Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone

Most of the past 20 yrs I've participated in an online art quilt challenge.   Once created the quilts are displayed in a special exhibit at one or more of the major quilt shows back on the east coast.   Because they are in a special exhibit, there is no judging.    

And I've never entered a quilt into any other show.....the net result is that I've never submitted a quilt for judging in all of my years of quilting.

Back in August of this year, however, I received an email from the Road to California quilt show that talked about due dates for quilt entries into the show.  And since this I've debated about whether to submit one to for jurying into the show.  And this week I received a reminder email about the due date for entries which is October 2.   

I think I'm going to step out of my box and enter a quilt to see if it'll be accepted into the show.  It has to be one finished since 1/1/16, so most likely the art quilt one to the right here (the river & canoe).   I finished that one for the art quilt challenge in 2017.

I'd like to enter the lady bug one I completed this year, but won't have it back from all the shows that it was in over the summer in time to get a close up picture of it.

So what have you done lately to step outside of any box you've found yourself in?

Gratitudes:

1. My needs are always met by the one who holds me in His hand.

2. For the commissioned work that is coming my way.

Commission Progress

First commission completion was getting this quilt top quilted.  Did that on Sunday and it went back in the mail on Tuesday.   I like the layout that the gal did and am definitely remembering this layout for future possibilities.

Finished the first of three  commissioned passport wallets that will go to a gal at work. 

This abstract print on the inside.














The ladybugs were the focus print on the outside.  Had enough to do the outside cover and pockets.

Figured out how to do zippered pockets for coins as well on this one without a huge headache as well....woohoo.........

And finally, I hit a treasure trove of fabrics that I think will work up nicely  for passport wallets for sale.  And even better, all were on sale at great prices.  I'd really like to start playing with all of these, but can't until the commissions are finished.

A nice poppy print, along with two that should appeal to quilters.  The bottom one is a duck weight home dec fabric, the other two are quilting cottons.

Cotton home dec fabric on top, and an outside home dec fabric on the bottom.




















Two quilting cottons on the left, and a cotton duck home dec fabric on the right.


Gratitudes:

1. A wonderfully cool afternoon and evening after yesterdays storm.

2. Bible verses that keep popping up to reinforce just what I need to hear at the present time.

My Happy Place Row-Along - My Day

Today is my day to share my row for the "My Happy Place" Row Along online.  Thank you for stopping by to check out my row and to pick up the pattern.  The pattern will be free for one week and then will be on sale for a small fee.

I've lived in Boston 2 times now between grad school at Northeastern and a stint of working back there, and would be there now if I had a job back there.  I love the history and the scenery of the area.   Urban and green spaces all mingle together.   I love walking in town, riding the subway and all that is available there.  It is safe to say that Boston is one of my favorite cities. 

As an homage to all that is back there , I've designed a row that is a silhouette view of the Boston skyline.   Shown in the row are silhouettes of various buildings office buildings downtown, the state capital building, the Paul Revere monument, the Zaycon Bridge, the Boston Garden, and others.   The trees and green spaces around town and the surrounding areas are represented by the green triangles on either side.  The Charles River and Boston Harbor are represented by the blue water at the bottom of the row.  Everything is silhouetted against a wonderful sunset sky

One detail of the buildings.  The "building" in the foreground shown here is actually a representation of the Zaycon bridge that I drove over every day when going to/from work the last time I lived in the Boston area.










I put green equilateral triangles on either side of the buildings to represent all of the green areas. whether cultivated or forested, that are in the Boston area.  Two of them are solid pieces and the others are string pieced.  The variety of colors in the greens are meant to bring to mind the colors in the trees during all seasons of the year.















Once again this year, those of us designing rows were blessed to have fabric sent to us from Northcott Fabrics.   I chose to use fabrics from their Artisan Spirit collections.   Colorways used were the Mineral and Blue Lagoon.  These are wonderful feeling fabrics and are lovely to work with.  These fabrics were used in the water, binding, and most of the buildings.

The remaining fabrics in the buildings and the trees were from my scraps.  The sky fabric is by Timeless Treasures.

The pattern for the pattern can be downloaded from my Craftsy Store.  It will be free through October 4th. 

To visit the blogs of the other quilters who are sharing their 

rows today, click here to go to Marian's blog for the entire list.

And before you go, don' t forget to enter the giveaways below.

The Giveaway:

Your Giveaway Is: Kimberbell - In All Things Give Thanks

Image: Kimberbell.jpg

Image Logo: Kimberbell_logo.png

Shipping Is Anywhere / Shipping Cost must be paid by winner. 

Value $13.50 ea

Links To Actual Products Found On Description Page At My Blog

Description Link: http://www.seamstobesew.com/?p=19525

Starts Starts September 27, 2018 / Ends October 04, 2018

Sponsor URL: http://www.kimberbelldesigns.com/

You are giving away 2 patterns.

To enter the giveaway please click on the rafflecopter link below:

Kimberbell Rafflecopter Giveaway

EQ8 Rafflecopter giveaway

The Giveaway Rules:

Rules and Guidelines For Giveaways please take the time to read them.

Giveaways offered by sponsors are assigned to the various bloggers for their featured day.

There are no prior announcements on who is doing which sponsor except to the sponsor themselves.

You'll have to visit the blog or the featured blog to enter the giveaways.

Not all giveaways can be entered at Seams To Be Sew.

I will start announcing winners on September 11, 2018, and finish announcing winners on October 10, 2018.

In most cases, the blog where you won at also will announce their 

winners.

You must give a valid email address when you enter the giveaways, any email returned to me, loses the ability to win automatically.

With the exception of Show and Tell Day, all giveaways run for approximately one week.

You are given 3 days to answer the email, if you do not answer within 3 days a new winner will be drawn. Check those spam/junk mail folders, you may miss that winning email if you don't do so because there are no exceptions to this rule.

If you are notified that you are a winner, in most cases, you will need to provide your name, address, city, state, zip code, country, telephone number, and email address.

In some cases, you will be asked to comment on the blog to enter the giveaway... do the right thing and thank them for the time it took to create the pattern, thank them for the pattern and...

Thank the sponsor by buying their products for the giveaways. This helps them continue to offer great prizes for these types of events. You can also comment on their social media pages. Even if you don't win, letting them know you love their products is a huge incentive and they really do love hearing from you.

No purchase whatsoever is necessary.

You must be 18+ in order to win a gift.

You are responsible for claiming and paying any tax owed on the value of any gift that you win. Prizes valued at $500.00 should be claimed.

All winners are chosen at random.

All winners will be announced on the blogs via the Rafflecopter entry form and/or post by the blogger at the site where they won and here at Seams To Be Sew. All winners must allow for their first name and first initial of their last name to be announced on this blog.

Odds of Winning a prize are based on a total number of rafflecopter entries during each week and in total for all giveaways.

This giveaway is void where prohibited by law.

Participating bloggers may enter any of the giveaways.

The word giveaways in the rules and guidelines are also known as sweepstakes.

Most of the giveaways are international shipping this year in some cases, you will be asked to pay for shipping your giveaways.

I am not rich and I do not ask sponsors for money, they provide prizes only.

If the companies shipped the prize to Marian, you will be asked to pay for shipping.  All giveaways will be shipped that are in my home within 48 hours of my having heard from you.

An invoice will be sent to you via Paypal, and shipping will take place via Paypal, so your Paypal email will be needed to send the invoice. You will receive a tracking number except for overseas shipments. All shipping will either be first class which averages out at 2.77 to 4.00 up to 13 ounces. Paypal fees are added to that amount to cover that fee. All fabric bundles from Michael Miller, Hoffman, and Moda will be shipped via Priority Mail to protect the fabric itself.

Please note, every effort is made to protect the prizes. They go into a plastic bin when I receive them, and it is covered by an air tight cover. I have a dog in my home and I have a smoker in my home, so I do everything possible to protect the prizes.

Most companies are very good about getting prizes off to customers quickly also, but some companies are overseas, so please allow all sponsors a 2-week time period before you report to me that you still haven't received your prize. When the company is overseas, it can take 6 weeks to 90 days for an item to also arrive.

Whether or not you read the above, the rules for giveaways are in place to protect everyone. I do not want to hear you didn't read them, they will be posted on Marian's blog daily during each featured day. There is no excuse for not reading them.

*******************

Gratitudes:

1. For the joy that I have in designing quilts.

2. For the opportunity to take part in blog hops and "meet" other quilters.

UFO Weekend Wrap-up

My weekend was productive.....woohooo......

 The quilting was done on this twin sized quilt.   This was a commission that I'd been waiting on while trying to get my machine to behave itself.

