BQF: liberty and justice and whatnot {roygbiv}

As I'm at a real risk of oversharing this one (...again), I'll try to keep this post brief. 

My first entry into the Spring 2014 Blogger's Quilt Festival? "Liberty (of London) and Justice for All."

For reasons that are likely already apparent to my followers, I'm entering this quilt in the ROYGBIV category. 

And for those of you who are new around these parts, I've assembled a compilation of sorts with you in mind :) 

You can find out more about my process in these (teaser) posts:
*something old...
*something new.
*something borrowed... (which, incidentally, didn't make the cut for the DWR challenge quilt)
*something hued.

...And then there's the post-finish hooplah:
*liberty (of london) and justice for all (if you click through only one of these links, make it THIS one)
*oh dear, what to do with these diamond wedding ring remnants? (asked and answered:  the king version is back in play and in the works!)
*...no way.
*...in modern patchwork(!)

And that's not even counting my experimentation in tiny piecing last summer...  (See why I'm reluctant to get into too much detail here?!)
*diamond dresden
*tiny-ness take tw:  round vs. square? (spoiler alert:  "round" wins)

And that (I think/hope!) just about does it.  Thanks for stopping by, and please take a look around the other categories in the show!
 

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

While you're off doing that, I'll be trying to decide which one to enter next :o)  Scrappy?  Original design?  Mini?  Help!

gradient fill :: layer cake (along) sampler

The SMS liberty+oakshott+aurifil giveaway is open one more day :o)

It's hard to believe that almost three months have gone by since Amanda @ Material Girl Quilts wandered into my office (yep, we're irl coworkers!) and asked what I thought about a Layer Cake Sampler she'd just designed.   Within no time, she had whipped up not only the original, but a second version of that beauty, and then drafted something like a dozen posts for the QAL.  I—on the other hand—worked at, um, a snail's slightly different pace.

When I got Malka Dubrawsky's "From Outside In" in hand, I have to say I was a bit overwhelmed by all the color.  Totally infatuated, don't get me wrong, just a little a bit intimidated by the fact that this lovely line involved contrasting (!) color ways.  (Resident analogous designer here.)  So I did the first thing I thought to do:  color sorted a gradient from red to yellow to green to blue.  And then pulled my all-time favorite oakshotts (the tan/brown earth element series), cut them into 10" squares, and sorted them by value.  You know, to ground all those vibrant colors :o)

Starting off with the lightest oakshotts—natural/beige—in the red corner, I paired up those earthy tones with the colorful layer cake squares until the darkest browns reached the blue corner.  After that, I sewed and cut each pair into eight HSTs.  (Evidently I was operating with at least some sense of urgency back then.)

Fast forward to mid-May... and after one (sweatshop) weekend those 320 HSTs were pressed, trimmed, and ready for a whole 'nother round of sorting (my favorite pastime?).

And just like that, I had a spiffy new quilt top.

...That is really quite large.

...and has somewhat astonishingly matchy points.

Now... how to quilt it?

Linking up with Amanda, who has some pretty sweet prizes for the QAL link up this weekend, and crazy mom quilts for my first May finish!

a few (more) of my favorite things {SMS giveaway day}

THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.  Thanks to all who entered! Winner is 638/1235 (Afton W.)!

Somehow, half a year has gone by and once again it's time for Sew Mama Sew's semi-annual Giveaway Day Week!  (!)

Much like last time, I've grouped together another trio of favorites.  Think of it as a trifecta of sorts:  fat (or skinny) sixteenths+ of 21 jewel-toned liberty and oakshott fabrics, plus a miniature arsenal of neutral 50wt aurifil in 2024, 2021, 2000, and 2325 (that gracious Mr. Veronelli slipped in a few extras and I couldn't help but share my good fortune).

You might recognize some of those liberty tana lawns.  That's because I just gave away a FQ set on behalf of the lovely folks at Massdrop.  And guess what?  By popular demand, the classic 10-pack will be making a reappearance in a few weeks, along with a *new* assortment of 10 more prints.  Just go here to sign up for a reminder when that buy is back on :o)

Right.  So getting back to THIS giveaway.  You have three chances to win*:

1.  Leave a comment on this post.  Anything at all.  Need help?  Tell me your thoughts on paper-piecing.  I'd love to hear them ;o)

2.  Leave a second comment if you are a follower (old or new, just tell me how you follow:  Instagram?  Bloglovin'?  Feedly?  Email?) (optional second entry)

3.  Help spread the word!  Then leave a quick (third!) comment telling me how you did that. (Pinterest? Facebook?  Instagram? Tag me @nohatsquilts!) (optional third entry)

*International entries welcome.  Void where prohibited by law.  Because hats or not, we follow the law in (and out of) this house. :o)   

This giveaway will be open until 8 pm EST (5 pm PST) on Friday, May 16.  The winner will be notified by May 18.

Best of luck, and if you haven't already, be sure to check out all the other amazing goods up for grabs!

xo Sarah

AMB blog tour {american made}

Like what you see?  Good!

Because from May 19 to June 20, there will be plenty more where that came from coming to a blog near* you.

*Literally.  ;o)

selvage play

As some of you know, I'm on a self-imposed, non-necessity fabric buying ban until I make a dent in my selvage stash.  Back when I made that commitment, I envisioned finishing the selvage 16-patch I started last spring and calling it a success.  (The idea being that it'd be impossible to finish that particular quilt if I kept adding new selvages to my "collection").

Then along came Victoria Findlay Wolfe's workshop prep for SewDown Nashville.  First up on the supply list?  "Scraps - a nice big, generous bag of colorful scraps."  Turns out the only (organized) scraps I had on hand at the time were about a dozen ziplocs full of color-coordinated selvages that were either too skinny or too short for my 16-patch project (I'm using 2" x 8.5" strips for those blocks).

So naturally, I gathered them up and took the whole grocerybag-ful down south last month.

Being me (and thereby predisposed to monochromatic color schemes), I initially set out to make my 15 Minutes of Play fabric from one bag at a time.  And then as I found myself working from my cool blue bag, my (hilariously entertaining) workshop neighbor Jessica (@alittlegressica) offered me a purple Lizzy House print.  I hesitated a moment, but figured what the heck, purple and blue are analogous, so I used it right away and switched back to my blues.  And then another purple came my way (this time an AMH).  And a few minutes later, Jessica handed over a generous selvage off of a mustard AMH print she was using for her own "made" fabric.  I again happily accepted, but this time proceeded to dig around for the appropriately-hued baggie so I could put it where (I felt) it belonged.

But before I could catalog that scrap, a little voice in the back of my mind said something along the lines of, "Self, VFW's whole idea of 'play' is about breaking out of your comfort zone and facing your fears head on."  So I took that mustard scrap and nestled it right next to the blue and purple strips I'd been using.  

And you know what?  I kind of like it :o)  And while I won't have Jessica around to throw in any more contrasting curve balls, I do have a nice little assortment of selvages that Daisy of Ants to Sugar just sent, so I'm thinking random pulls from those will be a nice (albeit less witty) substitute.

Of course I have absolutely no clue what these will ultimately become, but it's safe to say I'll be crossing things off my "not to do" list with each new little panel of "made" fabric.

Here goes nothing!

#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
source

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 :)