I've been nominated!

The nominations are up in the Blogger's Quilt Festival and, holy smokes, I've been nominated...Twice!




Thank you, thank you to those who nominated Jane's Black and White Quilt.  It's a finalist in the "Favorite Two Color Quilt" category and I've been nominated in the "Favorite Quilt Photographer" category.   I'm absolutely flattered!  I've been trying to work on my photography, and this is a complete surprise.  It truly does mean the world just to be nominated...there are some fabulous entries out there.

To say the least, I would love a vote from you in one, or even both categories.  The link to the voting page is here:  http://amyscreativeside.com/2012/05/28/bloggers-quilt-festival-vote-now/

Scroll through and vote for your favorites now!  :)

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Jane's Quilt

It's that time of year, again... Blogger's Quilt Festival!  The time for all of us non-market-goers to have our own little party. 

When I first posted this quilt last November, I knew I loved it, but I've been completely overwhelmed at the response.  1,183 page hits...the most of any of my quilts by far.  I didn't have it up in time for last fall's Quilt Festival, so I'm posting it for this one.





I made this quilt for my friend, Jane.  She and I met via my best friend Ashley as part of a beach trip years ago and continue to go on the same beach trip and have made many others.  She's a runner, too, and I gave her this quilt during our last half-marathon trip...in beautiful Savannah, Georgia. 

The pattern is Full Swing by Rachel Griffith and I used a black-and-white bundle from Fabricworm with Kona White for the background.  The back is a gorgeous fabric I picked up at a fabric store in Charlotte.  In fact, I bought the backing fabric before I had even picked out the quilt pattern!  You can also see a hint of some black-and white half-square triangles on the back.  The strip is a nod to our much-loved Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and our wonderful beach trips.

Photo from lighthousefriends.com

The quilt is about 50" square and I quilted it myself on a long-arm that I rent at my local quilt shop.  Binding is Kona Black, sewn on by hand.





Photos are at the beach house we rented on Tybee Island, just outside of Savannah.  It was a beautiful house and the town reminded me a lot of the NC Outer Banks.

When I finished taking pictures, I went upstairs to her room and spread it across her bed.  It took her for-ev-er to go upstairs, and I think my friend Lisa and I ended up designing a scheme to get her up there.





To say the least, she loved it.  Hope you do too!
 

please vote for me!

Hi everyone!

Do you remember Jane's Black and White Quilt from earlier this fall?




Well - I've entered it in a contest over at Quilting Gallery and I would love your vote!

**Click here to go to the Voting Page**

Ballots are down at the bottom of the page.

By the way - be sure to click "Jane's Black and White Quilt".   There is also one called "Jane's Quilt," but it isn't mine.  Of course, you can vote for that one, too, as you are allowed up to three votes.  (And how funny that there are two quilts for ladies named Jane!)

Thanks in advance to all those who vote.  Hope you have a fabulous weekend!!

Jane's Black and White Quilt

Quite some time ago - way back in April, to be exact - I told you all about a black-and-white quilt I had started for my friend, Jane.  Fast forward through too many months (sorry it took so long, girl!) and it's finally finished...




The pattern is Full Swing by Rachel Griffith (which is free at the Fat Quarter Shop, by the way!) and I used a black-and-white bundle from Fabricworm.  The back is a gorgeous fabric I picked up at a almost-local quilt store in Charlotte.  The white is, of course, Kona White, which I buy by the bolt now...LOL!




Jane has been waiting forever for this quilt, and I had hoped to finish it on the road trip to Savannah yesterday, but apparently 5 hours isn't enough to put on binding... oy!!  I was able to finish it this afternoon, though, as she and some others were touring downtown Savannah.




So, when I finished taking pictures, I went upstairs to her room and spread it across her bed. Can't wait to hear her squeal when she sees it. :)




Hope you love it, Jane!
 





Linked up at these parties....

WIP Wednesday - Number 8

I went back and counted all my WIP Wednesdays and can't believe I've already posted seven of them. I knew I loved them, but wow! If you haven't yet jumped on this train, I highly suggest that you do. The accountability really keeps me hopping though my projects.

This week has not been my most productive, probably because of our Atlanta trip. Most of my sewing is evening and weekend work, so trips tend to pull down my overall productivity.

Completed: No finishes (yet) this week. :o(

Ongoing:

Sierra's Quilt - Rows are pieced. Going to attach them soon for a finished quilt top.

Guitar Quilt - binding is done over halfway around. Is it just me, or is this one taking for-ev-er? Oy.

Bethlehem Star - nearly finished with all paper-pieced glows that will go inbetween the diamonds. Should be able to knock these out in the next day or so.

Bowtie Swap - all squares are trimmed and I have each solid attached to a white square.






Tops That Need Quilting:

I'm happy to say that I finished Jane's Black & White quilt top on Monday. It looks so good...she's gonna love it!

Please excuse the shadows - the sun was setting, but I wanted to get the shot in.  

I've also pieced the back, using scraps from the front and this fabulous fabric.



