Thursday, August 25, 2016

Triad meets McKinney swap


I'm so happy I can finally share a finish (and one of my third quarter goals for the finish along!) Earlier this year, the McKinney Modern Quilt Guild (my guild, here in Texas) set up a mini quilt swap with the Triad Modern Guild in North Carolina. It was fun to be assigned a partner in another guild who I had never met! When I got Kim's info, I learned that she liked foundation paper piecing (among other things) and loved the colors "plum pink and pickle green" Hmmm! Not colors I had a lot of in my stash, so off I went shopping! Also, I had been dying to try lillyella's Take Wing pattern and this seemed like a great time to do that.

Now that Kim has received her quilt I can share it with you here! I love the way this turned out. The pattern stretched me (and perhaps proved to me that I have finally somewhat mastered paper piecing!). It's a complex pattern but totally doable if you take it one section at a time.
I took my lead from lillyella's pattern and machine quilted radiating lines around the butterfly, which matched my quilting skill level (aka beginner) and made the butterfly look like it was in motion which I loved.
I would love to make this pattern again and highly recommend it to all of you.

I can hardly wait for our September 6 meeting, where we will receive our minis from the swap!

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Home

This year the theme of the Row by Row Experience is Home. I always collect a handful of the patterns from nearby shops & have been known to incorporate portions of rows into projects, but I've never actually made one of the rows before (much less made a whole quilt of them, but that's still true).  When I saw the row at Urban Spools this year, I knew I wanted to make it. Of course, the fact that it was designed by my friend Melissa made it even more special! And, I LOVED the fabrics they had chosen for the row, so I actually bought the KIT! People, that is something I NEVER EVER do.... I'm totally not a kit person. I like to put my own spin on things. So you KNOW it was awesome if I did this!

This Dallas skyline is all paper pieced (and some of the pieces were teenie tiny! scared me to death) but the pattern was super easy to follow and I love the way it came together. Dallas has been our adopted home for 14 years now, and though I miss my buddies back in the midwest, I honestly can't imagine ever living anywhere else! I may grumble a bit on the 100+ degree days, but when my pals are shoveling "white stuff" in January & freezing their noses off, I'm quite happy in the south!

And now I'm happy to have this finished row to hang in my studio. Thanks Melissa for your awesome design!

Saturday, August 13, 2016

pillows


Another finish for my third quarter finish-along goals!Six pillows for Ally's apartment done and happily hanging out on her couch.
Fabrics are all black/white/gold cotton prints from Hobby Lobby (with added kona black in the patchwork pillow). Two 18" pillows, one 16", one 14" and two 12"x16" rectangles. They look so good in her happy new home!

Just one more finish to go for this quarter for me.... and it's a doozy! I've been cranking away on My Small World quilt & hope to have the topper done very soon.... whew!

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

matching dresses

I haven't made matching dresses for my girls since they were little. Really little. As in, say one and seven? I do believe the last matching dresses I made for them had bunnies on them. So when they asked me to make them matching San Francisco Swing dresses in gray I thought they were nuts. And then I thought, what the heck? I mean, they live clear across the country from each other so the likelihood of them wearing them together is slim to none. 

So, the dresses are made and delivered and they both love them! Yay! Ally & I went out for a bit of a photo shoot today. She found this quote on a building that made her smile....
And Leigh Anne sent me this great shot from New York City (seriously, they have THE BEST graffiti there!)
 These dresses are my third finish in the 2016 Finish along for this quarter. I'm really happy about that. Oh, and if you need a giggle, check out these shots of Ally....


Have a wonderful day!