Blogger's Quilt Festival - Fall 2017 - Minions

Size: 54'' x 70''

"Minion's Minions Quilt"

Patterns on Fandom in Stitches

This is my version of a fun QAL that was hosted on Fandom in Stitches a while ago.

I added few blocks I designed, and I set the blocks in a fun layout, to form a quilt on a quilt :)

The binding is a fun two colors binding, following Susan's tutorial. 

After washing it, the quilt is sooooo soft and scrunchy because I have high loft batting!!! 

This is my second entry for the Blogger Quilt Festival!
My first entry is here.

If you are new around here, WELCOME!

If you have been around for a while, THANKS AND WELCOME BACK! :)

--

If you are new around here, let me just point you to my main addiction: designing and sharing for free tons of paper piecing patterns :)

As you can see from one of my old headers arrangement, I design patterns for Disney characters, Peanuts and Snoopy, Downton Abbey, Alice in Wonderland but I have many many more (Maleficent, The Simpsons, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Betty Boop, Minions and more)!! Some of them have to be tested, some of there are tested. You can find them just navigating the different tabs or just typing the character name in the search box at the top of the page.

--

The other thing I love is to host EVENTS for us quilters!

An event coming up on this blog: the Fall edition of my "Art with Fabric Blog Hop"!!

Check out the schedule and past pieces on the Art with Fabric Blog Hop main page!!

and a FREE QAL for 2018... it's not too early to sign up as I started sharing more information about it already!!

Leave your email address to join the free 2018 QAL

--

If you have any comment about my quilt, I would love to hear!!!
And check out more wonderful mini quilts over at blogger's quilt festival!!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Fall 2017 - Heart of Jade

Size: 18'' x 18''

"Heart of Jade"

Pattern by Yanicka

This is another mini for my collection of mini Pantone Color of the Year 2017 (Greenery... which for me is not just a single color because it reminds me of all the greens in nature, thus the super scrappy look)

The pattern is by a friend (Yanicka), who developed this new technique to make these super cool and modern design: it is NOT paper piecing, it is much much simpler! For the pattern and more information, visit Yanicka's blog!

This is my first entry for the Blogger Quilt Festival, Mini Quilt!

If you are new around here, WELCOME!

If you have been around for a while, THANKS AND WELCOME BACK! :)

--

If you are new around here, let me just point you to my main addiction: designing and sharing for free tons of paper piecing patterns :)

As you can see from one of my old headers arrangement, I design patterns for Disney characters, Peanuts and Snoopy, Downton Abbey, Alice in Wonderland but I have many many more (Maleficent, The Simpsons, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Betty Boop, Minions and more)!! Some of them have to be tested, some of there are tested. You can find them just navigating the different tabs or just typing the character name in the search box at the top of the page.

--

The other thing I love is to host EVENTS for us quilters!

An event coming up on this blog: the Fall edition of my "Art with Fabric Blog Hop"!!

Check out the schedule and past pieces on the Art with Fabric Blog Hop main page!!

and a FREE QAL for 2018... it's not too early to sign up as I started sharing more information about it already!!

Leave your email address to join the free 2018 QAL

--

If you have any comment about my quilt, I would love to hear!!!
And check out more wonderful mini quilts over at blogger's quilt festival!!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Fall 2016 - Mini quilt

I made this little piece for the forth challenge of Project Quilting (season 7). I had 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: 20'' x 20''

"Vacation from reality".

Inspired by "Elephants" by Salvador Dali.

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.

This is my second entry for the Blogger Quilt Festival, Mini Quilt!
The fist entry is here (applique)

If you are new around here, WELCOME!

If you have been around for a while, THANKS AND WELCOME BACK! :)

--

If you are new around here, let me just point you to my main addiction: designing and sharing for free tons of paper piecing patterns :)

As you can see from one of my old headers arrangement, I design patterns for Disney characters, Peanuts and Snoopy, Downton Abbey, Alice in Wonderland but I have many many more (Maleficent, The Simpsons, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Betty Boop, Minions and more)!! Some of them have to be tested, some of there are tested. You can find them just navigating the different tabs or just typing the character name in the search box at the top of the page.

