Let Block Party Bee Begin!

Friends, I live in San Francisco. Where everything is hip, modern, and progressive...except quilting. Since the amazing Peapod Fabrics closed, going to the fabric store means a) sifting through bins of fake fur, glitter spandex, pleather, and felt in search of material for a Halloween/Pride/Street Fair costume, b) paying $100/yard for designer silks and upholstery fabric to go in your fancy mansion, and/or c) finding the 2-3 bolts of outdated cotton stuffed into the back corner and wishing you were into something else, anything else-- since the materials for knitting, painting, decoupage, re-upholstery seem to be on hand at every turn. It makes Joann's look like Mecca.

How does such a beautiful city lack beautiful fabric choices? I don't know.

For example, I once made a t-shirt. After a 3-day, 4-store hunt for a piece of jersey. Not that I found some options and didn't like them, no, I mean I bought the first one I actually found (it wasn't ugly, but it was expensive).

It gets worse! I lived in the same building as a fabric store for a year and didn't buy anything there except elastic and ribbon. Yeah. It's like that.

I guess the best city in the world has to have at least one flaw.

Anyway, the point of this rant is to say that the virtual modern quilting community has become my water in the quilting desert. Which is why I was SO EXCITED when my first package of fabric arrived from Shelley, officially kicking off my FIRST BEE EVER, the Block Party Bee!

For our first month, Shelley picked the confetti block. Here's what she sent:

Don't know how she knew, but I'm glad I got a ton of green :o) So I added a bit from my stash:

Looks pretty good, if I do say so m'self. I'll be cutting into this one today.

Since I was laying out fabric, I pulled out this little square of Canyon Flutter by Alexander Henry (sent to me gratis with an order from Fresh Modern Fabrics!) and set up some pieces for another block in the yellow and green sampler I've been working on.

I've also been cuddling up with a little hand-quilting in the evenings. My liberated cables are progressing nicely, now that I've got the hang of it.

Much much better than trying to make them perfectly even! I love the organic flow of the curves.

It's hard to get a good pic of the white on white pattern, but I can assure you...it looks cool ;o) Time to go play with confetti.

Finishes

I've been working on the duo of Mendocino mug rugs in the evenings after work. The wedding is tomorrow, and I'm really glad to be able to give them a hand-made gift (on time, no less!!).

But wow. They really look handmade. And not in a good way. I think I like the fabrics too much. Frankly it's been a little stressful.

Which has made me a bit disenchanted. I mean, does this look like a romantic sunset over a mystical ocean? I don't even want to obsess over it anymore.

I like to contemplate the process of determining when a project is really done-- how do you know it is finished? I'm afraid I may have rushed the last details because I was finished with the idea of the project altogether. I really hope the brides like their gifts, and they were made with love. I'm just ready to wrap 'em up and move 'em out.

I kinda like the back with H on it best of all. Ironic, because I was ready to toss the H in favor of a print but didn't want to deal with it as a scrap later on! Goes to show that sometimes the first idea is the best one.

I also quilted up the Wonky Stars Paintbox. I went with a simple quilting pattern in my fav thread, Gutterman Col. 22 (mmmm, cream-colored...)

I'm still pondering whether I ought to do double lines of quilting horizontally along the center seam. As for the back...

...what can I say, it was a week of pink! I think a quilt back is a good note to end this post on :o)

More Paintbox

Yeah, I know it's not really a paintbox. But I love all the colors and it reminds me of the messy watercolors I loved dipping into as a kid.

Making gifts seems to motivate me. I like having a deadline and knowing someone will soon be happy because they got a little something special. Designing something specifically for someone focuses my ideas. Then I look around my house and wish I had more stuff that I made. What I should do is make designs inspired by a person I love and then keep them for myself ;o) Hmmm...

In any case, these little stars are making me very happy:

They are so cheerful. This one is raising its hand: "Pick me! Pick me!" And I did pick it over the other one. I made each with 1.5" squares, so they came out about 3 3/4" square. Ish.

I love the look of them all together too. There may be more rainbows in my future!

Wonky Star Paintbox

After much hemming and hawing (and many strawberry Fig Newtons), I finally put together some of these yummy Mendocino fabrics for Mug Rug #1.

I wanted to showcase the fabrics, so I kept it pretty simple...but it was hard! Making a small quilt forces me to edit my many ideas and love of details to one strong picture. It also forces me to do math (grr, arg). I'm pretty happy with this one, but I don't think I'll love it until it's quilted.

Here's what I came up with for the back:

H is for Home, Happiness, and it's also the first initial of their new last name ;o) (These pics make the colors look much lighter than the top, but in real life they are exactly the same.)

Since I'm on a mug rug kick, I thought I'd make up another gift for a friend, just because. She is fond of saying that life is not black and white, but all the many shades of color in between. A paintbox mug rug is definitely in order.

Double whammy! It's a stash-buster! Muahahahhh...

Originally I wanted to do a wonky star paintbox. The wonky star is probably my favorite block, if I had to choose. It's what I go to in a pinch. I love looking at them and how easy they are to make. But when I made these...

...the star points seemed to fade into the background more than I expected. So I switched up the fabric placement. Which is better?

The top one is more like a color splash...but the bottom one is more paintbox-y. This is the problem with a definite plan...it invariably falls apart. Back to the mire...

Mug Rugs!

A good friend of mine is getting married (next weekend!). What better way to settle into married life than with a pair of hers and hers mug rugs? (And I'm kind of hoping that with all the wedding madness, she won't be visiting my blog ;o)

I only drew about 10 sketches and ordered 7 packets of fabric from Etsy. Who says gifts can't be good for the stash? Today I held auditions:

I'm pretty torn about the direction I want to go, but hey, these are dilemmas I love. Can't make a bad choice with these fabrics: a bit of roses from Heather Ross' Far Far Away II, some Remix hearts, and the much coveted (by me) Heather Ross' Mendocino.

In other news...I am took the plunge and started a virtual quilting bee through Flickr with Mary! I am so excited to try new blocks, meet new quilters from all around the country, and learn the ropes of bee hivin' from Mary, who is basically a VQB professional. Our Block Party Bee will use the book as inspiration. My month isn't until May, but I'm already pouring over the pages and trying to envision what I would like. I'm thinking a quilt in all blue and white...but by tomorrow, who knows? :o)

Oh Yeah, That Quilt

My brother started his senior year in high school last week, which reminded me...I sort of promised a quilt for his graduation. Hmm. Time to get back on it. Here's the grand plan (in it's latest incarnation):

Only 80 blocks. And as of today, 61 of them are done!! Yay! Granted, this includes some 12.5" solid squares. That I just had to cut out. And then they were done. But still! This is victory, because I'm simultaneously managing to ignore the pressing responsibilities of my day job(s) and the chores that need doing and and and. And.

So let's just gaze at the pretty pictures and appreciate that while I may or may not have clean pants to wear tomorrow, all the purple blocks for this massive quilt are good and done and I like them.

Meanwhile, only 4 more gold blocks to piece. I hope I can show you those next week!

Improv Blocks

Why am I so compelled to use these ridiculously small scraps. Who cares. No one will know if I throw away a 1" square of fabric.

And yet...I pull out these scraps and stare at them, waiting for some puzzle-like fit to make itself known. They WILL be pieced, damn it.

Yesterday I saw an "O":

 

And then a couple bars in a frame. These are so simple, but I really like them. There is something calming in the symmetry and simplicity of these blocks.

I'm channeling my inner-Amish.

Today's project: 1 case for all 3 of my iPods (I know. It's a sickness.) I'm scouring tutorials for iPod cases but somehow I can't conceptualize how to make dividers so I can stow all three. I'll let you know how it works out.