Slow and steady gift making (and a link party)

Steadly working on many projects.

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Hello Block Swap - paused until next month
2. The SK project - one more block done (see below)
3. Secret event (January 2017) - "coloring" completed, ready to start stitch!
4. Secret event (February 2017) - one more block read (cannot share yet)
5. Secret event (August 2017) - no progress
6. Secret event (Jan-Nov 2017)  - worked more on the design!!
7. Xmas decorations - 4 more done (see below)
8. Crochet flowers - 4 completed (see below)
9. Bullet Journaling - working on this every day!
   Waiting to migrate into my Quilter's Planner (it should be here next week... I plan to use it as a "blank canvas", as I am not really into fixed weekly spreads any more) :)
10. Various bags and pouches - one done! (see below)
11. En Provence (Bonnie Hunter's mystery QAL) - as usual, I plan to follow along with a smaller version. I love purple so I think this year it will be fun!

The EverythingElse List:

1. Splendid Sampler - no progress
2. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - no progress
3. Summer Solstice QAL - no progress
4. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
5. 70273 Project - no progress
6. Jane T - no progress
7. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
8. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
9. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
10. As You Wish -  no progress
11. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
12. Memory quilt 2 - no progress
13. Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL - no progress

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Let me start with the Teal mini swap organized by Beth every year.
This is what I receveid by my wonderful partner Allene

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Patty (elmstreetquilts) is hosting a fun event (Bag It) to encourage people to share any bag they make for chances to win great prizes and to inspire each other (Bag it, entry page)!!

I have few bag presents on my list for Xmas so I thought to start it early. 

This week I wanted to make a little pencil pouch.

My sewing helper wanted to make sure I used the cat fabric as appropriate :)

Pencil case pattern and tutorial

The pattern is very easy and the only thing I would change is to add a tab on both sides. The second tab is my usual ribbon, but next time I will stitch it within the body of the pouch like the other one, instead of hand stitching it at the end!

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Working on Xmas presents, I made these crochet flowers for my mom. She makes some compositions and she can always use some extra flowers. I am using only the cotton I have on hand, so the colors are kind of limited, but that's better than nothing!! :)

And speaking about Xmas, I made few more cross stitch decorations to include in holiday cards

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Another book cover for my Stephen King collection is ready!

The pattern will be on Fandom in Stitches eventually... if you need it sooner, just send me an email :)

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Last, but not least, a very simple and needed object: I had a twist turban towel for about 5 years and I loved it!! It is now in very very very bad conditions :) however all the ones that I found online and in stores now are the terrible microfiber material that feels horrible on my hair!! This is why my original one (made with classical towel material) has been used to death.

Now... I have been spending so much time and energy trying to find an alternative... why??? it is such as simple shape and I can sew!!! Sometimes I try to convince myself that it would be a "waste" to cut up a perfectly good towel to do this... but seriously isn't it a waste to have many towels that I don't use anyway??? sometimes I am so stubborn :) it took me maybe 15 minutes to stitch up the orange new version!! 

I have enough towel left to make another one, but I want to test it first to understand if my version needs any improvement (like the orientation of the towel)

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How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Best Bag Ever (and a link party)

I have been in the mood of bag and 3D objects making... so satisfying to complete a project in few days and have it ready to use!!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - no progress
2. Summer Solstice QAL - no progress
3. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
4. Hello Block Swap - completed two blocks, received one (see below) 
5. Splendid Sampler - no progress
6. Secret event (January 2017) - "coloring" continuing
7. Secret event (February 2017) - no progress
8. Secret event (August 2017) - no progress
9. Secret event (Feb-Oct 2017)  - worked more on the design!!
10. Xmas decorations - no progress
11. Bullet Journaling - working on this every day!
12. Various bags and pouches - one done! (see below)
13. Tote bag - the most amazing bag ever, done! (see below)

The EverythingElse List:

1. 70273 Project - no progress
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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Let me start with the Hello block swap blocks for this month.
Since I am the hostess and we have an odd number of participants, I tend to have 2 partners every month.

These are the blocks I made for them.

July 2012 BOM, "Pixels" block and Bento Box pattern

And this is the block Vicki made for me!

PLEASE consider joining the swap!! It is so super easy, one block a month, that's it... it allow us to get to know new people, try fun blocks that we wouldn't make for ourselves, learn new things, and so much more!!

