Second-Hand Scraps

I'm so excited the day if finally here.  Link Ups are a blast - I can get caught in a total time warp clicking on them - but it's so great to see what everyone is up to. The Festival of Scrappiness at Stitched in Color (one of my favs) has been a great way for me to share my projects.  It's made a wonderful way to start the year finishing and certainly is making my Monday. Check it out!

The name of my blog should be Second-Hand Scraps and I added that as the sub-title.  Even though I love, love shopping for fabric there is something more appealing about rummaging through left overs. Creating from out cast is much more rewarding to me and I find myself the eager recipient of baggies from friends as often as I can. The quilt I'm most proud of is Blogger's Block a Palooza made entirely of scrap except for the binding.

Zakka Style QAL & Sewing Summit 2012

I was on the fence about joining the QAL. Not because it isn't going to be great, but because I'm spread so thin and neglecting my many other QALs with a bit of guilt building up.  But I'm a joiner after all and the line up of blog contributors was just too much to resist. My book may arrive after the official start but since I'm running chronically behind lately, no biggy.

My bitty stash of Washi just sits waiting for a project. I don't have enough for an entire quilt but certainly enough for some of the small items on the QAL list. I fell in love with the Baby Washi Quilt and immediately put it in my favorites. In my browsing, I found this adorable snap coin purse tutorial, so simple and cute.

If my goal is to attend Sewing Summit 2012 and the classes offered will be outside my quilting experience box, then I'd better get my feet wet making non-quilty items before hand so that I'm not totally in over my head.

Tickets go on sale next week making it closer to becoming reality for me.

How about you - Who's going that I might (virtually) "know" ?

Easier but not quicker

New York Beauty is sort of kicking my behind. It's hard to keep up the momentum and make progress when it's at a snails pace.  There's no denying those points are pretty but  there are so many other projects that are calling my name I continue to struggle with this QAL.  I skipped last week, am doing 2 instead of 4 yet it's still too much.

I do enjoy visiting the blogs - some on the list I already follow and others will be new. This time I left the paper on like Megan showed at Canoe Ridge Creations so that was a bit different. I loved how many pictures and steps she included in her tutorial.

Link ups are so inspiring and hers make Mondays a bit brighter.  You should check it out if you haven't already.

MQG embraced

I was reading my flickr friend Jen's blog the other day, excited for her that she had her beautiful queen size DS Interlocking Wonky Stars in a Quilt Show because I could totally relate. Hearing about the collaboration between LAMQG and the Glendale Quilt Guild is awesome. I fondly refer to their guild as "the mother ship" - not sure who said it, but it's oh, so true.

Mod Mosaic and Me

It may be old news, but because it was BIG news - today's blog is about my 5 quilts shown at last months Pajaro Valley Quilt Association 34th annual Quilt show.  How very generous of PVQA, such an the established guild to embrace our local newly formed chapter of the MQG and extend an invitation for a Special Exhibit within their show.  I'm hoping that they will continue to do so in the future.

TSM Swap Group

SuperNova QAL Lee at Freshly Pieced

               It was a challenge to keep my labels 75 words or less but it was important to me that I give proper credit to the bloggers, QAL, tutorials, flickr groups and swappers who were a critical part of making my quilts.  I'm also hoping that after reading how much fun I had participating, that they went home and looked everyone up. Maybe they'll catch the joining bug like me.  

 

My three quilts were in good company with the amazing work representing South Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild - looking down the row was so eye catching, we definitely turned a lot of heads!  So many of my friends and family came out to see the show for the first time making it a really extra special personal experience too.

 In addition, I entered my Blogger's Block a Palooza and the Blue and White Plus One challenge mini since I'm also a member of PVQA. The scope of the show has always impressed me but after seeing it from the other side rather than just attending, it is even more staggering. Volunteering was a blast, to be part of such a well run event made my job easy. Next year I'm signing up for more duties and am already thinking ahead what quilts to make and share. Good thing it was so fabulous because it's keeping me from going to Quiltcon being held on the exact same dates (still not quite over it - but trying & planning on sending in the block challenge for kicks).

Not sure it's my thing

Block 0 of the NYB QAL, how hard could it be with a name like that?  Well, I visited a new blog - a good part of the reason for doing QALs if you ask me.... Kim at My Go-Go Life did a great job in her tutorial and I loved the fabrics she used.  There were several tricks I learned so that part was lovely. None the less, I'm just not sure it's my thing.

I thought I'd chosen well with a warm/cool contrast but as the sun went down - which it did, because it took all day - the values seemed sort of blah.  Then came the challenge of sewing the outer and inner background.  The gentle slope of the brilliant Quick Curve Ruler and easy slant when I improv are enjoyable, but this was something else all together.

Still a couple weeks behind and for now, I'm going to aim for two of each block and see how I hold up.


For The Love of Solids Swap is so much fun to browse right now because everyone is receiving their packages and posting pictures. With 100 participants there's a whole lot of eye candy. Check it out.

SBA MQG challenge complete

The South Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild challenge was to create a quilt inspired by a photograph.  I chose this one taken at Hanalei Pier a few years back during one of my treasured vacations in Kauai. The sunset was so serene and subtle this particular evening. 

Hanalei Pier at Sunset

I used batik scraps and ended up with a bit more literal an interpretation than intended.  It was fun to test out the gentle curve piecing technique in the water and sand area based on the demo by Pam Rocco at our March meeting.

Here is a close up of the organic straight stitching along the pier  and some twists and turns throughout the sky and water. My original plan was to try a water style quilting technique that I've seen but that will have to wait for another project.

Seeing what others come up with will be exciting.