Chicago: A City Of Hope.

I can't believe it! I finished my challenge quilt on time!!

I finished on Wednesday, and it was so gloomy out that my pictures were not that great. This challenge was to be entered online, and the judges will only have our pictures and artist statement to go off of when deciding which quilts are used for the show... so I wanted my pictures to be great. I waited until Thursday (the last day for submission!), so I could get some better pictures.

I did indeed get better pics. I'm quite impressed. My friend Judy suggested taking my quilt to the public library to photograph - since the architecture at libraries typically allow for lots of natural light. She was right! My library has huge windows all along the sides, and they're the frosted glass kind, so it's not direct sunlight. Perfect! I walked back to the young adult stacks and laid my quilt on the floor (dark brown carpet - pretty neutral background!) - and I started snapping away. No one even noticed me, and if they would have I'm sure they wouldn't be bothered. 

So there you have it. Take your quilt pics at the library. Pick up a good book while you're at it!

My challenge quilt is titled "Chicago: A City of Hope." It's a really abstracted version of the Chicago map. The quilting is done in the layout of the Chicago El map, and it's bound in (pieced) Chicago flag stripes! 

I'm really happy with how it turned out. I don't specifically have a need for this quilt (other than to enter into the show), so I have listed it for sale (should it be accepted for the quilt show, it will be for sale there). That would be a nice addition to my Quiltcon fund. :) 

For now I'm just glad I got it done. Here's hoping it will hang with the rest of the "Modern in the City Challenge" quilts at the IQF in Chicago! 

Chicago MQG "Modern in the City" Challenge

My guild (and the other local MQG, Naperville Modern Quilt Guild) is having a challenge. The theme chosen is "Modern in the City," and some of the quilts will be chosen to hang in the show at the International Quilt Fest in Schaumberg this summer.

Clearly I would love to have my quilt included... but I'm running out of time! Last week my family was taken unexpectedly by illness (double ear infections on a five year old who wears hearing aids - ouch!!). We also had the unexpected trip back home for a funeral. Funerals are always fairly unexpected, but we had some heads up, Grandpa had been sick for a while.... At least Allie was well enough to travel, and she was so well behaved. I really can't believe how well she handled it all. She was so supportive of Grandma too!

Given the situation, I don't know if I'll be able to finish my challenge quilt. It only has to be 36" square - that's pretty small for a quilt. I have a solid idea though, and I'm going to give it a try. I might not get it completely done, but it's worth a shot.

My quilt will be an abstraction of the Chicago map. It's main focus will be a dense area of free piecing which will be surrounded by more free piecing. The city is dense and unexpected, it's harsh angles and smooth curves. My color palate is cool and blue, a nod to Lake Michigan, with bits of Chicago's aqua blue. The addition of the grey variations are a subliminal mention of the parts of the city we'd rather not think of, the shadows. The poor, the dirt, the smog. It's something I don't immediately associate with Chicago, but that is definitely there. The ultimate feel I am going for with this quilt is one of hope. Hope in the good, hope for the bad, creative growth, and community sharing. 

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Well now I know what to write when I'm asked to "describe your quilt." If only I get it done in time!

I have approximately two days off before this quilt is due. That's a mere 6 hours of piecing. If I can get the quilt top pieced by then then I'll push through to get it quilted too! Here's hoping!!

A finished quilt, but it's not mine!

Last weekend I quilted a charity quilt for our Chicago Modern Quilt Guild. We were collecting full size quilts (BIG) for a local group called Teen Living. Teen Living provides necessities (apartment type necessities) for teens who are aging out of the foster care system, and will be moving out on their own for the first time. Amazingly our guild managed to make 23 full size quilts!

We were encouraged to work in small groups for this project, so I joined up with Emily. She pieced it and I quilted and bound it! (she even made the binding - how speedy is that?!). 

I quilted it with a basic stipple, and for whatever reason my Juki seemed to be skipping a stitch every once and a while - I'm hoping that it has something to do with the fact that the quilt was made using vintage linens... but I might take the machine in to have it looked at just in case. I would hate to think that I might have knocked the timing off or something! 

