2014 Q3 FAL 3 for 3 and Amish-ish

A much better finish with all of my goals met this quarter.   I'm so rusty at linking up for the party - it's been so long I've kind of forgotten how! Good thing Katy spells it out for us so nicely. 

Don't be confused about the fact that TWO of the quilts look SUPER SIMILAR.  That's because they are companion quilts for the Michael Miller Challenge, Goal Setting Post found HERE. 

A Burst of Amish-ish

I've been in a bit of a pause lately (aka burn out).  When my friend Anne came over for a basting party and I saw her quilt entry for the upcoming community exhibition of Amish: The Modern Muse at the San Jose Quilt and Textile museum it sparked a frenzy of late nights and IG crowdsourcing.  

(the kona brown for binding on the left won out)

I was sad about missing out on such a wonderful opportunity and had been thinking about what to make, designing QDAD with it in mind, buying solids to make it but doing nothing about it.

Feels so good to be in the thick of things rather than the sidelines.

I'll share more but the clock is a tickin' and I've got sewing to do.

One deadline at a time.  I've got a stack of HST with my IGmini partner's name all over them.

Today was my 45th QDAD design and I'm hoping to make some of them into actual quilts one day, maybe even for the swap.   The group is on facebook Quilt Design A Day.

a Finish and a Top

Finally a Finish

They feel few and far between but today I've got one!

My coworker's retirement party is on Tuesday night so I'm please to have the quilt done and ready to give to her.  I've got enough IOU gifts haunting me - ugh! Nothing personal -really - just not enough time in the day.

One of my more recent tools purchases was this lovely 16.5" and the dark/light cutting mat.   Both came in very handy for squaring up.  Getting to the point of trimming was not the journey I'd planned for. 

The FMQ was suppose to be a quick stipple. Torture I tell you.   I now think the culprit was a wrong-type needle, replaced by a recycled correct-type-but-bad needle followed finally by a wonderfully correct and new needle - there was nothing simple or quick about it.

Glam Clam Top 

Near final layout   I was worried about finding space in my house to layout the final parts and was fortunate to use the big design wall at intrepid thread - thank you Julie !  

Since the entire quilt was from stash and the remaining cut clams lacked the color variation I needed, there was a bit of fabric shopping that took place while I was there :)  Now I have the beginnings of a mostly mustard-yellow perpetual glam clam quilt.  

I brought the top with me to breakfast at the yacht harbor thinking that it would be fun to photograph.  We couldn't find a ledge or bench to stand on and then the wind picked up just enough to shrink-wrap my good humored helpers.  Happy to have this shot. 

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and TGIF at Glory Be Quilter.

GlamClam workshop

Glamming it Up late into the Night

12" clams half way to a King

The SBAMQG workshop last night was so much fun with Latifah.  Seeing all of the fabric and layout choices was great.  I was tempted to tone it down because I do love the look of the samples she brought that include a lot of solids and really feature the print pops but in the end the "everything including the kitchen sink" scrappy was most authentic for me.

Latifah and I - such an honor to meet her!

Here's me and my progress spreading out and taking over the entire table.  Linking up to WIP Wednesday with Lee at Freshly Pieced and Let's Bee Social.

Keeping it all straight took a few misses on my part, mixing up which arch to sew the next clam into.  I finally discovered that if I placed the next one on the bed of my machine before cutting the thread to disconnect the one I just finished, there was little chance of accidentally grabbing the wrong on to sew it to. 

Demo and tips at the beginning of the workshop to get us all on the right track.  We're so lucky to have such a wonderful space in the Solaris room to create and learn in with friends.

This one really appeals to me and I just might have to create something similar with the perpetual clams that I'm sure to have.  So Much Fun!!!

Quilting Demo

On Wednesday afternoon i got to go to the fair and demo with a few of the ladies in my PVQA small quilt group The Fabric Hounds. We made great progress (and a huge mess) both doing piecing and appliqué of puppies which the kids especially liked. 

My safety radar is fine tuned from spending time with my baby grand girl. It came in handy because working with sharp pointy things in public requires extra caution.

These gals are so much fun!

I'm hoping that doing a demo and going to the County Fair becomes an annual event.  When I was a kid I had my 4-H sewing on display and then chaperoned when my boys were in Elementary school but haven't been since.  

Look who's one 

 The seahorse I picked up from the Monterey Bay Aquarium gift shop was a big hit.