 Got three blocks made for myself for my month in October.   I've got one more planned (well, at least one).  The two baskets were orphan swap blocks from a long ago swap that I added borders to bring them up to 12" finished size.

 Snack mat #1 with with a UFO piece of cross-stitch.  Scraps used for the front (including the trim) and the backing, a remnant used for the binding.

Snack mat #2 - scrap strips of the green used in the checkerboard and the binding.  Backing is the same fabric as in the checkerboard in the front.



Gratitudes:
1. For troubles that remind me how strong my anchor is.

2. For the blessing of still having my parents.

UFO Weekend Starts Today

I'm in an online group that works on UFO's 8 hrs one weekend a month.  This month the weekend is today through Saturday.  I was originally supposed to go out of town with a half day of vacation tomorrow, but my budget and circumstances changed plans for me.  As a result I'll be staying home and will work on UFO's along with the myriad of other things I've got going on as well.

I started my UFO work this morning and did the quilting on this snack mat.   The cross-stitch piece was done back in early summer 2016 when I made a trip out to see my friend Susan.

Binding will be from the scraps that I have left of the green.

Also on the books for working on this weekend -

-- Get a baby quilt needed for a gift quilted (long-arm machine has been giving me fits on it), if it still does then baste it and pull off machine and quilt on domestic machine.
-- Get commissioned quilt loaded onto machine to it can be quilted
-- Make progress on long-delayed commissioned passport wallets
-- take foot pedal for machine into shop to see what issue with it is

Gratitudes:
1. Yard has been mowed and looks much better

2. My platelets, while down considerably, are not critical so no meds to bring them up at this point

Modern Quilt Guild Michael Miller Challenge

I'm no stranger to having quilts shown in special exhibitions at quilt shows that aren't judged, but I've never submitted one in competition.  That tho is going to change.  The Modern Quilt Guild has a challenge for the members that wanted to take part. 

They supplied fat-eighths of the fabrics shown in the figure below.  In the finished quilt must be a minimum of 2 of the three hash dot  fabrics, and the peach cotton couture.   Those taking part can add any of the solid cotton couture fabrics that were wanted.

These are the fabrics I'm going to end up using in my quilt.

And my tentative design for the quilt -

There are some changes that will be made to this still, but the basics are there.  A lot of quilting compared to what I normally do, but stretching is a good thing.

Gratitudes:
1. that the design and quilt motifs have come together easily on this one.

2. For finding the remaining things I'd been missing....altho now I'm missing a tote of quilt blocks....sigh

Finished Passport Wallets

Finished up two passport wallets this past weekend that will be listed for sale hopefully by the end of the week along with the other completed ones that I have at present.

The first one is made with an embroidered linen on the outside and an oriental print on the inside.  The oriental print was a remnant and the linen was out of stash.

Second one is from this cool fabric that has "Not all those who wander are lost" printed all over it.  Both of these were remnants from the stash.  

I've found several upholstery samples and embroidered linens in various totes in my stash that I'm considering using to make the outer portions (front cover/pocket) of future passport wallets.  Also considering piecing some outer sections as well.   Haven't decided on that though........

Gratitudes:

1. For reminders of God's grace and mercy in my daily live

2. For friends who send surprises in the mail

3. For the accountability and friendship in the small groups at church

September Block of the Month - Fran and her Design Wall

September's BOM has been released. 

Meet Fran who has been busy making her quilt blocks and is now arranging them on the design wall at the quilt retreat.

This bear was named after a dear friend who passed away several years ago.  Fran loved to make small blocks, and I thought of her as I was piecing the 1.5" quarter-square triangle blocks on the design wall.

And this is the setting that I used to put my blocks together into a finished top. 


You can find the pattern for the applique block and the setting for the wall-hanging here on my Craftsy page.  The bear pattern will be free till the middle of October, and the setting pattern will remain free after that.


Gratitudes:

1. For the rain received today - even if it meant not being able to have my yard mowed.

2. For the gift card that I was able to use to pay for part of the shelving hardware that I bought for the house.

Scrap Happy September

 I've been working with a lot of scraps this month,  but these are the two things that I can show.   =)

First finish is this little quilt top that started with the triangles in the center.  The prints and solid triangles came from the scrap bin at the quilt store.  Everything else was remnants from my stash.

And I made progress on this toddler quilt top.   Blocks are done.   Band in the middle was from a remnant.  Teddy bears were given to me as scraps. 

I still need to applique words onto the solid band.   Debating between "Sweet Dreams" or maybe  "You are Loved".   Still to be decided - size of letters (3 or 4 inches tall) and what color to make the letters.   Once I decide that then I can dig thru the scraps and find what is needed for the letters and finish off the top.


Gratitudes:
1.  Company paid some of what was owed to the employees this week so there's money in the bank again.

2.  There may be some clouds out but the sun is shining at the present time, so hopefully I'll be able to get my yard mowed today. 

3. A friend is fixing up an electric lawn mower and giving it to me.

Distractions......aka the Scrap Bin

Had to go to the quilt store to try to find fabric for blocks that I need to make for a block swap that I'm in right now.   Yes, for those of you who know what my stash is like, there are colors of fabrics that I don't have.   Hard to believe but it's true....lol.

These swap blocks have reminded me of that fact.  The requested colors were any shade of blue, and blush pink for the background, and no white/cream whatsoever in the blocks.  Pic's of the color scheme show a light blush/dusky pink.   And yup, guess what isn't in the stash......or available in the shops around here....sigh.  Finally found the pink in the top block at one shop.  Am hoping it is ok.  Second block - the pinks came from the scraps left after putting one of the UFO's together over the weekend.

In looking for a pink that will work this weekend, I made a trip to the quilt shop nearest me.  I did find a pink (the top one that I hope works), and 3 pieces for my blocks in the swap.  And then made a stop by their scrap bin. 

Sitting on top were some very large "scraps" which of course were pulled magnetically into my hands...lol.  Those bags are the same size as one quilt patterns are in, and yes they are carefully packed full and they could still be zipped shut.  =)  And they only cost $5 for as much as you can get into them.

This is the stack of what was in the middle bag in the bottom row above.  The creams added up to about 1/2 to 5/8's of a yard and were mainly width of fabric strips that were 5"-6" long.

The colorful stack underneath them - were all fat-eighths - 19 of them!  And nope that's not all of them that were in the bin, just all that I could get into the bag.

So I ended up getting almost 3 yards of fabric in the one bag for only $5.  Not a bad deal.


Gratitudes:
1. Relatively inexpensive fun in finding goodies at the shop

2. A job to go to, even when there are issues with payroll

2. Good coworkers

UFO's Coming together

there are times when I'm easily distracted.........started to look for something over in my shelves.   Didn't find what I was looking for but did come across two sets of UFO blocks that were ready to be sewn together.

First UFO that I worked on was this set of swap blocks from a long ago online group of quilting friends.  I'm  not sure how many years ago the swap was, but probably 10 yrs at least.

Blocks are 9" finished size and made with various batiks.  The border fabric and the light pink were supplied to everyone from me, the coordinates were supplied by those who made the blocks.

Finished size of the top is 40" by 60".

The scraps of the light pink batik that had been returned to me formed the "quilt seeds" for a swap block that I also made this weekend but can't show on the blog yet.

Next up was this set of Swap blocks, also a UFO.  Blocks came from a swap with the same group of online friends as above.  And again I'm not sure how many yrs ago the swap was.

I sashed them all out to 12" finished to deal with some size differences.  Sashing strips were all from scraps.  Finished size is 40" by 60".

Both of these will probably sold once finished.


Gratitudes:
1. For the wonderful soaking, rains over the weekend.

2. For the encouragement and prayers of friends in the midst of troubles at work.

3. For friends who fix up things to sell, and hold on to what I need till I can afford to pay them for it - in this case an electric mower.  =)

Quilters Meet & Greet Blog Hop

Welcome to everyone who is stopping by for the Quilter's Meet & Greet Blog hop, and of course to all my regular readers.    If you haven't seen the main page for the Quilter's Meet and Greet, then check out Benita's page for it here and check out all of the other great quilters who are taking part in this meet & greet!

I'm Moira, and am currently living in North Texas after having moved so many times in 10 yrs that I was told I was part gypsy. I've been quilting since I was in either high school or junior high, so more than 45 years at this point.    I've found that I can't follow a pattern to save my life, so most of what I make is done from  pictures.    And most of what I make is of my own designs.

The types of quilting that I typically work with include paper-piecing, machine applique (buttonhole & satin-sitching), and 'normal' piecing.   My designs run the gamut of those genres, but most of what I've got on Craftsy right now are machine applique. 

