The Quilt Asylum - Doll Quilt Swap

Our last swap at The Quilt Asylum was earlier this month. We had to make a "doll" (mini)quilt and it had to have circles in it somehow. Whether that would be in the fabric, design, or shape. I am always impressed with what others come up with.

I made three different ones before I decided on mine. I really decided it was best to keep it simple so my circles were in the shape of the sun, coconuts, and in the design of the fabric.

Kathleen did an amazing job with lots of beading. What beautiful colors, too!!

LaDonna was inspired by the current BOM by Quilt Soup.

I love that Juanita used the circles off the edges of fabric. What a fun modern doll quilt.

Yo-Yo's definitely fit the circle criteria.

Sherry made two using fabric with circles.

Ellyn used this beautiful fabric line...of course, anything with gray is wonderful to me.

This one is so cute! I think it has a bit of Australian flare to it.

Sarah did a bull's eye type quilt that I really want to make some day.

Our next swap is a tote bag and then I think we are doing Christmas ornaments. It really is a great way to keep motivated to sew. It also makes you think about what others would like.

Teenage Drivers!!

I was glad that Kelleigh was still in town this past weekend and was able to go to The Plano Quilt Show with me. She heads back to college this week and we still did not get to quilt together this summer. We talked about some designs and she showed me some things she did in EQ7 but nothing got started. We love a lot of the same things and had big plans but there is always next break.

The show had a few long arm quilting machines set up to play with and jokingly we told Kelleigh to drive and we were so impressed with what she did. Her first attempt she wrote her name backwards starting with the "h" at the far right. Then the sales lady said that was impressive but if she could write her name like it would look in a mirror then she would be really impressed. She did and the clerk said that was the first time anyone had done that.

That was fun and we went on until another salesman invited us to play. We again told Kelleigh to take the handles and she surprised us with this...a beautiful flower and leaf.

It began to be funny that she had only touched a long arm twice and came up with some decent results. Well, the last machine is the one she liked best. It took us a little bit to figure out what she was designing but then the light bulb went off and I wish I had a picture of the sales clerk's mouth. He was speechless and his jaw was hanging open. He couldn't believe she had only had three minutes experience.

I guess when you are a true artist, you can do anything. We haven't convinced her dad that she needs this $10,000 machine but it was fun and she can't wait to play again.

Churn Dash Drama

The Quilt Asylum held a Churn Dash block swap recently, in which I participated. It is my first block swap and was quite a challenge. My first set of blocks would not come out to the 9 1/2" size that was required. After I had cut all the pieces and started sewing, I decided I should measure these blocks. Well, they ended up being put aside after I tried to rip some apart and work them into the proper size. That was way too time consuming.

I had started my Farmer's Wife blocks using the Marti Michell templates and decided this is exactly what I needed to make my blocks come out to the proper size. I bought the appropriate templates and started out to make my 84 blocks. After testing the size and finding the templates did indeed make perfect 9 1/2" blocks, I am now hooked on these templates.

Now the drama is what to do with these blocks. I don't know that I want to just slap them together, although, I really do want a traditional amish looking quilt someday. My thoughts are to cut them up and re-sew them together. Kelleigh has drawn up a couple of ideas for me and so I may play around with those designs and then decide. Bonnie had cut a couple of blocks up and sewed it in this manner.

It was fun laying out the churn dash blocks and organizing them by colors. Kelleigh enjoyed putting them in some sort of order.

DMQG Show and Tell

I finally made it to another Dallas Modern Quilt Guild meeting. It has been a few months due to school activities and vacations. What a fun meeting! We had a potluck dinner, show and tell, and applique demonstrations to include hand, raw edge, and reverse techniques. The demonstrators did a great job and I learned some new things and am anxious to start a new quilt or two. I promised a couple of ladies that I would post pictures of the show and tell. The pictures are not the best but it is hard to get anyone to stand still long enough to get a good shot with my camera. Hope you enjoy the fun stuff that everyone shared.

This was evidently some challenge fabric that was passed out in a previous month.

This is beautiful fabric that a member created using "ice dyeing". It turned out so bright. You can find the process on the internet.

I did not catch the name of this quilt but it looks like a fun one to make.

Juanita brought an antique quilt she was able to find. Also, she took a workshop from Lola Jenkins and showed us what she was able to create in a short amount of time. I recently watched Lola on The Quilt Show and she had so much to share and really encourages everyone to be brave and just create.

Angie has been working on a couple of doll quilts for swaps. This girl loves swaps!

Gina shared a quilt top she was able to finish with the help of some friends. Quilters make the best kind of friends. She also found a good buy on a quilt top from The Quilt Asylum.

I love the blue and yellow this member used to make this wonky 9 patch. Also, what a great way to use up your worn out denim. She made the denim quilt with jeans passed on from friends.

These mini's are so cute and the pieces were tiny. I found a magazine recently that was published in 1994 and they referred to a mini quilt as a "doll" quilt. I thought that was a new term! I was so surprised to see it in an issue dating that far back.

Georgeann brought in a block she made for a great-aunt (?) who is celebrating a very special birthday. They will collect the blocks from family members and make a quilt for her. She also had an antique quilt to share.

Bonnie shared the BQ3 quilts that she made for samples. She will be teaching a class at The Quilt Asylum so watch the calendar for class sign ups.

Bonnie also showed us a sample she had made using Another Brick in the Wall pattern. I love the yellow she used, even though my camera doesn't do it justice.

Michelle brought an antique quilt top, too. I would love to know the history behind these quilts that are found in flea market type stores.

She also brought in a couple of modern quilts tops she completed.

Sarah went on a retreat and was able to accomplish so much. I hope to be able to tour the Celeste retreat center soon.

Here are a few more fun items from show and tell.

These are pinwheels that are being offered on a blog. I can't remember the original blog but you can find it through the SewMamaSew site.

These are just a few pictures from the applique demonstrations.

I have so many pictures to post from the summer. We have enjoyed some great vacation time so I will be back tracking a bit and posting some of those. Also, have enjoyed lots of quilting events and want to blog about those as well.