Wednesday, February 28, 2018

quilt con fun - part three. QUILTS!


I spent hours and hours looking at all of the quilts at Quilt Con. So much beautiful inspiration. And the stories! I loved reading the stories about the backgrounds of the quilts. I will post a few here, but I have posted many more on my instagram account. If you want to see more, go there!

I loved seeing the McKinney Modern Quilt Guild's charity quilt hanging with all of the others. There were so many gorgeous ones, but I confess I am rather fond of ours!
I'm a huge fan of words on quilts. I saw so many quilts with powerful statements on them, and gorgeous patchwork too. This was my favorite one....
I am enough by Jessica Levitt
Feminist Quilt by Darcy Read
White America by Jessica Wohl

Loved seeing quilts made by internet (and now real life!) friends. Sandra Kaye's quilt, Happy Dance, won a ribbon for Best Machine Quilting Frameless...
Debbie Jeske's entry, Follow the Dots is great improv!
There was a lot of improv inspiration
Plant Lady by Sarah Sharp
Sacred Heart by Christina Cameli
A couple of quilts I loved in the Modern Traditionalism category...
Double Wedding knots by Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill
Is this a modern quilt? by Sarah Lowry

there were hundreds more I could share with you! Do head over to Instagram and check them out....









Tuesday, February 27, 2018

quilt con fun part 2

One of the best things about Quilt Con was meeting people. It didn't take long to start making new friends. I was barely inside the convention center the first morning, before the doors to the exhibit hall even opened, when I heard an excited voice calling out "Ellyn! Ellyn!" I turned and there was my instagram buddy Sandie, from sandieloves2quilt. Luckily, we saw each other many times over the four days of the conference & got to visit quite a bit.
I also got to meet Jane from janequiltsslowly. Jane made the mini I received in last years swap, which I absolutely love! It was fun to get to know her this weekend too.
pardon the sun streaks in my oh-so-professional photo
Debbie, from A Quilter's Table, and I had been planning a meet up for a while. We ended up running into each other a couple of times before our scheduled breakfast out...

At our breakfast on the last morning (more about good food in another post, stay tuned!) we exchanged birthday treats we had made for each other. I was delighted when Debbie gave me this beautiful patchwork gift bag with a gorgeous scissors keeper inside...

I feel like I've known her forever! It was great to just sit and share while we ate good food.

Of course there were some old friends to run into as well. Like Lee Monroe, from May Chappell.

There were a few fan girl moments, like meeting Heather Givans from Crimson Tate. She's a riot! and her booth was so much fun.

I took two workshops. Both teachers were talented ladies I had wanted to meet. First I took at design workshop from Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side.
We did lots of quilt math in Amy's workshop (I'm such a nerd. I love that stuff!) and I came away with a fun original quilt design, much different from what I started with.
My other workshop was with Nichole Vogelsinger from Wild Boho.
This workshop was called "Layered Abstractions" And involved fabric and embroidery embellishments. Can't beat that! Again, I went in with one idea and came away with something totally different.

I'm working away on this project and will share more soon.

I love meeting new people! I wish I could meet ALL of you!



Monday, February 26, 2018

quilt con fun - part one

Oh Pasadena, What fun I had at Quilt Con. I'm going to break this up over several posts so I don't make you too jealous all at once.

My buddy Diann and I flew to LAX last Wednesday morning. We arrived at our hotel at lunchtime (perfect!) and had time to get our bearings before the event began. I also enjoyed dinner with my brother and his family that evening since they live nearby. A bonus treat!

I'll jump ahead to mini quilt swap day, since I already teased you with a post about my quilt. I actually met my partner, Tzitzi, a couple of days before the swap. She spotted me in the classroom building, grabbing a diet coke, and ran over to introduce herself. I was so glad we got time to really get acquainted!

On Saturday at swap time, we met with hundreds of others in the ballroom. It was a party in there! So many quilters, searching for their partners, squealing over what they received, swapping phones for photos....

we savored every moment!
And when we opened our quilts, we were both over the moon excited. Don't you think she nailed my taste? And look at that crowd behind us!
Tzitzi told me that she goes every Tuesday to a quilt teacher's home in her town in Mexico to learn new techniques. Each bubble in my quilt represents one of the types of quilting she has learned..... cathedral windows, pieced pinwheels, appliqué, english paper piecing and log cabins. I loved hearing her story and it made my quilt even more special.
and yes, she loved what I made for her too! The best part is, I have a new friend who I will think of every time I look at my beautiful mini.


