I'm SO In!

If you've been around A Quilter's Table any length of time, you know that the annual Pantone Quilt Challenge is something I really enjoy! This year's challenge was just announced and is once again hosted by No Hats in the House and Bryan House Quilts.

There's even a posting schedule this year, and this week, it's just making yourself known as a joiner! 

Soooo.... are you in? The project doesn't have to be huge - see, mine from previous years have been a variety of sizes. Whether you love Living Coral or not, it's just fun to join in and create around a color theme!

Nine of Ten

I can't say I was that pleased with the blocks I brought home from my Planned and Unplanned class at QuiltCon. The topic, with Melanie Tuazon [melintheattic] teaching, was a good one, and I intend to explore it further. That wasn't the problem. I think it was a combo of my fabric choices and block design. I very nearly just tossed the blocks when I came across them the other night. But no, it seemed only right to give them a chance.

And I'm glad I did! I came up with a rough layout and just started piecing the blocks together, adding some contrasting bits to help align things and add some interest. Since Melanie had encouraged us to play with scale in class, I had made one much larger block before running out of time. And if I'd been up for making a bunch more blocks, it would have fit right in. But instead, I wanted to basically keep with what I'd made in class and make a smaller project. Due to that, the extra big block seemed overwhelming! Thankfully it dawned on me to drastically trim it along its sides, and I think it 'fits' so much better.

I debated whether or not to matchstick-quilt this one, which sounded fun, but for some reason, I wanted to give the piece some movement. So I skimmed thru my copy of WALK by Jacquie Gering, and settled on a curved crosshatch. I used Aurifil 50wt #2830 [mint], a winsome light green thread that provided a little contrast and added another green element while not being too conspicuous.

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So that was fun! I took something I wasn't that excited about, and somehow, in a moment when I needed a creative distraction, was relatively quickly able to turn it around to become something I'm actually quite pleased with. It measures just 14 1/2" x 20 1/2", and I think I'll use it as a mat under my computer. My favorite project ever? Not quite. But I like it well enough, and it'll be a good reminder of an even better QuiltCon moment in time.

Did you notice the orientation of the quilt changed depending on my photo location? Totally not my intent. The photo directly above shows the piece upside down from my original thought.... do you have a preference??

The Final Round

When it takes you nearly four months to sew on 'just' 108 little 1 1/2" squares, I think there's a subliminal message: It's time to move on.

Yeah. My Teeny Tiny Trip Around the World that I started at QuiltCon in 2018 is now 38" square, and though I had thought I'd keep piecing on it indefinitely, it seems I've had a change of heart. I can accept that. My enthusiasm for hand-piecing it has waned, so it's time to say enough already and get to quilting. By hand, of course! 

Dipping into Improv

Over on IGQuiltFest the other day, we were asked to share our favorite quilt book. Instead, I stacked up my favorite books on improv and shared those. Any chance you are interested in dabbling into improvisational piecing but not sure where to start? Or you've played around a bit with improv, but want to expand your skills? Either way, these are great resources to consider.

These first three are where I started!

• Quilting Modern by Jacquie Gering and Katie Pedersen
• Improvising Tradition by Alexandra Ledgerwood
• Quilt Improv by Lu Summers

The next several helped me add to my improv toolkit.

• Liberated Quiltmaking II by Gwen Marston
• Intuitive Color & Design by Jean Wells
• Improv Patchwork by Maria Shell
• Create Your Own Improv Quilts by Rayna Gillman
• Artful Improv by Cindy Grisdela

And this last one is brand new, a great place to begin, and also has a couple of things I'll be trying.

• Inspiring Improv by Nicholas Ball

Any other improv resources to suggest? Let me know!

Portraits

When I read that Felicity/@felicityquilts' prompt for Bee Sewcial this month was face blocks, I was seriously angsty. We could choose either an abstract style, realist, or anywhere in between, as long as our portraits read as humanoid faces. I can't say I felt much better after making my first block, which measures 8"x14". I mean, if I squint, I'm pretty happy with the bangs, and I think the lips are interesting enough, but I'll let it go at that. I did know from the third seam that her name would be Sally (Yes, we are supposed to name our portraits....) so at least that part came easily.

It took me a week to get up the nerve to try making another block, but the process and result felt much better. Meet Rowan. She measures 17" x 19" and I'm really happy with her. Those eyelashes were my main focus, which led me to keep the nose and lip elements simpler. So even though this prompt was very challenging for me, I'm feeling ok about where I ended up.

Kentucky Barn Quilts

Following QuiltCon, hubby, mom, and I headed west, out of the city, into rural Tennessee, to spend a few days with family. To our surprise, along the way, we happened upon a barn quilt!

