Persimon Dreams

Blogger’s Quilt Festival–Spring 2013–Entry 2

PersimonDreams — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:32:13 +0000

Happy May 17th everyone again! Today is the start of one of my favorite two times of the year – the Spring Edition of the Blogger’s Quilt Festival over at AmysCreativeSide!

If you’ve never been at my blog before – Welcome! and for those who have – Welcome Back!

I had a hard time deciding which ‘second’ quilt I wanted to enter into the Blogger’s Quilt Festival I asked for help – and it seems like most love them all equally…so I’m going with my gut keeping in mind that there will be another Blogger’s Quilt Festival this fall!

I have decided to enter my quilt

“Local Foods Grow Local Communities’ into the art quilt category.

I created this piece based on the Project QUILTING Challenge ‘Print Publications’

Basically – we were challenge to grab a print publication, turn to page 28 and be inspired by what we saw. I choose a publication called ‘Grow’ and when turned to page 28 it happened to be the reason I had that publication in my possession. A friend had brought it by because my family’s apple orchard was mentioned in an article. When I turned to page 28…it was the first page of the article we were featured in. It was destiny…time to be inspired!

When I looked at my page 28 I knew I had an easy page for inspiration. BUT the challenge I made for myself was that I wanted to be ‘inspired’ by the page and not just replicate the page.

The Locavore School is about bringing local foods into the school lunches. My orchard has been providing apples to multiple school districts in the area for many years. I finally knew what I wanted to do!

Upper left: First – I needed a background. Nothing in my stash was what I was looking for so I decided to paint my own. I used a neutral piece of Tula Pink’s ‘Prince Charming’ print and I did a watered down acrylic painting on it. It’s watered down enough so you can still see the images of the original print if you look closely.

Upper Middle: I needed to draw a tree…that was my plan – I wanted to show a tree in it’s entirety – including the roots. So I sketched it out and then traced the sections onto some iron on fusible.

Upper Right: I chose to do the roots mostly with an apple printed fabric. I did mix in other foods such as eggs, peas, corn, and carrots into the roots as well but since we’re an apple orchard I figured that would be a good focus.

Lower Left: I knew I wanted my ‘tree’ to be made of kids. Here I need to let you know that we only have one week to complete a Project QUILTING Challenge. If you nee a certain fabric you need to buy it right away in the week. It took me a few days to come up with my concept and my time was running low. I searched my stash for all the ‘people’ prints I could find, Diane pulled al the ‘people’ from her stash too. It wasn’t what I was envisioning. At this point it was Wednesday and on Wednesday my baby Pip goes to a sitter who also happens to sew. I was explaining my concept to her and asked her if she happened to have any ‘kid’ prints. And what you see in the trees is what she had! She was kind enough to donate a fat quarter of it to my project and it was seriously the PERFECT PIECE! I used kid print for the tree top and then I did a scrappy collection of different prints for the trunk so you can still distinguish between the two.

Lower Middle: I free motion quilted along the roots and around the tree. With the painted fabric it created sort of a ‘puffy’ effect.

Lower RIght: To finish it off I embellished with some Angellina fibers in the roots and the sky. I added a ‘lip’ of pink strawberry printed fabric on the edge and with the binding. I made it too big…so I tacked it back in a few different places around the corner. It’s hard to see in the picture but it created this really awesome wavy effect to the border of the quilt. I will definitely be using this technique again!

Here’s the finished quilt with the inspiration page next to it! I hope you enjoyed reading about my process and inspiration for my piece ‘Local Foods Grow Strong Communities.’

‘The festival starts today, and runs through May 31st. It’s open to anyone who wants to enter, and there will be lots of great prizes. Be sure to check it out NOW! Get your post written and show off your quilt or quilts! You can enter two this year!

Once you’ve had a chance to visit as many of the quilts, as possible you may nominate your very favorite, for a Viewer’s Choice Award! To nominate complete the form at the bottom of the THIS POST with the link to the post and your email address. Nominations without a valid email will be eliminated, and multiple nominations with the same email will be eliminated. One entry per email address please.

If ‘Local Foods Grow Strong Communities’ is your favorite quilt head over to THIS POST and copy the text below:

Blogger’s Quilt Festival–Spring 2013

PersimonDreams — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:06:52 +0000

Happy May 17th everyone! Today is the start of one of my favorite two times of the year – the Spring Edition of the Blogger’s Quilt Festival over at AmysCreativeSide!

If you’ve never been at my blog before – Welcome! and for those who have – Welcome Back!

The first Quilt I would like to enter into the Blogger’s Quilt Festival is my ‘Home Sweet Home’ Quilt Along Quilt in the ‘Group or Bee Quilts’ Category.

This quilt was created with 20 different blocks (17 designers) and 49 different sashings created as a result of the 2012 Home Sweet Home Quilt Along I ran on my blog. Every time you look at this quilt you notice something new which is always one of my goals when I create. This quilt was free motion quilted by Marcia’s Crafty Sewing & Quilting.

