Weddings and Scrappy Log Cabin QAL Update 2

Hi Everyone!  It has been a busy beginning to 2015!

Like many of you in the US, we have had ice, bitter cold and snow, making the daily trek to work a bit of a challenge. I was fishtailing down the highway last week, thank goodness it was controllable and no accident occurred! This week has been a bit warmer, and much easier.

My youngest son got engaged at Christmas and we have been busy planning an August wedding. So much fun! I am blessed that his lovely fiance' has included me in the planning. 

They will be married in a small wedding at the beautiful Castle Farms in Charlevoix Michigan. Just a stones throw from Lake Michigan.

And my oldest son has been busy preparing for a move to Switzerland to join his beautiful new wife next week. They were married in a beautiful, private ceremony at the Grand Canyon in late November. They are so happy and isn't that what we all wish for? What a wonderful opportunity to live abroad. I am looking forward to a trip to Switzerland next year! And of course the trips they will make home to the U.S. also.

Life is good,  as parents this is what we do, we teach our children and give them wings to fly and when they leave home hopefully they will soar..... I am very blessed - mine are soaring!  

So we are now officially into week 3 of the Scrappy Log Cabin Quilt Along. How are you doing? I have seen many beautiful, scrappy blocks and quilts popping up on Instagram- IG!  If you have a chance be sure and ck out the hashtag #scrappylogcabinqal!  Kim over @Javadiva hosted last week and @Elnorac is hosting this week so be sure and check out her feed for the sweet prizes she is giving away. Winner to be drawn on 1/24/15, Saturday. I will be hosting next week 1/25/15!


Here is my next block almost ready to go, just need to finish picking out my Low Volume strips.

Many have asked me how I am making my quilt blocks - here is the low down.

My blocks are planned to be 14.5 inches unfinished. I am following the tutorial by Ashley from Film In the Fridge. If you have checked out her great quilt and tutorial, you will notice she leaves the measurements up to you. She chose to have much more white space in her quilt than I am. And by leaving the measurements up to the reader you get a very scrappy and irregular corner. You can have alot of white/low volume space or more color and wider corners.  

Many of you would like to cut prior and then chain piece. I understand that. So in an effort to assist with that I am working on a tutorial that give you two sets of measurements. One will give a regular, repeatable look. The other will give a more irregular look (this is the one I am using). I will be posting those next week when I am host for the Scrappy Log Cabin QAL. 

Happy Stitching!
Ginny 

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© 2014 GLFisher You are welcome to use any Fishcreek Studio tutorial for personal use. You are not given permission to use my pictures or my words without giving me credit and linking back to the original post. Sometimes my pictures have my family in them and they are never intended for public use. 

Welcome 2015 and the Scrappy Log Cabin QAL!

Good Morning and Happy 2015!
Today starts the kick off for my Scrappy Log Cabin which is a QAL on IG. You can read all about in in my previous post here.

Today I am going to share my plan which is very simple. You may choose to follow along the lines of my scrappy quilt or choose to make a totally different pattern - up to you!

 I finally had the courage to dump the big plastic bin on the table, and oh my..... I must say I was stunned at how much was in there. About 3 yrs worth of scraps! To be honest I have enough scraps for more than one quilt! And at the same time it is so much fun to look at all the different pieces and reminisce about what projects they went into and the person they went too.... Ok-I digress. Just keeping it honest here.

This is my inspiration quilt from Heather over at www.quiltorstitch.blogspot.com. Used with her permission. Be sure and check out her awesome projects! 

Now here is my plan for my Converging Corners quilt. This is a variation of the Scrappy Log Cabin and I will be using the tutorial from Ashley over at Film in the Fridge.  I plan on using low volume fabrics for the "white" part and using wider strips on my corners. Only one little coloring "Ooops!" there.

Ready?  Set......Go! Lets bust some scraps and make those blocks! Be sure and tag your block pictures with the hashtag #scrappylogcabinqal on IG to be entered into any prize drawings. 

Happy Stitching!
Ginny

Scrappy Log Cabin Quilt-A-Long 2015

Is your scrap bin overflowing? Do you want to bust some scraps but just not sure what you want to make? Or are you looking for a fast pattern and to have some fun with others in a Quilt A Long?

Well, you are in the right place! On 1/1/15 I am co-hosting a QAL with Katherine of Honey Hill Designs, Kim of Javadiva on Instagram , Elnora of Elnorac on Instagram and Stephanie of The Lady in  Thread on Facebook. We will all use Instagram, but in addition Kaki and I will also be blogging, and Stephanie will also be sharing on Facebook. You should have no problem finding a way to follow the QAL if you want in!

The QAL kicks off on Jan.1 and will run 6 weeks through 2/14/15. Each week will be hosted by one of us and there will be a link up and a prize. There will be a grand prize drawing with Kaki of Honey Hill Designs on 2/14/15. 

Starting Mon 12/22 each of us will be posting about the QAL and sharing what block/quilt we have chosen to make. Don't be surprised that each of us have chosen something different! That is the fun of it. You will get to choose which one you want to make and still follow along with everyone else - just think how many others projects based off of a log cabin block you will get to see. 

I have chosen the Converging Corners block from  FITF  Film in the Fridge. This has been on my "make list" since I first saw it. There is room for interpretation and the tutorial is about technique and not numbers. I think that just makes each project that much more personal and different!

My inspiration quilt is from Heather over at Aqua Reef Studios. 

Host schedule is as follows: 

We begin/announce our week of hosting on Sunday and we do our giveaway on Saturday. 
Week 1...1/4-1/10 is elnorac

Week 2...1/11-1/17 is javajiva 

Week 3...1/18-1/25 is kakiofhoneyhill 

Week 4...1/26-1/31 is fishcreekstudio 

Week 5...2/1-2/7 is theladyinthread 

Week 6...2/8-2/14 is kakiofhoneyhill

2/14/15 will be the day to post your finished quilt or quilt top. Ultimately it would be nice to see a finished quilt, but a finished quilt top may be more realistic. The 2/14/15 giveaway will require you to have pieced your quilt top together
.



In order to be entered for the giveaway for each week the participants need to post at least one progress picture on Instagram and tag it with #scrappylogcabinQAL.  

Next you just need comment on the host's giveaway picture. 

And in case you don't have alot of scraps or would like to add some variety to you scraps Pink Castle Fabrics has made up some scrap packs in the event you need more... 

So get to stripping that stash and sorting those scraps!

I can't wait to see what everyone picks and all the ensuing scrappiness!

Happy Stitching!

Ginny

Around the World Blog Hop

Happy Monday everyone! Today I am participating in the Around the World Blog Hop. Have you seen these posts? Lots of fun reading about some of your favorite blogger's and finding new blogger's to follow too!

This blog hop is designed so that you have the opportunity to "meet" several new (or maybe not so new) sewist/blogger's. Each person links back to the blogger that invited them. Each person shares a bit about themselves and then sends you off to visit 2-3 more bloggers. I know I have read many of the posts and find them to be fun and a bit more personal. With many of the posts you get a more up close and personal picture of who they are and why they sew....so off we go!

I was invited to this blog hop by Lee over at May Chappell. She is so very talented and shares her quilty knowledge, fun adventures and sweet furbaby Mack the Chihuahua through Instagram (IG) and her blog. I am lucky to have actually met Lee in real life and call her friend. Last summer she made the trip north to Indiana and we had fun travelling the back roads, going to Shipshewana, and Camp Stitchalot together! 

She is a great teacher, and has a wonderful feature "Terrific Tip Tuesday" on her blog, along with fun posts showing all of her great projects, tutorials and the quilts her students are making in her classes. She also is a pattern designer and has several great patterns to choose from. You can find them on Craftsy and many shops also carry them. Currently she's in a "sew-off" with Sukie, so stop by her blog and check out all she has going on!

Ok, now for a bit about me....

I am a Mom, with 2 adult sons (one of whom just got married in November). I have a 6 yr old grandson and I love cooking Sunday morning breakfast with him when he visits. We are both early birds and that time together is precious. I also have a sweet furbaby name Tucker who is the best pet rescue dog ever! I love to travel and I have lived many places including the Pacific Northwest, South Carolina, Ohio, Illinois and even Italy! I currently live in a very small lake community in a rural farming area of northern Indiana and I support my quilty habit with my day job as a R.N.

And why I create......

I am a maker! It seems like I have to create in someway, shape or form. I love needlework and have done embroidery, cross-stitch and love to add a bit of chunky hand-stitching to my quilting projects. I have yet to hand quilt a whole quilt, but believe someday I will. 

I learned to sew from my Grandmother. But it was when I seen a relative hand piecing and quilting a quilt in a large circular hoop on a stand that I was hooked. I loved how the little pieces of beautiful colored fabric came together and made wonderful patterns.  

I made my first quilt way back in....1992. It was a mixed media quilt with the alphabet done in cross stitch. I then pieced it and quilted it. I am proud to say it was accepted to hang in our local quilt show at that time.

I found the online community and Modern quilt movement a few years back and fell in love. I loved the inspiration, and the community. I have participated in many Bee's and Swaps through Flickr and IG and you can see many of my projects in the photos of my blog header (or IG/Flickr streams). One of my fave's is my Economy Block Mini - I love the fussy cutting, and all the color! I love color. It makes me happy. I find that I fall more into the Modern Traditional category of quilting. I see quilting as a continuum, from very traditional to very modern and I see myself somewhere between the center of the continuum and modern. I appreciate all types of aesthetics and but I tend towards structure and color and prints.  

Recently I had my first project published. It is in the current Christmas edition of Fat Quarterly- my Christmas Stars table runner. It is a mix of piecing and applique.

Some of my other projects....

This upcoming year I have decided to dedicate myself to more quilts and projects I have in my head that want a voice. I still sketch out blocks and ideas in a composition notebook using colored pencils. I find I am inspired by so many things, nature, day to day life patterns and objects and of course color  -  my MQG Michael Miller challenge here is a good example of all of the above.