It was really great to see all our guild's charity quilts - and they were very well received by the Teen Living staff. I hope to have a blog post up soon on the Chicago MQG blog which will include some pictures of the other quilts. 

Free Motion Quilting Demo at the Chicago MQG

I was lucky enough to demo at the last Chicago MQG meeting. It was nice to have the chance to think about how and why I do what I do when I free motion quilt. I made an outline in preparation for the meeting - so why not share it here too? Here are my tips for FMQ.

lost your feed dog cover? make one out of template plastic or card stock!

Equipment:

• Darning foot (cheap is ok, and feel free to alter yours with a rubber band)
•  Feed dog cover  - if yours don’t drop using a switch, cover them with template plastic, mik carton plastic, or card stock. Tape the cover in place using masking tape. Store bought covers work too but be aware of them if they move.
• Quilting gloves (I use Fons and Porter)
• Extension table – super helpful, but ultimately not necessary.
• Supreme Slider – I don’t use this but would love to!
• Extra tables / ironing board – don’t let your quilt hang onto the ground!

How to:

• Start with a well basted quilt.
• Roll your quilt with two vertical rolls toward the middle. Pin into place with safety pins if necessary.
• Use grippy gloves.
• Hold on to the rolls or over/under position – find what’s best for you.
• Stay within your “work triangle” – the area formed by the thumb and first fingers – always be aware of where the needle is in relation to your hands! Keep that “work triangle” flat with no puckers.
• Watch the needle and the area that is next to be quilted – don’t just watch your stitching or you’ll lose sight of were on the quilt you are!
•  Foot fast, hands slow! Play around with balance between the speed of your foot petal and the speed of your hands. (If you’re getting messy curves on the back of the quilt move your hands slower around curves).

Problem Solving

Thread breaks what should you do?

(if your stitches were normal while quilting previously)

• Completely re-thread the top thread, then keep going.

If that doesn't fix it then:

• Re-thread the bobbin thread.

If that doesn't fix it:

• Change your needle.

If that doesn't fix it:

• Check to be sure that you’re not trying to sew over a particularly thick block intersection (sometimes this can cause your thread to shred). If you are then either quilt very close to the intersection without crossing over the bulk (avoid it!), or go slower over the intersection (even use your hand wheel to cross it).

If it’s not a bulky seam:

• Change your needle size up one – and be sure you’re using the right needle for the fabric / thread. (see chart below)

Make every attempt to sort out tension issues before you’re working on your real quilt… google to find tips for your specific machine  and find tips to test how balanced your tension is. It’s best to know you’re starting at a basic good-stitch quality first! It’s easiest to know that your tension is good and to consider the other possible problems.

This is how I roll a quilt to get it all in the arm of the machine. Quilt pieced by Emily and Sally.

Resources: (I learned to FMQ by reading the internet – the following websites helped)

ElizabethHartman 

Amanda Jean (short video of FMQ stipples) 

Leah Day (tons of design inspiration!!!)
how to alter your darning foot 

My pinterestboard for FMQ (tons and tons of good inspiration, some tutorials, some just pictures) 

Thread size                  Needle size

50 wt                           75/11

40 wt                           80/12

30 wt                           90/14

Topstitch needles have larger eyes and are fine for quilting

If your thread is shredding move up a size needle!

The needle / thread chart is care of Ebony Love – who wrote it in my notebook when I couldn't seem to remember it!! I recommend taking a pic of the chart on your phone - then you can reference it when you're staring blankly at the notions wall wondering what needles you need!

There you have it. My tips. Nothing new, but served with the real encouragement - you CAN do this. FMQ is something you can do on your home machine. Keep trying and you'll get the hang of it!

Do you have any tips to add? Share them below! I'd love to hear from you!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

This week is the Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side -- it's a nice way for us bloggers to enjoy tons of beautiful quilts, without the hassle of organizing a giant quilt fest! (Also, a way for us to keep busy while the big shots live it up at Quilt Market!).

