A new obsession: pillow cases (and a link party)

Back in productive mode, with a new obsession...

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Play with Me QAL - June block ready and QAYG assembly started!
2. WGACA projects (changed projects)
1. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - three pillow cases done (+ 4 labels) (see below)!!
2. SECRET quilt for exhibit - (FDJ) 2 more blocks done (cannot share)
3. Minion QAL - Girl Minion done (see below)
3. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
4. Hello Block Swap - received May blocks! (see below)
5. American Quilt (previous known as Americana QAL) - shipped to the quilter!
6. Splendid Sampler - no progress
7. Challenge quilt - I change the challenge I will probably join... but still considering
8. Road Home Row-A-Long - no progress

The EverythingElse List:

1. 70273 Project - heard back... will make few more blocks
2. Jane T - no progress
3. The SK project - no progress
4. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
5. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
6. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
7. As You Wish -  no progress
8. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
9. Memory quilt 2 - no progress
10. Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL - no progress

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I am working on charity quilts to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 
I decided to make a matching pillow case for each quilt.

3 new hot dog pillow cases: tutorial by Jennifer @ sewhooked

The tutorial is sooooooooo easy and fast... that I couldn't stop to one pillow case per quilt... I am making some extras because they are so fun!
I have seen this tutorial and pillow cases a lot, but I've always thought: "well, it's just a pillow case, I have pillow cases so I don't need more"... well... I realized that store bought pillow cases are just boring and now I want to turn my entire stash into pillowcases for me!! :) :) I won't do it, but expect to see some fun Tula and other colorful pillow cases for me here in the next future! :) :)

I also embroidered four labels so that they are ready to be added to the quilts after quilting!! :)

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The other only thing I can share is another Minion

Girl Minion by Jennifer Rowles

I also designed my final quilt. I will have some alternative blocks and a different overall design... stay tuned for more.

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And finally I received the two blocks from my Hello Block Swap partners (Amy and Audrey).

Aren't they amazing?!?!?

My dresden and log cabin patterns available on this page

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How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Uninspired but moving on (and a link party)

I kind of lost my sewing mojo this week... but I try to keep going because it will come back eventually!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Play with Me QAL - June block pattern almost ready!
2. WGACA projects (changed projects)
1. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - one quilt done (see below)!!
2. SECRET quilt for exhibit - (FDJ) maybe will drop this
3. Minion QAL - Vampire Minion (Minion block) one block done (see below)
3. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
4. Hello Block Swap - waiting for June
5. American Quilt (previous known as Americana QAL) - shipped to the quilter!
6. Splendid Sampler - no progress
7. Challenge quilt - I change the challenge I will probably join... but still considering
8. Road Home Row-A-Long - no progress

The EverythingElse List:

1. 70273 Project - waiting to hear about the blocks sent before making more
2. Jane T - no progress
3. The SK project - no progress
4. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
5. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
6. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
7. As You Wish -  no progress
8. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
9. Memory quilt 2 - no progress
10. Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL - no progress

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I am working on charity quilts to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 
I finally convinced myself to sit and do some FMQ on this quilt!

Dimensions: 60'' x 40''

I just decided to do some medium meander, some weird flowery things in the center and then I tried to do something different on the stars... that part is not great :) but I finally fully understand why I don't like quilting!
1. I love working with busy fabric... and that means that the quilting is hardly visible so I struggle a lot understanding what I am doing and at the end the quilting is not much visible anyway so why bother to struggle? :)
2. I don't like the continuos sound of the sewing machine! I love to piece, but I like the short burst of sewing followed by the silence of cutting that paper piecing requires. I don't even like chain piecing! My brain just goes into anxiety mode if I hear that sound for more than 15 seconds apparently :) 

Well, I guess I will have to find ways to enjoy it anyway and I think that using the walking foot (and stopping a lot) or doing all over meander that are very unstructured could help me with these issues.

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The other only thing I convinced myself to stitch is another Minion

Vampire Minion by Jennifer Rowles

These blocks are sooooo fun to make!! The next one is half done so I should have it by next week.

