Memorial Day in the square

Every Memorial day Lewisville celebrates with a little ceremony near the soldiers memorial in the square.

Keep dreaming...Colleen

Happy Memorial Day!

Bee Blocks finished!

Triangle MQG is swapping blocks next month at their meeting.  In April those of us swapping brought in 11 baggies with a selection of fabrics and directions on what we would like to see.  I started sewing blocks last Sunday.  It was fun I would reach in the bag, pick a baggie, read the request, play with the fabric and a design and then sew!  No one asked for a specific pattern just design elements. I free pieced most using some Marti Mitchell templates and my rulers.  I finished the last ones this morning.  This afternoon I went to Mom and Dad's for ribs and corn and took pictures.  I've decided the patio dad made in the back yard is perfect backdrop for photographing quilts.

Here are all 11 laid out.

This 10" block made from some Kaffe and a little white.  The person wanted rectangular shapes and to use their fabrics.

This person wanted a chicken.  Apparently she is obsessed.  She provided the black and white fabric and background.  I added the red and orange and buttons.  

This is also a 10" and the person wanted rectangular shapes.  (Just realized my toes are in this picture, tee hee)

This was one of my favorites!  I loved the fabrics and colors!  The person wanted flying geese units.  I imagined a group of geese, mamas and babies, swimming through reeds on a lake.

This one took the longest.  She wanted a car block or to use the car fabric, as the quilt will be for a boy toddler.  Some of the pieces she included were small.  I freehand pieced this.

The quilter wanted hst and to use the blue.  I really liked the orange butterfly fabric.

This person also asked for geese.  Some blocks were challenging to created because I didnt have enough of some colors.

This person wanted movement, a bright color added (I added the yellow), movement, and flying geese.  I curve pieced the background then slashed it and added the geese segment.

This was one of my favorites!  I love the Tula Pink fabric!  Im going to get her to sign it June 6th when she is at Karen Gray's.

This person wanted geometric shapes.  I love this David Butler fabric.

This person send lots of fabric and wanted a wonky log cabin.

So I think they all came out pretty good!

keep dreaming...Colleen

Laying in the grass with La princessa aka Jasmine aka Jazzy Girl!

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Memorial Day

Here is a tribute to soliders everywhere with a little history of the most recognized song in the world.  It turns 150 this year.

Taps

keep dreaming...Colleen

Random thoughts

First there is a Rainbow charm square swap goin on in flicker land here.  I kept missing the signups for the other ones.  They can fill up lightning fast.  It will take 56 participants and you can sign up for 2 slots.  I think it is almost 1/2 full at this posting.

Sorry for the bad photo but I finally got the IKEA lamp kit I bought in early April hing up.  I finaly have light other then my multiple lamps.  Also connected this to the only outlet that turns on with the light switch.  Who wires the light switch to the only wall in the room where you can't put a bed?  Of course its not a bedroom but my studio now, but still...  Oh and I know the cord looks a mess but it is straightened out and tightened after I took the picture.  BTW the socket was only $3.99 and the shade $10.

I have 5 Bee blocks left to make for the Triangle MQG swap.  We will give them back in June.  I have had fun with this swap.  There were no specific patterns to back.  Sunday I spent a fun day reaching into the bag to see what I could think of to make next.  

This is the block I made Monday night.  I could have added fabric from my stash but liked the simple contrast of the two that were included.  The Tula Pink Parisville was such a cook print and demanded that I fussy cut it. 

 I love the slightly bondage look to this block.  I'm going to ask the person I'm making it for if she would like me to get Tula Pink to sign it for her or maybe a piece of fabric she could add to the quilt.

I'm excited that my sister has set the date for her wedding.  November 10 of this year and the Wake Forrest University Bridger Field house.

keep dreaming...Colleen

Did I show you the cool socks JLG sent me?  And they're performance!

Bloggers Quilt Festival voting

They are voting over at the Quilt Festival for favorite quilts in different categories.  

  123 Squared could fit in the wall hanging category or home machine quilting or pieced quilt.

My quilt is # 287.

You can vote here

keep dreaming...Colleen

5 of the Triangle MQG Bee blocks are finished.

My Garden is a blooming

I took some photos  of the loveliness blooming in my gardens.  

Out front my peonies had 35 buds.  I counted them twice.  I was pleased because several of the buds opened up to give me a full petal filled old fashioned flower. 

 The rest are the new modern flowers with few outer pink petals and spiky pink center petals.

My Endless Summer hydrangea on the side is huge and gorgeous!  

Some one asked me how I grow the above flowers so pretty.  Well, I don't do a lot of any trimming.  I just let them grow.  

