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Friday, February 17, 2017

It's a Wrap and a Start


Finished!
The
In Our Garden Block of the Month blog hop was
Hosted by Amy over at 
last year and the final blocks were posted in January 2017.




I quilted and the binding is on to frame this year long masterpiece.


Thank you to Riley Blake Designs for the fabrics for this quilt.


Now it's' time for a new Block of the Month
and
the first block is finished.


I'm using Clothworks American Made Brand fabrics
and they are so nice to stitch with!



You can find the pattern for the block HERE.

The team for this year's BOM has put together another great quilt for 2017
and
I can't wait to show my blocks!


Splash may return!


Join us!
And 
if you haven't already,
 join the 
Facebook group
you can find it HERE.  


Let's quilt together!


Friday, February 10, 2017

In Our Garden Quilt Top Finish

Yeah, for Friday and a FINISH!!

A flimsy finish, but one that I am so excited about.


The
In Our Garden Block of the Month blog hop was
Hosted by Amy over at 
last year and the final blocks were posted in January 2017.



Every month one designer shared an applique block and a pieced block
and 
I want to thank each of them for all their hard work!

February - Blocks 1 and 2

March - Blocks 3 and 4
Carol – Just Let Me Quilt 


April -  Blocks 4 and 5

Bonus Block


May - Blocks 7 and 8

Bonus Block

June - Blocks 9 and 10

July- Blocks 11 and 12


August - Blocks 13 and 14


September - Blocks 15 and 16

Bonus Block


October - Blocks 17 and 18

November- Blocks 19 and 20

December


January

 I was lucky enough to receive Riley Blake fabrics for this quilt.


My blocks and quilt top are finished
and
I hope to finish quilting this 78" x 93" quilt this week
and
show the Friday finish next week too.

You'll notice the 3 birds baths in the middle and there is a couple of the May pieced blocks.
There is a reason for that.  lol
I designed those blocks and in the designing process I make them.
Why not include the extras. 
Not all blocks make the cut when designing, but I decided they were just fine for my quilt...
(the bottom center)

The team for this year's BOM has put together another great quilt for 2017
and
I can't wait to show my blocks!
Splash may return!


Join us!
And 
if you haven't already,
 join the 
Facebook group
you can find it HERE.  


These things are more fun with TEAMWORK
and
we gather on Facebook to share
our blocks and visit with other
participants.

I hope to see you there.


What a beautiful week it has been in blog land.
Thank you all for the generous shares, pins, comments, and emails on my 2 posts for Thermoweb


and 
Are You Ready For Some Football post
 for Project Quilting.


You have spread the love!!!  Thank YOU!

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Loved - An Embroidered Valentine Message in this Pieced Heart Quilt

Valentine's Day is a time for everyone to feel loved.  Hiding in this pieced heart is an embroidered "loved" to whisper a sweet hug to all that find it. Using HeatnBond interfacing as a stabilizer keeps the embroidery neat and the quilt soft.  No one will ever know a machine was used to embroider the letters with a simple trick using Aurifl 12 wt thread.



"Loved" is quick to make and features the new Moda fabric, "Just Another Walk in the Woods" by Stacy Iest Hsu.  The fabric is a whimsical collection and playfully bright with cute little characters in every corner. This fabric is so perfect for Valentine's Day projects because it just makes you smile when you see it.



Loved

by Carla Henton from Creatin' in the Sticks


Finished size:  34" x 34"





I designed this quilt for Thermoweb and you'll find the complete tutorial to make this quilt over on the Thermoweb blog today.




Don't you just love Valentine's Day projects.  I can't get enough of them and the sweet fabrics of the season.



I hope you feel loved

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Are You Ready For Some Football? - Project Quilting Season 8, Project 3

Are you ready for some football?


I've been working on one all week for Project Quilting.


Kim at Persimon Dreams hosts Project Quilting.
She announces a challenge and you have one week to create something quilty.
Prizes can be won and it's a great way to meet new blogging friends.

This is the third challenge of 6 for Season 8.



Inspiration for this challenge was everywhere, but I finally zeroed in on one.  This week has been all about getting ready for the big game here in the USA and football, for me, is always fun.  (Even when I could care less who wins.)

The Rules:

1. Your project must be inspired by a pattern or texture you find "in the wild" this week 
2.  Incomplete or unfinished does not qualify. Every challenge piece must be a FINISHED project seen through from INCEPTION to COMPLETION during the challenge timeline (January 29 through February 5, 2017). Each piece must stand alone as DONE to count toward prizes. 


3. Please remember that these projects need to be created during the week of the challenge (started on or after January 29, finished by February 5). 

4.  Your project does not need to be a traditional quilt, but must meet at least one of these requirements:


  1. Include patchwork.
  2. Include appliqué.
  3. Have 3 layers stitched together by hand or machine.


5.  Link up a blog post, flickr image, instagram post, or public facebook post  by Sunday, February 5th, 2017, at noon CDT.

I started with a dark brown fabric, a white fabric, lots of shades of my favorite Aurifil 50 wt thread and a picture of a football in which I had cropped down for lots of detailed texture.  My goal was to transform the cottons to look like the leather of a football and try a little photo realism. 


The laces and stripe were cut as fusible appliques with HeatNBond Lite and then the marking of the shadows and lines.


One layer of STITCH n SEW™ Hi Loft sew-in fleece underneath for lots of volume, then the texture of the pig skin began.



Here's the process of all that free motion quilting that made the texture of the football.  Ignore my overdue manicure and TV in the background, this is my first video.  ANOTHER FIRST!!


A little thread painting (new to me)  and a little Deco Foil (I could put this stuff on everything) for the black accent.


More thread painting and more thread painting then the borders were stitched on, sandwiched the quilt with more fleece in the middle to add dimension to the football, and quilted the project with a mixture of free motion, lines, and yes, more thread painting. 
A mitered faux piping was added.  (Another new to me thing).  The intention was to make the quilt look like a matted picture.


It was so fun to build texture and I experienced so much by trying new things on this challenge!
My mission was accomplished.  My first photo realism try is a success.  I would change a few things, but isn't that how we learn and grow?



Are You Ready For Some Football?

Project Quilting Season 8, Challenge 3 - Tuned In to Texture
Made by Carla in Dodge City, Kansas
Size:  15" x 15"
Fusible Applique, Foiling, Thread Painting, Mitered Faux Piping, 
Freemotion quilting - pebbling (about a million)  by me


Finished and posted a day before it's due, oh yeah. 
Bring on the Super Bowl.

You can see all the other challenge projects and vote for your favorites starting at noon central on
January 8th
by clicking 
HERE

This one is #44. 



 In the process of making this quilt, I watched Ink Masters - Season 6 on Hulu.  Yes, the whole season plus Season 5 too.  Ironically, episode 13 had a flash challenge where super fans of football teams received photo realism tattoos of footballs.  After watching that, I have so much more to learn about art and shading.  Let's keep growing.

 Now you know more about me and what I like to watch.  lol