for September OIB is my link up at Katie From the Blue Chair's End of my Hallway link. Thank goodness for these bloggers who keep me on my toes!

Happy Quilting, Karen

Craft Book Link Up at Craft Bud

September has been a really fun month of Blog Hopping Craft Books at Craft Bud.  So to get my fix, I've Linked Up.  A project made any time in 2012 qualifies - so yeah! This little clutch I made from the book titled: Bags--The Modern Classics: Clutches, Hobos, Satchels & More by author Sue Kim 

Bird Flower Detail

The pattern was well written although I do confess having sewn this with my friend who is an experienced seamstress and walked me through much of it - especially the zipper!

I only modified a couple of things: 1) the pleat in the middle comes out rather than tucked in to better highlight the fussy placed fabric print 2) I tacked around the bird to hold down the flower rather than use a button because that would have covered him up. 

Clutch back and lining

Overall, my version resembles the original very closely. You can see a pinned photo of the one from the book on my board here.

It's Wednesday - but read on you'll see why I have nothing new this week for WIP (be sure to check it out anyway)

 Rotary Mishap

A routine sewing session took a wrong turn last week. I'll never really know exactly how I managed to have my rotary jump the curb and sliced off a chunk of my left index finger, but it did.  A bit of a wake up call reminder of how accidents happen even when doing the same thing you've done thousands of times - so be careful!

You won't find any pictures of my injury- I hate those on blogs - so instead I'll share a favorite of our dogs from a 4 day stay at my mom's.  We called it a field trip or mini-vaca, something they don't ever do so it was a big deal.

Dottie and Chase at G'mas

She has coo coo clocks throughout the house, a deck full of wind chimes and tons of whirligigs around the yard but the biggest attraction was the gopher hole. Helping themselves to the apples and pears was also a big hit.

Charms ready to mail

 Although I do procrastinate and certainly did not count on being out of commission - unable to sew and barely able to type... these little swap charms are the only task I had to ask for help on and my sister jumped right in. Now I just have to get them to the post office by deadline.

Happy (safe) quilting everyone!

WIP Wednesday - out of balance

My WIP list is a tad bit bottom heavy as the items migrate downward to the no progress category. check out Freshly Pieced.

How is it that it still felt like a fun productive week?  This unexpected top that's how.

FMF Charity Top

More about it here

close up

D9P

Originally I was working on an old WIP D9P at our MQG Sew In for the charity quilt but lost interest. I did however finish the second Herringbone for F+F=AMSB while I was there.

Have you been keeping an eye on the MQG challenge blocks? There is such a variety.  Mine was featured under the Graphic Shapes grouping the other day. 

WIP Weekly Status Update:

Finished = 2
F+F=AMSB 2 Herringbone (just need to mail)
Super Secret Square (all sent off)

Progress = 2
Secret Partner MQG pillow swap (almost there)

New Projects =1
FMF Charity Quilt (top done)

No Progress = +
Luminaria (center complete)
HTABQ's Japanese Charm Swap (fabric purchased, pic posted)
Sewing Summit Black/White swap (fabric purchased, pics posted)
Sewing Summit zipper pouch swap
Project Bag or Needle book for ME @ Sewing Summit
ModPop QAL 
Quilt Retreat Goodies and Bags
Help a friend make Coffee Cozies
Make a "They Eloped" Quilt
Make A Baby Boy Quilt
Alpaca Pillow 
...and endless others..

Swaps and Wins Rolling In

Happy mail is an understatement.  My Picture Perfect Polaroid blocks arrived from Debbie At the Quilter's Table and she has a fun recap on her blog. It took off like wild with over 3,000 blocks swapped and more visits to my tutorial post than all my others combined!

Piles and Piles of Polaroids

Low Volume Big 10" have all arrived and have been put to good use in a Charity Quilt - keep reading....

Modern Scrappy Bits came early, (a lovely set of coasters and strips from Cameron) but I wanted my partner to get her package before posting so here they both are:

MSB Received

MSB Sent

Lisa, Crafting Crazy Artist loved what I sent and was so sweet with her enthusiasm - sure does make for a fun secret partner.

