Mini Quilt Fun

I joined a mini quilt swap on Swap-Bot which had as the theme "flower children" We were supposed to recall the 60s and depict some aspect of that time of free love, fringe, flower power and peace signs. This is what I came up with:

This mini is about 11 X 15 inches. I used my best flower power fabric and did some bobbin work to make the peace sign.  By the way, my tutorial on bobbin work is still the most read post of all the posts I have done. It was fun to actually do some myself. I bordered that with some batik fabric that I think looks a bit tie dyed. I quilted it all simply with heavy wavy lines in the border and stitch in the ditch around the center. The backing was folded down and brought to the front for the binding.  I am loving this binding technique so much. So easy!

This is link up day with crazy mom quilts, Whoop Whoop Friday and TGIFF.  Head over to those sites to see some awesome quilt projects.

BOMs Away - Block Swaps

As I have mentioned before, I participate in a few online swaps.  Some are monthly that will end up when we have enough blocks for a quilt.  One of those is the Modern Log Cabin swap on Swap-Bot. We are using this tutorial by Red Pepper Quilts to make three 8.5 inch blocks for our partner each month.  We are using modern fabrics to update this traditional block.  We each have a choice of fabrics with only the center square being white for everyone. Here is mine for this month.

They were quick to sew up using a jelly roll of fabrics called Posh.  I did chain piecing for each "log" which made it fast. My husband says these blocks are confusing.  Do you agree?
I have collected half the number of blocks I need for a quilt.  My partners have been really good about doing these on time and with beautiful fabrics.

Another monthly swap is the Wonky House block.  We will eventually be able to build a "village" quilt using our swapped blocks.  We have a choice as to size and fabrics.  It is fun to play with different fabrics together.  This month I added a little floral treatment in the front yard.

Another project is underway as I mentioned in the last post.  I made some stratas from the teal batiks I bought this week.

 I will be cutting squares from the stratas for the Confetti quilt project.  I am lovin' the mindless straight seam sewing these stratas require. A little music and pedal to the metal and I am in heaven.

I am linking up today with Lyn at  What a Hoot Quilts.  Check out the other works are going on over there.
Until the next post...Happy Quilting!

To Boston With Love | Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild

To Boston With Love | Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild

April FOs

This month has been a piecing frenzy.  The Mystery Quilt - City Streets -had new clues every Friday so I was doing those instructions all week long. It was frustrating in that I was making mistakes left and right.  As a result, I had to unsew nearly as much as I sewed. Those one and two inch wonders wore me out but finally ended up being 8 inch blocks.

The final clue and reveal came last Friday.To date, I have some of the blocks and sashing strips up on the design board.

For a new FO I  started on some new blocks for a quilt pattern in a book I have wanted to try for quite a while. They are called Confetti blocks as that is the name of the quilt. The piecing is so relaxing because it is random strips with no order other than making the size big enough to accommodate the 4 1/2 inch square ruler that I will use to cut angled blocks. I also am making stratas for the other blocks.  I love this pattern.  It calls for teal batiks with pink, orange and lime green highlights for the "confetti." I now know that my favorite color is: TEAL! The book is Stratavarious Quilts by Barbara Persing and Mary Hoover.

A few other things -

Finished a baby quilt with a "smart" panel from the Baby Genius line.

This is going to one son's friend.

Then there is a tote bag I finished for a birthday gift.

Some fabric postcards were done for swaps.

I think I have now used up all of that Butterfly Garden fabric. It has served me well.
Another quick and easy project was this mini quilt (11 x 15) that I did for a Swap Bot swap:

The block was given out at our LQS at the Spring Fling shop hop along with the coordinating fabric. I just had to make the border, sandwich it with some fabric from my scrap bin and free motion quilt it. I call it my Monet Mini.

So that is what I have been making.  We are currently sort of camping out at home while a tile guy installs tile flooring in all the wet areas of our house. It means clearing out furniture, dust everywhere and not being able to use the kitchen for two days.  Thank goodness for restaurants nearby!

Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day and a happy May!

Blocks, Blocks, Blocks

This month has been a series of blocks under construction. I have only put together one quilt top so far. It is with the Depression blocks I love to make from my scrap bin.

The block for our guild BOM is a paper pieced tulip.

I made four but made mistakes with each one.  I think they will stay home from the meeting.

For my Swap-Bot partner in the Scrappy Heart to Heart, I made an appliqued heart.

I liked it so much that I made myself one, fussy cutting my two favorite areas in California. I used Hoffman's California fabric that I had in my stash.

This one came out a bit crinkly because I didn't use a stabilizer when I did the free motion stitching.  Oh well, this one is mine. Here is a close up of the one I sent off and used a tabilizer and variegated rayon thread.

Close Up

This is link up day at BOMs AWAYwith Lyn so go over there to see more quilters' progress.