Wednesday, May 7, 2014

WIP or Destined for the Never to be Finished Pile?

I might be having my first quilty crisis. . . I'm really having a hard time deciding what to do next.  Part of this crisis has to do with this: I am giving serious thought to entering a quilt into a quilt show. . . . is that crazy? Why would I do that? That is the question I keep asking myself.  Why open myself up to being judged? That is the second question that bounces around in my head.  Have you ever entered a quilt into a "competition?"  Have you thought about it and then decided not to? What went into the decision to either go for it or not?  I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this! :)

I finished the backs for Kevin the Quilter's QOV block drive.  It felt good to get them in the mail.  I know he has more than enough blocks to whip those babies into beautiful quilts :) Go Kevin!! 

And I have been playing.  I have a plan for the quilt. . . if I do one for competition . . . it involves flying geese.  I have never made them before. . . interesting.  I used the tutorial from McCall's for the Dutchman's Puzzle Block (hey, Marly, I used the same tutorial you did!) I found them fussy.  Seems easy enough but there are all those points!  And I thought HSTs were bad! LOL I made this block:


Not bad for a first attempt.... BUT the middle lower left point is chopped off.  Honestly, I would have ripped it apart and sewed it again but I really couldn't figure out how I could do it differently to make it turn out right.  I'm contemplating buying the Bloc Loc Flying Geese square up ruler. . . Have you ever used them? Do you love them or hate them? Any thoughts on this would also be greatly appreciated! 

I love these colors! This is all In The Beginning Modern Solids.  They are gorgeous and wonderful to work with.  They have a different color (usually different tone of same color) in the warp and weft.  Kind of like Oakshotts only way more subtle.  Seriously beautiful.  I got mine at Pink Chalk Fabrics.  I bought a half yard bundle, many months ago. . . I only had a fat quarter left of these colors. . . I have no idea which colors they are. . . I don't have enough to make more blocks like this.  I knew this when I started.  I didn't know I was going to love the combo this much..... I am giving serious consideration to giving Pink Chalk a call - their customer service is amazing.  We might be able to figure out what this is ;) ummm, yeah can you see little shopping trip in my future? :D

So after this fussy stuff I decided to really play with these:

This picture was taken inside - the colors are MUCH more vibrant.
This is the pile of scraps left over from the triangle log cabin quilt.  They are Oakshotts. YUMMY.  So far I have this:

The colors show up so much better outside don't you think? :)
Where is this going? I have NO idea! Do you ever do that? Just start sewing strips together with absolutely no plan? We'll see where this goes.  

One more thing. . . I'm having a love affair with the Oakshotts. . . I have been just dying to try the new Colorshotts . . . guess what?  They have hit the US - Contemporary Cloth has them!!! WOOHOO!!! I ordered them this morning.  I can hardly contain myself! :)

OK, that's it for today. I'm going to go back and sew some more strips together and see what emerges! :) 

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday, Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social and My Quilt Infatuation for NTT

Until next time, keep on quilting!
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20 comments:

  1. I do not have the BlocLoc flying geese but I have the 1/2 sq. tri's and love them for that! I only had 1 small wall quilt that hung at MQS one year and that was because our local longarm group decided to do a challenge display. It was fun but it also wasn't judged!! Lucky you playing with those delicious solids!

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  2. Check out Wayne Kollingers Sketchbook blog for sine AWWWSOME INSPIRATION if you are having a hard time deciding on your next Project! I think you'll love jus spin on things!

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  3. And don't worry about being judged in a contest! Everyone has their Own opinions and those judges are just a small percentage of opinions! Enter for the fun and take the criticism or praise with a grain of salt girl! We quilt for us dont we?

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  4. And I don't use block lock cuz I'm a press seams open kind of gal!

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  5. This is my favorite way to quilt...having no idea where I'm going. :) LOVE the fabrics. I wish I had experience with a flying geese square up ruler. I've never used one but they always look so helpful and worth the money.

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  6. I have only entered a quilt once into a show. I was 15 and entered a small quilt in the young quilter's division. The judges were very nice (probably because of my age), but I have never desired to have a quilt judged again. I love your project ideas, but you can always turn what you have started into a pillow, a bag, or a coaster. ;)

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  7. For the BlokLoc check out Aunt Marti - 52 quilts in 52 weeks - last Tuesday. She was using it while making tiny flying geese. Can't help on quilt shows, I'm afraid.

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  8. I've never used the BlocLoc ruler. Your block looks great to me!

    Thanks so much for sharing at Needle and Thread Thursday!

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

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  9. The last time I did flying geese, I used Inklingo and printed the pieces with seam allowances, and then stitched them together perfectly. No kidding, you run your fabric thru your ink jet printer, and voila! seam allowances and everything! I have no connection to them, I know this sounds like an ad. But I love the system.
    Lin

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  10. that is a gorgeous block. I've seen it before, but not with the colour placement you used - it looks fantastic!

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  11. No opinions to share - other than I love your flying geese block. And great news.... Pink Chalk Fabrics is my sponsor for this month's giveaway. Starts on Tuesday!!!

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  12. I think those geese points are looking really great! I haven't used the bloc loc flying geese ruler, but I do have their HST one, and it really does make a difference when it comes to trimming the blocks. I'm not sure that will always prevent clipping a point off though since I find for me sometimes I lose the points as I'm piecing. Somehow I don't get everything joined up to leave enough for a 1/4 inch seam.

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  13. love your dutchman's puzzle block. that is such a great classic..I just made a mini quilt with it!
    as far as the competition, I have entered, and at first I took things too personally. The thing is, you may never understand why someone else feels the way they do about your quilt. You might make something you think is so-so and others love it or just the opposite. If I enter anything now, I go at it assuming I'm not going to win anything, but focus on how much I liked making the project (like if you join a challenge or something). It's scary to put yourself "out there".

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  14. I'm just submitting my first quilt and I found the quilting part of it less enjoyable as there was more pressure to not mess it up. Going slower and taking more care is a good thing and there are things that I'd have lived with but had to do better knowing it's going for a show. I'm comfy piecing but only learning Free motion quilting so a bit stressful. I'm sure it'll get easier!

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  15. I just picked up some of the Peppered Cottons this past week at a quilt shop while on vacation and really like them. I also just sewed up some HST's out of two Kaffe Shot Cotton charm packs, and I was slightly disappointed - the fabric felt thin to me. Almost flimsy. I haven't used the bloc loc ruler, but I did get some sort of flying geese ruler for Christmas - despite my last blog post where I had such trouble with my geese, I haven't used the ruler yet! I'm excited to see what you think of your ruler! I've never entered a competition, but gosh, your quilting is SO GORGEOUS. You should definitely do it. I love what you did on your triangle quilt. Cheers!

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  16. You should go for it and enter the quilt show! I have the bloc-loc ruler for HST and flying geese and I love love them! I am visiting (and started following your blog) from the new blogger's group :)

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  17. Love your block! Need to check out this bloc-loc ruler looks interesting
    SewingWilde

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  18. I think the block lock is designed to bridge the "gap" under the ruler...IRS higher in one side than the other so you don't get the "rocking and slipping" you get when you press both seams to one side....but because we press open, I'm not sure the tool is a good investment for you. My ruler lays flat because my fabric is flat from pressing open so I don't get the rocking like rise that still Press to one side. I do use sand coated stickers in my cutters though.

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  19. The bloc-loc rulers are okay. I don't like that you're limited on size (unless you start getting creative with it). Also, it only works if you press your seams to the side.

    As for entering your quilt in a show - why not? It'll be a different set of eyes on your quilt, with different opinions. And they might not like it. But it shouldn't change how you feel about your quilt (or what any of us things either :D). It might be a learning opportunity - or at the very least, a growing opportunity. :D

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  20. I've enter a few quilt shows - maybe 4 - each time it has been a great learning experience. You get the judge's suggestions and if you hang around where your quilt is hung - you'll get the audiences reaction too. Your geese are great for a first attempt.

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