Following the pack

I caught the Instagram #scrappyTripAlong bug around the new year. So far I am 28 blocks in.



And for some insane reason, I'm going to make this king size for our bed.  That means I need at least 72 blocks, but to account for shrinkage after quilting and washing, it should really be 90 or 100 blocks big.

Y'all.  90 blocks?!  Its kind of insane. 

Even more insane?  I plan on finishing them by June 1st.  That's about 16 weeks away. 

Let's do the math: 52 blocks left to hit the 90 target.  I will need to do 3 to 4 blocks a week to make my goal. 

I can do this! 

Merry Christmas - blast from the past

Did you ever watch MTV's Wonder Showzen?It was a favorite on the playlist back in 2006.  So much so that we named our puppy after its main character. 

A few years ago I ordered a sweatshirt from one of the show's creators and he sent back a hand-signed note with our package.  So I thanked him with our Christmas card.  And he sent a card back in return.  Thanks Jim & Him!

2012 Recap

What a crazy year!  Got laid off from my job in March, finished graduate school in May, found a new job (and career) in August, and stopped blogging shortly afterwards.  When you switch careers, some things fall by the wayside.  I've continued to quilt, but just haven't blogged anything. Hopefully, that changes in 2013.  :)



1. chevron block  2. Batman charity quilt  3. VW Bus and baby zombie block  4. high school graduation quilt  5.  Austin Modern Quilt Guild charity quilt   6. baby boy quilt  7. doggie baby quilt  8. quilt for Laud  9. Japanese x and + blocks  10. FU Cancer quilt  11. blocks of trees  12. Summer and Solstice Stars sampler quilt


Exciting news for 2013: My quilting bee has a group quilt that will be in the QuiltCon quilt show!  I'll let you guess which one it is.  This controversial quilt is featured in the photo collage above.

Cheers to the new year!

Japanese x and + block: 10" by 10" (finished)

I'm part of a year-long Modern Block Bee and August is my month!  I want Japanese x and + blocks.

When I picked out my idea a few months ago, I swear I had a link for a 10x10 inch finished block.  Now I can't find it.  Amy Gunson of Badskirt has written a tutorial for the 7.5x7.5 inch finished block, but I don't want blocks that small.  So I'm writing my own editing Amy's tutorial. Here we go!

Picking Fabrics
Like Amy's tutorial, my block is made up of seven fabrics.  I am asking my Bee Peeps to use Kona Ash in the triangles and include one or two of the fabrics that I sent.  The rest of the fabrics should come from their stash.  I want this to be a scrappy block!

Cut: 

• Fabric 1: Center Cross -- two 2.5" squares and one 2.5' x 6.5" rectangle
• Fabric 2: Center Edges -- four 2.5" squares
• Fabric 3: Triangles -- eight 2.5" squares (in Kona Ash)
• Fabrics 4, 5, 6, 7: Corners -- one of each: 4.5" square

Creating the X Blocks
Like Amy's tutorial, let's create the X blocks for the four corners. 

Align one 2.5" square (Kona Ash) in the corner of a 4.5" square with right sides facing each other.

Using a fabric marking pen and straight edge, draw a straight line for corner to corner on your background fabric as shown.

Sew directly on the line you just traced. 

Trim away the outer edge, leaving 1/4" for seam allowance.

Press open and repeat for the opposite corner.

Repeat for the other three corners.  Stop to admire your work! 

Making the + Sign
Like Amy's tutorial, making the + in the center of the x is simply laying out your fabrics and sewing the pieces together with a 1/4" seam.






That's it, your first block is done!

Trim your block to a 10.5" square.  Admire your work! 

Bee Peeps, if it is slightly less than 10.5 inches square, that' okay!

Here are a few examples I whipped up last weekend:

Summer Sampler Series Charity Quilt

The Austin Modern Quilt Guild has been busy all year making Summer Sampler Series blocks for a block swap.  Part of the block swap requirement when signing up was that you donated a block for a charity quilt.

At the end of the block swap, the swappers categorized all the charity blocks.  Some of us took blocks home to make into quilt tops.  This black and white set of quilt blocks are what I chose to take home to piece into a top.

Except I didn't want to stop at just a top.

So I finished the entire quilt.



I guess I just got on a roll.  Once I finished the top, I wanted to make the back.  And then I wanted to sandwich the quilt.  Heck, why not just quilt it?  So I quilted it in wavy vertical lines.  After that, I might as well bind it.  Voila!  Finished quilt. 



