Project Quilting 17.1 (late) and Inquiring Quilter's Snowflake Block

 

I was late to the game in getting Project Quilting's first challenge completed...so disappointed with myself!

The first challenge prompt for Season 17 was "A Clean Slate".  Kim from Persimon Dreams is the creator and this prompt was a slight nod to Pantone's Color of the Year which is Cloud Dancer....a fancy word for white. 

Participants could use this idea any way they felt appropriate. 

Nothing could be more white than snow, especially when there is a foot of it sitting in your front yard! 

Snow flakes would be my inspiration for a Clean Slate. 

Lucky for me that Jennifer Fulton at Inquiring Quilter posted her 

January Block of the Month and it was snowflakes! 

So I got to work quilting a base for the appliques using this blue ice-like fabric. 

I have JUST enough to make 2 small table toppers! 🙋

Straight line quilting in 1" grids.

Stitching down the snowflake appliques. 

❆ Slow and steady makes for great looking flakes! ❆

Polka dot backing always makes me smile! 

Then I made another small one...

If you have to live in Iowa in January, you might as well decorate for it! 

We currently have -16 (that's a minus before the 16) at 3:00 in the afternoon. 

This isn't our usual January weather right now. 

Most of the US is feeling the bitter cold this weekend!

 Here are my two toppers side by side...made to fit for the tables they top! 

Stay warm and stay flakey!

Linking up with: 

Inquiring Quilter Wednesday Wait Loss

Teal Quilt Block for Checkered Hearts Quilt...Connie's January Color of the Month

 

When Connie at Freemotion by the River announced a new monthly challenge this year, 

I sat up a bit straighter and took note! 

The color "teal" is to be used and she even offered a block tutorial if needed. 

I had recently bought a PDF version of 

Alexandra Bordallo's quilt called "Checkered Hearts". 

Knowing this pattern used 12 big blocks, I figured this challenge would be perfect!

12 color prompts from Connie and 12 blocks will get me a complete quilt top! 

It will also nudge me just enough to write up a blog post every month!

Win/Win

I really don't have a lot of teal fabrics in my stash.

Turquoise is pretty close if you cross your eyes, dim the lights and 

maybe stick out your tongue. 

I used what I had.

3/4 of the 16" block is complete.

The final quadrant is sewn and all 4 are stitched together. 

Looking forward to February's color!

Linking up to:

Freemotion by the River: Color of the Month/Teal

Inquiring Quilter's Wednesday Wait Loss

Project Quilting 17.2 "Scads of Plaid"

 

Welcome back to Project Quilting ...Season 17! 

This is week 2 and the prompt given by Kim at Persimon Dreams is 

"Scads of Plaid".

 I recently lost my favorite brother 3 months ago and it's been hard. 

Really hard. 

I took an old pair of his Levis that were ready to be trashed and cut out the pockets. 

Almost all of his other clothes went to a charity in town that allows low-income people to "shop" and take what they need to clothe their family. 

Pat, my brother, would've liked that idea. 

I pulled out my plaid fabrics and made 2 appliqued hearts. 

Backed with Heat & Bond, then hand-stitched down.

2 more hearts were stuffed with poly-fil to insert into the pocket. 

I added a red wide ribbon bow to the back so I could hang it on a doorknob. 

A red and white skinny trim piece was sewn along the edges of the pocket. 

Now I've got a sweet reminder of my brother that will last forever. 

"Scads of Plaid"

Linking up with:

Project Quilting 17.2

Inquiring Quilter Wednesday Wait Loss

Project Quilting 16.5: Follow Your Arrow

 

I love Project Quilting and look forward to it all year! Thank you to Kim Lapacek and her friend Trish Frankland for hosting this great challenge every winter. You can read more about the rules and prompts here on Kim's blog Persimon Dreams.

This week's prompt is "Follow Your Arrow" and the interpretation of it is up to the creator!

The always-popular Flying Geese block can be seen as an arrow or pointing in a particular direction. 

I pulled out my scrap baskets and stitched up 8 Flying Geese blocks measuring 4" x 2" each. 

These were sewn together in one long row. 

I chose to make another Pocket Pod Basket from the SewCanShe blog. It is a super easy tutorial and it's free! Caroline Fairbanks writes such great patterns, and she has a ton of them on her blog. 

 

I sewed the strip of "arrows" to my purple fabrics, added fusible Pellon 308 for stability, and also chose a purple lining. I used the given template to get them cut out. 

Here are the 2 pieces sewn together and are ready to be stacked inside one another for the next step. 

Closing in on the stitching around the top.

Birthing is always the hardest part, isn't it?

Only one thing is harder and that's raising those teenagers! (Now we'll see who's reading.😜😜😜)

Stuffed with more jams and jellies for my closet. 

Lined up with last week's ruby pocket pod basket! They look really good together!

