Winning Ribbons

I posted my Garden Gem quilt already, and I mentioned I planned to enter it at the Springville Art Museum for their annual quilt show. I like seeing my quilts hang in museums, it's fun! And I was really happy with how it turned out. I try to not worry about winning things, because it's not why I make quilts and honestly, I'm not technical enough to really worry about it. Still...I kinda thought, *maybe* it might win a ribbon, my points (the very few there were) lined up really well and Marion did a fantastic job quilting it. I didn't dare hope, but honestly, I really hoped. I just tried to say I didn't care. 

But luckily, I DID win a ribbon, which makes my second this year if you count my Sewtopia ribbon, which I do. :) Interestingly, both quilts use designs by Jenny Haynes of Papper Saxsten, so clearly, she's designed award winning quilts. As a ribbon winner, I was invited to the opening reception award ceremony and of course I went, I was anxious to find out what ribbon I won! I didn't dare take my girls because I didn't know how long it would be and I didn't want them to be disruptive or bored... but I probably should have taken them. Instead, just my husband and I went. Of course, they began announcing the winners from the bottom up, starting with those that had been awarded honorable mentions, and then awards of excellence, and then judges choices, and I kept waiting for my name to be called and it kept not being called. Finally, there were only a few ribbons left and they finally announced my name as the director's choice! She was announcing the awards so she shared a little bit about my quilt and how much she loved it and was so glad she got her first choice, which doesn't always happen. I was absolutely thrilled! 

We brought our girls down a few weeks later to see it at the museum with the ribbon and they weren't all that excited...but I did see another quilter who had won a ribbon in the same gallery and we talked for a bit. She told me there was some drama on the ribbon winning for the Dear Jane quilts and I realized going for ribbons is not for me. I'm so glad I won, and I'm not going to lie, I'm excited to see how much money I won for winning a ribbon, but I don't think ribbon seeking is for me. I mean, I machine bound my quilt. :D

Beach Puddles

The other quilt I got bound recently was this version of Candlelight by April Rosenthal. I made her kit version with the same fabrics from the cover quilt, and I love it. It's fun to put together with the traditional blocks. In the pattern, she emphasizes that value gradation is a key part of the quilt and making the design really pop. I thought it would be fun to play with color gradation instead and went with yellow to blue. I really like the colors and I think it worked out well but it didn't have the same impact as the value gradation. It's interesting how the changes made it pop differently. I treated yellow as the light and navy as the dark, which makes sense, but the warm yellow pops more than the cool blue so it's interested to see color theory in action. And the middle colors kind muddle together...I should have used the yellow for the stars so they popped more than the rolling stones blocks.

I omitted the border on it because I couldn't decide on what fabric to use, and it was a pretty narrow border anyway. So it's a tad smaller than the original, but I don't think it's too small by any means. Although, I do tend to prefer large quilts ;-). 

Here's my original Candlelight quilt, which I realized as I wrote this that I had never blogged about. 

Beach Puddles, quilted by Abby Latimer, completed July 2024

Original Candlelight, quilted by Abby Latimer, completed November 2020

Federa Quilt

Summer has flown by for me. Our kids go back to school in just a week and a half or so, and I can hardly believe it! I've got to pack a bunch of fun things in that we've meant to do all summer, and it just hasn't happened yet. A hike, maybe (if I can talk them into it...), a day at the roller rink, shopping for family picture clothes...plus we need to review everyone's uniforms and make sure they have what they need. We have had a great summer, even if I feel like I need to make up for lost time. We took a roadtrip up to the Pacific Northwest and visited the San Juan Islands and Olympic Peninsula with a short stop at Cannon Beach before coming home. It was a lovely way to start summer. But, we haven't done our typical summer sewing service this year (we also missed last year) and that makes me kinda sad. Maybe next year we can get back into it. I have had my girls help cook for the last few weeks which was on my list...I want them to help me just once a week so they can start to learn how. My older girls end up doing most of the work while I assist, and my younger ones help until they get bored waiting for various steps and never come back...but it's okay. Progress, right? 

And speaking of progress, I've made progress in my sewing room, too. I bound two quilts, including my Federa Quilt, which I mostly pieced at Sewtopia in April. It's the Wasatch pattern by Compass and Wildflowers. I used colors inspired by our trip to the Dolomites in October, so yellow and orange foliage and turquoise for the lake. We got to visit Federa Lake while we were there and it was absolutely stunning. 

The piecing was really simple and a perfect Sewtopia project since I could just grab strips and go; since it was made of solids and all the blocks were the same, there was no need to lay things out or worry about spacing out colors and fabrics evenly. 

Unfortunately, it's not square. I appreciated that she has you cut blocks in halves or quarters to add to the edges to make the edges straight so you don't have to trim it after quilting and lose so much of the blocks, but I wonder if that was partially to blame for it's lack of squareness. It doesn't really matter, not really, it's a throw quilt and even if it was a bed quilt, I'm really not much of a show quilter. (Although I do have something to share about that later; stay tuned!)

I love this quilt and that it reminds me of Italy. Our trip to the dolomites was really great, I'd love to go back! It was just beautiful. Although, I think we'll wait until after the olympics go through; there was plenty of construction as they prepare to host.

Sewtopia Milwaukee

I am so excited to share about my trip to Sewtopia in Milwaukee! It was amazing. More amazing than I could have hoped. There are a bunch of pictures, and a lot of them are even more terrible than my usual sub-par standard because interior lighting is ROUGH. But hopefully they give you a good idea!

 

First, while my sewing bestie did not get a ticket initially, Megan and Amy saw my note on an instagram post that she had not gotten a ticket and when one came available a week before the event, they emailed me and offered it to her directly. So she got to go! I was majorly impressed with her spontaneity. I was nervous about being by myself when so many of the attendees had been before or were attending with friends and I worried I would feel lonely. That worry was unnecessary, as everyone was so exceptionally friendly and inclusive, but I was still glad she got to go. I didn't really know what to expect, but I did anticipate bringing home more than I took with the shop hop. I didn't realize how much extra stuff we'd bring home, though! We got amazing swag bags with patterns and precuts and batting and more, and everyone gets a doorprize at some point through the weekend, and many of them were fat quarter bundles. You can see the one I picked in a picture below, barely, in the picture with the pouch I received in the swap.

 The event on the whole was so fun. The shop hop was great and I got some fun fabric, including some great additions to the quilt I worked on for Latifah's class (more on that later). The saddest part to me was that the shops seemed understaffed and overwhelmed by our visit, and cutting and checking out took FOREVER. I only got to one shop at the second stop instead of both shops (which were just a block away from each other) because they had only one person cutting and one person checking out. So I waited roughly 40 minutes to get cut. I try to not feel FOMO too hard, but I was disappointed to not get to both shops. We also visited a quilt and textile museum, which was pretty cool, although it took longer than I think we really had budgeted for in the shop hop unfortunately. There was a 25 million stitches project on display, which was in recognition of the refugee crisis. It was dark, and there were so many embroidered panels, so pictures were hard and I only took some of the some of the panels I really loved, one is below.

I took my Wasatch quilt project to work on because it seemed like it would be mindless sewing since it's a log cabin construction and I used solids, and it was a great choice. I was in the afternoon classes, so we had a couple of open-sew periods before our first class, and I nearly finished my blocks during the weekend. I miscut and was 8 pieces short of one of the colors, so I couldn't finish it. But, I was so happy with my progress and was able to quickly finish the quilt after I got home. It's now at my quilter's for longarming. 

