BRMQG Retreat -- my projects

Remember reading about the Baton Rouge MQG retreat at the River Retreat House over the July 4th weekend. In this post I highlighted some of the works my friends created. 

Finally, I get to tell you about the pieces I worked on. Admittedly, I played as much as I worked. So the end results won't be much, but nevertheless, here they are. 

I started with the Sugaridoo row that needed doing. I'd packed one basket just for that purpose. Honestly, I didn't like it but once I saw it with the rest of the quilt, I decided it fits right in. Of course I went with the improv option and then improv-ed more as I played. Sometimes I have three white strips, sometimes four. I did make one more to fill in that gap on the left, but for some reason, I didn't get a photo. Isn't the top looking good though? There will be separations between the rows. 

I brought a kit that I'd put together last year. It's as simple as a quilt can be: 8" blocks of various stripes and plaids. It took an afternoon of sewing to slam it together. Of course, I strip pieced it running two blocks through the machine like runner on steroids. I was grateful that the parts to my machine had come in and I had put them in place. Zoom! Zoom!

The plaid quilt was barely folded when I started another. This time I was working with lots of text fabric, some scraps and no one idea in mind. Naturally I kicked it into improv gear and let myself go. I got this far, having decided that I would include small pieces of green to break up the text chunks.

Then Glen decided to mess with me and threw in one of her blocks. I didn't even notice it, according to her, for quite a while. I was in the zone, man! But there was this nagging that something was needed. Boom! I'm not telling her but it think it's that tiny corner of teal that gave me the idea.

As luck would have it, I had a large scrap of teal that looks like it has strips of newspaper on it. Could it be more perfect?

So into the quilt wide chunks went. And basically, I built a chunk and found a spot for it. There was no rhyme or reason. Occasionally I'd look at the whole piece through the camera to get a clearer perspective, but mostly it was simple. 

In the end, I had three long pieces that fit together quite easily. But I do not like that line right down the center. Something will have to be done about that before it can be quilted. I have a few ideas and am open to suggestions. Please share them if you can think of something, anything. 

 

More Masks and "Favorite Fabrics" ~~ finished!

Do you know how good it feels to pick up a quilt top, quilt-bind-label it, and call it done? Yes? Great. I'm here to tell you it feels even better when said quilt top has been waiting, patiently, in a basket or bin or (gasp) plastic bag for longer than you care to remember. Oh yes! It's a wonderful thrill. I recommend it highly. My heart still does a little flip when I think of it. 

More on the quilt later. First let's get these masks out of the way. There are 15 in this picture, more or less. Eight will go to a friend who requested them. The rest, I don't know. Maybe I should have a few here in case we need them. Heaven knows, I am done with these things. Could it be more boring? Not for me. I'm kind of ashamed, really. But 50ish are all I can wring out of myself for now. Maybe after Easter if there's still a need I can make more. 

Now back to this finish. At some point I realized that the very pretty pieces of colorful, playful fabrics that I'd purchased at 
Lola Pink in Lafayette were becoming smallish scraps. It occurred to me that together they would make a pretty quilt. So I gathered up pieces Since they were literally scraps, sizes were varied, but showcasing the designs was important. Otherwise, what was the point? 

The sizes were not cooperative but finally I came up with this clean, modern design. The blocks are 3½", 5½" and 7½" each with 2½" white strips. Into the waiting bin the top went. And just like that, quilt tops are forgotten. They deserve better, so it's time to get them finished. 

I had this white linen with small navy stripes that was just large enough, so I figured it was meant to be. I should have used those stripes to my advantage, but no, I prefer to make things... challenging.

For no reason at all, I decided to use straight line quilting but to leave out the prints. Then after all that quilting, I realized that the largest blocks were too big to leave un-quilted. I added fleur de lis and lotus flowers to those blocks. It was a good opportunity to play with those two motifs, which I really like.

		Quilt Stats
	Name:	Favorite Fabrics
	Size:	54" X 58"
	Fabrics:	Various fabrics from stash
	Pattern:	My design
	Backing:	Linen from stash
	Batting:	100% Cotton
	Binding:	fabric from stash
	Quilting:	Straight lines w/ motifs in largest blocks
	Completed:	2020

Tell me what you think. I really like constructive comments. They help a person to access and grow. So yeah! Comment.

Baton Rouge MQG ~~ March

As the coronavirus begins it's march through Louisiana, I've been thinking of several things. I have friends in every corner of the state, most of whom are my age or older, and it's a bad time to be 60+. 

Most of those friends are quilters who live in the Baton Rouge area. I hope that all are well and I will get to see them at the next BRMQG meeting. If you are in the wake of COVID-19, please be safe. If you're lucky, as my family are, keep the world in your prayers.

These pictures are from our March meeting. Aren't my friends talented!

Stay safe, everyone!

Baton Rouge MQG November meeting

I am still playing catch-up for last week. The BRMQG had its November meeting with several show and share ideas. Also, a treat for me, the president brought in a guest from Germany. Bridget and Marquita met in an airport. One had a quilt sticker on her luggage and the other saw it. Of course, they struck up a conversation.

Yvonne's take on a women
in history challenge

 Bridget decided to attend the Houston Quilt Fest and contacted Marquita (they've kept in touch) and the two decided to make a road trip. One from overseas, the other from Louisiana. Awesome, right? 

Also, Marquita has a long-arm and invited Bridget to spend a few extra days at her house and quilt some of her tops. Bridget obliged and came to our modern meeting. 

Sharon's butterfly quilt, made for a friend

Isn't this a great story? I love that quilters are so caring and giving. 
Anyway, the story spoke right to me. You know I approached Bridget after the meeting. She showed me some photos of her work and we "chatted." Another five minutes and I'd have asked her to send them to me so I could share them with you. (I'm perhaps a little bold.) 

The top that Bridget completed while
in BR...or maybe Marquita's

Bridget's sampler quilt

 But I didn't have those five minutes and there was a bit of a language barrier. Bridget speaks English with an accent, but I hear with a country girl, Cajun ear. We made it work, but we struggled. And laughed. Besides I was trying to see as much of her work as the few minutes allowed. I didn't get to the request. There I was, flipping pictures on her phone, asking way too many questions, and then asking her to repeat it. Because, you know, I'm a nut. Do you think she left thinking she was lucky to get away from a fanatical, raving lunatic? (No, really. I read the paragraph. I think I'd be scared of me.)

Lori's most recent finish

Lori's block for a new quilt

Wouldn't you have loved to be there? Even knowing there was a lunatic in the house? 

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: egg shapes

Sometimes I look at an item and see a quilt. And sometimes I look at a quilt and see an object that probably is not meant by the maker. The first is a possible idea for a future quilt. The second is probably odd. Regardless, this inspiration comes from a quilt and manifested itself into an SQI. Or something like that.

So are you curious what kind of quilts might be deviled eggs incognito? Quite often they're modern, artsy, and colorful.

These quilts and over 600 others (though not devil egg incognito) are in the modern section of my "heart, quilts" board. Do you see devil eggs in these quilts?