Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2014

Can't believe it's that time again!

Amy's Creative Side Blogger's Quilt Festival is here!

Thank you Amy for all your hard work in hosting this fun event.

Welcome to new visitors to my blog.  

I hope you like what you see. Poke around and look at my stuff!

For this festival I am showing a quilt that I just finished.

Star Fever.

65" x65"

machined pieced and quilted by me!

I started this quilt this summer at Quilting by the Lake.

Under the direction of the fabulous Victoria Findlay Wolfe.

This quilt is inspired by a quilt in her 15 Minutes of Play book.

But I super-sized it and modified the block layout.

Victoria let me borrow her giant diamond template to get started.

(I'm still hoping she will produce and sell these!)

This is the first rendition.

Then my teacher, the grasshopper, said,

"Turn it around let's see how it looks the other way."

She is always right.

Hehe.  Like it both ways.

The class helped me pick out the setting fabrics.

Loved it.

BUT . . . could find enough of it to finish.

So it languished on my design wall all summer.

Sassy V in her QBL apron for the auction.

She is a great teacher!  Take her class if you get a chance.

Now back to the star . . . 

I kept flipping it back and forth

trying to decide which way I liked it best.

 

In the end, I went with the original design.

I like the two different purples and oranges in the center,

gives it a bit of pop.

I did echo channel quilting about 3/4" apart, but VERY organic.

a pieced back . . . 

a label . . . 

a rolled end . . . 

ready to go.

This quilt is being donated to the Greenwich Breast Cancer Alliance

for their silent auction on November 6th.

I made them one last year and was happy to be asked again this year.

Kinda hoping this is a new tradition for me too!

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are enjoying all the eye candy 

at the Blogger's Quilt Festival!

Thanks again to Amy for putting it all together.

Quilting by the Lake 2014

This is my second time going to Quilting by the Lake.

Last year we had so much fun, and this year my friend

Victoria Findlay Wolfe was teaching, so what's not to love?

I took her three day Lemoyne Star class.

Yes that big brown suitcase is full of only fabric!

That little black and white duffle under my pillow and quilt

had my clothes, etc.  Don't need to overpack clothes

when fabric is much more important!

Earamichia and I drove up in time for the 

Teachers Merchant Market and Quilt Show.

I had sent up three quilts for the show.

Allow me a little "showing off!"

"Twisted"

"Leftovers! It's What's for Dinner"

"Fractured Hard Candy"

This is how our first day of classes began.

My Emily modeling my mini dresden plates.  Hehe.

And it only got funnier from there!

Victoria had giant diamond templates made for this class.

They are awesome!  

This is what I worked on first.

I had brought up alot of "made fabric" that I put together 

before the trip so that I didn't waste time on that and could get right

to construction of stars.

I slashed in the orange to give it a bit of pop.

I added smaller diamonds around it to make it bigger.

Then I found the perfect Jennifer Paginelli fabric

for my setting fabric.

This group was so fun helping each other pick what fabrics to use,

and generally encouraging each other all along the way.

Here is My Emily with her purple and lime green star!

Love the orange arc too.

And now I'll let you look at all the eye candy!

This is the third star I worked on for the week. 

This diamond is even bigger than the first one.

I love this!

And I can see how I can make this pattern more balanced

in the future.  Love to learn as I go as you know.

Jump in and see what happens.

Victoria sewed her apron to her skirt!

Haha.  It was finished too before she realized it.

And here she is all detached and finished!

They auction the aprons off for the scholarship fund.

It is a riot!

Here is part of our class show and tell.

And here is part of our class!

Another great week spent with quilty friends

and being creative!  Doesn't get any better than that!

Thanks V for a really fun time!

This and That . . .

Where does the time go?

I haven't done a post in a month, but I have been busy!

I'm finally finishing my Fractured quilt for the Quilting by the Lake Show.

And I know exactly who is going to get this beauty when it comes home!

I have been getting ready for our next Metro Mod meeting in June.

I did a bee block for my buddy.

I LOVE this one.

Thinking of how I can adapt this block to make a quilt for me!

