Crafted Appliqué: New Possbilities Blog Hop (and a giveaway!)

Those of you who know me well are thinking "WTF? Has she lost her ever loving mind? Appliqué? Really?" But seriously, when my pal, Lara @ BuzzinBumble asked me to jump on the blog hop for her new book, Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities, I couldn't say no.

 

I am NOT an appliqué devotee. You know that. It gives me a unique perspective. I've sampled lots of different techniques: needle turn, fusible web, white glue, glue sticks, hand, machine, you name it. I don't want to give Lara's unique approach away, so I'm not giving you the full run down on it. I will say there is Modge Podge involved. Fear not. Lara researched and tested the living daylights out of this technique and breaks it down into excellent step by step instructions.

She compares a number of traditional methods and gives their pros and cons. She also gives sample pics of those techniques. It reminds me of America's Test Kitchen and their recipe tests! And those stray threads always drive me bonkers. Glad to know Lara's technique will mean the end of them for me!

And then there are the projects. I wish there were a few more small ones, like this charming needle book. Yup, all those sharp edges on the phone box are appliqué! But honestly, this book is more about the technique than anything else for me. It can be applied (see what I did there?) to any appliqué project you've fallen in love with and are too chicken to try for fear of messing it up.

Want your own copy? Well, you can pop on over to BuzzinBumble and order your own signed copy. Or you can leave me a comment below about the craziest notion you've ever used while quilting (and we're not limited to appliqué here) and take your chances with a giveaway. And don't forget to pop on over to the rest of the blogs on the hop!

This giveaway is open to international participants until 11:59 Atlantic Time on Sunday, June 5th. If you are a no-reply blogger, please leave an e-mail in your comment. If I can't reach you, you can't win! ☺

J

May is for Makers - Week 5 and a Recap!

It's hard to believe that May (and May is for Makers!) is drawing to a close.

Week 1 - Paper piecing pattern from Tiny Toffee Designs (Etsy)
Week 2 - Paper piecing pattern from The Night Quilter (Craftsy)
Week 3 - Cross-stitch pattern from Satsuma Street (Etsy)
Week 4 - Wool felt Advent calendar from Sugar House Shop (Etsy)

And what did I choose for Week 5? I decided to have a good hard look at my Craftsy wishlist. So dangerous! In the end, I opted for one from Quiet Play.  Kristy has awesome paper piecing patterns and I'm pretty smitten with her blog too!

Given DT's current obsession with "tor-tell"s, I should probably get working on this one sooner rather than later! Thanks for playing along with May is for Makers. If you're looking for even more great Indie pattern designers, here are some of my other favs:

Made by Rae
Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts
Elizabeth Hartman @ Oh Fransson!

J

May is for Makers - Week 4

It's been a busy week! So busy that I really haven't been sewing much or even surfing around the interwebs for patterns. So in the interest of keeping up with May is for Makers, I've decided to profile a pattern that I purchased a few months ago. I figure I can support Indie pattern makers without actually buying one this week!

I fell in love with this beauty from Sugar House Shop on Etsy back at Christmas time. I love Advent calendars... probably because it's not a tradition my family was into when I was a kid.

Isn't it lovely? My plan was to make a couple ornaments a month and be all done in time for December 1. Ummm... the plan hasn't come to fruition. But I've still got 6 months! Anyone have experience buying felt? I need a lot of different colours and I don't think I can get it locally. 

J

Friday Finish - A Wee Bit of Tula...

Mini minis. It's an addiction, people. There's something so satisfying about going from idea to finished quilt in a few hours. Love it. Lisa In Port Hope and I got to chatting about Glamp Stitchalot and decided to do a little swap. 

When I saw that Lisa has recently added some Tula Pink Eden to her stash, it seemed like a perfect chance to use some of the scraps from Tula Tigers for T. It just goes to show that you don't need to sew big stuff to use large scale prints! Those strips are ½ inch finished. Yup. Crazy town.

I couldn't resist fussy cutting that little tiger for the centre. And since I wasn't really able to show off those lovely large Eden tigers in the log cabin strips, I thought one of them would be great for the back!

 And the quilting? Spirals, of course... to soften all those wee little strips.

 It seems to work for the tiger too!

 I used Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts' tutorial on how to bind tiny things. It's a great tutorial!

