Choose Your Own BlockAlong 9/29/14

Welcome to this week's edition of Choose Your Own BlockAlong!  I am having so much fun making these Dear Jane blocks that I want to ignore everything else.

Block A-8

With that being said, these two blocks are not my favorites.  I'm hoping once all 225 blocks (if I go with original layout) are together, these two will happily mix with the others.

Block F-3

The purple block has Kaffe and Cotton and Steel.  The flamingo block uses a Lula Magnolia print from Riley Blake Designs and a Kona solid.

12 blocks down

I'm up to twelve blocks now.  Each time I pass by my design wall I rearrange the blocks ;-)

Don't forget to see the blocks Michelle and Cindy made this week, and if you're playing along link up on Cindy's blog, post to the Flickr group and/or use hashtag #chooseyourownblockalong on Instagram.

Thanks for stopping by,

Friday Finish: Laptop Cover

Took a break from spiderweb block piecing to whip up this cover for my new laptop.

Add caption

I used the same tutorial for this iPad cover (One Shabby Chic) just increased the size of the parts ;-)

upcycled from daughter's school uniform

The above iPad cover and journal cover (again using Rachel's tutorial) were made to have on display at our Maker Faire Orlando booth (which I still need to blog about).  It was a fun challenge to take my daughter's leftover school uniforms and upcycle them into these usable items.  

so pretty!

 Getting back to my laptop cover, I wanted to have a case to protect my newly purchased laptop and its beautiful gelaskin cover.  What better fabric to use than a Melody Miller Cotton and Steel canvas print paired with a bright print from the Cotton and Steel basics line?!

Cotton and Steel fabrics

Linking up with Amanda Jean's finish it up Friday.  

In other news, check out Frustrated Quilter's Friday post.  I have it on good authority she's having a giveaway of RJR Cotton Supreme solids.  They go great with Cotton and Steel ;-))

Thanks for stopping by,

WiP Wednesday 9/22/14

I really like making these spiderweb blocks and love the way they look, but can I say I am ready to be finished?!!  I have a self-imposed deadline that is rapidly approaching.

four more

This past week I made progress on the filler blocks that are alternated with the spiderweb blocks.  The above picture shows a partial layout.  

ten blocks completed

Dear Jane blocks are now up to ten.  

charity quilt blocks

I haven't blogged yet about my Maker Faire Orlando weekend, but these quilt pairs are waiting to be assembled into a quilt for Habitat for Humanity.

four patches growing

I invited attendees to stitch a block using 5" denim squares and charm squares.  I was pleasantly surprised at the number of pairs sewn: all that I brought and enough for a twin size quilt!

Linking with Lee's WiP Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by,

Choose Your Own BlockAlong 9/22/14

Happy Monday!  Can you believe this is the fourth Monday of the month already?!  Where has September gone?  Just another reason I am loving the accountability of this block along!

Block D-6

This week's blocks were more difficult to piece than I imagined....those are 3/4" strips y'all.  The block is aptly named Challenge.  I am pleased with the choice of this Cotton and Steel print.

Block H-13

Block H-13 is called Farm Fields so I went with a Carolyn Friedlander combination.  Love this one too!

Progress so far

I'm up to ten blocks so far!  Don't forget to visit Michelle and Cindy to cheer on their progress.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy stitching,

WiP Wednesday 9/17/14

I signed up for Rachel's Angled Camp and have immediately fallen behind as I knew I would.  That's OK because I have a plan ;-)

fabric pull

Here's the first fabric pull for the first class quilt Indian Blanket.

Golds?

I am undecided between using this combination with the golds or this combo with the greens.  

or Greens?

Whichever I choose for this row, I will use the other in another row.  Suggestions?

eight blocks so far

I'm making progress on my Dear Jane blocks and my spiderweb blocks.  

slow but steady progress

The Dear Jane is a long term project; my spiderweb quilt has a looming deadline.

