PQ 10.1

More info later, but here’s the pic:

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Project Quilting 9.4: Mellow Yellow

I am calling this one “Falling into Place”.

The Quilt: This was an assignment exploring value and balanced composition for a Design Essentials 1 class taught by Lorraine Torrence at Mill House Quilts. It’s small (just 10×10″), but it’s finished.

The Story: Last year just stunk. If you have a moral conscious and see the fall that our country is taking, I don’t need to say any more. If you don’t see that or don’t agree or think that great decisions are being made in the executive and legislative branches of the government, it doesn’t matter what I could say.

Work was challenging in 2017. Period. Just challenging.

But I was ready for 2018 and went into it with a positive attitude. Things were going to change. Mid term elections. Better communication. People waking up. Hitting important goals on a project at work and a potential opportunity.

That lasted about 2 weeks.

Mid-Jan my mom fell and went into the hospital. She spent 2 weeks there and everything for her and my stepdad turned upside down. After multiple trips there each week (hour each way) and lots of time sorting things out and many, many waking hours on the part of my sister and her extensive advocacy for my mom, things are finally a bit more stable. Mom is in good care in the nursing home, the bills are getting paid, and my stepdad is getting Meals on Wheels and bought 2 new pairs of pants (hadn’t happened for 25 years … small victories).

At the same time (Jan) the work opportunity fell through. But another door opened and will likely be much better for me.

AND an old friend was diagnosed with cancer requiring immediate, aggressive treatment. Shes one of the strongest women I know, but she’s also the last person that something like this should happen to (big ass heart in that woman). She just finished chemo and radiation this week. Let the healing begin!

A lot of big decisions are going to have to be made soon with the parents, but right now everyone is safe.

Things are falling into place. And I am going on vacation. Checking out. Taking a couple of deep breaths. Getting my toes in the sand.

Maybe we can start this whole positive-attitude-for-2018 thing over again when I get back.

Project Quilting 9.3: Bold and Brave

Did some pattern testing for Trina Peterson this week and took photos with Wendy Franzak’s super fancy photo box. The pattern will be out soon and is called “Zipper Squared”.    It’s really well written and is much easier than it seems.

Project Quilting 9.2: Triangulation

OK, so maybe kind of crazy that my last post was the last PQ season.
And my new post is a new PQ season.
No judgement, right?

Things have been a bit overwhelming lately and I really didn’t think that I would be able to fit in any of the PQ Season 9 challenges. But this little number was made from Cherrywood fabric to illustrate depth perspective using overlapping for my Design Essentials 1 class taught by Lorraine Torrence at Mill House Quilts in Waunakee WI. It was made Fri and due Sat and qualifies for PQ 9.2: Triangulation on Sun cause I used some triangles to show the depth: win-win. (Size 7.5 x 7.5″)

Project Quilting 8.6: Time is Up

The last challenge of Project Quilting Season 8 is here. ☹️ The theme is Time is Up. I had a bunch of skull/grunge/black/white fabric still spread out on the table from making this quilt, so I used what was still there, cause we all run out of time in so many ways, don’t we?

“Sometimes I feel that life is passing me by, not slowly either, but with ropes of steam and spark-spattered wheels and a hoarse roar of power or terror. It’s passing, yet I’m the one who’s doing all the moving. “. -Martin Amis

 

Project Quilting 8.5: Best Dressed Man

My best dressed man for the Project Quilting challenge is Dr. Frank N. Furter from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Fabric is all Grunge and the whole image is raw edge appliqué. For the fishnet background, I placed the black on top of the red and stitched the lines, then cut out between the lines. To make it easier to separate the black from the red, I heavily glue basted the red to the batting prior to stitching.

 

 

Project Quilting 8.4: Brighter the Better

Three … Three … Three challenges in one!

Obviously, this is my PQ 8.4 challenge with the pretty bright Pantone color of the year 2017, greenery, but since I used that color, it also works for the Mad Mod Quilt Guild challenge to make something using greenery.

But since this will ALSO fulfill a late assignment for a Naughty or Nice swap, I need to get it into the mail on Monday. SOOO, I’ll be making a very close replica to show at the guild meeting in March … Using the same greenery, of course.

