Lazy Gal: House, Home, or Pantry Quilt Together

It's taken long enough!

2010-07-01T05:19:00.000-07:00

Over 2 years I think!

I'm Done

2009-05-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

At long last. It's taken me long enough!

Slightly wonky. In fact very wonky because the cutter slipped when I was squaring it up before binding and cut off half the house in the bottom left hand corner.

Tonya - thanks again for hosting a lovely class and for spurring me on to get this finished. Next on the list is to quilt the Halloween quilt.

Done!!!

2009-04-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

Hooray, a finish! I blogged about some of the more emotional aspects of this quilt here...I just can't go in to it again. BUT I am so glad that I finished (just need to add the label) A big thanks to Septemberbird's blog and her flickrstream for inspiration. The first time I saw one of her chairs...I just wanted to pass out right away. Thanks Tonya for the encouragement to try new things...the quilt a-longs are so fun!

I am almost finished!!

2009-04-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

I am just putting the binding on my chair quilt....it looks so cool that I am so glad that it is mine to keep....I will post a picture later this week. (I was just so excited after seeing Jude's houses that I had to post.)

JMB

a little more progress

2009-04-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

these houses will be dancing. i used the backside of a musical note fabric so it would fade out and there would be music in the air.
yes, i am a bit out there with this...

ha

2009-04-01T08:41:00.001-07:00

well this is probably over but i just got started.

little progress

2009-02-27T08:15:00.000-08:00

I'm still here, too. With little progress to show...some quilts got in the way :-).
But I've managed to make some more houses and trees and after a while I found out, what I disliked about my first houses... they are so straight.
Here is my latest one and all houses and trees so far:

Maybe there will be a dark sky with some more stars....
Heidi

Liquorice Lane

2009-02-17T08:22:00.000-08:00

and a close up of the bottom 3 which are now quilted.
Tonya - I'm practising unmarked fans. The bottom of the one of the left went a bit wonky, but not bad for a first attempt je pense.

Just the top line, the border and a few "sweet" words to fling about the place and we are done.

Still working. . .

2009-02-16T17:46:00.001-08:00

Sharon @ Indigo Threads here.
I finally got all the letters in my saying made, and am now about to sew them all togther. I'm adding 2 inch strips to the top and bottom of all the letters, hoping that will make it easier to get them all relatively straight and readable. After that, I'll start sewing them together. If anyone has any tips for me on this, I'd love to hear them!

This is the saying I'll be using on my project. Some of these letters I left purposely tall so that I could cut them down to the height I needed them. I think that sizing the letters is kinda hard. They came out bigger than I was expecting. But, I've learned a lot and next time I do this, it will probably be easier. It's been such a help to see how everyone else has put the letters together, and probably the most help for me was Brenda's (Scraps and Strings blog) tutorial on strip-pieced letters. Thanks, Brenda!

Still working on it...is that allowed??

2009-02-01T21:14:00.001-08:00

Looky here...some actual quilting has happened. I am almost half-way done. It is going to look so cool, I am so excited. I love all of the projects that you all have been finishing, great inspiration.

now we're getting somewhere!

2009-01-28T08:26:00.000-08:00

So, it's taken me a long time, but I'm finally done putting this top together! I apologize for the poor pictures, but I wanted to get something up here to share.

I added some trees scattered in around, and lots of stars... I got better at the stars after a few tries, but I put the really weird ones in anyway just to show the progress! I'm really hoping to play around with the quilting here too... so who knows when I'll finish it - definitely not before January is up!! I also am not sure what backing material I'm going to use... I had high hopes of putting my words on the back around the edge. I was going to do "though the mountains divide and the oceans are wide, it's a small small world." But I'm aware that that's pretty ambitious!!

And yes... I think that's some baby spit up right there!!

Ta-da!

2009-01-23T03:11:00.000-08:00

As they say in French, "finis!" Thanks to Tonya for getting me going by hosting this 'class'!!!

"Aloha" is done!
and heading out for donation to JDRF.
I have plenty more photos on my blog and in my flickr album.

Bloom is Blooming!

2009-01-22T12:15:00.000-08:00

My project for the class is complete. Bloom. I struggled with the quilting and have ripped it out twice, but that's ok. First I tried free motion flowers (really took away from the composition of the piece), then I tried echo quilting. Very honestly I got lost in the echoes and couldn't fill the white space in a way that added to the piece. I did this with a setting on my mom's machine. It required a bit of ripping too, but once I got the hang of it, it went pretty well. I love the texture that it provides without distracting from the nifty free piecing.

The sign of a great class and a great teacher is when you actually learn something. I did. Thanks Tonya and thanks classmates! Your support has made all the difference.
I'm pretty happy to go find the perfect wall to display it.

Finally Sewed a Seam!

2009-01-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

I let so many other things take precedence over this project - things for other people mostly. I guess it was easier to put off something for ME.

I've had the "plan" almost from the start, but yesterday was the first day I actually played with fabric. (I know! How sad is that??)

I started by counting how many of what letters I needed:

Then I drew out the approximate shape of the letters I wanted/needed so there would be some sort of map (however crude) when I began cutting and sewing. I dug through my stacks of scraps cut into strips. I have a piece of print fabric I'm using as the color palette, so from my scraps I found blacks and greens and a cranberry. There's room for a federal blue and coffee brown, too, but I didn't have those scraps.

So, starting with "a", I began piecing. The first letter took some thought, but I referred to my map and didn't think too much (that's a biggie with me!). I used scissors, not a rotary cutter just so that I could stay away from the temptation to measure everything out to some sort of specifications. I did use the rotary cutter afterward to square up the block.

After the first block, I was able to chain piece the remaining a's. Each block is a little different and definitely an individual learning experience. I'm off to make 6 "e" blocks this afternoon, but I'm sure I'll go even farther than that. These are FUN!

2nd block...

2009-01-15T07:30:00.001-08:00

I posted this on my blog but not here. I am busy working on a few other projects - one due the end of this month. I need to use that deadline for this project as well.

I really don't know why when I love making these blocks so much I do not dedicate the time to work on them! Making the letters still, for me, is very labor intensive- both in the time it takes and my learning curve.

I just need to ignore a few other things and keep playing with the words I want for this project!

I'm making it up as I go along!!!!

2009-01-15T05:39:00.000-08:00

Well, I set up my french doors (one of the entrances into my sewing room) with a piece of batting hanging down and have started laying out my blocks.

So this block...

and this block...

added to these blocks...
and starting to connect the blocks...

to here ....

Making it up as I go along and seeing where it leads me to (hopefully a finished quilt by next week!!!)

Phew! It's been awhile..

2009-01-12T05:39:00.000-08:00

...since I posted but I have been working on my Hawaiian themed free pieced quilt (with bits of machine applique to help). It is freeeeeeezing outside so it is a good diversion to be thinking warm thoughts!

I have been diligently adding photos to my flickr set when I finish a block but I am not sure how many more blocks to add. I am under extreme pressure to have this done in just over a week.

Can I do it???????!!!!!!!!

Procrastination No More

2009-01-09T07:25:00.000-08:00

I'm Finally binding the "Get Well Soon" Quilt! Yippeee!

I had put the top together so fast, had it ready to go, hand quilted half of it out, when I thought that I had forgotten to wash the RED corduroy... I then put this project on the shelf, because picking it apart, unpinning etc. was just to much for me to think about.

Then I thought about NOT using the corduroy because this corduroy was much stiffer then what I had used in the past. In past quilts I have used BIG wide soft corduroy, which makes for such a snugly blanket, it's glorious.
This was a tighter weave and the only red I could find, so I went with it.