My entry for the quilt festival this fall is my Chicago MQG callender challenge quilt "Springtime Fun" This quilt will be one of the calender girls for our guild calender. 

This quilt started out as a pretty stack of fabrics that I'd pulled out based on one of my favorite Tula Pink prints, I took the one busy fabric, and pulled fabric in colors that were included in it. I really like this method of fabric choice. It feels free and easy, yet you end up with a pretty well balanced stack of fabrics! 

Next I started piecing. I didn't plan at all really, the only thing I knew was that I wanted a random bunch of HST's in there. (I didn't mark or trim those HST by the way - I just winged them). I love the freedom of this style piecing. Sewing a bit here and there, chopping bits as I go.

I had fun sewing... but then set the piece aside for a while because we were packing up to move. The deadline approached quickly for our challenge and the quilt I was planning on finishing didn't get done... so I picked up this one! I added the white border and scrappily added the rest. 

I'm really glad I made this quilt - it's a mini quilt just 14" x 18" (if I recall correctly). Mini quilts suit me so well - fun and free. 

This quilt can be seen on display at the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo starting Nov 14, 15, & 16 at the Tinley Park show!! If you're heading out to the Sewing & Quilt Expo sometime this year be sure to check it out!! 

Final stats
Size: 14" x 18"

Improvisationally pieced

Quilted by me on a domestic machine (my beloved Juki!)

Machine bound

Thanks for all the Blogger's Quilt Fest people for stopping by! Feel free to follow me to see more pretty quilts! :) 

Check out the other Blogger's Quilt Fest quilts here.

Did I mention my quilt will be in a calendar?

I don't think I remembered to share my news! My Chicago MQG Calender Challenge quilt was chosen by a guest judge - and it will be included in our 2014 calender! This is really exciting! I'm looking forward to seeing my little quilt again this fall at the Tinley Park Sewing Expo, and then seeing it in the calender for the rest of the year! :) I guess I know what my family members are getting for Christmas!

The icing on the cake? The sweet comments offered by the guest judge Sarah Nishiura (she's a local Chicago quilt artist). I love how she really understood my quilt!

CMQG September Meeting: Jane Sassaman!!

You guys might have caught my blog post over on the Chicago MQG blog last week. We were so lucky to have Jane Sassaman join us for a trunk show and lecture last week! 

Jane was an absolute joy to have with us! Her style is fun and crazy! She does a lot of applique - which isn't my style at all, but I really enjoyed hearing about how she goes about designing and balancing her designs. Not to mention that she's just as sweet as can be!

It's always so inspiring to see so many beautiful quilts too! Jane brought a ton to show us!!

And... Happy birthday To Emily! I hadn't seen her since her birthday so I made sure to bring her gift with me. The Quilts of Gee's Bend won't disappoint (even if the handmade portion of her gift isn't finished yet)!

Lastly, for the sake of making Elaine smile -- a snap of my fabulous notebook holder that she made for me! I use it for guild related activities and planning meetings. Thanks Elaine! (note the fun doodling that happened during Jane's talk!)

Chicago MQG Calendar Challenge

Remember that post from last week - the one about finishing my guild challenge quilt. 

It didn't work out how I planned. It became Wednesday and I hadn't finished piecing the top. I knew at that point that I had to change gears if I wanted to finish in time - otherwise my quilting would be compromised and that's not what I wanted for that quilt. I didn't want to rush it. 

So...

I grabbed the closest bit of unfinished patchwork on my table and went with it. 

(ok, ok, in truth I had this one on the back burner for about a month... no time here).

So I pulled this bit of free-pieced patchwork - chopped the overwhelming white borders (which apparently I hand't snapped a picture of), and added a bit more.

I decided to do a bit of free motion quilted flowers, with lines radiating out from the flowers. It makes me remember how much I love free motion quilting! I have some quilt tops that are nearly ready - soon! 

