No Wonder He Cut Off His Ear!

The Ithaca Modern Quilt Guild that I'm a member of is having a group project in which guild members create a block to be a part of a group quilt inspired by Van Gogh's The Starry Night painting. At a meeting a couple of months ago, a poster of the painting was cut up into 24 squares and we were asked to take a square and then make a larger (9-inch finished) quilt fabric square depicting that part of the painting that we took.

After Plan A and Plan B and Plan C didn't work for me (maybe even Plan D), I finally created what you see on the left in the top photo. It's hard to really tell what I did, so I'll just explain the process.

First, I scanned the small square into my computer and then printed it on some photo fabric sheets (I had to use two sheets and sew the pieces together since the finished block is larger than a regular-sized sheet). Then I arranged rayon thread (in various shades of blue and yellow) and gold metallic thread on top of the printed fabric. Then I fused some white tulle on top of the thread, and then did a little bit of thread painting using blue and gold thread on top of the tulle.

I tried to take some closeup shots, but my camera had difficulty focusing (probably because of the tulle) ...

Looks like a real mess, doesn't it? It's really nicer in person, and although it's not a masterpiece, I'm OK with it.

I hope to show photos of the rest of the blocks after the April meeting of the Ithaca Modern Quilt Guild. I'm sure the whole quilt will look wonderful!

Stashbusting Break

I took advantage of a recent sale at Joann's to buy five one-yard cuts of flannel at 60% off and an extra 25% off with a coupon so that I could quickly make a chemotherapy charity quilt. I also bought some royal blue fleece (at 50% off and the extra 25%) for the backing. The quilt will be just a simple rail fence pattern, but it will be done in no time at all. And I'll even have a bit left over for a small baby quilt top. After this one is done, then I'll go back to stashbusting.

Although the fabric is not the best (and look at that honking-big selvage on the green strip!), it will make for a perfectly fine quilt to keep someone warm while in treatment...and the colors are bright enough to hopefully make someone smile.

Not bad for $17 (including tax!).

I Don't Just Quilt

I seem to enjoy almost anything having to do with fiber, so I often spend time making crochet-edged fleece blankets, mainly for charities. My friend Susan of Hanging on by a Needle and Thread blog got me hooked on these (basic instructions can be found here). You can find a video on Susan's blog here and she also has some crochet patterns here and here.

Susan doesn't realize that she's created a monster...since she's the coordinator of my guild's local outreach program, these will go to her to be distributed to foster children in our local area.

Keeping At It

This is another finish for March, all made with batik fabrics from my stash. I used Bonnie Hunter's tutorial for a Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt, which was all over blogland earlier this year.

Here's a closeup of the quilting...just simple meandering...

And here's the back...a wide batik that didn't require any piecing...

That's another seven yards used in 2013, but purchased ages ago!

Enough Is Enough!

Today is the first day of spring and I was hoping to get this flannel quilt off of my bed soon!

But Mother Nature has not been kind to us here in north-central PA this March -- well, actually, she's been fairly normal, but normal can be over-rated...especially in March and especially since we had 80-degree temperatures last year at this time! I love snow and winter, but only through about mid-February. After that, I'm ready for warmer days and sunshine. But it looks like this quilt will not be put away for a few weeks yet.

I made this quilt back in 2001 and I blogged about it here; it has held up surprisingly well, considering that it has been on our bed every winter since then, for at least six months at a time, and has gone through the washer and dryer quite a bit.

Only one of the fabrics has started to wear through, as you can see in the photo below...and it's only in a couple of spots.

Anyway...Happy First Day of Spring, Everyone!

International Quilting Day

How did you spend International Quilting Day this past Saturday? I spent it with other members of my guild, the Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild, at a mini-retreat, complete with a delicious potluck lunch!  We had just as much fun as these quilters did....without the costumes...

More Stashbusting

Some of my readers may remember when I first blogged about this quilt (read about it here) about six weeks ago. It's now quilted, bound, and labeled and will be donated to my guild's latest outreach project -- our local foster child program.

The back is all from my stash...

And my favorite part is the bias striped binding...

My only complaint about striped binding is that it can be very difficult to find a thread that will match all the colors, so some of the stitches disappear better than others. This closeup also gives you a view of how I've been attaching labels to these charity quilts. It's just a five-inch square of fabric, folded in half, and then sewn into the binding on the raw edges. I usually just fuse the folded edge to the backing, but I suppose I could easily hand-sew that part, too.

This is another 4 1/2 yards of fabric used up in 2013 from my stash!