Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2013 - Whisper

I love this time of year!  Autumn is in it's full glory here in Western Washington, the weather is turning cooler and it's time for the best quilt show of the year - Blogger's Quilt Festival!  

The festival is open to everyone, and there are so many beautiful quilts to admire and be inspired by, not to mention, "meeting" new-to-me bloggers!  If this is your first time visiting Indigo Threads, welcome!  I hope you'll come back often.  And if you're familiar with my little blog, welcome back!

"Whisper" 69 1/2 x 85 inches - all ready to snuggle up with!

Here is my entry in the Scrappy Quilt category.  This is my version of a "low volume" quilt.  I was intrigued by the idea, as so many of my quilts are done in bright and/or intense colors.  

some of the awesome quilting my LA'er did

I was amazed that I made this all from my stash.  Who knew I had so many light fabrics??  *grin*  I used true scraps, fat quarters, and I also cut  pieces from some yardage as well. 

There are new fabrics and old fabrics, pastels, novelties, 30's reproductions, conversationals, shirtings, polka dots (of course!) and even some of my hand-dyed fabrics.  And lots of cat fabrics too!

You name it, if it was white, off-white, light tan or pastel it went in here.

The only fabrics I bought specifically for this quilt are the border and backing fabrics.

These were my first two blocks.  I got the pattern from the book "Successful Scrap Quilts" by Margaret Rolfe.  These are very easy blocks - just cut strips 2 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches.  And no matching of any seams when things get sewn together!  Whee!  Just easy-peasy.

I started this quilt almost a year ago, here.  I've shown, on the blog, some of the progress on this quilt over the last year.  I actually had this finished at the beginning of the month so it could go in our local quilt show, but I was wanted to show the big finish on the blog for the first time for the BQF.

the back of "Whisper"

The quilting can be seen in this photo.  I asked my long-armer, Shari, to do free-hand hearts and flowers, since this is such a "girlie" quilt.  I love her quilting on this - it's perfect!

Here is more of an all-over shot of the quilt.  My poor DH is struggling to hold it up, as it's so big!  It's definitely big enough to wrap up in.

I can't wait to start reading my book and snuggling up with "Whisper".  

Follow this link to see my other entry into the Blogger's Quilt Festival, The Halloween Quilt, in the Bed Quilt category.

If you haven't had the chance yet, hop on over to the Blogger's Quilt Festival and take a look at all the wonderful quilts to be seen!

Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2013 - The Halloween Quilt

Time for ghosts and goblins to be out and about in the neighborhood.  Are you ready?

And it's time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival too!  Which one are you more excited about?  In spite of Halloween being my favorite holiday, I'd have to say I'm pretty darn excited about the BQF! 

The Halloween Quilt - Front
69 x 84 inches

Here is my entry into the festival in the Bed Quilt category.  This is The Halloween Quilt, made with lots and lots of Halloween fabrics. Not a very original or catchy name, but it works. 

 I actually finished this quilt last fall, but I've never shown the finished quilt on the blog before.  It is so big that I couldn't find a way to photograph the whole thing.  (the above photo was taken while it was hanging at the county fair this year)  It's been on my bed for the entire month of October, getting me in the proper mood for this fun holiday - one of my favorites!

The pattern I used is Scrappy Trips by Bonnie Hunter over at Quiltville.  I know a lot of people have made Scrappy Trip quilts over the past year - it seemed to be a Big Thing on the quilting blogs!  This is my third quilt done in this pattern since I discovered Quiltville about 8 years ago, and it will probably not be my last!  It's such a fun, easy pattern.

I deviated from the original pattern a little bit by using 3 inch cut strips instead of 2 1/2 inch.  I wanted to really show off the novelty fabrics I was using, and didn't want them cut so small that you couldn't see some of the details. That size strip makes a 15 inch quilt block, which means the quilt is made a little faster. 

But I didn't use only novelty fabrics either.  There are plaids, dots, hand-dyes tone-on-tone and other fabrics.  Whatever looked like it would work.  I had a hard time stopping buying Halloween fabrics!  Mind you, I started with a pretty good stash of Halloween novelties, since it's one of my favorite holidays.  I still have enough for 3 or 4 more quilts!  *grin*

When I was ready to set the blocks together, I laid them out on the living room floor.  My husband and son decided on the zigzag layout, and which block went where.  It was fun to have them help me!

The Halloween Quilt - Back

This quilt decided it wanted to be two-sided.  I added lots of Halloween panels that I've collected over the years.  I can't decide which side I love more - they're both fun.

Here is a picture of the back when I was just getting started on constructing it.  I laid the quilt top down on the living room floor, then started adding the panels and chunks of fabrics on top of it.  I figured that would be the most direct way of knowing when it was big enough. LOL  You can see parts of the blocks on the front peeking through the panels.  I think making the back took me longer than making the front!

I added not just panels, but chunks and pieces of Halloween fabrics, and leftover bits from the front blocks as well.  Nothing went to waste.

Some of the panels I cut up and added bits of fabric around the smaller panels, to make things more interesting.  It was a lot of fun.  Like doing a gigantic jigsaw puzzle.

I didn't have quite enough border fabric, so I pieced flying geese in the corners.  I think it added more interest too, although it's subtle.

My long-arm quilter quilted all kinds of fun things on this quilt, but most of them don't show up well enough for a photo.  She added witches riding brooms, moons, stars etc. and then quilted Halloween words around the border.  Things like "haunted house", "spells", "boo", and so on, all the way around.  It's lots of fun to play I Spy with the quilting!

This is one of my favorite quilts.  I sure was looking forward to using it for the month of October.  I hope you've enjoyed seeing it too!

Follow this link to see my second entry into the Blogger's Quilt Festival, Whisper, in the Scrappy Quilt category.

I hope you'll take some time and cruise around the rest of the BQF and be awed and inspired by all the rest of the quilts!

Missing Blogger Found Alive!

Wow, that was a much longer bloggy break than I had planned on.  After such a long time,  I'm feeling a little out of practice with blogging.  So, I'll just jump in and get past that awkward feeling!

I did get my Quilt of Valor finished in time for the Quilt Show.

I started with this panel, way back in June.  Then I stalled and stalled, until I found out it needed to be a finished quilt, not just a top, for the quilt show.  I pretty much panicked at that point.

Okay, in the interest of not boring you, Dear Reader, nor myself, I'm giving you the condensed version.

First try at the star - I didn't like the way the white "bled" into the border.

I added an inner border to contain those fierce birds, then starting adding the blocks I received from Magpie Sue over at The Magpie's Nest blog.  I made a false start when it came to the stars in the corners, but eventually got them right.

Final star - used some older fabric and it looks great.

I went to a quilt show and found a Q.O.V. fabric that was perfect for the outer borders and binding.  I talked to Bridget at my LQS, who has a long-arm machine.  I knew I couldn't do a decent job on this (as it would be my first try on a long arm), so Bridget volunteered to donate her time and talent to quilt this for me (Thank you, Bridget!!).

Finished!

I got it back from her on Tuesday at 9 p.m. and had until Thursday at 10 a.m. to get the binding done.  And I got it done in time!  Yay!  I think our collaboration worked really well, Sue - Thanks!

When I went to the quilt show I mentioned above (where I found the Q.O.V. border fabric), I also bought myself a new wallet.  Isn't it cute??

The creator's card is visible in this shot.

Lots of storage room in here!

And look at all these cute selvages!  I haven't had a new wallet in years, and I'm loving this one!

I participated in a block exchange with my friends in California.  They were doing blocks for The Future's So Bright quilt that Crazy Mom Quilts did.  Here are my blocks.  We made 8 each of Block A (the double 4 patch) in two color schemes, and ditto for the Block B blocks.  Using brights, of course!  I missed the exchange date (didn't read the calendar correctly . . . too focused on the quilt show), but they should be there by now.  And the blocks I'll receive will be here soon.  This is gonna be a fun quilt to do. I should get busy making more blocks for the quilt, as I certainly have lots of bright fabrics to play with.  But I want to play with some other things for awhile first. 

September, She Comes

Help!  Where did August go??  Can I have some of it back, please?

Seriously, August had to be the busiest month of this year!  Only one blog post??  What's up with that?  Obviously a failing on my part.  I can't believe how quickly it all passed.  We had glorious summer weather, and I loved it.   And too soon, it's on it's way out.  Look what I saw 2 days ago . . .

. . . . the first autumn leaf in the yard. Yikes!  It seems awfully early for this to be happening, but the weather is definitely changing.  Groups of Canadian Geese are coming and going from the pond, and the weather is cooler.  (Only got to 69*F today)  We've had 2 or 3 days of thunderstorms and buckets of rain.  Sad to say, I think summer is over.  We'll probably get some more summery days still, but no more real summer.

On the plus side is that, probably, hopefully, more time in the quilt studio will be happening now.

I have gotten some quilt-y stuff done.  I got 3 tops finished, backs made and all shipped off to my quilter, Shari.  The quilt show is happening in one month, and it finally dawned on me just what that means.  It's nearly Panic Time!  I found out yesterday that the patriotic panel I showed you in my last post has to be a FINISHED QUILT at the quilt show!  I haven't touched it since I showed it to you last month.  Holy cow, I'm running out of time very quickly!  I seriously don't know if I can make that deadline.  So, time to put the pedal to the metal and see what I can do.  I think I can finish the top, but I don't know about the quilting, not to mention the binding.  Wish me lots of luck!  I think I'm going to need it.

Speaking of luck, August was a very lucky month for me!  I was a winner twice!  First off, I won a giveaway over Big Lake Quilter.  Cathy was giving away this wonderful book.   I've already had a look through it a couple of times and have thought about trying a few of the projects.  Lots of inspiration in here!  Thank you, Cathy!

The other lucky event was I won the Block Lotto for August!  These blocks are the first six that I made.  My favorite one is the one with the wild polka dots.  It makes me smile.

And here are the other three.  I'll be receiving another 41 in the mail, for a total of 50.  These are wonky stars that will finish to 6 inches by 9 inches.  I've already gotten the first 5, and they're wonderful.  This is going to be a fun quilt!

I fell in love with Kelly's quilt she just finished over at Pinkadot Quilts.  Kelly links to the original tutorial so I had to go take a look.  Since I already had a pile of scraps out, I decided to try making a block.  I think it came out pretty good, and it was easy-peasy.  So, now this has been added to the list of quilts I want/need to make!    

I was asked to do a demo on the Double Disappearing 9 Patch for my quilt guild.  I found the tutorial at A Few Scraps blog, but had never tried it yet.  Of course, I had to make some samples etc. for my demo because, well, one just needs examples!  Here is my first DD9P block.  I started with 3 inch cut squares, and they made up into a 10 inch finished block.

After those demo pieces were made, I had to try the process in another size and color scheme.  I was having trouble imagining what the DD9P would look like in other colors and/or styles.  So, I decided to jump out of my box and go with some real traditional fabrics and make a dolly-sized quilt.  I really should have made 6 blocks instead of 4, but I was tired and running out of time.  So four blocks had to do.  This was my first layout, in the "traditional" setting.  I started with 2 inch cut blocks for this one, and ended up with a 5 1/4 inch finished block.  

Behind my little design board, you can kind of get an idea of what my cutting table currently looks like.  That will be my first order of business in the quilt studio - taming the chaos of fabric!

Here is the dolly quilt layout that I decided on.  I'm not completely certain it really does what I wanted it to do.  I was hoping for a more pronounced diagonal design, but DH says he really likes it.  He thinks it looks very complex.  (Here is where I saw the quilt that gave me this idea - you need to scroll about half way or a little more down the page)  (Oh, going back and looking at this, I figured out what I did wrong differently - no plain alternate blocks!) I flirted with the idea of ripping it out and re-doing it, but sat down until that feeling passed and I returned to my senses.  LOL  I don't think I'll do a border but will do a wider-than-usual binding in the dark brown and let that be enough border for it.  

I hope you're getting a chance to be creative this weekend!

p.s. Haven't seen Froggie for a few days.  He hung around all of August.  Wonder if he decided to go back to the pond?

Checking In

Yes, I'm still here.  But how did it get to be the middle of August already??!  Wow, the summer is just flying past, and I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I posted.  Need I mention that I've been pretty busy?  I mean, who hasn't been busy, right?  But really, this is ridiculous.  It must be because I'm on the downhill side and gaining speed.  But downhill of what?  I'm not sure.

We haven't been traveling to fun and exotic places, but we've been busy.  The Potter had his big summer event and did very well.  So well, in fact, that now he's scrambling to have enough pottery for his two big events in September plus a LOT of custom commissions as well.   Plus the stores he's supplying are wanting more stuff too.  He's hardly been out of the pottery studio for two months.  I've been telling him that this is a good problem to have, but I'm not sure he believes me.

I did take a day trip over to Vashon Island a couple of weeks ago to celebrate some quilting friends' birthdays with lunch out and a trip to Island Quilter quilt shop.  If you're in the area, I recommend a trip over there.  The island is beautiful, Vashon (the town) is cute and fun, and the quilt shop is wonderful!  Lots and lots of great fabrics and everything is $9.99 a yard.  Even the new fabrics!  The Hardware Store is a great place to eat too.

My sister visited us last weekend for her big 6-0 birthday.  We dyed fabric, played in the pottery studio, went to see Despicable Me 2 and generally had a great time.  And we ate really well too!  Lots of fun was had by all, except for the kitties who were pouting because The Kid and The Dog were visiting too.

But, I have managed to get in a little sewing here and there amidst all the summer fun.

I've shown this panel previously here way back in June.  I'm supposed to make this into a Quilt of Valor.   That blog post prompted Sue over at The Magpie's Nest to offer me a collaboration!  She sent me some blocks that she had and that she thought might work with the panel.  Wow!  These are just a few of the 40 or so blocks she sent.  It looks like it might take some creative planning, but I think these will work just fine.  Thanks, Sue!  This is all the farther I've gotten and I need to get busy working on this.  It's supposed to be done by early October, and at the rate I'm going, that will be a challenge.  

I finally decided to add a small border to my Low Volume quilt top.  Just enough to finish it nicely, I think.  So now this is at the flimsy stage, and I'm working on making a back to go with, so I can get this to my quilter P.D.Q.  It needs to be done for the guild quilt show in early October.

Here's a better view of the small border.  I think this lower-volume print goes well.

Of course, this is the way my photo shoots usually go. . . . 

because of this not-very-wee-anymore beastie.  He's such a help.  Yeah, right.

Yesterday I found that we have a visitor to our back deck.  Froggie has taken up residence in my "bird bath", which is really a plant pot saucer (made by The Potter) that I filled with water for the birds.  They usually get a drink of water and/or take a bath here, but now Froggie chases them around the dish whenever they get into the water, which upsets the birds terribly.  It is hysterical to watch!  

Here is where the bird bath lives, on the back deck.  I believe Froggie is not a tree frog but is one of the many, many frogs that live in the pond.

Looking up from the deck, here is how far away the pond (that big shiny white blob in the distance) is from the deck.  What a long trek for a little froggie!

Then, last night, I discovered that Froggie has a friend now.  (And isn't it amazing how dirty the water got in just a few hours?)  They're just hanging out in the water or on the deck.  I wonder how long this will go on?  

The fun never ends around here!

