S my March goals...well...um...their not done. You see I got sick, sidetracked making pillow covers, made another quilt top, my carpal tunnel was acting up, and just generally busy. Yeah yeah I know that's what they all say.
1. This month I want to piece the rest of my Swoon blocks.
2. I have two baby quilts, one charity raffle quilt, and one Senior Services lap quilt. They are ready to baste and quilt. I want to get at least one done this month.
I may get some of these basted at least today!
3. Third my scrappy trip. I want to finish piecing them and put the top together this month.
Thanks to the Lewisville UM men for the yummy breakfast after the sunrise service! Thanks to Lewisville Baptist church for letting us use your sanctuary on this rainy Easter morning.
keep dreaming...Colleen
Love the texture of this pile of scrap wood at Dad's.
I saw snow today and its been freezing cold the last few nights so a little spring is needed! I was sick for challenge #5 so I took my idea of a pillow case using my two Swoon quilt scraps and made it fit this weeks challenge. My inspiration came from a vintage tree of life quilt block in my collection.
I felt it was the perfect fit for my scraps, many of which were already cut into triangles. No measurements were taken. I just laid out the scraps I had and cut them to fit.
Then I played with the arrangement of colors. Borders came from left over strips I cut in half lengthwise. I went to my Denyse Schmidt stash and pulled a white on dark pink/red pin dot in home dec from her Country Fair line. It matched nicely with the dark pink on the front and contrasted with the gray Hope Valley outer border.
I quilted it with a wiggle zig zag setting and my walking foot.
'Spring Tree'
16 x16
Lewisville, NC
I made this second pillow case to cover my other winter pillow. I got rid of the other old worn out pillows that used to be on my couch. Plus it elimates the need to store the pillows. I just dont have the space. I still have a few small pillows to cover yet. Here is the other pillow I made from challenge #4.
***the little general is having a special sale tomorrow from 1-3p with free fat quarters with purchase, and an Easter egg hunt with prizes.
keep dreaming...Colleen
Mom and I were out shopping today and had lunch at Whole Foods -chocolate raspberry cake gelatto!! And a German pretzel!
If you missed my giveaway post check out the comments! They were full of great sewing links! I did a lot of pinning
*******
On a confused and angry note. Google's decision to do away with Google Reader is perplexing. I use my little next button everyday. I have not found anything comparable that is as convenient I backed all my blogs up to bloglovin and unless I find something better or Google comes to their senses you can follow me there. See the button on the left. At least it grabbed my blogs with little effort. However their servers are overwhelmed at the moment with the exodus from Google reader and are experiencing problems. If anyone has advice let me know.
I sent this quilt to be displayed at QuiltCon last month.
I entered it in the quilt show to be judged because the cost was the same and maybe I would win a ribbon. I did not enter it expecting or caring about getting a ribbon. I just like to share what I make. To inspire or at least get a reaction from others-good or bad. Its how we know we are alive and really creating-connections=life.
Thanks to Kathleen for this awesome shot of people looking at MY quilt!
I have heard from many quilters whose quilts were hung at QuiltCon, including a friend, that the judges were harsh and did not judge fairly or were biased in their judging. Im not sure what to say other then from photos (as I did not attend), some of the winner's quilts did not seem as well constructed as others in the same category. But again I was not there.
***************************************
So because I'm not letting judging personally effect me I thought I would share the comments on my piece from the judges of QuiltCon. I don't agree nor disagree with the comments. I have learned that everyone comes from their own view of the world and this is the view of two individuals.
1,2,3 Squared
Here is the quilt as it hung in the show. Thanks Sarah for the photo!
Design: Effective use of balance and contrast/value. Weak visual impact. Ineffective use of color, background seems to take away from the prints.
Workmanship: Piecing is accurate. Quilt is straight and lies flat.
Quilting: Quilting design compliments the piecing. Effective thread choice. Stitch length needs to be more consistent.
Binding: Binding is well executed.
Additional comments: Appears no thought put into fabric selection, since it all comes from one collection. Really fun design. (I have to point out that this was a MQG Habitat challenge quilt. We were given the fabric and told we could add more of the same and one solid.)
********
So know you can decide how it was judged. I do have to say there are some contradictory statements. But again it is the view of two people and I dont share my quilts to allow two people to change my opinion of my self and my art/craft.
******
BTW I had this quilt displayed at a traditional quilt show February 2012. It was disrespected in the way it was hung, with 1/3 of it on the ground! It was not hung so people could get its visual impact. BTW my friend saw it first and the bottom was tucked under! She pulled it out. Thanks friend!
The criticism I received was that quilting lines should be straight. Of course I dont lay out my quilting lines and just quilt organically. But that is not everyone's cup of tea. My outrage concerned the way it was hung. If you are having a quilt show then pick a space large enough to display respectfully the quilts you accept into the show. That's why you include the size when you enter it.
*****
My quilt "All I want is red, wah, wah,wah.
I had entered another quilt in the red and white quilt challenge category. I also was disappointed in the way the winner of the challenge quilt did not seem to fit the way the challenge was worded. I had made an effort to really follow the challenge to the word. It seemed the in crowds group quilt won. But then we live in a subjective world and if you let the world views of other rule you you will have a poor life. I hope this helps uplift some people.
In the words of Pete the Cat from his book I Love My White Shoes
'No matter what you step in, keep walking along and singing your song... because its all good."
My giveaway is for this lovely rainbow of 6 fat quarters.
And because I had to fix my photo I added two Cotton Way patterns!
To enter is easy. Just comment with a link to a favorite sewing pattern. I'm always looking for ideas for my pin boards. You do not have to follow me to enter but make sure you have an email associated with your comment or I will draw another name. This giveaway is open to international entries.
The giveaway will be open until 5:00 on March 15th. I will post the winner sometime Saturday.
I really appreciate Carrie at apassionforapplique challenging us to complete or make progress on three UFOs each month. It has really helped to keep my sewing focused. You can link up at this post on Carrie's blog until March 4th.
So here are my three goals I would like to accomplish.
******************
1. I had the goal of cutting out the rest of my Swoon blocks last month. This month I want to piece all of the blocks.
I'm using Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley and Katie Jump Rope paired with Kaffe florals. There are 49 pieces in each block the way I cut them out. Totally doable. I have already made my sister this quilt which is why I didn't finish mine. Quilter's curse!
This first block was made January 2012!!
2. I have two baby quilts, one charity raffle quilt, and one Senior Services lap quilt. They are ready to baste and quilt. I want to get at least one done this month.
3. Third my scrappy trip. I started it in December and the blocks have become a sewing machine cover since then. I used strips from a couple of jelly rolls I had of 40s repro prints. I through in Kona Coal for contrast. I think I want to also use Coal for the bindind and backing. I want to finish piecing them and put the top together this month.
*******
Well I think my goals are totally doable. I also want to be thinking about three quilts I want to have ready to bind by this summer on my vacation travels. One is a quilt for me to use on my camping vacation. It will be made with blocks from a block exchanges I did in 2011. I have some American Jane Happy Camper for the back and sashing.
The second is a jelly roll throw quilt I want to make for my Great Aunt who we will be visiting this summer. I'm still vacillating on the pattern but I have the fabrics for the top picked out. The third is a secret.
Well time for bed. Thanks again Carrie for the motivation and pulling my name for this February's prize!
