Inktober!

So this year I decided to take part in the online phenomenon that is Inktober.  It is a challenge to make art, in pen and ink, everyday during the month of October.  I had never done pen and ink drawing before, but I decided to give it a try anyway.  The whole idea is for it to be a learning experience and I feel like it was for me.  I enjoyed it, but it became something of a chore by the end. 

Here are some of the highlights.  (You can see them all at https://www.instagram.com/jcooper52371/ if you are interested.)  Each day had a separate prompt.

 Build (day 5)

 Dragon (day 12)

 Overgrown (day 14)

 Tread (day 20)

 Dizzy (day 24)

Injured (day 29)

Roll Tide, Baby!

I finished the binding on this one on our way home from the airport this week.  It still  needs a label.  It is for my youngest granddaughter for Christmas.  I'm calling it "Roll Tide, Baby!" because the border fabric has elephants on it and both my daughter and son-in-law graduated from the University of Alabama.  It seemed appropriate for their daughter to have a "Roll Tide" quilt, even though it isn't overtly Alabama football themed.  I figure she can use it while she's snuggled up on the couch watching football with her daddy, someday.  She'll only be 1 year old at Christmas.

Cosmic Gyre

I finished the binding on this one last week, but I just got around to taking a picture of it today.  It is the finished product of this quilt that I posted about back in February.  The pattern is called Simplish and it is available for free from Shabby Fabrics.

I decided to name it Cosmic Gyre because of the circular motif and the colors in the fabric.  Some of the fabrics made me think of the galaxy pictures I've seen.  I also wanted to use a term that evoked circles without actually using the word circle.  I decided on gyre because it means spiral (think gyrate), and Hozier uses the term in one of the songs on his newest album, so it was in my mind.

Autumn Breeze quilt top

This is my newest quilt design, which I'm calling Autumn Breeze.  It uses a jelly roll of fabric along with a little bit of yardage for the pinwheels and borders.  I actually drew up the design a few years ago, but I just got around to writing up the directions and actually piecing the quilt top.  Once I get it quilted and bound I can get the pattern up and available in my Etsy shop.

The fabric I used is A New Leaf by Mitzi Powers for Benartex fabrics.  I bought it back in 2014 (when I designed the quilt), so I doubt it's still available anywhere now.  The fall colors and pinwheels combined give me the sense of a cooling Autumn breeze, thus the name.  Unfortunately we still have temperatures in the 90s here in south Alabama.  But it's nice to think about Autumn and cooler weather, even if you can't experience it, right?

Using a jelly roll can make for a rather busy quilt, but I think having the pinwheel blocks and border in the same color add a little continuity and calm it down a little.  I'm pleased with how it turned out, although it was touch-and-go for a little bit there when I was putting it together.  The border did make a big difference, in my opinion. 

The finished size of the quilt will be 64" by 80".  I'm thinking I will probably use it on the back of my couch during the fall.  Maybe it won't be too big for my new, smaller, couch.

Vintage Christmas Wallhanging

Here is my finished top for my Vintage Christmas wallhanging.  All the embroidery is done on the blocks that called for it, too.  I think it turned out nice, even though the 6-inch blocks were a real pain to make and keep to size.

As you can see from the picture above, I opted not to make the Twinkle Light border.  It would have required me to make 44 individual 3-inch light bulb units and I just wasn't convinced that I wanted to do that, or that I would even like the result when I was finished.  I think this will work just fine, and was way quicker and easier to finish.  And the border fabric has little starbursts on it, so that's sorta like twinkle lights, right?

No more Lori Holt blocks for me anytime soon, except maybe making the giant train block baby quilt I mentioned earlier.  Her blocks are cute and all, but they just have way too many pieces!

Vintage Christmas block for September

After cutting things so close last month, I decided to go ahead and knock out my blocks early this time.  The two blocks that I made from this month's assignment were, from left to right, Vintage Ornament and Under the Tree.  We were also assigned the Twinkle Lights block, which I was going to use as a border, but I decided to wait until I got the top finished to the point of needing the border before I decided or made any of them. 

August Vintage Christmas blocks

This month in our Vintage Christmas block of the month class (aka Moda class) we were assigned 5 blocks, as usual, but I actually needed 3 of them this time.  From left to right, the blocks are: Taffy, Stocking, and Toy Train. 

The first two I did in the featured colors (though not the featured fabric), but with the train, I decided to switch things up a bit.  The original had the train in dark and light blues, but I decided to go with gray and black.  I had dark and light blue (the light blue is in the Taffy block and the dark blue is in the Stocking block), but I thought the gray and black would look better than the specific blue fabrics that I had.  I was afraid there wouldn't be enough contrast between the blues.

