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Time to VOTE for Project QUILTING Road Trip Challenge – Another Great Public Prize!

Posted by PersimonDreams on May 31, 2010 in Project QUILTING, season 1 | 65 comments

I can’t wait to share with you the entries for this weeks challenge – a fantastic, creative job done by everyone! It was a difficult challenge for me and add a holiday weekend onto that – you can really get into crunch time!

For those of you just tuning in you can read more about Project Quilting Here: http://kimscraftyapple.blogspot.com/2010/04/project-quilting.html

and about the second challenge of Season 1 Here:

http://kimscraftyapple.blogspot.com/2010/05/season-1-challenge-2.html

CHALLENGE WINNERS: There will be two winners for this challenge – one for the public vote and one for the ‘judged vote’ – Diane, Pam, Barb and our Guest Judge, Shannon. The winner of the PUBLIC vote will receive 4 fat quarters (their choice) from FabricAlaCarte AND a $10 gift certificate from the FatQuarterShop! The winner of the JUDGES vote will receive 2 moda charm packs of their choice from FabricsNQuilts AND a $10 gift certificate from the FatQuarterShop!

OTHER BONUSES:

A RANDOMLY Drawn Participant will win a pdf pattern for this beautiful quilt by FabricsAndQuilts: http://www.etsy.com/listing/47561057/boutique-red-blue-wheelchair-lap-quilt and I’m going to do another yard of hand-dyed fabric (Capri really wants to pick a name too).

I will also be sending everyone their rank (somewhere between 1 and 10 – be sure you’ve emailed me {lapaceksorchard@gmail.com} your email address) and any critique’s the judges have about your creation. The top 3 will be posted on my blog this weekend.

PUBLIC WINNERS: I will also be giving out a prize to the public. You’ll find out how to WIN at the bottom of this post after you’ve checked out each of our challengers entries. I am personally excited about this weeks prize…you’ll have to get all the way to find out why!

And now here are all the entries – in no particular order…

***Please note – I have left the images smaller than I normally do as I’ve received some feedback that my blog was loading slowly – hopefully this will help that issue. I strongly URGE you to take closer looks at the project by checking out their submittals on the flickr group:http://www.flickr.com/groups/1401824@N21/

Quilter: StudioCherie

The Story:

Unhappy with my choice of foot wear for the photo shoot, Rory chose to hide my feet (and the bottom of the skirt that is finished to sweetly) with lupin and tall grass. I never needed cowgirl boots before. I never had such a kickin’ patchwork skirt either.
The project quilting challenge for this week was “road trip.” I thought – great! I’ll make a duffle. Then I read, you must use12 fabrics on the top of your quilt. A patchwork duffle sounded great, but I didn’t think I would have time to complete it. Then I received an email from one of my customers who had just completed a patchwork duffle from my pattern. It was gorgeous, but I still did not have time. I started the patchwork anyway, not sure what it was going to be. Then I thought how super a comfortable skirt would be for a road trip. I could look great and be comfy for hours on end. Thank you, Kim, for putting on the challenges. I am so glad I made this for myself. My daughter wants one too. It is reversible for a completely different look. The patchwork skirt started as 3 sets of strips, 13 different fabrics in all

Created in Spokane, Washington.

Quilter: SpringWaterDesigns

The Story:

I like to take a traditional quilt design and add a unique touch. For this theme I decided to make an Amish Trip Around the World quilt, and I used a thread painting technique to add a literary quote by J.R.R. Tolkien that reads “Not all those who wander are lost”. (By thread painting I mean that I used a thicker thread – 12 wt Sulky – and quilted the words into the quilt using a free motion quilting technique). In keeping with the theme of the quilt I quilted it with an all over meander. The quilt measures 36″ x 48″ and I used 12 different fabrics. My quilt was created in Jessup Maryland USA

Quilter: PennyFabricArt

The Story:

For this week’s Road Trip Challenge, I remembered one of my favorite road trips from my early 20′s, when on a spur-of-the-moment a bunch of friends piled into a little Jetta in New Hampshire and hit the road for New York to go to the races at Belmont Park.
I’d never been to a horse race, and I was stunned at the power and speed and wild energy as the packs of horses flew around the track.
For this piece, I used many different cottons, silks, jacquard sateen’s and a couple faux leathers. The piece is fused & satin stitched appliqué. The quilting highlights the contours of the muscles and clothing, and the wind as they fly past the crowd. The border is chocolate microfleece.
The piece is mounted on a stretched canvas frame, wired for hanging. Measures 36″ x 24″.
I’m now in Ridgefield, CT, so NYC is not so much of a road trip anymore.

