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Testing. Testing. Is this thing on?

Succulents Giveaway Winners!

Thank you to everyone who left comments on my previous post. It seems that quilters are collectively drawn toward growing fabric hoards/stashes.

Photo courtesy Eric Lubrick 

Congratulations to the winners! 

Ramona is the winner of the Succulents FQ bundle from Windham! She said:

I love how the quilting on your HST quilt takes it to a whole new level. Beautiful job! 
I have a yard full of flower beds and unfortunately they have more weeds than anything else. These days, I'd much rather stay indoors quilting than outside doing yard work! My bad!

And Sandra Walker is the winner of the pincushion cuff. She said:

And on that same note, what popped into my head, besides bromeliads (new this year for me) is to grow a quilt I've designed myself!

xoxo

Succulents! Potting Station Quilt and Giveaway x2

Do you know my friend Heather? Of course you do, she's Crimson Tate!

Photo courtesy Eric Lubrick

I met Heather a few years ago, shortly after she moved back to Indianapolis and opened Crimson Tate. Heather was looking for local quilters to loan finished quilts to the store for display for a few months. I dropped one off, left it there a few months, and popped in on black Friday to pick it up. "hey," she said, "people really like your quilt. so, how about you write a pattern and teach a class, okay?" Umm. Yes?

In the years since then, Heather has been a terrific friend and a huge (huge) supporter of my creative endeavors. So when Succulents happened and she asked if I'd like to design a quilt, I jumped at the chance to reciprocate the support! No "umm" this time, just "yes." 

Meet Potting Station. 

Photo courtesy Eric Lubrick

In a former creative life, "I threw," which translates roughly from hipster to English as "I made pottery on the wheel." I think that's what attracted me to the McCoy-inspired prints. Keeping with the mid-seventies feeling/reality of those famous pots that inspired this print, I chose to use the sand, terracotta and moss colors and went for a simple-looking half-rectangle design to showcase just those few prints. 

Simple? Simple-looking? Half rectangles aren't hard, per say, but they're not as easy-going as half square triangles. I am decidedly a "process" person, and I found this tutorial by Latifah Saafir on the MQG website to be clear and precise. 

If you'd like to make this quilt yourself, please read Latifah's tutorial from start to finish before following the instructions at the very bottom for "Directions for Opposite HRT." If you're new to HRTs, I strongly encourage you to make a few practice blocks before you cut into the good stuff.

For my quilt, I had just under 2/3 yard of the three Succulents prints and another 2/3 yard of a white(ish) on white(ish) print from Carrie Bloomston's Paint collection. From each print, I cut three 6.5" strips x WOF and then subcut each of the strips into four 9-1/2" rectangles. This gave me 12 rectangles of each print. 

I paired the terracotta and sand Scandia prints together and paired the moss and Paint prints together and set to work. For this process (see, I MUST talk about the process) I found that it worked well to do 6 rectangles of one color set from start to finish before making a 6-pack of the other color set. This way, I kept my work organized and my sanity in line. Also, do not skimp on pressing with steam and a bit of spray starch. Your points will thank you.

Go forth. 

When the top was done and pressed to within an inch of its life, I flung it over to Melissa Averinos for longarm quilting. We collaborated a bit on the design. I knew I wanted contrasting designs that crosscut each of the HRTs, and Melissa came up with this amazing pattern. **asks forgiveness for crap nighttime iPhone pic of quilting brilliance**

Melissa and Heather caught up at Quilt Con, and Heather caught this pic of Melissa in the booth.

Photo Courtesy Heather Givans

Quilt complete, I also whipped up a few Succulents pincushion cuffs using a few studio scraps from the store. 

Photo courtesy Eric Lubrick

If you'd like to see the other inspired Succulents goodies, be sure to follow along with the tour taking place this week and next. 

BUT WAIT. There's more. A giveaway! Leave a comment (UPDATE: Comments are now closed!) on this post for a chance to win one of two prizes. The good folks at Windham Fabrics will send a fat quarter bundle of the entire Succulents range to a lucky commenter for each post at the end of the tour, so be sure to follow along and leave a note on each post for 14 chances to win. For this post, I'll also pick a winner at random after the tour wraps up (someone remind me. pregnesia in full swing.) to receive a Succulents pincushion cuff. To enter both giveaways, just leave a comment that...ahem...begins with one of the following starters: 

A) My favorite thing to grow is... 

B) There once was a quilter named Heather... 

C) I have this HILARIOUS pregnancy story...

A, because it's easy. B, because who doesn't like a limerick in March? And C because I'm heading into my third trimester and need to hear some happy/funny stories.  

Photo courtesy Eric Lubrick

Now for the tour! To use Heather's words exactly, here’s the rockstar line-up. Even if a date has passed, stop by each post during the tour and leave a comment to enter the FQ bundle giveaway:

March 15: Heather Givans of Crimson Tate

March 16: Eric Lubrick of Eric Lubrick Photography and Oar to Oar

March 17: Sarah Sharp of {no} hats quilts 

March 18: Lindsay Lefevere of ellesquare (you are here)

March 19: Karen McTavish of McTavish Quilting Studio, blogging at Crimson Tate 

March 20: David Barnhouse of Crimson Tate 

March 21: Meghan Eschbaugh of Calvin and Carolyn

March 22: Brooke Starnes of my general admiration, blogging at Crimson Tate

March 23: Matthew Wheeler of Kapa Quilts

March 24: Samantha Howard of Bobaloo Kids,blogging at Crimson Tate

March 25: Amy Garro of 13 spools 

March 26: Amanda Castor of Material Girl Quilts 

March 27: Heather Jones of Heather Jones Studio 

March 28: Heather Givans of Crimson Tate 

Thanks for stopping by! I'll leave you with this gratuitous photo that I love for many reasons, not least of which is master photographer Eric's dog, Huck, chillin' in the background. And also that wood slice table. 

xo

Photo courtesy Eric Lubrick

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets Trivia

Over on Facebook, I've organized a read-along for the Harry Potter series. There are about 45 of us reading and chatting about 75-100 pages each week. We started with Book 1 the first week in January and have just finished reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets this week.  If you care to join us, it's not too late. The group is open and you can still easily catch up.

When we started the read-along, there was much energy and excitement. My sister, wise as she is in matters of the heart, advised me that the enthusiasm would taper off if I didn't actively try to keep it going. So, as we slog through the doldrums of February, may I present... trivia.

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets Trivia

Second years, see how well you paid attention to the details by answering the following 10 questions about Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets:

1. What sound is deadly to the basilisk?

the cardinal's song
the hen's cluck
the rooster's crow
the crow's caw


2. How does Ron try to fix his wand?

witchastik
spellotape
magipodge
supercharmpaste


3. What did Dumbledore teach before he became headmaster?

transfiguration
potions
defense against the dark arts
history of magic


4. Who was Headmaster or Headmistress when Riddle was a student at Hogwarts?

albus dumbledore
dedalus diggle
armando dippet
perenelle flamel


5. What do you call a magic-born person who has no magic?

squirrel
scribe
sloth
squibb


6. Where does Harry land after using Floo Powder for the first time?

Flourish & Blotts
Florean Fortescue's
Borgin & Burkes
The Leaky Cauldron


7. Who is the Slytherin house ghost?

Nearly Headless Nick
The Bloody Baron
The Grey Lady
The Fat Friar


8. What year was Hagrid in when he was expelled?

2nd
3rd
4th
5th


9. What is the title of Gilderoy Lockhart's autobiography?

Magical Me
Marvelous Me
Marvelous and Magical
Magical and Marvelous


10. What creatures does Lockhart let loose in the classroom?

Yorkshire Wexies
Northumber Nargles
Dover Nymphs
Cornish Pixies

Well done, second years. You're moving onto year 3.

game day quilt - big finish

I've finished quite a few quilts that I haven't posted about yet. So, let's start with my Game Day Quilt.

If you'll recall, I started this quilt in September 2010, and then in July 2011 I said that I was taking it on vacation to finish.

In July 2012 I posted a teaser with some in-progress quilting.

And then I finished the quilt very shortly thereafter. I unearthed it a month or so ago and realized that I never photographed the finished product. Can do!

It's funny to look at this quilt and think about how I'd do this differently if I was to make it again. I had no idea how to set blocks on point when I started this one. 

It's still something that makes me sit and think and check my reference books (or pinterest board nowadays!), but I can say with all certainty that I'd come at it differently now that I've got a few more years of experience. 

I backed the quilt with a feature print from the Hunky Dory line. In my mind, this quilt's orientation is decidedly landscape, so the print wasn't quite wide enough to span the back. I added a strip of kona burgundy inlaid with a few patchwork squares that I pieced from my trimmings when I square up the quilt. 

The quilting is a series of (semi)straight lines, which, overall feels more than a little retro to me. There's something about this that says "tube socks and roller skates," right? Maybe it's the vanagans or the whimsy. Or both. 

she felt it

My friend Barb retired from teaching Fiber Arts at the local high school this year. Fiber Arts includes everything from crewel to felting to weaving to macrame to embroidery to sewing (of course). Suffice it to say, Barb is a gal of many talents.

Barb worked for months on a collection of felted miniatures as parting gifts for the other art teachers. Each week when our little band of misfits got together to work on our projects (we meet every Wednesday, with breaks for summer and holidays), Babs would bring her felting basket and update us on the progress of each of her projects - nine in all.

As the school year came to a close and Barb's retirement date loomed, she asked me to bring my camera along and take a few photos of her felted wonders. Of course!

You guys, you will DIE from cute poisoning when you witness these. Are you ready? Here we go.



















Isn't she amazing? I can't decide if my favorite is that coy snail or the viking (he has so much love to give, if only he wasn't alone on that rock!).

If you want to follow along with Barb's future felted miniatures, be sure to follow her That Felt Good pinterest board, here.

BlogHer anyone?

this is me IRL. let's meet up!