It’s that time to start taking a closer look at the amazing projects created for the Barn Quilt Project QUILTING Challenge. 

QUILTER:  Nancy’s Unique Boutique

Quilters' Guide To The Galaxy

This was so fun! Here is my challenge piece for the Barn Quilts: "Quilters' Guide To The Galaxy". When I first saw the challenge for Barn Quilts I was not thrilled and inspired but then I began thinking I could do a nice landscape with a barn and put a quilt on it and as I started looking through my stash for fabric I came across this great space fabric for 2000 - which I'd never made anything with before - and I thought: "Wow! I could quilt the Moon!" And I thought about one of my favorite artists - Christo who wrapped fabric around all kinds of buildings and landscapes so what would a quilter do to the moon? I picked the thread spools block and hung a giant quilt on the moon and then thread stitched a rocket ship taking a group on the ultimate shop hop! The finished piece is 12 x 15.5, the moon/quilt is pieced, rocket is stitched, binding is fused and accented with silver gel pen and variegated thread. It was fun to free motion the craters onto the moon. This was made in DeKalb, IL. Thanks for this challenge topic!

 

Quilter:  sally’s angelworks 

Funky Wonky Barn Quilt

I'm excited to have a tutorial up for this quilt here:
Funky Wonky Barn Quilt Tutorial

The challenge was to create a block for a Barn Quilt. A Barn Quilt is usually a big quilt (around 8'x8') that depicts one block. I chose to do my own version of a wonky log cabin block. This is my first attempt at a wonky log cabin, but I have to tell you, I was completely enamored with the marriage of modern + traditional. This whole idea of a log cabin (which was my very first quilt block ever! yipeee!!) with straight line quilting (modern) and white space (modern) along with crazy awesome modern fabrics (Dan Bennett's Cosmos from Free Spirit) with the added traditional folk hand quilting (middle block) just made me smile through the whole process. LOVE that!

This quilt is 50"x50" and made in Texas!! yehaaaw!!

Quilter:  Quilts by Lisa

Project Quilting Challenge 4, Barn Quilts; "Old Maid, Re-made"

Since I live in Kentucky where the Quilt Barn Trail is well established, I decided to choose my block from a barn in my area. I found the photo online of a barn that is about an hour’s drive from my house. The block is called Old Maid’s Puzzle and it’s a simple, old fashioned block. According to the book “5,500 Quilt Block Designs” by Maggie Malone this block was first published in 1895. My loosely formed plan was to modify the block to make something more colorful and modern looking. I made 6 Old Maid’s Puzzle blocks out of black and white fabric. Three had black triangles on a white background and three had white triangles on a black background. Then I cut each of these blocks in half diagonally. I paired a light half and a dark half and joined them with a bright colored strip in between. I tried these new blocks in several layouts until I found the one I liked best. I added a border that included additional Old Maid’s Puzzle blocks in the traditional pattern. This quilt measures 29” x 38”.

Quilter:  SewLizz

Midwest Corn

Project Quilting #3-4 Our Guild (DeKalb County Quilter's Guild) has this as their logo. I simplified the logo and think it would make a smashing barn quilt block. Especially here in the midwest! The barn quilts I've seen are bold, simple designs made to be seen across fields. This is 21" square - pieced and appliqued with a bit of fuzzy yarn couched around the corn. (I just have a "thing" for fuzzy yarn and sometimes corn is hairy!) Lizz Ploppert, Sycamore, IL

 

Quilter:  Marcia’s Crafty Sewing & Quilting

If I Had a Barn

Marcia Wachuta
Marcia's Crafty Sewing and Quilting
Boscobel, WI

Measures 14" X 24"

I imagined I would have a large barn. So large, that it wouldn't even fit on my quilt. It would be huge! I would fill it with quilts, fabric, and sewing machines. People would come to sew and create quilts everyday in my imaginary barn with my imaginary barn quilt on it.

I blogged about the process of the raw edge applique' at marciascraftysewing.blogspot.com/2012/02/if-i-had-barn.html

I blogged about the completed quilt.
marciascraftysewing.blogspot.com/2012/02/if-i-had-barn-im...

I named it "If I had a Barn Quilt".

My husband said the nicest thing to me tonight as he looked at my finished quilt : "I wish I could build it for you!" What a wonderful thought!

What a wonderful challenge!

 

Stay tuned for another closer look tomorrow!