Find all the details on the Hello Block Swap page!!
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Patty (elmstreetquilts) is hosting a fun event (Bag It) to encourage people to share any bag they make for chances to win great prizes and to inspire each other (Bag it, entry page)!!

I have few bag presents on my list for Xmas so I thought to start it early. 

This week I needed a small "bag" to put some crochet flowers I will be making for my mom. She makes compositions with these flowers, so I want to help out, but sending just the flowers in a box didn't seem good. So I built my first lined drawstring bag!!!

I loosely followed that tutorial, but what I love about this simple bag is that you can make it any size, I didn't even measure the pieces, I just cut them to the same size and then followed the tutorial!!

Another fun thing about the bag is that I used a "Free Spirit" ribbon and a ribbon of label with the writing "Hand Made" to close it up! Such a perfect way to share these messages in an useful way!! :)

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I saved the best for last...

I saw this Cozy Nest Designs' Seat Belt Market Tote and I fell in love with the look.

Colors: Aubergine and Liliac, Size: Medium

I bought the pattern and a kit a while back but I was kind of scared about the material: I thought that seat belt webbing would be very hard to stitch... well... I think it is the easier material to sew that I have ever used!!!!! :) :) :)

It is way way way easier than the denim that I used last week for some pouches.

Plus Sarah's patterns are always so easy to follow, detailed and very very clear!! This is not the first bag I make from one of her patterns, and she includes so computer-generated line drawings that show you exactly what she means in her text. I am a quilter, so I don't have much experience (almost zero) with gusset, fully lined zipper pockets within the lining, etc... and I did a great job in my bag (I say it to myself).

Few more details: the colors are not that great in the picture because the weather is not cooperating :) however it is so luxurious and cool that my boyfriend told me that maybe I shouldn't use it every day because it may attract bad attentions because it looks super expensive and high end! :) :)

I choose purple and green as my color combination, and I added that little envelope mini pouch (bought somewhere, I don't remember where). That pouch has two purposes: 1) it is cute and it stores some contact info in case it gets lost;  2) as you can see in a picture above, I can slip it in one of the outside pocket and it keeps the ring down and prevents it from bouncing around. So cute and functional!! 

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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)

What a wonderful week! So many things to share!!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - no progress
2. Summer Solstice QAL - no progress
3. Minion QAL - COMPLETED! and in use (see below)
4. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
5. Hello Block Swap - cut up one of the blocks 
6. Splendid Sampler - no progress
7. Secret event (January 2017) - "coloring" started
8. Secret event (February 2017) - few more blocks done, but cannot share yet :)
9. Secret event (August 2017) - no progress
10. Secret event (Feb-Oct 2017)  - worked more on the design!!
11. Xmas decorations - completed four (see below)
12. Bullet Journaling - working on this every day!
13. Sew Together bag - two bags done! (see below)
14. Tote bag - almost done, more on this next week

The EverythingElse List:

1. 70273 Project - no progress
2. Jane T - no progress
3. The SK project - one block done (see below)
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

--
One little block, cover of a Stephen King book!
The pattern will be shared in Fandom in Stitches eventually, but if you want it, just leave me a comment with your contact info

The Waste Lands

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Patty (elmstreetquilts) is hosting a fun event (Bag It) to encourage people to share any bag they make for chances to win great prizes and to inspire each other (Bag it, entry page)!!

I have few bag presents on my list for Xmas so I thought to start it early. And since I think we should also make presents for ourselves, I decided to make 2 Sew Together Bags.

I used some denim fabric from a recent Quilty Box...

Lesson learned: never use denim fabric for this kind of project :)

The denim is easy to sew... in one layer... in two layers... in three layers... but folding on folds on folds (which happens on the sides of this bag) it is pretty insane :)

What I learned, however, is that if I move manually the needle of my machine, I can stitch a huge pile of layers without breaking the needle! Maybe some stitches are skipped, but if the seamline goes on, it is all good for me!

I made one bag all denim, one half denim half normal cotton. 

Both were challenging but fun in the end!! Now mine is full of my bullet journal supplies!! :)

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I completed four Xmas tree decorations. I will include these in Xmas cards that I send around so everyone will have a little handmade gift to keep. They are cross stitched with glow in the dark thread. And the little tab is a modafabric ribbon (the one wrapping bundles) :) I don't throw away anything here!! :)

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and FINALLY, I completed the quilting, added the binding (two colors binding, following Susan's tutorial). After washing it, the quilt is sooooo soft and scrunchy because I have high loft batting!!!

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Last, but not least, I was finally able to reveal my piece for the Art with Fabric Blog hop!

And the entire week, we had amazing artists sharing their pieces too!!

Check out the page of the event for links to each of these AMAZING quilts!!

It was a fantastic event, full of inspiration, tips, tricks, suggestions, and works of art that are very unconventional and unique.

While the presented pieces are exceptional, the running of the hop was not that smooth... it was stressful mainly because of the lack/delay in communication of many people that initially committed and then dropped out. I don't want to stress to much about it, and I learned few lessons that I will implement in the next event :)
But I wrote a "poem" to explain you all what went on behind the scenes :)
My English poetry is not that wonderful, but you may understand the message :)
Events are fictional... Numbers and timings are real :)

"AND THEN THERE WERE FEW"
(inspired by "And then there were none" :) )

148 little emails went out to invite
quilters to share their arts delight

The message was sent out well in advance
five months to account for any circumstance

78 were under a silence spell
neither yes or no they were able to tell

... and then there were 70...

34 declined to join the event
to follow along they would be content

... and then there were 36...

A week full of posts I started to fill
counting on 6 artists each day sharing their skill

Biweekly reminders I kept sending out
and some people unfortunately had to drop out.
Some got captured by monsters at sea,
some had to climb a tall bean tree.
Others came to the rescue and joined instead
enthusiastic to share their skill with the thread.

... and then there were 29...

Now for each day artists are fewer
but 5 in each post will sure please a viewer!

Email reminders were sent closer together
and the schedule was made public altogether!
Enthusiastic response from many viewers
who expected to admire art from fantastic sewers.

As deadlines approached we start losing more
some eaten up by a big crab on shore
another said "bye" and vanished in thin air
another had to go and feed a mean bear.

... and then there were 25...

The deadline was passed, and some were still mute
My emails became like a painful sore tooth!
With few explanation we lost more creators
maybe they got kidnapped by bad alligators!

... and then there were 20...

This is the final line up I brought,
at least is what I candidly thought!

2 more haven't spoken to me in while
and neither put up their post on time.

... and then there were 18...

Eighteen is a good number... if it wasn't the case
that I had days with very few people to praise.
I could have planned for a more balanced event.

This cute little poem is my kind way to vent :)

--
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 (Fall Edition) - DAY 6

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 6. Here are today's amazing pieces!

"Stopping by the Woods" by Chris  Inspired by the work of Robert Frost (http://chrissquiltinguniverse.blogspot.com/)

"Dove of Peace" by Barb  Inspired by the work of Pablo Picasso (http://www.bejeweledquilts.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 (Fall Edition) - 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.

DAY 5. Here are today's amazing pieces!

"Matisse Poodle" by Lee Anna Inspired by the work of Henry Matisse (http://lapaylor.blogspot.com/)

"Representation of the Stained Glass of the Sagrada Familia" by Andrée  Inspired by the work of Antony Gaudi (http://quiltinglearningcombo.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 (Fall Edition) - 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.

DAY 4. Here are today's amazing pieces!

"WOW" by Terry Inspired by the work of José Resende (http://www.terryaskeartquilts.com/) ---	"Trees" by Janeen Inspired by the work of Joyce Kilmer (http://quiltartdesigns.blogspot.com/) ---
"Evanescent" by Alida Inspired by the work of Evanescence (http://tweloquilting.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!

Evanescent (Art with Fabric Blog Hop, Fall 2016)

I want to cut a slice in a quilt!

This is how my creative journey started :)

Evanescent (18''x18'')

When I was thinking about an interesting different twist for my Art With Fabric Blog Hop (Fall 2016 Edition) I thought that adding inspiration from written art (book, novel, poem, music) would be quite interesting!

When I started thinking about music, I immediately thought about Evanescence! 

I have always loved Amy Lee!

I had very gothic inspired college years... if you told me then that I would wear or have in my house something in a color other than black I would have thought you are completely crazy... well... check out my blog now :).

Anyway...

