Monday, August 30, 2021

MQG Community Challenge Quilt


Each year my local quilt - Triangle MQG - participates in the QuiltCon Community Quilt challenge.  We enjoy working together and seeing the quilt hang at QuiltCon.

The challenge for 2022 is angles and the color palette was bright and cheery.  Our quilt committee designed a quilt that uses blocks of different sizes and gave us each specific fabric to work with and assignments on how many blocks to make.  I was assigned Fig Tree Olive and Boysenberry - both Moda Bella solids.  

I started off by making a bunch of 3 1/2'' squares and 3 1/2'' x 6 1/2'' rectangles, each with some unique shapes.  The blocks were FPP although there are a few that I ignored the printed line but just used the paper as a foundation to sew together my scraps.



Once these were all created, I played with different combinations looking to see what effect I could make when the smaller pieces were combined.

Here are four 6" blocks rotated slightly differently each time to see what kind of fun angles were created.  Isn't that fun?

(I clearly took my progress photos at different times of the day with all different lighting!  The top photo seems the best true to color.)


This is where I ended up for the 12" block.


And then my 6" blocks.


Aren't these fun? 

I can't wait to see how this quilt will come together and I'll make sure to share the final quilt here.   The quilt top needs to be at least assembled and photographed before the end of October to enter into QuiltCon.  We've then got until the end of the year to finish the quilt, update our photo and get it ready to be mailed.


Have a wonderful day! Patty

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

One Monthly Goal August Finish Link-up



Ready to link up your August finishes?
Don't panic - this link-up is open until August 31 at 11:55 pm ET.

My goal for August was to get my HST quilt top assembled and basted.  I got that done plus the quilting and binding - all ready to be gifted!  Read more here.


Now its your turn to link-up!  We will have 3 lucky winners -  Fat Quarter Shop is offering a $25 gift certificate, Make Modern is offering a 6 month subscription, and Aurifil is offering a thread pack!

Congrats to Lyndsey, Teri, and Laura - our lucky winners for August!  (updated 9/6)


Visit the One Monthly Goal event page for the specific requirements for links and social tags. 

And remember, to be eligible for the prize(s) by random drawing you must linkup at both the goal setting and the accomplishment linkup in a given month. (August Goal Setting Link-up)


Make sure you add a link to this OMG post so others can follow where you are linking.   Let's make that easy -  just paste this into your post:  


Thanks for linking up!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, August 23, 2021

Summer Slow Stitch August update

My goal for the last month was to add some hand quilted circles insides the squares of my Summer Slow Stitch project.  As you may remember, the quilt top was all hand pieced.  My first step in quilting was some walking foot quilting in the background.   This is where the quilt stood on my blog update mid-July.   (See previous posts here,  here here and here for more information.)



 The quilt measures roughly 55" x 55".   There are 145 squares that need some hand quilting in them.  68 of them are done - at most I've been doing 3 a day - which means 77 to go.

There is no rush to finish this project - which is why I call it my slow stitch project!


I'm using Sulky thread and thread gloss from Sew Fine.   I mark the circle by tracing a thread spool and using a Sewline marking pencil.  

I really enjoyed the challenge of hand piecing this quilt and the now hand quilting the circles.

Have a wonderful day! Patty

Thursday, August 19, 2021

HST Finish!


A stack of colorful charm squares from a friend's destash sale was the inspiration for my HST quilt.  The variety of fabrics included made it very fun to sew.  


The layout is simple.  The quilting was done with my walking foot, lines 1" apart.  I went with a medium gray for the binding.   The backing fabric was a Moda Sweetwater 108" wide fabric.


The quilt finished at 54" x 54" which is a nice throw size!

The quilt is a gift .  The person doesn't know I'm making them a quilt nor do they - I think anyway - read my blog so it is safe to share it here!


Have a wonderful day! Patty

Monday, August 16, 2021

My Bucket Hat

For reasons I can't really explain, I've been wanting to make a bucket hat to enjoy this summer.  While I'd been bookmarking tutorials and patterns for a bit, this tutorial from Sweet Red Poppy caught my eye and I decided to give it a go!



Choosing the fabric almost took longer than making the hat.  I wanted a solid on one side and a print on the other but I didn't want to cut into my very special fabric in case it didn't turn out.  After much fun going through my stash, I happened upon a large scrap from fabric I used for a quilt back years ago.  It was perfect!  And I has a light orange creamsicle solid that matched perfectly. 


My youngest liked it so much that they want one for their very own!  Time to go stash shopping again!


Updated 10/5 -

I made more hats!!




Have a wonderful day! Patty

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Three

The Modern Quilt Guild just finished up member voting on entries for the Make A Difference challenge.  Since the voting is over (the winner will be announced tomorrow), I wanted to go ahead and share my quilt which I call Three.


The entry fee for the challenge benefitted Trees for the Future, whose mission is to end hunger and poverty by training farmers to regenerate their land. 

I chose to interpret the prompt TREES literally and used techniques learned from some MQG classes including skinny strips and improv curves.  My mini quilt finishes 13" x 15".

I made the quilt top shortly after the challenge was announced but didn't bind it until the last minute.  I've no expectation of winning a prize but it is fun to participate and donate to an important cause.




Have a wonderful day! Patty

Thursday, August 5, 2021

July Temperatures



Summer has arrived in full force with really, really, (really) humid days.  I continue to stay current on recording temperatures, sitting down twice a month at my machine to stitch together about two weeks worth of days at a time.  There were a lot of days this months with highs in the 90-94 range and lows in the 70-74 range so I made a lot of the red/yellow blocks.

When I compare to July of 2020, we've had more days this July in the 80s and less in the 90s.  However, although the temperature quilt doesn't record it, our humidity this year has felt higher than I can remember.  (In the photo below, the first seven months of 2020 are on the left and 2021 is on the right. )

My design documents both the high and low temperature in a block which finishes 1 1/2 '' x 2''.  The improv strip is 1/4'' wide and records the low temperatures.  

Every month takes 2 columns - the 1 through 15 in first column and then 16 through end of month in the second column.  Filler blocks are added to square off the quilt.  The thin strips - 1/4'' wide - are randomly inserted and run 'vertically' for odd days and 'horizontally' for even days.

I'm using the exact same fabric that I did for my 2020 Temperature quilt.  The time I spent organizing is paying off - it takes no time at all to get the prep work done for sewing each block.  I made myself a mini-quilt to show off my temperature grid.  Oranges are 80s, yellows are 70s and sew on.  I've been asked several times what my fabrics are - I used all Painters Palette solids:
100+ is Sangria, 95+ is Real Red, 90+ is Poppy red, 85+ is Burnt Orange, 80+ is Tangerine, 75+ is Pencil Yellow, 70+ is Bright Yellow, 65+ is Apple Green, 60+ is Mint, 55+ is Bright Aqua, 50+ is Turquoise, 45+ is China Blue, 40+ is Lapis, 35+ is Purple, 30+ is Amethyst, and any temp is the 20s is Royalty.


I've written up my basic temperature quilt process in my tutorial including where I source the high and low information.

I'm looking forward to sharing the progress!  You can see my temperature quilts for 2018, 2019, and 2020!



Have a wonderful day! Patty

Sunday, August 1, 2021

One Monthly Goal August Link-up


New to One Monthly Goal?  Welcome!  To join, share a photo of your project, some words about what you want to accomplish in a blog post, an Instagram post or a post on Flickr and add that photo to the link-up.  Return at the end of the month and share your results.  You can read about the event and the rules on the main event page.

We have wonderful sponsors this month - three (3) winners will be randomly chosen from those who join both the goal and the finish link-up!



Fat Quarter Shop offers a tremendous selection of fabric, notions, books and just about anything you will need for your project. Consider their Sew Sampler box to receive a monthly surprise delivery of fabric and fun.  Fat Quarter Shop is offering a $25 gift certificate to one lucky participant.

Aurifil is home to a beautiful rainbow of thread in all weights, perfect for any of your sewing and quilting needs.  My favorite product is the designer collection boxes which coordinate with various fabric lines!  Aurifil will be mailing a thread pack to one lucky winner!

Make Modern is a digital magazine launched by a collaboration of quilters based in Australia. Their magazine is filled with modern quilt designs and a wonderful source of inspiration. Make Modern is offering a 6 month subscription to one lucky participant.

My August goal is to finishing piecing my HST quilt top and get it basted!  



Make sure you visit the One Monthly Goal event page for the specific requirements for links and social tags.  Your blog post (or Flickr post) must contain a photo of your project, a clearly stated goal and a link back to Elm Street Quilts.  Your Instagram post must include a photo of your project, a clearly stated goal and the tag #onemonthlygoal.  (Entries which don't contain the required information may be disqualified.)

And remember, to be eligible for the prize(s) by random drawing you must linkup at both the goal setting and the accomplishment linkup in a given month.   (The One Monthly Goal accomplishment linkup will be available on August 25.)

Make sure you add a link to this OMG post so others can find the OMG link-up from your blog.  Let's make that easy -  just paste this into your post: 
 


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


Thanks for linking up!

Have a wonderful day! Patty