Happy Tuesday everyone!  I hope this finds everyone well and super excited for the next block in our Home Sweet Home Quilt Along!   Before we get to the block, I want to introduce you to today’s designer, Melissa Dunworth of Sew BitterSweet Designs. 

What is your crafting style?
I would say that I am a quilter, but I started out as a photographer – my minor in college was studio art and I spent so much time in the dark room in college that I began to reflect light instead of absorb it!
Now I quilt and occasionally venture into other sewing projects. I love the look of vintage quilts with a modern twist. Zippers and clothes still intimidate me but I get braver with each new project.

How did you get started creating?
I grew up watching my mom sew clothes and make quilts and when my brother had his first child I knew I wanted to make her a quilt. It was a simple rail patch pattern made in all pinks and purples bought from JoAnns. The backing was fabric left over from a completely unrelated project. After that I was hooked!

Do you have a favorite piece?

This is a tough question. I have so many projects that I have loved and am proud of, but most recently it is my Twirling Around quilt. It is my first ever pattern and it is being sold exclusively at The Intrepid Thread and all proceeds are going to charity. Community Service and charity have always been important to me and being able to do that with my quilting has been the most amazing and uplifting experience.
What is your favorite crafty blog to follow/read?
I don’t think that I have a single favorite blog that I read, every day (when my 2 year old permits me to!) I go to all my friends’ blogs. I stalk everyone on Twitter and Facebook to see when they post and then go ogle their newest creations.
Which part of the creating process do you like the most? The last stitch!
Which part of the creating process do you dislike the most? Figuring out sewing math!
Favorite Adhesive: Heat & Bond
Favorite Movie: Return to Me ß Hopeless romantic
Beverage of Choice: Water
Sweet or Salty? Salty
Number 1 on your Bucket List: Learn to play the piano

IMPORTANT LINKS for Melissa!

Blog: http://blog.sewbittersweetdesigns.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SewBitterSweetDesigns
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/CraftyMamaD
Email: Melissa (at) sewbittersweetdesigns (dot) com

And now that you’ve learned some fun tidbits about today’s block designer it’s time to share the ninth block:

Scrappy Trees

Click HERE to go to Sew BitterSweet Designs’ website for instructions on how to create the next block in our quilt!

Don’t forget to add your picture to the flickr group once it’s complete:  http://www.flickr.com/groups/1850682@N20/

Previous Home Sweet Home Blocks:

• Block 1: My Home
• Block 2: Lapacek’s Orchard
• Block 3: House by the Bay
• Block 4: My Tilted House
• Block 5: Two Trees
• Block 6:  Tree of Life
• Block 7:  Under the Moreton Bay Fig
• Block 8:  A Wonky Modern House

The next block will be posted on Thursday, March 1st and it comes from Michelle at Quilting Gallery!

The next article in the Studio Organizational Series for the Learning Center with Pat Sloan is on Thread Storage.   I have DEFINITELY altered my methods for thread storage this year. 

Above is one of my ‘before’ studio pictures – you can see every thing was a mess.  At my apple orchard we make the BEST caramel apples you will ever have which means we go through buckets of caramel each apple season.  It turns out caramel apple buckets were a good storage solution for me for awhile.  I stored lots of things in them including my thread cones.  It was great for traveling to retreats BUT a pain to have to open lids of each bucket to see what was in each one so I am no longer using them for thread in my ‘new’ room (I am still using them for jewelry supplies – properly labeled of course)!. 

I’m storing most of my taller thread in this shelving unit – which used to be a vanity cabinet in our old house.  (If you go through our new house you’ll see that we utilized as much as we could from our old house to supplement the new – ie – the cupboards and countertops in the commercial kitchen, all the cupboards/cabinets in my quilting room, cabinets in the girls bathroom (there was tons of wasted space and I have three girls – give us as much storage as possible for them!).  If we could save it and use it – we did!)

This is a storage unit my husband had created for my paint bottles along time ago.  I still paint but not as much as I sew so I’ve converted this into a thread storage as well.  I love that I can just stand back and look and see what color I want to use.  AND it’s pretty too!

If you have some great thread storage solutions be sure to check out THIS POST to see how you can win some fun goodies!

Hi folks!  It’s that time again.  Here are the quilts from the Barn Quilt Challenge that would love your critical eye to tell them what you LOVE and what you think

1. Funky Wonky Barn Quilt, 2. If I Had a Barn Up Close Rooster and Bloom 11065 (Medium), 3. Project Quilting Challenge 4, 4. barn quilt, 5. Project QUILTING - Season 3, Challenge 4 - Fractured Barn Quilts6. Not available Created with fd's Flickr Toys

 

Just click on the links below the picture to leave your thoughts on each of the projects!  Thanks for helping us all improve our quilting with your advice!

