Long Time Gone

The top is done:

This pattern is a book by Jen Kingwell, a well-known Australian designer. I found a sew-a-long that is running from March through July 12, 2017 and started with it, making one set of blocks a week:
Long Time Gone Sew-a-Long. If you want to make this quilt, I recommend you go to that website right now to print out the one page TRACKER she created that shows what blocks will be done each week--you can keep track of your progress easily that way, even if you aren't working on it now. It was so much fun, I pushed ahead and got this top done today, ahead of schedule.

NOTE: I didn't enter the contests or follow the tutorials or use templates. The only blocks that are paper pieced are the 16 Pineapple Log Cabin Blocks. I used EQ7 to print my patterns--the pattern is included in the book that you can copy for your use.

The one change I made;  instead of 3 narrow borders of mostly light fabrics, I made 2 light and one dark border--the lights were cut 1.75" wide, various lengths, whatever I had left, and the dark outer border pieces were cut 3"--feel free to do whatever you like with your borders. This quilt is 70" x 71" and I think that's big enough. I was considering adding another dark border but no, I think this top is done.

Back in January I signed up with Homestead Hearth to do this as a Block of the Month, using their fabric--I've received 4 months of fabrics so far and will use those to demo with when teaching this class locally this Fall. So, yes, that means I'll be making a second one of these. As it is no longer on their Special Programs page, that means they are no longer taking sign-ups for this one.

For my local students: this class will be at Huntsville Sew and Vac,  Saturday: Sept 16, Oct 21, Nov 18, Dec 16, 2017, Jan 27, Feb 24, 2018, from 1-4 p.m. They are not ready for sign-ups yet, but will be soon. I hope you'll join me for this journey.

Stash-busting isn't what you would think: this used lots of fabric but created just as much "new" scrap it seems. So, rather than put all those pieces away, I'll be making block samples for several upcoming classes and maybe, someday, I'll make my own scrappy orphan quilt.

Now to prepare a back and baste this so I can quilt it.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Long Time Gone

Long Time Gone is a Jen Kingwell pattern I saw in Houston 2016 and liked. I found a Block of the Month on Homestead Hearth and ordered it, receiving fabrics each month over the course of a year--that started in February. Then I found a blog working on it, one block a week, Gnome Angel and decided to use my own fabrics for the first one. This top will be finished in July. Here is what I have so far:

The sashing between these sets of blocks might be gray, or lavender, or something else entirely. Still on the hunt for the perfect background color.

Yesterday I received my swap quilt from Lori's 4th annual doll quilt swap :

This came to me from Jan H, in Markesan, WI. She hand quilted it, very lovely.

Here  is the one I sent to Danice, only about 75 miles west of me:

I finished a small  quilt the other day, part of the samples for my "Work Faster, Not Harder" class:

My free-motion feathers are getting better, practice makes perfect, so they say. I would forget the direction I was going so some of the feathers are not headed in the "right" direction but some baby doll won't care.  The X blocks are 3" small, the instructions can be found on my Tutorial, here.

Our guild program the other night was about "creative backs". Years ago I made a back that took almost as long to make as the front did, but I was determined to use up as much of the fabrics/parts from the front as I could, to NOT put anything away in the closet. I really like this back but didn't have a photo of it. So here is the Front of Purple Plus!:

And here is the Back:

And, wonder of wonders, Delta fixed my suitcase, this came home the other day:

They ordered a replacement pocket and fixed it--no more rip. Who knew they could do that?! It's ready for its' next trip in just a few weeks, to Spring Market in St. Louis, home of my grand-girl, Stella:

                                               

I am eager to do  more ruler work quilting on the Ohio Stars quilt. I got lots of great information in classes in Chicago. Stay tuned,..,

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Out on a Limb

My quilt guild hosted Laura Wasilowski recently.  She gave a very entertaining lecture to a full house and spent two days teaching workshops.  Her designs are free-form, whimsical art quilts--not my usual style.  But it's always good to try something new from time to time.  Behold, "Out on a Limb":

Laura kept the class moving at a comfortable pace, providing step-by-step instructions for designing our own "nut house".  Everyone enjoyed making their own design, though those of us accustomed to following a pattern precisely felt a bit lost at having to just cut shapes free-form.  We got over it and everyone created their own piece of art.  Here are some of the inspirations Laura provided:

Now it's on to the hand embroidery--something I find slow going.  But it's a good task for the evening in front of the TV.  More embroidery inspiration:

Today I started the Long Time Gone Sew-A-Long--a quilt pattern designed by Jen Kingwell.  The Sew-A-Long can be found here:  Gnome Angel.. It is a collaboration of several people: Jen Kingwell,  Angie Wilson, Nicole Calver, and Marti Michell, I stumbled across Angie's blog about it starting March 15 and the timing was perfect for me.  It will be finished by late July, assuming I keep up each week.  Bow Tie Blocks:

Now it's back to the curved flying geese for the Halo Star Medallion Quilt.  I am pleased to say I can sew those curves without too much trouble.  Photos April 1 when the pattern goes live on The Quilt Show.  If you are a Star member of The Quilt show, the pattern is FREE--see it here--it is a wonderful Block of the Month designed by Sue Garman.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara