Feeling Liberated

After making my little Farm Fresh quilt and playing with my Crazy Love quilt I'm feeling quite liberated.  So at the moment all traditional quilting has flown out the window and scraps are flying while I play in a less formal way.  I've made this journal for a friend.

This block for the New Bee group.

And this one for A Notion Or Two.

Plus I'm making progress on my Crazy Love Quilt.

What is liberating you at the moment?

Crazy Love

In my Sew Bee Wonky group I asked for wonky hearts.  I was inspired by this quilt by Victoria.  It is so fun and with Valentine's Day just around the corner I'm in the mood for love.  So I pulled out my wonky hearts and started putting them together.  So far this is what I have.

I'm really having fun mixing and matching.

Adding a few of my own wonky hearts

To make everything fit.

I think I'm in love with this Crazy Love quilt.

Bounty

Last spring I saw a display of fabulous art quilts at the HMQS show made by a talented group of quilters.  I was enthralled with their work and wanted to learn more about it.   So in September after taking a class from Lisa, one of their members, and then speaking with their fearless leader, Sylvia at the Utah Quilt Guild Annual Meeting I join.  The basis for their little group is that someone picks a word and everyone makes a 12"x12" quilt based on that word.  In November it was my turn to pick a word.  I chose bounty.  It seemed fitting for the month of Thanksgiving.  A farmer's market seemed the perfect way to display the bounty of the earth.  I made letters to spell out farm fresh and was barely able to make that fit in my allotted 12".  I added bins of veggies on top and then made me some fields. 

It was fun to finish this up while snow fell outside my window.  Sure helped to chase away the January blahs.

Play becomes a Quilt

Well the deadline for Victoria's 15 Minute Play BOM has come.  I've been busily making blocks for my quilt for the last week or so.  Hoping to have at least a top done.    I thought about making enough blocks for a twin size but opted for a throw when DD didn't seem thrilled with it.  It's not in her colors.  My sweet girl likes things matchy matchy very unlike her mom who says, 'Color doesn't matter.  Throw them all in.  Everything looks good in a scrap quilt.'  I still had to add a few more blocks to get it to a nice throw size.  So I played with 1/2 square triangles on this one    

And this one.

Did a monkey's wrench

 And a basket

Copied a block I copied from Terry.

Made another flower.  The first I had done with a different background.

And a Dutchmen's Puzzle because I can't do a sampler quilt without one.  It's one of my all time favorite blocks.

Put them all together with Kona's candy blue for sashing and scrappy corner posts.  And wha-la my 15 minutes of play has become a quilt top. 

Make sure you head over to 15 minutes play and see everyone else's quilts.

A Quilt With a Story

Earlier in the week I received this quilt for Happy Chemo.  Let me share it's story.

It's life began with a young quilter who before she could finish it died of cancer.  Her mother, not being a quilter gave the quilt top to Virginia 'Rusty' Hendrick, an award winning hand quilter, past secretary of the NQA, and purveyor of a portable plastic quilt rack, in hopes that her daughter's quilt would be finished.  While visiting with Rusty, Carol H, now a member of the Utah Quilt Guild, saw the quilt and admired it.  So Rusty gave it to her.  She said the ladies faces and Kimonos where askew so she took them apart and redid them. 

She backed it, hand quilted it, and bound it. .

 Recently she moved from California to Utah and heard about my quilts for Happy Chemo through the Utah Quilt Guild. She felt that this was where this quilt belonged.  So she gave it to her area rep, Barbara Murdock who in turn gave it to me.  I will give it to my dear friend Ginger.  Who will make sure someone struggling with cancer receives this beautiful quilt with a story.

What's Lost is Found

Do you ever get so busy that you lose tack of things?  Ever feel like a chicken with it's head cut off?  The saying the faster I run the behinder I get ever ring true in your life?  In many ways that has been my life recently.  And in all this hustle and bustle I lost track of a quilt and my favorite ruler.  Scary I know.   I thought maybe some over zealous cleaner of my house (not many of those and if they ever do come along it is for a short burst and then they are gone) put it in the pile of Happy Chemo quilts and was donated.  So I figured it went to a good cause and went on with my life.  So imagine my joy when Ione, from Elaine's Quilt Block called to say they had my quilt.  I do remember having it on display there but I thought I had brought it home in May.  Boy am I glad I was wrong.  So happy to have it safe and sound at home. 

Like I said before my favorite ruler had gone missing also.  My sewing area was in utter chaos and I hoped it was buried in the mess.  As my kids will tell you if one of their things goes missing I tell them to clean until they find it.  Remember I told you those zealous cleaners don't happen very often at my house?  So I decided to put my own advice to work and headed into the battle zone that was my sewing room and went to work.  I went through all my books. 

Please excuse my unfinished walls,  after doing our kitchen a few years back and not being able to cook I'm hesitant to doing my sewing room.  I think I would go insane if I couldn't sew every day.  So I'll wait until someone moves out and I can take over their room while we finish my sewing room.  I organized all my UFOs.

Sorted all my fabric.

Found my missing ruler and put it back in it's home.

See my children would be wise to listen to me.  And now all the creative clutter is put in it's place and I'm ready to start the process over again.

 

Stitch in Color

I have always love Malka's beautiful hand dyed fabrics.  They are so bright and happy.  I'm thrilled that Moda has taken them and made the Stitch in Color line.  I did a happy dance when I was able to get my hands on some and play with it.  First I made a little baby quilt.  I think these bright bold prints are perfect for a baby quilt.  Especially for a little boy.  Now I just need to find a baby boy. 

Then I made some braids, that I turned into banners.  Placed them on a rock wall.  Well, sorta, I quilted a rock wall into the fabric and Banners of Color was born. 

Thanks Malka for designing this fun fabric.  I've so enjoyed playing with it.