Busy busy busy

It looks like June will prove to be a busy month for me. I am sure that I am not alone in working better under a deadline and with specific goals, right? 

​restocking some pot holder inventory

Last week received an order to restock some pot holders and coasters at Storeroom Vintage. I have to admit it came kind of out of the blue, but I was glad to get the text.  I had posted a little bit about this venture back in early February here, and after taking the first group over there neither of us really followed up after that. Until now. And this time I'm going into it with a little more direction, which I think is helpful. There will be more of these popping up in the next week or so!

​still considering some rearranging - be warned

And though it may not seem like it, I've been working bit by bit on the strip quilt. Making a few new strip sets each week, adding the triangle units to what is already up on the wall and then spending another few days pondering. I got a really good suggestion for a way to alter this minimally, but hopefully with maximum impact. I hope to have this top pieced by the beginning of July. The quilting will be a whole other bridge to cross!

​Blocks from the April round of do. good stitches Bliss circle.

And of course the quilt bees! The photo above is for the Bliss circle of do. Good Stitches, which has been undergoing some changes. I have been a member of the Bliss circle since I joined do. Good Stitches a little over 2 years ago. There have been 2 hosts for the circle in that time, the latest of whom chose to take some time away as of early May. Was it compulsion that prompted me to volunteer for the position of host, or simply a desire to see the circle continue and thrive and come back together? I think it's fair to say it was a little of both. But yes, this means I am now host and moderator for the Bliss circle, and happy to be doing it! It's been fun to really touch base and communicate with my fellow bee-mates in this, and I seem to have gotten an overwhelmingly positive and energized response from most of the group, which helps SO MUCH! Amy is getting us started out again this month with her own Flock of HSTs block and tutorial on her blog, 13spools. Amy has chosen the perfect type of block to get us running again, and I'm super appreciative! And in the mean time I'll be putting more of the HST blocks shown above together (and I've collected a few more from members of the group since that photo was taken) and hope to get that quilt top finished by mid-June.

Of course there are also still the Friends + Fabric bee and the Simply Solids bee, marching ahead beautifully to keep in mind!

And now for the non-quilting-related stuff... J and I have finally gotten started on one of the home improvement projects that's been on the list for a little while now. We marched on down to the big Depot store and placed an order for 2 pallets of bricks, sand and gravel to be delivered to the house this week. We're (okay, so far it's really been just J) rebuilding and widening a walkway from the driveway past the veggie garden area (which has yet to be planted this year) to the backyard, as well as laying a new patio in the backyard. 

BEFORE

GOING WIDER

ON ITS WAY!

BEFORE

EXCAVATION BEGINS

AND CONTINUES

AND CONTINUES STILL (of course I had to include a picture of me helping out at least SOME)

There are a couple more collaborations that are only just beyond the "discussion" stage, but I don't foresee a whole lot of movement on those in the next month. You know what that means, though... Stay tuned!

And though I am sure other things will be popping into the mix over the next few weeks, I feel good about what's on the table, both literally and figuratively! So, enjoy the journey, and if I maybe don't post quite as often as I sometimes do, just imagine that I'm dutifully at work on one of these fun, gratifying projects (and if it's the outdoor one, that image should include a margarita!)

Pillow Talk Swap Goodies

I told myself once before that I would not do another of these. There are a couple of reasons for this:​

1. It takes away time I should be using more productively.... but it's so FUN!​

2. I put undo pressure on myself to get things just so. ​And I've gotten burned in the past with not receiving the same in return (or not receiving AT ALL in return).

3. *and this is the most important* I only have so many seating options in my home and there are way too many throw pillows as is. Every time J sits on the couch, he tosses a pillow to one of the unoccupied arm chairs (or vice versa).​

So, when I saw the sign-ups on Flickr for the 10th round of the Pillow Talk Swap I was wooed. ​Against my "better judgement." But so glad I participated, as there is a great energy among the other participants (as much as one can gauge energy over the internet, that is). And most everyone seems as excited and involved as I am, bringing their A game. 