 

We had two instructors for the weekend: Latifah Saafir, who taught her Glare quilt, and Violet Craft, who taught us how to turn a photo into an EPP pattern. Both were so great! I got three "blocks" done for my Glare quilt, and I'm excited to jump back in this weekend to work on more. I'm a little nervous about the assembly, because she showed us briefly at the end, but it seemed a little tricky even though the curves are nice and big and gentle. I am using Tula Pink's Daydreamer line, and it feels funny to me to use a single line. I never do that! But I thought the flamingos were perfect for the centers and it just kind of snowballed from there. It's going to be a pretty bright quilt for me, but I think it'll be really pretty. 

As I've shared previously, I didn't feel comfortable participating in the Super Secret Swap just in case I wasn't up to enough awesome sewing before the event. But I did sew a swap item and Phyllis got my Luisa crossbody bag, which she loved with the focal Tula Pink print. I got a lovely pouch made my Anja. The zipper work looks so tricky and she said she struggled, but it looks like she breezed through it. The topstitching was well done, I assure you, and my girls have already tried to take it for themselves but I wouldn't let them. 

The biggest news I have to share is that I won the fabric challenge!

 For every event, Sewtopia hosts a fabric challenge, and this one was sponsored by Windham. We were sent 6 fat quarters, including three prints by Heather Ross and three solids. I brainstormed and wanted to use the stripes creatively, that was my biggest focus. I decided to make an Above the Cairns quilt, designed by Jenny Haynes, even though I haven't taken her workshop. I have taken her Hexibore workshop, and I have some of her templates, so I just went with it...I had to print the largest durkard's path template from Electric Quilt. My goal was to have the lighter peach snail print and the orange solid blend together with the striped fabric which had the peach and orange colors in it. I used the strawberry print for the centers and since they kind of resembled cobblestones, I titled it Roman Cobblestones because of the delicious strawberries we had there when we visited a few years back during strawberry season. I quilted it with my walking foot, using a design from Jacquie Gering's Walk book for the main center. Amy said my quilting was what really sealed it, and I got loads of compliments on the quilting. I felt so proud of it!

 

 I never quilt my own quilts, and this was really as big as I'd want to quilt myself. I got a first place ribbon, made by Megan, and a box of fat quarters of the full line of Windham solids. I'm thinking maybe I'll order Violet Craft's peacock quilt pattern and use them for that, which seems fitting.

Luisa Crossbody Bag

So…I was really happy with the pouch I made for the sewtopia blind swap. I thought it turned out great and I felt like I had a good amount of extras in it. I even kinda felt like I didn’t want to give it away. 

Then, I watched the replay of the question and answer zoom call. And they talked about the swap and about the projects they were making for it…and my pouch seemed too simple. And I reread the swap instructions in the attendee packet and they have changed the wording from a small item such as a mini or pillow or pouch, to a medium item such as a tool organizer or favorite bag. 

Yeah. My pouch was not good enough. 

So, I started brainstorming because sewtopia is less than a month away now, and settled on making a Luisa crossbody bag by Sotak Handmade. I haven’t made it yet, but I thought it would be simple enough to try and would be a good pattern for a focal print. I chose a Tula Pink cameo from the Parisville deja vu line. Luckily, I found fabrics to go with it for the rest of the bag and I think it turned out great! 

I’m really pleased with how the zippers turned out. This rainbow zipper tape by the yard was an impulse purchase while I bought some other zippers by the yard on Etsy and I think it’s perfect for this bag. 

I did have to adjust how I inserted the zipper for the main compartment because I couldn’t figure out how to close it as written for a regular zipper, so I added another tab to the open end. I also think it could use a slightly wider strap, it’s a pretty big bag for only 1” wide. I also should have used a stiffer denim for the interlining, I think it’s a bit slouchy on the bottom contrast part. Otherwise, I think it’s a great bag, and once again, I’ll be sad to give it up. Hopefully the recipient loves it too, and I get something amazing myself!

Garden Gem (a Hexibore quilt)

Somehow, I came across Jenny Haynes' Instagram feed and discovered her amazing curved piecing. I ended up signing up for her Hexibore class and ordering her acrylic templates because I had never seen anything quite like it and just HAD to make one for myself. She offers her more complex patterns only as online classes, and only live, though you do get a recording of the class afterward. 

