Thursday, August 28, 2008

Summer Guild Challenge Quilt



My local guild is participating in a challenge over the summer. The challenge is to make a quilt using only half square triangles. You take four hst's, and put them together into a block, in any arrangement of your choice. Then you put these together with an alternating block that is the same block but turned a different direction, OR you can make an alternating block that is a different configuration of 4 hst's, but the same colors. Clear as mud, right? It sort of made my head spin just thinking of the different combinations you could do...the other part of the challenge is that each participant pulled an envelope that contained a paint chip, and that paint chip would be the main color of your quilt. Lucky for me, I pulled a paint chip that I loved...it was a lovely teal called "seaside cottage". So it seemed perfectly logical to me that this quilt should be pieced while I was on my summer vacation in Kitty Hawk, NC. I wanted to make something very "beachy" and "summery", and I think I did. I have purchased some seashell fabric to use for a backing...I was looking for a simple project to do on vacation, and made this quilt entirely with "thangles". I can't wait for our first guild meeting and to see the other challenge quilts....

Monday, August 25, 2008

Star BOTM, Block 2




I was on vacation this past week....a wonderful, peaceful, relaxing week in Kitty Hawk, N.C....one of my favorite places in the world! I actually brought my sewing machine with me, which is something I've never done before on a vacation. I found that since I get up earlier than everybody else in the house, I could spend a nice hour or so in the morning sewing. I worked on a Summer challenge quilt that my guild is doing, and I also made Block 2 of Judy's Star BOTM. Here it is!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Feather Meandering

My friend Karen (check out her new blog here) is an absolutely fantastic longarm quilter. As if that's not special enough, she's also incredibly generous in sharing her time and her knowledge. While I have an older model shortarm setup at home (Design a Quilt), Karen has a beautiful Gammill at her house. Not only does she let me touch it...she actually has let me quilt on it! This past Friday I had a day off from work and was invited to have a "sew day" with Karen. While I am a champion at the all-over puzzle type meander on my own machine...I have been yearning to learn a fancier all-over feather meander on the Gammill. Karen is always so encouraging when I am critical of my own efforts. Anyway...this is what I did on her Gammill last Friday. I can't wait to practice at this a few more times; I think it turned out pretty okay for a beginner!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Judy Laquidara's Star BOM, Block 1

This evening after work I had a chance to sit down and sew Block Number 1 from Judy L's BOM. It went together very smoothly, and I'm happy with my color choices. And as always, I'm grateful that Judy is providing us with this lovely on-going project! Here is my block: