Round 3 is Coming!

Do you remember the Modern She Made Swap?
The very talented Lori of Lori H Designs and I are getting ready for Round 3, so....if you have an active flickr photostream, love the modern aesthetic and want to swap with some pretty awesome talent, stalk this thread, where more details will emerge. We pick one shape per round and require that all items have this shape incorporated into it, somewhere in some way. Our first round was circles, the second round was triangles and this third round, is still up for grabs! I'm going to leave you with some of the goodies made in the first couple of rounds, just in case you need any more reasons to join us!

Oh yeah! I told you the ladies in here were fabulous - Hope you join us!

Supernova Complete

Have you ever done a Supernova Block? If a block looks, even a little bit difficult, I don't even attempt it.   But....one of my friends is in the same Mo' Stash bee with me and she was so kind to offer to make me a couple blocks when it's my month so I had to return the favor - even though I thought it was too complex.  Well, I was wrong, it wasn't hard and the tutorial was clear. It's just some squares and triangles (that is what  I tell myself to make it less intimidating). The best part, no postage charges - we live in the same city - bonus!

The Web of Beauty

Isn't she gorgeous? When I first saw this block, made in other colors, it was ugly to me. But my March hostess in the Simply Solids Bee is Lisa and her color choices were awesome! (and big Kudos for sending the fabric out super early)!

You know what else, she had precut all the fabric, precut the templates AND labeled each section with the color of fabric - talk about a breeze. Thank you Lisa! I was so excited to get started that I have already mailed it back, and it isn't even due until end end of March!

Quilting is so fun because as you see blocks come together in ways you had not visualized, it's like a flower opening up as it blossoms. That is how I would describe this block.  Check your mailbox Lisa - it's on the way!

Lucky Stars - January

Ok ok, I know I'm late since this is January and I am posting in February, but...that's how it goes.

 The final color scheme for this is going to be solids and polka dots.  It isn't really a color scheme, lets call it my design scheme - yeah that! So....I present to you, my January Lucky Stars Block!

Paper Piecing is such fun.  It amazes me how much I love it because the first time I did it was challenging! I think I watched 3 YouTube videos no less than 10 times each, I just couldn't get it, but now...I got it and I love it! 

Are you good at paper piecing? 

the QuiltCon Link Up

Hey!

Are you going to QuiltCon? It is less than 20 days away - woo hoo!!

The Modern Quilt Guild has started a Link Up for attendees to get to know one another better.

You are asked to share a photo and 5 things you don't know about me so....

I love to play tennis

I own 19 pairs of Crocs

I have never colored my hair

As much as I talk smack about living in Texas, I really like it

Tetley, Earl Gray Vanilla is my current favorite tea flavor (and you can only get it in Canada)

The Early Bird gets the Worm!

and the worm in this case is the privilege to check this off my list and be the first person to get them in the mail for my swap hostess! Ok, I admit I like to get things done and be early.  One of my talents is reading extremely fast (like a John Grisham book in 3 hours) and in school it was such a rush to get through my tests and be one of the first, if not the first person to turn my test in.  These blocks are just like that!

And an extra awesome thing about these blocks are they are going to someone I know, in real life! I have always admired Deb's sense of style but then I met her at Sewing Summit and it's an honor to send her these blocks, that will be made into a quilt for her mother.

Check your mailbox Deb - here they come!

And the finish!

This my last finish for the Mod Mosaic Bee I joined in last year.  Safiya is going to have a little girl so these blocks will go to making a first quilt for her daughter.  She asked for aqua, grey, yellow, coral and pale pinks.  I didn't realize until typing up my post that I didn't use any yellow.  I suspect because I don't have many pastel or lighter hues of fabrics.  My purchases are usually bright bright bright.  I did have some (thank goodness for the Stash Stack I joined for a few months) lighter colors for her color palette.

As I created Mod Mosaic blocks last year (two every month) I have come to hate them.  Not because I don't like them, but whew - they are a lot of work for me. Directions, patterns, rules and order of operations are a delight to me but improvisational is not. These blocks went together much faster when I laid them all out first but no rules kind of stress me out.  What about you? Which style do you prefer?

Practice Makes Perfect

One down, 12 to go!
I completed my practice block for the Lucky Stars Block of the Month Club recently.

It seems that when I don't think about it, things go much more smoothly.  You see, reading the directions usually makes me overthink it. But...in this case, I messed up.  I glanced at the directions and just threw the fabric together for the first seam.  Working in an assembly line is best for me so I will do all of the 1-2 fabric for all blocks, then all of the 2-3 fabric.  It's a great process until you mess up, and have to rip out on 8 blocks (and by the way the stitch length is set at 1 - gaah!).

And since this seems to be a self reflection post, let me also add that I really like to pre-cut the fabrics before starting.  There does appear to be more waste using this method, but thankfully, there is no frustration because the fabric is too small.  I'm a scrooge and I don't like to waste fabric, but if the alternative is rip out seams two (or three or four) times, then honestly, it's a bargain. There is no number high enough to tell you how many times I have attempted to use an itty bitty scrap only to have it not fold over or not quite reach the corner.

For a practice block, this was perfect.  It reminded me where I need to pay attention and how I need to work these blocks as well as add a can of starch to my grocery list too.

On this block I used Kona Ash, Kona Bright Pink, and Kona Sour Apple.  The yellow polka dot middle is something in my stash.  Although I have not decided on a color scheme for these blocks, I just may follow this one and use solids and polka dots.

Off to a Great Start!

If you have been following me for any length of time at all, you will know that I love swaps and bees.  2013 is no different!

This year I am in the Modern Stash Quilting Bee hosted by two very dear people to me, Whitney and Deb. I had the pleasure of meeting them both face to face at Sewing Summit last year. They are lovely in person and I am honored to be included in this six month bee of theirs.

Our January hostess, Emily, is going to have a rainbow of blocks and hopes to assemble a quilt that is similar to this one. I had these all sewn up on Dec 29th and am happy to be ahead of the game!

My colors were dark pink and medium green. You know how I feel about green right? The funny thing is....I really enjoy buying green fabric - go figure right? It served me well as there are very few duplicates in the green block thanks to my wonderfully plump green stash.

Now I will await what February brings me!

Let's Build our Skills Together!

Details Here

Alyssa at Pile O' Fabric has it all planned out!

I must say that some of the blocks look hard and require some thought, but that's what is is all about right? Challenging ourselves and getting out of our comfort zone will only enhance our knowledge.

We will be making 2 blocks a month and she will publish on the third Thursday of the month.  That will be easy to remember as that is when my local modern quilt guild meets! The best thing about this series, it's free! Please take a moment, if you join, to tell her thank you for offering this.  She could easily charge for it and it takes a lot of time to prepare instruction.  I'm excited (and nervous) for this series! I promise that I will post all my blocks though: the good AND the bad.

Join me! Here is the post with all the details and the sign up form.