Project Quilting - The Road Trip Quilt

Here's my entry for challenge #2 in Project Quilting. I really had a hard time coming up with an idea for this one most likely because I haven't really taken any road trips. I like to fly instead of drive ;) However, I do spend  quite a bit of time in the car driving to see patients who might live anywhere from 15 mins to 1 1/2 hours away from me. If my visits fall on a weekend day, Chuck will drive with me and I can ride shot gun and do some handwork. So, here's the idea behind this quilt. I've wanted a quilt for the car and this one will serve two purposes. 1.) Car Quilt. 2) The white squares, which feature SunBonnet Sue and Sam, all will be hand-quilted with red thread. This should keep me busy for quite some time as there are 28 six inch squares on this quilt. Perfect busy work for short road trips! This quilt measures 60"x 50" and was made in Elgin, IL but will travel often.

June 6

Judges Avg. Score: 6.1.......not so good, but I kinda expected that as I just wasn't into this weeks challenge. I do like my new quilt, tho ;)

Kid Art

What do you want on your burger? Gracie wants a smiling fish and some carrots...YUM!

Elizabeth Blackwell AKA Grace

Grace had to choose a character from the past and then emulate them, do a three minute speech and also a report. Friends and family could then come and see them so their speech. Grace, of course, did an awesome job! So proud of you, girl!

Happy Birthday,Cowboy!

My 'little brother', Bart, turned 45 yesterday. Big sis forgot to blog it. Good thing mom remembered his birthday was today. (it really was yesterday) Happy Birthday, Barty Boy!!! Hope it was grand and that you went out and CELEBRATED yourself!

The newest challenge - Project Quilting - I'm a dim bulb.

So, I'm totally bummed 'cause its Tuesday and I can't come up with ANYTHING creative for the new PQ challenge. Here are the instructions for this week:

1. The theme is Road Trip. I'm sure you've all been on one, so pull out your memories and see where they take you.

2. You must use at least 12 different fabrics on the front of your quilt.

3. POST your entries with a description of your creative process, including where you are (ie, I create in Madison, WI) by Sunday, May 30, at noon.

 

Anyone have any bright ideas?

I won!

A Big THANK YOU to everyone I coerced into voteing for me! I campaigned hard and won the public vote by a slim margin of 4....but a W is a W! I had a lot of fun with this challenge and am looking forward to what will be posted on Kim's blog tomorrow at noon. Go check out all the other winners...there were so many great entries.

Project Quilting - The Judges Weigh In - There's still time to vote!!!

So, here's what the judges had to say about my quilted scrapbook:

Judge 1: Nice to see a very unique idea. 7.5

Judge 2: What a great idea. This turned out beautiful. 8
Judge 3: Being a scrapbooker myself, I especially appreciated your melding of these two art forms. I’m so glad you did a blog post so that I could see the other pages close-up. The quilting is wonderful, and the scrapbook elements work so well with the fabric. What a great heirloom for your family! 7.75


Average Score: 7.75

Not too bad. I'm interested in knowing how the other 17 contestants scored. There's still time to vote and its turning into a close race between me and a few other gals, so get over there and VOTE if you haven't already! Here's the link : Kim's Crafty Apple.

For all of you who did vote for me.....THANKS!!!

Project Quilting - Vote for Meeeeeee....PPPllleeeaassssseeee.Thank You.

The voting has started over at Kim's Crafty Apple. Check out the details of all the entries on Flicker. 18 quilters participated in last weeks challenge and there are a lot of really cool entries. I especially like the kite and the binder cover but they are all pretty great.

Worlds collide - - Quilting meets scrapbooking.

I'm sure you all have been wondering where I've been this week....well at least my mom has ....my other blog reader....Aunt Kath, knew where I was ;) Project Quilting, of course! There was NO time this week to squeeze anything else in. We got the challenge on Sunday (my last post) and it took me a day or two to figure out what I was going to do. Once I had it figured out, life got in the way...as usual. 2 babies, postpartum visits, 6 hour neonatal Resuscitation (NRP) exam on-line, 9 hour NRP practical yesterday...sheesh...I'm never this busy! In between all of that I worked on my project.....I even stayed up really late (9p) a few nights and got up really early (4a) to work on it. It was an absolute joy! I forgot how much I enjoyed scrapbooking. By the end of the week, my craft room was (and is) torn to pieces. It's a complete disaster area!Anyway, here's what I made this week. I think it turned out great. I just posted it on Flicker, so go check out the other entries.

