Uninspired but moving on (and a link party)

I kind of lost my sewing mojo this week... but I try to keep going because it will come back eventually!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Play with Me QAL - June block pattern almost ready!
2. WGACA projects (changed projects)
1. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - one quilt done (see below)!!
2. SECRET quilt for exhibit - (FDJ) maybe will drop this
3. Minion QAL - Vampire Minion (Minion block) one block done (see below)
3. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
4. Hello Block Swap - waiting for June
5. American Quilt (previous known as Americana QAL) - shipped to the quilter!
6. Splendid Sampler - no progress
7. Challenge quilt - I change the challenge I will probably join... but still considering
8. Road Home Row-A-Long - no progress

The EverythingElse List:

1. 70273 Project - waiting to hear about the blocks sent before making more
2. Jane T - no progress
3. The SK project - no progress
4. the 31000 Xs project - no progress
5. Spirit cross stitch project - no progress
6. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
7. As You Wish -  no progress
8. Crazy optical illusion - no progress
9. Memory quilt 2 - no progress
10. Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL - no progress

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I am working on charity quilts to help the kids in the DC General Homeless Shelter. 
I finally convinced myself to sit and do some FMQ on this quilt!

Dimensions: 60'' x 40''

I just decided to do some medium meander, some weird flowery things in the center and then I tried to do something different on the stars... that part is not great :) but I finally fully understand why I don't like quilting!
1. I love working with busy fabric... and that means that the quilting is hardly visible so I struggle a lot understanding what I am doing and at the end the quilting is not much visible anyway so why bother to struggle? :)
2. I don't like the continuos sound of the sewing machine! I love to piece, but I like the short burst of sewing followed by the silence of cutting that paper piecing requires. I don't even like chain piecing! My brain just goes into anxiety mode if I hear that sound for more than 15 seconds apparently :) 

Well, I guess I will have to find ways to enjoy it anyway and I think that using the walking foot (and stopping a lot) or doing all over meander that are very unstructured could help me with these issues.

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The other only thing I convinced myself to stitch is another Minion

Vampire Minion by Jennifer Rowles

These blocks are sooooo fun to make!! The next one is half done so I should have it by next week.

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How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Planning and progress (and a link party)

My "ten days of finishing project" are over and I am back into new blocks new projects mode!!

The Ongoing Project List:

1. Play with Me QAL - April block has been released... it's technically free, so if you want to check it out and get back in the free QAL group, that's your chance!
2. WGACA projects
1. Jane T - no progress
2. The SK project - no progress
3. Charity Quilts for DC General Homeless Shelter project - quilted and bound! (see below)
3. Mirror Mirror Afghan - no progress
4. Block Swap Adventure -  dropped out, group with too little  interactions. I will replace this with the Hello Block Swap! :)
5. American Quilt (previous known as Americana QAL) - quilt top 90% done (see below)
6. Splendid Sampler - 2 blocks done, I am back! (see below)
7. SECRET quilt 1 for exhibit - (FDJ) started pulling fabric for first block
8. SECRET quilt 2 for exhibit - (Breaking free) no progress
9. Road Home Row-A-Long - designed the entire row (cannot share yet)
10. 70273 Project - 2 blocks 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
7. Gyleen's BCP Mystery QAL - no progress

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Let me start by setting the goals for the Finish-ALong Q2:

1. FDJ quilt for exhibit - current state: designed and fabric selected
2. Breaking free for exhibit - current state: designed, no idea about fabric yet
3. Table runner for Art with Fabric Blog Hop - current state: designed, have fabric, need to start
4. Bargello/Cathedral window charity quilt - current state: done quilting and binding yesterday but label and washing is missing
5. American Quilt - current state: quilt top 90% done, need extra border and quilting/binding
6. Play with me QAL - current state: 6 QAYG blocks done, three to finish the design, then I just need to join and bind
7. Charity quilt 1, flowers - current state: top done, maybe need extra border?
8. Charity quilt 2, Allietare - current state: top done, need quilting and finishing
9. Charity quilt 3, baby quilt - current state: pieces for the top cut, need assembly and everything else

I think this list is long enough :)

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This is this month pattern: Go board (done with embroidery).

If you want details on how to get the pattern

visit this link!

We have about 50 people playing along, it is so fun!!

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

Visit the QAL page for more details.