Anyway I really enjoyed making this little mini. In true Emily fashion I finished at about 1am late into the night, the night before it was due. It's a very "me" quilt - free and fun. I love it. 

I have to say I'm a bit in love with it and sad to that I won't see it again for a year! 

That's right, our guild challenge quilts have been accepted to travel in the quilt show with The Original Sewing & Quilt Expo for the next year! Stop by the show in your city to see them!

Did I mention...

That I won a door prize at my guild's Modern Meetup at the quilt show last month? (yes, I'm that far behind on my blogging topics!)

I won a cute little coordinating bundle of FQ's from the Needle Shop, a pattern from Lee, and some Aurifil!

Also new to my stash is this pile of beautiful fabrics - most of them are already cut and being put together for my guild's challenge quilt. My assigned month is Summer - so I'm going with a sherbet color palate!

And finally at the quilt show (last month) I snagged a couple yards of one of my favorite Tula Pink prints - and some Aurifil!

Chicago MQG Calender Challenge

I love that Fabric.com tags their fabrics - it's so helpful for the solids!

My guild is putting together a calender full of quilts - and to fill up all those pretty spots we're having a challenge. Each person participating was assigned a season to inspire their quilt. At the end we'll have a judge to help us decide who get's the "main" picture for each month. We'll have them professionally photographed for the calender, which is pretty cool.

As it is I have two and a half weeks until the quilt is due! Way to leave it to the last minute! Luckily I've had the quilt planned for a couple months. I used the Threadbias.com design tool to draw it all out.

I finally got around to ordering the fabrics a couple weeks ago. My assigned season is Summer, and I'm shooting for a rainbow sherbet color scheme!

Today I had a few hours to test out a block, and cut all my fabrics. I usually don't make quilts like this - I typically cut as I go. My hope for this project is to offer the pattern for sale - so I figured it would be best to do all the cutting at once. (Man cutting takes time doesn't it?!)

My pattern is made up of various drunkard's path blocks. I didn't have a small size rotary cutter to work with my circle cutter acrylic ruler - so I made a template and did it the old fashioned way. I did cut four pieces at once though - to speed up the process a bit. 

Chocolate is necessary for a big fabric cutting session!

I'm happy to say I had enough time to piece about a third of the blocks today too - they turned out so nicely!! I'm loving the colors!!!

Here's hoping I can get this one done in time!! 

Quilt Festival Chicago! Modern Meetup & Demo-ing!

I can't believe how quickly this week has flown by! It's already Friday! I had intended to announce this earlier here, but better late than never! 

This weekend Chicago is host to the International Quilt Festival and we're so glad that it's come back to our city! As a way to encourage our guild members to attend the quilt festival, the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild has joined up with the Naperville Modern Quilt Guild to host a "Modern Meetup" Anyone interested in the modern quilt movement is invited to join us! We'll be meeting at the Rosemont Hilton, Liberty Bar, 7pm.

In other exciting news I'll be demo-ing at the Open Studios at the quilt festival tomorrow! If you're roaming around the festival between 4-6pm stop by the Quilt Studio - I'll be teaching about foundation paper piecing! I'm pretty excited about this! My bags are packed and I'm all ready! You can check out the schedule for the Open Studios here.

I hope to see you guys there!!

Project Night Night - String Quilt

This winter my guild has set to work making quilts and stuffed animals for an organization called Project Night Night. Project night night gives tote bags filled with a quilt, a stuffed animal, and a story book to children as they enter homeless shelters. Their hope is to provide some consistency and comfort for these kids. 

Emily and I with our donation quilts.

Our guild managed to fill nearly 50 tote bags for Project Night Night!! 

I pulled out this old (OLD) quilt top to finish up for Project Night Night. I doubt anyone remembers this quilt from the blog (read about it here) Hello, project started in January of 2010! LOL! Well it was going to be a big quilt but I lost interest. I'm glad I took the excuse of this service project to pull it out and give it a fulfilling life in the arms of a child!

The quilt finished at about 36" x 45" and I quilted it with a meandering stipple (with a few hearts and stars included). I used Pellon Legacy Batting in 100% Polyester (left over from a little project). This was my first time free motion quilting using poly batting. It was pretty interesting! I had no problems with the batting at all, but it was surprising as I quilted because it's poofy-er than the cotton. Considering the poofyness added with all those bias seams on the string blocks I expected to have more issues with quilting it - but it really was no big deal. :) I quilted it using Aurifil - that spool of thread lasted SO LONG! 

I'm glad this little one has made it out of my WIP pile of shame and into the arms of a kid in need!

For a bit more about the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild's meeting check out my post over on the guild blog!

Sew Thinky Thursday: Week 4

Welcome to week four of the Sew Thinky Thursday party! As I'm writing this it's only Tuesday... That's the beauty of scheduled posts. I promise I'll check out what you guys have to say on Thursday from my lovely hotel room at QuiltCon! :) 

I'm beyond excited about this trip. So much so that it has inspired this weeks thinky question:

What is one regular thing you do for yourself to keep up your creative mind? Do you go to a guild, out for coffee with a friend? Are there people / activities you do regularly or as needed? 

Personally I would say that I attend the monthly meetings of the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild to keep me going. These meetings and the sweet ladies (and one man - HI Mark!) really inspire me. I know that each month I'll go and for one whole afternoon I won't have to worry about anything else. 

CMQG - Fabric swap at retreat.

It took me a while to finally make it to a CMQG meeting... and I'm glad I took the plunge and did it. I think I've missed only one or two meetings in the two years since. Regardless of the meeting topic, it's always refreshing to the spirit to be with likeminded people.

Also - I love going on our guild retreats. I signed up late for our spring retreat and I'm ninth on the wait list... maybe several people will have to cancel!?

I guess I could go on and on about things I do, but for the most part it boils down to CMQG. I've built many great friendships at those meetings, and it's changed my personal sewing experience. 

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Now it's your turn! Answer the question in a blog post and link up below so we can read all about it! 

Unraveling.

A couple nights ago I worked on my Madrona Road Challenge Quilt.

Modern Quilt Guild Madrona Road Challenge

My guild is participating in the Modern Quilt Guild Madrona Road Challenge - each guild was sent a packet of fabrics to be passed out to anyone wishing to participate. We each got a set of several fat eighths to work with. We were allowed to add solids and any other fabrics in the Madrona Road line.

Our guild had chatted about what guidelines we should follow for this, in the end we decided that our challenge projects could be anything, as long as we tried something new. Pretty general right - I actually suggested this rule; I like a challenge!

To be truthful I wasn't that excited about the fabrics when we received them... the ones we received were from the blue colorway and I was feeling much more inspired by the citrus (pink and orange) colorway.

I worked my lukewarmness toward the fabric colors into my challenge - First off I wanted to add some solids to change the feel of the colors. So I added some greys and two different purples. The purples played really well with the blues and the yellows.

Time keeping!

The next part of my challenge was a time challenge. I decided to set my timer for one hour. For that hour I'd do some free piecing work. Whatever piecing I had at the end of that hour was what I'd use for my quilt (my goal was a mini quilt for my wall). This was really exciting!

I set my timer and got working. It was slow at first, I just didn't know where to start, and in turn I spent nearly 20 minutes fiddling around with some piecing that ended up on the back. After that I really found the flow of things. I did a bit of a curved piecing, a bit of fussy cut, and some HST's. I really love how it turned out! The words "Sweet Dreams" jumped out at me while I was piecing, and in a way those words began to shape a theme of dreaminess in this quilt.

I also knew that I wanted to add some words to the binding. I didn't let myself think too much about this, and by going with my gut I ended up with the phrase "Sometimes unraveling again." It seemed to fit my mood. 

Words in the binding! 

In a world where I work with fabric every day I can easily identify with words like "unraveling." Sometimes it's easiest to use sewing terminology to express things going on in other parts of my life (see also "improvisational driving," and the hierarchy of cars in relation to sewing machine models). On a more serious note though, sometimes it feels like our dreams are unraveling, even though they never really do.

I contemplate my own dreams a lot while sewing. It's a time to let my mind wander in my otherwise busy life. My dreams have always included having kids, having a family, and that dynamic that comes with having lots of kids around. Well that hasn't been the case so much. I have a daughter, and she's amazing, but it's so sad to see her growing with out siblings. And each month I unravel a bit more. Sometimes more than others. It gets to the point where I try to be ok with it. I turn my creative energy into making quilts instead of babies.

My signature, three prairie points.

I'm still working on the ability to live in the now, trying not to worry about what the future will bring. I'm trying to live in the present and enjoy what I have, without worrying if I'll ever have the rest of my dream. It's not easy, it's uncomfortable to push past. I guess I could take this all the way around and say that I'm learning, just like this self imposed one hour piecing challenge - it was hard to do, it was uncomfortable and outside of my norm.

Well I didn't expect a guild challenge to pull all of that out of me. But there you have it. Madrona Road Challenge Quilt.

Quilt Title: Unraveling

Dimensions: 13" x 14"

Fabrics: Madrona Road and various solids from my stash (I think they're all Moda Bella Solids)

Time spent piecing: 1 hour

Total time: about 3 hours

Sewing & Quilt Expo - Tinley Park, Il

Something exciting happened this weekend - my quilt was on display at the Sewing Expo!

Look at the official sign for the show!

This past summer Emily and I organized a mini quilt swap for our Chicago Modern Quilt Guild. 24 people participated, and we made mini quilts that were inspired by a work of art chosen by our partner. I can't begin to explain how awesome these quilts turned out. They are really outstanding.

Here's my quilt, made for Natalie Granato.

At the end of the swap we all brought our quilts to the CMQG meeting and shared a bit about the inspiration work, the process, etc. It was great to hear about the process each person went through to create their quilt.

This hangs below my quilt - telling bout the process of making the quilt, inspiration etc.

Exciting enough, our guild member Sara H. pulled some strings and all 24 quilts were chosen to be displayed at the quilt show that accompanies the Sewing Expo. The first stop for our quilts was last weekend in Tinley park! They will then go on to travel to 17 cities across the nation throughout the next year!

Obligatory picture of me next to my quilt.

Sara managed to get us all tickets to the expo too - so several of us carpooled on Saturday (Shout out to my boss who let me off work for the occasion!). Guild friend Cathy drove our group, and I spent most of the day wandering around with Emily and Sally. It was an excellent experience - I'd never been to a quilt expo before!

People admiring our quilts!

When we arrived the first thing we saw was our quilts - all hanging in a row! I guess I have never thought of how professional it would all look! It was a lot of fun seeing other people looking at our quilts and talking about how neat the idea for the swap was.

I may have taken a zillion pictures.

Filming with Ellen.

Upon arrival we also met Ellen Rushman (she'll be a lecturer at QuiltCon!), we were told to ask for her. She is a quilt historian and is traveling with the show and shooting 3 minute videos titled "This is My Quilt" for their website. Emily and I both filmed "This is My Quilt" segments. It was really fun chatting about our quilts!

My first try at a long arm!

Also noteworthy about the Expo, I tried a long arm for the first time! There were several long arm dealers who had booths there, and I decided to give it a try. I'm planning on using my friend Marla's long arm to finish a baby quilt before Christmas, so it was nice to get a feel for it and see that my free motion work on a domestic machine will translate over pretty well!

Here's what I quilted - Not bad if you don't count my mis-spelled name! 

I tested out three machines, an Innova, a Gammil, and a Juki long arm. My favorite was the Innova. (as if I know enough to form an opinion on such things!) I did however, manage to get distracted and misspell "emedoodle" - lol. Note to self, don't get distracted when quilting.

If anyone happens to visit the Sewing Expo later this year, I'd love to hear what you think of our quilts on display! You can find a list of the cities it'll visit here.

You can read more about the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild Modern Art Challenge here.