Saturday, February 24, 2018

MQG Mini swap

Today is the day I get to meet my partner in the mini quilt swap at Quilt Con! This year the swap was an open swap, meaning partners were paired off to make for each other, so we knew who was making for us.
I had a great time creating for Tzitzi and I hope she likes what I've come up with. She likes red and aqua (a match made in heaven I think!) so I worked from my stash and made this design with half square triangles. Straight line quilted with some echo quilting on my Janome.
it's easier to see the quilting on the back. Oh, and a splash of red in the binding just for fun. I hope she likes it! Can't wait to see what she's made for me.... I'll share it with you when I get home.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

What to Wear Wednesday - another Ebony Tee

 Here I am in another version of the Ebony Tee by Closet Case Patterns. This one is the "dress" length with set in sleeves and a scoop neckline. I do love the scoop, it lays nicely. The set in sleeves are fine, but I will admit I prefer the raglan version. If I make another longer ebony, I will adjust the raglan view I think! But this is very wearable (I wore it to church this morning!).

The fabric is a t-shirt knit from Hobby Lobby and it's a great quality. I wore it over a pair of black leggings which works well with my fancy leg wear, haha! Sad to have to plan my wardrobe around a clunky brace but I can walk, so not complaining. Oh, and if you are looking for me at Quilt Con the next few days, the leg brace is a dead giveaway.

When this post pops up I'll be flying off to Pasadena! Hope to see some of you there!

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

EPP Lion

When I first saw Violet Craft's english paper pieced lion pattern I knew I had to make one for my oldest, Leigh Anne. She's the one I plan to go to Africa with... and she loves warm oranges & pinks... perfect!

I have to tell you how very impressed I was with Violet Craft's pattern. It's so well laid out, the epp pieces are sturdy and well labeled. It was a delight to make. It took me quite a while to make, working in spurts, and I love the results! At 20" square, it was perfect for a pillow for Leigh Anne's New York apartment.

I used an orange grunge for the envelope back, and a ric rac accent...
It was easy to mail to NYC in a padded envelope, and send a pillow form via amazon. I couldn't wait until she received it so I could share it with you. The pieces held up so well, I could easily use them again. Maybe a lion for me too? We'll see.

Monday, February 12, 2018

valentine swap

Just wanted to share this sweet Valentine zipper pouch I received in our guild swap last week. It was filled with adorable clothespin clips and sweet treats and was made by my awesome friend Bonnie (and no, I didn't know it was hers when I chose the bag! Just good luck). Did I take a picture of my Valentine Bitsy Box before I gifted it? No. I did not. Oh well! Thank you Bonnie for this treasure!

The mug with our McKinney Modern Quilt Guild logo on it is new swag. I received this one as a birthday gift from the guild. I love it!

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

What to Wear Wednesday Ebony T-shirt

Ha! I told you What to Wear Wednesday wouldn't be a weekly event! Looks like maybe monthly? Oh well, I'm trying.

Today's feature is the Ebony T-shirt by Closet Case Patterns. What a great pattern! I made view c, the raglan tunic length in a size 16 and it's absolutely perfect. A very quick make. I'd love to make the dress sometime too. Just need to find the perfect fabric!

This one is a herringbone textured knit I found at Urban Spools. It has a great drape & is the perfect weight for this short sleeved, spring top. I used a gray rib knit I had on hand for the neckline.

Kudos to my photographer (hubby) who also got some fun headshots for me without meaning to. This top is going straight into the "pack for quilt con" pile! See you there?




Sunday, February 4, 2018

weaving dishtowels

The Woolery is having a weave off. Basically, you weave a dishtowel using their Bluegrass Mills 6/2 cotton yarn, and send it to them. There are different categories, & prizes for each, but here's the really cool thing. When the contest is over, they will donate all of the towels to a local women's shelter! I just loved that idea, so I quickly ordered 2 colors of their yarn (aquamarine and queen anne's lace) and set to work.

It was fun to experiment with a new-to-me yarn. It worked up very nicely and I will surely use it again!

I wove three towels on my warp, a plain weave windowpane pattern (yarn doubled in both warp and weft for all three towels)...
a waffle weave with two strands of the aquamarine....
and a waffle weave with one strand of each color....
I bound the edges in a Cotton & Steel fabric I had on hand and added my labels...
Thanks Woolery for your awesome weave-off!