I wanted to show a few close ups…

In this block, I fussy cut the fabrics so there are animals in the windows.

When I could make it work, I tried to match the fabrics in the sashing with the fabrics in the blocks. By doing this it made it harder to differentiate between where a block started and where it ended. I loved the transition.

The way the sashing blends into the block above you wouldn’t even know that the tree isn’t part of the house block!

I also personally love the back. It’s pieced from fabrics I used in the front along with the ‘practice’ blocks I made when I was coming up with my block designs. I also printed out a list of the blocks and who designed them onto some fabric to include in the backing of the quilt.

I would love to hear what you think of this quilt!

The festival starts today, and runs through May 31st. It’s open to anyone who wants to enter, and there will be lots of great prizes. Be sure to check it out NOW! Get your post written and show off your quilt!

If ‘Home Sweet Home’ is your favorite quilt head over to THIS POST and copy the text below:

Tomorrow is a BIG Day!

PersimonDreams — Fri, 17 May 2013 01:44:36 +0000

Well – it is to me anyway. The Blogger’s Quilt Festival starts tomorrow! I LOVE the Blogger’s Quilt Festival. I know I’m not giving you much time but I need your help deciding on the SECOND quilt that I’m going to enter.

I already know that I’m going to enter my ‘Home Sweet Home’ Quilt for the ‘group/bee quilt’ category…but this year

Each quilter can enter two quilts, in separate posts, and categories.

so I need your help deciding on my second quilt…

Here are the categories for the quilts…

Favorite throw quilt
Favorite bed quilt
Favorite group/bee quilt
Favorite two color quilt
Favorite ROYGBIV (color wheel) quilt
Favorite applique quilt
Favorite hand quilted quilt
Favorite home machine quilted quilt
Favorite professionally quilted quilt
Favorite quilt photographer
Favorite art quilt
Favorite doll/mini quilt
Favorite wall hanging
Favorite scrap quilt

Here are the quilts I was thinking I may enter with their potential categories…

‘Nini’s Granny Squares’ – This is one that I just finished and haven’t even blogged about yet. I’m thinking it would fit in the ‘throw quilt’ category or professional quilted category.

‘Local Foods Grow Strong Communities’ – I love this piece. I think it would fit well into the groups – applique quilt, wall quilt, or art quilt…

‘Celebrate Annie’ – which would also fit into the groups applique quilt, wall quilt or art quilt.

And my final thought would be…

or ‘Make a Wish’ which also fits in the to groups applique quilt, wall quilt, or art quilt.

So…what do you think? Which ONE of the above four should I enter?

- Nini’s Granny Squares

- Local Foods Grow Strong Communities

- Celebrate Annie

- Make a Wish

I sort of need you to leave a comment ASAP since the festival starts tomorrow… Thanks for your help!

Blossoming Orchard

PersimonDreams — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:32:11 +0000

It’s for real this time! The orchard is in bloom!

Pip and I went for a walk in the orchard once Cedi and Capri got on the bus for school. Pip was in a good mood and I got some fun shots of her with the blossoms.Here are a few shots of the gorgeous brilliant pink blossoms from our Scarlet apple trees. We only have five of these guys but they sure are gorgeous!This was my favorite ‘pose’ of Pip’s on the walk.She did a great job walking all the way to the lookout!

I put my fish-eye lens on for a few pictures too…

Mamma Clouds

PersimonDreams — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:22:32 +0000

I snapped this picture from my backyard last night…Mammatus Clouds. So cool!

A Lovely Year of Finishes–Mid May Check In

PersimonDreams — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:56:34 +0000

Today is May 15th. I have to say – it feels like it should be a lot later in the month than that! I have had a dozy of a May – threw out my back, scratched my cornea and had duct surgery… At least that’s three things so much luck is bound to change! Through all that I have managed to get some of my ‘goals’ worked on and even one finished! Let’s take a look at my May goals and how I’m doing on them… for the ‘A Lovely Year of Finishes’.

Goal 1. Project QUILTING Fat Quarter Shop Bundle Challenge

The final piecing has begun! I snapped this picture before I came upstairs to have some lunch… If things go smoothly – I hope to have it pieced before I go and get Pip from the sitter… If it goes super smoothly I would LOVE to have it loaded on the quilt frame…Wish me luck!

This Fat Quarter Shop Challenge quilt HAS to get done this month though so wish me luck!

Goal 2: My Favorite Block Quilt Along Top Pieced – FINISHED

All 20 of the blocks for the ‘My Favorite Block Quilt Along’ have been posted and it’s PIECED!