--

Speaking of art and quilts... 

An event coming up on this blog: the Fall edition of my "Art with Fabric Blog Hop"!!

This is the current schedule: look how many AMAZING artists are going to join!!
It is going to be so fun and full of inspiration!!!

Monday, October 10th, 2016 
Elli @ lovelliquilts.me (http://lovelliquilts.me)
Terry @ terryaskeartquilts (http://www.terryaskeartquilts.com/)
Bea @ beaquilter (http://www.beaquilter.com/)
Heather @ heatherquilts (http://www.heatherquilts.blogspot.com/)

Tuesday, October 11th, 2016 
Carol @ quiltedfabricart (http://www.quiltedfabricart.com)
Janis @ turtlemoonimpressions (https://turtlemoonimpressions.wordpress.com/)
Jennifer @ inquiringquilter (http://www.inquiringquilter.com/)
Jayne @ twiggyandopal (http://twiggyandopal.blogspot.com/)

Wednesday, October 12th, 2016 
Laura @ periwinklequilts (http://periwinklequilts.blogspot.com/)
Yanicka @ yanickahachez (http://yanickahachez.blogspot.com/)
Sarah @ georgiagirlquilts (http://georgiagirlquilts.blogspot.com/)
Patty @ elmstreetquilts (http://www.elmstreetquilts.com/)

Thursday, October 13th, 2016 
Abigail @ cutandalter (http://www.cutandalter.blogspot.co.uk)
Janeen @ quiltartdesigns (http://quiltartdesigns.blogspot.com/)
Alida @ tweloquilting (http://tweloquilting.blogspot.com/)

Friday, October 14th, 2016 
Marian @ seamstobesew (http://www.seamstobesew.com)
Maartje @ quiltingamsterdam (http://quiltinginamsterdam.blogspot.com)
Andrée @ quiltinglearningcombo (http://quiltinglearningcombo.blogspot.com)
Lee Anna @ lapaylor (http://lapaylor.blogspot.com/)
Kristel @ WIPgirl (https://wipgirl.wordpress.com/)

Saturday, October 15th, 2016
Chris @ chrissquiltinguniverse (http://chrissquiltinguniverse.blogspot.com/)
Barb @ bejeweledquilts (http://www.bejeweledquilts.blogspot.com)
Sophie @ sophiejunction (http://sophiejunction.blogspot.com/)
Lisa @ intheboondocks (http://www.intheboondocks.blogspot.com/)

If you want to see what amazing pieces we had last Spring, check out the Art with Fabric Blog Hop main page!!

--

If you have any comment about my quilt, I would love to hear!!!
And check out more wonderful mini quilts over at blogger's quilt festival!!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Fall 2016 - Applique

Vincent
Dimensions: 13''x15''

This is my first entry for the Blogger Quilt Festival, Applique Quilt!
The second entry is here (mini)

If you are new around here, WELCOME!

If you have been around for a while, THANKS AND WELCOME BACK! :)

--

If you are new around here, let me just point you to my main addiction: designing and sharing for free tons of paper piecing patterns :)

As you can see from one of my old headers arrangement, I design patterns for Disney characters, Peanuts and Snoopy, Downton Abbey, Alice in Wonderland but I have many many more (Maleficent, The Simpsons, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Betty Boop, Minions and more)!! Some of them have to be tested, some of there are tested. You can find them just navigating the different tabs or just typing the character name in the search box at the top of the page.

--

So let me tell you their story!

Everything started with my obsession about Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" and the amazing work of Adam Lister (adamlistergallery.com).

