Habitat Challenge: My Design

Last weekend, the Blue Valley Quilter's Guild had a day-long retreat in the country. We arranged for use of a church hall, catered lunch and supper, and we got together and sewed all day.

It took me a week to post about it - it has been one of "those" weeks, if you know what I mean.

I had a lovely time at the retreat and got a lot of work done. My main accomplishment was the completion of the top of my Habitat challenge submission (by Jay McCarroll). Modern Quilt guilds from around the country were invited to participate. You received a pack fat 6 fat eighths and you had to use all 6 in the quilt (could be the back). In our challenge, we were allowed to add more of the habitat line, in the same or a different color way, and/or solid fabrics of any line.

I came up with this original design. Here is the top when I finished it at the retreat.

This design resulted from an evolution of ideas. At first, I thought of appliqueing "kerfuffle" on a white background, with a patched border that slowly fell apart (thus making the quilt a "kerfuffle"). But for some reason, that idea lost its charm for me.

I was still fixated on words. Somehow it evolved into a ransom note, in which the letters were "clipped" from magazines and newspapers. "We have your quilt." But then....then, I thought of how many letters that would be. Too much work, because by then, I was down to 2 weeks before it's due.

The design of the fabric that is behind the "s" above made me think of the late 50s and early 60s style. That led to the idea of strip mall signs from the late 50s early 60s. Something like this picture but in which each letter was its own sign on its own pole.  That's what I ended up with.

The letters are machine appliqued using a fusible web and edged with a blanket stitch on my machine in a matching thread color.

When I finished the piecing, I put it up on the design wall. So many quilters at the retreat said they liked it, but wondered why it said "still." Admittedly, it is an odd word to have all by itself. I was attempting to be freely creative and modern...but I really also want to be understood.

Here's why I chose it: the Bible verse "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46: 10) was stuck in my head, and I was feeling a bit agitated when I was completing the design. So, I focused on "still." Additionally, there are only 5 letters to applique and I could use 5 out of the 6 pieces of fabric on the background! Bonus.

I was tired by having to explain the origin of the word...so I decided to quilt in the "Be"

Habitat Challenge, Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild, a photo by Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild on Flickr.

Here is the quilt (sans binding) being shown at the guild meeting.  You can see the "Be" in the upper left corner, if you look closely.  I still have to explain it, but it makes more sense to people.

Didn't quite finish the binding.  Oh, and I designed the lettering by using 5 different fonts on my computer. The "still" letters are about 350pt font. The "Be" is like 450pt font. The gray fabric was a practical design decision - I had a bunch of it in my stash and I really didn't want to go buy more fabric.

The quilting turned out much better than I anticipated. I used a design called "Broken Glass" which is published on The Free Motion Quilting Project,  a blog by Leah Day (in Raleigh, NC, my old stomping ground...hey, y'all!). This pattern represents scattered anxiety and stress, to contrast with the calming message of the words. It was quite easy to do and very effective. As an added bonus, it de-emphasized the piecing lines, thus adding continuity to the whole piece. Thanks, Leah!!!

Nope, didn't win the guild's challenge. But, it was quite original and I got some nice compliments.

Here's another look at the top:

I highly recommend viewing all the designs from our challenge on flickr.

A Date with Martha

Martha Stewart came to Kansas City last night, promoting her new book, Martha's Entertaining A Year of Celebrations.  I decided to go. I'm not usually much into the celebrity chef/author thing, but lately I've been rather taken with Ms. Martha and her magazine.

Of course you wouldn't know that, looking at my house right now, but that's beside the point.

It was a delightful presentation. The evening was sponsored by Rainy Day Books, a local independent book seller. They do a lot of these events, and I think it's working for them. They attract some really good celebrity authors (and non-celebrity authors) in to promote their books at these events. You get an autographed copy of the book, a presentation, lecture, conversation with the author, and maybe some special things, too.  At this event, there were many giveaways from sponsors:

• Hen House, a local grocery store chain
• Prydes of Westport, a local gourmet kitchen & housewares shop, 
• Vita Craft, a cookware manufacturer right here in Shawnee, KS, 

So, what did I think of Martha?

