Flying Geese

Our July assignment for the Inspire Circle of do. Good Stitches was to use flying geese.  Thea will be putting together a boys quilt in orange and aqua, and a girls quilt in raspberry and citrine, along with white, navy or greys.  She has such great ideas!  I love these color combinations, and I had some good choices in the fabric stash already.

I've never done flying geese before, so this was another chance to expand my quilting horizons.  I've said it before, but I love being in a group like this circle where we get a new assignment each month.  Sometimes I get to learn a new technique, sometimes its a quilt block that I haven't tried before, and sometimes I stretch myself with new color combinations.  Its always fun, and the best part is that the blocks are put into quilts for charity.  That just makes you feel good inside!  To learn more about do. Good Stitches or to join, click on over to the main Flickr group.

Back to the geese.  Looking for inspiration, I found a recent edition of Quilter's World that had a pattern with flying geese in it. I followed the directions to make the geese and then improvised the sashing to bring it up to a 12.5 inch block.  The two shades of aqua make this block rather interesting, I think.

Then I remembered that Evelyn, a quilter in our circle, recommended using her favorite No Waste Flying Geese tutorial from Shannon at Pieceful Kwilter. This was super helpful, and my geese improved as I used the tutorial. Thanks to both Evelyn and Shannon! I like this one too, and the geese are tidier but I don't think it will work out very well in a full quilt because of the narrow sashing, so I get to keep this one.   It will probably become a pillow cover, or hang out in the WIP box until I find a good use for it.

On to the berry & citrine!  This time I made smaller geese using Pieceful Kwilter's handy sizing chart.  I really like this one, and my geese are getting straighter. It feels silly saying it, but bias really effects how tidy a block can be when it comes to piecing.   The citrine portions of this block are from Wildwood by Erin McMorris, which happens to use citrine, greys and berries all together. 

Can you tell I've become a fan of putting frames on my photos?  PhotoScape calls these frames Cali 11 and Cali 12.   Be sure to check out the No Waste Flying Geese tutorial at Pieceful Kwilter.  Its really helpful.

Tulip Fields quilt blocks

Our May block for the Inspire Circle of do. Good Stitches was such fun!  Aprel is our quilter for May, and she asked that we make a block called Tulip Fields.  Strips of color with two slightly random paths of white breaking up the strips.  This is one of her inspiration photos, taken by Jeff Milsteen.  His photos can be found on Flickr under the name JLMPhotos. 

These are my blocks.

I love working with the ladies in my circle of do Good Stitches.  They are super creative and I really do look forward to each new month's assignment.  On to the June's blocks!

Wonky Cross Blocks

Just a quick show and tell of my April blocks for the Inspire circle of do. Good Stitches.  I finished them on the last day of the month, but they are done and already winging their way off to this month's quilter.  It always feels good to check one more thing off the list.

Evelyn asked that we do Wonky Cross blocks in primary colors to coordinate with a super cute backing she already had.  The tutorial we used is from That Girl ... That Quilt.  The tutorial is very well written, easy to follow and creates a fun, modern wonky block.  I was a little nervous making that first wonky cut, but it worked out great!  Quilts made from these blocks are super cute, and I think the cheerful primary colors of the quilt Evelyn is putting together will be perfect for a Project Linus quilt.

As usual, I can't wait to see the finished product!  Be sure to check out the rest of That Girl ... That Quilt's blog - she does beautiful work.

This was my first wonky block and I have to say I loved it, once I got past that first cut.  I'm a 'follow the rules' kind of girl, and it makes you feel a little reckless to just go for it.  Is there a wonky star or wonky log cabin in my future?  I think so! 

Have you done wonky blocks?  Do you love 'em or hate 'em?

Lone Starbursts

Just popping in to show you my finished blocks for do Good Stitches for last month.  These are Lone Starburst blocks, using the design by Six White Horses. 

We were asked to use navy, aqua, grey, kelly green or citron with white in certain spots.  This block is not for the faint of heart, but it is a show stopper!  I think I spent over 14 hours on the two.  Lots of seams and lots of pressing but she's a beauty.  I can't wait to see the finished quilt!

Back to the sewing room to hit my WIP list!

WIP Wednesday

Its Wednesday again, and that means its time for a Works In Progress roundup, and a visit to Freshly Pieced! 

Have you tried paper piecing?  I've seen some wonderfully creative blocks on the web that use paper piecing to make a shape within a block, and then there are all the gorgeous variations of New York Beauties.  In March, our assignment for the Inspire Circle of do Good Stitches was to use the Lone Starburst pattern from Six White Horses, using a combination of navy, aqua, kelly green and citron, with a white background and center stripe. I'm embarrassed to say this is still a WIP but I should be able to finish tonight.

What I love about being in a group like do Good Stitches is that each month, I get to create something with specific instructions and it almost always gets me out of my comfort zone.  We are either using a color combination that is new to me, or a new pattern, or a new technique and that helps to expand my skills as a quilter.  Plus of course I'm helping to make something useful and comforting for someone else.  I love this block, but man does it take a long time to matchup fabric, sew, flip, trim, matchup fabric, etc. etc. etc.  A. Long. Time.  Its a gorgeous block though and its going on the list of blocks to be included when I do a star sampler quilt. To learn more about do Good Stitches, please visit our Flickr page.

Another WIP is the sunglasses case for my friend's mom.  I am kind of winging it, and I've decided the prototype isn't quite right so I'm trying to figure out a new strategy for making it more of a clutch.  I tried putting binding on the flap edges but I had some difficulty so I ripped it off.  My friend said her mom would prefer bright & cheery to shabby chic florals, so I've gotten a new fabric combo ready to go.  It has to be ready by our lunch date on Monday, so you'll see the finished product soon!

And since I thought you deserved something pretty to look at, here is my blooming orchid.  I bought this plant on St. Patrick's Day when I moved to Florida in 2010 and its doing pretty well considering I have not been treating it very well.  She needs to be repotted for sure.  The blue & white china flower pot was a gift from parents several years ago when I started a new job, so it makes me quite happy to see a plant enjoying it!

What have you been up to?

Catching up with do Good

Here are some of my recent blocks for do Good Stitches.  In November we did Ticker Tape blocks based on Rachel's Bottled Rainbows Tutorial and Quiltalong.  I choose dark red and dark green.  (Wow my photography needs some serious work.  I think I've dropped the camera so many times its focus is off.)

December's plan was called Shades of Grey - and this was a cool idea. We each used grey as the primary color of the block and then added a pop of another color.  Lyanna also asked that we try to use geometric shapes and I can't wait to see all the blocks for this quilt.  My blocks use hot pink of course, but the only grey I have in the stash is Kona Coal and this circle print that practically matches. 

January was tons of fun!  We did string blocks and it was an 'anything goes' project, as long as we used a one inch white strip for the center. These are colorful and fun.  I'm adding this to my own to-do list. Here's my first attempt, with the paper still on.

And the final four ...

I made five, but something turned out wrong with the center strip on the first one & I didn't feel like picking it apart to fix it.  It was recommended that we shorten the stitch length to make the paper easier to rip off once you're done.  That worked out really well, but its harder on the eyes to pick apart any mistakes.  I'll save that for some bright morning when I'm well rested. ;)

My scrap bin wasn't too big to begin with, but I'm happy to see the pieces and parts become something fun and useful to someone else.  Now I need to get cracking on my own projects so I can have more scraps ready for the next assignment!

September do Good Stitches Blocks

Do you ever think the end of the month sneaks up on you?  That happened to me in September with my do. Good Stitches blocks.  The lovely Bijou Lovely was our hostess this month, and this was her inspiration for our color scheme.

 

Great color combo!  Orange, a plum purple, grey and white.  She requested square in a square blocks with random sizing and a white border.  I finally finished on Monday, an embarassing 3 days into October. 

These were fun to pull together.  Kind of unplanned but with a goal in mind.  I started in the center and built my way to the outside with what was available in my stash.  Looking at the other photos in our Flickr group, I think this will be a great quilt!

First Blocks for do. Good Stitches

I finished these on Monday.  Our quilter called for 8.5 inch blocks in a fadeout like this, and she will put them together in a herringbone pattern.  No restrictions on color, so I went with what I had on hand.  Who knew I even had 4 colors of purple?  ;)

The photo was taken with my new smartphone.  I'm loving it.  It uses Droid and I have had alot of fun finding apps to use.  My current favorite is actually the wall paper - its a 'live' wallpaper with a koi pond.  Little fishes swimming around on my cell phone.  So cute.  Do you have any favorite apps?  I never even thought to look for quilting or knitting apps!

Have a wonderful weekend!

do. Good Stitches

I was tickled to find out recently that I am now an official member of the do. Good Stitches group!  This is a lovely group of quilters who make quilts monthly for various charities.  I've been assigned to the Inspire circle and I'm really excited to get started.

Click here to find out more about the group on Flickr.  You can see some of their finished projects there too.  This is a great group of quilters and I'm really excited to be a part of doing good!