This was actually the first fabric I bought for the quilt. It jumped out at me at a fabric store so I bought 5 yards. I didn't know what I was going to do, so I wanted to be sure I had plenty...LOL! I'm not going to show the back, although it is pieced and ready, because I want it to be a surprise. We (the boys and I) worked on a little layout that adds a real personal touch. :) I quilt it tomorrow.

No progress this week:

Mexican Star
Flipside Quilt - but I have decided on a recipient...heehee. :)


New Projects:
I'm in the 3x6 Sampler Quilt Mini Bee this go 'round, my first time. I'm a little nervous because I'm not one for sampler quilts, but I thought I'd give it a try. I have asked for gold and charcoal blocks and put together this mosaic:

  (Click on the image for full credits of all photos.)

Whatcha think??

Don't forget to link up over at Freshly Pieced and tell us all how you are doing!

WIP Wednesday

I've missed out on a few of these Wednesday reports, but don't worry - I have plenty of WIP's to share!

The first, which you also saw yesterday, is Matt's coffee quilt.

I ran out of brown thread last night [insert mild expletive].  The good news is that it's a color I can also use on Trenton's Guitar Quilt, and probably even a couple of others.  So I can buy plenty without feeling too guilty about it.


Next up, Jane's Black and White quilt...all blocks are done!!

Next step is to trim them up and start attaching them.  I actually started joining them before my trip in May, only to realize that they weren't trimmed.  Quite frustrating to think you are at Point D in a project only to find yourself still at Point C.  Getting there.

My big audacious goal... to have both of these ready to bind before I go on vacation.  Matt has banned my sewing machine, so having something to bind makes me feel like I'm still getting stuff done.  Less than two weeks to get that done.


Of course, I have plenty more WIPs in various stages; but I haven't worked on these in the last week or so.

• Quilt top done and ready to be basted/quilted: 
• Trenton's Guitar quilt
• AAF's Quilt Along quilt (for Molly)

•  Blocks done, ready to assemble top:
• Odyssea quilt
• Mexican Star

•  Fabric cut, ready to make blocks:
• Flipside quilt
• Sierra's Berries quilt

And, because I have nothing else to do, I've started a Bethlehem Star class with my quilt group at church.  Can you say A-D-D?  Yeah, it's bad. 

I desperately want to join in on the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along, but I think it would push me over the edge.  Since it's a year-long project, I'm thinking maybe I can join in later after I tackle some of these others.  Maybe.  Sometimes blog-land is just too tempting!

So - gimme the scoop!!  What are you working on???  Do you have as many WIPs as I do... more???  I'd love to know!  And don't forget to link up over at Freshly Pieced, too!

Jane's Black and White Quilt

For many years now - at least eight - we've been heading down to the beach each year with my best friend and her family. On one of those trips, they also invited some friends that we had never met. We were so nervous - a week in a house with people we didn't know! But, we trusted Ashley and Donnie and their taste in people. Turns out it was the beginning of a new friendship.

Jane and her family are now *my* friends... no longer just friends of friends. We all still go to the beach together, and usually have one or more other excursions with them throughout the year. Both families live in Chapel Hill, and now when we go see one we almost always also see the other. Pretty cool considering you just never know if you'll like your friend's friends. :)

So... (yeah, Jane, that one's for you) fast-forward to last year and my rekindled obsession for quilting. Jane is more contemporary in her tastes, and I was itching to dive into something non-traditional for a quilt. We were talking about her black-and-white bedroom (with a touch of pale blue for accent) and I offered to make a quilt. She's been most patient with me as I've struggled through my other projects and my ADD lifestyle. But finally, I have started on her quilt.

A long Easter Weekend in the mountains was ahead, but Ash had to leave her sewing machine at home despite needing to finish a quilt. Since I had planned on taking my machine anyway, I gathered up some fabric for cutting so I could focus on that and Ash could use my machine.

I started out cutting and marking squares for what felt like a bazillion half-square triangles.

 Sew . . . cut . . . press . . . sew . . . cut . . . press . . . sew . . . cut . . . press . . .

Then a few more bazillion squares for the alternate block.

The pattern I am using is Rachel Griffith's Full Swing (free at Fat Quarter Shop, btw!), but in a different color scheme.  

I picked up a half-yard custom bundle of black and white fabrics from Fabricworm and then played around with the combination of prints. As you can see, I was still deciding on the pinwheels in these pics...the upper right is a combination of black fabrics in the arms while the other is all one fabric. (The white is Kona Cotton solid.)

The original thought was that each center pinwheel square would be one black print with the "arms" of each a different black print. Five prints total on one block...but it just didn't sit well.

So I tried the black solid in the middle, but it was still a bit distracting (for my tatse) with the arms being different. Final answer?   Black solid in the center and a matching print for all four arms.

The alternate block is a random pick of four different fabrics that are not used in the pinwheel block, including two white/off-white background prints. I wasn't sure about them at first but I liked them once I laid out the block.

Once I got past the initial cutting, the blocks came together easily and quickly, especially the pinwheels. I still have a few to go and my week has been a bit nuts, so no progress since these pictures. I think I'm going to try a block-a-day approach next week to see if I can pound this thing out.


Wish me luck!