Make someone happy

     The last inch of binding has been sewn down and the last knot buried.  The crib quilt I have been working on (first blogged here) for the 100 Quilts for Kids event at Swim Bike Quilt is done.

    Scrappy bindings are my favorite- they neatly pull the whole quilt together when composed of the fabrics used in the blocks.  I used four of the six prints from the quilt blocks, two Jenean Morrison Wild World prints along with a couple of the other complementary fabrics.  I quilted by following the zig zag lines of the pattern.   
     I'm in love with the quilt and wish I could keep it, but I'm glad to help a child in need and grateful to be in a position to do so.  I hope the child who receives the quilt gets much warmth and comfort from it. [Edit 10/28/11- This quilt is going to Project Night Night.]

What's that buzzing sound?

 
     The Scrapbuster Swap blocks, both monochromatic and mixed, have finally been squared up.  They were finished last week but squaring up is my least favorite part about quilting, so they sat in a pretty pile in my living room.  I finally decided yesterday it was time for a trimming so I can post them.   

     Because four quilts-in-progress and a sweater-in-progress seem not enough to keep me occupied, I have joined two new quilting bees via Flickr.  I'm a little apprehensive, as they both involve blocks with which I have very little experience.  But I've always been a quick study, and I'm eager to stretch myself as a quilter.

     The first bee is Design Camp [think outside the block] Swap.  This is a modern block swap with improvisational blocks as the focus.  I consider myself a modern quilter in that I use modern fabrics in my blocks.  I love the bright colors and bold graphics.  But I have yet to piece an improvisational block.  Hopefully this experience will help me let go of that need for symmetry and order.  It's time to get a little crazy with the block piecing!
    
     There are some very good discussions about modern quilting and improvisational blocks out there.  I'm eager to try and hoping that the blocks look improvisational by design, not from laziness to follow a pattern or to match seams and points (matching seams and points perfectly is something I'm still trying to master).

     The second bee I joined is the Piece Bee with You Swap, a foundation piecing bee.  I've done exactly one foundation pieced block- the square-within-a-square.  Not exactly challenging.  I'd better practice before the bee starts up in October.  I bounced around the web looking for suggestions on how to create and piece your own design, but there wasn't much on this topic.  I'm sure experienced foundation piecers would think it quite easy to know where to begin piecing their own original design, but I am clueless.  Looks like it's time to hit the scrap pile and figure this thing out!  And if anyone who may be reading this has any references they can point me to, I'd greatly appreciate it! 

Scrapbuster swap- more, more, more!

   
     Twenty blocks for the Scrapbuster Swap (blogged here) are waiting to be sent.  I was ready to package them up and send them on their merry way until I browsed the Flickr pool for this swap.  Photos of monochromatic blocks were posted by a fellow swapper and they are gorgeous.  So, of course, now I have to make monochromatic blocks!
     I have enough in my stash to make aqua, pink and green monochromatic blocks.  That's sixteen different aqua prints, sixteen pink prints and sixteen green prints.  I've only completed two quilts, so the math doesn't quite add up, does it?  I have a bit of a fabric hoarding problem.
     Here's the aqua block.  I love it and can't wait to make the pink and green blocks.

 

 

Hurray for holiday weekends!

     Thanks to a kind friend, my family spent the long Labor Day weekend in California gold country.  We had an amazing time at the preserved gold rush town of Columbia, where we panned for gold, dipped candles and bowled old west-style.  We also enjoyed fishing at Pinecrest Lake with friends, hiking the Natural Bridges trail down to a flooded cave leading out to the New Melones reservoir, and just plain relaxing at the home where we were staying.
     In spite of all the outdoor activity, I was able to get a little sewing done.  Earlier this summer, I pieced a bunch of half-square triangles using white Kona cotton and a mix fabrics (including some lovely Jenean Morrison Wild World prints) with no concrete project in mind.  It was just mindless sewing of fabrics that had been in my stash for quite some time.  I learned about the 100 Quilts for Kids challenge through the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild and decided this would be the perfect project for those orphan HST's.

I agonized over the layout for over an hour before settling on this zig-zag layout (the kids are actually holding it sideways).  The quilting and binding should go fairly quickly since it's a crib size quilt.  Then it's off to Project Night Night, where this Wild Zig-Zag Quilt will make its way to a small child in need of warmth.