Quilt Show - Tilt Shift

Miss M and I 

I had every intention of finishing my mini  "Tilt Shift" before heading to Pasadena  for QuiltCon.  The top had been done for months but I just couldn't wrap my head (or heart) around the remaining tasks so I didn't. 

FMQ progress 

Instead I left knowing that I'd return on Monday night with 3 days to quilt, bind and attach the sleeve before delivering  it ready to hang at our local show.    When I created my 2016  FAL Q1 list, (blogged here)  I knew if nothing else on it was finished at least this one would be. 

Finished

Even though I was completely burned out I was also charged up and ready for the challenge.   At the Wild Quilting workshop I shared a photo of the design with instructor Christina Cameli and she generously gave me advice for my approach.

First Face Binding

I wanted to try face binding for the first time despite the time restraint. Definitely the right call enhancing the graphic focus. It wasn't difficult or laborious.

Three to Go

The other two quilts that I entered in the general exhibit as a member of PVQA were thankfully ready to go.  

So much for a bakers dozen 2016 FAL Q1 goal - with Tilt Shift done, that leaves 12 unfinished for next quarter but I think I'll lower the bar for Q2.  It's time to LINK up finishes.  

Be sure to check out the group effort to keep this wonderful event continuing - follow the Facebook page and @finishalong on IG.  

Showing Off

Here's are some photos of the quilts made by my SBAMQG mates  (titles and makers found here) 

SBAMQG quilts

Our MQG chapter is so fortunate to have our local traditional guild provide this wonderful opportunity to share our creations with the community. 

SBAMQG quilts

The layout had the best flow I've ever experienced with an artistic eye for placement and grouping. 

Perspective

I borrowed back Perspective from Haley and she posed for a photo with it while viewing the show. 

SBAMQG quilts

Amish Lattice 

Mickey's Modern Amish

38th annual is an impressive run of successful shows and 500+ quilts mind blowing. It was interesting and exhausting to have volunteered to breakdown two shows on back to back weekends. 

Vintage treasures

These lovely vintage treasures came from the Bargain Garden - one of my favorite features of the show.  My new swag bag tote came in handy. 

whoops, More Fabric

Some lucky person won the Opportunity Quilt made by Pam Rocco.  I'm the lucky one though since I get to learn from and with her on a regular basis. 

PVQA Opportunity Quilt

I believe next year the dates conflict with QuiltCon so I'll be Savannah and I'll have to miss out. 

QuiltCon West part two -the People and Projects

Some of My Peeps

QuiltCon West 2016.  The much anticipated hanging out with quilty peeps.  Some I rarely see (like my sister) some I had never met in person before but "know" from bees, swaps and IG, some local guild mates I get to play with all the time - it was the absolute sweet spot of the weekend.  I wish I had a photo of everyone!

BeeSewcial mates at QCon

PF Changs was conveniently located near the venue which came in handy the first night puddle jumping to get there and then again for lunch with BeeSewcial mates (L-R around the table: Me, Diane, Leanne, Hillary, Stephanie, M-R, Felicity and Anne)

Blocks received  

It was no coincidence that I chose February as my 2016 month to be Queen because look at all the lovely "Stretch" blocks that were delivered to me in person.

Debbie's Mod Mood

Debbie wasn't able to attend but she was well represented with her beautiful quilts in the show. and I'm honored to have contributed 4 blocks to it.  You can read more on her blog here and the judging here.  First place in the Group Category is pretty fantastic.  

Fans from Class

The night class options for QuiltCon allow for more flexibility with volunteering during the day.  I came away with these two fans, a bunch of parts and a very memorable time with my sister.  enjoying Anna Maria's hysterical stories.

My Sis, AMH and I

Earlier, the entire ballroom was entertained by the wit and wisdom of AMH, Jennifer Sampou and Elaine Theriault moderated by Anne Sullivan on the topic of Getting & Staying Creative, Keeping the Mojo Burning.   It was reassuring to hear the wide range of what works for each of them reinforcing that there is not one right answer or approach as I seek to find my own voice.

Mojo Panel 

You may recognize the quilt on the right from my IG feed and this guild post.  Excited to have it so prominently displayed next to LA MQG aka: The Mothership and to have named it. "Dovetailed" verb: Join together by means of a dovetail, a nod to both the design shape and the collective creation of friendships built to last.

SBAMQG Charity Quilt

I learned about Libs Elliott from my friend Anne last QuiltCon in Austin and signed up for the weight of love workshop as my first choice during the scramble of registration.