This was a bit stiff and it hurt my fingers to hand quilt. But I was inspired by my own childhood "sick quilt" made of red corduroy, so it was a must to use on this.

As you can see above. I DID, rip out all the hand stitching, and started over machine quilting it.

I am SO HAPPY I did. It was fun to do, and since it's been washed again, Its so snuggly, my daughter was trying to sleep with it last night and I didn't even have the binding on it yet...

I'm so a Glad I did this project. Thanks Tonya, for this opportunity!
I might not have ever made it...otherwise.

I love it.

bloom

2009-01-06T09:15:00.000-08:00

Hi! Jacquie here. My first goal for the new year is to tackle ufo's from 2008. So, I'm back in class and making progress. My project is a vase with log cabin flowers. It started with this vase. I added more to the opening as Tonya suggested to make it easier to piece in the stems.
Then came piecing in the flowers. Here's where I got stuck and and finally after reading Tonya's suggestion and studying her diagram I was able to piece in the flowers and stems. I really wanted three flowers, but after hours of drawing and sewing and ripping I settled for two.
Then I tackled some letters. b l o o m. Can you read it? I didn't get them as "free" as I wanted. They are a bit straight for me. I think I was concentrating so hard on the piecing I forgot about making them wonkier.
So here it is. "bloom". It's 19" x 38". Definitely bigger than I was planning. Well, I didn't REALLY have a plan. I do think it's fun and whimsical and will make a nice wall hanging. My only disappointment is that the background fabric is just cheap, thin, muslin. I started this as an experiment, never thinking it would be a piece I would love. The backing will be Alexander Henry's beach stripe and I haven't chosen a binding yet. Maybe polka dots?

The question I have for you is how would you quilt this? I really don't want to mess it up. Any ideas would be appreciated. It's been fun catching up on all your projects. Lots of very cool stuff! I'll look for your ideas and hopefully be back soon with a finish.

Proceeding at a snail's pace (Updated)

2009-01-06T04:25:00.000-08:00

I'm quilting about 3 quilts at the same time, depending on my mood, but I thought I'd let you see what I did on my houses quilt yesterday.

Wooo hooo - I think someone's quilting is getting better!

Is that better? For some reason when I upload via Picasa the photos disappear.

Finished Mini

2009-01-05T11:59:00.000-08:00

I knew this would be a crazy busy time of year, so when I went into this with simple in mind. This is my little simple house contribution.

Finished - Amanda at scrandasmusings

2009-01-04T03:43:00.000-08:00

At last, my Home is Where the Heart is quilt is finished. It's been my first attempt at free piecing and wonky letters and was great fun to do. I've hand quilted it using big embroidery stitches and perle cotton and although it looks a bit wonky in the photograph I'm convincing myself that it's just because it's been folded up for a while! I've got a few other things to get on with now, but will certainly make another quilt in this style in due course - there's still lots of blank wall space to be filled!

i am such a poop

2008-12-24T03:05:00.000-08:00

sorry for the long gap. first my machine broke and then i got so busy i let this project go. but i have a sketch and some time off so i will be back after the holidays with something to show.
peace.

kick off to word houses

2008-12-14T17:36:00.001-08:00

here is my start for this class...at long last! I have a list of possible words for my word-house project...I am also open to your input for possible words...connected to house.
Fun House. Poor House. Hot House..you get the idea.

I am probably only going 4 letters as I still struggle to get my letters small enough - this block will be 8.5 inches square once I trim it up a bit more.

Hello

2008-12-04T15:42:00.001-08:00

Hi! I've been given the invitation to be part of this group and I'm very excited. I fell in love with the houses last nite when I saw them for the first time and tonite I just played around with some fabric (can you tell I like black and white?) and made these little houses but I can see where these may not be good right now but the making of the houses could become very addictive!! Could be worse things to be addicted to. Again, thanks for the invite and I can't wait to read your posts and see all of the creative things. Judy

http://judy-judysfabricaddiction.blogspot.com/

Still here

2008-12-03T23:17:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to catch up on UFO's and also deciding what I'm going to do for this class.

I think the Halloween quilt can wait until next year (sigh) and have decided to bring over to this class a top that I start in Tonya's Summer Class.


From Lazy Gal Summer 2008

I've going to try and get it sandwiched this week and then start quilting it asap.

working slowly....but still working.

2008-12-03T19:54:00.000-08:00

I finally drew a picture of a chair...from a chair and I was able to do a better job on the proportions.

I finished this chair last night...my mind was all a buzz....I had so much fun and I am really in love with this project now. The chair and the stars, I never new that they could be so much fun. Such little scraps, make such a big impact. I made the 6 am a few weeks ago, because that was the only time that I was working on it. I think that I might put some more words in here....and I am trying to envision a house too....I think that it will come together and I am really looking forward to seeing this one get finished.

JMB

Advice from home is finished, I think

2008-12-01T17:50:00.001-08:00

Here's a close-up of some of the house blocks in my Advice from Home quilt.

Each block has real or nonsense advice.

Here's the whole thing. It's about 55 by 60 inches, a bit more square than I was hoping for. I'm wondering if I should take off the bottom border and add some more words, or my son's name? I'd like it to be longer so he can use it as a throw when he's a huge man.

More Jars

2008-11-17T23:38:00.001-08:00

Hi! Sharon from Indigo Threads here. I've been too busy to be able to get much sewing done lately, but I finally got a few minutes to finish some "Witch's Pantry" jars.
I'm not really sure about the lid on that block in the middle. I think I need to take it off and re-sew it, blunting the point on the 'square on point' to keep it anchored to the jar a little more. It looks like it's floating off in space! Any thoughts on that??

I found a list of spell ingredients on a Harry Potter web site, and picked out some fabrics that I thought would "work" for some of those ingredients. That's what those pieces of paper are that are pinned to the jars. I'll be making permanent labels in a more "witch-y" font to put on the jars before I'm done. (I guess my witch is kind of organized?? More than I am!)

I'm not real sure that my jars are as wonky as I'd hoped they'd be. I seem to be having some trouble "letting go" and getting wild and wonky. I'm open to any suggestions! Thanks!

I can't believe what I just saw in my last post...

2008-11-09T14:55:00.000-08:00

I knew that I had 18 houses to go around my center square to make it come out even. But after I posted last and looked at it I realized...18 houses, 18 years of marriage! I didn't even plan it that way! Well that is going to make it even more special. Just goes to show you shouldn't plan ahead, just work on it as you go and see what happens. I love it even more now. How special. Can't wait to show my husband. I will surprise him tomorrow with it.

Rondi

I'm making progress...

2008-11-09T14:32:00.001-08:00

I have several rows done around the center medallion. Right now it is about 45x49. I have a couple more rows I want to get around it. The last row will have our names. My husbands, mine, daughter and son. One on each side around it. I am going to try and post a photo of it. Kinda want to to it today, to celebrate tomorrow. It will be the 18th anniversary of the "Leslie Household".

Rondi

What Have I Been Missing?

2008-11-05T09:37:00.000-08:00

I should have joined these challenges sooner. I am so loving this. I have been reading Tonyas 's blog for some time. I have made several items with her free-style letters. I have always felt I needed to follow a quilt pattern to the "T" and would mess up royally if I tried to do anything without a pattern! So scary, and what if it was wrong? It is great fun making the letters. Just recently I bought the book Collaborative Quilting by Moran/Marston. If you have not seen it you will drool over it. Now this combined with what I have picked up from Tonya has allowed me to step out of my box! On this challenge I am so happy with what I have done so far and always anxious to have time to work on it. My quilt for this challenge is going to be patterned in the medallion style. There are letters in the middle surrounded by houses then couple rows of blocks, etc. then the last border I am going to have letters again....
Of note...I have sewn since a little girl in school. I have quilted off and on for the last 20yrs. I enjoy everything about quilting, especially hand quilting. Right now I have a quilt I am quilting with Fans! I work outside of the home as a 911 operator. Most of my quilting habit has to be done on my days off, which are not enough! When I figure out how to post photos I will show you my challenge. Thanks again Tonya.
Rondi

Slow going

2008-11-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

Maybe counting my houses was a bad idea.... since my last post I've completed exactly .5 houses... so much for my plan to do at least one every night!! And the half a house I've done is covered in baby spit up.... dilemma... do I wash it before putting the roof on?

