Mug Rug Swap ~ What fun!

I am a sometimes member of the forums at The Quilt Show website; I love love love the DVDs of the shows, and really need to just commit to being a full time Star member so I can watch the shows as they debut on the computer, instead of waiting for the DVDs, especially now that I'm back in the US and my internet will actually support streaming videos like that. The classes and wealth of information are more than worth it!

Luckily for me, though, even a Basic member (which is free), can participate in the forums. I've "met" some fantastic women there, learned a lot, enjoyed the friendship, and treasure the ability to ask any quilting question I might have and know I'll soon have several answers. Yay!

Part of the fun recently has been a "Mug Rug" swap. This is a very informal swap, where we each just said "sure, I can send one..." and then people reply and say, "Oh, can I have one from you? That would be lovely!" and back & forth, back & forth, back & forth it goes. When you ask to receive, you also agree to send one back, and so Mug Rugs have been flying across continents for a while now.

Now that I'm back in the US, I finally was able to throw my name in and participate instead of watching the fun from the sidelines. Yay!

I wanted to send Brazil-themed Mug Rugs, and bought this fabric for this project before I left Brazil. Beautiful butterflies, which I fussy cut and made the centerpiece of the mug rugs, and then assorted Brazilian scrap fabric to pair with each one. I used a much-coveted fabric on the back, which is in the pattern of my favorite Brazilian cobblestone sidewalks. I have a large amount of this, because I have a quilt in mind for "one day" and this will be the back of that quilt, once I get there.

I used a cute Flip Flops fabric for the binding as well, since it is fairly representative of Brazil to me.

I did decorative stitching on each one, and outlined the butterflies in the quilting as well. 

The Mug Rugs I received back have been stunning! I feel like mine are rather inadequate in comparison, but this was the best I could do at the moment. Life for me is swamped with moving, and getting ready to move again, and adjusting, and settling in, and I'm still not fully unpacked (we aren't unpacking much until we get into our final home, which should be soon!), and, well, this is what I could accomplish just now. Maybe later I'll do this again and spend a bit more time on something  more intricate.....

Movie Night Quilt

As I mentioned a few posts back, we're getting ready to move into a new house, with multiple living areas, and so we need more couch blankets. One of the rooms is an actual media room, and so I decided we needed a movie-themed quilt.

I love designing my own quilts, so I did a search to see if there was anything similar out there already (there wasn't), and then started sketching. I knew I wanted movie themed items, so I made a list -- popcorn, movie reels, DVD case, tickets, sodas,....what else? The boys suggested 3D glasses, my husband thought maybe a movie marquee sign, and so I played with these ideas and layout and placement, then took my sketches and played in my EQ7 software to get the applique drawings right, and to play with did I want filmstrip sashing between all the blocks, or just as a border, or just between the rows, or ????

I ended up mainly drawing the applique pieces freehand, just because that's easier for me, but I did finish the EQ7 drawing so that one day I can offer it as a pattern, if anyone is interested.

Funny story on that, though -- I drew the popcorn patch, and could NOT get it to color properly! In EQ7, when drawing freehand, you have to get things to complete a certain way, line up right, connect to certain points....it's somewhat complicated, and I've not spent nearly enough time learning it as I should. So every time I tried to draw the popcorn, I ended up with a patch that wanted to not complete, so wouldn't let me color just the popcorn.

I *think* I got it fixed, but....who knows.

I also drew the 3D glasses patch, then forgot to flip my fabric when I traced the template, so the glasses are a little funky looking. I had to cut them out three times before I got them close enough to right....

For this quilt, I used fabric that a friend had sent me from her stash. I'm still settling into life in the US, still unpacking my sewing items and fabric and all, and with all the "setting up house" spending, I'm trying not to spend too much on fabric right now. Easier said than done, but luckily, the dots and fun colors in this fabric were perfect for this quilt, so I was able to manage! I mostly had to buy the black & white, and then the backing fabric. Pretty much all the rest came from my stash, and largely from the gifted fabric from a friend. Sweet!

I made a pocket in the middle for remote controls, with the sections decorated with remote control buttons; this doesn't get used much, but the idea is we can fold the quilt up and drape over the arm of the couch, and have the remotes tucked inside. Good in theory, but with three boys....not so much in reality, I don't think.

 For the back, I used a tone-on-tone silver, and then for the quilting (not shown here) I outlined each applique with two echoes around each one, in a silver (non-metallic) thread. I'll update with a photo of the quilting in a future post....

I had a lot of fun with this quilt; choosing which color to go behind each applique, and then the layout of the designs, as well as the original choosing of what to applique. It's all machine applique, but I use glue stick to hold the applique in place (and turn under the edges before appliqueing around them), then I machine stitched just inside the edge of each.

Can't wait for more movie nights under our Movie Night Quilt!

Finished!!! The Diary Quilt.....

I am super excited to reveal the finished, quilted, totally amazingly DONE Diary Quilt, my longest-running project ever.

I started the blocks for this quilt way way way back in 2010, when I very first started quilting. These were the first blocks I worked on, after the infamous "first block ever" that I made for a friend, the same dear friend who did the custom quilting on this for me.

As I made my way through the blocks, I interrupted myself with all the other projects you see on the blog -- a quilt for each of my three boys, and for my husband. A baby quilt for a new niece. Lap quilts for my mom and sister, and for ourselves. A wall hanging for my grandparents, based on their blocks from this quilt, my Diary Quilt. And in between all of the interruptions, I kept working on the Diary Quilt, adding setting triangles to the blocks so I could turn them on point; finally I got them into rows, finished the top, and on an August 2013 visit to the US, I mailed it off to my dear, dear friend (and professional long arm quilter) for her to custom quilt for me.

I knew I was nowhere near the skill level for what I desired for this quilt, and I knew she would do an amazing job. She did. It's done. Home. Back to me. Finished, and on my bed, just as I envisioned it from day one.

All I can really say is Wow! Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!

I had seen a few sneak peeks from my quilter.....

...but that didn't stop the tears from flowing when I opened the box and saw my quilt all done for the first time...

...and again when I saw it on the bed, like it was just meant to be there all along.....

The view of the back is even more stunning, as you can really see all that beautiful quilting. Amazing!!! Thanks again, "Mrs. So & So" -- makes me cry all over again writing this! 

Underwater Trip

No, *I* didn't go underwater! but my menfolk did! My husband and oldest son took Scuba lessons this past summer, as a 16th birthday gift for my oldest son (and a lifelong dream of my husband's). Then we went on a family dream beach vacation, which included a scuba dive for the two new divers.

They plan to do this again and again and again, I'm told, so I thought a fun underwater themed quilt would be a good idea for a summery couch throw; I like to have a blanket to snuggle with on the couch, even in the summer, because often the air conditioning (now that we have that again!) is too cold for me. And I like, no, love, having my quilts around in the living room, so I figure, the more, the  merrier. Also, we're building a house which will have three separate couch areas --- a downstairs living room, an upstairs media room and an upstairs game room. We'll need lots of quilts to cover all of those!

I bought the fabric for this quilt with no pattern or idea in mind, which means I just bought 1 yard of each fabric and figured I'd make it work. As I bought 10 or 11 different fabrics (I ended up using 9 of them), this was plenty of yardage for a throw-sized quilt (and then some...). 

Underwater Trip -- quilted & bound, hanging over the back of the sofa

Searching the internet for ideas, I found a tutorial for a strip-pieced Trip Around the World quilt, and I knew instantly that was the one. Underwater Trip! yes!

Quiltville's Strip Pieced Trip Around The World Tutorial was fantastically easy to follow, and while the example is done with 5 fabrics (so that you get a repeat of the circle) she does give instructions for a 9 fabric version (yay!) which is what I did, and it worked beautifully. I toyed with adding a few extra strips so that the red circle would be complete, but in the end I chose not to. I had chosen the placement of the red based on the outer corners, without figuring in whether the larger circle would finish up or not; since I used the red binding, though, I think it is fine.

I managed to get this entire quilt top done in a weekend, while juggling all the home duties and three boys while my husband was out of town. It really goes together just that fast! Then I quilted it in concentric circles in a dark blue thread, using my walking foot. I did not start with the very very center circles, but started by following the inner red circle. Then I quilted outwards from there, and when the quilt was done, then I went back in to do the tiny circles in the center.

the back, which really shows off the quilting

Here are photos of the process, from strip sets, to one quarter assembled, to the 4 quarters laid out waiting for those middle strips to be added, to finished quilt top & back.....

4 strip sets; then you sew into loops, subcut, open, and sew into panels

one panel, on my "sewing table" (aka, dining table) and yes, the machine I used for the whole thing

the 4 panels, ready for the middle strips to be added 

the top, all assembled, after I ripped out the middle strip and scooted it over;
it's important to line up that 1st central circle, especially if using a high contrast color as I did. Oops.

the back, debuting fabric placements 

 If you've ever wanted to do a Trip Around the World, I highly recommend the tutorial over at Quiltville. She's got a similar tutorial for a Scrappy Trip Around the World, as well, if that is more your style. This quilt went together so very fast, I could easily do this over and over again.

Next up, working on some Mug Rugs for a swap, still working on an improv Christmas quilt, and planning some home decor items.....not sure what quilt I'll get to next, but having fun with smaller projects in the meantime!

Nothing Negative About It -- film strip wall hanging

The story of this wall hanging goes back to August 2013, when I showed my finally finished Diary Quilt top to my grandparents, and my grandma cried over it. :gulp:  I knew then I wanted to make her something really amazing, to give her a piece of the quilt in some way. Of course I couldn't dismantle my quilt top, but I could, and did, make duplicate blocks that held particular significance to her, and turn them into a wall hanging.

I've been asked why my grandma cried when she saw my Diary Quilt quilt top in person; the answer to that is because she's been reading all my blogs since I started, and on my personal blog I journaled every story, about every block, as I made it. All the "why" and "who" and "what" that each and every block represents, and my grandma shows up in lots of the blocks. I honestly didn't realize, until making the quilt, just how huge of an influence she's been in my life, but she has been. Almost 20% of the blocks (4 out of the 25 blocks) are direct representations of some aspect of her influence in my life. She'd read all those stories, and the letters I sent to her about each one, and the stories about all the other blocks, and so it touched her, deeply, to see it in person. She knew that she was seeing a tribute to her, to all the people in my life, and that she was a very big part of that.

When I realized, seeing her cry over it, just how much it meant to her that I'd done this, I had to come up with a way to give her a piece of it. So I recreated "her" blocks, in a style more fitting of her love of all things contemporary, set it as a 35mm negative/film strip as a tribute to my grandpa, the family photographer, and I finished it just in time for Christmas. Barely.

I did elaborate custom quilting on the blocks, or at least, what for me passes as elaborate custom quilting. From the very first free motion hearts I quilted into the argyle baby quilt, I've come a long way!

"Nothing Negative About It"
filmstrip wall hanging, completed December 2013

On the Christmas Star block, I quilted a Christmas tree; since I'd swapped all the colors for black & white, it needed something to identify it as a Christmas star.

"Christmas Star"
outlined the star, quilted a Christmas tree in the center of the star

On the airplane block, better done this time than the one in my actual quilt, I quilted inside the outline of the plane and then quilted "wind" or "airflow" lines to show movement, and quilted echoes around the propeller for the same reason.

"Airplane Block"
outlined the plane, wind/air flow behind the wings, and echoes around the propeller

 For the center block, I made a new block, which I called "Ojos de Dios" as a representation of the traditional Christmas decoration comprised of sticks & yarn, or toothpicks & embroidery floss. My grandma used to sometimes decorate her tree with these, and taught me how to make them. My original idea on the diary quilt involved a pinned-on Ojos but I haven't found a way to incorporate that after all. I did want to include it in my grandma's wall hanging, though.

new block, "Ojos de Dios"
spiral/reverse echo quilted to resemble the traditional "ojos" Christmas tree ornaments

The Thrifty block was one of the more emotional, as it was a tribute not just to my grandma but also to my late uncle, her son. On the original block, I hand embroidered the words "love" "laugh" and "live" but I felt this needed something simple, so I just followed the pattern of the block.