I finished block 5 for the Pat Sloan quilt-a-long.

I am really loving this little project.  It's so fun to see everyone's blocks.

They are so different! 

Here are my five all together.

So fun!

I caved and bought a Singer Featherweight . . . 

I have always wanted one and well . . . 

Ebay is like a drug!

It's adorable and light and I love it!

Went to visit the munchkins a couple weeks ago.

I so love them!  They are a riot.

I really miss having little ones around . . . 

Am I just saying that because I can go home?

Hehe. Lots of action!

The kid and I were featured in a article in our local paper 

for Mother's Day.

Someone told them about Rachel May's book that we are featured in.

It was really quite lovely to enjoy our 15 minutes of fame!

And here is a picture of me and my Mum.

I think I'm about two there.

We had matching velvet dresses.

Those were the days!

Happy Mother's Day! OXOX

A Finish and A Start . . .

I have gotten back to sewing on the weekend . . 

The weather is crisp and for some reason I love to sew 

when the temperatures get cooler.

I finished my DWR Challenge!

Have you started yours yet?

The deadline is December 1st, 

so you have loads of time.

Here is the link to all the details.

I also finished my Fractured top that I started at

Quilting by The Lake this summer.

It's so big, I couldn't get it laid out flat in my tiny living room.

Hehe.  There is one mistake, and I left it, 

although it is hard to find.

It was a mind bender for sure!

And I have started a new quilt that is a donation quilt.

More on this quilt as it develops.

I think it will be a medallion quilt, 

but let's see what happens.

The kid and I went to a flea market today.

Such a beautiful day to be outside.

We saw a nice pile of antique quilts. 

Along with many other fun things 

that I was too lazy to photograph. 

Sorry.  But I spared you too!

And my friend sent me this mermaid.

I know she is always thinking of me because once a week

she sends my a mermaid picture.

Very sweet.

Mermaid Love.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Quilting by the Lake . . .

Just home from Quilting by the Lake!

What a fun filled few days with Victoria, Earamichia and Helen.

I actually fit my sewing machine, fabric, rulers, 

mat and clothes into one bag.

We took Kathy's Fractured class.

This is the quilt we set out to make.

We were so cocky!, "This will be easy, we'll bang it out quick."

WRONG!

It is more challenging than it looks, 

which is actually fun because you have to use your noodle.

Here is Kathy showing us some cut pointers.

She is delightful.  SO much fun.

We are trying to finagle our way to Australia now!  Hehe.

The basis of this quilt is light and dark contrast.

I choose tones of brights and used a black, white and grey print for the lights.

Yes, I know, it's the coward's way out.  

I do love black and white with brights.

There are four different set ups for the blocks.

I decided to do mine scrappy, instead of the same fabric for each block.

I think it works really well.

But you have to keep an eye on the layout.

It's so easy to turn a block the wrong way and mess it up!

Some sewing shenanigans . . .

Helen did her blocks with browns, beiges and blues.

Stunning!

Victoria did oranges and blues.

She of course finished her top for the day.

We were competing, hehe.

Our corner were the trouble makers . . .

Did you have any doubt?

We were determined to sew as much as we could.

Sewing 8:30am to 9:30pm the first day.

There was plenty of room to spread out and work.

This was our first time at Quilting by the Lake for the four of us.

And as newbies, we were so lucky to run into Carol Boyle!

She makes these little guys from repurposed items and hands them out.

Our alter egos from left to right:

Me (with red hair!), Earamichia, Helen and Victoria.

So fun.

Me and Kathy.  We had a ball!

A new friend connection is always a joy to encounter.

I got three quarters of my top done. 

I'll be working on finishing that up in the next couple of weeks.

I believe Kathy gave us six months to finish.  Hehe.

Here is our class photo.  A great group of chicks!

Lots of giggling, sewing and general merriment.

There is nothing like hanging out with creative women.

Quilting by the Lake has a lot of great views and sculpture.

One of my faves . . .

Me being cheeky as usual!

Hey Victoria is teaching there next year!

Sign up and come play with us.  You will have a ball too.