Inspiration

Ninigret Quilters spent the day setting up our quilt show.  One of my friends commented that she really liked the setting I used for the 9-patch swap blocks. I told her it was from a book, and I rarely do anything original. With that in mind, I'd like to share my inspirations for the following quilts.

Chris and Jamie's Wedding Ring won a few ribbons...

1st Place Exemplary Piecing

1st Place Exemplary Applique

1st Place Exemplary Use of Color

1st Place Exemplary Machine Quilting (by Pat Harrison)

Exemplary Edge Finish

and

Best of Show !!!

 All the credit and many thanks go to: 

Judy Niemeyer for her spectacular paper piecing pattern,

Erin Russek for her lovely applique patterns,

Kate Spain for her glorious fabric,

Pat Harrison for her amazing machine quilting,

Sharon Schamber for her youtube videos on how to stitch a scalloped binding,

and my friend, Maria Lage, for suggesting insisting on the scalloped binding!

Oh, and I should thank my nephew Christopher and his wife Jamie for patiently waiting for this quilt to be completed, 9 months after they were married!

If that were not enough ribbons for one person, a few other quilts were recognized.

Mod Bento earned a ribbon for 3rd Place Exemplary Scrap Quilt. Many thanks to all who participated in the Mod Bento Swap including my RI friend Jodi.

 Sugar Wave earned 2nd Place Exemplary Machine Quilting, Domestic. Thanks to Melissa Averinos for her awesome fabric line, Sugar Snap, and to Elizabeth Hartman for her New Wave Pattern.

Emerald Selvedge Spiderweb earned 1st Place Exemplary Scrap Quilt and Exemplary Innovative. Thank you to Karen Griska for creating my obsession for saving selvedges, and to Chris Bagley for teaching this workshop at our weekend retreat in March.

 

As quilt show chair, I'd like to invite beg you to visit us this weekend.

A woman with a plan! (to scale)

Ninigret Quilters present Stitching Stars

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 10am-4pm each day

Westerly Armory, Westerly, RI

If you live within a 90 minute radius (and beyond) of Westerly, it is worth the trip!

WIP Wednesday / Sew Every Day 9

It's WIP Wednesday, and thanks to Pat Sloan's Sew Every Day challenge, I have two finishes to share!

Finished:

Mod Bento is done, but she needs a cute name. What about Summer Picnic? Read more about it in this post.

Improv was a fun one day project! If you have not done any improvisational piecing, I recommend the Jackie Gehring class on Craftsy. It's on sale right now!

In Progress:

Sew Every Day 9: Ninnie Nines (guild 9-patch swap), 16 blocks for the third and final round of the swap. I might start playing with all 48 blocks later today!

Star Crazy BOM: When I was rummaging through my book shelf last weekend, I found my Star Crazy binder from early 2010. A hidden WIP! Three months worth of instructions and completed blocks (more than shown below) were neatly tucked into the binder. I quickly drafted a new design to use what I already have. I just have to make a few blocks to complete the design. This project is back on the list!

Pete's Album quilt: I won't get back to this one until next week, when he heads to Cub Scout camp as a volunteer. The following week, he will be at Boy Scout camp with his troop. This quilt will be my focus for those two weeks.

Also on the WIP list, maybe for Sew Every Day in August?

Magenta Dahlias- backing and batting ready for basting.

Swap Soup- backing and batting ready to go.

4X5 swap- just a pile of awesome blocks.

It's time to head back to the machine for day 10. But first, a link up and visit to:

Mod Bento

 It was a long time coming, but the Mod Bento quilt is finally done. This quilt started as a block swap THREE years ago!

June 9, 2010: First blocks made for swap 

June 15, 2010: More blocks made

July 2010: Top assembled

March 2013: Quilt basted

July 7, 2013: Machine Quilted

July 8, 2013: Bound by machine

It took a while to decide how to quilt these blocks.  I ended up drawing a grid across the blocks and stitching orange peels. (Scroll down to the continuous curve diagram from Carla Barrett.)

The white sashing got a vine with a loop and the borders got my standard loopy swirl.

Julia and I could not agree on a fabric for the binding, so I went with white. It works. 

I LOVE the back! I would buy a whole bolt of that Amy Butler print if I could.

 

Mod Bento

56" X 78"

June 15, 2010 - July 8, 2013

Flickr Group

Block Tutorial by Film in the Fridge

Sew Every Day- 7 & 8

I've sewn something every day for an entire week! I think this is the first time I've stuck with a challenge this long. I really hope I can make it through the whole month.

Day 7- Machine quilted Mod Bento (about 7 hours working time)

Day 8- Bound Mod Bento (all by machine)

I need to run. Busy day ahead. I'll be back tomorrow with a full Mod Bento finish post.

WIP Wednesday

 I'm still making progress this week, but not quite at the breakneck pace of last week. 

Finished:

Low Volume, Bright Hopes- I really enjoyed this little piece and I think it is a pattern I would like to teach at my LQS. There is a pretty fat quarter bundle in my stash that may become a class sample soon.

The guild raffle quilt is finished (except for the label). Julia and I will be taking it to the beach today for a photo shoot. That should be interesting!

In Progress:
I pulled out the Mod Bento swap quilt from the UFO pile last weekend. My LQS was having a huge sale, so I picked up a few yards of this gorgeous Amy Butler Love print for the back. I pieced the back and pin-basted yesterday. Now I'm trying to decide how to quilt it. I'd love to get it done by this week for the first quarter of the Finish Along.

Fabric box  - made one for a gift, but no time for process photos for the tutorial.

Friendship Star Mini - cut batting, chose backing.

On the near future list:
Swap Soup- quilting (backing already pieced)
Three by Three- fix borders

Time to link up!

Swap Fun

I've been a little preoccupied (actually, obsessed) with the Boy Scout Jamboree. Before Pete left, it was all about preparing and packing. Now it's an all out internet attack. I'm jumping around between every possible Facebook page, blog, Flickr pool and sub-camp website. We haven't heard directly from Pete yet, but we saw pictures from their trip down and he was having a good time. No news is good news!

In between Jambo stuff, I did manage to sew something.


The Mod Bento Blocks arrived last week!
(Round 2 is starting on the flickr pool if you are interested.)
The blocks are like candy! I made 4 extra blocks to chop up for setting and corner triangles. This was my setting plan from the start so I jumped right into the piecing, and it went together in no time.
I love it! (especially because it has feet!)
I think it could use a border, which I will be auditioning fabrics for next week.

"mom. really?"

And here are the goodies from the paper bead swap.
There is such a variety of shapes and sizes, they are inspiring me to keep rolling.
You know what? Rolling paper beads is quite relaxing when you finally step away from the computer (or someone pries it out of your hands!).

I'm off to help Julia finish a quilt that needs to arrive at the New England Quilt Museum by Aug 4. Plenty of time! This morning, we finished the borders, pieced the back, layered it up and pin-basted. Time for her to quilt!

More Mod Bentos

OK. I think I'm done piecing bento blocks!


At the beginning, I was almost paralyzed with fear.
What if I picked horrible combinations and no one wants to use my blocks?

After Julia's help getting started and a couple of blocks under my belt,
the process became so fun and freeing!

Nothing bad will happen if the combos are not perfect.
No one will be harmed if I put a Heather Bailey next to a Jane Sassaman!

My happy assortment of blocks makes my smile!

Visit the Flickr pool to see other people's blocks!
On Flickr, I did my best to label the fabrics I used, in case you see something you have to have!

Bento Block 4

Here's my fourth bento block for the swap. Now I need to decide if I'm going to make more or stop here. Four blocks could be a wall hanging or a table runner. I probably don't need anything bigger than that.


I think they look so cool together!

I can't wait to see what I get from other quilters!

I've been hoarding some of these prints in my stash for years.
It's fun to get them all out and play!

Mod Block 3

These blocks are so much fun!
I need to decide how many more I'm going to make.
1 or 6 or more?

Mod Block 2

Here is Block 2, before being cut into quarters.
One of the things I like about this swap is that we can keep a quarter of each block for ourselves, and trade/swap the other 3.


This blocks has some Art Gallery fabrics, a linen blend, a Heather Bailey and a Martha Negley.

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!