I love the play of light and dark of a log cabin.

Honestly, I should make more of these!

Lisa was very happy with this little lovely.

As was I with this cheerful springy mini mini!

 Look at those pinwheels! So tiny. And FMQ wind? Perfect!

I'm linking up with TGIFF @ Quilt Matters as well as Finish Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts.

J

WIP Wednesday - Gettin' er done!

I've been keeping you in suspense, haven't it? Not much word on my progress on Technicolor Galaxy lately. But there's been a tonne in recent weeks! I did a pile of quilting at the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild Retreat - including these Flower Hexie blocks.

 Moons. Do those little circles look like craters to you? They're meant to!

 Easier to see the quilting from the back a lot of times!

 Orange Peels...

Next up, some wonky star blocks. I love working with the low volumes in this quilt. I'm already plotting my next low volume project. It's a doozy. More on that another day.

 I know Dena @ No Frickin' Blog Yet will recognize that Carolyn Friedlander print in the centre position.

Aren't they lovely? I considered altering the quilt layout to have different colours in the corner blocks, but these ones are just so cheerful.

Once the stars were complete, there was a tonne of improv style piecing of low volume strips and bits of various sizes to produce the rest of the corner block. Did I take any pictures of that process? Apparently not. And it took hours and hours. But the final result? Lovely. The bright blue corner has the most variation in value. But it works. I think.

I could show them all, but I'll keep it to two colours! After I finished these blocks, I had the very satisfying task of integrating all my Technicolor Galaxy colured fabric into my stash.

The only thing that I don't like about these corner star blocks is all the parts I had to piece and then cut off. I've tucked the trimmings away for a little something. Maybe a zipper pouch?

With the corner stars done and dusted, it was on to the last set of blocks - centre blocks. So many 2½ inch strips! I started to run out of places to put them on my small workspace.

Once the strips were pieced (staggering them with precision), the template was lined up with the seamlines and the excess trimmed away. It gave my such satisfaction to iron on this last template. There were SO many in this project!

Et voilà! One of eight blocks done. They're not fancy, but they don't need to be. This quilt has a LOT going on. 
My supply of low volume wasn't quite up to the task of finishing these blocks, so each one has a pieced strip (except, apparently, the one I pictured above... which I didn't know until I wrote this post!). I'm going to consider them a unique touch to make this BOM a little more my own.

And here we are! All the blocks are pieced! It's not the greatest pic, but it's getting hard to get far enough away to get it all in. It will be 60 by 60 inches and I have no early idea what I'm going to do with it.

The corners and centres are layered and ready to quilt. Yay! Once they're quilted, I will have completed 5 of my 6 goals in Q2 of Finish ALong 2016. Not too shabby, especially considering I have until the end of June. ☺

I'm linking up with The (Canadian) Needle and Thread Network, as well as with Let's Be Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts. Pop on over and see what others are working on this week!

J

May is for Makers - Week 3

Ah... another week of surfing the web, checking out patterns by indie makers. So hard to choose! I'm mixing it up a little this week.

 

Yup. Cross stitch. I love me a quote and this one from Nelson Mandela speaks to me. When I was working away on my stitchable iPhone case, I found myself really enjoying it. It's been a long, long time since my cross-stitch days... think university! And so, I've chosen this pattern from Satsuma Street on Etsy. I suspect I'll be heading to Michaels for some supplies this week!

It's not too late to jump on the May is for Makers bandwagon. Still two weeks left! Who knows what I'll find for next week! 

J

Friday Finish - I Spy with My Little Eye!

 Squee! It's done! And just in time for DT's half birthday. They're 18 months old today. Time is flying!

And what better present than a quilt? True confession. It's a total coincidence that this was finished in time for their half-birthday.

156 fussy cut and Kona wonky framed Polaroid blocks. No repetition of fabrics, though there are more than a couple hedgehogs, foxes and owls... they are very popular!

I had a couple different plans for the binding. In the end, I didn't want to take away from the rainbow goodness of the top, so I opted for a matched binding. Fiddly? Yes. Worth it? Definitely! And it brings some rainbow to the back as well!

 Every time I look at this quilt, I see another fun block. I can't wait for DT to be able to name them all.

  More quilts loungin' on rocks. If only we both could have stayed all day.