But even if you bring your A game, sometimes it's hard to know if that will be the direction that the recipient wants. I am hoping that what I have come up with will find a happy home!​

Arriving here has been quite a journey. Several sketches, fabric pulls and further editing, reading all of the responses to all of the photos posted in order to glean the reactions from my secret partner. It weighs heavily on a person!​

​The first round of sketches

​fabric pull #1 - partially rejected

​fabric pull #2 - mostly rejected, but helped immensely with narrowing down

And the drafting begins

​The paper-pieced units

However, deciding what to use for the backgrounds was more of a challenge, for some reason, and held me up for quite a while. I've been going through some serious second-guessing issues lately. First on the commission I'm doing for my brother and B-I-L, ​and more immediately on this swap. And sadly, I was getting no answers on the site. Or rather, I was getting some lovely answers, but not necessarily from the right person.

And yesterday I decided it was up to me to decide.

So I have moved forward and finished the pillow to send with its little extras (including a hand-printed BINGO game about my fair city of Portland!!)​

​One of these things is not like the others...

​mellowing a bit...

So I made my decision and got to the piecing. Have I mentioned that I have a lot to work on with curved piecing?? Not one of my fortes but better than some other options! And thank goodness for being able to finesse some of the errors with quilting!!​

​Stuffed with the ONE 20" pillow form I have, usually occupying the cover I received from Brittany in the Pillow Talk Swap #4!

​And then there's the drastically different back...

​Taking a little more sedate, sophisticated approach for the reverse (if a connect-the-dots print can be considered sophisticated).

​... and the little extras. I'm excited to pass these goodies along, and it all fits in a USPS Flat Rate envelope! YAY!

I hope she loves this. Don't know what else to say about it. I'm glad I finished on schedule (barely) and only noticed 1 serious mess up, which I'll happily be pointing out to it's new owner, but don't dare to reveal to the public at large. ;-) Thanks for stopping by!

Missed another one

I had every intention of joining the fun at The Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side. I even started writing a post. But I never finished that post, and therefore did not submit it for entry in the Two Color Quilt category for this quilt.​

That will not stop me from enjoying browsing all of the other amazing entries, casting my vote in as many categories as I can make it through and being a part from the role of spectator. And I hope others of you are doing the same. And if you see something that rings your bell, I would love to see a link in the comments. It's always fun to see what turns other people's heads. I'll try to do the same :-)​

Quilt Market Recap

It's hard to know where to begin, so I feel I should just jump right in. As I've mentioned in previous posts, and I'm sure as many of you are already aware, the Spring 2013 International Quilt Market was held in Portland, OR this year. Marie generously registered me as an ambassador for Cool Cottons, for which I am truly grateful! Since she had actual appointments with fabric companies on both Friday and Saturday I was manning the store those days, but had set aside Sunday for wandering through the Oregon Convention Center. Another bonus of the event was all of the peripheral events attached. In addition to the class with Jacquie Gering (blogged here) at Modern Domestic, there was a Happy Hour event, dinner with a wonderful group of folks, some new acquaintances but all familiar from their blogs and/or design companies, and a special PMQG program for its monthly meeting. And a late-discovered plus is that I was joined by my friend Cherie, of Pieced by Cherie for the show itself!

So, on to the photos (not as many as I would like, but really one just gets caught up in the energy and spectacle of it all and forgets the camera hanging from her wrist).​

​A new design from an old favorite of mine.

​A new discovery.

​A little corner of Anna Maria Horner's section of the Westminster Fabrics booth.

​Everyone seems to have been agog at Heather Bailey's booth - the scale embroidery on the wall really was something else!

​Cherie and I were drawn in by their booth and designs.

​Cherie got the information on these guys... it was a company I was not so familiar with, but we were intrigued. I'll add details if I find out :-)

​Jeni Baker's (In Color Order) booth, debuting her second fabric collection with Art Gallery Fabrics, I believe. Beautiful work!

​A Quilter's Dream - a plethora of great patterns to choose from!

​A great booth put together by Busy Bee Quilt Designs, right here in the greater Portland area!

​And not to be left out, I had to get at least ONE photo of myself with someone exhibiting... and who better than someone I know and like as much as Michelle!?

