Today is brought to you by the color . . .

Orange
15 by 23 inches

I have finished the top for my challenge quilt.  This year the challenge was to pick a color (we drew crayons from a paper bag) and then make a quilt using that color as the dominant color and using the color opposite on the color wheel as a secondary color.  I drew orange.  At first I was a little disappointed, as I've never liked orange much (aside from Autumn and Halloween).  But lately I'm liking the new oranges more.  And I thought it's not much of a challenge if you go with safe colors.  So, even though I had the option to re-draw a crayon, I decided to go for the orange challenge.  I also had  to use some of the opposite color on the color wheel, which in this case is pure blue.  We could use black or white too.

This design came to me one morning as I was waking up.  I had the idea of a paint chip card.  I used Lazy Gal Tonya's Unruly Letters.  I don't know if this is "challenging" enough or not, but I'm happy with it.  Simple is good.  *grin*

I have waaayyyy over-bought fabric for this!  Each one of those rectangles represent at least 1/2 yard of fabric I purchased for this. Plus I bought about 1 1/2 yards of the solid orange.  Not to mention 1 yard of the blue.  Yikes.  I think I see another orange quilt in my future.  hee hee!  I'm considering a zigzag or chevron quilt.  It's kind of calling to me.

So, I have one month to finish the quilting and binding on this one.  Think I'll make it?  It's never a sure bet.

Yes, I'm all packed up!  Tomorrow starts my 3 day class with Gwen Marston at Quiltworks NW in Bellevue.  Whoo hoo!!   I'm taking the Small Studies class, and it's all about design.  It sounds a little scary but I know it will be loads of fun too.  And my friend Candy is stepping out of her comfort zone and will be taking the class as well.  This is gonna be so much fun!  I'll be exhausted by the end of the weekend, but it is soooo worth it!  I can hardly wait until tomorrow.

At Long Last . . .

I have something to show you!  Yay!  I've actually spent some time in the quilt studio and have gotten some things done.  My friend Candy came over and helped me get the quilt studio picked up and organized again, so I had room to sew.   I'm finally feeling more inspired, and have been sewing.  Now the room isn't as picked up as it was.  That's the way it goes, isn't it?

Apparently, I still cannot take a picture straight.

Here are all my blocks, so far, for the Country Threads On-Line Sampler.  I am all caught up now.  Yay!  I actually have June's blocks done at the beginning of the month . . . . amazing.

The blocks for March

March had 3 blocks, 2 at 12 inches and one 6 inches.

April's blocks

All of the blocks, so far, have had a 12 inch block and a 6 inch block.  April's block was the easiest so far.

May's blocks

June's blocks

By the time I finished May's blocks and the 12 inch block for June, I was pretty tired of pinwheels!   (Seven of 'em, if you're counting)  That 6 inch block was supposed to have pinwheels where the 4-patches are.  No way was I making 5 pinwheels that finish at 2 inches!  I really like this little block with the 4-patches.  Keep it simple.  The 6 incher looks washed out next to the indigo in the big block, doesn't it?  I'll have to do a few more in those muted colors to balance it out.

There are going to be a ton of half square triangles in this quilt, and I'm afraid that they're being saved for the last step.  Not looking forward to that !  I'd rather do a few every month instead.  I have been saving whatever HST's I have left over from the flying geese units.  Maybe that will help!

One of the ladies in my guild really liked this panel.  So much so that she bought a whole bolt of it!  She passed them out at the last guild meeting, and we're supposed to make it big enough for a Quilt of Valor and it needs to be done in time for the quilt show in October.  I'm still thinking on what I want to do.

A couple of weeks ago, I was the lucky winner of the giveaway over at Pinkadot Quilts blog.  I won some of Kelly's hand-dyed fabric scraps and this darling pincushion!  Don't these make your mouth water?  Ooooo, not sure what I'm doing with them, but I'm enjoying petting them for now.  Maybe I'll take them to play with in my class with Gwen Marsten in a couple of weeks.

Here is Shade getting in the way helping me in the quilt studio yesterday.  He stubbornly insisted on sitting on the very end of the ironing board.  He really didn't fit very well, but he was gonna do it!  Silly kitty.

Yesterday I saw this squirrel laying on the fence outside of my kitchen window.  He lay there long enough for me to get the camera and take about a dozen pictures of him.  This is the best one.  He had been lying kind of behind that sprig of lilac so that he was obscured, but eventually he turned around and I could get a good shot of him.  After a bit, he grew tired of the paparazzi imitation I was doing and got up and left.  I wondered if maybe he was sick.  I don't think I've ever seen a squirrel lazing about like that!

We're supposed to finally have some warm weather this week.  It's about time!  But I think I'll still be sewing.  I've got more in the works and I have the time to sew this week.  Happiness is a busy quilt studio.

I hope you have a creative week!

The Lazy Blogger Strikes Again . . .

There is a little bit of all kinds of things in this blog post. I have no rhyme or reason to this today.  This is to disguise the fact that little actual sewing/quilting has occurred in this vicinity lately.  In my defense, I was dutifully visiting as many blogs as possible for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  We won't talk about all the hours I've wasted on Facebook or Pinterest, OK? 

Isn't this a fun scrappy Double Irish Chain?  I don't think I've ever seen a scrappy one like this!  Donna brought this to share at our little sewing get-together a few weeks ago.  This is a quilt that her grandmother made for her and is the reason she's a quilter today.  

It's hard to tell in the photos, but the background of this is a very pale pink.  The scraps are pieces of family clothing, etc.  I love the lime-y green!  And I like that the pink is not so strong that it competes with the other fabrics.  Not sure how much this has faded over the years, though.

There are some fun fabrics in this quilt!

Here is Dunkel "helping" me with a project that I had laid out.  He always wants to get under the fabric but just ends up wadding it up.  More on this one later.

Here is the word I made for Carol of Giraffe Dreams blog, who is making a quilt of verbs to celebrate her 60th birthday.   It took me about 3 tries to get going on this, as I'm out of practice.  I'm still not completely happy with the C or the R, both of which could be a little bigger, but all in all, I like it.  I used a batik for the hot pink, because it was bright and has dots!

Here is Dunkel, again, helping you get an idea of how big this turned out.  He's such a helpful kitty!

Here is the lovely flower I found in my yard last week.  I hate having these in my lawn, but they are really pretty.  So far, this is about all the flowers I've managed this spring.  It's raining too much to get out and do much yard work.  I don't know if that is good or bad, but it sure makes it easier to be in the quilt studio without guilt!

When I was taking out the trash tonight, I found we had some visitors in our driveway.  They were enjoying the big puddle near when this shot was taken. (I thought you'd probably enjoy seeing their cute little ducky faces rather than their tail feathers!)  I have no idea why they've wandered away from their usual hangout at the lake.  I think they were looking for a hand-out.  They waddled over pretty fast when I "quacked" at them!  LOL

And here they are leaving after our photo shoot - heading away from the lake! And because I was taking pictures of the ducks instead of putting out the garbage cans, I missed my window of opportunity, so to speak, and got drenched when it started raining right after this!  Some days ya just gotta laugh!

Hometown U.S.A.

Whoo hoo!  The Blogger's Quilt Festival is on again.  There are so many new blogs to visit and gorgeous quilts to view.  I hope you'll take some time to visit them.  And a huge Thank You to Amy for putting on this fun on-line quilt show!

I would LOVE to read your comments, but due to wanting to visit as many entrants as possible this week, I won't be answering comments.  However,  I will gladly visit your blog and leave a comment for you!  Thank you for understanding.

This is my second entry in the Festival.  You can see my other entry here.  Strangely enough, both of my entries are log cabins and challenge quilts!  This quilt is entered in the "Wallhanging" category.

