Little sewing, but improving my sewing space (and a link party)

Not much sewing, but it's good to have an improved sewing space!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Play with Me QAL - everyone is having fun with PP (see below)
2. WGACA projects
1. Jane T - 2 blocks done (see below)
2. The SK project - no progress
3. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - no progress
3. Mirror Mirror Afghan - 2 blocks done (see below)
4. Block Swap Adventure -  paused until March
5. American Quilt (previous known as Americana QAL) - no progress
6. Project Quilting (#5) - waiting for the next challenge (see below)
7. Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL - paused, not liking where this is going :(
8. Splendid Sampler - block 3 done (see below)

The EverythingElse List:

1. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
2. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
3. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
4. As You Wish -  no progress
5. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
6. Memory quilt 2 - no progress

----

Pat and Jane announced the Splendid Sampler and can I not join such a fun project? Of course not!! :)

But I had to find my twists to make my journey different than anyone else's.

Block 3

To see all my blocks, check out My Sampler Journey page

The crochet version is a little simplified (3 hearts instead of 6) but I really like how it turned out! It is so good not to have to think about what to design for the afghan and just adapt the very inspired blocks from so many talented designers!!

--

The first project in the WGACA list  (to read more about this concept, read this previous post). is my own Jane T: I completed two more blocks!

And this is the progress on the final layout

23 blocks done!!

My initial idea was to make the blocks in random order, but I think I find more motivating if I make them in order from the center out. So I will first complete the my WoaF blocks, then assemble the center medallion, then move on to the outer blocks. I think that being able to see the full center medallion may give me a great boost of motivation as well as a nice decorative piece for my sewing space...

Speaking of which...

I do all my sewing in the dining room area, on our kitchen table :)

When we moved here I didn't have much shelves or bookcases, but I thought that I could keep my things organized in boxes... however after a while my corner ended up like this

(my sewing corner, when it was nice and tidy O_O)

The piles of boxes kept it relatively organized, but taking a box from below meant to move everything else... then everything will fall on the floor, get super messy, and then if it was messy I would just throw things on top because when it's messy it attracts more mess :(

So we went to Ikea, and this is my sewing space now

LOOOOOVE my new sewing space!

First the entire bookcase is nice and sturdy so I can use the top to temporary put the project I am working right now (meaning today). Then I love the size of those square spaces! They are big enough to store a couple of plastic containers or a fabric box, but small and contained enough to encourage me to divide the space in a meaningful way!

Then the top row of shelves contains: my scraps fabric box, drawers with FQ+bigger cuts, the current projects (hiding behind an artistic mini) and tools+spools. The bottom row has a clear box with precuts, a space with my Play with Me quilt (used also as a kitten resting place), fabric donated to me and to use for charity and fabric "trash" and other less used tools and pieces. A metal cart holds boxes with tools, rules, best press, fusible web, and those kind of things.

The space is now soooooo much more functional! In addition to that I only have 2 clear drawers of fabric smaller than FQ but bigger than precuts, and that's it! 

Now I know where everything is, everything is easily accessible and it's easy to keep it nice and clean! I am very proud of my accomplishment, even if it is not a quilt!! :)

--

Early this month I shared the second block for my Play with Me QAL

Look at all the different color combinations that people used in their game boards! So exciting!!!

If you didn't join, it's not too late!

Visit the QAL page for more details.

--

And last, but not least, I want to remind you that I am working on charity quilts,
and I would love your help!! 

Quilts are for a quilt drive to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 

And you can help me by donating orphan blocks, partial blocks, or fabric (scraps, strips, leftover, uglies, whatever). 

If you are willing to mail them to me, I could use them to make more quilts for these kids!!! 

If you are up for a loving donation, please send me an email at tweloq[_at_]gmail[dot_com] or leave a comment here with your email address so I could give you my mailing address. I promise that your donation will be used to make some kids happy and feel more loved!! 