The main backing fabric is an Alexander Henry print called diamond eye.  The binding is a yellow herringbone Denise Schmidt fabric.  Both are premium quilting fabrics I bought at Joann's on sale with a coupon.  The diamond eye fabric wasn't wide enough for the entire back, so I added a strip of fabrics and some small squares that match the front.



Overall, I think it came out bright and cheery. I hope some kid really enjoys it! 

Oh, and you should go check out the awesome quilt top that Claire made at Sewing Over Pins!  This is also one of the charity quilts we will be donating.  I love her asymmetric arrangement of the twelve blocks.  The use of negative space is really great. 

The charity we chose for these quilts is Foundation for the Homeless.  It is a local Austin charity that helps homeless families get back on their feet.

Quilt stats:

• A kid quilt: 48x68 inches.
• Each block is 12 inches squared.  Most blocks are Summer Sampler Series or Solstice Stars Series blocks. 
• 100% cotton fabric used on the front, back, batting, and binding.

Quilt for Jade

Our niece graduated from high school this weekend and we flew to El Paso to celebrate with the family.  Of course, I wanted to make her a quilt...  And here it is!




The front fabric is mostly Kate Spain's Terrain. I won two fat eighth sets from a giveaway at p.s. i quilt and used part of one set on the quilt. (Yes, you can win giveaways!) I threw in some fabric I had in my stash, including fun Echino prints. Everything is sashed with Kona Ash.

My inspiration was this quilt by thimble. Her quilt was more of a modified coin quilt, but I didn't want to go that small. Since my fat-eighth set was 9 inches wide, I went with 9 inch squares for the main portion of the quilt. I added 2.5 inch sashing between the staggered squares. And then I felt like the quilt needed a pop... so I added wonky stars!



The back of the quilt is made with a very red Marimekko fabric from the Crate and Barrel outlet. Oh my, is it bright!  And do I love it!  Of course, I was freaking out that the red would bleed, so the first time I washed it, I used five color catchers.  The color catcher sheets came out pink, so I washed it again with five more color catchers.  After the second wash, the color catchers were less pink, but when I gifted the quilt, I sent along color catchers and instructions.  You can never be too careful! 

As for the quilting, I sewed two wavy lines along the edges of each row.  I felt like there should be more quilting, so I added two more wavy lines down the middle of each row.  The binding is pieced from leftover backing fabric, some Kona Ash, and leftover pieces from the front.

Oh, and look how cute the graduate is!  Her school colors were grey and red.  I didn't even realize that when I was making the quilt, but Kona Ash and the bright red Marimekko fabric were perfect choices. 

Quilt for Laud

This is Laud's quilt.



In late 2011 a Facebook friend shared that one of her 3 year old twin boys was diagnosed with Leukemia. While prognosis is good, he still has to live in a city five hours away from most of his family, while he undergoes treatment. He is living in Winnepeg with his mom and newborn baby brother, while his other six brothers and sisters continue to live back at home. Not only does he have to go through chemotherapy, most of the time he's away from dad and the rest of the family too!



I decided I wanted to make a Laud a quilt. When I messaged Laud's mom about the quilt and asked what his interests were, she said he liked trains and cars. Pretty typical 3 year old stuff. Plus, my youngest nephew is the same age as Laud, just one month older. I got this one! I knew what Laud might like and just the right size to make. I had just completed this baby boy quilt, using Cluck Cluck Sew's Road Trip tutorial. A similar quilt would be perfect.

I went shopping in my stash and gathered the fabrics I wanted to use. I used similar fabrics to those in the first Road Trip quilt, but added Thomas the Train and Cars movie fabric that I found out in the back shed! (I forgot I had that... I really need to re-organize my fabric stash.) I brought all of my fabric selections with me to the February 2012 Austin Modern Quilt Guild retreat. The top went together very quickly on Saturday afternoon. Since I was using another Crate and Barrel Marimekko fabric for the backing, the quilt was sandwiched and pinned in no time. By the time I went to bed that night, I had quilted it and bound it. I love retreats!



Oh, I also sent a baby blanket for Laud's newest brother with his quilt. Four fat quarters with soft fabric on the back. Something simple and soft that baby can snuggle with.

If you want to read more about Laud's journey, you can check in at his Caring Bridge site.

If you are in International Falls on March 31st, there is a benefit for Laud to raise money for medical expenses at the International House of Bowling. Check out the facebook event for details!