Flaunt Your Finish: October 2015

Happy Halloween to everyone!  October has come and gone at a rapid pace.  The leaves are beginning to change color, the air is crisper and the light has a glorious glow.  Autumn is in full bloom here in Oklahoma, and for some that means staying warm and cozy inside at the sewing machine.  If you too found some time at the machine this month to complete a project we hope you'll link up with us at the bottom of this post.

This month Ann has been a busy bee this month...

I’ve got lots to start (little gifts to distribute during my week-long Pennsylvania trip in mid-November) and some knitting is in-progress, partially thanks to some great yarn bargains from Agnes.

Recent sewn finishes are a couple drawstring bags. 

But this is my big season project, crocheting for the grand baby!

His mom wanted him to be dressed like Daniel Tiger (if one has not had a small kid in the home for a few years, “Daniel Tiger” is an animated PBS show that picks up where “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” ended.) She suggested a crocheted hat she saw on Pinterest, and also wanted a Tigey, Daniel’s stuffed tiger. Here he is at a fall festival party this past week.

He is a cute as a button, Ann!  And he makes a purr-fect Daniel Tiger thanks to his grandma's crochet skills!

Robin has been busy at work for one of her kiddos as well:

Every year, I try to make a party top for my daughter's birthday and this year, she turned 3. Since she's an avid My Little Pony fan, she got a pony-themed top for her pony-themed party. I used the "Easy Girls' Peasant Tunic Top" by Foo Foo Threads, and got the MLP fabric off of Fabric.com.

How happy does she look in her My Little Pony get-up?  Way to go, Robin, making her birthday dreams come true!

And last, but not least, we have Deb's lovely October finish...

Sending pictures of my tuffet that Ann and I decided to do together.  I just now finished mine.  I used my favorite designer, Kaffe, fabrics. 

How funny is it with the little legs?!  I need one of those in my living room.  Thanks for the inspiration, Deb!

Now we want to see what you've been up to this October.  Link up your finishes.  We can't wait to see them.

Meeting Recap: October 2015

What fun we had at our October General Meeting! We’re sending out a special thanks to all who braved the unknown—the different night and different venue! Thank you for your flexibility. Booking speakers and special programs sometimes requires a bit of agility in our schedules.

Wow! The meeting place we tried out this month was a big hit. The space at the Northwest Library not only provided a sizable room with all of the high tech ‘bells and whistles,’ but it also boasted a fresh and bold modern vibe that suits us just fine. Additionally, its easy highway access (just one mile south of Kilpatrick Turnpike) made driving there a breeze. And, yes, we will be looking into its availability for future meetings.

Announcements:

• This is your LAST CHANCE to make a block for our Charity Quilt. You can make either a 6 or 12 inch block (Remember! That's 6.5 or 12.5 inches unfinished. And it's okay to leave a little extra to trim down.) Mail them no later than October 16th to Leslie. Address is on the private Facebook page.
• Kits for Christmas Stockings for Anna's House are available. Please contact Melissa to pick up your kit. They are cut and easy to sew together. Don't forget to view Agnes' time-saving hack on the Facebook page. Find additional details and the pattern HERE.
• 2016 Winter Quilt Show (Jan 7-9) will be here before you know it! Please add your name to our sign-up doc on the Facebook page. Click HERE for details to our 'It's Modern!' Challenge.
• Hand-Stitching Group: October 17th at Quiltworks 10 AM - 1 PM.
• Michael Miller Glitz challenge. OK Quiltworks has bolts in silver colorway. November 30^th is the deadline for entry. 
• November Meeting: Tool Time! Bring your favorite quilting/sewing tool to share. Board elections will also be held. How would you like to serve?
• Karen Munger also took a few moments to tell us about her upcoming class at Quiltworks. The two-part (Thursdays, October 19^th and 26^th) class will make her Knitting Needle Book. Check out Quiltworks' website to sign up.

Program:

Jen Eskridge of RennaLily Desisgns (reannalilydesigns.com) was our guest speaker for this lively evening. She brought numerous samples of her quilt designs and explained her technique for piecing curves and hexagons. Her two books, “Learn to Sew Easy Curves” and “Hexagons Made Easy” detail these techniques. 

Drawing from her background in apparel design, Jen applied the garment construction technique of applying facings to these shapes, clipping curves, turning, then using a ‘spider finger’ motion to tap and ease the seam—called ‘favoring the seam’—to have the front fabric roll ever-so-slightly to the wrong side to result in a perfectly finished edge.

Jen kept us all riveted with her stories and examples of how she progressively developed her process by layering a technique on top of a possibility to move to the next level and create a new question. One of the tales that grabbed our attention was from when she lived in South Korea and bought yards and yards of fabric we love for pennies on the dollar! Gasp! What!? How? Strike-offs. These are the yardages run while the presses work up to final approval prints for retail packaging, shipment, and consumer purchase. A vast majority of our quilting fabric is printed in the Far East—some in Japan, but mostly in China and Korea. How delightful the mills sell off this ‘waste’ to avid fabric fans.

Following her presentation, Jen’s pop-up shop reopened. Items included four books—three she authored, and the other featured one of her patterns; T-shirts; quilt patterns; purse patterns; and her very own Seaming Accurate seam guide.

Thanks so much, Jen, for coming our way! And big thanks to Elizabeth for handling all the details! 

Flaunt Your Finish: September 2015

The end of the month has snuck up on me this time, and somehow I'm left wondering where all of September has gone.  Maybe it felt that way for the rest of our members because we don't have many finishes to share, but the ones we do are wonderful.

