Hooray!

Hope you can join me September 8-14, 2019

at the John C. Campbell Folk School . . . 

Umbrellas Unfurled - completed 2015

So what will we be doing that week in my class?

We'll be playing with colors, making scrappy strata, 

cutting wedges, designing layouts, and creating quilts

inspired by my RSC2014 project Umbrellas Unfurled.

Registration for Fall 2019 classes is not yet open

but you can visit the JCCFS website now

and sign up for their email newsletter

(look in the sidebar on the left side)

so you'll be some of the first to know

when Fall 2019 class registration opens.

It's going to be SO MUCH FUN!

Quiltdivajulie

Scrappy Cutting

One block at a time

I gathered two coordinating fabrics

(coordinating being a relative term)

from my resource boxes.

No yardage was harmed . . .

The fabrics on the corner of the cutting table

will be returned to their respective resource boxes

after all 48 blocks have their pieces cut out.

(a bit of protection to be sure I don't grab the same fabric twice)

This gathering involves the final 18 blocks.

That pile of leftovers on the corner 

is going to get taller before this is over.

* * *

And speaking of getting taller . . . 

Little Man is now 14 months old

and starting to walk!

Quiltdivajulie

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"Color is joy. 
One does not think joy. 
One is carried by it."
Ernst Haas

Scrap Management

My "orphans and orts" boxes were overflowing

so I pulled out the random bits and pieces

to see what could be done with them.

They were mixed and matched

with fabrics from the resource boxes to create 

what will become a variety of 'useful' items.

These leftovers from Parachutes and 

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

will become a squarish reversible mug mat.

Ditto for these leftovers from Metamorphosis

Ditto for the one leftover cross cut block 

which will be backed with a handful of

now-pieced-together strips from Girly Girl

Trimmings from the back of Sea Glass

with part of a fat quarter gifted by a friend

will become another mug mat.

As will more of the now-pieced strips from Girly Girl

and a floral backing gifted from another friend.

Extra 3.5" HSTs from Wind Farm

were mixed with scrappy squares of blue.

The runner's backing is a 12" WOF strip.

(the only piece I needed to cut from yardage)

This will eventually go to my sister.

There are also seven 

journal-covers-in-waiting

ready to be assembled.

Three feature strata pieced by Wanda Hanson

that was leftover after she made

the quilt top I named Be Still My Heart.

One features a swirl-filled FMQ practice piece.

One features leftover blocks from Wilkommen.

One features leftover mid-century modern

fabric trimmings from the back of Fruit Loops.

And one features a gorgeous batik 

that I've had for years

but have never been able to cut in to.

Note added later:

I use Wanda's journal cover tutorial.

There's a link for it in my sidebar.

Hint:  

Using an empty composition book 

(outside cover only)

makes the initial estimating/measuring

for the journal covers/linings easier

since the cover lays flat and stays open.

Wanda also gave me this orphan block.

It is high time to turn it into a mini quilt.

There were also seeds in those boxes

 for what will be a longer term project.

My focal squares will finish at 4" and

encompass all sorts of liberated scrappy goodness.

If this one turns out to be anything like 

Quilty 365 and my Moments in Time quilt,

you may not see results for several (!) months.

* * *

Happily, at the end of the day,

my orphans box,

the leftover strata box, 

and two other boxes of orts are empty 

and I have a stack of small projects

ready and waiting when Max and I want to play.

Quiltdivajulie

-----------------------------------------------
"The very essence of playfulness is an openness to anything that may happen, the feeling that whatever happens, it's okay... 
you're either free to play, or you're not."
John Cleese

Mini Wall Quilt

While tidying up,

I re-discovered this box of itty-bitty HSTs

leftover from making Fruit Loops.

Hmmmm . . . 

How to turn them into something coherent . . . 

I stitched each set of four HSTs together,

then framed each square in a square 

with strips leftover from What Lies Beneath.

This photo shows the twelve 4" blocks 

before they were stitched together.

Here is the mini quilt top all sewn together.

I'm thinking minimal straight line quilting 

and a simple black binding . . .

* * *

Linking up with the Ad Hoc Improv Quilters.

CLICK HERE to see what the others have been doing this month. 

Quiltdivajulie

RSC Quilts at the Show

Over the weekend,

eight of my quilts were at the annual

Davies Manor Quilt and Fiber Arts Show.

Fruit Loops

hung against the backs of

RESPECT and The Eclectic Goose.

Inside the frame, from left to right,

The Eclectic Goose

RESPECT and

To Have and To Hold

with the left edge of

Umbrellas Unfurled.

Turning to the right,

Umbrellas Unfurled

No Ugly Flowers

(back side of Arrowheads)

and Happy Happy Joy Joy.

Arrowheads hung against the backs

of HHJJ and No Ugly Flowers.

If I hang Arrowheads at home,

I think I'll hang it this way.

(landscape vs. portrait orientation)

In addition to this sign up sheet,

we had information flyers

for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

There were more quilts this year 

and fewer vendors.

The new lights also made

a BIG difference. 

(the older/antique quilts 

were on display at the Manor House

and a couple of the cabins)

* * *

Thank you 

to the dedicated volunteers who 

organize and stage this annual event.

It is so much fun to see what others are doing

and connect with other local quilt makers.

Quiltdivajulie

Happy Happy Joy Joy (the quilt)

Happy Happy Joy Joy

is finished!!

Quilted by Lynn  Harris

(click here for her blog)

Lynn took this photo of the freshly-quilted quilt

on the wall of her fabulous barn.

This is the back of the quilt . . .

And this is a detail of the quilt's front / binding / backing.

The blocks were created during RSC 2014

using the X Marks the Block tutorial

by Teresa Rawson.

(permanent link in my sidebar)

The finished quilt measures 50" x 70"

Took the quilt to the Japanese Garden behind our City Hall

for an outdoor photo shoot.

Late afternoon sunshine . . . 

I love this quilt!

* * *

For those in the greater Memphis area,

sll six of my RSC 14 quilts will be on display

next weekend at the Davies Manor Quilt and Fiber Arts Show.

(Nov. 6-7-8)

* * *

Linking up with The Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday-

CLICK HERE to see what the others are working on.

Also liking up with Oh, Scrap! at  

Quilting is More Fun Than Housework on Sunday.

CLICK HERE for even more links to scrappy projects.

Now I'm off to get over an annoying head/chest cold . . .

Quiltdivajulie

Umbrellas Unfurled (the quilt)

Umbrellas Unfurled 

(#5 of my 6 RSC14 projects)

is finished!!

Younger son and I 

took it out for a photo shoot

in historic downtown Collierville.

61" wide x 79" long

Free motion quilted by Chris Ballard

This 2014 RSC project was originally inspired

by Elizabeth Hartman's Octagonal Orb design.

The shadows and the breeze kept things interesting,

but we had fun posing the quilt on the caboose.

Love the quilt with those yellow railings

and that glorious blue sky.

DS popped up just long enough for me to get his photo.

Lucky me to have a willing accomplice

during these photo shoot adventures.

Especially love the juxtapositions of bright colors and deep shadows,

the implied suggestion of journeys taken,

and the legacy of the engine's rusting metals . . . 

* * *

Linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

CLICK HERE to see what the others have been stitching this week.

* * *

Added later -

Here is an "overall flat" photo 

taken later that afternoon in our driveway.

Quiltdivajulie

The Eclectic Goose (the quilt)

The Eclectic Goose

54" wide x 72" long

This is the third of my six RSC 2014 quilts to be finished.

WOOT!

Inspiration for my quilt came from the River Trees pattern.

(December 2011 issue of The Quilt Life)

 I had made binding for this one while it was away being quilted,

but when it came home, that binding was all wrong.

So I  made new binding using a long-stashed beloved blue.

And this scrappy back just makes my heart sing.

Quilted by Chris Ballard

She chose the Seabirds panto and I love the results.

So much scrappy goodness . . .

* * *

Over the weekend I'll link this post with 

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge

where September's color has been ORANGE.

Quiltdivajulie

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

p.s.  Many thanks for the birthday wishes.  It's been a good week, including an unplanned overnight out of town, with a family pottery painting party/dinner this weekend.

Fruit Loops - The Quilt (updated)

late afternoon shade

Fruit Loops

56" x 72"

NOTE:  Post updated 9/19 to include additional photos.

mid-morning sunshine - not an easy quilt to photograph!

Hand guided quilting by Lynn Harris

Inspired by Tacha Bruecher's

Typed Baubles

found in the

December 2013 issue of Fat Quarterly

The colorful portions of my version were scrappy-pieced

one month at a time

during the 2014 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

late afternoon photo

The very scrappy binding includes a wide variety

of medium to little (!!) pieces of whites on blacks.

mid-morning photo

I love the way the binding moves around the quilt's edge . . .

I waited until early evening so the slanted sunlight

would highlight the amazing surface of this quilt.

(This is my first experience with Quilter's Dream Wool batting)

mid-morning photo

The texture truly is mesmerizing.

taken just as the sun set

(double click to supersize - easier to see more details)

This quilt makes me so happy . . . 

* * *

I'll also be linking this post with The Rainbow Scrap Challenge,

where the color for September is orange.

Quiltdivajulie