A short list of upcoming goals

As I was saying to Heather of joy of all crafts just a little while ago at the quilt shop (Cool Cottons), I've been too long out of my routine and feel like today was my day to push the "RESET" button and get back on track.

This leaves me with a big ol' ZERO on accomplishments this past week, but a list of things I've put aside recently and am eager to get back to.

1. BABY QUILTS!!
I have 2 friends who are each expecting their second child in the next month or so, and a couple of friends who are expecting their first later this fall! Inspiration has been slim, but I am sure that will change when these little guys (or rather, girls) start arriving!

2. BEE BLOCKS
Thankfully Chris deemed July as a "catch-up" month for the Bliss Circle of do.Good Stitches, which means I'm off the hook on that one.

F+F=AMSB
Nicole asked us to have fun with some polaroid blocks. I've begun gathering some possible focus fabrics for the centers, but definitely have a few more to go, then getting the borders and settings down.

Design Camp [totb]
Leanne sent out some brilliant pinks and greens for July's block, using the Mod Mosaic tutorial from Elizabeth Hartman at Oh, Fransson. Of course, being on the off-schedule I've been on, that packet hasn't even made its way to my studio yet :-(

And it also occurred to me that next month is MY month to host Camp 2 of this improv bee. I've been gathering inspiration photos for the style of "blocks" I am aiming for in a Pinterest board, and just this week started pulling fabrics to play with.

August will be my first time hosting a bee where the host sends out fabric to the others, so this will be interesting!

There are definitely some other things I will be working on in the next couple of months, but don't know how much I'll be moving ahead until these items are ticked off the list.

Wish me luck!

Mini-Giveaway

Thank you to Danielle, Gail and Dawn for playing along and sharing photos from their visit to Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show last weekend. You can see some additional photos from the quilt show on their blogs:
Gail at I Think Sew
Dawn at First Light Designs

I put Mr. RNG to some heavy-duty mathematics, and he came back to me with the big Numero Uno, indicating Danielle's comment:
I didn't see Reflections, or surely I'd have photographed it! I only got one shot including your first entry, with the PMQG sign as well. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jujucabra/7576816622/in/set-72157630590973452

As first place prize, I've put together a group of 8 quarter yard cuts of some lovely B/W fabrics

plus a full yard of a coordinating bonus fabric!

AND NOW... since it seems silly to not acknowledge the efforts of our 2 other fellow PMQG members with so few responses, I've selected a little token gift for both Gail and Dawn to show my appreciation. It's not 3 yards worth of fabric, mind you, but hopefully they'll enjoy their gifts.

Coming up later this week I'll introduce some new progress on the July blocks for both the Design Camp [think outside the block] 2 Bee and the F+F Modern Scrap Bee.

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show - and a giveaway opportunity

I have had the honor of having one of my quilts accepted to the special exhibit area for the Portland Modern Quilt Guild at this year's Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in Sisters, OR.

(Lock 'n' Bolt)

I'm excited! And then I figured, well as long as I'm sending this one out for display, maybe I should take this opportunity and submit a couple more, in the hopes that I'd make my first trip out there for the show.

(Jewel of Friendship)

(Reflections)

But alas, that was not to be - no traveling the 4 or so hours from Portland for what I understand to be an awesome and overwhelming day. Not this year at least. Which puts me in a position to ask a favor and combine it into a giveaway (or two, maybe?). I know I'm putting this out there rather last minute (it's been a heck of a week!) and possibly most of you lucky ducks who will be at the show are already in the depths of central Oregon soaking up the sun and sights, having left the online community back at home for the weekend.

**GIVEAWAY DETAILS HERE**
BUT, if anyone who happens to be going to the show sees this post and is so inclined, here's my thinking... as you're wandering around looking at the beauties on display, if you HAPPEN to see any of these 3 quilts on display, I would LOVE to get a link to a photo! SOooo, if you leave a comment with either a link to a flickr or blog photo, or even with the photo included in the comment, you will be entered into a drawing for a giveaway. One entry per photo of each quilt (max 3 per person). I'll keep this open until next Friday, July 20th as I know it often takes me a few days to go through my photos after a trip or an event. Have fun at the show, folks!

I know this is kind of limiting, so I promise that in the next week or two I will find another fun giveaway that will be open to all readers!
P.S. If you are a no-reply blogger, please leave your email address in the message so I can get back to you. Thanks!

WIP Wed - a month of Sundays

Wow, it's been quite a while. But what better way to reintroduce myself to the blogging world than to do a WIP Wednesday entry and link it to Kati's guest post at Freshly Pieced?