​It was a blast to wander around, bump into people I have gotten to know over the years in this industry, and just take in all of the eye candy and positive energy! I walked away with a bit of swag - a few new buttons, brochures and tear sheets for some great pattern designers and publishers, the germ of an idea for a new venture planted by someone else, a set of the first 5 issues of Modern Quilts Illustrated by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr (and we had an awesomely engaging chat with Mr. Kerr, what an interetsing guy!) and a GORGEOUS  collection of the BEST thread on the planet - at bargain wholesale price!

However, I can't believe that Cherie and I forgot to get our picture together at Market!! Maybe next time, right?

​I also have to give a shout out to the lovely group of ladies who let me join them for dinner at Tin Shed Friday night - it was a pleasure spending time with you all, and getting to know new faces! Jenn, Jessica, Caroline, Latifah and Connie. I'm not yet active on Instagram, but maybe one day will join the 21st century and switch out my cell phone for one of those "smart" things!

A Day with Jacquie Gering!

As many of you quilt blog readers are aware, today marks the set-up and preview for this weekend's International Spring Quilt Market 2013, here in Portland, OR. Which of course means that professionals from around the world – designers, distributors, shop owners, fabric manufacturers and teachers – have descended on the Rose City (a.k.a Stumptown, Rip City, PDX) for a full weekend of shopping, ogling, and meet & greets.

Spring Market consists just of the trade show, whereas the Fall Market in Houston is a week long festival with quilt show and classes in addition to the closed trade show. However, apparently if you have the right timing and the right space a local shop can luck out and get some of the visiting teachers to do a class while in town. Modern Domestic did just that, arranging one class with Jacquie Gering and two classes with Carolyn Friedlander, bookending the official Market events.

And pretty much as soon as I was made aware of the fact that Jacquie would be teaching a class here in town, I marched on out to Modern Domestic to sign up! And SO glad I did!!​

I was first aware of her work maybe a little over two years ago, seeing some photos online and catching a glimpse or two at her blog, Tallgrass Prairie Studio.​ At the time she was the president of the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild, and just before she relocated to Chicago one of our Portland local designers, Susan Beal, made a trip out to KC to promote her then newly published book Modern Log Cabin Quilting. During that trip Susan organized a pot holder swap between the KCMQG and the PMQG. And lucky me, the person who drew my name from the hat was Jacquie!

She did her research and matched the colors of my kitchen to a tee! AND, these are no pot holders... I have one lovely table-topper and two generously sized trivets! And I love them all!​

Now to the class. Those of you who periodically read my blog probably know that I am no stranger to improv piecing. But one of my hang-ups is simplifying.​ I tend to take the same approach I do with more traditional scrappy piecing and pull as many fabrics and prints that I feel work within the palette range and often end up using everything I pull. This class was centered around Jacquie's "Slice and Insert" technique, creating compositions of clean backgrounds broken up by linear strokes in a dynamic, graphic, uncomplicated way. It's that last one that always evades me! So this was a good exercise for me!

A few days ago I posted a photo of my fabric pulls to take to class:​

It was good to have so many options to work with, but I definitely learned a little about editing while in the class. I didn't touch most of those oranges, and only used 2 of the navy background fabrics (so far).​

​my blocks from the first 2/3 of the 6 hour class.

And it was also great to see what the other folks in the class were creating! So helpful and interesting to see how others interpret the same instructions and technique.​

​Kathy's blocks

​Cathy working on her blocks, with Rachel's to the left

​Jen's on the left, Jenny's on the right. I LOVE what both of them created!

​Jacquie demoing the impact of different backgrounds on Suzanne's project.

Not wanting to over work my project I jumped in on a second set of blocks for the last hour or so of the class. ​

I have to say that this was such a treat for me! There's nothing better than getting to spend a day learning a new approach to something you love, taught by a truly lovely, easy-going person with an extremely creative vision. Thank you for your time and your insight, Jacquie!

Jacquie will also be tonight's featured guest speaker at the PMQG monthly meeting at PNCA, to which I am very much looking forward. A great start to the upcoming weekend, if you ask me!!

A Flash of Blue, or Green, or Something

I think I shared this photo a little while ago (or one similar)...​

I've since edited out quite a few of those fabrics, added new ones and started building the individual units.​

And thank goodness for design walls!​

​A test arrangement

​But thinking I'll move back to a more fluid arrangement

Like so many projects, this may very well go through a few more incarnations before I start piecing the blocks together, but I am happy with where it seems to be headed. Hopefully I'm capturing what my brother and (future) brother-in-law were envisioning for their friends.

Revving up for Market

Okay, maybe I'm just revving up for events throughout the next week surrounding Spring Quilt Market which is happening here in Portland this year!​ A friend who had helped with the set-up 5 years ago when Spring Market was last held here asked if I'd like to join her this time around - which includes a free pass to the trade show. Unfortunately it does not look like we got a shift this time around, but I have generously been granted credentials from Marie, so I'll hopefully be able to sneak a peek at some point next weekend when I am not helping out at Cool Cottons.

But there are really two things in particular that I am very much looking forward to. First off - getting the chance to take a class with Jacquie Gering of Tallgrass Prairie Studio, coauthor of the book Quilting Modern, and I believe one of the founding members of the KCMQG.  She will be a guest teacher at Modern Domestic while here in town, teaching her "Slice and Insert" improvisational quilting technique. This is the first quilting class I've signed up for in several years, not including the week long Jane Sassaman workshop I attended with my mom last summer in Greenville, NY. I find her work so inspiring, and am eager to get the chance to spend the day in this class! I've begun pulling some fabrics to use during the class, but may very well change my mind before next Wednesday...

​I'm thinking the navy will be background with the oranges and periwinkle as the slices and inserts. Any suggestions?

And part two of the weekend's fun surprises is that I get to meet someone who's become an online friend over the last few years. Jenn, a.k.a. Sunny, an amazingly creative and generous gal who pulled together an online quilting bee for modern quilters several years ago, one which I was SO fortunate to become involved with starting in 2011 and have continued to take part in the follow-up years. Granted, 2 of the 3 quilts I've gotten out of the deal are still in progress, but it's without a doubt been one of the most gratifying experiences I've had in the online quilting community to date.

​From the 2011 Seams Perfect folks

​2012's Friends + Fabric Bee results

​I still have a way to go for this, but it's still 2013, so I'm not TOO far behind... and this round of F+F is still going on!

Is anyone else out there headed to good ol' Stumptown for Spring Quilt Market? I know there's going to be a Happy Hour meet up at Modern Domestic on Friday evening, and I am sure other ​social events as well. It would be so cool to meet some other visitors to our fair city, either while I'm behind the counter at Cool Cottons on Friday and Saturday or at other events. Give a shout-out!

Quilts for Boston

There is no doubt that we are all acutely aware of the terror that was felt 2 weeks ago today as two bombs went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. And as a community who jumps in and lends a hand in whatever ways we can, the quilting community has been abuzz with its response.​

The Boston Modern Quilt Guild initiated a block drive to collect quilt blocks in the official colors of the marathon (blue, yellow, grey and white) to be made into quilts and distributed to victims and families directly affected by the bombings that morning. For those curious about how you may become involved, please visit the guild's blog post, linked here. Essentially, they are asking quilters to donate blocks measuring 12.5" tall (by whatever length you desire) unfinished made in the colors stated above, sent to them by May 24. They are also inviting any donations of yardage or fabric suitable for bindings, sashings and backings.

I figure this is a way I can lend a hand from 3000 miles away, and not only show love and support for an amazing city and landmark in our history, but for the endurance and strength of all the first responders on scene and the people there who worked so hard to be a part of the marathon and came together in the face of what happened to hold each other up and keep moving. I am sure many of us (myself included) had friends AT the race that morning and felt the fear as well.

So let's channel that into making something warm and unifying!​

To see many, many more blocks going into this project, made by dozens, if not hundreds, of other quilters, take a look at the Flickr group set up for them. It's an inspiring sight.

​I've just got a couple blocks made so far, but plan to continue to churn a few more out in the next couple of weeks in between other projects. I'm looking forward to having a sizable packet to send off to Massachusetts before the May 24th deadline. If any Portland local quilters are doing the same and want to drop off their blocks with me to send all together, I'd be happy to post them all, just message me!