Linking up with Lee's WiP Wednesday.  Thanks for stopping by,

Choose Your Own BlockAlong 9/15/14

Welcome back to our Choose Your Own BlockAlong!

Block B-13

This week I pieced two more simple Dear Jane blocks.  I know pretty soon I will need to move on to the more complicated blocks as there aren't many "simple" ones to begin with.

Block D-13

I love using these gorgeous, modern fabrics in quilt block patterns originally made in 1863.

8 down; 117 to go

Here all eight blocks together.  Don't forget to leave a comment if you're playing along (or even if you aren't!!!), visit Michelle and Cindy to see their week's progress and link up here with your post.

Thanks for stopping by,

Choose Your Own BlockAlong 9/8/14

In case you missed it last week in the midst of the Around the World Blog Hop post (don't forgot to visit Michele, Jessica and Nina Lise today) and my computer issues, Mondays will feature block progress on the Choose Your Own BlockAlong.  I am making blocks towards my Dear Jane quilt while Cindy and Michelle are working on their Tula Pink City Sampler.

Block M-10

My original Dear Jane plan was to make all my blocks with Kaffe Fassett fabric but I changed my mind and now will be making the blocks in my favorite modern fabrics, including Kaffe.

Wanting to make sure the four blocks already made with Kaffe fabrics would work with other fabrics in mind, I pieced two of the simplest Dear Jane blocks.  This way I haven't invested too many hours in complicated blocks that will need to be discarded.

Block M-10 is a simple nine patch made with Cotton+Steel and Carolyn Friedlander fabrics; the squares are cut 2" finishing at 1.5".

Block A-6

This second block is also a simple nine patch made with Type by Julia Rothman and Carolyn Friedlander crosshatch fabric.  The squares are 1 5/8" and 2 3/4" unfinished while the rectangles are cut at 2 3/4" by 1 5/8".  I followed these instructions.

I have the six completed blocks on the design wall, and I like the way they look together.  Next week I will post a picture of all eight (by then) blocks.

Want to Play Along?

Don't forget to visit Michelle and Cindy to see their weekly progress!
I made a blog button to post on your sidebar if you'd like to play along.  Feel free to contact me if you'd like the file emailed to you - or just snag the image.  

There are multiple ways to post pictures and cheer each other along. On Instagram and Twitter, use the hashtag #chooseyourownblockalong; post pictures to the Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/blockalong; link your blog post to Cindy's linky page: http://liveacolorfullife.net.; and comment here if you're participating so I can show my support ;-)

Thanks for stopping by!
Happy stitching,

WiP Wednesday 9/3/14

I had computer issues all weekend so did not get to sew as much as planned.  My Mac has a doctor's appointment with the Genius Bar later this week, and in the meantime I am taking photos and posting with my iPad.  Again, more progress on my spiderweb blocks.

spiderweb bee block

One more completely pieced spiderweb block....another spiderweb block with all its wedges ready for assembly...and a filler block also ready for assembly.  

I spy some scraps from a friend as well as some new fabrics

I like to wait until there are enough wedges to assemble several blocks - more design choices that way.  Since last week I can report two more web blocks and one more filler block.

filler blocks to go in between the spiderweb blocks

I pulled out my Dear Jane project from longer than I can remember and pieced two more blocks.  That makes all of four to date!  Only 220 more to go!

All four DJ blocks

If you didn't read my post yesterday, Frustrated Quilter, Live a Colorful Life and I have formed a support group (not exactly) for these type of projects.  They are making Tula Pink City Sampler blocks while I'm working on my DJ blocks.  Care to play along?  It's a customizable quilt along - Choose Your Own Blockalong - decide which quilt project and how many blocks per week you aim to make.  Easy!  Click on the links above to read their take on the blockalong.

crappy ipad photo

At this week's guild meeting, I'm dropping off the finished baby quilt made for the Michael Miller fabric challenge.  More info on last Friday's post in you're interested.  Here it is fresh out of the dryer.

Linking up with Lee.  Thanks for stopping by,

Rene'

Around the World Blog Hop

My MCM Bee friend Linda tagged me in the Around the World Blog Hop.  Welcome to those of you here for the first time as well as frequent visitors ;-)  Linda and I live in the same state but have yet to meet.  We plan on doing that in Austin next February at QuiltCon!

This quilting community has introduced me to so many wonderful friends - some I've even been fortunate to meet in real life.  Blogging provides that initial means of getting to know one another, and this blog hop is a great way of introducing bloggers you may not be familiar with.

So here are some questions asked to facilitate the process:

WIPs on the design wall

What are you working on?

There is always more than one project going on at a time in my sewing room.  My spiderweb bee blocks are taking up one whole design wall and I'm making this quilt a priority even though it is for me to keep.

extremely old WIP on second design wall

Usually if the quilt is for me it gets put on the back burner like this Cowboy/Cowgirl quilt that I started three years ago at retreat.   I put the blocks up on my second design wall in the hope of motivating me to finish.

M-5 Mother's Point

A new(isn) project is a Dear Jane quilt in all Kaffe Fassett fabrics similar to this beauty.  It has been on my list for a very long time and I have stopped and started working on it more than once.  During conversations with friends I find I am not alone when it comes to big projects such as this.

M-12 Hopscotch

For that reason, my sister Michelle, good friend Cindy and I are starting what we call Choose Your Own Blockalong.  While I am making blocks for a Dear Jane quilt, Michelle and Cindy have decided to sew blocks from Tula Pink's City Sampler 100 Modern Quilt Blocks.   In the spirit of accountability, on Mondays (starting today) we are each posting (at least) two blocks from our respective projects.  Feel free to play along if you need some motivation for an ongoing quilt project - it doesn't have to be either of these.  It's fun sewing with friends and seeing weekly progress.

How does my work differ from others?

I don't know…does it?!  Like most everyone, I make what I like.  My tastes have changed over the years, and my skills have improved which translates into evolution of quilts made.  There are times when I would like to ask for all my earlier quilts back from their recipients so I can redo them ;-)  I learn something from each quilt made.  Surely, I'm not alone in this.

Why do I create what I do?

Home…. quilt for a special family

For family:  Most of my quilts are gifted to family and friends. You can read more about the Home quilt for my son and DIL here.

Baby quilt for charity

Charity:  There was a time when I made mini quilts for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative, but they are no longer active.  The latest charity quilt I made was just finished this weekend and will go to our local Beta Center.

Sewing Circle DWR

Guild challenges:  Our OrlandoMQG encouraged participation in the Double Wedding Ring challenge.  Normally I would not contemplate such a quilt, but I did participate by making a small DWR.  I'm excited to say this Sewing Circle was invited to join Victoria's DWR Traveling Exhibit with the Original Sewing & Quilting Expo.

Peace, Love and Happiness - 50th birthday

Milestones:  I wanted to write a pattern for my peace quilt as a turning 50 goal and photograph the quilt at the top of our favorite hike on my 50th birthday.

Have a Heart celebrating 30 year anniversary

This quilt was made for my husband to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and was inspired by a Pandora jewelry ad.

Liberated just for me

Just because:  Isn't this a good enough reason?!  It should be, but I don't use it enough.

Hope you enjoyed this stop on the blog tour.  I am tagging three awesome bloggers for next week so be sure you visit them.

Michele of Nostalgic Cafe is my guild buddy, QuiltCon roomie and fellow founding OrlandoMQG officer.  If you are not a regular reader of her blog, you don't know what you're missing!

Jessica of  A Little Gray made the quilt I received in my very first Flickr swap.  I was happy to meet her recently in Nashville during Sew Down.

I have followed Nina Lise of Mrs. Moen ever since I  read her Blogger's Quilt Festival entry in 2009 shortly after I started my blog.  Nine Lise is an incredible artist, and her words on that particular day especially drew me in.   As she lives in Norway, I don't know that I will get the opportunity to meet her in person.  I will settle for her lovely inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by,