#opgivewarmth {may 2014}

Thanks to everyone who's shown such interest and support in this new endeavor—#opgivewarmth—over the past month.  It's truly been so rewarding to see your designs pop up on IG and flickr (and in the P.O. Box!)  I'm working on a few tops using April's blocks and can't wait to show you more.

And for those of you who missed out on last month's announcement (or would like a refresher), this project is a monthly callout for charity blocks that will benefit My Very Own Blanket (specifically, children in the Indiana foster care system).  All styles and piecing methods are welcome.  I only ask two things:  (1)  that your block(s) fits a 3" grid system (i.e. finished sizes of 3", 6", 9", 12", 15", etc.), and (2) that they mesh with that (or any prior) month's color palette.

Address for #opgivewarmth blocks:

My Very Own Blanket

c/o Sarah Sharp

P.O. Box 4586

Carmel, Indiana 46082

background | FAQs

May 2014 Palette | #opgivewarmth
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liberty winner!

Lucky no. 12!  Susan of PatchworknPlay :o)

I'll be sending an email your way very soon!

And for those of you who might not already have tana lawn en route, you're not necessarily out of luck... Both Liberty drops are open one more day (here and here), and an Aurifil drop just went up tonight.  So there's that :)

pinwheel? :: {modern traditional} dsst challenge

***Psssst.... the liberty tana lawn giveaway will stay open until 9 p.m. EST (or whenever I get home from teaching at Crimson Tate tonight)!  So enter while you still can ;o) Ten fat quarters people, TEN!***

I couldn't help but smile to myself when I saw the title of this challenge.  Not because there's anything particularly amusing about minis, dear stella, or sew timeless.  But rather because the term "modern traditional" has drawn quite a bit of, er, commentary from the online quilting community of late.  There are those who subscribe to the notion that modernism and traditionalism can coexist, and many others who—after their own careful thought and consideration—have opted to reject the term altogether (there's likely a facebook contingency for both, too, I just use that platform so infrequently I'm not even sure how or where to direct your attention).

So against that backdrop, I submit this quilt—"pinwheel?"—as my interpretation of modern traditionalism.  What's with the name?  I designed the block so that, depending on how you look at it, the design takes on a variety of personas.  A pinwheel.  Square in square.  A pinwheel again? Or is it a medallion.  Yes, it's a medallion. ...Oh wait, is it just one big pinwheel?

To me, that's what modern traditionalism is all about.  It's taking something as time-tested and classic as the pinwheel—a block that's been around since the late 1700s—and presenting it in a way that feels like something we've never seen before.  Yet have.  All at once.

Traditional and modern.  All cozied up in a 20" square and getting friendly with one another.

...And possibly feeling a bit cramped.  ;o)

liberty for the masses {massdrop GIVEAWAY}

THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.  Winner is 12/173 (Susan)!

Friends...

Have I got news for you.  (And fabric!  Liberty of London fabric!)

A week ago, I'd never heard of Massdrop.  Then, a curious email popped up in my inbox asking if I would give away a FQ bundle of Liberty Tana Lawns right here on the blog.  And just like that, Massdrop became a lot more interesting ;o)

So, what is it?

In their words—they are providing the goods for this post, after all—Massdrop is a private sale website that organizes group-buys for different online communities.  In the past, they've worked with different groups like audio enthusiasts, scrapbookers, boardgamers and kitchen gadgeteers to help them get great products at wholesale prices.

In my words?  They're us.  We join, we starts polls based on what we're interested in (you can bet I've already started one for oakshott), we get our friends to jump on the bandwagon (because really, is there anyone better at that than we are?), and then Massdrop organizes a group buy (they call them "drops") for whatever it is that we're willing to band together to get.  Sewing machines?  Thread?  (It's Aurifil!)  Fabric?  The world is our oyster.  Massdrop is our co-op.  (Not technically, but you get the point).

Also, they're really quite nice and friendly.  As some of you may know, I tend to ask lots of questions.  Gmail tells me there've already been over a dozen emails back and forth with them over the past week; turns out they're just as excited about having Liberty on the site as I am.  And if it goes well (nudge nudge), Liberty of London will start making a regular appearance(!)  Because who doesn't need a little more liberty in their life?

To kick things off, they're offering two "drops."  One is for a ten print bundle (the fabric that appears throughout this post).  The standard option is FQ but you can switch to half yards or fat eighths, too.  The other is for larger cuts (min. 1m) of your choosing from 18 prints (the 3 meter bundle option).  Have some friends who are interested in starting a collection, too?  You can pool together or each buy three different prints to assemble your own little bundles.  Bonus?  The more people who sign up, the lower the price.  So go check them out!  (Registration is free, just sign up with email or sign in with facebook).

So.  ABOUT THAT GIVEAWAY.

To win the bundle of your choosing—fat quarter or 3 meter—just leave a comment below.  Not sure what to say?  Why don't you tell me what *you* would like to see on Massdrop.  Spread the word on instagram (I'm @nohatsquilts) or facebook (I'm basically a ghost over there) for a second chance to win (be sure to come back and leave a second comment here so I know to count you twice).

I'll be announcing a winner on Wednesday night.  You know, so there's still time for you to join in ;)

In the interest of full disclosure, Massdrop provided the bundle pictured above.  As always, I only work with companies and products in which I believe, and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

...in modern patchwork (!)

You might've had enough "Liberty (of London) and Justice For All" for now.  But I couldn't resist sharing what showed up in my mailbox (and hit newsstands!) the other week.

Thanks for indulging me :)

P.S.  I'll be giving away some liberty on the blog this week, so keep an eye out for that here very soon!

gypsy brunettes

After returning from inspiration-overload at SewDown Nashville late last night, rather than do the obvious thing and share all about the incredible workshops that I'm guilty of overgramming on IG since last Friday, instead I'm going to take a slight detour and share my March gypsy wife progress in an effort to give myself time to fully process the last 72 hours :)

Of course there's the big Pershing block...

Lots of little pinwheels.

And because there were just too many color combinations jumping out at me last month, I even made a few extra teeny tiny blocks from some of the scraps.  I'm definitely thinking this will be more than a throw-size by the time I'm done with it!

And to be fair, this post isn't a complete departure from the weekend.  You see, I finally got a chance to meet a couple of my fellow gypsy brunettes Daisy and (fearless 'along-leader) Michelle down in Nashville.  I hope they don't mind me sharing this picture of the three of us... ;o)  And to all the other gypsy-wifers, we missed you!

Daisy of Ants to Sugar, me, and Michelle of Factotum of Arts

And that's that!  More to follow in the coming weeks about just everything we were up to down south!

Sarah

a mascot and a flag {#opgivewarmth}

As promised, I've updated the #opgivewarmth page with a few more (necessary) details, so please pop on over there for shipping information and other logistical musings.  

One thing I'd like to emphasize here is that I've changed my mind on the 12.5" block size.  Instead, feel free to send any block whose finished size is a multiple of 3.  Whether you feel like making 3" or 36" (finished) blocks, so long as you remember to include an extra 1/2" for seam allowance I'll take whatever suits your fancy!  (I think I can hear Alison audibly gasping from halfway across the world about how I've just multiplied the work for myself, but in the abstract I like the design flexibility that having a variety of sizes will afford, so let's just hope this new plan pans out in practice!)  

And while I have your attention, I wanted to share some of the designs brewing around this month's palette...

The coyote you've seen (though he's been tweaked thanks to some IG friends who pointed out a, um, sneaky detail that I'd embarrassingly overlooked).  So, moving right along, how happy am I that there's already something in the flickr group from one of you?!  Erica made the beautiful AMH feather (it's long been on my own wish list, so I can't wait to incorporate hers into one of this month's MVOB quilts!)  Extra bonus?  I've seen snippets of another block in the works from Aoife of thREDhead (also, I love that she provides a clip of how to pronounce her name over on her blog; I was totally saying it wrong in my head).  

And because I was in a bit of a pink-y mood after strip-piecing stripes and testing out those geese for my friend Amanda of Material Girl Quilts, I decided some little HSTs featuring my all-time favorite AMH print were in order (field study sundials in glow, for those who are wondering).  A little inadvertent scattering on my desk (the present holding cell for this project) ultimately led to this pseudo-patriotic affair...

Ironically, my motto as a little girl was "Say no to pink."  Suffice it to say, I'm sort of smitten that this little flag stands for just the opposite.  I can only hope it finds its way to a little kid who's more openminded to the color than I was at that age.  ;o)

Linking up with Lee.  Thanks for stopping by!

Sarah