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?)

mug rug swap potential

During our February meeting of the Houston Modern Quilt Guild, we held a Mug Rug swap.  Here are the two mug rugs that I entered into this fun trade.

This is the first mug rug that I've ever made.  The background is pieced from strips and squares in my scrap bag, then I appliqued two hearts on top for extra pizzazz.  This was finished with a stitch-and-flip version -- no binding was used (or harmed) during the making of this little quilt (tee-hee).

This mug rug uses hand-dyed sparkle charms that I cut a heart out of before applique'ing on top.  I explored some of the many funky stitch options that my machine is capable of (and rarely used) - such great fun!  By the way, I intended the funky shape of the mug rug too.  Next time I will exaggerate the off-kilter-y wonky shape.

I love the simplicity of this mug rug, from the clear graphic layout and colors to the hand-stitched quilting lines.  I do not know the maker (yet) but I do know that Sally, our fearless leader of the HMQG this year, received it in the swap.

These two spools make the perfect mug rug for one's sewing area (be it in a studio or the corner of one's living room).  This mug rug and the kitty mug rug below both ended up with Amy, another of our HMQG officers.  I do not know who made either of these sweet mug rugs. 

This cute kitty looks to be one of the patterns from the CatVent quilt along hosted by Elizabeth Hartman in December 2013 on her Oh Fransson blog.

Here's a view of Elizabeth's kitties on her finished Cat-Along quilt... or rather one of her finished cat-along quilts.

 

I must add this cute kitty quilt to my own personal Quilts-I-Wanna(gotta?)-Make Bucket List.

meow, meow, meow!

Kindness Multiplies

Small acts of kindness (both intentional ones and random ones) beget more acts of kindness, and the friendliness of these actions continues to multiply the positive energy in a delightful way.

detail of Kindness Multiplies

This little quilt is called "Kindness Multiplies" as its little hearts are expanding and growing on their own - much like little acts of kindness that multiply into more similar kind acts, slowly spreading good feelings steadily across the world.

Kindness Multiplies

This quilt is an original design that I created.  I started with the simple checkerboard background and added hearts in a variety of sizes, overlapping and stacked ontop of larger hearts.
It is pieced, appliquéd and free-motion quilted.

Size:  approximately 15" x 15"

  

A view of the quilt back

This quilt is entered into ALQS8, Another Little Quilt Swap hosted by Kate North.  Soon I will find out to whom I am sending "Kindness Multiplies" while at the same time waiting to see which quilt in  I will be receiving!   It is a fun way to meet other quilters as well as to collect their work.

The latest quick little project...

I'm having fun with my latest project - making mug rugs to trade, swap, and give-away.  For those that may not know, a mug rug is a small quilt that is larger than a coaster and smaller than a placemat, room for a coffee cup and a treat (cookie, muffin, croissant - that's your choice!).   Click here to see more mug rugs.

Here are four that are currently in the growing stage ...  It's easy to figure out the inspiration here (an upcoming holiday!)

Making these small mug rugs are a great way to try out new things.  In the one above, I explored some of the fancier stitches my machine is capable of doing, but which I rarely ever try.  In the one below, I played with arranging, specifically the scattered blue triangles under the hearts.

The two below are inspired by the Hawaiian appliqué pattern, similar to cutting a paper snowflake.  

All of my mug rugs are made from the scraps and discards from previous projects.  I'm recycling!  or up-cycling! 

One or more of these may be swapped in my upcoming Modern Quilt Guild meeting.  Stay tuned for the final versions.

Lawndale Mural

What's this I see?

 ... on Main Street in the Museum District ...

... on the north exterior wall of the Lawndale Art Center ...

I heard it was there so I drove past and took these photos to share. 

This mural is a collaboration between artists Daniel Anguilu and Aaron Parazette.

I learned (via Fresh Arts/Spacetaker) that:  This project is the third phase of the rotating mural at Lawndale. Both painters employ forms of abstract patterns in their work, though their individual approach differs greatly. Anguilu’s intuitive approach to painting outdoor spaces results in gestural forms that take shape on the wall, while the clean lines and mathematical forms of Parazette’s work  result from a more calculated approach to painting.

... and (via Facebook) that the mural is already being painted over and prepped for the next artistic creation.  

Apparently I happened by the mural during its final days!  I'm glad I did and I will share photos of the next mural soon ....