When I read about the AMB challenge, the use of solids (and just solids) didn't make me very excited (I don't like solids, don't hate me please :) ). However I thought that it could be the best excuse to finally put Van Gogh's painting down to fabric! But how exactly? I started googling around images of the painting and I came across Adam's wonderful "pixellated" reproductions of classic art and famous characters. As soon as I saw his version of the painting I had the moment "That's it! That's exactly what I was looking for!". I immediately got in touch with him and he was very kind and curious to see how his art would translate into fabric!

Now the difficult part: how can I reproduce this look and keep somehow the spirit of Van Gogh's irregular impressionistic look?
Raw edge applique and thread painting look the only reasonable option!
Of course I never tried any of these technique :) but luckily July tutorial of my series "Stretch Your Skills" was exactly that! So thanks to the wonderful tips and instructions by Kristel (wipgirl) I was able to make a little practice piece that gave me the confidence I needed to attack the big project!

A lot of designing, cutting, fusing and sewing later, this is what I had!

The irregular edges of the different pieces, combined with the irregular crossing of the quilting makes the piece really "impressionist" (IMHO).
I didn't want to add any distraction with the binding, so I used a pillow case method to finish it.
And this mini WAS ACCEPTED in the 40 (out of 230 submitted) minis for the Road to California exhibit!!

After finishing this piece, however, I had a lot of solids leftovers. One day I went to visit the Phillips Collection and I saw a painting from Piet Mondrian (Composition No. III) and I realized that I could make another mini for the challenge!

Since I didn't have white as leftover but blues, I decided to play with the colors and this was the result. It's very simple and the quilting is random straight lines to echo the simple shapes that Mondrian is famous to paint.

This quilt was not accepted in the exhibit, but I still think it's pretty and it balances the impressionistic look of "Vincent"!

--

If you have any comment about these quilts, I would love to hear!!!
And  check out more wonderful applique quilts over at blogger's quilt festival!!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Art Quilt - Fall 2015

Vincent
Dimensions: 13''x15''
Entry for the AMB Tiny Quilt Challenge

This is my first entry for the Blogger Quilt Festival, Art Quilt!
Second entry here (applique).

If you are new around here, WELCOME!

If you have been around for a while, THANKS AND WELCOME BACK! :)

--

If you are new around here, let me just point you to my main addiction: designing and sharing for free tons of paper piecing patterns :)

As you can see from one of my old headers arrangement, I design patterns for Disney characters, Peanuts and Snoopy, Downton Abbey, Alice in Wonderland but I have many many more (Maleficent, The Simpsons, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Betty Boop, Minions and more)!! Some of them have to be tested, some of there are tested. You can find them just navigating the different tabs or just typing the character name in the search box at the top of the page.

And my other recent endeavor is SYS 2015 (Stretch Your Skills): a monthly series of tutorials to practice in different crafts skills. Until now we had Foundation Paper Piecing, Quilting, Crochet and Pixel Quilt.

If you want to know more about the series, check out the Series Page. Links to the tutorials are there... and did I mention that you can link projects for monthly prizes? Just saying... ;)

--

So let me tell you their story!

Everything started with my obsession about Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" and the amazing work of Adam Lister (adamlistergallery.com).

When I read about the AMB challenge, the use of solids (and just solids) didn't make me very excited (I don't like solids, don't hate me please :) ). However I thought that it could be the best excuse to finally put Van Gogh's painting down to fabric! But how exactly? I started googling around images of the painting and I came across Adam's wonderful "pixellated" reproductions of classic art and famous characters. As soon as I saw his version of the painting I had the moment "That's it! That's exactly what I was looking for!". I immediately got in touch with him and he was very kind and curious to see how his art would translate into fabric!

Now the difficult part: how can I reproduce this look and keep somehow the spirit of Van Gogh's irregular impressionistic look?
Raw edge applique and thread painting look the only reasonable option!
Of course I never tried any of these technique :) but luckily July tutorial of my series "Stretch Your Skills" was exactly that! So thanks to the wonderful tips and instructions by Kristel (wipgirl) I was able to make a little practice piece that gave me the confidence I needed to attach the big project!

A lot of designing, cutting, fusing and sewing later, this is what I had!

