Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival, Fabric Shopping, and Quilt Top Finishes

Doll quilt top finished for my 'grand muffin', 5" blocks.

My 'summer improv' top finished with final border, 30" x 38".

Panera Bread, this is where I ate lunch, I like their hazelnut coffee.

Jo Ann Fabric store, I stopped in here, I had some good coupons.

 Big selection inside.

Always great books and magazines at Jo Ann's.

Sharon Boggons' beautiful book.

Happy Tuesday! From the Renton, Washington highlands.

Where we enjoyed a cool sunny day.

My blog friend, Carin, aka Queenie Patch went to the 17th Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2018 with friends and has shared her photos here! . What a fabulous quilt show, stop in to see the beautiful quilts!

And to celebrate sunshine after about a week of clouds and rain,

I had to go out and enjoy the sun and do some shopping on the side.

While at Jo Ann Fabrics  I bought enough flannel to use as a design wall.

The floor is very hard on my knees.

This week I pieced together a doll quilt for my grand daughter, her birthday is soon. I was watching an episode of 'Man Sewing'  and saw Rob and his daughter, Ruby, so sweet, doing a tutorial for a doll quilt and it was so cute I had to sew one up.

I also sewed on the final border of my 'summer improv' small quilt top.

I got a few things done this week and some play time in.

Because if I don't get out of the house once in a while everything gets dark and grim.

I hope you're having a productive week and taking time out to play.

Where do you go to play?

I'll be by to visit.

Shibori Dragon, Sashiko Stitching, Kaffe Facett Fabric in Border Units

Beautiful Japanese fabric and Japanese utility garments on display.

Examples of Japanese vintage utility garments collected by the owner.

This is a close up of shashiko stitching on the long jacket.

The Shibori Dragon quilt shop was friendly and well stocked!

The Shibori Dragon Quilt Shop, University Place, WA.

My stitched and pressed units for my improvised border.

Trimming up border units with KF fabric, batik and Tim Holtz fabric.

My butterfly quilt top finished with three borders.

Winter in our neighborhood.

Hello from the Pacific NW, where we are staying with family, helping out and doing a little sightseeing on the side.

Last Saturday we visited  The Shibori Dragon Quilt Shop in University Place, WA west of Tacoma.

I saw their display in a local sewing and craft show last fall and I didn't realize they were so close until I found their web site. The shop is 45 min south/west of Renton, where we are staying. 

There was everything you could want in a quilt shop and a large collection of Asian fabric and Japanese specialty fabric. The owner grew up in Japan, military family, and she had beautiful Japanese dolls and utility garments on display with wonderful shashiko stitching on them in the shop.

I made a pest of myself oohing and aahing and asking questions. If you are ever in the area, you must stop in!

I finished my small butterfly quilt top. As I was finishing piecing the borders I was thinking of working with units as Maria Shell talks about in her book, 'Improv Patchwork Dynamic Quilts Made with Line and Shape'. When I'm improvising, it's easier to get the process under control when I'm focusing on units. She's got good ideas for design.

I'm linking up with Kaja and Ann for AHIQ 29, where sharing of the 'improvising' sort happens.
Stop by for inspiration and to share your projects. Thanks Kaja and Ann for hosting.

That's news from the shire where I'm remembering to share a smile.

Have a good week and I'll be by to visit.

Borders and Sashing, Making Units or 'Bits' for Summer Project

Summer improv project with two borders added of string and saw tooth units.

Getting ready to pin and sew on another border.

Fifth border sewn on with string and saw tooth units.

My butterfly blocks are separated by 3/4" sashing.

They are mini blocks, 4 1/2" sq w/o seam allowances.

Happy Weekend! 

from the Pacific NW, where the temperatures have thawed and we have mist and clouds.

I've been busy sewing on sashing (butterfly blocks) and borders (summer improv).

In reading through 'Improv Patchwork, Dynamic Quilts Made with Line and Shape' by Maria Shell,

I've been reminded to pay attention to basic construction details we all know and practice (most of the time:), simple things like pressing new seams open and pinning before sewing that seam. Those two, time consuming little steps do make a difference. For instance, pinning eliminates 'wavy' borders.

And Maria in her chapter, 'Putting it All Together', talks about 'bit making', in other words, 'making a lot of smaller units' to be arranged into a bigger design. That idea makes the design process accessible and understandable. 

That's the buzz here in the shire, reading good books and making progress.

I hope you enjoy your day and remember to share a smile!

I'll be by to visit.

January Butterfly, Finished Blocks, 'Tiger Lily' Kona Cotton Color of the Year !!

Finished butterfly blocks, each 5" x 5".

January 2018, Common Lime Butterfly.

Old town street view, Poulsbo, WA.

Viking mural, Poulsbo is very proud of its Viking heritage.

Famous, Sluys' Poulsbo Bakery.

'The Quilt Shoppe', Poulsbo Washington.

Maritime Museum and visitor center, Poulsbo, WA.

Happy January from the Pacific NW.

Where we had a wonderful time with family, and a white Christmas.

We took time to sightsee and visit a quilt shop over Christmas vacation.

Taking the ferry from Edmonds, we landed in Kingston and drove to Poulsbo, WA. 

There we had to stop at the famous Sluys Poulsbo Bakery. Where they make from scratch, in small batches, all their baked goods. It smelled like heaven inside! And yes, we did buy some goodies to take back with us.

I stopped into 'The Quilt Shoppe' and bought some new batiks. They had some cute 'viking' prints made for them by Michael Miller , and a good variety of batiks.

And calendar butterfly for January is the Lime/Lemon Butterfly.

Their favorite food is cultivated lime. They enjoy mud puddling.

They live in areas near the equator.

Robert Kaufman's Kona Cotton color of the year has been published and it is 'Tiger Lily' , a vibrant red/orange! Of course I'm very happy about that, orange is one of my favorite colors.

I use orange as an accent. It can't be beat for the pop it brings and the life it adds to the party.

Yes, I've ordered a jelly roll of Tiger Lily already.

That's the news from the shire. 

Where I'm thankful for all of you quilt, color and design aficionados!

I'll be by to visit.