Patriotism Quilt Contest Part 2

Good morning!

Last time I checked, a quilt entitled, "Flight Home" was in the lead for the Patriotism Quilt Contest at the Quilting Gallery.  Voting finished a 8 a.m. this morning, so I just looked to see the final results, and "Flight Home" won with 361 votes (36% of the votes.)  There were so many amazing quilts, it was hard to select a favorite, but this one was at the top of my favorite 5 picks.  It depicts a gorgeous eagle flying across a sky filled with fireworks.  It looks like my quilt came in at about 13th place out of the 44 entries.  I had no illusions of winning, and I am thrilled "Flight Home" took the lead.  It was fun to simply participate.

I took a peek at upcoming themes and discovered the week of July 23rd the theme will be buildings and houses.  Perhaps I can use that as a deadline to motivate me to complete my current UFO (Unfinished Quilting Object.)   It is based on a pattern from The City Stitcher Quilt Collection Designs by Janet Miller #9 Our Country Home.  The pattern gives two views, and one uses the words "Home Sweet Home" instead of "Our Country Home." 

Or, perhaps it would be more fun if I could complete this quilt and hold a vote here to see if I should enter the UFO pictured above, or the one I made for my father-in-law for Christmas in 2003 pictured below.  This was my very first attempt at quilting.  (If they look familiar, it is because I added these photos to a previous post.)  If I did not know how much work those vines were, the one pictured above would probably be done by now!  Procrastinate?  Who? Me? LOL!

I hope you all enjoy your Monday!
-Renee

Crazy Quilt Day 25

Today was warm!  After spending the afternoon with my family and enjoying a walk, I spent a fair amount of my evening working on the January block, hoping to avoid the heat (without air conditioning.)

(Sorry about the bad photo, the lighting was off.)

As nervous as I was about adding confetti, I ended up fairly happy with the end result.  Although, I need to remember I prefer to use a single strand of floss to attach beads so the threads do not look as bulky.  I used red, green, yellow, and light blue size 11/0 glass seed beads.  They were attached with the same DMC cotton flosses I used to create the streamers (red 321, green 701, yellow 307, and blue 806.)

Next, I wrote, "LET IT SNOW," using 2 strands of blue cotton DMC 322 and 1 strand of silver metallic thread.  I toyed with the idea of adding clear petite glass beads, but opted not to, as the silver sparkles in the fabric were decorative enough "snow."  As the picture shows, I used pins to divide the strip into equal sections for each letter and space.  Then I winged it, and stitched the letters in without a real pattern.

Only 6 steps to go!  (Click photo for larger image.)

It took me quite a while to get up the nerve to move onto the next section.  I had to decide between the two parts that intimidated me the most.  (I could opt to make my pattern more simple, but if I do not destroy the block with mistakes, it should turn out pretty cool.  You may be able to hear me chanting, "I think I can, I think I can...")  I decided to work on the snow-plopped letters next.  After typing "winter" out using the Gimp 2 CK Snow font, I measured the strip of fabric.  Then I used a piece of paper and divided the length into thirteen equal lengths (6 letters + 5 spaces between each letter + a space before and one after the word.)  Next, I drew the word, free-hand, onto the paper, enlarging each letter to the size of the space I made for it (and I used a fine-tipped sharpie so it would show through.)  Then, I turned the page over and traced the letters in reverse image.  I taped the page to a window and held the right side of my block against it, centering the word along the strip of fabric.  Using a #2 pencil, I traced the reverse image onto the back of the block.  It is a bit of work attempting to match my needle to the design on the back of my fabric, but so far it is turning out okay.  I stitched in the snow first, using cotton DMC white floss and a vertical satin stitch.  Then, I used dark blue cotton DMC 820 and a horizontal satin stitch to form the letter.  The "w" is almost finished, but it is time to call it a night.

