New Block Party box....

We are starting another Block Party swap at the LVMQG so I decided on these rainbow String-X blocks from Quiltville...  I've written a tutorial based on Bonnie Hunter's directions and I'm happy to have something to share tomorrow at the meeting....

I also have to show my journal cover.  The recipient won't be present so I'll just show you right now what I made....The journal is grid paper and the fabric that the person selected was the third fan blade from the top right...I had to base the journal covers off of that...

A little pen holder inside....

Anyhow, I hope she likes it!!

I love rainbows!!

I've been thinking about getting together a box for the block swap at the LVMQG...one thought was to do something with rainbow fabric.  I'm a sucker for a ROYGBV quilt...

Here are my favorites on Flickr...  I really like the dresden plate in the middle, bottom right area...with the black center...

I sorted my scraps into warm/cool colors....well, actually, Rebecca helped.  Her OCD really comes in handy sometimes...

I taught myself to do a little English paper piecing with some hexies.  Yes, I know there should be a center, but why be normal???  Maybe a bunch of these???

Sadly I have to got to work today and teach kids how to add like radicals using the perimeter of geometric figures as a starting point....and teach other kids to add polynomials....and teach another set to find the volume of irregular figures.  Then I get to come home and lay sprinkler pipe in the backyard so we can put in sod on Saturday.  That isn't very crafty, is it???

I hope your day is full of fun!!  11 more days of school....

The stash....

Sometimes it seems like I don't buy enough fabric at the quilt shops...this is why...my hoard of fabric!!!  See inside the closet of shame....and under the tables in the other bins of shame....way too much online shopping for Vic!!  This is the walk-in closet in my sewing room...Why don't the shelves fall down???  I cleaned it up yesterday so that I could walk in it--prior to that it had been about 2 months where I couldn't get through the door....

Look at the Kaffe stash up there...and some Valentines, and blue and yellow plaids....what are those purples?  Oh my...the two big crates in the back corner are cut up plaid shirts...so is the bottom crate to the left....

 Well, what have we here??  Looks like some black and whites, you can't see the Kona solids, pinks, blues....oh, some double pinks and browns in the corner that I had to buy to make a civil war type quilt, if I recall....Then some hanging wall quilts a pile of neutrals on the top--linens, Kona solids, muslin...hmmmm???  Look at those cute quilt hangers in the back??  Why don't I use those??

 What the heck is all that???  More fabric at the top....organized by color?  Style?  Purpose??  Who really knows...

 Now this isn't how you should treat a finished quilt top...it was my pomegranate (sp?) top I made one or two years ago....and some larger cutgs of fabric.  More neutrals...What is in the sliding drawers???  I don't really know....

OMFG....look at the polka dots in the upper left corner!  I had great plans for those....There is an almost finished quilt top in that bag--with the black and white fabric showing....wonder where the directions are??

Ok....I don't even know what to say...the shame of it all.....

Now the bottom bin is about 50 pounds of 1930's repro prints.  I had a fancy for those one year...still do, but just don't do anything with them.  Above that is the remnants of my favorite fabric line, Zany for Zinnias, cut into strips for a charity string quilt.  Hmmm...when did I cut those strips, last year???

I just organized this today....my bright colored vintage sheets.  This bin is 36" across and about 18" tall--packed full.  Pretty, isn't it???  There are more on top...

This crate is only about 2 feet across and it is packed with light colored vintage sheets and sheet fat quarters.  There are my sadly neglected granny squares blocks--I miss you!!

So anyhow, I should be kicked out of every quilt shop around town until I use up some of this stash.  And every summer I donate about 2 large garbage bags of fabric to the high school...but here it is...still a mess!!  Ack....  Happy sewing to you!

I LOVE Triangle quilts...

I've been a big fan of triangle quilts for about 10 years now....Sara Nephew is the one who inspires me!  Her books are amazing--she has found every way to use a triangle, hexagon, diamond, and trapezoid to make a hexagonal block.  Truly, every...single...way! 

This is the first one I made for Alli...her bedroom colors when she was a baby were purple and yellow....

This is one I made for a local quilt show a few years ago...too wild for the ladies of the quilt show, I think....

I had to layer six yards of fabric exactly aligning the fabric flowers so I could fussy cut the flowers.  This way you got the repeating designs in the centers....lots of fun...

Almost forgot this one...I had to take a picture of a picture of the quilt...a Hanukah quilt for my sister...truly awesome, if I may say so myself... I sent a pic to Sara herself just to show her how much I loved triangles.  Geeky, huh?

Who hasn't made one of these... I used some random 2.5" strips and a 60 degree triange ruler to make some little hexagons....

Anyhow, my orange quilt is similar to these but maybe more modern??  Anyhow, I best get to working on it.  I've spent a while cleaning my sewing room so I'll reveal my stash of fabric tomorrow...it is truly insane!!  Happy quilting...

LVMQG Orange Challenge

I know I said I wouldn't post about this until the reveal in June, but it turns out I'll be on vacation that week and my quilt will have to be revealed by someone else....darn it!!  So I'll post about it--why not??

I LOVE triange-based quilts (more on that in my next post) so I modified a pattern to accomodate 2.5" strips and this is what I've got so far...

I've actually made 17 of these hexagonal blocks and I have 3 more in partial stages of completion.  I need 28 plus a few halves for the top and bottom of the quilt.  It will be lap-sized when it is done.  Though it looks complicated, it is all pieced in strips--no y-seams.  It will be assembled in rows and should come together easily.  I've done several of these types of quilts so maybe I'll dig them out of the closet and post some pics.  Sara Nephew is my 60 degree triangle hero!!

Anyhow, I took a personal day today so I'm off to Jo-Ann's and Costco.... ;-)  You know, I know my blog sucked this year and unfortunately, so did my work life.  When I have to work too much, I can't sew as much and I end up with a big hole in the blog posts.  Sorry....summer is coming, though!!

Happy sewing!