The irregular edges of the different pieces, combined with the irregular crossing of the quilting makes the piece really "impressionist" (IMHO).
I didn't want to add any distraction with the binding, so I used a pillow case method to finish it.
And this mini WAS ACCEPTED in the 40 (out of 230 submitted) minis for the Road to California exhibit!!

After finishing this piece, however, I had a lot of solids leftovers. One day I went to visit the Phillips Collection and I saw a painting from Piet Mondrian (Composition No. III) and I realized that I could make another mini for the challenge!

Since I didn't have white as leftover but blues, I decided to play with the colors and this was the result. It's very simple and the quilting is random straight lines to echo the simple shapes that Mondrian is famous to paint.

This quilt was not accepted in the exhibit, but I still think it's pretty and it balances the impressionistic look of "Vincent"!

So if you happen to be in Ontario, CA in January, stop to visit this fun exhibit!

And if you see my mini, please send me a picture!!

--

If you have any comment about these quilts, I would love to hear!!!
And  check out more wonderful art quilts over at blogger's quilt festival!!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Applique Quilt - Fall 2015

Flying Geese
Dimensions: 23''x23''

This is my second entry for the Blogger Quilt Festival, Applique Quilt!
First entry here (art).

If you are new around here, WELCOME!

If you have been around for a while, THANKS AND WELCOME BACK! :)

--

If you are new around here, let me just point you to my main addiction: designing and sharing for free tons of paper piecing patterns :)

As you can see from one of my old headers arrangement, I design patterns for Disney characters, Peanuts and Snoopy, Downton Abbey, Alice in Wonderland but I have many many more (Maleficent, The Simpsons, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Betty Boop, Minions and more)!! Some of them have to be tested, some of there are tested. You can find them just navigating the different tabs or just typing the character name in the search box at the top of the page.

And my other recent endeavor is SYS 2015 (Stretch Your Skills): a monthly series of tutorials to practice in different crafts skills. Until now we had Foundation Paper Piecing, Quilting, Crochet and Pixel Quilt.

If you want to know more about the series, check out the Series Page. Links to the tutorials are there... and did I mention that you can link projects for monthly prizes? Just saying... ;)

--

Flying Geese

Size: 23'' x 23 ''

I bought the geese panel (lower left corner) on Etsy and I designed the panel on the right myself on Spoonflower. The top is applique (patterns I created from a picture). I really love how it turned out, and I think the recipient really like it, with all the inspirational and positive quotes!!

--

If you have any comment about these quilts, I would love to hear!!!
And  check out more wonderful art quilts over at blogger's quilt festival!!

MIA - Will be back soon :)

I don't know if anyone noticed, but I have been Missing In Action for a while :)

Mother-in-law staying in our home means no time for sewing ;) however I had time to do some crochet and I had great progress in my sampler tapestry crochet blanket that I will call "Mirror Mirror" :)

But before showing you my assessment of tapestry crochet and my blocks, let me remind you that the the voting for the Blogger's Quilt Festival is open!!

These are my quilts (Scrappy and Small)... please go there and give them some love <3 <3<3

--

And now a little summary of my new crochet project.

I am obsessed with the technique of tapestry crochet and I want to make myself a "sampler" afghan. But first I have to figure out what I like and how it looks like :) so I designed a little pattern and decided to stitch it with different methods. Then I will evaluate the results and pick the one I like the most for the afghan.

So this is the design. It is pretty simple but it has several key components (curves, sharp points, narrow strips, full shapes).

My tapestry block design... and my helper helping out ;)

First try: all SC, turning the work after each row

(Dimension: 5'' x 5.5'')

Assessment:

• I like the texture: it's tight and full and a little too heavy
• it's simple and works out pretty quick
• since SC is not the same front/back, there are some issues on the edges where color changes
• for the same reasons, sharp points (1 SC) are not so precise. The same issue can be seen for the narrow strips (both vertically and horizontally)

Second try: all Half Double Crochet, turning the work after each row

(Dimension: 6''x 8'' estimated)

Assessment:

• I like the fact that is less heavy but still with a full look
• it's simple and works out pretty quick
• same issues as before on color changing spots and narrow strips
• even if I like the fact that is more loose than the other version, HDC are too tall and the design is completely stretched

Third-forth try:
  * (lower half) HDC right->left and SC left->right (no turning)
  * (top half) SC right->left and SC left->right (no turning)

(Dimension: (lower) 6''x 8'' estimated, (upper) 5.5'' x 5.5'' estimated)

Assessment:

• I like the fact that the texture is good and now I don't have issues where color changes and with narrow strips
• I am very slow working with my left hand. And even if the final look is nice and I may get faster with practice, if I pick this approach I may get frustrated after few blocks and never finish the afghan

Conclusion:

I like the speed of the simple SC turning at each row. I am ok with "imperfect" lines when the color changes as long as I can finish my afghan in a reasonable amount of time.

However I want blocks to be a little bigger than 5''... so the solution is simple: I will use a bigger hook, the biggest I have around (K) :)

--

Having resolved the "how" now I wanted to design the "what". My idea is to make sampler blocks with my own designs. Each block will be done in two versions, switching the background/main colors (hence the name "Mirror Mirror" :) ).

These are my first blocks.

I really like how they look! If anyone is interested in the pattern, just comment below with your email address and I can send the graph to you.

--
I will be back next week with the usual link party and hopefully some sewing to share ;)

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Scrappy Quilt - Spring 2015

Dimensions: 40''x60''
Quilts for Linus, Charity Donation
Picture by Jennifer

This is my second entry for the Blogger Quilt Festival, Scrappy Quilt!
First entry here (small quilt).

If you are new around here, WELCOME!

If you have been around for a while, THANKS AND WELCOME BACK! :)

--

If you are new around here, let me just point you to my main addiction: designing and sharing for free tons of paper piecing patterns :)

As you can see from one of my old headers arrangement, I design patterns for Disney characters, Peanuts and Snoopy, Downton Abbey, Alice in Wonderland but I have many many more (Maleficent, The Simpsons, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Betty Boop, Minions and more)!! Some of them have to be tested, some of there are tested. You can find them just navigating the different tabs or just typing the character name in the search box at the top of the page.

And my other recent endeavor is SYS 2015 (Stretch Your Skills): a monthly series of tutorials to practice in different crafts skills. Until now we had Foundation Paper Piecing, Quilting, Crochet and Pixel Quilt.

If you want to know more about the series, check out the Series Page. Links to the tutorials are there... and did I mention that you can link projects for monthly prizes? Just saying... ;)

--

Pictures by Jennifer
Ok, technically the quilts are two :) but I made them together and they share the story so here it is.

All the paper pieced blocks were made by me using scraps of all size, shape and color!
That was the only rule that I gave to me for these quilts: no new fabric, only fabric from my stash and first I had to use the scraps of weird shape and size ;)

I pieced most of the blocks (except from the owls, all those are applique blocks I received in a swap last year).

The blocks are designed by many different designers: Jennifer @ sewhooked, Esther @ ipatchandquilt, Jessica, Lilja, Janeen @ quiltartdesign, Kristy, Lorna @ sewfreshquilts  (if you are interested in a particular one, just let me know, I can send you the direct link).

I pieced the quilt tops and then I send them over to Jennifer (sewhooked) to finish them up and donate them to her favorite charity (The Linus Connection, a Central Texas organization whose mission is to make and deliver handmade security blankets for children in crisis situations in that area. The blankets go to children in hospital emergency rooms, in crisis centers, in foster care, battered women's shelters, to any child who is in need of a little extra security in their lives).

So thanks to Marge (who quilted them) and Jennifer (who bound them) I can count those as finished and share them as scrappy quilts for the festival!