Still no progress here... so sad... but as mentioned above, now this is in my WGACA list so I will for sure make progress in the next month on this!!! :)

--

How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Again very productive week! (and a link party)

Today it is a long one! So much fun this week!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Play with Me QAL - everyone is having fun with PP (see below)
2. WGACA projects
1. Jane T - 2 blocks done (see below)
2. The SK project - 1 block done (see below)
3. Mirror Mirror Afghan - 2 blocks done (see below)
3. Block Swap Adventure -  paused until March
4. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - no progress
5. American Quilt (previous known as Americana QAL) - no progress
6. Project Quilting (#4) - done (see below)
7. Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL (Bricks, Cobblestones and Pebbles Mystery 2016) - paused, not liking where this is going :(
8. Splendid Sampler - first block(s) done (see below)

The EverythingElse List:

1. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
2. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
3. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
4. As You Wish -  no progress
5. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
6. Memory quilt 2 - no progress

----

Pat and Jane announced the Splendid Sampler and can I not join such a fun project? Of course not!! :)

But I had to find my twists to make my journey different than anyone else's.

Block 1

Fabric block pattern available at thesplendidsampler.com

I will make my blocks using selvages (on black background, idea from Riel Nason quilt) and I will use the same designs for crochet blocks for my "Mirror Mirror Afghan".

I will share all my blocks in the dedicated page "My Sampler Journey" so that I can post picture even in the middle of the week and I won't forget what I do :)

--

The crochet afghan is one of my three WGACA projects (to read more about this concept, read this previous post).

For the second project I designed and stitched a Stephen King's book cover

No pattern for my version of 11/22/63 book cover, 

because I just found some cool fabric and sliced it as needed :)

And the third project in the WGACA is my own Jane T: I completed two more blocks!

And this is the progress on the final layout

21 blocks done!!

--
Speaking of the WGACA project, I want to report the great success of the idea (to read more about this concept, read this previous post).

This is how the first page looked after was completely filled:

The fact that I had this piece of paper hanging next to my mirror and that I saw it every day multiple times a day it is the reason why I had the brilliant idea of using the Splendid Sampler designs in my Crochet Afghan project! If I didn't have that project on my wall (physically) for so long, I wouldn't have had that idea. So even some progress steps seem minor (like only making 10 crochet rows), it is still progress and it keeps the project running.

Since I completed that page, I decided to reassess the list of project and replace the Mirror Mirror Afghan (that now doesn't need push motivation, since it's up and running) with another project that needs a push (Quilts 4 Francel, the charity donation quilts). By the end of this page I will for sure have made great progress there and I will be so happy about it.

If you struggle with some UFO, give the WGACA approach and ideas a try... you may surprise yourself about how good it works :)

--
One "spur of the moment" project was my new ID holder. I had a plastic thing that holds my work id but the badge doesn't slide in smoothly and corners started peeling off. The solution? Make myself a nice, colorful and practical ID holder with some Tula Pink Fabric!!

I was inspired by this tutorial by Brooke at Killer B, but I didn't really follow it, as I had solid fabric on the back and I had velcro and a ribbon. So basically it is completely different, but still I was inspired by the tutorial and it is so easy that is good to link to it ;)

--
For the Block Swap Adventure I receive my January block from Michell and I made some extra postage stamp blocks for our block lotto

--

Early this month I shared the second block for my Play with Me QAL

Look at all the different color combinations that people will use in their game boards!

If you didn't join, it's not too late!

Visit the QAL page for more details.

--

(Project 4: 2016 Finish-Along, from the list in this post)

The forth challenge of Project Quilting (season 7) was launched last week and I jumped right in.

As mentioned before, I have a double challenge for myself: follow the theme of the PQ challenge ("Need a Vacation") and have a piece inspired by a "conventional" art piece (painting, sculpture, architecture, ...).

Let me introduce you...

Size: 21'' x 21''

"Vacation from reality".

Inspired by "Elephants" by Salvador Dali.

If you want to vote for me (number 21 ;)) after Sunday 2 CST or any of the others follow THIS LINK.

I really like the weird shapes and general compositions of Salvador Dali and Vacation to me means a nice sunset. I think I combined the two in an effective way with some applique, quilting and thread sketching.

Speaking of art and quilts... do you want to join a blog hop?

Read all the info in this previous post

--

And last, but not least, I want to remind you that I am working on charity quilts,
and I would love your help!! 

Quilts are for a quilt drive to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 

And you can help me by donating orphan blocks, partial blocks, or fabric (scraps, strips, leftover, uglies, whatever). 

If you are willing to mail them to me, I could use them to make more quilts for these kids!!! 

If you are up for a loving donation, please send me an email at tweloq[_at_]gmail[dot_com] or leave a comment here with your email address so I could give you my mailing address. I promise that your donation will be used to make some kids happy and feel more loved!! 

Still no progress here... so sad... but as mentioned above, now this is in my WGACA list so I will for sure make progress in the next month on this!!! :)

--

How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Crochet, selvages and much more! (and a link party)

Today it is a long one! So much fun this week!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Play with Me QAL - everyone is having fun with PP (see below)
2. WGACA projects
1. Jane T - 3 blocks done (see below)
2. The SK project - 1 block done (see below)
3. Mirror Mirror Afghan - 3 blocks done (see below)
3. Block Swap Adventure -  done Feb block (see below)
4. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - no progress
5. American Quilt (previous known as Americana QAL) - no progress
6. Project Quilting (#4) - waiting for next challenge
7. Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL (Bricks, Cobblestones and Pebbles Mystery 2016) - paused, not liking where this is going :(
8. Splendid Sampler - found my twists! (see below)

The EverythingElse List:

1. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
2. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
3. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
4. As You Wish -  no progress
5. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
6. Memory quilt 2 - no progress

----

Pat and Jane announced the Splendid Sampler and can I not join such a fun project? Of course not!! :)

But I had to find my twists to make my journey different than anyone else's.

Fabric block pattern available at thesplendidsampler.com

I will make my blocks using selvages (on black background, idea from Riel Nason quilt) and I will use the same designs for crochet blocks for my "Mirror Mirror Afghan".

Speaking of which...

New block added to my collection of tapestry crochet blocks

And these are all together! (before the Splendid Sampler blocks)

Colors seems all over the place, but I plan to mix and match them until it looks like a cool crochet sampler afghan!!

--
That afghan is one of my three WGACA projects (to read more about this concept, read this previous post).

For the second project I designed and stitched a Stephen King's book cover

Pattern available at alidatweloqdesigns

And the third project is my own Jane T: I completed three more blocks!

And this is the progress on the final layout

19 blocks done!!

--

I also completed my block for the Block Swap Adventure. Jen asked for a star in modern and bright colors. I hope she will like it!

Ribbon star (by Lee)

--
Early this month I shared the second block for my Play with Me QAL

Look at all the different color combinations that people will use in their game boards!

If you didn't join, it's not too late!

Visit the QAL page for more details.

Speaking of joining... do you want to join a blog hop?

Read all the info in this previous post

--

And last, but not least, I want to remind you that I am working on charity quilts,
and I would love your help!! 

Quilts are for a quilt drive to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 

And you can help me by donating orphan blocks, partial blocks, or fabric (scraps, strips, leftover, uglies, whatever). 

If you are willing to mail them to me, I could use them to make more quilts for these kids!!! 

If you are up for a loving donation, please send me an email at tweloq[_at_]gmail[dot_com] or leave a comment here with your email address so I could give you my mailing address. I promise that your donation will be used to make some kids happy and feel more loved!! 

Still no progress here... so sad... but I plan to spend more time on this in the next couple of months. I have many pieces ready to be quilted, just need to find some inspiration!

--

How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Art with fabric (and a link party)

Art projects keep coming! It's so fun!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Play with Me QAL - many people keep sharing their projects!! (see below)
2. WGACA projects
1. Jane T - 3 more blocks done (see below)
2. The SK project - 1 book cover block done (see below)
3. Mirror Mirror Afghan - 1 block completed (see below)!
3. Block Swap Adventure -  paused until Feb
4. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - no progress
5. American Quilt (previous known as Americana QAL) - start planning final layout
6. Project Quilting (#2) - done (see below)
7. Art pillow - pillow done! (see below)
8. Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL (Bricks, Cobblestones and Pebbles Mystery 2016) - Second clue done! (see below)

The EverythingElse List:

1. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
2. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
3. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
4. As You Wish -  no progress
5. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
6. Memory quilt 2 - no progress

--
After my artistic mini (called Konfettinsky) entered last week in the Project Quilting challenge, I am on a roll in trying to redecorate my home with all kind of "art" inspired quilted objects.

