Free Valentine's Day Art Quilt: Winner Announced

The Valentine's Giveaway was won by Cindy B.   Hurray!  I sure love to win things.  Although it's seldom I do win a contest, I do have one keen memory of winning.  I was at our local sports store, Beaver Sports, when I saw they had a contest to win new cross-country skis.  So, I entered but joked with my friend that I "never win anything".  We both laughed and she refused to enter, saying it was pointless.  About a month later, I had a message on my phone that said I won!   I couldn't believe it.  I was ecstatic.  Ever since then, I've been sure that I'm going to win most everything I enter.  Keep hope alive at all costs!

So, how was it decided?

Since there was two entries, I decided to flip a coin to see who won.  Entry #1 was heads, #2 was tails.  When I flipped it, tails came up.  My girls asked what I was doing, and I said that I was giving a quilt away.  They both looked at me like I was crazy, since I was sitting on the couch playing with coins, without a quilt in my lap.  They sure are fun.  I hope you enjoy your wall hanging quilt.

Happy Valentine's Day

Quilting Partners: Contrasting Styles

Salsa Quilt--Monica's 1st Quilt

This is my good friend Monica.  We were sewing buddies for several years while she lived in Alaska.  The most dynamic thing about our friendship and our quilting is that we almost never agreed on anything.  We never suffered from "group-think" which can be very damning to one's creativity.

Contrasting Styles

I found that by agreeing to disagree, we often came to understand a very different viewpoint from our own.  I think that this made us both grow into better people.  And we sure laughed at lot while we grew!  You like that color?!

She loves bright and bold quilts.  I love a variety of quilts and colors, but all are more "tame" than hers.  She loves to try out new quilt patterns all the time and to make up new quilts from various blocks.  I prefer to make a few favorite patterns, to really get good at them, and make something really challenging once a year or so.  

Monica's Baby Quilt

She is bold and fearless in the quilting world.  She has encouraged me to try new things, and brighter things, more often.  I have definitely benefited from knowing her.

Whom do you quilt with?  Are your styles compatible?  Does your friend stretch your thinking in new ways?  What do you like best about quilting with a friend?  Are you a lone-wolf quilter?  Why?

New Challenging Quilt: Twisted Bargello

 It's time for a quilting adventure!  I went out tonight and bought 20 1/4 yards of fabric to make a lap-size twisted bargello quilt.  What a hoot!  I didn't even have to spend a penny of my own money, because I had gift certificates from Christmas.   Cheer's to my favorite In-Laws for an exceptional gift. Thank you Fred and Suzy, you made my day!

 Since it's still winter I was enticed to buy especially bright fabrics in luscious yellow, burnt oranges, and deep burgundy-browns.  It'll go well with the pattern I've picked called Island Sunset Bargello by Eileen Wright.



Although I love the bargello look, I have only made one bargello quilt so far. That's the green and tan one seen below.  The reason is, that it became named The Angry Quilt while I was making it.  I was quilting with a few different friends, and so I ended up sewing some of the stripe-sets on 3 different machines.  I discovered that a 1/4" foot is not exactly a 1/4" on all machines.  they were all a little bit different.  So, when I went to put them together, they didn't line up.  So, in my insanity, I unsewed nearly every seam and then resewed them to match.  This ended up making the quilt about 6" longer on one side and I was very angry as I ripped out everything. I turned a queen-size quilt into a small lap-quilt so I didn't have to fight with it anymore. Grrr....  Thus, I have put-off making another bargello.  But, I am older and wiser now. 

I plan on using only one machine with it's 1/4" foot.  That should help a lot!  Plus, taking my time and not rushing to finish it.  It should be a beauty!  Wish me luck!

Have you ever sewn an "angry quilt"?  If so, what pattern was it?  Why did it make you mad?  I'd love to hear from you!  Let's start a conversation!  Leave a comment!

Green & Orange Quilt Athena's Puzzle: A Work in Progress

Today I'm working on a batik quilt with rich earth tones: deep oranges, midnight blues, watery greens, and warm tans.  I've worked with these colors before in a traditional log cabin pattern, as seen here:
 http://www.etsy.com/listing/87979277/orange-logcabin-quilt-batik-fisherman

 I have it for sale in my Etsy shop, Sew in the Snow.  It is a beautiful quilt for anyone, male or female. 

The new pattern is Athena's Puzzle, made from the "Greek-key" blocks on point.  The pattern makes a twin size quilt, however I'm going to make it into a smaller lap quilt. 

For some reason, the colors are not speaking to me today.  Weird!  I think I'm stuck in Valentine's mode with lots of bright colors and rich chocolates. Yum.

Do you ever get stuck in a color or pattern rut when quilting?