I'm so glad I followed my arrow to use these Flying Geese blocks to make more storage. 

I love making practical things! 

Linking up with:

Project Quilting 16.5: Follow Your Arrow

Project Quilting 16.4: Birthstone

 

The 4th prompt for Project Quilting's 16th season was "Birthstone". 

Many thanks to Kim Lapacek of Persimon Dreams and her friend Trish Frankland for pulling this challenge together again for us to enjoy! 

The most important rule this go around was that the birthstone's color had to be the predominant color in the project. 

My birthday is in July, so that makes my birthstone the beautiful ruby.

I have several pieces of ruby jewelry and in the bright sunlight, the ruby often looks like a deep pink. 

That's the direction I took when choosing fabrics from my scrap pile. 

Deep pink and hot pink sprinkled with a bit of light pink and lime green. 

I also pulled out a pile of cut-offs from HSTs and added them to the corners of 3" strips. 

I then sewed all of these together.

At this point, I really had no goal for this project.

I now had an odd shaped piece of fabric that needed a purpose!

I went looking through my Pinterest board of sewing projects.

I didn't need another tote bag, that I knew!

What I did need was a small hanging basket to hold my lotions in the closet. 

The Pocket Pod Basket, a free tutorial from Caroline Fairbanks at SewCanShe was my choice.

Caroline has soooo many awesome sewing and quilting patterns on her site.

I've made several and they are super well-written and fairly easy.

Here I've laid out the pattern and have chosen the lining. 

Caroline suggests using fusible fleece interfacing, but I didn't have any. 

Instead, I used Pellon Craft-Fuse from my stash.

It worked wonderfully.

Both the exterior and lining are cut.

I chose not to add the pockets to my pod.

Both pieces have been sewn and are ready to be put together.

 

The "birthing process". Sounds awful, but it is what it is. 

I added 2 buttons from my mom's old button basket.

If only they could tell their story!

This sweet pod will hang in my closet to hold a few of my "jams and jellies".

I see a few more of these in my future!

Once again (yahooo!), nothing new was purchased for this project.

Linking up with:

Persimon Dreams Project Quilting 16.4

Project Quilting 16.3: Common Blocks

 

Welcome to the 3rd week of Project Quilting Season 16! Hosted by Kim Lapacek of Persimon Dreams and friend Trish Frankland, there is always something to look forward to in the deepest part of winter! This week's prompt was "Common Blocks" and we were required to use at least 3 common quilting blocks in one project. 

For my first block, I chose the invincible 9-Patch. I had a pile of 2" squares in my stash, so I dug them out and color-matched as many as I could, then trimmed them down to 5" blocks.

For my second common block, I got busy with the Rail Fence block. So many strips and so much fun later, they came together quickly.

My 3rd and final block, I chose the favorite Flying Geese block. They looked quite at home perched next to the Rail Fences. 

Above is one panel ready to be sewn to the back.

And now the back panel.

I used a bright pink swirly fabric I've had forever as the lining.

Once the lining and outside panels were boxed and cut, I topstitched around the top band, being sure to reinforce the straps. 

Here's a peek inside my newest tote bag that I'll be taking on shopping trips! 

I'm doing what I can to cut down on plastic and paper bags. 

The best part?

Nothing new was purchased for this (or the previous 2) tote bags!

The only yardage used was for the lining. 

   

Linking up with:

Persimon Dreams Project Quilting

Project Quilting 16.2: Ombre

 

This week's challenge for Project Quilting was to use the ombre or gradient effect.  The challenges are hosted by Kim Lapacek at Persimon Dreams, along with her friend Trish Frankland. Together, they come up with some great ideas!

Ombre describes the color shift in value or hue between two points. It looks like a smooth range between two colors, or a gradient of one color from light to dark.

I wasn't real sure where this challenge would lead me, but I figured I could make a block big enough to use as a front panel for another tote bag for grocery shopping. 

My gradient/ombre effect isn't as smooth as I'd like, but I wanted to use what I had in my stash. I turned to a box of batik fabrics and scraps that I won last year. So many lovely pinks, purples and greens in this collection! I pulled out the pinks and purples. 

There were already several cut triangles in the box, so that was my starting point.

I made 4 of these large triangles and then trimmed them down to fit together for sewing. 

For the back, I used the same fabrics and sewed strips together and top stitched each seam. 

I cut up an old cloth belt to use for the straps

 and added a strip of fabric to give it some pizzazz. 

I pleated all 4 corners at 3" and trimmed them off.

I didn't get a photo of the lining, but it's a lavender swirl that I used to cover my bulletin boards back in my teaching days. That's been around awhile! The very top edge was topstitched with double reinforcement over the straps. 

Now I have 2 sturdy bags for grocery shopping in style! My Sassy Big Foot bag has been used several times since its creation 2 weeks ago! 

Linking up with: 

Persimon Dreams Project Quilting