Friday, May 31, 2013

May Finishes

 Someone was taking a photo of our new logo painted on the side of the building. I poked my head out to say hello, and she said she was so excited to see the name of her church on a quilt shop. I asked the name of the church and she said Kessid ....well, ok, I guess she switched the i and the e ;-) ...her friends will likely point that out later. But Kessid is Hebrew for God's steadfast love....pretty cool.


Well, my objective of getting a block from three large projects of different quilts done....changed.

I did get 3 blocks done on one quilt.




Here are all of them so far for this Alaska Shop Hop 2007 quilt. I don't have a design wall established yet! sorry.



Just looked at the Shop Hop information and it appears that I actually only have two blocks left. I have an additional extra block of one star, and I believe the assembly requires some other piecing...so getting much closer!

I've also made a decision on my Grand Opening, it will be June 14! Lots to do between now and then. Wondering what kind of goals I can put together for June ...ha!

Thursday, May 30, 2013

FMQ Challenge #5 Design Idea

SewCalGal has challenged us EQ users to come up with design ideas for your Free Motion Quilting Challenge #5 - It's All About Borders.


Using the golden ratio to change the sizing of the borders, you achieve a depth like you're looking down into a stairwell. Consider putting a Snails Trail block in the center to make it go even farther.

What is the golden ratio you might ask?

Wikipedia has a good illustration and definition.

I learned about it during Jinny Beyer's last Hilton Head seminar in 2009. It spoke to me geometrically and the math behind it, and I've tried to always incorporate this into my designs.

I've put an on point, 12" block as the center. This makes for an almost 17" center.

I started with 1" as the consistent dividers between each border.

There are 5 borders that scale.

Border 1 - 1.5"
Border 2 - 2.5"
Border 3 - 4.25"
Border 4 - 6.75"
Border 5 - 11"

These aren't exactly scaled, but are made convenient for standard 1/4" increments used in quilt making.

This quilt would be almost 79" x 79".

I've used the long-horizontal to set each border, but there are a plethera of other ideas you could do to create more of an effect in a pieced border. EQ7 provides lots of options.

If you are quilting on a domestic machine, how fun to just work on one border at a time and move the quilt around within the single border.

On a long-arm...perhaps you'll do the top and bottom borders, ditching all borders as you move down to the bottom. Work towards the center, then rotate the whole quilt and work from the outside in. This will allow you to do the entire row in one continuous movement. If your free motion design is friendly to starts and stops, you could stitch it top to bottom as you go without turning it later.

Smaller designs in the smaller borders, and larger designs as you move out. How fun to incorporate so many different styles.

Will be fun to see what people come up with!

Thanks SewCalGal for encouraging us! 

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Design Wall / BOM's Away Monday

Got a little distracted with some personal business yesterday, but decided to just stick with the Alaska Shop Hop 2007 quilt progress...and do another block before getting back to client work.

This one is the Chena Spruce.


Spent Thursday and Friday last week at Spring Quilt Market in Portland, OR. Posted several photos on my Facebook page. Hope you'll check them out....including the finished logo on the outside wall of the studio!

Have a great week.


Monday, May 13, 2013

Design Wall / BOM's Away Monday

Another Alaska Shop Hop 2007 block ...maybe, just maybe ....this will get done this year.



And I have to show you the progress on the studio...here is my dear husband painting the logo onto the side of the building.

It is becoming a reality!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

May Goals

So many things happening with the studio now that the weather is warmer. Hoping to paint the outside!

I'd like to get ONE block done on several long-term projects.

1. Alaska 2007 Shop Hop ...so far: (Actually I think I have more done than this, but don't have a handy photo of them all together)...so stay tuned to see them all together when I report at the end of the month.

Does anyone have the tree block from the Rushin' Taylor? I was told during the hop that they weren't participating, and yet there is a block for sure that they were supposedly issuing now that I look through the finishing instructions. DOH!













2. Pam Bono's Out of the Darkness... so far:

















3. Oddie's Wild Nature ...a fusible applique project combining several designers and patterns into a collection of meaningful outdoor designs to my husband and I ...so far:



















My other project is my Honeymoon version of a Storm at Sea design. If I can get the remaining blocks made....that would be a great step!


So...here we go with new goals for the month!