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.

Finding new goodies!

Okay, so this past week I've been putting in a lot of hours over at Cool Cottons. Unfortunately it's because Marie injured her knee and has been holed up with a full leg brace and crutches since last Thursday :-( Hopefully she'll be mobile again (maybe even sans crutches??) before the end of the week.

This does mean that I've had the unique pleasure of unpacking boxes of fabric and finding homes for some fun new stuff! I almost feel as though I should offer to do a guest post on the Cool Cottons blog so that Marie and Alyssa can see some of the goodies we have here.

My FAVORITE so far is:

"Eerie Alley" from Robert Kaufman (designed by Karen Foster Designs, Inc... is this just a coincidence or is there a career I don't know about, Karen??)

And for those of you who have heard me talk about and/or promote my brother's S.O. Glenn who is in the horror film and entertainment industry, you'll understand my wanting to make pillow cases or something along those lines for them!

The other new project I just couldn't resist (and this isn't so new to Cool Cottons, but something I've been eyeing and could put off no longer) is to make a sundress. I was thinking about my wardrobe the other day and the fact that I never wear any of my dresses - and then I remembered that all of my dresses are semi or entirely formal! I have ONE go-to cotton sundress that has been my fallback for the past several years and I think it is time to add to that! So today I picked up one of the many cute dress patterns that Marie caries and picked out some fabric to start with.

The pattern is from Jamie Christina, called "Sunny Day Dress & Skirt". The photo is super cute, and the pattern appears to be relatively simple, the hardest looking part being a heavy gather or smocking along the back. We'll see how it works out. I'm hoping to get this sewn up before my trip east next month! Not that I have ANYTHING to finish up in the mean time...

A decision has been made (sort of)!

First of all, I want to heartily thank all of you who threw in your 2 cents and gave me some good food for thought regarding the backing fabrics for the Jewel of Friendship quilt! It did help me come to my ultimate solution.

So, in typical Linda fashion, I just couldn't bear to NOT go with either of the two front-runners, so instead I combined them.

(PLEASE excuse the horrible photo! My camera lens is in dire need of cleaning, or possibly replacing, and I just couldn't get a well framed shot here either)

I knew I did not want a scrappy backing for this project. And those of you who voted for the stripe are darn right, it carries the feeling of the quilt so well! But as I kept looking at that shot cotton, I knew I would kick myself if I didn't try it out!

So, there you have it! The quilt sandwich is now basted and I'll hopefully be able to start quilting it either Monday or, if not, later next week.

WIP Wednesday - Getting back in line

This has definitely been a "continuing on" sort of week which is just fine by me! As anyone who's seen my UFO / WIP list can guess, I certainly don't need to start any new projects! But there are plenty of other folks who do have new projects they're sharing, linked up to Lee's blog Freshly Pieced, for WIP Wednesday!


Making Progress
Lock 'n' Bolt
In the process of getting the binding on my Lock 'n' Bolt quilt.

Jewel of Friendship
Quilt top is complete, just need to get to the next step!

(talked about in much more detail in this post.

placemats
FINALLY stitched up this second set of placemats left over from a project I did last summer. Now it's just a matter of binding.

(please excuse poor quality photo, taken by the light of the TV and maybe a second glass of wine was involved, too).

Completed
another pot holder pair

I'm slowly restocking these guys

Friends + Fabric bee blocks

Spiderweb blocks for Lee, using Heather's tutorial at {House} of A La Mode.
(though admittedly, I still have to package and mail these off! On my list for Thursday, I promise!)

No Progress
Quilting the Nubees quilt
Batik W/C QAL
Medallion quilt
Could be a Quilt...
Purple/Green Asian sampler
Seams Perfect Sampler
Lee & Glenn's quilt
red/brown/green I-Spy
girly hourglass
Judy Neimeyer double wedding ring
broken dishes
Trip Around the 9-Patch
Halloween Stack 'n Whack
leftover I-spys from Hopman quilt
tote bags

So, the final tally estimate (I always write these posts when I am actually at work and have no access to my sewing projects!)
New - 0
In Progress - 17
Completed - 2
Tops awaiting quilting - approx. 16 give or take

Making the same decision twice... or thrice?

Sometimes it's MUCH easier to piece together a quilt backing from random scraps, bits and pieces left behind, rather than try and find that PERFECT backing. For example, I have a quilt that I pieced, oh I don't know, about 5 or 6 years ago:

From a pattern in a Judy Hopkins book, Big 'n' Easy: Super Sized Quilts for Queen Beds

and it took me another 3-4 years and at least 2 false-start purchases to find what I believe to be just the right backing:

tents, by Brandon Mably (available at The Quilter's Studio)

Now that THAT'S off my chest (but still on the shelf!!), I'm going through something a little different. Thank goodness for deadlines! I finally got all of my Friends + Fabric blocks pieced into a stunning quilt top. Just under the wire for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show submission.

However I now need to figure out what to use as the backing... within the next day and a half!
HELP!!!

My first gut feeling:

an Anna Maria Horner print... lovely color match and complimentary motif, but generally a bit more purple than I prefer...

My first fabric purchase:

a PERFECT compliment with all the right colors and energy, by Terrie Mangat for Free Spirit, but I'm wondering if it's just a bit too busy?

Some Kaffe Fassett shot cotton possibilities (because the quilt top is so darn busy already, and I do love how those guys quilt up):
within comfort zone for Linda:

and then...
not so much one of my go-to colors, but ruled the WOW factor next to the quilt top, don't you think?

Will I regret going with the Wow, but using a basically solid fabric in a color that doesn't exist anywhere in my world?? I welcome any input, but the prewashing must begin by this Thursday...