A little bit of progress...

Last week, I mentioned a new project I've been working on.  Today the last of the fabric I ordered came in, so I have my completed palette of KONA colors for making some photographic mini quilts. 



I ended up with 37 different colors.  I was lucky enough to find some of them at shops around town here for cheaper than what they are online and avoiding the 1/2 yard minimum.  All in all, it took me 4 brick and mortar stores and 2 online shops to get everything I needed.

Why KONA?  Well, I've played a bit with some other solids and have found that the KONA holds up nicely when you cut it into very tiny pieces to fuse onto other very tiny pieces.  Some of the other fabrics I've tried must have had lesser thread counts, because when you cut them nice and small, they just fray and disintegrate.  KONA seems to have a nice range of colors that I can work with and holds up to what I need it to do.  So, that's why I choose to go with KONA when I can. 

Jay McCarroll Habitat Challenge

The Modern Quilt Guild is putting on a challenge once again.  There are the four challenges that have been going throughout the year, but there have also been a few fabric company sponsored challenges, too.  We had the Robert Kaufman No Prints Allowed challenge featuring KONA Solids that finished up a few months ago.  Now, we're just getting started on the Jay McCarroll Habitat Challenge.

In Kansas City, anyone who wanted to participate got a little bundle of 6 of the fabrics in the Habitat line in the Earth colorway.  The challenge is to make a finished quilt of any size using each of the fabrics we received.  We can add more of the Habitat fabric from any colorway and as much solid fabric as we wish. 



I am having a hard time figuring out where to start on this one.  This youTube video gave me a little bit of an idea about what the fabric line is intended to represent.  It's about nature & organic sort of things colliding with city living.  Kind of urban meets rural.  I love that idea.  It's nice to find a little bit of green living in the big city.  Currently I'm thinking that trying to design a quilt that has the same focus on green urban living is how I'm going to go.  I don't know how I'll do that or what I'll end up with, but it sounds like a good starting point, doesn't it?

Working on something new...

Here's a little sneak peek of what I've been working on.  The sketches are of some ideas for new mini quilts similar to these I made a few months ago. 

 

This is a little snippet of my process for making these.  The images you see above are photographs that I have altered in Photoshop.  I've printed them out in black and white and used colored pencils on them to see what they'll end up looking like.  Using my KONA color card, I decide which colors I am going to use to build my images. 

Today I spent my morning refining my fabric list.  My afternoon was spent hitting a few places to pick up all the colors I can get without paying shipping or having a 1/2 yard minimum of each color.  Tonight I'll be working on ordering all my remaining colors online. 

Once I end up with all the colors in my palette, I'll start tracing my pieces onto fusible web, ironing the fabric onto the fusible web, and building up my images. 

So, why am I making a bunch of mini quilts?  Well, the KC Modern Quilt Guild has a quilt show coming up on October 1st.  I'm considering renting a table where I can sell some of my work there.  It's also something I've been thinking about putting up on my etsy shop for a while now, so if I don't make the deadline for the quilt show, I can still always sell it there. 

Watch for some more progress photos of my projects coming up before too long. 

Patterns for Sale!

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned on the blog that I've been working on making a couple of patterns to sell in my etsy shop.  Well, the time has finally come.  I have just released 2 brand new patterns for sale in my shop. 

The first one I have is a quilt I designed as a sample for quilt market back in May.  It's titled Mixed Feelings.  You can purchase this pattern for $7.50 by clicking here.

The second pattern that is now available is titled Oliver's Fox.  This quilt was originally designed for a friend's baby boy.  This pattern included a lot more detailed diagrams and is more complicated than Mixed Feelings.  Because of this it is $10.00 and can be purchased here.

To celebrate the release of these new patterns, I'm giving you all a discount on anything in the store.  Now through the end of August, use the coupon code NEWPATTERNS2011 and you'll recieve a 10% discount on anything you purchase from me. 

The Simple Dollar - Some Thoughts on Enjoying Parenting

As I was reading through the blogs I subscribe to, this one caught my eye.  It's a post from last Friday on The Simple Dollar and is titled Some Thoughts on Enjoying Parenting.  I really enjoy reading many of The Simple Dollar's posts.  I like to be aware of where the money goes in our house.  I try very hard to be thrifty and make sure we get the most for the money we spend on things.  The Simple Dollar is filled with ideas on how to manage finances and how to live to make the most of the money you have. 

Sometimes, the posts on The Simple Dollar include things on parenting.  That is the case with this post from last week.  I wanted to share it with you because I think there were some really good points hit upon and it got me excited all over again to become a parent in a few months.

I'm looking forward to getting to explore the world all over again with my baby.  I can't wait to take him to the aquarium or the zoo.  I can't wait to teach him about the creatures we see. 

I'm looking forward to exploring physics through Lego's and building blocks as we build castles and bridges and see how a little force and some gravity knocks them down.

I'm looking forward to dinners at the dining room table with my little family where we can discuss what has happened in each of our days.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the world through little eyes.  I'm excited to shape my little guy into a healthy, happy person.  I'm excited to see what changes happen in our lives.

I'm most looking forward to meeting him and starting this new chapter of our lives together.