Alpha Palooza - The Quilt

I LOVE IT ! ! ! 

Alpha Palooza measures 42" x 60" 

Chris quilted this with free motion Baptist Fans 

using a variegated thread featuring raspberry and turquoise.

This project is mostly Lynne's "fault" . . . 

I was part of her Red Letter Quilt Along.

(except my letters were 25 purples & 1 turquoise)

But I can't blame it all on Lynne ~

I've wanted to make an alphabet sampler 

ever since I learned to make free-pieced letters during Tonya's First Ever Online Class

(that's when I made And Sometimes Y)

and I had a whole box of 1.5" strips left after making Dumpster Diving,

one of the many legos quilts made after Tonya shared her idea with everyone.

Photo taken with late afternoon sunshine.

(and yes, that is the toe of my rainbow shoe)

You can see more photos in the Picasa Album here.

SO happy with the way it all came together!

Quiltdivajulie

Alter Ego - The Flimsy

Lower left-hand corner of the flimsy

Lower right-hand corner of the flimsy

Upper right-hand corner of the flimsy

Upper left-hand corner of the flimsy

Sorry, no overall shot ~ it has been too rainy and windy (and cold) for outdoor photos!

Alter Ego, with its four different borders, and its equally scrappy back,

is neatly folded and stored on the closet shelf until after the first of the year.

(and the binding has been made and is hanging on the binding tree)

It feels really good to reach this stage!

Quiltdivajulie

Woo Hoo!!!!!

Nearly three years ago (maybe a little longer)

Janet (one of my co-workers) met me

at the LQS so I could help her choose fabric.

(she has a great eye for color ~ I mostly offered moral support)

She had recently purchased a basic 1/4" foot sewing machine

(what a lunch hour adventure we enjoyed that day)

and wanted to make a quilt for her granddaughter.

Fast forward to this past Friday.

Janet brought her flimsy to work!

(I had no idea she had been working on it ~

she wanted to surprise me, and she did!)

She tried following the pattern, but got mixed up along the way.

Instead of giving up, 

she made it up as she went

and now she has a finished top!

As soon as she pieces her back,

she plans to have Chris quilt her creation.

Congratulations, Janet!

Welcome to the wonderful world of quilting!

* * * 

p.s.  She's already making plans 

to create a four-patch quilt

for her grandson!

Quiltdivajulie

Gotta Love It

This work of heart has now been finished  . . .

 

Here is the front . . .

(inspired by a Wendy Williams
magazine pattern named Retro Blooms,

I changed the block centers
and added a piano-key border)

 

And this is the entirely liberated back . . .

. . . this quilt absolutely makes my soul sing!

 

Chris used several thread colors

to add her always-amazing custom quilting,

which makes Gotta Love It even more special.

“Oh! `darkly, deeply, beautifully blue',

As someone somewhere sings about the sky.”

 Lord Byron

 

(All photos will supersize.)

 

* * *

Saturday is trunk show day  . . .

(humming in the background ~
 "all my 'boxes' are packed & ready to go")

 

Quiltdivajulie

Explosion!

Explosion is finished!

(48" x 60" ~ perfect for the recliner)

I love this detail shot ~

have it as a screensaver on my work computer.

Chris used the FernLeaf panto for quilting ~

we both love it!

Here's the long view of the planned scrappy back

(note the vertical sashings are blues

while the horizontals are greens).

I love this detail shot, too!

But this ~ oh, this is probably my favorite photo of all . . .

Quiltdivajulie

ReBoot ~ the quilt

ReBoot,

a power nap quilt for DH,

is finished!

Pieced mostly with Marcia Derse fabrics

(Streamline collection, Third in Line collection,

and a few from Gerta, her first collection),

ReBoot is a palindromic (okay from any direction) quilt.

This is the reverse side.

The front was cut out using measurements

from my Yellow Brick Road instruction sheet.

The reverse is liberated piecing with leftover segments

and fabrics from the stash.

(photos will supersize if clicked, then clicked again)

The good news?

DH loves it!

Quiltdivajulie

JCCFS Flimsy No. 3 ~ Finished!

This began as my third class project

during our last week at the

John C. Campbell Folk School.

Most everyone in the class started with

black and white and red ~

I finished out my week with them.

Curvy Rail Fence will be gifted in November

after the birth of our oldest nephew's and wife's firstborn.

* * *

When I trimmed my curvy strip sets to create square blocks,

I had nine rectangular segments left over.

I keep moving those leftover segments

from one stack of to-do items to another.

I'm getting tired of the shifting game . . .

I need to stop thinking so much

(there must be at least a dozen idea sketches now)

and start STITCHING!

Wish me luck . . .

Quiltdivajulie

My White Coat Project

It's finished!!!

Hooray!!!

It's amazing and wonderful . . .

Click here to see photos of the blocks, 

the process, and more views of the finished coat.

WOO HOO!!!!

. . . and THANK YOU

to the wonderful women who contributed to this collaboration.

Quiltdivajulie

Waiting for the Mail - Finished!

64" x 78"

My all-text fabric quilt ~ Waiting for the Mail ~ is finished!

[Note:  each photo will supersize when clicked twice.]

Here you can see the raw-edge applique block centers.

I really, really love how this turned out!

I pulled lots of threads to set the stage for the quilt's 

first trip through the washer and dryer ~

this gives the softer ruffled raw edge I like.

Here's a close up of the binding.

And, of course, a crumpled pose . . .

* * * 

Later this week, I'll be having a giveaway ~

so be sure to check back on Thursday!

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------

Pattern note:  Paperback Writer by Abbey Lane Quilts

Good Morning Purple

--

Good Morning Purple is finished.

The heat index dropped in the low 90s one evening,

so I hurried outside to snap these photos.

(I really prefer natural outdoor light!)

Chris used one of my favorite (complex) pantos ~ Shiva.

It twists and turns and changes shape with zig zags and swirls ...

I was inspired by Wanda's pinwheel quilt and

Karen's version with bright colors and on point setting ~

but when I put my first few pieces on the design wall,

a whole new layout appeared.

I love the scrappy pieced back and the scrappy binding.

You can see an earlier post for this quilt

here that includes Wanda's and Karen's versions

and the print that subliminally inspired my color palette.

Here's to a better week than the last one . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------

July Binding Effort:  Five done / three more to go.

Scrappy Sunday

Late last week, I received an e-mail

from Jeffree Itrich of the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS).

The companion Alzheimer's Study Quilt Project

is in need of quilts for their male study participants.

So yesterday, I pulled out my box of orphaned batik pieces

and started stitching them together ~

extra squares from Ochenta, trimmed backing from No Words Needed,

a pieced bit from Sing the Sun Down, 

and even backing from one of my early quilts, Pompeii.

Something From Nothing, the flimsy, measures 44" x 55"

and is ready to go to Chris for quilting.

The back is pieced and ready, too

(it looks a tad blue in this photo, 

but the colors are warm and vibrant is real life).

I've already mailed Grains of Sand to ADCS,

and will send Something From Nothing

as soon as it is back from Chris's house and bound.

You can read more about the program here and here.

Now that I've finally broken the ice on my PIF 2011 list,

I'm planning to use the leftover pieces from the wedding quilt

and create Four Patch Frenzy for ADCS one day soon.

Leap of Faith, another scrappy quilt, is on the design wall

ready to be stitched, trimmed and squared for ADCS.

And maybe now I'll get busy and finish the stalled KF HST project

for an ADCS participant.

Offering comfort quilts for a few study participants

is the very least that I can do!

Quiltdivajulie

Brush Strokes ~ finished

To be gifted in June, Brush Strokes is now ready to go.

textural rainbow

boldly subdued shades tumble

orderly chaos

Created with Marcia Derse fabrics

(from her Streamline and Third in Line collections),

this liberated Yellow Brick Road lap quilt

has a wonderfully scrappy reverse.

Chris chose the Shiva panto and a rich gray thread for her quilting ~

the effect is perfect!

The Urban Squares green and Yuwa newsprint were leftover

after making Lynne's Obsolecence ~ and, due to my

overzealous block construction, the colors from the 

front appear again on the back, creating a two-sided quilt!

It was windy and surprisingly cool outside,

so the photo shoot was kept short.

I've updated the Haiku 2011 page (see link in sidebar)

(and my Quilt Album tracking software entries).

It does feel good to cross things off the to-do list!

I found another article that discusses the spiritual art of

four word poems ~ distilling the essence ...

Here's what I chose for Brush Strokes ~

Happy fifth wedding anniversary

Quiltdivajulie