Counting: 1, Amy: 0

I'm working on a little quilt that has 100 one inch squares. 100 different fabrics. This is the second time making one of these, but this time I'm using the technique that I've seen all over the web where you draw a grid of 1 1/2 inch squares on fusible interfacing and then sew it up in strips, trim a smidge off the edges so that you can open up the seams and then sew in the other direction. Works like a charm - that is, IF YOU CAN COUNT TO TEN! See anything wrong with my 10 x 10 grid? Yeah, it's actually only 9 x 10. Oops.

The sad thing is, I drew my grid larger than I needed and then trimmed it down to 10 x 10 (or so I thought). I could lie to you and say the fusible was only wide enough for nine columns, but the fact is that I was bested the kind of counting skills that most pre-K kids possess.

No worries, it's an easy fix and has since been remedied.

In the Pink

Our submissions to the So You Think You Can Quilt project were due on Saturday. This is my submission for the 'Modern' themed quilt - this is our last month for the project. I've had loads of fun creating the four quilts for the various themes: Love, Vintage, Circles, and Modern. I've tried out a few new (to me) techniques and have forced myself to start & finish projects when I might of normally thought I was too busy.

Here's a picture that includes a glimpse of the backing. The front is a mix of cotton calicos and linen fabric and the backing is a polka dot cotton fabric. The binding is a pink cotton that matches the color of one of the polka dots in the backing. This was my first quilting project that involved linen and I'll definitely be using linen again.

My daughter likes to play with my jars of buttons in the sewing room while I sew. She created this portrait of me last night (those are snowflakes falling around me). So, if you've ever wondered what I look like, mystery solved.

Wordless Wednesday

Charity Quilt Preview

Here's what I received at the beginning of the month from Downy's Touch of Comfort program. The kit includes all the fabric for the front and back of the quilt. I just supply the thread, batting, and binding. The kit also includes very specific directions that they require you to follow for the piecing. The strips were cut to size, as were the 6 1/2 inch squares of the focus fabric. Unfortunately, the squares weren't very square, so I had to trim all 15 of them so that the quilt would work up properly.

I started and finished piecing the front last night (it went together very quickly) and will post a picture of it soon. I haven't settled on a fabric for the binding yet. The rainbow fabric you see up there ends up being a 1 inch wide border which is followed by a 3 inch border of the focus fabric. Although pretty, the rainbow fabric seems an odd choice to me, as there is zero purpe elsewhere in the quilt. So, perhaps I'll go with a purple binding to give it another shot of purple. I'm determined to use something from my stash for the binding... I need to send the completed quilt back no later than mid-July to meet their 4-6 week deadline.

Sunstruck

The theme for the third month of So You Think You Can Quilt was 'Circles'. Voting ended last night and I'm happy to say that I'm still in the contest. My entry is a wall hanging, measuring about 25 inches square. To make this quilt I used Caryl Bryer Fallert's free Flying Geese in a Circle paper pieced pattern as a jumping off point, enlarging the pattern slightly on a copy machine. The photo online of the finished quilt indicated that the quilter should trim the circle of geese both inside and out (essentially making a donut of flying geese), but I adapted the pattern so that each of the four quarters was squared off. The four quarters of the circle went together like a dream. I enjoy the contrast of circles and squares in the piecing and continued that with the quilting. I'm pleased with the way it turned out.

Cassidy named this quilt Sunstruck.

I learned a little lesson about continuing to sew when I should be sleeping. As you can see below (partway through my repairs), I forgot to put in some of the black framing and had to unpick stitches and do a little more cutting and sewing. I'm glad I followed through with my original vision, I like it so much better with the black framing crossed at the corners.

Here's a picture of a mama and her little ducklings. This was taken on the day before Mother's Day. It was very windy and the poor little guys were getting blown end over end.

Finally, this picture of mama swan and her cygnets was taken on our Mother's Day walk around the lake on campus. Originally, she was farther away near the little island in the middle of the lake. We were surprised when she came up to the shoreline.

I Love Spring

It's finally spring here, kind of. In typical northern Indiana fashion our temperature this time of the year can easily swing 35 degrees or more in one day. Certainly makes it fun in the morning when trying to decide what to wear. But the trees are in bloom and things are 'greening up' nicely. It is much appreciated after a long winter.

These pink flowers are from a tree here on campus. I love the way they look against that blue sky.

These are in my front yard. I love the tree, but wish the owner had planted it elsewhere (rather than directly in front of a window) and trimmed it properly into a standard tree shape.

Hello little lady bug. These little critters are cute when they are outside. Less so when they find their way into my house and can't find their way back out.

I've really got to get cracking soon to start on my 'circles' quilt for the So You Think You Can Quilt contest. I think I've got a plan, but who knows. I've had several plans so far and I've changed my mind each time. I've got until the 15th, so I should be okay. Yesterday was my last day of class for my master's program. Cue the choir of angels. No more homework = more time to sew!

Get to the Point

'Get to the Point', that's the name of my entry for the second round of So You Think You Can Quilt. The theme was 'Vintage'. Here's a picture of the quilt I made. The binding looks wonky in this picture because I did a poor job of hanging it on the wall - it's actually quite square. When it came time to take pictures it was a rainy day, so I had to do indoor pictures in poor lighting. Ugh.

For this quilt I dug out five fat quarters that had been living in my stash for a few years. When I bought the fabric I liked the vintage look of the pattern, but didn't have a plan for it (story of my life). When the vintage theme was announced, I decided to try my hand at the flying geese pattern. I used the No Waste Flying Geese Method of piecing since I didn't have much fabric to work with. I really liked this method since it takes care of the problem of sewing on the bias. The binding is also cut from the same fat quarters, so there was very little of that fabric remaining. The finished quilt is approximately 36" x 36". Here's a close up shot which shows the prints much better than the full shot.

So, I've survived to make it to Round 3. Plus, I've finished another quilt and tried out a new technique. Success all around. If you haven't already, head over to Brown Paper Packages and take a look at what's going on. The entries for Round 2 were quite lovely.

The theme for Round 3 is 'Circles'. I'm tossing around a couple of ideas, but haven't settled on anything just yet. You'll just have to wait and see. Voting will open around May 16 and I'll show you my entry about a week later. Can't wait to see the entries!