Bowl and wind

I didn't want to put away the beautiful colored scraps from the last quilt, so I used them yesterday to make a scrappy bowl.

Then last night the wind whipped up and sounded almost like a tornado (see swirling movement in bowl). This morning revealed a rearranged front porch and back deck.

Normally there's a wicker love seat to the left of the front door, but somehow the wind got it over (or under?) the porch swing and into the little Japanese maple. On the back deck, chairs were tipped, plants were ripped and it's been grey and pouring rain all day.

 Have a colorful day

"Year-Round Cabin" finished

It's done! I put the binding on my wonky log cabin quilt last night and sewed down the sleeve and put a label on today -- just in time to show at tomorrow's guild meeting.

"Year-Round Cabin" copyright Sherrie Spangler 2014

I'm teaching a class in the technique next month at Quilt Revolution called "Modern Log Cabin" and am excited about talking about all the variations and how to personalize your quilt through your own center block and maybe text, special charms, etc. Here's the link to the class schedule:
http://www.quiltrevolution.com/classes.htm

Now I think I'll use the leftover strips to make a coiled basket. These rainy days call for increased time at the sewing machine.

Have a colorful day

Wonky cabin quilting

Six hours of sewing in circles and my second wonky log cabin quilt is quilted. Tomorrow I'll bind it and then hang it at Quilt Revolution in Gig Harbor, WA, as the sample for my Modern Log Cabin class!

Have a colorful day

Wonky log cabin II

 

My daughter's wonky log cabin graduation quilt in the last post was so much fun that I'm making another one for myself.

The theme of this one is "seasons." I planned to make two blocks for each season, but the boundaries got sort of blurred and I ended up with four that could be winter with a little fall color, and four that could pass for spring or summer.

I auditioned two of my hand-painted fabrics for the center block and decided on the brighter one. The grey would make more sense, imparting the feeling of a moody sky as the seasons change, but I like bright colors better.

Here's the finished center block, with a big bright sun, blue sky and brilliant green hills -- my happy  place!

Have a colorful day

Last quilt of the year

Graduation quilt by Sherrie Spangler, copyright 2013

Here's my last quilt of the year, which I made for my daughter's college graduation.

It's a takeoff on the traditional Log Cabin block, with the center wonky orange block representing the heart of the home. The strips around the center represent -- via color -- each place she's lived. I printed the city and the years she lived there on ExtravOrganza.

This block from Kansas shows the bright blue summer skies, yellow of the sunflowers, white for winter snow, and tan and green for the prairie grasses. The little bunny is the first pet rabbit to come into her life.

The center block represents her wide open future!

I pieced the blocks improvisationally, starting with a pile of strips and sewing them down at different angles. It was quick and fun.

Then I quilted in a spiral, radiating out from the center sun. Besides loving the completeness of circles, I decided this could also represent her life spiraling out into the larger world. 

Now I'm working on a second quilt as the basis for a class I'm going to teach Feb. 13 and 20 at Quilt Revolution in Gig Harbor. It'll focus on the improvisational log cabin construction and also how to personalize your quilt. It should be fun! I hope some of you can take it!

Here are some of the fabrics I'm using in the second quilt. They're from Moda's "Grunge" line by Basic Grey. You can't go wrong with any combination of colors in the line.

Hop over to  Off the Wall Friday http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/2014/01/things-i-learned-from-candy-crush-off.html to see what other fabric artists are up to.

Have a colorful New Year!

Color splash in Pt. Gamble, WA

My sew group group went to Pt. Gamble a few days ago for our annual Christmas field trip. It was a gray, gloomy, drizzly day, but we found plenty of color in the yarn and quilt stores and other little shops.

These first photos are from The Artful Ewe yarn store, a cozy, welcoming shop with a fireplace and a comfy nook to sit and knit and visit.

The Artful Ewe's dog has it made.

 

The quilt store, the Quilted Strait, is in an airy former stable building.

We found piles and piles of color:

Some of the fabric we bought.

Here we are, clutching our quilt shop purchases before heading back outside.

We had lunch and exchanged placemats that we made for each other at a cute little tea house. The warm tea felt so good on the cold day.
  

If you ever get a chance to visit Pt. Gamble, do! I blogged more about it in October here: http://sherriequilt.blogspot.com/2013/10/an-amble-through-port-gamble.html

Have a colorful day

 

Happy Hour Yoga Tote Bag

Now that Christmas is over, I can finally show some of the sewing gifts I made. I made a Happy Hour Yoga Tote Bag for my son's fiancée because she loves a good Happy Hour with fancy drinks and she's a yoga teacher.

It's reversible and big, so she can go from yoga straight to Happy Hour and carry all of her supplies.

I filled it with some tropical Happy Hour goodies, since she loves flip-flop weather and the beach.

For my son, I made a reversible fleece couch throw, with a tool-print fleece on one side since he does a lot of handyman work around the house. I thought the bright colors might embarrass him, so the reverse is basic, manly brown.

More to come soon!

Hope you all had a Happy Holiday!

 

Have a colorful day

Mug rugs for the Feet and Forks

This week, I finally made some "mug rugs" after reading about them in quilt magazines and books for years. They make perfect gifts if you include a mug and some snacks.

The pattern I used was from the Aug. 22, 2013, Quilting Daily blog post, and it was called Easy Mug Rugs. You basically cut four 3-and-a half-inch squares of one fabric and three of the other and piece them together as shown in the top photo. Layer batting, then backing right side up, and pieced top right side down. Sew around edges, leaving an opening to turn, handstitch the opening closed and quilt it. Done! 
 

I made them for the fabulous Feet and Forks, my walking and eating group. Here we are at a local coffee shop today exchanging gifts. I love these ladies! (You can read about our latest adventure in Seattle a few posts down.)

 Have a colorful day!

Winter placemats

My sewing room looked like Santa's workshop for the past month because I was getting ready to celebrate Christmas early (last weekend). My son and his fiancée came out from Wisconsin for a few days, but they couldn't stay through Christmas so we moved it up. 

Their visit gave me the incentive to finally make these Christmas/winter placemats with a pattern and fabric that I bought a year ago at Sew Many Quilts in Bend, OR. I used the bright striped fabric for binding and the red rick rack covered the seam.

They really brightened up the table! The pattern is called "Sew Simple Placemats," by Gail Ransdall. Web site on the pattern is sewmanyquiltsinbend.com It's a slick pattern because you turn one quilt sandwich into six placemats.

This view from our house shows why bright, cheery placemats are a necessity during winter here. 

 

Have a colorful day!