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How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

What a week! (and a link party)

Crazy week at work, and I have been working on secret projects, but what a week with the hop!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Play with Me QAL - May block shared and blocks are shared in the group!
2. WGACA projects (changed projects)
1. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - basted the next quilt, ready for some FMQ!
2. SECRET quilt for exhibit - (FDJ) 3 blocks done (cannot share)
3. Minion QAL - Vampire Minion (Minion block) almost done
3. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
4. Hello Block Swap - both blocks done (see below)!
5. American Quilt (previous known as Americana QAL) - ready to be shipped to the quilter!
6. Splendid Sampler - no progress
7. Challenge quilt - I change the challenge I will probably join... but still considering
8. Road Home Row-A-Long - finished my row (cannot share)

The EverythingElse List:

1. 70273 Project - waiting to hear about the blocks sent before making more
2. Jane T - no progress
3. The SK project - no progress
4. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
5. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
6. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
7. As You Wish -  no progress
8. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
9. Memory quilt 2 - no progress
10. Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL - no progress

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I am working on charity quilts to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 
This weeks very little progress... because I have at least 3 tops ready to be quilted... and I don't like that step... oh, well, I just have to set my mind to it and it will get done! 
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Have you heard about Ello? It is basically Instagram without ads, no weird algorithm to show you only what they want you to see, no selling data, and it is for creative artists! :)

I never joined IG because I felt the goal was more about "showing off" than focusing on creativity, so even if I know there is a good quilting community there (which is creative and inspiring) I never felt it was the right place for me. Ello sounds much more fun!

It is a relatively new platform, so it has some issues (not too fast because it is still in beta but it's getting better, the signup is easy but if you don't pay attention the default groups that you are "following" may not be the ones you want, etc). If you want to join, it is free and there is a fast-growing quilting community. For helpful tips and finding your quilting tribe, you can read what the coordinator of the account @elloquilt says!

My handle is @alida-tweloq and to bring the community together I decided to coordinate a Block Swap!

You don't need to have an Ello account to join! Just fill this form http://goo.gl/forms/upr4FSDW6x to leave me your contact if you are interested. I am still collecting general info to see who is interested in what. I highly recommend to have an account, as I plan to post reminders, pictures of blocks, etc over there!

For May I had two partners because the group had an odd number of participants... so these are the two block I made for them.

Quatrefoil (12''x12'')

Churn dash

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And last, but not least... Have you seen the amazing art pieces shared this week on the Art with Fabric blog hop? If not you HAVE to click the links and check them out. Wonderful stories, great tips and tutorials that will inspire you to try these kind of project yourself, even if you are not an art quilter (as many of us in the hop were NOT art quilter).

Blog hop Day 1

Blog hop Day 2

Blog hop Day 3

Blog hop Day 4

Blog hop Day 5

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How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Art with Fabric Blog Hop - Day 5

Every quilted project is a unique piece of art, full of love, creativity and inspiration.

However, have you ever thought about how "traditional" art could be reinterpreted in a quilted piece?
(by "traditional" I mean anything that a non-quilter will label as art, like paintings, drawings, sculptures, architecture from all countries and all time periods).

To explore the endless possibilities of art-inspired quilted pieces I decided to organize this Blog Hop!
I invited some of my blogging quilty friends and we are going to present our unique pieces, and today is DAY 5.

Here are the latest masterpieces!

"Afternoon Sun on the Lake" by Carol Inspired by the work of Lawren Harris (quiltedfabricart.blogspot.com) ---	"There is No Blue Without Yellow" by Jennifer Inspired by the work of Vincent Van Gogh (inquiringquilter.com) ---
by Nina-Marie Inspired by the work of Claude Monet (ninamariesayre.blogspot.com)	"Betty Bloom" by Joan Inspired by the work of Max Fleischer (moosestashquilting.blogspot.com)

Make sure to click on each picture and visit the blogs because these wonderful artists shared their story, inspiration and useful tips that can help you create your own beautiful art pieces!

Art with Fabric Blog Hop - Day 4

Every quilted project is a unique piece of art, full of love, creativity and inspiration.

However, have you ever thought about how "traditional" art could be reinterpreted in a quilted piece?
(by "traditional" I mean anything that a non-quilter will label as art, like paintings, drawings, sculptures, architecture from all countries and all time periods).

To explore the endless possibilities of art-inspired quilted pieces I decided to organize this Blog Hop!
I invited some of my blogging quilty friends and we are going to present our unique pieces.

Today is DAY 4 and the beautiful pieces presented are:

"Cynthia's Garden" by Cynthia Inspired by the work of Vincent Van Gogh (cynthiasark.blogspot.com.au) ---	"Woodlands" by Janeen Inspired by the work of Charlie Harper (quiltartdesigns.blogspot.com) ---
by Wendy Inspired by the work of Grant Wood (www.kwiltkrazy.com)	"Nile Delta Flowers" by Afton Inspired by the work of ancient Egyptian artist (quiltingmod.blogspot.com)

Make sure to click on each picture and visit the blogs because these wonderful artists shared their story, inspiration and useful tips that can help you create your own beautiful art pieces!