I was afraid she'd be aloof or cold and it would undermine my impression of her and diminish my enjoyment of her magazines. I was so wrong. She was poised and engaging, professional, polished and kind.  She does not look 70 years old at all and however she does it, it works. The evening was an interview-style conversation between the president of Rainy Day Books and Ms. Martha, in the main hall at Unity Temple on the Plaza in Kansas City. It lasted about 50 minutes. Most of the conversation focused on Martha's favorite things, memories, the gatherings described in the book, and other little anecdotes from Martha's recent history.

It didn't occur to me to bring a camera. Everyone else seemed to think of it... I snapped a few shots on my phone, but I doubt they turned out to be any good.

The book is huge and heavy, filled with beautiful photographs of her soirees and homes. Each chapter is a different event, and many of them are themed on a holiday. The spotlight is on the food, but there's a good amount of space devoted to the table setting, the venue, and her coordinating decor. 

All of the recipes are in the back of the book. There are simple recipes and complicated recipes, for any meal of the day. A selection of cocktails is a part of the mix.

This is not a book I would pick out on my own had I not gone to this presentation. However, I'm glad I have it now. Because it is different, it will make me think "outside the box" for entertainment, decorating, and menu ideas. 

Terrarium

Terrariums are hot.  I remember making them as a child in the 1970s- any glass jar I could find, whatever plants I dug out of the back yard, a few miniature toys or ceramics, etc.

I attended a conference in September where they used simple terrariums as the table center pieces in the lounge/break/snack areas. I think that's where I got the idea to make one myself. Here it is:

Know what's fun about terrariums? You can make them little magical worlds. This one has a little mouse:

Here, the little guy is hanging out on the moss I dug up from a dark, moist spot in our yard.

And a (relatively) giant butterfly:

There is also an enchanted crystal and a teddy bear snuggling up to his favorite quilt.

I hope it lives! It's so cute.

PJ Pants

Using my find from J&O Fabrics, I made these pajama pants. The fabric is totally silly - it is a large scale print of male-stripper looking models in traditional Halloween costumes. A pirate, a vampire, a devil, a skeleton showing a bit of skin.  I'm saving them to wear on Halloween and then to lounge about the house in.

 

I really should be working on my quilt guild project for the Jay McCarroll challenge using his Habitat line. I have an idea, I just need to finish the design and make the darn thing. I started my friend's Christmas quilt, but only started!

It's the sprint to Christmas. I'd better get sewing!

My package came!

It came yesterday! Now....to the sewing room! Let's go sew!

My J&O Package hasn't come yet!!

Argh! I want my fabric from Monday!!

Pictures from J&O Fabrics

Here I am at J&O Fabrics on Rt 130 in Pennsauken NJ

As promised, here are my photos from my visit to J&O Fabrics on Monday 10/10/11. Evidence! There really is a real brick and mortar shop in addition to their online business. Pennsauken is in south western  NJ, not too far from Philadelphia. After we had attended to some family obligations in northern NJ, my husband, my father, and I had to drive back to Dulles airport for our flight back home. It was not hard to take a detour off the NJ turnpike to stop in. 

...long story why we flew into and out of Dulles instead of Newark, NJ. Not worth boring you with that story. 

Here's the storefront.

Look at all this cotton!

I like this shop (online and now, in person) because of their selection of novelty cottons. Some of these prints can be found in major chains, like JoAnn's, but this shop really stands out for the selection. Their online store is done well because they put in a good amount of keywords for each print. It makes it easier to find. 

Their most popular fabrics are the team prints.

They sell the cottons and the fleece. One of the sales people told me that the most popular team print is Dallas Cowboys, hands down. They have more choices of Dallas Cowboys than the others....but there is usually 2 choices for each team.

It was a nice way to break up a long day of driving. After I picked out my selections, they were kind enough to ship my order home. Fabric gets heavy in a hurry and we didn't have a lot of room in our bags to pack all the yardage. Since, I'm already in their database, they printed a label, I paid the shipping, and I was all set. 

Nice folks. I definitely recommend them. (As a satisfied customer only, of course)