After some false starts, and tearing of seams, I have completed a few stars... Does anyone have any suggestions for how to do stars? I'd like a variety... 5, 6, and more points.

I think I'm going to have to do a house assembly line to catch up. Soudns like a good thing to do while watching election coverage!!

Honesty is the best policy

2008-11-01T06:04:00.000-07:00

Some weeks ago I eagerly joined the House, Home or Pantry quilt-together. I thought it would be fun to try wonky letters, houses and homes. I have been sketching and stitching, discovering it’s not my piece of cake, being too much of a perfectionist.

I had to enforce myself and that’s not the intention of a fun project like this. To liberate myself from the stress and because of an overload of work and projects I decided that honesty is the best policy. I have given up on my wonky attempts.
I will be back though to follow your experiments and projects!
Good luck and have fun!!

Nicolette

Busy today

2008-10-31T09:36:00.000-07:00

I have been busy today and I wanted to share what I have done. I put the letters for Merry Christmas together. I was so afraid I would discover I had spelled it wrong! I added a border around the house block. I am going to put small houses and Christmas trees up each side. I have a beautiful piece of fabric that is a winter scene. I can't decide whether to use it as a border or for the back. I am going to take the other house blocks I made and put them together for something else.

work has started...

2008-10-30T20:37:00.000-07:00

Hi there,
I have been enjoying all the work that has been going on around here....that is a seriously awesome castle! I finished a big quilt at the beginning of October and I have been stuck in a creative lull. The silence is deafening.

SO, I turned 34 and decided that I needed to just get myself out of bed an hour earlier and start the day off right, with exercise or quilting....well, I can do the quilting. I have been working on this for a few mornings, not a lot, but I am in love with these chair quilts ,they are magic to me. I was pleased with my first attempt...but all my husband could see was houses. Back to the drawing board...

these are also my first wonky stars and I LOVE THEM...very easy and a great way to use the end scraps from binding. This all will coalesce somehow...it might be called 6am...because that is when I have been squeezing in time to work on it....maybe some letters...

JMB

2008-10-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Quiltpixie here... my castle now is as complete as it gets until I add word borders.

Thanks for all the great ideas re the dragon. For some reason my mind was stuck on needing a novelty print of a dragon. Duh, just build one! As you can see I took the suggestion to be somewhat subtle about it and only show his/her snout...

I changed the front door of the castle too -- the other was just too small -- this one is fused on top...

When I went to put on the thin borders I decided it would be wise to measure the edges as well as through the middle to ensure I was getting the piece nice and square.... Come to find out it was a dang good thing... the top edge was a whole inch longer then either the measurement through the centre or the measurement across the bottom! Found the spot that the seam had started to spread, and solved the problem... If only middle age spread was so easy in real life to solve :-)

I'm thinking the words might end up being "meddle not in the affairs of the dragon; for you are cunchy and taste good with ketchup" Its fun and playful which I find appealing... Other ideas are welcome....

Thinking warm thoughts...

2008-10-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

It is getting cold outside...
but I am inside, thinking warm thoughts...
like Hawaii warm...

like beach warm...
almost felt like I was there, until I sit in a skating rink for an hour this afternoon!!!

More warm thoughts or blocks to come...

Trees and forests

2008-10-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

Brenda here with a forest of wonky trees. I'm quite liking these trees -- they remind me of the American Elms that form an archway along my street. I borrowed the idea of someone else in this blog. Thanks. I've made lots of pine trees, but after sewing all those triangular sky pieces to the house roofs, this was a nice change. I used a bit of curved piecing on the tree trunks, and some of the trees also have words on this, advice or otherwise.

First Houses

2008-10-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

Robyn here - So these are my first 12 houses, (in no particular order)... I figure I'll need about 28, so I have a ways to go!! I still don't think it'll fit on the spare bed like my husband would like, but it should be a nice sized lap quilt for cuddling under and reading. I'm enjoying piecing on the fly! Very fun.... though I've had to rip out a few seams to go back and add more background fabric so I don't end up cutting rooftop corners when I do the final piecing... it should be interesting trying to get these all together!

Words of inspiration from Brenda

2008-10-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

I've been making words for my Advice from Home quilt and this is today's word. It helps me remember that I make quilts for fun, and to enjoy playing with fabric and shapes and words.
Here's all my words of advice for my sons:

Back to letters

2008-10-28T09:49:00.001-07:00

I've got my the blocks for the center of my quilt assembled - I don't usually make square quilts either but at this point the center is 72 inches square and I'm going to finish it with my pieced letter border that will go around the entire quilt.

I've really gone round and round about the size and shape of this quilt which is silly, I'm going to just let it be the size it wants to be. The blocks I wanted to use are all there and when the borders are right I'll know it.

2008-10-28T06:00:00.001-07:00

The construction crew returned to my castle today :-) Wish the stars were out in the sky, but maybe a fused one tomorrow as its all sewn together now :-)

My castle has a little middle age pread going on towards the top, but its all squared up and works for me :-)

Its about 20X 23 inches, so not huge... I am glad I don't have to climb all the stairs that must be inside it though -- or pay the hydro bill given the number of rooms with lights on! :-)

I've been toying with a couple of ideas around this castle. One would be a fun fire breathing dragon in the sky... I'd need to find the right fabric and do a fused applique. I don't have the right fabric in my collection, so I think this idea is likely to burn up before happening.

The other idea is words -- specifically "In my Father's house there are many rooms". I'm concerned that that may be too many words for the castle size though...

I'm also thinking I may add a large fused door or two on the right hand bottom panel area -- I think the current door will get pretty swallowed up when I add more fabric on that side, and it feels a little small for a castle of this size...

More Progress

2008-10-28T04:05:00.001-07:00

I worked on the Home Sweet Home quilt this weekend. So far, so good. Tonya was right, those Ms and Ws look fine now that they are sewn into the top. I added some hearts to it, I got the 'center' together. Now it is measuring almost square, so I think I need to add more to it as I am not a huge fan of square quilts and I think I want this a bit bigger. Not a lot, but a little. I'm thinking a row of something along either the top of the bottom then a zig zag border around the whole thing. I'm not going to have a chance to work on it again until this weekend, but I'm thinking about what to add and would love to hear suggestions.

Greetings from Oregon!

2008-10-28T00:36:00.000-07:00

Hello! My name is Cindy and I am a traditional quilter from Oregon. I have joined the 'winter class' to learn how to push limits and try something without a pattern.

I am anxious to learn more about wonky. I have watched it for a couple of years. Guess it is time to take the plunge. I look forward to group comments and support.

On a Roll!

2008-10-27T15:09:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy the last two days. I have made some Christmas houses and I have Merry put together. I am going to do Christmas tomorrow. The grandson's other grandparents are here so I am getting a break.

We took my 90 year old mother and the grandson to vote today. I want him to know how important it is to have you say. you can't complain if you have had your say. I feel like this election is going to be remembered for a long time and I want to be able to tell him that he went with his great-grandmother to vote.

I love the houses I made. Now I have to figure out to put it all together. Do you think we could all get together at my house one afternoon!

Still here too

2008-10-25T05:06:00.001-07:00

I am still here too. I have been doing a couple of things and trying to encourage Bridget, my creative muse, to come home. I think I have convinced her to come back. I did some Tonya letters yesterday and it was so fun! Her letter tutorials are great fun to do and to read. She writes them as if she was sitting beside you talking you through the process. I had not done much with letters before. Tonya makes it easy and fun. I am away from my machine and fabric this weekend so sorry no pics.

Coming up for air

2008-10-25T01:25:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone

I'm still here, but haven't started my project yet. I decided that I really needed to clear some UFO's from Tonya's summer class before I started on this one so I'm busy hand quilting to clear the backlog.

I'm getting floss/perle threads together for the Halloween quilt I showed in my first post. I found some wicked glow in the dark white floss the other day which I can't wait to use!

More as and when.

Aloha!!!

2008-10-24T10:50:00.001-07:00

I am NOT in Hawaii! I repeat... I am NOT in Hawaii!!! (I might wish I was... but I am not!)

But rather, I can be found in frosty, chilly upstate NY...

where there are lots of leaves to rake..but it is sunny....
I don't really have a plan set for this quilt which I plan to have raffled off in January but this is what I am up to so far...

Do you all start with a sketched plan???

How about a free pieced hibiscus??? ideas??? I am trying things out in the sewing room but am not sure how it is going to turn out, stay tuned.....

I know not what I am doing!

2008-10-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

Hello. I'm LauraJ. I live in Atlantic Canada with my son.
I've joined this group project/class to make something.
I have no plan in my head what my finished quilt will look like.
I'm stumped.
Although, the pile of neutral strips I cut out look pretty in the basket.
It's a start right?

Until next time...my goal is to figure out how to make wonky houses.

Hi, I'm Tab

2008-10-24T09:47:00.001-07:00

I live in central Wisconsin. I'm married with 3 boys. I've dabbled in quilting for quite a few years, but really started actually accomplishing things in the last year or so. I'm obsessed with mini quilts lately.
I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do for this quilt along. I have 3-4 ideas in my head. As soon as Halloween is over I plan to start.
Tab

Sorry I have not posted

2008-10-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

Life and work just get in the way of playing and quilting. I finally finished the car quilt I was working on for my grandson. My husband is happy with the cars but hates the rest of the fabric. My grandson and granddaughter actually picked most of the fabric and especially the cars and drivers. Such fun.

I started on my houses for my project. I obviously have a lot to learn. I am sure with practice my houses will get better. I guess I should read the tutorial one more time. What do you think?

I have so many ideas in my head, but they are harder than I expected to turn into a quilt. Guess thats what keeps me trying

There's no place like home

2008-10-23T00:33:00.000-07:00

Knit One Quilt Too Kristin here. After a couple of hectic weeks, I finally have time to show my progress on the red and white quilt. I immediately thought of Dorothy and had to do the Wizard of Oz theme. I put in four houses for the four of us. Each representing us in some way (me- the quilted window, Chloe- the house with dog bones and a heart, Ryan- the trains, hubby- the lovey dovey words. I then had to make a wee house for Scrabble. It was a lot of fun and I finally got to make a bunch of wonky trees to go with them. I can't figure out how to put the words on. All together at the top or bottom, or going around the borders? Any thoughts? There will be one more tree to fill out the middle space on the top, so it will be more or less square.

This second little top came about when I decided to do another of Chloe's sweet little houses. I'm not sure what I'll do with this yet. I'm enjoying seeing all the amazing creativity here!

Introducing myself

2008-10-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

Hi All! I'm Robyn from Erie, Colorado. I'm working part time, and really enjoying the rest of my time home with my 7 month old (tomorrow) baby girl. I'm very new at this quilting thing, but loving every minute of it, (and spending every free minute I have!) So far everything I've done is pretty much off the cuff, but I love the wonky look and the idea of quilting, and designing, on the fly.

I've always sewn... just little things for the dolls I made when I was a kid. And for years now quilting has been my goal. I'm currently finishing up my third - and definitely best - quilt. It'll be done before Sunday for sure, (when I have to give it as a baby shower gift!!)

I have a vision for my class quilt... I'm going to go with House. I want to make many little houses around the border of a starry sky background. So that means many stars as well. I foresee many scraps!! If I am really ambitious, I may put some words around the back edge as well. My husband wants this quilt for our spare bed, which is a double. I guess it just depends on how many houses I can make!!

Nice to meet you all! And I look forward to quilting with you!

Get Well

2008-10-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm back at it... I took a break on this... I have to say the letters went together so quick and easy. but setting the stars in the sky really twisted a few hairs on my head... Anywho, yeah, it's more complex, But I just knew what I wanted for this, and I will be so happy when its done and it's put to use! My hubby has first dibs... I asked him if he could at least give me aheads up when he plans on getting sick...

I've gotten to practice my houses, letters, wonky stars, crosses, bottles, apples,curves, and a challenging nurse... (And a good amount of patience...) But it was worth it.... ;-)

now on to quilting...

Home Sweet Home

2008-10-21T14:08:00.001-07:00

Well I did it...this weekend I sat down and actually started sewing this project! I made the words HOME SWEET HOME, and a block with a house and tree. Its not that impressive compared to what some of you have done, but I am very pleased. My little m's and the w are a little strange. I might fix them or maybe not. We'll see. I need to play around with placement and figure out what else to add to them. I'm thinking maybe some hearts and some sort of triangles. I don't want to complicate things too much right now, or I'll get overwhelmed and this will never get finished.

More advice from home

2008-10-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

My neighbourly advice is expanding to take over most of my sewing room floor. I think there's 21 houses, some huge, some little, including that tiny one at the bottom right with no words, but just an apple with a bite out of it. (Advice: An apple a day...). I'm hoping to get this to throw size. I have a few more words to make, then I'll attempt to put this puzzle together. Wander over to my blog to see more houses for another project -- these aren't wonky, but they're still fun.

First Attempts...

2008-10-20T23:29:00.001-07:00

and mixed results!
Sharon here. Here is my first attempt at doing the letters. These are just a test. I'll be doing something else for my project. I thought these were harder to do than I expected! I'm not entirely happy with these. I think the "H" is too small for the rest of the letters, and the "M" is too big. I've even cut it down a couple of times! I suppose that I'll get more consistent as I do more. The letters do look better when put on the background fabric!

These are my first attempts at making the jars. They were harder than expected too! But I think they came out pretty good. Not quite as "wonky" as I was hoping for, but OK.

My project is going to be a version of the witch's pantry. I'm thinking of saying "Come in and sit for a spell". I'm currently researching what ingredients one might find in a witch's pantry and trying to match that up with some of my fabrics.

Less space is better

2008-10-18T05:10:00.000-07:00

I'm getting better with the letters - I think part of the problem with Heart was that there was too much space in between the letters. While I'm not using Tonya's detailed *hot to's* for each of the letters, I did read over the introduction for tips.

I also calculated the size of the quilt if I used all the blocks I have here and it's pretty bit (90 x 108). There were extra's sent to me so I'm going to go back and recount how many I have if I just use one from everyone. I'm going to machine quilt this so if I can't manage to get everyone's blocks in making it smaller then I"ll go with the larger version.

Done?

