Blogger's Quilt Festival (and Quilt Retreat Invitation)

I was racking my brain (and sewing room) for something to enter in this fall's Bloggers' Quilt Festival.  My Lime String quilt isn't finished yet and I haven't had time to work on much else.  Then it occurred to me that I never did a real blog post on Travel Quilt #3, the one that is featured in my book.  So, here it is:

I started this quilt in July 2010, stitched the last diamonds by hand in February 2012, and had the entire thing finished in October 2012.  I took a few detail shots of my own, but then it went straight on to my publisher for photography for the book.  (And I wasn't supposed to blog about it til the book was released!) It ended up on the back cover, which I was really pleased about.  This is the third in my Travel Quilt series and the first time I actually wrote on the stars as I pieced them.  The full pattern and instructions, including step-by-step photography, is available in the book. 

Long arm quilted by the brilliant Shannon Couvillion in Georgia, this is a very personal quilt, a fabric scrap book of where I went and how I spent my  time. 
Of course this isn't the first time many of you are seeing this quilt.  I heavily blogged my progress as I carried my EPP sewing kit back and forth across the globe, completing a few stars at a time.  Here's a quick recap of my favorite in-progress photos:

Have you ever quilted on the beach?  Would you like to?
I'm organizing an English paper piecing retreat that will be held on the Greek island of Paros in June, 2014.  Come enjoy amazing food, perfect weather, relaxing atmosphere and good company as we stitch together in the middle of the Aegean.  Check out my "Greek Island Retreat" tab above, or just click here.  Registration is open through February 1st, but space is limited.  I'd love to have you join me and start a Travel Quilt of your own~

Bloggers' Quilt Festival-- Tanuki Stripe

It wasn't any fun to miss out on the Bloggers' Quilt Festival last year-- I was making great quilts but needed to keep them under wraps, but now I'm happy to share!

This is my Tanuki Stripe quilt, one of the patterns available in my book.

I love this quilt.  I made it as a wedding present for my friends Amy & Jake, but since I got it back from the publisher I haven't had a chance to give it to them.  Maybe soon (though I almost want to keep it)?
You must forgive me for the less-than-glamorous cellphone camera photos.  The photography in the book is really lovely and I've gotten used to seeing my quilts either in person or in the beautiful clear and stylishly composed book photos.  I'm almost ashamed to post such low-quality pictures, but then I remember that I'm a quilter, not a photographer.  This is a real quilt, with blood, sweat, tears and wrinkles.  Made with love for a friend who is a part of so many of my most favorite memories.  I hope you'll understand.

The quilt measures 55" x 70".  There's a big bold strip of hand pieced English paper piecing flanked by panels of quiet neutrals (pieced by machine).   The EPP part is made of 4-piece units: two squares and two 60 degree diamonds.  This unit has so much design potential!  I want to play around with it some more if I get some free time.
I quilted it with wavy lines on my Janome and bound it in an off-white polka dot.  The backing fabric was a UFO that wasn't going anywhere and I'm happy to have finally found a place for it.

I'm entering this in the "Throw Quilts" category (I wish it could go in the "home machine quilted" category, but my photos don't do it justice).  I'm glad I could participate in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival.  Have you entered a quilt yet?

 (p.s. if you try out this pattern, I'd love to see it!)

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Whew~
I made it!  With only 8 hours left in the quilt festival, I managed to finish my quilt and blog about it.  Now let's hope that some people start browsing the festival links from the bottom of the list...

Today I'm happy to show off my little owl miniquilt.  This project was underway for a long time.. I bought the owl panel at Yuzawaya in Tokyo in 2007, when C and I were desperate for kids but devastated by infertility.  I was sure one day I'd have a little family, and I'm very very happy that my dreams came true.

For some reason he thinks you have to close your eyes when you say "cheese!"

I started the miniquilt when I was getting ready to try for baby #2, thinking, "OMG, I have to use this awesome panel before we have 2 little owls!" and worried how I was going to applique the next kid's owl on there.  Haha.  well, let me just tell you, getting pregnant isn't as easy as they told you it would be in high school..
The quilt sat, basted, with a couple lines of quilting in it for over a year as other projects kept bumping it out of the way.  I picked it up in September and vowed to finish it and get it on the wall, so we could enjoy it, and be reminded to enjoy our little family as it is now.

It was made to coordinate with this quilt, which is on our bed most of the year, and I used a few left over blocks for the back.  I quilted in perle cotton #8 and as I worked I remembered how much I love hand quilting (of course, today as I rushed to finish the last few lengths of thread, I also remembered how sore your fingers get from hand quilting, and that you really can't rush it). 

Hand quilting gives you lots of time to think.. so I thought about owls, and how they were so trendy, then came out with avengance and got too trendy, and now it feels people are ready to move on to a new cute animal.  For me though, I still like them.

I found these on my desk at work in the summer of 2007.  A co-worker's grandma made them.

Have you seen the Owl Art Calendar?  I just came across it last week, totally cool, and free too!

I also thought about blogging and deadlines, and the pressure to make things just to show them online.  That pressure has been weighing a little hard on me lately.  Once again I'm starting to feel that I've gotten sucked in, that I want to make things because other people are making them, and not spending the time to make the quilts I want to make.  The quilt blog community is moving so fast, with a constant pressure to make, buy, show off, participate.. Some days I love it, it's a great and creative community.  But other days it makes me feel guilty and stressed out.  This miniquilt is mine.  My idea from my experiences.  My time, my family.  It's a good reminder that you don't have to have or do everything out there,  What really matters are the things that make life more full and balanced.  I hope seeing this quilt on my wall will keep me centered, positive, and grateful for what life has brought me.

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

Whew, I made it!  I hate being late to the party, but considering I had to bind this before a proper photo shoot and then write the post, I'm quite proud of myself for getting it all done on the first day of the festival.

 I made this wall hanging for my cousin's dorm room.  She's planning to double major in biomedical engineering and discrete mathematics.  I asked her for a 3-6 letter word that I could sew into a piece of fabric art for her room, I was thinking something cheerful along the lines of "hope" or "dream" so I was a bit surprised when she said "logic" or "entropy".  I told her I'd do "logic" because it has less seams..

I made her pillows in the same colorscheme last year.  It's my grand plan to help her make a matching quilt for her first apartment after graduation (but that's still a ways off..).  I like making mini quilts like this (and this one I made for Shannon) because they go together in no time and provide quick pick-me-ups for the recipient.  It's a nice way for people to know I love them. 

                          

One of the neat things about finishing this project in a rush today was that I found a new space in my house to take good quilt photos!  I just taped this to the closet door in the guest room and poof!  I set the timer and took a bunch of pics of me under the quilt, but my assistant kept moving the camera at the last second.  The "logical" solution?  Grab the kid to get in the photo.  :)

As I was sewing down the binding I thought that maybe I'm getting tired of that particular shade of green.. but then I realised I was wearing it, and it's the same color I painted my living room, so.. I guess subconciously it's just one of those colors that I'll always come back to.  Do you have any colors like that?