Sunday, June 9, 2013

Boston Top and Blog Hop...

About a month ago at the Quilts for Boston sew-in at gather here, I ended up focusing on making quilt backs instead of assembling a top.  But I promise that I'm not shirking my guild obligations - I ended up taking a packet of blocks home with me to finish a top in my spare time (Ralphie voice:  He he...that's a good one, Dad).  I chose a package with a focus on lines and stripes and was pretty excited to get it home to inspect them all and play with layouts.  As soon as I got home, I took them all out and fiddled for a while.  And promptly got stuck. 



The bag just sat there for three weeks.  It stared at me pretty passive aggressively for a while...and I chose to ignore it because I was still stuck. It was all those lines and stripes - it was just so much busier than my typical palate and I couldn't get past my own opinions and sampler prejudices.  It's not you, lovely blocks.  It's me. 

But at the eleventh hour I had a brainstorm and wondered if I could trick a couple of the blocks into creating some messages and breathing space.  Just a couple of adjustments to make these...



into this...

Then turning a block on point...



And once I gave myself permission to only use about two-thirds of the blocks, here is the finished product!  What do you think?  



In addition to not really being a sampler fan, I'm also not a big yellow fabric person.  What was I thinking??  But I'm hoping that whoever gets this finished quilt will think "happy sunshine" and not "gross egg yolk".  Here's hoping!

Another piece of news to share is that I'm participating in this year's Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop by Plum & June!  I'm really looking forward to getting to know a ton of new modern quilting bloggers over the next two months and hope that you'll join me!


Plum and June


Friday, June 7th
Nancy @ Owen's Olivia
Amy @ 13 Spools
Casey @ The Studiolo 
Nanette @ Yeah, I Made That

Friday, June 14
Julie @ Jolie Maxtin
Melissa @ Melia Mae Quilting
Adrianne @ On The Windy Side
Molli @ Molli Sparkles
Laura @ Little And Lots
Valerie @ Between Quilts

Friday, June 21
Leigh Anne @ Ella's Cottage
Stacey @ The Tilted Quilt
Sarah @ Quilt Candy
Jackie @ NW Patchwork
Erica @ Happy Fabric
Stephanie @ Simple Sewendipity
Lauren @ Seraphym

Friday, June 28
Green @ So Sew Green
Gwendellyn @ The Rainbow Revolts
Jessica @ Stitched In Thyme
Kathy @ Kayak Quilting
Michelle @ Factotum Of Arts
Kris @ Sew Sunshine
Camilla @ Faffling

Friday, July 5
Christa @ Christa Quilts!
Stephanie @ Quarter Incher

Fridau, July 12
Anne @ PlayCrafts
Cath @ Wombat Quilts

Friday, July 19
Alison @ Making Happyness
Ella and Nesta @ Ella & Nesta's Little Room
Nicole @ Modern Handcraft
Aylin @ AyliN-Nilya
Kelsey and Amanda @ Everyday Fray

Friday, July 26
RobinSue @ RobinSue Quilts
Elisa Lea @ Lovelea Designs
Elizabeth @ In The Boondocks
Emily @ Sew E.T.
Em @ Sewing by Moonlight


Check them out - they will make fabulous additions to your modern inspiration list during June & July!

Linking up:

Fresh Poppy Design

14 comments:

  1. That quilt top looks awesome! Great design!

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  2. I agree--your top turned out great! I don't love yellow either, but I think this is way more sunshine than egg yolk. I also really like the white sashing and connector lines on the outer two rows. Smart solutions! (I volunteered to take a "kit" from Amy and am scared spitless that I won't have the smarts to solve these kinds of problems!)

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  3. I think you did a wonderful job with the blocks! Very clever! I am laughing at Laura's comment now...maybe I should hunt through the bags first and give her all the yellow? (evil laugh).

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  4. I think the top turned out awesome. It's so fun to see how everyone is pulling these together.

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  5. Replies
    1. Thanks Tina! Everyone's finished tops are so different and fabulous - much like the blocks themselves! :)

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  6. I think this quilt turned out brilliant. I don't mind yellow (don't use it that much, though) but your quilt is inspiring me to go and make something bright and cheery :)

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    1. It's been fabulous to see all of these quilt tops come together! Thanks so much for taking the time to put together our blocks. Love how you highlighted each block so well.

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  7. It's beautiful! The yellow pulls it all together :)

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  8. I am not a big fan of yellow either, but this changed my mind for sure! Love the layout and the LOVE in the center. I vote for sunshine.

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  9. I don't know that yellow is pretty to me!! My fave block is the waves one from Tula Pink's Salt Water line.

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  10. You did a great job putting all the blocks together and I especially love this as it contains one of the blocks I made (top right corner. The yellow really makes it pop and look very modern.

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  11. On a rainy day like today, I love a yellow, sunny quilt. Yours turned out great. I am always intrigued by the "ah ha" that makes an idea out of a pile of blocks or scraps or cuts of fabric.

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  12. What you did to make the L with my bits is fantastic! Blessings to you, your creativity, and the recipient. I hope it brings great LOVE and comfort.

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