What could you create if you took a block and remove all the preconceived notions of how it was colored?  I talked a couple of gals from the quilt guild into trying such an experiment with me.  I found a quilt block from a block book and printed out just the outline of the block.  Then it was time to break out the crayons and start coloring!  The object is to make two completely different blocks.  What do you see when you look at this block?

This is what I saw:

 The second part of the experiment was to sew the two blocks that you liked the best.  My two favorite designs were the top left and bottom right.  Here is the top left block.  While coloring this block, I asked myself how it would look for a modern quilt block.  The answers were white background, solid colors and a minimal look to the block.

The second block shows my fondness for rainbow quilts.  I am always drawn to them in a quilt show.

I am very pleased with both of the blocks and I think that they look different from each other.  It will be three weeks until I see what the other ladies have done with their blocks, but I am sure that it will be something different.

Are you ready to dig out your crayons?

Marlene

I found time during my trip to hand sew the binding down on this quilt.

It is always interesting to me how different people view the same quilt.  The name of this pattern is Twinkle which makes me think of stars.  Since I made my quilt with yellow/orange instead of red, I was thinking of yellow flowers and springtime.  My brother looked at the quilt and said “Autumn” because these are the colors of aspens in the fall.  What do you think of when you look at this quilt?

Marlene

I finished this quilt a month ago, but waited to show it until I could gift it to two blonde granddaughters – ages 22 months and 3 1/2 years old.  It is the perfect size (52 1/2″ x 65 1/2″) for two sisters to cuddle under.  What little girl can resist a pink and purple quilt?

The pattern is Birthday Presents in the Take Two and Add a Few booklet from Atkinson Designs and the machine quilting is loops with flowers and hearts in a pink/purple variegated thread.

I am sure that it will be well loved and used.

Marlene

Tomorrow I head to Denver to visit family and attend the Denver Quilt Show.  This is the seventh year of the show and I have made it to every one.  Some years are better than others and I will give you my impressions next week.

But until then I do have something interesting to share.

On April 21st I went to Delta’s Quilt Show.  It is a small quilt show and without hurrying, I went through the whole show in 50 minutes.  During that time I won a door prize – the zippered pouch on the left.

Then on April 28th the local quilt shop celebrated their first year anniversary and I won the quilt kit on the right.

Am I on a roll or what?  I wonder what quilty thing will come my way this weekend.  I will let you know next week.

Marlene

I think that this is one of my fastest finishes especially for a quilt of this size.  I started piecing this quilt on April 14th and today I am sewing on the binding.

Yesterday there was a conversation regarding the ownership of this quilt -

but we came to an understanding and Gus let me continue the machine quilting.

With this setup the machine quilting is a pleasure rather than a necessary chore to get a quilt completed.  I estimate that this 50″ x 62″ quilt took me around 5 hours to machine quilt.

Here is the progress for Sunday evening.  I will hand sew the binding down while I am watching TV this week.  Gus will insist on sleeping on my lap under the quilt while I sew.  After all there are compromises in every relationship – right?

Marlene

This was a fun and fast quilt top to make.  I started it last Saturday and finished it on Friday.  It measures 50″ x 60″ which makes for a baby quilt or a small lap quilt.

It is hard to get a good picture of this quilt top.  The white with black reads as light gray and the black with white reads as darker gray.  Enlarging the picture will show all the different fabrics in this top.

This is the next machine quilting project.  I already know what quilting designs, thread colors and backing that I will use.

The yellow & orange accents were made using the stitch and flip method on 2 1/2″ strips.  I usually toss those little triangles, but I saved them from this project.  They made 1 3/4″ half square triangles that end up as 1 1/4″ in the finished quilt.  They were just so darn cute, that I put them in a doll quilt.

Don’t let this photograph fool you – this doll quilt is 15 1/2″ by 19 1/2″.  I designed this quilt as I was sewing along.  I didn’t have any idea of the final look of this doll quilt – I just start sewing and making one decision at a time when necessary.   I have designed several quilts this way.

I also used Hobbs Thermore batting for this project.  Hobbs Thermore is an ultra-thin 100% polyester batting that can be used with machine quilting.  The size of this quilt made it the perfect project to give this batting a test run.  The machine quilting went smoothly, but I am unsure if I like the ultra-thin.  When they say ultra-thin, they really mean thin.  I may try doubling the layers next time and see if I like that better.

This doll quilt is going into my Etsy store.  It is such a bright cheerful doll quilt that any little girl would love.

Marlene

This is the progress made on the Modern Bargello last Friday night.

It has been a delight working on this quilt top.  The design wall has been a big help in making sure that I am sewing the correct pieces together.  What do you think of  Underwater Bargello for the name of this quilt?

Then this is what happened on Saturday -

A couple of weeks ago I cut out the pieces for this quilt top in preparation for quilt guild.  This pattern is Twinkle from Scrap-Basket Sensations by Kim Brackett.  It is a bit difficult to get a good picture with so many white prints, but here it is.

As you can see I still have five more blocks to complete.  Yellow and orange are not my normal colors, but I am enjoying the bright springtime feel of this quilt.

This close-up gives you a better idea of the variety of white & black prints in the top.

If I want to get this top done by Friday I had better get back to the sewing machine.

Marlene

A couple of weeks ago while I was quilt-blog-hopping, I came across this post of a Modern Bargello Quilt.  This pattern was calling out for me to make and I even knew of the perfect fabric in my stash – Moda Marble Ombre quarter yard cuts.  The reason this was so perfect is that the fabric shades from dark to light.

Well here – see for yourself.Here are all the pieces cut out except for the background.  This is going to be a fun sewing project – thank you Mary.

Marlene

Here is the completed quilt top.  I had such a hard time deciding on a border and for the longest time I thought that the first inner border needed to be a blue/purple batik.  However after talking to my quilting buddy Lucy, I realized that I was limiting my options.   After some deliberation, I settled on this gold oriental floral print which lightens the whole top.

I know how I want to quilt this top and hopefully, it will be a finished quilt later this year.

Marlene

One of my current WIP (Work-in-Progress) is Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler.  I pull this project out every 3 or 4 months and sew 6 or 7 blocks, then back into the closet it goes.  The colors are mostly cream, maroon and olive green.   It is a bit hard to see in the picture, but all these blocks have the sashing strips attached on the right side.  I found a cream stripe print which I really like for the sashing.  In my experience most quilters shy away from stripes, but they can add a wonderful sense of direction and movement to a quilt.

Here are a couple more finished blocks.

18 down – 122 to go.

Marlene