Picture-Worthy :: Two

As promised, I'm back with more marvelous quilt photoshoots!

It's a curious thing - as I've shared these over the last few months, I've been surprised how many comments I've gotten from readers being fearful to take their quilt out 'in public' for photoshoots such as those in today's post. With the possible exception of the one taken in the Swiss alps, it seems to me these photos might have been taken in 'everyday' settings - even perhaps locations stumbled upon while the quilt-maker was out and about. I know when hubby and I go out for a photoshoot, sometimes we have a destination, but just as often we drive around looking for an interesting setting. And honestly, rarely do we spend much time in one spot. We often stroll nonchalantly to our target area, snap a few times, and off we go. Most people ignore us, and if they do pay us any mind, they are only complimentary - and maybe a little envious. So really, it's not scary at all!

So that's all said to encourage you to try it - you just might like it! And you'll have memorable photos such as these as reward. . . .

Star Wars Quilt by Holly/Holly Gets Quilty [hollygetsquilty]

Migration by Kristi/Initial K Studio [initialkstudio]

Berry Bravo by Kristin/Life in the (907)

My Way by Kris/Sew Sunshine [kmjarchow]

Take Wing by Lisa [sewwhatyoulove]

Flock of Stars by Jodi/Tales of Cloth [talesofcloth]

The Photoshoots pin board is getting more inspiring by the day!

Slab Three :: Gentle Curves

For some reason, even though I was looking forward to tackling this month's #seaSLABbom
assignment, I wasn't really happy with what I was coming up with once I got started. The topic was gentle curves, and though I had done my fair share, they just weren't speaking to me. [In case you're new to improv curves, our BOM leader, Matt, suggests this tutorial by Anne/Play Crafts on Lily’s Quilts.] 

Finally, I cut into it, rearranged everything, and liked it a little better. Though now that I've posted this, I'm inclined to go at that right side with my rotary cutter, but we'll see. As it is, my piece is just 21"x25", a tad smaller than suggested, but I think there will be plenty of room for tweaking when it's time to put the blocks together later in the year.

Meanwhile, the block was a welcome addition to my improv strings and triangles blocks, and three months in, these colors are still making me verrrry happy.

Linking up with Ad Hoc Improv Quilters.

Picture-Worthy :: One

It's been several weeks since I shared some favorite photoshoots, but that doesn't mean I haven't been collecting some great ones to show you! So many in fact, you'll get a double dose this week. Enjoy this batch, and I'll see you later in the week with more!

Black and White by Cynthia [ahhhquilting]


Cherry Blossom Bright by Amanda/A Crafty Fox [acraftyfox_amanda]

Emerging Illusion by Allison/Allison Sews [allisonsews]

Washi Tape by Cathy/Blueberry Patch [cathyeric]

Burst by Rachel/Rachel Rossi Design [designsbyrr]

Sail Away by Gwen [elletaylor7]

You'll find even more lovelies on my Photoshoots pin board . . .

Worth 1000 Words

In 2009, hubby and I went to Europe for the first time. In contemplating how to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary, we realized we were the only ones in our family who hadn't been. Both of our kids had, our parents, all of our sibs, nieces and nephews. Yup, everyone but us. It was time to rectify that. fast forward . . . .

After 15 hours of travel, we arrived in Florence, Italy, and after dropping our bags in our room, of course we headed out exploring. Just a half-block away, we turned a corner, and saw this.

I'm not exaggerating when I say I immediately, involuntarily, stepped backwards around that corner. It took a few moments before I could catch my breath and peek around the corner again. And ever since, I've considered that moment I first saw Il Duomo di Firenze my first meaningful glance of Italy. The next morning, we hurried back over to the Duomo and climbed to the top (463 steps!) and were once again mesmerized by what we saw.



Florence was a perfect introduction to Europe, and that photo of the Duomo came to mind as I read about this month's Mighty Lucky Quilting Club challenge: Using a Personal Photo as Inspiration for Piecing with Alison Glass [alisonglass].



I shared much of my beginning process in a previous post, but I'll back up just a bit to tell about the materials I chose to use. Fabrics for the front were mostly shot cottons from stash and one scrap of Essex. I loved the feel and bit of sheen, and had the perfect colors for the dome of Duomo. For backing, I thought a print from Angela Walters' Drift was the perfect choice, and reminded me of so many windows we'd seen in Italy.



I knew when I chose the shot cottons that they would be really lovely to quilt up. I used five Aurifil 50wt threads - 2000 (light sand), 2250 (red), 2314 (beige), 2600 (dove), 2730 (delft blue) - each to emphasis an element of my 'fabric photo'. And I went out on a limb and chose to free-motion quilt this one - totally not my norm, but in this case seemed worth the stretch.

I attempted to add more of the photo's detailing, and overall I think that worked. I especially like how the dome turned out, and the 'windows' on the right side. I'm a little disappointed with what I did in the sky portion, but I was on a roll, and while I was quilting away with those feed-dogs down, I figured I should practice something other than straight lines. So there ya go.

Overall, I found this project to be very challenging improv-wise - not the curves, but the 'corners'! But I think I learned something important in my decision to 'crop' my photo for the final quilt, which is only 17" square. I actually think the lack of detailed piecing in the buildings allowed that dome to remain the focal point and the overall piece, an uncluttered look. It seems in the challenges so far, there is the obvious stated challenge, but always something more to learn, and I think that's my been my favorite part.

Linking up with Finish It Up Friday.

Process

Eventually, you'll hear more about this photo and why I chose it for my April Mighty Lucky Quilting Club challenge, Using a Personal Photo as Inspiration for Piecing. But for now - I have had a few inquiries about my process as I've been posting progress photos over on Instagram, so will share a bit of that today. 

Honestly, I'm still new enough at improv that I rarely know exactly where I'm going with it. But with this piece, it at least made sense to start with what seemed the trickiest part - the dome of that Duomo - a cathedral in Florence, Italy. Often when I work in improv, several 'sections' are created, then they are puzzled together, so that was my starting plan here.

I used a technique I learned in this basic tutorial for free-hand curves, an 'overlap' technique to cut and join the two pieces indicated below. There's really no specifics - I just glanced at the photo, then cut a similar curve. I stitched, pressed, cut a new piece, and continued on to finish the dome. If things needed trimmed and reshaped as I went, that's what I did. Next were several strips of blue 'sky,' each with a bit of detail from the top of the dome.

Once I got the dome and sky pieced, I worked on the base as well as the surrounding buildings, keeping them pretty simple. Piecing like this isn't straight-forward for me. There's always fiddling to see what will give me the look I'm after. So I keep my seam-ripper handy, to tweak things as needed, sometimes it's as little as opening a seam end to add another element.

I realized pretty quickly that my scale was larger than I'd intended, considering I'm doing all of the Mighty Lucky challenge pieces at 17" square. So I decided to 'crop' my photo, knowing that would eliminate some of the detail I might otherwise have included. It was at that point that I decided adding more detail with the quilting was the way to go - maybe not quite the original challenge, but it's improv, and that's the way it happens sometimes.

So now the top is done, and I'll be quilting for a while now. . . first time free-motion quilting on my Juki! Hopefully in a few days I'll have a finished work to show you! Meanwhile, if you have any questions about what I've done so far, feel free to ask!

Hexies Redux

My go-to gift came through for me again, as I made a set of potholders for a house-warming gift over the weekend. I've even shared a similar set here before, but it's been a while, and the pattern is so darn good, it seemed worth sharing again.

The tutorial is Caroline/SewCanShe's Log Cabin Hexi Potholders, and yes, partial seams are involved to get started, but it's all so doable, and a perfect scrap project. I used one layer of Insul-Bright with 1 layer of Warm & White batting, which is my standard potholder filling.

So give them a try next time you need a little gift. And do tell. What's your go-to quick gift?

Triangles, Repeating Patterns, and the Color Blue

Marci had a multi-faceted prompt for her Bee Sewcial blocks this month in regards to shape, pattern, and color, which was alot to think about. I really wanted to make improv triangles, though it was clear that this wasn't the time to go crazy. There needed to be some order to pull off the repetition.

One of the little extras in Marci's prompt was asking us to include dark navy or black in each block. Also, we were given the option to include other fabrics than plain solids, which made me happy since I found a blue/black shot cotton in my stash, and it made a perfect backdrop in block one.

I think I still had strings on my mind from last month when creating triangles for block two. The secondary goal for this block was to make it entirely from triangles, some plain, and some pieced, and that actually worked pretty well.

Both blocks are 12 1/2" unfinished. Do glance at both #beesewcial and #inspiredbybeesewcial for some really awesome blocks this month!

The Pixies

In addition to sew-ins, classes, retreats, and all that modern quilting, the Seattle MQG likes to swap. We do it several times a year with a variety of projects, and last night was the cute and trendy Pixie Basket.

I figured while I was at it, I might as well make two, so I gifted one (above) and took the other (below) to swap! 

Someone asked me about my construction methods: I followed the tutorial - fused one layer of batt (Warm & White) behind the exterior panel - but used interfacing (my favorite Pellon SF101) rather then muslin on the lining. For a super smooth and clean finish, I did Marci/marci_girl's little trick for that final step of closing the opening in the lining, And for me, pressing the corners as Heidi suggests for nice boxy corners, is my last step of choice.

Below is the perfect little Pixie I received from Becky/rockinquiltbabe at the swap. She actually quilted the main exterior which just adds to the cuteness and structure. Thanks Becky!

It was hard to get a good photo of all the Pixies, but at least you can get a hint of all the goodness! I saw several modified baskets - which of course is easy to do with Heidi's tutorial. (See mine in the back center? It's 2 x 3 x 4 1/2’’ per the original instructions, just for scale.)

So goes another fun swap. Back to those w.i.p.s now!

Getting to Know You, Juki

I’ve had my JUKI TL-2010Q for about 6 weeks now and felt a mini review was in order. If for no other reason, I am glad I got it for its excellent stitch. I experienced a lot of variance in stitch with my other machine, especially depending on my speed. The Juki is SO consistent.

Though the Juki gets super reviews for free-motion quilting, I have yet to try that. At heart, I'm a walking-foot quilter, so that's all I've done so far. I've read folks suggest that you don’t need to use the walking foot to do quilting – just use the regular foot. But the regular foot is a scant quarter inch, and though it's fine for basic stitching, I really like the heft and width of the walking foot when I am quilting. I have also heard many people complain about the noise, but I don’t find mine any different than I'm used to, and definitely not excessive. I did on my first go find that the needle rubbed the edge of the foot, but a little tweak/twist on the foot took care of that. So personally, I find using the walking foot a very positive experience.

After quilting for a while though, the walking foot was squeaking just a bit. I was reminded that the presser foot tension should be adjusted (turn the knob on top so the line in the window is at the very top). I did that and the squeak decreased, but my stitches weren't as consistent, so I dialed it down a bit until I was satisfied. So I'll continue to explore that - maybe the fabric or batting choices can make a difference?

As far as that scant 1/4" foot goes, I bought a true ¼” foot from another company and it fits and works just fine. And I do like having both options, depending on what I'm sewing.

The Juki is known for it’s SPEED, which I take advantage of more for piecing than quilting. It can go half again as fast as my other machine, but is adjustable, not that I've turned it down yet. {grin}

Another feature I'd heard alot of negativity about was the needle-threader, and at first it was a little tricky (read: unreliable). But after a bit of use, I got my success ratio up to 75% or so. Then I watched a video by Maya Aralimatti, and though I'd been doing everything right, she mentioned putting the presser foot down right before the final step of threading, and now I thread it successfully nearly every time. I also make sure my needle is all the way up, which seems to make a difference. Just for the record, I really only use Aurifil, and the Juki seems happy with my choice.

I LOVE the thread cutter on the pedal. I'm less used to using the knee bar, so I go in spurts with using that.



At first, I was sewing without the included sewing table, but added it when I started quilting. Silly me, I showed hubby how uneven it was with the base of my machine, and he knew right off that its legs were adjustable. doh. Now it's perfect.

So far, there are really only two small items I'm not 100% happy with. One is that the thread-cutter leaves the thread tails very short. It can be a bother, but is manageable; the other is I'm used to having my presser foot raise and lower automatically when I stop and start sewing. So I miss that but again, I'm adjusting. So yeah, I'm really pleased. Kinda can't get enough of it!

Half Baked Clams

Though I totally expected to enjoy the Glam Clam II class with Latifah Saafir and the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild yesterday, I did not really expect to love the Glam Clam itself as much as I found I did! I mean, curves! But thankfully, when I supported Latifah in her KickStarter campaign last year, I chose the The Clammy 12" ruler as my 'reward.' As far as clam-shells go, the bigger they are, the easier, which resulted in very little curve-related stress for me.

When I got the pre-class packet, I chose one of Latifah's new variations for my first clam-shell quilt, so I waited until I got to class to cut anything out. But I had pulled a nice ole stack of Cotton + Steel from my stash, using the viewfinder's as my focus fabric. I also grabbed some neutral solids to add, just to lighten things up a bit.

I managed to get three rows done, having eight more to go for the "big baby" size quilt I'm planning. In addition to getting comfy with The Clammy and this pattern, I appreciated learning some tips from Latifih, and of course seeing some of her quilts. I think I already know how I want to quilt this and I plan a new-to-me binding method, which is very Latifah. All that to say I'm pretty psyched to keep working on my Half Baked Clams.

2016 Finish-A-Long :: Q2 List

What I truly feel like working on is another improv project that hasn't even been dreamt up yet, but meanwhile, there are three projects in the works that I'd like to finish this quarter.

1. My Chaos quilt from my recent class with Libs Elliott. Though I don't have photo proof, I have begun quilting it. I'd say I'm about one-third done, but the design I've chosen calls for marking all stitching lines, so that's slowed things down a bit.

2. A Maker's Tote, which I totally thought I'd finish on retreat last month. I got alot prepped, but all the major construction is still ahead of me.

3. Glam Clam! I'm taking a class with Latifah Saafir tomorrow, and thinking I'll try one of her Glam Clam variations. I chose this Cotton + Steel stack (plus solids) from stash, with everything coordinating with those viewfinders on top. I'm planning on baby size - enough to try out that Clammy ruler without way over-committing.

So three projects seems doable, right? Fingers crossed!

Linking up with the 2016 Finish-A-Long Q2 linky!

2016 Finish-A-Long :: Q2 Now Open!

Believe it or not, it's already time to embrace the second quarter of 2016! As you know, the 2016 FAL is co-hosted by a group of bloggers from around the world:

• Jess - Elven Garden Quilts - Australia [elvengardenquilts]
• Stacey - SLO Studio - Canada [slostudio]
• Jennie - Clover & Violet - USA [cloverandviolet]
• Helen - Archie the Wonder Dog - UK 
• Nicky - Mrs. Sew and Sow - UK [nickyeglinton]
• Rhonda - Rhonda's Ramblings - USA [rhondatherambler]
• Leanne - She Can Quilt - Canada [shecanquilt]
• Cindy - Fluffy Sheep Quilting - Ireland [fluffysheepquilting]
• Debbie - A Quilter's Table - USA [aquilterstable] me!

For those of you who are new to the FAL, it is a place to find motivation and encouragement to complete your unfinished projects. Each quarter, post a list with photos of projects you hope to finish in the next three months, and then at the end of the quarter, post a link from your blog, Flickr, or Instagram of each successful finish from your original list. Each finish is a chance to win wonderful prizes from our sponsors. There is no penalty for not finishing a listed project, so feel free to make your list long or short, as you wish. In Q1, there were 447 participants, and they in turn linked up over 800 finishes - now that's progress! The 2016 Schedule and Rules for the FAL can be found on my 2016 Finish-A-Long tab above.

To those of you already participating in the FAL, did you enjoy Tutorial Week at the end of Q1? It routinely takes place between the opening of the link for finishes and the day that link closes. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below! If you have a tutorial that you would like to share, please let me or another host know.  And for your convenience, I've just added links to all of the tutorials from Q1 Tutorial Week in the FAL tab, so reference that whenever you want!

Here are the fantastic and generous sponsors for Q2 of the FAL - you can see each of their prizes listed under their logo. Please take a moment to visit them and say thank you if you can!

The Quilt Ranch, $25 gift certificate	Knotted Thread, $30 gift certificate	Simply Solids, £40 (40 Pound) gift certificate	Sew me a Song, $20 gift certificate
Imagine Gnats, $40 gift certificate	Laurel Bee Designs, 2 pin bowls for 1 winner	Fat Quarter Shop, $50 gift certificate	On the Windy Side, pattern pack
Sew Sisters Quilt Shop, $25 gift certificate	Sunny Day Supply - $30 gift certificate	Sew Sweetness, copy of Windy City Bags	Christa Quilts signed copy of Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting
Mariners Compass Quilt Shop, $50 gift certificate	Porch Swing Quilts, 2 winners, 3 patterns each	7 Acres Cleared Fabric Shop, $50 gift certificate	Make Modern Magazine - 6 month subscription
Fluffy Sheep Quilting - â�¬25 (25 Euro) gift certificate	Mad About Patchwork - $40 gift certificate	Clover & Violet LLC - choice of 3 patterns	Oakshott Fabrics - £75 (75 Pounds) gift certificate
Happy Quilting - choice of 3 patterns	The Tartankiwi - choice of 3 patterns	Green Fairy Quilts - $25 gift certificate	Blossom Heart Quilts, Full Aurora BOM Pattern
The Intrepid Thread - $50 gift certificate

InLinkz.com

So now it's time to round up those projects you want to finish over the next three months, take a photo of where you are now with each project, and make your list. Please include projects that you have already started - at least pulled fabric with a pattern or plan, and remember that it is finished projects that will get you entry toward the above listed prizes at the end of the quarter. So while we love to see your bee blocks, the "finish" is when they are a completed, usable project. It is very helpful if you tag your Q2 list as #FALQ2yourname.

The 2016 Q2 link for your list of proposed finishes is now open below and on each of the hosting blogs. You only link your list (one post) once, on one blog - and that link will show up on all of the host blogs. If you are using Flickr or Instgram, link a mosaic and put your list in the description. Katy of The Littlest Thistle has a great tutorial on how to link-up if you have need it. Note that the Q2 linky party will stay open until 11 pm EST, April 16th. You might want to check your time zone to determine your last possible time to link.

We do hope that you participate in the FAL community by checking out the links of others, visiting around, and commenting on their lists. We all need encouragement to get those finishes done, right? So let's get to it!

An InLinkz Link-up