Leap Day Scrap Happy

Surprise! What better time to jump back into posting than Leap Day! :D I'm of the opinion Leap Day should be a national holiday, so having it on a Saturday has been quite nice. Thought it was a perfect time to finally share this quilt with you.

This is Scrap Happy my version of the National Quilt Museum's Block of the Month Club Round 1 and it's currently hanging in the National Quilt Museum! Eeeee!

Part of my job is coordinating this Club, which includes making the blocks & full quilt - so cool. Round 1 ran April 2018-March 2019, and each month featured a new pattern, by a guest designer, inspired by an exhibit at the museum. I pulled fabrics from the scrap bins at work, and a few favorite bits from home as well and had fun testing and stitching these all year. {the purple was really hard to photograph consistently!}

crack in the wall inspired

Definitely learned some new techniques: sharpie dying, in-set circles, bias stripes, and pinecone (pine burr) quilting. Each block was fun and a creative challenge in choosing fabrics to keep them looking like they belonged together with a color scheme.

 

In September, I was able to design a paper pieced pattern and loved seeing how everyone in the group interpreted the design in their own fabrics! It's called "Gliders" and was fun to create.

Gliders before quilting

Gliders after quilting

The purple is Moda Grunge, which I chose after a bit of debate on which color to use that would coordinate with the blocks themselves, and am really pleased with how it works. I really wanted to add a piped edge with the binding, so even though I was pressed for time, I'm proud that I could work it in, because the pink flange pops so well against the polka dot grunge binding.

Quilting was a different challenge - each block was in-the-ditch stitched first to stabilize it. Then I could go block to block and quilt each one individually depending on the design. Some favorite ones were the Van gogh inspired block and the outer space Moon - I quilted in a tiny Apollo capsule! (hard to see it in the image, but it's on the way to the moon)

Then I free-motion quilted in a spikey-swirl design in the purple, with 3 bees added in for good measure. I used Aurifil threads for all the quilting and love how smooth it is when free-motion quilting!

Having it hang in the museum gallery last Fall with the Block of the Month Club mini exhibit was an awesome feeling. It's been fun when visitors or tours ask if I have a quilt here, or 'where's your quilt?' and I can say, "Right over here!" So cool.

I'm still working to finish up the blocks for Round 2, which finishes this March, so I better get back to sewing those up and turning them into a full quilt!

Disney Quilt Swap

I signed up for the #disneyquiltswap2019 on Instagram back in August and had a great time working up this Mary Poppins themed mini quilt for my partner! Nabbed this cool rainbow fabric while on vacation and am thrilled with how it worked for this.

I packed in as many film details into it as I could, because who doesn't love Mary Poppins? The skylines I drew first on paper & transferred onto the fabrics, before using a zig-zag to machine appliqué them to the background. Mary's silhouette is also machine appliquéd, which took some patience on my end! Stitching supercalifragilisticexpialidocious to fit around the umbrella added that little extra to make it practically-perfect.

A few details of my trademark bumblebee, birds all around the cathedral and some chimney sweep brushes over the rooftops.

 

Here's a quick look at the label. It's actually both label & hanging corner, which I love adding to swap quilts because it makes it easier to get up on the wall once delivered. My partner had several Mary Poppins ideas in her mosaic, so while it was hard to part with this quilt, I know it went to a good home!

So what did I receive you ask? This AMAZING Tangled themed mini from @bonnybaubles. This is one I kept an eye on during the construction process and hoped it would be mine. Imagine my excitement when I opened up my swap to find this gorgeous quilt!!

The way Janelle used the ombre confetti fabric, just blows my mind, even the shadow of the boat is perfect. Tangled is a favorite of mine and as a long-time Disney & music lover, the addition of the song lyrics is tops! Also - check out the sweet label she made - is that not the best use of the literary library card fabric?! Thank you Janelle! and thanks to @kcswapshost for this fun swap. You can see more finished quilts from this round with #dqscomplete on Instagram.

Because You're Leaf-ing

That's the clever title L came up with for this special quilt. :D

It's for H, a coworker who was leaving, so of course I had to make her a mini quilt!

We always end up talking about food, books, craft things, etc. and I'll definitely miss seeing her down the hall. So when it came to a quilt, I had several directions to go. I landed with these cute little plants hanging out on some shelves that fit her style & interests.

The pots are made with leftover labels from some work projects that H & I worked on, so I knew they had to be incorporated somehow! They make it unique and personal too. I used some images online as a starting point, but drafted my own paper pieced plant patterns which turned out super well. I used up all I had of the yellow (every bit!) and just love the bright pop it lends the quilt. The binding was chosen to 'match' the museum blue in the labels. I completely forgot how much H loves polka dots, so it was a an doubley good choice of fabric. Win-win on that one!

 

I outlined the pots, added definition to the shelves, and then free motion stippled throughout the yellow background. There are even 2 bumblebees in here, as a fun extra.

Here's H & I with her quilt! And H & staff too. She loved it and already had the perfect spot to hang it so we know it was appreciated right from the start. I got all the staff members to sign the back, because it ultimately is a going-away gift from all of us.