The wonderful Double Half Yard bundle win from Miranda at One Little Minute included a set for myself and a set for a charity quilt.

Flea Market Fancy - and Dottie underfoot

I started on it at the SBAMQG Sew Day after finishing my F+F=AMSB herringbone seen here but didn't get too far.

Charity Quilt - Playing around with placement

So at home -  I kept at it. After all this was a Double Dog Dare and i love a challenge.

trying out new stitches on my machine

approx 38"x57" and growing

One more column on the left with a gray hst pointed up at the bottom and a blue hst pointed down for the middle jag. Then I will bind in FMF Seapod Stripe.

Hope you are all having a great weekend. More News Soon!

WIP - New Projects tip the tally scale

OK, so last week I was patting myself on the back for not having a single item in the NEW Projects category of my WIP tally - this week it's got the largest number!

Lee at Freshly Pieced is back -yeah- and has set up an amazing schedule of WIP  Guest Bloggers for the linky starting October with my friend Debbie at A Quilters Table.  I'm thrilled at the prospect of meeting them both in person at Sewing Summit very soon.

Luminaria

Move aside old projects, a new one's caught my eye. Don't you love it when a quilt takes on a life of it's own?  The morphing or unforeseen spin offs that occurs for me during the creative process is one of the my favorite elements of quilting.

Luminaria 48x60 center

Last post I showed you some prep and progress pictures from the workshop with Christine Barnes. This one I will call mid-way because the variation of a border that I'm tossing around to give it my own take is going to take about as much time as the center has.

close up - a very scrappy Batik collection

Who knows, I may just audition one fabric to go around it like the pattern and call it a day. But, for now I'm so inspired and want to run with the idea that's lurking - despite the other projects that I should be working on instead.

Sewing Summit

clutch for sewing tools

As I envision packing for Sewing Summit, I realize I really want to whip up a few more items for putting my stuff in.  This little clutch I made with a friend during a sew day and I had thought it would be a stash gift - well, I'm gifting it to myself to put my sewing tools in!  Now I need a needle book and maybe a larger project bag to go along.  In a just a month I'll be in SLC - So Excited!

F+F=MSB First Herringbone

WIP Weekly Status Update:

Finished = 3
Modern Scrappy Bits swap (partner got it and loved it)
Not your Granny's Bee (mailed and safety delivered)
Sewing Summit Schedule completed (It's going to be awesome)

Progress = 2
Secret Partner MQG pillow swap (working on-I promise)
Sewing Summit Black/White swap (fabric purchased, pics posted)

New Projects =7
F+F=AMSB 2 Herringbone (one finished)
Luminaria (center complete)
Project Bag or Needle book for ME @ Sewing Summit
ModPop QAL
Super Secret Square
Quilt Retreat Goodies and Bags
Help a friend make Coffee Cozies

No Progress = 5+
HTABQ's Japanese Charm Swap (fabric purchased, pic posted)
Sewing Summit zipper pouch swap
Make a "They Eloped" Quilt
Make A Baby Boy Quilt
Alpaca Pillow 
...and endless others....

Luminostiy Workshop

I spent a beautiful Sunday at Christine Barnes' Luminosity Workshop in Aptos with a bunch of lively wonderful women from PVQA.

Class Sample and Design Wall for Demo

 The color theory and auditioning of fabric was a blast.

Practice layout of a few of my bits

  The pattern is so forgiving and smart - little fabric waste and few joints to match. I will definitely be using it often.  The wheels are turning in my designing brain to make it with my own special spin.

Cut Demo to help me remember

OOPS - cools shouldn't be squares!

 I tried to travel light and pre-cut squares including my cools without reading the class supply correctly.  Hubby fetched me the batik bucket and came to the rescue.  It was a blessing since I got to do lots of sharing and fabric swapping.

Layout Begins

I'll post a final top layout and tell you more about Christine's lecture from last nights meeting. She even let me take a picture with her!