This is how the creative process progressed:

1. I want to slice a hole in my quilted piece
2. the Evanescence main symbol looked like a perfect shape to slice, simple but intriguing
3. I had no idea if that process would work or it would end up in a disaster, so I obviously chose to use the fabric that I dislike to work with the most: white (because in this way if it was a disaster, I wouldn't feel guilty or sad for the "waste")
4. ok... white... since the piece can be a complete disaster, why not try few other things that I never tried before? so let's add an overall unusual shape and some writing with a fabric marker! The choice for the shape was pretty easy given Amy's love for the piano; and the sentence that I wrote is my favorite quote from all their songs, so that was an easy pick too
5. but now... what do I do with the rest of the piece??? I drew different sections like the strings inside a grand piano and in several sections I quilted some zentagle motives that I like. That's a good start... but there was something missing...
6. the more I read the quote, the more I had the feeling that the solution for the missing "piece" was there... darkness... darkness... of course! let's embroidery few more quotes with glow in the dark floss!! :) :)

Ok... now some pictures (even if it is impossible for me to show you the quotes in the dark... I promise, they are soooooo cool) :)

Overall design... and a corner of my Mondrian piece too :)

Close up of the hole cut out! :)

In this picture, I try to give you an idea of the texture the quilting creates. 

It is pretty nice in person, but hard to photograph.

The glow-in-the-dark quotes stitched in different sections are:

"Do you see me?"

"Perfect by nature"

"Fear is only in our mind"

"It's true, we're all a little insane"

Despite my complete dislike for white fabric (which is still intact), I learned so many lessons from this piece!

1. glow in the dark thread and floss are super cool! the floss is a little harder to use than regular embroidery floss, but not that much. The effect is great (but I don't know how well it holds up in the wash, as I am not planning to wash my wall hanging any time soon)
2. permanent fabric markers are not that great to work with. They are easy to use, but they are not very precise (at least the ones I had). If you look closely you will see a little color bleed around the letters... I think I still prefer the crispness of embroidery (even if it takes longer)
3. the frixon pen is not that great to trace embroidery designs. The issue is that the markings go away if you very strongly scratch the area with the provided eraser... the problem is that it pulls stitches too! The crayola washable markers are so much easier to use: you just soak the piece in cold water over night and that's it! I don't think I will use the frixon pen any more for this kind of tracing
4. slicing a hole in the finished quilt is easy but it creates quite an unstable region :) I zigzaged around the shape before cutting it, but I left the area around it unquilted. To have a more stable area, I should have added dense quilting instead. I like it as is, but this is a good lesson. Plus it's good to consider where you are planning to put the hanging sleeve too :) I had to use a mini sleeve to avoid covering the sliced area! :)
5. the curved binding was pretty easy, except that I think in one area I pulled the binding and that added some distortion. Just need to be careful next time

This is what I love about this hop: it encourages me to work outside all my comfort zone and experiment with things that I would have never tried otherwise.

Check out how these other amazing artists interpreted the challenge of this blog hop!

Terry @ terryaskeartquilts (http://www.terryaskeartquilts.com/)

Janeen @ quiltartdesigns (http://quiltartdesigns.blogspot.com/)

Art with Fabric Blog Hop (Fall Edition) - 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.

DAY 3. Here are today's amazing pieces!

"Red Sky in the Morning" by Laura Inspired by the work of Filomena Booth (http://periwinklequilts.blogspot.com/) ---	"Sephora" by Yanicka Inspired by the work of Malika Favre (http://yanickahachez.blogspot.com/) ---
"Comet" by Sarah  Inspired by the work of Sam Gilliam (http://georgiagirlquilts.blogspot.com/)	"Slipping Through My Fingers" by Patty  Inspired by the work of ABBA (http://www.elmstreetquilts.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 (Fall Edition) - 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.

DAY 2. Here are today's amazing pieces!

"Good Morning Glory" by Carol  Inspired by the work of Georgia O’Keefe (http://www.quiltedfabricart.com/) ---	"Ode to Vincent" by Janis  Inspired by the work of Vincent Van Gogh (https://turtlemoonimpressions.wordpress.com/) ---
"Eleanora’s Iris" by Jennifer  Inspired by the work of Georgia O’Keefe (http://www.inquiringquilter.com/)	"Study of Shape" by Jayne  Inspired by the work of Britt Willis (http://twiggyandopal.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 (Fall Edition) - 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!

"Strat Study #1" by Heather  Inspired by the work of Aaron Karp (http://www.heatherquilts.blogspot.com/)	"Starry Night" by Bea Inspired by the work of Vincent Van Gogh (http://www.beaquilter.com/)
"Landscape with Birds" by Elli Inspired by the work of Paul Klee (https://lovelliquilts.me)

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 (Fall edition) - 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 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 you will have to follow the blog hop to see it!!

"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) ---
"Sol Mates" by Alida Inspired by the work of Sol LeWitt (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!!!