Challenge Quilt Results Are In!!!

Back in June, you may remember me mentioning that I was making a Challenge Quilt.

Gyleen X. Fitzgerald of Colourful Stitches, was a guest speaker at our local Quilt Guild, and she threw out a challenge to the guild members.  Make a quilt using a fabric specified by her and her new Polygon2 ruler.

The original deadline was extended from July 1st to August 1st, so I've been patiently waiting for the results for weeks.  Yesterday I got an email from Gyleen - and I WON!!!  The judging was based on the

"most creative use of the ruler and challenge fabric to design a quilt" .

I spoke with Gyleen on the phone yesterday and she gave me her permission to post pictures of the quilt, so here it is...

I've named it "Zig Zag Beach" and it will be published in Gyleen's next "Polygon Affair" book, due out in February 2014.  That's a first for me - it's so exciting to realize that one of my quilts will actually be published!  I'm thrilled speechless - almost...  :)

It is made entirely of Pyramids, fussy cut so the challenge fabric follows the zig zags.  The solids are all complimentary colors of Kona Solids.  I quilted it on my Juki TL98 with 60 degree cross-hatching to follow the angle of the pyramid blocks, using a light gray Aurifil 50 cotton thread.  Love that Aurifil!!!

Besides having my quilt published in her book, Gyleen also gave me a gift certificate to my LQS, Needles Quilt Shop, so I went on a bit of a shopping spree.  Besides stocking up on some favorite fabric staples, I also picked up some handy dandy new tools...

I'm now the proud owner of:

• Gyleen's Polygon2 ruler (this is the one I used in the challenge)
• Gyleen's smaller Polygon ruler
• Gyleen's Pineapple Ruler
• Creative Grids Quick-Trim Ruler
• Creative Grids 4.5" Ruler (perfect for my Paint Box Baby Quilts!)

The Polygon Rulers are great!  You can cut Pyramids (like I used in my quilt), Hexagons, Diamonds, and Cones.  The "dog ears" are already trimmed so they fit together perfectly.

I can't wait to try her Pineapple Ruler next!

Thanks Gyleen, for hosting this challenge, giving me this opportunity, and selecting my quilt as the winner.  I'm humbled and thankful.

Cheers!

Tasting Table Tuesday

Life has gotten in the way of sewing since my last post.  So, instead of a sewing post, here's a funny story... (and it's a true one!)

A friend stopped at a local thrift shop to see what goodies he might find.  He found an egg peeler/slicer or some such device.  Thought to himself,

"my wife might like that"...  so he bought it.

Got home and showed it to his wife - she said,

"that looks just like the one I dropped off at the thrift shop last week!".

Sure enough - he paid good money to buy back the item they owned and donated the week before...

Reminds me of my own experience...  I was shopping at the same local thrift shop and saw a beautiful, handmade vest - sewn and quilted using a beautiful collection of batik fabrics.  Of course, I couldn't leave it there.  It was only a few dollars, and the fabrics and workmanship were lovely.

But it was too small for me...

I bought it anyway and gave it to a friend I'll call "S" (don't want to embarrass anyone by using their names).  Both "S" and her mother "C" are very tiny and petite and I was sure it would fit one of them.  So I gave it to "S" and it didn't quite fit her, but she thought it would fit her mother "C" (both women are sewers and quilters), but mentioned,

"gee - this looks familiar - I'm sure I've seen it before".

She passed it on to her mother who laughed and admitted that it was the same vest that she had made herself, then donated to the thrift shop the week before.  So I paid good money to buy it back and return it to her.

What are the odds...

At least the money goes to a good cause...

Have a great week!

Cheers!

Foxy Trails Progress

All pieced and ready for borders!

Cheers!

Tasting Table Tuesday - Aurifil Test and a new project!

I finished my latest baby quilt, and I quilted this one with white Aurifil 50 cotton thread.  This is the nicest thread I've used - it's thin but strong, has a nice soft sheen, and best of all - hardly any lint!  My machine loves it and so do I.  I'll be using Aurifil thread regularly now.

After sewing a multi-colored striped binding on this quilt, I decided I didn't like it and ripped out all the stitches and removed it.  It's in my scrap bin for some other quilt some day.  I'm much happier with this green one that has little dragonflies flitting all around.

(Etsy listing coming soon  DONE! click here to view)

Now I'm working on a new project - a quilt for my grandson.  My DIL bought a bundle of "Foxy Trails" by Riley Blake fat quarters and a pattern called "Scatter Patch" by Carlene Westburg, and had every intention of making this quilt herself, but like most busy moms, found herself running short of time, so she asked if I'd like to make it for them.  Of course!  When would I turn down a chance to make a quilt - especially for a special little boy!  This is such a happy collection of fabrics - you just can't help but smile when working with them!  :)

I chose Kona Ash as the solid because it goes PERFECTLY with this collection.  And it's simple piecing so this should go together pretty quickly.

I hope you're having a great week!

Cheers!

Tasting Table Tuesday - An almost-finished baby quilt...

I've finished quilting the baby quilt that I showed you in my previous post and I've come to the conclusion that white quilts are extremely difficult to photograph.  It's hard to get the white and the colors to all look natural - either one or the other is always a little off, no matter how much editing I do.  I'm learning every day though, so maybe I'll eventually get it figured out.  Like quilting, I guess photography is all about practice, practice, practice also...

 I stitched in the ditch of the patchwork strips and extended those lines all the way out to the edge of the quilt in both directions.  As much as I like free-motion quilting, there's still something about the look of row after row of straight neat stitches.  I guess it's my drafting background, again...

I used one of the P&B Modern Shadows fabrics that I bought a couple of weeks ago for the back, but only had one yard of it, so I added a band of one of the fabrics that I used in the patchwork strips on the front.  There's a little bit of the same gray in it, so the two go together perfectly.  I haven't done many pieced backs before, but I love how this one went together.

Now it's time to bind it and write the description for my Cotton Cellar listing...

Cheers!

Progress Report

This is the time of year that I'm grateful to be sewing in the basement - it's so much cooler down there!  We're in a heat wave here, so I've been down there most of the day, but I just came up for a cool drink (details of that next...) and thought I'd share my latest project with you.

I designed this baby quilt months ago on EQ, but set it aside while I worked on higher priority projects.  Today I was just in the mood to start something new, so that's exactly what I did.  My blocks are done, and I just have to cut my sashing and borders then put it all together.

The patchwork strips are leftover from the big custom order of Fabric Covered Journals that I did a few months ago.  I'm setting them in a background of white, but it's not quite solid.  It's a subtle tone-on-tone of snow white with a modern circle design printed on it.  I hope you can see the details in the next picture, but it's so hard to photograph white on white.

Now for the drink details...  I'm on a juice smoothie kick these days, and it's especially refreshing on a scorcher like today.  I threw together some frozen grapes (I keep a bag of these in the freezer), frozen mango, fresh pineapple, and a sprinkling of frozen chopped spinach.  Added some water, then blended it all up with my handy-dandy new Ninja Pulse.

DEE-LICIOUS!   Cold and super refreshing!

Cheers!

Tasting Table Tuesday

Hot Hot Hot...  That's what's going on this week in this part of the country.  At least my Cotton Cellar stays a little cooler than the rest of the house, so I'll be spending as much time as possible down there the next few days.

In an attempt to stay cool, I made this Neck Cooling Wrap for my husband.  The store-bought one he's been using for the last few years sprung a leak, and while looking for a replacement on-line, I discovered this "make-your-own" tuturial.  Turns out I had all the materials on hand, so I didn't have to buy a thing.  And it only took a few minutes to make!  Much cheaper than buying on-line and paying shipping on top of that!

If you've never seen these before, it's simply a cotton tube with divisions sewn in, and Moisture Crystals in each division.  You soak it in a bowl of cool water for an hour or two so the crystals can absorb the water, then wring it out (gently) and wear it around your neck like a bandana.  It cools by evaporation and works great!  My husband always wears his while mowing the lawn in hot weather.

I only put 1/4 teaspoon of crystals in each section, and this is what it looks like after soaking overnight.  Good thing I didn't use more crystals - it might have burst!  The tutorial calls for 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon, so if you use 1/2 teaspoon don't soak it for more than an hour or two.

Update:  Since readers are asking, here's a link to the Moisture Crystals that I used.

After finishing this one, I made another pair of them for friends who were working in their garden in this heat yesterday.  Now they can stay cool too!

Cheers!