Currently I am working on Jen Kingwell's Gypsy Wife Quilt. I am in love with it. I am making it totally from scraps. I  am planning on it being a slow stitch project. I want to enjoy the process of choosing and making. My only goal for this project is to complete it by the end of 2015. You can read more about my first blocks here.

And finally I am Co- Hosting the Scrappy Log Cabin QAL that is starting 1/1/15. It will run through 2/14/15 and have weekly prizes! There are 5 of us hosting and all will be choosing their own pattern/aesthetic. It will be hosted on blogs and on IG with #Scrappylogcabinqal. Bust those scraps!  I will post more about that tomorrow, including the pattern I have chosen for my quilt.

Now I would like to introduce you to 3 quilt bloggers that I have followed for some time. I hope you take a hop over to check out their work.


First up is Jennifer Lanak from QuilterintheCloset. Jen is very versatile and loves a variety of styles. I have been in swaps with Jen and we both were in the Simply Solids Bee also.  Take a look at this pic of her FMQ'ing a doll quilt.



Next is Karen Foster who blogs over at Capitolaquilter. Karen is a founding member of the Santa Cruz chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild. She and I participated in The Mo Stash Bee together and she has an awesome XPlus quilt with various size blocks. Also be sure and check out her stash! :)

And next is Lori Hartman who blogs at lorihartmandesigns.com  I have been in Flickr swaps with Lori and love her sense of color. One of my favorite quilts is her version of Steam Punk (another Jen Kingwell pattern on my list of makes :)


Here are a few words from Lori, I am a self taught quilter who started quilting in 2010.  I learned from finding the modern quilting blogging community and also from youtube.  I'm always looking to learn something new with every project that I start.  My favorite style of quilting is scrappy.  I love mixing different lines of fabric to make something colorful and eclectic. My day job is teaching music and I have loved taking my teaching abilities use them to teach quilting/sewing classes as well.  Seeing others learn something new and falling in love with quilting is so amazing.

So please stop by and say Hi! to these lovely ladies and check out their work! They will be posting on 12/29 to continue the blog hop, wonder who they will link up to?



I will be back tomorrow with more on the Scrappylogcabinqal2015!

Happy Stitching!
Ginny

Gypsy Wife

Good Morning! I have started a new project, and I am very excited about it! 

It is the Gypsy Wife Quilt from Jen Kingwell. Are you familiar with her work?  Go now. Go check out her website here.  I will wait. So many amazing patterns and quilts!

I have waited to start this as I want to take my time and work on this at a slower pace. It will be made from my scrap basket - which is over flowing-and be very scrappy. And fits in with my vision for my work in the upcoming year, but more about that in another post. For now I have blocks 1-3 to show you! 

                                                  Block 1 - lots of fun happy colors

                                  Block 2 - Lots of favorites here, Tula Pink, Denyse Schmidt

Block 3 - isn't this heart so adorable. Made with one of my all time fave fabrics from Anna Marie Horners' LouLouThi line and Heather Bailey for the background.

Lots of bias edges in these. I am using starch first before cutting which is sooo helpful.

Loving this so far... I have no idea what it will look like in the end.... but isn't that the purpose of scrappy.....let go and create as you go.

Have a great Monday... I am off to work.

Ginny

PS. So sorry for the mediocre photo qualities, this 18 hours of darkness a day is the pits, and these were uploaded from my phone.

Published! Hello 2014 Fat Quarterly Christmas Issue!

I am so excited to announce the publication of one of my projects - Christmas Stars!

 This is my Christmas Stars table runner and it is in the current issue of Fat Quarterly. It features the beautiful 25th and Pine by Basic Grey. Such great Christmas fabric!

There are so many great patterns in this issue from smaller projects to full size quilts.

Fat Quarterly is an e-zine and published 4 times/yr.

This is issue 19 Christmas. If you are looking for some fun Christmas Projects, check it out!

 

Happy Stitching!

Ginny

Postcards From the Edge

Today I want to share a great little quilt that I finished up this weekend. Postcards From the Edge

This little quilt was made with the fun Postcard QAL hosted by Debbie over at A Quilters Table. This is a great little pattern that goes together quickly and uses fun text fabrics to look like postcards!

 

I made mine with the beautiful Indelible Fabrics from Art Gallery by Katerina Roccella. These have that lovely soft, flowing quality that Art Gallery is known for and the colors and designs are just beautiful! I could easily see a wonderful top/blouse made out of several of these especially the lovely teal and grey flowery ones.

 I chose the name for this quilt based not only on the postcard blocks but on the wonderful imagery from the Indelible fabrics like this beautiful deer - so handsome he looks like he standing on the edge, just watching! You can see I did loop de loop quilting on this quilt. First time I have done this and I think it turned out well. I would use it again. It added texture and interest without taking away from the design and fabric.

 

 

This is the back of the quilt and you can see I pieced it using two different fabrics and reversed them to add some interest -fun butterflys made up of triangles and deers on the coo coo clocks.

For the binding I used the grey with small print flowers. 

 

Stats: 24in x 24in

Fabric: Indelible by Art Gallery

Thread: Aurifill 2600

Machine Quilted and Bound by me

 

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It up Friday

 

Happy Stitchin'

Ginny