2008-10-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, I wimped out on the snowflakes. I had a few contractions and thought I'd better just get this done. Of course, as soon as I was done quilting, everything settled down and now my houses have no snowflakes. Oh well!
I'm still planning on making some more things to go with this crib quilt...I'm having too much fun to stop now :)
Kim

A change of heart

2008-10-16T14:14:00.001-07:00

I think rather than starting a new project - I'm going to finish a project that's been waiting for me to work on since February. After the first anniversary of HeartStrings, I received blocks from members to use in a quilt for myself with the goal of creating a border with free pieced letters.

So today, I pulled out the blocks and started working on the layout and my word border. Since our theme is House, Home, or Pantry my project should qualify since my home is where I do all my HeartStrings work.

Words on Brenda's wall

2008-10-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

I've been making words for my advice from home quilt. These are some of the things I say regularly to my sons. I'm trying to limit my advice to one word: Rush (usually I say hurry), Brush (your teeth, hair) Hush (how many times don't we ask our children to use their inside voices) Call (let me know what you're up to; Wash (are you presentable for the public) and of coure Love. I may make some more, or not. How about Flush (clean up after yourself) and Breathe (slow down, control yourself) or Think?

Reading

2008-10-16T06:43:00.000-07:00

I picked up a copy of Liberated Quiltmkaing at the library yesterday and spent the evening reading it. It was fun to see so much of the stuff that I learned in Gwen's class so many years ago and it really made me want to call in sick and sew all day but, sadly, the sewing will need to wait until the weekend.
I am wondering if there was any more news about the possibility of having this great book republished?

2008-10-15T18:10:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
I've just started learning and doing improvisational piecing, so I am very happy to be part of this group! I've been sewing for about 40 years and quilting for 24. I work in the quilting industry full-time, writing pattern instructions among other things for a national magazine. I find that the only projects I get finished are the ones with a deadline, so we'll see how this goes! I live at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Littleton, Colorado. Right now I'm going to piece some wonky houses while I watch the presidential debate.

In Stitches,
Diane

I Think Too Much

2008-10-15T14:17:00.000-07:00

You know, part of the reason that I decided to play along is that I'm, uh, a bit particular about planning and cutting and piecing. My hope is that by embracing my inner wonk I can get over myself a bit.

I'm still on board for that. I have a 'design proposal' in my brain, a target finished size, a color scheme, even the potential location for hanging my finished work of wonk.

So why haven't I taken scissors to fabric yet? Well, I'm thinking a lot, that's why. I have 56 letters and spaces in the words I want to use. Some of the words need to be emphasized, so they'll be bigger than the others. Based upon the desired finished size of my quilt (ballpark!), I'll have 5 rows of words, with each of the first 3 rows finishing out to approximately 58.5". That means, based upon the number of letters in a row and considering the highlighted words, each letter will be between 1.5 and 4.5 inches wide and 1.5 to 6 inches tall. And yes, I've taken into account tall letters vs. short letters and wide vs. skinny for Every. Single. Letter.

Twice.

So here it is: The bulk of my project will be words, with pictures (coffee cups!) as, what? Fill-in? Accessories? Since the WORDS are what will determine the look and size of the finished project, is there any hope that all this thinking is not necessarily overkill?

I'm off to read and re-read every wonky tutorial and discussion that I can get my hands on (again). Everyone makes it look so easy - hopefully it's just a matter of making that first cut...

Log Cabin Flowers with Vase

2008-10-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

This is Tonya. I love everybody's work - ya'll are more motivated than I have been lately.

Jacquie has made a great vase and intends to put log cabin flowers in it. I love it. Here are a couple of different ways that I can think of to put it all together. First off would be to make longer stems and add strips of background fabric to each side of the stem. Attach that to the bottom of the flower and add some background at the top of the flower too. Do that for both flowers. Then on one flower add a wider strip of background. You'd end up with something like this:

Then you'd slice across the unit that has the additional background. Do that at an angle, then add the other flower. Voila. You'd add background to both sides of the flowers, then you can add them to the vase. I also played around here with adding an additional lip to the top of the vase to make the opening wider.

The other option I can see would be to make this in rows. A top row with the flowers, a middle row with stems (just insert strips, you can even overlap them) and then the vase.

Good luck!

Houses in the snow

2008-10-14T15:43:00.000-07:00

Wow, I am so impressed with everyone's pics! I'm posting my winter houses. I've since sewn them with a dark blue sky and plain white (snow) for the bottom of my little quilt. I was thinking of doing wonky snowflakes in the sky, but I can't get them small enough. Any suggestions? I'm thinking of slicing off the bottom of my quilt and adding some more houses. I'm also thinking of making some more things to go with this quilt, maybe a wall hanging and pillow cover.

My other plans include a tree skirt with words around the outside, but it's still in the planning phase.

Kim/nannergirl

p.s. sorry about the poor photo quality. These houses are nice and bright. My camera just returned from being fixed (thank goodness!)

It's Supposed to Be a Vase

2008-10-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by Tonya's bottles on her last post. I thought maybe I could free piece a vase and some flowers. Here's the vase (I think it looks a bit more like a lava lamp), but it's a start. I read the free piecing basics over and over. I think I'm on the right track. Maybe?

I made these wonky log cabin blocks for the flowers. I'm lost here. Is it possible to free piece these in with the stems? I can't seem to get a drawing to work. This was a lot harder than I thought. Any ideas on how to keep going?

All wonky

2008-10-14T07:27:00.000-07:00

V here, from BumbleBeans....I'm getting a start on my GET WELL SOON quilt... My surger, which I prefer to use for this kind of sewing,(much faster) is in to be fixed, so I'm poking a long on my wonky bottles, apples, wonky stars and nurse! My camera had to be sent in, which explains the crummy cell phone pics...sorry! (updated. spent all day on this...pheew.)

Just a joke on the XXX!!! Its almost halloween! There will be a Red cross on that bottle!

Does this count?

2008-10-14T00:51:00.000-07:00

This is Amanda checking in. I made this small quilt last week, using the pattern from Happy Villages by Karen Eckmeier. Well, it's not really a pattern, more of a set of guidelines. It was surprisingly easy to make, and extremely effective. I've made it for the Christmas Raffle at the Nursing Home that looked after my mother-in-law in her last days. What do you reckon? Does it count as wonky houses? The photograph isn't great, but it's a really grey day here in the UK.

I'm going to play too

2008-10-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

I finished up my Wonky Trees from the Summer class a couple weeks ago and am looking forward to starting another liberated project.

I travel fairly frequently which I love but I also love coming home. I haven't started sewing yet but my thought is to create a quilt that has my home surrounded by the places I've been traveling in pieced letters.

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else chooses to work on.

Checking in, saying howdeedo!

2008-10-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

My name is Colleen but I go by Mocha MonsterPants on my blog, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area in California, with my dear husband and our two dogs, the original Mocha and her little brother Fudge. I've been quilting for 11 years now and have tried and tried to make perfect points, matched seams and flat tops, but this is not something I am mentally capable of, there is just no room left in my brain for the time and giving-a-wahoo-ness to pin every point and piece into place. I've come to the conclusion that life is too short, I enjoy having a finished quilt much more than I enjoy a perfect one, and now I am working on having fun, making things sturdy and forgetting about perfect. This is my first try at anything intentionally wonky, I really have been wonk-ifying my blocks to some degree for many years and really do feel much freer already. I am enjoying seeing what others are making and am looking forward to experimenting with all of you. I'd post a photo of a recent finish, but I'm at work (*ssshh!*) and I don't have photos available here. I'll try to remember to do so when I'm at home. (I've been out of commission the past 2 weeks with a nasty head cold, I sure hope you all don't get it!)

