Random Perfection

May 5, 2015June 30, 201513 Comments

Birds fly.

Over the Rainbow, why then, oh why can’t I?

If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why oh why can’t I?

—Over the Rainbow, Lyric by E.Y. Harburg, Music by Harold Arlen

One of my goals for 2015 was to finish my yellow hexagon applique quilt. The yellow hexagons led me to thinking about The Wizard of Oz musical which I saw last summer and the song, Over the Rainbow. I took the words and used hexagons as musical notes.

I hand appliqued the “notes” and added green and orange hexagons to my rainbow. I machine stitched them using the method I saw on Modern Handcraft.

I added orange for the binding and it looked fabulous.

Then I washed it!

I noticed that sides of the appliques were not stitched down and were coming out. This was caused by the way I folded the hexies. See in this photo the way the fabric was folded straight down. The stitching across the point of the hexagon did not catch the fabric. Some of the fabric caught and some didn’t.

I fixed some of them. But, man, what a chore.

I’m looking at it and wondering, “why can’t I just embrace this?”

I took off all the hexies which weren’t nailed down — 303 hexies to be exact.

And, I loved the outcome:

I would not have placed these hexies in this configuration, but it feels better than the pre-washed quilt. That’s Random Perfection.

Finding home in the random,

Wanda

“Mama Bear” 2015 Pantone Quilt Challenge, Marsala,

April 17, 2015June 30, 201514 Comments

Once upon a time, there was a little girl whose mother read her the story of “The Three Bears.” And, she said, “that’s just like us: Mama Bear, Papa Bear and Baby Bear.” That little girl insisted her name was “Baby Bear” and her mother was “Mama Bear” and her father was “Papa Bear.”

A year went by and the little girl insisted her parents call her by her given name and not “Baby Bear,” but her mother and father continued to be “Mama Bear” and “Papa Bear.”

I struggled to find the right design for this quilt challenge. I had sketched a quilt called “The Three Bears” with three bear’s paw blocks, but settled on a quilt celebrating my love of my name, Mama Bear, and my love for quilting. You can read more about the design process here.

The quilt measures 54 inches by 54 inches. I’m entering it in the 2015 Pantone Quilt Challenge, Marsala, hosted by On the Windy Side and Play Crafts.

Mama Bear

The Bear’s Paw block is typically made with a square as the paw of the bear and the half-square triangles as the “claws”. I machine quilted “paw” prints, instead of pieced squares adjacent to half-square triangles. I chose prints in paisley, feathers and geometric circles for the “claws”.

The Marsala color was the perfect choice for this quilt.

Close up of the free motion quilting. The bear paw footprints are surrounded by pebbles and pea pods.

I made a one-half inch binding, instead of one-quarter inch. I used scraps of Marsala inspired fabric. Love and Kisses on the binding is just — serendipity

On the back of the quilt I used a variety of Marsala-inspired fabrics as well. The quilting really shows up on the back.

Marsala is a great color to wear as well. Check out this site for tips on wearing marsala.

Loving Marsala,

Mama Bear

Book Bee: Savor Each Stitch

March 7, 2015April 30, 201519 Comments

I’m participating in a Book Bee with a few members of the Houston Modern Quilt Guilt. We’re using Carolyn Friedlander’s book, Savor Each Stitch. I learned of this group from the blog, ModQuiltMom. They meet in Houston, Texas the first Saturday every other month, and they were gracious to allow me to follow along using a Google community page. Our goal: to share pictures, links and thoughts about our book bee.

The first chapter was Lines:

I took a literal approach to this design challenge. Sometimes I help my husband (football coach) paint the lines on the football field. The initial setup for painting the field is like laying off the foundation for a new home. It involves stakes, string and measuring tape. From that experience, I sketched my idea for a small quilt, called “Date Night.”

One evening while we were painting the field, one of the players and his mother drove by the school and his mother suggested her son volunteer to help us. After speaking with my husband, he came back to his mother and said, “No. He doesn’t need help. It’s ‘Date Night.'” The player’s mother enjoyed telling us this story. That’s just downright funny and the perfect name for this quilt.

From there, I started sewing from my “green” scrap bin, except I had about a half yard of kelly green.

My husband suggested the “end zone” needed blue accents. I like how the “end zone” is very liberated and the rest of the field is linear.

Carolyn Friedlander uses dense free motion quilting in many of her quilts. I wanted to try that:

I used high loft batting to give the grass some texture. I’m debating if I should quilt the white lines and if I should quilt in the name of the quilt on the front rather than on a label on the back. I’m going to let it stew for awhile and when I come back to this quilt I should know how I feel about doing that.

I’m enjoying this Book Bee and seeing what the other quilters are doing. The next chapter is Contrast. Initially I wanted to make a small quilt for each chapter in the book, but I’ve learned making Date Night that all the elements of thoughtful design were used in making this quilt. My desire to make multiple quilts was unrealistic. I always have lots of ideas and not enough time to turn those ideas into actual quilts.

CF writes in her book about sketching ideas over and over until you find the essence of your idea. I feel I rush through that process and taking the time to get out the “stakes, string and measuring tape” should improve my design process. At the same time I like just fiddling with fabric and seeing what happens when there is no plan. It’s a tough balance.

Update: Here is the finished quilt: