ALYOF - July Finish!

Well... sort of! Given that my goal for July was to do SOMETHING with my Improv Herringbone blocks and I've managed to sew them into a (almost) finished top! (I was #37 on the Goal Setting Party). I'm calling this a win. These blocks were a challenge... you can read about this goal in progress on last week's WIP Wednesday post!

It's not quite big enough to be useful just yet, but you know me and borders. I'm thinking asymmetrical... perhaps left and bottom borders. Your opinions are more than welcome!

 Sometimes those flimsies just want to dance around on the clothesline instead of standing still for a pic!

I snapped these pics while Himself was grilling up some burgers on the BBQ. Blue skies with puffy white clouds and sunshine streaming down after days of rain. What a day!

I'm linking up with the ALYOF Finishes Party for July. Seven months straight of meeting my goals. Yay, me!

P.S Just 6 more sleeps until the very first Throwback Thursday here at A Quarter Inch from the Edge. Want to know more? Pop on over to this post to learn some more. Hope to see you on August 6th!

ALYOF - July Goal!

Way back in October 2013, I was Queen Bee for (the now long since finished) ModQImprov Canada group. I requested Improv Herringbone blocks made with Amy @ 13 Spools' tutorial. It was definitely one of those "seemed like a good idea at the time" choices. The block turned out to be challenging for less experienced quilters and more than a little fiddly. But in time, I did receive these treasures...

And then they languished in one of my cubbies. Shameful.

So my goal for ALYOF this month is to do something with them. It's pretty open-ended since I truly don't know what they're going to turn into. If all goes well and the creek don't rise, I might end the month with a finished quilt. Who knows!

I'm linking up with the Goal Setting Party for A Lovely Year of Finishes. It's not too late to jump on this bandwagon. I've found the monthly goals really motivating. There's something about making a goal public (and the lure of prizes!) to really get one going!

J

Look both ways...

Happy New Year! It's that time of year again... time to look back on 2014 and look forward to 2015. This is one of those sorts of posts that I write more for myself than for you, dear reader. Please permit me a few a year! ☺


2014 Achievements (If you'd like to compare them to my goals for 2014, check out last year's post!)

• Purchased no quilt magazines and I don't think I bought any books. I did purchase a few digital downloads (Good Old Hockey Game, Big Butt Baby Pants, Preppy the Whale), but have made each and every one of them!

• Finished these items from The List - Starburst QAL, Christmas pillow cases & pillow covers, Good Old Hockey Game.
• De-stashed when I moved my studio - still working on sending some things to new homes!
• Made two twin-sized quilts to be donated to the Choices program at the IWK (one needs layering and quilting).  I donated a number of baby quilts as well.

• Completed 5 projects as part of The Library Project! Check 'em out here!
• Made lots of items to welcome Double Trouble into our home

• Completed all blocks of the Pile o' Fabric SkillBuilder BOM up to October

• Made blocks for my virtual bees (ModQImprov finished in May and Global Scrap Bee finished in August)
  
  

And moving on to this year's quilting goals. Though I'm not going as hard core as Adrienne over at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts, I am simplifying this year. I'm keeping it to three guiding ideas: #1 - The List, #2 - Use my resources wisely, and #3 - Make time



#1 - The List
Every year at this time, I update my UFO/WiP list. It involves much poking into closets, shelves, and bins in search of WiPs. This year, when moving my studio, I lost the paper list. Oops! Here's a portion of the 2015 version. It's already printed and up on the bulletin board - ready to cross things off as I go!

Improv Herringbone (ModQImprov blocks) - make more blocks & piece top
Toes in the Sand - Layer, quilt, & bind
Underwater - Appliqué, layer, quilt, & bind
Warm/Cool HST - continue making blocks
Selvages - continue making blocks
Sochi Diamonds - Bind & add hanging sleeve
Batik Strip - Layer, quilt, bind, & donate
Skill Builder BOM 2014 - Finish blocks (October, November, December) piece & bind
Honey - Add hanging sleeve
Charm Pack Cherry - Layer, quilt, bind, & donate

#2 - Use my resources wisely
I have a considerable stash of fabric and I enjoy the odd FART or trip to my LQS (please refer to the Alphabet Soup tab if you are mystified by this sentence). I'm not saying I won't buy fabric... I'm just going to work from my stash when I can. It gives me an odd sense of satisfaction! And as for my magazine/book/pattern resources, I've likely got enough inspiration on my shelves to last me well into another decade! That said, my new copy of Patchwork City arrived today! Nothing wrong with the occasional treat! Time is a resource too... so I'm not going to be making big quilt-y commitments this year. The QALs will just have to go AL without me for a while!

#3 - Make time
This is could be tough to achieve this year. Life has changed a lot in the past seven weeks and there doesn't always seem to be time for quilting and blogging. That said, this isn't just a hobby for me - it's a creative outlet and a stress reducer. I'm going to make a conscious effort to get to as many MMQG meetings and Sew Ins as possible and to get into the studio each day and make something that brings me joy, even if it's just for half an hour. Stress reduction is no less important than laundry or vacuuming... there it is...

Quilting is joy for me. I'm going to keep on blogging about it! Happy New Year everyone... here's to a joyful 2015!

J

P.S. I'm linking up with Yvonne @ Quilting JetGirl who is hosting 15 Quilting Resolutions for 2015 link-up. I've far from 15... but I bet she'll let me link up anyway! :)

A little Bee-hind: ModQImprov April (and May!) Edition

I came to a horrible realization yesterday. I made a ModQImprov block for the April Queen Bee, put in an envelope, addressed it and.... never sent it! Ooops! And a worse crime in the eyes of my devoted readers (ha ha!), I failed to blog about it. In this post - a double dose of ModQImprov blocks.

For April, the Queen Bee requested a selvage block that included a star of some kind. That leaves a gal a lot of room to maneuver! Since the lovely Dominique over at the Running Thimble wrote a tutorial just for me a few months back, I decided to put it to use - wonky star à la Dominque!

I started out with my trusty notebook. With trepidation, I will admit. This appeared to have some math involved. Instead of using prints in the white areas as Dominique did, I planned to make areas of selvage.

Then on to the fun bit... cutting up that Kona Ash according to my plan. Ash is just right to make the bright bits of those selvages pop. When working on individual blocks lately, I've taken to using a scrap of batting as a mini, portable design wall. It lets me lay out the pieces as I wish and then move it around as needed. My sewing desktop is only 2 by 3 feet, so things often have to be shifted between cutting and sewing.

I got so into putting the selvages together that I forgot to take many pictures. Oops again. I top stitched them in place... here's hoping the Queen Bee doesn't wash this one too much! Doesn't look like that baby star is going to fit, does it?

But it did! Here it is complete and stuck to a wall with Washi tape.Were I to make this block again, I think I'd make a few adjustments (such as narrower points on the stars), but that's improv! Sometimes you just don't know how it's going to turn out.

For May's block, the Queen Bee requested a wonky pinwheel and offered up a lovely tutorial from Greenleaf Goods. She gave this palette from Design Seeds for inspiration.

http://design-seeds.com/index.php/home/entry/flowered-palette

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Definitely inspiring! I dove into the scrap bins and pulled some treasures. Printing the palette and having it on hand really helps me stick to the brief!

And in not too long, I had the coloured bits sewn to the 3½ inch Kona White foundation blocks. I pre-marked them with some wonky lines. Off to the cutting mat for my favourite (sarcasm!) part - trimming the blocks to size.

Again, once the wonky bits were done, this block came together very quickly. Here it is posing with the fresh new shoots of our Red Volunteer daylily (It'll be far more impressive in 3 months time!)

These are headed for the post office on Monday. I might have been behind for April, but at least I'm right on track for May! And with these blocks, I say good-bye to the ModQImprov Bee. It's been fun seeing what the Queen Bee would choose each month and having my skills challenged by blocks I wouldn't necessarily have chosen for myself. If you get the chance to join an on-line bee, I highly recommend it!

Hope you got some sewing in on this sunny Saturday! Or maybe you even got outdoors for some precious sunshine! Though I only finished one block, I had a great day sewing with my pals, the Squares!

J

Celebrate Good Times!

Did you know that today is Worldwide Quilting Day? Don't worry... it's not too late to celebrate!

I marked the day by getting back into the studio after a non-voluntary hiatus. Honestly, I can't remember a time when I've gone this long without sewing! I was so disconnected that I even forgot I had a baby quilt all finished and ready to bind! Instead of hand-sewing that would see me plunked in front of the TV, I opted to get to work on my ModQImprov Canada block for this month.

This month's Queen Bee asked for a 15 inch log cabin (as wonky as you wanted) block in blues, aquas, and greens. No shortage of those in my stash! She also requested that we start with colour and alternate colour and white. Here's how I kicked it off - a little Amy Butler and a scrap of Kona White. Talk about fine beginnings...

And in no time, it grew to beyond 15 inches! I figure I'll let her trim it down as she likes. This one will soon be making it's way to Alaska.

Though I really wanted to start a new project today, I couldn't decide what. I did know that another block of my Skill Builder 2014 BOM had been released... seemed like a good way to spend an afternoon! Mind you, I don't know if I'm sold on this whole starching business. Seems like just one more step in getting ready to cut... I just like to cut!

And I like to chain piece! Not often that you get to do that with a BOM. These may be some of the smallest HSTs I've ever made... 1½ inch finished. Made me thankful for that starching... well, just a little.

Trimming blocks is always so tricky for me. Maybe that's why I love improv so much! At least the instructions reminded me to use the 45 degree angle on the ruler... I never remember. And I got to use the smallest ruler in my collection!

All those fiddly little HSTs turned into this Chevron Star. I probably should have followed the instructions for the actual block construction a little more carefully, but it's pretty good. Also on the up side, it came out at 6½ inches on the dot. Take that, scant quarter inch seam!

 I did pay more attention to the block instructions for the next part - Churn Dash. Much better!

And here they are all together in Block #4. I love getting these finished before the quilting instructions arrive. Just makes me feel good. I've managed to stay pretty much on time with these to date, though I do need to finish quilting my Spools block and start quilting my Machine Stitches block. Maybe tomorrow...

I know I've said it before, but this program is well worth the price of admission. I feel like I'm learning a lot... and we haven't even gotten to appliqué. It's coming though...

Hope you spend Worldwide Quilting Day in a fun way. If not, there's always tomorrow! ☺

Bee-ing on time!

No big finish for me this Friday, but there was definitely a lot of sewing going on! Sometimes those monthly Bee blocks sneak up on me. I mean, it's the middle of the month! Better get to work! First up, Global Scrap Bee. Aylin over at Aylin-Nilya decided on this block. She was looking for low volume prints. This trend is a new one to my stash. I wasn't sure I had much. Here's what I found...

 And limes and teals. I've got lots of those!

And here they are! Since these were quick to do, I threw in a couple extras. I also wanted to make sure there were enough if she decided that that button fabric isn't low volume enough.

It's a simple, effective block and went together very quickly. I would have loved to do these strip pieced, but when you're only making four it hardly seems worth it. Have I mentioned that the worst part of being in all these bees is that you want to make a full quilt of every danged block you make?

For ModQImprovB Canada (sorry, no Flickr pool for this one!), the block of choice this month was Bottled Rainbows. I'd be lying if I said this one didn't scare me. There's appliqué in there. Yikes! But after the torture I inflicted on my bee-mates with the now infamous improv herringbone. My assigned colour was grey... not so rainbow-y. But I did have some in the stash to work with, so it was all good.

My goal was not to repeat any of the fabrics... I don't know why. I couldn't resist sneaking in that little camera print in the upper right hand corner. And there are THREE different Kona solids! ☺ Here is all glued (yes, I said glued) in place. My first time using a glue stick whilst quilting!

I thought about fussy cutting one of these rectangles from the Keep Calm fabric, but thought the recipient might not really appreciate that!

And here it is all stitched down. I am, well, not 100% happy with this block. I'm not at all comfortable with machine appliqué... guess it's good to push one's limits! The grey pieces frayed when I stitched them and the zigzag puckered up a bit. The original version is QAYG, and I think it might have worked a little better.

I hope this month's Queen Bee doesn't think it sub par, but I'd understand if she did! I'm embracing imperfection... it's in the mail already!

J

ModQImprov Canada - January Edition

My ModQImprov posts usually come out on the first of the month, but I didn't have this one done in advance. I'm liking doing each month's block as it comes... it may be my approach for the remaining months of the bee. This month's Queen Bee is Snips from Snips Snippets. You can read all about her request here.  It was lots of fun pulling fabric for this one, especially since the prints needed were just tiny scraps.

Here's the tutorial for these blocks here. I enjoyed working with the scraps and free slicing the angles. I really need to do more improv. It makes me happy every time I do!

They come together quickly... which is good since the blocks are small (just 6 1/2 inches). If you were to make a whole quilt of them, it'd take a while!

I don't normally work with pieces this small, but I kept imagining these blocks made with scraps I have left from other projects. Oh, the possibilities!

I Almost got the four blocks requested done at the Do Bee Sew-in this week-end, but I ran out of Kona Steel. Oh well!

Even though I used Kona Steel, there seems to be some variation in the grey. I hope Snips doesn't mind. Though with 12 people making blocks, there's bound to be some differences anyway!

 I had so much fun that I made a few extras.

I already have my block for next month - Bottled Rainbows! I'm excited, but I'm going to wait until February to start. With a lot of things on my plate, I've gotta take things a step at a time!

J

ModQImprovB Canada - December Edition!

This month's Queen Bee requested a shattered glass block. Not familiar with it? Me neither - here's the tutorial from the Undercover Crafter. In terms of colours, she was looking for a white background and expressed a love of hot pink/fuschia, emerald, and turquoise.

The block was a little tricky in that the thin strips don't always line up. But then the tutorial said they didn't need to... that made me feel better! The block went together quickly (always a plus in my books!) We made 14 inch blocks (as requested), but I think a smaller block might suit my future projects a little better. I'm still loving making the Improv blocks for ModQImprov Canada. It's amazing the blocks people find on the internet! This one is making its way to Texas as I type...

J

Sometimes the fabric just has to be enough...

Quarter Inch from the Edge isn't just a blog name. It also describes my mental state quite aptly at times. This week would be one of those times. There's no quilt finishes (or even starts) to show off and even the stitch n' bitch session today was less than productive on the sewing front.

In a week with crap-tastic day after crap-tastic day, there were (thankfully) a few highlights. You know the day's looking up when you get to the mailbox and see this....

That's right - the Tragically Hip have a stamp! This is NOT at all important to most people, but for a Canadian of my vintage who graduated from high school and university in the 90s, a lot of good times were had whilst rockin' out to Gord and the boys. And it gets better...

... way better! My first ModQImprov block has arrived, courtesy of the très productive Ms. Adrienne over at Chezzetcook Modern Quilts. I think this block has been kicking my Bee-mates butts. I even heard it broke a sewing machine!
And the next day... Kona, sweet Kona.

My Kona fat quarter of the month package arrived... Emerald, Medium Gray, Ash, and Jade Green. This month's selections are particularly funny given my most recent Kona purchase at my local fabric shop.

Charcoal, Emerald, and Shadow. Too funny. What am I going to make with these, you ask? No idea, my bloggy reader-friend. No idea. But some days, the fabric is enough to make you smile. Not the inspiration for the intended project, not the binding of a finally quilted piece, not the photo shoot of the finished creation, but the fabric. The fabric is enough.

Today, a couple of the Squares popped in for a less-scheduled than usual sew day. I can't say we did a lot of sewing, but there was therapeutic chatting and more fabric shopping. We do have fun when we're together, don't we, Q-B and Q-D? Here's the stack for today!

A motley crew to be sure! But some of them even have a purpose! The dots at the top were just for fun... looking at my Christmas fabric stash, no one could ever be convinced that I "need" more Christmas prints! But I thought they'd go nicely with these owls.

The fabric designers are wise to my addiction and have started on fun selvages. Not fair. Not even close to fair. I actually considered buying 1.5 m of this so I'd get three repeats of the trees. I'm shaking my head as I write that. I am not well. Not even close.
And then there's the Halloween selvages!

This one is destined to become my outfit for Halloween. Nothing too wild, just a skirt to be paired with a black top this week. We'll call it my hommage to a costume. I can't manage make-up, masks, or heavy costume pieces all day long in the classroom!

And to round out my purchases for the day...

A fancy new rotary cutter! Both my Fiskars cutters are in hard, hard shape and the Fiskars site has been down for weeks... of course, I wrote that sentence and did a Google search. Site's back up. Honestly, sometimes I feel like forces are aligning against me. In any case, I have this snazzy new Olfa Splash. I've only had the pizza cutter style of rotary cutter before, so this one's a departure for me. We'll see how it goes!

On the fabric theme for this post, I thought I'd give you a glimpse of Q-B and Q-D's fabric selections for today. There was a whole lot of QADHD going on today, but such is life. One can always just pet the fabric if need be.
I don't care for pink. That phase of my life ended around 1983. But I do love Q-D's selections here! And so will the little girlie this quilt is destined for.

Likewise this selection for a little guy that loves red, blue, and nautical. I can't decide which one I like best.

I busted into my scrap stash after we talked Q-B into that lovely citron and grey stripe fabric. Turns out she didn't have much in her bins that would allow her to make the placemats she was planning. ☺ I may have to go back to the shop tomorrow and buy the rest of that stripe. It's right at home in my stash!

Here's hoping this week's a little better than the last. If all else fails, there's fresh fabric in the stash and a functioning rotary cutter to slice through it. Sometimes, the fabric is enough. It just has to be.

J