In mid-June I made a point of finishing up some big projects in order to get ready to leave town for a few weeks. I had some quilts to complete and pack off to send to Sisters, OR (more on that in a later post) as well as fulfill some Etsy orders.

A good chunk of my trip away from home was spent taking an amazing 5 day workshop from Jane Sassaman. I got the pleasure of not only meeting and learning from this lovely, down-to-earth, creative powerhouse, but also met some wonderful ladies from around the world (there was one woman in from Sydney!) and best of all, hanging out with my mom! The workshop is entitled Abstracting From Nature, and though Jane adeptly describes her techniques and freely gives input on compositional and creative choices, each student's piece had a very different style and feel. Some examples:

Pixie's anemone

Cindy V.'s crocuses

Kim's chicory flowers

Donna's (my mommy!) kaffir lily

Judy's peonies

and I suppose I should show some of what I was working on too...

I still have lots of work yet to do on this puppy (or rather poppy), but am happy with the progress I made while in Greenville, NY.

And coming back to reality, my only time in the sewing studio since returning home was dedicated to finishing my June bee blocks for Eileen, in the Friends + Fabric Bee. She chose a paper piecingtutorial from Nydia who blogs at The ADD Crafter, Basketweave Braid Star Block.

Though not complex, this block is definitely a time-sucker. But on the plus side, it was TRULY a scrap-buster as well - I could work exclusively from my basket of strips up until adding the white background pieces.

So, I feel like I've been taking a summer hiatus which began about a month before summer. And it may continue longer than I'd like, but 'tis the season for family visits, gardening, cycling, and making up for a Vitamin D deficiency from the last 8 or 9 months! But do please bear with me and I promise to get back into the swing of things and hopefully find new inspiration to share soon!

Robot Invasion, pt. 2

Well, I can't say that he's any closer to being a "standard model" but at least he's got all the important parts (I think).

started by attaching the head and body.

and played with the idea of a gear...

...though in the initial placement it looked more like a sun.


So we had to move it.


And hopefully when this guy is pieced together with some of the other blocks that Tiff gets he'll look a little more at home. Big ears and little feet and all.

A Robot Invasion, pt. 1

This month for the Design Camp [Think Outside the Block] 2 bee Tiffany chose a nice little challenge - improv robots and gears. She posted a mock-up of her idea here and her sample block here. I thought her sample guy is just the cutest thing ever, and a good inspiration for playing around with her idea.

So on Sunday I ventured into the baggie of fabrics she sent out and started cutting in.


I then chose the basic shapes to start with: body, head and neck.


Next come the features...






I'm afraid that my guy might be turning out to be something of a robot-Frankenstein amalgam, a reject from the factory floor, but he'll have personality! I'll be playing more in a couple of days and will share how he turns out.

Another task on my agenda is gathering supplies for a workshop with Jane Sassaman on the opposite side of the country. This is definitely more of a challenge than I could have imagined. How will I know what fabrics I will want, especially since this isn't necessarily a literal interpretation of my inspiration photos?




I guess I'm sticking pretty close to true colors, but it's still stacking up!

Yikes! Does anyone have any tips for the traveling quilter??

I think I really mean "Never Again"!

Okay, so I think I ought to begin this post by saying I mean no disrespect. However, for the first time since I began doing the online bees I was presented with a block that kicked my butt!! And by that I mean it tried my patience more than I can say, and by the second one (which took me a week and a half just to decide on the fabrics) I really was chanting the "Never Again!!" mantra.

For our May blocks in the Bliss circle of do. Good Stitches Carol chose to go with a block tutorial that Elizabeth Hartman posted for the Modern Quilt Guild – Octagonal Orb Block.




Now don't get me wrong... the tutorial is EXCELLENT! Like every single one of Elizabeth's patterns I've tried out, which can be found at her blog Oh, Fransson or at Sew, Mama, Sew!, it is written impeccably, is as clear as can be and is very well organized. However, this one block just calls for too many fabrics, too many pieces, too much precise cutting, and let me just say right now that if you ask me to press my seams open in the future, I may just ignore the request. And I LOVE scrappy quilts! Perhaps if we had gone with the scrappier option of the block construction I wouldn't have had so much difficulty. Who knows.

And though I didn't mind cutting from the template, this felt SO GOOD...


But now I can say I gave it a shot, and am looking forward to packaging them up and sending them on their way (which I am sure will also please Carol). And I'll likely think a bit more about what to choose next time it's my turn as a Queen Bee.