Quilter: Karen’s Crafty World

The Story:

Here’s my entry for challenge #2 in Project Quilting. I really had a hard time coming up with an idea for this one most likely because I haven’t really taken any road trips. I like to fly instead of drive However, I do spend quite a bit of time in the car driving to see patients who might live anywhere from 15 mins to 1 1/2 hours away from me. If my visits fall on a weekend day, Chuck will drive with me and I can ride shot gun and do some handwork. So, here’s the idea behind this quilt. I’ve wanted a quilt for the car and this one will serve two purposes. 1.) Car Quilt. 2) The white squares, which feature SunBonnet Sue and Sam, all will be hand-quilted with red thread. This should keep me busy for quite some time as there are 28 six inch squares on this quilt. Perfect busy work for short road trips! This quilt measures 60″x 50″ and was made in Elgin, IL but will travel often.

Quilter: QuiltingDiva

The Story:

The minute I saw the challenge I knew it would be a great time to stitch out my “classic cars” that I purchased from Embroidery Library. My machine was running for 9 hours to stitch all 6 of these!! I chose 6 different solids for the cars and made 6 four patch blocks with 6 different car prints. I live in Brandon Florida.

Quilter: MoranArtandQuilts

The Story:

I wanted this quilt to look like a collage of things that remind the viewer of all the trips they’ve taken over the years. Route 66 is kind of the icon of travel so I wanted that to be the main focal point. My husband thought of using the sign and I thought “what if I make it so you can see what’s behind it or through it?”
I didn’t actually count the fabrics once I got to 12 so I know it’s more than that. I combined traditional machine appliqué with raw edge appliqué. I’m happy with how it turned out and I like how it’s busy with many different elements. Some are realistic, some are cartoony; I like the mixture.
You wanted to know where we’re from this time. I’m from Columbus, Ohio.

Quilter: LoveBugStudios

The Story:

This piece, titled “Ebby & Augi Drive to Pensacola” is a 6-panel scale version of a 35mm film canister, complete with “film” – which is actually a quilt.
I used to live in Hopkinsville, KY which is a really small town in the lower part of the state. My friend Augi & I shared office space, and very frequently on Friday afternoons, we would get a wild hair and decide to leave work at that very moment & drive to the beach (9 hours away.) We’d taken several trips to various beach destinations, and Pensacola was one of our favorites. Augi would always drive, and I would always sleep on the way.
When rolled up, the outside reads “Quilt 2010 – 6 exp.” This is actually a fully-removable sleeve with a velcro closure.
When unrolled, the quilt features select images and pieces inspired by the trip, and measures 12″ x 79″.
The rules of the project were to use 12 fabrics in the front of the quilt, which will be detailed in each panel, but you can see the complete list here:lovebugstudios.blogspot.com/2010/05/road-trip-fabrics-pro….
Made in Hainesville, IL.

To read more about each panel and LoveBug’s process check out her blog: http://www.lovebugstudios.blogspot.com/search?q=Road+Trip&submit=Go

Quilter – Kathleen’s Quilts

The Story:

Years ago, when horses were a big part of our lives, my husband and I drove to Columbus Ohio to attend a large equine trade show and exposition. An unexpected perk of the trip was finding a beautiful garden early one morning. Light misty fog added to the scene… it was simply lovely. This is my loose interpretation of the garden, it’s paths and a fountain in the center.
If you count the bit of silver used for the sun’s reflection on the water, thirteen fabrics were used. Several different fabrics for the grass and for the flowers but only one fabric was used for the stone path to keep it uniform.
Meander quilting in green in the grass and in pink in the flower areas.
32″ square; stitched in Cissna Park, IL

Quilter – Quilties

The Story:

This quilted tote bag is symbolic of a very special, old, red, metal cooler that my parents always had when they took our family on road trips. It had fascinating souvenir stickers all over from trips they took together and we added stickers on many of our family trips. I loved looking at that cooler and remembering all our good times.
I used transfer paper to transfer some patch images I chose that were special to me in some way. The places I’ve gone when I was a kid, my honeymoon, with my family now and states I’ve lived in, etc…. The top border is to satisfy the challenge requirement of more than 12 fabrics. There 22 scraps, chosen to look like the landscapes we’ve seen and set up to look like a road with the yellow dotted line down the center.
I wanted this to be a nice tote bag to use for future road trips, so I quilted the sides, lined it, made a gusset in the bottom so it’s really roomy and added nice thick handles, so it’s a really functional bag.
My mom doesn’t know where that old cooler is anymore…but the memory of it will live on in this project!
-Emma Thomas-McGinnis of Quilties
Near Des Moines, IA

Quilter: KimsCraftyApple

The Story:

I actually had a completely different project started for this challenge at the beginning of the week – I wasn’t happy with it. Yesterday I finally decided to put it aside (it’s still cool – just not Project QUILTING worthy) and start over.
I snagged my husband’s State of Wisconsin Map, and cut out squares of the map which I then sandwiched between lamination paper. I backed each of these squares with a fun purple fabric that just peaks around the edges.
Since I have no idea how my new laminate fabric will hold up I decided this project would be one I would keep – so I had to make it into something I would like and use. Since I’m going on a ‘Road Trip’ I decided a bag would be fitting – a Really BIG Bag – a 21″ wide by 14″ deep with two 32″ patchwork handles and a really nice three compartment interior pocket.
I also picked out a bunch (12-14) other fabrics that I really liked to go along with my new ‘map’ fabric. I windowed each of the map blocks with strips from these fabrics. I then continued to sew pieces of all the different fabrics together to create this fantastic scrappy look.
I did an angular ‘swirl’ pattern with the quilting and boxed off each of the map blocks. The handles are made from a patchwork of the same fabric as the bag and the lining is a fun ‘riverbed scene’ with quotes on it.
A button from UrbanTurn is used to keep the bag closed.
This bag was created in Poynette, WI.

PUBLIC WINNERS: The winner from the Random Generator will receive a $20 gift certificate to spend on whatever you choose at TheApple!

Wrap Around Glass Pearl Cluster Ring – Size 7.5

A wide selection of fun, crazy, colorful and whimsical jewelry from earrings to necklaces to bracelets to rings can be found at theApple. Use your gift certificate to treat yourself or find the perfect gift for someone you love!

Daisy Earrings – Jewel Toned with Glass Pearls

SIX Chances to WIN!

Entry 1: REQUIRED! Leave a comment on your favorite entry and vote for your favorite on the poll on the upper left hand side of the blog. – ***MUST DO***

Optional/Additional Entries – please note – if you want to qualify for these additional entries you must leave a SEPERATE comment for each – if you already follow or are a fan, etc just leave comments saying each. If you write everything in ONE comment you only will have ONE entry…

Entry 2: Follow my blog.

Entry 3: Tweet about this fantastic contest with hashtag #PQRectangles (important or I won’t know you did it)

Entry 4: Become a Fan of Project QUILTING on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ProjectQUILTING

Entry 5: add my Project Quilting ‘Grab my Blinkie’ to your blog or blog about my giveaway (link your blog or post in your comment, please)

Entry 6: Head on over to theApple and let me know what you would get if you won this weeks prize!

***Participants in project quilting ARE allowed to enter in the public poll/contest as well.***

This means you have SIX chances to win! I need you to write each of these entries as different comments in order to qualify you for all five entries and include your email address. If you don’t include your email address I won’t be able to contact you when you win and I will have to choose a new winner. I will be picking the winner at 7pm on Friday, June 4th.

Blogger Quilt Festival

Posted by PersimonDreams on May 28, 2010 in preseason, Project QUILTING, quilt, quilt gallery | 7 comments

Yeah! It’s time for the third annual Blogger Quilt Festival! I’m so excited – I love it when Amy’s Creative Side Posts these! It’s so much fun to spend time looking at everyone’s link and seeing what they’ve created.

I have decided for this Festival to show off my Shoofly Quilt. This was my first Project Quilting Challenge Piece. I had to use the traditional shoofly block and then incorporate stripes into the quilt. I used three fabrics to create this quilt – the water-colorish white fabric, the brown branch printed fabric, and a beautiful yard of hand-dyed fabric (I dyed myself).

To create my ‘stripe’ I actually embellished part of the hand-dyed fabric with fibers – some hand-dyed, some commercial, even a few ribbons! It was a bit of challenge when having to iron the piecing together but I think the overall effect turned out just stunning! To read more about my process and to see what other’s have completed for the challenge check out the flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1401824@N21/

To read more about what Project QUILTING is: http://kimscraftyapple.blogspot.com/2010/04/project-quilting.html

To read about what’s going on in Season 1:

http://kimscraftyapple.blogspot.com/2010/05/project-quilting-season-one.html

The newest challenge projects are due this Sunday at Noon so be sure to stop back!

To see the other quilts in this Quilt Festival go to: http://www.amyscreativeside.com/2010/05/bloggers-quilt-festival-spring-2010.html

Smartest Kid Ever

Posted by PersimonDreams on May 28, 2010 in Uncategorized | 2 comments

I just had to post this quickly. There was a sock hanging over my closet door (no, I have no idea why it was there) but it was stopping the girls from being able to shut the door. Cedi decided to see if she could jump high enough to reach it – oddly enough, she couldn’t. So, I asked Capri if she could jump that high to get the sock and she looked at me and ran out of the room. Soon, I heard the pitter patter of her little feet running back – she had grabbed her step stool! How smart is that!? Of course, the step stool was still not high enough but I just thought it was great she thought of it!

I know I’m the mom so I’m biased about my kids amazing-ness – but isn’t that what I’m supposed to do!?

Introducing Project QUILTING’s Third Judge – Barb Raisbeck of QuiltsbyBarb

Posted by PersimonDreams on May 28, 2010 in Project QUILTING, season 2 | 2 comments

Our third steady judge for Project QUILTING is going to be someone I’ve talked about a lot – Barb Raisbeck of QuiltsbyBarb. Barb is Diane’s sister, my aunt-in-law and an extremely talented long arm quilter. (oh and trust me – neither Diane or Barb will be ‘easy on me’ for scoring – if anything they are even more critical of my work!)

Flower Power Quilt

She has participated in a few of the challenges but any challenges she feels like working on will just be for ‘show’ and not eligible for any of the prizes.

Checkers Anyone?

Here’s Barb’s ‘About Me’ that I snagged from her website:

Let me tell you how I got started quilting.

Around 1990, Mom made a quilt top for my son, Cory. I was very excited when I went to WalMart and picked out a black,purple, green and gold print fabric. Then I went and selected all these plain colored polyester fabric for poor Mom to make the quilt. She didn’t complain; thank goodness I selected the Rail Fence pattern, and she made Cory’s quilt top.

Now it was time for me to hand quilt it. Mom was going to come to my home in Bloomington, Wisconsin, to get me started and teach me how to hand quilt. Before we got to do this, Mom suffered a massive heart attack and we lost our wonderful Mother just ten days later.

Bargello Trip Around the World

The quilt top sat in the closet until I saw a quilt that had been machine quilted. I thought, now that is what I can do with Cory’s quilt and it will get finished. I sent the quilt top out and had it quilted with a polyester batting with the cloud pattern. I brought it home and put about a 4 inch wide binding on the edge, all done by machine. I think Cory still has the quilt.

My daughter, Katrina, then thought she needed a quilt. I was already a lot wiser. Katrina and I went to a local quilt shop and selected four blue fabrics of 100% cotton. I made my first quilt top, a Sunshine and Shadows quilt, all in blues. I sent it off to the machine quilter and it was quilted with a pantograph pattern. I was hooked on quilting!!

Purple Heat Resistant Mini Quilt

I continued making quilt tops and sending them out to a local machine quilter. She specialized in pantographs only and I was ready for more. It was time for me to purchase my own long arm quilting machine. My husband was very skeptical as I threatened to put the machine in our living room unless we built on to our house. I threatened for about a year and eventually we built a wonderful two story addition to our home for my new quilting studio.

Fast forward a few years to 2001 and I decided this quilting stuff was alright. I quit my full time job working for the US government and Quilts by Barb became my full time passion. It has been nothing but uphill every since!

Quilts by Barb has evolved to include Quilt Retreat Getaway Weekends and Hand Dyeing Workshops. We celebrated our fifth year anniversary of fall retreats in 2007. I have taught over 300 students in Beginning Quilting 101 and a large number of other quilt classes at local quilt shops in the area and in my studio. In 2007, I had my first opportunity to teach at the Wisconsin Quilt Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, and will be back again in 2010.

Where’s the Point – Quilt PATTERN

Around Christmas time in 2006, I decided it was time to trade up from my Gammill Classic with an IntelliStitch attachment to a Gammill Optimum with a Statler Stitcher. The Statler Stitcher is a top of the line quilting system and it helps me to continue to provide the best in custom machine quilting for my quilting customers.

There are many days when I am working on a quilt for myself or a custom quilt for a customer and I think just how much my Mother would have enjoyed helping me in my quilting business. Unfortunately, I didn’t get started quilting until after I lost her but I am guessing she is watching me from above and is really glad I know better than to head to WalMart for polyester fabric as I continue to add to my quilting stash!

Check out this post to see the THREE Quilts that Barb had in the International Quilt Festival in Chicago this past April!

Barb is also the host and teacher of the Quilts By Barb Quilt Retreats each fall. 2011 looks to be just as amazing as all the past one – if not more so! Check out http://www.quiltsbybarb.com/2011quiltretreat.htm for more information on what’s going on.

I know that I’m really excited to have three permanent judges along witha fourth guest judge when possible. I love getting feedback on my work – it can only make me a stronger quilter. Thank you to my judges for helping make Project Quilting just that much more special.

Themed Thursday – Out of TIME!

Posted by PersimonDreams on May 28, 2010 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

I’m 90 percent sure that I’ve done a ‘Themed Thursday’ post about lack of time but it just really felt fitting this week. I have been working on my Project QUILTING challenge piece for this week and I hadn’t been feeling it. I finally decided to set aside what I had been working on and start something new – I only have less than THREE days to complete the project, photo it and get it on the flickr site! AHHH!!! Oh and I have no more sitter time lined up for the girls so somehow I’m going to have to convince them that sewing downstairs with mommy is fun – wish me luck!

So, with that being said – here are the featured items for this weeks theme – TIME!

Geometric by MantaWave