Night Lights

Playing catch up on some quilts from the past few months - so here's Night Lights! Inspiration for this one came from seeing the lights in the bell tower at church after dark. I wanted to capture some of the look of lights reaching up into the night sky.

I pulled this together fairly quickly from doodle-idea to finished quilt. Grabbed fabrics from my stash, choosing some favorite scraps of a music note print for the white squares. I quilted straight lines horizontally across the top in black thread, in-between the light squares. Then I used white thread to free motion the circles to add some movement. It measures 11" x 16" and the binding is machine finished.

down in New Orleans

Earlier this year I got to attend the American Alliance of Museums annual conference in New Orleans. I've never been there before & was glad to be able to visit somewhere new from one river city to another! A coworker and I made the trip together, and ended up driving down - which takes about 10 hours - but was pleasant and non-trafficy so that's a win. 

It also meant we hit 7 states on the trip: KY - IL - MO - AR - TN - MS - LA

There was some heavy rain as we drove into New Orleans, but we saw a double rainbow.  :) Came across the Manchac Swamp bridge which I discovered is one of the longest bridges over water. It was pretty cool to drive!

Of course, after hitting the hotel our first stop was hitting the streets of course. We walked the French Quarter & Bourbon Street, saw several second lines and caught some beads from people on the balconies (probly other tourists but whatever).

Then my friends, what I was really waiting for: Cafe du Monde beignets! It was delicious. What a treat :D

#beignetallday

Attended Mass at the Cathedral which is beautiful

The conference is hundreds of museum people and it's fun to talk shop with others from museums all over the place. Typically you have the option to sign up for some extra excursions (think field trips) to see & learn how other museums do things. Honestly these are so fun because there's nothing we love more than getting an insider look at how programs or exhibits are put together. 

My first excursion was at Preservation Hall - a small venue with a rich history. We had an introduction and then a Q&A with their All Stars jazz band before we got a private concert. WOW

Friends it was Phenomenal!! Above is a quick photo of the street entrance and clarinetist and then the drum kit. They don't allow photos or video during concerts because they keep it true to the '60s experience. They play several shows a day and I highly recommend going to one if you're in New Orleans.

After the amazing concert, I grabbed some gumbo for lunch (so good!) and headed out to Lake Pontchartrain for a tour of the PT-305. It's the only fully restored combat veteran PT boat form WWII. Neat to learn about how the restoration was done over the years, and how many volunteers helped out to do it! Good tour and I enjoyed learning about the history & service of the boat. Ended up at the Gumbo Stop for dinner because you can never have enough gumbo in your day! 

I volunteered to help with sessions and in addition to some of the ones I attended, I got to listen to several others that were interesting as well. Sparked a few ideas while hearing about Impact of Awe, Interactive exhibits, Museums at Play and more. The opening night party was at NOMA & their sculpture gardens so it was nice to mingle, meet some new friends & eat more good food! 

Above: local art and signs that made me laugh

Had some free time to visit the WWII museum which I was also looking forward to - it was really good. Loads to see and read so I did a quick-walk through everything to get a glimpse of it all. I was impressed with how they set up the exhibits & scenery for each theater of war: jungle pacific, desert, European winter, etc.

WWII reenactors & me (I got the dress memo)

They also hosted the Closing party with the Ogden art museum - more good food - and talking with museum people from MD & ID! Not only is it neat to chat with people from all different types of museums, but once I mention quilts people chime in with quilts in their own collections, families or personal connections. Proof that quilters are Everywhere!

Caught the St. Charles streetcar out to the Garden district and wandered around. Gorgeous! All in all a good trip full of new adventures. Below are some detail shots from around town.

Pineapple Surprise!

EEEEEEEE! You guys check out this awesome quilt! My momm made this for me & brought it with her when she came for Spring Quilt Show and WOW was I surprised! I had no idea this was coming my way and I absolutely LOVE it. :D  Thanks Momm!

Back in early March, Momm texted me this picture asking what I thought about her fabric pull for a new project. This, dear reader, was not an unusual question as we consult and brainstorm quilt ideas constantly! I replied that they were very summery & looked good, then promptly forgot about it. 

Momm says it was really hard to keep as a surprise since we quilty talk all the time, but she managed it really super well. Of course, keeping it under wraps meant it couldn't be shared online anywhere either, which can be tricky to do in general. 

After picking her up at the airport for her visit, Momm presented the quilt to me and I was gobsmacked. It's the first quilt someone has made for me, just because. I had to take it into work and show & tell to my coworkers (also not unusual as I work at a Quilt Museum). One asked if I was actually going to use it - the answer is of course! It went onto my bed immediately and it's been there ever since so far.

Pineapples are my favorite fruit to eat. I also love them, because I watched the TV show Psych where they had pineapple in every episode. It was a fun thing for me & friends to spot it each week and now we look for pineapples in real life too. So this is the perfect design! :) 

Momm did take progress pix with all these fun HSTs and trimmings to show me afterwards. She also managed to make it all from her stash - well done Momms! We took the quilt around town for a photo shoot and had fun popping into a local restaurant for some pix with their island-style decor. 

Thanks again Momm for such a cool quilt. Love you lots!