A Fresh New Start

I let myself get sidetracked this week with a little diversion. As you may know from reading my blog, I love leaves. All the wonderful shades of greens . . . all the beautiful shapes . . . and of course all the many leafy fabrics. Over the years I've amassed quite a collection of leafy prints. Many are more traditional in nature although now I'm gathering more and more modern versions as well.

I've had a sketch for a leaf quilt for years and thought I'd break out the stash and start cutting this week. The main design consists of a checkerboard in the quilt center and the Scrappy Trip Along block tutorial was perfect for getting these blocks underway.

I broke out the leafy stash . . . this is only part of it!

I cut lots of strips to size, producing lots of little trimming scraps . . . love these little bits of color.

I started sewing a few blocks together . . . many more to come.

I know this is a form of procrastination for other things I should be working on but what the heck. I'm getting something done.

With all the terrible flooding that happened in Colorado recently I am feeling so very very grateful that the little creek behind our house didn't flood any worse than it did and feeling heartsick for all the people who are now without their homes and belongings. I'm thinking these leafy prints might be just the thing for a charity quilt. What better way to symbolize a fresh new start than green leaves representing new growth? I hope to turn these blocks into a charity quilt for flood victims.

If you are interested in helping, one option is Cover Colorado: Quilts For Flood Victims sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum.

eQuilter.com is also offering to distribute quilts to those in need. You can see what Luana of eQuilter had to say in this recent newsletter.

Linking up for WIP Wednesday with lee at Freshly Pieced. Take a look at what a few others are working on this week.

Hope you are making progress on your WIP's.

Repurposing

Do you ever repurpose clothes and other fiber related items in ways that bring new life and new uses to old things? I've been intrigued with quilts made from vintage sheets and clothes remade into something new and fashionable. Even have a small collection of vintage sheets I've gathered with the intention of making a modern quilt one of these days.

When Stitch magazine issued a call for entries for their winter edition, I decided to give the sustainable, upcycled category for fashion and home a try. Each issue has a few different categories featuring a variety of sewing projects. Everything from clothing and home decor to quilts can be found within their pages.

Since the call for entries was for a winter issue, I decided to play with recycling old sweaters and woolen jackets into a home decor project.

Using the sleeves from a variety of sweaters and a couple of jackets, I created a series of 6 vase wraps. I think they give a warm cozy feeling to the vases. I used winter whites and grays for a soft subtle palette and filled them with twigs that had tiny berries still clinging to the branches.

These two use sleek ribbed sweaters.

Here I used a baggy tweed sweater and a delicate lacy one.

The final two used woolen jackets for a slightly more tailored look.

This has been a year of submissions for me as I try my hand at getting published and I've been fortunate to find success with two Interweave publications; Stitch and Modern Patchwork as well as GenerationQ Magazine. If you've ever considered submitting a quilt or other sewing project . . . do it!!!

  

Here's a link to the submissions page for Interweave. And here's a link for GenerationQ.
Now go submit something. You'll never know until you try. Maybe I'll be reading about your project in the next issue.  : )

I'm linking up with Cindy at Live a Colorful Life for a Really Random Thursday post. Hop on over to see what other random things have been happening in the quilting world.

What's old . . . is new again

Lately I've been trying to get my studio under control a little at a time. The scrap piles have been sorted and a scrap system begun that I can honestly say is working and quite useful so far.

Of course, the problem with the "little at a time method" is that there are always unfinished areas still needing to be organized and then whole new messes develop as I work. I think I need to accept the fact that my studio will always be a work in progress just like my quilts.

First off came making room for a group of stripe fabrics I've been collecting here and there. I have lots of design ideas for stripe fabrics with more popping into my head every day.

Do you ever start a collection of fabrics by picking up a fat here and there and then realize you have way more than you thought, or dare I say even need, once you get them all in place? I had no idea I had this many stripes and must admit this is only half the collection.

The main area I've been tackling recently is sorting, organizing and disposing of old publications. I love magazines and books and over the years have accumulated quite a library. My style has changed over the years and some of the old publications just aren't where I'm at today. My new favorites are Generation Q, Stitch, Quilty and Modern Quilts Unlimited.

Some of these older issues will go back on the shelf, some into the donation bin at my library and some will go to the next modern guild meeting to giveaway.