Art with Fabric Blog Hop - Day 3

Every quilted project is a unique piece of art, full of love, creativity and inspiration.

However, have you ever thought about how "traditional" art could be reinterpreted in a quilted piece?
(by "traditional" I mean anything that a non-quilter will label as art, like paintings, drawings, sculptures, architecture from all countries and all time periods).

To explore the endless possibilities of art-inspired quilted pieces I decided to organize this Blog Hop!
I invited some of my blogging quilty friends and we are going to present our unique pieces.

Today is DAY 3 and we have some inspiring pieces!

"Sol Mates" by Alida Inspired by the work of Sol LeWitt (tweloquilting.blogspot.com) ---	by Yanicka Inspired by the work of Gustav Klimt (yanickahachez.blogspot.com) ---
"Man on Stool, Blue Field" by Heather Inspired by the work of Henri Matisse (heatherquilts.blogspot.com)	"Tango" by Sarah  Inspired by the work of Frederick Hammersley (georgiagirlquilts.blogspot.com)

Make sure to click on each picture and visit the blogs because these wonderful artists shared their story, inspiration and useful tips that can help you create your own beautiful art pieces!

Art with Fabric Blog Hop - Sol Mates

Sol Mates, by Alida

Dimensions: 40'' x 14'' (each)

Inspired by the work of Sol Lewitt

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LeWitt is regarded as a founder of both Minimal and Conceptual art. His prolific two and three-dimensional work ranges from wall drawings (over 1200 of which have been executed) to hundreds of works on paper extending to structures in the form of towers, pyramids, geometric forms, and progressions. More on LeWitt, links at stories can be found on this Wiki page.

You HAVE to watch the amazing timelapse video of the artists painting "Sol LeWitt at the Met - Wall Drawing #370, Installation: Days 15-17" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OJ36NbGU2c.

If you want to hear more about his approach to art and how amazing artists put together his conceptual work (which is the text instructions on how the piece should look like) listen to the stories in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tpi5OBv6ZMU.

"The artist and the draftsman become collaborators in making the art" -Sol LeWitt.

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Now about me :)

If you ask me what kind of art/paitings I do NOT like I would say something modern, simple, minimalist... something with few colors...

If you ask me what kind of fabric I absolutely do NOT like to work with I would say solids... and white in general...

That's why I was super surprised when I first looked at one of LeWitt wall drawings (the X) and I instinctively thought "I NEED to make that into a quilt" :)

That's what I LOVE about art... sometimes a piece moves you so strongly and so deeply that it goes against all the "rational" likes/dislikes that you have always had. 

So while I knew that I wanted to reproduce the X painting, I also knew that I had to put my spins to it. 

First of all I decided to make just half of it, and then I decided to add a pop of color (purple).

I made that half and then I start starring at it and I kept thinking "I really like it, but something is missing". 

Of course the other half was missing :) and that's when I decided to make the other half and the name "Sol Mates" came in the picture. Because the first half represents me (my favorite color is purple) and the other half represent my significant other (his favorite color is blue). 

And if you look closely the finished piece you would notice that it is covered in cat hair :) so here you have it, the entire family in one quilted piece of art :)

The two halves are complementary in the quilting (quilted in opposite sections) and the quilting is not perfect... because we are not perfect (and we don't want to be... in yesterday's post by Yvonne I learned about  Wabi-Sabi irregularities, so that's what these imperfections are!)

Detail on the quilting.

The two halves are quilted in complementary ways: straight quilting on the white sections of the X (and black sections on the background) for the blue half, quilting on the black sections X (and white sections on the background) for the purple half.

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Some lessons and other information about this piece:

• There was a lot of drafting and measuring in Inkscape, but the design is super simple as it's just HST and rectangles that finish 1.5'' wide;
• I used facing as a binding method. I follow more or less this tutorial. I find that this technique is perfect for these kind of art pieces, as a binding would distract from the main piece. Plus if you don't close the sides of the top piece, you have a free hanging sleeve :)
• I basted the piece with Elmer School Glue (washable) following this tutorial. I really like this technique and I only glued the black parts because I didn't want to risk seeing it on the white. I know that it will wash away, but I am not sure I want to wash this piece yet. The glue does not interfere with the quilting and it leaves a "stiff" kind of feeling which is good for a wall hanging. And I don't stub myself while quilting, so I would say that's a win win situation!
• I still highly dislike solids. I can work with them for small projects but I get so bored while sewing with solids! I don't know, it's just how my brain works... I need to see "things" on my fabric to be engaged :)
• I didn't experience the terrible fraying of Kona in this project... but I had an horror story few days later on a different piece, so I don't see myself using Kona solids any time in my future.

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And now go and check out all the other participants in the hop!

Yanicka (http://yanickahachez.blogspot.com/)

Heather (http://www.heatherquilts.blogspot.com/)

Sarah (http://georgiagirlquilts.blogspot.com/)

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P.S. Kevin (the Minion) is shown in the first picture, because he is too cute, so I had to include him. The pattern for the Minion block is by Jennifer Rowles and it's available on Fandom in Stitches.

Art with Fabric Blog Hop - Day 2

Every quilted project is a unique piece of art, full of love, creativity and inspiration.

However, have you ever thought about how "traditional" art could be reinterpreted in a quilted piece?
(by "traditional" I mean anything that a non-quilter will label as art, like paintings, drawings, sculptures, architecture from all countries and all time periods).

To explore the endless possibilities of art-inspired quilted pieces I decided to organize this Blog Hop!
I invited some of my blogging quilty friends and we are going to present our unique pieces.

Today is DAY 2. Aren't these pieces just amazingly inspiring?!

"The Kiss" by Kathy Inspired by the work of Gustav Klimt (qreativequilts.blogspot.com) ---	"The Humans are Dead" by Yvonne Inspired by the work of Josef Albers (quiltingjetgirl.com) ---
"Starry Scary Night" by Chris  Inspired by the work of Van Gogh (chrissquiltinguniverse.blogspot.com)	"Crowing in the Moonlit Garden" by DeAnna Inspired by the work of Henri Rousseau (southernbellessewcreative.blogspot.com)

Make sure to click on each picture and visit the blogs because these wonderful artists shared their story, inspiration and useful tips that can help you create your own beautiful art pieces!

Art with Fabric Blog Hop - Day 1

Every quilted project is a unique piece of art, full of love, creativity and inspiration.

However, have you ever thought about how "traditional" art could be reinterpreted in a quilted piece?
(by "traditional" I mean anything that a non-quilter will label as art, like paintings, drawings, sculptures, architecture from all countries and all time periods).

To explore the endless possibilities of art-inspired quilted pieces I decided to organize this Blog Hop!
I invited some of my blogging quilty friends and we are going to present our unique pieces.

DAY 1. Here are today's amazing pieces!

"The pitcher and the knives" by Maartje Inspired by the work of Henri Matisse (quiltinginamsterdam.blogspot.com) ---	"Poodle at Daybreak" by Lee Anna  Inspired by the work of Maxfield Parrish (lapaylor.blogspot.com) ---
"Sheila - Study in Primary Colours or Light at the end of the Tunnel" by Andrée  Inspired by the work of Sheila Langlois (quiltinglearningcombo.blogspot.com)	"Starry Night Over the Rhone, Thread Painting" by Renee  Inspired by the work of Vincent Van Gogh (www.quiltsofafeather.com)

Make sure to click on each picture and visit the blogs because these wonderful artists shared their story, inspiration and useful tips that can help you create your own beautiful art pieces!

Art with Fabric Blog Hop - DAY 0

Every quilted project is a unique piece of art, full of love, creativity and inspiration.

However, have you ever thought about how "traditional" art could be reinterpreted in a quilted piece?
(by "traditional" I mean anything that a non-quilter will label as art, like paintings, drawings, sculptures, architecture from all countries and all time periods).

To explore the endless possibilities of art-inspired quilted pieces I decided to organize this Blog Hop!
I invited some of my blogging quilty friends and we are going to present our unique pieces,
THE HOP IS STARTING TOMORROW!!!!

To get you in the mood for artsy quilty pieces, let me collect all the recent mini's that I made inspired by famous paintings. By clicking the link you can read the story and inspiration behind each piece.

I also have a new piece, but I will share that on Day 3 of the blog hop!

"Konfettinsky" by Alida Inspired by the work of Wassily Kandinsky (read the story at this link) ---	"Cut out for the seasons" by Alida  Inspired by the work of Henri Matisse (read the story at this link) ---
"Modern Yellow" by Alida Inspired by the work of Joseph Albers (read the story at this link)	"Vacation from reality" by Alida Inspired by the work of Salvador Dali (read the story at this link)

I hope this blog hop inspires you. If you have some art inspired quilts, please don't hesitate to put the link in the comments below! We would love to see your work!!!