13th Steet Studio

Zipper Bag

The "Sew Together" bag by Sew Demented turned out to be a fun pattern to use for a guild challenge that we did this summer. Each participant put two fat quarters of fabric in a paper bag, and then we swapped the bags around and made something out of that fabric, adding in more fabric if needed. Here is what I made for my swap partner:

Seasons Challenge

Quilters like challenges, and I know I need some kind of deadline to get much of anything done. This last year I was part of a "Seasons" challenge where we were to make a 12 inch square mini-quilt for each season. I decided to use a theme of "Current Events" for my quilts. For Summer, I did "Olympic Fever", for Fall, I used fabric designed by Barbara Brackman featuring Hillary Clinton and Susan B. Anthony to make "Blue about the Election", Winter is represented by "Death of Compromise", and finally Spring in my house is always about basketball. KU men's team won a 13th straight Big 12 Championship! These small quilts are part of an exhibit at this year's Quilt Surface Design Symposium.

Kaffe Fassett Quilt

Last year I was able to attend a lecture and workshop with celebrity designer Kaffe Fassett. He has a world-class color sense...and it is probably a little silly to think that one could learn much from a brief time together. But that didn't stop about 30 of us from trying. The quilt featured in this class was his "Zig Zag" quilt from his Kaffe in Italy book. Here is what I ended up with:

I call it "Hidden Zig Zags" since the 3D aspect of the quilt fades in and out. Here it is in a show with three other students' quilts:

The Other Tree

For the second Festival of Trees tree project I made this tree skirt out of wool:

This tree has a lot of tiny wood antique ornaments. Here it is in action behind Santa:

Very cute! Only two more days to go to Liberty Hall and see the trees. Do it!

More Bunnies

I did a second "Bunny Bunch" quilt for a client recently, and now I am thinking about doing one with even more, but smaller, bunnies. Gotta do some other stuff first, though.

Something Different

With the help of a local artist friend and the book Mini Mosaics by Aimee Harman, I made this small piece that I am calling "Garden Spot":

It was fun to piece together something with glue instead of thread!

Summer Challenge Quilt

Last June when I was at QSDS, I signed up for a quilt challenge. Four times a year we are supposed to make a 12 inch square quilt on a topic chosen by the group...or the leader...or someone. Anyway this year the topic is "The Seasons". Folks seem to be doing their quilts with a secondary theme, such as "trees", so I chose "Current Events". This is my Summer quilt:

Christmas in August

I'm rarely ahead of the game, but I did finish up a Christmas Tree skirt lately. The fabric was an Alexander Henry print called "Snow Fogies". I had some silver sequins that were the same shape as the white snowflakes on this fabric, so I sewed a bunch on. They don't show up well in this photo but in person the skirt has a nice sparkle. This skirt may be part of a donation to the annual Lawrence Tree Festival...

The Bunny Bunch

Remember the "Giggle and Squeak" baby quilt I made a while back? (No? Click here.) Well, my favorite block in that was the rabbit, so when I was asked to make a quilt for a new grandbaby, I suggested doing a quilt of just bunnies in a "Brady Bunch" arrangement. Here is the result:

 

Dimebag Show at the Percolator

Dimebag Show at the Percolator is an event where folks go to the Social Services League Thrift Store and pay $10 for a bag that they fill with items to make art.

"Sing" (above) is one of the pieces that I made this year from this assortment of stuff:

I also made this piece called (of course) "Daughters"...which may be in the category of art that is so bad it's good?

In any case, it is a fun show that will be up for the next couple of weekends. Check it out.

Save

Summer Simple

Staying cool just sewing charm squares together.

This baby quilt comes with a matching "Smiley".

 

I'm Sewing

But I'm not getting much finished! Here is a quilt top I designed and stitched up made of mid-century modern themed blocks:

It has been a block of the month project for my local quilt guild. I called it "Home Sweet Modern Home". Now to get it layered and quilted...my least favorite part.

More Flowers

Here is a throw-sized quilt that I just finished up for a client/friend:

Don't those Kaffe designed and inspired fabrics just look fabulous?! Blooming in the garden are those peonies that sprouted up from the rootstock that the tree peonies were graphed onto. Not as grand as the former flowers were, but pretty none the less:

Simplify, Simplify

Elizabeth Hartman has a great book out called Modern Patchwork available here. One of the projects in the book is called Rapid City:

I make quilts for a client/friend who likes big prints and doesn't like me to cut the fabric up into small pieces. Rapid City seemed like a good possibility if I simplified it. Here is what I came up with after combining the scrapy parts and eliminating the white outline around the black lines:

Giggle and Squeak

We welcomed a new member to the family this week, and I am happy to have an excuse to sew up a "Giggle and Squeak" quilt designed by Carrie Bloomston. I bought this pattern several years ago but Google says it is still available here.

Vosey Improv

A small quilt I made last year is for sale in Barbara Brackman's Etsy store. (Click here to view.) It uses her "Morris Modernized" print fabrics and some coordinating solids I had on hand.

The machine quilting is inspired by the very good tutorial here by "Better Off Thread".

Smilin'

I whipped up several "Smileys" last week. If you can't think happy thoughts looking at these, then I can't help you. It's the best I can do.

Keeping Warm

My quilt guild (Kaw Valley Quilters Guild) has an ongoing project called "Warm Kids" that provides quilts to a variety of places and organizations doing good work with families and children. Over the last 5 years I think we have donated about 1000 quilts of all sizes. I've made a few but not as many as I should have. Last week I sewed together some leftover blocks and made this small Warm Kids quilt:

Bright Baby Quilt

Well, here is something I made a while back for a client:

Sometimes the fabric does all of the work!

Cleaning Up

The piles of stuff in my studio are like archaeological digs. The deeper you go the older the stuff. I tried to clean up one pile and found the trimmings from a quilt I made for Fabriquilt years ago. I sewed it all together and came up with this 12 inch square mini-quilt: