CMQG Modern Art Challenge

 Back in June, the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild organized a "Modern Art Challenge". The idea was that you would get a piece of art and an inspiration fabric, and put it in a bag. Then at the June meeting, you would pick someone else's bag and make them a quilt based on that inspiration.  The idea was to use it for inspiration--there was no need to make an exact replica of the work of art.  I got the card and fabric below from Jennifer Lowe:

It's a work by Charley Harper of a cardinal.  Jennifer said that she liked bright colors and also liked the highly stylized version of nature that Harper presented.  I made quite a lot of sketches in my notebook until I finally decided to go in a different direction.  Rather than worrying about the bird, or the colors, I thought about the concept of abstracting something in nature and building off of that.

I had also recently gotten Jacquie's new book, in which she covers a technique for making "pods" using curves.  I thought those pods would make great abstracted fish.  I also really liked the linearity of the Harper piece, so I used that idea to add the columns of bubble fabric (below).  Before quilting, this was all pretty simple. I figured it needed to be spiced up a bit.

I used Leah Day's tutorials for "cave points" and "sea algae" to add more texture to the quilt. And finally, I added some bubbles/pebbles on the side to further echo the bubbles.

It ended up being very simple in design, but I think that was a good reminder to me that you can have impact without a lot of pieces or complicated colorwork. It was also a good chance for me to work with "negative space", especially with the quilting.

happy mail!

I haven't bought fabric in quite a while, so for my birthday a few weeks ago I "gave" myself some fabric shopping!  I just love that map of Paris fabric.  Of course, I've never been there but I love any kind of map fabric, so that hopped into my cart along with the other fun fabrics.

Drunkard's Path Finished

I finished this particular quilt a while ago but didn't want to post about it until I had given the quilt to its new owner.  It was a wedding present for a dear friend.  She reports that she and her husband love it and it is the perfect snuggle size!

Overall:

 The detail shot:

 The backing and the lone extra block.  I found a few later but at the time this was the only one I had!

It measures 72.5x62.  I quilted it on my home machine. It was tough because of its size, but as I showed in a previous post, it was easier once I got my sewing cabinet. I think the next big one is going to be sent to the long arm quilter instead.

Sewing cabinet!

I always lament that it is difficult to sew because my sewing room requires that I go through my daughter's room.  Of course the only time I have to sew is while she is sleeping.  I also found that the desk I had for sewing was not very comfortable for sitting at longer than an hour.  So I came up with a solution: purchase a sewing cabinet that we keep in the dining room.

I got it a few weeks ago and I finished quilting a huge quilt with it.  It worked out great! I could spread the quilt out on the leaf to the right, and the back is my couch, so it held up the quilt as well.  I am super excited to get more sewing done now that I have a space that works and doesn't hurt my body.  It's got the cool lift that allows you to lower your machine, fold up all the doors, and put everything away.  It's great and I highly recommend it (Arrow) if you are looking for one.

I'm looking forward to getting a lot more sewing done!

Baby clothes

So my daughter is hardly a baby anymore, which means that I have even more desire to make her adorable clothes. When she was really little clothes would last about 2 weeks before she grew out of them.  Now they last a little bit longer.  I made this pinafore dress and it was surprisingly easy.

Here she is wearing the dress with Daddy's shirt. 

And this was the best I could do to get a better shot of her in it.  She really moves A LOT and every time I take out the camera and put it in her face she wants to eat it, or at least touch it.

I get too intimidated sometimes about making clothes when it really isn't that hard (at least for simple patterns like this). The pattern is Favorite Things Blossoms and Bloomers.  It comes with a pattern for a cute hat and a diaper cover as well.

She gets a lot of use out of it and it is nice to put it on with nothing but a diaper.  Of course if I know she is going to be sliding on the slides at the playground we throw on some shorts underneath it.  As she gets bigger it will be more of a top, which extends its life even more. I highly recommend if you want to make a quick gift for a friend.

Blogger's Quilt Festival Spring 2012

Welcome!  Thanks for stopping by.

 This is a quilt I finished last year but kept forgetting to post about.  Well, I didn't forget, I just was busy as my sweet baby girl took all my time.  Anyway, I made this quilt for another friend who had a baby.  This little baby girl happened after a miscarriage, molar pregnancy, and lots of chemo treatments, so I figured she deserved something special. Her parents waited for her for so long!

 The pattern is "Big Dots" from Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle's Quilts Made Modern.  It introduced me to a new technique for applique, which involves freezer paper.  I had never tried it before so it was nice to try something new. I think that the edges look really nice.

I quilted it myself on my home machine.

I was definitely hesitant at first about the turquoise for the background, thinking it might be too bright.  I ended up really liking it.  This is a great project for fat quarters that you've been hoarding for a long time--the dots really allow you to show off those prints.
Enjoy the rest of the festival!

CMQG retreat

Last weekend I went with the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild to our retreat in Wisconsin.  I had such a lovely time.  There was lots of sewing, laughing, and just plain relaxing (for me at least!).  The setting was gorgeous, as we were right on Lake Michigan with beautiful views. I went down to the beach one day just to breathe in the fresh air.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera, but a few of the other ladies did not, so you can read their posts here:

Emily
Official CMQG Blog Part I
Official CMQG Blog Part II
Donna
Erika

I'll be writing up some posts to showcase what I worked on.  I'm glad I brought a variety of projects though.  I was working on quilting a very large quilt and it got to be SO exhausting I needed a break.  I needed to finish something quickly, and feel a sense of accomplishment.  Some people think I accomplished a lot on the retreat. I'll let you decide:

pinafore for my daughter
zippered wetbag for a friend
quilted half of a full size quilt
pieced a quilt top (the party of four color variation here)

Pictures to come soon!