This was the second iteration of the class, where she introduced a four-petal version, and that's what I opted to make first. Since, I have also made a six-petal top that I'm trying to decide how to have quilted. It's tough, I'll tell you. These quilts are so graphic that you really want to make sure the quilting will accent the design.

For the four-petal version I made first, I decided I HAD to have it custom quilted, and in the past, I've hired Marion McClellon for that. She always does amazing work! I just trust her, and know she'll do some amazing art. So, after I finished up the quilt top, which went together pretty quickly since it doesn't have many pieces. Jenny gave great tips on how to get the pieces lined up just right so you don't lose the curves. Her instruction was great, I wish the class were just a little more professionally done. It was very informal, which is why she hasn't created contents ready for streaming anytime. I can't really complain about the content as she really does give great instruction. And, it wasn't very expensive as far as classes go. I guess I'm mostly disgruntled because I'm really interested in some of her other courses, but I've never caught them with openings at times that would work for me. 

I just got back my quilt from Marion a week ago, and I finished binding it. I picked the binding out when I bought the fabric originally, which is so unlike me! Usually binding is an after thought. But I thought the orange would be striking. 

I was blown away by Marion's quilting when it came back, and I had tried extra hard on the piecing to get the points lined up just right, so I decided I will probably enter it in the Springville art museum quilt show this summer. And with that in mind, I decided to try a little harder on the binding. It didn't work out perfectly, I'm not good at binding. But I think it's okay. I backed it with minky which means the drape is excellent despite the dense quilting, and since I backed with minky, there's no way I could hand stitch it down. So, instead of sewing the binding first to the front and then turning it to the back, I stitched it to the back and turned it to the front so I could "topstitch" it down. I reasoned it would look more intentional and better. Of course, true to form for me, it's a tad wavy. I tried so hard! I cleared off my table and tried to not pull either the quilt or the binding. But it was a heavy quilt and that's hard to manage. Oh well...I don't really expect top marks from the show anyway. It's just fun to see your work hanging in a museum! 

Completed March 2024

Gratitude Quilt

Before Thanksgiving, I had an idea. I had just seen a blogpost by Amy Smart about her gratitude quilt, and it lit a fire in me. The wheels turned quickly, and even though I usually mull things way longer than is necessary, I quickly jumped to work. I pitched it to my kids and they liked the idea too, so we went for it! 

I largely used Amy Smart's pattern for the gratitude quilt, but I made some changes. I think I made more blocks, but I omitted the border. And instead of using a sharpie to write on the blocks, I opted to embroider them. I had my girls all come up with 10 things they were thankful for and then I color coded the blocks and had the girls all sew their own blocks. So, my oldest daughter's blocks are all the same yellow fabric, and my second daughter's are all the same blue. I added their name to one of their blocks so we'd be able to figure it out easily later.

My girls have a whole week off of school for Thanksgiving and we never travel, so this was a great activity for them while they were off of school. I did need to unpick and resew a few blocks, especially for my seven-year-olds, but they mostly did great. And I sewed all my husband's blocks, of course. 

Once they were done, I laid it out quickly and stitched the rows together, and then I had a stroke. I knew it wouldn't be done by Thanksgiving, since we were sewing the blocks the day before Thanksgiving, but I still hoped to finish it before the end of the year just to wrap it up.

That did not happen. But I got it up to my quilter in February (I couldn't easily get down on the floor to pin rows together after I was discharged because I was so stiff), and I got it back this week.

I put it aside while I worked on my Sewtopia challenge quilt (will post on that later!), but once I had sewn the binding down to the front of that quilt, I opted to bind this one. I used the brown fabric that I used for some blocks, and I don't love the print (it was free from a neighbor's destash) but it's a great color, especially for an autumn quilt. I think it's a great binding for this quilt. 

I'm so glad it's finished!