No Excuses

This is my challenge to you this year for quilting....follow this blog: http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/

She is doing a quilt-along about free-motion quilting and everyone can learn it.  Do it.  Go read it now.  ;) k.

The Great Ugly Fabric Challenge of 2011

What a great challenge! Everyone came up with fun and imaginative ideas for how to use their ugly fabric. Now you get the chance to vote - choose the one that you think used their ugly fabric the best! To vote, you can either leave a comment for this post, or leave a comment on the post I will put on the RS facebook page. The winner will receive a pair of really nice fabric scissors. But really, we're all winners, right?;) Good job ladies! Here are the contestants, in no particular order.

Let's start with what was chosen us the winner for the ugliest fabric, and was randomly drawn by Miss Kimberly

Yeah, that's just ugly no matter how you look at it. And here's what she created!

She used a stack-and-whack technique, creating these amazing kaleidoscope-like flowers.

She's going to finish off the edges with a double piping, and make it into a prayer rug/mat.

And here's the fabric Miss Nicole chose.

Wow, what an unfortunate color combination. What were they thinking. Nicole came through with this cute potholder.

By matching the ugly fabric with a cute coordinating green fabric, she created something that actually works. It makes me feel Irish....and I'm not even Irish!;)

Nicole brought the potholder unfinished, and used it to help teach us how to bind at our last meeting. Thanks Nicole!

Next up is Miss Ruth and her ugly fabric.

What the what? This ugly fabric had her stumped about what to make for a long time. She finally gathered together a bunch of fall-inspired scraps of fabric and made this.

She finished off the edge of this tablerunner with a green ribbon, which really brought it all together.

We're all military spouses, so it's only fitting that someone get this ugly fabric, and that someone was Miss Elizabeth.

Oh, it's just so manly and ugly, what will she make? How about a completely un-manly, and adorable stuffed lamb?

I'm envisioning a whole nativity set made out of that - how about it Elizabeth?;)

And now, for what we refer to as the "naughty" fabric, chosen by Miss Becky.

We're thinking she's going to really have to cut that up into small pieces to hide the ladies. But no - Becky decides to make shorts for Kyler instead, to torment her mother, hahahahahaha!

Oh Becky, you are so brave and hilarious.

Last, but not least, Miss Joanna chose this lovely piece of ugly fabric.

Then Joanna surprised us all by asking Becky for a small piece of the "naughty" fabric. She said she had an idea, and we were intrigued. This was what she made using both of her ugly fabrics.

For this potholder, the "naughty" fabric is on the bottom, and she actually made her own chanelle with the cactus fabric.

Very cool! Great job everyone - I hope you enjoyed this challenge as much as I did. Now vote!:)

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder...

but you may want to avert your eyes! heheh

Last month we challenged everyone to bring a piece of ugly fabric for a sort of White Elephant draw.  Everyone drew a piece and now the challenge for next month is to make something fabulous with that ugly ugly piece.

We had a vote, and this is the "winning" piece.  It was purpose bought so it had the advantage over others that were coming from stash.  Elizabeth still deserves honor for locating this piece.  The more I look at it the more I have to agree that it is...well, ugly.  As perhaps you may have guessed, I was indeed the one to draw the winner for my November project.


I jokingly said that I would make an article of clothing out of it and wear it in public even, but I realized that I really should do a quilting project.  But never fear, the ideas are already brewing.  Of course maybe they aren't good ideas (I mean, who designed this?!?  It is worse in person.) but they are brewing.  Check it out.  I even have a palette going....

I live in full expectation that EVERYONE will post the fabric they drew and what they make with it for this month.  (yeah, well....)

At any rate, good luck to us all and may the best competitor win.  (The prize is a lovely new pair of scissors that have never been handled by toddlers nor ever cut paper...or upholstery for that matter!) k.

80%

Ruth here - I married into the Liddel family, but really I'm a Liddell at heart. In the Liddell family, the running joke is that we are all eighty-percenters. We start a project (could be a remodel of a kitchen, or a repair job, or a craft), we get 80% done, and then we leave it. Apparently, this habit has transfered seamlessly (pun intended) into my quilting world, with a varying degree of percentage:) We started out with the hand quilting project. I finished quilting mine, and was quite pleased with the result.
But I have yet to do anything with it. What I'd really like to do is make 2 more and then frame them.....some day. I need to finish that. A side note here - the thimble protected this finger

But nobody warned me about this finger.

Do you see the end of my finger and the hundreds of needle pricks? I think I need another thimble. Next up was my own quilt. I worked hard and got about 2/3 of the blocks made, and then stopped. Here is my pile of blocks, sitting in my room, collecting dust.

What I'd really like to do is to finish this quilt and put it on my bed for the winter. I need to finish that. Then came the dreaded hexagons. I slaved away to make this way cute top for a placemat (copying Kimberly's idea)

I love it, but it almost killed me, and I never made the actual placemat. What I'd really like to do is make 6 placemats (what's wrong with me?). See, I even have all the hexagons sorted out into baggies.