Happy Quilting -

WIP - some done some not

I've cut the strips for September's F+F=AMSB herringbone blocks for Petra and am auditioning placement without trying to impose too much control on the scrappiness and creative process. We're using this tutorial.

The much blogged about Old Italian Block OIB wedding quilt (seen here and here) had an audience when I brought it for show and tell at our SBAMQG meeting.  It is quilted and bound with a sleeve attached for hanging in our Quilt Show.  This is my second item crossed off the Quilter in the Gap FAL Q3 list.

OIB 66"x 72" Bamboo/silk Batting

Making a traditional block with modern designer fabrics like Kaffe Fassett, Martha Negley, Philip Jacobs, Liberty Art, Monica Solorio-Snow embraces one of my favorite elements of the Modern Quilting aesthetics. I think it turned out very similar to the one on the cover of Anita Grossman Soloman's book Rotary Cutting Revolution. 

OIB Back - floating blocks

Such a super talented bunch of guild members we have.  Check out some pictures I posted to our group.  If you're local, please stop by Sue Dee's during the month of September and check out the quilts in person. We're having a reception next Friday evening as well.

Just a few of the Granny Swap Blocks

The pin cushion and scrap catcher for Modern Scrappy Bits and my Granny blocks are both ready to mail off for swapping. The chevron cat quilt now has a kitty snuggled on it. I forgot to shoot a finished picture of it -oops.

Facebook and Pinterest

After years of holding out - I finally joined the rest of the world on facebook.  I wanted to use my same flickr buddy icon picture but couldn't find the original on my computer so I used this picture taken in Kauai (a few trips ago).

Now that I have a FB account I was able to make a pinterest account and am really excited about that. All I need is more time in the day to play and to learn what the heck I'm doing.

MSB pin cushion and scrap catcher

I referred to this tutorial for the Pin Cushion-Scrap Catcher but changed the sizes to better fit the fussy cut fabric and weighted it with pinto beans.

On the design wall before stuffing

Tula Pink Prince Charming

After the MQG meeting I picked up a yard of this wonderful fabric for my swap.

Japanese fabric charm swap

WIP Weekly Status Update:

Finished = 3
Wedding Quilt - Old Italian block
Cat Chevron Quilt
Chevron Pouch
Progress = 3
Not your Granny's Bee (all done, just need to mail)
Modern Scrappy Bits swap (all done, just need to mail)
HTABQ's Japanese Charm Swap (fabric purchased and posted pic)
New Projects = 0
none (big pat on the back)
No Progress = 7+
Sewing Summit zipper pouch swap
Sewing Summit Black & White swap
Quilt for 100 Quilts for Kids (most parts done)
Make a "We Eloped" Quilt
Make A Baby Boy Quilt
Secret Partner MQG pillow swap
Alpaca Pillow

Linking up to WIP Wednesday with guest host Emily from Mommy's Nap Time.

Fresh Sewing Day: August

The month of August has come to an end which means it time for Lily's Quilts link up to Fresh Sewing Day.  Still haven't figured out how include a link to each project so here's the flickr link that has it. 

August Progress

Daily Delights

I'm having so much fun with the daily Quilt Con Challenge Block postings. Seeing all of the amazing talent out there and exploring the links to the MQGs from all over is great and having my block featured today with the Organic grouping is such an honor. Here are the other two I made.

Super jealous - but happy for those you are able to attend. Maybe next year that list will include me. No pity party please... with Sewing Summit  in October and our Quilt Retreat in November, I've got plenty to look forward to in the near future.   

Anniversary Time Approaches

Usually, getting a bill is a bad thing. But when my 1 yr reminder to renew my flickr pro account popped up I was kind of excited.  It marks the first anniversary of having genuinely discovered Modern Quilting and Sewing's Social Media: swaps, QALs, BOMs & bees and knowing that I was in it to stay.

September is also a month of celebration for SBAMQG and we'll be having our first ever show at SueDee's.

Hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend. Plans are to walk down to the village and see the Begonia Festival floats like in the old days when the kids were in strollers.