If you have any comment about these quilts, I would love to hear!!!
And  check out more wonderful scrappy quilts over at blogger's quilt festival!!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Small Quilt - Spring 2015

Dimensions: 30''x48''
(unnamed)

This is my first entry for the Blogger Quilt Festival, Small Quilts!

If you are new around here, WELCOME!

If you have been around for a while, THANKS AND WELCOME BACK! :)

--

If you are new around here, let me just point you to my main addiction: designing and sharing for free tons of paper piecing patterns :)

As you can see from one of my old headers arrangement, I design patterns for Disney characters, Peanuts and Snoopy, Downton Abbey, Alice in Wonderland but I have many many more (Maleficent, The Simpsons, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Betty Boop, Minions and more)!! Some of them have to be tested, some of there are tested. You can find them just navigating the different tabs or just typing the character name in the search box at the top of the page.

And my other recent endeavor is SYS 2015 (Stretch Your Skills): a monthly series of tutorials to practice in different crafts skills. Until now we had Foundation Paper Piecing, Quilting, Crochet and Pixel Quilt. 

If you want to know more about the series, check out the Series Page. Links to the tutorials are there... and did I mention that you can link projects for monthly prizes? Just saying... ;)

--

And now, back on the project for the festival ;)

The whole project started as the "Tea Towel Challenge" (@ sophie junction).
So I got the tea towel and I used it as the center piece. Then I reproduced the motif in the main design as paper piecing border around it.
And then the amazing Jennifer (@sewhooked) started her BOM (Paper Piecing Vintage).
So I decided to merge the two and not following any of their rules I made my own ;)
So I didn't follow Sophie's deadline, nor Jen's layout, but I really love how it turned out!!

Few notes on the finishing touches:

• I was super afraid of quilting it. Because I decided to do something I never do: use all-over designs not connected to the piecing. I was afraid that my bad skills in quilting and in picking desings would have ruined the piecing. But overcoming my fears I did it anyway and I realized that even if I used cream thread, it doesn't stand out against the blue! It just give a different texture! So fear of all-over designs is over!! :)
• I tried a nice and simple motif shared by Susan a few weeks ago. I used a simplified version and tried it with two different scales. I used my walking foot to quilt this and I really like how it's soft and subtle, but interesting. This is definitely something I am going to use again!
  
• Confident about the previous design, I wanted to try a more complex one in free motion. So I picked Deco Leaves by Leah Day. I hated the entire process! The stitching was super hard, frustrating, nothing was working, I kept getting stuck because of bulky seams, the stitches were super inconsistent, I broke one needle, I hated quilting, I hated my life, I hated everything while I was doing that :) ok, once I stop stitching this section, I went back to my normal status of loving my life and sewing ;) but I guess you understand the spirit. Despite the messiness of the process and my opinion on the design (too dense for my taste), it didn't turn out too bad after washing... I can barely see it, so this is just a lesson for me: never ever ever ever again try to FMQ on a pieced  block :) if all the seams are open or on a blank piece of fabric, maybe...
  
• Because I didn't want to repeat the same design that gave me so much trouble, I started doing some tangles borders on my notepad and came up with this simple design which I absolutely love! I stitched it with my walking foot, so a lot of turning, but not too bad since the design is pretty small and I didn't need to turn the whole quilt most of the time. This is another design that I will definitely use again!!
  
• I absolutely love the 2 colors (piped) binding but I struggled joining the sections at the end. Again Susan came to the rescue with a great tutorial! Absolutely perfect joining, if I didn't know where it is I wouldn't even being able to tell (hint: it's in one of the picture, but not in this one)!! ;)
  
• Finally, since this is a wall hanging that I wanted to hang on the wall I tried to put a sleeve on! First sleeve ever and, guess where I find help for that: right, Susan again with a simple hanging sleeve tutorial!

This is one of my few finishes, and I am very happy I could share it with all of you today!!
If you want to check out more wonderful small quilts, check out the blogger's quilt festival!!

If you have any comment, I would love to hear!!!
If you want to suggest a name for it, that would be great ;)