I need to finish that. Back in May (or was it April) I issued a challenge to everyone to make blocks to make a quilt for Quilts of Valor. Everyone did that, and then the blocks sat for a month at Kimberly's. Then she put together this top with half the blocks.

Then she left for her summer vacation and gave everything to me to finish the other top and take it in to get quilted. By the time she got back from vacation, I still hadn't done it. Yeah, I'm good. So I finally finished my top a couple of weeks ago. Here it is.

Those who were at the quilt group today saw these. Afterwards I took them in to get quilted. As soon as they are quilted, I will pick them up and we can finish them off. I wonder how long that will take me:)

I have to side note here again - when I dropped the quilts off today, the other quilting group went NUTS! They completely loved our quilts, and totally drooled over each one for about 10 minutes. They even took pictures. First of all, they couldn't believe that we were donating them to Quilts of Valor. Second of all, they were very impressed with our "skill". I told them that most of the people in our group are newbies, and have never made a quilt before. They were trying to recruit all of us to join their, big time, like a military recruiter. I told them that most of us have small children, and it's easier for us to meet at a home so our children can play. They immediately started trying to think of ways to work around this. I didn't want to hurt them and say that OUR quilt group is really just the best, thank you very much:) However, Kimberly and I talked about it and we thought it might be fun to have a "field trip" in November and go and work with them one time. So you should all be proud of what you contributed to this quilt, and know that there are people out there who are jealous of your skills!

The only thing I can think of that I have completed 100% was the wall hanging for the orphanage. Go Me! Wow, that's totally pathetic. So now we're working on our blocks for Darsha's challenge of a Korean Friendship Quilt. Here are the one's that have been made so far.

Joanna

Nicole

Kimberly

Lindsay

Darsha

I know that Karen has made some of hers too. I'm not sure about anybody else. Oh, and here's mine.

It says, "Cursed Quilt" in Hangul. When Joe asked his Korean tutor how to say cursed quilt in Korean, it took him a long time to get her to answer him - she just couldn't understand why you would ever want to say cursed quilt, hehehe. I have made, you guessed it, 80% of my blocks. But if all of you don't make your blocks, I won't have to make any more of my blocks, and you will be enabling an eighty-pecenter. Do you really want that on your conscience? Of course you don't, so make your blocks!:)

Sorry for the novel here, but now I can say that I have blogged 100% of all that I've done for the quilting group!!!

Quilts of Valor - Spring 2010

We still haven't decided quite how these will go into quilts...since we have so many we will try to do more than one. :) In the meantime, I have to say, I am really pleased with the way they ALL turned out. Congratulations to all the ladies who challenged themselves while working on this challenge! And Thanks to Ruth for choosing such lovely base fabrics and challenging us. More later on this project when it is closer to completion. Enjoy.

The Box is on its WAY!

As of yesterday, the box with our completed wall hangings is on its way to the Humanitarian Aid Center and from there to Orphanages around the world.  I am very proud of the number and quality of the products we have been able to make.  I know they will be enjoyed for their bright colors and beautiful designs and that the children seeing them will feel a whisper that God loves them.

If you have additional projects you would like to donate to this cause, I will still send them.  I just wanted to get this group on its way.  (I know I have a few more projects that I would like to make and send...)

The Challenge for this month was issued by Ruth to make 12 inch blocks (with the base fabrics of her choice...I have an extra packet if you didn't get one. :)  These blocks will eventually be put in to a Quilt top and sent to "Quilts of Valor" for individuals who have been injured serving in the armed forces.  We have a local quilt organization (Yongsan Quilters) who do a lot of donations with this organization.  They also do lots of quilts for the ladies who have to stay at the Stork's Nest when they have their babies.  If you want to help out with their charitable giving as well, let me know.  I have contact information for them.

They also are the group that has access to the longarm quilting machine here at Yongsan.  I will update you as we get more information on what services are available.  I hope to see it in action Friday.

I hope everyone is having a great week and finding joy in whatever it is they endeavor. k.
P.S.  Isn't anyone else going to post?  You don't have to make it fancy.....

Prize for the "March Challenge"

We didn't get a chance to vote on the wall hangings for the March Challenge largely because many people were still working on them.  That was fine by me (as issuer of the challenge) since so many people were excited to be trying it, especially those who have little experience but a great desire to try. :) Also, I wasn't finished with the prize! heh.

So here it is.  After the April Meeting, we will post individual pictures of each finished wall hanging.  The voting will be by "comment" meaning that the one with the most comments will receive the tote bag.  You should recognize the block pocket on the front of the bag: this is the sample I made for our first ever activity.  If you want to do this with your own block (on a purchased plain tote bag) check on my personal blog for the tutorial.  (You can find a link to my blog in the "Places We like to Go" but it does make me wonder why no one has added any of their own links, whether personal blogs or resources they like....sigh!)  I will edit on a link to the instructions when I have done them.  (I didn't take pics, but it is pretty easy.)

I found a place in Dongdaemun with tote bags....the guy had "unbleached" which is a sort of off-white but is 100% cotton so can be dyed, and these black ones (which are not 100% cotton, but since my block was black.....)

So I hope everyone is busy doing something that makes them happy today.  I am. k.