American Patchwork & Quilting One Million Pillowcase Challenge

According to http://www.dictionary.com/, the first definition of the word "challenge" is "a call or summons to engage in any contest, as of skill, strength, etc." This challenge was designed by AllPeopleQuilt.com to help those in challenging life circumstances. Donna, owner of The Spider's Web Fabric Shop (http://www.thespiderswebfabricshop.com/) has decided to use her Ohio store as a drop-off point. Thankfully, she needed samples and I was able to volunteer my sewing services.

The basic pattern was the first one I tried. Donna sent me a lovely combination of horse-themed fabrics. Took me less than an hour to do the entire project and only required very basic sewing skills. Followed the directions exactly, except for the band/body seam--to prevent ravelling, I pinked the edges on all the samples.

The second pattern has a ruffle. Now I know the prospect of making a ruffle strikes terror in some of the bravest of quilty hearts, but this design element was a piece of cake! Certainly added a nice touch to the pillowcase and would be perfect for a little girl. As usual, Donna's choice of fabrics was exceptional. Took about an hour to make, ruffle included.

Pattern three has a pieced hour-glass block band--and the wallowing piggy fabric lent itself to having"peeking" pigs in the center square. This pillowcase took a bit longer to complete, perhaps around two hours. But, I've never been known for speedy piecing--way too busy pinning.

Finally, pattern four has a simple patchwork design in the band. The piecing was quick and easy, allowing me to complete it in under two hours. The hibiscus pattern is complimented by green and red fabrics, giving it a Hawaiian feel.

Since each of these pillowcases are quick and easy enough to finish in an afternoon, try them all! Make two--one for a child in your life and one for someone less fortunate. AllPeopleQuilt.com has a map of participating stores listed on the website or you could send it to Donna's shop (address listed on her site).

Love Apples Workshop and Contest

As the chair of LAQ's workshops, it's my responsibility to not only provide a quality "educational" experience for the membership, but a time of escape from every day routines and opportunities to build relationships.

Yesterday, I took a class with Karen Zeplin making a small table topper (Kay Woods, Fons and Porter, January 2006). Most of the project was completed before lunch, except for the little bit of handwork required to finish the edges. (Karen is such a sweetheart--she did half of my binding while I was running around!)

Here's mine:

Since we finished early, she had a surprise for us! She had made up another little block kit for us to do!

Isn't it cute?

How fortunate we are to have such dedicated teachers that go the extra mile to make their classes exceptional! Melissa Boos taught the other class, a mystery, which turned out to be an Amish Puzzle ball. She kept her class in suspense for four hours!


At lunch time, it has become a bit of a tradition for me to create a new quilt related game. Some are better than others, but yesterday's game was the most successful so far.


Here it is:

There are twenty-seven quilt patterns hidden in this picture. Can you find them? The ladies were given ten minutes and were able to find 18. Would like to have a contest for anyone who reads my blog--the first one who e-mails me at contest@njquilter.com by November 29, 2009 with the most correct block names, will win a prize! (Only the ladies that attended yesterday's workshop would not be eligible, since I gave them the answers.) So, print out the picture, search for names of quilt blocks and send your list to me no later than November 29, 2009. Enjoy!!

Notebook Quilt

Love Apple Quilters is having an October challenge making a "Notebook Quilt." Seemed like a perfect way to try out a technique I learned several years ago at Quilt University. The technique involves a tracing of a photograph and machine applique. (You should really take the class--it's fascinating!)

Wanted to incorporate my flowers into my quilting, so took a host of pictures looking for one that was simple enough to finish in a limited amount of time. My fifteen year old hibiscus proved to be a perfect candidate. Of course, this past summer wasn't very sunny, so the leaves are a less than perfect. Was excited for the chance to use some of my hand-dyed fabrics, but putting scissors to them was not easy!

Got to work, tracing, cutting, stitching, outlining and trimming. With very well-written directions, the learning curve was kind and I made only a few mistakes and easily recovered.

Here's how it turned out:

Happily finished putting the last few beads to realize that the challenge required the object to be oriented in a vertical position. Ugh!! With the excitement of finally doing a project I had waited to do for over a year, getting my flowers in fabric and using my hand-dyed fabrics, completely forgot to look at the directions one more time!

Hope the kids don't realize I didn't follow directions! Perhaps I should listen to myself when singing the virtues of reading the requirements before starting the project!

Working My Way Through the Rainbow, Part II

Finally the schedule allowed me to finish dyeing my rainbow! Seems a dead-line tends to inspire me the most. Tomorrow, I'll meet with the art teacher to show her what fabrics have been collected from Love Apple Quilters and dyed.

Tried for the first time dying so many fabrics at once. Thinking seven vats is pushing it a bit, so will stick to five in the future.

So, here are the colors marinating....

And here is the final result.

PFD vs. Muslin

Comparing how the different fabrics take the dye.

Even purchasing brand new gloves did not prevent me from having one blue finger....

Dare I say, I'm "dyeing" to do this again?