For 6 or so years (with some breaks in there) I've created a BOM that I've posted on first my webpage (not updated at this point), and now my blog.  The current series are quilting bears at a retreat, inspired by friends that I've been privileged to be able to go to retreats with.    Patterns are posted on Craftsy and if interested you can find them at this link.














I've had several block patterns and one quilt pattern published by QuiltMaker Magazine in their 100 Blocks by Top Designers magazines.   And currently have one of my designs in process of being published.  Publication will be in the November (I think) issue of the Love of Quilting magazine by Fons & Porter. 

Currently I'm doing a lot of commissioned sewing as well as making items to sell.   Among the things that I'm making are quilted passport wallets as this.   I'm having lots of fun pulling fabrics from my stash for these.






One of my favorite quilts at this time, is one that doesn't fall into the usual categories for the types of quilts that I make.  But even though it isn't my usual type, it holds a lot of memories for me.


The blocks are made with hankies that my paternal Grandmother used, and a little linen finger tip towel that was embroidered with her initial. 

I used 8 of her hankies to make the quilt, and modeled the blocks after pictures I had seen on the internet. 









If you've read this far, thanks for stopping by my blog today.   Don't forget to go enter the giveaway on Benita's blog for the meet & greet.   Click on the picture below to go to the giveaway.   And I'd love to hear from you if you're so inclined to leave a comment!

Gratitudes: 

1. For having a working computer that enables me to keep up with friends and family.

2. for the wee bit of rain that N. TX got today.

Quilt Challenge

the Modern Quilt Guild is hosting two different challenges this year with the resulting quilts to be displayed at QuiltCon next year.  And I decided to participate this year.

Finished quilts are due by the end of October so I need to get busy on this.

These are the fabrics that we have to use in the quilt.  Rules say that we have to use at least the peach solid, and 2 of the other three fabrics.   I've decided which fabrics I'm going to use.



Possible layout #1 - easy to put together, only 11 blocks to pp.........but quilting isn't my strong point so all that open space intimidates me........




















Layout possibility #2 -


Same block, just in multiple sizes.  I think I can come up with a better quilting plan for this one...downside though is that I would have to hand draw some of the pp'd block patterns because of the size needed to make this.   And putting the top together would take more fiddling to get it fit together correctly.

Decisions, decisions........



Gratitudes:

1. Having a backup laptop that I can use to listen to the radio on since the speakers on my main one are on the way out and not replaceable.

2. For the provision of the wood that I wanted for shelving and for the son of good friends who helped prep it for me.

Mystery Project from Quilt Seeds...........

Finally found the fabric I'm supposed to be using in a surprise project this evening and decided I'd better start it while I knew where it was since things tend to hide around here.

Final project will be revealed later, but block one looks like this.   All fabrics but one are from the multitude of scraps around here.


Now to find the email that has the info for when this is supposed to be finished.......lol.


Gratitudes:

1. Found the RFID blocking fabric that I'd put up for safe keeping

2. For my family.

"Quilt Seeds", aka Fabric Scraps

I make a lot of scraps from the amount of quilting that I do, but still I end up going through scrap bins at stores because I love to work with a wide variety of fabrics in my quilts.   As a result I do tend to buy lots of scraps.  And this week was one of those weeks when I went trolling through a scrap bin at Stitchin' Heaven that always has a wonderful selection of fabrics.  Most of which are from all the kits that they cut and sell.

Yesterday's haul included these four bags which didn't quite stay closed...oops...lol.  I did try to close them, but I left right at closing so they didn't  argue over them. 

 Those four bags unpacked to these piles - creams which will be wonderful additions to my backgrounds, yummy batiks and a few blacks to go in my stash of black fabrics for my scrappy quilts.

 There were also these five panels that are so cute.   I'm planning on using my strings in a scrappy/wonky log cabin type setting to make a baby quilt from them.

 This bag of strips, strings and occasional larger pieces came from a stop that I visited on Monday afternoon.  they filled a bag the same size as what you get at a grocery store. They came from a bin marked "free".  Gotta love that kind of price.    And yes I left more than half of what was in the tote!


Gratitudes:

1. Lots more "Quilt Seeds" to work with.....heh heh.....

2. Alternate blocks are finished for the setting of the Bear Retreat blocks...4th time was the charm.