In the past year or so I’ve become addicted to Block’s of the Month (BOM) and Quilt Alongs (QA).  I love that each block is a new thing to learn and it’s finished quickly.  I never thought I’d be a sampler quilt kind of gal but it looks like I am!  They’re fun to do and in the end it’s great to step back and see all the cool pieces you’ve created come together into one quilt (or four or five table runners…) 

 

So…I’m participating in a *few* this year including the one that I’m running on my blog.  Each Monday I’m going to try to post pictures of the progress I’m making on them all and the progress of those following along with the Home Sweet Home Quilt Along as well.  I think it will be fun to watch each quilt grow!

 

FabricFascination

I’m going to start with the BOM from FabricFascination.  Sometime’s BOM’s are nice to just have the fabric all sent already precut for you – and that’s exactly what I’m doing with this one. 

Important Links to Participate (you don’t have to buy a kit to join in the fun!) Be sure to check out the blog posts from Kym – she show’s you different ways you can put the block together to make an entire quilt – too fun!

• Overview of the Block of the Month Club
• Block 1:
  • Blog Post
  • Pre-Cut Kit
• Block 2:
  • Blog Post
  • Project from Block
  • Pre-Cut Kit
• Block 3 (I haven’t gotten to this one just yet but should have it in next Monday’s post). 
  • Blog Post
  • Pre-Cut Kit

Blogger’s BOM Quilt Along from Canton Village Quilt Works

So, I’m a bit behind starting this quilt along but I’m going to show you all that it’s never to late to join in the fun!  Sure I won’t have a whole month to finish each block – but who like’s to wait that long anyway?  This way I’ll have to put them together faster and I’ll get to see the whole picture sooner!

My first block was from the September Post - Sherri McConnell - A Quilting Life

Here is the rest of the schedule and links for the quilt along:

October - Vicki Welsh - Field Trips in Fiber
November - Stephanie Dunphy - Loft Creations
December - Pat Sloan - The Voice Of Quilting
January - John Adams - Quilt Dad
February - Amy Smart - Diary of a Quilter
March - Allison Harris - Cluck, Cluck, Sew
April - Amy Lobsiger - Mrs. Schmenkmen Quilts
May - Cathy Underhill - Cabbage Quilts
June - Pam Vieira-McGinnis - Pam Kitty Morning
July - Victoria Findlay Wolfe - Bumble Beans Inc.
August - Amy Ellis - Amy's Creative Side
September - Sarah Fielke - The Last Piece
October - Jackie Kunkel - Canton Village Quilt Works (me)

 

And you can see what everyone else’s blocks look like in the flickr group:  http://www.flickr.com/groups/bloggersbom/pool/with/6789066490/

Home Sweet Home

The last quilt along I will talk about today is the Home Sweet Home Quilt Along I’m running on my blog.  I’m really happy with all the blocks that have been shown so far and look forward to finishing the rest of them!  Here’s how everyone’s progressing so far in the QA:

Here are Diane’s blocks that she’s finished so far! PatDenino has created some super fun blocks with a few of her own ‘tweaks’.  (LOVE the tweaks!) Quilties has these five blocks made so far!  I’m seriously loving the whimsical look these blocks are going to make. 

And here are my blocks so far! 

 

The next two blocks will go up Tuesday and Thursday so be sure to join me back here to see what comes next!

1. Quilters' Guide To The Galaxy, 2. Funky Wonky Barn Quilt, 3. Project Quilting Challenge 4, Barn Quilts; "Old Maid, Re-made", 4. Midwest Corn - detail, 5. If I Had a Barn Up Close Rooster and Bloom 11065 (Medium), 6. , 7. Firefly Mini-Quilt, 8. "Quilt Barn", 9. Broken Dishes by Sharon S in MI, 10. Project QUILTING - Season 3, Challenge 4 - Fractured Barn Quilts, 11. Project Quilting Challenge 4, 12. Barn Quilt Challenge on Point, 13. Early Morning Nine Patch - detail, 14. Project QUILTING Entry from Pat Lester, 15. projectquilting, 16. barn quilt Created with fd's Flickr Toys

 

Happy Sunday everyone!  I’m sitting here watching the red carpet at the Oscar’s to see the amazing dresses and putting together the winner’s post!  Thanks to the fourteen great entries in this week’s challenge!  It was great to see what everyone came up with when posed with the challenge of Barn Quilts. 

And now – let’s see who won some great prizes!

All the participants who finished the challenge had their name put in a hat and two of my beautiful girls chose the winners.  Cedi chose SewLizz to take home - Prize 1: QuiltsbyBarb is giving a gift certificate for $20 off machine quilting. The coupon expires in 6 months from the date issued and is not transferable

Capri picked For Quilts Sake to receive Prize 2 : Quilties is giving away an adorable ‘I Love Quilting’ Keychain!

 

Nancy’s Unique Boutique was drawn for Prize 3: Marcia’s Crafty Sewing and Quilting is offering a Gift Certificate of $30.00 off Quilting on a Baby size or larger. The Gift Certificate will be good for 60 days from the date of issue. The gift certificate is transferable so you can share it with a friend if you’d like.

Capri was really excited to pick Quilts by Lisa for Prize 4 :The Fat Quarter Shop will be giving one lucky winner a layer cakeof their choice!

Becky’s Blabber was chosen for Prize 5: LoveBugStudios is giving a Quiltspirations! Mystery Card Pack  from her latest venture, quiltspirations.com.

A newbie to Project QUILTING, Pat Lester, was chosen for Prize 6 Dye Candy is donating one yard of stunning hand-dyed fabric.

Quilties, our sewing machine cover maker-extraordinaire is taking home Prize 7 Fabric Fascination is donating a Fabric Bundle: 6 Fat Quarters from Kathy Davis Happiness Collection for Free Spirit in Indigo - 1 1/2 YDs (ps. I have this collection in another color way – SPECTACULAR!

WayMooreFunQuilts is the winner of Prize 8 Quiltology is giving a coupon for her longarm quilting services for 20% off with a minimum $40 purchase. All of her patterns are online.

Cedi picked Sharon H to receive Prize 9 PennyFabricArt is donating pretty little mini quilts from for a prize!

I’m Feeling Crafty will be getting a fun package containing Prize 10:  OddStuffbyXanthe is giving a beautiful small, original collage on a wooden block and a fun pin with a print of her original art work.

And last, but not least, Gock’s Frocks was chosen for Prize 11: TheApple is donated $10 to be redeemed at her etsy store on herhandmade jewelry.  (aka my other etsy shop)

 

Congrats to all the winners! 

 

Well – you get a week off from Project QUILTING.  The next challenge goes up on Sunday, March 4th at NOON.  If you want your piece to be ‘critiqued’ be sure to add it to the ‘Project QUILTING – Critique’ Group.  I’ll be posting ‘Closer Look’ Project QUILTING Posts all week AND two new Home Sweet Home Quilt Block Tutorials will be up on Tuesday and Thursday.  Please help spread the word about how much fun you’re having on my blog to your quilty friends!

I wanted to show you my progress on my quilt for the Sun Prairie Heritage Quilt Show.  I really need to keep moving on this one as I have to have it delivered by March 1st. 

It’s time for you to guess what letter I am ‘hinting’ at in my quilt – there are definitely enough clues shown for you to figure it out!

I’ve been a bit slow to get all my feature’s up about my fabulous sponsors for this season of Project QUILTING but I promise I’ll be getting to everyone!  Tonight I’m going to introduce you to a good friend of mine - Mindy of Emma Jean’s Boutique!

• Web site www.emmajeansboutique.com
• Blog www.mindykuen.blogspot.com
• Facebook www.facebook.com/emmajeansOshkosh
• Email mw.kuen@gmail.com

What is your crafting style?
whimsy but functional

How did you get started creating?
have a creative family & have always been creating

Do you have a favorite piece?
Not really a favorite per say….I like them for different reasons!

What is your favorite crafty blog to follow/read?

www.livingwithpunks.com

Which part of the creating process does you like the most?
the “ah-ha” moment when you’ve figured out how to do it

Which part of the creating process do you dislike the most?
when the idea in your head is far better than the finished project

Favorite Adhesive: E6000
Favorite Movie: Sliding Doors
Beverage of Choice: Coffee
Sweet or Salty? Sweet
Number 1 on your Bucket List: Get Organized

 

Thanks for helping making this season even more fun by sponsoring some great prizes for the contestants!

An original fabric I designed on Spoonflower from a photo of my birds nest belt.  A great print for spring projects!

 

Just a short post today – my sweet Capri turned 4 today so we’re spending the day celebrating!

I haven’t posted my re-organzied studio yet but I couldn’t wait to show you my re-organized stash since there’s a great opportunity to WIN a fantastic prize over at the Quilting Gallery.

 

So…here it goes!

I organized 19 caramel apple buckets, a shoe box and a grocery bag of scraps into clear containers by color, them or pattern (stripes and polka dots).

Here you can see the ‘rainbow’ of fabrics I have – super easy now to pull what color’s I’m looking to use instead of cutting into a new piece of fabric. 

My Christmas fabric, stripes and browns went into slightly larger plastic containers since I had more of them.

My larger cuts of fabric I have organized mostly by color (the top three shelves).  The bottom shelve here has my novelty prints, really colorful fabric, solids, and possible backing fabric.This side of the shelving unit continues the organization by color (bottom three shelves) with the top shelf having holiday prints, novelty prints, and black and whites.  This is the most organized my fabric has EVER been…I’m hoping to keep it this way at least for a little while…

So, this isn’t my fabric stash – it’s all my books and magazines on quilting.  There’s another giveaway if you comment on this blog post on how you organize your ‘quilting library’ if you’re interested.  And come on, who’s not interested in winning something?

Last night I had my Homemaker’s Group over so that meant – major cleaning of the house.  Our couches are fairly stained from raising three little kids and I’m not going to replace them until everyone is at least a few years older so I decided to put my quilts on them as slipcovers. 

Above is my woven quilt.  I dyed all the fabric in the quilt and then Barb quilted it for me.  Next, I cut the quilted fabric into strips and bound them all.  Then, I wove them together, squared everything up and did a binding around the outside of the quilt.  Once the pins were taken out the quilt wasn’t staying in place so I sent it back to Barb and she did a square quilting at each of the woven intersections.  You still get the woven effect but it keeps its shape much better.  I did this quilt because I didn’t like to match my corners when piecing.  I can say now that it’s MUCH easier to just take my time and match my corners than it is to weave a quilt! I also hung a bunch of my quilts on the wall for the evening as my talk was on my quilts and the renovation of my quilting/jewelry room (blog post on that coming soon).  Above you can see most of the quilts on the wall.  It was hard to get a decent picture with the sun coming in the windows.  The quilt on the futon is the apple core quilt that Diane made for our wedding.  The guests all signed a block before it was put together – a great memento!

If I remember correctly, the quilt above was the third quilt I ever made.  It’s king size so it’s huge!  It also has a flannel back so it’s super cozy!  Some of the fabric I dyed, some Diane dyed, and some is commercial.  I designed the pattern myself using the star medallions (there are 7 total) as the centerpiece of the quilt.  I used all LARGE Half square triangles to create this look so it actually went together really quickly.  I hadn’t looked at it for awhile so it was nice to pull it out and admire it again!

 

Right now my family room looks like an art gallery with the quilts hanging all over – but for the first time in almost 6 years it’s starting to feel like 'our’ house (Jared likes the cluttered look too!). 

Once again I couldn’t find an actual definition for the “Athletic Style” so here are some items I found on etsy classified as ‘athletic’:

'What's Your Style: Athletic' by TheApple

Lazy Daisy aqua, red, white ... chicibeanz $54.99	Waterproof Bike Bag with Vin... ciiclo $19.00
Women's Cycling Fish Pul... sharpshirter $26.00	ATHLETICS Game Used Baseball... bottomofthe9th... $49.00
Headphones Owl T-shirt - Ath... GnomEnterprise... $25.00	Wábella Athletic Dance Outf... WabellaWear $135.00
Trust me, I'm an athlete... TheShirtDudes $14.25	Athletic Headbands envydesign5 $12.00
SMALL athletic grey tank pri... TheLostCity $30.00	Set of 6 Flat Notecards - At... CreationsAnew $12.00
OAKLAND ATHLETICS Personaliz... Redhawk80 $39.95	Laundry room decals White Si... decalsmurals $9.99
Muscle & Joint Restore TM Ca... HighAltitudeOr... $14.99	Athletic Sports Plaque - Soc... awonderingeye $45.00
5 x 7 Note Card of a Half Ma... KathleenRiceSt... $4.00	Womens athletic workout exer... GlamBandZ $7.50

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

 

Past Styles:

• Abstract
• African
• Art Deco
• Art Nouveau
• Asian
• Avant Garde