tale of a quilt festival survivor

I did it! I went to the International Quilt Festival in Houston for the very first time! Do you have a few hours to hear all about it? I'm kidding. Sort of!

I didn't take photos at the convention center because I wanted to enjoy the show without worrying about taking pics, and because many of the booths and quilts cannot be photographed. But I promise to share pics of my purchases!

I've wanted to go to Quilt Market in Houston for several years, but it's for the trade only and not open to the general public. Quilt Festival IS open to the public. (Quilt Market ran from Oct 25-27, and Quilt Festival was from Oct 30-Nov 2, both at the George R. Brown convention center.)

Last week I received a few messages from other quilters asking if I would be attending Festival. Well, why not? So very late one night last week, I booked my flight, hotel room and the festival admission ticket. 

I arrived on Friday night. My host hotel was buzzing with activity. There were quilters everywhere, including in the room next to mine. (Ladies, I heard every word that you said through the wall but I won't repeat anything!)

On Saturday morning I boarded the shuttle bus to the convention center. It runs all day, every 10 minutes. That's how many quilters are there! I was a little nervous. Could I handle this much quilt activity all at one time?

I eased into the Festival by visiting the exhibitions first. There were SO many quilts! I loved the more traditional quilts in the section sponsored by the book 501 Traditional Quilts.  I was especially drawn to the quilts made of tiny hexagons and the Baltimore Album quilts. The center of the space was dominated by "Ruby Jubilee," which was an interpretation of the Infinite Variety red and white quilt show in my NYC neighborhood a few years ago. 

This is just the retail space!

Now it was time for the selling portion of the Festival. Ok, time to take a deep breath or two...

The selling space had 18 long aisles. Every sewing machine and longarm manufacturer was there, and you could try their machines. There were many, many regional quilt shops and vintage quilt dealers, plus a smaller assortment of stuff that probably didn't belong there - who buys vacuum cleaners and massage chairs at a quilt show?! I saw a few quilting all-stars: Eleanor Burns posing for endless photos, Alex Anderson promoting The Quilt Show, Kim Diehl and Sandra Dallas signing their books. Edyta Sitar popped into her Laundry Basket Quilts booth at the end of the day. 

And I got to meet two of my own quilting all-stars - Kimberly Jolly from Fat Quarter Shop, and Jocelyn Ueng from It's Sew Emma patterns. I've shopped at the Fat Quarter Shop for years, so it was a treat. And I've gotta tell you that they're just as lovely in person as they are on the Jolly Jabber blog and in their YouTube videos.  Here's me and Kimberly in a photo taken by Jocelyn.

And get this - there's a "husbands lounge" with a big flat screen tv, newspapers and magazines.

By now I'm sure that you're saying "WHAT DID YOU BUY?" so let's get to it! 

Attachments for my Brother sewing machine. There's the scary-looking ruffler contraption, and a new 1/4" foot. I know, not too exciting, but hopefully I'll turn into a ruffle-izer.

I picked up a copy of the Penny Candy quilt pattern at the Primitive Gatherings booth, which was oddly staffed by three men with beards and shorts.  

I bought a new tumbler template at the Marti Michell booth. It can be used for finished tumblers ranging from 2" up to 5 1/2", and I like how it has notched corners so that the tumblers are easy to sew together. And they gave me another corner trimmer after I told them how much I use it!

Two quilt books from It's Sew Emma, Simply Fat Quarters and the new Fat Quarter Style. Lots of fresh, happy quilts here! 

And finally, are you ready for this? A fat quarter bundle of Scrumptious by Bonnie & Camille. You should have seen me trying to be all poker-faced when I saw that it was half price! I didn't even think that this line existed anymore!

The fat quarter bundle was just $5 more than the fat eighth bundle! How could I pass that up?!

It was a long day, but SO much fun. I think that you know where you can find me at the same time next year!

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And now, an Around The World Blog Hop update! Last week you learned all about my work style. Please visit my quilty friends on Monday, November 3 to read all about what inspires them and how they create their quilt projects. I'm sure that they'll have some interesting stories to share!

Rebecca at Cheeky Cognoscenti

Donna at Donna's Lavender Nest

Cynthia at Dream Quilt Create

thursday finish - homestead!

The Fig Tree "Homestead" quilt top is finished! I'm so happy to be able to share it with you today. This is one of those quilt tops that turned out far better than I had expected!

Homestead measures 63" x 75" finished. The pattern is available here, and there is also a kit with alternate fabrics. The houses were really fun to sew once I figured out a trick. There are a few points that need to match on the window/door/roof unit. I had difficulty matching them exactly, and then Pam suggested basting the pieces together, checking for accuracy and then re-sewing them. That worked perfectly, and from then on it was all blue skies and green grass. 

Speaking of green grass, the original pattern used just one green print. I wanted more variety, so I pulled several greens. Fabrics used in this quilt are from two of my favorite Fig Tree collections - Strawberry Fields and Avalon. I loved mixing in the navy and aqua prints.

I'm sure you know all about my dislike of sewing borders onto my quilt tops. But I did it! To make it easier, I buy extra border fabric and cut it on the lengthwise grain. Yes, it means that I buy more fabric than I really need. But it means that I don't need to worry about matching the print when joining shorter strips of fabric. (The leftover border fabric is now in transit to another Fig Tree fabric collector!) What makes this quilt interesting is that the borders on the top and bottom are slightly wider than the side borders. It sounds odd, but it does enhance the horizontal houses. 

Now I need to piece the backing and binding and have it sent out to be quilted. I cannot wait to get this one back! And now I'm free to work on Christmas quilts!

around the world blog hop

Hi everybody! Today, I will be sharing more about myself and my creative process as a part of the continuing blog tour that has hopped around the world in the past few months. I'm happy that Rahna from Blooming In Chintz asked me to participate. We have followed each other on Instagram for awhile, and she has made many fabulous quilts. I love the way that she selects fabric for her quilts. So what I am going to do is answer four simple questions about Grey Dogwood Studio. But you will soon find out that those simple questions have complex answers!

What am I working on?

Quilts! I have several projects all going at the same time. I'm sure that's not a surprise. For many years I focused only on one quilt at a time. But having a few projects gives me a choice every day. Do I feel like listening to the radio while appliqueing 6" Dresden plates?

Or maybe I'm already dreaming of a White Christmas, so I make a cup of tea in a Santa mug (yes, in October!) and work on red and white flying geese. These are made of Bunny Hill's Winter Wonderland, and I just started them a few days ago. 20 done and 192 more to go.

And each month I look forward to the Moda Modern Building Blocks-Of-The-Month from Fig Tree Quilts, and I start sewing the very day that the package of fabric arrives.

I've spent a considerable amount of time avoiding the borders that need to be added to my Jumping Jacks quilt! The borders are cut and just need to be pinned and stitched. 

And the Fig Tree Cherry Pie quilt still needs borders, too. I stall forever when it comes to borders!

And for course, the Quilty Fun birthday cake quilt that I made last week also needs borders! Have you download your copy of the cake pattern? It's free and is available here!

Quilty Fun birthday cake pattern by Lori Holt for Fat Quarter Shop

Why do I create what I do?

Humm, why does such a simple question have such a complicated answer? Most importantly, it is the joy of making a quilt. I love being able to have something that I made. I've always been crafty. Can you guess what my favorite toy was when I was little? That big fat box of Crayola crayons with the built-in sharpener. I loved the metallics the best: gold, silver and copper. When I quilt I create something artistic that's also useful - all squishy and cuddly and comforting. I like knowing that I am creating something worth leaving behind, something that will make people want to learn more about me. I'm always pushing to learn new techniques, such as template piecing, working with 1/8" measurements (cut on the bias, even!) and hand applique. Sometimes I enjoy the process and wonder why I postponed it for so long. And sometimes I learn that I dislike a technique, but at least I've tried it.

The best example of boundary-pushing was the Farmer's Wife quilt along a few years ago. I saw the Farmer's Wife book at the bookstore, and it scared me. What, no rotary cutting instructions? I put it back on the shelf. But each time I went to the bookstore I found myself drawn back to it. The very difficulty of the quilt was what made it so compelling. And then the online sew along groups started and I knew that I had to get over my fear of paper templates. I enjoyed making those blocks so much that I kept going and made it king sized! It's probably my favorite quilt ever, and well worth the intense effort. 

How does my work differ from others?

Ok, let's address the big, pink quilted elephant in the room first. I'm a male quilter. I'm definitely in the minority. Each time I visit my local quilt shop I see more men shopping for fabric, and that makes me really happy. But I live in New York City. It's amusing when I visit quilt shops in small towns around the country. People look at me like I'm an alien, and I usually have to tell them that I'm a quilter. And then I head to the shelf of pretty vintage-inspired prints. Aha! That's another way that I'm different. Many male quilters work with darker fabrics or bright solids. Not me. Bring on the florals, dots and ginghams! The fabrics that I return to again and again are by Fig Tree Quilts and Bunny Hill (for soft, mellow vintage), Tanya Whelan's cabbage roses, and almost anything by Pam Kitty Morning and Lori Holt. I also like to mix in whimsical Japanese prints from Lecien.

I'm fairly consistent with a modern-vintage style. I'm very much influenced by vintage quilts of course, plus 1940's, 50's and 60's kitchenware from the flea market, cookbooks, British porcelain, tartans and menswear fabrics. Cakes, pies and candy are a great source of color inspiration. I'm happiest when sewing with bright prints mixed with pastels for balance.

Did you see the cookbook by quilters Amy and David Butler?!

How does my creative process work?

Interesting question! Fabric, patterns and social media all factor into my work. 

I'm like lots of other quilters in that it's all about the fabric. I'll fall in love with a new collection and then spend months trying to find the perfect pattern to show it off. When I see teaser photos of an upcoming fabric collection online, I'll start to think about how I can fit it into a quilt. For example, I'm already thinking about how I can mix the upcoming Pam Kitty Garden and Fig Tree Aloha Girl collections with my existing fabrics. By thinking this way, I'm sure to come up with a quilt that will have my own unique color imprint. I also prefer to work with controlled scrappy fabrics. What might appear to be random is actually very thought out. I try to always include a variety of visual textures and print sizes. 

I also hoard quilt patterns. I buy far more patterns than I'll ever use. Sometimes I just want to see how a block is constructed, and I'll learn a technique that I can apply to a future project. Learning about how that twisted ribbon border was constructed can be useful. I enjoy thinking about how to customize patterns to create something unexpected. For example, Lori Holt's Quilty Fun sampler quilt was designed with a large bee medallion. I reduced the bee to half size and made four of them. And in this quilt, I also challenged myself to include black fabric.

Quilty Fun sampler by Lori Holt

I like to transform patterns for wall quilts into bed quilts by doing the quilty math (with graph paper and a calculator!) - my birthday cake quilt began with just one block and I decided to turn it into a larger quilt. I also like to take patterns and completely change the fabric assortment. For my Butterscotch Tart quilt, I took the pretty, muted color palette shown on the Fig Tree pattern and shifted it into a completely new direction with bright reds, whites and blues from mostly Pam Kitty Morning and Lori Holt. And then I tossed some pink into my patriotic quilt, because, well, why not?

Butterscotch Tart by Fig Tree Quilts

And quilting should be fun! I'll usually try a few test blocks. If it isn't fun, or I don't like it, then I don't proceed. There's too much great fabric and too little time to make something that isn't enjoyable! I recently tried to do a strip pieced quilt. It was so easy that it bored me. That was the end of the strippy project! Sometimes, I need lots of little HSTs or tiny flying geese to keep me interested.

Whit by Carrie Nelson

I love to fussy cut my fabric to highlight special motifs. I'm not afraid to waste fabric if it means that I'll get the look that I'm aiming for. Here, I've cut Lecien's Flower Sugar to give a lacy effect to the mitten cuffs, centered the large floral on each mitten, and centered the yellow floral stripe on the outer border scallop.

Social media is definitely very inspirational. I love to see what everybody else is working on. But for me, the challenge is to be inspired without copying others. We all get to learn a little about each other. We share vacation, food, family and pet stories. It's like having a whole big group of quilting friends all around the world! We encourage each other. And its a great way to quickly get opinions and feedback from my virtual friends, such as "help, which background do you all think is best?"

Thanks so much for visiting with me today. I hope that you've learned a little more about Grey Dogwood Studio. It's been fun (and challenging!) to have to think about who I am and why I do what I do. 

And now, it's my turn to introduce you to the next three bloggers on the Around The World tour! 

These three talented quilters will all be sharing their stories with you next Monday, November 3. So be sure to visit them, ok?

I love the way that Rebecca Grace at Cheeky Cognoscenti works through her quilting process. She explains in detail how she decides on block sizes, alternate blocks and colorways. I always learn something from her. I discovered her blog while doing a search for information about Singer Featherweight sewing machines. I've bookmarked this entry - it's loaded with good tips! 

Donna Moore at Donna's Lavender Nest has a sweet vintage inspired blog, full of my favorite retro prints. She also has an online shop with those hard-to-find Japanese prints, and they're available as individual fat quarters or as custom bundles. And her packaging is lavender!

And my friend Cynthia Horst at Dream Quilt Create is also going to share her story with you, too. I've followed Cynthia's blog for several years and I am a big fan of her quilts. We have similar taste in fabrics (we both love to collect Lori Holt's fabrics) and we really bonded while doing a Quilty Fun sew along together! 

Grey Dogwood Studio is on Instagram! Follow me at @greydogwoodstudio to see all my latest projects, plus the occasional cupcake and cute cat photos!

moda modern building blocks - the first 18!

Yay! I've completed 18 Moda Modern Building Blocks, Fig Tree style!

This month's blocks all featured the Fig Tree Somerset orange with cream dots and Moda Bella ivory solid. It was like making creamsicles!

I have a tip for you when sewing with bias cut triangles. I love using the Marti Michell Perfect Patchwork Corner Trimmer. It gets rid of dog ears before you sew your pieces together, and it helps to make sure that your pieces line up correctly. It's an inexpensive gadget that really works. And it's only $5 from Marti Michell's website. I had one in my sewing box for years and then it mysteriously disappeared, so I recently ordered a new one before I started this project. I used it on all the orange triangles on this square-in-a-square block. 

I can hardly believe that Grey Dogwood Studio is going "modern" with this quilt! But I love the way that the blocks look when they're all combined. I really hope that next month's fabric shipment from Fig Tree Quilts has some red!

And now for some fun news!

Be sure to visit me on Monday because I'm the next blogger on the Around The World blog tour! You'll get to learn more about me, my projects, work style and why I'm different from other quilters. Ever wonder about my inspiration? How I put fabrics together? All that and more!

moda modern building blocks - month 3

It's the third month of the Moda Modern Building Blocks quilt- Fig Tree style!

