April's Lovely Finish- a Spring Challenge Pillow

Here's what I made from those made fabrics that I shared a couple weeks ago.  It's my Lovely Finish for April.

This 14 inch pillow is also my response to the Spring Challenge for the 15 Minutes of Play blog.  The requirements of the challenge were to begin with the sketch below and change one thing about it and to use some made fabric.

Because the line drawing was so similar to the Modern Clover block that Kate designed and I created the block pattern for the April 2011 Block Lotto, I initially thought to use that block because it would fulfill the requirement of changing one thing.

You can see the beautiful quilt Kate made from the lotto blocks she won that month in the Block Lotto Gallery on this page: Modern Clovers - A Finished Quilt.

Then I started asking myself those what if? questions and pulled out a compass to turn all the straight lines in Victoria's drawing to curves: A circle instead of a square for the bloom, a curvy stem and symmetrical leaves with pointy ends.  (You might have to squint or enlarge the image to see my penciled design).

I had become a fan of Dale Fleming's technique for sewing inset circles when I tried it for the first time a couple months ago to make the February Bead-on-a-String blocks for the block lotto, that I thought of it as a way to sew this block ... but I wondered if it would work when the fabrics involved were made fabrics and had lots of layers and seams in them. I also had never inset anything with points, like the leaf shapes.

If you google Dale Fleming 6-minute circle, you'll find links to Dale demonstrating her technique on Simply Quilts (on the HGTV website) and a longer version (with other shapes and examples on The Quilt Show (membership may be required).  You'll also find others sharing their experience–clearly I am not the only one who has become a fan.

You can see in my sketch, and in the finished pillow, that the circle bloom overlaps the leaves. I decided that the bloom would be "in front" of the leaves and so, I would need to inset the leaves, then inset the circle into the piece.  I created two templates (from freezer paper) and made them 14 1/2 inches square, the same size as large as the background, to help me keep the individual elements aligned.

Here are the in-progress photos I took of the process.

The individual photos (and more) are in my Flickr album: Spring 2014 Challenge.  You can also flip through them using the arrows on the photo at the bottom of this post.

I wasn't sure that my sewing machine was going to like sewing through the many layers of made fabric and the glue that holds everything together, especially at the bottom of the circle, where I was sewing the circle into the leaf/background seams.

It worked beautifully, the first time, with no ripping or re-sewing. I was amazed.

The last photo in the mosaic above shows the wrong side and how it all somehow worked.  

I added the curvy stem by hand appliqué of a bias strip, sewn into a 1/2 inch tube.

Since I wasn't entirely happy with the center of my string-pieced circle, I also added three circles by hand appliqué using a US dime as my template to cut and prepare the circles.

Since I knew it was going to become a pillow, I used a plain muslin fabric for the back ... which makes it easy to see the good, bad and the ugliness of my quickie free motion quilting.

I outlined the pieced and appliquéd shapes, quilted the background with a free motion fill design–similar to Leah Day's Bed of Roses, though mine actually feel more like fried egg flowers with spiral centers–and added veins to the leaf shapes. There's an extra layer of batting behind the circle bloom.

After it was quilted, I turned it into a pillow by added a plain fabric lapped back and binding the edges.

And then,  after a weekend of gray rainy days, it was ready for it's day in the morning sun.

In my case, April Showers bring progress to quilting projects :-)

Sometimes a little play and a small challenge piece can spark a new idea ... and this experience was no different ... I can't wait to see if my new idea works.

I'll be linking to the Finishes party for A Lovely Finish when it's published later this month.  This is also a NewFO finish for me in April.   If only the rest of my life was going so well and ahead of schedule ...

Spring Challenge - Work-in-Progress

Here's where I started, with an idea, a sketch and a bit of fabric made from (mostly) pink strings.

I haven't made a lot progress so far this month, but I've made some.

More "fabric" made from scraps: a big blue square and some green rectangles.

I think you can see where I'm headed with my simple idea ...

I'm joining the party for WIP Wednesday on Freshly Pieced and Esther's WOW (WIPs on Wednesday). on her blog.   Be sure to check out what others have in-progress and the beautiful, free,  Easter Rose table runner pattern Esther has designed. 

Spring Challenge - a Beginning and a Goal

My goal for April's Lovely Finish is to complete my project for Victoria's Spring Challenge on the 15 Minutes of Play blog.

I have a start: a sketched idea and a circular piece of fabric made from skinny pink scraps–leftovers from the heart pins that I just couldn't toss ... it's a sickness.

Words, Challenges and Resolutions

I confess that I'm not one for making resolutions or long lists and schedules of quilt projects.  That's not to say I don't think about the quilts I'd like to finish (or start). Or that I don't take the opportunity each year to reflect, look back and forward.

I do like the practice of choosing a word, a touchstone that reflects intention. On the 15 Minutes of Play blog, we're making little quilts to express that word.  This is the one I made yesterday.

I recently received a spool of some shiny Madeira rayon thread from Frieda Anderson as part of a giveaway on her site.  Thanks again, Frieda!  It seemed the perfect choice for the spirals, petals and loopy squiggles I doodled over the pink background of made fabric. I then added some white leafy vines in the black and white fabrics.

Look closely and you might see my first failed attempt at piecing "dare" which was later added as part of the background.  That's why I called this little 15 inch square quilt, Double Dare.

Why dare?  The free dictionary website provides this definition:

dare (dɛə)

vb

1. (tr) to challenge (a person to do something) as proof of courage

2. (can take an infinitive with or without to) to be courageous enough to try (to do something): she dares to dress differently from the others; you wouldn't dare!.

3. (tr) to oppose without fear; defy

4. I dare say I daresay

a. (it is) quite possible (that)

b. probably: used as sentence substitute

n

5. a challenge to do something as proof of courage

6. something done in response to such a challenge

[Old English durran; related to Old High German turran to venture]

In some ways, I am still very much a quilting scaredy cat.  I hope this little quilt reminds me to challenge myself to be courageous in quilting and in life, to push myself to enter quilts in shows–something I have not yet done–and to put myself out there and face possible rejection in other ways. 

I asked the Block Lotto community to blog about quilting goals.  This is my post for the link party there. 

I am also joining Leah's FMQ project link up. 

15 Minute Challenge

The challenge was to make a 15 minutes of play-style block using stripes, plaids and polka-dots.  Since a few red scraps were left, guess where I started?

 

. . . and guess what I discovered is lacking in my stash?  I think when I go to the Dallas show next month, I'll be looking to add some STRIPES to my stash ;-)