Goal 3: Project QUILTING May Off Season Challenge – Pantone

I still haven’t started the May off season Pantone Project QUILTING Challenge. I do have an idea and even my ‘neutral’ fabric picked out for it…but I have not even thought about starting it. We’ll see if this one ends up happening or not…

I have to say – with all my ‘delays’ this month I’m pretty proud of what I’ve still managed to accomplish so far…

My Favorite Block Quilt Along BONUS Dancing Spool 6 inch block Tutorial

PersimonDreams — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:59:57 +0000

I just loved Kym of Fabric Fascinations Pincushion and Dancing Spool Block for the ‘My Favorite Block Quilt Along’ Quilt. I especially loved the wonkiness of the ‘Dancing Spools’. I decided that I wanted at least one 6-inch ‘Dancing Spool’ for my quilt so I came up with an ‘enlarged’ pattern for it.

Cutting Instructions

Fabric 1 (grey/white print)

2 – 3.5” squares
1 – 4” squares

Fabric 2 (black)

1 – 4” squares

Fabric 3 (orange)

4 – 2” squares

Sewing Instructions

Draw a diagonal line on the 4” square of fabric one. Face it right sides together with Fabric 2

Sew along the line you drew with a 1/4” seam on either side.

Cut along the line and iron toward your darker fabric.

Square your two half square triangle blocks up to 3.5” squares.

You can lay out your block like shown above to see where things are heading.

Draw a diagonal on the wrong side of each of the 2” squares you cut for fabric 3. Lay them out on the blocks as shown above.

Sew right on the diagonal line you drew. trim off the excess corner.

Iron towards the smaller triangle or Fabric 3. Layout as shown above.

Sew together to make a 6.5” square!

Isn’t that fun!? I love this block!

Blue Sky Pottery

PersimonDreams — Tue, 14 May 2013 02:22:22 +0000

I have so many things on my list of ‘to blog’ but tonight I’m going to keep my post pretty simple.

Yesterday I opened a box from my daughters to find this lovely mug from Blue Sky Pottery.

Isn’t it gorgeous!? I admittedly did a little shopping for the girls…for me…BUT I had forgotten about the mug since I purchased it back in early April! I was so happy to see it again and was reminded of it’s beauty, craftsmanship and uniqueness. This is not my first pottery item from Blue Sky Pottery and it most definitely will not be my last! I had a big smile on my face as I sipped my coffee this morning.

Happy Mother’s Day and a Haiku of Course

PersimonDreams — Sun, 12 May 2013 13:59:48 +0000

Happy Mother’s Day everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful day today and show your mom’s some love!

Here’s a picture of my mom and I from a few years ago. My mom has been an incredible force in my life. She has raised me to be honest, hard working, and loving. She brought stability to my crazy mind and showed me how important responsibility is. I would not be the woman I am without her.

Here is a newspaper picture my Aunt Betty gave me when I got married to Jared. It’s me on my mom’s shoulders when I was five picking apples. I was destined to marry an apple man I guess…

As I raise my three beautiful girls I try to take the best things she taught me and instill them into my children. Of course – I had to share some pictures of the three beautiful girls who made me special on this day.

Jared snapped this picture of me and my three beautiful girls on Pip’s second birthday a few weeks ago. I will cherish this picture forever!Me and my baby!My middle child Capri is going to be a rock star.

Pip realized the other day that Capri forgot her coat for school so she had to bring it out to her as they waited for the bus.

Here’s Papa (aka Jared) and Pip. I have to also give him a HUGE thank you today. Without him I wouldn’t be a mother. Without him I wouldn’t have these three beautiful girls. And without all the support and love he gives me, I wouldn’t be the mom I am to these beauties. Thank you Jared for all you do for our family.

Cedi fell asleep yesterday with her face still painted for Apple Blossom Days.

I snapped this the other morning. It pretty much perfectly depicts the three girls. Cedi’s happy when she’s in charge. Capri’s mad because she wanted to be the only one in the picture, and PIp’s just like, “What? You’re taking a picture? I want to be in it.”

And my Mother’s Day Haiku is how I spent the first hour of mother’s day.

The house is quiet

Tip-toeing to the basement

Stitch. Snip. Press. heaven.

Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

My Favorite Block Quilt Along BONUS Classic Four Patch Tutorial

PersimonDreams — Sat, 11 May 2013 13:08:32 +0000

I’m sure at this point you are all frantically trying to piece your top for the ‘My Favorite Block Quilt Along’ Quilt and you may want some easy peasy 6.5” filler blocks that still look cool. Well – what’s cooler than the Classic Four Patch? Especially when you know the easiest-peasiest way to put it together!

Cutting Instructions (this will result in two four patch blocks)

Fabric 1 – 7.0” square

Fabric 2 – 7.0” square

Directions

Place your fabrics right sides together.

Sew a quarter inch seam on opposite sides of the fabric.

Cut the fabric at 3.5”

So you are left with two 6.5” x 7” pieces. Iron towards the darker of the two fabrics.

Place the two squares right sides together. Have fabric 1 facing fabric 2 in their respective halves.

Sew along the two opposite edges with a quarter-inch seam.

Cut the fabric again at 3.5” and iron open at the seams. You’re left with two easy-peasy four patches!

If you want to do a four patch in the 12.5” size just cut your initial squares at 13” and follow the same instructions.