Orange. February.

Do you ever have one of those days/weeks/months/years where you completely overcommit yourself?

Then you freak out, run around, write lists, neglect your husband, forget to call your mom, leave your teeth unbrushed, and eat lots of chocolate?

Yes? No? Maybe? Sometimes? Yesterday?

I think I left my head in December. Perhaps my sanity was left in Tennessee when I went there in January?



When I get super crazy I need to appreciate the little things. The small victories if you will.

Today we are cerebrating the fact that I finished my Riley Blake Challenge project on time. I mean seriously, we could say it is early because it is not due until TOMORROW!

I had the idea for this quilt when I was listening to this TED talk by Chip Kidd (graphic designer). In the talk, Kidd talked about how when you are designing something you need to show but not tell or tell but not show. You shouldn't do both. Then he sort of offhandedly brought up that it might be interesting to show and tell different things.



I have been thinking about this idea for months. I knew I needed to make it into a quilt.

When I got my Riley Blake Challenge fabrics at the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild meeting I fell in love with the orange fabric. I knew I needed to show orange and the opposite of orange is blue. The paper cranes are just pretty. I did not use all of the fabrics, I knew I had to trust my gut and follow  my inspiration.... It is not that I did not love the fabrics sent to us from Riley Blake. It is just that sometimes it is about what is not included. Less can occasionally be more.

The pattern for the cranes is here from Kitten's Mittens and I got the text pattern here from Quiet Play.

Then I decided to use all of my thread to quilt this one with super close together organic lines. It took an entire day. I totally had time for that. I also totally had time to make this wall hanging. I totally do not have a wall available to hang this on. Strong work.

Now back to the list. Maybe someday I will even blog about something else besides a finish, I miss this blog.

I love you all. I miss you.

Quilt Stats:
Name: Orange
Size: 40 x 40"
Fabrics: Assorted Kona solids and Riley Blake basics, background is Kona Snow
Quilting: Organic matchstick lines with Aurifil white thread
Finished: February 2014

Pink Chowder during a Cold Dark Winter

Sometimes quilts are born, not designed. It just seems like they spring out of your head fully formed.

This quilt was born when in a fit of indecision I pulled fabrics from my shelves to take to a retreat with my SURMA sisters (incidentally, this is the fabric pull that inspired the Ladies Night Bundle). I knew I would probably want to start sometime new on the retreat (because that is how I roll), but I had no idea what I would do.

Then we got to the mountains and I met the Accuquilt for the first time. You see my friend Lee (May Chappell) is an Accuquilt all-star and she had just received these new clamshell dies. I had never sewn a single curve, so naturally I decided I was going to use my fabric stack for an 8" clamshell quilt. As you do. As an aside, I now want all dies… I may or may not have a hexagon quilt in the works.

I got to cutting. Because the Accuquilt is amazing, I got this whole quilt cut in a morning.

Full disclosure here, because we are all friends, at that time I had never seen (or did not remember seeing) Latifah's clam famous Glam Clam quilt. I did not have her awesome directions or her videos to watch (but honestly, they are awesome you should check them out). Lee helped me out and we read some stuff from our phones, then we made it work. I had no idea how many clams I even needed… I just started sewing them together when it looked like I had cut enough.

One last awesome thing about this quilt, is that my friends donated little bits of fabric to be made into clams (when I realized my stack was not big enough). Every time I look at this quilt I see bit of some of my favorite people. Thanks Xandi, Chrissy, Lee, and Holli! I love having you here to snuggle with me.

Okay, I am obsessed. There is no such thing as too many pictures, right?

These organic super close together straight lines seemed essential for this quilt, totally inspired by the original Glam Clam.

I think this is my favorite quilt I have ever made. I look at it and I am so proud of my curves and I used some of my most hoarded fabrics.

Thanks for letting my ramble on. This quilt remains in my possession and will, probably, forever.

Quilt Stats:
Name: Pink Chowder
Size: Approximately 72"x72" (Can't measure right now, I have a cat on my lap)
Fabric: So many fabrics, there is really a little bit of everything here, from Bonnie and Camille to Lizzy House, Waterfront Park, Collage, Riley Blake, Comma, Quilters linen from Moda, Mama Said Sew, I think the cats are Kokka. If you see something I did not mention and you need to know, message me and and I will look it up. Binding is from Botanics by Carolyn Friedlander and backing is also from that line and Ikea.
Quilting: Organic matchsticks (can that be a thing?) with Aurifil Thread
Finished: January 2014