Lots of Excitement as the clock strikes her "birth-time"

After the fair I went with my family to a yummy dinner at Choclate downtown and for Penny Icecream after. 

Baked Pasta Rosettes 

Today is her beach party to celebrate with friends and family and it's a beautiful day! Hope you're having a fun and full weekend too.

Stratas and a Star

Where I was Headed....

Playing on the Workshop Design Wall 

When I have time (chuckle) I'm definitely going to get back to the direction this layout was headed.  During the workshop with Mary Tabar yesterday, she encouraged us to find our own design.  She brought loads of beautiful quilts as well as sample sheets, most of which were symmetrical.  I was feeling asymmetrical.  

The possibilities were a bit overwhelming because their are so many to choose just one.   Shortly before pack up,  I came to the realization that for my current situation, I needed to land on a layout that (for the most part) joined pieced edges to the lengthwise strip or solid triangle rather than the slower process of a chevron or matched stratas.

So many bias cut pieced seems

Thanks to the invasion of the bee fabric and a helping hand of a workshop mate , a star was born. I kept going when I got home. My co-worker is retiring in a couple of weeks and I thought this class was perfect timing to create a traditional quilt using old and new fabric as part of the Purge .  She likes flower, to garden and has traditional taste.

...Where I Ended UP

Late Night Pic: The black has tiny reddish dots 

With my "no inherent sense of direction" issue, on-point tricks me a bit but I was drawn there and wanted it to be challenging enough to hold my interest.

Twas the night before..

Bunting does double duty 

The class instructions asked that we do some prep ahead of time to allow us to jump right into design when we arrived.  I'd chosen my fabrics but had left the cutting, strip piecing and pressing until - well, the night before :).  Thank goodness for IG and the encouragement of #fridaynightsewalong.

More Remain than were Used

The stack of leftover parts is enough for another (or maybe two) quilts in my future.  Wish I could play with the ideas bouncing around in my head but I'm just going to be pleased that I came away from the weekend well on my way to finishing a quilt for my co-worker's retirement gift.  Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced 

BIG, Mini and a Goal

Glam Clam Workshop Prep

Playing with Parts on the Design Wall

The Glam Clam has been on my bucket list ever since I started drooling over the ones I've seen on flickr and posted on blogs.  I'm thrilled that our SBAMQG has invited Latifa Saafir for a workshop in a few weeks.  They've booked the workspace long into the night as well so I want to come prepared and make the most of 12 hours of pure indulgence. 

Focused Scrappy - Loving my boarded stash 

She has the pattern instructions and templates for 4", 6", 8" and 12" available for free on Craftsy.  One of the things that I'm drawn to about this design is the variety of looks that it takes on depending on fabric choices and placement.  I know that statement could really apply to ANY quilt, but it's especially true for me in this one.

My Sewing Room is a HUGE Mess

I'm GOING BIG, with not only the 12" block but with a King Size.  It's all about scale and the fact that if I'm finally going to make one, I'd better get to sleep under it when I'm done!

Fussy cutting is not efficient but sometime you just got to.

My stash is - well, you know, basically bursting.  The first inspiration fabric line that I thought of was Lucky Penny and any other Alison Glass I own (love her).  Turns out the AMH Field Study I've been hoarding plays well as does Kaffe (the first designer I collected).  Because this is the time to use my large scale floral, I tossed in some Amy Butler and miscellaneous Art Gallery.   Linking up to Sunday Stash with Molli Sparkles who's having a blogiversary, congrats!

IGminiSwap

finding "My People"

Other than swapping at our MQG, I haven't done any in far too long.  It's fun finding out who's in my group and discovering new people and rediscover some old friends.  Hopefully I learned my lesson from flickr and the ridiculous juggling of over commitments when I started there and won't fall into the same.  I'm capitolaquilter on IG as well so come say hi. 

ALYOF September Goal

Redwood Grove Wedding Quilt

One of the other things that I did regularly and has recently fallen to the waist side along with swapping has been linky parties.  I miss them too!  Here's my ALYOF September goal.

Wine Gift Bag  - a Finish

Trudging along with WIPS can get depressing even when you like the projects you're working on.   This little bag was exactly the boost I needed.  Starting something new doesn't sound like a fix for the blues but this quick finish felt great.  Hubby and I went to a friend's birthday party last weekend. The woodgrain fabric lined with wine grapes from my stash was stop on. 

Linking up to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop? and Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.