Disappearing Orange Peel

 This is my attempt at Modern Traditionalism. I started with a traditional orange peel design with scrappy orange prints hand-appliqued on a scrappy low volume background. 

I replaced some of the peels with ghost shapes that are hand-quilted with perle cotton. 

 

I machine quilted with a cream 50 wt Superior So Fine thread. I left the peels unquilted, but I considered quilting some orange fill designs in the ghost shapes. 

  

I thought I had started this project early last year. When I searched the blog, I found this post from 2012! This was supposed to be my Tangerine Tango project. I completely changed direction from my original plan which shows how my quilting style has evolved over the last four years.

For the back, I had a perfect tree print in my stash from Central Park by Kate Spain. The orange dot from Oliver + S is the perfect binding.

 

I have to say I really enjoyed all the hand stitching on this project- from the applique to the perle cotton quilting to stitching down the binding. I was able to finish it up in just a few days. Gotta love those minis!

Disappearing Orange Peel

Started 1/27/12

Completed 1/21/16

16" X 16"

 

 With a snowstorm on its way, I'm flashing back to these cuties. She started her final semester of college this week and he left for his first overseas deployment. Wish they were here to play in the snow (and do the shoveling!)

Great Escape #30

 I'm unpacking from a terrific retreat weekend. I brought waaaay too much stuff! What was I thinking? For Julia and myself, I brought about 9 different projects (only touched 3) and 3 machines (never took out the Bernina).

Here's Julia with our quilting idol, Barbara W. Barber. At last year's retreat, Barbara was telling a story about the "illness" she suffers when she finishes a quilt and doesn't know what to do next. Julia diagnosed her with "Between Quilts Syndrome" and a quilt was born! If you click on the photo you can read the first panel of the comic strip.

 

Since there's not a really good picture of us together, I thought I'd go with this one that made me laugh.

 

Julia and I have wanted to make a NY Beauty quilt together for a long time. Last year, my LQS was kitting up block of the month blocks and I couldn't resist. I almost never work from a kit, but I knew we would never make this quilt without one. Julia pieced all the points after a little refresher and some new tips from mom. She sewed the curves on two blocks, and I sewed the other two. Please pretend that the blocks are perfectly square. They have been starched into submission! After we make the rest, we'll trim them up.

 

Our Saturday workshop was the Sunset pattern by Julie Popa. We did some prep work in advance, so many quilters were able to finish the top during the day. This is mine on the left and Suzy's on the right.

 

 I used my stash of orange, pink and red. Surprisingly, I did not use a white background. It is a cream with green dots that softens the whole piece.

One of the instructor's friends had pieced all her cut off scraps for the border, which I loved, so I did it too. I was able to get it finished just in time for workshop show & tell before lunch on Sunday.

 

It's time to start planning for 2016!

Black and White and ...

 A couple of months ago, the RIMQG issued a challenge. We were to use black and white and one additional color of our choice. Hmm. What color will Tina add? That's a tough one!

I wanted to keep it simple with a disappearing nine patch. I drew it out in EQ7 which was a great help in deciding how to use various oranges. The only thing that ended up being very different from the drawing is the binding.

I played with some extra squares for the back, and used up some more of that DS Quilts orange print.

I wanted to do something fun and interesting with the quilting. Plan A included some pebbling and matchstick quilting in the oranges. I hated it! I had gone through two full bobbins when I decided to rip it all out.

It took hours to unstitch, but it was totally worth it.

I'm much happier with Plan B. The only problem that remains is a hint of the gray chalk that I used again on the medium orange. I marked a grid to guide the petals and it just won't wash out completely. I will never use that chalk again!

 In this shot of the back, you can see the orange stripe binding. I will run out of orange fabric and move on to something else, but it won't happen any time soon.

My little quilt is currently hanging in the kitchen, adding a little Halloween cheer.

Black and White and Orange All Over

October 16-18, 2014

37" square

Bloggers' Quilt Festival - Tangerine and Teal

 Tangerine and Teal is my entry in the small quilts category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival. 

I started piecing this quilt in a class with Marianne Hatton in September 2013. Marianne calls this workshop, "It Takes Two Triangles." Well, it takes two sizes of triangles, but actually 432 pieces! We were asked to bring a gradation of six fabrics in two colors. Each quilter chose her own block design to add to the variety. We then pieced 36 unique blocks from our 12 prints.

I played and rearranged for a couple of days before deciding on the final layout. The top was finished within days of the class, and then it sat for several months. Ripening.

 

I was finally ready to quilt it in July. The spiral quilting was more fun than I expected. This quilt really was a joy to work on from start to finish.

I was happy to rescue the orange DS Quilts print from the clearance rack at JoAnn's for the backing. For the binding, I used two V & Co ombres that were in my stash. If you're new here, orange has become my signature color and turquoise is my daughter's color, so there's plenty of both in my stash.

Tangerine and Teal

by Tina Craig

Rhode Island

September 2013 - July 2014

36" square

Inspired by Marianne Hatton

Enjoy the Blogger's Quilt Festival! Don't forget to nominate your favorites for Viewer's Choice.

Tangerine and Teal Triangles

Another week, another finish!

This triangle quilt was started in a class with Marianne Hatton last September. I really enjoyed Marianne's process for this class. You can see more about it in this post. Here are the blocks before they were rearranged.

On Tuesday, I was digging through a basket of quilt tops waiting to be quilted and landed on this one. This one looked like the easiest one to finish! My husband calls it low hanging fruit. All the cool kids have been quilting spirals and concentric circles, so I decided to try it. What fun!

Perfect? No. Effective? Yes! I love the texture and the radiating look.

The backing is an orange Denise Schmidt print that I picked up on clearance at JoAnn's.

For the binding, I had some V&Co Simply Color Ombre in Tangerine and Aquatic Blue. I couldn't decide which one to use, so I used both! I wanted to change color at the corners and I couldn't figure out how to do that with a miter, so I just chopped off the orange and added the blue. It's not pretty and I still need to close up the ends, but it's the look I was going for.

Tangerine & Teal

36" square

Started: September 11, 2013

Completed: July 15, 2014

Designed by Marianne Hatton

An Orange Giveaway

 If you've visited my blog before or know me in real life, you probably know I'm a fan of the color orange. For Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day, I decided to give away some of my favorite handmade things. Orange, of course!

The prize pack includes a mini paper pieced lapel pin, an orange key fob, and a string pieced mug mat (8x11"). The Sun Star plant is not included, but isn't it pretty?

I've been making these tiny pins for almost 20 years. Pin it to your lapel, tote bag or bulletin board. 

To enter, tell me your favorite color. Be sure I can contact you if you win, or I'll need to select someone else. FYI, I've been having trouble reaching some google+ commenters, so please check your profile to make sure your email address is accessible. I'll be picking a winner on Saturday morning, May 17.

 Visit Sew Mama Sew to see all the amazing offerings. There are two pages of links- one for supplies and one for handmade. What fun!

Have a sunny, orange day!

Edit 5/17/14: Giveaway is now closed and the winner is Jacquline in Pitt Meadows.

Mod Bento Block Swap

I'm really excited to be participating in the
Mod Bento Block Swap!
Thank you, Jessica, for hosting the swap!
And Thank you, Ashley, for letting us use your tutorial!


I'm really happy with my first block. Julia and I had so much fun creating fabric combos for the blocks. Phillip Jacobs, Kaffe, Amy Butler and Valori Wells play so well together, don't they?

I've got 8 more piles ready to be cut and sewn!

Ready for something random?
Isn't this the cutest tissue box ever?

Have a colorful day!