As I sorted through pile after pile of magazines . . . some over 15 years old . . . what I discovered is how often what is old is new again. I can't tell you the number of times I came across a quilt design from years ago that was very much like a quilt I just recently saw on a blog or online somewhere. New fabrics, new spin on an established design. Thus what's old is new again.

Was the newer one simply copied? I'd like to think INSPIRATION is a much better word. In many cases I would bet the quilter who did the newer version never saw the earlier one. In this age of instant digital access it can be extremely hard if not nearly impossible to be completely original.

We are all inspired by something, somewhere we've seen. It might be lurking in the recesses of our brain from years ago. It might be something brand new we just saw or experienced that has nothing to do with quilting. The important thing is that it inspired us. It moved us. It awoke our creativity and the need to make. Bringing this creativity to life by making allows us to express ourselves and give meaning to our work. Rather than simply copying, I hope we are truly creating.

I encourage you to let the inspiration in your personal world bring new life to your work . . . create your own vision. If starting from scratch with a quilt design of your own is intimidating, try a pattern but put a spin on it to make it your own.

If you're not sure how this works, check out my patterns which offer many different options so you can bring your own personal creativity and style into play. I have three new designs in the works too so stay tuned for new pattern releases in the next few months.

I'm linking up with Cindy's Really Random Thursday for this post.
Have fun creating.  : )

100 Quilts For Kids and the Boulder Modern Quilt Guild

Round two of trying to get this post done. Argg . . . sometimes I really don't like technology very much. Previous writing magically disappeared into nowhere right about the time I was finishing it up.

Anyway . . . I was busy last week finishing up a baby quilt as part of our Boulder Modern Quilt Guild charity project for Front Range Community College. Our little guild of about 20 members has made 15 baby quilts so far. Not bad at all I'd say for a brand new guild. You can see some of the other baby quilts by using the link above.

My quilt is made from a fabric collection called Olivia's Holiday by Tina Givens. I think the pink and yellow will make for a very cheery bit of comfort for some little girly girl. My own little girl had pink and yellow in her room when she was little. Nothing like this but very bright and cheery. I still like the combo of yellow and pink.

Here's my newest baby. Her name is Opal and we've had her and her brother Leo for about 9 months. Just like real babies, they grow up too fast. Wish I could shrink her down to a tiny kitten size again.

This little quilt gave me a chance to practice my free motion quilting . . . something I need to do a lot more of. I did a free form flower across the strips and staggered the placement for every other row.

I'm linking up to Swim Bike Quilt's 100 Quilt For Kids. If you've made and donated a kid's quilt then good for you!!!  Go add your quilt to the linky party and you just might win a prize. Links are open till Sept 30 2013. Go here to see all the quilts that have been donated. Quilters are such generous people. Just think, if quilters ruled the world, everyone would be surrounded with warmth and love.   : )

Also this month at our sew day we had a paper piecing lesson from Sharon and made these Jacob's Star blocks which just might make their way into another baby quilt for the charity.

I've done some paper piecing but not for a long long time. It's always good to renew the concept. If you've been afraid to give paper piecing a try I encourage you to go for it. It's really not that hard at all, just a little counter intuitive at first. Once you understand, it's quite easy and the results are well worth the effort. Thanks Sharon.

My Colorful Studio

I always love seeing where people create. It's inspiring to see how creative people are with their space plus a great way to gather ideas for improving my own space.

There are a couple of studio tours going on right now. The Studio Spotlight hosted by Ellison Lane and The Sewing Loft which I'm linking up with here. And another called "Where I Sew" hosted by Pink Chalk Fabrics. So grab a cup tea or maybe a glass a wine, sit back and tour some wonderful, inspiring spaces. Enjoy!

I sewed for years in the living room of our tiny house when my kids were small. Then 7 years ago we put an addition on above the garage and I was able to carve out a space all to myself. It's a small room but it's all mine. Heaven. Absolute heaven. Welcome to my studio tour.

This is the window covering made from Kaffe Fabrics. Suspended in front is a clear sign made from vinyl of my blog/business name.  On the shelf above the window a little added inspiration.

This is what you see when you come down the hall and first enter my studio. The window blind is normally open and lets in lots of nice natural light. With a desk on one side and my sewing table on the other all I need to do is swivel around from one to the other. Works great.

My sewing table was a big splurge when we remodeled. Love the machine being lowered into the table. Don't think I could ever sew without it now. At the time I didn't envision the back of the table always being up but it works so well for the small ironing board that it's always fully extended now. I also have one of those huge cutting mats from JoAnn's which covers the entire surface. Very handy for trimming, basting small tops and lots of other things. Being able to easily lower the machine makes it quick to use. The big mat hangs in the hallway just outside my room. To the right of this picture is my design wall. Right in front of me while I sew. Once a block is ironed it goes back on the wall.

On the backside of the sewing table, underneath the iron, is where I store my newly sorted scraps as well as ongoing project boxes. It's easy to roll out a cart or simply pull out a drawer when looking for certain colored scraps. This is a huge improvement over my previous scrap storage which was no system at all. Just piles and more piles. Now I actually make a point of maintaining my scrap storage and it's been quite easy to find what I need.

These cabinets are actually kitchen cabinets repurposed for my studio. They hold a ton of stuff. More fabric than I should own, batting, UFOs, you name it and it's probably in there somewhere. The counter is just the right height for cutting. To the right is a lower area I use as my computer desk to work on pattern design and blogging plus a little too much online surfing at fabric shops and Pinterest.  : )

Above the counter are a series of shoe cubbies to store my primary stash. The fabrics are sorted according to general color/types and so far work really well but are a little on the full side. Definitely need to work from my stash. I just love being able to look up from my desk and see all that color. Keeps my in a constant state of inspiration. This is the brights cubbie . . .

This is the black/white/gray cubbie with a few mini collections mixed in.

This is the solids cubbie with a few groupings for future projects mixed in.

This is the Kaffe cubbie . . . my favorite fabric designer. I can never have enough of these beauties.

And the last cubbie is my collection of leafy prints along with fruit and veggie prints. More traditional but still wonderful.

Next to the last cubbie is a small inspiration board. Must admit I'm not very good at making use of it the way I envisioned. The little notes pads rarely get used, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. My paperwork/filing habits could definitely use some improvement.

The wall cabinets above the cubbies hold even more fabric, mostly more traditional in style. Above in the shelf area is a collection of glass colored vases picked up here and there from thrift stores. Another level of color that keeps things bright and cheery.

And last but not least is this glider from the days of rocking babies. It's seen better times and I'd like to paint and recover it but for the time being it works fine. It's a nice size for my small space and very relaxing for those late nights when I can't sleep and don't dare sew or I'd be up all night. Then it becomes my reading chair. Usually there is a kitty or two taking a nap here.

Next to the chair is an old night stand turned side table that I painted and decoupaged with copies of Kaffe prints. A tiny table but a real favorite. And a new spot for kitties to explore. Meet Leo.

I posted once before about my studio when I first started my blog so maybe you've already seen a lot of this. Looking back on that post, I realized how the photos needed improving. Hope you've enjoyed my new little tour. Hop over to the linky party and tour another sewing space.

Fabulous Flower Gardens

Flowers are one of my passions . . . I just love all the colors and shapes and textures to be had in a beautiful flower garden. I do pretty well with my own little pots of annuals and perennials but must admit my best flower garden blooms in my studio amidst my fabric stash. I'm a sucker for florals from traditional to modern but my biggest patch of fabric flowers is my Kaffe stash.

This weekend we took furniture up to our college son in Fort Collins and I persuaded them to stop by the CSU test gardens so I could take some pictures. 178 pictures to be exact. They had NO idea what they were in for but thankfully found an excuse to wander over to campus leaving me alone to admire and photograph all the splendid color.

Colorado State plants one of the best gardens around as part of a test garden to evaluate annual cultivars and their performance in the Rocky Mountain region. There are more than 1000 varieties of annual plants. The garden is right on College Ave on the south east side of campus. I highly recommend a visit any time mid to late summer when everything is in full bloom.

The range of colors and patterns found within each blossom and leaf are a great source of inspiration for my choices in quilt design. Here are just some of the beauties to be seen. Enjoy . . .

Beautiful BIG blooms!!!

Lots of PRETTY petunia varieties!!!

Nuances of Color!!!

and of course GREAT leaf shapes and colors

Hope you feel inspired!  Have a colorful week.