  My quilts seem to want to go to the park lately. Or maybe it's me.

I'm almost as pleased with the back as I am with the front! I improv pieced the letters. On the back, you can see the simple quilting. Stitched in the ditch around each Kona frame with travel lines through the improv sections. This quilt is all about the colour and the Polaroids, so the quilting needed to be simple. Thanks to Val @ Purple Boots and Pigtails and Linda @ Scrapmaster for their quilting consult!

And the eye! I am so very, very happy. I printed a clip art eye and free pieced it. Yup. It was crazy. And it worked. (For the record, I did an extensive search for a paper piecing pattern first!)

 Who can resist a binding roll, even a sloppy one, with all that Kona rainbow goodness?

The Deets  
Title: I Spy Polaroid for DT
Size: ???
Fabric Used: Fussy cut prints and lots of Kona
Konas Used: Medium Grey, Tomato, Red, Rich Red, Cardinal, Persimmon, Carrot, Tangerine, Orange, Papaya, Sunflower, Buttercup, Canary, Sunny, Corn Yellow, Chartreuse, Kiwi, Parrot, Grasshopper, Lime, Cactus, Pacific, Peacock, Turquoise, Malibu, Niagara, Riviera, Regal, Amethyst, Purple, Magenta, Heliotrope, Tulip, Wisteria, Lilac
Quilting: Stitch in the ditch around each framed Polaroid blocks
Binding: Pieced Kona rainbow 

Backing: Predominately Kona Medium Grey with improv pieced letters and various sizes of Polaroid blocks

Favourite Part(s): Seeing DT pointing and naming the critters in the Polaroids (see below), swapping with my quilty pals to get lots of variety in those Polaroids, 

You can read more about the process of creating this quilt here, here, here, here, and here.

And here's what you've really been waiting for! They don't appear here often, but it seemed fitting. GT is fascinated with this particular deer. Days later, she keeps coming back to it.

 "Cah-cah" = car. One of BT's first words and a go-to in his vocabulary.

This quilt makes me so very happy. Working on it was a joy. Watching DT interact with it? More joy. Imagining the play for years to come? Boundless joy. What more can a mom ask for?

I'm linking up today with TGIFF @ Quokka Quilts, as well as Finish Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts. Happy Friday the 13th!

J

P.S. This was one of my goals for Q2 of the 2016 Finish Along.

WIP Wednesday - A Fabric Pull of Epic Proportions (And a Winner!)

 It all began with this little pile of loveliness.

During our Maritime Modern Quilt Guild Retreat, I was lucky enough to win a 50$ gift certificate to Dinkydoo Modern Fabrics. Squee!!! I treated myself to the Robert Kaufman Carkai Coordinates FQ bundle. It was a wee bit more than my winnings, but I felt it important to support a guild sponsor! ☺ 

But what began, you ask? Well, the fabric pull for my Glamp Stitchalot project! We need 40 (no... that is not a typo) fat quarters and 8 yards of background. Yikes. I didn't want the entire quilt to be Carolyn Frieldander prints. With her as an instructor, it seemed a little too kiss ass-y.  I pulled out the, well... icky colours from the bundle and determined what the Kona coordinating colour was for the remaining prints (hence the wee bit of masking tape).

 Then I went to the stash and started grabbing stuff.

And it turned into this! How to we feel about those navy prints and the blacks in the same project? Truth Tea, y'all. I asked.

It's not a typical pull for me, but I'm digging it. I plan to add the coordinating Konas - Charcoal, Ultramarine, Tangerine, Creamsicle, Blueberry, Leaf, and Flame. That will bring me up to the 40 recommended. 

Feel free to point out any thing that looks amiss. And suggest a background. I'm thinking a low volume. Or perhaps Kona White. Or would Kona Silver be better. Ack.

And now for something completely different! Were you waiting with bated breath for the winner of last week's Throwback Thursday {Volume 10} giveaway? Wait no more! The winner of a custom FQ bundle from my very own stash, as chosen by Mr. Random Number Generator, is... #30 - Sarah @ 123 Quilt! The linked blogs were numbers #1 through 17 and the first comment was #18. I can hardly wait to hear her request.

Thank you to everyone who linked up and who commented. See you on Thursday, June 9th for Throwback Thursday {Volume 11}

J

P.S. I'm linking up with the lovely Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social!