catching dreams by sunrise {black & white}

Last fall—when it felt like all my quilting friends were at Market and I was living vicariously through them on IG—a very surprising (and welcome!) comment came through on my feed, from none other than Robert Kaufman fabric designer Jennifer Sampou herself... (The anticipation!)  So when she emailed later asking if I would join in on the Insta Blog Hop to celebrate the arrival of her latest line, black & white, I didn't think twice.

From the start I knew I wanted to do something with feathers (consider it an ode to one of her signature prints in the collection).  Initially I was going to stitch up (and drafted patterns for) over half a dozen different "painted" feathers, but when it came time to decide on a layout, nothing seemed right.  Until I stumbled upon a light and airy dreamcatcher while looking for nursery inspiration...  (Lightbulb!)

I quickly got to work merging all my sketches in photoshop and ultimately came up with this...

A subdued, crib-sized dreamcatcher dripping with five brightly painted feathers.  Most of the quilt is pieced with black & white fabrics (and coordinating Studio Stash Yarn Dyes) in the "ash" color story.  To add some dawn-inspired splashes of color, I used a range of blazing shades from the kona sunrise charm pack.  (The pack itself also has a great selection of pinks and greens, but I went with the more heated hues to play off the sun rays in the design.)

For the quilting, I was going to stick with what I know best (straight lines along the "rays"), but when I asked my friend Amanda of Material Girl Quilts for a second opinion she suggested I venture outside my comfort zone and try a little free motion quilting.

..I mean I'm no Angela Walters, but e for effort, right? ;o)  For the binding, I used one of Jennifer's Studio Stash Yarn Dyes, with a little fiery gradient from the kona sunrise charm pack for another added pop of color.

And that's that!  Thank you so much to Jennifer and the wonderful folks at Robert Kaufman for the invite and the beautiful fabric.  And lucky for you all, they've also provided this little "taquito" pack for me to give away here...

C'mon, how cute is that?  Just leave a comment on this post for a chance to win.  I'll pick a winner next Monday, February 9th.  Congratulations to commenter no. 9/127, Anita!

In the meantime, there are other great ways to win too!  Jennifer will be giving away a fat quarter tower of the complete collection (just head over to her opening post before February 8th), plus a taquito pack and a copy of one of her new patterns over on IG (just post your own black & white project—or a favorite from the hop!—and tag it with #blackandwhitefabrics and #jennifersampou).  

And of course you can visit all the other stops on the hop for more inspiration and extra chances to win, too!

January 23 JenniferSampou.com / Robert Kaufman Blog

January 24 Jenny Pedigo and Helen Robinson - Sew Kind of Wonderful blog

January 25 Teresa Coates - Fabric Depot

January 26 Amy Gibson - Stitchery Dickory Dock

January 27 AnneMarie Chany - Gen X Quilters

January 28 Casey York - The Studiolo

January 29 C&T Publishing - Stash Books

January 30 APQ - All People Quilt

January 31 Angela Pingel

February 1 Angela Walters / Janice Zeller Ryan

February 2 Sarah Sharp - {no} hats in the house << you are here :o) >>

February 3 Dritz - Make Something

February 4 Nicole Daksiewicz - Modern Handcraft

February 5 Liesel Gibson - Oliver + S

February 6 Christopher Thompson / Natalie Barnes

February 7 Jennifer Sampou

Thanks for stopping by :o)

Sarah

in LOVE {AMB blog tour :: Indiana}

I have to say, I was pretty ecstatic to get Candice's invitation to participate in the American Made blog tour the other month.  My mind immediately started off in a million directions.  (...One might even say it was racing.)

At one point I was considering jampacking all-things-Indiana into a checkerboard layout; as in, sixteen snippets of Indiana-isms, each in its own 1.5" square package.  (I do have an affinity for tiny piecing, after all!)  Because really, there's so much to choose from!  Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home, Hoosiers and basketball, home to Raggedy Anne, James Dean, and the publisher of The Saturday Evening Post; a small town in Indiana even stakes a claim to the former "Circus Capital of America."  What's not to love about all that?

But at the end of the day, I decided on something a little more, shall we say, straightforward...  simply in LOVE:

Robert Indiana's iconic LOVE symbol embossed on a checkered flag (a nod to the ever-popular Indy 500, which just celebrated its 98th running this past weekend).  A big shout out to my friend Amanda who encouraged me to use our state's abbreviation rather than the full name ;o)  To mix things up, I jotted it down in lowercase cursive, and then used a gray perle cotton that my friend Heather gave me.  (Aren't creative friends the best?)

And because I couldn't make just one, I also started a little red, white and blue tribute...

American LOVElies.  Which are soon to be joined by the full spectrum of colors, as I couldn't resist cutting into all 50 hues that AMB sent my way!

Want to make one, too?  Great!  The only special items you'll need are template plastic, your paper-backed adhesive of choice (I used Therm O Web HeatnBond Ultra), and the 5.5" LOVE template, which I will upload soon, so check back in over the weekend for that :o) Just remember to print at 100%!

Here you can see my various stages of progress:  

reverse LOVE template (bottom right) | traced+pressed LOVE emblems (left) | (partially) cut out LOVE (top right)  

The quick (as can be) and dirty for a 6" block:
Using 2" squares, piece two sixteen patches, pressing seams open as you go.  One of these will be for the LOVE lettering, and the other for the background.  Then, after creating a plastic template of the LOVE symbol, use it to trace the *mirrored* lettering onto the paper side of the adhesive.  Loosely trim around the symbol, leaving a little room beyond the letter lines (you'll cut more precisely once it's fully bonded to the fabric).  Next, center the adhesive on the *wrong side* of the sixteen patch (the one you made specifically for the lettering), and press according to the setting instructions.  Once it's secure, carefully cut out the symbol and then remove the paper.  Finally, overlay and line up the checkered LOVE symbol on the background block, press to secure, and channel your inner Casey York and finish the applique in your method of choice!

The block will finish at 6" x 12"

And if you're lucky, you just might be able to get started on your own American Made love... because the AMB folks are giving away a pack of eight fat quarters!  (And not just Indiana, but one for every state in the whole U.S. of A., so go check out the other states'  plates!) 

To win here, just leave a comment on this post :o)  Easy peasy!  A winner will be announced June 3.

Edited to add:  Congrats to No. 63 Carmen N.!  

BQF: marley of the sea {scrappy}

My second entry into the Spring 2014 Blogger's Quilt Festival (scrappy category) has certainly gotten less face time than the first.  But it's still one of my favorites.

This quilt—Marley of the Sea—was my first design as "quilter" for my do.Good circle (Believe).  For starters, I have to say I can't really take credit for the quilt as the majority of the blocks were stitched by my incredible beemates.  So right off the bat, shout out to the (old) group, who channeled their "inner Cath of Wombat Quilts" (my most telling request) with great success:  Allison, Ben, Big Mama Quilts, Debora, Lisa, Nicole, Tara, and Vanessa.

Now, back to the quilt.  Per usual, my first course of action as the 6" blocks came in was to sort by (background) value:  light gray, medium gray, dark gray.  As the three little stacks grew, I cut a few more blocks to even them off and then started to think about layout.

Julie's original Marley ("Three Little Birds") block

I originally intended to use Julie of 627handwork's exact block layout, but with 20-some odd blocks together there was a little too much chaos with the directional change alongside the haphazardly distributed blues (hard as I tried, in the end I was only able to color sort by one of the two block colors—the blues lost out).

But rather than abandon the layout entirely and start from scratch, I quickly turned the blocks so they all faced the same direction.  Just to see how it looked. And presto—chaos contained.  So I stitched the top together, straightline quilted it with Aurifil 2021 and then snapped these wintry shots.

The only thing left to do—aside from dusting off the snow :o)—was to stitch in a label and send it off to My Very Own Blanket in Ohio.  And I'm happy to report that that's the last time I'll be shipping a blanket to the organization, because yours truly has volunteered to be the the local (Indianapolis) coordinator.  Which means that all future do.Good and #opgivewarmth quilts that come out of this house only require a quick car ride to reach equally deserving foster children in our local community.

Thanks again for stopping by, and I hope you have (or have had) time to peruse the other quilts "hanging" in the show :)

{mini}{small}{large}{applique}{art}{hand quilted}{home machine quilted}{modern}{original design}{ROYGBIV}{scrappy}

jumping on the #economyblockalong bandwagon

Minus the gorgeous-but-not-so-much-my-style uber-scrappiness.
Plus my coveted collection of grays.

But my friends, insofar as I have a plan—a spectrum of gray squares encasing colorful fussy cuts, all arranged in roygbiv—consider me on board!

Looks like the rest of the week will be full of cutting.  Much of it fussy :o)

Linking up this wip with the talented, newly-minted author Lee!