Size: 15''x15'' (now you know why I picked yellow and black ;) )

Inspired by "Yellow Composition" by Joseph Albers.

Read more about the artist and his wonderful contribution to art and color theory at this link.

--
(Project 2: 2016 Finish-Along, from the list in this post)

The second challenge of Project Quilting (season 7) was launched last week and I jumped right in.
As mentioned before, I have a double challenge for myself: follow the theme of the PQ challenge ("Seasons") and have a piece inspired by a "conventional" art piece (painting, sculpture, architecture, ...).

Let me introduce you...

Size: 21'' x 21''

"Cut out for the seasons".

Inspired by "Polynesia, the sky" by Henri Matisse.
If you want to vote for me (number 2 ;)) or any of the others follow THIS LINK 

I am trying to find pieces that are outside my comfort zone, both in terms of visual impact as well as sewing techniques. I don't do much raw edge applique and I usually don't like abstract art. But that piece really caught my eye and I could immediately see it using four different colors to represent the different seasons. If you wan to know more about the fascinating story behind the cut-outs Matisse worked on after he couldn't paint any more, read this interesting article!

--
I am following along with a Mystery QAL on FB. This is my progress

Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL, clue 2 (clue 3 is already cut and ready to be assembled)

Doing this QAL I realized that it is a brilliant idea to have a mystery that starts with the center and works its way out (at least that's the impression I have, we don't have the full design yet).
This strategy allows you to start with few blocks (instead of making 300 HST right away) and if you pick a different color combination and you don't like it, there is very little that you have to redo to catch up. I am loving it... it's so bright, so full of prints... it's really me :)

--

Third week of my WGACA project (to know more you can read this previous post).

This strategy proved to be extremely effective, as I had progress on each of the three projects!

*First on my Jane T quilt. 

Three new blocks

Progress on the entire quilt. 16 blocks!

*For the SK project, I decided to design a book cover. Initially my plan was to make them all with paper piecing. However they are super small, and making the text with PP is a total insanity (ask me how I know it ;) ). So I decided to use raw edge applique, because now, thanks to the wonderful tutorial share last year by Kristel in my SYS series, I am not scared of applique any more!

Few thread sketching details add the extra character to the block, and the piece is done in no time!!

Pattern available here

*The Mirror Mirror Afghan, I designed and completed a new small block

Tapestry crochet, my own design

I will have to make the reversed design (in terms of colors), but this is an easy to reverse since if you flip it you get the other one :)

--

While I cannot share pictures of the quilted Feb block of my QAL (Play with Me), I can certainly share the fact that a pretty large number of people started sharing their completed January projects!

Please click this link to visit the page with the linky and check out the amazing work of these ladies!!!

It has been so fun to see how people mix and match colors! 

If you didn't join, it's not too late!

Visit the QAL page for more details.

--

With the sad news of David Bowie passing, Jennifer asked the designers at Fandom In Stitches if they wanted to contribute a design for a tribute post on FiS. Of course I accepted and this is what I designed

Get the pattern and see more blocks on fandominstitches.com

--

And last, but not least, I want to remind you that I am working on charity quilts,
and I would love your help!! 

Quilts are for a quilt drive to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 

And you can help me by donating orphan blocks, partial blocks, or fabric (scraps, strips, leftover, uglies, whatever). 

If you are willing to mail them to me, I could use them to make more quilts for these kids!!! 

If you are up for a loving donation, please send me an email at tweloq[_at_]gmail[dot_com] or leave a comment here with your email address so I could give you my mailing address. I promise that your donation will be used to make some kids happy and feel more loved!! 

No progress on this from my side, but some quilting on the next project it's in the list for this coming week. Let's hope to have some inspiration!!

--

How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Piling up new projects (and a link party)

My list of projects was too short, so I had to add a few!!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Play with Me QAL - quilted Feb block, but did you see how many people shared their project??? (see below)
2. WGACA projects
1. Jane T - 2 more blocks done (see below)
2. The SK project - moved all my patterns (see below)
3. Mirror Mirror Afghan - 70 rows and block completed (see below)!
3. Block Swap Adventure -  paused until Feb
4. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - no progress
5. American Quilt (previous known as Americana QAL) - no progress
6. Project Quilting (#2) - waiting for the new challenge
7. Art pillow - top done! (see below)
8. Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL (Bricks, Cobblestones and Pebbles Mystery 2016) - First clue done! (see below)

The EverythingElse List:

1. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
2. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
3. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
4. As You Wish -  no progress
5. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
6. Memory quilt 2 - no progress

--
After my artistic mini (called Konfettinsky) entered last week in the Project Quilting challenge, I am on a roll in trying to redecorate my home with all kind of "art" inspired quilted objects.
I bought two pillows in a department store because their combined price was lower than buying just pillow forms or polyfil (weird logic of the retail business?).
Of course I didn't like their style but I was planning to cover them anyway so I didn't really care :)

This is the first art pillow (just the top)

Size: 15''x15''

Inspired by "Yellow Composition" by Joseph Albers.

Read more about the artist and his wonderful contribution to art and color theory at this link.

I wanted something "simple". It took me about one hour to put it together... but 2 nights to design it, since I did everything myself in Inkscape.
I learned a lot by sewing this piece, as the narrow strips (and my "organic" seams and cutting) made the piece look less precise as I hoped. However this is going to be a pillow, so it wouldn't have been flat anyway ;) but it's good to experiment and learn from the experience!

--
I saw this post on FB about a Mystery QAL with scraps.
What attracted me to do it was that the designer said something like "the scrappier the better", so she encouraged completely uncontrolled scrappy...
Of course to save my life, I wouldn't be able to follow instructions on how to use my scraps! :)
If a designer tells to use certain colors/values in certain areas, I will make it fully scrappy ignoring that.
If a designer tells to make it fully scrappy, my brain goes "nope, can't do, you have to make it controlled scrappy" :) I hope this works out, for now I really love it. It is scrappy and not a single fabric repeats: welcome to my stash!

Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL, clue 1

--

Second week of my WGACA project (to know more you can read this previous post).

This strategy proved to be extremely effective, as I had progress on each of the three projects!

*First on my Jane T quilt. 

Two new blocks from my WoaF series

Progress on the entire quilt. 13 blocks!

*For the SK project, I didn't have tangible progress, but I was able to conclude the moving of all the patterns to my new website! It's a process that takes an enormous amount of time but it will eventually be very beneficial to keep all my personal sharing post here, and my patterns there!

Patterns available here

*The Mirror Mirror Afghan, I completed about 70 rows of this pretty big block and I completed it!!

Tapestry crochet, my own design, 14'' x20''

 I will have to make the reversed design (in terms of colors), but I think I may design a smaller block first because this was a bit too much for my current liking of crochet

--

While I cannot share pictures of the quilted Feb block of my QAL (Play with Me), I can certainly share the fact that a pretty large number of people started sharing their completed January projects!

Please click this link to visit the page with the linky and check out the amazing work of these ladies!!!

It has been so fun to see how people mix and match colors! 

If you didn't join, it's not too late!

Visit the QAL page for more details.

--

And last, but not least, I want to remind you that I am working on charity quilts,
and I would love your help!! 

Quilts are for a quilt drive to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 

And you can help me by donating orphan blocks, partial blocks, or fabric (scraps, strips, leftover, uglies, whatever). 

If you are willing to mail them to me, I could use them to make more quilts for these kids!!! 

If you are up for a loving donation, please send me an email at tweloq[_at_]gmail[dot_com] or leave a comment here with your email address so I could give you my mailing address. I promise that your donation will be used to make some kids happy and feel more loved!! 

No progress on this from my side, but some quilting on the next project it's in the list for this coming week. Let's hope to have some inspiration!!

--

How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up