WIP Wednesday

I finished this mini for Julia a couple of weeks ago but couldn't post about it until she saw it. You can read more about its story in that post. 

There was a lot of random progress this week. Today I made a noodlehead gathered pouch (without the gathers) for our retiring church organist. She'll love the cat fabric!

I started making hourglass blocks for setting my Farmer's Wife blocks. Only 100 more to go! (Sorry- this is a really bad picture, but you get the idea.)

And I did the prep work for a retreat project. I can't wait to get away, if only for the weekend! 

What WIPs are you working on?

Safari Quilt I

 A couple of weeks ago, I took a workshop with Thomas Knauer when he visited Ninigret Quilters. We learned so much about design that will translate to all future quilts. The workshop was called "Quilting with Code" and we were asked to select a word or phrase to translate. I chose SAFARI, the Swahili word for journey. I had envisioned making a mini quilt to commemorate Julia's Journey to Tanazania using the fabrics she brought back.

Here is her mini. It finished at 16" square. It was actually done on February 12, but I couldn't blog about it until she saw it.

 Braille uses a 2 X 3 grid. I blocked it off for you below so you can see the letters. The African prints represent dots, and the solid squares are not dots.

I wanted to quilt a path through the quilt as another reference to the journey. It could be a river, but Julia says it looks just like a cattle path. I quilted lots of pebbles and a few tufts of grass with a variegated gray Aurifil. Grass was the subject of her research project in the Ngorongoro Crater.

I used some linen blend on the front and back for the added texture. It was not the best choice for the binding. It's a little bulky in the corners. Some leftover squares became hanging pockets and the label on the back.

 

This mini was plan A in my mind, but not the quilt I worked on in class. When I told Thomas the story behind my chosen word, he thought Julia would need to wrap herself in it. So, I set about designing a large lap quilt. The fabric she brought home was a random selection, so it was tricky to bring it together. In this piece, safari is coded across the top and down the left side, then the letters rotate through. 

Top Row: s-a-f-a-r-i

2nd row: a-f-a-r-i-s

3rd row: f-a-r-i-s-a

etc...

Neighboring squares are sometimes combined into rectangles, a technique Thomas refers to as enjambment (a poetry term). Again, the African prints are dots, and the solids are not dots. It's a cool piece, but it's not speaking to us. We love the meaning behind it, but we don't love the piece. I even had a quilting plan in mind, with a spiral radiating out from the bright turquoise square (Julia's favorite color). In between the parallel lines of the spiral, I would quilt the places she's been. More could be added as she continues to travel.

When Julia came home and we talked about it more, we decided to use the large coded piece as the back of the next safari project using The Tartan Kiwi patterns. Now that is a plan we both love!

WIP Wednesday

 I started a new project and it is going to be awesome! I volunteered to be a pattern tester for Juliet at The Tartan Kiwi. She sent me a copy of her latest design for this handsome lion. Julia and I had fun choosing fabric, and we decided to go scrappy with his mane.

 I started cutting a little after 8am and finished the last seam at about 6pm. It's a big 24" block. This is not a beginner pattern. He's a lot of work, but well worth it! Look at those eyes! When I'm done with this post, I'm going over to The Tartan Kiwi to buy all of her safari animal patterns.

He reminds me of this Tanzanian boy!

In other WIP news...

I finished my Hawaiian applique pillow that has been waiting patiently for 6 months.

When I went looking for the next WIP to work on, I chose this stripey project. Read more about it here.

I also found the fabric for my new pajama bottoms that I bought over a year ago. The pattern has been cut out and they are ready to stitch together. It shouldn't take long, but I'm not good with apparel so I'm stalling. Maybe today?

I thought it was cool that Julia and I were using the same colors this week. I was cutting strips for a retreat project, and she was painting a birthday gift for her boyfriend. Coincidentally, the pattern I'll be working on is called Sunset.

And there was more snow overnight. Because we don't have enough?

Linking up...

Safari Portraits

 We are home from safari in Tanzania and are recovering from jet lag. The three of us took about 5,000 pictures on two cameras and three cell phones. Bill took over 60 videos on his phone which he compiled into a 30 minute movie. I'll be sorting through my photos for days! Here are some of my favorite close ups.

Everyone wants to see the big cats on safari and we weren't disappointed. We saw more lions than we could count! This big boy was napping with his brother so close to the road we could hear him breathing!

 Lion cubs are the cutest! Julia decided she could be a lion because they sleep most of the day. Our guide taught us to be patient. Eventually, someone will wake up and do something interesting or at least open his eyes.

 Our guide really wanted me to see a cheetah on my birthday. Finally on the way out of the Serengeti, he spotted this beauty perched on a termite mound. We watched her (him?) stalk some prey, but she gave up after a short chase. There were a few lions not far away watching the action, hoping to steal dinner away from the cheetah.

I could watch zebras all day. I just think they are beautiful and fun.

We saw lots of pregnant mamas and cute babies. 

 

We were so close to some of the animals that I couldn't fit them into the frame of the photo!

 

Giraffes are goofy and gorgeous at the same time.

Impala are just too cool.

We had several magical elephant encounters. 

 

Can you even stand the cuteness?

 

 Being this close to buffaloes is slightly terrifying.

The hippos have to show you how big and mean they are.

 

I hope you enjoyed this little sample of our trip. I'll have more for you soon.

Safari Baby Quilt

 In honor of Julia being on expedition to the Serengeti, the safari baby quilt has been completed.

In this post from a couple of weeks ago, I described the panels and how they were sashed and pieced together. I used another panel and coordinating prints on the back.

For the quilting, I decided to mimic the shape of the flag garlands in the border print.  I marked a 2.5" square grid across the entire quilt top to guide the swoops. You can clearly see that the quilting was done by hand (on my Bernina) and not computer driven. Imperfections are good, right?

I had the hardest time cleaning off the chalk I used to mark the grid. I used everything imaginable, and I can still see some lines on the pink border print. The quilt is so crinkly because it has been washed at least 4 times already!

 

I had fun with the zebra stripes in the sashing and binding.

That lion is just the cutest! 

Baby Safari

42" square

Started 9/30/14

Completed 10/23/14

Fabrics: Hello World  from Blend Fabrics

  

OK, maybe this lion is the cutest!

Baby Safari

 I pulled this project out again after a two week break. I was in my LQS recently, and they had a panel of adorable animals pinned to the wall behind the register. Julia had seen all four animals that week, so the fabric had to come home with me!

My original intention was to make two pillows for Julia's bed to welcome her home in December. But once I got going, Instagram decided they had to stay together in a wall hanging or baby quilt.

 

I've been trying to move them around and add various coordinating prints to make it large enough for a baby quilt, but it just isn't working.

 

Some zebra print sashing and the coordinating pink pennant print will work for a wallhaning. 

 

The collection is called Hello World  from Blend Fabrics. The animal panel is called Welcoming Committee and the pink print is called Glory Days. How sweet is that?

If you'd like to see Julia's photos of these animals and more (including treadle sewing machines in the tailor's shop), please visit her blog, Julia's Journey. The spike in blog traffic will freak her out!