P.S. Congrats to Amanda (A) of Everyday Fray, who won my first year blogiversary giveaway!  In addition to cutting into my extensive assortment of grayscale prints for these greconomy blocks, I'll also be digging into some liberty tana lawns, oakshott cottons, and who knows what else as I put together a nice little surprise parcel over the coming week :)

P.P.S.  Thank you so much to everyone else who took the time to comment on the giveaway post!  I so enjoyed reading your responses and learning more about each and everyone of you.  Turns out we all have quite a bit in common, which might explain why this (geographically) vast community feels wonderfully home-y all the same :)

marley of the sea {do.good}

***note:  the oakshott/aurifil giveaway for SMS's giveaway day is still going on over here.***

Anyone who follows me on IG—@nohatsquilts—has probably caught a snippet or two of this design the past few days.  You see, with the last of my circle's September blocks in hand, Sunday seemed like a perfect day to get started on a layout.  But because I'm me and can't really steer clear of some generally organized scheme, first I had to do a little sorting.  So into three stacks these little fish went:  light, medium, and dark (by background).  (I think you can guess how those piles came into play.)

Much thanks to Allison, Ben, Big Mama Quilts, Debora, Lisa, Nicole, Tara, and Vanessa.
This literally couldn't have been done without you all :o)

This quilt was originally inspired by Julie of 627handwork's Marley pattern (part of her *free* block rock'n series), but when I arranged them in the proper Marley sequence, the result was a little too chaotic for my liking.  So instead of flocks of three little birds, I opted for one big school of fish.

Swimming in a sea of Aurifil 2021 :)

I'd say my Believe Circle mates followed the "channel your inner Cath of Wombat Quilts" directive to a tee :)  Added bonus?  This finish comes in the nick of time for Rachel of Stitched in Color's annual Celebrate Good Stitches, an event that honors the 250 volunteer stitches and quilters who make up the 25 circles of do.Good Stitches.

Now it's off to be washed, wrapped, and posted to My Very Own Blanket—a midwestern charity that benefits foster children—just in time to spread some warmth this holiday season.

Now that's something to celebrate.

something new.

After months of saving up to order fabric from England planning, the pieces are {figuratively} starting to come together...

studying + study-breaking + sketching + scheming = sparkly oakshotts ;)

So the DWR design insanity is (sort of) officially under way, but one question remains:  traditional or modern?

Lucky for me, there's nearly a month left to decide while all the (tiny) pieces literally come together ;)

And okay, obviously it's not so under way that the diamond shape is set in stone.  If by chance seeing this has changed your mind since that little old "round vs. square" poll, please (please!) chime in!  Or, if you stand by your round cut vote, speak up, too. ...If only so that I have some positive vibes to keep me going when I'm on the 40th of eighty-one 4⅛" diamonds.  ('Das right, CRAZY's in da {house} :D).

Linking up with Lee ;)  Happy Wednesday, friends!

P.S.  Thank you all for your overwhelmingly kind comments about my muted forest quilt, which mysteriously slipped through a linky loophole over at Amy's Creative Side and wound up in the Viewer's Choice vote.  (Pinch me!?)  I have massive respect for the 23 other artists whose work is hanging in that group, and I do hope you'll head on over to peruse the offerings and cast your vote for the pieces that catch your eye.

...Oh, and it's a slightly addicting showcase, so be prepared to stay awhile ;)

one fish, two fish. blue fish, do.fish.

Okay okay, you got me:  technically they're birds (three little birds, to be precise).  My mind just immediately goes to the sea every time I see Julie of 627handwork's Block Rock'n Marley block.

September was my first month up as quilter for the do.good Believe Circle.  And believe you me, I had big plans for my big debut all year.  And then I pitched said big plans to Lynne of Lily's Quilts for her Made With Oakshott feature.  As Lynne kindly picked said idea in August—and yours truly has a thing about not repeating projects—, I was back at square one for my September do.good design.  (Oy!  ...And also, score! Mad {mad} love for oakshotts over here).

So when September 1 snuck up out of the blue (I think I was in the thick of the forest at the time), I turned to a block I'd had my eye on for ages:  Marley.  As for colors, I asked my bee-mates to—and I quote—"channel our inner Cath and go with scrappy grays and blues (blue birds on a gray background)."  I have to say, sometimes often I can be a bit of a Sebastian-the-crab (as in, "You want something done, you've got to do it yourself.")  So I am being 100 percent honest when I say I could not be more thrilled to see my bee-mates not-so-rasta renditions of Julie's brilliant block pop up in our flickr group:

Ben     Big Mama Quilts     Debora     Nicole

The best part?  That's only half of what's on the way.  (...No pressure to the other half of the Circle ;D).

Anyway, I'm up again in January and this whole "Omigah-I-can-think-of-a-million-and-one-projects-on-my-own-wishlist-but-get-writer's-quilter's-block-when-it-comes-to-group-project-ideas" has me wondering just how to approach this design dilemma next time around.