Introduction

2008-10-12T04:18:00.000-07:00

Hi,
my name is Heidi, I live in Germany, I'm married and have 2 kids and I'm happy to be part of Tonya's class again :-))
I've collected a lot of turquoise fabrics and planned to make a wonky house quilt for a friend who turns 40 next year. ok, this was plan A, but when I started yesterday, I realized that I'd be running out of background fabrics . Most of the pieces I have are 10" square, some are FQ's and only a few are bigger than that. So I started plan B :-)

Plan B is making a wonky house baby quilt and a big quilt with simple squares.
So I'm making 2 quilts simultaneously and we'll see, which one will grow bigger ....

Heidi

Hello from Indigo Threads

2008-10-11T14:44:00.001-07:00

Hi! Sharon here. I'm so thrilled to be able to participate in this "quilt together"! I've been quilting for about 25 years (traditional stuff) and reading Tonya's blog about 2 years now. I've kind of played with some free-pieced houses and stars (my very first star is at the top of this post), and tested some letters, but I haven't done any "real" projects with them.

I have a few ideas of what I'd like to do, but haven't narrowed it down yet. I love houses and am really drawn to them, but the idea of the jars/bottles really intrigues me too. So, I need to make up my mind before I can go much farther.

Right now I'm hampered by a tendonitis flare-up in my hands, so I'm just sorting fabrics and ideas, but I hope to be able to try a few things shortly. This is gonna be so much fun!

Another Introduction

2008-10-11T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I'm Nichole and I'm thrilled to be a new member of this group. I live in North Carolina and have been quilting for about 10 years. I have tried my hand at a few wonky projects and love the freedom as well as the results. I am excited to do more improvisational piecing and some letters as well. I have a few ideas for my project, and will be back later with some pictures. For now, just wanted to introduce myself and say thanks for sharing all the lovely pictures that have been posted thus far. The projects that are underway are very diverse and interesting. Thanks Tonya for setting up this group.

Ideas

2008-10-11T05:46:00.000-07:00

I have several ideas but I can't seem to get anything going. I made one house. but it really doesn't "speak" to me. My idea was to use the black and white to make the Christmas fabric pop but it didn't seem to work.

I want to make some Christmas houses but today nothing is working for me. I am still trying to come up with some ideas. I am not giving up on the idea of using the black and white fabric. I do like to use a bit of it in my work. I also have some neat fabric from my mother that would make a great background for Christmas houses.

Wonky Forest

2008-10-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

Here is my first attempt at this wonky or liberated quilting. I plan to use these trees in my hubbys tree house quilt borders. They were really fun and quick! I think I am going to like this new wonky adventure! (but even if I didn't, I would stick with it for a while just because of the name - wonky - that by itself is fun!)

Have a great weekend!

Hi from Upstatelisa in Upstate NY

2008-10-10T05:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday Morning!

Still fairly new to this liberated piecing and to Tonya's groups! I have about three liberated projects so far....

and I am still expanding my repetoire...

and trying to finish up some...

I do have a house project in mind (and I love to make house quilts!!!) which will need to be done by mid January. The project is a Hawaiian house quilt to be raffled off to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to help those like my 9 year old daughter who face the challenges of type 1 diabetes each and every day.

Tree House Quilt Top

2008-10-09T10:26:00.001-07:00

As promised, here is a quick pic of the tree house quilt top I am making for my hubby. I still need to add some borders, but the center part is now finished.

Maybe a solid thin inner border to frame the tree house mosaic, and then some wonky houses and wonky trees for an outer border... it has potential! I plan to stitch in the ditch outline quilt the tree, house and leaves, etc, and then free motion quilt inside each of those areas. I think that will make the design really pop!

Hi, I'm Mama Spark

2008-10-09T05:44:00.000-07:00

I'm Mama Spark and I am very excited to be a part of the group. I think in her original post Tonya told you a little about my Witch's Pantry. Here is a picture, before I took it to my quilter.

I am excited about being a part of this blog. I saw a quilt that another blogger did with airplanes on it and free pieced words and would like to do something similar. I have not tried the words before and am excited to learn how to do that. If you get a minute c'mon over and visit my blog.

Brenda's neighbourhood wisdom

2008-10-09T05:19:00.001-07:00

My neighbourhood is growing. Since I'm building these from scraps and stash, I'm using different skies for the houses -- a nice clear blue like the one I often see on the Canadian prairies, the white one for a snowy day, the northern lights, and a dark night time one. Each block so far has some advice (or maybe nonsense), and I've started on the words too.

how about some chicken coops

2008-10-08T20:07:00.001-07:00

Here is a first go at some houses - I put chicken fabric in the doorway of each.

I really had fun with the monkey wrench blocks too.

Next up, maybe some 9patches?

Jessica... a.k.a. jmbmommy...

2008-10-08T17:45:00.000-07:00

Hi there,
I had to post a picture of my latest procrastination quilt...cutting into my craZY Kaffe Fassett stash. The design has been all done on the wall, for better and for worse. I am here for my 3rd quilt together and am very excited to work with you all. I am still obsessed with houses and really need to finish my summer class houses....BUT that said I love to start things and I have been wondering about how to use all of my food fabrics, so jars is an idea. BUT also it is the spooky season and seeing Tonya's halloweeny things always gets me going that way. I guess I am still undecided, but ready to cut some fabric and then sew it back together!
(now that this post not under the winter you all should be able to read it...
Hooray!)
JMB

Juliann here

2008-10-08T16:33:00.001-07:00

I am excited to start another liberated project and best of all, I have the next few days off so the time is now. I have been a bit uninspired lately so I am hoping this will be a good jump start. I have made a few wonky houses in the past. I even took a 2 day liberated quiltmaking class with Gwen Marston about 12 years ago. I just need to get out my little quilt that I made in that class and remind myself of the fun. Oh, and the Collaborative Quilting book is waiting at the library for me so maybe I better get off the computer and down to the library.

Hello, I'm ChrisQuilts, Another New One Here

2008-10-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

Hello to everyone!
I'm so excited to be a part of this house, home, pantry quilt project - I had actually started working on a quilt for my husband with all of our previously lived in and loved houses, so I think this fits right in with what I'm working on. My only problem is I'm trying to make the houses actually look a little like what they really looked like, and I'm getting all hung up on making things symmetrical, etc. The first two houses turned out well, but hardly look "wonky", should I start all over again with "wonky" versions of the houses or just proceed to evolve into "wonky" houses? I'm relatively new to quilting, and have only done free-pieced quilts, can't hold myself to a pattern, and REALLY don't like cutting out hundreds of little tiny squares and triangles all the same size (my Grandmother was Pennsylvania Dutch and she'd apalled) - but I guess I have to do my own thing. At any rate, I love this whole idea and can't wait to follow everyone's progress!

Chris

This is the first time I have joined a group

2008-10-08T07:05:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

My name is Jill and I have been quilting for about five years. Mostly self taught. I am not a perfectionist, so of course I love wonky. I made my first quilt with wonky letters about 3 years ago after reading Tonya's tutorial on Bonnies website. I remember having a long discussion with my son about whether there was such a word as wonky, so we looked it up, and of course it was there. Now all my mistakes just become part of my wonky quilting. I have been dieing to make a house quilt, so what better time. Please bear with me while I learn all this blog stuff and figure out taking pictures and posting them, not my strong suit. I have already dragged my adult daughter to the computer twice to get this far. I hope to finish a car quilt I am making for my grandson this week, then I will focus on houses. I will do my best to keep up. Jill

Bringing home baby

2008-10-08T06:04:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by the pic in Jacquie's post and have decided to do bright, wonky houses on snow with a dark blue sky. I was planning on making it into a wall hanging for my nursery (baby number 2 is due at the end of November) but DH suggested a crib quilt when I showed him the houses at 6 this morning. I was going to sew tiny snowflakes into the sky but I can't safely do that on a crib quilt. I was thinking of doing asterisks instead. I'm on my way to check out Tonya's tutorial, plus to try and figure our Christmas trees. Sorry about the lack of pictures...I forgot to upload them before my hubby took the phone to work. My camera is finally fixed, so I'll post pics with this soon.