If you found some time behind your machine this month we'd love for you to link up with us at the end of the post.

First up we have Ann with this spectacular modern quilt which she made for her boyfriend's birthday (lucky boyfriend)!  Ann says, "He loves orange and science, so I used those inspirations and my own aesthetic to come up with this quilt!"  It really works and definitely has a scienc-y vibe.  You can find more details on Ann's finish at her blog Sweet Marie Sewing.

Agnes has also been hard at work again this month.  First up we have her lovely feather bag.

I received a challenge block from Kata Fáskerti, head of our Modern Group in Budapest. It was a beautiful paper pieced pair of feathers, to celebrate their first, feather-themed group exhibit.

I made it into this bag, with fabric from Cotton and Steel and Kraf-Tex accents.

She also completed a baby quilt for a friend's grand baby from some fabrics from the Michael Miller "It's a Boy Thing" line.  Isn't it super sweet, and a matching drawstring bag too!!!

Finally, continuing my infatuation with batiks ( Ranette started it, with the luscious Big Pink quilt from last month) this little number - I probably have a square ifrom every piece of batik I could lay my hands on! ( Thank you Elizabeth!)

Thanks to Ann and Agnes for sharing their finishes with us, and now we hope you'll link up your finishes as well!

Meeting Recap: September 2015

We had a fun and creative weekend. If you missed our meeting, please see ANNOUNCEMENTS at the bottom of this page.

We had the great opportunity to bring Shannon Brinkley up from Austin, Texas this weekend for a workshop and trunk show. She is a fabric and pattern designer, the author of the book Scrappy Bits Applique and an absolute delight.

Shannon Brinkley

WORKSHOP:

Saturday's workshop was held at Oklahoma Quiltworks and Shannon taught class members her scrappy applique technique.

Shannon Brinkley Workshop

Using Shannon's method, no two projects will be the same. Participants loved the opportunity to creatively express their own individuality.

Shannon Brinkley Workshop

Shannon Brinkley Workshop

 You can get varying effects by changing the shape of your scraps.

Shannon Brinkley Workshop

Shannon Brinkley Workshop

TRUNK SHOW:
At Sunday's Trunk Show, Shannon shared the details of her scrappy applique method. Ellen made a collage of scraps inside the shape of a heart to illustrate the process.

Shannon Brinkley Trunk Show 

Shannon Brinkley Trunk Show

Shannon shared amazing examples of her technique. I love this tree and see one in my future!

Shannon Brinkley Trunk Show

She uses several tonal fabrics and then adds a pop of contrasting color.

Shannon Brinkley Trunk Show

Oh Deer and additional patterns are available on Shannon's website.

Shannon Brinkley Trunk Show 

This fabric for this tree was cut in shapes to hint at woodgrain.

Shannon Brinkley Trunk Show

Shannon Brinkley Trunk Show

Workshop participants began work on their own Around the World quilt. I love Shannon's use of warm and cool colors to reflect the warm or cool nature of the various parts of the world.

Shannon Brinkley Trunk Show

And, of course, using the same colors throughout the world is beautiful as well!

Shannon Brinkley Trunk Show

Our many thanks to Shannon! We appreciate you sharing your designs and inspiring us! We hope to see you again wish you continued success! And a special thanks to Elizabeth for coordinating this weekends events!

This month's Show & Share started off with this wool table topper by Kathy. I love projects with flowers, stems and leaves...and one day I'll venture into applique.

Karen also shared this paper-pieced project.

And....Kathy is going to a retreat and made each participant a purse with her initial on it. We'd all like to participate in that retreat!

This next quilt is a charity quilt that was started by Shana and completed and quilted by Agnes. As we start to prepare for the 2016 Winter Quilt Show (details below) this is an excellent example of texture in quilting. I just wanted to touch and squeeze it!

Cathy made this cute baby quilt. I love how she brought in the pink!

Ann made this vibrant footstool/tuffet. I love the unexpected added shapes.

You can't help but want to rhyme when you see a tuffet, but I'll refrain from doing so.

Becca took Shannon's workshop and whipped this up in a day. Seriously, I need one of these trees.

Becca also completed her Tall Pine Tree. What fun!

Baby quilts are so versatile. Phyllis made this one for a Pittsburgh Pirates fan. I love the texture on the baseball diamond.

This is a sweet idea. Diane made a quilt using baby t-shirts from the client. The fabric for the back includes the child's old receiving blankets.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• Next meeting is Tuesday, October 6th with Jen Eskridge. Check the sidebar for location details and our monthly newsletter.
• Charity Christmas Stocking Sew Day is Saturday, October 10th at Newchurch. 10 am until we finish! We'll be making 125 Christmas stockings for Anna's House and need all hands on deck. We have some fabric, but if you have additional fabric to bring to add variety, we welcome it!
• Call for quilts! The 2016 Winter Quilt Show is January 7-9 and we want to display an array of quilts using the 11 distinctions of Modern Quilting, which are: Alternate Gridwork, Asymmetry, Bright & Graphic, Exaggerated Scale, Improv Piecing, Low Volume, Minimalist, Modern Traditionalism, Negative Space, Pixelation and Texture in Quilting. Start planning now. A sign up will be on Facebook soon. For inspiration, view our Pinterest page.
• Raffle Quilt blocks due at October Meeting. If you haven't signed up to make a block, there is still time. Simply access the sign up on Facebook. If you have already signed up... thank you, thank you!