This 24" star block includes a tiny orange pindot print from the current Fig Tree collection, Somerset, mixed in with Moda Bella solids. I love having just the smallest hint of a print. It warms up the block and makes it a little less "modern" and feels a bit more vintage. And then there's the positively huge 30" star block.

These blocks are so dramatic because of their size. I'll also be constructing three smaller blocks this month, and when it's all finished, hopefully my quilt will look like this:

Image from Fig Tree and Company

The Fig Tree version is sold out, but there is a kit featuring an alternate colorway coming soon to the Fat Quarter Shop. You can also purchase just the pattern and use your own fabrics. The kit and pattern are both available here. 

This past weekend, I went shopping in search of some upholstery fabric. Any chance to visit NYC's garment district makes me happy. It takes me back to my days at school and hanging out in designer showrooms. And it's a vibrant reminder of the great design creativity that comes out of our country. I only needed to visit one store - Mood Fabrics!

You might have heard of Mood Fabrics. It's where the Project Runway contestants shop. The store was positively buzzing on Saturday afternoon. It's on the second and third floor of an unmarked office building. There are bolts of silk taffeta, shirtings, upholstery fabrics, organzas, satins, burnout velvets... I kinda wonder why some of those outfits on Project Runway are so ugly when the designers have access to all this great fabric!

All that fabric shopping left me hungry for a cupcake! That problem was quickly solved with a visit to Sweet Revenge in the West Village. Sweet Revenge is a tiny cupcakerie that also offers light lunch food, and has special pairings of cupcakes with wine or beer. There are never more than six cupcake flavors, and they're all amazing. I had a "Dirty" cupcake - dark chocolate cake, rich chocolate ganache and dusted with cocoa powder. The cupcakes seem very adult - no sprinkles, no pink and no gummy bears here!

I'd like to thank you for the great response to my Quilty Fun birthday cake quilt last week. I really appreciate the comments and emails that I received. I'm happy that you were able to celebrate with me!

quilty fun birthday party!

Happy First Birthday, Quilty Fun! Welcome to my stop on the birthday blog hop! 

Quilty Fun by Lori Holt has quickly become my go-to book for fun, scrappy patchwork designs. Seriously, I would like to make everything in this book! The book contains clear, easy-to-understand diagrams for creating the row quilt shown on the cover, plus ten additional projects ranging from pillows to runners to quilts, all using rotary cutting with no templates. 

To help celebrate the first birthday, Lori Holt has created a special, fun birthday cake block!

Mmmm chocolate layer cake. My favorite! I was so excited to print out the free pdf of this pattern's cutting instructions, and I immediately started sewing my birthday cake. But I liked it so much that I needed another piece of cake. How about a red velvet cake?

And because I have so many favorite cake flavors I just kept going! Anybody want a piece of strawberry cream cake?

Before I knew it, this happened. Twelve cakes with rainbow sprinkles sashing!

Who wouldn't love a fancy cake for Valentine's Day?

Or maybe a pretty birthday cake with fanciful buttercream rosettes?

Could I tempt you with a slice of chocolate mud cake?

Seriously, you are going to LOVE making these cakes. One would be cute as a pillow. Three would make a great birthday table runner. Or go crazy like I did and make twelve (or more)! Download the FREE copy of the Quilty Fun birthday cake pdf pattern here. You can also view all twelve of my birthday cake blocks on my Flickr page.

But don't leave yet because the birthday party is just getting started! Here are some of the amazingly fantabulous patterns in Lori's book. There's the full row along quilt that I made last year.

I loved making the Snowball Fight table runner. I really need to have this quilted before Christmas!

And the Quilty Fun book also has directions for Lori's signature bee pattern. Here I've reduced the size of the bee and made a quartet of them!

I do hope that you'll help me in celebrating Quilty Fun's first birthday. Pour yourself a nice hot (or cold!) drink, download the birthday cake pattern and start stitching!

Thanks for stopping by today. Be sure to visit the Fat Quarter Shop for a copy of the Quilty Fun book. Their blog will also have links to all the other bloggers participating in the hop. And drop by to see what Lori is working on here. I'll see you soon!

sashing the homestead

Yes, finally! All 20 Fig Tree Homestead blocks are finished!

Isn't this the quirkiest house block? I've never seen anything else quite like it. It's almost an optical illusion. I really love those Fig Tree blues - the sky and navy prints.

I started the sashing last night. But I just wasn't paying attention to what I was doing! Often the simple sewing is where I make the most mistakes. There was quite a lot of unpinning and unsewing going on. My biggest hurdle was getting the horizontal seams of the grass to line up from row to row. It was easy to fix with a little concentration and pins. 

It's amazing how much abuse those poor 1 1/2" strips of sashing fabric had to endure!

And after all that effort, I love how it's coming together. This quilt is going to become a favorite! I just need to add two outer borders and it will be ready for quilting.

Thanks so much for visiting me today. I'm always happy to have house guests (heehee get it?!).

friday finish - whit!

Meet Whit!