Construction news from BrendaS

2008-10-07T15:59:00.001-07:00

I locked myself in my workshop...ahh...sewing room last night to construct some houses. My theme is "advice from home" and so I'm sewing up words and houses that pass out the sort of usual motherly advice as well as some nonsensical stuff (which is how I'm convinced my children hear it). I have loads of word fabric that doesn't work for my Words Fail Me project, and so I'm using some of these inside wonky log cabins or on the roof or maybe even the backgrounds. Here's one with apron directions, or something of the sort:this one has a cute saying on the house, and tickets that say "Admit one" on the roof.
I bought some of that Dick and Jane fabric before I had started my project, but it's hard to use in my other quilt, but perfect here.
I've also made a word or two, but I'll post more of those later. Gotta build some more houses....

Blogging and Quilting Newbie

2008-10-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

Hi! I am Jeannine, and this is my first quilting class I have participated in. I am truly a self-taught quilter. I have never taken an official quilting class before. I took a basic sewing class when I was about 10 years old, but other than that, I have taught myself by trial and error, reading books, looking on line, trying to imitate what other have done, etc…

I live in northern Indiana, and have been quilting for only about 2 years.

I’m not particularily good at following patterns – I prefer to make up my own – sometimes I develop them before I begin and other times I just make it up as I go along.

I am currently working on a special quilt for my husband. He built a great treehouse at our lake house this summer. It was a big 2 year ordeal – you can read about that here. But it kind of defined and consumed him and his summer. He recently asked me to make him a quilt to keep him toasty at night – I like to keep the house colder than he likes. So I wanted to make him something that was very special and specific to him, and so I am making him a "tree house" quilt. (I will post a picture when I get back from a business trip I am on right now. ) I sketched it out on graph paper, gathered all my scraps and started cutting and sewing. I was not entirely sure how big it would turn out to be, and how many borders I would add, etc.

I am excited to try the freeform lettering – I have not yet tried that, and some of the wonky houses and what-not look like lots of fun too.

With the "economic crunch" we are in right now, I am trying to quilt only from fabric I have in my abundant stash, so this will be a good use for some of those scraps and pieces I am no longer as fond of as I was when I bought them, I have been holding on to.

I want to thank Victoria over at Bumble Beans for letting me know about this quilt-class.

You can check out my blog and some of my creations by clicking here.

Let the fun begin!

Hello Hello Hello

2008-10-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

Hey there! My name is Cherri. I live on a tiny island in a tiny village in Alaska. This will be my first attempt at wonky piecing. Looking forward to the challenge.I love learning new things. I mostly make wall and nap blanket size quilts. For this challenge I am thinking of creating our island surrounded by fish. Anyone out there done fish? Ideas and suggestions welcomed! I take instruction very well! I would like to include crabs, seastars, and jellyfish too.

Currently we are in Seattle, WA. We brought our boat down the British Columbia coast through the Inside Passage. We live on the boat in Lake Union during part of the winter. I have a quilting studio on the boat...I know, I am sooo spoiled! Actually, my husband dismantled the forward stateroom and put in a U shaped counter and storage shelves. So I have plenty of room to sew. Last week I added a bank of Elfa wire drawers so there is room for all the thread, scissors, rulers, pins and needles. This week we will put up a design wall on the bulkhead that separates the studio from the anchor locker.

I am so looking forward to meeting and learning from all of you! I will go right now and read the blog introductions.

Cherri

PS: I started a blog at cherrildesigns.blogspot.com

Hi, I'm Jacquie

2008-10-07T05:53:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to be a part of this group. I started quilting again last January and I have fallen in love with liberating quilting. I kind of just do my own thing. I love to put a new spin on the traditional or just do what comes to mind. I've never done free pieced houses or letters, so I'm looking forward to giving those a try. I'd love to complete a whole neighborhood.

I spent a bit of time reading everyone's introductions. There are lots of "new to me" folks and blogs and inspiration already. I blog at tallgrassprairiestudio. Feel free to come by and visit.

Thanks, Tonya, for the opportunity! This is going to be a blast.

quiltpixie's toil

2008-10-07T05:39:00.000-07:00

So I've gotten started on some words... Mostly these turned out well -- I'm not crazy about the ampersand, but I can live with it :-) My problem is, having learned that I've had a misqoute running through my head all these years I don't want to make it, but the correct quotation doesn't do it for me either :-( I think I'm abandoning these words to the pile 'cause my only other thought was adding a few dollar signs around them and making a journal quilt of our current world economy...

So I've shifted gears and have a new phrase in mind, but I want to create a huge castle to go with it... so I've started on the castle components :-) I'm thinking by adding the turret roof area to pieces I'll be able to layout the various blocks I'll make in a variety of ways, make just a few more "finishers" at the end, and have a castle that looks like its just been added to through the years :-)

how are the rest of you doing with your starts?

Red & White Houses

2008-10-06T21:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody! I'm excited to join yet another of Tonya's great groups. She's got great ideas, doesn't she! I already had a pile of red and white fabrics that I've been saving for a liberated house quilt so it was no problem to get started on this one (even though I should have been doing other things-shhh). At this point I've actually got all my words and houses done, but I'm just showing a sneak peak. I will try to get all the blocks together this week. The block above was intended to be a dog house, thus the appliqued door, but Chloe liked it so much it's hers now. The other houses will have free pieced doors and windows. The heart is there because there was a slub in the fabric that looked like it might cause trouble someday, so I appliqued over it. I look forward to seeing all the great ideas here!

I'm coming home too!

2008-10-06T06:30:00.001-07:00

Brenda from Scraps and Strings logging on to this quilt together. I'm planning on making a whole neighbourhood of houses, but other than that, no real plan yet. I've made liberated baskets and stars and what feels like a whole book of letters, but I haven't built any houses wonky-style yet, so here's my chance. I look forward to seeing what the rest of you construct. It's always fun building a project with Tonya's gang. Thanks for the chance to work with you again, Tonya.

Hello from FiberBabble!

2008-10-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hi, all - I've just spent a nice few minutes going through everyone's intro posts. I've gotten some inspiration and it's been an eye candy feast already. Yay, everyone!

I'm Tracy. AKA FiberBabble AKA "T" on the sidebar over there... (I used to try to be fairly anonymous online, but I was "outed" a few months ago!) I live in southwest Washington State in a town that has fewer people than my public high school's graduating class, waaaaay back when.

I've been quilting for, oh... 15? 16? years. It all started when I wanted to make a little quilt to go with one of my dolls (previous lifetime: dollmaker). One little quilt. We all know where the story goes from there, don't we?

I've been ~~stalking~~ following Tonya's blog for quite some time now, and I've always meant to get around to making an intentionally wonky something but haven't actually done anything yet. I got Liberated Piecing back in the "old" days and it's one of three or four quilt-ish books that I won't ever let go of. I was inspired by one of Gwen's photos in the book of a white quilt with red squares (page 158, if you're keeping track) - I made one without all the fancy quilting as a lined curtain for my sewing studio in a different house. It's folded away, waiting to find a similarly-sized window someday!

I'm inspired by the Alphabet Sampler quilt(s) that Lynne over at Patchery Menagerie has been doing. Whether it's a sampler or something else, my plan* is to do letters, letters, letters.

*It's rare that Plan A ever works for me. By necessity, I'm very adaptable!