This piece also serves to remind me to Give A Damn, especially in those times when I’m feeling more like Fuck It. The design was based very much on this picture by @lisacongdon (check her out on Instagram). Cherrywood was used to compliment the Kona green.

I also want to share what I received from Linda Payne for the Naughty or Nice swap. She hand sewed on cork fabric! How cool is that?! (Oh, and those are Cherrywood triangles. 😀)

 

Project Quilting 8.3: Tune in to Texture

For the third Project Quilting challenge in Season 8, we were told to explore texture. For awhile, I had been wanting to experiment with Fabric Magic and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. My current infatuation with Cherrywood hand dyed fabrics made the material selection easy since it naturally has a textured look..

The Fabric Magic is sewn to the material, then steamed with an iron to make it shrink and create texture. Sounds easy, and it really is pretty cool, but I haven’t used water in my iron, it’s older, and apparently, there was some dark gunk in the steam pores. So, guess what? The dark gunk ended up on my fabric. Boo! It sort of maybe looks like part of the dyed effect, but not really.

The thought of investing in anything quilted with a spotted piece of fabric wasn’t super exciting, so I made a zippy pouch, which has been one of my favorite fun, go-to things to make lately.

I would definitely use Fabric Magic again, but might need to invest in a new, clean iron first. This is one of my favorite things about PQ: each challenge provides a great opportunity to experiment. #pqSeason8

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Project Quilting Season 8 Challenge 1: Tessell-eight

It’s time for Project Quilting again, so it must be time to remember my blog password. Season 8 is here, hosted by Kim Lapacek and with challenges by Trish Frankland. The theme for this first challenge is “8 is Great”.

To practice a the paper pieced templates in the Tessellation pattern by Allison Glass, I made 8 wedges using Cherrywood fabric. A sampler pack purchased at Quilt Expo in 2016 (thanks, Trish, for the recommendation) worked perfect and the hand dyed fabric is just delicious!

 

Rocky Horror Quilt Challenge

Challenge quilts are cool and a great way to experiment. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is also pretty dang cool. So sexy. So when Trisha F. posted a link on Facebook to the BadAss Quilter’s Society Rocky Horror Picture Show challenge … well, I couldn’t NOT sign up!

My first full-production RHPS experience was in the mid-80s while in Air Force Tech School in Denver, CO. As a first timer (“virgin”), I got up on stage before the show, stood in line, and had a cherry put in my mouth with the stem sticking out. “Magenta” came by to pop the stem off of each of ours with her teeth.

I didn’t know what was going down.
And I LOVE maraschino cherries (give me a jar & they’re gone).
So, of course, I ate my cherry. Yummmm.
Magenta got to me and asked me where was my cherry.
I said that I ate it.

She turned to the audience and yelled:

“SHE POPPED HER OWN CHERRY!!!!”

And so it began. 😀

A couple of friends from work perform with the local RH production group, Velvet Darkness. I asked one, Sara Morrissey, to design the quilt and told her that I would make it and give it to her. This is Sara’s awesome design:

And this is what she based it on:

It’s a subtle nod to the fact that Rocky is a spoof of old horror flicks (and the tower shows up at the end).

The material (except a square of gold faux leather and some fancy gold accents), is all from my new favorite line of solids: Grunge Basics by BasicGrey for Moda Fabrics. The challenge package opening was even more exciting than the arrival.

 

 

 

Because I always seemed to find the most difficult way to do something and have a light bulb moment illuminating an easier way to do it when I’m one or two steps away from completion, the tower is not appliqued with easy little strips and a bunch of straight lines.  No, no, no.  It is pieced. All of it. every triangle and white segment. All at odd random angles. Pieced.

In an effort to get more comfortable with quilting, a couple of details are in the stitching, such as a little fishnet criss-cross in the border:

And the BOSS tattoo (a bit hard to see with black on black):

And Dr. Frank-N-Furter:

This is what I did with some of the scraps.

It was a fun, difficult challenge (those are the best, right?) and I’m glad that it’s going to a good home.  Next time: Think applique!! (Finished size: 60 x 88″)

OK, so now (24-30 Mar), head over here to check out all of the other really cool entries (really, they’re quite impressive) and then. Vote. For. Mine. Please. It’s easy: just click.
And check out a super cool quilt haven: BadAss Quilter’s Society. I mean, just that name!