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Finally my American Quilt top is done (almost)

Center: Americana QAL block made by me

Border: Snail Trails block received in my Block Swap Adventure

Quilt top inspected and approved by my sewing helper :) :) :)

I realized it a little bit too narrow for my tastes... so I will add a red scrappy piano border and then I will probably send it off to quilt because I won a gift certificate so why not take advantage of that and explore quilting services? It would be my first time, I am a little nervous, but I am sure it will be great!

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Back in the Splendid Sampler journey. I made the April blocks and I will catch up on the missed one this week.

Block 15 and 16

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This will be my contribution 70273 Project. For now just two blocks, but I designed the paper piecing pattern, so I can print and make more with my scraps!

If you want the pattern, please get in touch with me and I will send it to you. I will share it soon for download but if you want it directly in your mailbox, just email me! :)

I hope you will join this project! 

Jeanne is trying to collect 70273 blocks so she needs all the help she can get!!

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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!! 

Cathedral window+donated block (front 1, left), Bargello Elm Street Quilt (front 2, right)

Size: 39'' x 41''

Still missing label and washing

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Have you heard about Ello? It is basically Instagram without ads, no weird algorithm to show you only what they want you to see, no selling data, and it is for creative artists! :)

I never joined IG because I felt the goal was more about "showing off" than focusing on creativity, so even if I know there is a good quilting community there (which is creative and inspiring) I never felt it was the right place for me. Ello sounds much more fun!

It is a relatively new platform, so it has some issues (not too fast because it is still in beta but it's getting better, the signup is easy but if you don't pay attention the default groups that you are "following" may not be the ones you want, etc). If you want to join, it is free and there is a fast-growing quilting community. For helpful tips and finding your quilting tribe, you can read what the coordinator of the account @elloquilt says!

My handle is @alida-tweloq and to bring the community together I decided to coordinate a Block Swap!

You don't need to have an Ello account to join! Just fill this form http://goo.gl/forms/upr4FSDW6x to leave me your contact if you are interested. I am still collecting general info to see who is interested in what. I highly recommend to have an account, as I plan to post reminders, pictures of blocks, etc over there!

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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

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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.

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(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!

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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 :)

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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 :)

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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.

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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

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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!!

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How about you? What are YOU up to?

Link it here and share it with me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

2015 Finish-Along: Q4 plans

Before my plans for Q4, let me celebrate the amazing finishes I made in Q3!

1. Water Lilies - quilt done!
2. Secret Cross Stitching project - pin cushion, done!
3. Happy Halloween wall hanging -  95% done, carrying over to Q4
4. Mirror mirror afghan - no progress here, carrying over to Q4
5. AMB Tiny Quilt Challenge piece - finished but I cannot share pictures or stories because the results of the challenge are not made public yet!
6. College Days Blog Hop blocks for tote/grocery bag - bad done!
7. Cute Kitten (cross stitching) - done and gifted!
8. Lighthouse (cross stitching) - done!
9. Selvage zipper pouches - done and gifted!
10. D wall hanging - done and gifted

Each quarter the size of the list increases, but I am up for the challenge!!!

As usual the list contains projects that I am 99% sure I will complete... and others that I am 80% sure I won't be able to complete, but it's a good incentive to have them there ;)

This is my list:

1. Happy Halloween wall hanging - need to finish quilting & binding
2. Charity quilt 1 (baby) - need quilting & binding
3. Charity quilt 2 (toddler) - need quilting & binding
4. Charity quilt 3 (baby) - half blocks done
5. Charity quilt 4 (unknown size) - have fabric and an idea but nothing more
6. Tapestry Crochet Xmas ornaments - have the pattern and the material
7. Mirror mirror afghan - several blocks done, seeeeeveral more missing, carried over from Q3
8. Sweet birds wall hanging - have the fabric and pattern
9. Xmas zipper pouches - have the fabric and pattern
10. Applique photo collage - designed the pattern and have the fabric
11. SYS embroidery project - have the design and pattern
12. SYS english paper piecing - have the fabric
13. Memory quilt - several blocks done, seeeeeveral missing, probably will carry this for next year, but it's good to aim for some progress
14. Gloves (knit or crochet, not sure yet) - have the yarn
15. Pumpkin coaster - top done, need quilting and binding

Ok... that's a huuuuuuge list...

How much am I going to accomplish? Not much if I spend my time here writing ;)
So let's get sewing!!

2015 Finish-Along: Q3 plans

Big plans for this quarter!

