Modern Scrappy Twist

In preparing for my quilt workshop for my Houston Modern Quilt Guild friends, I struggled with ideas of how to make the very traditional "Scrappy Trip Around the World" quilt into one with a modern twist.

This is my first 'modern twist'.  Tell me what you think.

I confess, I wasn't taken with it at first, but so many have liked it that it is beginning to grow on me.  I have also spied the capital letter (upper case) "R". This is cute as I'm pondering whether to finish this little quilt as a gift for one of my two new great-nieces born this summer, but how do I choose between the sweet Riley Kate or the darling Ava Rose?  Please advise!

not Mi Tierra

Traveling around Texas recently landed me at a friend's doorstep, not at Mi Tierra, but rather at their home fondly named Tierra Fina. 
  

 I get  kick out of the funky decorative use of their upcycled cowboy boots!

Isn't this dainty patriotic angel, welcoming all who visit, simply charming?

This baby quilt, made for Dennis so many many years ago, is displayed simply and proudly in their front room.  I love this crazy quilt, especially the interesting assortment of fabrics.  Everything went into the making of this little quilt from silks and cottons to feed-sacks and other fabrics.  I wonder if the quilt was made by salvaging pieces of fabric from well-worn clothing, or from the left-over scraps from cutting and stitching garments brand new, or both?

One highlight of visiting Chela and Dennis was seeing gifts I had made and given to them years ago currently being used in their cozy home.  This little pillow was stitched up when we were all living in the Texas valley, where we met.  Chela and I taught mathematics in the local high school in Los Fresnos.  My, that seems like a million years ago now -- time has a way of flying by!

This quilt was started in one of the first classes I ever took at the International Quilt Festival after moving to Houston nearly twenty years ago.  It now resides on the back of the loveseat in their living room.  When we held it up for this photo, I was so surprised -- I am positive that my quilt was much bigger when I made it.  Can time also shrink reality?

Thank you Chela and Dennis for a lovely time in Bandera!  Kathleen, I hope you don't mind if I visit again before you return to Texas.

Roosters

Just some rooster fun - sighted while driving around the streets of San Antonio, Texas.

Is this a subtle reminder (to me) that I want to stitch up a chicken and rooster quilt one day?  Or am I fostering a new affection for roosters?

Fields of Blue

At long last, I am making new quilts for my sons.  They each are selecting the pattern and telling me their color preferences (and can even pull-out some of the fabrics I have selected to use, though I might over-rule them occasionally).

This post features Isaac's "Fields of Blue" quilt.  Here it is on the long arm in Pam Quiltaholic's studio.

If you are looking for someone to do your quilting for you, I highly recommend the talents of Pam Quiltaholic!  She excels at custom, free-motion quilting.  We talked over different options before deciding to use this pattern of meandering geometric squares and rectangles (see below). 

I am also dedicated to finishing projects this year, and am participating in (though not always posting by the deadlines) A Lovely Year of Finishes.  For the month of July, my goal is to put the binding onto a minimum of three quilts (possibly more ... but I might be getting ahead of myself).  Click here to see who else is participating in July.  You can see me at # 105.

In June, I made labels and stitched them onto four quilts.  Only one was made recently (start to finish); the other three have been finished for ages -- two residing on the back of my couch and loveseat in our living room!  Why is it that the quilts that seem to get finished (all the way to the labelling stage) the fastest are the quilts that are made for others?

Check back at the end of the month to see if I successfully reached my goal of binding three quilts, the first being "Fields of Blue" shown above (note: I'm not promising anything about the labels!)

Scrappy Garden Trip-Alongs

My traditional quilting bee, the Block Builders Bee, holds a quilt block lottery 8 months of the year.  This past February, the lottery block was based on Bonnie Hunter's Scrappy Trips Around the World, in a garden version created by Betty Rivers.  Lucky for Betty, she won all the blocks in the lottery that month and made this lovely quilt.

Admiring her lovely quilt, five of us in the Block Builders Bee, decided to do a side swap, so I busily began making blocks for this side trade.  We were using Betty's variation, although Bonnie Hunter's original free pattern can be found by clicking here or looking on her website: quiltville.com  under the free patterns section.  She calls this pattern "Scrappy Trips Around the World".

There is also a Flickr group called Scrappy Trip Along which can be found here.  Take a peek in this group to discover and enjoy many variations of this simple pattern.

Soon, I am conducting a "how-to" workshop for this block for my local Modern Quilt Guild.  This means that I am busily stitching up several samples.  The first two are now at my quilter's being quilted (Thank you Pamquiltaholic!).  Here is a photo of each before I added a final 1 1/2" border to them.  

I call the first quilt "Diagonal Garden Rows" and the quilt below I call "Scrappy Garden Strip Along"

I am now working on more samples and variations as I race to finish before my workshop!

a sampler quilt

A bright and sunny quilt that I made from a set of JoAnn's Block of the Month blocks -- I redesigned some of the blocks, set a few on point and created my own setting to get end with a larger quilt.

I love the yellows and teals -- and enjoyed the challenge of thinking through and then stitching my original setting for these nine blocks.  Did you notice that even though it is nine blocks, the quilt is rectangular (a tad longer than it is wide), not square? 

The photo was taken during show-n-tell at one of the QGGH Block Builders Bee meetings.

Lo and behold, months after finishing this quilt, I found another packet of this same Block of the Month!  Maybe I will turn that one into a pillowcase to go along with this quilt.....

Aloha - finished!

I have finished my little quilt and it is ready to swap in the eighth round of Kate North's 'Another Little Quilt Swap (ALQS).  Here it is ...

Aloha friend

I learned how design and cut my original Hawaiian appliqué patterns and how to machine appliqué the  block in a class at the 2013 International Quilt Festival.  The class, "Meet me in Hawaii," was taught by Kathy Kansier and was quite fun.  This is the first block that I have finished completely into a little quilt. It measures 19" by 19.5" (I was trying to make a square block, but missed by 1/2 an inch!)

It is quilted in the Hawaiian fashion of echo-quilting around the applique design. 

The back is solid white, so the quilting stands out (yikes!  I think I did a pretty good job ... didn't I?)