I don't think that I have a particular "style" of quilting. There are certain colors that I don't care for and certain types of fabric (f'r instance, I'm not a great fan of 30's repros), but otherwise, who knows? If you were to wander through my blog at http://www.fiberbabble.blogspot.com/ you'd see paper foundation piecing, scrap quilts, bright colors, muted colors, pastels. I've even done some quilted "art" that you can visit here, if you want. I think I'm in a scrappy place right now... but that's bound to change soon!

Oh, and have you noticed? There's no such thing as a "short version" with me. There's a reason that my web-ego has Babble in the name!

HI everyone, I am Tia.

2008-10-05T16:21:00.001-07:00

Hello there! I am an Army wife, mother to 3 and fabric addict. We are stationed in the blazing hot center of Australia where I spend my days transforming men's' uniforms into bags or quilts. I have been quilting for the last 10 years and can't imagine a day going by without doing some sort of sewing. I have a blog Camp Follower Bags and Quilts where some of that adventure is.

Below is a Hero Quilt I am making for one the son of SPC Gebur out of scraps from his uniforms. I love how the liberated stars give it a version of twinkle.

I have plans to make a House quilt for this quilt together. I am quite excited about it, I love the wonky houses Tonya makes. I could blog on for hours, but suffice it to say that I am thrilled to be here and it is wonderful getting know you all!

xo,
Tia

Ready set sew!

2008-10-05T12:52:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, Victoria here from Bumble beans... I did a priority HOPE quilt, (ROBIN'S HOPE) last month, and really enjoyed it, so thought I'd give her another go! I had been thinking about a project, and I think it will work nicely with the guidelines Tonya has set for this winter project...

Winter...sigh. not ready for that yet...

Anyway, When I was a little one, if I had to stay home from school because I was sick, we had a quilt we called THE SICK QUILT, yeah, I know, it doesn't sound very pleasing, BUT, It was an awesome quilt. It was washed so many times, the cotton was like butter, and the top, was just a simple red lightweight corduroy... It was big, puffy, very warm, and you could really snuggle into it, and feel better under it... (especially during those cold MN winters with only a wood stove to heat our house!)

This quilt now sits in my bedroom on top of our dogs crate... it keeps them warm in front of a drafty door.

So, I wanted to make a new quilt, rename it. The Get Well quilt, and thought, something with the words on it, houses, bottle of medicine etc, and there you have it, it fits in nicely with all the little crazy things we can do with this project...

I am excited and ready to sew!~ bring it on! ;-)

-V

Introducing myself

2008-10-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone. I'm Jeanne from Northern California. I've been quilting 4-ish years and have dabbled in just about every form of this amazing art. There are just so many avenues to explore! Now that my three children are all into their college years (that's the only hint you'll get as to my age) I have a bit more time to play, which is hard to complain about. 'Course three children in their college years also tends to drain the ol' bank account, but such is life.

Here's my first project using Tonya's wonderful letter technique. I can only claim credit for 1/5 of the center, as this was the product of a sew-a-row with my guild. My only request was that the rows be spring-related. I love what they did! (My initial row is the fourth from the top). When I sewed them all together, I immediately thought of my mother's favorite poem... "Spring has sprung, the grass is riz, I wonder where the birdies is?" What a perfect opportunity to add some pieced letters!

I'm really looking forward to this project and seeing what everyone else is doing. Oh, and I adore the witch's pantry idea!

Quiltpixie intro

2008-10-05T06:10:00.000-07:00

Hi folks, I'm Quiltpixie :-) I do a variety of fiber arts, focusing mainly on quilting. I love the process of making a top, not so much the adding borders, backing or sandwiching... I often tie quilts of larger size because I'm slow at hand quilting, and don't like to machine quilt larger projects. I believe quilts are made to be used and loved, and enjoyed -- not carefully rolled away in cupboards or stored under bedspreads.... I'm not good at following a pattern or making multiple blocks the same -- I get bored. (To see more of what I generally do, you can check out my blog quiltpixie)

I've made pieced letters and done liberated quilting off and on for some time... I struggle to get pieced letters together into a smallish size and into words -- often having way to many seams to be useful as I "forget" to leave them as blocks and try to space them too close together... I also think nothing of adding a little here and a little there to the background to get the "right angle", only to have a real mess of seams when I position the next letter. I'm hoping by joining this blog and group to stay focused enough to work through this stumbling block. To that end I'm planning on a word/phrase quilt. It'll likely be a wallhanging size, but whatever, quilts have a way of developing as I make them...

I do have a set of words in mind, but I'm not sure I'm brave enough to try them all -- "bubble bubble, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble" from Hamlet -- and may opt for others. I'm starting making individual letters and will see as they progress what they turn into :-)

A dive into the unknown

2008-10-05T01:49:00.000-07:00

My name is Nicolette and I’m thrilled to join Tonya’s class. I started my quilting attempts about 3 years ago. After some months learning techniques by myself I gave up.
When I discovered blogland in April 2007 and read so much about quilts, I thought it was worth another try. Now I’m hooked. Meanwhile I’ve joined some workshops at my local quiltstore to learn quilting-techniques.
I’ve finished a number of quilts and I’m working on a list of others. They are very different in technique, colour, both traditional and modern. I’m on the learning path to discover what I like the most. So this is a challenge I couldn’t refuse! Besides quilting I also love to stitch, knit and sew.

I can’t show any free-pieced quilts yet. This crazy cat quilt was one of my first attemtps at a design of my own.

I love to use letters, partial because I’m a graphic designer. I’m self-employed and always in search for a balance between work, craft and familylife. I’m married for quite some time and live in Holland with my husband and Midas, our cat. My blog is called devliégendekoe.

I can’t wait to see what everybody else will be making. I hope I will succeed in finishing a little quilt in Tonya’s class before the end of January...! If not it will be added to the unfinished stash!

Nicolette

Lazy Gal: House, Home, or Pantry Quilt Together

It's taken long enough!

I'm Done

Done!!!

I am almost finished!!

a little more progress

ha

little progress

Liquorice Lane

Still working. . .

Still working on it...is that allowed??

now we're getting somewhere!

Ta-da!

Bloom is Blooming!

Finally Sewed a Seam!

2nd block...

I'm making it up as I go along!!!!

Phew! It's been awhile..

Procrastination No More

bloom

Proceeding at a snail's pace (Updated)

Finished Mini

Finished - Amanda at scrandasmusings

i am such a poop

kick off to word houses

Hello

Still here

working slowly....but still working.

Advice from home is finished, I think

More Jars

I can't believe what I just saw in my last post...

I'm making progress...

What Have I Been Missing?

Slow going

Honesty is the best policy

Busy today

work has started...

Thinking warm thoughts...

Trees and forests

First Houses

Words of inspiration from Brenda

Back to letters

More Progress

Greetings from Oregon!

On a Roll!

Still here too

Coming up for air

Aloha!!!

I know not what I am doing!

Hi, I'm Tab

Sorry I have not posted

There's no place like home

Introducing myself

Get Well

Home Sweet Home

More advice from home

First Attempts...

Less space is better

Done?

A change of *heart*

Words on Brenda's wall

Reading

I Think Too Much

Log Cabin Flowers with Vase

Houses in the snow

It's Supposed to Be a Vase

All wonky

Does this count?

I'm going to play too

Checking in, saying howdeedo!

Introduction

Hello from Indigo Threads

Another Introduction

Ideas

Wonky Forest

Hi from Upstatelisa in Upstate NY

Tree House Quilt Top

Hi, I'm Mama Spark

Brenda's neighbourhood wisdom

how about some chicken coops

A change of heart