As usual the list contains projects that I am 99% sure I will complete... and others that I am 80% sure I won't be able to complete, but it's a good incentive to have them there ;)

This is my list:

1. Water Lilies - need finish quilting & binding
2. Secret Cross Stitching project - have the pattern, the thread but cannot share, it's secret ;)
3. Happy Halloween wall hanging -  12 blocks done, design planned
4. Mirror mirror afghan - several blocks done, seeeeeveral more missing, probably will carry over Q4
5. AMB Tiny Quilt Challenge piece - have the fabric and the pattern, just need to start stitching!
6. College Days Blog Hop blocks for tote/grocery bag - one block done, no pattern
7. Cute Kitten (cross stitching) - started
8. Lighthouse (cross stitching) - started... this is pretty big for me, probably will carry over Q4
9. Selvage zipper pouches - made the outside pieces, have pattern and other material too
10. D wall hanging - just last block missing (+ finishing)

Ok... that's a huuuuuuge list...

How much am I going to accomplish? Not much if I spend my time here writing ;)
So let's get sewing!!

2015 Finish along - my finishes!

This was the status of the projects that I picked for the second quarter of the 2015 Finish-Along over at On the Windy side (link number 98, posted on my blog at the following link)!

My goal was actually to finish 3 of them and at least start putting together the forth project (for which I only picked the fabric and the pattern at that time).

I have to proudly report that I finished the 3 project I was planning, and I have about 80% of the forth project done as well!!

These are the finishes I will link in the finishes post:

- 1 -
Tea Towel challenge and PPV BOM
Finished project shared on April 25, 2015
(but I am using the current post for the link party as the second project was shared the same day ;) )

- 2 -
Sewing machine cover
Finished project shared on April 25, 2015

- 3 -
SYS 2015 pixel project
Finished project shared on May 30, 2015

- 4 -
D wall hanging
This is not a finished project (it will roll over to the next quarter) but I will share it with you anyway ;)

Finishes, new projects (and a link party)

Finishes are rolling in, but the list doesn't get shorter because of new projects ;)

The Ongoing Project List:

1. the SK project - no progress
2. Tea Towel challenge and PPV BOM - dooooooone
   (this is my April project for a Lovely Year of Finishes)
3. SYS2015 future projects - blocks done, ready to be assembled in the object! cannot share
4. D wall hanging -  one little block done!
5. B quilt - no progress
6. Sewing machine cover -  doooooone!
7. Block Swap Adventure - nothing new for April
8. Spangled Stars Quilt-along - planned to join!

The EverythingElse List:

1. Embroidery calendar - no progress
2. Animal blocks for charity quilts - paused for a while
3. Project of Doom 2015 @ Fandom in Stitches - paused for a while
4. College Days Blog Hop blocks for tote/grocery bag -  no progress
5. Alice in Wonderland quilt - no progress
6. As You Wish -  no progress
7. Happy Halloween wall hanging -  no progress
8. Crazy optical illusion -  no progress
9. Memory quilt 2 - no progress.

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The Voting for the Marsala Quilt Challenge is open over @ onthewindyside! You should go there and check all those entries!! Mine is in the Mini (number 8), just in case you want to give it some love ;)

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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 Jen 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 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 my finish for April for a Lovely Year of Finishes and the FINISH #1 for Q2 of the Finish Along!!

Oh, and because Susan really seams to be perfectly in line with what I need and what I like, she is starting a great Quilt Along! The design is very beautiful, however I think I will need to change the colors, because despite white being a wonderful background for that design, it doesn't seem to be appropriate for a quilt that I may want to drag around for picnics or on the beach ;) but we'll see!

Click the button for more information!!

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And speaking about the Finish along... I also have FINISH #2!! (wow, 2 finishes in one week!!)

(Patterns by Susanne @ Quilt it out, Amy @ Badskirt,  Joanna @ Shape Moth and by HTaBQuilts)

So I had these blocks for quite a while and I made them with the idea of covering my previous sewing machine (which didn't have a hard cover). But now the new sewing machine has a hard cover that I really like, except that is white and plain! So I decided to use those blocks to make a snugly cover for the cover :)
Since this is a little smaller than the original cover, the blocks are not perfectly centered, but I really like the way it turned out anyway! I did some straight line quilting to mimic the lines on a notepad (since the fabric is graph paper with equations and geometric formulae) :)
It was a very quick project, and it has been sitting there for months! Thanks to the incentive of the Finish Along I actually finished it!!

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Finally, I made the second block for the D wall hanging for my dad: second part of the fence!

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What are YOU going to link?

An InLinkz Link-up