Hometown U.S.A.
18 inches by 25 inches

This quilt was made for a Log Cabin challenge in my guild in California.  We had a specific size requirement to meet.  This pattern was in a Country Threads quilt book, and if I reduced the dimensions of the project in the book by half, it would be the exact correct size.

These logs finish at 1 inch.  I did not paper piece this.  Really, it was easy enough that I didn't need too.  I picked out my blue fabrics and the off-white fabrics, cut them into 1 1/2 inch strips and put each set into a paper bag.  As I pieced, I simply pulled a blue strip from it's bag or an off-white from it's bag and sewed it on.  My only "rule" was that I couldn't put the same fabric touching itself anywhere in the quilt.  I believe I managed that, but I really haven't looked that closely since I made this! *grin*

It's all pieced except for the chimneys and windows on the houses, which are fused on. Oh, and the star on the flag is fused, as well.

When I quilted this, I made sure that I stitched through all the fused elements just to make sure that they would stay put.

I even carried the patriotic theme onto the back!  This quilt hangs in my guest room, which I decorated in a red, white & blue patriotic theme.  

Surprisingly, even though the log cabin block is one of my all-time favorites, I have yet to make a log cabin quilt that is big enough to snuggle with!  

I would be honored if you would vote for my Hometown U.S.A. quilt in the "Wallhanging" category.  Thank you!

Minimalism

It's time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival again.  I think it's so fun to visit new and familiar blogs, meet new people and see great quilts!  Thank you, Amy, for hosting this once again.  Grab your favorite beverage and settle in for some super "quilt time" as you visit all the entrants.  And don't forget to vote for your favorite quilt!

I would love to read your comments (I LOVE comments!), but owing to wanting to visit as many entrants as possible, I won't be answering comments this time.  But I will gladly visit your blog and leave a comment for you!  I hope you understand.

I'm going to share a quilt that has been done for a couple of years, so I apologize to my regular readers for any boring repetitiveness.  Please bear with me.  I've entered this quilt in the Two Color Quilt category.  You can see my other entry in the Quilt Festival by going here.

Touch of Black: A Study in Minimalism
30 inches by 38 inches

This wallhanging is an original design, inspired by the works of Yoshiko Jenzenji.  I had seen photos of quilts by Yoshiko on various sites on the internet and was quite intrigued by what she was doing.  (This link takes you to her site, which is in Japanese.  However, there are quite a few images of her work, which don't need translation.)  I decided to challenge myself to see if I could get the same effect.

detail 1

I didn't know at the time that I first saw her work that Yoshiko had come out with her own line of fabrics.   I decided to just use some of my graphic black & white fabrics that I had been stockpiling.  (AKA "The Stash")  So, lots of white fabric with a few fussy-cut black & white pieces.

detail 2

This quilt was also going to be my challenge quilt for my guild that year, and we were suppose to do log cabins, which were perfect for this  self-challenge.  You can read more about my process here.  My log cabins aren't perfect and I didn't win anything in the challenge competition, but this is still one of my favorite quilts.  I still love the not-so-straight-line quilting that I did on this quilt.  It doesn't distract your eye from the black graphic elements.  This quilt just makes me happy when I look at it, which is a success in my book!

detail 3

As a matter of fact, I'm thinking of making another one!  Maybe the next one will be in black with white accents.  Hmmmm.....  I still have lots of black & white strips cut.

I would be honored if you would vote for my quilt for your favorite in the Two Color Quilt category.  Thank you!

Not Quite Done?

Well, I don't have much to say for my long absence, except that April was a very busy month!  I can't believe it's been a month since I posted!

I did manage to squeeze in a little sewing.  Firstly, I got my Low Volume quilt top assembled.  And I love it! I started this way back here and here in November last year.  (Oh, it only took me 6 months! Yay!)

I have one small problem though.  I really think it needs a border.  I'd planned to do this quilt without a border, but I think the machine quilting could distort my piecing on the edge of the quilt, so a border will help alleviate that.  I think.  If you have any thoughts on this, please share them with me.

The big problem is . . . I don't feel like cutting any more fabric for this.  I was really hoping this was DONE, and I'm disappointed that the quilt is telling me it wants a border.  Now I'm planning on doing more of the low volume fabrics for a chunky, scrappy border, and the idea of getting all the fabric out again and cutting it just makes me come to a screeching halt.  Ugh.  Absolutely no motivation.

Well, I don't think the "cutting elves" are going to come to my rescue so, if I want this truly finished, I'll have to bite the bullet, clean off the cutting table and start pulling my fabrics and cutting.  *sigh*

I think my quilting mojo has left the building!  I wonder . . . if I clean the quilt studio, do you think I might find it in there?  I'd rather sew than clean, but I guess it's time to just do it.

I can't believe I did this whole top without having to buy any fabric!  I guess that's why I have a stash.  *Grin!*  Many of these fabrics are old friends from the scrap bin.  And the scrap bin is still full, somehow.  Must have "fluffed" it!  hee hee!

I even put some of my hand-dyed fabrics in here, scattered about the top.  See that piece in the lower-left corner that is pink-ish next to the "blah" fabric?  That is one of the hand-dyes. You should see the back of that piece - it's bright, not pastel!  The white-on-white fabric toned down the color and it works as a pastel.

This is my lone bird I did for the Block Lotto in April.  I got a bunch of fabrics ready to make more birdies, but never got it done. Unfortunately, I forgot to post this photo over at the Lotto, so I wasn't in the drawing at all.  After all that trash-talking I did to Joe Tulips about how I was gonna win, too!  She managed to make a whole flock of birds for herself, as well as for the Block Lotto.  Maybe I'll do better this month.

my camellia, about 2 weeks ago

The last weekend of April I went down to the California Bay Area to visit my friends and attend their quilt retreat.  I hadn't been there in 4 years, and it was so great to go!  We had a blast!  I'll try to do another post that shows all the great quilts that everyone had.  I even got something done and another top almost done.

Here's a fun "test" to see how Left-brained/Right-brained and creative you are.  I got 43% Left-brained and 57% Right-brained!  Have fun with it!  Wishing you a creative week!

Random Bits

Time has gotten away from me, and it's been too long since I posted anything.  I've been so busy, but I did manage to squeeze in some sewing.  Now that the darn taxes are done, and I can manage to deal with the heaps of paperwork in the office, hopefully more sewing and blogging will happen around here!

Here are a couple of string blocks that I made for the Half Log Cabin Challenge over at the String Thing Along blog.  They were fun to make because I got to use some of my bright strings.  Jeanne will be putting them into a quilt for a domestic violence shelter in Southern California.

Here are my March blocks for the Country Threads On-Line Sampler Quilt.  I'm all caught up now, and looking forward to doing the April blocks.  Sorry about the wonky photo - I seem to be completely unable to put the blocks up on the design wall in a straight line!

Here are the blocks for my Low Volume quilt.  There are 80 blocks here!  I'm hoping I can get these put together into a top next week.  I'm excited to see these done.

I finally got started on my color challenge quilt for this year!  Yay!  My color is orange, which has to be the dominant color of the quilt, and we have to add an accent of the color that is opposite on the color wheel, which in this case is true blue. And we're supposed to use either white or black as the neutral.  I hope these are all close enough to a true orange to work.  They look a little closer in Real Life.  The blocks will finish at 4 inches, so not a big quilt.  There are no size requirements other than "at least 9 x 12 inches".  I like the way these look!  They remind me of how 50/50 ice cream (vanilla ice cream with orange sherbet) taste in my mouth.  Just that juicy burst of orange!

Here are my rejects.  I got the center square wrong in the upper right block, the upper left and bottom blocks are too reddish, and something about that center block just disturbs me.  Somehow it reminds me of a spider!  Eww!

I got new glasses the other day and can finally see the TV from my chair.  And even better, I got new computer glasses and can see the computer screen without squinting or sitting too close.  What a difference!