This picture says what I could never say in a thousand words. This is why I love to quilt. This is why I give away my quilts. These two goof balls enjoying a sandwich and a movie with my finished Aurifil BOM quilt
Showing posts with label Aurifil Block of the Month. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aurifil Block of the Month. Show all posts
Friday, July 17, 2015
Monday, April 13, 2015
Aurifil BOM Raffle Quilt
I have another finish to share! I finished this quilt at the end of March and shipped it right off to a friend for a raffle at her daughters school. My friend is PTO president and very involved with ALL the aspects of her children's lives so when she asked if I could make a quilt for the school I immediately jumped on it. If anyone was deserving of such a thing, it's her!
This large quilt was made using my homeless 2014 Aurifil BOM blocks. I started these in January of last year and unfortunately only made it through to the August block. They were fun to make but I didn't have the time to finish the rest of the blocks and to be quite honest, they weren't really speaking to me anymore.
The blocks themselves are coral, peach, and orange with low-volume backgrounds. Because I was on a deadline to finish it up, this quit is made up of a lot of "make-it-work" moments. I decided to use my hoarded Nanny Bee in coral print by Heather Ross for a bright and fun background, but the blocks got lost in all the red. So to make it work I added the green borders around each block. The layout came about because I only had 8 blocks to work with and I really wanted to make the quilt a more substantial size. For the backing I used some on-hand extra wide fabric in a rich purple color. I also bound the quilt using the Cricket Clover print from the same Heather Ross collection.
I machine stitched the binding down using a blanket stitch on my Janome. I figured it would make for a more durable quilt in the long run. For the label I used a piece of some also long hoarded Heather Ross fabric. I think this one is called Bicycles I Have Loved. Another bicycle makes an appearance on the front in the block you can see just off to the left in the picture below. The label is my favorite part of this quilt!
The best part about this quilt is that my friends daughter loved the quilt so much that they ended up taking it home with them from the fundraiser night. It now happily lives in their living room!
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
WIP Wednesday - Playing Catch Up...Again
Remember how back in May I had to play catch up on my Aurifil Block of the Month blocks? And I said something about keeping up from now on? I didn't keep up. This weekend I was again playing catch up and managed to get the blocks sewn for June, July and August.
June's block is called Chain Link and was designed by Heidi Pridemore from The Whimsical Workshop. I changed up the fabric placement a little bit on this block. I didn't really feel like the two-color version that Heidi designed played to the strength of my color palette. Over all I really like this block.
July's block was designed by Camille Roskelley of Thimble Blossoms and is called On the Plus Side. It's a cute star block. I had fun playing with color placement on this block, trying out several different combinations before I settled on this one.
Four months left, here's to hoping I don't fall behind again! I'm linking up with this weeks WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.
June's block is called Chain Link and was designed by Heidi Pridemore from The Whimsical Workshop. I changed up the fabric placement a little bit on this block. I didn't really feel like the two-color version that Heidi designed played to the strength of my color palette. Over all I really like this block.
July's block was designed by Camille Roskelley of Thimble Blossoms and is called On the Plus Side. It's a cute star block. I had fun playing with color placement on this block, trying out several different combinations before I settled on this one.
Michele Foster, of the Quilting Gallery, designed the August block called Button Block. Again, this was a quick, easy, and fun block to make. Couldn't you just see a whole quilt of button blocks stitched up for a baby quilt?
Finally, here's all of my blocks together. Even though all of the blocks are unique, they still play together nicely don't you think?
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
WIP Wednesday - Playing Catch Up
As you may have read on Monday, I've been playing catch up over the last few weeks with my ongoing block of the month commitments. (I use the term commitments loosely because, in reality, I can quit anytime and the only one I'm committed to is me). Today I want to share my newly completed Aurifil Block of the Month blocks for March, April, and May.
You can find the pattern for the March block, designed by Emily Herrick, here. This was a fun and easy block to make. I had fun choosing fabrics and eventually decided to fussy cut some hoarded Heather Ross bicycle fabric for the center square. I'm in love with block; I absolutely love how it came out, especially the little bicycle in the middle. I'm thinking a quilt made up of fussy cut bicycle blocks could be really fun!
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| March Block |
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| April Block |
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| May Block |
Here is how my blocks look all together:
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| Year to Date - May, Aurifil Block of the Month |
Aren't they fun? I'm still very much loving this color palette and can't wait to see what's next! Happy Quilting! I'm linking up with this weeks WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Works in Progress
I think I mentioned earlier that I'm participating in several block of the month (BOM) quilt-alongs this year.
The first one is the Sugar Block Club, hosted by Amy at Stitchery Dickory Dock. This is my first year participating in the BOM and already I'm sold. Every month we get a pattern for a, as Amy puts it: "traditionally rooted block, full of lovely vintage charm, but truly fitting with nearly every aesthetic. In a word, timeless", as well as a yummy dessert recipe and, new this year, Beyond the Block words of wisdom from Amy designed to help you reflect throughout the year.