I really like the train block, in general, so I'm thinking that I might use the design to make a large block baby quilt.  I've already figured up the cutting directions to enlarge it to a 36 inch block.  I'm not sure when I'll get around to making it, though.

I was really cutting it close getting the blocks done this month. For me it was more important that I get the wedding quilt top finished (featured in the previous post) so I could leave it to be quilted, than to get the blocks done, so I worked on the wedding quilt first.  Once it was finished, then I shifted over to the blocks.  I finished them the night before the meeting.  It all worked out in the end, since I got them all finished in time.

Split Stars Wedding Quilt

My oldest step-daughter is getting married in November, so as a wedding gift, I'm making a quilt for her.  She picked out the fabric and the pattern.  The fabric is Something Borrowed by Christopher Thompson for Riley Blake fabrics.  I purchased mine from the Fat Quarter Shop, and I was really happy with the experience.  The fabric shipped and was delivered very quickly (unlike my recent experiences with Missouri Star Quilt Company).  The fabric seemed to be accurately cut and very neatly packaged, so I was pleased all around.

The pattern she chose was called Split Stars from A Bright Corner. The pattern actually features this fabric, so it was really easy for her know what the finished quilt would look like ahead of time.  I've never done a quilt in the featured fabric before, so this was a first for me.  I'm usually not a "paint by number" kind of girl, but it did make the whole process go a little easier, because all of the decisions were made for me ahead of time.  And when I'm making something for someone else, it's nice to not have to make the decisions.  This way I know it's something she will like. 

I dropped the quilt off at the quilt shoppe on Wednesday to be quilted.  Hopefully they will get to it in time for me to get it bound before the wedding.  Fingers crossed.

Five Easy Pieces baby quilt

This little quilt is a variation on a Five Easy Pieces Charity Quilt I found online.  In the original quilt, the blocks were like a single round of a Log Cabin block, but one of the commenters suggested that she would make all the bricks around the center the same size and put it together with partial seams.  I liked that idea and decided to try it.

I wanted to be able to use fat quarters and I wanted to make as efficient use of the fabric as I could.  That is one reason why I wanted to use the one size brick and partial seams method.  That way I could cut all the fat quarters the same way and make all of the blocks the same.  The original pattern made a 12 inch block, but I scaled it down to a 9 inch block so that I could get enough pieces from the fat quarters to make a reasonably sized and shaped quilt.  The quilt finishes at 37 inches by 47 inches, which I think makes a nice sized baby quilt.

This quilt uses 4 fat quarters for the blocks, along with some white yardage.  The fat quarters are ones that I won from our monthly drawings at the Moda class I attend at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe, and the white yardage was left over from a previous project.  All I had to buy for the quilt was the border fabric, binding fabric, backing fabric, and batting.  I'm not sure yet what I'll do with it, but I think it would make a nice little quilt to donate somewhere, possibly.

Sparkle block

Today I made my 6-inch Sparkle block for this month's Block of the Month assignment.  It was the only block I needed from the 5 blocks that were assigned this month.  It's going to catch up with me soon, though.  I think I will need to do 3 blocks next month.

I tried to be very careful with my cutting and sewing today.  I measured each unit as I went, and trimmed down anything that wasn't exactly the size given in the measurements.  For some reason, when I'm making the units, my units are always just a little bit bigger than what the directions call for.  I know it's because I use a scant seam allowance when I sew, that's not surprising.  What is surprising is that once I sew the unit together my completed block is usually just a little smaller than it should be.  So why are the units bigger, but the finished block is smaller?  I use the same seam allowance guide on all of them.  It's not a MAJOR difference, usually 1/8 of an inch or less, but still, it's odd.

So I'm still not enjoying making the small blocks.  In fact, I haven't been that enthusiastic about sewing in general lately, and this project doesn't help matters any.  My original plan was to use the twinkle light blocks as a border, but I'd have to make 44 individual light bulb units, and I'm not sure I'm up to that.  We'll see how I'm feeling when I get to that point, but it doesn't look promising.

Little Deer block

The only block that I needed for the June meeting of my Moda group was the Little Deer block.  I actually finished it the day before the meeting.  As it turned out, I didn't actually get to go to the meeting, because my husband and I had to make an unexpected trip to the urologist's office.  (The ups and downs of prostate surgery recovery.  Thankfully nothing too serious, but it's always better to be safe with these sorts of things.)  But at least it was finished on time and I can show it at the next meeting.  I even did the embroidery!  Go me!

More Art!

 A watercolor dandelion I painted for my mother's Mother's Day card.

 Some abstract watercolor tulips.

 A pencil drawing of a cat.

 A pencil drawing of a lamp from a reference photo a tore out of a magazine.

 An abstract watercolor cat face that I painted from a demo I found online.

 A line-and-wash (ink and watercolor) magnolia that I did from a reference photo I took in my neighbor's yard.

A pencil drawing of my youngest granddaughter.  I'm not including the reference photo because my stepdaughter is particular about sharing her photos online.

A watercolor ice cream cone that I painted for my husband's birthday card.

I like some of my efforts better than others, but I've been enjoying the learning experience.

Baby Boy Quilt finished

This one I quilted myself.  It is done in diagonal lines through the darker patches of the four-patch blocks.  I originally started marking it on the diagonal through all the blocks of the four-patch, but I decided that was too much quilting for a baby quilt.  I like to keep them soft. 

It is also machine bound, which I don't normally do.  I attached the binding strips to the back instead of the front and turned it toward the front.  I did a zigzag stitch on the top to hold the binding in place.  It's not my preferred way of binding a quilt and not my favorite aesthetic either, but I don't hate it, so that's something.

Again, I finished this quilt last month (just 10 days from when I started it), and I'm just now getting around to posting about it.  This year has been very hectic - two trips to Washington State, one trip to New Jersey, several trips to Dothan for doctor visits, my son's graduation in Tuscaloosa, and most recently my husband's surgery last week.  I hope that the second half of the year is less eventful!

Mischievous Wife Quilt

On our trip home from New Jersey last month, I finished the binding on this quilt.  It was my adaptation of the Gypsy Wife quilt that our Moda group did last year.  It was quilted by the Gammill Girls at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe.  I bound it in the same fabric as the border.

It's a nice sized quilt, a bit longer than the ones I have photographed on the fence before.  It hangs down onto the ground by several inches.  I still don't know what to do with it.  It's okay and all, but I still don't love it.

Little Boy Baby Quilt

This little quilt top went from idea to finished quilt top today.  This morning I bought some fabric to go with some older fabric from my stash.  Because the older fabric had been washed, I washed the new fabric, too (after lunch).  Once it was all washed, dried, and ironed, I cut out the pieces and got to work sewing.  It's obviously a very simple pattern, and it sewed together very quickly and easily.

The center focal fabric of the quilt was a 14-1/2 x 20-1/2 inch scrap, but it could easily be cut from a fat quarter.  In fact, my idea for the pattern, in general, is to use it to showcase a fat quarter.  I think it is a good way to use larger scale novelty print fabric.

My plan for this quilt top is to quilt it myself in a cross-hatch pattern.  Once it is all finished up, I plan to donate it to the Methodist Church as part of my guild's on-going support of their tradition to give a quilt to all babies baptized there.

The pattern is available here for free.  Enjoy!

A little art

I've been playing a little bit with watercolor painting off and on recently.  I've posted at least one watercolor project before.  Today I decided to try the new watercolor pencils that I bought the other day.  As a general rule, I tend to be a perfectionist, so watercolor is not an obvious medium for me.  But the goal is to get outside of my comfort zone and do something a little freer.  As you can probably tell, I haven't reached that goal yet.  I still tend to be very rigid with my work.  I think it looks nice, but it's not exactly what I'd call free.  The watercolor pencils are good for detail, so that's good for my more exacting side.

This is a sketch that I drew from a photo of my oldest granddaughter.  I think it turned out pretty good and recognizable from the original photograph. Here is the original photograph that I was working from.

Butterfly Garden

I finished the binding on this one two weeks ago, but I just got the label attached and a picture made.  I've been so behind on things lately!  I decided to name it Butterfly Garden for a couple of reasons.  One, it has both butterfly fabric and flower fabric.  Two, the fabric line is called Tea House and my tea house has plants around it that are supposed to attract butterflies, and at times they actually do.

It is nice to actually be able to call something a finished product.  It seems like it's been a while since I got to do that!

Vintage Christmas blocks for April

 

I got them finished in time! I don't know if anyone will notice or not, but decided to make the gingerbread house a little simpler than the directions called for. I really felt like the original design was more intricate than it needed to be. I'm fine with my door not having a window in it and my window not having a frame around it. Oh, and I also omitted the sidewalk. It still looks plenty enough like a gingerbread house to me.

Baby Doll quilt top

I've been so busy lately that it took me almost a month to get around to adding the borders to the baby doll block, and some of the pieces were already cut!  Oh well, at least it's done now.  Unfortunately I have three blocks to make for this month's Moda class and very little time to do it in.  Obviously sewing hasn't been much of a priority lately.  I'm sure I can get them done if I make it a priority to do so.

Baby Doll big block

One of the other blocks we were assigned this month was the baby doll block.  I'm not planning to use it in my Christmas quilt, but I decided to make it anyway.  Instead of making it in the 6-inch, or 12-inch size, that was given in the book, I decided to scale it up to a 36-inch block.  No tiny pieces in this one!  Now all I have to do is add some borders and I have a cute baby doll quilt.  Big block baby quilts are fun.