Thanks again for stopping by!  I wish you a great week.
-Renee

Crazy Quilt Day 24

Capital letters inspired by CK Black Tie font from Gimp 2

It finally feels like summer, here in Oregon!  I had hoped to finish this entire section of my January block, but the sun called.  However, I did manage to complete the words, "Happy New Year."  They did not turn out perfect.  The bow tie on the Y nearly meets the blue on the left, and the entire word "Year" is a bit slanted.  I considered taking both parts out to fix them, but I feared snagging the rayon floss attempting to remove the bow tie, or leaving marks in the satiny fabric by removing the words.  So, it will remain as it is.  A part of me wishes I had placed "Happy" a bit higher on the block.  However, I decided maybe it was better the way it was because I left some room for the confetti fall from above.

Several of the words I plan to add to this block are inspired by, or are my imitations of fonts I found on Gimp 2.  My husband introduced me to the free software available on-line, after I expressed interest in purchasing PhotoShop and we saw the prices.  We were on a tight budget, and he had heard great things about Gimp 2.  I am still a complete novice using the program, but have made a couple of great digital scrapbook gifts with its use.

January block - almost halfway complete

I guess today I will discover how well I can "draw" confetti using a needle and thread... and perhaps a few beads.  Wish me luck!

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you have a fantastic week!

Crazy Quilt Day 23

Is it comical that two days away from working on my crazy quilt seemed like WAY too long?

Today, I used DMC rayon white 35200 to make parallel stem stitched lines.  Next, I used the silver metallic thread to make little stars.  My goal was to have two opposite corners of the block reflect one another by using blue on the white and white on the blue.  I think it turned out okay.  The differences in the fabrics certainly affected the way they looked.  The floss sunk into the fluffy white, but really stood out on the satiny blue. 

Font inspired by Gimp 2 CK Black Tie Font

This completed the "easy" work on the block for me.  The rest makes me nervous.  I am worried I am really going to mess it up.  Luckily, the first word I attempted did not turn out too bad.  I printed, "Happy New Year," out using the CK Black Tie font from Gimp 2.  Then, I free-hand sketched the text onto the block using a light blue chalk pencil.  Using DMC rayon flosses S820 (dark blue) and 35200 (white), I stitched the tuxedo shirt with satin stitches.  The rest of the word was "written" using a back-stitch in the same blue floss. 

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Hopefully, tomorrow I will find the time to finish this section.  I plan to stitch in some streamers and add beads or French knots for confetti.  This is how the block looked by the end of today.

Thanks, again, for stopping by!  I wish you a wonderful weekend.

-Renee

Patriotism Quilt Contest

A friend of mine through CQI (Crazy Quilting International) always emails me the best links to sites.  Last week she sent me a link to The Quilting Gallery, so I could check out their Beginner's Quilt-Along.  (I must admit, I am eager to step in and join, but I am trying to stick to my rule.  I need to finish at least 2 of my UFOs before I can begin a new project.  It's a lot harder than it sounds!) 

While visiting The Quilting Gallery, I stumbled across their weekly quilt contest.  My morning cup of coffee was all the more enjoyable while I was viewing the amazing quilts displayed in last week's Summertime Fun Quilt Contest.  Then, I noticed that this week's theme was Patriotism.

One of my first quilts (the third or fourth one I made) fit that theme perfectly.  I made it for my dad for Christmas in 2004.  I believe I used a pattern from a book I had checked out of the library, Quick Quilts to Make in a Weekend, by Rosemary Wilkinson.  My dad was retired from the military, so I decided to use an assortment of patriotic fabrics.  It was a very simple quilt - perfect for a novice like me; however, I loved the combination of colors and designs in the fabrics.

Dad's Patriotic Quilt

 I decided to enter a picture of the quilt I made for Dad into the weekly quilt contest - just for kicks and giggles.  Trust me, I have no illusions of winning.  I just thought it would be fun.  Voting will be open from about 8 a.m. on Friday morning through 8 a.m. Monday morning  I encourage you to visit, enjoy the wonderful creativity, and vote for your favorite entry (or entries, last week you could vote for 3).  The contest is open to other countries, so I look forward to viewing them myself!

Thanks so much for visiting, I wish you all a wonderful weekend!