Libs Elliott and I

I actually have no intention of following the pattern and cringed at the thought of a predetermined coloring chart but am confident I'll enjoy my free form version. 

Workshop Progress 

Wrapping up the weekend with a Sunday early morning final class.  After little sleep and way more social activity than I am accustom to, I wasn't sure if I had it in me to FMQ but it was great.

Christina - a wonderful teacher

With a love hate relationship with FMQing this class was exactly what I needed to get things flowing. 

My Sample

No surprise the MQG did a fine job of keeping us informed and connected with screens throughout the venue. I also used the app on my phone so much more this time.   Speaking of technology, I slipped into the lecture Modern Quilts from Digital Tools during my volunteer lunch break.   It was fun to have my design and quilt included in the presentation. 

There were so many new people to follow on IG.

Super volunteering in the workshop building meant was a lot of directing attendees and checking in with teachers.   When 2018 rolls around I'll have it all figured out.  

Workshop Building

My sister and I managed to make the Late Night Quilters meet up which was conveniently gathered at the Sheraton where we stayed.

Photo from the Facebook page shared by member Leona McCann. 

eat, drink and talk talk talk

Another impromptu get together and group shot thanks to Stephanie.     The dinner out with my guild was fun too but unfortunately we didn't get a photo. 

Can you spot the block in Debbie's quilt that was a design inspiration for Dovetailed and Castles in the Sand?

Last but certainly not least - the Quilts of QuiltCon.  I confess to having done a terrible job documenting them.  Good news for me at least is that I did throughly enjoy them and other bloggers have included great images capturing quite a few of my favorites.   Our guild secretary Renee shared this post and be sure to check out these posts by Amy Smart , QuiltingJetGirl the MQG and more.

QuiltCon on Facebook  has a beautiful "eye in the sky" photo of the layout.   The magazine can be found online and on newsstands - pick one up if you haven't already!

QuiltConWest Recap Part One- Going, Going Gone

QuiltCon was an amazing whirlwind that I haven't quite recovered from.

Postponing a blog recap until I have the time and headspace to do it justice is kind of like waiting for the ideal conditions to create and that goes against the philosophy of what I've tried to embrace - so here we go. 

Despite having had the date on my calendar for an entire year, preparing for my three workshops was done quite last minute.  This included spray basting the 3 sandwiches for Christina Cameli's Wild Quilting class at midnight the night before leaving.

Hexi, half hexi  and Triangle precut 

The most fun was cutting hexi parts in yummy solid colors for Libs Elliott's For the Love of Y-seams workshop and finally pulling off the shrink wrap on my not so new ruler to do so. 

Fabric Pull

Packing WAY more than actually needed for Anna Maria Horner's Fan Dance because "options, right?" The supply list said Fat-Eights but I didn't want to cut into my yardage for little bits that I may or may not use so I just brought the whole piece. Bless her heart, she had us bring backing and batting in anticipation of actually finishing the top and reaching the quilting stage, such an optimist. 

Swap Buttons

I debated about buttons for #quiltconpinswap and then finally when I decided to order I couldn't narrow the design down so I went with a variety.  I love how affordable and flexible Kyle is cheapestbuttonsnet on Etsy and they arrived in plenty.  

official Selfie

Of course I had to jump on board with the #HelloQuiltCon selfie because putting a face to a name is hard enough without it.  Once of the most wonderful things about big events like this is meeting virtual friends in real life, but it's also kind of stressful.  

Travel Handmade

Plans were to make another travel handmade before the trip but that didn't happen so these bags served me well.  Since I was hitching a ride to and from, I tried very hard to pack light. By next event, I do hope to have sewn a nice lanyard though. 

The road trip to Pasadena with my friends Lori and Pat was entertaining and scenic and surprisingly fast.  We had a touch of raindrops but not much. 

The passing view

Somehow I didn't manage to get a picture of us actually on the road, but here we are hand stitching the binding on a surprise Collaborative Quilt made by the members of our MQG that was gifted at QuiltConWest- but that post will have to wait!

me, Lori and Pat 

I'll be sharing picture of what I made in the workshops and of the people that I got to hang out with next time so that I can jump ahead to realtime again!   Until then, happy stitching. 

Co-Miniminis

There were a million and one things that needed done before leaving for QuiltCon but adding two more to the list was worth it.  A while back, I had it in my head to make and mail a minimini to Leanne and Stephanie, the co-founders of BeeSewcial but like many good intentions, it didn't happen. 

Knowing that I was going to have the chance to see them in Pasadena and gift them in person, well that was the kick in the pants I needed.

With so many possibilities on what I could create, I decided on using the color palette from my 2015 month Reflection to represent "me" and the binding color from each of theirs to represent each of them. 

By looking at them you'd think I simply made one and cut it in half, but I actually composed them separately, using parts from each.  

It was a gorgeous Valentines Day so keeping people out of the pictures was challenging.   Don't you love my new Amoral Lovely t-shirt?

Timing for a photo shoot in Capitola could not have been more perfect because I happened to be doing one with a couple of friends for a secret project.

This mural wall depicting the village plays with the scale in a way that I think is very fun and also echoes the palette. 

Getting Linear -later

My January bee blocks were delivered on time- it's only my blog post that's late.   

Considering Stephanie is well on her way to sewing together the BeeSewcial Let's Get Linear top, I thought I'd better start typing and tell you all about them before the quilt is done. 

You can read more about the January Challenge HERE at Spontaneous Threads.  Her color palette hit the spot. 

I find the underside intriguing, especially with my improv since it is not neatly mapped out in advance. 

Here's a glimpse at the auditioning process too. 

Fresh from my trip to Portland with so much linear inspiration.

Power station and bridges translated to architectural bee blocks.

A selfie of hubby and I testing out my new iPhone 6plus and trying not to get it wet on a rainy river walk. 

The wedding for my nephew was a beautiful celebration and we had a chance to explore a little including a visit to Linda's studio.  After years of "knowing" her online we finally met in real life.  It was such a treat.

If you follow me on Instagram, there's no surprise here. The next few days I hope to play catch up so that the blog doesn't read like old news.  

Anyone else feel like 2016 is slipping away - 

Stretch denim - Let's Get Comfortable

Theme Prompt

It's my turn to be Queen again for BeeSewcial

February Theme: “Stretch (Denim)   

For me, BeeSewcial is all about stretching my creative, structural and social limits, opening up and reaching out.  

Challenge: Create blocks with a comfortable feel and movement primarily flowing from top to bottom, and out the sides of the block(s).  

Prompt: Think flexible, pliable, organic, in motion, layered, intertwined and even group hug. I will post a few inspiration photos but really enjoy seeing how members interpret the theme. 

Construction: Pieced gentle curves, straight lines, holes and partial holes (as a design element, not actual holes in the fabric) are welcome.  Ruler-free and ruler/template friendly but no raw edge applique please.

One Size Fits All: Whatever your composition needs. Just send equivalent to the usual amount and any left over bits if you’d like. 

Palette: I don’t have a Kona color card (gasp) and trust your judgment.  
Blues: Indigo in all shades, new jeans, stonewashed, faded, and threadbare. 
Neutrals: Grays, Off-Whites
Optional Pop: You can throw in a bit that reminds you of dull metal rivets and zippers - (not bright or shiny)

Not actual denim fabric either- Just the color as a palette. All brands of solid quilt cotton are fine.     

An Old Sketch

Apparently the stretch theme has percolated for years.  I stumbled across this pencil sketch from my teens, possibly early twenties.  The paper is discolored in the photo but I'm still glad to have it and remember drawing it.

I had in my head that I'd go to the mall and take a picture of the wall of jeans on display - but life has been busy and rather than delay my overdue blog post, I pulled a dozen from my drawer and plopped them on the bed.  Better done than perfect applies here too. 

Here's the non-cropped version of the trees. Makes me miss Kauai.  Photo credit of the mural goes to my son, taken on a study abroad in Argentina. 

More Prompt Images

Browsing through my picture folder I came up with these:

Composition Example

The various shades of pink could be translated into blues.  It's funny how looking at some of the photos that I have taken and are my favorite have an abstract improv vibe to them.

Subject Example

Jelly Fish:  Circle shapes combined with long flowing shapes - and the idea of how relaxing and mesmerizing watching them can be. Silly putty and pulled taffy were also brought up as inspiration.

Vertical Emphasis  

I chose this as an example of a primarily vertical composition with gentle curves.

Stretched organic shapes 

Naturally intertwined shapes that are thin to thick, stretching up to the sun.  To me, this has an easy relaxing feel to me.  I once took a water color class and only got as far as this before abandoning it: 

Watercolor Wanna Be

Be sure to share on IG #beesewcial if you are a bee mate and #inspiredbybeesewcial hashtags if you are sewing along with the monthly challenge.   Here's a post about the group  although for 2016 we have welcomed two new members Anne and M-R.