January's block was beautiful and the Beyond the Block challenge last month encouraged us to Be Intentional. I've already found that I'm doing better. You can see my post about the January block here. February's block, Mercy, is actually a very simple design made fantastic through careful color placement. Check out the Sugar Block Club Flickr group for more beautiful examples of the block.
Amy also shared a very personal story about Mercy that really hit a nerve with me. There are points in life when we are not at our best and sometimes it's due to circumstances that are outside of the realm of our control. It is at these moments, when we are at rock bottom, that we need to be shown mercy. Maybe I snapped at you because you just asked me for the fifth time when your report would be ready, but what you didn't know is that I'm dealing with a very completed and painful family situation right now... doesn't make my reaction right but a little understand and mercy could have gone a long way. At the same time, its important for me to show mercy to others. I have to admit that sometimes I am guilty of getting snippy with the lady at Dunkin' Donuts because she occasionally messes up my coffee in the morning. But what I don't know is if that woman is raising three kids alone or if she's about to lose her house, or if her husband just got laid off from work. I don't know. I can't know that. But I can smile and say, "no problem, that's alright. I like a hot latte as much as a cold one." So I'd encourage you to maybe pause for a moment before you yell at someone or honk your horn and think what is this person dealing with today? I'm going to try to do the same.
Enough of the heavy stuff..... The second quilt-along I'm participating in this year is the Aurifil Block of the Month. You can find the monthly posted FREE patterns linked to on the Aurifil Flikr Page. February's block was actually designed by AMY of Stitchery Dickory Dock! Check out her interview with Pat Sloan and find her block pattern here. Amy's block design this month is called Mother's Day and was inspired by her mother. You can find my posts about January's blocks here and here.
This was a fun block to make. It's all half square triangles. I think the thing that took me the longest was TRIMMING all of them (and there were only 16...) I need to get one of those rotating cutting mats. It would make my life immensely easier, at least when it comes to trimming HST's.
I have one more BOM quilt along to share but it will have to wait for another day! For more pictures of what I'm working on currently be sure to check out my Flickr photstream! I'm linking up with this weeks WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.
Happy Quilting!
The first one is the Sugar Block Club, hosted by Amy at Stitchery Dickory Dock. This is my first year participating in the BOM and already I'm sold. Every month we get a pattern for a, as Amy puts it: "traditionally rooted block, full of lovely vintage charm, but truly fitting with nearly every aesthetic. In a word, timeless", as well as a yummy dessert recipe and, new this year, Beyond the Block words of wisdom from Amy designed to help you reflect throughout the year.
January's block was beautiful and the Beyond the Block challenge last month encouraged us to Be Intentional. I've already found that I'm doing better. You can see my post about the January block here. February's block, Mercy, is actually a very simple design made fantastic through careful color placement. Check out the Sugar Block Club Flickr group for more beautiful examples of the block.
Amy also shared a very personal story about Mercy that really hit a nerve with me. There are points in life when we are not at our best and sometimes it's due to circumstances that are outside of the realm of our control. It is at these moments, when we are at rock bottom, that we need to be shown mercy. Maybe I snapped at you because you just asked me for the fifth time when your report would be ready, but what you didn't know is that I'm dealing with a very completed and painful family situation right now... doesn't make my reaction right but a little understand and mercy could have gone a long way. At the same time, its important for me to show mercy to others. I have to admit that sometimes I am guilty of getting snippy with the lady at Dunkin' Donuts because she occasionally messes up my coffee in the morning. But what I don't know is if that woman is raising three kids alone or if she's about to lose her house, or if her husband just got laid off from work. I don't know. I can't know that. But I can smile and say, "no problem, that's alright. I like a hot latte as much as a cold one." So I'd encourage you to maybe pause for a moment before you yell at someone or honk your horn and think what is this person dealing with today? I'm going to try to do the same.
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| January (right) and February (left) Sugar Block Club blocks |
Enough of the heavy stuff..... The second quilt-along I'm participating in this year is the Aurifil Block of the Month. You can find the monthly posted FREE patterns linked to on the Aurifil Flikr Page. February's block was actually designed by AMY of Stitchery Dickory Dock! Check out her interview with Pat Sloan and find her block pattern here. Amy's block design this month is called Mother's Day and was inspired by her mother. You can find my posts about January's blocks here and here.
This was a fun block to make. It's all half square triangles. I think the thing that took me the longest was TRIMMING all of them (and there were only 16...) I need to get one of those rotating cutting mats. It would make my life immensely easier, at least when it comes to trimming HST's.
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| January (bottom) and February (top) Aurifil blocks |
Happy Quilting!
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Feeling...Pink?
Turns out I'm on more of a pink kick than I previously expected. I've decided to work with my Peach-Coral-Orange color palette for two projects this year. So far I've had two iterations of this palette. The first one lacked a serious amount of oomph for me. It was more heavily weighted in the peaches and soft pinks.
So after some rework I pulled in some additional corals and oranges and am very happy with the final results.
I always try to make sure to photograph my fabrics in B&W so that I can be sure of the value weighting of my fabrics as well as color.
The first project I'm working in these colors is the 2014 Aurifil Block of the Month. You can find the monthly posted FREE patterns linked to on the Aurifil Flikr Page. You may remember I posted about a low volume version of this block last week, but to be honest, the colors weren't singing to me and I wasn't really excited about working with all low volume for the remainder of 2014. So I changed it up and made a new block.
Sorry for the dark picture. I finished this one Friday night and didn't have a chance to get another good picture of it in the daylight. I'm much happier with this version of the block. I won't be using a consistent background fabric for these block either. Each one will be a little different.
The second project I'm working on for 2014 is the Sugar Block Club. This is a PAID block of the month club (only $7.95 for the year). Each month Amy Gibson of Stichery Dickery Dock sends a block pattern to your inbox along with a delicious recipe for something sweet. January's recipe was Hearty Pumpkin Pancakes.
I'm so happy with how this block came out. Similar to the Aurifil blocks, these will not have a consistent background fabric. Each block will be a blend of the Peach-Coral-Orange palette.
New in 2014 is the inclusion of a "beyond the block" personal challenge. For January, Amy challenged us to BE INTENTIONAL. One of the ways she encourages this is through the making of a list of intentional goals for the year. So here goes:
I want to be a more active member of the quilting community. My dream would be to make a living from quilting (my husband tells me I'm crazy for thinking it). But I believe that with enough prayer and determination I can do anything I set my mind to. So my first goal is related to this.
So after some rework I pulled in some additional corals and oranges and am very happy with the final results.
I always try to make sure to photograph my fabrics in B&W so that I can be sure of the value weighting of my fabrics as well as color.
The first project I'm working in these colors is the 2014 Aurifil Block of the Month. You can find the monthly posted FREE patterns linked to on the Aurifil Flikr Page. You may remember I posted about a low volume version of this block last week, but to be honest, the colors weren't singing to me and I wasn't really excited about working with all low volume for the remainder of 2014. So I changed it up and made a new block.
Sorry for the dark picture. I finished this one Friday night and didn't have a chance to get another good picture of it in the daylight. I'm much happier with this version of the block. I won't be using a consistent background fabric for these block either. Each one will be a little different.
The second project I'm working on for 2014 is the Sugar Block Club. This is a PAID block of the month club (only $7.95 for the year). Each month Amy Gibson of Stichery Dickery Dock sends a block pattern to your inbox along with a delicious recipe for something sweet. January's recipe was Hearty Pumpkin Pancakes.
I'm so happy with how this block came out. Similar to the Aurifil blocks, these will not have a consistent background fabric. Each block will be a blend of the Peach-Coral-Orange palette.
New in 2014 is the inclusion of a "beyond the block" personal challenge. For January, Amy challenged us to BE INTENTIONAL. One of the ways she encourages this is through the making of a list of intentional goals for the year. So here goes:
I want to be a more active member of the quilting community. My dream would be to make a living from quilting (my husband tells me I'm crazy for thinking it). But I believe that with enough prayer and determination I can do anything I set my mind to. So my first goal is related to this.
I will continue to post on this blog; if not daily than at least once a week.
I will share my quilt-related adventures with anyone who cares to read about
them and hopefully a lot about myself along the way.
Another thing that is very important to me is my health. I won't go into detail but over the years I've had several major sports related injuries. I went from an active 4 season athlete to a sedentary bystander very quickly during the recovery phase of each of these injuries and managed to gain a significant amount of weight each time. At this point in my life, it's begun to negatively impact my health so I've decided to make some changes.
I will workout (either walking at lunch or going to the gym) at least three
times per week in 2014. My health is that important to me.
So there you have it. Some quilt blocks and some goals. Do you have specific goals for 2014? Share them in the comments if you like.
Happy Quilting.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
2014 Auriful Block of the Month
This year I'm participating in the 2014 Aurifil Block of the Month.
Each month a new block pattern is posted to the Auriful Blog, AURIBuzz. Each block for the 2014 rendition is inspired by a woman who has inspired that designer.
January's designer is Bridgitte Heitland of Zen Chic. You can find her story and pattern here.
Enough about them. Here's my block. Sorry for the poor image quality. We just got a new computer and I'm still working on getting some photo editing software.
I chose a low volume palette working purely from my stash for the moment (I participated in several low volume swaps last year and have a significant stash of the stuff at the moment). Though I do have a really nice bundle of peaches, corals and oranges that I might dig into for a second version of this quilt along. Or I might not.
Who knows.
Each month a new block pattern is posted to the Auriful Blog, AURIBuzz. Each block for the 2014 rendition is inspired by a woman who has inspired that designer.
January's designer is Bridgitte Heitland of Zen Chic. You can find her story and pattern here.
Enough about them. Here's my block. Sorry for the poor image quality. We just got a new computer and I'm still working on getting some photo editing software.
I chose a low volume palette working purely from my stash for the moment (I participated in several low volume swaps last year and have a significant stash of the stuff at the moment). Though I do have a really nice bundle of peaches, corals and oranges that I might dig into for a second version of this quilt along. Or I might not.
Who knows.
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