So to all you veteran bee-members, tell me this:  What's your design philosophy for bees?*

*Do you treat your "to do's" and the bee-wishlist as one and the same?  Maintain two separate lists?  Are particular blocks more bee-friendly? (Apologies in advance to anyone in Believe who has an aversion to paper-piecing). Or do you throw convention to the wind and just cruise along wherever your creative spirit takes you?  (asks Sebastian).  I'm thinking of borrowing inspiration from my own project wishlist (let's be real:  it's just going to keep expanding anyways), but I'm quite curious to hear how others manage it.

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts!  Much appreciated.  ;)

wip wednesday

the neglected {but slightly more populated} forest

These blocks haven't gotten much love lately.  Which is sad, because the designs really are quite lovable.  So the past few days, I decided to change that (hey, maybe seeing Jess's brilliant leaflet idea come to life this past week was just the inspiration I needed!)

You can read more about the Forest QAL here, and the roots of my own little muted forest (including the first three blocks) here.  So, without further ado, joining these woodsy ranks are...

04 maple {silver} fox

06 {glowing green} roaring deer

07 slow coming spring*

*I am in love.  I think I could might make a whole quilt out of these liverworts and snails (what can I say? My grandmother was Polish and I just love Julianna's inspiration for the block).

08 red {striped} panda

10 {pink+tan} squirrel {clutching onto an AMH nut ;)}

12 {muted but patriotic} trillium

With nine of twelve blocks down, this quiet little forest has tripled in size in about as many days.  I know I haven't tackled Joanna's jay just yet, but dare I say I'm starting to see the forest for the trees? ;)

Speaking of stragglers, these three creatures are currently on the cutting table:
05 eurasian jay
09 fern flower
11 pine marten

More soon!  {Working on a deadline always helps, doesn't it?} Linking up with Lee at freshly pieced :)

tiny-ness take two: round vs. square?

So perhaps you noticed my little foray into miniature foundation paper piecing last week and dismissed me as having gone off the deep end.  The following post is probably not for you ;)

For those of you intrigued by the madness, I have a question for you.  When it comes to 4⅛" stones as far as the eye can see... round or square? (imperfections included)

Sidebar:  I've removed the dresden gradient from the equation because that's not quite what I had in mind for this particular project (though thanks to everyone's encouragement it's definitely on the wish {wait} list).

And to the extent context is helpful, there will still be a gradient involved (it'll just be not-so-gray), and I'll be replacing the square blocks in a traditional pattern with these diamond blocks.  Lots of them.

Now, which (if either) would catch your eye scattered in a queen king size quilt?

Thanks, friends!

P.S.  For those of you who've taken the time to comment the past week I wanted to let you know I am totally smitten with your kind words and am thrilled to say I'll be doing much more sewing+email catch-up (and a little less toddler-chasing) in the very near future :)
P.P.S.  Linking up with Lee!

diamond dresden

I've had an idea brewing in my head for quite some time now involving a fair amount of pretty teensy paper piecing.  So this ~4", 96-piece diamond {centered in a gray (yes, with an "a"!) dresden} is something of a test run to see whether I'll be able to manage the task without going completely mad.

...Jury's still deliberating.

Happily rejoining Kristy's Paper Piecing Party.  If I do decide to carry out this idea (rationality is hardly my strong suit when it comes to creative endeavors), I'm guessing she'll have to set up a cot for this party guest ;)

gray is a color, too!

When I entered this tartan top into Rachel of Stitched in Color's "Festival of Strings" at the end of May, I couldn't help but smile upon seeing my (since completed) grayscale plaid amidst all the other, much scrappier and eminently more "colorful" creations in the show.  Dare I say ...it clashed?

Well, as soon as I saw that Rachel-the-queen-of-color was hosting a "Clashy Bright" mosaic contest sponsored by Marmalade Fabrics, guess what popped into my head?

That's right.  GRAY.  In all its glory.  Because gray, my friends, is a color too.    It's the mist rising in the cool morning air.  Stones skipping across a lake in the summertime.  It's the color of pearls glistening in the moonlight.  It's the rain tapping, lulling on a tin roof during a late spring storm.  And gray is the trail of a pencil on paper as it's furiously trying to keep pace with a vivid imagination.  

My personal favorite?  The gravel crunching under the tires as the family car turned into Bochie's driveway every summer during my childhood.  That color symbolized a sound that could only mean one thing:  we were finally there.

...So, is gray feeling a little more bright and colorful, now?  I certainly hope so.

{Removing self from soapbox.}  

Now, be sure to check out all the other entries {or enter yourself!} ;)  I get the feeling—as happened last time—mine will tend to clash.

gray can be loud, too!

;)