Whit by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. is finished! Maybe I should say that it's almost finished. After quilting, it will become a European pillow sham for my bed. To get the correct size for a pillow top, I needed to cut the border strips 2" wider than the pattern. And of course that meant that I needed to buy another 5" of background fabric. Grrrr. Luckily, Donna shipped extra fabric to me in just two days! (I could have joined my leftover fabric strips to get the right length, but I really didn't want to see the seams.) 

Whit measures 26" square. Each Flying Dutchman block is 4". I used Flower Sugar by Lecien - most of it is current season, but I tossed in some older pastel favorites, too. And for extra visual texture, I added 1/8" mini gingham from Riley Blake. I love how it coordinates perfectly with the florals. 

This was a fun quilt to make! Nice little blocks and short border strips. I usually dislike the process of pinning borders, but 26" borders - I can handle that! 

The Another Year of Schnibbles sew along is hosted by A Quilting Life and Pink Pincushion, and you can get all the details about how to join the group here. 

And now can I start a new quilt? I am dying to cut into my new Christmas fabrics

I'm linking up today with Finish It Up Fridays at Crazy Mom Quilts. 

flying dutchmen

Sixteen Flying Dutchman blocks are done! They're for my Little Bites "Whit" mini quilt. Why is this block called Flying Dutchman, anyway?! Wikipedia says that a Flying Dutchman is a legendary ghost ship that can never make port and is doomed to sail the oceans forever. Maybe this refers to how I felt doomed to make 128 mini flying geese forever?

I'm kidding, of course. The blocks were actually really quick and easy to construct once the geese were completed. There's nothing complicated here. Each block measures 4" finished. I was a little concerned about getting my points to match in the centers but they turned out really nicely.

It took some maniacal focus on Thursday and Friday nights to get these pieced. I spent the early part of last week in Dallas on a business trip - hence, no sewing for three days. This is an annual trip where I train and motivate a group of 75 people to sell my company's products throughout the holidays. It was quite a production, in a hotel ballroom. I had special music, snacks and decor, and I even did a costume change mid-lecture! It was hysterical, but hopefully they all learned something, too. Then I rushed back to NYC to meet with another retailer. So it was a temporary break from my normal life, but sometimes I gotta do the real job!

I'll leave you with a shot of all 16 blocks. They're ready for sashing, cornerstones and a border! A finish is coming soon!

floral flying geese

The flying geese have arrived! I've got 32 sets of 4 matching geese. They'll finish at 1" x 2". Yeah, I know. Crazy. They took longer to make than I had expected - they're super easy to make and trim with the Mini Fit To Be Geese ruler, but they're a little tedious. I also make them in color groups because then I have a feeling of accomplishment ("Yay, all the red geese are stitched!")

Ok, now that they're sewn and trimmed, I need to decide on a setting. First there is the Flying Dutchman variation. I love these. The blocks look scrappy, but they're really perfectly controlled. It does mean that my points will all need to meet in the middle correctly.

And then there are the straight rows of flying geese going in opposite directions. I really like these too! I could do them either randomly mixed up like I've shown here, or I could arrange them in an ombre rainbow setting.

So which will I choose? I'll think about it for a few days, because once I start sewing there's no unpicking!

moda modern building blocks - month 2

Howdy, everybody! I recently returned from a short trip to New Mexico (yes, again!) and immediately got back to sewing. It was exciting to find an envelope from Eric Figueroa at Fig Tree and Co crammed into my tiny mailbox. That could only mean one thing - the September fabric pack for the Modern Modern Building Blocks sampler arrived!

Last month I made one 36" block and four 6" blocks, and this month's fabric made an 18" block and four more 6" blocks. Working with Moda Bella solids is fun! I don't think that I've ever used solid fabric for blocks, so this is a bit of a stretch for me. I love that tiny coral pindot fabric from Fig Tree's recent Mirabelle collection. It adds just a bit of texture without being too overpowering. 

The Flower Sugar fabric for my Another Year of Schnibbles "Whit" pattern also arrived while I was away (I could barely open my mailbox!) and I quicky starched and cut it. Here are my fabrics, just waiting to be sewn into flying geese.

So when I wasn't sewing or blogging last week, here's what I was up to. My sister took me on a trip to New Mexico to celebrate my upcoming birthday. She's traveled around the world but never to the Southwest US! First, we visited Taos Pueblo, which has been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years and has no running water or electricity. 

And we had to have a snack at the pueblo. I love this sign. 

No running water or electricity, but they managed to find Sue Bee honey and a plastic tablecloth. That cracks me up. 

Then came a 2 1/2 mile hike in Bandelier National Monument. It's breathtaking to see caves carved out of ancient volcanic ash where primitive people made their homes. There are still traces of their artwork thousands of years later (swirls, zigzag serpents, and... people with marshmallow heads?).

We saw these sunflowers EVERYWHERE we went, growing wild and out-of-control along the highways as well as in the park.

Surely this volcanic ash home could use a nice quilt with pointy-points and heirloom quilting?

