Quilt News! Blue Ribbon for my Medallion Style Art Quilt with Borders, New Komebukuro Japanese Style Draw String Bag #5 Finish, And Fall Colors Decor...

State Fair Blue Ribbon, I'm excited!

This is the winner, my Medallion Style with Borders Art Quilt.

Progress on my 4 Tiles Medallion BB2 Challenge quilt top, my interpretation, approx 32" square.

Finished my Komebukuro/Japanese Drawstring Bag #5.

Fall decor fun for our grand children when they visit.

 

Hello Quilt Friends! Fall is here and it's a wonderful time of the year. 

I put out fall decorations so our grandchildren can have fun with the colors and talk about the upcoming fall and winter fun. It's important isn't it to share with children the excitement and beauty of the seasons as they change. I love the wonder in their eyes.

And my Medallion Style Art Quilt with Borders won a blue ribbon at the Washington State Fair, Yey! It was my first time at competition and I was not getting my hopes up. I had read some articles on state fair competition and read that it's really up to the judges to make the decisions on who does or doesn't win anything, so don't take the outcome personal. I entered 3 quilts and got one blue ribbon, I'm okay with that. 

My Four Tiles Medallion quilt (BB2 challenge), now has another round of pieced borders and corner blocks ready to sew onto the center, it will measure approx. 32" square. This is my rendition and loose interpretation of the prompts by Audrey at Quiltyfolk. No applique will be added. I'm using this challenge as design practice.

Last week I finished my Komebukuro/Japanese style drawstring bag #5. I'm going for the rustic look in this series of drawstring bags. I made twine from fabric strips for the drawstring and that is time consuming. But I did find a faster way to make twine from a tutorial. Instead of holding the strips in one hand and doing the twisting with the other hand, the strips are anchored by a safety pin and both hands twist the strips, much faster and easier on the hands! I often learn as I go, right?

That is the quilt news from the valley, where the days are getting shorter.

Do you decorate or do something special to celebrate fall?

I'll be by to visit.

Quilt News! Super Dahlia Color, Do You Use a Color Wheel? Chair Block Quilt Top Needed Orange Strip, String Border Piecing, Four Squares on Point Quilt Blocks Progress

Dahlias at Point Defiance, Tacoma WA Rose and Dahlia Garden.

How beautiful is this fabulous yellow dahlia....

Orange strip added to my Chair Block Quilt top, just right now.

My Four Tiles Quilt top will soon have string borders.

The stack of my Four Patch Blocks on Point is growing.

 

Hello Quilt Friends! 

Rain and cooler temperatures here in the valley. Fall will soon be here! 

A few weeks ago we made a day trip to Point Defiance  Tacoma WA Rose and Dahlia Garden.

The garden is kept up superbly, it is fenced in so deer won't eat the roses. Fuchsias were blooming and hummingbirds were busy. It was a warm day so the smell of roses was in the air and the dahlias were at their best. 

Orange and yellow were on my mind when I got back and I could see that my Chair Block quilt top needed a strip of orange for contrast. Then my Four Tiles Quilt top came to mind and I knew that a string border with lots of yellow and orange was needed to add interest. Yes, I use a color wheel to help on color decisions because I easily get overwhelmed with color choices because I like them all. My favorite color wheel is Robert Burridge Goof Proof Color Wheel. 

Then I've been piecing Four Patch on Point blocks together because they make up a good quilt and use lots of scraps and left over pieces. The stack is getting bigger.

Carolyn Forster has a new book out, Hand Stitched Quilts. I like Carolyn's books they are beautiful and full of good tutorials. Hand Piecing is a big commitment but doable and your hand eye coordination does improve with practice. Ask any embroiderer or slow stitcher.

And that is the quilt news from the valley. Where do you get your color inspiration from?

We have lots to be thankful for don't we?

I'll be by to visit.

Quilt News! Piecing 'Chair' Blocks on Sunflower Batik, Love Color by Anna Starmer, Color Inspiration Goodness

This is my design, Chairs on Sunflowers, approx. 38" x 28", so far.

This book by Anna Starmer from my local library is a color thrill!

Yellow and orange, need I say more? Photo in Anna Starmer's book...

Closer view of my chair blocks in sunflowers.

Hydrangeas, color extravagance, photo in Anna Starmer's book...

Say yes to red and blue, photo in Anna Starmer's book...

Yellow and blue, stunning, photo in Anna Starmer's book...

 

Hello Quilt Friends!

Sunshine and rain here in the valley. 

I've pieced together my chair blocks inspired by Debbie @aquilterstable. 

I drew chair blocks on graph paper, experimenting with size, then finding sizes that looked good I got out my ruler and cut out chair pieces from fabric and pieced them together. After arranging the chair blocks I pieced them together with batiks and Kona cotton solids. The brown print is from my stash. That sunflower batik is gorgeous, I should have bought the whole bolt.

And in between piecing, pressing and arranging I have been reading a book by Anna Starmer Color Love,

it's from my local library and what an excellent inspiration it is! Anna's book shows great examples of color combinations and gives good explanations on pairing colors and using contrasts to make those combinations superb.

My head is full of color happiness!

What have you been doing for inspiration in your corner of the world?

I'll be by to visit.

Quilt News! Improv Chair Block Panel Inspired by A Quilter's Table, Borders Added to a Medallion Quilt, Entered 3 Quilts in the Washington State Fair, Back from Vacation

My Chair Blocks Panel against Banana Pepper Yellow a Kona Cotton.