[Max Rogers' barn with Mariner Compass. Max says, “My dad used to tell the story that the family who lived here in the thirties had a teenage son. One night some cardsharks got him in a game and cleaned him out. Sometime later, they came back to get him in another game. But this time, the dad came to the door. He told them 'Last time you got the boy but tonite you got the old man.' That night the dad won enough from the men to build this stockbarn. I have been sure to maintain it. I chose this pattern simply because it appealed to me.”]

So one day we ventured out with my brother, looking for more quilts. It wasn't until after we returned home that I realized we had been traveling along the Calloway County Quilt Trail. Most of the barns pictured here were along Route 94 in south western Kentucky, not far from the state border with Tennessee. Note that all names and details in brackets are from the quilt trail website. Other notes are my own.

[The Wilson barn with a patriotic quilt. This quilt was painted by the Wilsons and given as a gift and to honor Don’s dad, Jimmy Wilson. Don had the clever idea to outline the stripes using auto striping tape. This turned out to be the perfect solution.]

No information, but the quilt is one of my favorites, as it really shows its age, doesn't it?

No information.

[Mark Jetton Poultry Farm, Farmington KY. The setting of this barn and its Log Cabin block makes it another one of my favorites.]

[Butterworth Barn, Murray KY.]

We pulled off the road to get a photo of this quilt near Murray KY, and the homeowner, Alisha Cherry, happened to walk into the yard. A quilter herself, she painted their barn quilt.

No information

[Tidwell Tobacco Farm, Lynnville KY.]

Pretty cool, right? Looking for these barns made for a fun family outing. Hope you enjoyed seeing them too!

Home Away from Home

Once again a little log cabin block - just a quarter of one, in fact - has led me to a place I could not have foreseen, yet am definitely glad to have arrived at. Begun at QuiltCon in an Improv Theme and Variation class with Denyse Schmidt, I arrived home with my blocks from class still arranged on my portable design wall, rolled up in my suitcase. It took just a little puzzling together to make them into a quilt top.

Right away, I knew that matchstick quilting was the way I wanted to go. And though starting out I intended to use several colored threads, I ended up using just one, Aurifil 50wt #2435 (Peachy Pink). In my mind, it's Pink Flamingo, and it provided a nicely subtle contrast in nearly all of the fabrics I'd used.

Speaking of fabrics, did you think I'd only used solids? Mostly, yes, but there was a single print inserted three or four times.... one from Carolyn Friedlander's Doe, and I love the extra bit of interest it adds.

For the backing, I pieced a variety of orange and coral stash prints together, and it was all finished with a faced binding, measuring 34" x 30".

So here ends an agreeable little meander that began with the simplest of blocks, was enhanced by an encounter with someone I admire alot, all the while buoyed up by the Instagram contingent. These are just the type of projects and processes that empower me the most, and every time, I'm grateful that they've happened.

Linking up with Meadow Mist Design's Favorite Finish Linkup!

QuiltCon 2019 :: The Charity Quilts

When arriving at QuiltCon, the first thing I wanted to see was Seattle MQG's charity quilt, The Last Hurrah. And excuse me, but it looked mighty good!

Unfortunately, my giving committee co-chair, Louise/@imfeelincrafty wasn't able to travel to QuiltCon this year, so we did the best we could to include her in a photo with the quilt.

We totally wish there was a book made with all the quilts from the charity quilt challenge, they're that good! I'm not even sure I saw them all, but here are some I especially liked.

  

See what I mean? Beautiful, and such a variety of interpretations on the theme.

QuiltCon 2019 :: The Quilts

I was disappointed when I got home from QuiltCon and realized how few photos I had taken of quilts in the show. Let me rephrase that. I took lots of photos of certain quilts (such as Baconrific, oops), but not of a wide variety of quilts. I won't say alot about the ones I did take, but will share the placards that hung with them to credit their makers, and so you can read more about them.

The first two, though, are Bee Sewcial quilts, and lo and behold if Leanne/@shecanquilt's "Smile" didn't win Best in Show! A profound and proud moment in time for our bee.

Karen/@capitolaquilter's "Stretch" also hung in the show, and the quilting done by Karen's sister Sharyl/@itssewscottsdale, just elevated it to another level.

Another quilt of special interest to me was made by Hillary/@entropyalwayswins. The design was inspired by a card Hillary had sent me back in 2017, and because of that, she named it, in part, after me. Fun, eh?





Here are just a few more quilts from the show that caught my eye!

  

I just love the variety, don't you?