After visiting the Bradbury Museum in Los Alamos to learn about the secret mission to create atomic bombs during WWII, we then stopped at Camel Rock, just outside of Santa Fe. We joked about how silly this rock formation looks, but after driving by it 8 times we decided that we just needed to get a closer look. I think that if you look at it head-on it turns into a cobra instead of a camel, but never mind. I wouldn't want Camel Rock Casino to have to change its name!

And, of course, we spent time in Santa Fe, where the annual Fiesta was taking place. And the green chile pepper harvest was being roasted in giant rotating metal drums. We really had a great time. I got to spend time in one of my favorite locations with my favorite little sister!

another year of schnibbles begins now

It's a new sew along! Another Year of Schnibbles has just started. So what's a Schnibble? They're small scale quilts made with 5" charm squares plus some background fabric. And now there are new Little Bites quilts made with 2.5" mini charm squares. The patterns are designed by the talented Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. They're a great way to showcase a new fabric collection without a big time commitment. Or, of course, you can use your stash. There's a monthly project assignment, and at the end of each month there is a parade of finished quilts with PRIZES. The quilt along is hosted by Sinta of Pink Pincushion and Sherri of A Quilting Life. Doesn't this sound like fun? You can get the full details here and here if you'd like to consider sewing along with us, and the pattern is here. 

I joined the group at the end of the spring season, right before the summer break. You might remember that I made the X Rated Schnibble quilt using Fig Tree's Mirabelle fabric.

And now September's project is Whit, which is shown at the top. The pattern includes three variations. I'd love to just copy Carrie's Dutchman's Puzzle quilt (upper left corner) using Lori Holt's Vintage Happy fabric. But that wouldn't be too original! I'm almost sure that I'll do the version with vertical flying geese using an assortment of Lecien's Flower Sugar fabric. I just ordered a white floral background from Donna, and I can start sewing the geese as soon as it arrives. 

We also got a preview of October's project! It will be Harvey. I'm already thinking about my fabrics for this one! Christmas-y, maybe? Or fall harvest colors?

back at the ranch

I have been quietly piecing the Fig Tree Homestead quilt blocks throughout the past few months. They help me to avoid other sewing projects. Whenever I have a quilt top that needs the dreaded borders, well, it's easier to stitch up a few houses! Fourteen houses are now done, with another six still to be built. 

The latest batch of three blocks just did not want to cooperate with me! Sometimes the simplest piecing can get messed up really fast. These blocks are constructed in three layers. There's the roof section, the middle window and door section and then the walkway and grass. The middle row is just a bunch of rectangles. Should be simple, right? I stitched them over and over and over and over. First the strips were too short - I mean, 3/4" too short in the length! And then they became 1" too long. I ripped and resewed them. I cut more fabric and sewed them again. And then I sewed them together in the wrong order. Whaaaat? Well, I finally figured it out. My sewing machine needle was bent just a teeny bit, but it was enough to turn my scant 1/4" seam allowance into a generous 1/4" seam allowance. A new needle solved the problem. Now why didn't I think of that several hours earlier? (I can't even tell you how long the last 3 blocks took to sew! It's too embarrassing! But I did win this battle.)

And here's the house lineup so far! First, the blues!

The pinks and greys!

The reds!

And the aqua and yellow houses. 

I'll continue to work on these in between other quilts. I just need to get the border sewn onto the Jumping Jacks quilt and I'll have another finish soon!

quilt finish - mixing it up

It feels great to finish the Mixing It Up quilt top!  Once the weather cools off (it was 91 degrees in NYC today!) I'll think about baking again. Did you see the recipe for browned butter M&Ms chocolate chip cookies on Pioneer Woman's blog today? Yummy. I can't wait to try them!

Ok, back to the quilt. Cookie time will be later. 

Just looking at this quilt top makes me happy! There are all those colorful mixers, ready to whip up some amazing desserts. I had lots of fun just selecting the fabrics for each mixer. And do you remember how I bought the pale pink KitchenAid the same night that I sewed the pink block? 

The Mixing It Up pattern is by Lori Holt, and it's super-easy to understand, with lots of those easy-corner-triangles. The mixers are 15" square so you just need a few of them to make a big impact. I used mostly Bake Sale fabric with a little bit of Polka Dot Stitches mixed in, and solids from Riley Blake. I almost didn't make the mustard yellow mixer (come to think of it, Mom probably had a hand-held mustard mixer in the 70's). And yet, I found that I really needed the mustard just for the right color balance so that it wouldn't become too pink/red or too blue/green. 

I love the pieced "beater" border blocks. But I hate sewing borders. Let's just blame it on the extreme lack of space in my apartment. That's why these blocks sat around since February! I really, really wanted to just slap some fabric borders on this and call it done, but a quilting friend reminded me about how cute it would be if I followed the instructions. She was right. It's infinitely cuter with the pieced border. Borders are better!

Now I think that I've earned a special dessert tonite! Hummm maybe a cupcake instead of the cookie... 

catching up

Hi everybody! I hope that you had an enjoyable weekend! I've had some time to do a little bit of catching up on my sewing projects.

First, I finished August's four 6" blocks for the Moda Modern Building Blocks BOM quilt - Fig Tree style. 

