May Challenge

I have been wanting to re-purpose these old subway tokens into a quilt somehow.  Have seen some interesting quilts made of used tea bags, real pennies, candy wrappers, onion bags, bubble wrap, CD's ,  so I am asking you to use an unconventional material with your fabrics in this challenge.  No rules, just head for the nearest dumpster and see what you can find.

February Challenge Finished

Yesterday I showed January's piece. Today I can show you February's piece.

I didn't want to show it till my recipient had seen it, but she has it now, so I'm here to tell about it.

I made this for my friend, Stephanie, who's had a pretty rough and stressful year so far, so I thought she could use a friendly heart, especially one that bore some messages of encouragement.

First, I made a white fabric background. This will have specific significance to Stephanie, because I made it using leftovers from a block I made for the Two's Company Quilt Bee that she and I are in together.

I quilted this background piece, and then added all the other stuff on top of it while it was already quilted.

I made red fabric and cut my heart out of that and appliqued it on.

At this point, I went ahead and put the binding on the quilt, since all that was left was embellishment-type things.

I attached a ribbon to the background with little tiny buttons on top, which you can't see in my picture, to make it look like the heart was hanging. I added a key charm hanging from the ribbon.

Then I used cardboard rectangles and scrapbooking paper to make the individual quote posters to hang on the quilt. I printed out the three quotes I wanted to use on my printer, then cut them up and embellished them. Then I had My Cowboy drill holes through them so I could run the thread through.

I attached the thread (which is just perle cotton) to the quilt, then ran the ends through the drilled holes, and tied the cards to the quilt. I put little beads on the ends of the strings, tied knots, and fluffed them up.

I thought about adding even more embellishment, but decided to quit while I was ahead, and it looked OK to me. Sometimes I get carried away and do too much!

Then I mailed it off to Stephanie. And after it was already in the mail, I realized that I hadn't put anything on the back for it to hang by. I'm so sorry, Stephanie . . . you'll have to add that part yourself to get it to hang!

Stephanie has blogged about it: Stephanie's Heart Quilt, and she has much better pictures of it than I do, if you'd like to see some other shots of the quilt.

January Challenge Finished

I've managed to finish another month's challenge piece: January!

Obviously, I chose the word "Inspire" for my quilt.

I blogged about it earlier, and did indeed decide to add the black embroidery around the letters. I think it helped.

I used "made fabric", all in various blues, for my background.

Then I added my word in bright colors that I thought would stand out on that background. But the background was pretty bright itself, so adding the embroidery helped them stand out a bit better.

That upper right corner seemed a bit bare, since all the letters were down low, so I added the sun. I don't know about you, but I'm always inspired more on a sunny day . . .

I quilted it with a blue variegated thread, and experimented with all sorts of little mini-filler designs, just for practice. The finished quilt measures 12" x 24". Perfect size to hang on the wall in my studio and be inspired every day.

I chose red binding . . . just because red is my favorite color, and that's just what I thought it needed. OK, OK, so it's really because I already had some red binding made for another quilt and there was just enough of it left over! But I think it works . . .

Am I the last one done with this challenge?

Hole-in-3D?

Does this light wood crescent add dimension? I am getting dizzy from sewing in circles!!!

6 Minute Circle

I did it! With some freezer paper, glue stick, and Dale Flemings tutorial, this was so quick and easy.

Made my Hole-in-the-Fence for April's Challenge. It will make a nice mug rug, I think. Or maybe a teeny wall hanging. Off to make another one....

April's Challenge

Started to play ...

Here's a peek.

HELP!

Besides pins or masking tape

there must be a better way

to keep these cut strips of fabric on the backing fabric

so that I can keep moving them around.

Here is the circle tutorial I use

It is Dale Flemings 6 minute circle

www.hgtv.com/crafting/pieced-curves-so-simple/index.html

I have done circles this way for a long long time now!

glen

A maybe photo

I'll post my maybe as well.  I have been looking for something different.  I can't get those fabulous cabinet photos out of my mind though.

Here is the top of my turnip I just bought from the farmer's market this morning.  I looked at it and thought, WOW!  This just might work!!

When I look at it, I think Shabby Chic!

A "Maybe" Image for April

I have been thinking in circles lately and would like to experiment with these related shapes. Maybe this is beyond me, but I am tempted to give it a shot. This photo was shot during my spring cleaning.

A little more Lotta challenge

I've just finished up the Echo challenge as well as the March UFO one.

I made a table runner with my Echo charms and

bordered it with Echo yardage.

It's quilted in straight lines and it coordinates with my sewing machine cover.

I may use it on the sewing table, or the dining table.

It looks great both places.

got it.

Got my image...

Man , oh man, do I need to wash my windows.....

April's Challenge

It's inside of my house.

I tried to make it unrecognizable ...

although I don't think I succeeded in doing that!

I've ordered a piece of fabric which should arrive any day.

This is an idea I've had for a long time.

Thanks for the push!

April's Challenge

Well! Here we are at April already!

And it’s my turn to offer up the challenge.

Have I mentioned how much I love this group? You all have made me try things I never would have thought of on my own. And even tho I’m behind, I fully intend to finish each and every one of the challenges. They’ve all been so fun!

I’ve had lots of time to think about what challenge I’d offer up, and therefore, have changed my mind a million times from the beginning till now.

Besides, all of you are a tough act to follow.

But . . . there’s something I’ve been wanting to do for quite awhile now, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way I’ll make myself sit down and do it is by offering it as my challenge to all of you as well.

So here goes . . .

April Challenge “Rules”

1) Take a photograph. Take a picture of something around your house (inside or out makes no difference).

2) Crop it to pull out a section that is nearly unrecognizable as a “thing”.

3) Interpret this portion of your picture into a quilt.

4) Size is totally up to you. Make it a size you’ll love and want and use.

You can use any colors and fabrics you desire. You can embellish or not as you see fit. Use any technique that’s fun for you (or try a new one you’ve been wanting to play with).

Here's some examples . . .

An original photo of my kitchen cabinets:

A close-up portion of it:

An original photo of My Cowboy's antique dresser that belonged to his Grandma:

A close-up portion of it:

An original photo of the front of one of my sewing cabinets in my studio:

A close-up portion of it:

And here's one I'm thinking about using (altho I'm still snapping pictures and thinking some more):


I'll reveal my original and how I'm planning to interpret it in another post. You can make this as easy or as difficult as you wish, based on the photo you choose to use.

You can choose to reveal your original at the beginning, or show your quilt and then reveal your original afterwards and see if we can guess! Up to you . . .

So . . . I hope this is something you can have fun with. Can't wait to see what you all do!