I started with some Amy Butler fat 1/4's (that I've had for a long time and didn't know what to do with), some matching solids, a 1/2 yd cut of cream fabric, and a 1/2 yd of light green fabric. I used almost all the 3 by 5's but not all the 1/2 yard cuts.

I then made 4 tiny 'quilts'. The front and back cover measure 8 1/2 by 7 inches and the inside pages measure 6 by 71/2 inches. I considered binding the pages, but it seemed to add too much bulk so I zig-zagged around the edges instead.

I had a lot of fun with this project...I really like how it turned out. I was going to do a 'sister' page, but instead Sophie ended up in the book...sorry, girls...ur on the cutting room floor. Oh, and one more thing this week...it poured rain on Thursday morn and we had some seepage in the basement. Lake Garcia next door was full up. Scroll down for pics.

More pics of Project Quilting Project

The Island at Lake Garcia

Why am I smiling? This is NOT good!

Really?Can't someone do something about this?!?

Project Quilting - Season One - Challenge One

Well, the first season of Project Quilting is under way. I have no idea what I'm going to make yet, but here are the instructions:

1. Cut 50 3" x 5" rectangles. You may use less rectangles, but no more. They may be from all one fabric or 50 different fabrics or anywhere in between.
2. Each rectangle can be manipulated in any way you choose...cut them, sew them, throw parts of them away, but you need to start with these rectangles.

3. You may add up to 2 half-yard cuts of fabric to your project. These may be used however you wish, but

no other fabrics may be used to complete the front, back and binding of your quilt.

Go to Kim's blog and sign up for the challenge! It'll be fun!

Happy Mother's Day!

Run, Stella, Run!

Gracie ran in her first 5K today and came in at just over 30 minutes. You Go Girl!!!

BTW...Stella has been my pet name for her since she was a baby.

Project Quilting - The judges score my work.

So the verdict is in from the judges. I rec'd this via email. On a scale of 1-10, here are the results:

Judge 1:
I’m impressed by the sheer amount of thought and planning that went into this, yet it still looks so free and natural. I love that shade of blue as a backdrop and the speckled, thread-painted brown. How neat! The idea of looking at it through the bias-tape window frame is a great idea, and the silk flowers are a nice finishing touch. 6

Judge 2: I think your minimalist approach works wonderfully. Great quilting. Silk blossoms add nice 3D effect. 7

Judge 3: I love your idea and use of different techniques. I would like to see your tree branches with a few more blooms. It’s a great idea, but looks a little short on flowers. 7.5

AVERAGE: 6.83

So fun! Not too bad for my first try. Getting critiqued was really fun....especially all the yummy praise. Judge 3 commented that the piece needing more flowers. I really struggled with that and in the end decided to go with the less is more approach. Looking forward to the other contestant scores and to the new challenge on Sunday!

Project Quilting

It's time to vote for your favorite submission over at Kim's blog. There are 13 entries and are they awesome. This challenge was alot of fun. Kim has decided to turn this challenge into a 'season' of 8 challenges over the next several months. Why not jump in....auntie?....anyone else?Altho there's already been 2 challenges, the 'season' will start next Sunday. Fun Times!

1/2 Marathon!

No, not me......Amy and Kenny! This was Amy's 2nd 1/2 marathon and Kenny's first. They both finished in just over 2 hours. OMG...who the heck would want to run for 2 hours?!? They did, I guess, along with 1000 other folks. The kids and I surprised them at the finish line with cheers, balloons and flowers. Good job, you guys!

Project Quilting

I'm a HUGE fan of Project Runway, and recently a woman in my new quilting guild told me about this challenge called Project Quilting. I was so excited when I heard about it, I just had to jump into this week's challenge. The blog which is hosting the event is called Kim's Crafty Apple.

The inspiration for this weeks challenge was apple blossoms. Kim posted some pics her sister took on her blog to get us started. I used her pic (on the bottom) as well as the pic (on the top) for inspiration.

Here is my entry for this weeks challenge.

I decided to go the minimalist route. I started with a fat of dappled blue fabric and stippled it using a thin batting. I then tore strips of brown fabric and thread painted them to give the branches some texture. I used bias tape for the window frame and also thread painted for texture. The flowers are from my stash of silk flowers and are also made from fabric. I embellished the flowers with beads and buttons. All supplies came from my stash except for the bias tape.Total spent: $2.88. This quilt is aprox. 20 by 20 inches.This was a really fun project and I look forward to the next one! Go to Flicker to see some of the other entries. Starting Monday, you can go to Kim's site and vote for your favorite!