Projects and a New Puppy

#1
2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches

I tried something new last week - Artist Trading Cards!  The local art gallery put out a call for ATC's, which they will be using as a silent auction fundraiser.  DH (aka The Potter) didn't find out about this in time to do pottery ATC's, so he did his in paper art.  I thought I'd do some fabric ones, natch!

#2
2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches

I flailed around for about 3 hours, trying various things, but nothing was working for me.  I had in mind to use my hand-dyed fabrics.  I finally gave up trying to be "artsy" and fell back on free-piecing.  Fortunately, I had a little bucket full of tiny scraps of the hand-dyes (I can't bear to throw away anything big enough to use!).  So #1 was easy.  #2 is made from scraps of scraps of scraps!  I had a bag full of batik scraps that I actually bought, and made a little bag from them.  This ATC uses the parts I trimmed off of that.

#3
2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches

I'm so glad I took the design class from Gwen Marston recently, because that was a huge help in making these.

Tonight we get to go to the Preview Party.  It will be fun to see all the ATC's.  I understand there are something like 70+ ATC's made by over 18 artists.  Whoo hoo!

Meet Bailey, my newest Grand-dog. She is a 6 month old puppy, a mixed breed that includes Lab and German Shepard.   She is faster than my camera!

Here she is in a more quiet moment.  She seems to be a good dog, and everyone is having a good time with her.

Son #1 says that training his daughters is harder than training Bailey! 

Orange
14 x 23 inches

I finished my Color Challenge quilt in time for the Big Reveal at the summer picnic.  I didn't win any prizes, but I think I would have won for Smallest Quilt!  I kept it simple and just quilted a random plaid.  Random is hard!

Here's a peek at the back.  I used "orange" fabric, of course!

I'm having trouble with focusing on anything right now.  Just kind of pfutzing around, looking at this and that, trying to decide what to work on next.  I'm enjoying the summer.  We have had beautiful weather, so far.  So, I'm happy!

Wishing you a happy, creative week!

#3

I've been working on another Small Study since my class with Gwen Marston, and it's finally done!

My Small Study #3
9.75 X 12.5 inches

I started with that central square of fabric, which was a 6 inch square, and picked all my colors from that.  I was trying to only use that 6 inch square, but ended up finding the rest of the fabric and using a little more.  This one was difficult to do, as I was trying to not repeat my previous efforts too much.  I think I did OK.  It was nearly over-done before I finished, but I kept simplifying and it finally jelled for me.  I was missing Gwen's input!

Here's an F.Y.I. - Gwen will be teaching in this area again next tyear.  She's teaching a number of classes (multiple days) at Quilted Strait quilt shop in Port Gamble in April 2014.   Candy and I are already signed up!

We, along with the whole West of the U.S., have been experiencing quite a heat wave the last few days.  Since it's been so nice, I decided it was time to dye/paint/sun print some fabric again!  So, that's what Candy and I did this morning.  The day started out cool and cloudy, but eventually the sun came out.  I don't think the sun printing was too successful, though.  But it was a beautiful day - not too hot and a nice breeze.  It was really pleasant out in the yard.  Ahhh . . . summer!  (Finally! as my DH would say!  He's been anxious for the rain and cool weather to stop and for summer to get here.)

Here is part of what we did, drying in the sun.  The sun moves very quickly here this time of year so I spent quite a bit of time moving my dyeing boards around to try and keep them in the sun.  I think that's why the sun printing didn't work too well.

Many of these fabrics were re-dyeing or over-dyeing some less-than-successful pieces from some years ago.    When Susan Purney Mark spoke to my quilt guild a few years ago, she told us not to be hesitant about re-doing pieces.  She said sometimes they're just not done yet!  So, what the heck, I thought I'd give it a try.  I sure wasn't using them like they were, and I probably couldn't make them much worse.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?  Well, I haven't even ironed my pieces yet, but I *think* I improved at least some of them!  I'll know more tomorrow, after I iron them and really look at them in good light.  

I hope all of my friends in the U.S.A. have a stellar 4th of July!  Happy Independence Day!