Look at how small they are when put next to the giant 36" block! I had to fold the large block into quarters just to fit it into the photo.

I'm making the HSTs using my usual method instead of sewing triangles together as the pattern suggests - I'm sewing two squares on the diagonal, cutting in half, pressing open and trimming down to the exact size. I'm also using the Mini Fit To Be Geese ruler by Monique Dillard to construct my flying geese. The ruler really helps to make sure that they're sized perfectly and that I don't accidentally cut off my points. Monique has a nifty tutorial video on the Open Gate Quilts website about how to use the ruler. Basically, you sew two oversized "sky" triangles to an oversized "goose" triangle, and then use the ruler to trim it down to the right size. You might want to check this out if you've ever had problems sewing little 1 1/2" x 2" flying geese using other methods. I use the mini ruler and the full sized ruler to make almost all of my flying geese. 

And now I need to be patient and wait until the September fabric pack arrives from Fig Tree Quilts. I wonder if there will be some of Joanna's new Somerset fabric mixed in with the Moda Bella solids? But of course I need to work on something now. And so, this is the perfect time to finish my Mixing It Up quilt! Do you remember this quilt that I started in FEBRUARY?

And how about the spatulas?

It's called Mixing It Up, and the pattern is by Lori Holt for Bee In My Bonnet. I'm using an assortment of Lori's Bake Sale and Polka Dot Stitches fabric collections, with solids by Riley Blake. It's time to get this finished! I went from just a few of the border blocks to all 48 in three days. I can get stuff done when I focus! (Ok, I gotta admit a small flaw with my "focus" - I made two extra blocks because I wasn't paying attention.)

I've started to sew the blocks into border strips, and I think that I'm going to have a finish by the end of this month!

moda modern building blocks

Hi everybody and happy Monday! I hope that you had a great weekend. I was able to spend some time with friends enjoying barbeque in Brooklyn and saw the new movie Magic in the Moonlight. Loved it. Set in the French Riviera in the late 1920's, it's the story of a famous magician (Colin Firth) who sets out to prove that a medium who conjures the dead (Emma Stone) is a fraud and a con artist. Go see it for a fun, light-hearted, grown-up movie with absolutely no explosions, no superheroes and gorgeous scenery. But right before all of that, I started a new quilt! It's the Moda Modern Building Blocks quilt, Fig Tree style. Here's a rendering of the quilt that I borrowed from the Fresh Figs blog.

I liked the original quilt when I first saw photos of it from the Pittsburgh quilt market. You might have already seen that version, in quite a rainbow of solid fabrics. Joanna Figueroa then reinterpreted the quilt in Fig Tree colors. What I really love about this version is that there are some subtle tone-on-tone fabrics mixed in with the solids. Her quilt is being done as a block-of-the-month. But it was very popular and it sold out before I could sign up. Then when I was in Florida a few weeks ago, Joanna posted a photo of it on Instagram and mentioned that a few slots had opened up. But I was in meetings and didn't see that message until hours later! Luckily I was able to get into the program. Whew. The first month's shipment arrived late last week.

Three fabrics came with the first installment - Moda Bella solids in Royal, Carribean and Ivory. They look just like my Delray Beach photos! The quilt includes 48 blocks in measurements ranging from 6" all the way up to 36", with the finished quilt measuring 84" x 96".  (The Fig Tree version is now sold out, but there are kits for the original version at several online retailers. You can also buy just the pattern and use your own fabric. Just do a search for Moda Modern Building Blocks.)

I never thought that I'd make a 36" square block out of a bunch of oddly sized triangles and actually like it. Yes, a square yard!

I was SO happy when this block turned out perfectly. I didn't know if I could do it! There are also four 6" blocks to be made this month. I've done two of them already.

The 6" blocks remind me of the Farmer's Wife blocks. And the construction method is similar. The Moda pattern provides cutting directions and a diagram showing how the pieces of each block fit together. It does not include instructions on how to construct or press the blocks, so an understanding of block construction is needed. I'm making HSTs and flying geese units with my own method instead of cutting triangles wherever possible (I love using the Mini Fit To Be Geese ruler for absolutely perfect flying geese).

I might customize my quilt even further by substituting some of my Fig Tree stash for a few solids. You know... just to be different. 

I've seen that a few other quilters are planning to do two versions of this, one in solids and one in prints. I can be completely happy with just this one quilt. But I'm also dreaming about a second version in pastels and florals - for example, Lori Holt's upcoming Flower Patch collection would be perfect for this. Then I could gift one quilt and keep one for myself. But can I fit it all in to my schedule?! I'm going to be optimistic!

a week at the beach

I recently spent a week in Delray Beach, FL. I've had a few requests for photos, so here's what my week was like!

My team from work met for 2 1/2 days to plan the introduction of new luxury cosmetic and fragrance products for 2015. It also gave us a chance to celebrate recent promotions and new hires within my group and to eat fancy dinners.

I was finally able to relax after our meetings wrapped and everybody else flew home. Then it was MY beach time!