I think it helps to grow hardy low maintenance plants.

The back garden next to my patio is coming a long nicely.  The lavender is starting to bloom, as are the zinnia, dianthus, coreopis, armeria, and primrose.  My new herbs, eggplant and tomatoes are also growing nicely.  I have a plant or to to put in my large posts yet to fill them out.

Mother's day my favorite thing to do is to make mom a corsage.  I started about 15 years ago using cut flowers I would buy at the Carrboro Farmer's market.  Now I raid my garden for whatever is blooming.  This year I use some hydrangea with rosemary for remembrance and thyme for courage.

So my patio is ready for me to relax on after work in the evenings and watch my garden grow.

Keep Dreaming...Colleen

My sister Kelly got engaged in East Hampton. NY on May 10 .  She asked me to be the maid of honor!  They want to get married in Oct!.  That is only 5 months to make a wedding quilt!  I planned it out and picked fabric this weekend.  I'll give you a hint  I was inspired by this engagement photo-doesn't Jamie look like he is swooning with love against Kelly?

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"6 blocks left to make!"

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"5 blocks made for Triangle MQG block swap..."

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Blogger's Quilt Festival

It's that time of the year again!  Amy's Creative Side is sponsoring the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I had a hard time deciding which quilt to showcase.   I decided to go with my favorite finish this past year.

1,2,3 Squared 

(originally 1,2,3 Eternity but I couldn't remember the name when I filled out the quilt show form-LOL)

Original Pattern by Colleen Charlotte Yarnell

Made September 2011-February 2012

fabric:  Jay MacCarrol's Habitat line

Freespirit solid-Dogwood gray

Made as part of Freespirit's Habitat Challenge to Modern Quilt Guilds for the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild in NC.

Here is the back made with more pieces of Habitat fabric.

My able assistant is my Dad.  The pictures were taken in his beautiful backyard.

The basic pattern for this quilt was made up as I went along.  I have found sometimes just playing with fabric allows a quilt to emerge.  

I had this quilt 'Crosses' in the back of my mind as I created.  I had made it in 1995 in a class taught by Sherri Wood at Thimble Pleasures, Carrboro, NC.  We made the fabric by free cutting strips and sewing them together.  The shapes were then cut for a kaleidoscopic block.  I had to be different and turned the kite shape piece when cutting it out so the 'fabric' was vertical instead of horizontal.  I surprised the teacher with this layout.  It is that search for the secondary pattern that motivated my design.

 So for the habitat quilt  I started by cutting 1",2", and 3" strips from all of the fabrics including the Dogwood gray.  

And then sewed them randomly together to create 'fabric' pieces to work with.

I used my 12" square ruler to carefully cut out 4 squares.  These became the center of the quilt. I trimmed the leftover pieces into 16 triangles.  I then used MS Publisher on my computer to play with layouts using the center squares and the left over triangles. 

I cut, pasted, and manipulated photos of parts of the quilt to create this digital image.

 I put it on point and added the large gray triangles.  I always find it fun when something looks a little boring to turn it on point.  It gives the design a completely different look.  It is why I hang 'Crosses' on point.

I machine quilted it on a borrowed Viking machine.  This quilt was not without drama.  I was finishing two quilts for the Forsyth Piecer's and Quilter's Guild quilt show the next week. It was Saturday morning and I had to turn in the quilts Monday for the show.

 My red and white quilt was finished.  I had just started organically quilting lines on the Habitat quilt from the center out.  I followed  the lines of the squares in the quilt.  All of a sudden my Babylock Sophia, my new machine I had barely used, froze up needle in the quilt!  I was frantic! I had to literally take the foot and needle off to get the quilt out.  I called my LQS where I had bought the machine.  They know me and knew about the quilt show and told me to bring it in.  I left Sophia to be serviced the next week and went home with a loaner.  

A sweet little used Viking 400.  It finished the quilting beautifully!  

The binding was made from scraps of Habitat fabric.

I love this quilt!  I have hung it above my bed and it makes me smile when I look at it.  

A little note about my experiences showing this quilt in a traditional quilt show.  First they did not hang it correctly.  A third of it was on the floor tucked under!  OMG!  I complained and they pull the bottom out.  I was very disappointed that you really could not appreciate the overall pattern.  I also received  some 'constructive' feedback from the judges who said 'straight lines should be straight'.  I laughed because I organically quilted it and did not want perfectly straight or spaced lines (they scare me).

Check out my blog on the red and white quilt for it's story.

Keep dreaming...Colleen

I loved making these two quilts.