"Thrifty"
a simple echo/outline quilting to highlight the pattern

 The final block is Jewel Box, a nod to my grandma's art gallery (which carries a fabulous array of Native American jewelry); beginning in high school, I have worked at the gallery, starting every day after school + Saturdays, down to just on an "as needed" basis; for this block I chose to enhance the "jewels" in the box by quilting diamond shapes into them, and then enhance the "box" by straight line quilting it to show distinction between the jewels and the box. Then I just outlined the corner triangles to give definition.

"Jewel Box"
I did diamonds (jewels) in the squares, and straight lines in the "box" part of the pattern,
then outlined the triangles on the corner

 I know that the quilting is nothing outstanding, but remember that I'm only quilting on a Janome Magnolia 7318, have only owned that machine since August 2012, and this is only the 4th thing I've even done partial custom quilting on. These were all done with the walking foot, not free motion foot, but still. I'm really proud of my work on this one!

I added a hanging sleeve and supplied the way to hang it, and gave it to my grandparents in late December; they both really loved it, so it was definitely a success!

Yikes! Been a While -- So, an update, from Texas!

Oh my word, has it been forever since I posted! Yikes. I am so sorry. We moved in December, from Brazil to Texas, and have been settling in,  house hunting, getting situated, looking for a church, etc. Craziness. Absolute craziness. I do have some finishes to show you, and will go back and tell the stories later on, so check back soon. I am making it a goal to post here at a minimum of once a week, and hopefully more often once I manage that for a while, so keep coming back!

In November/December, I was determined to finish a few Christmas gifts for people back home. Yes, in the midst of prepping for an international move. 'Cause I'm just crazy like that. Still, I managed! Two lap quilts & a wall hanging. Whew!

The two lap quilts started off as Sister's Ten BOM quilts, but bed quilts for my boys got in the way of finishing the BOM blocks, so I had to improvise in order to finish these. The pieced blocks are from the BOM, the background fabrics are whatever I had in my stash that worked and the settings/quilting on each were designed with the recipient in mind.

Sometimes Short on Spoons, done in purples for Chiari Malformation Awareness
machine quilted with spoons and zig zags/zippers 

Not the Old Rugged Cross, done in red (off)white & blue, for a patriotic feel
machine echo quilted to show off the cross design

Nothing Negative About It, wall hanging for my grandparents, story coming later
this was done to resemble a 35 mm negative, with the colors in the blocks reversed
(lights where the darks would go, darks where the lights would go)

Those are the only things I've finished since my last post way back in November, yikes!, but I do have some other things in progress; more on those in the coming days/weeks. Stick around, come back soon, I promise to do better updating this!

Well, I didn't win....

So, the color change/You & I quilt didn't win in the Blogger's Quilt Festival, but I had so much fun entering and want to thank all those who did go vote for my quilt -- thank you!! It was amazing to see the other quilts in the contest, and to hear from some of you that mine really was one of the better quilts. Sweet!! I don't quite believe it, but it was nice to hear anyway :)

I have been busy working on a few projects, but they are all Christmas gifts so I can't show them off. Finished up a black & white wall hanging for one gift, and I'm assembling the blocks I did in the Gen X Quilters BOM into the two quilts for those recipients.

I am excited to show those off, when I finish and gift them.  I got busy doing other quilts this year and so only finished 6 blocks/3 months' worth of the BOM. To finish the lap quilts, then, I cut 9.5" squares of coordinating & background fabric to get up to a 7 x 7 block arrangement (making a roughly 63" x 63" quilt, good for a lap/throw size) and arranged the blocks I had, intermingled with the fabrics, and wound up with two very different quilts.

Each one was arranged with the recipient in mind, and I know they are both going to love the end result. And it turned a UFO, orphan blocks, into finished quilt, FAST. Super fast. Love that. All the fabric came from my stash (thank goodness I used to just guess and buy a ton of fabric instead of calculating, so I had lots of leftovers of the main fabrics...), all I had to buy was batting and thread, making these really inexpensive gifts, too. Yay!! Love that.

I just hope my recipients don't expect new quilts every year.....eek!

I have some mug rugs to work on as soon as I get the lap quilts, quilted; those I can show off as I go. They're for an on-line swap with a group of forum buddies, and I found some more fantastic Brazil-ish fabric to use so I finally have a good idea what to do for them. Can't wait!

Hopefully I still get them done in the midst of moving......Wish me luck!