Delray Beach is a 20 minute drive from West Palm Beach, and 25 minutes from Ft Lauderdale. My hotel was literally on the beach and perfectly situated amongst all the shops and restaurants. Many of the shops were closed for the season, but I did fall in love with Snappy Turtle. It's the perfect beachy preppy store - everything is pink and green and navy and monogrammed. Lots of zigzags, bright paisleys and whale prints. And of course it's right across the street from the Lilly Pulitzer shop. 

I ate so casually. Lots of conch fritters and ice cream.

My days consisted of breakfast, beach, lunch, pool, snack, beach, dinner, beach, pool. Repeat those steps for three days! 

I saw lots of quilty inspiration. Inspiration like sailboats and beach umbrellas.

Big fancy houses on the beach. Wouldn't these pastel house hues be pretty combined into a quilt with blues, aquas and sands?

It was the most blissful time imaginable. It's not often that New Yorkers just stop all activity and do nothing. Well, I need to do that more often. 

In fact, I was too relaxed to even work on my hand-quilting project that I brought! It's time to get this pillow finished. It's made of Fig Tree's California Girl, from a pattern by Happy Zombie. I pieced this two years ago, but isn't it interesting how it really reflects the colors of my Florida trip?

I'm grateful that I had a break, but I'm glad to be home in my own bed, too. I need to close my eyes and remember the feeling of being on the beach, alone, whenever I feel stressed. 

I will be back very soon with a whole NEW quilting project. I'm so excited about the first block that I just pieced and I can't wait to share it with you!

I leave you today with something that greeted me on the beach one morning. The beach was deserted. Just me and this... um, creature. 

some assembly required

All twelve Jumping Jacks blocks are done! 

Here they are - a dozen Union Jack quilt blocks are ready to be assembled! This is the very first time that they've been lined up! I made each block by pulling my favorite fabric combinations, hoping that they would all work together. I'm super happy with the result. 

Have I already mentioned 5 times that these blocks are fun to sew? And that I love them all?

Now it's time to audition sashing fabric. I think that these Tanya Whelan floral prints will play nicely with a pink dot on cream background from the Pam Kitty Picnic collection. I'm considering white floral sashing posts from one fabric to help unify the blocks. And I've reserved a pretty paisley print for the border, in either white or aqua.

Now I'm just gonna sit back and look at the blocks for awhile!

still jumping

I've had a jolly productive week! Five new Jumping Jacks blocks!

I'm having a great time with the Jumping Jacks quilt along. I can now make the whole block without looking at the pattern. I've been listening to British 80's new wave radio on iTunes while sewing. I've imagined the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) rolling her eyes at my quilt and tossing off one of her icy barbs. How long do we need to wait for the next season of Downton Abbey?!

The most creatively challenging part is coming up with each fabric combination. I am so loving using these Tanya Whelan prints. I think that they bring the perfect, almost-but-not-quite-shabby look to the blocks. And here's where I get weird. You know me and my over-analysis! I love the dots, but I can't let the dots take over the quilt. I really wanted to incorporate striped stripes and plaid stripes, but I needed to figure out how to cut them. Does anybody else overthink their fabric combos?!  And then that little voice in my head tells me to just DO IT. 

And the blocks that I thought wouldn't work ended up becoming my favorites. How did that happen? I'm really surprised by how much I like the huge cabbage rose blocks.

I've got just three more blocks to make! My fabric combos are sitting on my cutting mat. There might even be a red, white and blue flag in the works!

It's been fun sewing along with the group on Instagram. You can check out what everyone has been creating by searching for #jumpingjacksqal. And I'm @greydogwoodstudio.

Breaking news! Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts has just released a MINI version of this quilt pattern! It's available here, along with the original, full-size pattern that I'm using.

Happy weekend, everybody! Hope you have something fun planned!

jumping along

I'm back from my short break! And I'm back to the Jumping Jacks quilt along!

Last week I needed to take a short break from sewing because of work responsibilities. My team met in Delray Beach, FL to begin strategizing about 2015. After the conference ended and everybody flew home, I spent the next few days on the beach. Just me and the sand and the waves. It was blissful. No work, no sewing machine. I was very inspired by the colors, scents and sounds of the beach, and I continually thought about how to capture the experience in a quilt. I'll have some pics of my trip in a few days  - yeah, there I was in the ocean with my Nikon camera.

And by Saturday night I was home and got right back into the Jumping Jacks quilt along!

I've added two new Union Jack flags for my quilt, using a pattern called Jumping Jacks by Fig Tree Quilts. This playful re-interpretation of the Union Jack isn't too literal, but hopefully, it's still respectful of the amazing history and culture of the United Kingdom. I love how easily each block comes together. Tanya Whelan's fabrics sure do make this easy!

After doing three blocks with polka dot center stripes, I wanted to try something new - a heart print stripe! My next block will have a "striped" stripe.

The Jumping Jacks quilt along is currently in progress on Instagram and was started by Joanna Figueroa. Anybody can join, although you'll need a copy of the pattern. Just upload your images using #jumpingjacksqal.