Turquoise batik border added to my Four Tiles Medallion Quilt.

My Improv Chair Blocks before final piecing.

 

Hello Quilt Friends!

 

Back to business as usual here after several days of relaxing and loafing around.

 

I entered 3 of my quilts in the Washington State Fair which starts August 30 and goes for about a month. I like the idea of sharing inspiration maybe getting someone interested enough to try their hand at designing a quilt. The fair has always been exciting and inspiring for me from home textiles to livestock.

And I saw Debbie's Improv Chair Blocks aquilterstable.blogspot.com, and I had to give them a try. So I drew some ideas on paper then cut some experimental pieces out and stitched them together and came up with some blocks I liked, which I pieced into a panel. Now I'll admire them for a while before I make any lasting decisions.

That is the news from the valley. Been on any vacations lately?

I'll be by to visit!

Quilt News! Summer Time DayTrips, Improv Quilt Design Fun, Blossoms Everywhere..

Cone Flowers in the Maple Valley Arboretum, gorgeous color!

My small quilt top, Four Tiles Medallion with Sawtooth Border.

Port Orchard, WA looking toward the Olympic Mountains.

Wild Flowers, Queen Anne's Lace.

I was thinking of using this bit of improv for a quilt backing.....

 

Hello Quilt Friends! 

Summer Vacation is in the air here. And so are pollen, insects and birds, very entertaining really.

Last week we took a road trip to Port Orchard, rural. The traffic was okay, it's about an hour away. For lunch we had Fish and Chips at a local restaurant, delicious. The tourist shopping was excellent with a well stocked and curated antique mall. Stopping at a few state parks on salt water we watched people fishing and digging for clams/oysters.

I've had a little time for project planning and piecing together a quilt back that I like too much for just a back. But it could work out, it'll be one of those double sided quilts that could go either way.

And that is the quilt news from the valley, where the summer days are long and it's wonderful to be outside!

How are you enjoying your summer?

I know some quilt friends are in the middle of winter, down under, do stay warm!

I'll be by to visit.

Quilt News! Three Coneflowers Medallion with Borders Quilt with Raw Edge Applique Finish! Sewing/Project Room Peek, Make Twine with Fabric Strips for Komebukuro Bag? Yes!

My Three Coneflowers Medallion with Borders Quilt finished!

This is my sewing/project table, cleaned up for the photo, it's normally more cluttered!

My two fabric bins, yes, that is all I allow myself.

Hall closet where sewing/project tools, batting, etc and three finished quilt tops reside with bath towels and pillow cases. A multi-task closet.

My first Komebukuro Japanese style drawstring bag with new twine drawstrings.

Making twine with fabric strips is easy and I like the look with my bag.

 

 

Hello Quilt Friends!

Last week was extremely busy with several days of kids and grand kids visiting with fun and adventures. 

I did manage to get the binding sewn on my BB1 QAL project before they came and Three Cone Flowers Medallion Quilt is finished! I used Raw Edge Machine Applique to sew on the three cone flowers with leaves. That was my first try but a lot easier than I thought it would be. It's machine quilted.

I found a good tutorial on making twine with fabric strips and I liked the look. So I twined two lengths to replace the grey ribbon in my first yellow Komebukuro Japanese style drawstring bag. The twine drawstring looks more authentic. 

And Debbie @ aquilterstable featured some photos of her sewing/quilting room in her blog that I enjoyed seeing, so I thought I would show my humble sewing/quilting room too. Mine is a tight ship but it works for me. I iron on my Martelli's Round About cutting mat and ironing pad.

That is the news from the valley where I'm getting back to business as usual. I'm remembering to be thankful, counting my blessings one by one.

I'll be by to visit.

Quilt News! Three Cone Flowers Quilt BB1 QAL Machine Quilting Progress, Four Tiles with Borders BB2 QAL Border Adjustment Progress, My Komebukuro Style Bag Number 4, Happy Independence Day!

My four Komebukuro style bags with Sashiko embellishment.

The backing is yellow batik, upper right corner, and I'll bind it in that yellow batik.

My Three Cone Flowers with Borders Quilt with machine quilting progress.

Four Tiles with Borders Quilt with adjusted borders as of today.

Hello Quilt Friends!

It's happy Independence Week here in the valley.  Vacation is in the air and sun and clouds keep the temperature just right.

I decided on a yellow batik for the backing of my Three Cone Flowers small quilt a Bramble Blooms QAL project by Audrey @ quiltyfolk. I pin basted the layers, top, batting and backing and with a machine quilt plan started in the quilting process, not difficult. The yellow batik will also be the binding in keeping with 'light, dark, light' for good contrast.

My Four Tiles with Borders #2 BB QAL, (again by Audrey), progress is good. I unpicked the dark thin border (can be seen in previous post) and lightened up a few of the saw teeth in the sawtooth border by unpicking and then piecing back in lighter 'teeth'. Looks better, I'm not sure how much bigger to make it I'm still planning.

And I'm in the planning stage for another Komebukuro style bag. I use them for storage and yes they do make good gifts. I like to look at them too, it's satisfying to me to have a project done. I found a good tutorial on adding woven loops to the top instead of a casing to hold the drawstring. The tutorial is by The Green Wrapper , it's clear and easy to follow. Trying something different in each of my Komebukuro style bags is a fun challenge.

That is the news from the valley. And I'm thankful.

Have you started anything challenging lately?

I'll be by to visit!